By Linda Soko Tembo

Police have arrested five suspects at Levy Mwanawasa Hospital following the MakanDay story that exposed a group of health workers who were involved in stealing money from the hospital and issuing patients with fake duplicate receipts.

Police acting public relations officer, Danny Mwale told MakanDay that the five accused were arrested and later released on bond pending trial.

“Of the five health workers who were arrested, four are government employees and one is a volunteer,” Mr Mwale said.

A hospital source said the hospital administration is keenly following the matter.

Management action against the workers will be taken after the full police report is made available, he added.

“Once we get a report from the police, we will decide whether the matter can go to court or we sort out this issue internally,” said the source.

In March this year, MakanDay Centre for Investigative Journalism threw light on how workers at the hospital’s radiology department were charging patients for health services. Patients were then issued with genuine receipts, but the money collected was not remitted to the hospital. 

To prove the allegations, a MakanDay journalist posed as a patient to expose misconduct of the workers from the inside and brought their misdeeds to public attention.

The case is being handled by officers from Chelstone Police Station in Lusaka.

Here is a link to our earlier story: https://www.makanday.com/posts/health-workers-stealing-from-the-sick

Main Levy Mwanawasa Photo: By XU Weiliang