BULAWAYO – A medical doctor who was suspended for stealing drugs at Mpilo Central Hospital has been arrested for practising without a licence at a city clinic.
Emmanuel Mucheni, 35, was arrested last Friday following days of investigations by detectives from drugs and narcotics, police said.
“I can confirm the arrest of the suspect who was operating a clinic along 8th Avenue between Josiah Tongogara and Robert Mugabe Way. He is a medical doctor in the ministry of health and was attached at Mpilo Hospital but is currently on suspension,” Bulawayo police spokesman Assistant Inspector Nomalanga Msebele said.
Police said they received a tip-off on November 3 and carried out surveillance which established that Mucheni was working at his clinic as a medical doctor.
The Medical and Dental Practitioners Council of Zimbabwe confirmed that Mucheni was a medical doctor – but he is currently suspended following his arrest in 2019 accused of stealing drugs from Mpilo. His trial is pending.
Msebele said detectives went to his clinic where Mucheni failed to produce a valid practising licence.
The clinic has been operating since 2018.
Prosecutors say Mucheni was on duty at Mpilo’s theatre on April 4, 2019, when a nurse went to the anaesthetist room and found the cupboard open with 23 Pethidine and 10 Fentanyl 100mg drugs worth US$100 missing.
A loss control officer was immediately called and the drugs were allegedly found in the doctor’s possession, leading to his arrest.
Last month, a bogus doctor was arrested at the Parirenyatwa Group Of Hospitals in Harare after he treated patients for at least six months without detection.
Admire Chisi, 25, was rumbled by health staff who grew concerned over his “medical proficiency”, the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals said in a statement.
Chisi posed as a physician registrar at a time during which doctors were on strike over poor pay and lack of Personal Protective Equipment to keep themselves safe from the coronavirus.
