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THE chairperson of the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) management board Mr Francis Chitehwe has come under spotlight in a tender storm rocking the hospital, following his remarks that his board had directed the hospital management to award the tender to one of the two security firms involved in the tender fracas at the hospital.
Nokel and Cobra security companies are involved in a legal battle over a contract to provide security at UBH, a battle that has also sucked in the hospital administration which has taken the legal route to resolve the impasse.
Cobra won the tender to provide security at the hospital in December last year, but Nokel, which had also placed a bid for the tender, contested the decision and won its case at the Administrative Court.
This resulted in a chaotic situation where the two security companies deployed personnel to the hospital, each claiming to have a valid contract with UBH. The hospital has since approached the courts to evict Nokel from the premises.
Commenting on the row, Mr Chitehwe was quoted by our sister paper the Chronicle on Wednesday last week claiming that his board had directed the hospital to hire Nokel, a statement that potentially scandalise his office.
Procedurally, tenders at State-owned enterprises such as hospitals are approved by the State Procurement Board (SPB) and the process is immune to influence from management boards of the various institutions.
Mr Chitehwe’s remarks have raised further stink in the already scandalous tender case and may give credence to assertions by some officials at the hospital who suspect underhand dealing in the awarding of tenders.
He further said his board was going to investigate the tender row and would not brook any corrupt tendencies at the hospital, insinuating the hospital management led by chief executive officer Mrs Nonhlanhla Ndlovu might have a case to answer in the fracas.
“The board is investigating and if there is evidence of wrong-doing, we shall take tough action. We won’t brook any corrupt tendencies,” he was quoted saying.
Mr Chitehwe’s statements have set him on a collision course with Mrs Ndlovu who dismissed the chairperson’s claims that the board had instructed management to award the tender to Nokel Security.
She said the statement shows that Mr Chitehwe might have had an interest in which company was to be awarded the tender.
Mrs Ndlovu also scoffed at suggestions by Mr Chitehwe that the board would investigate the tender fracas.
“How does he say that he instructed us to give the tender to Nokel when there are tender processes that should be followed? I was surprised by his remarks and I’m concerned. How do you give such an instruction unless you are an interested party?
“There is no way we can be investigated because we have no say in who gets a tender. The decision on who gets a tender is made by the State Procurement Board. They (SPB) then instruct us on which company to give a contract after their adjudication. In the first place, the dispute is between Cobra, SPB and Nokel,” she said.
Mr Chitehwe’s suggestion that he instructed management to award the contract to Nokel Security company also seemed to contradict his initial position contained in a letter to the hospital’s lawyers in which he pledged his support for the hospital management’s decision to file an urgent High Court application to evict Nokel Security from the hospital premises.
In the letter dated 27 May 2015 and addressed to James, Moyo-Majwabu and Nyoni Legal Practitioners, Mr Chitehwe says: “I wish to confirm that the hospital management board has been apprised of the above-mentioned matter and is fully supportive of management’s position as regards the decision to file the application to the High Court on an urgent basis for appropriate relief and an order of costs against Nokel Security (Pvt) Ltd.”
Contacted for comment on Thursday last week, Mr Chitehwe backtracked on his statement that he had instructed the board to award the tender to Nokel, claiming that he was misquoted by the Chronicle.
On his statement that the board would conduct investigations on the tender scam, again Mr Chitehwe claimed he was quoted out of context.
“I was clearly misquoted there. The board does not have the right to do tenders. Our job is to oversee the smooth operation of the hospital by the executive. We have nothing to do with tenders.
“What I meant by that statement was that as a board we will not sit back if there is evidence of corruption in the running of the hospital. This is not to say that there is any evidence of corruption now. I was just speaking in general that we would not tolerate corruption. As a board we cannot investigate awarding of tenders,” he said.
It has also emerged that Nokel Security invoiced UBH an amount that is more than what it quoted when it placed its bid for the tender, an anomaly the hospital CEO said she would take up with SPB.
On bidding for the tender, Nokel quoted UBH $24 932, but on an invoice dated 30 April 2015, the company charged the hospital $34 007. Sunday News is in possession of a copy of the invoice.
Mrs Ndlovu also explained how the hospital awarded Cobra Security the tender, saying it only acted on instruction from SPB.
She said the hospital tender board had initially recommended Noldo Security Company to be awarded the tender, but SPB advised them to give the contract to Cobra which had discounted the hospital on the basis that the health institution was a non-profit organisation.
“We followed due process and recommended Noldo but the tender board had their reasons for instructing us to give the contract to Cobra. They cited the discount as one of the reasons. We did exactly what we were instructed.
“We were surprised one Monday morning to find out that Nokel had deployed guards at the hospital,” she said.
Nokel is accusing the State Procurement Board (SPB) of approving an illegal tender by awarding the contract to Cobra, after the company charged below the minimum that businesses can bid for.
Cobra Security submitted a bid of $236 973,60 and was awarded the contract, while Nokel submitted a bid of $299 184,60.
derick.khumalo