Mandaza improves Masiyiwa’s pay offer to doctors – foolishness, will not end health crisis




Ibbo Mandaza
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“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us.” Charles Dickens in Tale of Two Cities.

For Zimbabwe the last 40 years have been the worst of times, the age of foolishness, the epoch of incredulity and the season of Darkness, with none of the positives.

When Zimbabwe gained her independence in 1980 some of the white supremacists predicted doom and gloom but none of them ever expected the country to sink this deep into the abyss.

What is worse, even now with the country up to her eyes in this hell-on-earth of our own making, there is a chorus of voices shouting “Full stream ahead!”

“A total of 1500 junior and senior doctors, housing on site for juniors and a vehicle loan scheme,” proposed Dr Ibbo Mandaza, Sapes Trust director and one of the opinion makers in the country.

“It can’t be too difficult to set up a fund with an initial sizeable injection to allow for a meaningful number to access initially, they can even purchase vehicles for the scheme, for economies of scale, waive duty (nothing new there), for seniors, perhaps access to state/council land for housing.”

Yesterday Econet owner, Strive Masiyiwa, was offered to pay the doctors a living wage and now Dr Mandaza is proposing an improved offer for doctors. Of course, this will not change anything because there are no nurses, no equipment, no medicine, no water, no electricity, no fuel, no cash, etc., etc. In short the two still have their heads buried in the sand and age of foolishness continues!

The solutions to the challenges Zimbabwe had in 1980 are totally irrelevant to the challenge we face today. 39 years of this corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical regime has sucked all the blood and marrow out of the Zimbabwe economy.
Zimbabwe is a failed state and stone broke because of the decades of criminal waste of human and material resources. The ruling elite have creamed off the nation’s resources for selfish purposes, building multi-million dollar mansions, commandeering productive farms only to abandon them, etc.

The country’s health care services has been allowed to rot, like many other national institutions, because the ruling elite source their five-star health care outside the country. Zanu PF have long stopped caring about our local health care services and so firing the striking doctors was just the coup de grace and not the bolt out of the clear sky some people would like us to believe.

Even if someone was to step in and provide the housing, cars, etc., Mandaza is wittering about, that will not restore out health care services because we will still need nurses, medicines, working equipment, water supply, electricity, etc., etc.

Zimbabwe is in this serious economic and political mess because the country has been stuck with this corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF for 39 years because the party rigged elections to stay in power. Zimbabwe’s problem is one of chronic bad governance.

“People are dying. It is a life and death situation,” Mandaza readily admitted.

Yes, the situation in Zimbabwe is dire but all because for decades we, the people, have buried our heads in the sand and would not deal with the elephant in the room – the curse of rigged elections and bad governance.

Zanu PF rigged last year’s elections, the regime is illegitimate and must step down; so the country can finally implement the democratic designed to end the Zanu PF dictatorship.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, of substance can ever be accomplished until we cure ourselves of this curse of rigged elections and bad governance. Nothing!