Government to probe use of anti-AIDS grants

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday called for an investigation after the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria suspended all its grants to Uganda due to "evidence of serious mismanagement" of the funds. "I am going to take action and find out how they were using that money. I may even appoint a commission of inquiry," Museveni told a news conference in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. Speaking at a separate news conference, Ugandan health minister Jim Muhwezi said: "We were surprised by the unilateral decision made by our partners, but I have talked to the Chief of Operations in Geneva and he has promised to come here next week." He said the ministry had not been told of an investigation and the suspension had caused "anxiety". The fund said it had suspended the grants until the Ugandan Ministry of Finance put in place a new structure that would guarantee the effective management of the funds. The decision, it added, was based on a review of one of the five grants - undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers - that revealed "evidence of serious mismanagement by the Project Management Unit [PMU] in the Ministry of Health". It added: "The PMU has been responsible for overseeing the implementation of Global Fund programs in Uganda. While the review centered on the Round 1 HIV/AIDS grant, the same PMU manages all five grants, and to minimize risk all five have been temporarily suspended. "The other grants include a second grant for HIV/AIDS, two grants to combat malaria, and one grant targeting tuberculosis. These grants are worth a total of US $201 million over two years, of which $45.4 million has been disbursed to date." However, the fund said it would continue funding life-saving treatment and prevention activities such as the procurement and distribution of condoms.