The National Drug Authority (NDA) has recovered over 150,000 doses of Anti-Retroviral drugs (ARVs) in a special operation that sank a Uganda People Defence Forces officer attached to Kabamba Military Health facility and a nurse.
According to NDA Spokesperson Abiaz Rwamwiri, the Lands Corporal Jimmy Kisembo who doubles as the Laboratory Technician at Kabamba Health Center IV was intercepted at a private house in Mpumudde trading center in Sembabule district.
At the same private house, the authority recovered over 3000 doses of anti-malarial drugs and 12,500 malaria testing kits, all labelled free government drugs and not for sale. In the operation, Mayi Musoke, an enrolled nurse in charge of Makore Health Center II was also arrested. Rwamwiri says both the drugs and test kits were stolen from the military health facility.
Since the beginning of such special operations aimed at preventing theft of medicine in 2019, NDA has led to the arrest of over sixty people where about forty of them are government health workers. Drugs worth over 13 billion shillings have also been recovered in the last six years.
Rwamwiri reveals that Kisembo is the second security operative to be arrested as they have previously found a police officer in illegal possession of government drugs.
Earlier this month, the Standards, Utilities and Wildlife Court sentenced Ronald Kibalye, a health worker attached to Kayunga hospital to four years in prison after being found in possession of over sixty-four thousand doses of ARVs.
Now, the newly arrested suspects currently in police custody, will be charged with two cases; illegal possession of government stores contrary to section 296 (2) of the penal code act and illegal possession of classified drugs contrary to section 27 (2) of the National Drug Policy and Authority act.
****URN****