Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri, Zimbabwe’s Defence Minister, who reportedly said the ravaging Coronavirus was God’s punishment to western nations has tested positive for the virus.

Kashiri in March 2020 had gleefully proclaimed that the disease was God’s divine retribution against western countries for imposing economic sanctions on Zimbabwe.

United States President Donald Trump was singled out in the minister’s bizarre tirade. When the Minister made the startling claims, the disease was yet to hit Zimbabwe.

She said at that time;

“Coronavirus is the work of God punishing countries that imposed sanctions on us. They are now keeping indoors. Their economies are screaming just like they did to ours. Trump should know that he is not God.”

Local publication, Zim Morning Post reported that Muchinguri-Kashiri contracted the disease and now undergoing treatment in the capital.

The publication reports that other senior government officials who are currently battling Covid-19 include, Manicaland Provincial Affairs Minister Ellen Gwaradzimba and former Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) boss, retired Major-General Paradzai Zimondi.

Zimbabwe has since recorded 17,194 Covid-19 cases and 418 deaths. The government has also imposed a 30-day national lockdown following a spike in COVID-19 cases, which have been termed the “Second Wave.”