Govt yet to honour doctors’ land pledge

President Emmerson Mnangagwa

GOVERNMENT is yet to honour its September 2021 promise to offer land to medical practitioners in private practice across the country’s 10 provinces.

Close to 372 medical practitioners under the Medical and Dental Private Practitioners Zimbabwe Association (MDPPZA) were supposed to benefit.

MDPPZA is an inclusive national body of medical practitioners in private practice.

In 2021, MDPPZA wrote to President Emmerson Mnangagwa requesting land and import duty exemptions.

Government agreed and directed provincial lands officers through their respective Provincial Affairs ministries to offer land to the medical practitioners.

“We approached our provincial lands office in Gweru armed with the letter from His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa but no one was forthcoming,” said a Gweru-based medical doctor.

“We are tired of being moved from one office to another or is it we were sold a dummy?”

NewsDay established that authorities never entertained doctors’ request for land despite them being armed with letters from the Office of the President and Cabinet.

MDPPZA president Johannes Marisa yesterday confirmed the issue.

“We are getting different responses from the provincial lands offices, but the bottom line is that none of our members has received any piece of land under this facility,” Marisa said.

“We have been engaging the provincial lands offices in our respective provinces with nothing coming out.

“We want to take this issue above and engage His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa.”

Health deputy minister John Mangwiro and ministry spokesperson Donald Mujiri were both not reachable for comment.

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