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Governor have vowed to crack down on architects of theft of medicines in public health facilities.

They said they will bank on technology to tighten the system and seal loopholes through which drugs meant for public hospitals end up in private facilities.

Last week, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja said there will be no sacred cows as he invited investigative agencies to probe a syndicate responsible for theft of drugs at the city’s public health facilities.

“There is a well-connected syndicate of fraudsters stealing drugs from public hospitals,” Sakaja said, and asked the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to probe the crime.

He was speaking in Mombasa on the sidelines of a workshop bringing together County Executive Committee (CEC) members.

Last week, three suspects were arrested in a van transporting drugs believed to have been stolen from a health facility in Nairobi.

Sakaja said the three suspects were part of a well-connected criminal enterprise fleecing county medicine stores.

He said the syndicate composed of City Hall employees who collude with chemists and other dealers in medicine to smuggle consignments using vehicles disguised as ambulances.

“An ambulance leaves a facility full of drugs. The drugs are then sold to private practitioners who sell to chemist operators,” the Governor explained.

“I have had a discussion with DCI and the police commander in Nairobi to crack down on the entire value chain from the facility to the distribution entities,” he said.

Hotline number

Following their arrest, the suspects was taken to Kilimani Police Station for processing before their arraignment.

In Homa Bay, the county administration has introduced a hotline number in health facilities with a view of curtailing drug theft.

The number is pinned at hospitals across the county, including sub-county health facilities and Homa Bay Teaching and Referral Hospital. Members of the public can call the number to report problems related to provision of medical services.

For example, residents are encouraged to call the number should they be directed to buy drugs in private pharmacies.

The administration has also put on notice health workers who perpetrate drug pilferage. Governor Gladys Wanga cautioned that health workers who are found stealing or facilitating theft of medicines will be sacked.

“We will terminate their employment contracts once we arrest the cartels who promote theft of drugs in hospitals,” she told the media in Homa Bay, pointing out that her government had established a system, which will be used to track drugs.

A health care officer in Rachuonyo South was recently fired after members of the public linked him to theft of drugs.

“The government is spending a lot of money buying drugs and we can’t continue losing them to a few individuals. You either shape up or ship out,” she said.

In Siaya, Governor James Orengo says he has come up with a strategy to deal with theft of drugs in hospitals.

Orengo says the plan seeks to ensure drugs supplied to the facilities are used for the intended purposes.

“I have held a meeting with stakeholders for the past two days working on a comprehensive strategy to deal with drug pilferage,” he said.

Private facilities

In Kiambu, Governor Kimani Wamatangi attributed the persistent shortage of essential medicines to theft by people who work in the health facilities.

The Governor’s claims have, however, been met with a backlash from some medics who have dismissed the allegations as false and malicious.

Last week, Wamatangi narrated how drug stealing cartels have been operating.  He gave the example of Kihara Level Four Hospital in Kiambaa Sub-County where, he claimed, a staff member vandalised a transmission line of a Sh10 million laboratory machine only a week after its installation.

“The move was to ensure laboratory tests are not done in the hospital so that they can continue referring patients to a nearby private facility which is owned by him and others, “ said the Governor.

“We have conducted thorough investigations and established that the malpractice is perfected by a syndicate involving porters, security personnel and medics within health facilities,” he stated.

He noted that medicine is lost while on transit from hospital pharmacies and stores to wards and, at times, directly from hospital pharmacies.

People Daily’s investigation in Kiambu town, Limuru and Kikuyu established that most private health centres including pharmacies, are owned by medics who are government employees.

In Murang’a, four suspects are in custody after they were found in possession of stolen drugs on Friday evening. They were arrested by police officers who were camping at the Murang’a District Hospital following a tip off from the public.

They were nabbed as they were loading 12 cartons of drugs believed to have been destined for private clinics. Police said they will be arraigned today.

Digital system

Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata said investigations into drug theft in the facility had kicked off following complaints by members of the public that hospitals didn’t have drugs.

“We also established a system where the patients give us feedback about services,” he said, adding that his administration was putting in place a foolproof digital system that will monitor all drugs. 

Members of the public think the staff deliberately withhold drugs for sale to private outlets.

“I have been to the hospital several times but every time I get paracetamol as they are the only ones available,” said a resident who sought anonymity. 

In Narok, the county government has crafted a strategy to deal with theft of drugs in public hospitals.

According to Governor Patrick ole Ntutu, his administration had crafted a strategy to deal with drugs pilferage in 93 dispensaries, 25 health centres, four Level Four hospitals and one teaching and referral hospitals.

Ntutu said that among the strategies is an instruction to all hospital management staff to sign a delivery note confirming the receipt of drugs or arrival.

“Health workers in every hospital will keep an inventory of how all the drugs have been dispensed which is a requirement for the next disbursement,” said Ntutu.

And in Kisii, residents have been urged to demand receipts for payments they make at health facilities for services or drugs to curb theft of drugs.

CEC member for Health Leah Bwari said they are probing an incident where a health worker at Nyacheki Health Centre in Bobasi Sub-County was caught with drugs suspected to have been stolen from the facility.

The CEC said officer had drugs which he dispensed without issuing receipts, saying disciplinary action will be taken against him if he is found culpable.

“The officer is doing his business within the health facility. I urge patients to demand receipts for any payment they make,” Bwari said.

The incident comes a few months after Governor Simba Arati launched a digital system for dispensing drugs.

Arati noted some government officers and cartels sold drugs to private chemists and clinics and direct patients to buy the drugs from the facilities.

He said the system tracks movement of drugs from the supplier to health facilities to patients.

The governor noted health facilities are connected to closed circuit systems (CCTVs) to monitor the dispensing of drugs.

—Reports By Harrison Kivisu, Noven Owiti, Clement Kamau, Rebecca Wangari and George Sayagie and Robert Ochoro