United Party for National Development (UPND) President Hakainde Hichilema has urged Republican President Michael Sata to quickly address the challenges in the health sector.
In a letter to the president obtained by QFM News today, Mr. Hichilema notes that the harmonization of salaries is being implemented in a haphazard manner and has demoralized health professionals.
Mr. Hichilema says he carried out an on the ground assessment of the situation at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) where he found that nurses and midwives are still on strike and the pharmacy is still closed.
He has urged President Sata to urgently intervene in the matter by committing to reward the nurses and midwives according his government’s earlier promise.
Mr. Hichilema adds that government officials got their 100 percent increment and are paid on time and it is morally right that government does the same for the nurses and midwives.
However, Health Minister Joseph Kasonde has said politicians should desist from gaining political mileage from such strikes when peoples’ lives were at stake.
He advised Mr Hichilema to move away from the realm of speculation saying Government sets rules on salaries and the salaries were negotiated within those rules.
Unfortunatly the Republican President and the people around him never take advise instead they will accuse HH of wanting to gain political mileage when in fact his advise is in the best interest of this country. Bravo HH
Negotiation much be part of every higher education class.
If people are knowledgeable on negotiation then these nurses will be sitting at home while waiting for better pay instead of scorching in the sun, it’s in bad taste.
Those who already have plenty gave themselves more and expect those poor nurses to eat compassion. Where is the compassion of Government towards the nurses. Why can’t Cabinet take a pay cut and divert the savings to give the nurses a bit more money?
Somewhere along the way, HH realized he needed to start conflating false equivalence with any thought that challenges MCS’s rigid, absolutist points of view. In politics and in everyday life, rarely are both sides equally wrong. Rarer still is one side 100 percent right.
In this era of zero-sum gain politics, the logical fallacy more pronounced than false equivalence is false purity. It is intellectually dishonest … playing politics with people’s lives is the worst form of demagoguery.
In other words, the only reason HH is now backing nurses is to fire a cheap shot at the President who would act with an “I don’t care attitude” just to irk his closest rival. People need to realize that putting faith in a mortal politician is the worst thing they can do for themselves.
In other words, the only reason HH is now backing nurses is to fire a cheap shot at the President who would act with an “I don’t care attitude” just to irk his closest rival. People need to realize that putting faith in a mortal politician is the worst thing they can do for themselves and well-being of their families.
By looking into their minds, they would solve each and every problem they currently face … look into your mind, amazing answers reside there.
@Karl Max, are you sure of what you are saying? Try to relive your comment & compare it with HH’s behaviour. Pliz mwe bantu, bomfyeni ko isukulu!
@B.R Mumba,
why are you back. People chased you from here, you changed name, now you are back with your stupidity. What is wrong with you homosexuals kanshi?
@ BR Mumba “People need to realize that putting faith in a mortal politician is the worst thing they can do for themselves.”
Please apply that statement to your Sata first. That’s exactly what the nurses did. They put their faith in Sata, the chameleon. He promised them a heft increase but ended up giving them peanuts; a far cry of what he promised them.
Sata put himself in this political trap: he set up a trap to gain political mileage by promising nurses way beyond his means. Now he has become the mouse that got caught in that same trap because he couldn’t live up to his earlier word.
Tell you what: I will blame any foolish politician that fails to gain political mileage from this clear situation of Chimbwi No Plan. How much more evidence of Chimbwi No Plan do you need…
good advise but wait and hear how the president wil react.
Sata will never act on anything that will not directly affect him,just imagine his quietness on the wrangles in his party which also affecting progress in developing our nation
what good advice you linatic!? This scumbag is indeed a baby and an under5 why politise an administrative issue.
Now that his much advertised and long awaited rally was a flop, this scumbag ll treat zambians to more bitterness, envy you name it.
Actually if i was Sata, i would not waste time on this letter. Surely the whole of the President looking at harmonization of salaries? Then what is the purpose of technocrats and the cabinet.
