Maravi

Govt’s poor management of funds worry health workers

Govt’s poor management of funds worry health workers
By Misheck Wangwe
Sun 28 Nov. 2010, 04:01 CAT

THE Health Workers Union of Zambia says the rampant misappropriation of Global Funds in the health sector is due to the government’s poor management of resources.

Union general secretary Lewis Mukosha said it was sad that the country was ranked among the most corrupt due to the government’s failure to curb the embezzlement of funds by corrupt officers in the health system.

Mukosha said the union had on several occasions advised the government to come up with stringent monitoring mechanisms to safeguard donor funds and ensure that they served the intended purpose but nothing much had been done.

He said the government had been reluctant in the fight against corruption and misuse of funds.

Mukosha said there was need for President Rupiah Banda to ensure that people entrusted with public offices in the health sector were accountable and that culprits must be reprimanded.

He said many poor people had lost their lives because of selfish individuals who had misused funds meant for drugs in hospitals.

“The misuse of funds in the health sector is real and President Banda should not even vent anger on donors who are giving us money but work towards removing corrupt individuals in his government.

Let’s clear our name as a country because our image has been dented. We expect government to come up with strict monitoring mechanisms to ensure accountability in the health sector,” said Mukosha in an interview.

He said it would be difficult for the country to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis without donor aid, hence the need for the government to attach seriousness to principles of accountability.

He said many people in rural areas lacked essential drugs because of misuse of funds by disgruntled officials in the health sector.

Mukosha said the health sector would become a disaster in the near future if the government did not take the necessary steps to restore donor confidence.

He said manoeuvres to remove the abuse of office clause from the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) Act by the MMD government were retrogressive especially that donors wanted to see the government’s commitment towards curbing rampant misuse of funds.

“Corrupt government officials in the health sector were busy embezzling funds with the law in place.

Imagine the misuse that will be there with the removal of this important clause. It will be a disaster for the health sector and President Banda himself,” said Mukosha.

Labels: ACC, HEALTHCARE, LEWIS MUKOSHA

posted by MrK @ 4:21 PM