MBABANE – Swazipharm Director Kareem Ashraff says he is a victim of a hidden agenda perpetrated by people with ulterior motives.
He says these people are not willing to hear his side of the story, but are intent on spreading spurious lies that his company failed to deliver drugs.
Ashraff said for over seven months, he has restrained himself from coming into the public to present his side of the story, hoping that his accusers and those willing to hear the truth would seek clarity from him.
Instead, he said his detractors continued to portray a negative image of his company, intent on ruining him.
Ashraff has faced a barrage of criticism after Funduzi Forensic Company compiled a report alleging that Swazipharm had neglected to deliver drugs, among other allegations.
The businessman, who doubles as an Indonesian Consul, was speaking in the first press conference with the Editors Forum and senior journalists, in which this matter was addressed, at the consulate. He was with former Director of Swazipharm Dave Melvin and Consultant Shaun Morgan.
“We respect your role in holding people in power to account. That role is especially important now because ordinary emaSwati are struggling every day to get medication, while I am repeatedly and unfairly blamed for the crisis,” he said.
Ashraff said he took full management control of SwaziPharm in 2023, though the company itself was founded in the 1980s.
“For several years, I was a small shareholder with no management control. At the end of 2022, I began buying a larger share and I took full management control in the second half of 2023. The company was in distress, which is why I had the opportunity to buy out the other shareholders. So minor was my role, I learnt of the problems in the business from a third party,” he said.
Ashraff said soon after he took control, the auditor general enquired about issues that pre-dated his control of the company.
“I insisted that any findings be made public so we could properly investigate past problems at Swazipharm. Instead, Ministry of Health orders to Swazipharm were suddenly stopped, supposedly because of a so-called forensic audit.” “At the same time, my name started trending on social media as if I were the cause of the health crisis. Ask yourselves: How does a pharmaceutical wholesaler benefit from causing a drug shortage?” he said.
Ashraff said as a responsible business facing an audit, he wanted to cooperate.
“We also carried out an internal audit, which found no wrongdoing by Swazipharm. But when we tried to find out who was auditing us, the name given was ‘Funduzi’.
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Swazipharm forced to destroy E150m expired drugs
Swazipharm is grappling with a responsibility to destroy E150 million drugs that expired while the company was put in abeyance pending the forensic audit.
The company Director Kareem Ashraff told editors yesterday that while Swazipharm was forced to wait under a cloud of suspicion, tenders were paralysed. “Essential medicines sat in our warehouses, unable to move forward into the supply chain. As a result, in excess of E150 million worth of medicines expired. These are all products that were intended for the people of Eswatini.” He described the loss as ‘heartbreaking waste’. “Rows of medicines, carefully procured, now reduced to expired stock. This is not just a financial loss to Swazipharm. It represents lost treatments, lost opportunities to save lives and further strain on a public health system already under pressure.” He said the blame for this waste does not lie with suppliers who fulfilled their contracts.
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Suspension of deputy director contributed to health crisis
Swazipharm Director Kareem Ashraff says the lengthy suspension of the country’s deputy director of pharmaceuticals contributed to the health crisis.
Though he did not mention the name, Fortunate Bhembe is the Deputy Director of Pharmaceutical Services at the Ministry of Health and is currently on suspension pending an internal investigation in the ministry.
Ashraff said the suspended deputy was the only one registered with the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) to approve permits for high-schedule drugs, when she was suspended.
“Key officials were suspended with no succession plan. For example, the Deputy Director of Pharmaceutical Services, who was the only person registered with the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) to approve permits for high-schedule drugs, was suspended. That alone stopped imports for over nine months and made the drug shortage worse, even while the public was told solutions were being worked on.”
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‘We saved lives’
Swazipharm Director Kareem Ashraff said his company delivered drugs 24 hours, even as early as 3am, to save lives.
“We carry a strong moral obligation to the people of Eswatini. Medicines are not like any other commodity… delays, waste or confusion directly impact lives. That is why Swazipharm will continue to do everything in its power to ensure life-saving medicines reach those who need them most,” Ashraff said.
He said his company stands ready to present its full documentation before Parliament and call for the restoration of credibility in the nation’s oversight processes.
“At the same time, we are committed to rebuilding confidence with government stakeholders and strengthening the supply chain so that the health sector can recover from the destabilisation it has endured.” He said his company is not about protecting reputations or scoring political points.
“It is about ensuring that patients receive the medicines they depend on. That should always be the first priority. Swazipharm has the evidence, the documentation and the record of delivery. What has been lacking is a willingness from certain offices to verify the facts. The people of Eswatini deserve better,” he said. Swazipharm said its commitment is to uphold transparency, to serve with professionalism and to place the health of our nation above all else.
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E101m drugs delivered, no duplication
Swazipharm has produced evidence to certify that the company delivered E101 million worth of drugs for use in public health facilities.
This comes after it was accused in audit reports of having failed to deliver E33 million worth of drugs despite payment having been made. The reports also alleged that duplicate payments were made to Swazipharm amounting to E68 million. “Each of these allegations can be thoroughly discredited by documentary evidence and by the official records of government itself. Yet, despite this clear evidence, the claims continue to circulate in the public domain, eroding trust in the supply chain and further destabilising the health sector,” said Ashraff. He said some of these allegations have already been partially disproven.
“However, as highlighted in the adopted ‘audit’ findings, the language directed at Swazipharm remains strikingly accusatory: ‘Duplicated Orders paid for amounting to fraud’. Such phrasing paints a misleading picture, which is entirely inconsistent with the documented facts. He said the E33 million allegations are entirely false. “E33 million worth of medicines were in fact delivered. We have the corresponding purchase orders, delivery notes and invoices, all of which were acknowledged by the Ministry of Health at the time. On the issue of the E68 million payments, he said there was proof that the finding is misleading.
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Why I used school’s post box number – Funduzi director
Funduzi Director Zakhele Dlamini says he used the Malangeni Primary School post box number because it was the only option he had.
“I used P.O Box 9 Mankayane because that is the school I went to. Members of the community use that same box number. Even my Form V results are written Box 9 Mankayane,” he said.
Factually, they should have asked the school, who else uses their box number.
He said this is the information he also shared willingly to the Anti-Corruption Commission when they asked about it.
“If you can do your own investigation, you would also discover that many other community members use that school’s box number. I went to school there. He also cast doubt on the authenticity of a paper produced during the press conference, in which Funduzi information was written on a paper with Fundudzi intellectual property.
“I have said this before and I will say again that there’s no company with Funduzi or close or next to in the Kingdom of Eswatini, so no one can come and claim that we are in deviation of the intellectual property rights as per the company registration act of Eswatini which is the Companies Act, 2009 (Act No. 8 of 2009). “They can visit the company registry and raise their grievances or misuse of their identity same again with CIPC in South Africa,” he said, responding to a question about Fundudzi’s intellectual property being allegedly used.
*Full article available in our publication.
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