Harare - Zimbabwe has fired top
executives of the country's five biggest state hospitals as part
of a restructuring exercise, the health services board said, a
week after the health minister was dismissed following
corruption allegations.
Millions of Zimbabweans rely on government hospitals for
healthcare, but the institutions face perennial shortages of
drugs and basic equipment. Nurses have been on strike for better
pay since June.
Health Services Board chair Paulinus Sikhosana told state
broadcaster ZBC on Monday that the dismissal of the chief
executives and several directors at state hospitals in Harare
and Bulawayo was meant to improve "operational efficiency,
effectiveness, accountability".
"It is part of a restructuring exercise within the ministry
(of health)," he said.
Sikhosana did not respond to calls on his mobile phone for
further comment.
The dismissals come at a time when Zimbabwe is experiencing
an uptick in the number of coronavirus infections. Some 985
people have been infected while 18 have died from the pandemic.
Last week, Obadiah Moyo was fired as health minister by
President Emmerson Mnangagwa for inappropriate conduct. Moyo,
who has made no public comment since his dismissal, was arrested
in June over corruption allegations related to the government's
procurement of some $60 million worth of medical equipment.