TWO officials of the Ministry of Health and Child Care have been arrested in Chirundu on allegations of releasing last week two people held in a Covid-19 quarantine centre at the border after soliciting a US$100 bribe.
Zefinati Banda (39) and Maruta Mashiri (age not given) were arrested on Friday last week after it was discovered that the two in the centre were missing, leading to investigations and a successful hunt for the released pair, who then implicated the officials.
After being cornered, Banda and Mashiri allegedly revealed what had happened.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the arrest. This is not the first time that people have gone missing at quarantine centres in unclear circumstances.
In July, 81 people, among them 29 who were Covid-19 positive, escaped from the Beitbridge Quarantine, Isolation and Transit centre under unclear circumstances.
The group included 71 Malawian border jumpers who were later arrested on their way to South Africa.
Ten other members of the group were Zimbabweans who had just been deported for violating South African immigration laws.
Cases of people absconding at the Beitbridge Quarantine centre have been on the rise since February following the withdrawal of the Zimbabwe National Army unit offering security since its opening in March last year.
Between March 2020 and July 2021, 1 391 people had escaped from the centre.
Meanwhile, the ZRP confirmed the arrest of Daniel Kwaramba (30), Ocean Donono (46) and Lyce Jeremiah Manyande (28) after being found in possession of a Pangolin last Friday at Total Service Station along Julius Nyerere Way in Harare.
The three were busted by police while searching for a potential buyer for the pangolin which was being sold for US$3 000.