We won’t name drug thieves just now – Mulenga
By Tony Nkhoma
WE WILL not be rushed to disclose culprits of drug theft, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Chipoka Mulenga has said.
And government has made a dramatic U-turn from the United States (US), requesting the Chinese government to help Zambia set up a cholera vaccine pharmaceutical company.
Mulenga attributed the various past staff changes at the Ministry of Health and the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency (ZAMMSA) to drug theft.
Speaking in Lusaka at the inaugural ceremony of the second council of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, he said Zambian government would only make announcements on drug thefts at a time of its own choosing.
“Our government even now has engaged PWC, a world-renowned financial institution, to do a forensic investigation in the system in the health sector. And investigations are still going on. And the culprits who will be found wanting shall be held accountable. But we will not be rushed to make that pronouncement,” Mulenga said
He said everybody who was accountable would be held liable without looking at his or her region, ethnicity, tribe or name.
“That is commitment to making sure that we stop the scourge. And at an appropriate time, an announcement will be made. And the culprits who will be found wanting shall be held accountable,” Mulenga said.
He said at the right time, the findings would be made available to the public, and the law would take its course.
“It is the reason why you see there are changes time and again at different institutions like ZAMMSA, and even at the PS [permanent secretary] level in the ministry, because this government is committed to that,” Mulenga said.
He asked the Chinese government to set up vaccine pharmaceuticals in the country so that Zambia could produce not only for its citizens but for the region as well.
“A friend in need is a friend indeed. I call upon you, Excellency [ambassador], through your chamber, to set up that for us, and together we’ll achieve cholera-free in this country. China stood tall with us and sent over 500,000 doses of vaccine for cholera,” Mulenga said
He urged the Chinese government to collaborate with Zambia in the health sector in the similar way the Southern African nation collaborated with China in other sectors
“Even in the health sector, even in our city, let us in the same way we agree for Pfizer vaccines, in the same way we agree for Pneumatic Cables, in the same way we agree for other things, we can produce vaccines in this country,” Mulenga said.
Last week the US Embassy in Lusaka announced that its government was cutting funding to the Ministry of Health for medicines and medical supplies by K1.4 billion (US$50 million) because government had failed to stop gross theft and fraud which had been denying poor Zambians access to life-saving drugs, including antiretroviral medicine for people living with HIV.
