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Temba Dube, Deputy News Editor
SUSPENDED Mpilo Central Hospital Lawrence Mantiziba may have escaped an ongoing disciplinary hearing on a technicality after his contract with the health institution expired.
Mantiziba’s contract expired on September 2 and the Ministry of Health and Childcare has not renewed it.
Sources said he has not been seen at the hearings being conducted at one of the country’s largest referral hospitals.
The Health Services Board (HSB) in April suspended Mantiziba together with operations director Duduza Regina Moyo and finance director Charles Govo without pay after an audit uncovered irregularities that allegedly prejudiced the hospital of millions of dollars.
Moyo and Govo are facing criminal charges for their part in the alleged scandal.
The chairperson of the central buying unit, Mxolisi Sibanda, and his subordinate, Hebron Mutema, were later added to the suspension list as investigations exposed more rot.
Moyo is facing 11 counts of misconduct and abuse of office, Sibanda is facing five, Govo has one count and Mantiziba three.
On Tuesday, Mantiziba confirmed that he was out of contract and asked The Chronicle to call later for a fuller interview.
He has not answered his phone since.
“My contract ran from the 1st of September 2012 to 2 September 2015. It hasn’t been renewed. Call me after 8PM because i can’t speak where I am,” said Mantiziba.
Labour expert Davies Ndumiso Sibanda said the government had no power to summon Mantiziba to an administrative internal disciplinary hearing following the expiry of his contract.
“He is not obliged to attend the hearings because he is no longer employed by the Ministry,” said Sibanda.
He said Mantiziba could choose to go for the disciplinary hearing if he believed he would be cleared of wrongdoing.
“If he is found not guilty, the government would have to pay him the salary and benefits that he hasn’t been getting during his suspension up to the expiry of the contract,” said Sibanda, adding: “If he opts to stay away from the hearing, he will forfeit all the benefits that would have accrued to him if he was found not guilty.”
He said Mantiziba could only be dragged to court for a criminal hearing.
The Minister of Health and Childcare, Dr David Parirenyatwa, could not be reached for comment.
On Tuesday he said he could not speak because he was in a cabinet meeting and yesterday he was in Parliament.
According to a preliminary audit report by local accounting firm PNA- a copy of which is in Chronicle’s possession – Mantiziba failed to put in place a system of checks and balances in the awarding of tenders.
This left the system open to abuse and led to the hospital being prejudiced of millions of dollars.
The auditors recommended that he be charged with gross negligence.
After scrutinizing 838 tenders worth about $4,6 million awarded between January 2012 and December 31, 2014, the investigating team found that 444 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 that she tampered with files to withhold evidence from the investigating team.
Moyo allegedly undermined government policies and regulations of the State Procurement Board.
She is also guilty of, the audit said, “drafting letters on behalf of suppliers claiming money from the hospital and deliberately awarding 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 authorizing payments to companies without withholding tax, the auditors suggested that he be reported to the police for tax fraud.
A more comprehensive audit done by the HSB upheld the findings and concluded the executives could have acted as a syndicate to bleed millions from the hospital’s coffers.
HSB auditors added more charges on the executives.
The HSB recommended that implicated officials should be charged separately and jointly where appropriate under the first schedule of the Health Services Regulations of 2006 and Treasury Instruction 0435 and 2404.
An official from the hospital last month explained that the executives were facing cases of both criminal and administrative nature.
“Millions of dollars cannot be accounted for at the hospital. The criminal case deals with concrete evidence directly linking the bosses to fraud. It may have a lesser figure because what cannot be proved will not stand in court,” said the official.
“However, in the administrative hearing set for 14 September, they will be called upon to account for all the millions that allegedly disappeared on their watch.”
Last month, police arrested 14 workers at the institution as investigations into abuse of office charges gathered pace.
The 14 appeared in court and were released after prosecutors said they would proceed by way of summons.
Online Reporter