Global Fund demands refund from govt after misappropriation by officials
Global Fund demands refund from govt after misappropriation of Ksh 40M by National AIDS Control officials
Global Fund demands refund from govt after misappropriation of Ksh 40M by National AIDS Control officials.
On Thursday, March 10, the Global Fund sought the return of Ksh 40 million that it claimed had been plundered by staff members of the National AIDS and STI Control Programme (NASCOP), a department of the Ministry of Health.
According to a report on an audit, program staff members raised conference hotel rates where meetings were held between January 2018 and June 2021.
The investigation also charged certain officials of altering hotel-issued figures on their laptops.
On the other hand, the government agency received criticism for bypassing the competitive procurement process that would have provided them with more affordable options.
According to the Fund, NASCOP officially contracted 12 hotels for Ksh20 million.
“The former officer explained his behaviour by stating that, at times, the program deadlines were tight, and there was not enough time to carry out an entire procurement process.
“In a separate instance, staff at Nascop manipulated payment records to fraudulently pay third parties that did not deliver any goods or services,” read the report in part.
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Further, the European donor, Global Fund noted some flaws in procuring other services, such as printing. In particular, the report exposed that some entities were paid Ksh5.4 million but failed to render any services as contracted.
There was also allegedly a double payment to a printing company of Ks2.1 million.
“Independent bank confirmation showed that the payments, which were purportedly made for printing services, were in fact made to two different entities without procuring any services,” read the report in part.
According to the report, Kenya already refunded Ksh5.6 million, with the balance yet to be cleared.
The European donor – headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, asked for the reimbursement to be made by the end of May 2023.
Global Fund aims to help governments combat AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria and is funded by key donors, including Bill and Melinda Gates and Amir Attaran.
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