(Last Updated on October 11, 2021 by zimdaily)
HARARE – Zimbabweans have petitioned President Emmerson Mnangagwa to reopen the corruption case against former Health minister Obadiah Moyo , who was acquitted last week by the High Court over the irregular award of a US$60 million tender for COVID-19 medical supplies.
The High Court last Thursday ruled in favour of Moyo, saying the framing of the State outline did not disclose an offence.
Mnangagwa fired Moyo in July last year after prosecutors claimed that the Health ministry had illegally awarded contracts without following due process.
One of the companies, Drax International, was said to have been registered only two weeks prior to US$2 million being deposited in its Hungary bank account.
The payment triggered an Interpol investigation and was part of contracts worth US$60 million signed with the company, without going to tender.
Drax International local representative Delish Nguwaya was also arrested as part of the same investigation, but his trial collapsed.
Nguwaya, a convicted criminal, was said to be an associate of Mnangagwa’s son, Collins.
Collins denied links with the Drax boss, despite pictures of Nguwaya with members of the President’s family at a State function going viral on social media.
Petitioners now want the case to be retried by an independent prosecutor. It was initiated by United Kingdom-based Zimbabwean Robert Chapman.
Citizens aim to hand over the petition to the United Nations rapporteur Alena Douhan, who is expected to come to Zimbabwe on an official visit from October 18 to 28.
“It is the citizens’ intent to request assignment of a special prosecutor and an independent investigation with the highest level of transparency that this case be reopened. We request thorough investigation of all individuals and companies associated with this scandal, both domestic and abroad,” the petition reads.
In the petition, Chapman claims that the US$60 million COVID-19 funds that went missing could have saved lives and helped thousands of families from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected over 132 000 people and claimed 4 631 lives since March 2020.
[newsday]