Zimbabwe’s health minister arrested in COVID-19 corruption case

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s health minister was expected to appear in court on Saturday to face allegations of illegally awarding a multi-million-dollar contract for COVID-19 testing kits, drugs and personal protective equipment to a shadowy company.

The country’s anti-corruption agency arrested Obadiah Moyo on Friday as the scandal roiled the country and played out on social media, where some local journalists exposed how Moyo allegedly chose the company to sell medical supplies to the government at inflated prices that included face masks for $28 each.

The government cancelled the contracts following public uproar. The minister on Saturday appeared before a court in the capital Harare and was released on a bail of $50,000, local outlets reported. Prosecution reportedly did not oppose bail for the embattled minister.

#BREAKING Health Minister Obadiah Moyo freed on $50,000 bail. Prosecutors did not oppose bail pic.twitter.com/bPRKnhFSIu

— ZimLive (@zimlive) June 20, 2020

One of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s sons was forced to issue a statement denying a link to the company after pictures emerged of the Zimbabwean representative of the firm enjoying the company of the president and his wife and sons at several events.

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

Nguwaya is accused of lying in saying the company was a drugs manufacturing company based in Switzerland, “whereas it was merely a consulting company with no experience in the manufacture of drug and medical products,” according to the charge sheet.

ZACC confirms the arrest of the Minister of Health and Child Care Obediah Moyo on allegations of criminal abuse of duty related to the procurement of COVID 19 drugs. He is going to appear in court today. As ZACC we continue to say REFUSE, RESIST AND REPORT CORRUPTION.

— Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (@ZACConline) June 20, 2020

The scandal comes as health professionals including nurses and doctors in Zimbabwe are on strike demanding to be paid their salaries in U.S. dollars. They argue that inflation that is now above 750% and the erosion of the value of local currency have rendered incomes worthless. Most traders charge for their goods in U.S. dollars in the southern African country that has long faced economic collapse.

The health professionals also have complained about lack of adequate protective gear as the number of coronavirus cases rises.