Fake medicines, expired drugs – Audit exposes health chaos
Spira Tlhankane - Mbongeni Mguni | Monday May 4, 2026 09:24
The latest audit, which covers the year to March 2023 and was tabled before Parliament recently, exposes serious lapses in the government medicine supply chain including stunning revelations that P9 million drugs delivered to government were found to be counterfeit.
According to the Auditor General, during the 2022/23 financial year, the CMS held expired drugs valued at a staggering P95.5 million with more than P62 million of this tied to COVID-19 vaccines.
The drugs include a consignment that expired three days after it was delivered.
“A notable instance involved Pfizer-COVID vaccines worth P18,784,486.80, delivered on 28 October 2022, with an expiry date of 31 October 2022, making them unusable on arrival. “The Accounting Officer stated that stocks accepted for delivery are verified to have at least 80% remaining shelf life,” the report reads.
According to the Auditor General, the Accounting Officer explained that acquiring stocks with a long remaining shelf life is generally feasible only when procured directly through framework contracts.
For emergency procurement, stocks may have shorter remaining shelf life, often sourced from surplus stocks in other regional markets.
The Accounting Officer also explained that CMS verifies and approves acceptance based on available stock and consumption rates, adding that that the larger value of expired drugs was due to COVID-19 vaccines, which were supplied by the Ministry of Health and not procured by CMS.
The Auditor General still had strong words for the CMS and Ministry of Health.
“The large value of expired drugs, particularly COVID-19 vaccines, demonstrates a risk to public resources and potential unavailability of essential medicines,” the report reads. “Strengthening procurement planning, ensuring adequate shelf life for all stock, and improving coordination with suppliers, are necessary to safeguard public funds and maintain the integrity of medical supplies.”
In an even more shocking revelation from the Auditor General’s report, an unscrupulous supplier tried and failed to bill government for P9 million in counterfeit medication.
According to the Auditor General, CMS appointed a supplier through direct procurement to supply 50 different pharmaceutical products at a total cost of P119.4 million with an agreed delivery date of 01 February 2023.
The supplier failed to meet this deadline and a revised delivery date of 21 February 2023, was also not met. According to the Auditor General’s report, an enquiry with the Botswana Medicines Regulatory Authority confirmed that the products did not meet required standards and violated CMS Quality Assurance guidelines, particularly in labelling. The consignment, valued at over P9.5 million, was proven to be counterfeit and was rejected.
“CMS terminated the agreement and did not accept any further deliveries,” the report shows. “The counterfeit products, billed at P9,523,128 had not been paid for at the time of audit. “The supply of counterfeit medicines exposes public funds and end-users to significant risk, including financial loss and potential harm to patients. “Weaknesses in supplier vetting, quality assurance, and contract monitoring allowed the procurement of non-compliant products. “Strengthening procurement controls, supplier verification, and adherence to Quality Assurance Guidelines is essential to safeguard public resources and ensure the integrity of medical supplies.”
According to the Auditor General, across multiple health facilities, expired medicines were not just stored but they were sitting where patients could access them.
The report states that at Plateau Clinic, Kasane Hospital and Kazungula Health Post expired drugs were found without proper records or reports. In Boribamo and Mmamokhase Clinics, the Auditor General report indicated that expired drugs remained on dispensary shelves instead of being moved to the designated expired stock areas.
“This situation increases the risk of administering expired drugs and reflects weaknesses in stock management and oversight,” the report warned.
The report also disclosed that in Francistown, the problems took another form at the district warehousewhen 200 bottles of Amoxicillin tablets expired, valued at P30,000.
“The expiry resulted from ordering quantities exceeding the average monthly consumption. “This highlights weaknesses in inventory planning and stock monitoring, increasing the risk of wastage of public resources and potential patient safety concerns,” the Auditor General further noted.
The report also noted that at Princess Marina Hospital, where over P17 million was spent on micro-procurement, there was no evidence that quality assurance officers verified drugs upon receipt.
“The lack of documented quality checks increases the risk of substandard or unsafe medicines being used, underscoring the need for robust verification procedures to safeguard public health and ensure accountability in the use of public funds,” the Auditor General highlighted.
The findings in the latest report come as the public health sector struggles to return to stability in the supply of medication and basic patient care. President Duma Boko has alleged rampant wastage at the CMS and poor administration as the cause of some of the challenges in public healthcare.
In imposing a state of public health emergency last August, Boko said in some cases, prices used by the CMS were found to be inflated five to 10 times.
In the latest report, the Auditor General found that the CMS relied on previous tender prices of a preferred bidder as the basis for estimating costs in subsequent procurements of medical supplies. The entity did not have an independent mechanism to verify market prices, resulting in significant differences between market rates and approved tender prices.
“The reliance on previous tender prices without independent market verification increases the risk of overpayment for medical supplies,”’ the report noted.