Windhoek, Namibia. 7 November 2008: ACT-Southern Africa learnt with shock that the Government
of Zimbabwe (GoZ) through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe misused close to US$7,3 million of the
US$12.3 million entrusted to it on behalf of the people affected and infected by HIV/AIDS, malaria and
other diseases.
Commenting on the matter, Mr Norman Tjombe, the Chairperson of ACT-Southern Africa called upon
the Government of Zimbabwe to return the money, apologise to the nation and also prosecute all those
responsible.
The revealations of the diversion of the funds shocked us all. Under normal circumstances
cases such as this one, should be investigated by the law enforcement agents and all those
responsible prosecuted. This should be done in Zimbabwe. I would strongly feel that the looted
resources must be urgently returned and the Government owes Zimbabweans and the rest of
the world an apology he says.
ACT-Southern Africa also calls upon the Global Fund to be more vigilant and strengthen its oversight
mechanisms since this is not the first time its funds were looted. It happened in Uganda and other
countries. Mr Tjombe added that ;
The management of the Global Fund should strengthen its supervision. They are also partly
responsible because of somewhat shaky oversight. In Uganda, millions of dollars were looted.
This is of great concern and leaves everyone wondering on why Global Fund resources are
prone to looting. Something is wrong somewhere
Returning the looted resources is not enough, but should be followed by investigations and prosecution
of all those who made decisions to divert the Global Fund resources
Post published in: News