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Sosola speaks out on K25bn drugs tender

Interdicted acting registrar for the Pharmacy, Medicines and Poisons Board (PMPB) Aaron Sosola has for the first time spoken out on the K25 billion drug deal, accusing the whistle-blower of having bad motives.

Sosola said on Thursday in a telephone interview that the whistle-blower, managing partner for Unichem, a pharmaceutical wholesale company, Majid Panjwani, was simply hitting back at him [Sosola] for closing his two shops in 2005 for supplying unregistered drugs which had no labels.

Sosola added that PMPB also wrote Panjwani a strong letter this year for failing to finish deliveries on emergency tender. Other companies that received the strong letters were Intermed and Mediworld, according to minutes of the extraordinary meeting by the Central Medical Stores Trust dated May 24 2012.

“That time, I was part-time inspector with the pharmacy board when a resolution was made to close his shops. We also had a disciplinary hearing with him and wrote him a strong letter when he failed to deliver drugs in the emergency tender. I know he was angry with that.

“I know from all these sentiments, he was just responding to those regulatory issues,” said Sosola.

Panjwani leaked drug tender documents that Sosola had sent to Crown Pharmaceuticals and Research Laboratories Limited before the tender was out. Government interdicted Sosola immediately after the revelations. And the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) are investigating the matter.

In a telephone interview last week, Panjwani said he was simply exercising his right as a good citizen to alert concerned authorities of the leakage of the tender documents by Sosola to Crown Pharmaceuticals and Research Laboratories Limited.

He said he did not have grudges against Sosola.

The May 24 2012 minutes mention Intermed, Unichem X-ray Suppliers and Mediworld as having failed to finish deliveries on the emergency tender. Unichem belongs to Panjwani.

Read the minutes: “The members agreed that secretariat should write strong letters to these suppliers that if they do not deliver within delivery period stipulated by themselves, their contracts will be terminated and that CMST will not deal with them in future procurements.”

In August 2005, Sosola closed Pan Pharma and its branch in Lilongwe allegedly for selling drugs to unlicensed people.

The Nation dated August 11 2005 reported that Sosola was then drug inspector and was accompanied by two assistants when he went to close Panjwani’s shops.

Reads the story: “When the three inspectors stormed the pharmacy, wife to the owner, a Mrs. Panjwani, threatened to break cameras of journalists if they dared take pictures at the scene.”

The story says Panjwani was interrogated over the matter and he confessed that his pharmacist, who was fired, indeed used to sell drugs to unlicensed people.

Added Sosola in the story: “To our surprise, they continued with the malpractice, selling to vendors. This has forced the board to take a tough decision to close down the shops and revoke the license. The time they will open we expect them to strictly comply with the Pharmacy Act or else they will not be allowed to operate any pharmacy in the country and they will be liable to prosecution.”

In its response, the implicated company, Crown Pharma chief executive officer Balakrishna Shibu responded: “This story is indeed motivated by jealous of some scrupulous business personnel and it is a very good example of some of the business personnel avenging their failures to the honest government officials with malafide intentions.”

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