The Inspectorate of Government on March 21, 2023 received a petition from a whistleblower, Steven Ssemakula on the anomalies in the recruitment of a senior director at the National Drugs Authority.

It has now emerged that for over a period of one year, there has not been definitive results released from the herbal testing unit which was under the supervision of the Manager Medicine Testing Unit Ssenyange Comfort Elisha as part of medicines laboratory. The development brings immense question the quality and safety of licensed herbal medicines currently on the Ugandan market.

In addition to the March’s petition, Mr. Senyange is said to have been appointed in breach of clause 5.8.1c of the human resource manual and government standing orders, which states that “An Employee should not be assigned duties of a higher office when there are more senior officers at a higher level than him or her in hierarchy. Whilst Mr. Ssenyange is a Drug Analyst in the same laboratory, there are three officers at the principle level to whom the latter has been under their supervision. This is said to have been done to frustrate targeted individuals but consequently risking the quality of the expected output.

Following her fake recruitment as the director Laboratory services, Ms Amoreen appointed Mr. Ssenyange, though qualified but limited by the previous hierarchy to hold the job, was appointed by the Director of Laboratory Services, Ms. Amoreen, pinned by the same whistleblower for being irregularly recruited at the senior position.

Selective recruitment has become common in NDA as seen from the records including that of Ms. Amoreen Naluyima has always been internally appointed in various positions in incongruence with the necessities in the adverts and even when there are other internal staff who are qualified for the same position. In March 2021 she was appointed manager medicines Laboratory without minimum requirements.

The Laboratory scrutiny is the one mandated to test all medicines on Ugandan market and in Uganda health supply chain institutions. It is not a question that such a glitch in a technical directorate of a drug regulator create risks.
Hence, it is opportune for the IGG to launch a comprehensive investigation into the events at the critical Laboratory Department of IGG.

Our efforts to talk to named persons for their side were futile as their known contacts were off by press time.