Zimbabwe tightens vetting of student nurses

The Ministry of Health and Child Care has stepped up measures to combat the use of fraudulent academic certificates by individuals seeking admission into health training institutions, following a series of high-profile scandals at major hospitals.

Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi told the Senate this week that the ministry is now working closely with the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) to verify all student nurse applications before enrolment.

"The Minister of Health and Child Care is now vetting through ZIMSEC, and they have tasked ZIMSEC to confirm whether the papers are genuine," Ziyambi said. "This is the path we are taking because we have seen that a lot of people are conning the ministry through the system."

The initiative comes after repeated incidents at hospitals including Mpilo Central in Bulawayo and Parirenyatwa in Harare, where individuals were found using fake qualifications. In June, a 27-year-old man was jailed for seven years for masquerading as a qualified medical doctor, while in September, two student nurses were charged for presenting false ZIMSEC certificates — one of whom had trained from 2022 to 2025 before being discovered. At Parirenyatwa, at least 11 unqualified "doctors" were exposed in 2024.

Manicaland Senator Maxwell Mdhluri warned that unqualified personnel pose serious risks to patient safety and drain government resources. "These culprits are putting people's health at risk and obtaining resources from government through receiving salaries without deserving," he said.

Minister Ziyambi said the new verification procedures would ensure only qualified candidates are admitted into medical and nursing programmes, signalling a tougher stance against fraud in Zimbabwe's health sector.