MDC imploded after Chamisa's MDC presidency was declared illegal - worst time ever for hara-kiri N Garikai

The Supreme Court has endorsed the High Court judgement that Chamisa’s seizure of the MDC-T leadership in 2014 was unconstitutional. The Court has ruled that whatever happened after the seizure was null and void and order the party to hold an extra-ordinary congress to elect new leaders.

“No amount of judicial gymnastics can change fact that no judge can order a person into political affection,” was Professor Welshman Ncube, MDC A VP.

The Court ruled that Chamisa’s ascendance was not legal. Professor Ncube and many of the MDC A leaders are pointedly avoiding addressing this point because they all know that Chamisa did was messy, to say the least!

Yes, Zanu PF is thrilled to bits with the judgement more so because Mnangagwa has Khupe and her followers in his pocket through POLAD. Even if there was no POLAD, the judgement has divided MDC and weakened it into utterly uselessness.

As since its formation in 1999 MDC has broken up and divided every few years. But this division may well be the coup de grace. And for it to happen at the time when the country is going through its greatest trial of all times because of the corona virus. Given the ruling party, Zanu PF, is a corrupt and incompetent and certain to blunder from pillar to post, the nation was hoping even a mediocre MDC will help stop Zanu PF go off the rail completely. What a time for MDC to choose to commit hara-kiri!

My guess is Komichi, Khupe, Mwonzora and others will call the extra-ordinary congress a.s.a.p. Chamisa and those around him will not attend as they will still be torn between recognising the court ruling and defying it. So, Khupe and company will emerge as the new leaders.

Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube, David Coltart and others who joined MDC-T to form MDC A cannot attend the congress since they were not members of MDC-T in February 2014.

The reconstituted MDC will inherit all the MDC A MPs, Senators and Councillors and offer them the option to retain their post if they swear allegiance to the new leadership. Many will accept but others like MP Biti and Senator Coltart will this too bitter a pill to swallow. It will be the second time Biti is booted out of parliament because the party whip was withdrawn.
      
If the truth be told MDC leaders themselves were gloriously happy to see Zanu PF implode in 2014 with the booting out of Mai Mujuru and her followers. As soon as she was out, two new Zanu PF factions emerge, one led by Mnangagwa, Lactose, and another G40 led by Grace Mugabe with her husband as the faction’s Godfather. The November 2017 military coup settled Mnangagwa and his lot as the winners.

A month before the November 2017 coup Grace Mugabe complained that her husband was so fearful of a coup he “slept with one eye open!” Well it is now Mnangagwa’s turn to sleep with one eye open. Many people believe another coup is on the cards.

Mnangagwa’s failure to revive the Zimbabwe economy has made the ordinary Zimbabweans themselves restless, they are desperate for real change as contrast to the recycling of the same corrupt, incompetent and utterly useless leaders by Zanu PF and MDC.

Both Zanu PF and MDC are imploding and for exactly the same reason – the lack of democratic competition within the party has allowed corrupt and incompetent leaders to overstay and thuggery as the only way to gain power. Both political leaders love power and the material wealth it brings. They do not give a damn about freedom, justice and the suffering masses.

Professor Welshman Ncube and his fellow MDC friends failed to implement even one democratic reform during the 2008 to 2013 GNU because they had secured seats on the gravy train and Mugabe offered them the trappings of high office. With their snouts in the feeding trough they forgot about the democratic changes. Where was his “political affection” then?

Zimbabwe, like China, has fake covid-19 figures and 20 years for reporting truth P Guramatunhu

Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because decades of bad governance. One of the most common manifestation of bad governance is bad policies.

This monolithic de facto one-party, Zanu PF, dictatorship does not tolerate dissent and so has stifled all meaningful debate and so policies are proposed and implemented without much debate or scrutiny. Little wonder they are, more often than not, half-baked and have caused much suffering, indigestion or worse.

Take this 21-day nationwide lockdown, starting today 30 March 2020; there could not have been any serious debate on the matter. Using government’s own figure there are seven confirmed cases of corona virus and one death in the country. Surely government should have traced all those the seven were in touch with and ordered them into self-isolation and not place the whole nation of 16 million under lockdown.

There are a host of other measures Zimbabwe should be pursuing such as making sure everyone, especially in all hospitals and urban centres, has access to clean running water; step up the testing (only 16 tests were carried out as of 20 March 20202); make sure there is enough personal protective equipment for all corona virus frontline workers; etc.

Many people believe there a lot more people in Zimbabwe infected by the corona virus than the small number admitted by the regime; enough to justify a nation-wide lockdown. Even then, government must step up the testing, supply of clean water, etc. The lockdown will, at best, slow down the spread of the virus and, unless it is stamped out, the virus will start spreading again the as soon as the lockdown is lifted.

