The National Drug Authority’s mandate is to manage the set-up, running, regulation of drugs for the public. However, as in-fighting at the authority takes centre stage, malice, greed, staff uneasiness, incompetence and sideline of duties is threatening to take down the country’s drug regulator.
With the Executive Director Donna Kusemererwa and Board Chairman, MedardBitekyerezo, at the centre of the ensuing mismanagement, this website has learnt that some staff have even taken to courts of law and parliament in order to get justice for what they termed as “intrigue and malice”.
Mark Kamanzi, the former head of legal services was the first to take the fall. The lawyer was interdicted and has since petitioned parliament to intervene in the irregularities he deemed were the reason the authority was in turmoil and asked parliament to intervene to save the authority from gross mismanagement.
Staff dragged in, others sacked
In his petition, Mark Kamanzi alleged the authority had neglected its regulatory role of ensuring only safe, tested drugs would be sold to the public. In the petition, Kamanzi said NDA lacked a National Formulary which would test drugs to safe Ugandans lives. He alleged they had instead opted to “illegally” use a register which they control.
In a letter to Parliament seeking an investigation into NDA’s illegalities, Kamanzi wondered “In absence of a National Formulary, what does NDA use to guide imports and selling of imported drugs in the country?”
Not done, the interdicted lawyer wondered what the authority used to find out what drugs were safe for the public. “What does NDA classify as unauthorized drugs? NDA illegally uses a register of specialties provided under S.35 (2) of the NDA Act to substitute the National Formulary, which is illegal and unlawful.”
In a statement issued in response to Kamanzi’s claims, NDA admitted “There has not been a national formulary since the law was enacted”. They also added“The production is now in the final stages”.
Malice takes centre stage
As the power struggles rage, NDA has been accused of unfairly shutting down Pharmacies over petty offences including failure to renew operational licenses. Once such case happened last Friday when famous Wandegeya based Friecca Pharmacy was shut down for alleged failure to renew their license on time.
However, other sources to privy to the matter insist the shutdown was witch-hunt orchestrated at frustrating some of the pharmacies deemed “close” to those involved in the power struggles.
MBWA Management runs the show
Management by walking around (MBWA) is a well-known management style instituted by ineffective managers to get their staff working. This, insiders at NDA say is the new style of management at the Lumumba Avenue based authority.
“Our senior managers come in here all the time to check on who is in office and who has stepped out and who is in. We work like casuals here. There is no professionalism”said a worker who preferred to remain un-named.
NDA responds
NDA issued a statement in which they dismissed the claims labelled against them by the interdicted former head of legal Mark Kamanzi as “false and malicious”.
Kamanzi had among other issues alleged that NDA had grosslymismanaged resources and ranfraudulent expenditures including the UGX1 billion spent on incineration of expired drugs, favouritism, conflict of interest, mischievous procurement processes.
In the letter to Parliament, Kamanzi asked Parliament to investigate NDA and should be penalized for these illegalities that put pose a risk to millions of lives in danger.