The memorandum and the contents of the Bill seek different things
Mbizo legislator Settlement Chikwinya says the Health Services Amendment Bill which is before Parliament must be withdrawn for lacking consistency.
According to Honourable Chikwinya, the memorandum of the Bill and its contents are seeking different things.
Speaking during the Second Reading of the Bill, the seasoned legislator said the memorandum seeks to align health services professions with the constitution and yet the contents of the Bill remove the rights of the workers.
He said the Bill has no business being discussed in Parliament and should be withdrawn immediately.
‘’Honourable Speaker, the memorandum of the Bill speaks to aligning the health services profession of the health services regulations to the Constitution, but the contents of the Bill intend to achieve the opposite.
‘’It takes away the right to strike yet the Constitution promotes the right to strike. It takes away the right to trade unionism, yet the Constitution allows for the establishment of trade unions.
‘’It takes away the right for one to join a particular organisation of their choice with regards to collective labour organisations and yet the Constitution provides for that.
‘’So, I would first of all immediately want to agree with the last recommendation and observation by the Committee that this Bill should be withdrawn. It has no place finding itself under debate in this Parliament.
‘’We cannot have a Bill that has its memorandum trying to align the law of the Constitution yet in the contents, it is not trying to achieve the same. We are actually wasting the time of Parliament and I will therefore move for the adoption of that particular recommendation that this Bill must be struck off and consultations be done,’’ he said.
Some commentators view the Bill as government efforts to silence the doctors and nurses from demanding better working conditions and remuneration. Two years ago, hospital doctors embarked on a three months salary strike which did not go down well with the government and the Bill is seen as a response to that.
The memorandum and the contents of the Bill seek different things