Even if it is applying pressure on the President, this pressure to me appears childish and lack of understanding of how procedure works. HH should have spent some time in the civil service to just understand how government works before joining politics.
@George Bush. I pity your type. You seem so bitter and frustrated. Instead of engaging in sober blogging, you resort to insults. Why?
It is because you are so disappointed and disillusioned that the man you thought was a star has turned out to be a flop. In fact Bashilubemba put it nicely by saying – mwali “infwanta icimuti palukasa.” Now that you realise that you were duped, you are bitter with yourself.
So continue being bitter and see where that takes you.
THAT PAPER HAS BEEN DONATED TO ZAMBEZI PAPER MILL WITHOUT WASTING TIME IN READING IT
@ BR Mumba “People need to realize that putting faith in a mortal politician is the worst thing they can do for themselves.”
Please apply that statement to your Sata first. That’s exactly what the nurses did. They put their faith in Sata, the chameleon. He promised them a heft increase but ended up giving them peanuts; a far cry of what he promised them.
Sata put himself in this political trap: he set up a trap to gain political mileage by promising nurses way beyond his means. Now he has become the mouse that got caught in that same trap because he couldn’t live up to his earlier word.
Tell you what: I will blame any foolish politician that fails to gain political mileage from this clear situation of Chimbwi No Plan. How much more evidence of Chimbwi No Plan do you need…
Why not sit down and discuss critical issues affecting the country in person as both of you are striving for the same goals though in diffrent camps? Actually you should be friends try it see how it goes, you might find out that you actually are alike!
Sata and PF wont let that happen, iam sure thats news to you.
@Cindy. A written letter is as formal and official as any other means of communications. For centuries, governments and businesses have exchanged advice, signed MOUs, agreements, treaties and resolved issues through written communication.
So I don’t see anything wrong in HH wrong in offering SATA advice by means of a letter. If Sata is well meaning he can then invite HH for meeting for further discussion.
Atleast from the time this strike action and the confusion in the PF has began we are not seeing parliamentary defections and/or resignations.
Good night mother Zambia!
HH teka amatako panshi! We are tired of your political mileage.
By you tribe are you….your comments are expected.
Same language even Sata used to do this when MMD was in power,
Congrats bwana HH for trying to gain some political mileage from this.Mind you no president is immune to strikes.Not even in the developed world.Don`t entirely blame PF for this.It has more to do with the unions for those nurses and pharmacists.
That woman with HH looks like Julia Chikamoneka.Maybe she has risen from the dead
Mr. Hichilema notes that the harmonization of salaries is being implemented in a haphazard manner and has demoralized health professionals.
Mr HH such problems are not only in the health. The harmonisation song was sang for over 1 year on all radio and TV stations but the reality is different. Dig deeper before commenting because other workers may fill isolated.
@ BR Mumba “People need to realize that putting faith in a mortal politician is the worst thing they can do for themselves.”
Please apply that statement to your Sata first. That’s exactly what the nurses did. They put their faith in Sata, the chameleon. He promised them a heft increase but ended up giving them peanuts; a far cry of what he promised them.
Sata put himself in this political trap: he set up a trap to gain political mileage by promising nurses way beyond his means. Now he has become the mouse that got caught in that same trap because he couldn’t live up to his earlier word.
Tell you what: I will blame any foolish politician that fails to gain political mileage from this clear situation of Chimbwi No Plan. How much more evidence of Chimbwi No Plan do you need…
Tubulu, stop posting the same comment over and over. Are you a retard?
Is that his wife? Lady, whoever you are, you need a makeover. Start by losing that head gear.
@Zambian Namayo,
Thats his twin sister.
Is that his wife? Really? The headgear is too tarty, in my opinion.
