Douglas Nzombe Chiutsi, a prominent pharmacist in Mutare, has had his trading licence revoked by the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) following a series of serious violations.
Until April 2024, Chiutsi served as the managing director of Healthwell Pharmacy (Pvt) Ltd, which operated as Clique Pharmacy in Mutare.
However, in a circular issued on April 7, 2025, MCAZ’s Director-General Richard Rukwata confirmed that Chiutsi’s licence was cancelled due to a range of offences committed during his tenure, including the sale of unregistered drugs.
The cancellation was formally communicated to Chiutsi on August 2, 2024, though it has only now been made public.
Clique (Healthwell) Pharmacy was listed alongside six other pharmacies in Harare and five other licence holders in the MCAZ’s announcement. Wrote Rukwata:
MCAZ advises its stakeholders of the cancellation of the following Wholesale Dealers Permits, Pharmacy Licence and Persons Licences. The cancellation periods will lapse on the dates indicated.
Despite having his licence revoked by MCAZ until 2027 and being banned from dealing in medicines for three years, pharmacist Chiutsi continues to defy the ban.
He is reportedly operating a new pharmacy, Alleviate Pharmacy, located just a stone’s throw away from the scene of his previous offences, with MCAZ aware of his actions.
Chiutsi, who has faced multiple detentions at Mutare Remand Prison on fraud and forgery charges, was arrested earlier this year while attending to clients at Alleviate Pharmacy.
He is currently out on bail and appeared in court on April 24, facing charges of forgery. He is set to appear in court again on April 28, accused of defrauding his former employer of US$260,000.
More: NewsDay
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