Police in Zimbabwe have banned all public gatherings in the capital, Harare, to control the spread of cholera, which has killed 21 people and infected more than 2,000 other residents.
It comes a day after the authorities declared a state of emergency over the outbreak – blamed on two infected boreholes:
Harare City Council has struggled to supply water to some suburbs for more than a decade, forcing people to rely on wells and community boreholes for water.
The country suffered its biggest cholera outbreak in 2008 – at the height of an economic meltdown, which hampered the medical response to the crisis. More than 4,000 people died.
BBC Africa’s Stanley Kwenda has tweeted the police statement – and questioned whether the ban affects political gatherings.
Authorities in #Zimbabwe @PoliceZimbabwe has banned all public gathering in the capital #Harare because of the spreading #CholeraOutbreak. Does this also involve churches, football matches, music shows, political gatherings and weddings? pic.twitter.com/M7PmbEyrTe
— stanley kwenda (@stanleykwenda) September 12, 2018
Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa had planned to hold a rally on Saturday with plans for a mock presidential swearing in – to protest against the victory of President Emmerson Mnangagwa in July’s election. BBC News
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