Of course, it is disheartening that hardships and sacrifices the people will endure during the 21-day lockdown will not stop the spread of the virus, all because the lockdown was yet another one of this government ill-advised policies.

Worse still, it now emerges that government has passed a law whose import is foster its current position of doing few tests and the number of confirmed corona virus cases very low. Anyone reporting of any corona virus cases higher than the official figure will be punished!

"For the avoidance of doubt any person who publishes or communicates false news about any public officer involved with enforcing or implementing the national lockdown in his or her capacity as such, or about any private individual that has the effect of prejudicing the State's enforcement of the national lockdown, shall be liable for prosecution under section 31 of the Criminal Law Code and liable to the penalty there provided, that is to say a fine up to or exceeding level 14 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 20 years or both," states Statutory Instrument 83 of the 2020 Public Health, COVID-19 Prevention, Containment, Treatment and Lockdown Order.

Zimbabwe’s 21-day lockdown is a copycat of China’s Wuhan lockdown in two ways:

1)   This Zanu PF regime is obsessed about portray itself as a competent government serious of the corona virus outbreak and retain its competence image, even at the price of the virus spreading. The Chinese Communist Party supress the news of the corona virus for nearly a month, for the same egotistic reasons. To date, China has 82 198 reported corona virus cases and 3 186 deaths; many people believe the true figures are much higher. Zanu PF will rigorously apply SI 83 of 2020 to make sure corona virus figures are kept as low as possible.

2)   Imposing a total lockdown and ruthlessly enforcing it comes naturally to President Xi Jinping of China as it does to President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe.  

The difference between Zimbabwe and China is one is a pauper state whilst the other is a super-power. China was able to stamp out corona virus because it was not only able to coerce the populous obey the lockdown but, most important of all, had the human and economic resources to stamp out the virus.

40 years of corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical rule has reduced Zimbabwe into an impoverished Banana Republic. The country’s economy is in total meltdown and key basic services such as health care have all but collapsed.

Indeed, the decision to impose the lockdown instead of rebuilding the health service was because, being a Police State, the security services is comparatively better resourced than the health care service. We need nurses and doctors to stamp out corona virus not AK47 wielding soldiers with orders to shoot to kill!

Corona virus has the potential of cause as much economic suffering as the 1930s Great Depression and claim many human lives. For countries like Zimbabwe whose economy was already in ruins before the corona virus outbreak, the per capita human lives will be that much greater!

In short, much of the human suffering and deaths toll in Zimbabwe will be a result of bad governance. Understating the seriousness of the virus outbreak, for example, will delay its eradication by as much as a month.

The people of Zimbabwe have done nothing to end the country’s curse of rigged elections, the root cause of the bad governance, for the last 40 years now. The nation has paid dearly for this folly but economic and social cost has soared with the advent of corona virus.

The need to end the curse of rigged elections should be the number one issue on the national agenda, even with the corona virus grabbing all the headlines because if the country had a good and competent government it will implement sound policies designed to stamp out the virus and not waste time on such foolishness as this 21-day lockdown.

Wuhan style lockdown will not stop spread of covid-19 - can't compare chalk and cheese P Guramatunhu

In an effort to stop the spread of corona virus, Mnangagwa has ordered a nation-wide 21-day lockdown starting Monday 30 March. SA is already in the middle of a 21-day nation-wide lockdown and many other countries have adopted similar measures. China imposed a lockdown in Wuhan, a city of 10 million people, and, as we know, successfully stopped the spread of the virus. There is no chance of Zimbabwe’s lockdown repeating China’s success, comparing chalk and cheese, and here is why:

1)   The Chinese identified Wuhan as the epicentre of the corona virus outbreak, the lockdown was to stop infected people travelling out and spreading the virus and those within the city spreading it to others. Zimbabwe does not have even 10 corona virus cases and it is over the top to lockdown a whole nation of 16 million just because 10 individuals are infected. It would have made more sense to trace all the people the infected have been in contact with and place them into quarantine.

2)   If we assume there are a hell lot more people infected with corona virus that the 10 or so then officials must get their act and identify the infected and treat them. The Chinese built massive additional hospitals in Wuhan and had them staffed and equipped to cater of influx of corona virus victims. Other than getting the Army and Police to enforce the lockdown, the regime is doing nothing else!

3)   If the plan is to abandon all those with the virus infection to either recover or die; which, either than paying lip service to stopping the infection, is certainly the reality on the ground; then we must expect the number of infected to increase. Even if the number infection slowed down during the lockdown, we can expect the numbers to increase again as soon as the lockdown is over.

