HARARE – Former National Pharmaceutical Company of Zimbabwe (NatPharm) acting managing director Zealous Nyabadza was released on Z$15,000 bail by a magistrate on Monday.
The 46-year-old was arrested last week on criminal abuse of office charges after allegedly selling a consignment of surgical masks received from Sacred Heart Pharmaceuticals for personal gain.
The State had opposed bail on the grounds he would likely influence witnesses and abscond.
But Harare magistrate Trynos Utahwashe set him free and imposed stringent bail conditions to allay prosecutors’ fears.
“The accused is also ordered not to visit NatPharm, not to interfere with State witnesses, to reside at the given address, to surrender passport and to report at CID headquarters once every week,” Utahwashe ruled.
Prosecutors say Nyabadza took delivery of masks valued at Z$54,600 from Sacred Heart Pharmaceuticals without following proper procurement procedures on May 19 last year.
Instead of depositing them with NatPharm, the defendant allegedly marked up the price and sold the masks to the Zimbabwe Medical Association (ZMA) for Z$68,600.
Meanwhile, High Court judge, Justice David Mangota on Monday struck off an application by former ZBC acting chief executive officer Wisdom Hombarume from the urgent cases roll saying it lacked merit.
Hombarume had approached the High Court challenging the suspension of his salary and benefits.
Justice Mangota ruled that Hombarume tried to mislead the court by concealing important information regarding the reasons behind his pay and benefits suspension, hence his case did not qualify to be heard on an urgent basis.
Hombarume landed in trouble after allegedly misrepresenting his qualifications. He is facing fraud charges.
The alleged scam came to light in February this year when ZBC discovered that the employee was masquerading as an engineer yet he only held credentials obtained from an unaccredited institution.
