HARARE – Former National Pharmaceutical Company of Zimbabwe (NatPharm) boss Zealous Nyabadza will spend the weekend behind bars after his bail ruling was postponed to Monday.
Nyabadza, 46, was arrested on Wednesday on criminal abuse of office charges after allegedly selling a consignment of surgical masks procured by his company for personal gain.
He appeared before magistrate Trynos Utawashe.
Prosecutors say Nyabadza, who was NatPharm acting managing director, received boxes of masks valued at ZW$54,600 on May 19 last year from Sacred Heart Pharmaceuticals without following proper procurement procedures.
“He went on to sign a delivery note as confirmation of receipt of the goods,” court papers say.
Instead of depositing the masks with NatPharm, the defendant allegedly marked up the price and sold his loot to the Zimbabwe Medical Association (ZMA) for ZW$68,600, making a ZW$14,000 profit.
To cover his tracks, prosecutors say, Nyabadza later created a contract that was signed on July 13.
He went on to ask NatPharm’s procurement department to raise an internal purchase requisition instead of the Strategic Business Unit which is responsible for the company’s retail functions.
The matter came to light on July 1, 2020, when the accounts department failed to process the Sacred Heart Pharmaceuticals purchase voucher and invoice from NatPharm because there was no quotation.
Efforts by the accused to secure one failed, the court was told.
