PESHAWAR: An audit report by Anti-Corruption Establishment, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has detected irregularities in the appointments of medical and hospital directors in Mardan Medical Complex (MMC) and recommended action against members Board of Governors of the health facility and the appointed officials.

ACE conducted the audit after receiving complaint about alleged corruption, illegal appointments and misuse of official power at medical teaching institution (MTI) MMC. The position of hospital director (HD) at MMC was advertised on July 13, 2024, in Urdu daily “Mashriq” in contrast to MTI regulations of placing advertisements in three newspapers, one Urdu and two English, the four-page report said.

It said that the Board of Governors (BoG) of the hospital held its 57th meeting on the same day at 11am and Prof Amjad Ali was approved as HD on an officiating charge basis despite the fact that appointments of HD and medical director (MD) hadn’t been discussed in the 54th, 55th, and 56th meetings of BoG.

In the 57th meeting of BoG, the formation of a scrutiny committee was approved to evaluate documents for the positions of MD, HD and nursing director (ND). The committee was consisted of a BoG member, human resource (HR) manager and Prof Ahmad Khan, but no formal discussion or approval regarding the appointments for those key positions took place during the meeting.

ACE recommends action against BoG members and appointed officials

The report said that 30 persons applied for the post of HD, but only 15 were found eligible. It said that the ineligible candidates were not informed about their shortcomings, which was a significant procedural flaw. Of the eligible applicants, only seven were interviewed without the approval of BoG, it added.

It said that the same irregularities were observed during the appointment of MD, Dr Mohammad Said, who served as ENT specialist in MMC.

The 57th BoG meeting didn’t discuss, approve or notify the formation of a selection committee as required by MTI Act, 2015, and no discussion regarding selection criteria, pre-interview marks or interview weightage took place.

A BoG member, who chaired the scrutiny committee, was also involved in a manner that contravened the established regulations according to which the BoG retained sole authority over the appointment of HD, it said. The involvement of the BoG member raised a conflict of interest-principle of law as one shouldn’t be judge of his/her own cause, it added.

The report said that the HR manager and secretary of scrutiny committee submitted the list of eligible and ineligible candidates directly to the BoG chairman rather than the scrutiny committee chairperson.

According to MTI regulations, only the selection committee can perform the functions specified by the regulations, which include short-listing of candidates for interviews. It specifies that the selection committee must include three candidates for the interview process, yet there was no selection committee until August 24, 2024, just before interviews for the HD began at 10am.

Legally, secretary to BoG was responsible to record minutes, convene meetings and communicate with board members but he was asked to leave the meeting, said the report.

It said that as per regulations, selection committee must be constricted by BoG including qualified members and a reputable layperson but the later was missing. The committee included personnel from Rehman Medical Institute (RMI), Peshawar, where selected HD retired Col Gul Zar was serving as director operations.

“The law requires all members attending the board meeting to sign an attendance record but record for the 58th BoG meeting is missing,” said the report.

The newly-appointed HD previously served on the same post at MTI Bannu from June 2021 to October 2023. He was removed from service due to concealment of fact of his compulsory retirement from his service from armed forces.

He was terminated by ACE on allegations of corruption including mishandling of three blank cheques amounting to Rs7.2 million as per record of 53rd BoG meeting of MTI Bannu, dated March 1, 2024.

The report said that recruitment process at MMC revealed significant irregularities and its BoG failed to adhere to law. The involvement of BoG members with potential conflicts of interest compromised the transparency and fairness of the process, it added.

ACE has recommended to authorities to retrieve salaries and other perks and privileges availed by the appointed officials during their present postings.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2024