Minister of Health Elijah Muchima has expressed his dissatisfaction over the financial anomalies that his ministry has uncovered at the Zambia Medicines & Medical Supplies Agency (ZAMMSA).
Muchima disclosed that his ministry had concluded its round of inspections into ZAMMSA’s finances and other operations in which several illicit practices have been gleaned and must be cleared.
“I promised the public that we have to be transparent and accountable in our institutions. We have gone through in detail the operations and descriptions of ZAMMSA and looked at the expenditures, purchase of equipment, tenders, distributions and other responsibilities. It is very clear that we need to put our house in order together,” Muchima said.
With no track record to account for the agency’s financial activities since 2019, Muchima called for prompt action to restore prudence in the running of ZAMMSA for all that government spends on the institution.
“Our financial standing has not been prudent from in that it was last audited in 2019 and to date it has not been audited and yet there is a lot of government resources that is been utilized,” he said.
He concluded by reiterating the Ministry of Health’s commitment to instill efficiency in the operations of ZAMMSA in order to restore public confidence.
“Our main concern is the ability to run ZAMMSA efficiently and to clear ourselves of the public perception. It is very clear that lack of financial reports is one of the issues,” he said.
Muchima was speaking when he met officials from ZAMMSA this morning in Lusaka to provide an update over the operations at the institution.
