The Sunday Mail
Veronica Gwaze
EFFORTS by authorities to bring sanity to council-owned polyclinics are hitting brick walls, as rogue nurses are demanding bribes from expecting mothers.
Information gathered by The Sunday Mail Society over the past few weeks revealed that pregnant women are being forced to fork out at least US$50 for them to be attended to without the hassles and delays synonymous with council-owned polyclinics.
Of the US$50, US$25 is used to pay for the official maternity registration fees, with the remainder being pocketed by corrupt staff.
The expecting mothers are not given receipts for the US$25 that is pocketed.
Ordinary patients are also made to pay bribes of not less than US$5 for them to jump queues or get medication.
Those that are failing to pay the bribe are being turned away.
In some instances, municipal health officials are referring patients or expecting mothers to central hospitals without referral letters as “punishment” for not playing ball.
However, without referral letters, the expecting mothers are referred back to the local clinics.
This has left many in a fix, particularly pregnant women who will be due for delivery. There are reports of victims who have suffered stillbirth or other birth-related complications after they were not promptly attended to.
Victims
Mrs Fadzai Chigu had a horrific experience recently at a council clinic in Highfield where a nurse demanded a US$25 bribe.
Due to the failure to get the much-needed attention, Mrs Chigu eventually had a stillbirth.
She narrated her ordeal.
“When the nurse who was demanding bribes from us refused to attend to me, we decided to go to hospital. It was rather late and I lost my baby,” a visibly angry Mrs Chigu said.
Patience Huchu, of Glen View, also narrated her ordeal at the hands of the corrupt nurses.
“When I got there I was already experiencing labour pains. The nurse did not mince her words. She demanded a bribe. My husband ended up borrowing money to pay the bribe,” Huchu said.
In another case, Apollonia Moyo of Kuwadzana, had to resort to home delivery after she failed to raise the money that was being demanded as a bribe.
She had to seek post-natal-consultation at a local hospital.
Mbuya Marembo, a midwife with the Mughodhi Apostolic Church said the number of women that are seeking her services are increasing.
“More and more women are coming to me for deliveries. At first I thought they were doing so after failing to go to clinics due to the Covid-19 restrictions. I later learnt that some nurses were demanding bribes, resulting in expecting mothers coming to us,” Mbuya Marembo said.
The Harare Residents’ Trust (HRT) director Precious Shumba said corruption is rampant at council clinics.
“We are getting reports from residents in Budiriro, Kuwadzana, Dzivarasekwa, Glen Norah, Mabvuku and Mbare polyclinics and this is worrying. Something needs to be done urgently,” Shumba said.
Harare City Council is currently operating 15 polyclinics.
The Harare City Council is struggling to rein in the corrupt officials as the cases involving corrupt health officials are being reported with little or no action being taken.
“Residents are now hopeless because their reports are being ignored, the culprits are continuing with their practices. This shows that we have cartels that are cashing in on the ineffectiveness of the council system,” said Shumba.
“If the system was effective, people would have been fired for violating the code of conduct. So in essence, these employees know that nothing will happen to them. It is only in rare cases that some corrupt workers have been suspended.”
Mr Shumba added that the local authority should also be clear on acceptable payment methods to avoid confusion and ambiguity.
In other areas, the clinics are demanding the stipulated US$25 in hard cash yet they issue receipts pegged in local currency charged at bank rate.
The nurses then convert the difference at a black market rate, which is higher than the official rate.
“If they want to charge in United States dollars, they should make it public and not allow their workers to make it seem like it is illegal. These are some of the loopholes they are using to fleece unsuspecting people,” he argued.
Harare City Council spokesperson Mr Michael Chideme said patients are exposing themselves to abuse by cutting corners.
“The service seekers should demand receipts for all their payments and should not pay more than the stipulated figures,” said Mr Chideme.
Corruption at council-run clinics in not only confined to Harare.
Recently, an expecting mother in Bulawayo suffered serious complications after nurses on duty refused to attend to her as she failed to pay a bribe they were demanding at a local clinic.
Reports also indicated that four nurses who were employed by the Masvingo municipality were arrested and
found guilty of demanding bribes from patients.
The Zimbabwe Nurses Association president Enock Dongo said there is need for responsible authorities to
find permanent solutions to such problems.
Dongo attributed corrupt activities at council-run clinics to low salaries.
“We are not in agreement with what these corrupt nurses are doing. However, as we seek solutions, we need to focus on the root causes. Nurses are not well paid,” Dongo said.
Nurses employed by most councils are currently getting an average salary of $55 000.
Dongo also blamed councils for fuelling corruption by tasking the nurses with handling cash.
“We have also raised such issues before. We have been asking why nurses are given duties that are not theirs,” added Dongo.
