OIG Reports Progress in the Uganda Fraud Case

Author:

David Garmaise

Article Type:

Article Number: 6

ABSTRACT The Office of the Inspector General says that marked progress has been made in the past year in the systemic fraud case involving Global Fund and other grants in Uganda.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) says that “marked progress” has been made in the past year in the systemic fraud case involving Global Fund and other grants in Uganda. (See Issue 113, at www.aidspan.org/gfo, for GFO’s most recent coverage on this case.)

In addition to the four people who have been convicted, charges have been laid in two other cases; investigations have been finalised in eight cases (and the Director of Public Prosecutions [DPP] is weighing the evidence to determine if charges are warranted); 15 cases are in an advanced stage of investigation; 22 cases are under investigation; and the remaining cases have been assigned to investigation teams and will be pursued as resources become available.

Investigations have been concluded in a further eleven cases for which the DPP determined that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.

The OIG says that there has been a significant increase in the amount of money repaid to the Global Fund and the Judicial Commission. (The Judicial Commission was formed in 2005 to investigate the allegations of fraud.) The amount recovered in the past year equals the amounts recovered in all previous years since the investigation started. The total value of funds repaid is now approximately $1.15 million. This amount may include some funds to repay donors other than the Global Fund.

The information for this article is from “The Office of the Inspector General Progress Report for October 2009 – February 2010,” which is available at www.theglobalfund.org/en/oig/reports.