Zimbabwe’s Health Minister nabbed for $60 million COVID-19 illegal dealings

Zimbabwe’s health and Child Care Minister Obadiah Moyo was arrested on Friday night following corruption involving procurement of COVID-19 testing kits, drugs and personal protective equipment.

The Zimbabwe’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) spokesperson John Makamure confirmed the arrest on Friday evening in a statement.

Reports revealed that the minister allegedly chose the company to sell medical supplies to the government at inflated prices that included face masks for $28 each.

According to CGTN, the representative, Delish Nguwaya, and some top officials of the national drugs procurement agency are already facing criminal charges related to the scandal.

Moyo is the second minister to be arrested for alleged corruption under President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government following the arrest of the then tourism minister Prisca Mupfumira last year.

He is expected to appear in court on Saturday June 20 to face the allegations and government has cancelled the contracts with the company involved in the corruption.

The incident has happened at a time when health professionals including nurses and doctors in Zimbabwe are on strike demanding to be paid their salaries in U.S. dollars.

Meanwhile Zimbabwe has about 479 confirmed cases of Coronavirus as of Saturday June 20 with 4 recorded deaths.

Maneno Chimulala

I am a journalist, educator, and activist with passion for telling stories about social justice, sports and political issues. I graduated from Mzuzu University. I started my career at the Maravi Post online publication in 2012 as an intern while in college. Upon graduating from Mzuzu University I was offered a job as Sports Reporter because of my background as a goalkeeper and rose to the position of sub editor. I also had a short stint with Nyasatimes, Malawi Punch and Malawi Digest. Over the past seven years, I have worked intimately with rural organizations and communities in Malawi on human rights, girl child education and grassroots development projects. With an academic background in education, I also volunteer as male champion for girls’ education under Girls Empowerment Networks (GENET) in Malawi’s South West Education Division (SWED).