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Companies

PUMA oil Zambian unit risks having its operating license revoked after the company was accused of deliberately failing to stock enough fuel at most of its retail service stations, leading to creating of what has been described as an artificial shortage.

Energy Minister Mathews Nkhuwa during his fact finding tour of the Southern Province to check on fuel stock levels expressed his concerns questioning why Puma was the only oil marketing company whose retail service stations had no fuel when others had managed to re-stock.

The Energy Minister said he is disappointed with PUMA pointing out that almost all the filling station he had visited across the province had managed to get back to normal in terms of having enough stocks of both Petrol and Diesel at the various filling stations.

Nkhuwa said despite Puma having 70 years experience in the Zambian energy sector, its disappointing that the company is failing to order fuel in a timely manner so as to cushion consumers against possible shortages.

“Puma management seems not know what they are doing, the situation is disappointing since we need them to come through especially during this time when we are experiencing some level of fuel shortage as a country,” he said.

He said he was impressed with the fuel stock levels at most filling station except for puma. The minister noted that most filling stations had enough stocks to last up to six days. “Oil marketing companies have reserves for filling stations, while the country has reserves that should be drawn from in times of need”, he said.

Fuel shortages at some service stations started building up and was caused by oil marketing companies not ordering fuel due to high landing costs which was eroding their margins.

“So upon realizing that, government did consultations and afterwards we removed exercise duty on both diesel and petrol and zero rated the Value Added Tax – VAT so that the end user prices would not be adjusted upwards. This is why the current pump prices remained at the same price,” Nkuwa emphasized.

The Energy Minister has since assured the nation that fuel price hike was unlikely at the moment. “We would have increased the price of fuel, but we realize that if we increase the price of fuel, everything else will sky rocket in terms of pricing”, he said.

Nkhuwa however cautioned that the government had limited to no control over the two major factors that led to fuel increase. He cited the two factors as the Kwacha to US dollar rate and the international oil prices.

“So when international oil price goes up, it becomes very difficult to hold the prices down, if you look at the current situation, the Kwacha depreciated by about 51% and a barrel of crude oil has gone up from about US$40 the last time we increased, to now about US$53. These are the factors that put pressure on landed cost of fuel,” he said.

When ZBT reached out to Puma, regarding the threat of the oil marketing company losing its Zambian operation license, Puma Zambia Managing Director Pinchi Simukwai stated that he would issue a statement later.

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PUMA oil Zambian unit risks having its

Companies

Zambia is currently stuck and can not offload about 70 tons of ivory that is held by the government. The ivory held by Zambia is estimated to be worth about US$105 million using a lower band price of US$1,500 per kilogram.

A surge in demand for ivory in Asia has been the main reason behind the upward trend in prices for elephant tusks, especially from Africa. Over the past decade, the price of raw ivory has gone up from about US$100 per kilogram to between US$1,500 to US$1,800, creating a lucrative black market.

A check with the Ministry of Tourism and Arts by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT revealed that Zambia is still lobbying to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) for the country to offload its ivory stockpile.

Ministry of Tourism Spokesperson Sakabilo Kalembwe said the ivory is getting weak and the grade or quality is going down because of age, adding that some of the held ivory stock dates back several decades from the time it was confiscated.

In an exclusive interview with Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Kalembwe said that even if we request to sell off all the ivory, CITES cannot allow the country to offload all of it at once because most of the ivory may end up on the black market.

“We cannot offload all of [the Ivory] at once because this will create unnecessary confusion and other countries will say, why has Zambia been allowed?, can we also be allowed to afload all our stocks”, he said.

He also said that the ministry is hoping that the lobbying that the country has been doing through the Non Governmental Organizations – NGOs and various embassies that are around that are affiliated to Zambia, CITES will give Zambia a go ahead to realize value from the stocks held.

And a follow up by ZBT with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife through the Assistant Director for Conservation Management, Andrew Chomba, revealed that the country has between 60-70 tonnes of ivory stocks.

When asked estimate the market value of the ivory, Chomba stated that it is difficult to tell how much it is worth because currently there is no legal trade in ivory worldwide. “What is prevailing now is the black market price and that should not be the basis for us to value our ivory, so it’s a challenge to put an actual price to it”, he said.

Chomba added that if the country is to offload its ivory stocks, a trading partner that will be willing to buy the ivory will have to be identified and then the price will be negotiated and agreed.

