The development of the Manyame Airbase Military Hospital for VVIPs has been impeded by hyperinflation, Parliamentarians were told recently. Rumbidzai Dimairho, the hospital’s chief architect, told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence and Home Affairs that funding difficulties had put the project on hold. Earlier this year, finance minister Mthuli Ncube’s midterm budget review statement showed that Z$269.5 million (about R12 million) was allocated in the 2021 national budget for the project’s construction. The minister had also announced that the project was virtually complete.
Also Read: Zimdef is Funding Research Hospitals In Zimbabwe
Manyame Airbase Military Hospital Deadline
The Manyame Airbase Military Hospital project’s deadline has been pushed back owing to the country’s hyperinflation this year, according to Dimarho. As a result of the price volatility, the acquisition of building materials and equipment was delayed. The contractor requested a time extension this year and filed a new work schedule with a new completion date. However, throughout the amended contract time, the country experienced an increase in COVID-19 instances, affecting personnel near the site and reducing the pace of operations on-site, according to Dimarho.
Mthuli Ncube, the finance minister, recently announced that he had committed about $270 million to the VVIP hospital’s construction. Levy Mayihlome, the chair of the Defence and Home Affairs Committee, said he would ask Treasury to increase funding for the project.
“We feel that this hospital needs funding, we understand the cost escalation that is affecting the project and the COVID-19-induced delays. When we go back to Parliament, we will make sure that whatever they pledged in the budget to be announced tomorrow (today) to this hospital is fulfilled,” Mayihlome said.
Zanu PF elected Beitbridge East MP Albert Nguluvhe stated the facility should be large enough to accommodate army personnel and war veterans. The Manyame Airbase Military Hospital would help military chiefs and VVIPs who have been accused of squandering precious foreign cash on medical care in countries such as China and India, whose medical facilities are in poor condition.
