Zimbabwe has launched a crowdfunding campaign to deal with an outbreak of cholera that has so far killed twenty-five people, mostly in the capital, Harare.
New Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube sent an appeal on Twitter, sharing a mobile payment account number. The current outbreak began on the sixth of September after water wells were contaminated with sewage in Harare. Tests found the presence of cholera and typhoid-causing bacteria which has so far infected over three thousand people.
The government-controlled Herald reports that the crowdfunding campaign has already received some backers. They include telecommunication giant Econet Wireless, which has contributed ten million dollars and the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
However, some citizens have taken to social media to condemn Mr Ncube’s plan with some wondering why the government has money to buy cars for ministers and members of parliament but needs donations for a cholera outbreak. In 2008, a cholera outbreak killed some four thousand people.
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