Mpilo reinstates suspended worker

RECOMMENDATIONS to prosecute or transfer top officials at all the country’s 10 major hospitals have been ignored by the Ministry of Health and Childcare, a situation which has seen underhand dealings and irregular tenders continue to be the order of the day as hospitals continue to work with “banned” companies.
The recommendations were made by the National Economic Conduct Inspectorate.

No hospital was found clean by the audit which covered Harare and Mpilo central hospitals and other provincial hospitals, namely Mutare, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, Masvingo, Ingutsheni, Marondera, Chitungwiza, Gweru and United Bulawayo Hospitals.

Ever since the recommendations were made in 2013, the State Procurement Board has only fined chief executive officers of hospitals a measly $800 for flouting tenders worth thousands of dollars; fines — which in any case — were paid by the hospitals and not the officials, sources said.

According to the NECI audit which was done with the assistance of the Criminal Investigations Department, prices were inflated by as much as 100 percent with some hospitals having “preferred suppliers”, while others dismissed tender bids for being “unreasonably low”.

Investigations by Sunday News reveal that hospitals are still working with the “preferred suppliers”, an indication that officials are still getting the alleged kickbacks for tenders.

On Thursday, Mpilo Central Hospital reinstated suspended head of the central buying unit Mr Mxolisi Sibanda, a development which is a clear indication that National Economic Conduct Inspectorate’s recommendations have fallen on deaf ears.

Mr Sibanda was suspended together with former operations director Mrs Regina Duduza Moyo, finance director Mr Charles Govo and former chief executive officer Lawrence Mantiziba over suspected corruption involving procurement of hospital equipment and the tender system.

Mr Mantiziba’s contract with the hospital ran out before he even appeared before the Health Services Board.
According to highly placed sources, the Health Ministry’s failure to act on the case will soon see the return of all the suspended executives.

Mpilo hospital board chairperson Mrs Sichelesile Ncube said she was not in a position to comment on the issue.
“I have not yet received any communication about his reinstatement and it is still early to discuss about the issue but when I get more information I will be able to speak more,” she said.

According to National Economic Conduct Inspectorate audit report, the tender committee at Ingutsheni Hospital was supposed to be prosecuted for awarding a tender to a company that prejudiced Government of $152 611.

Meanwhile, the United Bulawayo Hospitals’ Lady Rodwel Maternity home is running without oxygen following a botched tender deal, forcing  women who give birth via caesarian section to opt for an epidural injection rather than an anaesthetic.

An epidural induced birth is when anaesthetic medicine is injected in to the lower back and then a hollow needle is guided between the small bones in the spine. The needle goes into the space between the layers of tissue in the spinal column (the epidural space). The drug numbs the area above and below the point of injection and allows the woman to remain awake during the delivery.

However, the acting CEO of the institution Dr Nasiciaus Dzvanga dismissed the claims.
“I am not aware of the issue. What I know is that the teams on the ground said all was in place for the festive season and I was not upraised about the oxygen issue,” he said.

Dr Dzvanga, however, said work was in progress at the institution to pipe oxygen to all wards that need it. He said the institution installed a reservoir for oxygen.

“We actually have an oxygen reservoir that was installed so that we pipe oxygen to the patients and we have people on the ground as we speak that are installing the equipment,” he said.

However, a senior official at the institution said the project to pipe oxygen to the hospital had been put on hold after Boc Gases detected an anomaly with the type of pipes used.

“The supply tank was mounted at the hospital near the maternity ward ages ago but the hospital contracted a company that did a shoddy job. Boc Gases then refused to connect the hospital saying it was dangerous and could potentially burn the place down,” he said.

The hospital board chairman, Mr Francis Chitehwe, said they had a “hiccup”.
“We had a challenge with oxygen at the hospital but we have rectified the issue. The project was down because we had no material to pipe the oxygen but the contractor has since been given materials and work is in progress,” he said.

Health and Childcare Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa could not be reached for comment.
Below is a brief summary of the findings at all the hospitals by the National Economic Conduct Inspectorate:

Harare Central Hospital
n A tender was opened on 23 September 2009 and 10 companies submitted bids for a C-Arm with an old model screen. The tender was awarded to the lowest bidder, Axis Medical who had quoted $48 600. After awarding the tender, the end user decided that they wanted a C-Arm with an LCD monitor as these ones had become outdated.

When specifications are changed under normal circumstances, the bid should be re-tendered but in this instance, Axis Medical alone was asked over the telephone to re-quote the C-Arm on 1 October 2009. Other bidders were not consulted. Axis Medical upped their price from $48 600 to $72 000 and were awarded the tender as they were still the cheapest to tender. The fact that bids from other companies had already been opened meant that Axis Medical had information on what the next bidder had offered thus presenting an unfair advantage to them over the other bidders.

• Tender number HCH 22/09 for roof re-asphalting was opened in October 2009 and nine companies quoted. On the initial comparative schedule, Dohne quoted $62 073 while Quelling quoted $66 542. These were number three and four respectively as the first two “quoted out of spec”. Dohne being the lowest would have been awarded this tender but the comparative schedule was cancelled and no reason was given for the cancellation. The schedule was replaced by another one where Dohne’s bid price had been increased to $74 953 hence becoming more expensive than Queling. Queling was then awarded the tender. Surprisingly, all bid documents from other suppliers were in the file with the exception of the one submitted by Dohne.

