(Last Updated on January 20, 2021 by GERALD NCUBE)
HARARE – First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa has called upon women in and outside Zimbabwe to join her for three days of fasting and praying as the country battles with the second wave of the Covid-19.
“May I as the Mother of the Nation call upon in Zimbabwe, and all those who kay wish so, join me in fasting and praying to the Lord the Almighty from tomorrow 21 to Saturday 23 January 2021 for our nation to be spared from further calamity and suffering.
“Our country has witnessed a lot of Covid-19 deaths in the past two weeks. Death is within our communities, at our door step. There is no family that has not suffered the loss of their loved ones because of the pandemic. Everyday we hear of names that are succumbing.
“I thus humbly appeal to all women to commit to a three day period from tomorrow in which we fast and pray to call for divine intervention to save the nation and our people,” said Mrs Mnangagwa in a statement.
The First Lady also urged women across the country to ensure that the regulations set by the government were adhered to at family level.
“As women, we play a very important role in our society. We hold the family unit together and get it to work for our daily life. Being on the ground all the times, we are the custodians of values and measures that protect us at the smallest unit of society. I call upon you that as we pray to the Almighty for his mercy and grace, we also use that power bestowed upon us by society to ensure that every family is abiding by the measures that have been put in place by the Government to curtail the spread of the infectious disease. As mothers, let us enforce compliance at the level with measures that reduce the spread of Covid-19 amongst us.
“We need a plan at the household level for regularly using any means at our disposal to clean and sanitise our homes; to ensure that everyone in the home knows the importance of having a mask and masking up properly; more importantly to organise sharp safe errands for our requirements to get going whilst enforcing the family to stay home.
“Let us include the measures against Covid-19 as we play our motherly role of ensuring that every member of the family is responsible for their personal hygiene. As we avoid and fight stigmatisation, let’s ensure that all members of the family have knowledge of how to help those that have been infected and are willing to assist those that get sick whilst remaining safe from infection,” she added.
She further urged various leaders in society and the media to spread the information while paying tribute to the health workers and other frontline workers around the country.
“I want to thank members of the health profession, our frontline heroes that continue to provide assistance to the sick, screening through testing to know the rate of the infection and spreading awareness messages that help in compliance. I thank members of the Security Forces for a sterling job in enforcing compliance with Covid-19 regulations. We encourage you to keep the good work up for the security of our nation.
“Teachers across the country, you play a key role in getting the message communities. Join the and spread the message. Covid-19 is taking a toll in our nation, we need to all know that Covid-19 is killing, and that there are measures that help the nation in reducing infection,” she further said.
The First Lady’s call comes as the nation has witnessed a surge in Covid-19 infections and deaths.
According to the Ministry of Health, as of 19 January 2022, the country has recorded 28675 positive cases while the death toll is now over 800.