Harare, June 21 — Zimbabwe’s Health Minister, Obadiah Moyo who had been widely reported to have been fired after he was implicated in a 60 million USD corruption scandal related to COVID-19 material bought for government, is in fact still having his job.
Minister Moyo was arrested recently after he was implicated in a Coronavirus equipment procurement scandal which has since been termed Covidgate in this Southern African nation.
The Zimbabwean Minister’s alleged corrupt dealings were linked to Drax International LLC and Drax Consult SAGL, companies Zimbabwean prosecutors claimed were illegally awarded contracts by the country’s health ministry without a competitive tender process.
He (Moyo) was arrested on Friday facing three counts of criminal abuse of office.
The previous week, Delish Nguwaya, a local representative of Drax International, was arrested as part of the same investigation and was denied bail by a Harare magistrate.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s son, Collins, is said to be closely linked to Drax International which has grabbed tenders to supply other COVID-19 material to the country’s Ministry of Health, but no moves have been made so far to apprehend the President’s son.
Collins stands embroiled in a one million USD Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) dispute while the president’s top bodyguard, Valdano Brown, clinched lucrative contracts to supply COVID-19 equipment to the country’s Ministry of Health without properly going to tender.
Now, Minister Moyo, who is very close to the Zimbabwean President, despite his alleged underhand dealings with a company linked to the Zimbabwean strongman’s son, was released from police custody and allowed to sleep at his home only to appear in court the following day.
In court, the state alleged that the Minister had awarded a tender to a company linked to a terrorist group, but with the National Prosecution Authority not opposing bail, the Zimbabwean politician was released on 50,000 Zimbabwean dollars bail, which is 2,000 USD.
The matter was remanded to 31 July 2020.
Following his appointment as Zimbabwe’s Health Minister two years ago, Moyo was exposed by different publications to have fabricated his education qualifications as a medical doctor.