NAC status is intact—Govt

Malawi Government says the under-fire National Aids Commission (NAC), despite being stripped of its status as a principal recipient (PR) of the Global Fund grants, will remain intact carrying out its operations and overall mandate.

The government and the Global Fund confirmed last week that NAC, a government agency, will no longer be the country’s principal recipient of the grants but differed on the reasons behind the stripping.

While Minister of Health Jean Kalilani attributed the development to the Global Fund’s new funding model, the Fund’s Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) in Malawi said the decision was reached at after NAC failed to meet the funding criteria.

Chief Secretary to the Government George Mkondiwa and NAC acting executive director Davis Kalumba said in separate interviews yesterday, there was no need for Malawians to panic because of the development.

Said Mkondiwa: “There is a huge difference between NAC’s core mandate and the PR functions. The fact that NAC has been stripped of the PR status does not cease its operations.”

He said NAC’s core mandate was to provide technical coordination and leadership on national response to HIV and Aids “whose status remains unchanged”.

Kalumba, in another interview, said NAC operations were not financed by the Global Fund but government and other pool funding partners.

“In fact, since December 2012, the Global Fund, if I am not mistaken, has never disbursed any funds to do with non-health commodities, all they have been financing are health commodities and even their resources don’t hit our accounts, they are off-shore transactions between Global Fund and suppliers,” explained Kalumba.

He said even in terms of grants the commission has been providing to other implementing partners, Global Fund has not been funding any contracts or grants since December 2012 apart from procurement of health products.

Said Kalumba: “So, the speculation that the commission will be affected by the decision is not well founded because the grant portfolio for NAC is not funded by the Global Fund at the moment.”

NAC has lately been embroiled in funding controversies, a development local health and rights activists believe may have forced the Global Fund to strip it of its principal recipient status.

With the new arrangement, the Ministry of Health, Action Aid and World Vision, will now take charge of a whopping $574million grant Global Fund has given Malawi in its stepped up war against HIV and Aids, tuberculosis and malaria in the next three years.

One of the frontrunners in condemning NAC’s purported abuse of funds Timothy Mtambo, who is also executive director of Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) said in an interview it was sad that government failed to defend the integrity of its agency to maintain its status as principal recipient of the grants.

Said Mtambo: “It is sad that government did not work hard to defend NAC’s integrity. Instead, it worked hard to defend those who were abusing the resources and heavily invested its resources in propaganda to frustrate our processes of ensuring that there was sanity and good financial management at NAC.”

Five die in Ntchisi ambulance accident

FRANK NAMANGALE

News Analyst

Five people, including a referral patient to Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe, died while 13 others sustained injuries after an ambulance was involved in a road accident in Ntchisi on Saturday.

National Police spokesperson Rhoda Manjolo said in an interview the ambulance was involved in the accident soon after leaving Ntchisi District Hospital, rushing to KCH, as the driver attempted to avoid hitting a child who was apparently crossing the road.

She said the ambulance hit the child and a pick-up which was parked, with passengers on board.

Said Manjolo: “Three women in the pickup died. Also dead was the child the ambulance attempted to avoid and the patient in the ambulance on referral.”

In a statement yesterday, Ntchisi Police Station spokesperson GladsonM’bumpha identified the ambulance driver as Frazer Phiri, 35.

Police further identified the patient who died in the accident as ElidaChimimba, 26, who had a maternal complication.

Besides Chimimba and Elvis Gadama, 12—the boy the ambulance attempted to avoid, Ntchisi Police identified the other deceased persons as Alice Zimba, NasiketiChakupila, 39, and Salome Mtema, 37.