Circumcision funds looted
OFFICIALS drawn from the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the Population Services for Health stand accused of pocketing transport money that was meant for those who were being circumcised through the Makoni District voluntary male circumcision programme.
They also stand accused of circumcising under-aged boys in a desperate bid to meet targets and get more financial rewards.
The scandal has since claimed the scalps of some staff members whose contracts were not renewed after the expiry of the old ones at the end of September, while some were withdrawn from the programme.
Officials from both the Ministry of Health and PSH confirmed the development and said investigations are in progress.
The scam was unearthed during a Data Quality Audit that was instituted at the beginning of September after an anonymous informer tipped PSH of the scandal.
ln response, PSH did not renew the contracts of its staff, which coincidentally had expired at the end of September.
The organisation has since brought in new employees.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Health and Child Care has withdrawn its entire staff complement that had been deployed for the outreach programme.
The team has also been replaced with a new one.
Acting Makoni District Medical Officer, Dr Hosea Maringe confirmed the scandal but refused to shed light, saying investigations are underway.
“lt is true that an issue has arisen in the circumcision programme where our staff and those from
PSH are being accused of recycling patients’ records, circumcising under-aged boys and presenting non-existent patients.
“Our District Health Executive dealt with the issue and I am going through the report before forwarding it to the provincial office,” he said.
In an e-mailed response to The Manica Post, PSH executive director and managing trustee, Mr Noah Taruberekera confirmed the matter: “PSH has been made aware of the allegations and is responding to them according to our internal policies.
The matter is currently being investigated by both the Ministry of Health and Child Care and PSH.
The findings will be shared with relevant stakeholders when the processes have been completed.
“In order to facilitate the due
investigation processes, all staff members who were working during the period in question have been temporarily put on hold until the process has been completed. Despite the foregoing, staffing within the organisation is reviewed annually for a year that runs from October to September.
“PSH has a strict code of ethical conduct, a well published ethical reporting and a whistle-blowing system. It also has a zero tolerance policy for ethical misconduct. We take seriously and investigate any allegations levelled against our staffers,” said Mr Taruberekera.
lt is also understood that the organisation is contemplating taking measures to recover the looted funds.
However, the exact amount of money that was lost through the scam are not yet available since investigations are still in progress.
A well-placed source confided in The Manica Post that there was collusion between the staff from the Ministry of Health and Child Care and those from PSH.
“There was an intricate web between Government nurses and those from PSH to defraud the programme. For every circumcision conducted, those between the ages of 15 and 18 receive U$4 while those between 19 and 29 years are paid US$10 as transport fee to a health centre. Only males above 15 are eligible to be circumcised under this programme.
“An anonymous tip-off reached PSH to the effect that a lot of shenanigans were taking place in Makoni District and a Data Quality Audit was instituted. A lot of glaring and unacceptable irregularities were picked.
“It was discovered that boys below the age of 15 were being circumcised and to cover that up, they were recoded as over 15.
‘‘When investigators interviewed the beneficiaries and their parents, including checking their birth certificates, it came to light that a lot of under-aged boys had been circumcised.
“Another anomaly is that over 20 percent of the beneficiaries that were randomly picked for verifications could not be located. Some of their addresses were non-existent. Phone numbers provided were not reachable. We believe that the nurses were putting ghost names and pocketing the transport money,” said the source.
Speaking on the under-age circumcised boys, our source said: “There is no danger to them because the procedure was done correctly and professionally, but the motive was to dupe the programme.”
In correspondences to Government departments such as the Ministries of Health and Child Care; Primary and Secondary Education and the National Aids Council which were gleaned by The Manica Post, PSH advises officials not to deal with one Chenjerai Masuka who was heading the programme in Makoni.
Repeated efforts to get a comment from Masuka were futile as his mobile number was not reachable.