- 2019 Auditor-General report noted massive financial irregularities when he was Chitungwiza Hospital chief executive
FIRED minister of Health and Child Care Obadiah Moyo’s alleged corrupt past is trailing him like a shadow, following revelations that he has not been charged for financial misappropriation during his tenure as Chitungwiza Hospital chief executive , Zim Morning Post can reveal.
Moyo is currently embroiled in a corruption scandal wherein he is accused of three counts of abuse of office following his alleged involvement in cherry picking a controversial international company, Drax International to supply Covid-19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at inflated prices.
The development prejudiced government of millions of dollars and also roped in Natpharm board which shifted blame on Moyo.
Zim Morning Post understands that during Moyo’s tenure as Chitungwiza Hospital chief executive, Auditor General Mildred Chiri raised a red flag in the failure of the institution to successfully implement anti-corruption software solutions among other finacial malpractice matters.
Millions of dollars were lost in the IT boob where Moyo allegedly cherry picked an incompetent Information Technology company called Twenty Third Century to install a faulty accounting system known as SAP.
The company is owned by Ellman Chanakira and has previously bungled at National Social Security Authority (NSSA) and ZIMRA, causing massive financial loss to the State Enterprises.
Zim Morning Post gleaned the report submitted to Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube on June 20 2019, where Chiri noted that Chitungwiza Hospital under Moyo, lost large sums of money due to the incomplete implementation of SAP and she recommended a re-assessment of the SAP project.
“I noted that management (under Moyo) engaged an IT service provider whose system was not fully configured to produce reliable financial status paving way for untraceable loss of funds since financial statements were materially misstated,” noted Chiri.
Moyo was further accused of undervaluing hospital assets, bleeding government coffers in the process.
“I noted that management (led by Moyo) failed to engage a sworn property valuer to value the hospital fixed assets rendering loss of money since they used internal staff and there is no report to show assumptions and methodology used,” she further noted.
“At one instance, there was unsupported expenditure that bled the hospital of at least USD43 057,” she submitted,
Chiri noted a coterie of financial anomalies that bled the hospital under Moyo’s stewardship.
“I also noted that management failed to provide debtors age analysis and debtors ledgers compromising the true financial position of the hospital at the material time,” she noted in her report.
Insiders told this publication that these ‘man made’ loopholes paved way for looting, evidenced by acquisition of expensive properties by Moyo and his allies in management then.
Political analysts made an outcry on why no criminal charges were pressed against Moyo and his management in the ‘looting’ noted by Chiri.
“It boggles the mind why no charges were pressed against him and his accomplices in the anomalies noted by the Auditor-General. It simply means him(sic) and his crew might have gagged someone.“
“This clearly relegates the role of the Auditor -General to ceremonial, she is the lone voice against corruption but when she exposes the corruption with empirical evidence, the justice delivery system and law enforcement agents watch and smile as the looters walk scot free and go on to be appointed ministers.
“Look now, he exhibited his habit of looting in the Covidgate scandal and someone must be charged for the Chiri report,” opined a political analyst who preferred anonymity.
Moyo was appointed minister of Health and Child Care on June 19 2018. where he flew into a cholera crisis.
Prior to his appointment he was at the helm of Chitungwiza Hospital and has also led the Kidney Funding Association where he advocated the importation of dialysis machines.
He also has business intrests in the entertainment industry where he at one time ran a vibrant club- Spillway Pub and Grill on the shores of Lake Chivero.
He was inspired by his passion for music which earned him a nickname DJ Biskit when he played on the decks.
Moyo was arrested and charged with three counts of criminal abuse of duty as a public officer, for his alleged participation in Covidgate scandal.
He is currently out on ZWL50 000 bail, and is awaiting trial.
On July 7 2020, President Emmerson Mnangagwa dismissed him as minister on grounds that he had shown “conduct inappropriate for a government minister”.
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