Zimbabwe nurses go back to work as government refuses to back down

“But then, a tide of strikes before the elections is also risky for the Mnangagwa administration. It makes people feel that they are bad boys and girls who can’t do anything to better their lot, just as was the case under the Mugabe tenure. After all, civil servants were not striking during Mugabe’s last years in office even though the working conditions were just the same. That would look like people’s patience has run out and the Mnangagwa outfit is useless.

“That means the industrial action must stop now. How? You first bring out the stick, otherwise the civil servants will get too cozy with you and take you for wool. This is where the military spectre comes in. By the way, it didn’t start last week. You will remember, for instance, that just recently, July Moyo, the Local Government minister, went out hollering about deploying soldiers to kick vendors off the streets.

“That it didn’t happen after all doesn’t matter. The new establishment is fully aware of the potential of getting people quaking at the mention of the army. Word has it that Chiwenga actually told a delegation of nurses that went to see him last week that they, in fact, had bigger guns than the ones that were taken out during the coup.

“It is useful to note that the letter of dismissal was written not from Defence House, but Chiwenga’s office as VP. That means, technically, it wasn’t written by the army. But it’s all draw-draw like 6 and 9, as they say in street language. When people think of Chiwenga, they see a battalion of soldiers. He may have taken off the army fatigue now, but he remains the army general in their minds. He is the political scarecrow in the post-Mugabe government.

“What comes after the military spectre? You let the courts do its work. They, rightly, declare the expulsions null and void and reinstate the nurses. This will happen next week or slightly after as sure as the sun will come up. That will give the Mnangagwa outfit the look of a dispensation that respects constitutionalism and the rule of law.”

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