Kafulafuta Member of Parliament (MP) George Mpombo has come under fire for criticising the Government’s move to buy mobile hospitals which he supported when he was a Cabinet minister last year.
Global Commodity Market Institute country director, Mwango Chisha said it was immoral for Mr Mpombo to criticise the project when he supported the decision just about a year ago.
Mr Chisha asked Mr Mpombo to tell the nation what had gone wrong with the procurement of the mobile hospitals within a short space of time.
Mr Mpombo, who was the minister of Defence, in May last year took a swipe at United Party for National Development (UPND) leader, Hakainde Hichilema for criticising President Rupiah Banda over the mobile hospital programme.
He said neither President Banda nor anyone else in Government wanted a commission from the US$53 million mobile hospital deal as was being claimed by Mr Hichilema.
[pullquote]“Whatever Government does, there is always that element of national interest, so it should not be misunderstood at all.”[/pullquote]
The Post newspaper of May 11, 2009 quoted Mr Mpombo as saying: “I can assure you that no one is trying to make a killing out of this project.
“Whatever Government does, there is always that element of national interest, so it should not be misunderstood at all.”
Mr Mpombo also said the project was workable in other countries.
[ Times of Zambia ]
“Mr Chisha asked Mr Mpombo to tell the nation what had gone wrong with the procurement of the mobile hospitals within a short space of time. “
I am in total shock at this. I thought such a trait was only unique to Mr. Sata and his PF. The PF is the only political party with a proven track record of flip flopping and lies. How then does such a flip flop come from a non PF cadre, sympathizer, blogger or affiliate. There must be a mistake.
Mobile hospitals have been succesful in Pakistan to the point where the program is being expanded. Successful open heart surgeries (about 9) were conducted in mobile hospitals in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
People in the rural areas need health-care. This is one of the initiatives in which health-care goes to them.
MR MPOMBO IS A TROUBLE MAKER HE DOESNT KNOW THAT WITH MOBILE HOSPITALS TOP NOTCH MEDICAL SPECIALISTS WILL BE ABLE TO REACH KAFULAFUTA TO TREAT HIS VOTERS WHO CANT AFFORD TO GO TO UTH. DO YOU NEED TOGO TO UTH WITH CATARACTS, TUMORS, OR FOR ULTRA SOUND ALL THE TIME. THIS TIME AROUND IT WILL BE MEDICINE AT YOUR DOOR STEPS EVEN IN FAR FLUNG AREAS THE MOST EDUCATED DOCS WILL BE ABLE TO REACH. SPECIALIST TREATMENT SHOULD NOT ONLY BE A PRESEVE FOR TOWN DWELLERS ITS TIME VILLAGERS ENJOYED THIS BASIC RIGHT
If Mpombo was wise as he claims,it he would not opened his mouth on Mobile hospitals.Now since he is camera-crazy and have terribly short memory,he chose the opposite.
NO. 2 diasporic pressure: your comments are crap. The roads are impassable how can you reach people in remote areas?
caught pants down Mr not-so-honorable Mpombo
This has just shown how unprincipled these bums are! mobile hospitals cant work here chaps.This not pakistan!!! we have no roads,e.g western province..how do u access rural areas with the sandy terain?53m usd could have gone a long way in building hospitals and clinics.
Perhaps one day, someone will reveal that the project was mooted by Dr Mwanawasa. After all, there is that elusive thing called ‘Mwanawasa’s legacy’ which we are all looking for. Now let me get back to my search for it…………..Where did I stop??
$53 million cannot go far building a modern hospital! A CT scanner costs $1 million. An MRI scanner costs $2 million. $3 million gone with just 2 pieces of equipment in 2 rooms of a hospital! Talk about laboratory and other diagnostic equipment you have spent $10 million. Go to catering, laundry and theatre, that is another $10 million. Then mortuary, an Intensive care unit and add to all these costs, surveyors, architects, builders fees… by the time your hospital is built, you are borrowing money for maintainance, slaries and utility bills.
#4 THE GOOD WE ARE ABLE TO REACH ANY PART OF THE COUNTRY. CAN TRAVEL FROM LUSAKA THRU KAOMA KABOMPO AND REACH ZAMBEZI. LUSAKA UP TO NAKONDE, LUSAKA UP TO MPULUNGU. YOU HAVE STARTED THINKING LIKE BAZUNGU WHO BELIEVE WE DWELL IN TREES NO ROADS NO ELECTRICITY YET WE ARE NOT DIFFERENT FROM EUROPE. IF YOU EAT CHEESE, APPLES, PURE JUICE, ICECREAM, DRINK HEINEKEN, MGD, FOSTERS WE ALSO HAVE HERE. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS WE HAVE NO AGLY SNOW AND SURNAMIS
Here is what I suggest:
1. Scrap constituency development funding the way it is done today.
2. All monies available should be channeleed to ONE area of need. Government must stop trying to please ALL provinces and districts at the same time. For example, which is the most needy area for a good hospital in Zambia today? You can determine this by calculating how far people have to travel to access good tertiary care. I would suggest upgrading all provincial hospitals to have adequate facilities. $10 million to each provincial hospital except Ndola, Kitwe and UTH could go a very long way in changing the healthcare landscape in Zambia. Upgrade all Provincial hospitals to have good diagnostic facilities FIRST.
