Jacob Ngarivhume who leads the opposition Transform Zimbabwe has apologised for a Twitter post which claimed that his niece died after surgeons at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals mistakenly cut her intestines during a C-section.
His apology came after the medical institution had issued a statement dismissing the politician’s claims. Ngarivhume said:
I need to set the record straight. My remarks on the incident involving my late niece were misleading in that they the put the blame entirely on Pari. That was not my intention.
I was simply highlighting the challenges we are facing with our healthcare system, whether private or public. The doctors at Pari did the best they could under the circumstances but it was very evident they did not have the resources needed to save my niece’s life.
I’m grateful for all the messages that have poured in during this difficult time. And many people have used this opportunity to share their own experiences with our public institutions.
I am not ashamed to say I was wrong. My remarks should have been more clear for that I apologize to the hard-working men and women at Pari who do all they can to save lives under difficult circumstances.
His apology attracted backlash from commentators who accused him of deliberately lying to tarnish the image of the government.
In his initial Twitter post, Ngarivhume said:
For the past week I have been helping my sister look after her daughter. She passed on yesterday. She was 34. She died after going through a C-section operation to deliver her third baby at Pari. The doctors made a mistake and cut her intestines. She then developed an infection.
They took her for a second operation to correct the error this didn’t work. A 3rd procedure was planned to clean her up but sadly she suffered a cardiac arrest and died.
During her care she was put on an obsolete ventilator in the ICU at Pari. This country has gone to the dogs.
Very sorry. Our healthcare system is under enormous pressures from a lack of resources, equipment, training. Sadly such stories will continue playing out until something changes.