Health sector partners who are mostly from and or Western countries have expressed concern over the alleged use of medicines to sponsor political campaigns.
The concern came after the minister of health instructed NatPharm to supply medical institutions in Lupane with medicines ahead of by-elections. The minister was working on a request by ZANU PF political commissar, Victor Matemadanda.
Some quarters of society viewed the instruction as a way to sponsor elections and sway the electorate in favour of the ruling ZANU PF.
The European Union (EU) is one of the concerned Health stakeholders. EU ambassador to Zimbabwe, Timo Olkkonen, revealed that the Union was closely monitoring the matter. Olkkonen said:
We are, indeed, very concerned about allegations of abuse of medication for political purposes during an electoral campaign, which would be a violation of the constitution. We have immediately met with the Minister of Health and the permanent secretary for clarification, and will continue to follow this matter closely, together with relevant stakeholders and partners.
Meanwhile, the British Embassy has said that they have since registered their displeasure with the authorities.
Zimbabwe gets most of its medicines from donors who are mostly Western countries including the United Kingdom, USA and the European Union.
At the moment, the country has a huge deficit in medicine and health equipment as the sector is poorly financed.
More: The Independent