So, we are going to spend USD53m to purchase 9 mobile hospitals. This is roughly USD6m, which roughly translates to K30bn per vehicle. Now, I am wondering what kind of vehicle it is which will cost this much. From the pictures on this site, those hospitals are not worth this much. Aren’t we better off building new hospitals with this money? USD 53m is K270bn, ad I am sure we can build more than 20 (2 per province) permanent hospitals with this money
I would like Mr Capitalist, Chief bootlicker and Saint’s comments on this. They might be MMD supporters, but they seem fairly reasonable in their analyses
The NEXT to develop to high levels of excellence in every provincial hospital is Operating Theatres and recovery wards. These two areas of care take up a lot of resources in any hospital setting. Next, adequate stocking of Pharmacies. As for personnel, that is not a problem if you can have good facilities you can move them. A specialist surgeon in UTH can make Provincial rounds. Telemedicine can link any patient to a doctor remotely.
:((
#8 You are explicitly soliciting for these mobile hospitals. You should be aware that the costs you have highlighted at the end are less than the ones the mobile hospitals (MH’s) will require. They will also require maintenance, salaries, bills (for fuels). We can use that loan to bring some institutions up to standard by rehabilitation and upgrades. i am sure you would be the fisrt person to agree to my proposal of building you a house than my patch-up-solution of offering a mobile house. Good for camping but certainly not something you can build posterity and inheritance upon. The issue of Mobile hospitals should be condemned in every respect because it is will mean the next generation will pay for the debts of things which they never saw and made sense. We shouldn’t be selfish…
Dr Chalres should look at development in the true sense of the word. We insist on infrastracture development by building hospitals because they are permanent and they give equal access to all people who know their location though they may be far. a mobile hospital has thousands of limitations, not mentioning roads. we build nice hospitals and that beatiful staructure would remain standing for centuries than a mobile hospital which after 14 years would be an irrepairable and dilapidated eyesore. a more balanced judgement would tell you that an MH would never be suitable option in a country in dire need of development and infrastructure progression. I know we differ in opinions, but hey let wake up to this common sense
No. 4 please note that these mobile hospitals are 4 wheel drive heavy duty landrovers. They will cruise all over different terrain – come rain come sunshine.
I have been siding Mpombo but this time I think he is just going too far. He has coiled himself into just being negative with anything to do with the current Govt. True principled politicians give praise where due and never disagree just for the sake of disagreeing.
:-?:o:-?
8 Dr Charles Ngoma, $53m is a alot of money, even in USA they cantake notice if you have it. Now coming to the cost of Hospitals in Zambia, u know the hopsitals are a shell pa Zed without the things you are mentioning.But at least they offer basic facilities i.e a stool for the doctor to sit on, a bench for patients to die on etc. So a with a $53m can be started hoping the donors chip in for the things or equipment you have highlighted. The Mobile hospitals will brake down onour non existant roads. As for Mpombo, I’m getting fed up with him now. He is a gun for hire. Any party can use him to shoot at MMD but not adapt him for anything,he will turn around again. WHY DID HE RESIGN as DEFENCE MINISTER?I KNOW once A MONKEY PUSHED HIM INTO A POOL WHICH HE CALLED A DAM? Anybody with the reason
Owe Mayo pa Zed
8 Dr Charles Ngoma, $53m is a alot of money, even in USA they cantake notice if you have it. Now coming to the cost of Hospitals in Zambia, u know the hopsitals are a shell pa Zed without the things you are mentioning.But at least they offer basic facilities i.e a stool for the doctor to sit on, a bench for patients to die on etc. So a with a $53m can be started hoping the donors chip in for the things or equipment you have highlighted. The Mobile hospitals will brake down onour non existant roads. As for Mpombo, I’m getting fed up with him now. He is a gun for hire. Any party can use him to shoot at MMD but not adapt him for anything,he will turn around again. WHY DID HE RESIGN as DEFENCE MINISTER?I KNOW once A MONKEY PUSHED HIM INTO A POOL WHICH HE CALLED A DAM? Anybody with the reason?
