MP calls for gratuities for long-serving primary health workers
Parliamentary Watch
BULAWAYO — Legislator Hon. Vusumuzi Moyo has urged the government to create a gratuity or transitional-benefit mechanism for primary health workers who served for years under externally funded arrangements before being incorporated into the public service.
Zimbabwe’s primary healthcare cadres have long operated on the frontlines under constrained resources, heavy workloads, and precarious short-term donor contracts, often facing erratic remuneration and lacking institutional safety nets despite serving as the backbone of community health delivery.
Hon. Moyo raised the matter in the National Assembly on Thursday, 3 September 2026, welcoming the government’s decision to incorporate primary health workers into the Public Service Commission following the withdrawal of United States government funding for healthcare programmes.
The intervention is relevant to Matabeleland communities where primary health workers play a frontline role in HIV prevention, treatment support, counselling and follow-up care.
Hon. Moyo said the incorporation of the workers was an important policy step, but argued that their previous service should also be recognised.
“I wish at the onset to commend Government for its policy decision to incorporate primary health workers into the Public Service Commission,” Hon. Moyo told Parliament. “This is a progressive and welcome development which recognises the indispensable contribution that these cadres make to our national health system.”
He said many of the workers had operated under difficult conditions and faced uncertainty over remuneration because of their dependence on Global Fund support.
“Their incorporation into the public service therefore represents an important step towards providing them with greater employment stability, dignity and recognition,” he said.
Hon. Moyo described the workers as central to Zimbabwe’s HIV response, saying they work in communities to identify people requiring treatment, support people living with HIV and help prevent new infections.
“They are not merely auxiliary personnel; they are the foot soldiers of our national HIV response,” he said.
He said the workers’ community role was particularly important in supporting people on antiretroviral therapy to adhere to medication and maintain viral suppression.
However, Hon. Moyo said government should not improve workers’ employment status while overlooking those ending their service without terminal benefits.
“We cannot expect these health workers to carry such a significant national responsibility while leaving their own welfare unattended,” he said.
He said some workers had served for more than two decades and risked leaving employment without meaningful recognition.
“It is a matter of fairness and justice that a person who has given 20 or more years of their productive life to the service of this country should not simply walk away from employment empty-handed and without any tangible recognition of that service,” Hon. Moyo said.
The legislator called on the Ministry of Health and Child Care, the Public Service Commission and Treasury to urgently consider a remedy.
“I therefore implore Government, as it integrates these workers into the Public Service Commission, to consider a fair and appropriate gratuity or transitional benefit for those who have served for many years under the previous arrangements,” he said.
Hon. Moyo said the issue went beyond finances. “This is not merely a question of money. It is a question of recognition, dignity and fairness in employment,” he said.
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