MORE nurses at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) have received letters of termination of employment for participating in the recent illegal strike.
UTH senior superintendent Luckson Kasonka and Zambia Union of Nurses Organisation president Tommy Yungana confirmed this yesterday.
Last week, Health Minister Joseph Kasonde told Parliament that a total of 234 nurses that participated in the strike were dismissed from hospitals in the country.
Dr Kasonde said the exercise would continue until all those who took part in the work stoppage to press for better conditions of service were dismissed.
Dr Kasonka said in an interview yesterday that letters were this week served on more nurses but could not give the exact number of those affected.
“Yes we are still giving letters of termination to all nurses that participated in an illegal strike.
“I don’t have the exact number but about 115 have so far been served with letters of termination from the time the exercise started, while others are being employed to fill the vacancies,” Dr Kasonka said.
Mr Yungana said the union had not yet been updated on the total number of nurses sacked so far.
He, however, said he was aware that more dismissal letters were issued on Tuesday.
A check at the country’s biggest referral hospital showed that normal routine operations were being conducted by student nurses.
The situation was the same at Levy Mwanawasa General Hospital.
Meanwhile, 10 nurses have been fired at Arthur Davison Children’s Hospital (ADCH) in Ndola for participating in the illegal strike.
But the nurses have protested saying there was no strike at the hospital.
ADCH senior medical superintendent Sam Phiri confirmed in an interview that some nurses had been fired.
Health Workers Union of Zambia ADCH branch secretary Hamazwanga Sikaanda also said in an interview that 10 nurses had been fired.
According to the letters written on December 2, 2013, from the Public Service Commission, which the nurses only received on December 16 this year, the nurses had been sacked because they participated in an illegal strike from November 30 to December 1, 2013.
This is unfortunate. Regardless of what happened, we need nurses in our hospitals and clinics. There are always procedures to use for an erring employee. It is like this government only knows dismissal. What about reprimanding, warning, suspensions and other means? Come on PF, people need quality health care even from indiscipline nurses. It pains me so much when I see a clinic in our village in Mpika being run by an untrained person. You are in leadership to solve people’s problems and not to show that you have power. I am disappointed that I risked my life to vote out a sensible MMD government for you.
Just go to court and sue that President and then appeal the way the three police officers did, Now there are still working. Just challenge the PSMD in courts of law and drang the case till 2016.
why complain if you did not participant in strike
HH PLEASE SAVE THEM LOL!!!
Its a PF way of taking an opportunity to divert and save money to be used for By-elections. Further to weaken trade union and create fear for anyone that will consider strikes in future
Don’t tell me the Firsty Lady who appears to be a proxy of a minister of health cannot advise the President how over stretched UTH was even before the nurses were fired. Dr Kaseba knows the problems facing UTH in and out. She is a mother who has to put herself into other helpless mothers shoes, waiting for many hours to attend to their sick children
Sata was a minister of health, he knows the problems at UTH and fired doctors while in MMD just to show off his power.
Sata and wife go abroad for treatment, spending millions compared to what these nurses are asking for.
Let’s be objective !!
Latest news say there is an issue from Plot 1 and people are suggesting that he be taken to UTH with immediate effect. No wonder kabwili is all over the show
They were not there when they were needed the most! Now they want to be available when some patients who desperately needed there presence and attention are no more. Its so sad.
We have a careless government indeed, and we must reject this government… How do we start to get rid of key workers such as nurses especially in our country where they are needed the most…the gov does not have a heart for the people clearly, afterall when they are sick themselves they don’t use a Zambian nurse in most cases. The nurses merely asked for better wages, a bit of diplomacy rather than muscle and egotistical reactions could have saved lives. I wonder when we shall get the report on how MANY ZAMBIANS have died due to a lack of nurses in hospital, people are dieing out there, families are losing loves ones, for what?? Just to satisfy the SMALL EGO OF THE MINION MICHAEL SATA…SHAME!