When further reminded that the stocks are costing the government and tax payers money to be kept secure, Chomba said that he cannot put an exact figure to how much it is costing the government to secure the stockpile at a secure location, but stated that it is a costly exercise.

To hold the stocks, its a continuous exercise of getting new stocks. “We have to send officers on patrol in the bush to look for dead elephants, be it from natural mortalities or poacher activities. The aim is to collect the ivory, secure it and take it to the headquarters”.

“So the cost of the salaries, cost of transporting it to a secure location is quite significant as well as the security provided and the storage room which must be secured at all times is a massive cost”, he said.

Chomba further told ZBT that it is a challenging process to get where the country will be able to sell the ivory because the proposals should be submitted to CITES at the conference of parties. It is at these conferences were Zambia’s proposal must be supported by two thirds of parties for it to succeed.

Some stakeholders have proposed that Zambia finds a way to leverage and benefit from its huge stockpile of Ivory it currently holds. As things stand, you find that the country is being negatively reported for failing to settle debt obligations when it holds assets such as ivory whose value can not be realized.

Most African countries are in the end forced to burn down these ivory stocks as holding the stockpiles just end up as a costly exercise. This perhaps explains why our economies in Africa continue to lose value over time. Dear ZBT reader, What should the government do with the ivory?

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Zambia is currently stuck and can not

Tech

Zambia’s Engineering professional body, The Engineering Institute of Zambia (EIZ) has maintained its stance and will not budge or compromise its professional advise that the Alick Nkhata flyover bridge should be demolished.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, EIZ President Eng. Abel Ng’andu said he has not backtracked on his position concerning the Alick Nkhata flyover bridge, adding maintained that the structure does not meet the specifications of a well-designed structure.

EIZ deemed the bridge unsafe after undertaking a review of the design and construction as well as after engaging all stakeholders involved on the project through an in-depth analysis of the intended purpose of the bridge, its design and construction sometime last year.

According to a press release made available to the media on 22 December 2020 by the EIZ Registrar and Chief Executive Officer Eng. Linus Chanda, the space where the flyover bridge is being constructed is not sufficient to meet a well-designed flyover bridge, which meets standard specifications.

Chanda had stated then that the assessments done prior to undertaking the project do not justify the construction of the bridge, adding that the safety of the pedestrians was not adequately addressed.

He also said that the steep slopes of the bridge would lead to frequent accidents and the sudden slope change on the deck of the ramp will eventually affect the integrity of the bridge.

The EIZ therefore recommended that the bridge be demolished and a new re-designed road section be constructed and it has since maintained its stance. Some patch up work was recently done by the contractor but a drive through the bridge is still raising doubt even from ordinary motorists as to whether the bridge is safe.

Some stakeholders have indicated that the contractor and the Pension fund (PSPF) may be reluctant to demolish and redesign due to the huge sums of money that has already been sunk into the bridge. Efforts to get a comment from both PSPF and the contractor proved futile by press time.

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Zambia’s Engineering professional body, The Engineering Institute

Markets

The re-opening of schools across Zambia has started the process of re-igniting the low business pulse as the local economy attempts to crawl out of the current recession exacerbated by the Covid pandemic.

Among the businesses expected to benefit include bookstores, garments and school uniform businesses and generally the food and beverages sector as school children drive the purchase of many lines under food and beverages.

From this experience, most businesses have learnt how pivotal schools and higher learning institutions play in driving demand for their products. The ministries of General and Higher education are perhaps the most unsung hero’s when it comes to contribution to economic activity.

Yet a check from indictors such as traffic from Monday morning shows that the transport sector also got a fair share of the return business from 1 February 2021. Minibus & taxi drivers and owners have also benefited from increased business.

This benefits also translates linked business sector such as petroleum stations, corner shops and both the formal and informal economy has definitely gotten a kick up in economic activity from this single and yet delicate decision to re-Open schools.

A check with leading book and stationary retailer, Book world, its Procurement Officer Christabel Sakala revealed that there is a rise in sales volumes as schools re-open. Sakala stated that they optimistic that the opening of schools will further increase sales for the bookstore.

Sakala said she has observed that the opening of schools has affected the business positively as more parents are trying to buy provisions and supplies for their children. Speaking in an interview with Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Sakala said business was negatively affected during the closure of schools, as there were lower sales.

