Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in Africa, the capital is Haare. It has approximately 16 million people with lots of beautiful attractions and tourist sites, from Victoria Falls, National Parks, and breathtaking scenery. Don’t let this fool you. One of the most prominent political actions in Zimbabwe is the Zimbabwe National Union Patriotic Front, in retaliation to white farm owners receiving more money for far less work than African American farmers who work more for less money. This is still an ongoing conflict in the country mostly because President Mugabe is providing more paychecks to white farmers than black, similar to systemic racism in the USA. In Zimbabwe, residents experience numerous diseases including malaria which is one of the most deadly diseases and many tourists have to have a lot of guts to come here. IThe country of Zimbabwe is experiencing a crisis, and it is necessary to shed a light on this matter. Due to hyperinflation in Zimbabwe, they suffered a huge damage that affects the economy and its people. Currently, Zimbabwe has an economic, healthcare, and food security crisis which people have been protesting about these issues constantly for the world to notice. Initially, where does the problem uproot?
In 2008-2009, the Zimbabwe Government began the process of money printing which eventually led to hyperinflation. Since then, the situation has gotten worse with annual inflation being 1,000% with incomes decreasing to $30.00 a month for teachers, nurses, and soldiers. This issue is happening mainly due to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s delay to act on this situation earlier. Even then, he refused to listen to his people’s plea: they are asking to change their currency to American dollars, but he wants to beg big firms and central banks for loans and foreign countries. The economic crisis has worsened since the worldwide pandemic and families are struggling to find resources to help their families, and many families work side jobs because their main job does not receive a good salary. The pandemic strips those jobs for the sake of citizens health security and global health security. The teacher Tsitsi says, “An indefinite lockdown makes it hard to “engage in any side hustles”, like raising chickens”. This shows the lack of leadership from the president to do his duty to create new solutions and programs to help the citizens, making the main breadwinner unable to provide for their families and potentially lose their jobs at the expense of the president. This president is also invalidating all Zimbabweans first amendment rights to freedom of speech and liberty.
The healthcare crisis situation has continued to escalate since the pandemic. Acute malnutrition rate has risen to 3.6% up from 2.5% in 2018, and as a result, it has increased child mortality rates. Hospitals have a shortage of drugs and PPE equipment to provide supply to their citizens, healthcare staffs and doctors; this was described as a “silent genocide” in the healthcare community and citizens. Rashida Ferrand, who runs the only public facility Parirenyatwa Hospital in Zimbabwe and manages severe COVID-19 cases, states that 300 beds and piped oxygen were restocked but due to the limited staff, they are only able to use 30 beds. This results in treatment delays for people on the brink of dying. Many other local community healthcare services have also worsened from lack of proper equipment, training, and treatment measures to help patients that the public facilities aren’t able to treat. “The health system is on its knees”, says Ferrand. “This hospital is being run by junior and senior doctors, who do not have a choice increasing higher morbidity and mortality rates because many of the other experienced doctors are protesting to demand accountability by the government”.
Protests of the citizens have also been occurring for over a month, but police have been using excessive force against the protesters. They have killed 14 men and 3 women between January 4th and February 5th and lauch brutal attacks on human rights defenders with torture and abduction, including rape and other sexual abuses. “Zimbabweans must be allowed freely to exercise their human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. The authorities must stop harassing, intimidating and arresting people who have done nothing more than peacefully express their opinions,” says Muleya Mwanayanda, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Southern Africa.
Apart from the protests, the food security crisis has also been detrimental. Erratic weather conditions are causing floods and droughts which cause a large loss of crops and increase severity of waterborne diseases. Many farms do not have funding for new agricultural systems and lack training to learn effective farming methods, which could lead to more economic and job creation opportunities. Because of the COVID-19 situation, starving families are at risk, and families experiencing decreased income are not being able to provide for the rest of the family members.“There is a shortage of goods going on, in part because of a drought affecting food supply, but also because the currency shortages mean the government doesn’t have the money to buy what it needs,” Marisa Lourenco, a southern African analyst at Control Risks.
This healthcare, food insecurity, and economic crisis has ventured into all the worst case scenarios no one ever wants to experience. In the healthcare crisis, thousands of citizens are receiving improper healthcare from the lack of equipment, hospitals, and trained doctors to help them. Also, many urgent care services that opened are ill-informed and not aware of proper medical procedures and materials. They are experiencing a global pandemic, and healthcare is a basic human right almost no one has access to. In the food security crisis, due to climate change, Zimbabwe is experiencing floods and droughts which leads to a huge loss of crops and new airborne and waterborne diseases, this food could have been provided to thousands of families suffering in the pandemic. In the economic crisis, hyperinflation, dating back to 2008-2009 which was the root of the problem, was caused by the government printing too much money which led to the currency decreasing for money individuals had. This backfired on teachers, nurses, and small businesses who wanted reform and were starving, but even their pleas were not enough for a cry of help.
Written by Ridhi Machireddy from Westford, Massachusetts
Comments