HEALTH Minister Obadiah Moyo has begun his news mandate with the most shameful blame shifting stunt. Moyo, sworn-in on September 10, has been quick to blame the cholera outbreak which has so far killed 27 people in Harare on MDC-led municipalities, yet the MDC is not the government.

Is it not the same Zanu PF that has repeatedly declared that municipalities are subservient to the Local Government Ministry?

They spend millions on luxurious homes, vehicles and chartered private jets yet hospitals languish without ambulances, medicines and are generally poorly equipped with professional staff paid like shopkeepers. Priorities are completely misplaced in the Zanu PF administration.

How much was spent on the election campaign trail? How much was spent on chiefs and party provincial leaders’ vehicles? How much is earmarked to be spent on perks of MPs, Ministers and other newly-appointed government officials? Are those luxuries a priority in a bankrupt nation like ours?

Military personnel recently received a windfall in salary and allowance increases against the backdrop of a debilitating economic slide. A big thank you for the role played by the military in the November 2017 coup that ushered in the new crop of equally dishonest Zanu PF leaders. It’s only in junta-run governments where the military is remunerated far better than those in professional sectors such as education and health.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, his legitimacy firmly in question after a disputed election win, unashamedly donates a mere $100,000 towards such a national disaster that threatens to extinguish hundreds of young productive lives. Yet, just a few days ago the same government spent millions burying Grace Mugabe’s mother who died of old age – all in the name of appeasing their former leader who hasn’t forgiven them for their military putsch. Politics of patronage at play, very typical of Zanu PF.

Not long ago, the unimpressive junta-imposed leader had guts to go and make a surprise donation to a university in Tanzania. How many kids cannot afford basic primary education in Zimbabwe?

Besides the health crisis, thousands of college and university graduates have turned into street hawkers, and in danger of wasting their best years. The country is reeling under a world record unemployment rate towering at over 90 percent. Industries continue to close down against successive Zanu PF manifestos with wild promises of job creation.

Plastic money is the main medium of transaction. Zimbabwe is probably the only country without its own currency. Who is to blame for this mess? MDC? Blame years of Zanu PF misrule on the only party that has dedicated its existence to dismantling a tyrannical system?

Only a few weeks after the brazen electoral theft by Emmerson Mnangagwa, basic commodity prices have risen sharply. Cement prices have doubled yet we are told to unite in building Zimbabwe. All this is blamed on MDC?

A video has gone viral on social media where one of the newly-elected cabinet ministers boasts about his allocated fleet of top-of-the-range vehicles. What can we expect from such grandstanding politicians who laugh to the faces of those whose tax dollars afford them such luxury?

Very soon, Mnangagwa will be singing the same old, tired ‘sanctions’ mantra as did Robert Mugabe before him. Surprisingly, those same ‘sanctions’ were there when he promised heaven to the electorate. “Hurumende yeZanu PF yakanakisa kana kudenga hauiwane yakadaro,” boasted Mnangagwa at one of his pre-election rallies.

It is a known secret that Mnangagwa and his inner circle are among the richest elites in Africa. Sadly, greediness and selfishness are in the Zanu PF DNA. Mnangagwa and coup general Constantino Chiwenga can afford to fork out ten-fold the $10 million donated by Econet towards the cholera crisis. May God bless Strive Masiyiwa.

Besides government failure to decisively deal with the cholera crisis, Mnangagwa and other top Zanu PF chefs have been conspicuously missing from the scene.

The best Mnangagwa could do was just declare the epidemic, a national disaster. More action is needed from the government than this mere declaration. Reports say victims are treated on drip only as health centres grapple with serious shortages of medicines. Most centres are reportedly manned by military health personnel.

MDC president Nelson Chamisa has been visible by visiting victims in hospitals and attending funerals of those who have lost their lives.

Zimbabweans were soundly warned to vote wisely but another opportunity was yet again wasted to rid our beloved nation of this political misfit which is as dangerous as the cholera itself. Zanu PF did not deserve even a single vote. What with 37 years of a record-breaking dismal rule.

Our rural folks in areas such as Chiredzi, Mberengwa and Uzumba and Maramba Pfungwe must take responsibility for this mess. Their votes gave Mnangagwa the latitude to rig. Now the illegitimate government is appealing for donations from poor citizens as the cholera scourge takes its toll. Zimbabweans must demand full responsibility by Mnangagwa’s administration and compensation to bereaved families.