( 4minutes read)
· The Zimbabwean government had budgeted over US$600 million to
cover one million for cash transfer to the vulnerable section of the
society to insulate them from the pangs of pandemic.
· The government has already disbursed some resources to fight
Covid-19 and is finding more resources for meeting the exigencies
The Zimbabwean government had budgeted over US$600 million to cover
one million for cash transfer to the vulnerable section of the society
to insulate them from the pangs of pandemic. The cash transfer will
continue for the next three months. The poor people in the country are
staying indoors on account of the 21-day lockdown to contain the
spread of Covid-19. The lockdown today has entered its 5th day and
people are scared as to how would they make ends meet without working
for such a long time.
It is reported that the government presently is identifying the target
group of beneficiaries. The government has already disbursed some
resources to fight Covid-19 and is finding more resources for meeting
the exigencies. It is decided that protective cover has to be extended
to over one million households. It is to be seen how the donor
countries in the West would come to the rescue of Zimbabwe since the
US still not has taken off the country from the negative list. This
means the US technically cannot provide any humanitarian assistance to
the southern African country. However, recently Zimbabwe in principle
has agreed to the use of US dollars for coronavirus related
development works. Whether this move would cut any ice with the US
policy makers, one has to wait and see.
The Southern African country has one of the continent’s most fragile
healthcare systems. The health workers have threatened the government
that they would refuse to work if protective devices are not provided
to insulate them from the contagion. The only saving grace is that
while the rest of the world is reporting thousands of infected cases,
countries in the continent are having only a few cases. Significantly,
the cases reported from Zimbabwe are only below 10 with one death.
In the meantime, Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared
a national disaster over coronavirus. He also postponed the
Independence Day celebrations scheduled for 18 April. The Zimbabwe
International Trade Fair (ZITF) to take place in the south-western
city of Bulawayo from 21-25 April, was also postponed.
