Mugabe bills suck
PSMAS millions
2 - 16 February 2014 - The Observer
T
BARNABAS THONDHLANA
he beleaguered Public Service
and
Medical
Aid
Society
(PSMAS) has been hit by another
scam, this one involving the
withdrawal of millions ostensibly meant
for the hospitalisation and treatment of
President Mugabe’s sister, the late Bridgette,
at Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare.
She passed on on January 18 this year. She
was buried in Zvimba as a Liberation War
Heroine.
The PSMAS committed itself to meeting
the bills of the late Bridgette even though she
was not a member of the Society.
President Mugabe is the patron of the
Society, and PSMAS felt it behoved on them
to assist the Head of State during his time of
need by meeting his sister’s medical bills.
Bridgette was hospitalised for close to
three years in the high-intensive care unit of
the hospital.
Bridgette has been on a life support system
since August 10, 2010 when she collapsed
during the burial of her elder sister Sabina at
the National Heroes’ Acre and had never left
the hospital. She was in a coma.
Although Bridgette’s long stay on a life
support system set a new domestic record,
it fell far short of former Israel leader Ariel
Sharon who was in a coma for nearly six years
after suffering a debilitating stroke. He is now
late.
According to health experts writing on
emedicinehealth.com, a coma is a deep state
of unconsciousness in which individuals do
not consciously respond to stimuli in their
environment.
It can result from injury such as head
trauma, or an underlying illness such as an
infection or tumour. Patients in a coma are
unable to think consciously and lack awareness
of their surroundings.
But they retain basic life support functions,
such as breathing and circulation.
A person in a coma may look healthy
and appear as if they are sleeping, but they
are unable to respond to people and things
Bridget Mugabe’s body leaves for Kutama
around them.
Unlike private hospital Avenues Clinic
which requires a US$10 000 deposit for one
to go on life support, Parirenyatwa is relatively
cheaper since it is a government institution.
The hospital charges a deposit of $2000
before one is admitted when coming from a
private hospital. The daily room rate is $300,
just slightly less than Avenues Clinic’s $319
per night.
The Observer understands PSMAS took
on the responsibility of paying Bridgette’s
hospital stay. While the fees levied were
relatively reasonable, the charges levied by
the doctor were not part of the fees. Neither
is the medications administered to the
patient, which is a separate bill altogether.
The doctor is usually a specialist doctor who
comes in from outside to tend to the patient.
And judging from the type of patient who
requested attention – the President’s sister only the best in Zimbabwe’s depleted medical
fraternity were in attendance.
What compounded matters was that
different doctors had to attend to the patient
as there is no one doctor who is specialised in
diverse issues like kidneys, brain, eyes, heart,
ventilation and high blood pressure and other
medically related ailments.
The connection of any of the machines to
the patient also carries with it a fee of its own,
and considering that that are about 15 types
of equipment which are in use in the ICU at
any given time, the bill rises.
Some of the equipment which was in
use on Bridgette include: Arterial Line,
Brain Stem Evoked Response Equipment,
catheter, Central Venus Pressure Line, Chest
tubes, Electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG),
Endotracheal tube, Eye tape, Foley catheter,
GI tube, Intercranial Pressure (ICP) Monitor,
Intravenous (IV), Intravenous (IV) Board,
Jejunostomy Tube (J Tube), Leg Bag, Monitor,
Intensive Care, Nasogastric Tube (NG Tube),
Respirator/Ventilator, Posey Vest/Houdini,
“Space Boots” (Spenco Boots) Shunt Jacket,
Subarachnoid Screw, Subarachnoid Screw,
Support Hose/TEDS, Transducer, SwanGanz Catheter and others.
The observer understands the bill which
was presented to PSMAS was very high and
sadly no follow-ups were taken to verify its
autheticity.
“The nature of the patient made it difficult
for any in the PSMAS to make follow-ups on
whether the payments being made were the
correct ones or not,” said one insider.
“Who would want to be the person known
to have questioned the President’s sister’s
medical bills as if the money that was being
paid was coming from his or her pocket.”
The Observer understands the PSMAS bill
was doubled or even trebled, resulting in the
Society paying more than was charged.
The source said in fact, a reasonable chunk
of the $30 million plus debt that the Society
owed to clients was a result of the overpayment of the Parirenyatwa Hospital bill.
