Category: zimbabwe

Source: We’ll work with Zanu PF: Mwonzora | Newsday (News)

BY RICHARD MUPONDE

OPPOSITION MDC-T leader Douglas Mwonzora, in an apparent show of allegiance  to the ruling Zanu PF party, yesterday pledged to co-operate with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration to solve the problems afflicting the country, adding that it was no longer time for opposing for the sake of opposition.

Mwonzora said this when he was giving a vote of thanks during the launch of the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Victoria Falls.

The event, led by Mnangagwa, was also attended by members of the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad), a loose coalition of party leaders who contested the 2018 presidential election.

“We have changed the way to do things. We now want politics of

tolerance and to work together putting the people of Zimbabwe first,” he said.

“We don’t want politics of hunger, hate and intolerance. As leaders of the opposition we should work for the betterment of the economy to save our people and also support the vaccination programme.”

Mwonzora added that it was out of order for opposition political leaders to encourage the public not to participate in the vaccination programme since the vaccines were safe.

Earlier on, Mnangagwa had called for entrenchment of patriotism and unity of purpose.

Mwonzora’s move has been viewed as affirmation of allegations that the MDC-T, which has recalled about 40 legislators and 80 councillors affiliated to the MDC Alliance, has all along been working with the ruling party to decimate the main opposition party led by Nelson Chamisa.

Just last week, Mwonzora ordered his party MPs to stop heckling or walking out on Mnangagwa.

MDC Alliance spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere said the Chamisa-led party would continue to hold the ruling Zanu PF party to account, champion the cause of the people and be the voice of the suffering masses.

“We will take all necessary steps to stop the attempt by Zanu PF and its surrogates who usurped the will of the people to create a one-party State. The regime must respect the democratic and constitutional rights of the citizens to challenge its policies and offer alternatives for the betterment of the nation,” Mahere said.

Mahere dismissed Mwonzora’s claims that the MDC Alliance was against the COVID-19 inoculation programme.

“Fighting the pandemic is a collective effort that offers no room for politicking. We support the roll out of a widespread vaccination drive in the fight against COVID-19.”

She said there was need for transparency in the procurement of vaccines, adding that the inoculation programme should prioritise frontline workers and the vulnerable.

Meanwhile, a statement by the MDC-T revealed that Mwonzora was actually invited to the Victoria Falls event by Justice permanent secretary Virginia Mabhiza, who is also Polad secretary.

In a letter addressed to Mwonzora in his capacity as MDC-T president and dated March 23, 2021, Mabhiza revealed that government had already arranged transport and other logistics for him.

Mwonzora was also said to have been invited in his capacity as the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, a position he took over from Thokozani Khupe (proportional representation MP)

His spokesperson Penias Damba told NewsDay yesterday at the party headquarters that: “When President ED (Mnangagwa) invited all leaders of political parties to participate in the vaccination programme through Twitter, we said we can’t go there over a tweet message. We said we want an invitation. Mwonzora went on to be invited officially to attend the national event. We don’t want to be politicising COVID-19.

“It’s a national event where people unite to fight the pandemic. We have nothing to do with Polad. This is not a Polad event.”

Mwonzora rose to the helm of MDC-T party in December last year after polling 883 votes out of the total 1 027 votes case to dislodge Khupe, although the latter has disputed the election results.

The post We’ll work with Zanu PF: Mwonzora appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.

The post We’ll work with Zanu PF: Mwonzora appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: We’ll work with Zanu PF: Mwonzora | Newsday (News)

BY RICHARD MUPONDE

OPPOSITION MDC-T leader Douglas Mwonzora, in an apparent show of allegiance  to the ruling Zanu PF party, yesterday pledged to co-operate with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration to solve the problems afflicting the country, adding that it was no longer time for opposing for the sake of opposition.

Mwonzora said this when he was giving a vote of thanks during the launch of the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Victoria Falls.