Ha Ha! Can someone enlighten me who is going to pay for this huge debt? Is it my children or my grand children? Lupiya Banda and his MMD Government need to realise that my relatives in the village will appreciate more if the money was well spent on buying medications, latest equipment needed for the clinics and hospitals and to ensure that qualified personal are looked after. The hospitals and Clinics lack the neccessary supplies. It always hurts me so much whenever I read newspapers from home. The MMD Government is very corrupt and arrogant, they think they own the people of Zambia.
Did Banda consult before taking this loan? For once listen to people. One wonders whether there was some corruption involved?
Global Commodity Market Institute country director, Mwango Chisha – My foot!!!! this is a Alabee chap
1# Are you surprised? Even George Kunda changed his stance on the Chiluba cases. Zambians have no principles.
No.17 – You are contradicting yourself. You are saying the money must be spent in buying latest equipment and YET these Mobile Hospitals are amongst the most latest equipment in Zambia. You say hospitals lack supplies and YET these mobile hospitals will come fully equiped with both modern equipment and supplies to sustain their operation.
The population will always have different needs – some will be looking schools, others will be demanding roads etc. etc. All the Govt has to do is follow its Plans & MDGs. You can not please every Jim & Jack.
Dr Charles Ngoma,
You’re a doctor of what? We’re better off getting a few MRI and CT scans than wasting money on mobile hospitals. Look how much is wasted to do the same MRI and CTs in SA? We need more ambulances in rurals for referals.
While building permanent infrastructre is welcome thing, people in rural areas need immediate medical attention. This is were mobile clinics come into play. You dont expect people to travel long distances when you have a way of reaching them. The reason they bought landrovers was because of the bad roads in certain areas. Bane, you cant take away anything from a good thing.
‘Mr’ Charles Ngoma and ‘Dr’ B.i.tches you are both foolish paramedics, consultants, GPs or whatever you think your are, individually or collectively. Can’t you see that you are being played for fools. If Mulongoti was fired tomorrow he will be singing from a totally different hymn sheet. Can’t you see the lies in Mpombo’s eyes (Look at the picture, cili ‘crook’ bad). Only yesterday he was championing the cause of MMD today he is speaking for the masses. That’s why they tell you that ‘you will die with you degrees’. Ine nufileka! Nalikalafye tondolo mpangafye ulupiya lwandi. Ndi napee! :-?
Leave Mpombo alone. He was blind now he can see. Ba nadya ndalama and he needed his job so he had to be protective of his boss. You can bite a finger that feeds you.
PACT: I get emotional if people talk ill about the pact. Number 22, please change that name before I lose it with you.
#24 suggested name for PACT, icipaketi. Is that accepted by you my Lord?
Ya # 22 lucks morals-not even rotten ones.
#22 is justifying the unnecessary land rovers which even none in government can’t justify. Surely even mulongoti can’t bet their lives on such a wrong move. This is the reason we are saying mpombo has changed. It is because he was convinced it was a wrong thing, even RB himself doesn’t understand it. I am suprised you could be defending it when even Mulongoti in his quite moment is saying ‘what a blunder- i will attck it when i join PF!. Given a chance RB would go for permanent infrastructure. Building a hospital and roads to access people instead of buying a 4X4 to access them insn’t wise. The proponents of such an idea (chinese) would find it difficult to convince sound developing nations in the region but easy to convince our RB. Shame! Lastly drop that name for the sake of harmony
Those mobile hospitals will do no one any good Zambia please improve on what you have failed to provide in your hospitals, no doctor in Zambia will support that nonsene of going around in some funny make of a car after reading books for seven years and over. Park one at state you will see if Banda and his family will use it.Enjoy a beer gentlmen this weekend do not let these leaders do your mind in.
Band-aid Solutions will never take Zambia where she needs to be in terms of good healthcare for all. And if the MMD govt was a listening, reasonable, and prudent govt, they would know this.
Just the logistics of running this kind of equipment in our country’s (Zambian) setup should give any reasonable person some pause. Any intelligent Zambian citizen knows that this is a d.u.m.b idea. It is a “white elephant” right from the start. A cute idea that has all the hallmarks of failure written allover it.
Unless, of course, someone just want to use this project as a campaign tool in next year’s elections, it should be scrapped. Have we not had enough expensive experiments with our meager resources already?!!!!
22 TC progressor
I think you are saying the same thing as 12 Dr Charles Ngoma.
Number 26 – I am the one who wrote at Number 22. Is there anaything to do with PACT there??? Stop raging!!!
I’m no longer certain where you’re getting your info, but great topic. I must spend a while learning much more or understanding more. Thank you for wonderful info I used to be on the lookout for this information for my mission.