President Samia orders overhaul of Medical Stores Department

Dodoma. President Samia Suluhu Hassan has on Wednesday, March 30, said the Medical Stores department’s structure needs a complete overhaul for it to be functional.

The President was speaking after she had received the CAG’s report for the 2020/2021 fiscal year at State House Chamwino, Dodoma.

“Just like what we did with Tanesco, the process should touch on almost every department including the top management to procurement department,” she said.

She added: MSD had reached the level of winning a tender to supply medicine and medical equipment within the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) but where we have reached now to the extent that they cannot meet the internal demands, then how shall we meet the demands of SADC?

She said according to a recent report, SADC still believes in Tanzania and they still want to give MSD the tender to supply medicine and medical equipment in the region.

“That is why I want us to go and shake up things to make it the MSD that we want,” she said.

According to the CAG's report 2020/2021, MSD failed by 66 percent to meet the needs of its customers.

"As of June 30, 2021 the MSD  had  only delivered 34 percent out of the total of 43,180 products,ordered by customers leaving 66 percent unfulfilled," says the report.

In 2018, the Medical Stores Department (MSD) signed an agreement to be a major seller of medicines, medical and laboratory equipment in 16 member states of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).

With the signing of the contract, MSD was tasked with nine major responsibilities, including receiving orders from 16 SADC countries, administering statistics and information as needed, administering the database, and monitoring the buying process.