She said the bookstore has two types of key customers who are the schools and parents. She’s stated that from the time schools were closed, the sales volume were lower, adding that sales were not as high for both the schools which buy directly from the store or the parents who buy for their kids individually.

“At the moment we are still in the back to school run, schools just opened and the back to school rush started over the weekend which will go on throughout this week until next week, so we are positive that the sales will increase further”, she said.

Meanwhile the Bus and Taxi Owners Association of Zambia says the increase in Covid-19 cases has continued to slow down business, as most people are not traveling. Association Spokesperson Amis Daudi said people have reduced their movements due to the corona virus therefore, business has become slow.

Daudi noted that though the short distance movements have improved from the time school re-opened, there is still a general reduction in business. He stated that long distance movements have reduced even more as many people are trying to stay home and stay safe.

He has urged the drivers and taxi owners to ensure that everyone that uses their buses or taxis masks up, adding that the public should also ensure they follow the Covid-19 guidelines so that business can resume to be conducted under the new normal.

It is therefore key that the Covid pandemic defense guidelines are followed so that the country can find ways to open up and ease distractions in more and more sectors. After all, top scientist have projected that Covid may take a long time or even years to eliminate, even after the roll out of vaccines.

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The re-opening of schools across Zambia has

Agribusiness

Zambia’s Sunflower production increased by a staggering 47% in the 2019/2020 farming season compared to the 2018/2019 farming season. Despite this aggressive increase, the local production still did not meet the national demand.

According to information made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT by the Zambia’s statistics agency – Zamstats, Sunflower production increased from 34,208 metric tonnes in the 2018/2019 farming season to 50,451 metric tonnes in the 2019/2020 farming season.

Sunflower demand has largely been driven by the demand for edible oils (cooking and industrial oils) as well as stock feed. Meanwhile, National Union for Small Scale Farmers in Zambia-NUSFAZ says the current production of Sunflower is not enough to satisfy the needs of the processors of edible oils and stock feed.

Union Executive Director Ebony Loloji said edible oil manufacturers have the capacity to process in excess of 80,000 metric tonnes but production is less than this capacity. There is also demand from livestock feed producers which is also growing.

Speaking in an interview with Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Loloji said the demand for sunflower is very high but the farmers are not able to meet the demand, adding that market availability is broad.

Loloji said there is need to educate farmers on how to go about producing the crop and the market availability, adding that if local farmers are given the market information at the right time, they will be able to make good decisions concerning venturing into sunflower production.

“If farmers are given information at the right time, they will be able to say okay fine, if I were to go into sunflower production, atleast I know that the market is readily available and am able to sell it at a competitive price and make a return or profit”, he said.

He also said that local famers need to be made aware of the fact that sunflower is a low input crop and is not as expensive to grow as other cash crops because it just needs compound D fertilizer as compared to maize which requires basal dressing and also top dressing.

“In terms of fertilizing for sunflower you just need around 4 bags of D compound for a hectare”, he said. Loloji mentioned that the oil from sunflower is of superior quality compared to soya beans and one gets more oil from sunflower for every kg that is crushed compared to soya beans.

“You need around 10kg of seed to plant one hectare compared to soya beans where you need about 100kg”, he said. He also said that the supply of seed was a challenge last farming season and hopes that there will be an improvement this year from seed companies.

“It was very difficult to source seed, there were so many seed companies that we contacted for the supply of sunflower seed but most of them were saying they had run out”, he said. Loloji also noted that there was an increase in the market price that was been offered in the last marketing season which was about K3.5 per kg, adding that it was better than the ruling prices for maize.

Zambian farmers have been caught up in the mono-cropping culture which have been heavily dependent on rains. Agro experts have contented that there is need for all year round and multi cropping for farming as a Business to reality in Zambia.

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Zambia’s Sunflower production increased by a staggering

Lifestyle

The Zambia Police (ZP) says it will use electronic means and revamp the police toll free number (991) & the national call centre as part of the reforms to make the service more responsive and meet the best practices of policing.

The Zambia police command has of late been criticized for failure to put in place a fully functional and monitored public policing system. The currently not fully functional call centre and toll free number has further exacerbated the the negative perceptions regarding the ability of the Police to respond to public emergencies.

ZP spokeperson Esther Katongo stated that “though the Police call centre and toll free line is currently not fully functional due to challenges with some mobile service providers, government and the police command are working on a permanent solution through the establishment of the massive command centre, that will have an independent communication line. This command centre is almost complete”.

