Global Fund stories unfair
Aug 30, 2005
THE Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria last week suspended its two year $200 million programme for Uganda.<br>Last weekend Sunday Vision exclusively revealed details of the audit report about mismanagement by the Project Management Unit in the Ministry of Health that led to the sus
THE Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria last week suspended its two year $200 million programme for Uganda.
Last weekend Sunday Vision exclusively revealed details of the audit report about mismanagement by the Project Management Unit in the Ministry of Health that led to the suspension.
However the PricewaterhouseCooopers report does not look as bad as one might have expected. There does not appear to have been outright fraud, rather a litany of incompetence and poor accountability. Indeed one wonders why the Global Fund made such a fuss in the world’s media.
The global news coverage focussed on an alleged foreign exchange scam. But DFCU and Stanbic, the two banks handling the Global Fund accounts, say that they used their standard rate and were not consulted by PWC over the matter. The report said that the Global Fund should have got a better rate than normal since it exchanged large amounts of forex. But is that true? And is it sufficient reason to suspend disbursements? If that is the main criticism of Uganda, it is a hollow one.
There are then lots of minor points about inflated allowances, poor reporting by recipients, and indeed a few recipients of dubious authenticity. These appear to be genuine problems but one wonders if they are that different to any other big aid project operating in Uganda. They are also problems that could be resolved by asking the Ministry of Health to tighten up their accounting procedures.
The Global Fund too must take a share of the blame. Did it ever ask whether the Ministry of Health has the absorptive capacity to efficiently disburse so much money so quickly? Was the Global Fund asking the impossible of Uganda?
The Global Fund was unfair to so dramatically publicise the suspension of its programme in Uganda without first working with the Ministry of Health to try and rectify the problems.
Last weekend Sunday Vision exclusively revealed details of the audit report about mismanagement by the Project Management Unit in the Ministry of Health that led to the suspension.
However the PricewaterhouseCooopers report does not look as bad as one might have expected. There does not appear to have been outright fraud, rather a litany of incompetence and poor accountability. Indeed one wonders why the Global Fund made such a fuss in the world’s media.
The global news coverage focussed on an alleged foreign exchange scam. But DFCU and Stanbic, the two banks handling the Global Fund accounts, say that they used their standard rate and were not consulted by PWC over the matter. The report said that the Global Fund should have got a better rate than normal since it exchanged large amounts of forex. But is that true? And is it sufficient reason to suspend disbursements? If that is the main criticism of Uganda, it is a hollow one.
There are then lots of minor points about inflated allowances, poor reporting by recipients, and indeed a few recipients of dubious authenticity. These appear to be genuine problems but one wonders if they are that different to any other big aid project operating in Uganda. They are also problems that could be resolved by asking the Ministry of Health to tighten up their accounting procedures.
The Global Fund too must take a share of the blame. Did it ever ask whether the Ministry of Health has the absorptive capacity to efficiently disburse so much money so quickly? Was the Global Fund asking the impossible of Uganda?
The Global Fund was unfair to so dramatically publicise the suspension of its programme in Uganda without first working with the Ministry of Health to try and rectify the problems.