HARARE – Opposition MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa criticised the government on Thursday for implementing a national lockdown to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 without a safety net to cushion millions of vulnerable Zimbabweans.
In a virtual address on the pandemic, Chamisa said while he agreed with the restrictions put in place, locking down the country for 30 straight days was too much for citizens grappling with high levels of poverty due to record unemployment and unmitigated economic decline.
A payout scheme introduced during the previous lockdown has had minimal if any impact at all.
“Whilst the lockdown was a welcome move to try and minimize the rate of spread of infections, there is need to effectively implement the lockdown,” Chamisa said.
“Studies have shown that it is better to implement a short but effective lockdown rather than a prolonged lockdown as compliance with lockdown regulations goes down with a prolonged lockdown.”
Chamisa noted that failure by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to rescue its citizens was only backfiring as people were forced to violate the restrictions to fend for their families.
“The unavailability of social safety nets for the vulnerable, considering our heavily informal economy, means that people will be forced to breach lockdown regulations in search of food, water, and money to cater for their families,” the youthful politician said.
He added: “This again reduces the effectiveness of the lockdown. We must be careful not to flatten the economy in our bid to flatten the curve. We face the risk of a lockdown induced poverty.”
“It is desirable and advisable to adopt other approaches to a lockdown. We could consider a partial lockdown or a spatial lockdown or a staggered lockdown. Lockdowns are not meant to be permanent solutions, there is a need to create a lockdown exit strategy.”
Citing the continued operation of air travel against the closure of land ports, among other provisions, Chamisa and other critics argue the lockdown is designed to favour the ruling elite while discriminating against the poor.
