Be very careful of anything coming from Nick Mangwana and the Zimbabwe Govrrnment. We seem not to learn at all. Please read statement below to the end. To think an official from the Department of Social Welfare is this arrogant when they are supposed to safeguard must worry us.
The lies by Zimbabwean government must worry every citizen. Before you believe the Zimbabwe government please dig deeper.
“It’s All Lies” – Zimbabweans Who Returned From The UK Speak Out On Refusing Quarantine At Teachers College
Zimbabweans Who Returned From The UK Speak Out
One of the returning residents who came back to Zimbabwe from the United Kingdom has dismissed allegations that the group was refusing to be quarantined at a Belvedere Teachers College, preferring to be housed at the sumptuous Meikles Hotel instead. The resident who chose to remain anonymous accused the government of deliberately lying about the returning Zimbabweans’ predicament in order to tarnish them. This follows a tweet which was made by Information Permanent Secretary Nick Mangwana in which he said,
We received 65 Zimbabweans from the UK. Available place of quarantine is Belvedere Teachers College. They are refusing this accommodation demanding hotels. Govt can’t afford. Why come from a covid19 hotspot during a lockdown & demand posh facilities at stretched public cost?
Below is the returning resident’s full account.
I am one of the returning residents who landed in Harare on Monday onboard ETH873 from Addis Ababa.
I don’t want to belabour you with a long read. I will therefore go straight to the point. On Monday evening, the permanent secretary in the ministry of information Nick Mangwana put out a tweet claiming that we — overseas returnees — were demanding to be put up in hotels.
Further, he claimed we were 65.
No, these are outright lies!
First, how many are we? I haven’t done an actual headcount but my best guess is anything between 25 and 30. The other people were Zambians who never disembarked from the plane, and even combined with them, I strongly doubt we were anything close to 65.
Second, we did not demand hotel accommodation. In fact I was shocked when I read the tweet which many Zimbabweans believed, including those who purport to be frontline human rights defenders. And journalists too were hoodwinked.
This is the story of what happened. Just like any other Zimbabwean citizen with rights including access to shelter, water and health amongst other basic amenities, we demanded to be housed at a decent facility. Decent in as far as we could be guaranteed basic health as defined by health bodies in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. By basic facilities we meant at least a room with a bed and linen, toilets with running water and clean bathrooms. Belvedere, a facility which the government authorities provided, doesn’t have all those.
Government spin doctors led by Mangwana want all Zimbabweans and the rest of the world to laud them for a job well done when in fact what they are doing is exposing returning residents to Covid-19, a pandemic the government is claiming to be working to halt. That hundreds of desperate college students live in shanty facilities such as Belvedere with no complaints doesn’t make it a habitable place. That other citizens returning via Plumtree and Beitbridge ports of entry have equally been treated shabbily doesn’t make it right, and doesn’t indicate at all that the government of Zimbabweans cares about its citizens. If this treatment of citizens by Zimbabwean authorities has anything to show, it is that authorities who have presided over poor infrastructure including hospitals does not care at all about protecting its citizens from Covid-19.
While we understand that this is an abnormal situation, a period of crisis, no right-thinking Zimbabwean should commend the government for treating its returning citizens like animals. When we arrived at Belvedere, we thought authorities had already assessed the place and certified it as habitable. We had no expectations of anything flashy, given the fact that this is a temporary quarantine facility in an emergency situation, but we also didn’t expect that we will be thrown in a place which doesn’t have basic amenities such as running water.
Compounding the issue, government officials who came to address us regarding our concerns were extremely arrogant, like they were dealing with criminals. A case in point is when a senior official in the ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare threatened to unleash police on us, to force us to occupy uninhabitable accommodation.
“If you don’t comply, we will ask police to enforce our commands,” barked the permanent secretary in the ministry who should otherwise know better about the government’s obligations of taking care of the vulnerable, us included, told us.
He added with pompous finality: “You can’t choose where to stay, we chose for you.”
All we had done was to request to be either quarantined at our homes, or housed at a decent facility. A member of our group floated the idea of authorities opening one of the hotels so that we pay living costs on our own, while the government provides food.
There was never an issue that we did not want to be quarantined, but we expected in return that the government would meet its duty of care to its citizens.
To those who have made insulting returning residents their full-time jobs during this ongoing crisis, please know that while we understand the importance of being isolated from the rest of the community for now, the conditions that returning residents are subjected to will in fact propagate the spread of Covid-19. While most of us from coronavirus hotspots don’t necessarily have the disease, our poor living conditions in quarantine now place us at more risk of contracting the deadly disease, yet the government should protect everyone equally.
While some of our compatriots are mocking us, thinking returning home is the stupidest thing to do, remember that some of the returnees are students whose accommodation has been withdrawn by their universities in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States. And also remember that some of the returning residents are people who had just visited for shorter periods and therefore cannot live in those countries indefinitely. After all, it’s better to die in Zimbabwe where your family can bury you albeit within 24 hours than to die elsewhere where your family will not be able to access your mortal remains. And by the way, returning residents also have homes where they can actually self-quarantine and cater for basic services our government is failing to meet.
While most of us are willing to be quarantined, we also do not understand why authorities are imposing a 21-day isolation, instead of the WHO recommended 14 days. Why should a skint government seek to host returning citizens for seven extra days at its expense when it can use those resources to cater for more vulnerable communities who are already bearing the brunt of the extended lockdown, with barely no food?
While naysayers are supporting the government known only for excelling in failure in their violation of our basic rights in the name of fighting Covid-19, remember that the government that you’re enabling to abuse its returning citizens now will not stop at that. Post Covid-19, this government will continue to violate citizen rights because you enabled it to do so during a crisis.
Last but not least, we appreciate Mangwana’s commitment to his job in timely informing the nation about Covid-19, especially using real time platforms such as Twitter. But I just have one request: Please stop spinning public interest information. It doesn’t help your government and citizens who should make informed decisions during this unprecedented time.
To my fellow Zimbabweans, please always take what government authorities say with a pinch of salt. It’s no exaggeration to say 99.9 percent of what they say is false or half-true. The best you can get from this government is a single story narrative. Find the other narrative before you opine on issues of public interest.
Quick updates:
There is still no running water at Belvedere.
Contrary to reports, police did not guard Belvedere so that returnees don’t riot or at worst escape. As a matter of fact, three police officers came, engaged with returnees then left after an amicable discussion.
What authorities say, we won’t stay where we risk catching more viral diseases in addition to coronavirus. We will fight for our rights until we are relocated to a facility that meets basic conditions: running water, one-person room, functional ablution facilities, bedding and food.
For the purposes of signing off, let’s just say my name is Case Number 0
Talk Rights 