Following the surge in Covid-19 positive cases across the country, set regulations should apply to all people regardless of their political affiliation. The recently revised regulations and ban on all public gatherings except for funeral services with a very limited number should be adhered to. However, the ruling party seems to be immune from these regulations as they continue to hold meetings from ward to provincial level. Recently they held meetings for cell registering and verification with people gathering in unlimited numbers.
They also held war veterans’ verification exercise where people were gathering and if other political players try to do the same, they will be prosecuted and persecuted.
People should be reminded that the pandemic is still with us and it knows no political party or religious belonging. The Madzibaba sects are some of the religious groupings who are normally in violation of the stipulated regulations.
The police are there to enforce these regulations but in most cases they seem to abuse their arresting powers to arrest people and taking bribes. If one visits ZRP Masvingo Central Offices, he or she will notice that most of the officers will not be wearing their masks when they are in the office. However, when it suits them, they raid offices arresting people who are not wearing masks even if there is only one person in the office.
So basically what it means is that there are some sacred cows when it comes to the enforcement of Covid-19 regulations. But in broader senses there is need for universal application of the law if we are to survive this pandemic
Tertiary institutions as well in Masvingo are not spared by this piece as we expect these institutions of higher learning to ensure safety measures and precautions are put in place to curb the spread.
It would be wiser to adopt E-learning as a measure to arrest the further spread of this disease as it would not make sense to lose our would-be graduates while they try to complete their courses at their respective campuses. The students as well are expected to reciprocate efforts by our government and play a pivotal role in this fight against Covid-19.
There is need for collective action including various stakeholders to join hands in the fight against this recent increase in cases of infections.
