Zimbabwe’s health minister faces corruption charge over illegal contract for coronavirus medical supplies
- Obadiah Moyo was arrested on Friday over allegations he illegally awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to a shadowy company
- The health minister, a former hospital administrator, faces a fine or up to 15 years in prison if convicted
Zimbabwe’s health minister on Saturday was charged with criminal abuse of duty as a public officer, accused of illegally awarding a multimillion-dollar contract for Covid-19 medical supplies to a shadowy company that sold the government US$28 face masks and other materials at inflated prices.
The country’s anti-corruption agency arrested Obadiah Moyo on Friday and the government cancelled the contracts following public uproar.
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.