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Court Reporter 

A 42-year-old man appeared in court last week on allegations of selling Covid-19 test kits believed to have been stolen.

It is suspected that the kits were either stolen from local hospitals or were smuggled into Zimbabwe.

Leon Chipepera, who was represented by lawyer Mt Stephen Chikotora, was not asked to plead to possessing stolen property when he appeared before regional magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje.

Alternatively, Chipepera is being charged with smuggling.

Prosecutor Mr Lancelot Mutsokoti had it that the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission received a report that Covid-19 test kits were being stolen from Government hospitals or from National Pharmaceuticals Company of Zimbabwe (Natpharm) for sale on the parallel market.

According to the State, the test kits were either procured by the Government or were donated to the country by the donor community to provide free tests for Covid-19.

Private health institutions can also procure the same kits through registered local distributors like Zundine Trading and Medsure (Pvt) Ltd.

The court heard that on the June 7, 2022, a team from ZACC intercepted Chipepera in Harare’s city centre selling 20 boxes with 500 standard Q-Covid-19 tests kits.

ZACC officers then established that he was not a registered distributor of these Standard Q Covid-19 test kits and that he had not procured them from any registered local distributor.

Upon being questioned Chipepera allegedly failed to provide the source of the kits, leading to his arrest.

Investigations by ZACC led to the recovery of 32 boxes with 800 Abbott Covid-19 tests from his house in Bluffhill.

It is said that officials from the Ministry of Health and Child Care confirmed that the Standard Q and Abbott Covid 19 Test Kits were the main test kits being used by Government hospitals for free Covid-19 testing.