Zimbabwe's Health Minister Pays $50K Cash For Bail Amid Cash Crisis
Zimbabwe’s Health Minister, Dr Obadiah Moyo has caused outrage after he paid his $50 000 bail with cash when the country is grappling with the cash crisis that has dragged on for years.
Moyo was arrested on Friday for alleged criminal abuse of office related to irregularly awarding a US$60 million tender to Drax International for the supply of Covid-19 test kits and equipment.
He was granted a $50 000 bail the following day amid reports that he did not sleep in police custody after president Mnangagwa allegedly instructed his release.
Following court and at the Clerk of Court office, Moyo was given an option to pay his bail through the use of an ATM card, which he gladly did, leaving his aides to carry back the cash and reload it into one of his four luxury state-issued vehicles that had accompanied him to court.
The minister’s gesture comes when ordinary people are sleeping outside banking halls to withdraw a maximum of $1 000 a week which means one needs 50 weeks to withdraw $50 000.
The development also comes amid reports that government officials are the ones injecting cash into the parallel market leaving banks with little cash to give clients.
More: New Zimbabwe
