Karonga Museum Board of Directors has refuted swindling K5.2Million as alleged by community members.
The development follows queries from concerned individuals of Karonga community over the board’s decision to deposit the money which was realized through fundraising activities into a fixed account instead of using it for maintenance works of the institution’s office structures.
Community members through their spokesperson who opted for anonymity for fear of reprisals, said community members strongly believe that the money was misused.
Reacting to the accusations, Karonga Museum Manager, Winston Mwagomba told the media on Monday that the accusations are mere allegations saying the money in question has been deposited into an account with FDH Bank.
He said the money amounting to K5, 253,207.39 realized through fund raising activities in 2014 was not enough to kick-start the maintenance works hence management decided to deposit the money into a fix account.
“We consulted Safintra Company for iron sheets and they gave us a quotation of about K7.3 million which was more than what we had realized and the board agreed to open a fixed deposit account with FDH Bank for the money to multiply as we continue sourcing more funds.
“As you can see from the bank statement, the money has increased to MK5.7milion from the MK5, 253,207.39 and we are going to get this money by May 23 this year. Maintenance works will soon be underway with support from the European Union (EU) and the contractor to undertake the works has already been identified,” said Mwagomba.
Chairman for Ulaha Foundation, an organization which manages the institution, Kapote Mwakasungula said those concerned community members would have consulted the board first before taking their grievances to the media.
“The board of directors is interested in the development of this facility. Some of us are retired public servants and we are very much interested to develop this place,” said Mwakasungula.