Is Zimbabwe's Health Ministry Corruption Report Being Buried?

Vice President and Health Minister Constantino Chiwenga has has been sitting on the Auditor-General's specially commissioned audit report for the ministry, which looks at potential abuses of Covid-19 funds, despite the fact that it has been ready for tabling in the National Assembly for months, New Zimbabwe reports.

The special audit, covering 2020, was commissioned after reports of rampant abuse at the ministry, which Chiwenga leads. The failure to table the report, which gave rise to widespread speculation that it may have been motivated by a deliberate desire to conceal its potentially damning contents, prompted Auditor General Mildred Chiri to transmit a copy of the report directly to the Speaker of the National Assembly, who is empowered by law to table it in the event that a responsible minister is unwilling to do so.

This marks the latest development in alleged corruption at the Ministry of Health in respect of Covid-19-related finances. Previously, Chiwenga's predecessor, Obadiah Moyo, was sacked by President Emmerson Mnangagwa following accusations of seeking to enrich himself through a lucrative tender for medical equipment.

Further, this report comes after MDC Alliance Vice President Tendai Biti accused the government of pillaging U.S.$13.2 billion between 2017 and 2019 through unauthorised expenditure. Biti made the allegations while commenting on a report released by Auditor-General Chiri for the financial year ended December 31, 2019, on appropriation accounts - money normally set aside for a specific purpose, as well as fund accounts - which records resources limited by donors or government agencies, with emphasis on accountability rather than profitability.

InFocus

Vice President and Health Minister Constantino Chiwenga in Harare, June 24, 2021.

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