Miss Maphosa who granted Vanhuvaone US$100 bail, said there were no compelling reasons to deny the accused bail.
She however ordered the accused to reside at his given address, report to the police once a week and not to interfere with State witnesses.

He will be back in court on October 7.

Vanhuvaone from Barbourfields suburb in Bulawayo was arrested last week after his “cover” was blown off.

He had allegedly been masquerading as a doctor at Mpilo Central Hospital and misrepresented himself to those seeking medical attention as Prosper Mpofu. He is facing two counts of fraud and one of misrepresentation.

Vanhuvaone, who was clad in prison garb, heaved a sigh of relief when Miss Maphosa granted him bail.

According to court records, on September 16 at Mpilo Central Hospital, Vanhuvaone allegedly attended to patients seeking medical assistance while pretending to be a doctor and prescribed drugs.

On the first count, Vanhuvaone is being charged for allegedly contravening Section 121 of the Health Professions Act Chapter 27:19 (unregistered persons practicing as registered or representing themselves to be medical practitioners).

For the second count, Vanhuvaone is being charged with fraud.

It was stated that on August 17 at Mpilo Central Hospital, Vanhuvaone misrepresented himself to Miss Faith Hove that he was a registered medical doctor and as such was able to treat her.

Due to the misrepresentation, Miss Hove agreed to be treated and was charged US$120 for services. Miss Hove became suspicious when her condition did not improve.

Fake doctor Taurai Prosper Vanhuvaone in court recently

On the third count, the State alleges that sometime between February 2023 and April 2024, Vanhuvaone defrauded another complainant, Miss Samantha Ziki of US$1 600 after leading her to believe that he was a medical practitioner and had influence to secure her a place at Mpilo Central Hospital School of Nursing.

“The accused person went on to ask for money to facilitate the enrolment and he was given cash amounting to US$1 600, which he converted to his own use,” read the document.

According to our sister publication Sunday News, it was discovered that Vanhuvaone operated for two years undetected and that he had an office at Mpilo and attended to patients at both Mpilo and United Bulawayo Hospitals.

Authorities at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo uncovered the shocking details following his arrest at the institution.

Internal investigations at the hospital revealed that he operated undetected from an office within the hospital’s premises for approximately two years.

It was reported that Vanhuvaone allegedly spread his operations to UBH, where he similarly deceived patients and staff.

Mpilo Hospital chief medical officer, Dr Narcisius Dzvanga, said it was shocking how Vanhuvaone managed to get himself an office where he operated from. He said as an institution, they regretted the incident, noting that it put the lives of patients at risk and the reputation of the institution at stake.

Dr Dzvanga said they had several security protocols in place but they were being copied by unscrupulous individuals such as Vanhuvaone.

He revealed that the hospital is still exploring how best to contain the situation moving forward and is also calling on members of the public to be alert. – (@The Chronicle)