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The National Aids Commission (NAC) has with immediate effect suspended funding for 240 community-based organisations (CBOs) and 11 local assemblies saying it has identified various audit queries that need to be clarified.
A NAC press release says an audit of CBOs and local assemblies conducted during the months of July and August last year identified queries which must be clarified and resolved.
But NAC internal auditor Owen Banda refused to comment on the matter yesterday, saying his organisation is in the process of organising a press conference that will address questions about the audit exercise.
“The issue at hand is that we have done almost 90 percent of the work on the audit and what we look forward to now is to caution the CBOs and we will ask them to provide us with clarifications on the matter. But as I have told you, these issues will be clarified at a press conference we are organising,” he said.
But the press statement says: “Funds disbursed to 918 CBOs and 31 local assemblies amounting to K637,017,252.49 between 1 July 2004 and 31 March 2006 were subject of this audit. As a result of this audit NAC has suspended funding to 240 CBOs and 11 LA [local assemblies] with immediate effect.”
The Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief (CPAR), one of the umbrella organisations whose CBOs have had their funding suspended, yesterday said most statements in the audit report paint a negative picture of the organisation..
“We are writing a report to them. We were supposed to be consulted. Most of the statements are not based on facts and they are too general because the implementation is not our responsibility but the local assemblies,” said CPAR country director Kassaye Derseh.
We failed to contact other NGOs implicated in the audit report.
The press statement also says Chikwawa, Dedza, Karonga, Dowa, Kasungu, Zomba, Rumphi, Mchinji, Mulanje, Ntchisi, and Lilongwe district or municipal assemblies, who were being funded through some umbrella non-governmental organisations, have been suspended.
NAC contracted umbrella organisations (NGOs) to run its programmes at district level for effective implementation. These include World Vision International, CPAR Malawi, Plan International, Action Aid and Save the Children (USA).
The umbrella organisations, according to NAC, were identified for their experience with grants, capacity building, strong presence at community level and experience with HIV and Aids issues. They also monitor and supervise HIV and Aids interventions in collaboration with district assemblies.
The suspended CBOs work in Chiradzulu, Chitipa, Dedza, Dowa, Karonga, Kasungu, Lilongwe, Nkhata Bay, Rumphi, Mchinji, Machinga, Mangochi, Mwanza, Mzimba, Mzuzu, Ntchisi, Neno, Nkhotakota, Nsanje, Ntcheu, Phalombe, Thyolo, Zomba, Mulanje, Balaka, Blantyre, Chikwawa and Salima, according to the press release.
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