JAKARTA - Hundreds of nurses in Harare, Zimbabwe rallied at the city's largest hospital on Monday, July 6. The nurses demanded a policy of providing adequate health facilities in the face of COVID-19. They also ask to be paid in United States dollars (US).
Protesters said the government had broken promises given that Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa had promised nurses at the forefront of the COVID-19 fight to get a 50 percent salary increase and 75 US dollars in benefits for three months. However, the promised increases and benefits have not been realized until now.
During the action, many nurses held posters that read, "no US dollars, no work" and "#Nurses can't breathe." They also echoed the message that they could not survive on a monthly salary of three thousand Zimbabwe dollars or the equivalent of Rp.600 thousand.
WATCH- Arrested nurses speak inside police cells. Says "Do not run away from the police" pic.twitter.com/pXHoFnVYRf
- ZimEye (@ZimEye) July 6, 2020
"The situation is bad. And our goal is justified. I can't work without anything. I have to eat and I have to be mentally healthy so I can help sick people," said one protester, Pretty Gudza, as reported by Reuters.
In the aftermath of this action, 12 protesters were arrested in Harare. This was revealed by an eye witness. However, local police spokesman Paul Nyathi said he was not aware of the arrests and promised to investigate.
Zimbabwe has previously reintroduced local currency in the last year following the use of the US dollar. Unfortunately the local currency then quickly lost value, sending prices for goods skyrocketing and raising fears of a new hyperinflation.
Moreover, Zimbabwe has recorded the highest inflation rate in the world at 785 percent. As a result, this increase made the prices of goods sold on the market too expensive for many Zimbabweans.
Even so, various efforts have been made by the government to maintain the value of the currency. Some of these include stopping trading on the stock exchange and paying for cell phones which account for more than 80 percent of all transactions.
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