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Farirai Machivenyika

Senior Reporter

MDC-Alliance leader Mr Nelson Chamisa’s propensity to mislead his audience has come to the fore again after he lied during an interview with a Zambian Television station that all the Covid 19 vaccines in the country had been donated.

Mr Chamisa made the false statements during an interview with Jonah (a Zambian journalist) on Wednesday after being asked if the Government should get any credit for the huge strides the country has made in the vaccination drive against the pandemic.

His utterances come despite institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) ranking Zimbabwe among the three best countries on the Continent, including Morocco and Egypt that are leading in vaccination.

In fact, the two institutions gave Zimbabwe a rating of 98 percent for its efforts that have seen the Government purchasing over 85 percent so far of the requirements needed for the national programme.

This week outgoing US ambassador Brian Nichols also commended the Government for its response to the pandemic.

The Government is targeting to inoculate at least 60 percent of the population, approximately 10 million of the population, to reach herd immunity.

Over 2,4 million people have so far been vaccinated. The Government set aside US$100 million for the procurement of the vaccines. 

Statistics from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development show that US$93,2 million has been spent on procurement of vaccines and syringes.

The Government has paid for 6,2 million doses of vaccines from Sinovac, five million doses from Sinopharm while the former has donated 500 000.

The Indian and Russian governments have donated 35 000 Covaxin and 50 000 Sputnik V doses respectively.

The Government has also paid for 5,2 million syringes from China Pharmaceutical Trade Corporation (1,2 million), Sinopharm (three million) and Sinovac (one million). 

Just before the July 31, 2018 harmonised elections Rwanda’s President rebutted Chamisa’s claims that he had assisted the Central African country craft its Information and Communication Technology Policy during the tenure of the inclusive Government.

The US government also disputed his claims that it had promised him US$15 billion in financial aid if his party had won the elections then.

While the country’s leaders have embraced the ongoing vaccination drive that is being spearheaded by the Government for free, Mr Chamisa has not publicly received the jabs as other leaders amid indications that he went in the middle of the night to get the vaccine from a Western embassy.