Stephen Chan, Professor of World Politics at SOAS, University of London, says President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has no coherent strategy on anything.
Chan says the Zimbabwean government’s policies are inconsistent, as evidenced by its ‘Zimbabwe is Open for Business’ mantra while arresting corruption whistleblowers. Chan wrote on Twitter:
Does ANYone coordinate policy in the Zimbabwean President’s office? “We’re open for business,” is the mantra. “Give us a signal of good faith about stamping out corruption,” is the international reply. “OK, we’ll arrest Hopewell Chin’ono who revealed corruption.” Who will invest?
… The problem for the government is that it needs to declare how this fits into an overall well-articulated COVID strategy. Right now there is no such strategy: with no facilities and no equipment.
An investigative journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono, was arrested on Monday after he had uncovered unparalleled corruption by public officials involving US$60 million.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe has arrested more people for violating the stay at home order than it has tested for coronavirus. As of July 20, over 105 000 people had been arrested while only 41 940 PCR tests had been conducted.