An electrical fault at Monkey Bay Hospital in Mangochi District has gone unresolved for four weeks, severely disrupting essential services including the mortuary, laboratory, and laundry departments.
This is happening at a time that Amarylis Hotel was paid billion from tax payers money to the purchase of a hotel at an inflated price .
According to sources at the facility, the breakdown has left the hospital unable to store deceased bodies, forcing staff to rely on alternative arrangements, while laundry services have been relocated to Mangochi District Hospital.
The disruption is expected to continue for several more weeks, as the district council reportedly faces a funding shortfall estimated at MK 18 million needed to procure a 25mm armoured cable to restore power.
An internal source described the situation as increasingly difficult for both staff and patients, noting that the affected units are critical to the hospital’s daily operations.
Francis Nkhoma, Chairperson of the Hospital Advisory Committee (HAC), expressed concern over the prolonged outage, saying it has significantly affected service delivery at the facility.
However, Mangochi District Hospital spokesperson Harold Kabuluzi said the procurement process has already begun and is expected to be completed within three weeks.
The situation has reignited concerns about how limited public resources and delayed maintenance budgets impact essential health services.