4)   Of course, this Zanu PF government is paying lip service to stopping the spread of corona virus. The country does not know the spread of the virus because the regime is not testing. The regime has done little to ensure there is clean running water in hospitals much less equip and staff the hospitals to treat those with corona virus.

5)   The 21-day shutdown is itself just a gimmick, in a country in which unemployment is a nauseating 90%; there was not much to shutdown. Zimbabwe has become a nation of vendors and they will be back on the streets in full force even if the corona virus figures are increasing because with no other source of income the people would rather risk catching the virus than starve to death. People need to eat, corona virus shutdown or not. The British government, for example, is paying up to 80% of the wage of laid-off workers or else claim the welfare benefits. Zimbabweans have no such safety net and ill afford to the 21-day shutdown extended even by one more day!

The lockdown will, at best, slow down the spread of the virus but will not stamp it out; other concrete measures must be implemented to achieve that. And without stamping it out the virus will flare up again as soon as the lockdown is lifted. The lockdown cannot be sustained indefinitely. Zimbabwe has imposed the lockdown, autocratic and ease bit; but it failed to guarantee the resources to help those infected to recover and to eliminate the virus, the intellectually challenging bit.  

So Zimbabweans will endure the economic and social hardships of the Wuhan style lockdown but only to see the corona virus infection increase continue to increase regardless!

"Zanu PF must account for Wilkins Hospital debacles" - good start but we must now act and self-empower W Mukori

A lot has been said about the tragic events surrounding the late Zororo Makamba’s death but, sadly, most of it has been the usual static noise. So when I heard something coherent, a diamond amongst the stone, I was ecstatic!

"Minister of Health and Child Care, Obadiah Moyo must take responsibility for the demise of Zororo Makamba and account to the Makamba family and the nation. We also demand that the Minister comes clean on the state of preparedness and response by the government on COVID-19," the Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights (ZDHR) posted in their Social Media account.

I would like to applaud the ZDHR for hitting the nail on the head! The sheer incompetence with which our political leaders have handled the corona virus pandemic is unforgivable more so because the nation will pay dearly for it – with lost treasure, human suffering and human lives!

The nation was assured that Wilkins Hospital was equipped to deal with the corona virus patients. Zororo Makamba was the first patient to be admitted there and the nation was shocked to discover just how ill-equipped the hospital was.

Zororo was offered a bed and nothing else!

“His doctor made it clear earlier on that he had to be on a ventilator because he could not breathe. However, when we got at Wilkins Hospital there was no ventilator, no medication and even the oxygen would run out and they had to get it from the City of Harare,” said Tawanda Makamba in a statement.

“After that we ran around to find a ventilator for him and we managed to get a portable ventilator from a family friend who had a relative who used the ventilator before he died.

“We then brought the ventilator on Sunday by 2pm and when we got here, because the portable ventilator had an American plug, they told us to get an adapter because they only had round sockets at the hospital. I then rushed to buy an adapter and came back and they never used it and when I asked why they were not using the ventilator they said they had no sockets in his room.

“So, they didn’t have medication, ventilators and we brought them a ventilator and they didn’t have sockets in his room. I told them that I had an extension cord and pleaded with them to use the cord, but they refused.”

This was not all; there was no running clean water and the patient was expected to use a bucket for a toilet!

It should be noted that just a few days before Zororo was admitted, President Mnangagwa launched the Zimbabwe’s Coronavirus National Preparedness and Response Plan with the usual fanfare and glitz. UN and WHO representative attended the launch. And now it turns out that very specialist hospital at the heart of the plan did not have power sockets for ventilators and other monitoring equipment, no running water, no proper toilet facilities, no protective clothing for staff (one staff member who attended Makamba has reportedly contracted the virus), etc.!

Surely, we do not need international donors to help us install a water tank, toilet facilities, etc. But in Mnangagwa’s Zimbabwe, it is clear we do!

It just so happened that Nelson Chamisa, leader of the main Opposition MDC A, the party responsible for Council run Wilkins Hospital, visited the hospital a few days before Zororo Makamba was admitted. The MDC A leaders gave his thumbs up approval!

“I visited Wilkins hospital. So encouraging to see how the City of HARARE leaders & staff are working to enhance training, capacity and preparedness in dealing with COVID-19. I was taken through the processes. We must all do our best to be fight this pandemic,” tweeted Chamisa.

So, what exactly did Chamisa find so “encouraging”!!!

It is heartening that some Zimbabweans are now openly advocating that we hold to account our corrupt and incompetent opposition, Minister Moyo, President Mnangagwa and the whole Zanu PF cabal. The call is a good start, even though it is long overdue, but given the seriousness of the corona virus, holding them to account will not suffice. We must do more!

