Tujoromajo Kasuto and Eba Kandovazu
FORMER Health Minister, Dr Bernard Haufiku has been barred from entering the Roman Catholic hospital premises in Windhoek since the beginning of this month, a letter from the hospital management reveals.
In an interview with the Windhoek Observer newspaper, Haufiku confirmed that the ban emanates from an incident in which he was threatened by a Filipino nun, who is also the financial manager at the hospital.
“She even apologised in front of the police and I thought we had resolved the issue. I am completely blocked. Last night I was even stopped from visiting a friend of mine from Swakopmund, who is admitted at the hospital.”
Haufiku says he only questioned how long the Filipino nun has been in Namibia. I said to her “I don’t think you know our history as black people in Namibia,” He however did not disclose the exact threats.
He says that the case has been buried and he wouldn’t want to repeat it as the police were involved in the matter, saying the nun had apologised to him. He noted that he thought the matter was over and done but it appears the nuns had further interactions with each other and the superintendent who is also a nun taking the decision to ban him from the hospital.
According to Haufiku, his troubles with the hospital started from the time he was appointed health minister, saying that he was renting a consultation room there for 15 years, with over 10 000 patient files. After his dismissal as minister, Haufiku says he enquired why his room was given away to another doctor.
He says he left the room in the hands of other doctors after he took office as the Minister of Health but then the hospital registered this doctor as the tenant of the room and that this was against the contract he had with the said doctors.
Thus he approached the Catholic Hospital management to resolve the issue, as he has over 10 000 patient files that have been signed off to someone else with them still there.
“My patients have been asking about me and their records,” he said.
Additionally he adds that there are rental amounts due for the property that he says he will not pay, as “the doctors who have been earning money out of that room need to pay”.
However he said he tried to negotiate if they provided him with the files in the office he would settle the amount, but the management refused.
In a letter dated March first, the hospital Matron and Clinical store supervisor stated that an incident which took place on the 26th of January has led them to ban Haufiku and trespassing will lead to the hospital management opening a case of trespassing against him.
