After the bizarre remarks by Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri that the Covid-19 pandemic, which has cost hundreds of thousands of lives globally, was divine punishment for countries that imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe, it seemed the dross emanating from the corridors of power could not get any worse.

"His Excellency John Pombe Magufuli's Tanzania now has 630 Covid-19 cases with prayers, but without a lockdown, while His Excellency President ED Mnangagwa's Zimbabwe only got 31 cases with a lockdown and masks.

Unhealthy response

While former Health and Child Care permanent secretary Agnes Mahomva was dramatically demoted from her lofty post and given a high-sounding but inconsequential position in the Office of the President, health workers were threatening to down tools over unbearable working conditions at a time the world is gripped by Covid-19.

Pie in the sky

What on earth did Zimbabweans do to deserve the sort of leadership they have?A few weeks ago, when governments around the world rolled out social safety nets to enable their citizens to navigate through the treacherous Covid-19 waters, the Mnangagwa's administration also made its own announcements.

At the beginning of last month, the broke and clueless government announced it had put together a ZW$600 million kitty to provide pocket money to poverty-stricken Zimbabweans to help mitigate the effects of Covid-19 pandemic.