Hospital worker in Mzuzu jailed 16yrs IHL for drug theft
The Senior Resident Magistrate Court in Mzuzu on Friday sentenced former Mzuzu Central Hospital laboratory assistant, Kondwani Kanthenga, to 216 months imprisonment with hard labour (IHL) for theft by public servant and to a further 36 months IHL for possessing medical drugs and equipment without a licence.
The sentences will run concurrently.
Malawi loses over K5 billion every year due to drug theft in its public facilities.
The K5 billion value represents a third of Ministry of Health (MoH) annual drug budget of K17 billion (about $25.9 million), according to Health Minister Peter Kumpalume who recently warned of stiffer punishment to culprits.
The drug pilferage has also outraged donors.
In mid-December 2015, some of the country’s donors in the health sector said they were horrified by the extent of drug theft in public hospitals, warning that they were closely monitoring government’s accountability of drugs.
The donors, who included United States Agency for International Development (USaid) and Britain’s Department for International Development (DfID), threatened to shift support elsewhere if the country failed to rein back drug theft.
Therefore, the sentencing of Kanthenga who was arrested on May 29 2016 after being found with various medical drugs and equipment at his house in Mzuzu worth K2 929 958, comes as a huge relief for government as it intensifies its fight against the malpractice.
Kanthenga, despite pleading for leniency based on that the fact that he is a first offender and that he had cooperated with the police throughout the course of the case, Senior Resident Magistrate George Major Mbewe said he deserved a stiffer punishment that he could learn from.
The magistrate further found the restitution of the medical equipment, as an argument for a lesser sentence wanting, stating, much as the items were all recovered, they will no longer be used, but disposed.
“The court fails to appreciate the argument that the convict cooperated with the State and demonstrated good behaviour, because his conduct in court demonstrated the contrary. For instance, this court recalls that the convict denied the obvious such as being found in possession of Malawi Government branded microscropes among other things,” ruled Mbewe.
He then sentenced Kanthenga to 216 months imprisonment with hard labour (IHL) for theft by public servant and to a further 36 months IHL for possessing medical drugs and equipment without a licence.
Among the medical supplies and equipment Kanthenga was found possessing were microscopes, medical gloves, bandages, digital blood pressure monitors, tongue dispensers and empty sample collecting tubes.
