Meaningless ZANU PF Covid-19 Exit Strategy

The clueless Emmerson Mnangagwa-led government has been found wanting; as the widespread of COVID-19 continues to ravage through Zimbabwean communities and the government has done little in as far as helping its citizens.

Mnangagwa announced an exit strategy which was more or less pointless, as the government has done nothing tangible and no tangible strategy in regards to assists its citizens.

The dilapidated hospitals are at full capacity and medical stuff are not in possession of the appropriate PPE; and the government has done little to deal with these issues.

Lack of PPE and poor medical facilities are some of the things which experts believe to be triggering the spiking number of infections in the country.

According to Johns Hopkins University, Zimbabwe, Covid-19 cases had reached a staggering number of 36,179 cases in a country with a population of 14 million. The related death toll stands at over 1,478.

These numbers are astounding and are almost double the total number of all infections reported in 2020. When lockdown restrictions were announced, Zimbabweans were left in anguish and despair as they were being forced to stay at home with no assistance from the government.

Mnangagwa announced the relaxation of most covid restrictions in the country; which bought a bit of relief to many, but the opposition party and informal traders believe that the government could have actually done more than just relaxing restrictions.

Samuel Wadzai leader of the Vendors Initiative Social and Economic Transformation in Zimbabwe said; "The lockdown itself was causing a lot of suffering. The informal sector was heavily affected."

With the liquidity crunch hitting the country and more than 80% of the the people working in the informal sector it is hard for the vast majority of the people to afford PPE. Lifting the lockdown is a welcome idea but puts people at risk.

"The majority of informal traders are unable to buy those PPEs given that they have been out of business a long time," he said.

Zimbabwe needs a plan to bounce back from the pandemic, said Fadzayi Mahere, MDC-A National spokesperson.

At this point and time; governments try to set aside political differences and unite towards combating the pandemic; but ZANU PF is aimlessly turning a blind eye on the key issues and focusing more on silencing opposition party members through arrests and detentions.

ZANU PF has once again let the Zimbabwean populace down. Stringent Covid guidelines were imposed as a way to curb the widespread of the deadly virus but little to nothing was done to alleviate the lives of the vast majority of the suffering informal traders in Zimbabwe.

Stringent coronavirus curbs which had been put in place were taking a toll on the livelihoods of the vulnerable informal workers in the country. This forced the vast majority of the Zimbabweans to risk sickness as they tried to eke out a living and feed their families regardless of the restrictions.

Many Zimbabweans were and are still facing starvation due to the combined effects of poor governance, devastating drought and deepening economic crisis.

The Mnangagwa led government promised a better Zimbabwe after the heavily contested presidential elections; but the situation has only worsened; cases of resource plunder and human rights violations have spiked in the country.

The state of affairs and growing tensions between ZANU PF and the main opposition party, MDC-A in Zimbabwe has raised concerns across the globe to the extent of prompting visits from a South African delegation team in 2020.

The main opposition party and civic society organisations accuse ZANU PF of having the judiciary system and security forces under its tight grip. Activists and opposition party members are being arrested and detained.

"For too long citizens have been arrested, persecuted and jailed without trial for speaking the truth. We have become statistics and I warned that they are coming for you too in different ways; today it is Chilonga in Chiredzi, the Shangaan.Persecution and greed," said Hopewell Chin'ono.

The police are supposed to be protecting the citizens, but they are being used as a means to coerce and force conformity from fellow Zimbabweans.