HARARE – Suppliers of medical supplies to the health industry are facing viability challenges owing to government’s inability to pay supplies on time, Parliament has heard.
Harare North legislator Allan Markham told Members of Parliament last week that he had been informed by a cross section of medical suppliers that they last received payment of supplies delivered back in October 21, last year.
Markham said the government was breaching its tender conditions of paying suppliers 90 days after receipt of supplies.
“We have been told that only 14% of the National Budget for this year has been drawn down by the end of May. However, the Minister of Finance has told us that he has paid every request expeditiously, which means the Ministry of Health has only requested money they have duly received.
“Now, that concerns me because I have been inundated since we had that discussion in this Parliament, by suppliers of medical supplies to the health industry. They are telling me that central hospitals, since October 21, have not been paid. Chitungwiza and the Central Hospitals here in Harare, some suppliers are owed US$200,000,” he said.
Markham said it affected the suppliers’ cash flow.
“This is a significant issue when it comes to the cash flow for the supplies. Currently, money has been disbursed and the amount of money that is being disbursed is one-fifth of what is in the budget and that is for the suppliers. It is a major issue because when a supplier supplies to a Government organization they have to go through the tender procedures and there are clauses that they have to fulfill. One of them is that you only get paid 90 days after you have supplied whereas if they have supplied and have not been paid for more than 120 days they encounter serious cash flow problems,” he said.
Markham also said suppliers are getting a raw deal given the volatile exchange rate.
“However, the document covers the issue of the exchange rate but the official exchange rate when we did the budget was 85 and now it is 365. The parallel was 200 and it is now 800. So the suppliers now have a major issue because they are pushing for the clause for them to be paid and the Ministry of Health is saying they cannot pay because they have not been given the money,” he said.
He requested a statement from both the Ministries of Health and Finance to explain why they haven’t paid suppliers.
“So my request is that between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health, bring a joint statement to this House to explain to us why one supplier is not being paid and why we have a budget for national health that has only 14% distributed by the end of May. The issue being we have a major health crisis on the ground. It is my request that both ministries come forward and give us, either a joint statement or the Minister of Health, in particular, tell us why they are not requesting the money. I thank you,” Markham said.
