THE goings-on at Mpilo General Hospital defy simple logic.
It is scandalous for the hospital’s chief executive officer (CEO) Lawrence Mantiziba to be cruising to work in a Mercedes-Benz vehicle rented for him from CMED (Pvt) Ltd at a cost of $7 000 per month — from the time he joined the health institution in 2012 — when southern region’s biggest referral institution is listed in critical condition due to lack of funds.
Simple mathematics indicates a cool $126 000 has been splashed on hiring the state-of-the-art all-weather terrain vehicle from the time he joined Mpilo in 2012 up to the end of April this year.
The $7 000 per month being paid CMED for the hire of the Merc is enough to pay 14 nurses $500 each per month, money they presently do not earn. The $1 200 the hospital forks out per term for his child is more than three times what his junior nurses take home per month.
Disgruntled workers claimed in a story published by this newspaper yesterday that he turned down a Mazda BT50 vehicle rented from CMED at $1 980 per month opting for the Merc, on a flimsy excuse that other hospital CEOs nationwide had superior cars.
“Why should a CEO for Mpilo drive a second-hand BT50? We are in the same grade,” he said, in apparent defence of the rented sleek wheels.
But he should be reminded that the hospital he superintends is at its knees due to a myriad of problems, the latest being the closure of one of the critical wards. Unnecessary deaths, particularly of newly born babies and expectant mothers, have been recorded, blamed largely on dilatory supervision coupled with poor service delivery.
For Mantiziba to try and defend his lavish lifestyle at Mpilo is really taking the suffering citizens for granted.
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Just recently, he was all over the place and in the news with an official from the Bulawayo United Residents’ Association begging each Bulawayo household to donate at least a dollar to bankroll the construction of a security wall around the government hospital.
But with our latest exposé of the scandal at Mpilo, it would seem the hospital can afford to build its own security wall plus buy a brand new Benz for or it’s CEO without bothering already impoverished residents.
Heads must roll at Mpilo.
