Nothing New Under the African Sun

As a former Director of Overseas Development for The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory, I have watched with growing anger and dismay the public relations disaster and the colossal failure of leadership in the matter of Dr. Paul Thistle and his dismissal from Howard Hospital, Zimbabwe. I have waited until now to comment, as coverage of the situation has appeared in increasing numbers of media outlets around the world and negative publicity for TSA grows. I know that my voice will be one crying in the wilderness, as are all voices of lay Salvationists, but I have to ask does anyone at IHQ and the Canadian THQ really care?

News releases from IHQ and Canadian THQ claim concern for the health of Howard’s patients, the well-being of its staff, and that Dr. Thistle’s removal is part of the “normal” rotation of SA officers. They also claim that there are policies and procedures in place to ensure accountability at all levels of the organisation, that no complaints have been made regarding these, and, in a recent note, imply that Dr. Thistle has brought his troubles on himself by disregarding International protocols. The implication is clearly that he has not used the funds, as he should.

Such an implication is beneath contempt. There are contradictions in the statements emanating from TSA.

(-political |pəˈlitikəl| adjective

·      chiefly derogatory relating to, affecting, or acting according to the interests of status or authority within an organization rather than matters of principle)

The situation is being portrayed by IHQ and our Canadian THQ as a normal transfer of an officer. It clearly is not. Doctors such as Paul Thistle are not routinely transferred, as TSA does not have skilled medical personnel to replace them. If it were indeed a “normal transfer” why did it not take place along with others? The press release issued by Andrew Burditt claims “We consider the health of its (Howard’s) patients and the well-being of the staff at Howard Hospital to be of paramount importance.” This can hardly be credible in light of what is happening. How naïve does THQ think we are as rank and file Salvationists? Clearly, such a press release is designed to prevent the further loss of funding from the Canadian public and demonstrates that this is far more important than the people suffering in Zimbabwe…  The local community around Howard, who have no other access to health care, demonstrated against this Dr. Thistles dismissal), the police were called in and arrests of hospital personnel were made (apparently at the request of the Zimbabwe SA THQ), and in response the Zimbabwe TC ordered Paul to pack in 24 hours and leave Zimbabwe in 48 hours. This was a cruel and totally unjustified act of vengeance on the TC’s part…

The great irony in all of this is that it is the non-Salvationists who have supported Paul’s work who are rallying to his support and protesting his removal. These donors have had no problems with Paul’s accountability over the years. Even the Mugabe government, often so maligned, has not intervened in this matter and indeed has, so it is reliably reported, sought to mediate to no avail. What does the public think when it sees Jewish groups, the United Church of Canada and others steadfast in their support of Paul and his work and yet witness the complete failure to give him support within his own church? Yet these groups and individuals are being dismissed at senior THQ levels as “Paul’s followers”–such a derogatory, sneering and offensive term…

It is high time that TSA Canada and IHQ faced up to the real facts and addressed them… We need strong leadership, and sadly it is not forthcoming. Moreover, Canadian THQ knows full well, or should do, that “assurances” from Zimbabwe THQ are worthless and cannot be believed…

Allan Bacon

Toronto

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SOMETHING AMISS WITH THE SYSTEM

1990 

In 1994 the children of the Children's Village in Calgary, Alberta had raised $7,000 for a play centre at the Howard Hospital, sent through THQ Canada to – IHQ and presumably to THQ, Harare, Zimbabwe where the CMO was Capt. (Dr.) Dawn Howse.  However, it did not arrive.  After an extraordinary waste of correspondence over the course of many months the money turned up.  It appears THQ Zim had cash flow problems.

In the late 1990's, some $42,000 disappeared from Howard Hospital's reserve account (money for projects in process, not yet completed) when THQ Harare consolidated accounts.  THQ then held all the SA accounts including HH, and as there was no over-all loss reported; it was dismissed as a mistake in book entries. The CMO was replaced in the mid-90s by Major (Dr.) Jim Watt who on his return to Canada in 2000 reported that the money had not been located nor repaid.  There appeared to be no will at THQ to do look into this significant loss of HH funds .,.

