The Makindye Magistrates Court has remanded three people including employees of Joint Medical Stores on charges related to theft of government drugs worth 21 billion Shillings.
The three are: Jane Frances Oling, the Executive Director Women in Development, a community based organization, and two employees of Joint Medical Stores – JMS, Ivan Luswata, a customs and warehouse delivery manager and Proscovia, a customs relations officer.
The trio on Friday afternoon was arraigned before court presided over by Grade One Magistrate Lorna Patience Tukundane and charged with theft, carrying on business of supplying restricted drugs, storage of classified drugs and conspiracy to commit a felony.
Court has heard that the accused and others still at large between late 2019 and March 2022 in Kampala city, stole donated medicines valued at over 21 billion Shillings being the property of the government of Uganda stored at Joint Medical Stores.
The court also heard that the prime suspect Oling at the same time carried out the business of supplying medicine that largely comprised of birth control drugs and contraceptives to the residents of Kawempe Division in Kampala well knowing that she does not have a general or limited certificate to do so.
They have all denied the charges and been remanded till March 15th 2022 as investigations continue.
Trouble for the accused started when a whistle blower informed the State House Anti-Corruption Unit led by Brig Henry Isoke that Oling has been keeping government drugs at her own home in Kanyanya, a Kampala suburb.
As a result, the detectives attached to the Unit working with the Kanyanya Police carried out a search at Oling’s home and discovered 193 boxes of assorted pharmaceutical drugs allegedly in illegal possession by her.
According to the State House Unit, during interrogation, Oling claimed that the drugs are for a community based organization registered in Oyam district called Women in Development yet she doesn’t have a certificate to operate beyond Oyam hence raising a red flag.
The Unit’s preliminary investigations also indicated that she has no legal relationship with JMS which purportedly supplied the impounded drugs to her but was only getting them through informal understandings with the JMS staff.
Among the boxes were pregnancy testing kits marked government of Uganda not for sale and also there were abortion pills that had expired in May and December 2021.