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Patrick Chitumba Senior Reporter—
INGUTSHENI Central Hospital is forking out $6,000 per month to hire a Mercedes Benz vehicle for its chief executive officer Dr Leonard Mabhande in addition to 420 litres monthly fuel allowance. At least five directors at the Bulawayo based institution including the director of finance and operations are each being allocated 400 litres of fuel a month.
This emerged during a tour of the institution by a seven-member Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care led by Bulawayo MP, Dr Ruth Labode (MDC-T).
The delegation is in the city to assess the state of affairs at public health institutions following concerns over poor health service delivery.
Dr Mabhande defended his package in an interview saying that it came with his job.
He told Chronicle: “It’s a CEO’s package which was approved by head office. I didn’t create this.”
Dr Labode expressed shock at the CEO’s package, which she said was uncalled considering that the hospital boss had accommodation at the institution.
“This is utter rubbish. How will the country survive when we have individuals who are just bent on filling their pockets at every opportunity? We are going to look into this. It has to stop,” she said.
The outspoken Dr Labode queried why the CMED, being a parastatal, would be allowed to milk other governments departments.
“They are hiring this vehicle from CMED for about $6,000 per month. At the end of the year about $72, 000 would have been spent on hiring the vehicle,” she said.
Dr Labode said she did not understand the logic of hiring the vehicle instead of buying one even from the CMED.
Recently Mpilo Central Hospital was reportedly spending about $7 000 a month on hiring a Mercedes Benz for its CEO, Dr Lawrence Mantiziba. The package is reported to be the same for all CEOs of major government hospitals.
Zanu-PF legislator for Gokwe-Mapfungautsi constituency Miriam Makweya, who is part of the committee, said the government was concerned with the level of corruption at State-run institutions.
“That’s why we are here. We want to expose this kind of corruption. We hear that a lot is happening at the hospital but the people here are scared to talk,” she said adding, “But we will find out. We only got to know about the CEO and directors’ fuel allowances outside the meeting. They were all scared to talk.”
During the tour the committee was also shocked to find a room filled with expired drugs.
Some of the expired drugs included Catheters, Antalgic gait, Albendazole for children, Nifedipine capsules among other drugs.
It also emerged that Kumalo ward patients have resorted to using the bucket system to relieve themselves as the toilet system is not operational.
The committee was baffled by the mental institution’s decision to order Albendazole for children when there are no children at the institution.
“This is a mental institution why then would you order Albendazole. It’s for pediatrics ward,” said Dr Labode.
In defence of the institution, a pharmacist George Mudiwa said the drugs were donated to the hospital by the European Union.
In his report on the institution, Dr Mabhande said they were operating at 52 percent of lifesaving drugs- a situation he said was dangerous for patients.
“Of antibiotics which are essential, we are on 34 percent and 20 percent on necessary drugs like drugs for malaria and headaches because we don’t refer our patients to other hospitals,” he said.
The hospital was allocated $2,2 million in this year’s budget of which $1,2 million went towards day to day operations.
The institution also owes suppliers a total of $1 million and only made $20, 903 from hospital fees for the whole of last year.
Today the committee is set to tour other medical institutions in the city.
Online Reporter