The corona virus pandemic is going to claim many, many more Zimbabwean lives beside Zororo Makamba. Two notable things can be said about the death toll:

• ·       The per capita death rate in Zimbabwe will be hundreds of times higher than that in developed countries. Whereas the latter nations had prosperous economies and robust health systems to deal with the pandemic Zimbabwe’s at economy was in a total mess and the health service was barely functioning and the pandemic was the coup the grace.

• ·       The failure to supply clean running water and hygienic sanitation will account for 30% plus of Zimbabwe’s corona virus death toll. There is no excuse why anyone should drink from a shallow well or worse in this day and age! And it will not take much to make the local clinic and hospital water tank has water!

Zimbabweans must take charge of their own and the nation’s destiny, since both Zanu PF and MDC have failed to ensure there is clean running water and hygienic sanitation, the people must take over and get these done.

Zimbabwe’s political system is not only dysfunctional, it has clearly failed to deliver the people’s basic economic and political needs. Worst of all, it is oppressive in that the people are powerless to remove the corrupt and incompetent leaders and are so helpless they cannot do anything to alleviate their suffering and even deaths.

So if the people of Zimbabwe can successful deliver clean running water and hygienic sanitary conditions were both Zanu PF and MDC have failed for the last 40 years it will be the single most important self-empowering act in the nation’s history.

Besides, 30% or so lives people will save by making sure there is clean running water and hygienic sanitation will be their own!

Zanu PF use social media on corona virus banned - fearful truth will force us to open our eyes, at last W Mukori

"His (Chamisa) cheerleaders prayed and wished that the country suffers from this coronavirus that has killed thousands globally and in his unfathomable melancholy Chamisa appropriates for himself powers to announce the persons infected in this country, when we have an able and competent team of experts that have been assembled by President Emmerson Mnangagwa and has been competently and timeously keeping the nation abreast with information around COVID-19,” said Pupurai Togarepi, Zanu PF Youth leaders.

“We have heard in Parliament his own MPs speaking of abandoning his sinking ship and joining alternative leadership within the amorphous political outfit, and we would ordinarily not be amused by his clownish antics. But because of the gravity of the situation we are tempted to push through Parliament laws that punish alarmist and peddlers of falsehoods like this childish Chamisa.”

This is to be expected of this Zanu PF regime, it has denied that corona virus was spreading in the country and now that the truth is coming out it is seeking to silence everyone. When Zanu PF wanted to boot Mai Mujuru out of the party, she and her supporters were accused of factionalism and, worse still, plotting to assassinate Mugabe. It comes as no surprise that the regime is now accusing Chamisa of “praying and wishing that the country suffers from corona virus”.

The truth contrary to Zanu PF’s claim, corona virus has been spreading in Zimbabwe and, worse still, the regime has no clue what to do to stop the spread. The regime’s so call Emergence Preparedness and Response Plan in not even worth the paper it is written on.

Zanu PF rigged the July 2018 elections and imposed itself on nation and now the regime is failing to carryout even the simplest of tasks to contain the corona virus. We own it to ourselves and posterity to hold the regime to account and we should not allow ourselves to be bullied into silence!

Zimbabwe is a Banana Republic, ruled by corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs. 40 years of Zanu PF misrule has left the country in economic ruins and political turmoil. The corona virus outbreak could not have happened at a worse time; the economy is in total meltdown pushing unemployment to nauseating height of 90. With millions living from hand to mouth, a complete lockout lasting weeks will not be possible – people will risk getting the virus than stay home and starve.

Basic services such as supply of clean running water and health care services have all but collapsed. Even the most basic hygiene advice of “Wash your hands regularly!” will be a tall order. Wash with what!

 In 1980 when the country gain her independence Zimbabwe have the potential to become the South Korea of Africa. The country had a sound economic infrastructure and well resourced. By imposing the corrupt and tyrannical de facto one-party dictatorship Zanu PF turned the country into the North Korea of Africa.

The people of Zimbabwe have had many opportunities, notably during the 2008 to 2013 GNU, to end the Zanu PF dictatorship but have wasted them all. The corona virus outbreak has brought to fore the nation’s folly in having tolerated the curse of rigged elections and bad governance these last 40 years and counting. For we can be certain that Zanu PF blame everyone else the suffering and deaths caused by corona virus and do anything to consolidate its own strangle hold on power.

“We (Zanu PF) have the numbers in Parliament and let us ban the abuse of social media by putting in place laws that punish the likes of Chamisa,” threatened Togarepi.

“One time he wants to be president, now he is picketing as Minister of Health. God have mercy!”

