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Last week, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals made a shocking revelation: Zimbabwe’s biggest referral hospital had been infiltrated by a fake doctor, who “treated” patients for seven months.
What a baffling exposé. We thought this kind of stuff was strictly for Hollywood movies.
How did an imposter work for seven months undetected? Where did he get the guts to pretend to be a medical doctor? It takes seven years to qualify to be a doctor. How many people did he “treat”? Was he on the payroll? Or was he extorting patients? Were his diagnoses and prescriptions actual ones or he was poisoning his patients?
Just how secure are Zimbabwe’s public institutions? How many bogus people are out there pretending to be what they are not? How many people are masquerading as civil servants? What security mechanisms does the country’s public service system have in place to guard against such fraud?
These are just a few of the several questions that concerned readers have directed to our WhatsApp, website (www.nhau.co.zw) and Facebook platforms since the fake doctor story broke.
It is important to note that this is not the first time that impersonators have breached the security of the country’s health systems. There are several cases. Below are just a few that have gone through the courts.
In 2011 a Harare High School teacher, Pardon Muvengwa, successfully impersonated a doctor at Harare Central Hospital (now Sally Mugabe Hospital) and swindled scores of desperate job seekers of hundreds of United States dollars.
So daring was Muvengwa, he even duped a police officer at Avondale Police Station.
In 2015 another daring bogus doctor duped scores of desperate nurses seeking greener pastures.
Lawrence Kutoka (38) was hauled to the courts after hoodwinking two nurses that he was a doctor.
He even raped a nurse from a private hospital after promising her a job at his ‘surgery’.
In 2013 police arrested one Benjamin Mwadiwa who moved around Harare masquerading as Kupa Chidzanga, a doctor.
According to police reports, Mwadiwa was also a wanted man by Bulawayo CID where he was believed to have defrauded many people using the same modus operandi.
What in the world is happening in Zimbabwe’s health system? In light of the above; are our health institutions safe from imposters? How are doctors supervised when they report to work?
Perhaps, Health Minister VP Chiwenga is right that the ministry requires massive restructuring. What else is going on there that is unknown to the public? Can those charged with running our hospitals be trusted with drugs and other important assets when they cannot weed out an imposter?
One school of thought is that this fraudster is actually a CIO operative, maybe even MID, deployed to gather intelligence and infiltrate striking health workers. Speculation is rife that spooks exist at the institution reporting “trouble causers” to authorities. Because of fear, no one asks who is who.
Is Admire Chisi even his name? Word has it the Chisi name is quite big in medical circles with one family bearing that name boasting a whole family tree of doctors – from the grandfather right down to the generation three.
Perhaps Chisi took advantage of this name to commit his crimes. The 25-year-old Zimre Park resident allegedly attended to at least four patients whom he issued with medical affidavits and prescriptions.
He was arraigned before the courts on charges of impersonating a public official and fraud.
Chisi was remanded in custody.
In court, the State said there was no prejudice caused to the four “patients”; so how did he benefit from his actions? Is he just a maniac? What were his motives?
In fact, his notes actually made sense. So could this be someone with actual medical training? Or perhaps he is just passionate about the field
Some of our sources claim that Chisi benefitted by getting payments for writing comprehensive medical affidavits. He is alleged to have been charging clients a minimum of US$10 for his services. However, most are unwilling to come forward as the illegality also paints them in bad picture and could potentially get them into trouble.
Other sources say Chisi practised as a nurse aid at the hospital and was familiar with the environment at the institution before he was dismissed for yet unknown reasons. But how come no one has identified him from his days as a nurse aid?
If someone can impersonate a doctor; are public and private institutions in every sector safe at all? There is definitely a loophole in the health system, what happened to due diligence and background checks? Nhau/Indaba
