President Hakainde Hichilema yesterday again turned a campaign rally into a jobs platform, telling residents in Chadiza that government will keep recruiting nurses, even as questions grow over whether employment should be announced from political podiums.
The Head of State’s address in Eastern Province marks the latest in a string of rallies where hiring pledges have been made directly to crowds, a tactic that has drawn fire from governance watchdogs but applause from desperate health workers.
The Zambia Union of Nurses and Midwives Organisation, ZUNMO, has moved to defend nurses who continue to show up at the rallies, saying there is nothing unlawful about them seeking work where the promises are being made.
ZUNMO President Fray Michelo said nurses are not breaking any law by attending the President’s meetings. He argued that with thousands of volunteers and unemployed graduates stuck in limbo, health workers have no choice but to chase every opportunity, including those announced at rallies.
Speaking to Phoenix News, Michelo said the frustration in the profession is real. He noted that many nurses have worked for years without pay and are now responding to the President’s recruitment pledges because formal channels have failed to deliver answers.
Michelo thanked President Hichilema for considering volunteer nurses for recruitment, calling it a step that will ease pressure on an overstretched health system.
He said clinics are running on skeleton staff and that absorbing volunteers will immediately improve service delivery, especially in rural facilities where one nurse often handles an entire ward.
But he also warned that the process must be transparent. According to him, nurses are tired of false hope. “If government is serious, he said, then recruitment must be merit-based and rolled out quickly, not left as rally rhetoric.”
At the same rally, President Hichilema also told nurses to stop using mobile phones while on duty, a directive that drew mixed reactions.
Michelo backed the President on this, saying the misuse of phones is a genuine problem. He acknowledged that phones can be used as reference tools, but said too many nurses are scrolling social media or taking personal calls while patients wait. He described it as unprofessional and a violation of the medical code of ethics that puts lives at risk.
He urged nurses to draw the line between using technology to save lives and using it to waste time. Professionalism, he said, must not be sacrificed even as workers fight for jobs.
President Hichilema’s Chadiza message was clear. He told the crowd that recruitment will continue and that government is prioritizing health, education and agriculture. He said the process will be done in phases, with districts facing the worst shortages attended to first.
The crowd, made up largely of young nurses who traveled from across Eastern Province, received the announcement with cheers. For them, a rally is currently the only place where they hear timelines and commitments directly from the President.
Critics are not convinced. Governance commentators argue that tying employment announcements to political rallies politicizes the public service and undermines institutions like the Public Service Management Division and Ministry of Health. They say jobs should not look like rewards for showing up at a rally.
Government officials counter that rallies are the fastest way to reach citizens, especially in areas with limited access to formal information. They insist the President is simply updating the public and that all recruitment will still follow due process.
The tension highlights a bigger problem. Zambia has a surplus of trained nurses and a shortage of funded posts. Volunteers have kept clinics running for years without salaries, and now see rallies as their best shot at being noticed.
ZUNMO says the priority must now shift from speeches to deployment letters. Michelo said the union will be watching closely to ensure pledges made in Chadiza and other districts translate into actual jobs, not just headlines.
As the 2026 election cycle heats up, President Hichilema appears set to continue using rallies as both a political and recruitment tool. Whether that approach delivers jobs or deepens criticism will depend on what happens after the crowds disperse and the microphones are switched off.