 One only hopes that the grime suffering and deaths Zimbabwe is going through right now precisely because of decades of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and rank lawlessness that has earned the country its Banana Republic label will finally force Zimbabweans to snap out of their sloth-like slumber and finally end the curse of bad governance. If corona virus fails to wake Zimbabweans up, then what will! 

"Only Minister of health will release corona virus figures!" - fake news, no clue what is happening and don't care N Garikai

“We have noted with concern that central government wants to proscribe local authorities from going public about cases of Covid-19,” stated MDC in a statement.


“Local authorities and councils are at the coal face of primary health care across the length and breadth of the country and in the urban areas.

“There is nothing anomalous about councils going public about  cases of Covid-19 in the health  facilities under their jurisdiction, considering that we have before us a dire challenge that  has not only become a threat to human lives but has stretched the capacity of health care systems across the world.”

Sadly, this is not exactly what the nation is dying to hear! Have the local authorities and councils drawn any plans to make sure that all those in self-isolation have food and water so they do not have to leave their homes and thus spread the virus?

Local authorities are responsible for many of the community-based hospitals and clinics, there is no doubt that many coronavirus patients will be flooding in as the outbreak take hold. What is the protocol for dealing with pandemic? Are the doctors and nurses equipped to deal with the flood?  

Have the local authorities drawn up plans to help the street kids, beggars and the many orphans whose parents and guardians will be the victims of the coronavirus outbreak?

There should be regular hand washing stations dotted everywhere especially in the marketplaces, bus stations, shopping centres and most important of all at the clinics and hospitals. Local authorities must make sure no one ever run out of something as basic and yet very critical to the fight to contain the spread of the virus as clean running water.

Neither central government nor local authorities have issued clear instructions on what one must do if they have the coronavirus symptoms. Given the country’s ambulance service is erratic at the best of times, is the sick patient expected to use public transport to go to hospital? What is the bus operator expected to do with a highly contagious passenger; throw him/her off the bus?

The last thing the nation wants is for anyone unfortune enough to be infected with the dreaded coronavirus to find themselves stigmatised and rejected. They will respond by hiding in the crowd and thus infect many, many others. The sick must be made to feel that it is not their fault they are ill and all practical help will be given to them and their dependents.

Both local and central government must have clearly laid down plans stating what is to be done with each coronavirus case from suspected, confirmed, recovered and, God forbid, dead and burial. There must be strictly laid procedures to stop infection spreading at every turn.

Individuals must be appointed to keep meticulous records of what happened to help in the fight to stop the spread of the virus and future reference.

There is so much that both local authorities and central government has not thought through and done.

It is clear that coronavirus will sweep the nation like a veld fire causing untold suffering, death and traumatise the nation. It is most disheartening that very little, if anything at all, is being done by both local and central government to reduce the suffering and the death toll.

It is becoming increasingly clear that there are coronavirus cases in Zimbabwe and, worse still, that the virus has been spreading and killing people for weeks. And all the reports of no virus outbreak in the country were all lies! An ominous start because the people will not have confidence in what the leaders say or do from henceforth. None!

It is ironic and infuriating that Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies rigged the July 2018 to impose themselves as the central government. And now they are sitting there twiddling their fingers, they have no clue what to do to contain the coronavirus. They one thing they want to do is be the one to announce the coronavirus death toll!

“There’s only one official channel of releasing information and this is through the Minister of Health!” Minister of Health Obidah Moyo publicly reprimanded MDC leader, Nelson Chamisa. The MDC leader had announced that there were two more individuals in Zimbabwe, beside the two announced by central government, had tested positive coronavirus.

So, both Zanu PF and MDC, in their respective roles as central and local government officials, have done precious little to stop the spread of coronavirus, they have no systems in place to collect data on the virus much less to act on it. They have no clue what is going on and, frankly, they don’t care! They are each claiming the right to announce Zimbabwe’s FAKE coronavirus outbreak toll! What a macabre fight! 

"MDC hopes sanction will starve masses into rebellion" lied Dr Mavaza - what some do for 30 pieces of silver P Guramatunhu

I believe in freedom of expression but not when the exercise of that right means freedom to offend, to brainwash and stifle debate and/or, worse still, to incite, lawlessness and thuggery!

“The MDC Alliance in a bid to please their sponsors elsewhere have plunged the nation into the pool of confusion and suffering. The sanctions which are imposed on Zimbabwe has made the business and economy die and unemployment increase in a way only witnessed in a fiction movie,” wrote Dr Mavaza in his recent article.

“The country is profusely bleeding The unpatriotic behaviour exhibited by the MDC Alliance should not be swept under the carpet. MDC through Hwende have shown Zimbabweans that they are the ones behind the sanctions. They actually said sanctions are helping Zimbabweans. In actual fact the sanctions are starving Zimbabweans. The MDC is hoping to starve the people to rebellion. All along MDC A has refused to admit that they are the ones who have begged for sanctions in the country."

