“It is against our religion and beliefs to use any modern medicines as prayer is our main therapy through thick and thin,” he explained adding that their children will not be affected by polio. “If the DC and other stakeholders are going to use the law to force us into immunising our children, then God will see them. We are going to communicate to our God and report the matter for further assistance. We do not believe that there is any other thing more powerful than God’s word and deeds”.
The 65-year-old Tsheriwa claimed to be one of the church elders who went to Nairobi, Kenya in 1973 to fetch the church Bishop. He claimed to be very familiar with the regulations of the church and stressed that as strong believers, they were not going to compromise any of the church rules. He does not say what would happen if they participate in the polio campaign which seeks to immunise all children in Botswana under five years. He was part of a seven-man delegation, which was sent to the church headquarters in Mafikeng last Friday to inform their elders about the decision of the Botswana government to immunise all children under five years. Although the DC, who chaired the meeting, explained the importance of the immunisation exercise church members were not moved. The Bazezuru sect leaders in the meeting were drawn from Shashe, Tatisiding and Francistown.
Francistown City Council (FCC) Matron, Maggie Lebani, told Mmegi on Wednesday that about eight children from different families were immunised in some areas in which they were earlier on denied access. Five of them are children of Bazezuru and the other three were children of Asians. She could not accurately state how many children were targeted in the exercise within the city. She lamented that although the exercise was planned to run for about a week in the first leg planned for May 10-14, it has extended into the second week. She indicated that the exercise was costing the government a lot of money as officers involved continue to claim funds for overtime worked.
“The next thing, we are going to force these people to have their children immunised. The DC is going to dispatch a team to go house-to-house and force people to comply. Some Bazezuru elders have even mentioned that they will not resist once forced into the exercise. We have also explained to them the importance of the exercise”.
The DC remained hopeful that the Bazezuru community would allow immunisers to do their job. She draws her hope from a statement raised by one of the sect leaders, who indicated that once forced into the exercise, they will give in. “If this is how we understood him, then it means we will force them into the exercise, failing which we will seek legal assistance,” she said.
