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Nyore Madzianike Senior Court Reporter
PARIRENYATWA Group of Hospitals paid almost US$500 000 and more than $600 000 to a pharmacy stores controller who supplied surgical sutures through his own company, after creating an artificial emergency, thus flouting tender procedures.

Silksilver Investments (Pvt) Ltd allegedly supplied the country’s largest referral hospital on 98 separate occasions, and was paid US$477 801 and $621 554 in the process.

Russell Tatenda Mwenye (40), of Harare, is said to have used the proceeds to buy a stand in Ruwa near Harare and to build a house.

Mwenye, who is being represented by Mr Oscar Gasva, appeared at the Harare Magistrates’ Courts charged with criminal abuse of office, corruptly concealing a transaction from a principal and money laundering.

He was not asked to plead to the charges when he appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Christopher Maturure, who remanded him in custody to today for bail ap plication.

The court was told that in March 2016, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals flighted a tender requesting bids for the supply and delivery of surgical sutures.

After the hospital’s tender committee carried out due processes, it awarded the tender to Flancon Investments (Pvt) Limited, the cheapest of the bidders, who quoted US$37 844.

Order forms were then reportedly raised by the procurement department and forwarded to the pharmacy department for recommendations by Mwenye before they were to be passed to the hospital’s chief pharmacist for approval.

But Mwenye allegedly did not action the papers and waited until surgical sutures stocks went critically low, creating unnecessary emergency in the process.

Mwenye then assigned Yvonne Mudimu, a section head in the surgical and sundries department, to make a direct purchase of the sutures from Silksilver Investments for US$86 381 without going to tender.

Silksilver Investments had bid for the tender, but failed to meet the specifications required.

Allegations are that Mwenye abused his office by allowing Silksilver Investments to supply the surgical sutures without following tender procedures and prejudiced Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals of US$48 537.

Prosecutor Mr Ephraim Zinyandu alleged that Mwenye repeatedly awarded Silksilver Investments bids to supply surgical sutures through his company.

A surgical suture is a medical device used to hold body tissues together after an injury or surgery.