Mbabane – Businessman Kareem Ashraff has accused workers at the Central Medical Stores (CMS) of being behind Eswatini’s chronic drug shortages, alleging theft, mismanagement and deliberate sabotage of supplies meant for hospitals and clinics.
Ashraff, who is director of Swazipharm Wholesale (Pty) Ltd, government’s largest supplier of pharmaceuticals, made the claims during a press briefing with members of the auditors’ forum in Mbabane on Monday. Present at the briefing was former Swazipharm director, Dave Melvin, along with editors, senior reporters and business associates.
He argued that CMS staff hold on to medical supplies until they are close to expiry instead of sending them to hospitals, creating artificial shortages that affect patients. “Why do we have drugs sitting at CMS when hospitals are in urgent need? These drugs expire in storage and then suppliers are blamed for short shelf-life deliveries,” he said.
Ashraff alleged that some CMS staff divert medicine to private pharmacies for personal gain. He claimed he had been told that workers who pack and transport supplies reroute them to businesses in remote areas. “I am told every guy at CMS has two to three pharmacies,” he added.
The businessman further criticised government for late payments to suppliers, saying he is still owed for deliveries made in 2019. According to him, the Ministry of Finance often asks suppliers to re-invoice old deliveries, creating the impression that payments are up to date.
Ashraff also pointed to challenges faced by suppliers, such as Eswatini’s small order sizes making it difficult to secure timely production from international manufacturers. To mitigate this, he said they often pre-order up to 36 months in advance or partner with larger buyers.
Melvin, who left Swazipharm in 2022 after Ashraff became majority shareholder, backed him. He claimed the businessman is being targeted by individuals with an interest in the pharmaceutical sector. He dismissed the Funduzi forensic audit of 2023, which implicated Swazipharm in supplying drugs with short shelf-life, as fraudulent and poorly executed.
Melvin said the report ignored evidence, including the disputed claim that the United Nations had donated Remdesivir worth E9 million. He added that Ashraff and his family had been living “a life of terror” for two years due to allegations he described as false and malicious.
According to Melvin, most of the audit findings predated Ashraff’s takeover of Swazipharm. “All the accusations and reports from this Funduzi report are false. If they were legitimate investigators, they would have come to us for answers, but they never did,” he said.
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