Zimbabwe Government Begs For Money On Twitter To Treat Cholera Outbreak

The steps taken by the Zimbabwean Government to battle the recent Cholera outbreak in the country which has seen about 3,000 persons affected through Crowd Funding has attracted stern faces and wide criticism among citizens who have accused the government of embezzlement, saying they should be able to solve 3,000 Cholera cases without having to result to embarrassing the country by begging for money under the umbrella of a Crowd Funding scheme.

This comes after the Zimbabwe Government through the new Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube sent an appeal on Twitter, sharing a mobile payment account number. According to the minister, the crowdfunding campaign scheme was adopted to deal with an outbreak of cholera that has so far killed 25 people, mostly in the capital, Harare.

This has not gone well with citizens who have continued to speak in their numbers accusing the government of being insensitive considering the fact that it spent so much to provide 4x4 SUVs for local chiefs in the country recently and on the July elections. They accuse the government of misusing public funds and continues to invest in misplaced priorities.

You will recall that this is not the first Cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, so one would have thought the government would be prepared for cases as this. In 2008, a cholera outbreak killed some 4,000 people and at least 100,000 people fell ill. An emergency has been declared and public gatherings banned in Harare to prevent the spread of infection. Like in the previous cases, the current outbreak began on 6 September after water wells were contaminated with sewage in Harare.

Tests found the presence of cholera and typhoid-causing bacteria which has so far infected over 3,000 people, Health Minister Obadiah Moyo told reporters on Thursday. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), patients were not responding to first-line antibiotics.

"Relevant medicines should be purchased as a matter of urgency as soon as resistance patterns have been ascertained," it said.

WHO also said the disease has spread to five of the country's 10 provinces.

The cholera outbreak can be traced to Harare city council's struggle to supply water to some suburbs for more than a decade, forcing residents to rely on water from open wells and community boreholes, according to Reuters news agency.

Health officials are advising people to wash their hands regularly, drink only safe water, wash food, cook it thoroughly and avoid shaking hands.

The Crowd Funding scheme has received large donations which many citizens claim will be mismanaged. According to the 'government-controlled' Herald - a Zimbabwean Newspaper, telecommunication giant Econet Wireless, has contributed $10m (£7m) and the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society $250,000 (£190,000) among other donations.

More citizens continue to add their voice to the debate as they condemn the government, especially on social media.

Below are some of the tweets by aggrieved citizens.

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