Opinion: VP Chiwenga will be double trouble [as both VP and Minister of Health]

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga have today been appointed to be the Minister of Health by the President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The President is allowed to do assign the VP as he see fit, however, at the same time the VP should not hold another office or employment. Those are article 99 and 103 of the 2013 Constitution.

So, there is a merit to either case, if the President is allowed to appoint Chiwenga as both VP and Minister or not at all. However, I will not dwell on that. That is something for lawyers and attorneys to discuss.

What is more striking is the guy who would sack every single nurse who was demonstrating in the Republic. There been plenty of doctors, nurses and health workers who has demonstrated, because they were incapacitated. They did not have the funds or the salaries to pay for the added inflation and therefore, lacked livelihood for their work.

Chiwenga is a man who can be for weeks for treatment in China. He could even be gone for months away. The VP has also been airlifted to India, South Korea and China. In 2019 he was 4 months in China. He has travelled back and fourth for review of treatment as well. Therefore, the man knows how to get health care as health care tourist, but not the one who uses the Health Care in his own republic.

So, its weird that the man who in fury can sack all nurses are suddenly in-charge of them and the doctors. The unions who has fought against the incapacitation. The ZHDA, ZINA, SHDA and Apex Council have all written about their grievances, lack of equipment and salaries. As the state are not following up on the issues at the Ministry of Health and for the Health Workers in the Republic.

Chiwenga will be oil and water. He has no fuse or understanding of the troubles of others. They are just to follow chain-of-command. That the President is giving him this role in the midst of global pandemic. Is militarising another ministry by hiring yet another military man to have a top role. Just yesterday, the permanent secretary who was appointed was a former air-force commander or something like that. This is therefore, continuing military involvement everywhere.

VP Chiwenga will not make the Ministry better. Trust me, he will just make it worse and ensure more rampant corruption, fake tenders and secure the will of ZANU-PF. There will be no revolution of the Health Care.

The VP is soon on a plane to China anyway to get treatment for an illness. Not like he will be in a hospital in Harare. Unless, his on his deathbed and cannot get airlifted abroad. Peace.

Opinion: Afraid we’re using a Swiss-Army Knife to kill a Dragon!

Again and again, we’re seeing the big-men proudly saying: “We are going to beat this Coronavirus”. We are seeing Ministry of Health and Doctors saying: “We are not having such and such equipment and medicine to heal our patients”. So the stories goes.

Than, again, the public is not social distancing. The Public isn’t following orders to stay, because they cannot afford to stay home. They need to make bread to eat, the food just fly on the plate by a tweet-y bird. No, they have to earn it and the state doesn’t sufficiently compensate the public to stay home.

Secondly, the electric isn’t trustworthy, there are streets upon streets without pipe-water or clean-wells. Neither, is there enough sanitary rooms or needed wash-areas. Thirdly, the public needs public-transports, because the major part of the public cannot afford private cars. Even as they live hand to mouth. They got to go from their homes into a business district or a central market to work.

With all of these obstacles, still the big-man claims the closure of schools, borders, bars, churches and other public gatherings. The public still got to get to points, where they meet and greet. Where they got to use all sorts of methods there. Going to the public places and being sort of social to live. Where the state haven’t done enough to secure their lives and livelihood.

It is with these sort of measures and realities, the poor, the ones living in poverty, the ones whose never counted, unless they are pieces of statistics comes in. They are usually good pawns to get Multi-National Organizations, United Nations Organizations and Bretton Woods Institutions for grants, loans and whatnot. These people will now be useful again for loans and grants to sufficiently patch the hurt after the painful procedure during the crisis.

The state hasn’t sufficiently fixed the Health Care Centres, Hospitals neither invested in medicine, stocks of food, gasoline and so-on. This is why from the get-go, the state couldn’t win. The re-issue why they will loose is the people cannot afford to stay home. Unless, the state suddenly wire funds to all homes and everyone with a cellphone. Doing something, as there not enough efforts to take another step to make a difference. The elites can afford to live in the suburbs and finer parts of town in their mansions and get workers to pick up their fruits. However, their labour can wait and can be done from home. However, the mechanic, the street-vendor and the boda-boda driver got to go to the “office”, the street and pass by areas which is dangerous.

The dragon is big, the dragon is powerful and the dragon could burn you. Still, you got to go. There is no other choice. While the government has only gotten a Swiss-Army knife, they don’t have bazookas, they don’t have missiles nor jet fighters to bomb the living hell out of the dragon. They got one soldier, one big-man and his Swiss-Army knife to beat the dragon.

