Harare, Zimbabwe — Coronavirus lockdown measures in Zimbabwe have come as both a disruption and an opportunity for the Catholic Church to rediscover itself, say bishops in the southern African country, with priests committing to continued ministry to the faithful as a way of providing hope and spiritual guidance. Zimbabwe now has more than 2,800 infections and 41 deaths after a rapid increase in the spread of the pandemic in the past two weeks, with the government tightening movement and...

Harare, Zimbabwe — Bongani Nompembe started having serious complications after suddenly relapsing from a mental health condition that her caregivers had been managing well. She needed to go to the local hospital in South Africa — the country hit hardest on the continent by the coronavirus pandemic, with nearly 590,000 cases — but was turned away as the facility was only dealing with COVID-19 cases. Her caregivers feared for the worst as a prolonged relapse could have dire consequences. The...

REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo Mobile money platforms have been banned in Zimbabwe as the country’s local currency continues to lose value, with authorities desperately hoping to arrest the decline. But the move has left subscribers and users stranded in an economy which sees a huge portion of transactions flow through mobile money platforms due to long-term cash shortages at the banks. Zimbabwe’s monetary challenges, which include escalating inflation and a crippling shortage of foreign exchange,...

REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo Zimbabwean authorities are demanding the country’s biggest mobile money platform to give up half of all transaction files for 2020 to law enforcement agents under a crackdown the operator says violates telecom user data privacy rights. It comes as the beleaguered government clamps down on anti-government economic protests and the media, including the arrest of a well-known anti-corruption journalist. The EcoCash platform, with 7 million active users as at the end of...

Harare, Zimbabwe — Catholic relief organizations in Malawi are bracing for the worst as COVID-19 infection rates spike across the country, worsened by escapes from quarantine centers and expats coming back home from hot spots. Agencies such as the Catholic Development Commission of Malawi (CADECOM) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) were already stretched thin after last year's Cyclone Idai disrupted economic and agricultural productivity for most households in the small African...