The head of Uganda’s National Medical Stores (NMS), Moses Kamabare, has called for a 10-year professional ban on health workers caught stealing or selling government-supplied medicines, describing the act as “a crime against the people”.
Speaking on KFM’s Hot Seat radio programme in Kampala, Kamabare said that such thefts not only undermine public confidence in the health system but also directly endanger lives by depriving patients of treatment.
“If a health worker is caught stealing government medicines, their registration should be removed for a minimum of ten years,” Kamabare said. “You are not a trader. You know what harm you cause when you deny patients the medicines they need.”
He said the diversion of medicines from public facilities to private clinics had created “artificial shortages”, where drugs appear unavailable in hospitals but can be found for sale nearby.
Kamabare identified theft as the biggest challenge in Uganda’s otherwise well-structured medicine supply chain, which NMS manages on behalf of the government. The agency supplies over 3,400 public health facilities every two months and national referral hospitals monthly.
To enhance transparency, Kamabare said NMS had introduced anti-theft technology, including GPS tracking on delivery trucks and real-time digital alerts to district leaders confirming when consignments arrive.
“Our trucks are tracked in real time. If a driver leaves the mapped route, the engine shuts down automatically,” he said. “Local leaders receive SMS messages when medicines reach their facilities — with the name of the person who received them.”
All government medicines, Kamabare added, are embossed with the label “Government of Uganda – Not for Sale”, enabling the public to identify them easily.
“These medicines are already paid for by taxpayers. They are free. Anyone caught selling them is committing a crime,” he warned.
The NMS chief spoke as the agency rolled out its nationwide awareness campaign, “From Warehouse to Your Health Facility,” aimed at strengthening public oversight of the medicine supply chain and encouraging citizens to report theft.
“We are determined to reach every Ugandan — by truck, boat, or even on foot — because health is a right,” Kamabare said.