That’s ex Deputy Speaker and Kaputa MP Mutale Nalumango
Iwee ule ufwa! Kekekekeke, LOL! That is Mutale Nalumango, but she surely looked lousy, like a Nsangoma.
sata is not facing much political presure as lpm or rb.this has made him take docile zedians for granted.the reasons for this are(1)the bembas(worst tribalist) who the noisiest tribe in zed are pretending as if all is wel because their own is in state house and yet they have been also afected sata’s mess as exhibited by asilubemba.(2)the most read paper ie Post is on his side due to the 14bilion owed to dbz.yes the online papers are trying hard to expose this govt,unluckily most zedians have only chinese phones which they buy because of their volumes and have no internet.(3)the catholic which is the largest political NGO in zed has gone to sleep because their own is in state house.the catholic i knew would hav said something on milions spent on chikopa which would pay 50 nurses or buy…
Come on HH don’t let the little confidence i have in you evaporate, surely you can do better than this. This is an administrative issue which which should be handled by Public Service Commission, Ministries of Health and Finance. That is the problem in Zambia. We want to involve the President even where it is not necessary. Sata already announced an increment in Salaries. It is now up to technocrats to do their job. It is not the President’s job to sit down and start harmonizing salaries, what are technocrats for?
Come on HH you are educated and know procedure of these things. Surely is it just the excitement of writing the President. Find the best strategy of campaigning other than ranting and frothing anyhow the way you are now doing it.
@EMMY
Have you forgotten that under Sata’s administration nothing is done without his instructions. Every one appointed by Sata cannot act freely without consulting Sata. Sata has to authorise anything and everything that happens in the government.
The technocrats know what to do but without Sata’s authorisation they cannot act.
Wanzelu
This is not the first time issues to do with harmonization of salaries are arising. Just last year which was still in Sata’s administration, Councils went through a similar situation. I am sure you heard on news 2 Council employees from Livingstone Council who have been suspended over similar issues. In short, when there is a salary increment like the way it happened, each employee depending on the scale have their own increment. It is the duty of Unions and workers representatives to ensure that they inform authorities on this before the information is fed into the system. Surely be fair, should Sata start going round the country collecting all this information? It may be a comedy of errors
Wanzelu ubufi, is MCS supper man with six hands to authorise every little thing? Just accept that this particular letter is misdirected as it should have been written to the secretary to the cabinet and copied to the president.
Procedure bane!
HH with his wife! My foot! Where can you see hh’s wife? even levy mwanawasa asked who hh’s wife was …”is she mwenye,?” asked levy. This is the most unloved wife coz all wives of prominent politicians in zambia are well known before their spouses become fimofimo not hh’s wife. She is a upnd guarded secret.
@george bush
Kindly respect the privacy of HH’s wife. We have different interests and aspirations. She has her own reasons of staying away from the media. The mere fact that HH has continued in politics may be an indication that she supports his career though she may do it in the background. There are those who seek public attention and those who opt to lead quite lives. I suppose Mutinta should be a very good wife material and HH is a lucky man to have her.
That’s your sister. She’s the ex Deputy Speaker and Kaputa MP Madam Mutale Nalumango. Been the tribalist that you are I guess now you are feeling bad that you’ve mocking someone from Kaputa! By the way Mwanawasa never said anything about Mutinta Hichilema been a Mwenye. It was RB and he apologised for it the next day!
Zoona ndiwe chikopo! So you don’t know that woman with HH. Ya ba! You have really shown us how dull you are. HH’s wife is light and younger than Ba Hon Mutale Nalumango. By the way, what is really wrong with the looks of Madam Nalumango? For her to have kids means someone out there found her attractive enough.
It is not the looks as she has been uniquely created by GOD. It is that head gear, it is tasteless and made her look like she is dressed for some ritual performance.
HH you think running the country is like running UPND, ask your friend Sata the man of action…..its not easy as you think.
He does not think so and has never said so.
Your man of action categorically stated that running a got is as easy as 90 days, putting more money in your pockets, and making vain promises etc. Still thinks that running a govt is as easy as promising 200% to everyone. That is why he is in this fix.
