Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has come under fire on social media for calling Zimbabwe’s health system as “strong”. This is despite the fact that all government hospitals lack essential drugs and doctors have been on strike for months. The government also raised it’s fees recently despite refusing to review salaries of civil servants.

“Our health systems are strong. We continue to invest more in the health sector” How does our Finance Minister come up with this stuff???‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/vaDnIsG5RG

— Alex T Magaisa ?? (@Wamagaisa) January 22, 2020

This certainly a ridiculous assertion. Zimbabwe’s health system is in tatters at the moment and scores of people are probably dying due to lack of adequate care. To claim that our systems are strong is not just callous it is contemptible.

He made this claim when pressed for answers as to whether Zimbabwe could deal with the China virus which has made waves on the international scene. Zimbabweans died of cholera an ancient disease, how are we equipped to deal with a virus that China is struggling to contain?