Speaking
during
the
International
Day
of
Midwives
commemorations
held
Friday
at
the
United
Bulawayo
Hospitals
(UBH),
Kwidini
openly
criticised
the
resistance
to
change
within
some
parastatals
and
professional
councils,
saying
the
continued
centralisation
of
services
contradicted
the
government’s
devolution
agenda.
The
deputy
minister
said
decentralising
operations
and
establishing
provincial
offices
would
ease
the
burden
on
nurses
who
are
forced
to
travel
long
distances
to
Harare
for
registration
services.
Kwidini’s
remarks
drew
loud
applause
and
cheers
from
nurses
attending
the
event,
many
of
whom
have
long
complained
about
the
costly
and
cumbersome
process
of
travelling
to
Harare
at
their
own
expense
to
register
their
credentials.
“As
the
deputy
minister,
I
have
seen
that
there
is
some
resistance
to
change
in
our
parastatals,”
said
Kwidini.
“I
hope
there
is
a
registrar
for
the
Nurses
Council
maybe
to
come
to
where
I
am
standing.
While
they
are
coming,
I
think
these
are
some
of
the
people
who
are
resisting
change.
Our
President
has
devolved
everything.”
The
Deputy
Minister
said
there
was
no
justification
for
the
Nurses
Council
to
continue
operating
solely
from
Harare
when
healthcare
workers
from
southern
provinces
faced
financial
and
logistical
challenges
accessing
services.
“But
the
Nurses
Council
is
failing
to
devolve.
Maybe
they
were
saying
they
didn’t
have
accommodation
to
accommodate
their
officers
here.
But
a
great
work
and
greater
job
has
been
done
by
our
CMO
at
UBH,
who
is
going
to
offer
them
a
room
for
three
to
six
months
so
that
they
can
do
the
registration
and
any
other
duties
they
are
doing
in
Harare
for
this
region
also,”
he
said.
Kwidini
said
decentralisation
was
in
line
with
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s
devolution
policy
and
vision
that
“no
place
and
no
one
should
be
left
behind.”
“So,
we
don’t
want,
when
the
President
has
devolved,
that’s
why
you
have
heard
me
saying
the
Minister
of
Devolution
for
Bulawayo…
it
means
the
President
means
it.
Why
does
the
Nurses
Council
and
other
councils
fail
to
devolve
to
the
northern
region
to
assist
these
professionals?”
he
asked.
“Other
than
them
having
challenges
travelling
all
the
way
to
Harare
for
just
mere
registration
to
become
a
qualified
nurse.”
Kwidini
then
directly
challenged
Nurses
Council
Registrar,
Rhoda
Mafukidze,
to
provide
a
timeline
for
when
the
decentralisation
process
would
begin.
“So,
Ms
Mafukidze,
the
office
has
been
devolved.
I
need
to
tell
these
people.
We
are
not
telling
these
only,
but
the
region
which
starts
from
Masvingo,
that
is
five
provinces,
Midlands,
Matabeleland
North,
Matabeleland
South
and
Bulawayo
Province,
when
are
you
going
to
open
the
office?”
he
asked.
Responding
before
delegates,
health
professionals
and
development
partners,
Mafukidze
acknowledged
the
concerns
and
said
the
decentralisation
exercise
was
already
underway.
“It
is
work
in
progress
and
we
will
start
devolving
soon
and
will
update
him,”
she
said.
However,
Kwidini
insisted
the
process
required
concrete
deadlines
rather
than
vague
assurances.
“As
professionals,
we
don’t
want
to
put
someone
under
the
bus,
but
soon
is
not
the
time.
A
time
frame
is
needed,”
he
said.
“I
think
you
saw
someone
who
was
talking
about
the
e-partograph,
that
there
is
a
time
frame.
And
the
midwives
who
were
displaying
what
happens
during
childbirth
spoke
about
3cm
to
10cm
to
show
there
is
a
time
frame.
So,
soon
is
not
the
time
frame.
Anyway,
I
will
be
on
your
back
to
make
sure
this
is
going
to
be
applied.”
The
Deputy
Minister’s
intervention
resonated
strongly
with
nurses
and
midwives
attending
the
commemorations,
many
of
whom
have
repeatedly
raised
concerns
over
the
financial
burden
associated
with
registration
processes.
Several
nurses
at
the
event
said
travelling
to
Harare
often
meant
spending
money
on
transport,
accommodation
and
food
at
a
time
when
many
healthcare
workers
are
already
grappling
with
low
salaries
and
difficult
working
conditions.
Others
noted
that
delays
in
registration
could
affect
employment
opportunities
and
deployment,
particularly
for
newly
qualified
nurses
from
remote
areas.
In
an
interview
with
journalists
after
the
event,
Kwidini
said
decentralising
nurses’
registration
services
was
long
overdue
and
necessary
to
align
with
government
policy
on
devolution
and
equitable
access
to
services.
“Something
which
is
left
behind,
not
going
hand
in
hand
with
our
President’s
vision
and
mantra
that
no
place
and
no
one
should
be
left
behind,
we
have
seen
nurses
travelling
all
the
way
to
Harare
to
do
their
registration
activities,
which
is
not
the
President’s
mantra,”
he
said.
“We
cannot
have
someone
travelling
from
Beitbridge
all
the
way
to
Harare,
someone
coming
from
Victoria
Falls
or
Binga
going
to
Harare.”
He
said
the
government
now
expected
the
Nurses
Council
to
establish
offices
in
the
southern
region
to
provide
equal
access
to
services.
“We
have
said
this
is
the
time
to
devolve.
We
have
said
the
Nurses
Council
should
come
down
to
the
southern
region
and
set
offices
so
that
all
these
services
being
given
in
Harare
are
also
found
in
the
southern
region,”
said
Kwidini.
“Everyone
is
equal,
come,
get
service
and
go
home.”
Zimbabweans
have
for
some
time
been
calling
for
the
decentralisation
of
key
public
services,
as
citizens,
mostly
in
outlying
provinces,
continue
travelling
long
distances
to
access
essential
administrative
services
concentrated
in
the
capital.