Foreign Policy Blogs

Cameroon, Mauritania, Mali, and Zambia Defrauded the Global Fund

The Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector General has found that Cameroon, Mauritania, Mali, and Zambia misappropriated about US$25 million in grants meant for fighting AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on the continent. No surprise there!

In response Sweden is reported to withholding its pledge to the Global Fund. While Sweden (which has contributed US$85 million a year to the Global Fund) is right in demanding to see “how the Global Fund behaves when fraud is detected in a recipient country,” more should be done on both ends giving and recipient nations. There is an unspoken code among the international community of givers to only focus on recipient countries when it comes to how international funds are administered. If I were the Inspector General, I would go a step further by also looking at the international organizations/NGOs through which some of the Global  funds are channeled.

The crux of the matter is that the current global system for disbursing international assistance/aid to developing nations is untenable due to inefficiency, and lack of  accountability and transparency.

 

Author

Ndumba J. Kamwanyah

Ndumba Jonnah Kamwanyah, a native of Namibia in Southern Africa, is an independent consultant providing trusted advice and capacity building through training, research, and social impact analysis to customers around the world. Mos recently Ndumba returned from a consulting assignment in Liberia in support of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
In his recent previous life Ndumba taught (as an Adjunct Professor) traditional justice and indigenous African political institutions in sub-Saharan Africa at the Rhode Island College-Anthropology Department.

He is very passionate about democracy development and peace-building, and considers himself as a street researcher interested in the politics of everyday life.
Twitter: NdumbaKamwanyah