Cholera forces Zimbabwe's top varsity to defer graduation event

The University of Zimbabwe has postponed its upcoming graduation ceremony citing a recent outbreak of cholera in the capital, Harare.

A notice signed by the Acting Vice Chancellor, Professor Paul Mapfumo, said the Friday 14 September 2018 event had been deferred to a date to be advised.

The move comes in the wake of a police ban on all public gatherings as a public interest measure to avert the spread of the disease.

We apologize to all our graduands and their guests and the various partners and sponsors who had so far generously contributed for the event.

While the deferment is purely on health grounds, beyond the control of the University, the institution, however, has no reported case of cholera and is currently deemed safe, the statement read.

As at Thursday Sept 13, 2018: Officials confirmed that twenty-four people have died from the outbreak. Authorities say 3000+ people have been affected and were receiving treatment at various facilities.

Government declared an emergency on Tuesday, September 11 whiles the police announced a ban on public gathering especially in capital Harare in public interest.

The move also threatens an opposition mock swearing-in that was slated for coming Saturday. The government had warned Movement for Democratic Change Alliance’s Nelson Chamisa against the event which was tagged unconstitutional.

The southern African nations worst cholera outbreak was in 2008 when 4,000 died and over 40,000 were treated. In its comments on the development, the WHO described it as fast-moving cholera outbreak, says it is scaling up response.