“Health professionals have accused government of allegedly concealing COVID-19 statistics in the country to give the impression that the virulent disease was under control at a time it has ballooned out of control, with nurses and doctors having been turned into “super spreaders”of the deadly virus,” reported News Day.
“COVID-19 has been a vicious robber to the medical fraternity in Zimbabwe this year. We mourn our specialist surgeon brother Tendai Mutwira barely a week after losing Professor James Hakim,” said Zimbabwe Senior Doctors Association in a statement.
There is no denying Zimbabwe’s official corona virus figures are not a true reflection of the reality on the ground.
Zimbabwe’s corona virus figures should be comparable to those of SA for the simple reason that the has been heavy human traffic, legal and illegal, between the two countries ever since the pandemic outbreak. SA has 1 458 958 covid-19 cases and 44 946 deaths and Zimbabwe, with 1/4 SA’s population should have over 367 000 cases and 11 000 deaths.
It should be remember here that Zimbabwe’s economy and health care services were in shambles at the on set of the pandemic and so the country was always going to struggle containing the virus.
There is no denying that Zimbabwe’s official figure of 33 548 corona virus cases and 1 234 deaths as 1st February 202, 10% of the projected figures, is a lie.
One way Zimbabwe has managed to keep it corona virus figures low is by not testing. In December 2020 when SA had ramped up its testing to over 44 000 per day, Zimbabwe was still doing 1 500 tests per day!
The penalty for not testing is that many infected people who should be in isolation are left in society to spread the virus. And the virus has indeed spread far and wide and fast!
There is crying need for the nation to carry out a through, independent and no-hold barred investigation into the country’s handling of the corona virus. The investigation cannot wait until the pandemic has blown over because the virus will still be with us for another year, at least. And in that period, millions more Zimbabweans will be infected and hundreds of thousands die unnecessarily. The thorough investigation must be carried out now!
Zanu PF government officials, health care professionals, media professionals and, indeed, all those in positions of power and authority must all answer the question: “When did you know that Zimbabwe’s official corona virus figures were lies and, more pointedly, what did you do about it?”
Nations get the government they deserve and, we in Zimbabwe, certainly deserve this corrupt, vote rigging and tyrannical Zanu PF government. For the last 40 years, we have done very little to stop the regime riding roughshod over our hopes and dreams; denying us our freedoms and human rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and even the right to life!
Zanu PF has murdered over 30 000 innocent Zimbabweans in the last 40 years to establish and retain the de facto one-party, Zanu PF, dictatorship we have lived under all these years. There is no denying having this corrupt and incompetent Zanu PF government before and during the corona virus pandemic has made the corona virus cases and deaths in Zimbabwe worse.
Whilst it is true that corona virus has hit the poor harder than the rich; the latter, in the cocoon five star mansions, were better equipped to keep the virus at bay; still, a good number of the ruling elite and the professionals have too died of corona virus. Proof corona virus affects all Zimbabweans! Proof good governance is important to us all! Proof all Zimbabweans must do their bit to ensure the country is finally cured of this curse of rigged elections and bad governance.
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WITH flies hovering all over the vicinity of the crowded slums of Epworth, an urban settlement approximately 25km east of the Zimbabwean capital Harare, laden plastic paper bags lie scattered on streets and sidewalks, with children rummaging through garbage and vendors going about their normal business oblivious to the wafting stench of human waste.
This is a tragedy, a man-made tragedy caused by decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption, that we have seen coming for decades and we have not done anything about it and the chickens have come home to roost!
@ Shereni
“Why do Zimbabweans also wish bad things about their country? South Africa having high cases doesn’t necessarily mean we should also have high cases. I don’t think the number of covid 19 cases will remove Zanu PF from power. We just need serious and organised opposition to achieve this not chancers who bank on acts of God.”
The number of covid-19 cases and deaths will be what they are regardless what you, me or Zanu PF propaganda say or wish. What matters here is reality and how Zanu PF propaganda has made the tragic situation even worse by failing to test to keep the official figures down.
By failing to test, trace and track as common sense dictates government has left many people who should have been in isolation out the spreading the virus. That is the issue here, that is the elephant in the room!
Transparency International Zimbabwe, in an update, said the government’s poor response to corruption was threatening people’s health and livelihoods.
Zimbabwe maintained its 2019 score of 24 out of 100 with a global ranking of 157 out of 180, according to the 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by Transparency International. This score is below the continent’s average of 32.
“Countries that do not perform well on the CPI are grappling to deal with Covid-19 and other diseases. Corruption in Zimbabwe continues to have negative and direct impact on the performance of the healthcare systems, especially public health. Corruption has undermined the government’s ability to respect, protect and fulfill the right to health as public resources are continuously diverted for private gain even during a pandemic,” noted TIZ.
We all know that calls to stamp out corruption will fall on deaf ears because Zanu PF ruling elite are the Godfathers of corruption and they will not do anything to endanger their own iron grip on power and the looted wealth!
@ Weston Mugocha
"But even in your role model countries where they are testing everyone, cases and deaths are rising. SA, USA, and others. There is no ZanuPf there. May Prof Wilbert explain this phenomenon to us please. Pamwe tingamunzwisisa point yake concerning hosha iyi."
“A LOT of Covid-19 cases in mining sites are going unreported with many lives put at risk, a trade unionist has said,” reported Bulawayo24.
“Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union (ZDAMWU) general secretary Justice Chinhema told NewZimbabwe.com the group was concerned about the unfortunate development.”
"Our workers union which is pro-miners since obtaining the essential services status to monitor and enforce Covid-19 regulations within mining sites has noted that there are more unreported Covid-19 cases in mines and the cases seem to be very high," Chinhema said.
