Doctors were furious with the government spokesman’s comments about politicians’ coronavirus deaths.
Source: Coronavirus in Zimbabwe: Nick Mangwana apologises for ‘medical assassins’ slur – BBC News
IMAGE COPYRIGHTAFPA spokesman for Zimbabwe’s government who called doctors in the country “medical assassins” has apologised.
In comments posted to Twitter, Nick Mangwana had suggested that four cabinet ministers who died in recent months of coronavirus had in fact been “eliminated”.
Zimbabwe’s medical association reacted with fury.
They insisted their staff were working hard, with few resources and little pay, to fight the pandemic.
Following the backlash, Mr Mangwana stated on Twitter that he “had no intention to offend”, and said he hoped Zimbabweans could move on and “not be distracted from work at hand”.
IMAGE COPYRIGHTNICK MANGWANA/TWITTERHe since appears to have deleted all his posts on the matter from the social media platform.
More than 28,000 people in Zimbabwe are known to have contracted the virus in Zimbabwe since the outbreak began, of whom more than 800 have since died, including Foreign Minister Sibusiso Moyo last week.
The BBC’s Africa correspondent Andrew Harding says the virus has overwhelmed the country’s chronically underfunded health system.
Our correspondent says some Zimbabweans have noted that, because of lockdown restrictions, the country’s political elites are no longer able to rush abroad to seek medical treatment as former President Robert Mugabe once did so routinely.
Instead Zimbabwe’s rulers are now obliged, mid-pandemic, to depend on a health system which they stand accused of breaking, he says.
COMMENTS
Zimboz must wake up now(when are we going to wake up really?). Look Nik, Mangwana went made (dzomusoro kudambuka – kuti dambu-dambu zvachose)kwangofa maMinisters maviri (or matatu chete) muchipatara &vanga vatori paOxygen yacho inohwi ndiyo inotogonavo kutombobetsera (not kuti mhushonga, Oxygen hasi mushonga we COvid okay!). Uyu mutaurira (spokesperson) weHurumende not we maMinisters asi hashadzake dzake mukunda kusvika pakureva nhema dzinonhuhwa pakafa 2 or 3 Ministers (only)yet hundreds of pple are dying everyday due to same & his trademark statements has been “All is under control”. He never really acknowledged death of common pple. And indeed, the pple including his friends who have died now (which has turned him mad)are killed by 2 twin sisters (Corona & Corruption); yet Nik is synonymous to Corruption. So we have Satan himself pointing a finger at Jesus….
How does one withdraw personal views; it doesn’t make sense at all. Personal views hardly change over night becoz they are own personal understanding of things shaped our long period of time. Only some “stupid conspiracy theories can be withdrawn & disowned over night”
What a fool.
And now he claims that he had no intention to offend. Well, what was his intention?
Can you imagine the situation…you doctors are assassins but now get on with saving our lives?
He should have resigned or better still ED should have grown a pair and sacked him…all we need now is for Mangwana to catch the Covid and really eat his words while being carried to a hospital bed by his “assassins”.
What he should have blamed was the very expensive, overfed and wasteful lifestyles of all in ZANU PF’s leadership which makes them, praise God, easy targets for Covid.
Nick Mangwana was a Nurse in UK. He has worked on wards nursing people including those who had diarrhoea and now what is saying makes no sense at all from someone who has a bit of insight working in the health system. Covid -19 will affect us all myself sitting in Mufakose and him sitting in the beautiful Chisipite or Highlands wherever he resides. This man is poisonous!