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Midlands Correspondent
THE Ministry of Health and Child Care has suspended four Mnene Hospital officials pending disciplinary hearings for allegedly defrauding the institution of about $400,000, flouting tenders and inflating prices of equipment procured by the government.

Sources told Chronicle that the four officials – hospital matron Sister Danai Chauke, administrator Noel Moyo, finance director Comfort Shumba and Yvonne Manyawo – had been served with suspension letters.

The quartet is also being investigated by the police over the matter.

Midlands Provincial Medical Director, Dr Milton Chemhuru, said the suspensions were long overdue.

“The suspensions were long overdue because we want to conduct hearings as soon as possible. It was impossible for us to summon the four for hearing while they were at the hospital because our fear was that they could interfere with witnesses,” he said.

Dr Chemhuru said the ministry had completed internal investigations into the matter and they had roped in police as the law enforcers.

He said a report was compiled by an investigations committee and submitted to the permanent secretary.

“A report has been compiled and there were some recommendations made. I’ve submitted the report to the permanent secretary and the ministry. I can not reveal what’s in the report,” he said in a separate interview.

Dr Chemhuru said no arrests have been made so far.

Health and Child Care Minister Dr Parirenyatwa said he had instructed the permanent secretary to deal with the matter administratively.

“The issue at Mnene is a criminal issue of people who abused funds. I’ve assigned the permanent secretary to deal with the matter administratively,” he said.

Allegations are that the four officials connived with two senior government officials from the Ministry of Health and Child Care to forge the permanent secretary’s date stamp to approve tenders, resulting in the Lutheran run institution being prejudiced of about $400,000.

Police chief spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba recently confirmed that National Procurement Officer, Wilbert Madenga and National Projects and Planning Officer, Richard Dharara, were being investigated by police together with other officials whom they connived with to allegedly steal the money after flouting tenders and inflating prices.

In the report seen by Chronicle, one of the officials at the hospital, Moyo, allegedly connived with Madenga and Dharara to mislead the executive board, to violate tender procedures and avoid the District Medical Officer and Provincial Medical Director.

It is alleged that Madenga and Dharara would steal the permanent secretary’s date stamp to approve the tenders and bypass some of the senior officials and approving some of the procurements, a mandate beyond their capacity.

The investigations committee has also ordered investigations into United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH), Masvingo and Gwanda Provincial Hospitals after it emerged that Madenga and Dharara approved tenders for the public health institutions using the same criteria.

Mberengwa North legislator Cde Tafanana Zhou unearthed the rot at Mnene Mission Hospital last May when he went on a fact-finding mission to find a solution to the water problems the institution was facing.