Ministry Of Health Officials Are ‘Terrorists’ - Kanyika

Former president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Zambia, Jerome Kanyika, has branded Ministry of Health officials ‘terrorists’ for authorising the use of fake medical kits and endangering the lives of thousands of Zambians. 

Speaking to the Hot Seat programme on Hot FM, Mr Kanyika said former health minister Dr Chitalu Chilufya and his officers at the Ministry of Health had committed a crime against the Zambian people by distributing defective drugs and medical supplies from HoneyBee pharmaceuticals. 

“It is hard to believe that some of those people are still working at Ndeke House (MoH Headquarters) after they did what they did and today they have even received their salaries. What those people did was an act of terrorism on the Zambian people,” he said.

Mr Kanyika demanded that officials at the ministry of health have their medical licenses revoked immediately and that those involved in the scandal be prosecuted. 

“Those are terrorists who should not be allowed near patients ever again,” he added.

Former health minister Chitalu Chilufya was dismissed from his cabinet position earlier this month after a parliamentary inquiry found that the Ministry of Health had procured medical equipment from the unverified HoneyBee pharmaceutical company. 

The medical kits provided by HoneyBee included a number of defective items, including latex gloves and condoms that leaked when filled with water.

HoneyBee pharmaceuticals is currently under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission, however Mr Kanyika revealed that many of the defective drugs supplied by HoneyBee are still in use.

“You know our medical kits normally carries about 60 different drugs but according to ZAMRA, only a few of those commodities have been recalled, since September when the flagging off for the distribution was done, most of those defective drugs are still in use,” he said.