Zarina Madabida
22nd March 2013
The company which manufactures anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs is owned by Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) long time cadre Ramadhani Madabida.
The criminal case number 158/2003 was filed at Sokoine Drive Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam before the Resident Magistrate M. Mtaki, and public prosecutor John Kijumbe.
The accused, however, didn’t appear before the court, instead he was represented by his lawyer Dennis Msafiri, who submitted a letter praying for adjournment of the case until next month.
It was claimed before the court that the accused committed the offence on February 8, this year.
Reading the charge, Kijumbe alleged that at an unknown date along Chuma Road in Temeke District in the city, the accused was found by health officer Mohamed Mrindoko and his colleagues selling 228 bags of white refined sugar which had expired since 2012.
The act is contrary to Sections 32(1) (a) and 123 (1) of the Food, Drugs and Cosmetics Act No. 1 of 2003, he said.
Health officer Mrindoko and his colleague, he claimed, discovered the presence of 228 bags of sugar with total weight of 11,400 kgs.
It was further claimed that the industrial white refined sugar, was manufactured in 2009 and was due to expire in 2012.
Following the request by the defence advocate, the case was adjourned to March 4, this year when it will come up for mention.
Earlier, the sister paper Nipashe reported that the sugar was seized while it being transported illegally to Arusha for consumption.
Reliable sources had told Nipashe that transportation of the sugar was done rather surreptitiously and the warehouse where the consignment was kept was not frequently opened.
Following the circumstances of which the sugar was taken from the warehouse some people started to make a close follow up whereby they discovered that the consignment belonged to the CCM cadre.
Nipashe talked to Deputy Director of Tanzania Pharmaceutical Industries (TPI), which manufactures ARVs, Zarina Madabida, who confirmed that the sugar had expired and it was being transported to Arusha for further preservation.
In October last year the government suspended three top officials at the Medical Stores Department (MSD) and halted drug production at the Arusha-based Tanzania Pharmaceutical Industry (TPI) over sales of fake anti-retrovirals.
Health and Social Welfare minister Dr Hussein Mwinyi, speaking on the incident said the government had also stopped distribution of all drugs manufactured by TPI, including those stored by pharmacists and other outlets.
Dr Mwinyi further said investigations conducted in August last year by his ministry through the Tanzania Food and Drug Authority (TFDA) had established the presence of fake ARV drug type TT-VIR 30 batch no OC.01.85 at Tarime District Hospital in Mara Region.
After laboratory tests were conducted, Dr Hussein had said, the ARV drugs, manufactured in March 2011 that were due to expire on February 2013, were found to be counterfeits with documentations showing that TPI had sold them to MSD.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
No comments :
Post a Comment