By James Mwale
Ntchisi, February 23, Mana: Ntchisi District Full Council has resolved that authorities should consider transferring some members of the District’s Health Management Team (DHMT) following complaints made by their junior staff who expressed dissatisfaction in the execution of their duties.
In a letter dated 19th January, 2024, addressed to the District Commissioner, junior members of staff at Ntchisi District Health Office (DHO) demanded immediate transfers of the Director of Health Services (DHSS), Dr Alinafe Kalanga; District Medical Officer, Dr Yakobe Machira; District Environmental Health Officer, James Mtonga and Administrator, Lydia Sibale, among others.
The letter alleged that the stated members of the DHMT were, among other incompetencies, involved in inexplicable absenteeism during critical duty call hours, misappropriation of fuel logistics for ambulances and disregard of staff and patients’ welfare.
The letter, which gave a five-day ultimatum, was followed by protests from the junior workers including closure of hospital offices, marches to the DC’s offices and demonstrations by community members to hospital premises to prove dissatisfaction with the district council’s intervention to their grievances.
“Following this ‘tense atmosphere’ in the district, Ministers of Health and Local Government, along with their deputies and Principal Secretaries, visited the council’s secretariat and advised that the matter be presented before the district’s Full Council before a final decision can be made at ministerial level,” explained the Director of Planning and Development, Violet Kamasumbi who was representing the DC.
In an interview after the Full Council meeting on Thursday, Chairperson for the Council, Arnold Kapolo, said: “Having thoroughly gone through the grievances of the junior workers, and the defense from the members of the DHMT being complained of, we members of the full council have resolved that the five DHMT be transferred and replaced.”
The five had appeared before the district council’s secretariat where, in her defense, the DHSS had said she is mostly not in office because she is mostly engaged in managerial meetings and occupied with tending to other health service related issues as per dictated by her official duties.
The council, however, argued that her predecessors had executed the same duties but still remained in office hence her explanation was not convincing enough.
They resolved that since the members in question had proved to prefer to operate from Lilongwe for reasons not convincing enough to the council, it was in the best interest of everyone involved that they be relocated to areas of their professional comfort and be replaced with other willing peers.
However, Kapolo was quick to say that the Full Council had disapproved the way taken by the junior workers, which included closure of offices and influencing release of gule wamkulu to hospital premises during one of their demonstrations, to have their grievances addressed.
He said the council would send a delegation to engage the workers on proper procedural way of handling such grievances for future reference.