The event, led by Mnangagwa, was also attended by members of the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad), a loose coalition of party leaders who contested the 2018 presidential election.

“We have changed the way to do things. We now want politics of

tolerance and to work together putting the people of Zimbabwe first,” he said.

“We don’t want politics of hunger, hate and intolerance. As leaders of the opposition we should work for the betterment of the economy to save our people and also support the vaccination programme.”

Mwonzora added that it was out of order for opposition political leaders to encourage the public not to participate in the vaccination programme since the vaccines were safe.

Earlier on, Mnangagwa had called for entrenchment of patriotism and unity of purpose.

Mwonzora’s move has been viewed as affirmation of allegations that the MDC-T, which has recalled about 40 legislators and 80 councillors affiliated to the MDC Alliance, has all along been working with the ruling party to decimate the main opposition party led by Nelson Chamisa.

Just last week, Mwonzora ordered his party MPs to stop heckling or walking out on Mnangagwa.

MDC Alliance spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere said the Chamisa-led party would continue to hold the ruling Zanu PF party to account, champion the cause of the people and be the voice of the suffering masses.

“We will take all necessary steps to stop the attempt by Zanu PF and its surrogates who usurped the will of the people to create a one-party State. The regime must respect the democratic and constitutional rights of the citizens to challenge its policies and offer alternatives for the betterment of the nation,” Mahere said.

Mahere dismissed Mwonzora’s claims that the MDC Alliance was against the COVID-19 inoculation programme.

“Fighting the pandemic is a collective effort that offers no room for politicking. We support the roll out of a widespread vaccination drive in the fight against COVID-19.”

She said there was need for transparency in the procurement of vaccines, adding that the inoculation programme should prioritise frontline workers and the vulnerable.

Meanwhile, a statement by the MDC-T revealed that Mwonzora was actually invited to the Victoria Falls event by Justice permanent secretary Virginia Mabhiza, who is also Polad secretary.

In a letter addressed to Mwonzora in his capacity as MDC-T president and dated March 23, 2021, Mabhiza revealed that government had already arranged transport and other logistics for him.

Mwonzora was also said to have been invited in his capacity as the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, a position he took over from Thokozani Khupe (proportional representation MP)

His spokesperson Penias Damba told NewsDay yesterday at the party headquarters that: “When President ED (Mnangagwa) invited all leaders of political parties to participate in the vaccination programme through Twitter, we said we can’t go there over a tweet message. We said we want an invitation. Mwonzora went on to be invited officially to attend the national event. We don’t want to be politicising COVID-19.

“It’s a national event where people unite to fight the pandemic. We have nothing to do with Polad. This is not a Polad event.”

Mwonzora rose to the helm of MDC-T party in December last year after polling 883 votes out of the total 1 027 votes case to dislodge Khupe, although the latter has disputed the election results.

The post We’ll work with Zanu PF: Mwonzora appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.

The post We’ll work with Zanu PF: Mwonzora appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: We’ll work with Zanu PF: Mwonzora | Newsday (News)

BY RICHARD MUPONDE

OPPOSITION MDC-T leader Douglas Mwonzora, in an apparent show of allegiance  to the ruling Zanu PF party, yesterday pledged to co-operate with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration to solve the problems afflicting the country, adding that it was no longer time for opposing for the sake of opposition.

Mwonzora said this when he was giving a vote of thanks during the launch of the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Victoria Falls.

The event, led by Mnangagwa, was also attended by members of the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad), a loose coalition of party leaders who contested the 2018 presidential election.

“We have changed the way to do things. We now want politics of

tolerance and to work together putting the people of Zimbabwe first,” he said.

“We don’t want politics of hunger, hate and intolerance. As leaders of the opposition we should work for the betterment of the economy to save our people and also support the vaccination programme.”

Mwonzora added that it was out of order for opposition political leaders to encourage the public not to participate in the vaccination programme since the vaccines were safe.

