The National Drug Authority (NDA) has recovered more than 150,000 doses of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) in a special operation that led to the arrest of a Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) officer and a nurse accused of stealing government drugs.

According to NDA spokesperson Abiaz Rwamwiri, Lance Corporal Jimmy Kisembo, a laboratory technician attached to Kabamba health centre IV in Mubende district, was arrested at a private residence in Mpumudde trading centre, Sembabule district.

At the same location, NDA officials also seized 3,000 doses of anti-malarial drugs and 12,500 malaria testing kits, all clearly labelled “Government of Uganda – Not for Sale.”

The authority said the medical supplies were stolen from the military health facility. During the operation, Mayi Musoke, an enrolled nurse and in charge of Makore health centre II, was also arrested.

Rwamwiri noted that Kisembo becomes the second security operative to be implicated in the theft of government drugs, following the arrest of a police officer in a similar operation earlier this year.

Rwamwiri said these operations are part of our ongoing efforts to curb the theft and illegal sale of government medicines, adding that since 2019, NDA’s enforcement drives have led to the arrest of over 60 suspects, including 40 government health workers, and the recovery of stolen drugs worth over Shs 13 billion.

The arrests come just weeks after the Standards, Utilities and Wildlife Court sentenced Ronald Kibalye, a health worker from Kayunga hospital, to four years in prison for illegal possession of more than 64,000 doses of ARVs.

The newly arrested suspects are currently in police custody and are expected to face two charges: Illegal possession of government stores contrary to Section 296(2) of the Penal Code Act, and Illegal possession of classified drugs contrary to Section 27(2) of the National Drug Policy and Authority Act.