‘Time for churches to step up fight against Covid-19’

Raymond Jaravaza, Sunday News Correspondent
THE Government cannot fight the Covid-19 pandemic on its own and it is time the church joined in the efforts to combat the novel virus especially by assisting vulnerable members of society, a Bulawayo cleric has said.

As the country steps up efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus, Government has called upon the private sector and churches to come on board and ramp up collective efforts to adequately deal with the pandemic. The pandemic has claimed thousands of lives worldwide and Zimbabwe has not been spared with four deaths recorded to date.

Prophet Emmanuel Mutumwa of the Johanne Masowe eChishanu called on churches to play their part by assisting the disabled and the elderly as they are hit hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic. He was speaking after making a donation of 500 bags of mealie-meal to vulnerable members of the community in Cowdray Park suburb last Wednesday.

“President Mnangagwa declared Covid-19 a national disaster and that calls for all of us, churches included, to put our heads together to fight the pandemic. Churches are part of the community and its easier for us to identify vulnerable members of society such as the disabled and the elderly and assist them in whatever ways we can. The pandemic is affecting people’s livelihoods with some breadwinners losing their sources of income thus we decided to make a donation of mealie-meal to disadvantaged members of the Cowdray Park community,” said Mutumwa.

Sixty four-year-old Gogo Sanele Mthunzi, a beneficiary, said her vegetable stall at the Cowdray Park terminus was affected by the closure of the fruit and vegetable market in the Bulawayo city centre, where she used to buy bulk fresh produce for resale.

“We are still waiting for farmers to start delivering vegetables in the townships and as things stand my vegetable stall is empty as I have nowhere to buy fresh produce. The 10kg of mealie-meal will go a long way since I have not been earning money for some weeks now,” she said.

The Bulawayo cleric said he will be making another donation of mealie-meal to the disabled and the elderly in Makokoba suburb next week.
@RaymondJaravaza