Drugs stolen from various gov’t hospitals seized in Nyandarua, suspect arrested

The medical supplies were discovered in residential and private business premises in Engineer and Ndunyu Njeru towns.

One suspect, a pharmaceutical technologist, was arrested during the raid led by Nyandarua County Commissioner Amos Mariba, Governor Kiarie Badilisha and security teams working hard to unravel the mystery of where medical drugs have been disappearing to shortly after they are procured.

The suspect, who is now being held at Engineer Police station works at Engineer County and Referral Hospital’s Pharmacy department and is believed to be engaged with a string of other persons in the syndicate.

According to the governor, in the last six months alone, his administration has procured drugs and other supplies totalling to over Ksh. 50 million yet drug shortage is still reported in the hospitals.

He said the state in the health facilities prompted his intervention and investigations, an ongoing process which he said will nab more suspects in the syndicate.

The governor spoke at Engineer town in Kinangop constituency where the drugs consignment belonging to various public health facilities in Nyandarua County were recovered in a private home at engineer town and a privately-owned Chemist in Ndunyu Njeru trading centre.

The drugs are said to be stolen from the hospitals and sold at private pharmaceuticals by a medic at one of the facilities.

On this, the governor noted that the theft compromises the delivery of healthcare services to the public as drugs stolen from public health facilities are meant for public use and are often in short supply.

He said that the lack of drugs at the facilities had eroded public trust in the healthcare system noting that patients who rely on public health facilities for their medication lose confidence in the healthcare system once they lack drugs at these facilities.

One of the measures that the Governor has promised to take is to scrutinize the issuance of licenses to medical officers who operate private chemists to help weed out such medical officers and prevent them from engaging in the theft of drugs.

Governor Badilisha also promised to increase the level of oversight of public health facilities in the county by automation of the issuance of drugs to help track drugs in and out.

His sentiments were echoed by his deputy John Mwangi Mathara who noted that if drugs are properly stored and accounted for will none will be stolen from health facilities.

Mathara added that they will be working closely with law enforcement agencies to investigate cases of drug theft and ensure that those found guilty are prosecuted.

On his part, the county Commissioner urged members of the public to report any suspicious activity to the relevant authorities and to be vigilant when it comes to the use of drugs.

He also promised to increase awareness campaigns on the dangers of drug theft and the need to protect public health facilities from theft.