There are so many aspects in this sanction debate that Zanu PF have ignored and thus making it clear the party is not interested in an honest and informative debate of the subject. For example, whilst the regime has gone to town on how sanctions have destroyed the Zimbabwe economy it has failed to provide any hard evidence to support this.

Whatever damage is being inflected by the sanctions is nothing compared to that caused by corruption and mismanagement. In the beginning, the regime denied there was corruption but has since admitted the problem or be it grudgingly.

In 2016 then President Mugabe the country was being “swindled out of US$15 billion in lost diamond revenue alone. He never arrested even one diamond swindler nor has Mnangagwa, his successor.

Last month ZACC admitted that the commission had identified US$ 7 billion is assets and cash that have been salted out of the country. It is no secret that ZACC will never stamp out corruption because the Godfathers behind the corruption and government leaders including President Mnangagwa himself.

It is clear the regime is blaming the country’s economic meltdown on sanctions just to draw attention away from the root causes of corruption, mismanagement and the rotten political system which has allowed Zanu PF to remain in power regardless of the party’s economic failures.

Even if sanctions were the root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown, one has to ask why the regime and its apologists are targeting the opposition leaders and not the western nations who imposed the sanctions. The regime has dismissed opposition leaders as nothing more than “the West’s puppets”. So why punish the puppet for the omission of his master!

Worse of all, why are ordinary Zimbabweans being denied their freedoms and rights including the right to free, fair and credible elections and even the right to life itself. Zanu PF imposed this de facto one-party dictatorship for the same selfish reasons the white colonialists did.

So instead of independence restoring the freedoms and rights the whites had denied the black majority all it did was replace the white oppressor with the Zanu PF oppressors.

The number one item, indeed the only item, on the national agenda should be the restoration of the individual freedoms and rights including the holding of free, fair and credible elections. It is no surprise that Zanu PF and its apologists are using every dirty trick in the book to have sanctions as the only item on the national agenda by pretending it is the hardship caused by sanction pushing the masses to rebel against the dictatorship.

Even the simpletons who have believed all the Zanu PF lies and propaganda have woken up to the reality that for them to have any meaningful say in the country's destiny, they must restore their political power to hold those in power to account. They must have the power to remove Zanu PF, if need be, from office and the only sure way to regain that power is by making sure there free, fair and credible elections. 

It is very sad indeed that 40 years after independence we are still fighting for the same basic freedoms and rights so many suffered and died for before independence. So, yesterday's liberators have become today's oppressors.

"76% of those fighting in the Rhodesia Front Army were blacks!" A white supremacist once boasted. 

The racial colour of the oppressors has changed, there are still as many sell-outs ready and willing to serve the new masters! Zanu PF has never had any problems finding Zimbabweans willing to sell their own mothers for a price. Even now with all the 40 years of documented evidence of Zanu PF corruption and tyranny, there people like Professor Mthuli Ncube, Kirsty Coventry, Dr Mavaza, and many, many others who will falsify the party’s record and defend the dictatorship for the sake of thirty pieces of silver!

"Preparedness plan will minimise import of covid-19" - boastful dog putting out fire with his puny fart P Guramatunhu

“My Government, through the Ministry of Health and Child Care, has put in place measures to minimise the import of COVID-19 into the country and ensure health safety to all citizens,” said President Mnangagwa as he launched Zimbabwe’s Coronavirus National Preparedness and Response Plan.

“The National Emergency Prepared and Response mechanism for surveillance and early detection of any possible cases was activated and will remain active until after WHO has removed the global health alert.

“This pandemic surpasses all that we have experienced before. Around 200 000 people have tested positive globally and around 7000 have died worldwide.”

This is just a wishful thinking; Zimbabwe is in no position to protect its citizens from the coronavirus outbreak!

It is all very well to say the country has a "surveillance and early detection plan" but another thing to have an effective and working plan in place.

How many suspected coronavirus cases have been tested so far? And how many such test can the country do in a day?

Government has come up with a US$26 million budget to finance strategies aimed at combating the possible outbreak and spread of the virus. How many personal protection kits, test kits and specialist equip such as ventilators with this pittance buy?

Yes Zimbabwe is poor but the failure to get our priorities right is a serious issue we cannot ignore. For example, the Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, Kirsty Coventry, announce last week that government was spending $23 million and $13 million upgrading the National Sports, Barbourfield and Sakubva stadium respectively. She did not say whether the sums are in US$ or Z$. Still, it beggars belief that the nation should be spending money on prestige projects and pittance on life and death matters.

