Nkhoma Synod to start paying ‘Churchgate’ funds

Nkhoma Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) last week committed to refund about K62 million donor funds allegedly embezzled by some of its officers.

The funds were provided to Nkhoma Synod by the United States Agency for International Development (USaid) for a Rural Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Project.

Nkhoma Synod moderator the Reverend Chatha Msangaambe said in an interview in Lilongwe last week that the synod had secured K2.1 million to start its repayment to USaid.

He said: “Refunding this donor money is our priority. We need to complete the refund by the deadline of December 31 this year.”

USaid stopped funding the three-year project by Nkhoma Synod’s Relief and Development (NR&D) arm after the alleged fraud scam, from which the donor is demanding a refund of K61 886 389. 11.

Said Msangaambe: “Although it was one reverend and a few officers, the entire synod was shocked, embarrassed and blamed for the scandal.”

In an earlier interview with Nation on Sunday, USaid Malawi mission director Doug Arbuckle explained that on February 24 2011 his organisation granted $1.8 million (K720 million) to the NR&D to support the three-year safe water, sanitation and hygiene project that should have been completed in February this year.

But a USaid financial review of the project, conducted in April last year, noted that within a short period, the project was marred with irregularities, including questionable inflated charges and officers getting unwarranted allowances.

Explained Arbuckle: “USaid Malawi determined that NR&D had not implemented the required financial management improvements that were a condition for issuing the award.

“USaid also identified several deficiencies in NR&D’s management of the project. These deficiencies resulted in questionable charges to the project and possible fraud. As a result, the mission requested the USaid Office of the Inspector General [OIG] to investigate.”

On May 3 last year, the project was subsequently suspended prior to investigations which, according to the review report, “concluded that there was substantial evidence that fraud had occurred…Eight NR&D employees admitted improper use of funds.”

USaid Malawi ultimately issued a project termination notice to Nkhoma Synod on February 5 this year. The organisation followed this up, two days later, with “a bill for collection”—a formal refund demand.

Asked how Nkhoma Synod will refund the hefty amount, since the cash collected from church members contributing specifically to the refund is not substantial, the moderator admitted that this is an uphill challenge.

“The synod is looking at several measures of coming up with this refund, including boarding off [selling] some of its properties,” he said.