HARARE – The leader of the doctors’ union was abducted from his home on Saturday night, colleagues said.

Peter Magombeyi, president of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA), was seized by three men just days after receiving threats on his phone.

The incident allegedly took place in Budiriro, a suburb of Harare.

The ZHDA said Magombeyi sent an “alarming message” just after 10PM and since then “efforts to reach him have been fruitless”.

“This is a huge blow to the association and our profession,” the doctors said.

“Every doctor in this country should withdraw their services until he is released.”

Magombeyi on August 28 used Twitter to share a message sent to his phone by an individual suspected to be a state operative threatening him with abduction after doctors declared an impasse with the government and announced strike action.

Doctors have been on strike since September 3 after declaring that they were “incapacitated” to go to work owing to poor salaries. Last week, they rejected an offer of a salary increment of $360 Zimbabwe dollars offered by the government.

Doctors want their salaries which were denominated in United States dollars until June to be raised more than tenfold in keeping with the exchange rate changes as the local currency continues its rapid decline.

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, in a statement, said: “We call on the abductors to release him forthwith. Abduction or enforced disappearance is an international crime.

“Doctors have a right to embark on collective job action. Expressing their concerns on poor working conditions is a right not a privilege. The abduction of Magombeyi to prevent doctors from organising is barbaric and unlawful.”

Last month, half a dozen activists were seized at night from their homes by suspected government agents and tortured to prevent them from organising and participating in demonstrations called by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.