Auditor-General Mildred Chiri has revealed that some medicines that formed part of donated goods for Cyclone Idai victims were left to expire in warehouse shelves.
Cyclone Idai which affected mostly Manicaland and Masvingo Provinces saw local and international organisations and individuals donating goods.
The donations came in the form of money, food supplies, medicines, clothes among other things.
However, some of the goods failed to reach the intended beneficiaries due to flawed systems and corruption, among others.
There were also no proper procedures that were followed in receiving and distributing the said goods.
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Donated medicine did not reach victims
In an audit report, Chiri said some of the medicine did not reach the victims but expire on shelves.
‘’I observed that the Manicaland Provincial Medical Stores received 521 bottles of Flu stop capsules on March 21, 2019, which had an expiry date of June 2019. Out of the 521 bottles, only 283 bottles were disbursed. The remaining 238 bottles expired in stock at the provincial office.
‘’Maybe if they had been distributed to districts, more bottles could have been utilized. As of the date of audit on September 5, 2019, they were still in stock. This was attributed to the absence of needs assessment to ascertain hospital and clinic requirements.
‘’I also noted that various medicines were received on April 24, 2019, through the Masvingo PDC office and only issued out to the Provincial Medical Director’s department on September 2, 2019, which was four months and one week later.
‘’However, as of September 17, 2019, these items were still at the warehouse awaiting collection by the PMD’s office. Furthermore, some of these medicines were expired whilst others expired in storage before, they could be distributed to any hospital or clinics,’’ she said.
The revelation by the auditor general creates a worrying scenario that COVID-19 goods could go through the same hands. Zimbabwe has been reluctant to conduct an audit of the goods donated since the country recorded its first COVID-19 case.
Cyclone Idai medicines were left to expire in warehouses: Auditor General
