PAC to summon QMMH, health officials over no show

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will summon the Director General Health Services, Dr ‘Makhoase Ranyali, and several Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital (QMMH) officials after they failed to appear before it yesterday.

The committee had requested them to come and respond to queries related to the hospital’s operations and financial management. Acting QMMH Managing Director, Dr Kasanji Benjamin Ngoie, and the principal secretary (PS) for the Ministry of Health, ‘Maneo Moliehi Ntene, were also in no show as they were reportedly ill.

PS Ntene was instructed to send a representative to stand in for her but she did not do so. This forced the PAC to cancel its sitting.

Member of the committee, Lephoi Makara castigated failure by officials to appear before it.

He noted that the committee was sometimes forced to take extreme measures to ensure officials comply with its orders.

“Your appearance before the committee is to assist us solve problems within your institutions. In some instants we’re compelled to issue summons because the memos and excuses we received are just a technique to delay proceedings,” Makara said.

The PAC was not taking this lightly and failure to attend or speak falsehoods under oath would lead to perjury charges, he warned.

Chair of Chairs, and chairperson of the Social Cluster committee, Mokhothu Makhalanyane, said they had received Ntene’s apology.

He noted that the absence of Dr Ranyali and other QMMH officials was deemed tantamount to insubordination.

Makhalanyane cautioned that the committee would summon QMMH individuals as such, not just as representatives of the institution.

“What is happening at QMMH will not be allowed to continue…We cannot allow health institutions to be manipulated and put the public’s lives at risk, he stressed.

The committee is concerned about the quality of service at the hospital and the potential risk it poses to patients.

When an institution like QMMH is not doing the right thing, we are compromising quality, and by so doing, ruining many lives. That is not going to happen under our watch, Makhalanyane said.

Parliament might be forced to disallow the budget for QMMH if these issues are not addressed. “We do not want to go to a point where we disallow the budget for QMMH, we do not want to go through that.”

The chair called for collaboration between the hospital’s management and Ministry of Health officials to address the issues, including a thorough investigation and audit of all employments at QMMH.

QMMH management, Dr Ranyali, PS Ntene procurement manager at the QMMH, ‘Masekoati Motsetsere, and other senior officials were also accused of violating procurement laws in awarding a tender for the construction of a private wing at the hospital.

Ntene had told the committee that the establishment of a private wing was contained in the strategic plan of QMMH.

She explained that the wing was built when the hospital was constructed but has not been operational.

The new private wing to be run by a local company, Tsebo Health Solutions, was expected to start operating at the beginning of this month. It aims to reduce the need to refer patients to South African hospitals.

Ntene had also informed the committee that the decision to call for health service providers to lease the private wing was reached in one of the meetings with QMMH management. She however, failed to provide minutes of the meetings and none of the said managers could recall such a meeting.

She indicated that following that meeting, she directed that the tender be advertised.

Motsetsere submitted that management had informed her about a plan to issue a tender for renting a private wing at the hospital and later on February 23, 2024, she received tender requirement details.

Motsetsere said she advised that the expression of interest be issued, calling for health service providers to operate the private wing, because there was no particular section in the Procurement Act suggesting how such tender, featuring both services and renting, should be handled.

She further stated that she made the decision after consulting the Procurement Policy and Advisory Division (PPAD), but without adhering to the Procurement Act.

“This kind of procurement was not normal, it was challenging. It was the first time dealing with such tender that features services and renting. On top of that, the Procurement Act was only operational in 2023, and this process was done in 2024. It was new and we had not been training on the act,” Motsetsere had told the PAC.

She also told the committee that there was no time to seek for advice on how to treat the tender, since she had acted under pressure from QMMH management and Ntene.

Ntene is also facing allegations of violating procurement laws in the setting up of the hospital’s procurement committee.

She had nominated reportedly Deputy Managing Director Nthati Lebona chairperson of the committee, despite the law requiring the hospital’s Chief Accounting Officer Dr. Ngoie, the current Acing Managing Director (MD) of QMMH to lead it.

Another member of the PAC, Dr Tšeliso Moroke, also expressed frustration that QMMH management have been dodging meetings with them.

“You should be aware that these delay tactics will not help you… You are pushing us to a point where we are going to lobby parliament for you not to get funds from the budget,” Dr Moroke warned.

The committee has instructed the institution to submit a list of managers who were supposed to appear before it.

The hospital is engulfed in allegations of corruption, fraud and mismanagement. Resultantly, the PAC has called for the dissolution of its leadership and legal action against those responsible.

In a recent meeting with hospital management, the PAC cautioned that inaction would allow the rot to fester and undermine public trust in the nation’s healthcare.

“Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital is marred with human resource and procurement problems. There is fraud and corruption that seems to have been ongoing for a long time,” Makhalanyane said, adding that failure to prosecute those involved would set a dangerous precedent.

Makhalanyane, who oversees all National Assembly committees maintained that the PAC would act decisively and without fear or favour.

He stressed that good governance and a full financial investigation were critical to restoring the hospital’s integrity.

“PAC should act now. Open a case, otherwise others will come as management and repeat the same crises,” he cautioned.

Makhalanyane did not mince words in his criticism, pointing to systemic failures in governance. “If we were exercising our powers properly as per Standing Order No. 55, we were supposed to have dissolved the management of Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital.”

The allegations come amid growing public frustration over deteriorating healthcare services in Lesotho. Patients have long complained of shortages of medication, long wait times, neglect by underpaid staff and a myriad other issues the hospital’s leadership has failed to address.