Jobless nurses turn to Geingob
Registered nurses, who remain unemployed due to health ministry budget cuts, say the government has chosen to leave them out in the cold and want foreign nurses to cease their work by 30 July.
Unemployed registered Namibian nurses are calling on President Hage Geingob to address their plight, saying the future of the healthcare system is at stake.
In a media statement issued by the group's spokesperson Junias Shilunga, they expressed their dissatisfaction with health minister Bernhard Haufiku and are calling on Geingob to intervene.
“The unemployed registered nurses of Namibia hereby express our profound disappointment and disbelief at the manner in which the government is treating us. While it seems to have noted with 'great concern' the conditions in which we have been made to live, the government has chosen to leave us in the cold,” Shilunga said.
“We are calling the president of the republic, Dr Hage Geingob, to assist and intervene in this matter, which has crippling effects on the future of our healthcare sector in Namibia.”
In April, Haufiku announced a 6.1% ministry budget cut for the 2018/19 financial year, which has negatively impacted the employment opportunities of hundreds of nurses who were awaiting employment.
The decision by the health ministry to freeze all nursing posts for the current financial year has seen graduates having to look for alternative means of employment, contrary to what they studied for.
This week Namibian Sun ran an article about a 42-year-old mother of three, who is a 2018 University of Namibia (Unam) nursing graduate. She has been forced to work as an assistant vendor at the Oshakati Open Market.
Shilunga also pointed out the recent announcement made by Haufiku that the ministry will be renewing the contracts of foreign nurses is not fair, as it undermines the knowledge gained by Namibian nurses.
“On 18 May 2018, we learnt with deep shock that Haufiku had made a U-turn to renew and extend the foreign nurses' contracts, whose contracts ended last year. Despite the health ministry indicating last year they will not renew the contracts of foreign nurses, in order to create room for new graduates, government have maintained its position of leaving hundreds of young Namibian nurses on the street,” Shilunga said.
He added they are giving the foreign nurses until 30 July to cease working, in solidarity, in order for Namibian nursing graduates to be absorbed.
“This should not be looked at as an anti-Pan-Africanism action, but our brothers and sisters from other countries should understand the situation we are living in, knowing well that nursing is a practice. It is difficult for qualified nurses to spend more than seven months without practice, as this will lead to them forgetting and clinical negligence at work.”
KENYA KAMBOWE
In a media statement issued by the group's spokesperson Junias Shilunga, they expressed their dissatisfaction with health minister Bernhard Haufiku and are calling on Geingob to intervene.
“The unemployed registered nurses of Namibia hereby express our profound disappointment and disbelief at the manner in which the government is treating us. While it seems to have noted with 'great concern' the conditions in which we have been made to live, the government has chosen to leave us in the cold,” Shilunga said.
“We are calling the president of the republic, Dr Hage Geingob, to assist and intervene in this matter, which has crippling effects on the future of our healthcare sector in Namibia.”
In April, Haufiku announced a 6.1% ministry budget cut for the 2018/19 financial year, which has negatively impacted the employment opportunities of hundreds of nurses who were awaiting employment.
The decision by the health ministry to freeze all nursing posts for the current financial year has seen graduates having to look for alternative means of employment, contrary to what they studied for.
This week Namibian Sun ran an article about a 42-year-old mother of three, who is a 2018 University of Namibia (Unam) nursing graduate. She has been forced to work as an assistant vendor at the Oshakati Open Market.
Shilunga also pointed out the recent announcement made by Haufiku that the ministry will be renewing the contracts of foreign nurses is not fair, as it undermines the knowledge gained by Namibian nurses.
“On 18 May 2018, we learnt with deep shock that Haufiku had made a U-turn to renew and extend the foreign nurses' contracts, whose contracts ended last year. Despite the health ministry indicating last year they will not renew the contracts of foreign nurses, in order to create room for new graduates, government have maintained its position of leaving hundreds of young Namibian nurses on the street,” Shilunga said.
He added they are giving the foreign nurses until 30 July to cease working, in solidarity, in order for Namibian nursing graduates to be absorbed.
“This should not be looked at as an anti-Pan-Africanism action, but our brothers and sisters from other countries should understand the situation we are living in, knowing well that nursing is a practice. It is difficult for qualified nurses to spend more than seven months without practice, as this will lead to them forgetting and clinical negligence at work.”
KENYA KAMBOWE
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