PRESIDENT HICHILEMA ANNOUNCES MEASURES AIMED AT ERADICATING CORRUPTION IN MEDICAL SUPPLY CHAIN.
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
STATE HOUSE
PRESS RELEASE
Date: 15th July, 2025, Lusaka.
DECISIVE ACTION TO ERADICATE CORRUPTION IN MEDICAL SUPPLY CHAIN WITH SWEEPING REFORMS
The President’s commitment to cleaning up the medical supply chain remains steadfast. Last year, the President commissioned a comprehensive independent forensic audit of the sector, one of several decisive measures to tackle long-standing, systemic issues that he described as “cancerous” and rooted in historical theft of medicines.
The audit was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a globally respected accountancy firm. In line with the President’s principles of transparency and accountability, preliminary findings were shared with cooperating partners at State House at his own invitation.
The President reiterates that there shall be no sacred cows, anyone found wanting will face the full force of the law.
While the President’s decision to engage an external auditor initially met hostility from opposition quarters, who are ironically now citing its findings, he stood firm in prioritising integrity over partisanship.
We wish to make it clear that:
• The matters identified in the audit are currently under investigation by relevant law enforcement agencies.
• Relevant departments are cooperating fully with these agencies to ensure a thorough, impartial, and just process.
• Everyone remains innocent until proven guilty, and findings will be made public once investigations and due process have concluded.
In response to preliminary audit findings, swift and decisive actions have already been taken, including:
• Dissolution of the ZAMMSA Management Board.
• Advertising the position of Director General of ZAMMSA to bring in strong leadership and drive institutional renewal.
• Intensified operations by the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), which have already resulted in the arrest and prosecution of individuals caught diverting government medicines to private markets.
• Establishment of a National Drug Taskforce to provide real-time monitoring, early detection, and prevention of theft throughout the supply chain.
• Implementation of an advanced digital stock-tracking system at ZAMMSA to improve transparency, enable real-time inventory monitoring, and reduce opportunities for diversion of medicines.
Additional reforms and improvements are underway as relevant departments continue to review the audit’s recommendations and strengthen governance at every level of the agency.
The President remains unwavering in his commitment to uphold the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and service delivery in the medical sector, ensuring that every Zambian has access to the medicines and care they deserve.
Issued by:
Clayson Hamasaka
CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST
STATE HOUSE
Ba Kateeka , the issues at ZMMSA are just the tip of an iceberg. Corruption in the country is in every ministry. I’m a Zambian working as a Medical Procurement Specialist in the NHS UK. While you enged one of the world renowned organisations Pricewater House Coolers (PWC) to do the audit and am very sure they will come up with recommendations, I beseech you to engage Professional Bodies like the Zambia Institute of Procurement & Supply (ZIPS) and other bodies to sit on the ZPPA Boards and help in redefining the tendering processes in the country. The task force doesn’t go far in dealing with the cancerous issues at hand. What you need Sir , is a new and redefining the way contracts and tenders are done. Accountability, Transparency and Ethical Standards must be the bedrock of our tendering processes and procurement systems. Invest in Technology in the Procurement systems and above all you the President must be the first person to be Transparent, Accountable and Ethical on the way you run your government otherwise everything you say you are doing will just be a smokescreen Lead by example. Before you can ask for the nations to be accountable, ask yourself this sober question “ am I accountable and transparent in the way am managing the affairs of the nation ?” Please do not run a country in a Chintobentobe Way. Zambians will judge you very soon. I rest my case
Read this comment and this left thinking.
However reading this article in todays News Diggers vindicates the tough rebuke that you suggest, where in the same professional have undermined their position on the boards as you suggest and still serve their personal interest first.
A daunting task for any administration. Would be keep to hear you point of you after reading this article. Back in the day, a ban from practicing in the profession was plausible and possible stiff jail time. Would all these and forfeiture be a solution?
“In line with the President’s principles of transparency and accountability…”
HH is NOT transparent. Thank you.