Nurses should venture into entrepreneurship? That’s a shame Malawi government!

Jun 29, 2016 Health 55
Advertisement
Malawi Nurses

This is a response from a concerned Nursing student to remarks by Ministry of Health Principal Secretary McPhail Magwira who was quoted in a Malawi24 story last week telling nurses to ‘jack up’ and find their own jobs saying government is not ready to employ them.

Malawi Nurses
Trained health personnel were told there are no jobs for them. (File)

It has become trendy for Malawi’s working class to push unemployed graduates towards entrepreneurship. Statements like ”you have to think outside the box,” targeted at new graduates facing unemployment challenges have become the order of the day in this country. But the big question is: ”which box should new graduates think outside of?”

The reality on the ground is that the outside of the whatever box being referred to is as harsh as its inside. Medical graduates are the ones being hit hard on the subject. Government had all along been the primary employer of medical graduates trained within Malawi. Why should the trend change now when their need in the public hospitals is still very high?

Getting straight to the point I intend to drive home: Malawi Government through Magwira, had, in my view, uttered a statement void of any logic by asking newly graduated nurses to consider entrepreneurship.

Mcphail Magwira
Mcphail Magwira asked nurses to be entrepreneurs.

Where will these graduates get resources to start-up businesses in a poor nation like Malawi? And which Malawi private hospitals can manage absorbing all these graduates Malawi produces? It can only be labelled unfortunate and retrogressive for a government in a country experiencing an unbearable shortage of health workers to release such a statement.

How can Malawi develop if our government does not work to achieve and sustain a healthy nation by strengthening its health system? It all boils down to poor leadership manifested by greed and self-centeredness.

It would carry sense for the likes of Magwira to become entrepreneurs and leave civil service employment room for upcoming graduates. Magwira must be over 50 years of age. He has made enough money working in government that he can open up his own hospitals and employ the new medical graduates.

Sadly, self- centeredness is what drives people like him. I must say most Ministry of Health top officials are there to enrich themselves at the expense of the poor, and not to improve our health care system.

They only think of fattening their already fat pockets, with their huge salaries and allowances. Fearing displacement by the up and coming, these officials frustrate new graduates, especially those with better papers than them – a case of College of Medicine laboratory graduates who have stayed over 3 years at home. It all takes the country nowhere or at best to hell.

It is surprising that donors and other stakeholders are not helping enough in these situations; maybe their input is misdirected and later abused. Malawi’s health system is in tatters for lack of enough and qualified health personnel. We are far below the minimum required standards health service wise.

It is my appeal to the government and stakeholders to intervene if the health of the large population of Malawi is a serious concern.

Advertisement

55 Comments

  2. If you say government is one to employ Nurses,you mean evryone who has got diplomas & Degrees he/she looking for government to employ him/her….????..eeeeeeh ndiye m’ma office mu ndiye fanz inakwanamo honestly

  9. Eyetu….et mzikagulitsa chimanga ku Admarc…..ndi business yomwe mungakwanitse!!!…..kkkkkk frm health to Vendor!…..kkkkkk bwana principle mmmmmm..ayayi!! $

  11. Most of you, who second the minister you are employed and yet you want others to venture into business.Where do you expect us to find capital?.shame on you:>.

  13. I hope if government can cut on some few useless expenditures it can be able to employ a few nurses who would serve the general public. I am quite sure that that can be done. Don’t you?

  19. But the money for recruiting the men in uniform and soldiers is there but someone has spent 3yrs in college and end up becoming a vendor is this wise words from the whole Govt? This is how you gonna dig your own grave come 2019 elections becoz one opposition leader will say I will employ all nurses and junior doctors clinicians that’s the one will carry the day.

  21. What must be born in mind is that a graduate from a marginalised family cannot raise sufficient capital for a business,employment is the greatest source of finacial muscle for a successful business enterprise.If thats the case they must be given fiscal assistance for a starter.

