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Global Fund money must be returned, national apology made & all responsible investigated & prosecuted
ACT-South Africa
November 07, 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.

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