Chilufya Denies Role In Honeybee Scandal

Former Patriotic Front Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya has denied that his department procured expired drugs and defective condoms from Honeybee pharmacies, claiming that the scandal was ‘cooked up’ by ambitious figures within his party.

Speaking to Hot FM’s ‘Hot Seat’ programme, Dr Chilufya said he is a trained medical practitioner who would never expose people to defective equipment.

“I swore to serve lives and I have spent my 23 years of being a doctor in serving lives or building health posts, therefore I would never be reckless,” he said, before adding,“We should never defy science for political presence”.

Last June, a parliamentary inquiry found that the Ministry of Health had agreed a procurement contract with Honeybee pharmacies worth $17 million, despite the company not being properly registered at the time. Later, it emerged that some of the medicines supplied by Honeybee had mould growing on them, while their condoms and latex gloves leaked when filled with water.

Yesterday, Dr Chilufya claimed that the scandal had been manufactured by a clique of power-hungry PF politicians and civil servants. He asserted that a “battle of thrones” had raged in the former ruling party and that some cliques had resorted to falsifying reports in order to eliminate threats to President Lungu’s leadership

“Let me set the record straight. Pharmaceutical vigilance in Zambia’s Health Sector is highly alert and suitable configured to deter the procurement of [defective] medical supplies,” he explained to Ichalo Today.

The former minister also insisted that Honeybee has not been paid $17 million since they only supplied one third of their contracted consignment. In fact, he claimed that, to date, the company “has not been paid a single Ngwee.”