Parirenyatwa Hospital Accounts Clerks Accused of Rejecting ZiG as Nemchem Boss Linked to Alleged US Dollar Scheme

Allegations of a foreign-currency racket involving accounts clerks at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals have raised serious questions about financial accountability at one of Zimbabwe’s biggest public health institutions, with a Nemchem International manager being linked to the alleged arrangement.

Some accounts clerks at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals are allegedly refusing to accept payments in Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), instead directing patients to settle their bills in United States dollar cash in what sources describe as a lucrative foreign-currency sourcing arrangement involving substantial financial rewards.

The allegations have placed Nemchem International manager Sivaraj Ragu under scrutiny after a source linked him to an alleged network in which hospital accounts clerks were reportedly rewarded for sourcing US dollars.

A source who spoke to ZimTimes alleged that the clerks were operating under foreign-currency targets allegedly associated with Ragu, with those able to deliver the required amounts receiving substantial payments in return.

The claims were independently echoed by a second person familiar with operations at Parirenyatwa, who also alleged that some accounts clerks were receiving significant financial incentives to source US dollars and direct patients towards foreign-currency cash payments.

If established, the allegations would raise serious questions about the integrity of payment administration at a public hospital, where patients already face considerable financial pressure and should not be subjected to unofficial currency demands or arrangements that benefit individual employees.

The first source further alleged that the scheme extended beyond hospital accounts, involving the conversion of local-currency proceeds from government cleaning contracts into United States dollars through intermediaries who were allegedly promised substantial financial returns.

At the centre of the allegations is Nemchem International, which has been linked to cleaning services at government premises, including facilities associated with the Health Service Commission at Parirenyatwa.

Public procurement records confirm that a cleaning-services contract was awarded to Breastplate Services (Private) Limited, trading as Nemchem International, for services at the commission’s premises.

However, the source alleged that the cleaning services were billed at inflated prices, with the resulting local-currency proceeds allegedly forming part of a wider foreign-currency conversion arrangement.

These claims have not been independently established, and the existence of the procurement award does not, by itself, establish wrongdoing or validate allegations of inflated billing.

ZimTimes was unable to obtain a comment from Ragu.

The allegations also revive questions surrounding the 2021 fraud case involving Eustine Charambira, who was accused in connection with an allegedly undelivered consignment of mining chemicals.

The source offered a sharply different account of the events, alleging that Charambira had been involved in a currency-conversion arrangement, given a US$1 million target and promised a house and a vehicle before allegedly being implicated in a fraud case.

That account remains unverified and differs from the prosecution’s reported version of events.

Contemporary court reports identified Erasmus Chimbumu as the complainant and named a supplier, Ragu Sivaragas, as the person who introduced the parties. It has not been independently established whether Ragu Sivaragas and Nemchem International manager Sivaraj Ragu are the same individual.

The case was initially reported as involving US$488,000, before subsequent reports indicated that prosecutors had amended the charge amount to Z$35 million.

The emerging allegations now raise questions that demand answers from Parirenyatwa’s management, the Health Service Commission and relevant oversight authorities.

Who authorised the alleged refusal to accept ZiG payments? Were hospital employees receiving financial incentives to source foreign currency? Were patients being subjected to payment arrangements outside officially approved hospital procedures?

And if government cleaning contracts were being used to facilitate questionable currency dealings, who was responsible for scrutinising the contracts, invoices and payments?

Public hospitals are not private currency exchanges, and accounts clerks are not supposed to turn patients into sources of foreign currency for the benefit of individuals or intermediaries.

The allegations warrant an independent investigation, including a review of hospital payment records, staff conduct, procurement invoices and the financial transactions associated with the cleaning contracts.

Until the relevant authorities provide clear answers, the questions surrounding the alleged arrangement will continue to cast a shadow over the management of public funds and the treatment of patients at Parirenyatwa.