How does HE take leave during such a crisis?

COMPLIMENTS of the season, Cde Acting President, I hope I find you well in these trying COVID-19 times.

Your Excellency, the year has started on a sad note and today you happen to be the recipient of regular letters I write to your boss, President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Your boss and some ministers, including Monica Mutsvangwa, who holds the vital Information portfolio, have gone on sabbatical, apparently to rest after a year of hard work, whose results, however, are hardly visible.

They are human, they ought to rest, but how can leaders take a sabbatical at a time like this?

What kind of leadership is this?

Sincere apologies for venting on you Cde Acting President but if truth be told, this is unacceptable.

You addressed the Press on Sunday Your Excellency, in your capacity as the Acting President but your address, as anticipated, left a lot of issues hanging.

There was nothing beyond your eloquence as you arrogantly dismissed genuine questions on how the government would decongest hospitals and water points during the COVID-19 period and the age-old water crisis in major cities.

Your responses were as vague as they were shallow and that kind of failure to articulate issues and give direction during a crisis is disastrous.

For example, you rightly advised the people of Zimbabwe to mask up, sanitise and regularly wash their hands.

Good advice but there is no water to do that in the cities.

It is your responsibility as government to provide water, potable water that is, to the people and your approach in addressing the water situation has been lackadaisical, exposing lack of sincerity.

You also dismissed a journalist who asked if there were any  plans to decongest hospitals, saying she should go to the hospitals and bring evidence for her allegations.

That was a bit low Your Excellency.

Government is failing the people of Zimbabwe in these COVID-19 days.

The chaos in your hometown  Beitbridge that leads to South Africa is too enormous to ignore and your silence is worryingly loud.

Thousands of people are stranded as they attempt to flee to neighbouring South Africa where they choose to stay under deplorable conditions doing menial jobs because they can't stand the economic crisis in Zimbabwe.

It is sad that Zimbabweans are desperately fleeing their homes to expose themselves and their families to xenophobic attacks in South Africa because of the economic crisis bedevilling the country.

By the way Your Excellency, South Africa is seething with anger over the corrupt behaviour of your police officers and soldiers at the border post.

Its Home Affairs minister has literally camped at the Beitbridge Border Post to deal with the issue of our people trying to illegally sneak into South Africa, aided by corrupt State security agents.

It is an epitome of failure on your part as government, and that you ignored the situation in Beitbridge in your Sunday address makes it even worse.

The people are suffering and the "business as usual" approach you are taking is ridiculous.

Government, through your colleague Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga in his capacity as Health minister imposed a strict lockdown but what is apparent is that there was no adequate planning and consultation on the implications of such a move.

Don't get me wrong Your Excellency, the lockdown is very important and could not have come at a better time.

It is the lack of clarity, consultation and planning that is worrying.

In times such as these, there is need for all hands to be on deck but there seems to be a whirlwind of confusion in the cockpit and Zimbabwe will soon burn and plunge.

Please, pass this advice to your brother and President that he should stop holidaying and come back to work to address these urgent issues.

Leadership is key at times such as these.

Maybe we are on our own.

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Moses Matenga is a journalist. He writes in his personal capacity.