Opinion / Columnist
Zimbabwean seeks refuge back home - Zimbabwe Vigil Diary
25 Jan 2021 at 08:43hrs | Views
A young Zimbabwean woman who says her family 'fled' to the UK in 1996 as gone back to Zimbabwe, where she says she will be better off.
In a scathing attack on the British government, published in the UK's Guardian newspaper, Michelle Kambasha a 28-year-old 'publicist', says Zimbabwe's cautious handling of the pandemic has made it feel safer than Britain. 'It's no secret that England's response to the coronavirus pandemic has been at best lacklustre and at worst fatal', she said. In contrast, 'many African countries, scarred by previous pandemics, realised quickly that there was very little room for error, and did what they needed to do . . . . governments like Zimbabwe's did as much as they could.'
Ms Kambasha described the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, as incompetent. 'I felt no schadenfreude, but as I sat on my flight to the relative safety of an African country, I considered whether there were some lessons in humility to learn among an elite that projected such confidence in its ability to mount a "world-beating" response to the virus.'
The Vigil disagrees and thinks the UK can indeed boast a 'world-beating response to the virus'. Here are some facts: first vaccine announced in Germany 9th November; first country to approve the vaccine UK 2nd December; first country to get supplies UK 4th December; first country to begin vaccinations UK 8th December.
Within 6 weeks of vaccinations beginning the UK this week reached its target of 2 million vaccinations a week, bringing total vaccinations so far to more than 6 million – many more than any other country in Europe. Prime Minister Johnson, competent or not, can be proud of these facts at least.
As far as competency goes, Ms Kambasha falls short herself. Despite saying her family had 'fled' Zimbabwe, she admits a few paragraphs later 'My family moved to England as economic immigrants wanting to make a better life for their children . . . England offered education, amenities, healthcare and a stable government'.
They obviously did well because she goes on the say: 'Ten years ago, we began going back to Zimbabwe every other Christmas.' She tells of staying at a lodge just three hours outside Harare. 'Our temperatures were checked every day and all staff and visitors, without exception, wore PPE (personal protective equipment) to ensure our safety.'
Ms Kambasha was happy going on a game drive. Perhaps now that she is living back in Zimbabwe she might like to show some humility herself and go to Chitungwiza to meet some ordinary people struggling to survive amid the rapidly worsening Covid-19 pandemic which has carried off 2 cabinet ministers in 48 hours.
The suffering people of Zimbabwe could do with a publicist.
In a scathing attack on the British government, published in the UK's Guardian newspaper, Michelle Kambasha a 28-year-old 'publicist', says Zimbabwe's cautious handling of the pandemic has made it feel safer than Britain. 'It's no secret that England's response to the coronavirus pandemic has been at best lacklustre and at worst fatal', she said. In contrast, 'many African countries, scarred by previous pandemics, realised quickly that there was very little room for error, and did what they needed to do . . . . governments like Zimbabwe's did as much as they could.'
Ms Kambasha described the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, as incompetent. 'I felt no schadenfreude, but as I sat on my flight to the relative safety of an African country, I considered whether there were some lessons in humility to learn among an elite that projected such confidence in its ability to mount a "world-beating" response to the virus.'
The Vigil disagrees and thinks the UK can indeed boast a 'world-beating response to the virus'. Here are some facts: first vaccine announced in Germany 9th November; first country to approve the vaccine UK 2nd December; first country to get supplies UK 4th December; first country to begin vaccinations UK 8th December.
Within 6 weeks of vaccinations beginning the UK this week reached its target of 2 million vaccinations a week, bringing total vaccinations so far to more than 6 million – many more than any other country in Europe. Prime Minister Johnson, competent or not, can be proud of these facts at least.
As far as competency goes, Ms Kambasha falls short herself. Despite saying her family had 'fled' Zimbabwe, she admits a few paragraphs later 'My family moved to England as economic immigrants wanting to make a better life for their children . . . England offered education, amenities, healthcare and a stable government'.
They obviously did well because she goes on the say: 'Ten years ago, we began going back to Zimbabwe every other Christmas.' She tells of staying at a lodge just three hours outside Harare. 'Our temperatures were checked every day and all staff and visitors, without exception, wore PPE (personal protective equipment) to ensure our safety.'
Ms Kambasha was happy going on a game drive. Perhaps now that she is living back in Zimbabwe she might like to show some humility herself and go to Chitungwiza to meet some ordinary people struggling to survive amid the rapidly worsening Covid-19 pandemic which has carried off 2 cabinet ministers in 48 hours.
The suffering people of Zimbabwe could do with a publicist.
Source - ZimVigil
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