Following the rapid spread of the Coronavirus in Africa, governments have set a lockdown policy to curb transmission. Despite these plans, people are complaining, saying lockdown has massively interfered with the economy. For instance, the Malawi court halts government lockdown plans. The high court in the southern African country has ordered the government to hold back the lockdown policy.
According to the reports, President Peter Mutharika ordered a three weeks state lockdown earlier this week. However, several citizens in the country are complaining about the measure. The measure is valid in the next twenty-four hours.
Complains raised by Malawi citizens
Following the report, the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has raised complaints regarding the lockdown policy. The civil society group applied for a permit against the lockdown at the Lilongwe High Court. On Friday, the HRDC Chairperson Gift Trapence confirmed the approval of the injunction to Nation newspaper.
Trapence says the court granted the restraining order for seven days. Additionally, he says that inter- parties hearing concerning the case is underway, to happen on 24th April 2020. The Coalition group is mostly concerned about the lives of Malawi citizens. Trapence says they are not accepting the lockdown rule unless the government comes up with an appropriate measure to protect Malawians.
Furthermore, the civil society group is pushing for religious leaders and civil society organizations to come together and think this issue through. Besides, they are afraid that citizens will die of hunger during the lockdown since the government hasn’t put any measure to cushion the poor. As a result, informal traders in Mzuzu and Blantyre cities had to protest against the lockdown policy.
The fear of hunger and Lockdown plan
Notably, the protests in Malawi against lockdown are picking up every day. Citizens claim that the lockdown is much worse than Corona. The traders said that they rather die of Corona than of hunger. Vendors claim that they are daily wage earners, and the lockdown will affect them much. Many people in Malawi are poor and operate on a hand to mouth basis.
Like most African nations, the Malawi economy depends on informal economies. Policy analysts, as well as developments economists, are criticizing Africa countries for mimicking developed countries on lockdown strategy. The protesters claim African countries should adopt preventive measures and policies that suit each nation but not coping.
The activists feel that the lockdown policy is relevant for the congested urban areas as social distancing is challenging. Furthermore, they claim that lockdown is suitable for areas where there is little availability of clean water to wash hands.
Conclusion
So far, Malawi has recorded seventeen cases of the Coronavirus, with two deaths. W. Gyude Moore, an ex- Liberian public work minister, recommends African countries to focus more on flexible curfews rather than total lockdown. Moore says most of the African economies are ninety percent informal.
In my opinion, the message should be shared among community leaders and expand the definition of essential services. It will help to mobile the pandemic threat and necessary measures. The bottom line here is that we should hold on tight as together we can survive this pandemic.
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