{UAH} Kirudu Hospital Pharmacist exposed in NBS documentary commits suicide, buried

Frank Mujabi,/ Tony Owana/ Alan Barigye/ Ikanos/ Annette/ Gook/ Ocaya p'Ocure

Do you think it was worth it for the BBC to carry out this sting of poor underpaid workers stealing medicine from hospitals? Personally I don't see what purpose it serves. 99% of public employees have to be corrupt in order to survive. In an economy where a salary lasts for only one day, what is the employee expected to do, except moonlight doing different jobs or steal? They are caught  between a rock and a hard place, with no where to run and nowhere to hide. This does not excuse their stealing medicine from dying patients, but it puts their actions in a proper perspective and  context of trying to survive in a dog eat dog society imposed on our people by Kayibanda military junta.. I wish the BBC would concentrate on the people who have dragged our country down into the sewer, and that is Kayibanda and his Rwandan mercenaries. They are the ones to blame, not the hungry employee who can not see how he will survive beyond today and has a hungry child waiting for him or her at home.BBC must not loose sight of the criminals, and get side-tarcked into blaming the victims.

RIP Richard Olaja..

Bobby

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

Kirudu Hospital Pharmacist exposed in NBS documentary commits suicide, buried

Richard Olaja, 27, a Pharmacist at Kirudu Hospital is dead. The health worker reportedly took his own life and was buried in Pallisa District today. Olaja fled Kampala after NBS TV and BBC TV aired the documentary in which he was seen negotiating to sell government drugs.

According to reports, he booked a guest house in Jinja, Kimaka, on Wednesday June 19 from where he attempted to take his life. The receptionist got concerned after they realized that he had not come out of the room after two days. They alerted the Police and opening the door on Friday, he was found unconscious and was rushed to Nile International Hospital where he passed on.

Olaja was one of the health workers exposed in the NBS TV – BBC documentary, "Stealing from the sick" where several government health workers were captured selling public drugs to the journalists for money.

In the documentary, Olaja was approached by the investigators/journalists at a private pharmacy where he used to work. He bragged to the journalists that they would not be caught since he had been in the trade (selling public drugs) for a long time. He accepted $100 to deliver drugs. On pickup point, he instructed the journalists that he would deliver the drugs opposite Kirudu Hospital but they instead parked at the entrance in view of cameras. He was irked and became suspicious of the deal.

Popular Facebook commentator, Kakensa revealed that Olaja contacted him for his side of the story saying that he tipped the National Drug Authority about the sale of drugs which led to the arrest of the journalists. He said he was a victim of circumstances.

"A few weeks before the story was aired he contacted me claiming there is a story which was due to be aired on NBS on the 17th in which he was recorded as being involved in a national drug selling syndicate and yet he didn't. He briefly told me he was actually the one who informed National Drug Authority officials about the secret campaign Solomon Sserwanga was carrying out which led to Serwanja's home raid and subsequent arrest," Kakensa said.

However, Kakensa added that he forgot to attend to him but Olaja contacted him again after the documentary was aired.

"On Monday when the story was aired on BBC, he shared the link with me and called me again. He seemed to be in alot of panic, I comforted him and told him to relax, just like the previous time; he still insisted he was innocent and just a victim of circumstance. He claimed that Serwanja's documentary was political, some white man was funding this project just to expose the government's loopholes in every sector to give political mileage to the current opposition leader," Kakensa said.

Last week, Parliament reviewed the documentary and called for prosecution of health workers implicated in the illegal trade.

Video

Prescription drugs sold illegally in Uganda

The BBC has uncovered evidence that life-saving drugs meant for the sick have been stolen and sold on illegally.

Africa Eye has been undercover in Uganda to expose how some health workers there are at the heart of criminal networks.https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-48634434/prescription-drugs-sold-illegally-in-uganda

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