GF probe tackles NGO over Muhwezi
Jan 18, 2006
THE Global Fund investigation yesterday put to task a Rukungiri-based NGO to explain political patronage from health minister Jim Muhwezi.
By Jude Etyang
THE Global Fund investigation yesterday put to task a Rukungiri-based NGO to explain political patronage from health minister Jim Muhwezi.
The Fund gave the Rural Health Development Organisation (REDO) sh88m for AIDS programmes and sh48m for malaria control programmes.
REDO chairman Dr. Emmanuel Musimenta, after failing to provide a satisfactory accountability for sh4m for a workshop, admitted to the commission that the organisation did not have capacity to act as a direct implementer of the programmes.
The assistant counsel of the Commission, Angela Kiryabwire, said a payment of sh4m the NGO made to two of its officials could have been for political mobilisation for Muhwezi’s parliamentary campaign.
Quoting a PriceWaterHouseCoopers audit report, Kiryabwire said the NGO’s treasurer, Victoria Bindebwa and secretary Polly Mwesigwa received sh2m each on orders of “the patron.â€
But Musimenta said the money was for a workshop in Rukungiri.
The commission raised concern on why REDO got a hand-written recommendation from Muhwezi to be registered as an NGO.
Ogoola asked, “Did you feel inadequate that if you had gone on your own you would not get registered and you needed his stature, his position to make things easy for you?â€
Musimenta said they sought Muhwezi’s recommendation because he was the area MP and “a development-oriented leader.â€
The commission was probing REDO on use of political patronage to access Global Fund money and the forged accountability for sh4m.
“Don’t you see that this is a serious conflict of interest that your organisation got a recommendation from the Minister of Health, yet you were going to do business with the same ministry. Your organisation had a god-father in government,†Ogoola said.
THE Global Fund investigation yesterday put to task a Rukungiri-based NGO to explain political patronage from health minister Jim Muhwezi.
The Fund gave the Rural Health Development Organisation (REDO) sh88m for AIDS programmes and sh48m for malaria control programmes.
REDO chairman Dr. Emmanuel Musimenta, after failing to provide a satisfactory accountability for sh4m for a workshop, admitted to the commission that the organisation did not have capacity to act as a direct implementer of the programmes.
The assistant counsel of the Commission, Angela Kiryabwire, said a payment of sh4m the NGO made to two of its officials could have been for political mobilisation for Muhwezi’s parliamentary campaign.
Quoting a PriceWaterHouseCoopers audit report, Kiryabwire said the NGO’s treasurer, Victoria Bindebwa and secretary Polly Mwesigwa received sh2m each on orders of “the patron.â€
But Musimenta said the money was for a workshop in Rukungiri.
The commission raised concern on why REDO got a hand-written recommendation from Muhwezi to be registered as an NGO.
Ogoola asked, “Did you feel inadequate that if you had gone on your own you would not get registered and you needed his stature, his position to make things easy for you?â€
Musimenta said they sought Muhwezi’s recommendation because he was the area MP and “a development-oriented leader.â€
The commission was probing REDO on use of political patronage to access Global Fund money and the forged accountability for sh4m.
“Don’t you see that this is a serious conflict of interest that your organisation got a recommendation from the Minister of Health, yet you were going to do business with the same ministry. Your organisation had a god-father in government,†Ogoola said.