Earlier on, Mnangagwa had called for entrenchment of patriotism and unity of purpose.

Mwonzora’s move has been viewed as affirmation of allegations that the MDC-T, which has recalled about 40 legislators and 80 councillors affiliated to the MDC Alliance, has all along been working with the ruling party to decimate the main opposition party led by Nelson Chamisa.

Just last week, Mwonzora ordered his party MPs to stop heckling or walking out on Mnangagwa.

MDC Alliance spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere said the Chamisa-led party would continue to hold the ruling Zanu PF party to account, champion the cause of the people and be the voice of the suffering masses.

“We will take all necessary steps to stop the attempt by Zanu PF and its surrogates who usurped the will of the people to create a one-party State. The regime must respect the democratic and constitutional rights of the citizens to challenge its policies and offer alternatives for the betterment of the nation,” Mahere said.

Mahere dismissed Mwonzora’s claims that the MDC Alliance was against the COVID-19 inoculation programme.

“Fighting the pandemic is a collective effort that offers no room for politicking. We support the roll out of a widespread vaccination drive in the fight against COVID-19.”

She said there was need for transparency in the procurement of vaccines, adding that the inoculation programme should prioritise frontline workers and the vulnerable.

Meanwhile, a statement by the MDC-T revealed that Mwonzora was actually invited to the Victoria Falls event by Justice permanent secretary Virginia Mabhiza, who is also Polad secretary.

In a letter addressed to Mwonzora in his capacity as MDC-T president and dated March 23, 2021, Mabhiza revealed that government had already arranged transport and other logistics for him.

Mwonzora was also said to have been invited in his capacity as the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, a position he took over from Thokozani Khupe (proportional representation MP)

His spokesperson Penias Damba told NewsDay yesterday at the party headquarters that: “When President ED (Mnangagwa) invited all leaders of political parties to participate in the vaccination programme through Twitter, we said we can’t go there over a tweet message. We said we want an invitation. Mwonzora went on to be invited officially to attend the national event. We don’t want to be politicising COVID-19.

“It’s a national event where people unite to fight the pandemic. We have nothing to do with Polad. This is not a Polad event.”

Mwonzora rose to the helm of MDC-T party in December last year after polling 883 votes out of the total 1 027 votes case to dislodge Khupe, although the latter has disputed the election results.

The post We’ll work with Zanu PF: Mwonzora appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.

The post We’ll work with Zanu PF: Mwonzora appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Last week we were visited by a team sent to measure how many people in our area have COVID-19 antibodies, which your body produces to fight the virus. The idea was to discover how many people have had the infection and recovered without knowing they had it.

Source: Precautions – The Zimbabwean

This is the first evidence that anyone is seriously trying to understand the situation.

Look at the official figures, published most days and obtainable from Doctors for Human Rights facebook page. Government probably issue them, but I haven’t yet found where. How could it be different when more than 80% of tests in this country are done in the two main cities?

I admit I tend to doubt any figures coming from government until I get a chance the check them against the facts, but sometimes they produce misleading figures because they don’t know they themselves have lost their way. These figures show about 36,000 total cases since the virus appeared. They also record that 4.1% of people infected have died of the disease. If you watch any international news channel, you will know this is about double the average world rate.

This has two possible explanations. Because of the very limited nature of their testing programme they may have missed far more COVID+ people than deaths, which are harder to ignore, or the figure may reflect of poor health services. Both explanations are possible but the antibody tests could tell us which is true.

That might mean that the next government commands on how to deal with the pandemic are better informed than any we have seen yet. That would be progress.

I said above that I wait before I believe anything they say. Does that mean I ignore their advice? No, but different commands may require different responses. If they say the virus is a serious threat and we should all wear masks, wash hands frequently and observe social distance, I ask what harm I can prevent if they are right, and how. I ask the same as if they are wrong. If they are right, then observing these rules doesn’t only prevent me from being infected, but also prevents me from giving it to others. If they are wrong, wearing masks & keeping our distance don’t hurt anybody, so it is clear: we wear our masks, wash prequently and avoid crowded places, to be on the safe side.