• Four companies responded to a supply and fitting of kitchen sinks tender with LA Joinery having the lowest bid of $24 050, Premier was the second at $50 460 while third was C.E.S at $54 282 and Unique quoted $58 303. Despite LA Joinery being the lowest, the tender was awarded to the third bidder.

• Overhauling of the boiler worth $163 415 was given to Cochrane Engineering (Pvt) Ltd without going to tender.

Mpilo Central Hospital

• On the supply of 150 Osman type satin edging blankets, there were only two bidders that participated namely National blankets and Waverly Blankets. National Blankets was awarded the tender on the reason that it quoted lower than Waverly Blankets according to the hospital minutes, though it is clear from the comparative schedule that Waverly Blankets was R25 495.50 cheaper.

• On a 3 240 Lady Jane blankets tender there were only two bidders — National Blankets and Waverly Blankets. National Blankets was awarded the tender for R393 465.60 on the basis that it quoted lower than Waverly Blankets. It is, however, clear from the comparative schedule that Waverly Blankets was R24 591,60 cheaper than National Blankets.

• The procurement committee deliberated on a number of tenders that had less than three bids, in clear violation of SPB requirements. A good example is a tender awarded to Kimber Agencies on the basis of being a sole bidder and having the capacity to supply two vitalographs at R207 000. Medsci, on the reasons of being the sole bidder, supplied ventilator spares at a value of R54 688, while another tender for theatre doors was awarded to Welwin Engineering for R140 719,20 on the basis of the sole bidder.

• Shiron supplied a spirometer (product brand Schiller) at R55 343,75 which is exactly the same as the one that Arnniec & Chops had quoted to supply at R40 250.

• An anaesthetic trolley was supplied by Leapmed at  R82 570 but exactly the same as the one that MedSci quoted to supply at R20 959,31 as shown by the catalogues attached to the tender documents. Plystro and Select offered an identical trolley with catalogues at R23 400 while Sanigale offered it at R47 200.

• A stainless steel post mortem table tender was awarded to Cally Trading who had quoted R310 000 but completely out of specifications according to the tender requirement documents. Gesma and Muffs Technical Sales and Services who had quoted according to specification at R75 555 and R51 596 respectively should have been considered for awarding this tender.

Ingutsheni Provincial Hospital

• There are some companies which seem to be favoured at Ingutsheni Hospital over other companies. Some companies would get more tenders than others. This includes companies like RK Hardware Construction, Lathe & Patrick Engineering, Mariposa Trading and Masquip Health Care. These companies were continuously being awarded tenders over others and this suggests acts of favouritism on the part of the hospital.

• It was recommended that the tender committee be prosecuted for the award of a tender to one of the companies which grossly prejudiced Government of $152 611.

United Bulawayo Hospitals

• From the minutes of Procurement and Tender Committee held in the boardroom on 4 May 2011 an anomaly was discovered where a company called R.K Hardware submitted two quotations of $385 191,14 and $406 371,50 flouting tender procedures. The company, however, went on to win with the highest bid from nine companies. R.K Hardware only supplied material equivalent to $36 846,36.

• The hospital awarded tenders to sole bidders Fram Bus and Food Miles Trading worth $89 000 and $85 000 respectively.

Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals

• A hydrocortisone powder tender was awarded to New Avakash at $295 550 on reasons it was sole bidder and the hospital indicated that they phoned Supreme, Flancon, Medirite, Medsure, Plus Five and Savanna. There is no basis that they phoned the other bidders. It is prudent to use formal communication like an email or a letter that can be proved. The hospital violated SPB regulations to award a sole bidder and further to that the amount exceeded the $50 000 which means the tender was supposed to be referred to SPB for the authority to be granted.

Mutare Provincial Hospital

• An analysis of creditor equipment prepayment and requisition forms shows payments of above $50 000 without going to the SPB. This includes companies like Plystro Medical, Med-sci Technical Services, Bantex Global, Shiron Medical, Sanigale Investment, and Larryscope. In Government’s Targeted Approach Program companies like Plystro, Med-sci, Bantex and Shiron grossed over

$300 000 in terms of payments appearing as though they had a favoured status at the hospital.
Gweru Provincial Hospital

• A total of 15 companies tendered for the procurement of an anesthetic machine. Initially, the tender was awarded to Buchmann at the price of R189 860 but the comparative schedule was canceled on that particular item and the tender was awarded to Bantex who supplied at a price of R288 250. Despite Bantex supplying at a price higher than the initial price offered by Buchmann and six other companies, Bantex initially had not submitted a quotation and one wonders where the price that Bantex supplied with came from.

Chitungwiza Provincial Hospital

• There is need for third party verification on Pacson, Intertrade, Mycote, Barol,Webston, Macnaulty ,Macbuilding and Brance as there was inconsistency in the awarding of tenders to these companies.

Marondera Provincial Hospital

• Harness Services won continuous tenders in one case the tender was overpriced compared to the cheapest tender who was dismissed on frivolous grounds. The Government in this case lost an amount of $147 715.