  23. Some of these nurses left well paid jobs such as teaching thinking that there is green pasture in min of health dyera limeneli mukhaula nalo mavuto ndi ambiri than employing people like you

  24. People people people…so you think having diplomas and degrees was the of you porverty its tym to realise that we need to create jobs for ourserves sukulu ndiyothesera umbuli not umphawi..ask me how

  27. Aliyense akukamba zafodya musiiretu kukamba zamanyi zokhudza concern yanzanu ngat mukufuna kut dey must do biznes y would’nt u recrut dem biznes admi boma lompusa ili en am nt a nurse kma zkumandikhudza.

  28. Not all who do business studied business. Business is a way to stretch ones economic muscle. The man is in right way. Vuto la ntchito in the government si Malawi yokha koma globally. Tanzania yaimisa recruitment till there shall be room in government sector! It is not new only that a Malawi ambiri we go to school just to get jobs not to create jobs of which we as citizens contribute a lot to the fall of our country’s economy. Mbuli zotisogolela take advantage of that. We better change, i hope their shall be change or else the change gonna change us.

  31. Everyone is known by the work he/she train you can’t take. a teacher to cure sick people and u can’t take a police officer to teach and nurse to provide security So how come the nurse that u trained to engage in enterpreneurship hey!shame Gvt

  32. Muntharika administration iz useless now everything to b wrong in any Gvnt.department, So which iz good,Ngat akulephera kulemba ma Nurses awa kuli bwanji womwe ali m’macollege amene sadatsirize maphunziro awo,ndiye adzalembedwa lit,kungobwera ndimareforms opanda nawo tsogoro ayayaya,ma Dokotala ndi aja adatithawa kupita Ku Lesotho kukapeza msipu wobiriwira,pamene shortage muzipatala zathu ndiyosayamba,shame.

  33. if they say nurses should find their own jobs when find a job outside the country you say a lot of things when you realise you have one nurse in some rural place

  36. Do they want to turn hospitals to shops? Hahahahahahahahaha who suggest this suggestion. He claim to be highly educated to find solutions to poor malawians during campaign now i dont thnk so

  37. Nurses can also be entrepreneurs, there is nothing wrong with that. Bwanji osangothokoza kuti boma through CHAM provided you with subsidized education. Govt is not a sole employer, and the goal of education is not employment. Give the government a break and lets concentrate on important issues

    1. What must be born in mind is that for one to start a business they must have a strong financial muscle.Where will a graduate from a marginalised family get the capital?Employment is the greatest capital for a youngman who has no financial pillar to lean upon.

    4. Ask around, I was born from a very poor family. After graduation from college the govt refused to recruit teachers from CHANCO. I had no where to go but it did not take much thinking to knw that govt gave me education, the neccessary tool, and this is not supposed to mean it has to employ me too. I started applying for jobs else where but to no avail. I started keeping chicken and accumulated a few funds and to pay for my post graduate at CHANCO. The business continued when I was at school until I finished at got a job at Plan. The govt gave me education not employment. The role of the govt is to assist law abiding citizens to become independent and increase their employ ability for all sectors not to employ them all. Who will work in the private sector, who will be doing entrepreneurship. Zanga zinayeradi koma chifukwa cholimbikira osa manja lende kudikira boma kuti likupatseni mpamba kapena ntchito. what is the use of the education proviided to you if you cant think of a business and where to get capital. Boma linangotayapo ndalama pa maphunziro awo bola akanaphunzitsa ena sakanapereka mavuto amenewo. Its high time we support the economic development of this nation not waiting for government to give us everything

  38. The only way to end poverty is through creating jobs for youths. Without jobs, educations is useless. If Muthalika led DPP does not find a way out of these problems, Malawi will remain poor. And the blame should entirely be shouldered by Muthalika and his DPP, which has brought strange policies not fit for a poor and underdeveloped country.

  39. Useless Maggot Magwira!..so u think they do business studies?…Malawi is ruled & led by intoxicated people…asaa apa nde mwatienjeza bwanji..

  41. i just suggest that this good government at contingency plans as we have manifested in the unveiling of coping measures for the looming hunger to resort to eating mice and grasshoppers: saving the government from yet another embarrasment i was suggesting that govt. facilitate passports and visas for these already trained personnel and allow them to migrate to foreign countries where there services are given a priority in national budgets and therefore needed most.

Comments are closed.