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Zvamaida Murwira Harare Bureau
ZIMBABWE will engage Namibia over media reports that Windhoek has urged citizens in that country not to visit Harare over fears of the Ebola virus, the Senate heard yesterday.
Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Paul Chimedza said reports from Namibia advising its citizens not to visit Zimbabwe over Ebola fears were unfortunate.
He said this in the Senate while responding to a question from Mashonaland West representative Prisca Mupfumira (Zanu-PF) who wanted him to comment on media reports that attributed Namibia’s Health and Social Services Minister Richard Kamwi advising people in that country not to visit Zimbabwe.
In his response, Deputy Minister Chimedza said Namibia was one of those countries that were represented at ministerial level three weeks ago in Victoria Falls during a Sadc meeting of Ministers of Health to address the Ebola issue.
The meeting, chaired by Zimbabwe, was aimed at addressing the Ebola issue in the region, hence he was surprised at reports that Namibia was advising its nationals not to visit Harare.
“We also picked the story published by a daily newspaper in Namibia. I would like to think that the Honourable Minister was misquoted,” said Deputy Minister Chimedza.
He said damage in terms of tourist arrivals, among others, had been made as a result of that story premised on unfounded rumours.
“We will engage Namibia using the normal channels. For the record, there is no single Ebola case that has been confirmed in Zimbabwe,” he said.
The Namibian Health Minister was quoted as saying that people should not visit Zimbabwe until it had been declared safe since the incubation period of Ebola virus was 21 days.
Deputy Minister Chimedza said they were installing state-of-the-art equipment at ports of entry starting with international airports that would automatically detect certain Ebola-related symptoms.
Responding to another question Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, said they had set up a committee to look into ways to deal with sexual abuses that had seen children and women being raped.
“A multi-sectoral committee has been set up to look into various issues that include the motive of those perpetrators and has since reported to cabinet their findings,” he said.
Minister Mnangagwa said he was averse to capital punishment being imposed on perpetrators, but had no problem with the number of years in prison that could be imposed on them.
Online Reporter