But worse still, Mnangagwa himself allocated US$4.5 million to POLAD members tasked to lobby Western and SADC nations to demand the lifting of sanctions. A waste of time and money since the IMF, WB, AfDB and all the other financial institution have all confirmed that they will not pay Zimbabwe one dollar in financial assistance even if the sanctions were lifted because the country’s reform programme is “off-track”.

The IMF singled out the country’s convert money printing – which is fuelling inflation – and the failure to stamp out corruptions as reasons for abandoning Zimbabwe as failed state beyond the pale. What IMF has done is confirmed Zimbabwe’s junk financial status and investors, being a shrewd and savvy lot, have taken note.

As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery. The coronavirus outbreak has certainly caught the nation with its pants down! Whatever is in this Coronavirus National Preparedness and Response Plan, we can be certain it will be wilfully inadequate for two reasons.

a)   40 years of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and rank lawlessness earning the country the pariah state label has left the country in economic ruins with any all but collapsed health care service. We have no human and material resources with which to fight the virus.

b)   We are not going to make the best use of the little resources we have because it is in the nature of this Zanu PF regime to be wasteful. After 40 years of corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical rule the regime is set in its ways; IMF and others have failed to get the regime to reform and not even the Armageddon threat of the coronavirus will succeed.

Like it or not. Mnangagwa’s coronavirus preparedness plan is just another example of boastful dog "claiming to put out the furnace fire with his puny fart", as the great African writer, Chinua Achebe, so aptly put.

"So encouraged by covid-19 preparedness" says Chamisa - better not be Marange debacle mark2 P Guramatunhu

“I visited Wilkins hospital. So encouraging to see how the City of HARARE leaders & staff are working to enhance training, capacity and preparedness in dealing with COVID-19. I was taken through the processes. We must all do our best to be fight this pandemic,” tweeted Chamisa.

“As the world battles the COVID19 pandemic, our prayers and sympathies are with the victims, families and their loved ones.

We wish strength to the health &social services workers on the frontlines. Thank you world leaders for your efforts and leadership in these trying times,” he added.

What exactly has been done to “enhance training, capacity and preparedness in dealing with covid-19”?

Can Zimbabwe carryout the coronavirus test? How many test kits does it have?

Do we have facilities to handle coronavirus patients? How many patients can we handle?

As of last week, we heard the nation had no testing facilities and was having to send samples to SA for testing. We also heard Wilkins Hospital was waiting for Chinese experts to install equipment to enable Wilkins Hospital to handle coronavirus patients.

In 2012 Morgan Tsvangirai visited Marange and Chiadzwa diamond mining operations and gave his thumbs up only the nation to learn latter that he was lying as corruption was rampant. A few weeks after the visit Tsvangirai was on a Sea Cruise Ship – a floating five-star hotel – having a good time. No prizes for who paid for the trip! This was not the first or last time Morgan sold-out; he sold-out in failing to implement even one reform during the GNU, in participating in the 2013 elections knowing fully well that without reforms Zanu PF would rig, etc.

Nelson Chamisa and all the other MDC leaders played their part in selling out during the GNU and the 2013 elections. Chamisa and company repeated the same foolishness in participating in the 2018 elections without reforms. 

One only hopes that Nelson Chamisa is not selling-out again on the coronavirus by falsely claiming the country is prepared to deal with the virus when it is not!   

"We must declare war on coronavirus" says UN Guterres - fight, in Zimbabwe are sitting ducks W Mukori

“COVID-19 is our common enemy.  We must declare war on this virus.  That means countries have a responsibility to gear up, step up and scale up,” said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. 

“How?  By implementing effective containment strategies; by activating and enhancing emergency response systems; by dramatically increasing testing capacity and care for patients; by readying hospitals, ensuring they have the space, supplies and needed personnel; and by developing life-saving medical interventions.”

It is all very well for you to advise us to “activate and enhance emergency response systems; etc.; etc.” You are just wasting your breath because, in Zimbabwe, we cannot do any of these things. Our health care services has all but collapsed. 

Decades of poor funding has left this basic human service with poorly paid staff most have long left the profession and the few still working can only afford to come to work 2 days a week. There is no equipment and no medicine. It is very common for even the big referral hospitals to run out of something as basic as painkillers and to have no running clean water and electricity for days or weeks on end. 

One can only imagine the sorry state of the clinics and hospitals in the rural backwaters! 

 “The most vulnerable are the most affected - particularly our elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions, those without access to reliable health care, and those in poverty or living on the edge,” acknowledged Secretary General Guterres. 

