Maputo, 23 Aug (AIM) – Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has reiterated his call for an end to the strikes in the health sector, arguing that the achievements made at the dialogue table, should not be overshadowed.
Nyusi, who was speaking on Wednesday at the launch of the 11th edition of the National Culture Festival in the southern city of Matola, declared “once again, we call on our brothers, sons and compatriots in the health sector to return to their jobs as soon as possible.”
The President was speaking a day after Prime Minister Adriano Maleiane was appointed to chair the negotiations that the government has been holding with the health professionals, replacing the health minister, Armindo Tiago.
“We have to work together to find workable solutions without harming either party”, said the President.
For Nyusi, it is crucial that “the patients we are sworn to look after win. There has often been an understanding, we have to do everything we can to capitalise on our efforts. The debate is still open.”
As key parties at the negotiating table, he said, the government and the health professionals’ organisations [the Mozambican Medical Association (AMM) and the Association of United Health Professionals of Mozambique (APSUSM)] must continue to negotiate proficiently.
“As fellow citizens, we must continue our dialogue. We would like to hear that our brothers, tomorrow, are back at work”, Nyusi said, adding “go back to your posts, go back to the emergency centre, to back to the laboratory, get behind the wheel of the ambulance and go back to your posts.”
Meanwhile, the chairperson of APSUSM, Anselmo Muchave, has claimed that the Provincial Attorney’s office, in the southern province of Gaza, has ordered the freezing of his bank accounts.
Cited in Wednesday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Carta de Mocambique” Muchave said his accounts, in the banks BCI and Millennium-BIM, were frozen a fortnight ago.
At this time, APSUSM was not on strike. It only resumed its strike last Sunday
Muchave said that when his accounts were frozen he was in Italy, and he did not even have enough money with him to return to Mozambique.
“To come home, I had to rely on the support of friends”, he claimed. “I have no access to my bank accounts, even by telephone and when I contacted the attorney’s office, the said it’s their work, and they should not inform the holder of the accounts about what was happening”.
Muchave says he does not know whether he is being treated as a suspect in a crime or not. “When I contacted the Attorney, he threatened to sue the bank”, he claimed. “He said he could give me no information, but that one day I would be notified because the case is still under investigation”.
(AIM)
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