Around 2000, Commissioner Makina, the TC Zimbabwe, wanted to build a new Howard Hospital.  He did not want any input from the then Howard Hospital administration, and it was with great diplomacy that Colonel Kellner, the Chief Secretary, persuaded him to show me (Jim Watt) the plans and get my opinion (Dr. Thistle was on furlough).  I had been responsible for much earlier construction at the hospital and immediately noted that the project was grossly underfunded, with only US$ 1 million allocated and available. My estimate was that a minimum of $ 3.5 million was necessary to build what the blueprints called for.  There were also no plans for water, electricity supply with special links for X-ray, and generators in case of power failure, a common occurrence, or sewage, a place that size requiring sewage ponds (still not planned for).

The architect had no medical experience, which showed clearly in the layout.  I drew up plans for rebuilding the existing hospital site, which could be done for $1 million, which were rejected out of hand.  So I redrew the plans to make them more workable, and Dr. Thistle on his return added other suggestions.  Some were agreed to, but the large main entrance still effectively leads nowhere.  It was obviously planned to be built, not planned to be used!

New construction is a fertile ground for corrupt practices, especially where there is no bidding process in place and the payouts are private.  Cement especially has immediate cash value.  Unless someone watches it being mixed and poured, it can easily vanish, leaving the structure weak.  Major Phillip Mountain was appointed by IHQ to supervise the construction and oversee the books.  Commissioner Makina had him completely stonewalled -- refused access to both the site and the books.  Accountability was seen as neo-colonial, a too common accusation...The inability to bring the construction project in under budget, even with an additional $ 1 million, was attributed to inflation.  The value of the US$ had not changed, however, and a great deal of money could be made by anyone bringing in and exchanging US funds.  How honest the dealings were, we will never know.   ________________________________

MISSING SPEVIALIST EQUIPMENT

An organization I volunteer with, the SHUMBA Foundation, tried earlier this year (2013) to follow up on the specialist equipment donated and delivered to Howard Hospital for the express use of scheduled volunteers, but clearly not given to HH.  Dr. Norman Fenton, a frequent donor and volunteer there, got permission from THQ Zimbabwe to retrieve it.  Here is his account:

On Friday, 3 February, I met with the Secretary of Salvation Army THQ Harare, Lt-Col Varughese and Major Angeline Kapere in Harare in order to collect equipment originally transported by SHUMBA to Howard Hospital. There was no complete scope in the collection of instruments shown to me. There were 12 nasal and general instruments, all of significant vintage and poor quality and complexity - not the original SHUMBA set. We agreed that I could travel to Howard Hospital the following Monday to collect the remaining instruments. 
(Major Gillian Brown from Toronto and Major Dean Pallant (IHQ) were going to be there at that time.)



  

 Out of a total of five rigid scopes, two laryngoscopes and two esophagoscopes, as well as the complete set of nasal instruments, none were located. The Sister in charge of the operating room evidently was unable to identify the nasal instruments. 

A further inspection of three sets of instruments from the operating room were opened - yet revealed none of the missing instruments. I pointed out that the nasal instruments transferred by SHUMBA were identifiable by the labels "Jedmed" and "Made in the USA". Attached is a photo of the substitute instruments given to me from Salvation Army / Howard Hospital as being the original nasal instruments - these are a far cry from the original set.





I was asked by Dean Pallant not to wander around the hospital premises as there had been a lot of mistruths spread about the hospital situation, and with the overall sensitive nature of my visit, it was better that way. This meant that there were a lot of people who I would have liked to have seen but were missed. My driver, who walked through parts of the hospital noted that there were about two and five patients in the male and female wards respectively, and few patients in the children's ward. 

Attached, please see photos of the "nasal instruments" substituted for the ones missing. Also, some photos of Howard Hospital at about 10 AM on a Monday - usually the busiest time in outpatients. More noticeable was the lack of booths and people hanging around on the road around the front entrance of the hospital(the so-called market) and the courtyard of the hospital (see photos).

I should be at home this PM to discuss any of this.

Norman //

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This represents about $7,000 worth of missing equipment.  So the statement that there is no missing equipment is a lie. Further, the equipment and cash left by Donwood Church, Peterborough, Ontario remains missing, though photos of the equipment are said to have been made. I believe this was US$ 10,000 cash, and $18,000 in materials, receipted but not followed up as it did not go through IHQ and was "harder to track", though it should nonetheless have been entered as receivables in the books.  Here is a report that relates:

IHQ has admitted several times that the books are not well kept, I presume attributing this to incompetency rather than dishonesty.  So the official statement that "no evidence was found" is not surprising, but misleading.

Major (Dr.) James Watt (retired)