Cancel $53m mobile hospitals deal, Prof Luo advises govt

Cancel $53m mobile hospitals deal, Prof Luo advises govt
Written by Chibaula Silwamba and Patson Chilemba
Saturday, May 02, 2009 4:57:31 PM

FORMER minister of health Professor Nkandu Luo has advised the Zambian government to cancel its planned purchase of nine mobile hospitals valued at US $ 53 million [about K301 billion] from a Chinese firm. And United Liberal Party (ULP) president Sakwiba Sikota said procuring mobile hospitals does not make economic sense.

Commenting on the Zambian government's intention to purchase nine mobile hospitals for all the nine provinces at a cost of US $53 million from China and plans to borrow the same money from EX-IM Bank of China, Prof Luo said Zambia had purchased some mobile clinics in 1991 but the project failed.

Prof Luo wondered why the government wanted to resuscitate a project that would just become a white elephant.

She observed that if the government does not cancel the planned deal, the international donors, who are the main financiars to the health sectors, could cancel their aid hence affecting many Zambians.

"I can tell you for a fact because I used to run that ministry that the bulk of the funding in the health sector is from the donors. That decision now with the donors withholding support, the majority of Zambians especially the poor Zambians in rural areas, in compounds are gonna suffer because they have nowhere else to go. That is a serious decision," said Prof Luo in an interview in Lusaka.

"So the way forward is just to cancel that order so that we get support from donors."

She observed that the health sector had many problems and mobile hospitals were not a priority.

"For many years, even from the time I was minister of health, people have been saying our health services have a problem and the problems have been pointed out to all of us. One which is very serious at the moment is the human resource capacity in terms of numbers and distribution," she said.

"The second thing that our people have been raising is that our health institutions do not have adequate drugs and diagnostic services are not adequate, needing priority attention."

Prof Luo said the government must prioritise the problems that need to be tackled in the health sector instead of buying non-essential things.

"One, we don't have human resources, then it means you can't bring in mobile clinics [hospitals] because who is gonna work in those clinics? Then the facilities we have right now have a problem of human resource. So if I were to look at priorities, my priorities could be that of improving the human resource capacity," Prof Luo said.

"Secondly, the hospitals that we have at the moment have the problem of shortage of drugs. So how do I go and create more when I am not able to meet the demand of the current ones? So my second priority would be to make sure that there are enough drugs in hospitals. But I think we are not prioritizing."

She said Zambia did not even have money to fight HIV/AIDS and had to beg from international donors.

"So how then get into a situation where we don't look at the fact that we have these issues that are surrounding us that need our immediate attention and we want to create another monster," Prof Luo said.

"It is very important for us to look in the past, what has happened and what lessons we can draw from that. I remember in 1991 these same mobile clinics were brought; if you go round the country you will find some of these mobile clinics sitting as white elephants behind our health institutions. This thing was tried in 1991 but it did not work."

She said at that time a few mobile hospitals were brought in and some members of parliament took them to their constituencies but the project was not viable and was abandoned.

"So what is it that has changed that this time these mobile clinics brought into our country will work? Basically I think we are a nation that is very wasteful. We are a nation that doesn't learn lessons from the past, we are a nation that doesn't interrogate our leadership and we are a nation that doesn't prioritise issues," Prof Luo said.

"We just think that we can just wake up in the morning and make decisions and whatever happens, it doesn't matter; that money goes to waste then we start looking for other monies. We can't continue like that!"

She said Zambians should engage their leaders to ensure accountability.

"The other thing is that when you are put in leadership the people that put you in leadership, expect certain things from you. Tomorrow, I will not be there but I am going to leave my sons in this country," she said.

"So if I have been part of the destruction, those people will come to write history of Zambia a lot of people's names will really be in trouble because of the way they make decisions. I think those of us who are in leadership, we have to think beyond ourselves."

Prof Luo said she was glad that the donors who were supporting Zambia were interrogating the mobile hospital deal.

"Because even me as a professional, I am interrogating this. For those who are interrogating it is in the interest of every Zambian," Prof Luo said. "All these revelations we have been hearing in the past months show that the governance systems and procedures are broken down. As at now we are like a headless chicken running all over the place."

And Sikota, who campaigned heavily for President Banda during last year’s presidential elections, said procuring mobile hospitals was not worth it.

He said mobile hospitals were not the most cost effective way of dealing with the health problems the country was faced with.

Sikota said instead of procuring mobile hospitals, President Banda's government should use the K301 billion to build stationery hospitals.

"When you look at the amounts and logistical issues that arise in keeping the mobile hospitals moving, government will have to justify that it makes economic sense. But from what I have seen it doesn't seem to make economic sense. I don't see how it makes sense when you look at the other alternative, which would be building stationery hospitals. Stationery hospitals make more economic sense than mobile hospitals," Sikota said.

"There is the issue of those people who are in remote areas, maybe getting a few ambulances or helicopters could be provided to get those people to stationery hospitals. Helicopters would be able to land at every place. The concept is not a bad concept. But when you see the figures, that's when you see that the concept was wrong. The final cost no longer makes it attractive."

Sikota said an undertaking which involved about K301 billion was supposed to be tabled before Cabinet and then Parliament before it could go ahead.

He said the government should justify their undertaking to Parliament if they could not explain it to the people.

On single sourcing which has characterized President Banda's government's dealings, Sikota said single sourcing should be done rarely and in emergency situations.

He said there was nothing that made procuring mobile hospitals an emergency purchase, saying Parliament should therefore not be bypassed.

"You can have single sourcing if it is an emergency or where only one or two people who are specialized in an area can supply that kind of good or service," said Sikota.

Sikota is one of the opposition party presidents who toured most parts of the country campaigning for President Banda during last year's presidential election.

And Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata said President Banda's son, Henry, had been frequenting health permanent secretary Dr Velepi Mtonga's office. Sata charged that most of President Banda's deals were being executed by some of his children.

"Whether it's fertiliser or Genetically Modified Organisms [GMO], they are being done by his sons. The current wife of Rupiah Banda [Thandiwe] is related to Velepi Mtonga," said Sata.

"What I am trying to say, you know Rupiah Banda's children. You saw them in the Dora Siliya case and you find that probably at the end of the day, they are the ones who are behind these Chinese [mobile hospitals]."

According to sources within the donor community, the Zambian government is in the process of acquiring a US$53 million loan from EX-IM Bank of China to facilitate the acquisition of the mobile hospitals from a Chinese firm called China National Aero Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC).

However, international donors have questioned the deal and held meetings last week in Lusaka to discuss the pending transaction between the Ministry of Health, on behalf of the Zambian government and CATIC.

The donors later cancelled the signing of a memorandum of understanding for support to the ministry pending a satisfactory explanation from the Ministry of Health.