You are right there Mr Secretary General, in Zimbabwe, unemployment has been a nauseating 90% for the last decade at least the economy has collapsed and millions are living on the edge with 34% of the population, according to a WB report last year, are living “in extreme poverty”. Millions of Zimbabweans are utterly defenceless against this new enemy, coronavirus. 

40 years ago, when the country attained her independence, Zimbabwe had a robust economy with some of the best health care services in the world. Four decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption that have systematically destroyed the nation’s economy, basic services such as health care, everything.

Zimbabwe could have been saved from the ravages of four decades of corrupt and tyrannical misrule if the people of Zimbabwe were not denied their democratic right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country as stipulated in Article 21 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
 

“(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.”

Covid-19 is any pandemic , a common enemy for us all and yet we know there are some who will be better equipped to defend themselves than others and yet others will be utterly defenceless - they are sitting ducks!

Of course, the UN has known these last 40 years that Zanu PF has been rigging elections to stay in power and rob the nation blind and in contemptuous disregard of the UN UDHR. The UN has turned a blind eye to Zanu PF’s brutal oppression and a deaf ear to the ordinary people crying out for justice, freedom, human rights and dignity. 

“Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts (of the Second World War) which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,” reads the UN UDHR preamble. 

The most barbaric and heartbreaking story to emerge out of this coronavirus out break will be of the hundreds of thousands of lives lost unnecessarily for lack of clean running water to wash their hands!  A damning testimonial in failed leadership and a damning testimonial on those tasked to champion human rights but are instead cheering and applauding the tyrants!  

If the poor and voiceless from the developing countries had a voice then they would be demanding that the post covid-19 UN must be reformed if it is to fulfil its mandate delivering all the freedoms and rights in the UDHR. Because, as far as the people Zimbabwe and many others in the developing countries are concerned, the UN has provided a platform for our tyrannical leader to pontificate about freedoms and human rights with no intention of honouring any of it. 

"Covid-19 is God punishing West for imposing sanction" - if pandemic spread, what blasphemy will Zanu say then N Garikai

“Coronavirus is the work of God punishing countries that imposed sanctions on us,” said Zimbabwe’s Minister of Defence, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri.

“They’re now keeping indoors. Their economies are screaming, just like they did to ours. (Donald) Trump should know that he is not God.”

She was addressing Zimbabwe National Liberation War Collaborators Association (ZILWACO), a notoriously naive, gullible and partisan segment of society. She was cheered to the rafters! 

This is just the usual nonsense from the usual corrupt and incompetent village idiots to the naive and gullible who are foolish enough to think the nonsense manna from heaven. The coronavirus started in China and other country where it has left its cruel mark; these country have never imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe. 

Zimbabwe’s economy is already in total meltdown as a result of 40 years of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and rank lawlessness that has earned the nation the pariah state label. A feeble economy means Zimbabwe will not have the resources to fight the economic disruption and the health challenges a coronavirus outbreak will bring. 

It is almost certain that there will be coronavirus outbreak in Zimbabwe and the country is done nothing to prepare itself to deal with the outbreak. Nothing! 

Indeed, the country’s health care service will be completely overwhelmed with the first cases because the service has all but collapsed after decades of being starved of funds. The country does not have doctors, nurses, medicine, equipment and cannot even provide something as basic as clean running water! 

If there should be coronavirus outbreak in Zimbabwe then it will leave one of the broadest and deepest trail of death and economic destruction per capita than in any other third world country because Zimbabwe’s health care service is one of the weakest in the world. And, to add insult to injury, the Zanu PF government’s laissez-faire approach to the coronavirus, even now with the virus declared an pandemic, means the country still complacent and hopeless ill prepared.

Still, with unemployment a nauseating 90% and millions living in abject poverty, the virus outbreak will only make our suffering and deaths even worse, God must be punishing this nation for our collective laissez-faire to life. For we having allowed Zanu PF thugs to rid roughshod over us, denying the people their freedoms, human rights and dignity including the right to free, fair and credible elections and even the right to life. 

There is no deny that in the last 40 years there have been many golden opportunities to end the Zanu PF dictatorship. God has indeed opened the window and even provided the get out of jail cards. We have failed to apply ourselves and thus wasted all the opportunities. 

Nations get the government they deserve. We in Zimbabwe, certainly deserve this corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous Zanu PF dictatorship complete with its coterie of corrupt, incompetent and utterly useless opposition parties, all 130 of them. 

“Coronavirus is God punishing the West for imposing the sanctions us!” Well crippling economic meltdown must be God punishing Zimbabwe for being so naive and gullible as to believe Zanu PF lies and propaganda all these last 40 years. And the punishment is about to get a hell lot worse if there is coronavirus outbreak - signs are it is already spreading! What blasphemy, propaganda and lie will you tell the nation then, Minister of Defence!