ZIMBABWE: Unvaccinated Citizens To Be Barred From Public Spaces

President Emmerson Mnangagwa

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has warned Zimbabweans to get vaccinated against the deadly Covid-19 pandemic or they will soon be barred from all public spaces.

Zimbabwe rolled out the national immunisation programme last week after receiving a donation of 200 000 Sinopharm doses from China.

Speaking in Nyamandlovu, Matabeleland North province Thursday, Mnangagwa said his government was expecting to purchase another 1,8 million doses from China before warning citizens avoiding inoculation that they would be barred from all public spaces.

Mnangagwa is yet to receive the vaccination.

A person who has been vaccinated is issued with a “Covid-19 Vaccination Card”.

“Don’t forget your Covid-19 Vaccination Card for the second dose. Make sure you keep this record card in your wallet. Keep it in a safe place,” the card reads in part.

Mnangagwa’s Thursday chilling warning was confirmed by his spokesperson George Charamba.

“Cde ED Mnangagwa, today (Thursday) broke his silence on whether or not (to take) the Covid-19 vaccination remains voluntary forever,” Charamba said after Mnangagwa’s speech.

“Those wishing to abstain from the vaccination programme are free to do, for as long as they accept the onerous trade-off: namely that they may have to be barred from public spaces, including accessing offices, shops, or riding mass transits like ZUPCO.”

Charamba added: “The leadership has and continues to demonstrate safety of the country’s chosen vaccines by being the first ones to have the vaccines administered on them, added the President, revealing he is set to be vaccinated in the second batch of the vaccine which is expected in the country in the next week or two.

“So, too, will his Cabinet ministers. So, asked the President, who are you to resist the vaccination programme thus imperiling the general public, including yourself and your family? The President invited Vice President (Constantino Chiwenga) up as proof that the Sinopharm vaccine was indeed safe.

“Many medical staff, themselves the core frontline in the fight against Covid-19, have been vaccinated under the programme which is wholly government funded and is meant to get Zimbabwe back to normalcy.”

Mnangagwa said there were companies who had approached government with proposals to import Covid-19 vaccines and sell them for a profit, but they had been turned away.

“If any company buys vaccines, they must be distributed freely. The Ministry of Health supported by (Finance Minister Mthuli) Ncube also bought two sets yesterday (Wednesday), 600 000 doses which will come during the first two weeks of March and another 1,2 million doses.”

Chiwenga was the first official to get injected when the vaccination programme was rolled out in Harare last week.

However, some Zimbabweans have raised concerns on being vaccinated with Sinopharm vaccine when the World Health Organisation (WHO) is yet to approve it while there many other approved inoculations from other countries.

In response to these dissenting voices, Charamba retorted: “Go to those countries for those vaccines; here we decide! Period. And to govern is to decide. You don’t dictate to us!”

 

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Burundi central bank bans foreign exchange bureaus for flouting official rates

Reuters - Burundi's central bank has suspended the licences of all foreign exchange bureaus in the central African nation, saying the move was aimed at weeding out those flouting official exchange rates.

Burundi has experienced a shortage of foreign exchange since 2015 after a political crisis that started when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced in April that year that he would seek a third term in office. He went on to win the election the following July.

The European Union suspended financial support to Burundi in 2016, saying Nkurunziza had not done enough to resolve the political and economic crisis.

Burundi's central bank said in a statement late on Monday it had withdrawn licences for foreign exchange bureaus for violating rules that allow them to trade currency within an 18% margin of the official exchange rate of 1850 Burundi francs per dollar.

"The licenses which were given to the foreign exchange offices are withdrawn," the central bank said in the statement seen by Reuters on Tuesday, adding the ban would take effect on Feb.15.

The bank said commercial banks would however be allowed continue exchanging currencies.

Police briefly detained more than 40 money traders in late 2019, accused of violating the foreign exchange trading margins.

Typically traders turn to limited dollar supplies from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, which they were selling on the black market.

The franc has appreciated to 2,500 per dollar from 2,900 in recent days, and traders said this would continue gaining ground due to traders slowing imports, in part due to travel restrictions to China due the coronavirus epidemic.

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Trump govt moves to block pregnant women from entering US to give birth

Wale Odunsi 

The Trump administration has concluded plans to block pregnant women in foreign countries from obtaining US tourist visas.

The move is to stop, “birth tourism”, the term coined for persons who travel to another to give birth.

“Under this rule, if a consular officer has reason to believe a B nonimmigrant visa applicant will give birth in the United States, the applicant is presumed to be seeking a visa for the primary purpose of obtaining US citizenship for the child,” a draft rule obtained by BuzzFeed News reads.

To rebut this presumption, the visa applicant must establish, to the satisfaction of a consular officer, a legitimate primary purpose other than obtaining US citizenship for a child by giving birth in the United States.”

The draft guidance to be issued for consular officers reads: “Any B nonimmigrant visa applicant who you have reason to believe will give birth during her stay in the United States is presumed to be traveling for the primary purpose of obtaining US citizenship for the child.

“The applicant can overcome this presumption if you find that the primary purpose of travel is not obtaining US citizenship for a child.”

A State Department spokesperson told the platform that, “this change is intended to address the national security and law enforcement risks associated with birth tourism, including criminal activity associated with the birth tourism industry.

“We expect the rule will be published shortly. More details will be available when the rule is published.”

However, officers, however, are told not to ask as a matter of course whether the applicant is pregnant or intends to become pregnant, or require an applicant to provide evidence that they are not pregnant.

Meanwhile, the U.S President, Donald Trump is set to slam travel ban on more countries including Nigeria, Africa’s biggest nation.

An announcement is expected on Monday, January 27, exactly three years after Trump signed the original travel ban on January 27, 2017, just a week into his tenure.

It recalls that the ban was upheld by the US Supreme Court in June 26, 2018.

It affected Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, Venezuela and North Korea.

For the new restrictions, countries on the list include Belarus, Myanmar (also known as Burma), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania.

White House spokesman, Hogan Gidley, said: “The travel ban has been profoundly successful in protecting our country and raising the security baseline around the world.”

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