CHIEF government spokesperson Chishimba Kambwili has said that some civil servants are pilfering drugs and selling them to private drug stores.
Mr Kambwili, who is also Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, said at a press briefing at State House yesterday shortly after a Cabinet meeting that his ministry and the Ministry of Health will inform the nation on a monthly basis on drugs and other health matters.
“There is sabotage in the distribution of medicines. Some civil servants have been pilfering drugs to sell to private individuals and thereby creating an artificial shortage,” he said.
Mr Kambwili said Cabinet has further allowed two ministries every two weeks to give the nation an update on the various projects they are undertaking.
“There is a lot of propaganda and lies by the opposition and we can only counter that by telling the people the truth and what we are doing,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Kambwili said Government has tasked the police to investigate leakages of confidential Government documents.
He said leakages of Government confidential documents became rampant in the last three years and if left unchecked, the practice can put the security of the country at risk.
“We have tasked the police to investigate this issue. Report anyone found leaking documents to police but we are not panicking because the Access to Information Bill is before the Attorney General and will soon be tabled before Parliament,” Mr Kambwili said .
And special assistant to the President for press and public relations Amos Chanda said at the same briefing that State House is not worried about the leakage of some documents.
“There is really no need for bugging Government offices because we are now telling you what Cabinet discusses. But it is still an offence to bug and besides, we can still know who is leaking even if a writer quotes ‘sources’,” Mr Chanda said.
Meanwhile, Mr Kambwili said Cabinet has approved a bill to rename the Revenue Appeals Tribunal as the Tax Appeals Tribunal.
Mr Kambwili said the purpose of the change is to ensure that the name accurately describes the functions of the tribunal.
Ba Kabwili thank you for telling us this classified information.
THANK YOU KAMBWILI FOR MAKING THIS OBSERVATION ON STEALING OF DRUGS BY SOME GREEDY CIVIL SERVANTS, THOUGH THEY COPY WHAT POLITICIANS IN GOVERNMENT ARE DOING, AND THANK YOU FOR INFORMING THE NATION ABOUT THIS. THIS IS THE TRANSPARENCY WE NEED TO MAKE ZAMBIA A HEALTH NATION. AND KAMBWILI PLEASE TELL YOUR BOSS EDGAR CHAKOLWA CHAGWA KALE LUNGU TO STOP INTIMIDATING HH. LUNGU SHOULD STOP HARASSING HH. HE SHOULD STOP IT!
IN FACT THESE THIEVES OF THE MUCH NEEDED DRUGS ARE ALL OVER THE COUNTRY IN ALL GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS AND CLINICS. WHEN THEY STEAL THEM, THEY DO NOT ONLY SELL THEM TO DRUG STORES, BUT SOME MEDICAL OFFICERS TAKE THEM TO THEIR PRIVATE CLINICS WHERE THEY MAKE A LOT OF MONEY WITH IT, AND YET OTHERS STILL TAKE THEM TO NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES (BY SMUGGLING THEM) WHERE THEY STILL FETCH A LOT MORE MONEY AT THE EXPENSE OF PRECIOUS LIVES OF OUR PEOPLE IN OUR COUNTRY. YOU SEE, ONE SAD THING ABOUT OUR COUNTRY IS THAT WE HAVE LAWS, BUT THEY ARE NOT IMPLEMENTED, THEY ARE JUST ON PAPER. HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS DO NOT ENFORCE LAWS ON THE PEOPLE THEY LEAD. THERE IS NO ACCOUNTABILITY IN OUR VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS.
So this was discussed in cabinet sure?anyway its good it has been declassified.
Ministry of Health just requires new leadership. There is no way the widespread drug shortages can be blamed on pilferages. Its simple logic. The MoH must do a proper quantification exercise and they will realize that they buy less than a third of the actual nations needs. A study into the supply chain from product selection, quantification, distribution to usage will reveal that MoH’s lack of leadership on this issue is to blame.
So this is not new. Vice has been going on for a log time. Just go ahead and deal with it. Problem in Zambia too much talk but little action.