Its a very sad development. Its our prayer that they are reinstated as quickly as possible
Word from Govt is that they will never be reinstated. Some of them have already trekked to Botswana.
It was a mistake on their part to think that Sata’s govt will act in any other way if they went on strike. In fact it was govt’s ploy to dangle a carrot and then withdraw it so that they react and get fired. it was done so that the ones that will come in will never complain about garden boy salaries or at least not in this govt.
Please don’t alarm us .You people may remember Mr Sata one day .He may have made mistakes but he has also scored vital goals . For example; he introduced mineral royalty,The Government is working on student loans ,and We may have copper money receipted in Zambia and this will boost the economy .Another issue is that he will deal with sanitation issue on the copperbelt with the world bank loan.
A.M
Lets work for our country with commitment required. Zambia can be better than a lot of these other contries.
govt should provide leadership and stop being myopic. intimidating nurses thru dismissals will not solve the problems in the health sector. the people they are dismissing today voted for PF in 2011, let govt handle this problem with maturity rather than the pettiness we are seeing here!
You see! You have fire poeple with experience, replacing them with new/straight from school will mean two to 3 mor years unexperienced ,less competent work force. ‘for UTH’ its a drag, so retrogressive!!
FI PF FI MA SHI LU…MAD PARTY, they v no compassion at all, its so dangerous.
Let the union take the matter industralial relations court and the challenge the govt
Nurse went too far for nothing. They were begged to go back to work but the more arrogant they became. They thought they were indispensable but now they are looking fooolish in the eyes of Zambians. In fact the instigators are safe and yet the innocent blind followers are the ones suffering…..big lesson for all of us that we should not follow blindly. Any way GRZ and Sata, please forgive these nurses coz now they have learned a big lesson that HH can not give them jobs. HH promised them that they would not be fired, but after being fired HH has run away from them. really sad.
Peace and prosperity to Mother Zambia.
Truth hurts you mean? AGREEING with anything the ruling government does right now means YOU do not care about the average Zambian. Whatever you think the nurses did wrong does not matter. The fact that this government made promises to the people and did not deliver should be what should be the debate here. THE POLITICIANS STARTING WITH SATA ARE THE ONES WHO SHOULD BE FIRED FOR TREATING PEOPLE THIS WAY. THEY DO NOT CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO THE AVERAGE ZAMBIAN. Sata, his family his ministers will fly to get treatment while the average Zambian that needs to go to UTH will DIE!!!! We as Zambians need to petition for a constitution that states that EVERY LEADER IN THIS COUNTRY NEED NOT SEEK HEALTHCARE ANYWHERE ELSE EXCEPT THE INSTITUTIONS IN THE COUNTRY, then see how many nurses will be fired.
Sata is breaking the country piece by piece
Group influence sometimes is not good to follow. The clip that was replayed on ZNBC TV last week was not ok where nurses were calling for one cabinet Minister to go to the labour ward for what??? That is indiscipline at its highest peak. When you are angered it is better to select what to say or better keep quiet.
Its obvious the plan is to import Chinese nurses. Make sure these uncaring pf are kicked out in 2016 before they bring our country to its knees.
The Chinese nurses WILL NOT move to Zambia to get paid what Zambian nurses get paid now are you kidding me?!!! What world do you live in?!!!
Work at home and earn a leaving! Check this out on http://2cashsite.com/?id=61242.
The effect of these dismissals on healthcare service delivery are for more profound than during the “illegal” strike period that the nurses undertook. People are dying every day NOT as a result of the long ended strike action but because of dictatorial dismissals. There is a lot of witch hunting too. If you want to employ cadres choose carefully where to place them not in areas that have to do with matters of life and death! What a shame!
ya awe mwandi tusoswe muchibe. Anyway i liked the way these tusoswe were dancing didnt know zambia had such splendid dancing talent. The whole of sub saharan africa these dancing nurses can win any awards, name it….ngoma, africa magic, south african even oscar. They are simply the best no wonder my friends who chop nurses say they are the best in bed. Its why HH is in full support of them coz of services given to him in bed.
