HoneyBee Denies Supplying Defective Medical Equipment

HoneyBee pharmaceuticals - the company at the centre of the ministry of health procurement scandal - has denied suppling defective drugs and medical equipment, including leaky latex gloves and condoms. The company says such claims are part of a media smear campaign.

In a statement to the press, HoneyBee executives denied all allegations, saying they had not supplied any defective drugs but rather that their medical kits were WHO approved and sourced from reputable manufacturers. 

According to a recent parliamentary inquiry, HoneyBee was paid $17 million to supply medical drugs and equipment, despite failing to conform to procurement standards set by the ministry of health. The company was later found to have supplied leaky condoms and latex gloves, leading to the dismissal of health minister Chitalu Chilufya from his cabinet position. 

HoneyBee now claims that there was in fact no financial transaction between the company and the Zambian government.

“We at HoneyBee Pharmacy Limited have taken the financial burden for all the medical kits supplied and provided for the Zambian government”.

The company says it has supplied 5000 medical kits so far - worth some $3,990,700 - for which the ministry of health has not yet paid them. The figure of $17 million, it claims, comes from the combined contracts of two other suppliers - Pharmanova and Artemis - which have also not been paid and have not supplied their medical kits. 

HoneyBee claims it is the target of a “politically-motivated conflict” aimed at health minister Chitalu Chilufya. 

Several figures, including UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema and Socialist party president Fred M’membe, have called for the Anti-Corruption Commission to prosecute Chilufya for his involvement in the scandal. UPND Secretary General Stephen Katuka has also called for a full investigation into HoneyBee, however the government has not yet initiated such proceedings.