By Kuda Pembere
Zimbabwe’s Health and Child Care Minister, Dr. Douglas Mombeshora, has dismissed allegations that Government is preventing more than 4,000 nurses from practising abroad by withholding certificates of good standing (CGS).
Reports had suggested the Health Ministry was refusing to release the certificates in a bid to curb the mass exodus of healthcare workers. However, Mombeshora told journalists last Friday that CGS matters fall under the purview of the Nurses Council of Zimbabwe (NCZ), not his ministry.
“I think what you are referring to are certificates of good standing for nurses. Those are done through the Nurses Council. They are not my responsibility,” he said. “But we witnessed a huge brain drain, especially during COVID. We lost more than 4,000 nurses,” he said.
Mombeshora explained that nurses sign a bonding contract during training, requiring them to work for the state for a period equivalent to their training. Some, he said, breached this agreement.
“Some of these nurses left without completing their contract. So it’s a breach. They can’t get [the certificate] because they have not completed their contract,” he said.
He added that others who fulfilled their obligations, including some who served the ministry for over 20 years, are free to resign and pursue opportunities elsewhere.
“There are some who have completed their contract. Some have worked for 20 years in the system and resigned — it’s their right. If someone has completed their contract and wants to go for professional development, they should be allowed to do that,” he said.
Mombeshora also clarified that as of last year, the bonding period was extended from one to two years for nurses trained by the government.
“For every year we train you while paying you, you are bonded for two years. You sign the contract before training starts. It’s up to you to accept it or not,” he said.
He acknowledged that the migration of healthcare workers is a global issue, but said it is particularly damaging to developing countries like Zimbabwe.
“We can’t be training nurses for the developed world when we still don’t have enough ourselves,” he said. “We are not trying to force people to stay, but we need to improve working conditions and remuneration to make it attractive for them to remain.”
Mombeshora also urged the public to report individuals allegedly extorting nurses up to US$2,000 for CGS documents.
“You have not been in my office with that complaint, but you know people are charging $1,700,” he said. “Why don’t you give us the name so action can be taken? I don’t handle CGS matters. If I did, I’d have 4,000 papers on my desk.”
He added that complaints of extortion and fake certificates, including one case involving a nurse who paid £3,000 in the UK, have not been formally reported.
“I’ve heard of people paying money and we have said, tell us who paid money and to whom? Nobody has come to my office. The only person who came to my office paid money in the UK, £3,000.
“They paid money and the other person who came to me was fired from work in the UK because they paid money and then they got a fake certificate of good standing.
“Then now they were coming here to say, can you please help us because we got this. I said, how did you manage to get this certificate of good standing, which is now fake?
“That’s when they were telling us they paid money there and all they are asking to give is a name. And a certificate of good standing is produced within minutes using these technologies,” Minister Mombeshora said.
