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(LUSAKATIMES) Nurses boo, anger Health minister

Nurses boo, anger Health minister
Tuesday, December 28, 2010, 7:37
By Dimboni Mafweto

Health Minister Kapembwa Simbao was yesterday booed when he tried to convince health workers that government had signed agreements with commercial banks to offer them up to K100 million loans. This happened when Mr. Simbao made a speech during the launch of the distribution exercise of the new nurses’ uniforms at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH).

Explaining what government was doing to improve the living standards of the health workers, Mr. Simbao said his ministry was concerned with the fact that most of them did not have decent accommodation.

“We have signed agreements with banks to allow you to access loans, the maximum they will give you is K100 million….” he said.

But the health workers booed him and told him that they were not school pupils whom he could easily lie to and get away with it. The nurses further challenged him to mention one nurse who had accessed a K100 million loan.

They reminded the Health minister that no bank in Zambia would give an employee who earns less than K5 million that kind of loan and stressed that with their K2 million pay, they would only access loans of up to K20 million.

Mr. Simbao tried to counter the booing by shouting at the crowd through the microphone telling nurses to keep quiet and listen to his speech, but the health workers become unruly while some indistinctly called him liar.

Struggling to prove to the nurses that his message was genuine, the minister then turned to UTH senior superintendent Lackson Kasonka to assure them that they would access the loans.

“These loans are there at the bank. Don’t just say Wooo!! Wooo!! When you haven’t been there, go and get the loans and build houses…Hey (Dr. Kasonka) come and tell them, they think I am telling lies, come and tell them yourself they will listen to you since you work with them here,” said a visibly agitated Mr. Simbao.

This did not help as Dr. Kasonka who seemed not prepared to agree with the minister at that stage got no cooperation for silence from the health workers who instead demanded to know when they would get salary increments.

The Minister took back to the podium and explained that there was no need to boo him as salary increments were not determined by his office.

Labels: HEALTHCARE, KAPEMBWA SIMBAO, NURSES, UTH

posted by MrK @ 3:53 AM