By Leopold Munhende
GOVERNMENT spokesperson Nick Mangwana has apologised for statements he shared accusing some doctors of assassinating some Zanu PF bigwigs who would have been admitted at local hospitals and disguising the acts as Covid-19 induced deaths.
Mangwana’s statement followed a dark week in which top Zanu PF members including 2017 coup announcer and Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo succumbed to the virus.
Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) and Medical and Dental Private Practitioners of Zimbabwe (MDPPAZ) both warned the worrisome sentiments would only serve to destabilise the country’s already volatile health system.
Mangwana apologised in response to Twitter users who questioned when he was going to avert that danger and apologise.
“I expressed my personal view on an issue a doctor tweeted on, I had no intention to offend any doctor or call any of them names,” said Mangwana.
“Since it has caused such offence, I withdraw it and apologise for any offence caused.
“I just hope we can move (on) and not be distracted from the work at hand.”
Over 1 000 lives have been lost to Covid-19 with recent high profile deaths sending panic waves within the ruling Zanu PF party and government.
Zimbabwe’s poor health facilities and failure to meet salary demands of health workers on the forefront of containing the virus have further inflamed tensions.
“We advise that the continuous persecution of medical practitioners is likely to destabilise the health sector during this time when the nation is supposed to be focusing on resolving the Covid-19 crisis.
“Government must be seen to be applauding the positive role being played by frontline health workers who are working tirelessly to provide essential services during this pandemic, risking their lives to save Zimbabweans in the process,” ZHDA said in a statement.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa reportedly cut short his annual leave after his two deputies, Kembo Mohadi and Constantino Chiwenga contracted the virus.
Both have remained out of the public eye with government tightlipped over their condition.
Last week, about 11 current high ranking and former government officials passed on in a dark week that claimed Moyo, Manicaland Senator Ellen Gwaradzimba, former Education Minister Aeneas Chigwedere and former Prisons Commissioner Paradzai Zimhondi.
