HARARE – Forty-three nurse training recruits forced to re-apply after their initial enrolment at Harare Central Hospital was reversed by health minister Obadiah Moyo have won their court battle after a judge said the minister’s actions were unlawful.

The 43 were given offer letters for enrolment in the Harare Central Hospital School of Nursing, but Moyo arbitrarily declared the recruitment invalid.

The recruits sued Moyo at the High Court, pleading with the court to set aside the minister’s directive and allow them to begin their training.

In a judgement delivered on Wednesday, Justice Christopher Dube Banda upheld their application and said they should all be included in the 2020 intake for training.

“If the respondents are of the view that the recruitment of the applicants was as a result of unlawful conduct, they should have made an application to court to declare the process unlawful and have it set aside,” the judge said.

“Even faced with this application, respondents did not file a counter application, seeking that the recruitment process of the applicants be declared invalid and be set aside. My humble view is that the conduct of the respondents in purporting to arbitrarily nullify and set aside the recruitment process of the applicants and their offer letters is unlawful and invalid.

“The first, second and third respondents, each performing its designated statutory obligations and responsibilities, are and hereby directed to enrol applicants in the Harare Central Hospital School of Nursing for the May 2020 intake.”

Moyo, Harare Hospital Management Board and the  Chief Executive Officer were cited as respondents.

According to the prospective nurses, Moyo had given a directive that all the students who had attended the 2017 interview and passed, were supposed to electronically reapply for the training vacancies because the Principal Tutor, who had offered them places to attend training, had no authority to sign their offer letters.

However, Justice Banda said the rights of the candidates were violated by Moyo’s directive.

The judge said it was unlawful for the minister to arbitrarily declare the 2017 recruitment process invalid and proceed to set it aside adding what the minister did “is the function of the court and a court alone”.

“The point I am making is that even if respondents were aggrieved by their own process, they had no right to act arbitrarily. They had to apply to court to declare the process invalid and ask that it be set aside. The rule of law demands no less. Therefore, to the extent that respondents acted arbitrarily, the purported setting aside of the recruitment process of the applicants (43 nurses) is unlawful and invalid,” Justice Banda said.

He ordered Moyo and his co-defendants to pay costs of suit.