The Issue of Mobile Clinics

By Henry Kyambalesa (Agenda for Change Party)

The Issue of Mobile Clinics

President Rupiah Banda’s plan to buy mobile clinics is a very good example of misplaced priorities by the MMD government.

And Ronnie Shikapwasha’s disclosure that the government has engaged stakeholders to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the matter seems to be a mere transparent ruse since the decision to purchase the mobile clinics was apparently made at State House by President Banda, health Minister Kapembwa Simbao, health Permanent Secretary Velepi Mtonga, officials from the Chinese Embassy, and representatives from the China National Aero Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC).

Shikapwasha’s statement that the government will also wait for the report from the medical assessment team looking at how best the mobile clinics can assist people to access quality and improved health care delivery in the country insinuates that the decision to purchase the 9 mobile clinics has already been made.

There is, therefore, no need for the government to waste time and resources on carrying out a comprehensive assessment of the matter after the decision to buy the mobile clinics has already been made. The assessment is apparently designed to hoodwink the nation into believing that the decision to buy the mobile clinics is made upon the recommendations of stakeholders and technocrats in the Ministry of Health.

After all, President Banda indicated that the government would purchase mobile clinics during the official opening of the National Assembly. Moreover, he was quoted as having said that the concept of mobile clinics was a “damn good idea” upon his arrival from Zimbabwe recently.

It is, therefore, clear that the decision to procure the mobile clinics has already been made. What is needed now is for the President to rescind his decision to buy the mobile clinics and save the nation from lies about the assessment of the US$53 million deal and the eventual approval of the deal by the Cabinet.

If there is money for healthcare, it should be used on the following: (a) provision of free healthcare for all Zambians; (b) construction of more permanent healthcare facilities nationwide; (c) provision of adequate medicines and medical equipment; (d) research designed to find cures for HIV/AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis, and other deadly diseases; and (e) hiring, retention and training of health personnel..

Unfortunately, President Banda wants the government to acquire a US$53 million loan from EX-IM Bank of China to facilitate the acquisition of the mobile clinics from the China National Aero Technology Import and Export Corporation. He wants to continue to mortgage our country and the future of our children and grandchildren through such loans. And, meanwhile, there is no attempt whatsoever to trim the highly bloated government in order to make it live within its means! Another transparent ruse is President Banda’s assertion that the proposal on mobile clinics came from the Chinese. Does he mean the Chinese government, EX-IM Bank of China or the China National Aero Technology Import and Export Corporation? And does he mean that his administration is incapable of determining the healthcare needs of the country?

The US$53 million deal has all the characteristics of an attempt by President Banda to use the mobile clinics as a campaign tool for the 2011 general elections, designed to woo voters in rural areas.

This is partly explained by Shikapwasha’s insistence that the views of intended direct beneficiaries like traditional rulers should not be stifled in the debate concerning the mobile clinics. It also explains why an issue relating to healthcare facilities recently found itself on the agenda of the House of Chiefs – for the first time, apparently, in the history of Zambia!

And how does one explain the prominence of single-source procurement by the government during the short period President Banda has been in office, if it is not to reap personal or political benefits from the deals involved? What is the use of having a procurement authority and technocrats in government ministries whose function is merely the acquisition of machinery, equipment and services that are prescribed by ministers or State House?