Africa-Press – Uganda. The National Drug Authority (NDA) says it has recovered government drugs and medical equipment worth Shs1.7 billion from private medical facilities across Lango and Acholi sub-regions.
In a three-day operation that ended on Friday, NDA listed the recovered items as oxygen converters, theatre accessories, malaria test kits, anti-malaria drugs, antibiotics and drugs used in theatres, and other medical equipment donated by Unicef, Joint Medical Stores and the Ministry of Health.
On Wednesday last week, NDA recovered a big assortment of drugs from Akfranc Medical Centre in Kitgum Municipality owned by Mr Robert Akena, the assistant pharmacist at Kitgum District Hospital.
Mr Abiaz Rwamwiri, the NDA public relations officer, said they got intelligence information that Mr Akena was supplying government’s malaria testing kits, among other medical supplies, to the different private medical centres in the region.
“We made an impromptu operation in Kitgum and we found government medicines of different kinds besides supplies such as scanners, and theatre items,” Mr Rwamwiri said.
“We also have intelligence that shows that this is a syndicate because there is no way all these can leave the small Kitgum Hospital without the knowledge of the medical superintendent and all the administrators getting concerned,” he added.
Mr Rwamwiri said they have seized Mr Akena’s registration certificate and pharmaceutical licence.
“He is being charged with illegal possession of government stores and as he is on the run, the police are tracking him and being a government employee, we shall get him by all means. For now, we have withdrawn his certificate of registration,” he added.
Dr Thomas Ojok, the senior administrator at Kitgum General Hospital, said they have suspended Mr Akena and his supervisor.
“We have decided to suspend the team that has been handling the main store, we are going to do fresh inventory to take stock of what has happened and compare notes with what has been unearthed because some of these supplies could even be from other facilities,” Dr Ojok said.
On Sunday, Mr David Ongom Mudong, the Aswa regional police spokesperson, said they have arrested one of Mr Akena’s workers to help in investigations.
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