Ministry of cultural dances should employ them forex ll come into zambia as these nurses dance at many international festivals including samba.
Their arrogant bitternes only equals HH.
George Bush, that name suits you exactly. An I d i o t as he is. CHIKOPO!!!
Government should now consider redeployments of more experienced nurses from health centres around lusaka to UTH.Its a mistake to recruit directly to tertiary care.Let new employees begin with primary health care.If there is a significant shortfall we can then transfer from nearby districts.Costs will be bearable.
Government should not surrender now.Lessons will not be learnt because Governments have been backing down all along and illegal strikes became institutionalized
Health centres need the experienced nurses also ( if not more ) !
What would you do if you had no job, Xmas and New year are the best and worst periods of the Year. How are these brothers and sisters going to fend for theirs? How will they explain to that child there will be no Bread, cake or drinks? I really feeel for you guys, even if you made blunders in your judgement, your children dont need to be punished for it. If only we could look beyond their mistakes then make decisions, we would make rational decisions. We are doing more harm than repairing. There spirits must be broken especially mothers who cant bear the look on those childrens faces not understanding why momy can afford that chicken, or cake for Chrismas, Please sir mr President do something, swallow your pride and reinstate them please!
You would have better luck getting a response from a brick Cindy. Some of us who have kids understand the pain these nurses who may have children are going through. Sata once fired a lot of doctors and did not reinstate them. Do you think this is the kind of man that would back down coz of a few nurses? However, I hear he is quite ill mu State House. I know this is a horrid thing to wish for but for the sake of my country, these crazy debts we are going into, spiraling cost of living, I really wish he dies. I also wish Levy had never evacuated him so SA the time he got sick. This is country is better off with this man gone. I really hope they take him ku UTH for treatment and not out of the country. Better still SA so that he dies like they usually do.
You would have better luck getting a response from a brick Cindy. Some of us who have kids understand the pain these nurses who may have children are going through. Sata once fired a lot of doctors and did not reinstate them. Do you think this is the kind of man that would back down coz of a few nurses? However, I hear he is quite ill mu State House. I know this is a horrid thing to wish for but for the sake of my country, these crazy debts we are going into, spiraling cost of living, I really wish he dies. I also wish Levy had never evacuated him to SA the time he got sick. This country is better off with this man gone. I really hope they take him ku UTH for treatment and not out of the country. Better still SA so that he dies like they usually do.
Well said Cindy. However I think it’s the nurses who should swallow their pride and apologise. They need to understand that dialogue and not being used as political pawns by some parties and as means to an end by their unions, is the only way forward. This should be a good lesson to them and others.
@14.2 dudelove
Its normal for human being to fall sick here there, especially at his age he can fall sick more often. But you, wont reach 30yrs ninshi you are gone nauma akaputi mucibumba. Even your bitter president wont reach 60yrs ninshi he is gone.
Long live michael chilufya sata, ichintu cintu umwene. 2016 MCS MCS MCS MCS MCS MCS……….
ka george, am way over thirty, have two kids and keep some dependants. It is clear that you are a still a dependant so you can never appreciate how tough life really is when you are not the one spending money and please, spare me any nonsense about how u are earning over $20,000 per month or whatever coz i won’t believe you. Sata needs to die and quickly so that Zambia gets back on track to being a normal country.
Guys, I dont know but I still believe he will reinstate them, am somehow panicking for them, each moment I check LT I get disappointed to see no headline of them being reinstated. Anyway, lets home for the better.
Yes Cindy some little children and their families will be starving out there as we speak…such terrible cruelty from our own gov. it feels as if our gov hates its own people so much it has declared war against us… We urgently require a gov and leadership with a heart and love for the people at this time, or else there shall be more destruction… let this be a lesson too for us not to vote according to slogans and excitement, but to think and consider candidates and their parties critically, that way we shall avoid turning our gov into a den of thieves as it currently is.
