Nursing Applicants Asked to Pay US$1,500

Bulawayo — Aspiring nurses and their families have raised alarm over alleged corruption in Government recruitment, with applicants reportedly being targeted by syndicates demanding between US$1,000 and US$1,500 to secure training slots.

The allegations have cast a long shadow over the latest recruitment drive, which has seen thousands of qualified Zimbabweans competing for a limited number of official places.

​Three critical concerns have emerged from the reports reaching authorities and community advocates.

First, access to training is being directly tied to cash. Desperate parents report liquidating family assets and selling off livestock just to raise the demanded bribes, only to find themselves defrauded by illicit networks selling public places.

Second, the system suffers from severe opacity and manipulation.

Beyond financial extortion, residents have cried foul over "ghost interviews", practices where major hospitals reportedly pre-fill vacancies with staff relatives, calling the public in for fake interviews to create an illusion of fairness.

 Finally, genuine candidates fear being permanently squeezed out by structural failures, demanding the re-introduction technological fixes like the central e-recruitment portal since the current system has proven susceptible to backend manipulation and geographical bias, leaving honest applicants at a complete disadvantage.

​Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care, Honourable Sleiman Kwidini, acknowledged the widespread complaints, confirming that the Ministry has received numerous reports of people extorting desperate job seekers despite the official application process being free.

​“We are here today to alert our own citizens as the Ministry of Health and Child Care,” Hon. Kwidini said.

“We advertised nursing recruitment, but we have heard of so many reports of people who are making people pay for the nursing recruitment," he said.

​Addressing the fundamental issue of access, Hon. Kwidini emphasised that the official selection process carries no fees whatsoever and urged candidates and parents not to treat the intake as a financial transaction.

​“Let me be clear on this one. The Ministry of Health and Child Care does not make people pay for the recruitment,” he said, “because what we know is the Ministry does not charge for recruitment. It’s totally free.”

​To tackle systemic opacity, curtail backend manipulation and restore confidence among residents, Hon. Kwidini revealed that the Ministry is shifting away from flawed setups by decentralizing the selection process directly down to provincial and district levels.

​“That is why we have decentralised nursing recruitment to districts and provinces across the country,” Hon. Kwidini explained.

“We want to address this corruption whereby people are made to pay to be recruited," he said.

​He urged aspiring nurses and families to resist any pressure to pay, follow only the official published requirements, and immediately turn extortionists over to law enforcement.

​“So, definitely, if one is being called by the so-called recruiters, saying we want to give you a place, report them to the police,” Hon. Kwidini said.

“Don’t ever be defrauded by individuals demanding to be paid purporting to have secured a place for you. What you just need to do is to meet the requirements stated in the advert for the recruitment," he said.

​Hon. Kwidini also issued a warning to Ministry staff and hospital management, making it clear that anyone caught facilitating, rigging or benefiting from recruitment schemes risks losing their job and facing criminal prosecution.