from MARCUS MUSHONGA in Harare, Zimbabwe
HARARE, (CAJ News) – ZIMBABWEAN President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has called on his polarised country to unite as the coronavirus (COVID-19) claims ministers of his cabinet.
Three ministers died of complications from the virus in the past week.
Ministers Sibusion Moyo (Foreign Affairs and International Trade), Joe Matiza (Transport and Infrastructure) and Ellen Gwaradzimba (Manicaland Provincial Affairs) succumbed to the COVID-19 scourge.
Agriculture minister, Perrence Shiri, passed on late last year, also from COVID-19.
The deaths come as the Southern African country experiences a second wave of the pandemic. Zimbabwe has recorded more than 31 000 cases, including 974 deaths.
“We have lost more across the political divide,” Mnangagwa said during a hastily-arranged address to Zimbabweans.
He has cut short his annual, month-long holiday to attend to the crisis.
“The danger we face needs us as Zimbabweans, whatever our station, colour, creed or politics, to be united in grief,” the president said.
Zimbabwe is a deeply polarized country and it has been concerning that some nationals have been taking to social media to celebrate the deaths of some ministers and other individuals aligned to the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).
This mirrors the deep political divisions prevalent in the country since independence in 1980.
This is seen as a legacy of then-president, Robert Mugabe, who resigned in 2017 after 37 years in power.
He died in 2019.
– CAJ News