According to media reports mystery surrounds the whereabouts of a K50 million (US$111 359) grant to State Residences that the National Aids Commission (NAC) approved together with 53 other grants at the beginning of last year. This is monies that was approved before Peter Mutharika become President and definitely before BEAM was founded and registered in Malawi by first lady Gertrude Mutharika.
The 54 grants, totaling K4.9 billion (US$10 913 140), were approved during a meeting of the NAC Board on January 17 2014 for implementation of HIV and Aids programmes.
Reacting to revelations that State Residences received a grant of K49 790 605. 76 (US$110 892), current director general for State Residences Peter Mukhito said he has never seen the money.
You now see where this is heading. If the Malawi Civil Society continues to push for demonstrations when they never did so during the previous administration for reasons they are failing to explain. They should know that as more questions get raised people will try to follow and audit how those grants were used by previous beneficiaries
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“What I can tell you is that the system shows that the money should have been here. But my team never found it. We never saw it. Simply put, the money never came here,” said Mukhito.
He said his office was in the process of asking NAC where the money went. If NAC show that a check was paid to someone then it’s imperative that the matter needs to be investigated further and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) should start looking into these matters and give us their verdict on whether NAC did this legally or not. Secondly the recipients should be investigated to see if the money was used as authorised.
“If the money came as approved in January 2014, we should have found it when we came in around June 2014,” he argued.
Asked if it is in order for State Residences to receive grants from NAC, Mukhito said ordinarily the institution runs HIV and Aids prevention and management programmes, which need funding.
“As you know, HIV and Aids has not spared any sector. Where there are people, there is need to have HIV and Aids interventions. That is why funding from financiers like NAC would have to be sought,” he said.
He explained that it is because there is no money in the State Residences system to support such HIV and Aids programmes that his office is in the process of seeking financial assistance.
NAC board chairperson Mara Kum’bweza Banda confirmed in a separate interview that all the 54 grants, which included one to State Residences, were approved.
“Yes, the approval was made for all the 54 grants,” said Kum’bweza Banda.
She could not remember if the disbursement to State Residences was made.
