Crucial health project runs out of funds

Kenya: There are fears that a multi-billion shilling health research project in Kisumu County could collapse due to lack of funds amid allegations of mismanagement and corruption.

At stake are at least 1,500 jobs at the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in Kisumu.

The collapse of CDC programmes could have far-reaching health consequences for Kenyans as the American-based research organisation funds more than 40 programmes, including research on malaria, HIV and tuberculosis, in Kisumu.

Worst hit is the Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSS) project.

HDSS, run jointly by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) and CDC, under the banner Kemri Collaboration Agreement (Kemri-CoAg), is responsible for collecting demographic and socio-economic data such as death, birth and pregnancies in Nyanza and Western regions.

Anxiety has gripped workers of the HDSS project, which is funded to the tune of $1.1 million (Sh98 million) per year, due to cash-flow problems.

On Monday, Kemri-CoAg Director John Vulule confirmed the dire state of the organisation’s finances in a communiqué to staff.

“I would like to take this opportunity to provide you with an update on the current status of our co-operative agreement between Kemri and CDC,” Dr Vulule said in the letter obtained by The Standard.

“As we approach the final year and closure of the current five-year co-operative agreement, we find ourselves in a fiscal deficit of over 90 per cent as the funds that were expected to take us to August 14, 2015 have been spent.”

“Therefore, all work supported through the CDC co-operative agreement must be prioritised and sustainably cut back in line with available funding as efforts are under way to look for additional funds,” Mr Vulule explained in the letter.

Vulule tasked branches and projects under the leadership of branch chiefs to look closely at short term in-branch strategies to mitigate the current situation in liaison with the Finance department, adding that the situation could have implications on actual work and staffing levels.

But sources at CDC alleged that the project was grappling with a major financial scandal, in which fund managers at Kemri were implicated.

 BANK ACCOUNTS

“This may appear as a small matter, but it is deeply rooted and corruption and mismanagement of funds has everything to do with it,” said a researcher with the project who cannot be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

“If the trend continues, not only HDSS will collapse but all the 40 research projects under Kemri-CDC,” he said.

“On paper we have the funds but the bank accounts are reading nil. We are only in March but our programme is supposed to elapse on August 14, 2015, and we are told we have run out of money, so where is the money?” he added.

He said staff could go without salaries at the end of the month, adding that many were already fearing for their jobs.