A Zimbabwean lady, Ruth Hwara, has passed away after the money contributed by her compatriots to save her was swindled by a man.
Ruth Hwara fell ill and was to have a kidney transplant but did not have the funds to do it, leading to her family crying out for help.
Ruth’s uncle, Nigel Makono, used social media to raise the necessary funds for her urgent medical procedure.
Many public-spirited Zimbabweans donated funds to Makono’s EcoCash account. The account later reached its transaction limit, leading him to seek the assistance of an EcoCash agent, Tendai Chibwe.
Chibwe who operated a stall in Dzivarasekwa, a suburb of western Harare, allegedly received more money from the public and conned Makono into sending part of the donation sent to his (Makono’s) account to him, making a total of US$13,000.
When requested to send the money for the purpose for which it was contributed, he was only able to send $1,100.
Subsequently, he became evasive when asked about the remaining funds.
Makono then reported to the authorities and Chibwe, 46, was arrested and detained. He was later granted bail for US$100 after appearing before Harare magistrate Simon Kandiyero on fraud charges.
The case was adjourned till September 26.
While all this was going on, the health of Ruth deteriorated and she later died.
The news of her death was broken to the nation by an influencer and entrepreneur Joey Nyikadzino on her Facebook page on Thursday, August 15.
She said she got the news from Ruth’s family’s WhatsApp group.
Nyikadzino cursed those who truncated the treatment plan of the late Ruth, telling them they would face the wrath of God.
