25 out of the 61 containers of medicines marooned at the J&J depot in Makeni have been successfully transported and offloaded at the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency (ZAMMSA) central warehouse in Lusaka. This progress follows the intervention by the Government through the Ministry of Health, compelling the transporter to release the consignment.
The movement of these containers, carrying assorted health commodities, began on Saturday, 14th July 2024. ZAMMSA anticipates completing the offloading exercise by next week Friday, 26th July 2024.
This consignment is part of a Government-to-Government bulk procurement of medicines and medical supplies valued at $24 million from the Arab Republic of Egypt. Of the 61 containers, 23 contain Intravenous (IV) Fluids and Syringes, which arrived between January and April 2024, while the remaining 38 containers, carrying assorted essential medicines, arrived in June 2024. Notably, the earliest expiry date for all the commodities is July 2026, and no wastage has been recorded so far.
ZAMMSA is closely collaborating with the Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) to ensure the safety and efficacy of all commodities. All products will undergo thorough quality assurance tests before distribution to health facilities, guaranteeing the safety of the Zambian people.
Story not adding up!!
Africa, so much medicine and will just be stolen yet again, you will see those medicines in Indian shops.
Not marooned but diverted with the intention to loot. By the way the bulk of these drugs have got only three months to expire.
Another version of kicking the can down the road. The medicines will be received by some other thieves in this supply chain and still reach corrupt buyers and sellers
Now you can imagine if all this was happening during PF…imagine what HH would be saying ….
When is kapuswe being reinstated in GRZ as you promised…..????
@Spaka
Its Kakubo not Kapuswe….and for your own information Kakubo is still on Government payroll getting his full pay with all the benefits…he just resigned on paper…in reality he is still enjoying all the Ministerial perks
UPND IS A GOVERNMENT OF L
In the first place such incidences were never heard of during pf because every one was well oiled from the cleaner to the state house.
In PF it may not have been revealed. Vigilance under and openness in the now dispensation has brought it to light
ZAMMSA, ZAMRA, ZAMPUBA …. Country is now in deep dog country.
Moh should advertise for critical positions as DG.
There is several Zambians in the diaspora or back in the country who have handled internation projects for the UNDP/GFTAM who can be head hunted and encouraged to come back.
Shame on the appointing officers
Lusaka Times, do your job! Your reporting is creating more questions than answers. Who owns this private warehouse? Why wasn’t Ministry of Health tracking the movement of these containers given the big deal that was made about the initial procurement?
They need to advertise even the Procurement jobs or supply chain jobs or request for Volunteers
The value of the drugs is questionable? Is it $24 million dollars or $65 million dollars? Which is which now? The much publicised Information bill passed into law early this year must be utilized to the fullest
“The Govt of Angels” we can only ask “Which angels?”
Blame Lungu and PF for the rot/corruption ailing Zambian institutions . HH just inherited the cancerous culture left over and its gonna take decades to clean it up.
Don’t forget he replaced the so-called PF clique with people from the allied ethnics. In short people cannot be trusted.