PARLIAMENT has recommended that all mission hospitals that benefited from the 2009 Targeted Approach Programme’s infrastructure development and drug supply initiative should be investigated by external auditors amid fears of gross abuse of the funds.
by VENERANDA LANGA
The call was made by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care in a report read out in the National Assembly yesterday.
The programme disbursed $107 million between 2009 and 2014 to help distressed health institutions retool and restock.
Mnene Mission Hospital in Midlands province received $700 000 for the purchase of X-ray equipment, washers, and renovations, but the tenders were reportedly awarded to dubious contractors like Food Miles Trading Company, Capital Trading and Harness Services, which delivered obsolete equipment.
Other hospitals that benefited from the scheme were Mtshabezi ($125 000), Kariyangwe ($37 000), St Albert ($700 000), Mutambara ($700 000) and Chikombezi ($700 000).
“The committee strongly recommends that an investigative audit by external auditors be carried out in mission hospitals that benefited from this programme with immediate effect,” committee member Nomvula Mguni said.
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“Legal action should be taken against the contracted companies that failed to perform work, and furthermore, these contracted companies should be de-listed from the tendering system and pay back the money by June 2016,” the committee said.
The committee also noted that there was a lot of government interference in the awarding of tenders, with decisions by the State Procurement Board ignored.