The man is going to face the beast on a “one-to-one” battle. A fight where he has to use skills, use his intellect and the one tool he has. While the dragon can burn, can use all parts of his body to beat on person. He can even use his tail to break the bones of the fighter. His alone in this and doesn’t have training nor the equipment to win. If he does, it is on luck and hope.

The Swiss-Army Man got to do a MacGyver moves. Have some secret tricks. However, the public needs that. They need some powerful changes and help in need. The Swiss-Army knife towards the dragon isn’t cutting it. The damage, the hurt and the possible pain will be unbearable. Even if people try to stay home and not go out. At one point they need, because their pantry isn’t that huge and they are lucky to survive the first phase without any causes to worry.

So, what I am hoping and that more pressure does. Is that flexing and the big-men actually spends their own retirement, that they passes the funds they have siphoned to tax-havens and they actually does something brave. They actually govern. It is easy to close shops and to send the army to the streets to send people home. However, it is even more daring to actually revamp and get guidance to rebuild the failing health care industry and the hospitals, where the needs will be dire in the coming days.

The dragon is coming, the burns are coming and hopefully you give your fighter more than a Swiss-army knife. Peace.

Joint Statement by the Ministers Responsible for Health and East African Community Affairs Issued on 25th March 2020 on COVID-19 Prepardness and Response in East African Community Region (25.03.2020)

Zimbabwe Nurses Association: ZNA Position on Corona Virus (25.03.2020)

Zimbabwe: Ministry of Health and Child Care – Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update (24.03.2020)

RDC: Face a la Menace Persistante de Propagation du Coronavirus, Pendre la Mesure de la Gravite de la Situation et Agir en Consequence (23.03.2020)

Botswana: Office of the President – Press Release (22.03.2020)

Ethiopia: Update on COVID-19 in Ethiopia March 22, 2020 (22.03.2020)

Burundi: OLUCOME – Communique de Prese No. 006 – Faisant alerte face au Coronavirus/COVID-19 qui Pourrait Arriver au Burundi (21.03.2020)

Opinion: Big-Men’s Medical Tourism is temporary suspended [and their neglect will be obvious]

We have seen over the years, that big-men from developing countries instead of fixing their own health-care system or even supporting the needs of the Ministry of Health. They have at every junction instead used foreign health care and hospitals to salvage the hurt and heal.

Now in this COVID-19 or Coronavirus times, the borders are closed, ending flights between the nations and the quarantine of people crossing borders. The big-men cannot flea their own health care facilities, but instead has to trust them like everyone else. The neglect, the lack of investment and the years of brain-drain has hurt these hospitals and health care facilities.

They have gotten aid, gotten grants and promised to build sustainable health care facilities. However, the big-men have never trusted these ones. Only the ones whose retired and the ones who hasn’t saved up in office. Has in the end of their days and because of lack funds. They have used them and seen the grim state.

Like there been high ranking officials, who suddenly needs care and been brought to the closest hospital after a public function. Usually picked up by a army chopper and flown to the best nearby facility. However, than they have lacked electricity, enough beds, medicines or needed technical apparatus to function. That was okay, when the locals needed it, but when they pop-by than its an outcry. The state cannot even procure enough ambulances and have proper levels of in-need educated professionals in the field.

That is why, this sort of crisis undress the years of neglect, the years of corruption and lack of investment in the field. If they will lack blood, air and other needed things. It will be, because they didn’t care in days of sunshine. Now, that its raining and the roads are getting muddy. Than, the big-men will suffer with the general public.

They are maybe VIPs and have giant convoys. They are maybe paid a fortune for their high office and high ranking in society. However, they have to enter the same facilities, which they didn’t think of or consider. Because, there was always, China, Singapore, France or United States. Where they could go for check-ups and healing. Where they got better treatment and with modern facilities made for patching the hurt.

Now, they cannot go there. They are blocked. They cannot risk to enter there and the borders are closing in. The Big-men doesn’t have the meal-ticket or ability pay an easy way out. Instead, they have to suffer with public.

There is no way out. Just continue, but maybe their eyes will be opened when they will be questioned why they didn’t spend the needed funds in sunshine, but cries out during the rain. They spent on the army, ghosts and side-dishes. Nevertheless, they didn’t care for the health care, for the structures of healing and proper treatment.

Now, they will hold prayer sessions and ask for the Gods to intervene. Instead of using their minds and used their time to invest. They could have invested and could have made a difference. Instead, they got warplanes, got ammunition to start wWrld War III, but cannot have enough beds for a pandemic. Peace.