By Isaac Tugume
The Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga is on a collision course with medics under the Uganda Medical Association (UMA), who contend that she fronted to president Yoweri Museveni a quack scientist identified as Prof. Safraz K. Niaz, who purports to have invented a cure for the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Trouble for Kadaga started on Monday when she presented to President Museveni a team of Ugandan biochemists led by Mathias Magoola and Prof. Safraz, who claimed that they had developed a spray that kills off the Coronavirus and wanted to start manufacturing it in Uganda.
She revealed on tweeter that “Prof. Sarfaraz, an advisor to the US Congress & Govt, has teamed up with a Ugandan biochemist, Mathias Magoola, to produce the product at DEI Group, in Luzira, Kampala. It will be the first product that instantly kills the Corona virus.
I’ve told Parliament that a spray, which instantly kills the Corona virus, has been discovered & is to be co-produced in Uganda. It goes on the market next week. The American inventor, Prof. Safraz K. Niaz, was here at the weekend & donated the patent, free of charge to Uganda.”
However, shortly after the Speaker revealed the information to Parliament and the Public at large, medics under their umbrella body UMA, and other health experts started attacking her, with many of them branding Prof. Safraz a ‘quack scientist’ , while others rubbished the whole project as a scam aimed at fleecing government billions of shillings.
In the same vein, Adrian Bloomfield, a journalist with UK Newspaper The Telegraph, has since publicly doubted Prof. Safraz’s credibility and capability to produce a cure for Coronavirus.
Blomfield tweeted that; “A mysterious guy in a purple bow-tie and grey fedora, who calls himself Prof Safraz Niaz, has told Ugandans he has invented a magic spray that can kill coronavirus. Museveni has met him and speaker Rebecca Kadaga is convinced by what looks very like a scam.”
But Kadaga has since come out to vehemently support Magoola and Prof. Safraz’s project, stating that much as people on social media and some medics under UMA are spreading rumours about him, she has evidence that he is a world renowned researcher and scientist, who has worked with several accredited universities across the world.
In his defence, Kadaga tweeted on Tuesday thus; “The plenary is on. I’ve assured MPs that I don’t deal with quacks — as is being alleged thru social media and leaders of Uganda Medical Association. I also take issue with the latter for resort to a press conference instead of a courtesy call & sharing their concerns.
I’ve had laid on table 5 technical books written by Prof Sarfraz — who is being insulted. He was the brainchild behind ‘Obama Care’. My interest is local capacity to produce our own drugs instead of endless importation. The local biochemist, Matthias Magoola, is not a quack.”
She added that; “I’ve further also shown some evidence of two pharmaceutical firms built by Magoola; in Luzira and Mattuga. My interest is local capacity for local production of drugs.”
Who Is Prof. Safraz
According to Wikipedia, Sarfaraz Khan Niazi, was born in Lucknow, India in 1949; he migrated to Karachi, Pakistan in 1962, and to the United States in 1970.
He is an expert in biopharmaceutical manufacturing and has worked in academia and in industry, and as an entrepreneur.
He has written books in the field of pharmaceutical sciences, biotechnology, consumer healthcare and poetry. He has translated ghazals (love poems) of the Urdu poet Ghalib.
He was born on July 10, 1949 at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, although currently based in the United States.Prof. Safraz is an alumni of the University of Illinois, Washington State University, and Karachi University.
He is known for Biopharmaceuticals, Biosimilars, Ghazals and Ghalib. His Scientific career includes Pharmaceutical sciences, Biopharmaceuticals, Recombinant manufacturing, etc.
