Mnangagwa's wife in prayer call

First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa has called on women to join her in three days of prayer and fasting from today to Saturday for divine intervention to end Covid-19 related deaths in Zimbabwe, that have now surpassed 773, and to continue taking practical steps recommended by health experts to safeguard homes and families.

"May I as the mother of the nation call upon all women in Zimbabwe, and all those abroad who may so wish, to join me in fasting and praying to the Lord the Almighty from tomorrow 21 to Saturday 23 January 2021 for our nation to be spared from further calamity and suffering," said the First Lady.

"Our country has witnessed a lot of Covid-19 deaths in the past two weeks. Death is within our communities, at our doorstep. There is no family that has not suffered the loss of their beloved ones because of the pandemic. Everyday, we hear of names that are succumbing.

"I thus humbly appeal to all women to commit to a three-day period from tomorrow in which we fast and pray calling for divine intervention to save the nation and our people."

The First Lady said women played an important role in society.

"We hold the family unit together and get it to work for our daily life," she said. "Being on the ground at all times, we are the custodians of values and measures that protect us at the smallest unit of society.

"I call upon you that as we pray to the Almighty for his mercy and grace, we also use that power bestowed upon us by society to ensure that every family is abiding by the measures that have been put in place by Government to curtail the spread of the infectious disease.

"As mothers, let us enforce compliance at the family level with measures that reduce the spread of Covid-19 amongst us."

Amai Mnangagwa emphasised the importance of hygiene that has been prescribed by health authorities.

"We need a plan at the household level for regularly using any means at our disposal to clean and sanitise our homes, to ensure that everyone in the home knows the importance of having a mask and masking up properly; more importantly to organise sharp safe errands for our requirements to get going whilst enforcing the family to stay at home."

The First Lady implored women to play their role in ensuring that every member of the family was responsible for their personal hygiene, and to fight stigmatisation.

"Let us ensure that all members of the family have knowledge of how to help those that have been infected and are willing to assist those that get sick to cope whilst remaining safe from infection," she said.

"As we pray for relief in our nation, we should observe the measures for safe praying. The best is to fast and pray as individuals in our homes. For those that congregate in small numbers as allowed by the Covid-19 regulations, let us mask up and observe safe physical distancing from each other."

Amai Mnangagwa called upon traditional leaders to help mothers to save the nation from further damage. She implored the media and online platforms to help in getting the message across.

"I want to thank members of the health profession, our frontline heroes that continue to provide assistance to the sick, screening through testing to know the rate of infection and spreading awareness messages that help in compliance," said the First Lady.

"I thank members of the security forces for a sterling job in enforcing compliance with the Covid-19 regulations. We encourage you to keep up the good work for the security of our nation. Let us all do our part and save the nation from greater catastrophe."