Government has called on graduate nurses and other medical personnel to seek to work within Zambia for the benefit of the Zambian citizenry.
North Western Province Minister Kenneth Chipungu says this is because more graduate nurses and other medical personnel are critically needed in the country.
He was speaking when he addressed students at Kalene School of Nursing in Mwinilunga today.
Mr. Chipungu has since urged the students at Kalene School of Nursing to work within the district and other rural areas upon completing their training as their skills are greatly needed in rural areas.
Speaking on behalf of the students, Joseph Kaumba assured the provincial minister that the students were ready to be deplored in the district upon graduating.
And Chief Nyakesaya pointed out that there was a critical deficit of qualified medical personnel in the district.
The traditional leader challenged the students to heed the appeal by the provincial minister not to reject rural postings.
Meanwhile, Government has announced plans to construct a rural health centre in Chief Ntambu’s area in Mwinilunga District, in North Western Province.
North Western Provincial Minister Kenneth Chipungu disclosed this when he paid a courtesy call on Chief Ntambu at his palace today.
Mr. Chipungu told the Chief that government is committed to ensuring that health delivery is improved in the district by building more health centres.
He said the health centre to be located at Tomilonga is aimed at bringing health care closer to communities.
Mr. Chipungu further said plans are underway to work on the Natmbu-Mwinilunga road which is currently in a dilapidated state.
He said government has earmarked to rehabilitate the road this year because it is key to economic activities in the area.
Mr. Chipungu further disclosed that this year the Kisansa-Mwinilunga road would be worked on to facilitate movement of goods and services in the area.
He also urged the traditional ruler to apply for funds from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to ignite development in the area.
And Chief Ntambu said the chiefdom is committed to working to government to foster development in the area.
Speaking through his representative Johannes Chapaloka, the chief however implored the Provincial Minister to direct the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) or Ministry of Agriculture to open up a deport in Ntambu to facilitate the selling and storage of farm produce in the area.
The traditional ruler further appealed to the provincial minister to facilitate the opening up of a police post in the area.
Chief Ntambu said this is because of the growing population in the area which has subsequently seen an increase in criminal activities.
Pay them well and improve their conditions of work.
This government talks well but when it comes to motivate it’s workers they behave like Chinese.I had a friend who was posted in a rural area,to start with they failed to look for accommodation,he started renting a house for K 300,000 as it was the only available and decent by rural standards.He wasn’t on the payroll and the money the board gave him as salary was K 550,000..Now lets be realistic here,would this minister survive with this kind of money himself?I dont think so..My friend told me that in as much as he would have loved to stay he just couldn’t see the point of working there when even in rural areas the money wasn’t enough.As sad as it is my friend is in Namibia driving.
Ct’d I know Namibia is well developed than us but am very sure the government has enough money to pay its workers if we had well educated ministers and selfless.too much mismanagement in Zambia.
Now some big head says we are unpatriotic and lazy when they allocate big chunk of the budget to state house as if everyone works there and that helicopter they bought,of what benefit is it to the ordinary Zambian?I would have voted Ken Ngondo because he said he was going to sell the helicopter but i couldn’t as i was confused i didn’t know whether he was standing as an MP or President.hehehehe…thats Zambian politics..
But sometimes the medical personel would just like to stay in lusaka or on the copperbelt just because they dont want to associate themselves with the villagers. How come most of the doctors at UTH, drive? does it mean they have other businesses? no at all, most of the young generation medical personnel do not know what it meand to be a nurse or a doctor. all they want is money and not serving the sick. just look at how some nurses respond to patients. they dont do the job out of love but because that is the only job they got and out of frustration, they unlish the anger at the innocent patient.
Number 4..! which part of the world are you? you seem to have lost track. kondowe do you understand maslow’s model. you seem not to understand the difference between a nun and a nurse…? nurses do not work for charity..their needs have to be met. if you do not have anything sensible to contribute …go play minisoccer or nsolo, iam sure that is the arena were your abilities would be utilized adquately.
Number 4..! That is why the americans came up the electral college as not everybody has the capacity to make good and rational judgement. it is individuals like you that spoil the votes as you fail to think beyond the scope or outside the box. Whose computer are you using anyway? our african politicians are more selfish than the imperialists we fought years ago. we should not even blame the IMF or world bank? our own greedy leaders are to blame for much of the poverty that we are experiencing. You are such a pathetic loser kondowe. i do not have kind words for suckers like yourself.