In an exclusive response to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Katongo stated that most of the police’s operations will soon be electronic following the launch of smart Zambia and Safe Zambia, which are both key government programes.

Katongo said the process of going electronic for ZP operations and systems has already begun and soon, most of the operations such as receiving of reports from the public and logging in reports directly to a central data base will be launched. This will ensure that there is no tampering of reports afterwards when you compare with the paper based method.

And to monitor its operations and the armoury in order to ensure that police officers return guns before going home, the Police spokeperson stated that each police station has an armourer whose duty is to monitor the usage of firearms, therefore it is feasible for each police station to monitor movement, storage and usage of firearms.

Moreover, this process will also not be left out when digitizing the operations. There will be electronic monitoring of the Armoury as well. Then logging in of reports by both the public and police stations will soon be electronic and this will lead to an audit trail and timely transmitting of information.

She further told ZBT that the police service is also working on having electronic dockets and the system will be linked to sister institutions in the justice system. She added that the process of allocating computers to police stations and centers has already begun, “we as the police are already implementing the online service programme under smart Zambia”.

She stated that some stations have already been given computers while some are yet to receive, adding that special security features will and have been considered to avoid leakage or tampering of data and information.

She said the Safe Zambia project will also ensure monitoring of happenings across the country where semi command centres are also being built. This project is scheduled to be completed before August this year.

When asked how the issue of Police stations failure to respond to emergency calls on account of lack of fuel or transport?, Katongo told ZBT that the police may have challenges with fuel and transportation, but as an institution, just like any other, it works around them, adding that government has started buying motor vehicles for the police and soon the challenge will be addressed.

She also told ZBT that the community in some instances have helped to buy fuel or by donating vehicles to the police in their community as policing is a shared responsibility. These initiatives by the community are commendable.

On the issue of members of the public facing challenges to log complaints against Police officers who are denting the image of the service? Katongo advised members of the public who may have complaints against police officers to visit their nearest police stations and report such officers to the supervisors found at each police station.

She said members of the public logging a complaint against Police offices will be required to make a statement which will be recorded and a docket opened, in emergencies the public is advised to use the national communication line which will in turn inform the responsible or nearest police to respond. She added that these reforms which were announced, are still being worked on, and all efforts to put in controls by electronic means have reached an advanced stage.

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The Zambia Police (ZP) says it will

Agribusiness

Soya beans production is expected to continue to surge upwards as demand for edible oils and stock feed continues to rise in Zambia and its neighboring countries.

Soya beans production is this year projected to increase further as the crop use as a Food crop is also on the raise. Zambia is projected to recorded a notable 6% growth in Soya production between the 2018/2019 to 2019/2020 farming season.

According to information made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT by Zambia’s statistics agency – Zamstats, soya beans production is expected to increased from about 281,000 tonnes in the 2018/2019 farming season to about 297,000 metric tonnes in the 2019/2020 farming season.

And the Soya beans market and demand remains high even within Zambia. Ministry of Agriculture Chief Field Crops Agronomist Nawa Malumo said the current production is still very low when you look at what is required to meet the stockfeed and edible oil requirements of the country.

Malumo said some of the things that can be done to increase production include increasing extension provision to farmers in order to improve on management and yield of the crop, as the current yields are too low when compared to best practices.

He added that other measures that value chain players such as seed companies can take to improve productivity include strengthening soyabeans breeding in order to provide higher yielding varieties to farmers.

Strengthening farmer cooperatives for easy acquisition of inputs and marketing and facilitating bulking centres in production centres especially in rural areas could increase production and make Zambia a net exporter.

He said some of the challenges faced by the farmers are the cost of seed which has been too high for many small scale farmers. Most local farmers who want to venture into Soya can not find quality seeds as its not readily available in many areas. This has led farmers recycling seed which is not ideal.

He also cited poor management practices such as late planting ,farmers not applying the right fertilizer, late harvesting leading to high post-harvest losses and in varieties that shatter adding that this can lead to high losses.

Malumo however stated that there is a readily available market for soyabeans especially in peri urban areas and the demand for the crop is high, although farmers in rural areas still find challenges to market the commodity adding that currently, there are still few processing facilities in the country which restricts the market.

