Bribery racket targets Zimbabwe’s nursing school hopefuls

Liliosa Jakata sold four cattle that were the only assets she owned after people claiming to be political intermediaries told her that they could – for a fee – secure nursing training places for her daughters. The 46-year-old single mother from Mupamaonde village in Masvingo province believed the payments would secure admission to a coveted nursing programme at Silveira Mission Hospital. Instead, the money disappeared and her daughters were never enrolled.

Jakata’s experience is part of what interviews with other victims and insiders in Zimbabwe’s health sector suggest is a growing racket in which scamsters claim political connections and demand bribes from families desperate to secure nursing school placements. They prey on the public’s widely held belief that political influence can facilitate such placements. In Zimbabwe, nursing qualifications are highly sought after.

But, places are limited and competition is intense. Trainees also receive government stipends while the profession offers opportunities for employment abroad. These pressures have created fertile ground for individuals claiming influence over recruitment processes.

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Zimbabwe currently has 32 nurse and midwifery training institutions, according to the country’s National Health Strategy 2021-2025. In 2019, the government introduced the National Electronic Recruitment for General Nurse Training system in an effort to curb alleged corruption and improve transparency in nursing recruitment. The system was discontinued in January 2022 after authorities said it disadvantaged applicants in remote areas with limited internet access.Recruitment was subsequently decentralised to provinces and health institutions with quotas intended to ensure representation across districts.

At least half of each intake is meant to come from local districts. But a senior official at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo, told this reporter that informal arrangements and quotas may influence the process.

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