HARARE – Health minister Obadiah Moyo was arrested on Friday over an international Covid-19 procurement scandal exposed by ZimLive.
Moyo, appointed to the position in 2018, was initially picked up by officers from the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) on Thursday evening, but President Emmerson Mnangagwa allegedly ordered him released because he had not been informed of the plan to arrest him, according to sources.
ZACC spokesman John Makamure told ZimLive on Friday night: “Yes, he has been arrested and is in detention. That’s all I can say for now.”
Details of the charges were not released. Moyo was spending the night at Rhodesville Police Station in Harare before his appearance in court on Saturday.
A ZimLive investigation exposed how Moyo and top executives from the government-owned National Pharmaceutical Company (NatPharm) handpicked companies not on the procurement register to supply drugs worth millions of dollars during the Covid-19 national emergency.
The ministry’s former secretary Agnes Mahomva, acting secretary Dr Gibson Mhlanga and finance ministry permanent secretary George Guvamatanga all participated in the transactions, which resulted in the country overpaying on critical personal protective equipment and medical devices for frontline health workers.
One of those companies, Drax International, was only two weeks only when it was paid US$2 million dollars to a bank account in Hungary – triggering an Interpol investigation. The payment was part of deals worth US$60 million signed with the company, without a public tender.
Drax International was fronted by a convicted criminal Delish Nguwaya, an associate of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s twin son, Collins. Nguwaya is also known to be close to Mnangagwa’s wife, Auxillia, who has invited him for dinner at State House.
Nguwaya was the first person to be arrested over the scandal which has been dubbed Covidgate. He is currently in jail awaiting trial on fraud charges. Zimbabwean authorities are working on an international arrest warrant for Drax’s sole shareholder, Ilir Dedja, who was born in Albania before moving to Italy where he acquired citizenship. In court, he was described as an “accomplice” to Nguwaya.