He mentioned that it is difficult to ascertain if this year’s projected increase in Soya production will be realized but noted that the rainfall pattern has been favourable for the crop.

Local farmers have been caught up in mono cropping which has led to less diversification and rain dependent agriculture. For farming to be profitable, there is need for an all year round production system that will ensure revenue generation does not get restricted to rain fed production.

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Soya beans production is expected to continue

Tech

Investigations have been instituted to ascertain the cause of a military plane that crash landed belonging to the Zambia Air Force (ZAF). Questions have arisen as to why ZAF was delivering fuel to Mukinge mission when all other missions don’t receive fuel rations from government.

A check with Mukinge mission revealed that the mission could not give details as to why they were receiving the fuel or indeed if they received any fuel. Mukinge mission could not state if they indeed were receiving fuel but referred the matter back to ZAF for details.

And ZAF confirmed that they has instituted an investigation in the crash that happened in Kasempa district at Mukinge Mission Hospital airstrip where a ZAF plane crash-landed. ZAF Director of Public Relations Colonel Peter Zimba said the air force has constituted a body of inquiry to determine what led to the accident.

Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Zimba said the investigation, which will take a week, will provide the details of what led to the accident. When asked the worth of the plane and whether it was insured, Colonel Zimba said the airforce will be able to provide all that information once the investigation is concluded.

A Zambia Air Force plane crash-landed at Mukinge Mission Hospital airstrip on Tuesday, the 26 January around 08:50 hours, with the initial report indicating that the plane was delivering fuel to Mukinge mission. The mission has however declined to either confirm or deny receiving any fuel consignment.

A preliminary report indicates that the five-sitter plane which crash landed had five crew members on board. The crash left three (who include the pilot and copilot) unhurt, while the two complained of general body pains were admitted to Mukinge mission hospital.

The aircraft registration number AF 222 was reported to have been flying from Lusaka to Kasempa. The crash left a shattered front window screen and a damaged front nose, raising questions of whether it was insured and what the replacement costs would be.

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Investigations have been instituted to ascertain the

Tech

A source at Shalina Pharmaceuticals has exclusively told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that the batches of Vitamin C tablets that has been recalled may have changed colour because of poor storage conditions.

The source who said they were not officially authorized to publicly speak on behalf of the company said there maybe someone behind this whole scandal [poor storage causing the change in color] and the company hopeful that all the facts will be out in the open soon.

The source said Shalina pharmaceuticals is currently not selling any Vitamin C tablets as it is waiting for the Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) to advise on the way forward. He emphasized that Shalina Pharmaceuticals will not do anything that is against the regulatory authority or the country.

The Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) advised the public not to buy Cevite tablets (Vitamin C) bearing batch numbers 0371572 and 0372251 which was imported into Zambia by Shalina Phatmaceuticals.

On January 22, 2021, Shalina Pharmaceuticals Zambia issued a recall citing some change of colour in some tablets to brown as the reason behind the action. Shalina Pharmaceuticals Zambia recalled the Cevite 500mg tablets even before ZAMRA issued its recall message.

In its motive of recall, Shalina pharma advised wholesalers, hospitals and retail pharmacies to instead exchange the defective batches with non defective one, but the statement did no say anything on any remedial actions that would be taken for those that had already consumed the vitamins from the recalled batches.

However, Pharmaceutical Expert Jerome Kanyika questioned the process of certification by the Zambia Medicine Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) that medicine goes through before its put on the market for public consumption.

He told ZBT that there are some senior staff at ZAMRA that are in the forefront of covering up the mess on behalf of the Pharmaceutical companies who supply substandard drugs and medical utilities.

Kanyika said the recalling of medicines that has been happening lately is an indication that ZAMRA is not doing its job in ensuring that the quality and standard of medicine is certified before being circulated to the public.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Kanyika said that it is normal to have a recall of medicines say, once every two years, and this should normally be initiated by the manufacturer themselves and not the regulator, so the current happenings are very alarming.

“Under normal circumstances, the rate of recalling medicines from circulation should not be as much as it has been lately, the way we are recalling drugs speaks volumes because within a short period of time, we have done it too many times. You cannot recall so many medicines in two years as has been the case since 2019”, he said.

Kanyika also mentioned that the World Health Organisation (WHO) does not certify some of these drugs that being imported into Zambia, adding that some of the Pharmaceutical companies in Zambia buy substandard medicines at very low prices.