Power is sweet. When u are there u do not hear cries of the poor nurses. Foolish govt officials after giving themselves 100% salary increment are now threatening nurses who their ZUNO excutive bribed by Govt & left alone 2 victimized as sheep w/out a sherphard.
Our nurses are paid peanuts saving our lives while politicians are overpaid to kill us citizens with lack of drugs at UTH and political rally violence.
Very well put, a very powerful contradiction.
@emmy@george bush@kalaki@dip stick@fabio m.were you at chinama clinic when sata went to UTH late last year to rebulk management and health minister over the shortage of water?the reason sata went there is because lives were endangered due to lack of water.the same aplies to strike by nurses.should people die as a result of strike,the blame wont go to administration,instead wil go to sata’s govt.the president has power over everything in zed.in case you are stl in chinama,let me inform you that the strike is now joined by other provinces and latest being western.
I assume by your name ati nafimikola when blogging,the difference between Sata’s visit last year,and Hakainde’s is that sata was pro- solution and Hakainde’s is pro- making the situation worse by encouraging the nurses to stay away from work while you poor relatives go without health care.
Politicizing health by HH is very unfortunate,but yes when it concerns life the president should quickly get involved.the nurses’ unions and Govt is addressing anomalies hence work should continue, If HH wanted to sound objective he should have firmly advised nurses to resume work while he engages Govt not just blaming govt when he clearly understands what union negotiating is all about.cheap politiking.
Western didn’t join they just showed solidarity with their lusaka colleagues following a fake rumour of punishment .Here in Mongu its work as usual.
The public should know that the strike by nurses is a political issue because it is resulting into Zambians unnecessarily dying in our hospitals. The technocrats have clearly messed up and need direction from the Minister in charge of the Public Service Management Division (PSMD) who in Zambia is the President. HH is a Zambian with relatives and friends as well as an aspiring president and has every right to speak on this matter. PSMD has exhibited gross Incompetence and should be disciplined. They mislead the Public Service Commission and government into approving wrongly calculated salaries. Officers have been fired for much less serious offences than this.
The public should demand to know how the discrepancies were not noticed by the Public Service Commission (PSC). This is the wing which considers and accepts salaries and conditions of service from PSMD and advises the President whether to approve or disapprove them. Please bloggers ignore the attacks on HH. Besides our Head of State is more than able to defend himself politically.
We want a young leader, HH!
iwe you should be serious ! if you wanted a young leader Chipimo is even younger
Wait for 2016 as for now put on your seatbelt and enjoy the bumpy ride.
But Chipimo is ineffective!
This is a non partisan issue though political. I call upon our Head of State to act decisively so that similar fatal and divisive mistakes are not committed by the Public Service Commission. The PSC has been known to be very thorough. I wonder what could have happened this time around. There is need for an inquiry in this matter. I rest my case.
@hear me …Meantime work should resume,you should have been wise and conclude this way.
It’s criminal for any politician to take mileage over the suffering of other innocent Zambians perpetuated by those against the government. Super Ken fired all the doctors and nurses and cut their blood line when innocent people died because of their strikes. What would happen if police officers and military personnel went on strike? No one should push a president to invoke his utmost powers like Super Ken did. Mukalila bonse.
THIS IS INDEED STUPIDITY AT IT WORST.
NURSES HAVE ALREADY CALLED OFF THEIR STRIKE WITHOUT YOUR CHILDISH INTERVENTION?
WHY DID YOU NOT ADDRESS YOUR CONCERNS TO EITHER THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH OR LABOUR?
Spot on ……it’s called cheap politiking.
@ganja farmer
THE PRESIDENT REBUKED ALL BUT THE VICE PRESIDENT AT UTH.
WHY IS THE ‘BOY’ COMPLAINING TO THE PRESIDENT? THAT IS WHY WE HAVE MADE HIM DE PERSONA NON GRATA IN LUAPULA?
nurses…………..! give me good reasons y u shud b the highest paid civil servants. GRZ has introduced a single spine pay structure for all c. servants of which ur part of. therefore, find were u fall according to yo qualification.