Why is it politicians always get the cake and yet are the cause to our being impoverished?
Pay the doctors well. Take a look at what Botswana, Namibia and South Africa pays its doctors! Why is it that you in the governement have no access to true facts about what to compensate doctors?
The drawing board:1)Fifth National Development Plan; 2)Vision 2030; 3)Millenium Development Goals; 4)Instittutional Strategic Development Plans; 5)Work Plan and MTEF(Medium Term Expenditure Framework).Do the above address the problem af accessibility of medical personnel by all Zambians? Development is not an accident.It’s not by Chance.It’s a planned process coupled with action. It also takes an enlightened population to ensure those charged with delivery are on course.And they can do so only if they have data.Otherwise it is called agumentum ad ignorancia.About electoral college#6,wait for the 2015 CRC.We nid it.
I have always thought Rural Posting was good. Got some friends who are actually doing that now. Their is an incentive of doing your masters after it, actually its a prerequsit for doing your masters at UTH. It is assumed that when they do their rural positings they actually end up building houses if they work well. So fuss about it someone should get the facts straight…By the way my wife will be doing her internship by next year and later the rural posting….
All in all Doctors , Teachers , Policemen etc all over the world will not be paid what they are worth….its unfortunete.
Though not to compare a Doctor to a Teacher or Policemen relative to other Business professions the doctors are mostly underpaid.
Well, #5 & 6, do you know that i have contributed to the training of more than 200 medical doctors just in Zambia alone? Do you know how many nurses(degree holders), clinical officers and paramedics i have produced? Not only medical doctors but pharmacists too boy.
You think i dont have an ear to the ground? Boy, may be you have just come on the band wagon. Any way, welcome to the bloggers corner boy.
Ask yourself why most if not all medical doctors will prefer to remain at UTH? The only problem we have is maintaining the flow of graduates. The system worked in the early years of Zambia, probably before you were born young boy.
#5 & 6 Mob justice, its true, nurses or medical doctors do not work for charity. Are they the only ones? Not at all. By the way, do you know that among cival servants, doctors are directly entitled to a car loan? Teachers who are equally important are not. Lecturers at UNZA are not and if you are still arguing, come to UNZA or Ministry of Education and Health for records boy.
The issue is not getting paid well here. We want these young men and women we have trained to extend their services/labor to the rural man/woman who may not have enough to travel to the urban area for treatment.
Actually, the other problem i have identified is that most students think going rural is a backward move. Its not, because these ladies and gentlemen will get the same entitlement as those in the urban areas and actually save more because life in the rural areas is not as expensive as Lusaka or copperbelt.
Doctors or nurses were not meant for UTH, Ndola or Kitwe Central Hospitals alone
Ndife, teachers cannot even afford to get a car loan, so under what basis do u say medical doctors are the most under paid? Lets think logically and critically.
The fact that about 25 to 30 students end up being medical doctors out of a number such as 60 who are normally in second year at the GERC, means a lot and if these guys also will know that actually govt paind some amount towards thier education, they will think of repaying govt in some way. Remember, even in the states or UK, after you graduate, you dont run away, you work, get taxed until govt recovers the money it spent on you. Not 100% recovery but to recover the money so that they will train another person.
Kondwe nice comment, it takes 7 yrs to become a medical doctor, while it takes 4 yrs to have a degree as a secondary school Teacher hence we not comparing like with like….i am not saying Doctors are the most underpaid , surely teachers are but the topic under review is looking at Rural posting hence my comment!!!
#4. Correction! Doctors in Zed are underpaid.
You may want to ask a Zedian MD in USA or a Zedian RN in the
CA,NY,GA,DC……Montana… etc.
Look beyond the Zambian horizon.
For how long are you going to cry ?
Be a world citizen and compete.
Continue debating this issue of nurses and zambia.Am a zambian nurse working abraod.I get 5.6million as basic salary,am entitled to some days as parents days when i have a kid,each kid i have is entitled to an allowance untill a certain age.I can get a car laon when ever i wish if its necessary at all.I can afford a vacation with my farmily to any distination in the world.I work without intimidation from clients or bosses.No one will ever beat me at work that am very sure.
Now tell Mwanawasa,if only i can get 3million as basic sallary with desent accommodation i can come back next week cause i miss zambia.
