A day before the incident of the drama, Tuesday, 5th January 2021, it was easy to tell. You just needed to look straight into her eyes. She looked to have watery eyes as if she had an eye infection. Although her face was covered with a blue medical facemask, the uncovered part of the face said it all. She looked fatigued, exhausted and timid, as if something was bothering and weighing heavily on her mind. But what was it? I don’t know! One would think that the army of muscular, potbellied, well dressed and educated top officials that would accompany her “unknown destination” the following day would offer her some form of security, but alas, this was not going to be the case.
Anyway, she had every reason to be uncomfortable. She knew what was ahead of her, tough and throbbing questions that would expose anything hidden under her control. The last time she appeared before them, it was dire. She struggled to answer questions for which they required proper feedback. Anyway, their questions were not friendly. It was almost a court-room experience, with a tense atmosphere. To imagine going through that again, no! It was a thought that was sending cold shivers down her spine. Worse still, what was going to be discussed was known by the public through the power of technology – television and social media. This meant the whole world was converging at her ministry. What can one do in this kind of a situation? This was a loud silent inner question from the heart of hearts – the four chambers of a human heart.
Who did not hear of the questionable awarding of the contract for the supply of medicines/pharmaceuticals to the Ministry of Health (MoH) by Honeybee Pharmacy and the standard of some of the products? Unless you do not live in Zambia. Spare a moment and read the Auditor-General’s Report of 2019 (the Report) on the Accounts of the Republic of Zambia for the financial year ended 31st December 2019. The Report, a public document, was prepared pursuant to Articles 212 and 250 of the Constitution (No.2) of 2016 and the Public Finance Management Act (No. 1) of 2018 of the Laws of Zambia (LoZ) was shared with the public on 2nd November 2020 by the Office of the Auditor-General. Well, if you are lazy to read, at least, you may do some catch-up on the Zambian Parliament Television. Everything was live and recorded.
Tuesday, 6th January 2021 around 10:28 hours, I sat in the comfort of my small sitting room watching the proceedings of the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) on Parliament Television. PAC is constituted in accordance with the National Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Act, Chapter 12 of the Laws of Zambia to scrutinise whether the funds approved by Parliament or raised by government and disbursed had been accounted for. PAC was doing the honours, grilling officers from institutions assumed to have knowledge of medicines/pharmaceuticals supply contract “saga” of Honeybee Pharmacy. The event was beamed live from 10:28 hours to 15:37 hours. Before PAC were officials from the MoH led by the permanent secretary for administration, Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) director of Laboratory Service who was acting director-general, Medical Stores (MSL) managing director, Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS) executive director and the two directors from Honeybee Pharmacy (one attending the meeting via zoom).
The officers were appearing before PAC to answer to the queries raised in the Auditor-General’s Report regarding the alleged supply of some defective pharmaceutical products to MoH by Honeybee pharmacy in 2020 in the Health Centre Kits (kit/s). According to the Report, the Kit contract was worth USD$17,958,150, comprising of 22,500 kits to be delivered to MoH within eight to 12 weeks.
The findings of the report from page 88 to 91 and as at the time of its compilation may be summed up as follows under heading (d) (iii) of the Report: the questionable responses on ZAMRA registration, failure to avail quality control tests (paracetamol tablets, lubricated latex condoms and latex medical examination gloves – holes in some batches of condoms and gloves), questionable supply of unregistered goods, failure to provide power of attorney written by a lawyer, and sourcing medicines and medical supplies from unapproved manufacturer.
Other findings were: Diazepam was missing from the kits, 4 mg of Tetracycline HCL 1% eye ointment tube was supplied instead of 5% and soap bar in the kits did not have a trade and a manufacturer’s name.
At the end of the proceedings, I was impressed with the honest way ZABS and MSL representatives responded to the questions posed to them by PAC members. However, ZAMRA and MoH officials, appeared to have been in defensive mode. If I were in their shoes, I would simply apologise and wait to receive a slice of appropriate punishment because the defense that was being advanced by the officials, in my view, was without merit.
Additionally, at the end of the programme, I also realised how unsafe we are as citizens of this country under the current leadership of ZAMRA and MoH. The explanations and answers that were being given by officers from these two institutions left a lot of gaps that cannot be ignored. One could easily see that they had pre-meditated answers that failed to survive after subjection to intense questions from PAC members.
ZAMRA representative was lost at sea. He seemed unprepared and appeared to have rehearsed on what to say, in the process revealed how dangerous ZAMRA is to this wonderful country. Since when did ZAMRA start to conduct inspections of official pharmaceutical outlets over the weekend and who authorised that inspection? Was it necessary for ZAMRA to conduct a second inspection over the weekend in August 2020 as he claimed, since Honeybee Pharmacy according to the report before PAC had already gotten licence for the tender and which officers conducted the inspection? Which law supports ZAMRA’s postulation that a licence can be issued from day one up to one year? How does ZAMRA fail to recall some of the defective holed Lubricated Latex Condoms and Latex Medical Examination Gloves over three months down the line, when ZABS, a credible and reputable institution had shared its test results (certificate of analysis) with ZAMRA and MSL on the two commodities by 23rd September 2020? What is it the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe can test on condoms and examination glove that our dear ZABS cannot do?
Which law supports ZAMRA’s preposition that an applicant who fails inspection can be given a licence whilst deficiencies are not yet fully addressed as the officer attempted to suggest? Do ZAMRA officials read the Medicines and Allied Substances Act (No.3) of 2013 to understand its mandate? Aren’t condoms and gloves allied substances according to the ZAMRA Act? Does ZAMRA know how many lives have been exposed to dangerous diseases like HIV/AIDS due to some of the unsafe Lubricated Latex Condoms and Latex Medical Examination gloves that may be in circulation after failing a test at ZABS? In whose interest is ZAMRA doing things? In addition, where is the ZAMRA Board in all these kinds of irregularities to happen under its watch? Is it an issue of “I get an allowance while ifyashala does not matter?”
What changes should be made at the MoH to preserve the integrity of the institution in light of scandal after scandal that has been happening? The scandalous conduct of ZAMRA as revealed on a live television programme before PAC should not go uncensured. Certainly, ZAMRA management and MoH leadership are a danger to public health in the nation.
Please look out for follow up articles on this subject as I attempt to unmask the questions posed above.
Article authored by:
Brian Muwanei Kabika
Kabika has a deep interest in Public Health, Medicines and Allied Substances Regulation. He was a co-founder of the Public Health Partnership Forum.
For any comments, please send them to: muwanei.kabika@gmail.com