P10 MILLION TOO MUCH FOR 100KG THERMOMETERS
Sinvula’s refusal to authorise the China deal said to have cost him his job
FORMER Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Dr Morrison Sinvula’s shocking dismissal is alleged to have emanated from a directive that he refused to authorise.
Information coming from the Ministry of Health is that sometime in March, Sinvula was asked to charter a flight at the cost of P10 million to go and pick a consignment in China. According to a source, the 100kg consignment consisted of infrared thermometers that were donated by some businessmen in China.
Sinvula is said to have refused to authorise that from his Ministry’s side. “He argued that they had previously chartered a flight to China at half the price and that flight was picking people heavier than the 100kg consignment. That is when the problem started as he was viewed as big-headed.”
It is alleged that while his superiors were still angry at his seeming insubordination and were trying to find a way to push him out, he made things easier for them.
Inside sources noted that during a Cabinet meeting, Sinvula asked why the country was not going into lockdown as per his earlier advice. “What are you waiting for? I have long advised that we go into lockdown but we are still here,” the source alleges that these were the words used by Sinvula, much to the President’s annoyance as he felt undermined.
However, Sinvula was reluctant to comment on the matter. “Please, leave me out of your issue. I do not want to comment,” he said when contacted for comment.
Press Secretary to the President, Batlhalefi Leagajang, would also not be drawn into discussing the issue, save to say, “As it is on public record, the Office of the President released a press statement on the subject of your inquiry. The statement suffices and there is no further detail necessary to communicate.”
Sinvula, together with his former boss, Permanent Secretary, Solomon Sekwakwa, were relieved of their duties on the 21st April, 2020.