A man who posed undetected as a doctor at one of Zimbabwe's biggest hospitals for seven months has been arrested and charged with fraud and impersonating a public official.
Admire Chisi, 25, was denied bail when he appeared before Harare magistrate Mrs Judith Taruvinga. She said he was likely to abscond due to the gravity of the offence he committed. She said the accused was also likely to face the wrath of the general public who are angry about his alleged offence.
The Times reports that posed as a physician registrar in the accident and emergency department at the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals. During the seven months, he attended to patients, wrote medical affidavits and issued prescriptions. The report says the hospital group – which operates the 5,000-bed Parirenyatwa General Hospital in Harare – said it discovered that a fake medical doctor was working in its accident and emergency department.
The hospital group, reports Zimbabwean media, has set up a committee to investigate how a bogus doctor was allowed to enter the premises and work undetected. Initial indications are that during industrial action by doctors and nurses, a fair number of new staff were assigned to the casualty unit and accepted Chisi as a genuine volunteer. Only when regular staff returned to work did questions arise.
Dr Aaron Musara of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors' Association said in The Times that the incident was indicative of broader problems. “The issue of the man who masqueraded as a doctor for several months is an undoubtable indicator of the breakdown of systems as health-care workers sank deep into incapacitation because of low wages,” he said.
“One can only wish the powers that be would see that delays in attending to genuine grievances, preferring to think there were no problems, bred this.”
[link url="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/africa/2020-10-26-fake-doctor-arrested-at-one-of-zimbabwes-biggest-hospitals/"]Full report in The Times[/link]