On the other hand, if they say the risk is no more and therefore command us to send our children to school etc, we should ask the same question: if they are right, whether we ignore the rule or obey it, we do no harm. But if they are wrong and we obey them, we are putting our children at risk, and risking our own lives because the children could catch the virus at school and bring it home. But on the other hand, if they are wrong and we disobey, we are taking sensible precautions to protect ourselves and others.

Our military rulers may have a problem with this, but the problem lies in the military way of thinking, which has afflicted us since 1980, getting worse every time another ‘Major-General (retd)’ or even a colonel is given a civilian post in government.

An army does everything by command – and so we have logical and practical impossibilities like ‘command agriculture’. The guys at the top have been living that way so long that they forget things are different in real life. There are a few times when commanding is right. There are many more when all any sensible person can do is advise.

The sooner we can elect our own government, who respect our opinions and reasoned objections because they depend on our votes, the better.

Then we might even see an end to packing us into overcrowded prisons to punish us and spread the virus faster.

The post Precautions appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Last week we were visited by a team sent to measure how many people in our area have COVID-19 antibodies, which your body produces to fight the virus. The idea was to discover how many people have had the infection and recovered without knowing they had it.

Source: Precautions – The Zimbabwean

This is the first evidence that anyone is seriously trying to understand the situation.

Look at the official figures, published most days and obtainable from Doctors for Human Rights facebook page. Government probably issue them, but I haven’t yet found where. How could it be different when more than 80% of tests in this country are done in the two main cities?

I admit I tend to doubt any figures coming from government until I get a chance the check them against the facts, but sometimes they produce misleading figures because they don’t know they themselves have lost their way. These figures show about 36,000 total cases since the virus appeared. They also record that 4.1% of people infected have died of the disease. If you watch any international news channel, you will know this is about double the average world rate.

This has two possible explanations. Because of the very limited nature of their testing programme they may have missed far more COVID+ people than deaths, which are harder to ignore, or the figure may reflect of poor health services. Both explanations are possible but the antibody tests could tell us which is true.

That might mean that the next government commands on how to deal with the pandemic are better informed than any we have seen yet. That would be progress.

I said above that I wait before I believe anything they say. Does that mean I ignore their advice? No, but different commands may require different responses. If they say the virus is a serious threat and we should all wear masks, wash hands frequently and observe social distance, I ask what harm I can prevent if they are right, and how. I ask the same as if they are wrong. If they are right, then observing these rules doesn’t only prevent me from being infected, but also prevents me from giving it to others. If they are wrong, wearing masks & keeping our distance don’t hurt anybody, so it is clear: we wear our masks, wash prequently and avoid crowded places, to be on the safe side.

On the other hand, if they say the risk is no more and therefore command us to send our children to school etc, we should ask the same question: if they are right, whether we ignore the rule or obey it, we do no harm. But if they are wrong and we obey them, we are putting our children at risk, and risking our own lives because the children could catch the virus at school and bring it home. But on the other hand, if they are wrong and we disobey, we are taking sensible precautions to protect ourselves and others.

Our military rulers may have a problem with this, but the problem lies in the military way of thinking, which has afflicted us since 1980, getting worse every time another ‘Major-General (retd)’ or even a colonel is given a civilian post in government.

An army does everything by command – and so we have logical and practical impossibilities like ‘command agriculture’. The guys at the top have been living that way so long that they forget things are different in real life. There are a few times when commanding is right. There are many more when all any sensible person can do is advise.

The sooner we can elect our own government, who respect our opinions and reasoned objections because they depend on our votes, the better.

Then we might even see an end to packing us into overcrowded prisons to punish us and spread the virus faster.

The post Precautions appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.