Hats off to number 17 Iam a sucessful zambian RN who has made abroad it and worth more than your depreciated kwacha.I paid my dues for the five years I worked in Zambia. I cannot eat zambian patrotism O.K.!!! Remember that these ministers are the first ones to send their children to study abraod meanwhile they say “die a little for mother zambia” I can’t work in zambia because I was treated like pile of XXXXX.TOO BAD I WILL NOT FALL CHEAP TALK !!!
Quite interesting, the best place to be is nothing more than home. Having had travelled around, i realize, i can make more money with plenty of sleep rite in Zambia. As for some of the nurses, be honest, how many jobs do you keep. We know how demanding amenities are in UK and US. Its rare to keep only one job and most of the people end up working in hospices ukupukata utukote and the like.
Let us ask our selves, how come a person from Ethiopia comes and starts making money where we see dirty. Sometimes its our laziness as zedians and i bet those in europe or states will tell you that EVERY COIN COUNTS. I hope you know what it means.
the discussion here is ” refusing to go to a rural area”.
Unless you tell me a doctor staying in lusaka, has a different salary scale than the one in kaputa. Ala bane, we sit in these meetings where your salaries are discussed and we push for an across the board amount and actually a person who opts to go to the rural setup may only miss social amenities though this is a secondary issue believe me.
#16 we are not comparing who gets more around the globe. even in UK doctors are migrating to australia. Ala tashifula and if you compare how much it costs to live in the states, then u will realize that thats why the salary is high. Do you know that certain jobs in zambia are more paying than the region? Except we lack the right priorities. Ngawafola, the only thing that comes to your mind are perishable assets while your collegues are busy amassing wealth for the lasting assets.
Fine let all the man power migrate outside zed and let our counrty sink. well as for me, i have worked enough and all what remains is to enjoy the fruit of my labor.
#15, i get you. Dont you think we need to be honest to ourselves and be kindhearted enough to accept the offer. Mind you, all medical doctors are entitled to a housing allowance, a car allowance and other allowances when they are on call.
So why shun a rural place? I bet they want to be near shoprite or mandahill or arcades.
One of my former students, a medical doctor by profession is right in the middle of Kawambwa and hey, he doesnt even want to come to lusaka. I met him on my tour of Luapula province some 10 years ago.
Lets be enterprising, zed has more resources and the politicians are not even enough to exploit them. Believe me. Just know your skills and go for what will easily work
for you.
I have Ugandan counterparts who came to zed just as school teachers. They own some of the posh houses in lusaka mass media area. How, dont just eat your money and learn to save and invest. Where did they get the money from? GRZ teacher salaries. Around 1983 teachers were not still getting much but any one could save.
Interesting comments ba-Kondowe! I am certainly thinking Zambia – for there is surely no place like home.
Kondwe we can argue it the way you like, for me i appreciate your comments its what you have done and how you use your resources. I was almost offered a job at BOZ by just sending my CV without an advert…. ..i knew exactly what to do if i want to join the central Bank. By the way it would be on merit…in short i have collegues who have been to the States the Uk and elsewhere and when ever the came visiting they get suprised that i not only have a plot in Chilanga and building i also have a farm where at least by last year managed to harvest 100 bags. Hope this yr will be better.
It depends really on what one wants , you can get all the money in SA but continue to lack compared to us
But the other side of the coin is also true some guys have built houses just working for two yrs in SA and the US. I know of a collegue with a good house in Chalala…his actually now working Pa UTH…i guess if he tried to stick around that house would not be there. It all depends on how you plan.
# 26 you are right, we must use our God given abilities and for sure, once i worked for UNDP, hey the mulla is just too much but HOME IS HOME. I like moving around zed without any NRC or form of identity. But outside zed, u have to move with your ID otherwise u can be embarrased.
Lets work toward the building of zed coz no foreigner will do it for us. with the weakening dollar, it just tells you that people will start trekking back home. Believe me.
Kondowe as an individual that has contributed one way or the other in educating our men and women in the medical field i fail to understand your reasoning. These individuals that come from foreign nations do not enjoy the same conditions as our country folk? anyway we all view the world differently and shall rest my case. you have your own beliefs and so do I. My appologies for taking out on you on my earlier postings. You are supported to be advocating for better wages and incentives as opposed to blaming the hard working men and women that continue to save lives despite the bad working conditions..?
AM WORKING A “CLINICAL OFFICER” AFTER MY GRADUATION FROM CHAINAMA COLLEGE.. THE BASIC SALARY 700,000KWACHA = $175!