By Daniel Nemukuyu, HARARE Zimbabwe
Corruption syndicates involving Zimbabwe medical doctors, police officers, mortuary staff and agents of some little known funeral service companies are charging between US$40 and US$100 to speed up the post-mortem process and even have bodies of accident victims released for burial without Covid-19 tests.
In some cases
it appears that the agents are just extorting money, without actually doing
anything or having anything done.
In other cases
they say if you take the sample to a private laboratory you can have the body
released as soon as the result comes back.
At the centre
of the graft are agents, touting for clients at hospital mortuaries and
entrances, who claim to be connected to medical doctors and police officers on
duty at the mortuaries.
While touting
for clients on behalf of their funeral service companies, they end up making
extra money through soliciting bribes from bereaved families who do not wish to
wait any longer for the bodies to be released.
They tell
families it can take 48 hours using the Government hospital testing facilities for
the results of a Covid-19 test to reach the mortuary.
The practice
is rampant at Sally Mugabe Hospital where some funeral service agents mill
around the mortuary waiting area touting for clients, or more recently
following strict rules to cut numbers gathering at the mortuary, in the main
hospital car park.
Sally Mugabe
Hospital chief executive Dr Christopher Pasi said his office had received a
number of reports since last year on the corrupt practices but had great
difficulty trying to pin anything down.
“The
corruption involves two willing participants, who agree to break the law and
keep it a secret. It is difficult to apprehend the culprits because none of the
parties is ready to give us any information. Investigations are still in
progress.”
Dr Pasi said
the hospital was overwhelmed with bodies and corruption syndicates may be
taking advantage of the backlog in Covid-19 testing, to swindle people.
“It is true
that our results may take longer because we have a backlog. All sudden death
bodies are tested for Covid-19 before post-mortem. We cannot rule out the
possibility that some corrupt elements may take advantage of the backlog to
extort bereaved families,” said Dr Pasi.
The Herald
went undercover at Sally Mugabe and Chitungwiza hospitals with a view to
establish the truth.
At Sally
Mugabe Hospital, the reporter was approached by an agent who introduced himself
as “Runzirwai” marketing services offered by “Geora Funeral Services”.
Runzirwai
claimed he was connected to some medical doctors and mortuary staff who could
assist in speeding up the release of bodies for burial.
“Covid-19
testing and the release of results may take up to 48 hours. Post-mortem will
then be done when the results are known. As we speak, the doctor is in and
waiting to do post-mortem in respect of bodies whose Covid-19 results are out.
“I can go
inside and ask him to work on your relative’s body without Covid-19 test so
that you get your body today for burial. I will hear how much he wants for the
service but it is a big risk to carry out post-mortem on a body whose Covid-19
status is not known. To be safe just reserve US$100 to be shared among all
those involved, including the police and the mortuary staff,” he said.
Because of the
Covid-19 hospital rules barring visitors, most funeral service companies’
agents were touting for clients in a car park near Sally Mugabe Hospital.
In the car
park, the reporter met another agent who introduced himself as “Josphat”. He
was marketing the services offered by a company called “Siloton Funeral
Services”.
To prove his
strong links with medical doctors, Josphat called a man that he claimed was a
medical doctor and put his phone on loud speaker for the “client” to hear. The
said doctor’s number was saved as “Chiremba” on Josphat’s mobile phone.
The doctor
said he was in town but referred Josphat to someone called “Mutangirwa” for
assistance.
“Here in
Harare your money makes life easier. Doctors may even leave their work at
private surgeries and rush here to assist you. The doctor said he will be back
around noon and if you are now in a rush we can wait for him. But if you are
impatient, we can engage the doctor on duty now.
“If you have
US$40, we can do it now and ensure you collect the body in an hour’s time. I
have to take your papers to the police post and deal with the officers there
before taking them to the mortuary,” said Josphat.
At Chitungwiza
Hospital two men, who were sitting in a Nissan Vanette inscribed “Hatina Musha
Funeral Services”, said there was a backlog in Coviod-19 testing at the
hospital and people had an option to take their relatives’ samples for testing
to external laboratories.
“Under normal
circumstances, swabs are taken from the corpse and you, as relatives, are given
the samples and you take them to Lancet where you will pay US$60.
“Since you
said your relative died in an accident, we can talk to the doctor on duty and
negotiate the immediate release of the body without a Covid-19 test. It is a
matter of paperwork and you get the body in an hour.
“You simply have to pay US$50 but it is negotiable,” said one of the agents. - The Herald
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