14 persons arrested for operating illegal pharmacies on the Copperbelt region

Fourteen people of Mufulira and Kalulushi districts on the Copperbelt Province have been arrested for operating pharmacy shops without licenses.

Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) Senior Public Relations Officer, Ludovic Mwape, said the 14 were arrested for operating without licenses issued by the Authority contrary to Section 14(1) of the Medicines and Allied Substances Act No. 3 of 2013.

Mwape in a statement issued in Lusaka on Saturday said the suspects were released on police bond and will appear in court soon.

He said the 14 suspects were arrested during a surveillance routine inspection directed towards curbing the sale of medicines and allied substances in unregistered outlets.

Mwape said the routine inspections are undertaken by the Authority Inspectors, in collaboration with the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) Officers on the Copperbelt on April 11, 2023.

“The Authority wishes to reiterate its appeal to members of the public to refrain from illegal operation of pharmacies or risk prosecution in accordance with the provisions of the law,” he said.

Mwape has identified those arrested as Mufuma Kalulumuna, Lydia Matanda, Emeldah Songwe, Faniwe Mwanza, Nawa Munyinda, Peter Kaseye, James Mambo, Ireen Nguni, Stanislus Kalembwe, Constance Mulenga, Tasha Mushambachime, Josephine Banda, Charity Kaonga, Melody Munga, Alice Chishila, Nancy Katongo.

WARNING! All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express permission from ZAMBIA MONITOR.