“In Zambia, as long as you have written good English and put up a big profile about your company, then it will be certified and you will be given market authorisation”, he said.

Kanyika added that countries like Zimbabwe [despite all the current challenges] ensure that the regulatory body travels to inspect the pharmaceutical company that manufactures drugs before registering it on their market.

When asked how some medicines which are certified are ending up being recalled, he stated that “When registering a drug, some pharmaceutical companies buy medicine from a well-known pharmaceutical companies which they use to get the initial certification”.

“But what happens then is that they then source substandard and in some cases counterfeit drugs which are then brought in and distributed. This is why you are seeing all these recalls. So, when the regulator goes and inspects the drugs being supplied, that when these gaps are found”, he said.

“The other problem is that some of these Pharma companies go for cheap products instead of buying quality and authentic products, they go for substandard products without considering the consequences of such actions because they are cheaper and they make more profits”, he said.

There is also need for the public to be more cautious, “Provided someone is selling it at a cheaper price, we don’t question ourselves to say why is this medicine selling at a lower price than this one, we don’t even check to see if a pharmaceutical company is certified by WHO or not”, he lamented.

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A source at Shalina Pharmaceuticals has exclusively

Tech

Patients across Zambia who were prescribed and took the recently recalled 75MG aspirin tablets risk suffering from stoke and heart attack in the short term.

Pharmaceutical Expert Jerome Kanyika says individuals (patients) who consumed the recalled aspirin are likely to suffer a stroke or heart attack, as those are some of the early implications of taking re-called medication, which may be sub-standard or counterfeit.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Kanyika, who is also former Pharmaceutical Society of Zambia President said that when one takes medication which they are not supposed to or is substandard, it turns into poison and can have long-term implications like cancer, impotence, kidney failure and liver damage

When asked about why the affected consumers are not tested and given remedial medicines, Kanyika said that there is a system challenge in Zambia when it comes to tracing who actually consumed the recalled medicines or drugs.

These are some of the failures of our current medical system, members of the public who have already consumed, in this case, the recalled aspirin can’t be traced because Zambia does not have a system of knowing who has and has not accessed a particular medicine.

“All medicines are chemicals and the aspirin that has been recalled is a drug that is designed for people who have problems with their heart pumping blood or blood clotting. These patients are given this type of aspirin medication to make the blood thin so as to prevent blood clots from forming in order to ease the pumping of blood”, he said.

Imagine now that they were given these sub-standard aspirin? There is need to follow through by testing them, assessing the impact and taking corrective measures.

“It’s unfortunate that the country’s health system has been failing for some time because what is supposed to happen is once medicine is recalled, consumers are supposed to be traced and monitored to see the effects of the medicine, but in the absence of such a system, these people can’t be located, we have no electronic files for our patients”, he said.

He mentioned that according to the Medicines and Allied Substances Act, any pharmaceutical company that is involved in supplying sub-standard medication needs to be penalised or have their license revoked. But is this happening?

When asked why ZAMRA keeps having medicines being recalled while the responsible companies are simply asked to replace the recalled medicines with no compensation to individuals who took the sub-standard drugs?

Kanyika told ZBT that “It is clear that some of the staff working at these regulatory authorities [ZAMRA] are covering up for these pharmaceutical companies! otherwise we would not be seeing all these cases where medicines are being recalled”.

“We are in the covid-19 pandemic era and the use of medicines has increased, some people are buying vitamins so that they can boost their immune system and as the pharmaceutical industry, we are supposed to be professionals and tell people what is going on with some of these medicines on the market but its unfortunate we are the ones risking the lives of the public”, he said.

The Ministry of Health was on 25 January, 2021 confirmed through a media statement that they are in receipt of correspondence from Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) dated 7 December, 2020 in which they directed the International Drug Company of Zambia to urgently recall Aspirin 75MG Tablets USP Batch No ET-905 manufactured by Wintech Pharmaceuticals Limited of India from circulation.

Concerns have arisen as to why no punitive measures are being meted to drug and pharmaceutical companies who supply sub-standard drugs which are later recalled. After recall of the counterfeit drugs or sub-standard medicines, it seems like no tracing and monitoring of patients is being done.

And efforts by ZBT to get a comment from ZAMRA proved futile by press time. The ZAMRA team was consistently stating that they are in meetings.

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Patients across Zambia who were prescribed and