Police in riot gear has blocked protesting unemployed Doctors’ march to the statehouse to seek an audience with the head of state over their plight.
The Doctors who initially gathered at the UNZA Ridgeway Campus opted to march to the statehouse but were intercepted by police on Independence Avenue.
One of the representatives, Dr. Wallace Ndumba has told Diamond News that Doctors will no longer offer free service as volunteers at the expense of unfilled promises to be employed.
Over 800 Doctors are unemployed in the country and they are hoping they could be employed in the forthcoming recruitment of 11,200 health personnel.
Two days ago, Minister of Health, Sylvia Masebo disclosed that the recruitment of 11,200 health personnel will commence next month.- Diamond TV
Meanwhile, Ministry of Health permanent secretary Luckson Kasonka has advised unemployed Medical Doctors who staged a protest in Lusaka today that consultations on the recruitment of health workers have commenced.
Professor Kasonka said that the government wants the exercise conducted in a methodical manner to ensure Doctors start receiving a salary immediately after they are posted, adding that the government has resolved to recruit Doctors every year.
Professor Kasonka said this when he addressed the doctors on behalf of President Hakainde Hichilema.
The Doctors are demanding among other things for government to change the law that requires them to work for a government institution on a two-year internship program before acquiring a practicing license.
And unemployed Doctors spokesperson Wallace Ndumba appealed to the government to fulfill its promise by employing the 8-hundred doctors.
Another unemployed Doctor, Mpange Bwalya said the doctors have observed some incoherent statements from the ministry of health on recruitment and want to get the actual road map.
There is something wrong here……….
With the acute shortages of health personal in Western countries…………
You have hundreds of trained health personal roaming the streets ??????
Human resources export is also a countries great earner of foreign currency………
Even if those doctors are exported as nurses to the west while their qualifications as doctors are aligned, would make monetary sense……….
Oh look! It is life under the new dawn where people were promised the right to demonstrate without being curtailed by the authorities. Hahahahaha
Kanshi isukulu lyachabechabe. Doctor no inchito.
Young unemployed people, who included trained medical doctors, voted in large numbers for the UPND because of the promise of jobs by the UPND. Now that they are protesting against delayed engagement and deployment, they are now being met by police in riot gear as if they were rioting when they merely wanted to see the Head of State over the matter. Their freedoms to assemble, organize themselves and protest are now being curtailed by the UPND government that also promised them new freedoms. What a sudden turn around in events for a party that promised much whilst in opposition.
“Think beyond Kasenseli Gold Mining Economic Empowerment, Youths in North Western Province told”-LT
800 Doctors, think Parliament.
They refused to meet with Intellectuals? no more five years.
Don’t promise, just do it quietly. Zambia has done very well in producing professionals but unfortunately there aren’t any jobs for them. It may sound absurd but we could do well to find ways to ” export” these professionals to countries that have shortfall.
#5….
That is right……..
Countries like India, Ghana, Nigeria do very well with human resourse exports……….
Where India even makes it a policy to export trained personal to earn money in the west……….money which they send back home……..
If these doctors are not up to scratch, export them as nurses……..
NO SURPRISE AS THE NEW DAWN IS STILL STRGGLING TO PAY CIVIL SERVANTS PF DIDNT PAY
THERES THE TRUTH NOW
#1 that is making alot more sense…but the problem with some of these african countries like zambia is that we are lagging behind.. who can think of that here?? Except politik…working ideas like those are supposed to copied and pasted..zoona doctor akazi pitana na dustcot.
It has dawned! The new era is still old. Perhaps we need to give government some to shake the dizziness off their hangover.
Are these not the doctors they supported earlier? What has changed for them to be blocked? Government is either drunk or lacks uprightness.
Welcome to the reality.
At junior secondary school we learnt that – Photosynthesis is the ability which plants and other organism absorb sunlight to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen which human beings’ breath in, to stay alive.
Mr President! Please don’t suck up the oxygen that the nation needs. U-turns, Excuses & Lies have just gone too far.
This is a serious misplaced judgement. You should have urgently employed lifesaving medicals doctors and NOT fire the entire district commissioners and replacing them with cadres, which has been a costly exercise. You’ve bloated the government, the very thing you strongly condemned PF to have done. That money should have been channelled to these critical medical professionals.
Frankly, it is telling us as a nation we are too far away from…
Give time to newly elected government. You will be posted accordingly 11,500 gainst 800 . Why demonstration as if the stipulated period of time has erupted?
I think the two years internship should remain as part of assessing to make sure you gain the knowledge of executing the duties as a doctor. You have to be given a monthly allowance/minimum wage. Internship for doctors is 3 to 5 years in the US.
My advice, just get your books and study for the American USMLE or the British PLAB or Australia CAT MCQ examinations and you will be well on your way to being internationally employable in any country of your choice in the world. Furthermore, you will have unlimited opportunities to specialise and you will work in environments where you will be valued and well remunerated, The world is your oyster as a doctor, regardless of where you come from. So, do some piece work here and there and raise the money or borrow from friends and relatives to sit these exams. In fact, you have a better chance of passing if you are fresh from medical school.
@Deja Vu Zambia hasnt done well at producing professionals. Stop this self-gratification. The rpofessionals are half-baked. Dont forget they are competing with pros from neighboring countries. The education system has broken down in Zambia since the 90s. Graduates are half-baked. Just check their logic whenever they blog or write articles anywhere
Frankly, it is telling us as a nation we are too far away from priotising decisions.
Geeees!… 800 Doctors languishing in a developing nation such as Zambia.
To both PF & UPND how did you jinx this on ?
All these doctors work in private hospitals, they are looking for second job in government.
On the other hand, government doctors work at private hospitals too, they spend time at private or their own clinics, and spend just 2 hours at UTH.
Mwanyala, as usual Zambian doctors think they are special”iam doctor, I’m doctor” where? Ukkokwine! Police pls block these beggars, u were trained on a government bursary which u haven’t even paid. And on top of that u still want the same GRZ that trained u for free to give u employment. Shouldn’t u educated beggars be out there forming private clinics and researching new medicine?
Besides the minister of health put it clear that jobs are for all health personnel’s (including hospital drivers & cleaners). But as usual these greedy educated beggars want to take all 11,000 jobs for themselves. Never! UPND knows your tricks you bursary educated fools.
UPND administration missed an opportunity to engage with intellectuals, they came up with an idea that is proposed for the sake of argument so that it can be tested to see if it might be true.
They came dressed in white and you mate them in riot gear.
GRZ what is going on? Your own children, what are you teaching them?
These so call doctors are from the bottom of the barrel if they were good they would be snapped up by foreign hospitals or private practice or start their own practice. These are the ones that failed the exam.
Umunwe balaaile umusunga wenda uwakonkomana.
Tulipano.
#18 Cosmos
You are being cruel and missing the point.
Newly qualified doctors are required by law to Undertale apprenticeship in a gorvenment institution ,or hospital If you like, for a period of two years before they are given a practicing certificate.
So how then can this happen if the same govt does not employ them?
They are actually stuck.
#15 Nostradamus… it’s like you are here home… each time you go to hospital, staff will try hard to convince you that you will get better treatment at hospital so and so. You go to this private clinic…who do you see? the same person you just left at KTH.
Such reporting is very unprofessional… the police did not use the riot gears to disperse the crowd they convinced the demonstrators to use other means to express there grievances… so I don’t see the reason for including the riot gear in this statement…. The doctors should be patient they are not the only educated people in the country… we have masters degrees and we are still here.