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The strong warning issued recently by Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) chairperson, Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo, directed at politicians and high-ranking public officials to stop bullying health officials into releasing their returning relatives and friends at screening and testing entry points and those held in Covid-19 quarantine centres, exposes the irresponsible behaviour of some powerful officials.
ZACC said it was investigating reports of politicians and Government officials who were abusing their positions to facilitate the release of returnees before they undergo Covid-19 tests and mandatory quarantine.
Justice Matanda-Moyo made it quite clear that such behaviour displayed corruption and wilful disregard of the country’s laws and those caught would be arrested without fear or favour.
This is sad — coming as it does over two years after the end of the old dispensation in this country — to realise there are selfish political and Government office bearers who continue to display “residual rule by instilling fear mentality”.
Exhibiting this kind of behaviour will no doubt make it difficult for those giving their all in the fight against the pandemic.
Such conduct only serves to demonstrate that some powerful members of our society believe they are not only untouchables, but also do not practise what they preach.
They tell people to self-isolate and observe lockdown rules, yet they breach the same rules and corruptly order the release of friends and relatives.
It is a fact that President Mnangagwa and his two Vice Presidents have largely been leading from the front in the daily fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Cabinet Taskforce on Covid-19 chaired by Vice President Kembo Mohadi, different clusters, committees, frontline health workers and private sector donors have done well in mitigating the impact of coronavirus.
The President’s addresses on the extension of the lockdown last week, has gained the confidence of many right-thinking Zimbabweans and was a brilliant capture of the journey so far since he ordered total lockdown on March 30.
It was a clear reflection of what has been done since the country embarked on this effort.
We have also witnessed the swift mobilisation and deployment of security forces to enforce the President’s stay-at-home order.
However, although infection and fatalities in Zimbabwe are still relatively low, compared to developed countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy and Spain, they are steadily increasing.
More worryingly, is the fact that infection is now into parts of our rural communities — Mhondoro, Murehwa and Buhera, in particular.
This is ghastly to contemplate and potentially catastrophic.
Statistics as of yesterday show that from over 7 000 people who have been tested for Covid-19, 40 have been confirmed as positive, four have died and five have recovered.
The jump from 32 to 40 in just 24 hours is disturbing.
We cannot hide the fact that the biggest source of coronavirus cases in Zimbabwe is the returnees with infections from hotspot countries such as the UK and the US.
Zororo Makamba became the first known Zimbabwean to die of coronavirus after he returned from a trip to New York.
It is quite clear that the sole objective of the lockdown and quarantining all returnees is, and still remains that of containing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and ultimately to save the lives of people.
And the only way to arrest infections and save lives within towns, cities and rural areas, where the majority of Zimbabweans live, is to quarantine returnees and enforce lockdown measures.
We concurred with the President when he underscored that any decision on whether or not to extend the lockdown will be informed by the need to save lives.
Furthermore, the President in his sensibleness, emphasises the sanctity of life when he argues that the priority is to save lives of people.
Said President Mnangagwa: “I have come to the conclusion that if people die, we cannot resuscitate them. The economy can die and it can be resuscitated now or in future. It doesn’t matter, because as long as people are alive you can have conferences and discuss ‘how do we resuscitate the economy’ but I have never seen a conference where people are discussing how to resuscitate the dead.”
It is against this that, all the inroads and efforts made thus far, cannot be reversed by directives from self-interested political and Government officials to get relatives and friends skip Covid-19 quarantine. If those corruptly released are Covid-19-infected and are freely mixing and mingling in communities they stay, we shudder to imagine the potential danger we could face.
There should be no room for complacency and we are once again urging the public to stay away from large gatherings, always wear face masks and maintaining physical distance at fresh vegetable markets and maize meal queues at shops.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter