20 Jun 2019

The Botswana Nurses Union (BONU) says its members are living in fear because of criminals that terrorise them at the work place. 

When briefing the media in Gaborone on June 19, BONU president, Mr Obonolo Rahube, said, despite their plea to relevant authorities, nothing was done to address their issues.

He said when reality first hit sometime last year, where a nurse was raped on duty, the Ministry of Health and Wellness and DPSM promised that they would attend to security issues, but unfortunately, nothing was done.

Mr Rahube divulged that amongst the many empty promises that the two bodies failed to honour were to install CCTV cameras and hire reputable security companies.

“We work in a very unsafe environment, where facilities are easily broken into because gates and security doors are in a dilapidated state,” he said.

He cited a recent incident where some of their members and a patient were attacked by a group of seven thugs, who beat them and took their valuables such as phones, adding that they continue to suffer countrywide as their members are being brutally attacked. 

He said they have complained about poor lighting and bushy areas in most of their facilities, which they were promised would be attended to but nothing was done. 

Mr Rahube said after the recent ordeal, their reactive instincts told them to cut operating hours so that they only open from 7:30am to 4:30 am, adding that was ill-advised because they had staff all over the country, especially in rural areas who continued to risk their lives by attending to clients after hours with lackluster security.

“Having unsafe facilities leads to poor health care but the painful thing is that our ministry seems to be on auto-pilot because the minister does not even want to meet us,” Mr Rahube said.

On other issues, he also complained about working extended hours, saying despite numerous meetings they have had with the employer, there was nothing on the horizon, threatening that should their demands not be met, they will seek intermediation from the courts of law. 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Wellness released a press release earlier in the week after the recent attack condemning the numerous attacks and misdemeanours against the staff orchestrated by undesirable elements in several health facilities especially that open 24 hours.

The release states that the ministry has since engaged Huawei technologies to start installing CCTV cameras in 24 hr facilities to enhance security.

It also says Botswana police and other security organs will mount regular patrols around 24 hr facilities with immediate effect until permanent solutions are found. 

ends