Chilufya Sacked Over HoneyBee Scandal

Health Minister Dr Chitalu Chilufya has been sacked from from his cabinet position after a parliamentary committee discovered that $17 million of ministry funds had been spent on defective medical equipment from a company called HoneyBee pharmaceuticals. 

In a statement issued on Sunday, President Edgar Lungu announced that Dr Chilufya had been dismissed with immediate effect and replaced by the minister of water affairs, Jonas Kamima Chanda. He did not offer a reason for the health minister’s dismissal. 

Under Chilufya’s leadership, the ministry of health awarded a contract to HoneyBee in 2019 despite the company failing to meet mandatory procurement conditions. It was later discovered that the company supplied defective medical equipment, including condoms and latex gloves that leaked when filled with water.

Reacting to the news of Dr Chilufya’s dismissal, UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema accused President Lungu of wilful ignorance in acting too late.

“Mr Edgar Lungu knew all along of Dr Chilufya’s corrupt expeditions at the Ministry of Health, but didn’t receive him of his duties because it benefited him and the entire Patriotic Front,” he said.

The opposition leader further called on the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to press charges against Chilufya for endangering the lives of citizens. Last year Chilufya was charged by the ACC with possessing assets suspected to be the proceeds of a crime but was acquitted when the matter came to trial. 

Similarly, a statement by UPND spokesperson Anthony Bwalya accused the PF government of exhibiting “an established pattern and culture of unhindered, sponsored criminality against the Zambian Republic”. 

In his statement, Mr Bwalya equated the recent corruption at the ministry of health to the 2016 scandal of government ministers continuing to draw salaries while parliament was dissolved. Both, he said, pointed to a culture of dishonesty designed to benefit members of the PF regime.