Despite spirited efforts to find out who
exactly was responsible for the payments, The
Observer hit a brick wall.
“I do not think it matters whether this
was the executive, the board, members of the
board or whatever, as long as one knows that
illegal withdrawals were made at the Society
resulting in it bleeding,” said the source.
“It is imperative to note that the payments
were made. The joy of it is that the truth is
now coming out of the closet.”
Whether any action will be taken on the
individuals responsible for the pilfering of the
Society remains to be seen. But developments
on the ground show otherwise.
The PSMAS board of directors on Friday
dissolved itself with immediate effect.
Chairperson Mr Luxon Zembe; his deputy
Mr Newton Mhlanga; Advocate Moses
Mtombeni; Secretary for Information,
Media and Broadcasting Services Mr George
Charamba; Public Service Commission
Secretary Mrs Pretty Sunguro; and Primary
and Secondary Education Secretary Mrs
Constance Chigwamba said they made the
decision in the interest of the society, its
members and stakeholders.
The dissolved board said yesterday that it
had cleared outstanding issues and slashed
huge salaries previously paid to PSMAS
executives.
In a statement, outgoing chair Mr Zembe
said they had cut salaries and board fees,
retired chief executive Dr Cuthbert Dube,
appointed care-taker managers, and reviewed
corporate governance structures. Dube made
international headlines when it was revealed
that he earned about $500 000 a month in
salary and executive perks, which made his
annual salary more than seven times what
United States of America President Barak
Obama earned.■
PYD to intervene on boundary clashes
T
Correpondent
he Zimbabwe Republic
Police
(ZRP)
in
Chisumbanje
has
approached
the
Platform for Youth Development
(PYD) through director Claris
Madhuku to intervene following
new clashes pitting the Green Fuel
security guards and villagers.
It has emerged that the Green
Fuel security guards went into an
“overzealous” drive on January 23,
2014 and assaulted two villagers
who were innocently coming
from their fields. The security
guards confiscated the bicycles
belonging to the two villagers from
Chinyamukwakwa, which led to
the other villagers coming for a
solidarity rescue.
A violent clash eventually
engulfed leading to a number of
guards being injured in the process.
In their defence, the Green Fuel
guards are claiming that the two
villagers were trespassing, an
allegation refuted by the villagers
who now interpret this move as
a provocation meant to test their
patience.
Boundary confrontations and
violent clashes are not new, having
been the order of the day between
2009 and 2012 until an intervention
was
successfully
brokered
by
Platform for Youth Development
and the then all-stakeholders
committee of the people, instituted
by the Interministerial committee
of cabinet chaired by Prof
Mutambara.
Sensing the potentially ripple
effects of just arresting the
purported perpetrators, the police
at Chisumbanje are confident that
dialogue and peaceful engagements
will provide in a more lasting
solution to the matter.
PYD director Claris Madhuku
confirms having been engaged
by the police at Chisumbanje and
pledged that he will cooperate to
ensure that the potentially explosive
relations are handled amicably and
legally as opposed to the use of
force and the army.
“As Platform for Youth
Development we pledge our
support to assist the police to
identify those elements they want
for questioning with the hope it will
be done legally. Our lawyers from
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights (ZLHR) are on the standby
to represent those whom we feel
are being taken advantage against
their rights,” Madhuku said
The police at Chisumbanje
had been under fire for only
taking instructions either from the
company or from political players
who wanted the dispute to go
unresolved for their advantage.
“The boundary dispute in
Chisumbanje calls for careful
intervention due to its sensitivities
and number of players involved,”
he said.
Platform for Youth Development
has therefore received the names of
the accused as a way of minimising
the presence of heavily armed
police suffocating the villagers as
if looking for armed robbers. The
names supplied are Sam Matande
Moyana, Evans Zito, Gedion
Mlambo, Abigail Sithole Mamuse,
Samuel Mashava, Luke Hwazireni,
John Mamuse, Sydney Mashava and
Noah Mashava.
“As Platform for Youth
Development, we continue to
assure the nation that we will
remain watchdogs as villagers in
Chisumbanje fight for meaningful
beneficiation from Chisumbanje
Ethanol project,” Madhuku said.■