That’s madam Nalumango, former Deputy Speaker, now UPND Chair
Please forget about HH! Surely, how would you play with life ba Hakaivotela Heka? Instead of HH looking @ the impact of patients, is dreaming to be @ state house bcoz for Hakaivotela Heka everything does not matter.
Go and see if you can sell yourself in Luapula, Muchinga and Northern Provinces then you can think of going to state house. Population matters in democracy.
Njalamimba Musonda
Waht’s wrong with Luapula, muchinga and Northern provinces? Bemba tribalists you always promote. Forget about regionalism. It is ONE ZAMBIA ONE NATION. Bemba, Tonga, Lozi etc we are all one. Search you saul and never think so shallow. Promote love, equal opportunities and unity
The tribalists in those provinces can never vote for a non-Bemba. Perhaps the best option is for ethnic groups to go their own way like the Lozis want to do. This Bemba hegemony is disgusting, to say the least.
@blue blood .. Do your research, I once did a project on ethnic groupings in Zambia,it’s clear all are tribalists but with varying degrees, the highest being western followed by southern.the research further proved that at employment if a northerner is HR he may employ other tribes,reluctant on Lozi and tonga but will not employ a fellow northerner while the opposite is true Lozi and tonga will only employ their own and never a northerner but a closest easterner or any other small tribe easy to dominate like nkoya.What we learnt was effort to close this gap is required in the nation starting from homes,tribal interactions and invitations of others chiefs at traditional ceremonies and lastly intermarriages of which I personally fall victim.Then we can safely say one Zambia one nation.
@Chinyama, Lozi is not a tribe you fool! Just deal with your Bemba tribalism than coming up with manufactured stories. Zambians are living under Bemba tribal hegemonism not Tonga nor Lozi! Learn to deal with your greediness and selfishness! Truth be told this is the most tribal govt since Zambia’s independence. We will judge Tongas, Lozis, Luvales, Kaondes when we rich the bridge. Lets not start judging people before the fact. Currently the FACT is Bembas are Tribalists! Abena 90%! Cabinet, parastatals, foreign missions, permanent secretaries…..its all 90%!
HH just needs Lusaka Province. He does not Luapula, Northern or Mchinga Fimofimo and Lusaka is slowly changing. No more bufi!
am sorry but i dont support the nurses on this one and HH has got it wrong.
the salary increments whereannounced in april and we were told that they would be implemented in september. in May copies of the salary increments where given with forms for those who had complaints to submit to PSMD by July. am sure most of the nurses never even saw these circulars and assumed they would be getting 100% increments. anyone who has read the agreement can see that the increments vary depending on which grade you where in……..further more the demands the nurses are putting forward are issues to deaL with in the agreement for next year…so as it stands there strike is illegal and the whole lot of them should all be transferred to rural areas
Punishment is good for would offenders,especially health workers when they stike it should be really a reason worthwhile but should quickly resume work while their unions are addressing their standoff.
Chinama, I think you should tell the people where you work. If you are an employer, I am sure your workers are slaves. Health workers are workers just like anybody else and they deserve to get what is due to them. The problem at hand is that no one would want to address issues until they reach volatile levels. This is very unfortunate. We need to solve problems before they even happen.
If u come to zambia sugar backend mechanical,u will find that most of them if not all of them are bembas because of the inrermediate bosses.Old guys with good performance are left in terms of promitions because most of them are non tonga.Bembas are the worst tribalists coz when they are in charge,they dont leave a relative unemployed even when not qualified.
If u come to zambia sugar backend mechanical,u will find that most of them if not all of them are bembas because of the inrermediate bosses.Old guys with good performance are left in terms of promitions because most of them are non tonga.Bembas are the worst tribalists coz when they are in charge,they dont leave a relative unemployed even when not qualified.
this president is deaf!!!! he never takes advise.