The Sunday Mail
THE long-running Premier Services Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) drama has opened a can of worms as it has emerged that acting managing director Dr Nicholas Munyonga was appointed to the post despite having failed a competence test while the acting head of finance Mr Shingirayi Muchinenyika flunked interviews for the post.
According to a competency development report compiled by ZimRecruit — a human resources consultancy firm — dated December 18, 2014; Dr Munyonga scored 28 out of 70 after undergoing a competence test for his post as head of managed care.
Mr Mandishona
Effectively, Dr Munyonga was declared incompetent.
However, the PSMAS board went on to appoint Dr Munyonga as the acting managing director after the suspension of Mr Henry Mandishona on September 4, 2015.
Part of the report reads: “Responses indicate that Dr Munyonga feels he has no use of performance management and does not know any performance management systems. Although he has been part of some change initiatives in the past, Dr Munyonga’s responses indicate that he does not have much substantive experience managing people through the change process.
“(Dr Munyonga) needs help to learn to plan, organise and prioritise issues in his work to prevent overload. Project management — no experience in this area. Financial analysis — manages to link most of his decisions to the cost effect on the company. However, (he) needs to sharpen his skills more in financial analysis.” The human resources consultancy then ruled that Dr Munyonga had weak technical scores because he had no experience in issues related to risk management and wellness programmes.
“Though confident of his theoretical knowledge, there is no guarantee that this can be effectively put to practice. Once off training might not be able to bridge these technical gaps unless there can be a mentor/coach to provide on-going on-the-job training,” the report reads.
On the other hand, Mr Muchinenyika scored 75 out of 130 in the competence test. His score was above half but below the average technical competence score required for a position such as head of finance. He also attended an interview where he was the sole interviewee for the post of head of finance and failed to make the grade.
According to minutes of the PSMAS interim management team meeting which was held on May 13, 2015; the human resources and nominations committee confirmed that Mr Muchinenyika did not pass the interview.
Part of the minutes read: “While some members of the interviewing panel felt that despite the short comings shown by the only interviewee for the post of head of finance namely Mr Shingirai Muchinenyika, he could be trained in order to make the grade, the managing director, being the person to whom this grade reports, preferred that an external candidate be recruited. The committee decided to go by the managing director’s preference.”
Mr Bvirindi said the board did not consider the competence tests in appointing Dr Munyonga and Mr Muchinenyika, saying they had strengths and competences in other areas of their specialisation.
Fresh details gathered by The Sunday Mail also revealed that the PSMAS board chaired by Mr Jeremiah Bvirindi unilaterally fired a PSMI board which was led by former PSMAS interim manager Dr Gibson Mhlanga on September 4, 2015 — on the same day Mr Mandishona was suspended.
Now the Mr Bvirindi board also sits on that of Premier Services Trust and PSMI, thereby raising questions about good corporate governance.
Last week, the Minister of Health and Child Care Dr David Parirenyatwa and his Public Service and Labour counterpart Cde Prisca Mupfumira advised the PSMAS board to reinstate Mr Mandishona while an independent arbitrator looks at the issues raised against both the PSMAS boss and management.
However, in a letter dated October 21, 2015; Mr Bvirindi said Mr Mandishona could not resume his duties until the board advises him on the matter following its PSMI tour which ends on Friday. But Mr Mandishona’s lawyers, Atherstone and Cook wrote to Mr Bvirindi on October 22, 2015 saying, “We would want to put it on record that PSMAS has been under spotlight for a long time for wrong reasons.
“The intervention by the two Ministries is a clear and sincere indication that Government would want to restore sanity to PSMAS for the good of its members whose hard earned money has been abused in the past. Fighting each other in the press at the expense of PSMAS members in clearly unfortunate.”
Mr Bvirindi said Mr Mandioshona should not try to “push his way back to PSMAS” but should allow due process to take place and he would be reinstated once he is cleared of his charges.
“Even the ministries should stop interfering and allow the board to work. The board is competent and works for the good of the organisation and its members,” he said.
Contacted for comment, Mr Mandishona denied the allegations of abuse of funds and office saying he is ready to prove his innocence.
