The accused are employees of 4 health facilities in the country’s western and southern provinces
Five men and three women health workers were arrested in Rwanda from January 4-8, 2022, the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) announced. The accused allegedly misused COVID-19 vaccines and stole testing kits.
The accused worked for four health facilities in western and southern provinces of the country. One of them was a pharmacist and vaccination manager, two vaccine storekeepers, one head of a health centre, two laboratory workers, one medicine store inspector and one recovery collector.
Four of the suspects failed to justify the whereabouts of 30 vials of vaccines by AstraZeneca plc and 45 vials of vaccines by Moderna Inc, containing 300 and 675 doses of the respective candidates.
They have been charged with ‘misuse of property of public interest’ for which they can be jailed for five-seven years and fined Rwf 3,000,000 ($3,000)-Rwf 5 000,000 ($5,000), according to RIB Spokesperson Thierry B Murangira.
The others stole over 1,250 COVID-19 testing kits worth Rwf 6.125 million ($6,000). The crime is liable for seven-10 years of imprisonment and a fine three-five times the value of the stolen property.
Pandemic containment efforts by governments of African countries have been riddled with instances of waste, mismanagement and blatant corruption, noted Global Integrity, a non-profit that tracks governance and corruption trends using local resources.
The vaccination drives in Rwanda, however, have seen more success than many other countries in the continent. Over 7.9 million of its estimated 12 million people have been injected with their first dose while over 6.4 million people are fully vaccinated as of January 18, 2022. Moreover, 668,897 people have received booster shots.
In May 2021, the World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus set three targets for immunisation against COVID-19 in each country: 10 per cent vaccine coverage by September, 40 per cent by the end of 2021 and 70 per cent by mid-2022.
Rwanda has achieved the first two and is on track to reach the third as well. “This coverage milestone was not a given at first, but the Government of Rwanda stepped up. As a result, we witnessed a 30 per cent leap forward between September and December alone,” said Dr Rosette Nahimana, immunisation programme focal point at WHO.
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