The Global Fund on Thursday, March 9, demanded a refund of Ksh 40 million that was allegedly misappropriated by officials in the National AIDS and STI Control Programme (NASCOP) - a government agency under the Ministry of Health.
In an audit report, officials in the programme reportedly inflated the prices of hotels where conferences were held, between January 2018 and June 2021.
Additionally, the report accused some officials of changing figures issued by the hotel on their laptops.
On the other hand, the government agency was called for failing to carry out competitive procurement which would have offered them cheaper alternatives.
According to the Fund, NASCOP officially contracted 12 hotels for Ksh20 million.
“The former officer explained his behaviour by stating that, at times, the program timelines were tight, and there was not enough time to carry out an entire procurement process.
"In a separate instance, staff at Nascop manipulated payment records to fraudulently pay third parties that did not deliver any goods or services,” read the report in part.
Further, Global Fund noted some flaws in procuring other services, such as printing. In particular, the report exposed that some entities were paid Ksh5.4 million but failed to render any services as contracted.
There was also allegedly a double payment to a printing company of Ks2.1 million.
“Independent bank confirmation showed that the payments, which were purportedly made for printing services, were in fact made to two different entities without procuring any services,” read the report in part.
According to the report, Kenya already refunded Ksh5.6 million, with the balance yet to be cleared.
The donor - headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, asked for the reimbursement to be made by the end of May 2023.
Global Fund aims to help governments combat AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and is funded by key donors, including Bill and Melinda Gates and Amir Attaran.
