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Thandeka Moyo Chronicle Reporter
THE Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr David Parirenyatwa will be at Mpilo Central Hospital this morning to meet the staff and hear first-hand the problems bedevilling one of the country’s major hospitals.
Dr Parirenyatwa is expected to hold a Press conference at 10AM soon after addressing contentious issues that have brought controversy to the government health institution for the past few months.
Among the burning issues surrounding the institution is a recent audit report which unearthed gross irregularities in the hospital’s tender system.
According to the report by local accounting firm PNA — a copy of which is in The Chronicle’s possession — Mpilo’s tender system is in a shambles.
After getting delivery of the report, the Mpilo board of directors recommended that the chief executive officer Dr Lawrence Mantiziba, operations director Duduza Regina Moyo and finance director Charles Govo be relieved of their duties. It said Dr Mantiziba failed to put in place a system of checks and balances into the awarding of tenders and this left the system open to abuse and led to the hospital being prejudiced of millions of dollars.
The board recommended that he be charged with gross negligence. After scrutinising 838 tenders worth about $4,6 million awarded between January 2012 and December 31, 2014, the investigating team found that 444 tenders with a value of about $2,8 million flouted provisions of the Procurement Act.
Moyo allegedly manipulated the Procurement and Tender Committee (PTC) to determine the outcome of tenders. The report shows she tampered with files to withhold evidence from the investigating team.
Moyo allegedly undermined government policies and regulations of the State Procurement Board.
She also allegedly “drafted letters on behalf of suppliers claiming money from the hospital and deliberately awarded multiple tenders to individuals with more than one company supplying the hospital.”
The auditor recommended that Moyo be reported to the police for Fraud. The report shows Govo was grossly negligent as he would pay money to suppliers without tax clearances. For authorising payments to companies without withholding tax, the auditors suggested that he be reported to the police for tax fraud.
Part of the board’s recommendation reads: “The Hospital Management Board believes that this preliminary investigation is a solid indicator of serious acts of misconduct at the hospital on the part of the chief executive officer, the director of operations and the finance director, as such, swift action has to be taken for order, transparency and accountability to be restored at the hospital.
“The board further request that the findings of the investigation team be made public as the matter is already in the public domain.”
The Procurement Act that guides public institutions stipulates that for goods and services that cost up to $10,000, an institution should obtain a minimum of three “competitive” quotes from prospective suppliers.
Tenders above $10,000 should be advertised in the Government Gazette and a national newspaper that circulates in the public institution’s area of jurisdiction.
The auditors found that in the radiotherapy centre tender, hospital officials deliberately broke contracts into small denominations worth less than $10,000 to avoid advertising. The $3 million tender, which had been awarded to Bulawayo Businessman Ashton Mpofu’s New Planet Company, led to the investigation after Moyo alleged Mpofu threatened to harm her, following its cancellation.
The auditors said if the contract had been given to one company, it would have cost approximately $1,049 million.
After being split up, it ended up costing more than $2 million.
“This could have been avoided had the operations director and her team performed due diligence checks on suppliers to ensure they have the necessary capacity to supply goods and services,” read the report.
The investigators also queried a security tender that was won by Modern Security services.
The PTC had recommended Securico Security Services and Manifest security services as the front runners to win it. Manifest filed an appeal with the Administrative Court against the hospital and the State Procurement Board (SPB), contesting the award to Modern security and won, before the winner was announced.
The auditors queried how Manifest knew the outcome as SPB requirements require such information to be kept secret. They recommended that Mpilo Central Hospital should engage a lawyer to ensure Manifest Security Private Ltd does not renew the contract when it expires.
The report reveals that the company is charging the hospital “exorbitant prices leading to the substantial amount of funds owed to the party.”
The hospital has, according to the report, favoured high priced quotes against lower bids without clear reasons, once again going against SPB requirements.
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