by Own Correspondent
Do elections in Zimbabwe trigger Cholera?
If not, why is it that the current outbreak and that which was experienced in 2008 were both experienced soon after election?
This is a worrying trend, though it seems nobody has given it a second thought. Opposition political parties’ officials have not been helpful in this regard as they have rushed to blame Government for the outbreak even though the source of the epidemic can be traced to the former’s area of jurisdiction.
Former MDC-T Harare Mayor, Councilor Bernard Manyenyeni was quoted by some sections of the media in December last year, admitting that the water Harare City Council was pumping into residents’ homes was not safe for human consumption. Additionally, borehole water in some of Harare’s high-density suburbs has also been condemned as unsafe for human consumption, leaving residents without a confirmed safe source of clean and potable water – surely the wheels should have came off way back – 8 months or more – why now?
A quick Google search on the internet revealed that cholera was allegedly used during World War II when the Japanese dropped cholera cultures into Chinese wells, causing around 10,000 cases to emerge. If it were to be used today, it would affect water or food supply and would be more likely to be very effective in less developed countries – which do not have ways of easily treating cholera.
So could Zimbabwe be under a biological weapon attack?
A number of foreign nations and development partners have poured a lot of money in the regime change agenda in Zimbabwe. This has seen the formation of foreign funded opposition political parties and pseudo civic society organizations all working to discredit the Zanu PF Government.
The Government has been under an illegal sanctions regime for 17 years now, which has resulted in the current economic challenges. The logic behind the illegal punitive measures is simple – create hardships for the local populace so that they will fight their government. This has not been effective because the majority of Zimbabweans understand that our erstwhile colonizers can never be our saviors today.
It is not clear yet whether or not Zimbabwe’s detractors have noted this and have adopted other ways of ensuring that Government does not make any headway in turning around the country’s fortunes – cholera! Of course an engineered cholera outbreak would still have the same effects today as in the time of World War II – ensuring that the masses are demoralized and that those in charge are forced to divert funds meant for the development of the country and that the nation loses employable labour.
Inasmuch as Harare’s water supply needs improvement, possibility of sabotage is high. However, whatever the case maybe, this is not the time for accusations and counter accusations. As the Government leads the fight against cholera every, citizen must put shoulder to the wheel to stop the spread of the water-borne disease.
Government recently secured a loan facility from China, thus Harare’s water and sanitation problems will soon be a thing of the past. The Harare City Council should also complement the Government’s efforts by ensuring that a significant amount of its revenue collection is channeled towards service delivery instead of paying hefty salaries to management as has been the case over the years.
