Apparently having left his tin foil beanie at home, Bobby waxed lyrical this weekend:
Robert Mugabe has accused Britain of "stealing" doctors and nurses from Zimbabwe after hundreds of medical personnel went on strike for pay rises to make up for triple-digit inflation.Not being satisfied:
Most government hospitals were paralysed yesterday, with hundreds of state-employed doctors staying away from work and describing their salaries as "pitiful".
At a nurses' conference at the weekend, Mr Mugabe said: "We have created the environment that allows that upliftment of nurses. That's why even Britain comes in the dead of night to steal our people. They are recruiting pharmacists, doctors and nurses."
Dr Howard Mutsando, 26, chairman of the Hospital Doctors' Association, said: "No one is stealing us. We don't want to leave home. We are forced to leave Zimbabwe to earn enough money to live. Many of us try to go to Britain because our studies were based on British standards."
He said the strike had been called because a pay rise promised four months ago had not materialised. "Nothing will happen if we don't take drastic action. We are worried about our patients and want to return to work.
"You have to be really committed to work in a Zimbabwe government hospital because basic materials are missing, like gloves and nasal tubes."
Mr Mugabe, his wife, Grace, and a large retinue of officials left for Malaysia yesterday on what the state press said was an official visit.Sounds like some power shopping. What a guy!
The president has returned from previous trips to Kuala Lumpur claiming to have secured trade agreements, particularly for Zimbabwean agricultural exports. None can be fulfilled as Zimbabwean farming has been devastated by land seizures.
