By Mupakamiso Makaya and Tapiwa Bere
ON October 3 2023, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, while addressing the First Session of the 10th Parliament of Zimbabwe, implored House of Assembly Members to hasten the matters outstanding from the statutory agenda of the 9th Parliament.
He highlighted the legislative agenda which must occupy the Parliamentary schedule during the first session and other sessions of the 10th Parliament.
Of interest on the bills itemised was the Biological Warfare Bill.
The Biological Warfare Bill criminalises the production, stockpiling and subsequent use of such weapons.
By definition, biowarfare involves the hostile use or threat of use of infectious biological agents or toxins against human beings, animals or the environment.
Threats coming from biological microorganisms require a high functionary of defence, thus the necessity for Zimbabwe to have a domesticated legislation.
Before this important bill is tabled, we need to pray, exorcise the political demon and to rid ourselves of a nation of party-political incongruity that typifies members of Citizens for Coalition Change (CCC), which is inconsistent with their legislatorial status.
Such unruly behaviour needs to be addressed for these beneficial and pro-people bills to see the light of day.
Before getting into the nitty-gritties of the envisioned legislation, it is prudent to interrogate international locus standi as well as political background and threat perception in Zimbabwe.
At the height of the Second Chimurenga, Rhodesian security services with the academia embarked on research and subsequently employed chemical and biological agents against the guerillas with known and unknown outcomes.
Zimbabwe is a signatory to 1972 Biological and Toxins Convention (BTWC) which prohibits State parties from research, development, production, stockpiling and acquisition of biological agents other than peaceful determinations.
Biowarfare and bioterrorism are crimes against humanity, just like sanctions.
Those who imposed sanctions on Harare are likely to use the twin bio threats to achieve the same effects as sanctions.
The nature of bio-hazard and bio-vulnerabilities nations are facing is becoming more transcontinental, so is the peril instigated by deliberately released micro-organisms, the challenges that States and societies face are horde, thus the need for national and multilateral biodefence efforts and mechanisms.
Many countries have come up with legislations that tally with supra-national organisations such as WHO guidelines and other international conventions.
The Second Republic, under the astute leadership and wisdom of President Mnangagwa and his decorated line-up, is on the right trajectory.
Over the years, biological threats and hazards have been discoursed and probed by public health agencies, policymakers in the health security and mainstream security fraternity, military planners and analysts, to name but a few concerned professionals.
The Russo-Ukraine conflict has opened all our sensory perception on the subject.
Both sides are raising allegations of potential bio warfare capabilities.
Russia even goes to the extent of accusing the US of working with Ukraine in harbouring dangerous infections in over 30 laboratories in Ukraine. What is on record is that the US Department of Defence has been working in partnership with Ukraine’s Ministry of Health since 2005.
The US claims it is to improve public health laboratories.
The issue of secret labs, however, is a story for another day.
The supreme law of the land, the Constitution, fiats the Government to protect its citizens.
President Mnangagwa recognises and espouses the concept of the supremacy of the Constitution, thus the inclusion of bio warfare on the legislative agenda of the 10th Parliament.
The despicable nature of bioterrorism and biowarfare licences the possibility of wearing masks again.
COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 pandemic epoch is an unambiguous reminder that our contemporary enemy is micro-organisms, either occurring naturally or deliberately disseminated to cause harm.
The threat has been compounded by free movement of people, animals, developments in fields such as biosciences and genetic engineering.
Great Zimbabwe is here to stay.
We are protected.
Biowarfare legislation is set by design and principle to warranty collective public health security.
Biodefence is a complex task that involves a high level of multisectoral interoperability which is going to be outlined and dissected on the title role aspect by the new bill.
Interoperability is enhanced in any biodefence strategy, which will cut department tribalism between security and public health fraternities respectively, both which need to come under centralised authority.
Like other sober-minded State-actors, Zimbabwe resolutely believes in international co-operation, multilateralism as opposed to bullish hegemonic tendencies by other nations.
This firm belief is reflected first, in the establishment of an effective mechanism to fortify and ratify international bindings.
Secondly, that belief is reflected in coming up with a legislation agenda towards biowarfare.
The Zimbabwean Government acknowledges the serious menaces posed by dangerous release of dangerous pathogens and other emerging infectious diseases.
The principal idea for legislation and other biodefence and strategies is shared responsibility and stronger co-operation between Government agencies and other stakeholders in the guild of biofence consequently making an interdisciplinary professional network on biological dangers, supported by an act of Parliament.
Bioterrorism, which was fiction in the past, is now a reality.
Every country should consider this threat.
Policymakers everywhere must be aware that a bioterrorism incident elsewhere around the world can affect them.
As a result, governments must be ready to deal with this threat
The Zimbabwean Government should be given a round of applause for taking the leading role in Africa of not only ratifying the treaty but coming up with a domestic legislation that strengthens the multilateral framework.
The beacon in this legislative agenda is international and supra-national organisations such as WHO, whose objective in the field of biological threats is an integrated global alert and response system for epidemics and other persisting public health emergencies.
That structure is an example from the WHO template whose focal point is exclusively based on public health contemplations.
Now threatened with the potential menace of global health security by intentional release of biological agents or naturally occurring disease, nations should invest in public health mechanisms as well as infrastructures for early detection and instantaneous response.