UGANDA: Inquiry starts into mismanagement of AIDS funds

KAMPALA, 14 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - A six-man commission has opened its inquiry into allegations of mismanagement of Uganda's anti-AIDS programme and will hold public hearings, officials said on Tuesday.

The head of the probe, High Court Judge James Ogoola, said that the public hearings would unveil information behind the controversy that precipitated the suspension of a US $200 million aid package to Uganda by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The Geneva-based non-governmental organisation suspended part of its assistance to Uganda in August after an audit revealed mismanagement of the funds. It restricted the programme to provide for only life-saving measures - including the provision of drugs and condoms - until an inquiry is complete.

Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, named the commission.

"The hearings will be fully public and persons involved will be free to hire lawyers. We plan to design an open website for the public and the world to monitor the proceedings. We call upon the public, all institutions and individuals who have any information regarding the matter to come and avail themselves," Ogoola told a news conference held to announce the inquiry.

"We are working in phases," he added. "We are still in a brainstorming phase. We are starting with self-education…From there we shall open up to the public hearings. The investigations will last two months from September 6."

The Global Fund had already remitted over $40 million to the country's AIDS programme when its auditors discovered gross cases of misconduct.

The sanction dealt a heavy blow to Uganda, which has been on the frontline of the battle against HIV/AIDS.

The pandemic has killed nearly a million people in the East African country, and a similar number of its population currently live with the HI virus. Uganda’s aggressive AIDS programme has helped reduce its prevalence rate from as high as 30 percent in the early 1990s to the current 6 percent.

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