Since the coronavirus came on planet Earth, the number of cases and fatalities has been increasing daily. The United States is one of the countries that have a lot of coronavirus related cases. The health authorities are striving to curb the spread of the disease and save more lives. In other countries in Africa, corruption is the topic of the day. The WHO condemns African states involved in COVID-19 corruption.
The biggest challenge facing the frontline workers is shortage of the protective equipment. Several leaders like Jack Ma are donating the protective gear in most African countries. Moreover, other organizations that have received tenders in distributing the PPEs are ensuring that every worker is safe from the virus.
The disgusting part is when some leaders and organizations decide to be greedy, and pocket funds meant for the pandemic. This means that the health workers will lack protective gear hence making the combat with the virus harder. On the other hand, the spread of the virus among citizens will increase due to lacking proper masks. This situation may worsen the condition of the health sector of a given country.
The World Health Organization has labeled African countries to be the ring leaders of this kind of corruption.
WHO condemns African states involved in COVID-19 corruption
Africa is one of the regions that many of its states have poor health standards. The continent is also infamous for several corruption-related cases, from politics to elections and now to covid-19 related graft. There have also been reports of the continent under-reporting cases and the slow pace of testing. Most of these challenges are due to insufficient funds.
The pandemic has affected all the 54 countries and has more than 1 million cases and over 27000 fatalities.
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Claims of Graft Scandals in Africa
The scandals involve the distribution of protective gear. The WHO named some of the African countries involved in the corruption scandal. They are Zimbabwe, Kenya, and South Africa.
Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus says:
“Corruption related to PPE, for me it’s murder. Because if health workers work without PPE, we’re risking their lives. And that also risks the lives of the people they serve.”
The police arrested Zimbabwe’s ex-minister of health, and the government fired the official over embezzlement of money for coronavirus. Zimbabwe has over 5900 cases of coronavirus and 155 fatalities. South Africa has the most cases in the region. It has over 600,000 cases of infections and over 2000 cases of deaths.
The experts of anti-corruption are looking into government departments for graft over misdeeds concerning the disease. In Kenya, the situation is worse. This is because there is a doctor strike following a KEMSA corruption investigation regarding COVID-19 funds. Some Kenyan leaders urge Mutahi Kagwe, the CS of health, to step down for a while as the investigation is ongoing. Kenya might fall in a worse situation, which may cripple the country’s economy and health facilities.
Authorities should investigate everyone involved in corruption and punish them heavily. This is one of how corruption-related cases may reduce.
