Overall Analysis
Citizens continue to wallow in desperate living conditions as the environment becomes more repressive. The health
crisis is coming onto 100 days with junior, middle and senior doctors on strike citing incapacitation and poor working
conditions. The response by government of firing doctors instead of engaging in dialogue with a view to finding a
lasting solution to the crisis is concerning and must be condemned in the strongest terms. Zimbabweans are dying
from treatable illnesses had there been health professionals in public health institutions.
The Zimbabwe dollar has shed approximately 564%1 of its value since its re-introduction in February this year. This
currency depreciation brought with it a myriad of depressed economic conditions while poor rainfall received in the
last farming season also led to poor harvest and resultant food shortages. The food crisis in Zimbabwe is desperate
as captured by the Special Rapporteur’s damning report on the country’s food insecurity which states that
“Zimbabwe counts amongst the four highest food insecure states, alongside conflict ravaged countries”.
The continued politicisation of food to already vulnerable groups has created an even more disenfranchised and
hungry population which has resulted in an increase in sex work, number of school dropouts and early marriages.
The Special Rapporteur reported that “women and men I met expressed their frustration at being dependent on food
assistance and told me that they would rather receive the necessary resources and tools to realise their own potential
and skills”. It is therefore critical for government to pursue policies, that ensure that people are capacitated to
produce their own food in order to break the cycle of dependency. Furthermore, as expanded by Elver it is
imperative that “in accordance with the Zimbabwe Constitution, the government should permit all people to have
access to food aid without any reference to their regional origin or residence, or political affiliation. The government
should instruct local authorities in charge of beneficiary and distribution lists to abide by the principle of nondiscrimination”.
The 2020 Budget unfortunately did not yield much joy for Zimbabweans. Although education and health ministries
received the highest budgetary allocations, the allocations fall below the Dakar and Abuja Declarations which
stipulate that 20% of a national budget should be channelled towards education and 15% for health, respectively.
In Ncube’s budgetary statement, health received 10,2% and education 16,8%. According to Dr Kanyenze, a
1
https://www.newsday.co.zw/2019/11/zimdollar-plunges-564-since-feb/
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