By Beverly Bizeki
Allegations of misappropriation have surfaced in Masvingo, where officials from the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) are reportedly withholding a vehicle donated by the Global Fund to Masvingo city Council with claims that it was already in use elsewhere resulting in a standoff between the two.
The vehicle, part of a fleet of nine were delivered last year to district health executives across the province that is, Masvingo, Gutu, Bikita, Chiredzi, Chivi, Mwenezi, Zaka, Masvingo City Council and Masvingo Provincial Medical Director’s office to bolster service delivery in the province and six months later Masvingo City is still waiting to take possession of its allocated vehicle.
Efforts to get a comment from Masvingo Provincial Medical Director Dr Amadeus Shamhu were futile as he asked the reporter to send the questions on WhatsApp and he did not respond.
Masvingo City Mayor councilor Alec Tabe confirmed the standoff to TellZim News and said they were not aware of the reasons behind the delay in the release of the vehicle and appealed to the PMD to expedite the process as it was crucial for their health services department.
“We are aware that we were part of the beneficiaries of a donation made by Global Fund but we do not understand why there has been a delay in the handover of the vehicle. We are appealing to the PMD to expedite the release of the vehicle as it crucial for improving service delivery in the health sector. Our clinics are growing and this is a crucial asset for the department,’ said Tabe.
Sources close to the matter said the vehicle was long received and had already been deployed and was in active use.
“The vehicles were received late last year. It is already working but has no sticker probably to make sure that council is not aware. There are chances that the local authority might not get the actual vehicle. The vehicle reportedly bears the registration number GHCC3744,” said the source.
Other sources told TellZim News that the health officials wanted to keep the vehicle arguing arguing that the local authority had a relatively huge fleet.
Global Fund is a major health financing institution and has poured millions into Zimbabwe’s fight against serious health matters including critical support for logistics and transportation.
The controversy raises concerns about transparency and accountability in the distribution of resources intended to strengthen Zimbabwe’s strained health system.
