Uganda’s National Medical Stores (NMS) General Manager, Moses Kamabare, has called for tough disciplinary action, including a 10-year ban from practice, for health workers found guilty of stealing or selling government medicines.
Speaking during KFM’s Hot Seat programme in Kampala, Kamabare said such thefts not only deprive patients of life-saving drugs but also erode public confidence in the country’s health system.
“If a health worker is caught stealing government medicines, their registration should be removed for at least ten years,” Kamabare said. “You’re not a businessperson. You know what you are causing the masses by stealing these medicines.”
Kamabare described the act as a betrayal of trust and a serious professional and moral offence. He said some health workers deliberately create “artificial shortages” in government facilities by diverting drugs to private clinics for profit.
“You find a health centre claiming there’s no Coartem or paracetamol for malaria patients, yet the same drugs are being sold in a private clinic nearby,” he added. “That’s not a stock-out, that’s diversion.”
The NMS chief said his agency has stepped up efforts to curb theft through technology and accountability systems. All government medicines are now embossed with the words “Government of Uganda – Not for Sale” and tracked digitally from the NMS warehouse to the health facility.
He also revealed that NMS trucks are equipped with GPS tracking, allowing the agency to monitor deliveries in real time. Local leaders, including Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) and Members of Parliament, receive SMS alerts when medicines arrive at district health facilities.
“Our vehicles are tracked from the moment they leave NMS. If a driver goes off route, the engine automatically switches off,” Kamabare explained.
The measures form part of a wider public awareness campaign, “From Warehouse to Your Health Facility,” aimed at strengthening Uganda’s medicine supply chain and reminding citizens that all government-provided medicines are free.
Kamabare appealed to the public to report anyone selling embossed drugs to police or the State House Health Monitoring Unit.
“Government medicines are free,” he said. “If someone tries to sell them to you, refuse and report. Those drugs are already paid for with your taxes.”
The National Medical Stores, established in 1993, delivers essential medicines and vaccines to over 3,400 public health facilities across Uganda every two months and monthly to national referral hospitals.
