Mpilo saga deepens

By The Standard and Newsday | May. 5, 2015

THE long-running financial scam involving Mpilo Central Hospital has taken another turn after it emerged that suspended chief executive officer Lawrence Mantiziba had allegedly mislead government int o believing that a contractor who had been engaged to service the hospital’s theatre air conditioning plant had not completed the job.

THE long-running financial scam involving Mpilo Central Hospital has taken another turn after it emerged that suspended chief executive officer Lawrence Mantiziba had allegedly mislead government into believing that a contractor who had been engaged to service the hospital’s theatre air conditioning plant had not completed the job.

By Nqobile Bhebhe

But Mantiziba later claimed that the contractor had completed the job.

According to documents seen by Southern Eye, on May 6, 2013, Mantiziba wrote to Health secretary Gerald Gwinji denying claims that Hardmonds Engineering had completed installing air conditioners at the hospital theatre.

However, on July 9 of the same year, Mantiziba again wrote to Gwinji indicating that the project was completed and commissioned on March 23 2013 after being tested and certified by the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.

Mantiziba then recommended that the firm be paid $110 472 45.

“The background to this case is that during the Targeted Approach Hardmonds Engineering was awarded a tender for the supply and installation of the theatre air conditioning (roof top type).

“They delayed carrying out the projects and only surfaced after a year citing challenges with sourcing the plant from abroad. By then the Targeted Approach Programme had long wound up and they were advised by the office of the Director of Operations that funding for the project was no longer available,” Mantiziba wrote.

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“A few weeks after, Hardmonds Engineering sent a driver to deliver the consignment which the hospital turned down, citing lack of funding for the project. Harmonds requested to leave the consignment for safe keeping at the hospital, a request which was again turned down. The driver left the consignment.

“The claim by Hardmonds Engineering that the works have been completed and inspected by Ministry of Public Works is far from true. In as much as the hospital theatres are facing a challenge with theatre doors, not all theatre doors are missing. This should not be used as an excuse by the contractor not to test his equipment. Improvisation should have been down to allow such.”

Mantiziba further challenged the firm to ‘to clarify which paper work was allegedly being held by the operations director. “In as far (as) I know, their plant never went through the receiving procedure of the hospital,” he said.

“The theatre plant has not even been commissioned as there are still outstanding issues with theatre users . . . More-so, the certificate of Works done, which the hospital long requested from Ministry of Public works was still outstanding”.

Mantiziba added that on May 3, 2013 the contractor failed to turn up for the meeting to explain some anomalies.

“The project in question is an expired project which Hardmonds Engineering failed to do on time (i.e. during the Targeted Approach,” he added.