[stop-imf] Kenya and AIDS expenditures: IMF and WB blamed

[Robert Weissman]

Kenya admits failure in distributing AIDS funds

U.S. envoy calls delay a death sentence for Kenyans who are ill
Wednesday, February 2, 2005 Posted: 1842 GMT (0242 HKT)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Kenya's Health Ministry acknowledged Wednesday that
it had failed to distribute $54 million (euro 41 million) meant to fight
HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, a day after a U.S. ambassador said the
delay amounted to a death sentence.

Health Ministry spokesman Richard Abura blamed the delay on conditions set
by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, including contracting
an agency to ensure the money was well spent and hiring 78 accountants to
manage the funds.

He said the government has struggled for more than nine months to meet the
donor conditions and approved the hiring of the accountants only on
Wednesday -- a day after U.S. Ambassador William Bellamy spoke out on the
issue, making unusually blunt remarks.

"Every day of additional delay is a death sentence for Kenyans whose lives
could be saved by treatment," Bellamy said Tuesday at the official opening
of a HIV/AIDS treatment clinic.

"Let's be clear. The money is available, and it has been available for quite
some time now," he said. "What remains is for the Kenya government to use it
quickly and effectively."

Bellamy also urged the Kenyan government "to start spending responsibly" the
funds it already has to fight AIDS.

A recent study conducted by another donor in partnership with the health
ministry found that over 500 million shillings ($6.4 million, or euro 4.9
million) are spent each year for ghost workers on the ministry's payroll, he
said.

"There are thousands of unemployed Kenyan-skilled medical personnel ready to
fill these jobs, and put in a solid day's work for a day's pay and treat
their fellow Kenyans with dignity and respect in every encounter," Bellamy
said.