Inter Press Service - September 13, 2005
Joyce Mulama

But, at what point does necessary rigour become needless obstructionism? In the case of AIDS funding in particular, is red tape strangling efforts to bring help to those desperate for assistance?

A number of AIDS activists believe so.

"Donor funds which were given to the government for disbursement years back are up to now still being held by the treasury. The signature chain that the money has to pass through is too long," Michael Angaga, regional co-ordinator of the Network of African People Living with HIV/AIDS, told IPS.

"By the time this money reaches the sick person at the grassroots through community organisations, a year has already gone by and many deaths have occurred," he added.

According to official statistics, over two million of Kenya's estimated 30 million citizens have contracted HIV. More than 200,000 are in need of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), with up to 700 people dying daily from AIDS-related diseases.

In 2000, the government declared HIV/AIDS a national disaster. But, "One does not respond to a disaster by taking so long to disburse crucial money meant to fight it," says Ignatius Kibe, technical coordinator of the Kenya AIDS Watch Institute -- a non-governmental organisation that monitors and evaluates the ways in which AIDS is dealt with in the country.

"The government should first and foremost remove all bureaucracy. Even when purchasing drugs for HIV/AIDS ARVs, tenders take up to six or seven months while patients are dying."

At present, the Ministry of Finance is the initial recipient of all donor funds. It issues money for HIV-related projects to the National AIDS Control Council (NACC), a process overseen by the Local Funding Agency. Once the transfer has been completed, the NACC sends project funding to the Finance and Management Agency.

Sizeable organisations involved in the fight against AIDS may get money from the Finance and Management Agency. In the case of smaller, community-based groups, however, yet another department is involved in fund disbursement: the Secretariat of the Consortium. This body is responsible for allocating money received from the Finance and Management Agency to community organisations.

Certain donors are also uneasy about the way in which disbursement of funds can slow to a snail's pace.

"There have been delays in the use of money from the Global Fund and we continue to be concerned that the money given is not being used in the right time," Warren Buckingham, senior regional HIV/AIDS advisor at the United States Agency for International Development, told IPS.

"Money was given several years ago, and to the best of my knowledge it has not been used to do anything. The government has not bought any ARVs with this money."

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was established in 2002 to bring new vigour to efforts at combating these diseases. Its biggest single donor is the United States.

According to the fund's website, just over a quarter of the funding given to Kenya has been disbursed (about 36 million dollars of the total grant of almost 137 million dollars).

However, government says delays in allocating AIDS funds can be ascribed to the fact that time was needed to set up a copper-bottomed process for procuring ARVs.

"Originally, we had to set the system of procurement.Now money coming in may be used to procure, among other things -- drugs -- very fast," Patrick Orege, director of the National Aids Control Council, said in an interview with IPS. "If the money went out without a proper system in place, it would be another accusation."

A recently-passed bill on procurement is expected to streamline the issuing of funds across government, including in the AIDS sector. The bill was given the green light by parliament last month following pressure from donors, and is now awaiting the president's signature.

Those who lobby for additional simplification of disbursement might find their case weakened by claims that current procedures, laborious as they may be, have still been outwitted by small groups which are trying to make quick money off the HIV pandemic.

"There have been instances whereby the government has given funds to ghost organisations because of a lack of a monitoring system by authorities to ascertain the true existence of such organisations. The government is being negligent here," Angaga admits.

Politicians have raised similar concerns, and called for investigations into the matter.

However, officials insist that only a handful of community-based organisations which have been allocated funds are suspect: 24 out of the 5,200 to be given money.

"There are a number that we are investigating and we will take action against them. They will appear in court very soon and if found guilty, they will be punished and forced to return the money," said Orege. "These are a few rebels just like in any other system."

Since 2001, a total of 32 million dollars has been allocated to community groups.

"These organisations have contributed widely to the fight against HIV/AIDS including counselling, offering home-based care and awareness creation -- and that is why we are continuing our relationship with them," noted Orege.

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