Honestly, i feel there should have been a better way for the nurses to demonstrate and not go on strike. I mean, they have people’s lives in their hands and those people need their full attention. However, i feel there should have been a warning issued to them before they got fired because how will those nurses find other jobs with such reports? Does that mean that they will remain jobless?
are you saying Nurses and Doctors in Kenya are also crazy. Or is it the first time workers have gone on strike in Zambia. Pay what you Promised
But the nurses have protested saying there was no strike at the hospital.
WAIT A MINUTE!
I THOUGHT HH HAD GIVEN YOU GUYS AN ULTIMATUM TO REINSTATE OR FACE HIS WRATH…..!
Man, HH’s tail is in between his legs now. He has even run way from the nurses.
Fired Nurses do not booth with this government there are more jobs internationally. Just go on google and type ” Nurses Jobs” you see a list of various agencies looking for personnel. Apply and leave the useless country. We will see the loser. PF is rubish
Mmaaba
I WISH I COULD HIGH 5 YOU RIGHT NOW!
Ever occurred to you why they have never applied for these wonderful jobs abroad? Also take a few minutes to reflect on why a good number have left your so called ‘paradise’ and returned to what you insultingly call ‘useless country’? What an unpatriotic !D10t
This is unfair, think this the time as zambia we suppose to rise up and speak against the government, this is our country and we all the rights to ask for what is right for us. Imagine this nurse gets as low K3500, she \ he has pay rent, Transport, Food and school fees… can one answer this is enough regards to our standard of living? I think leaders are taking us for granted now…. this guyz there don`t know how much is 25kg of mealie meal and just liter of petrol but what they get to much. this injustice should come to an end… i believe just one day we going to have Mandela some to stand up and sacrifice is life for this injustice government… I think from the time PF took power there is nothing tangeble that they have done. Its the lesson never over promised what you cant…
I FEEL GOOD TO SEE THE ELITE TRIBE HOLDING IMPORTANT POSITIONS POSITIONS IN GOVERNMENT.
1. CHILUFYA SATA PRESIDENT
2. KASEBA FIRST LADY
3.CHIKWANDA FINANCE
4.MWAMBA BWALYA DEFENCE
5.CHENDA AGRICULTURE
YOU SHOULD ALL BE GRATEFUL TO ELITE TRIBE FOR PROVIDING QUALITY LEADERSHIP IN THE COUNTRY
PRAISE BE TO THE ELITE TRIBE FOR UNITING THE COUNTRY!!!!
CHA WISO CHI.KALA. SUNTWE!!!!
Chenda is not from elite tribe,he is goba,from chiefteness chiawa.has also some Tonga links.
this is very silly of you Kasonka to do..
Go on firing dem! Can u extend de firing 2 other ministries please!We need sanity in our country.’Ni vya boma kind of altitude is too much.’ Please let there b stiff punishment on any erring public officer. Go in2 de ministry of education & clean t
can any one of those fired nurses who is single contact me for marriage purposes
When are some people going to die? Lord please help us!
fools are ruling and there is no fool to control the other
It is to bad to hear and read that the PF does not recognise internationally recognised human rights. every worker has aright to express his views in regard to poor conditions of living and every democratic government should be able to withstand acertain degree of annoyance to enable its ctizens fully exercise their rights
Ba kateka na papata pliz, ndefwaya incito yandi, shakabwekeshepo strike nakambi.Mwaliishiba efyo iya becoz of mob psychology.
In everything there are some advantages and disadvantages. If the Govt. reverses the decision of firing the nurses, it will be told that it is a weak one or likened to a dog without the teeth. Again the prevailing situation triggers to luck of human face to the leadership. My suggestions are that let alone the supervisors to the affected nurses be the ones to first fire their staff and not the highest office. This will restore dignity and sanity in our Country. Yes to the nurses I can also say no matter what happens in life, let’s try to dialog and not to react to situations uncontrollably because the outcome of such in most cased are regrettable. Your discomfort is real but if only you could have reflected to the call you committed yourself to this noble service. May the union come in.