Dar es Salaam. Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda yesterday ordered doctors who have been on strike to resume duty today, saying those who would defy the directive would be sacked.

But the doctors’ spokesperson, Dr Stephen Ulimboka, said the boycott would continue today, adding that nobody among those on strike should report for duty.

Speaking at Karimjee Hall, Mr Pinda, whose alternate designation is head of government business, outlined emergency measures to cope with an imminent medical staff shortage.

The normally composed Prime Pinister was visibly angry as he spoke about the worsening medical crisis at the meeting that representatives of the doctors were supposed to attend but did not show up.

He directed all district and regional commissioners to report to hospitals today to follow up on implementation of the report-back-to-work directive, and slapped an immediate ban on meetings by the Medical Association of Tanzania (MAT), directing security organs to ensure that it was enforced.

Dr Ulimboka told a news conference later yesterday that they were consulting with their lawyers on the possibility of challenging in court the order banning their meetings.  

“This order is in direct contravention of the Constitution in which the freedom of assembly is enshrined.  We are contemplating challenging it in court.”

Dr Ulimboka said the decision to ban meetings would not halt communication among striking doctors.  “There are other ways of communicating, and we shall use them,” he said.

The doctors’ strike, which started in Dar es Salaam and gradually spread to some upcountry facilities, has paralysed delivery of medical services critically, causing acute suffering and endangering the lives of hundreds of patients as a consequence.

Many cases have been recorded of hapless patients and their escorts being turned away from health facilities, including Muhimbili National Hospital.

Mr Pinda directed Defence and National Service minister Hussein Mwinyi to deploy military doctors and Health and Social Welfare minister Hadji Mponda to fill vacancies that could arise in public hospitals through fresh recruitments.

He said it was better for the government to grapple with the challenge of seeking alternative ways of keeping the medical service running, than dealing with adamant, insensitive doctors, whom he accused of snubbing his overtures for dialogue aimed at addressing their grievances.

He explained that when the medics first sought an audience with him, he was tied up with previously scheduled official engagements in Arusha, but upon his return to Dar es Salaam, they squandered the opportunity he offered during his briefing session with editors and senior journalists last Tuesday.

The PM explained further that the doctors repeatedly scuttled his initiatives, citing their negative response to an invitation he had communicated through his permanent secretary.

Thereafter, he pointed out, they had demanded a written invitation, which he had granted, but which they had undermined by categorically declaring that, they wouldn’t meet him until after they had met colleagues upcountry and hammered out a collective stand on the issue.

He said the doctors had demanded that the meeting be rescheduled to today, but he had explained to them that it’s the day when he was supposed to travel to Dodoma for the next National Assembly in Dodoma.

“That was a baseless pretext, because they had convened several meetings without involving those in other regions; therefore, we could have met, discussed the issues at hand, and reached an understanding that they would have communicated to the whole fraternity,” Mr Pinda said.

The prime minister said it was difficult for the government to grant their requests fully, as their proposed salary increase from Sh957,700 to Sh3.5 million as entry point for newly employed doctors was too high.

He noted that, if the package were to include proposed allowances and other dues, the figure per head would be Sh7.7 million in all.

The PM said further that, if met without any review, the doctors’ proposals would place the monthly package of a senior consultant doctor at about Sh17 million.

On a broader note, he pointed out, the budgetary salary allocation for the health sector would be about Sh2.39 trillion a year, while the sum for public servants as a whole currently stands at Sh3.45 trillion.

That translates to two-thirds of the broader salary budget – something that was not only unrealistic but unaffordable, he said.

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