A hard-hitting
Auditor-General’s report has blown the lid off shocking mismanagement at
central hospitals including Mpilo, UBH, Ingutsheni and Parirenyatwa, where
salaries were paid to people who no longer work there, drugs vanished from
shelves, and unqualified staff were treating patients.
At Mpilo
Central Hospital, four employees who resigned months earlier still pocketed
ZWL40 million, all because no one bothered to update the payroll.
“The hospital
failed to submit monthly staff returns… This allowed resigned employees to
continue receiving salaries,” said Acting Auditor-General Mrs Rheah Kujinga,
warning that such lapses threaten the entire public health system.
“This led to
financial loss due to irregular payments.”
While hospital
management claims the money was recovered and that a new system is now in
place, the rot goes much deeper.
The report
revealed that inventory worth ZiG161 million was missing, donations worth
ZiG2,15 billion had no records to back them up, there were no internal audits,
and no board existed to provide oversight, which is a violation of national
laws.
At United
Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH), a list of key staff including radiographers, doctors,
and nurse aides failed to show up for physical verification.
“The employees
did not present themselves to the auditors,” the report read. HR also failed to
produce leave forms or duty rosters to explain the absences.
“The Human
Resources department should ensure that paid time off is properly documented
and duty rosters are maintained,” the Auditor-General advised.
Shockingly,
some hospital staff were working without valid practising certificates, in
breach of the Health Professions Act.
At Ingutsheni
Hospital, medicines and supplies simply vanished.
Records showed
1 611 units of Phenobarbitone — but the pharmacy had none.
Fuel, bread,
sugar and other supplies were also listed as available but were nowhere to be
found.
The report
slammed Ingutsheni’s inventory controls and urged regular reconciliations to
avoid fraud and drug shortages.
At Parirenyatwa
Group of Hospitals, mismanagement continued with failure to reconcile medical
aid payments, unfinished capital projects, and more ghost figures in the books.
In one case, a
debtor’s balance was recorded as ZiG5,48 billion in the hospital’s books while
the medical aid society said it owed only ZiG4,96 billion.
None of the
four central hospitals had functioning management boards despite legal
requirements under the Health Service Act and the Public Entities Corporate
Governance Act.
Mrs Kujinga
also raised alarm over repeated failures to address findings from previous
audits, including as far back as 2020.
Only one out of
ten audit recommendations from previous years was fully addressed.
Health
watchdogs and citizens are expected to demand accountability, as billions go to
waste while hospitals struggle with basics like drugs, salaries, and working
equipment.
The
Auditor-General’s latest findings raise red flags about deep-rooted corruption,
laxity, and failure of leadership in Zimbabwe’s health institutions, a crisis
that’s costing both money and lives. Herald
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