Legally, a parastatal board is appointed and dissolved by
the minister.
The board, which was chaired by renowned medical
practitioner Billy Rigava, comprising anaesthetist Northburga Harunavamwe
Chifamba, procurement and supply specialist Johnson Shonhe, lawyer Rachel
Chibaya and banker Gerald Gore, was kicked out during the first week of
December last year.
Approached for comment, Rigava declined to discuss the
matter, while Mangwiro’s mobile phone went unanswered several times yesterday.
Health ministry acting permanent secretary Robert
Mudyiradima wrote the letters of dismissal, leaving the pharmaceutical company
without a board at a time when the country is battling to contain Covid-19
which has to date killed over 1 200 people, including four ministers.
A seasoned medical practitioner, Mhlanga, who was Health
ministry’s preventative services principal director, was caught in the
crossfire as he was acting permanent secretary when the US$3,5 million Covid-19
materials tender raised questions.
Investigations show that Mhlanga was suspended, pending
dismissal over alleged issuance of Covid-19 re-testing directive for travellers
from Tanzania. However, the real bone of contention is said to be the Covid-19
tender in which Mangwiro allegedly influenced the granting of a tender to a
company he had an interest in.
Former NatPharm acting managing director Zealous Nyabadza —
suspected to be the Covid-19 materials scandal whistleblower — lost his job on
January 6, 2021, after serving the company for 15 years.
Efforts to get Nyabadza to comment were futile as he also
refused to entertain questions.
But details gathered by the Zimbabwe Independent show that
as soon as the tender debacle exploded, Nyabadza was replaced by Air Commodore
Gibson Dumba on October 1, 2020, as he was re-appointed acting operations
manager. He was later re-assigned to his full-time role of information
technology (IT) manager in December 2020.
Dumba was seconded to NatPharm from the Women Affairs,
Community, Small-and-Medium Enterprises Development ministry, where he was
principal director. He has no medical background fit to run a drug manufacturing
entity.
As the NatPharm drama unfolded, on December 30, 2020, Dumba
wrote a letter to Nyabadza re-appointing him IT manager. The firm’s Mutare
branch manager Kudakwashe Chimbarara then took over as operations manager.
Things came to a head on January 6, 2021, when Dumba
terminated Nyabadza’s contract on three months’ notice. Labou r experts say the
contract termination “without valid reasons” could be a clear violation of the
Labour Act.
Nyabadza is likely to contest the dismissal at the Labour
Court, in what could be a bruising legal battle.
It also emerged that after over a decade of loyal service
at the pharmaceutical manufacturer, Nyabadza was forced out empty-handed.
Nyabadza’s exit came several weeks after the Zimbabwe
Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) opened an investigation file — “Examination
of Procurement Procedures for Tender Number — International Nat ITCB FWWK
04/2020 — Laboratory Equipment, Reagents and Consumables for Covid-19
Management at NatPharm (31 August-4 September 2020)”.
A Zacc official report implicated Mangwiro in alleged
mishandling of a tender through issuing directives contrary to public
procurement regulations.
Mangwiro has denied interfering with the Covid-19 materials
tender describing the allegations as malicious and mischievous. Zimbabwe
Independent
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