First Lady to hold ‘nonsensical’ cooking game despite Covid-19 lockdown

By Nyashadzashe Ndoro

Zimbabwe’s First Lady Auxilia Mnangagwa is set to hold Amai’s Cook Out traditional meal competition at Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) this Thursday despite the national lockdown enforced by her husband, President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

A programme has already been made and it will start at 7:30 am at CUT, with Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Mary Mliswa as the guest of honor.

The event has raised eyebrows especially after Mnangagwa’s administration has previously allowed many of its government officials to hold parties and rallies during Covid-19 related lockdown. Critics point out that these weavers have been denied to the opposition MDC Alliance.

Last year, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa defended her decision to flout the national Covid-19 lockdown restrictions after hosting her 60th birthday party where scores of guests including ministers openly disregarded government coronavirus regulations.

The late Transport Minister Joel Biggie Matiza also attended the event. He succumbed to the deadly coronavirus disease.

Two weeks ago, Zanu PF politburo member and Bindura North legislator Kenneth Musanhi gave Mnangagwa’s Covid-19 lockdown directive the middle finger after holding a rally attended by over a hundred party activists.

Against this background, the First Lady planned and organised the cooking competition that will take place on Thursday. Commenting on the issue, self-exiled former cabinet minister Jonathan Moyo said the decision was “self-indulgent nonsense”.

“AUXILLIA’S COOKING COMPETITION
Granted that State House is a madhouse, but how does a responsible government allow such self-indulgent nonsense to take place during a coronavirus lockdown & on the day the China #Covid19 vaccine phase-three clinical trial in Zim is set to start?” he said.

On Tuesday, Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa said there was now a 61% dominance of the new South African variant of the Covid-19 virus which spreads faster and has a higher fatality rate.

Mutsvangwa said the cabinet endorsed the decision made by President Mnangagwa to extend the national lockdown by a further two weeks, ordering schools to remain closed and announcing new curfew hours from 8pm to 5:30 am while operating hours for businesses have been extended to 5pm.

Speaking during a post cabinet briefing in Harare Tuesday, Mutsvangwa said results of the genomic sequencing recently conducted indicated that the type of Covid-19 virus that the nation had in 2020 has receded while the South African type is dominating in Zimbabwe.

“Cabinet wishes to inform the nation that results of the genomic sequencing recently conducted indicate that the type of Covid-19 virus that the nation had in 2020 has receded.

“There is now a 61% dominance of the new South African variant of the Covid-19 virus which spreads faster and has a higher fatality rate,” Mutsvangwa said.

On Monday morning Zimbabwe received the first consignment of 200 000 Covid-19 Sinopharm vaccines to fight the deadly coronavirus disease, thanks to the People’s Republic of China.

Vice President and Health Minister Constantino Chiwenga and Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Guo Shaochun received the doses that arrived aboard an Air Zimbabwe jet at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.

The country’s health care frontliners, ports of entry employees, school teachers are among the first groups of citizens set to receive the jabs. Nehanda Radio