By Nicholas Gochai.
(News of The South) – THE COVID-19 season since around the turn of last year into 2020, has greatly altered the behaviours of those in the Govenment of Zimbabwe, in particular the presidency.
In the past, a mere headache was sufficient to commandeer a jet or whole passenger plane to places such as China, Singapore or India where medical facilities are arguably second to none.
But now, if our memory at News of the South serves us right, the last top goverment official to be sent on a medical jaunt to far India was Vice President Constantino Chiwenga early this year.
No one among the the rank and file – those from who Pay As You Earn is exacted – probably knows for what ailment the second-in-charge was whisked that far.
But one thing is now clear, such jaunts have now become far and wide, nay, they have even actually come down to zero.
First to become popular for “medical tourism” in Zimbabwe was the late former President Robert Mugabe, whose trips to Singapore for what his Ministry of Information permanent secretary George Charamba described as “routine eye checkups”, earned him a name
Zimbabweans began to call Mugabe the “visiting President” for his ever being out to Singapore for “treatment”, with the more enterprising referring to his country of destination as “kwa-a-Si-nga-po-re” (where one never gets healed), a Shona pun for Singapore.
Needless to say, all these excursions have now come to an end – with Chiwenga – the man who had inherited the Mugabe tag probably now happy to look inward for health solutions.
Already, Zimbabweans have started to witness the reconstruction and improvement of such health centres as Wilkins and Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals.
Zimbabweans now wish such a trajectory that seeks to breath a new lease of life into a decaying health system to continue unabated.
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