The National Drug Authority (NDA) has uncovered a major drug theft syndicate involving a Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) officer and a nurse, recovering more than 150,000 doses of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs during a targeted enforcement operation.
According to NDA spokesperson Abiaz Rwamwiri, the operation led to the arrest of Lance Corporal Jimmy Kisembo, a laboratory technician attached to Kabamba Health Centre IV in Mubende District. He was apprehended at a private residence in Mpumudde Trading Centre, Sembabule District, where the stolen medicines were found.
During the same operation, NDA officials seized an additional 3,000 doses of anti-malarial drugs and 12,500 malaria test kits, all clearly labelled “Government of Uganda – Not for Sale.” The drugs are believed to have been stolen from a military health facility.
Authorities also arrested Mayi Musoke, an enrolled nurse and officer-in-charge of Makore Health Centre II, in connection with the theft.
Rwamwiri said Kisembo becomes the second security operative implicated in the theft of government medicines this year, following the arrest of a police officer in a similar crackdown earlier in 2025.
“These operations are part of our sustained efforts to curb the theft and illegal sale of government medicines,” Rwamwiri stated, adding that since 2019, NDA’s enforcement team has arrested more than 60 suspects — including 40 government health workers — and recovered stolen drugs valued at over Shs 13 billion.
The arrests come just weeks after the Standards, Utilities and Wildlife Court sentenced Ronald Kibalye, a health worker from Kayunga Hospital, to four years in prison for illegally possessing over 64,000 doses of ARVs.
The newly arrested suspects are currently in police custody and are expected to face charges of illegal possession of government stores and illegal possession of classified drugs.
