The Worsening Covid-19 Pandemic
We note with deep concern the worrying surge in Covid-19 infections and regret the accompanying loss of lives. According to the Ministry of Health, confirmed cases jumped nearly 300% from the previous week’s statistics. The number of fatalities are also increasing with daily deaths reaching 61. This is a dire situation for the country. Families are losing dearly loved ones and the loss to the nation in terms of human capital is irreplaceable. The pandemic continues to test and expose the general inadequacy of our systems across the board, including public health facilities, infrastructure (particularly in the outlying rural communities), social protection, as well as disaster management and governance in times of crisis. We are particularly concerned by reports from our partners across the country about the non-availability of vaccination centres in key mining and other outlying communities, which leaves sections of the populace marginalized and vulnerable. We therefore reiterate our earlier call for the Government to do more to ensure that no one is left behind in the vaccination programme and other responses to Covid-19.
Secondly, we wish to remind the Government that successive lockdowns have decimated people’s livelihoods in Zimbabwe’s largely informal economy. This has made it difficult for citizens to fully comply with Covid-19 regulations as they scrounge for a living on a day-to-day basis. As part of finding a lasting solution, we reiterate our earlier call that Government must invest in meaningful social safety nets to cushion ordinary people from hunger and starvation as they comply with lockdown measures. In our view the government can not separate the issue of saving lives from livelihoods. The decimation of livelihoods resulting from Covid-19 and the lockdown measures is directly contributing to worsening violent crime, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, serious depression and mental health problems, real loss of lives and a general strain on the social fabric of our society. Hence our continuous call to the government to consider nuanced responses that do not unnecessarily halt economic activity and destroy people’s livelihoods. We remain convinced that only a truly multi-stakeholder platform inclusive of the state, private sector, churches, labour, civil society and community leaders will be effective in providing apt solutions that work for all. Among other things, this inclusive approach will help deal with the misinformation around vaccines and encourage an even bigger uptake among citizens.
Guaranteeing Access To Essential Public Services During Covid
Among the Covid-19 containment measures introduced by the Government is the decongestion of both public and private sector workplaces with in some instances government reducing staff numbers to as low as 10%. As much as there is a need for decongestion in the public sector, the Government should not lose sight of the resultant serious slow-down in services provision by an already inefficient public service system. Citizens will continue to have pressing needs including birth registrations, national identification cards, passports, death certificates, permits and other essentials. The Government therefore has a responsibility to think creatively and come up with solutions that guarantee continued access to essential public services. This includes harnessing the full potential of e-governance, to minimize physical gatherings while guaranteeing continued access to essential services. This brings us to our call in Bulletin 5/2021 for the Government to urgently attend to the fast deteriorating internet connectivity in the country. The migration to e-governance, e-learning and e-office in general require efficient Wi-Fi and mobile internet connectivity. In the absence of this, even its proposed District Virtual Hospitals will remain impressive only on paper.
2022 Budget
The Budget Strategy Paper for 2022 which was approved by Cabinet offers the government yet another opportunity to realign and refine its policies towards meeting the pressing needs of citizens. As it kick-starts the annual budget preparatory process, the Citizens’ Cabinet urges the Government to ensure a truly consultative process. It is concerning that in the past budget consultations which are an essential part of the democratic process have been procedural and tokenistic and lacking a substantive commitment to listen to people’s submissions. As the Citizens’ Cabinet we call on the government to prioritize allocating the national cake to areas that will benefit most the poor and marginalized including public health, education, decent wages for civil servants and social protection for vulnerable households. We will not support a trickle down approach that concentrates wealth in the hands of a few political and corporate elites in the belief that it will eventually trickle down to the poor. We call for direct interventions that put money in the pockets of the working poor and guarantee access to good quality public services. Money in the hands of the poor, who will spend it locally (as opposed to a few elites who will siphon funds offshore) is a sure way to give a stimulus and bring vitality to the whole economy. Thus, the budget must be pro-poor and people focused, sustaining macroeconomic stability.