Pressure Builds To Prosecute Chilufya

The Anti-Corruption Commission is facing mounting pressure to prosecute disgraced former health minister Chitalu Chilufya for his role in the HoneyBee pharmaceutical procurement scandal. 

Writing in the Lusaka Times today, UPND Secretary General Stephen Katuka said the recent sacking of Dr Chilufya from his ministerial post did not go far enough and that the former minister should face criminal charges for his role in the scandal.

“We expect appropriate institutions such as the Anti-Corruption Commission to come in and nab him,” he wrote.

It comes after a parliamentary inquiry revealed that the ministry of health awarded procurement contracts worth $17 million to a company called HoneyBee pharmaceuticals, despite the company failing to comply with government standards. It was later discovered that the company had supplied defective medical equipment, including leaky latex gloves and condoms. 

In the same piece Mr Katuka lamented that prosecution would be unlikely under the current administration, noting that the PF government rarely charges those involved in corruption because “they are all birds of the same feathers”. 

The UPND leader further called for HoneyBee pharmaceuticals to have its licence revoked pending a full investigation, as well as for the permanent secretary and board chairman of the Zambia Medicine Regulatory Authority to be struck off. 

His comments were echoed by Amos Muselema, provincial coordinator of Anti-voter Apathy Project, who similarly called for the prosecution of all involved in the scandal. He said the sacking of Dr Chilufya was a good start but that the ministry should face real consequences for putting the lives of many Zambians at risk. 

Socialist party leader Fred M’membe also praised the sacking of Dr Chilufya but urged the PF government to go further in prosecuting all corrupt ministers, permanent secretaries and officials.  

He said that if President Lungu was serious about fight