Open Letter to His Excellency President E.D. Mnangagwa: A Call to Action for a Health Revolution in Zimbabwe
From Linda Masarira, LEAD President
Your Excellency @edmnangagwa
As a concerned Zimbabwean citizen and President of Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD), I am writing to you with utmost urgency to appeal for your intervention in fixing the healthcare crisis that is slowly eroding the dignity, wellbeing, and lives of our people.
Zimbabwe’s public health sector is in a state of comatose. Our people are suffering, and many are dying prematurely due to a lack of access to affordable, quality healthcare. With over 90% of our citizens eking out a living in the informal sector, health cover has become a privilege reserved only for the elite. Yet it is the constitutional mandate of the government to ensure that every Zimbabwean enjoys their right to quality public healthcare, not as a favour but as a right.
Your Excellency, you have at your disposal the constitutional powers necessary to spearhead a Health Revolution that will not only address this urgent crisis but also cement your legacy as the President who transformed Zimbabwe’s public healthcare system for generations to come. A presidential decree to provide free treatment and medication for all chronic disease patients would be a historic move that directly saves lives and restores hope to millions. Life, once lost, can not be recovered. Healthcare must be treated as the critical, non-negotiable pillar of our nation’s survival.
Instead of focusing on donations for trivial matters, we must prioritize healthcare. Our public hospitals are under-equipped, under-resourced, and in a state of disrepair. The conduct of many nurses and some health personnel has become unethical and unprofessional, further burdening an already fragile system. I therefore call upon you, Mr. President, to:
• Declare a State of Emergency in the Health Sector.
• Order an urgent review of salaries and working conditions for all state nurses, nurse aides, and doctors to boost morale and professionalism.
• Introduce strict performance appraisals for all public healthcare workers to ensure accountability and improved service delivery.
• Set up a Commission of Enquiry to investigate shortages of critical medicines and medical utensils and expose corruption and maladministration at public health institutions.
• Rehabilitate all public hospitals and acquire modern, necessary equipment without delay.
• Establish a fully equipped, state-funded Oncology Centre accessible to all cancer patients across the country.
• Ensure universal access to maternal healthcare to curb the shocking rise in maternal mortality rates.
Just across our border in South Africa, our pregnant women are now being denied access to maternal care, a stark reminder of how desperate our situation is at home. Zimbabweans must no longer be humiliated or forced into exile just to access basic healthcare services.
Healthcare is a fundamental human right enshrined in our Constitution. It is not optional. It is not for the privileged few. It must be guaranteed for every citizen, regardless of income, location, or status.
Mr. President, the time to act is now. Posterity will remember you, not for how many roads we built, not for how many conferences we hosted, but for how you safeguarded the lives and dignity of the people who entrusted you with leadership.
On behalf of Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD) and every struggling Zimbabwean, I implore you: Please do the needful and fix the healthcare system in Zimbabwe
Yours sincerely,
Linda Tsungirirai Masarira
President, Labour Economists, and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD)
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