Malawi leader spits fire over drug theft, ‘this nonsense must stop’: Opens Nkhata Bay District Hospital

President Peter Mutharika has said he has issued a decree that any public health worker found stealing medical drugs would be fired immediately and will not be getting salary as was the case before.

Mutharika: We will arrest you
Mutharika: We will arrest you

“Do not dare to steal. We will fire you immediately if we catch you. We will not even pay you. You can go to court if you want,” said a seemingly angry Mutharika during the opening of Nkhata Bay District Hospital.

He described the tendency of drug theft as criminal and inhumane and said he was angry with reports that a laboratory assistant at Mzuzu Central Hospital was caught with 10 cartons of medical drugs and diagnostic equipment from the hospital.

“This nonsense must stop once and for all. We have put in place mechanisms to track down drug thieves, saying “even if you steal one tablet, we will catch you.”

Health minister Peter Kumpalume said he has already written the Inspector General of Police Lexten Kachama to thank him for the swift arrest of the laboratory assistant Kondwani Kanthenga.

“We have also the Drug Investigations Unit which has teeth to bite those who steal drugs.”

He said the unit uses electronic surveillance, intelligence and other means to track down the thieves blamed for empty drug warehouses in public hospitals.

”If you  dare steal the medical drugs, we will track you down, we will find you, we will prosecute you and we will lock you up,” said Kumpalume.

The minister warned health workers against reporting for work late and knocking off early.

“”I am your minister of Health but I am in office by 7:30 am because that is when my shift starts and knock off at 6 pm, you can find out,” he said.

Kumpalume asked the people to take care the hospital, saying it is the biggest and offers more services than any other hospital in Malawi

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Winston Msowoya
Winston Msowoya
7 years ago

Charity begins at home.Muthalika,your outbursts are just a camouflage burying your own evils.Stop emptying government coffers for your personal interests and expect that others would not follow your evil stance? There is no way that Malawi’s economic footing will takeoff unless you and your accomplices stop stealing tax-payers’ funds and blame others for your theft.However,all these inconsistencies are attributed to the collapsing economy which in turn,creates astronomical inflation in the country.

FKSKS
FKSKS
7 years ago

Starts from the top down, the theft of government is the biggest theft we have. These people should stop, set an example and the rest of the population will follow. Our economic woes are because of the top not performing and stealing all resources for their own.

Concerned Citizen
Concerned Citizen
7 years ago

This sounds good & I support it Mr. President…but surely we can also look at the many causes of the problem. Civil servants get meager monthly salaries, usually not on time every month. As a concerned citizen I feel, govt has a role as well to solve the problem. If pipo cud b paid on time, improve their working conditions in long term I see such cases reducing. Malawian we like solving problems starting from the top instead of the bottom. There is NO WAY u can make some1 responsible for important public resources such as drugs, fertilizers etc yet… Read more »

john
john
7 years ago

WHILE I DEPLOY THOSE STEALING DRUGS AND OTHER MEDICAL SUPPLY, LET GOVT ALSO REMUNERATE ITS WORKERS ACCORDINGLY. YOU CANT HAVE EMPLOYEES BEING PAID K80, 000 FOR A DIPLOMA HOLDER AND EXPECT THEM TO PERFORM. WORSE STILL, THE SALARY COMES IN LATE.

The Analyst
The Analyst
7 years ago

O………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..O Very well-said, APM . . . arrest them immediately . . . . . . dont even pay them . . . But wait a minute; . . . . . . isnt well done better than well said? Surely, it is! ………………………………………………………………………………….. How many times have you APM fired these warning shots? . . . and what have you done thus, far? Only if you could marry your words with action; And only if you could talk less and do more; Some or all of this chaos could have been minimised or contained by now. …………………………………………………………………………………. Some people… Read more »

Herbert Kawaliza Chabuka
Reply to  The Analyst

Mwana wa nkhuku akamanyera mnyumba ndiye kuti waonera mayi wake…osangomangs amene akiba lerowa kuti tidziwe kuti a bwana mukudana ndi zakubazi tiyeni tilondolenso milandu ina osati yokuba makhwala.okha ayi komanso ngakhake kuba ndalama zaboma mpoanda chifundo. chifukwa mukaletsa kuba mankhwala anthu aziba ndalama…nkhnai ya 577plus Million ija tilondole..chifukwa mukatero anthufe tiona kuti you are serious to curb the malpractices…madzi amatseka kochokera osati kumene akupita.. pasakhake ma untouchables..kokanso nkhani ya anthu amafuna.kugula ndegeyi monga tinamva kuti anyamata analimba mtima kufuna kupanga malonda oti agule ndege fufuzani mtundu wa Malawi.udziwe kuti zatya bwanji..chifukwa mukaisiya imene ijanso bwana ikhala ngati moto wa madeya… Read more »

The Analyst
The Analyst
7 years ago

“Madzi amatseka kochokera osati kumene akupita” – wise and great thought.

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