Although the Zimbabwe Government announced in September last year that it had unfrozen 1 168 specific medical posts that have since been filled, many Zimbabwean nurses remain jobless and bonded to the State.
Unfreezing of the posts - that included doctors and medical laboratory technicians - was after successful lobbying by the Ministry of Health to the Ministry of Finance.
The Ministry of Finance is still being lobbied to ultimately unfreeze the recruitment of nurses.
However, earlier this year, the number of jobless nurses was put at 1 700 by the Zimbabwe Nurses' Association.
This means many of the trained nurses are still jobless and bonded by the Government.
Experts have cited contravention of labour laws - particularly the Manpower Development Act - by the Government in failing to provide employment to the nurses, or release their certificates.
A prominent Harare labour lawyer who preferred anonymity said Government also in contravention of International Labour Organisation Conventions 29 and 105 that deal with bonded labour.
"If the Government can't provide employment for the nurses, it should release their certificates and allow them to work elsewhere.
"What is happening to the nurses is not being applied to other sectors where Government provides training," he said.
Section 15 of the MDA provides that the nurses can work for other employers and the Government would recover money used to train them through the employers.
Section 15 says: "(1) Every employer who engages a person who, within the five years immediately preceding the engagement, was a student at a teachers' college, technical or vocational institution or university shall notify the Secretary, within 30 days of the engagement, of the name and address of the person so engaged."
The secretary may then in writing direct an employer to effect such monthly deduction from the remuneration of any person referred to above as he thinks reasonable for the purpose of discharging that person's liability for any loan made to him.
A labour analyst, Mr Gift Chimutanda, put emphasis on Section 63 of the MDA.
"This section says a minister may bond students to the State, under such conditions as may be prescribed, or any person who receives any scholarship under the scheme.
"If Government, however, does not have work for the nurses, there is no provision that they would remain under bonding to the State," said Mr Chimutanda.
Efforts to get a comment from the Zimbabwe Nurses' Association were in vain as those authorised to speak to the Press were said to be unavailable.
Many aggrieved nurses have for long been contemplating suing the Government for breach of contract, and failing to provide jobs that were promised.
Health analysts lament that the jobless nurses would be left incapacitated because they cannot execute duties which they were trained to do.
Others have suggested that Government reduce the years of bonding so as to open up space for those that are unemployed.
Meanwhile, the situation looks set to worsen as vacancies for nurse training remain oversubscribed. Late last year a man masquerading as a doctor was arrested at Parirenyatwa Hospital after he had allegedly solicited for and received bribes from nurse training applicants after he allegedly promised that he could facilitate vacancies for them.