Politics

MBABANE – Funduzi Forensic Services (Funduzi) is in the spotlight again.

This time, the company has been awarded a contract without consideration of an open tender, which is always recommended by the Eswatini Public Procurement Regulatory Agency (ESPPRA)

Funduzi has been appointed to investigate issues around drug recalls and the quality of drugs supplied to government.

The company has confimed the appointment.

It says it is now shifting its focus to investigating issues related to the supply, recall and disposal of expired or questionable medicines in the health sector.

It further states that this investigation was commissioned by Parliament through the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

“We have since invited companies as we pursue the related matter, mostly on drug recalls, as Parliament requested us through PAC to also zoom in on that,” said Zakhele Dlamini, the Director of Funduzi.

The company has already hit the ground running and issued letters to various pharmaceutical companies, summoning them to appear before its officers.

One of its officers is an advocate who has been engaged to lead the investigations.

Dlamini said his company has been awarded the new contract without going through the tendering process, but as an extended mandate.

“There was no tender, it was just an extension from the past assignment because it interlinks as the recalls on drugs are also causing troubles in shortages, questioning its quality and efficacy,” he said.

The company also confirmed having reached out to pharmaceutical companies operating in the kingdom.

Once again, the company has drawn scrutiny from pharmaceutical companies after it issued new invitations for interviews as part of its new investigation into the country’s drug supply system.

Dlamini said his team has issued letters of invitation to a number of drug suppliers, instructing them to attend interviews in Mbabane.

According to Dlamini, the objective of this phase of the investigation is to ‘zoom in on drug recalls’, a matter which, he stated, was raised by the PAC during the presentation of the previous report, which is yet to be fully implemented.

“Yes, we have invited companies in pursuit of the related matter, mostly focused on drug recalls, as Parliament requested us, through the PAC, to investigate further,” said Dlamini.

He emphasised that the scope of the investigation includes random sampling of entities involved in the drug supply chain, particularly those linked with the Central Medical Stores (CMS) and public hospitals.

“We wanted to check how they manage their drug recalls from either CMS or hospitals, in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) regulations and standards,” Dlamini explained.

While confirming the outreach, Dlamini remained tight-lipped on the full scope of the investigation, stating that divulging more information could compromise the integrity of the process.

“There is a lot we are looking into, but I cannot say much at this stage. Our investigations are forensic in nature and, therefore, governed by strict confidentiality,” he stressed.

He conceded that as his company sent out those letters of invitations, some of the recipients responded with concerns about the process.

“We have clarified the issues raised by some suppliers. We have responded through emails and calls,” he said, without elaborating on the nature of the concerns raised.

Despite the formal letters and preparations, the proposed interviews, scheduled to take place at the Hilton Garden Inn in Mbabane on July 23 and 24, were abruptly cancelled on the same days they were to be held.

It has been established that this development triggered frustration and confusion among the pharmaceutical firms.

A director of one of the affected companies, who asked not to be named, criticised the late cancellation, describing the conduct of the investigator as ‘unprofessional and disruptive’.

Full details in today’s paper.

A truck from the Central Medical Stores delivering drugs recently. (Pic: Sourced)