HONEYBEE PHARMAC: THE UNTOLD TRUTH
SOUTHERN Africa Students and Youth Development Association (SASYDA) Zambia has leant with great sadness the hatred myths, lies, slander, calumny and misguided propaganda stories making rounds on various social media platforms and a selected but biased electronic media establishments regarding the status and involvement of Honeybee Pharmacy in the procurement process for the alleged substandard drugs and condoms is regrettable and unfortunate.
It is ironic, highly unprofessional and unethical for some sections of the electronic media to find it pleasurable in going out full throttle to report on a serious matter as this without the due consideration of balancing their stories before publication.
As a students and youth advocacy association, we took interest in this matter as it touched on the lives of people as well as the integrity of both the Zambian government and those doing business with the Ministry of Health.
We are glad to report our balanced findings and to also expose some professional misconduct of certain individuals who are visibly seen taking sides in a matter they’re supposed to declare interest in and the consequences of issuing careless statements about legal establishments with impunity.
We start by stating that Honeybee Pharmacy is a wholly Zambian owned company which was duly awarded the US$17 million contract for the supply of Health Centre Kits under the Ministry of Health, which contract was awarded through a competitive tendering process.
It must be noted that this happened through open public tendering process involving both local and international participants and all the laid down provisions of the Procurement Act were followed to the letter.
This includes but not limited to the approval by the Office of the Attorney General Likando Kalaluka on the grounds that the company met the full requirements of the law.
This is contrary to the claims by ZAMRA Director for Medicines Control that we did not meet their inspection conditions for the award of this contract.
We are well aware of the intentions of certain individuals whose aim is to dent the image of the Ministry of Health superintended by Dr Chitalu Chilufya and his team. However, we would like to set the record straight as follows;
At no time did Honeybee Pharmacy as a company supply expired drugs to the Ministry of Health and strongly wish to dismiss the story carried by a one Television Station alleging that laboratory tests conducted on the said condoms by the Zambia Bureau of Standards showed that the condoms could not stretch to desired length and that they had high bursting volume issues including being none compliant to packaging integrity with the contempt it deserves.
The reporter and editorial team missed an opportunity to correct the wrong impression that aimed at misinforming the public by claiming through such a screaming headline something that is nonexistent.
It must be placed on record that Zambia Bureau of Standards have no capacity or rather the technology to test the quality of the condoms. However, if any such substandard products do exist on the market then we expect relevant authorities to do the needful by withdrawing them from circulation as per regulations.
Our investigations have also established that not a single penny has been paid to Honeybee Pharmacy on this consignment to which effect we can confidently challenge any person including the excited and biased media to verify at their convenience.
It is a known fact that this contract was executed at a time when essential drugs were scarce and in short supply for many remote areas throughout the country.
This was a gesture of patriotism and commitment by Honeybee Pharmacy to help the vulnerable in our society, the government and the leadership of our beloved President.
We also have a challenge in comprehending the Auditor General’s report because it appears to have been a personalised battle. We say this because it was outside the Auditor General’s mandate to engage for verification the Zambia Bureau of
Standards for verification of the tests.
Where did the AG draw this mandate to send a team to do this verification from? It is also amazing to understand where the motivation to leak all this information to some sections of the media came from.
Has the Auditor General also been hired by the opposition and the competitors of Honeybee Pharmacy to discredit the government of the Patriotic Front and the leadership President Edgar Chagwa Lungu?
The quoted pharmaceutical expert, Jerome Sikanyika, who claimed to have been aware of the procurement of the said substandard drugs and medical supplies by the Ministry of Health is a compromised character without the moral stamina to even comment based on the fact that he is an interested party who has personal differences with the proprietor of Honeybee Pharmacy.
This is the same man who was at the centre of controversy over the story alleging that Konyigi, a potable spirit produced in Tanzania tested posited for possible contamination with an aphrodisiac sildenafil citrate aimed at destroying the product out of the Zambian market until it was challenged and a correct position given which reversed the earlier recommendations to his
He simply has a hidden agenda to champion and promote the cause for his paymasters who are some known foreign establishment that for a long time sabotaged the same government through the Ministry of Health when they stopped the supply of essential medicines causing an acute shortage of drugs in all clinics and hospitals because the government owed the company money.
We also wish to expose this cartel which is essentially playing partisan politics to realise that people are aware and watching them.
The noise coming from the UPND Deputy Secretary General, Mr Patrick Mucheleka is based on the revelations and lies being peddled by the same individuals.
There is a huge syndicate formulated by those who lost their bid to get this contract to supply the Health Centre Kits to scandalise the government through the Ministry of Health, a key government ministry responsible for the health of the nation.
Among those aggrieved is a company that has from time immemorial been supplying essential medicines, Health Centre Kits and community health workers kits from as far back as the days of the Central Board of Health (CBH)
This group of detractors are determined to de-campaign the government of President Lungu by creating an impression that his administration does not pay the required attention to issues of safeguarding the lives of the people who elected him into office.
Their aim is to use propaganda and raising of red flags to make donors and other cooperating is partners believe something is terribly wrong at the Ministry of Health and that government is abating corruption when in fact not.
Their ultimate goal is to compel government to cancel a duly awarded contract all because their preferred supplier lost the bid.
They simply forget that we are now in a competitive world where decisions are made meritoriously and according to the prevailing circumstances and not based on the history of those thinking they hold the monopoly to do business with government.
It is because of the same mercenaries that artificial shortages of essential drugs are leaked to the media all because they feel government should not talk to any other suppliers except them.
Being a Zambian company that Honeybee Pharmacy are, they continued supplying and delivery of their consignment to the Ministry of Health even when it owed them colossal sums being discussed and to that effect information is available for any interested and well-meaning media house to obtain as opposed to joining the bandwagon of rumour mongers.
The company did its very best under the circumstances to undo the pressure government was facing from these capitalists
Ultimate goal
Their ultimate goal is to compel government to cancel a duly awarded contract all because their preferred supplier lost the bid.
hiding in the name of suppliers.
This situation did not sit well with those who opted to halt the supplies but they could only do so in a country they have little or no interest of the people at heart.
The difference between the cartel and Honeybee Pharmacy is the fact that Honeybee Pharmacy owes its allegiance even in doing business to the Zambian government of President Lungu and their local employees who are Zambian nationals with no other country of origin but Zambia.
They have pledged to remain patriotic and loyal to the government of the day even amidst these storms propagated by those pushing the opposition agenda.
For some unfortunate reasons the unhealthy and venomous debate has trickled down to the lower organs of the Patriotic Front especially in WhatsApp groupings where it has heightened without the realisation that the only people benefitting from this saga are the opposition
political parties and their paymasters in the name of multinational companies who feel it’s their birthright to do business with our government owing to them being our colonial masters.
This conspiracy is by far beyond comprehension and a dirty manipulation of freedom of speech and expression by a selected but paid up few to champion the muzungu agenda.
This too must not go unchallenged bearing the Honeybee Pharmacy side of story which is now in public domain for anyone to make intelligent comparisons.
We would like to end by sounding a strong warning against all those paid to drive this agenda to be weary of the fact that that Freedom of Speech is indeed not freedom after speech and that we shall meet you with thesame force on the legal front.