Of course, if you do not test the number of covid-19 cases and deaths will be low; good for Zanu PF’s bragging rights that it has contained the pandemic. Allowing someone with the virus to stay in society and continue to spread the virus is not good for the affected society. Why is that simple reality so difficult for you to comprehend?
No wonder the country is in a mess, we have more than our fair share of some of the narrow minded people on earth and sadly many are in positions of power and authority! You are not alone Mugocha; go to state house and you will find another village idiot who thinks by rigging elections, killing his own people, etc. he is punishing the west!
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube suffered a humiliating slap down Thursday after Vice President Constantino Chiwenga and President Emmerson Mnangagwa – one after the other – repudiated his announcement a day earlier that Zimbabwe would sell Covid-19 vaccines to the rest of the population except healthcare workers and vulnerable groups.
The dramatic events, which saw Ncube issue his own statement unconvincingly claiming state media quoted him out of context, highlighted the government's disastrous messaging around its vaccination policy.
Ncube sparked national outrage and unease on Wednesday after telling ZTN News that "private citizens will have to pay" to get a shot so that government could recoup its costs, before beating a hasty retreat in a brief statement.
This is a government renowned for being corrupt. How many times have we learned that freely donated stuff such as corona virus test kits, PPE, etc. have found their way into private sector hands. The people are then told if the want a free test or whatever they will have to wait for it otherwise they can get the same from a private source for a fee!
In the end many people will be forced to pay the arm and leg for the vaccine jab than risk life waiting for the free vaccine that has already been sold off!
ZRA chief executive, Munyaradzi Munodawafa spoke as the campaign was said to have intensified, even after the final date for submitting objections to the US$2,6 billion project closed on January 25, 2021 after opening in March last year.
"The Zambezi River Authority has observed with great concern online public campaigns by some stakeholders aimed at frustrating the efforts leading to the sustainable implementation of this multi-billion-dollar 2 400MW hydro power project, which seeks to address the adverse power challenges affecting the people and economic activities in Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Sadc region as a whole," he noted.
Zimbabwe currently produces about half of an estimated 2 000MW required to power its industries and for domestic consumption.The other half is imported.
This project has been on the card long before 1980 when Zimbabwe gained her independence and 40 years later it is still on the cards! 40 years of imported power and power cuts!
The money that should have been spent on Batoka Gorge project was squandered on building the US$2 billion Blue Roof mansion and many other such dead-end luxuries for the ruling elite!
@ Luke Tamborinyoka
"Last Saturday last week marked the midway mark into Emmerson Mnangagwa’s 5-year mandate and this week, I make a citizen’s audit of what has been a stolen term of unfulfilled premises, lies and fibs," you say.
"The disputed election was held on 30 July 2018. Last Saturday it was exactly two and a half years since that last poll. Mnangagwa may have officially begun his 5-year term at his inauguration on 26 August 2018 but we may as well begin a candid midterm assessment of the man’s blood-soaked tenure thus far against his own promises to the nation and the world."
The world will also remember that the July 2018 elections would have been declared null and void and so Mnangagwa would have never assumed office was it not for MDC A and the rest in the opposition camp who participated in the elections. By participating in the elections the opposition gave credibility to the flawed and illegal process and gave legitimacy to the result. Chamisa and company participated out of greed.
Zanu PF offered a few gravy train seats plus a cut of the annual pay off from the Political Party Finance Act; bait the opposition found irresistible!
What is more, the opposition knew that by participating they will give legitimacy to the vote rigging Zanu PF as David Coltart admitted in his 2016 book In his Book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe.
“The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn’t now do the obvious – withdraw from the elections,” wrote Senator Coltart.
“The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility.”
No one with half a brain is fool by MDC A and the rest of the opposition's blubbering of Zanu PF stealing elections when they are the ones, out of selfish greed, giving the regime legitimacy.
MDC A is right now gearing for the 2023 elections with no reforms in place. I dare you to deny it!
“We have got a regime full of people engrossed in unsounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation & selfish greed. We deserve a gvt that feels for its people. That which put people first no matter the political color. Zimbabwe belongs to all of us. It is our love,” said Sikhala.
Was MDC "feeling for the people" when the party failed to implement even one meaningful reform during the 2008 to 2013 GNU?
Where you, Hon Zengeza West MP Job Sikhala, "feeling for the people" when you participated in the July 2018 elections knowing Zanu PF was rigging the elections and that by participating you will give legitimacy to the regime? You participated because you knew Zanu PF was giving away a few gravy train seats especially in urban areas like Zengeza West!
You and the rest of your MDC A friends are gearing to participate in the 2023 elections knowing Zanu PF will rig the plebiscite because you are not giving up your Zengeza West gravy train seat. I dare you to publicly confirm you will not participate in the 2023 elections without the assurance the elections will be free, fair and credible.
Chamisa, you are being very childish saying one thing today and the exact opposite the next!
You and your fellow MDC A friends participated in those elections knowing Zanu PF was rigging. We all know why Zanu PF has to rig elections - how else will it remain in power! You participated in the 2018 elections regardless because, as you said, "MDC A has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections!”
So are you now admitting that you were lying, MDC A does not have and measures to stop Zanu PF rigging elections?
And more significantly, do you really believe Zanu PF will “stop rigging elections” because you asked them to on twitter? What a laugh! The whole Shake-Shake Building is rocking with laughter!
Mr Nelson Chamisa, can you deny that you and your MDC A friends are right now gearing for the 2023 elections knowing that Zanu PF will rig the elections? I dare you to public deny you will not participate in yet another rigged elections under the pretext elections will be free and fair following your twitter request to stop rigging the elections!
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