Govt must strengthen COVID-19 fight advocacy

JUNE 2021 recorded the height of gross and heartless human rights violations perpetrated by the government of Zimbabwe under the difficult global COVID-19 pandemic.

Demolitions of homes and livelihoods for the poor Zimbabweans were witnessed in Harare’s high-density suburbs and Chitungwiza.

The impact of COVID-19 and the restrictive conditions of its management, forced businesses to operate below capacity, with most laying off employees and shutting down.

The past five editions of the COVID-19 accountability tracker confirmed fears that Zimbabweans were now dependent on informal trade to survive.

With no meaningful contribution from the government to cushion persons with disability, women, children and other vulnerable groups, the wave of demolitions further worsened the livelihoods of poor Zimbabweans.

The situation was aggravated by an abrupt pronouncement of tighter lockdown measures which was not complemented by a government relief facility for the affected persons.

The month of June recorded low activity on the vaccination programme, with many reports citing non-availability of doses at the vaccination centres. The sixth edition of the COVID-19 accountability tracker focussed on documented human rights violations and prejudices induced by COVID-19 management measures instituted by government.

Findings

Vending businesses and small enterprises were significantly affected by the inter-city travel ban as they failed to restock and sell. There is no provision in Statutory Instrument 189 of 2021 to cater for small traders as essential service providers.

People rely on social media for information on whether to get vaccinated or not. Alarming conspiracy theories flooding the social media outweigh factual and verified information on COVID-19. People are unaware of any government relief support programme for persons with disability, women, children and other vulnerable groups.

There is a strong feeling that the government is not doing enough to cushion its citizens from the impact of COVID-19 and trade restrictions.

Recommendations

Strengthen advocacy around the formulation of the COVID-19 prevention, containment and treatment statutory instruments and their progressive amendments to incorporate measures to protect small business enterprises and informal traders.

To curb reliance on social media as the major source of information, it is imperative that the government comes up with more relevant and innovative ways of disseminating information, to nip in the bud the sometimes outrageous conspiracy theories that discourage people from making informed and factual decisions.

Government must engage influencers with integrity for public engagements, consultations and constructive conversations around management of the pandemic. Government must adopt a public participatory approach.

Instead of focusing on heavy forms of punishment for COVID-19 restriction violators, the government should mobilise resources to cushion its citizens such that they do not put themselves and others at risk by continuing to flout the regulations. If well cushioned, citizens will value their health and that of others and the pandemic may be easier to contain.

It must implement a direct beneficiary support mechanism to ensure that the facility reaches the intended beneficiaries.

Government must engage mobile money wallet services and relief aid organisations to design a sustainable facility for persons with disability, women, children and other vulnerable groups.