MUTARE – Outspoken musician and politician Hosiah Chipanga said government must provide food to informal traders in the event of a total coronavirus lockdown in the country.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently said it was necessary for non-essential workers to work from home as a measure to curb the spread of the virus through minimising human contact.
Mnangagwa said goverment was now considering shutting down all informal trading markets throughout the country so as to help increase social distancing.
In an interview with Zim Morning Post on Wednesday, Chipanga said: “While all is heard and agreed.l, have you ever thought of the poor who always get their daily bread outside their homes?”
“You prefer that they (the poor) die of hunger in their houses than of coronavirus. Why?
“If yours is real love for others and kindness, then please help the poor to stay indoors by first providing them with their daily food ratios and other requirements, then you won’t see anyone aimlessly walking outside, risking his or her life,” said the popular musician.
“Since hunger is the worst and unbearable enemy of mankind, one would rather die of coronavirus than starve and die in a house that has no food.
“Why always copy the richman’s ideas and solutions without considering the fate of the poor, African child,” lamented Chipanga.
According to the Government of Zimbabwe, there have been three recorded cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday.
Health minister Obediah Moyo said he had told Mnangagwa of the need for a special budget that caters for the corovirus pandemic.
Due to the rising unemployment rate in the country, most people have joined the informal sector in order to eke out a living.