Hundreds of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Zambia, Lusaka have presented a petition to the National AIDS Council (NAC) demanding quick action in resolving the issue surrounding Zambia National AIDS Network (ZNAN) alleged misapplication of global funds meant to combat AIDS, TB and malaria in Zambia.
More than 260 PLHIV from different community based organizations (CBOs), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), faith based organizations (FBOs) and support groups assembled at the National AIDS Council office last week (29 July) to present the petition to Professor Siamwiza, NAC’s county coordinating mechanism (CCM) board chairperson in the presence of NAC’s Director General, Ben Chirwa.
The petition demanding that the Zambian government bails out ZNAN by paying back the 1.7 million dollars of misappropriated money owed to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (Global Fund), as they did when the government bailed out the Ministry of Health, who also had audit queries. The Ministry of Health was one of the Principle Recipients (PR) of funds from the Global Fund but was stripped of its PR role in preference for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
If the government agrees, ZNAN may continue being the PR for civil society. Activists further demanded the government seizes all of ZNAN’s assets and those of any sub-recipients mentioned in the report in order to recoup the repaid funds. Campaigners hope this action will allow the continued flow of money from the Global Fund to support civil society organizations in Zambia.
The petition also called for the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) to appoint an interim PR to handle Global Fund activities under ZNAN so that the Global Fund grants can start flowing to CSOs and CBOs.
They demanded that the CCM process of selecting future PRs should be more systematic and transparent and that a proper evaluation of all PRs that are to be retained is undertaken. They also called for the CCM to consider mechanisms to strengthen its role and legalize its legitimacy as an body overseeing grant implementation.
Another demand is for the government to give treasury authority to NAC to operationalize the AIDS Trust Fund as a way of ensuring the sustainability of the national AIDS response through local financing.
In receiving the petition, Professor Siamwiza explained that the CCM had written to both ZNAN and the Global Fund secretariat seeking clarification on what the specific audit queries were at the organization and had received feedback from both organizations.
Professor Siamwiza added that CCM was taking steps to have all the funds being channeled through ZNAN to be diverted to the Churches Health Association of Zambia (CHAZ), a CSO PR, which disburses funds to faith-based organizations in the country.
He said he had written to the CHAZ Executive Director, asking whether CHAZ can accept the role of PR of global funds for the period in which they were investigating the ZNAN issue. He said that both CHAZ management and its board were supportive of the idea, and are in the process of setting up a Program Management Unit (PMU), whose sole responsible will be the disbursement of funds that were previously being disbursed by ZNAN.
PLHIV, who carried solidarity messages on placards for the protest, were happy to hear that CCM had started taking steps to addresses the global funds issue in Zambia. But they were quick to point out that the Global Fund situation had resulted in the collapse of numerous support groups and CBOs for PLHIV that were dependent on ZNAN money. They said that the issue had also affected the payment of community volunteers and TB treatment supporter workers, including peer educators whose allowances were mostly funded through ZNAN grants.
ZNAN was responsible for the disbursement of Global Fund money to CSOs in Zambia, until the Office of the Inspector General of the Global Fund reported irregularities and audit queries on the way funds were being managed.
Mr Chirwa thanked activists for their solidarity petition and promised their demands will be delivered to the Global Fund office in Geneva.
The petition was signed by PLHIV drawn from Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign (TALC), Community Initiative for Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and Malaria plus related diseases CITAM+, Network of ARV Users, and Zambia Network of Religious Leaders living with HIV/AIDS (ZANERERA+), the Coalition of Zambian Women Living with HIV/AIDS (COZWHA), the Zambia National Antiretroviral Support Network (ZNARVs) and Network of Zambian People Living with HIV (NZP+).
The campaigners were led by Felix Mwanza, the Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign’s (TALC) Country Coordinator; the Executive Director of Community Initiative for Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS & Malaria (CITAM); Carol Nawina, former Global Fund board member for the Community Delegation of PLHIV/AIDS and Nathan Nthlane, National Coordinator of Zambia National ARV Support Programme.