Source: Government in ‘mysterious’ property acquisitions | The Financial Gazette July 20, 2017
GOVERNMENT spent nearly $20 million during the first quarter of this year acquiring and constructing buildings, Treasury’s consolidated statements of financial performance for the first quarter of 2017 show.
The statements disclosed that $18,3 million was spent in February while $1 240 340 was spent in March buying buildings in undisclosed locations and for unspecified reasons.
During the same period, government also spent $20 434 484 on rent and other unspecified expenditure items.
“In terms of capital expenditure, $18 million was incurred on the acquisition and construction of buildings against a budgeted amount of $2 million,” a report accompanying the February financial performance statement said.
The mysterious acquisitions come at a time when the country’s health delivery sector, which has been sustained by donor funding, is in dire need of capital injection.
According to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development’s first quarter report, the health sector received a paltry $450 059 for revitalising central, provincial, district and mission hospitals.
Interestingly, according to the report, government spent $2 338 078 rehabilitating buildings using part of a $142 million disbursement for capital and development projects.
Nine years after the country experienced one of its worst health disasters in the form of a major cholera outbreak that affected nearly 100 000 people and killed more than 4 000, Zimbabwe’s commitment to better health for its 15-million population remains questionable.
The country yearly allocates an average eight percent of its budget to the Ministry of Health.
The 2017 auditor general’s report indicates that most of the country’s health institutions are operating “without essential medicines”, which is compromising service delivery.
“Stock levels of essential medicines, which are critical to service delivery at seven health institutions visited, were below 80 percent,” said the auditor general’s report.
In its 2017 Public Expenditure Review, the World Bank bemoaned the state of the country’s health delivery system.
“Poor households continue to defer medical care because of rising fees and charges needed to maintain health facilities and services,” said the World Bank.
The International Monetary Fund, in its 2017 Article IV Consultation report, said: “The stretched healthcare system has been unable to cope with the outbreaks of malaria and typhoid, resulting in a rise in fatalities.”
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