SENIOR MAURITANIAN OFFICIALS ARRESTED IN GLOBAL

UNCLAS NOUAKCHOTT 000656 SIPDIS ACCRA PLEASE PASS TO USAID/WA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID SOCI TBIO MR SUBJECT: SENIOR MAURITANIAN OFFICIALS ARRESTED IN GLOBAL FUND INVESTIGATION REF: NOUAKCHOTT 577 ¶1. (U) Summary. After being suspended from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, because of charges of fraudulent use of Global Fund payments, the GIRM took direct action by promising to immediately repay USD 1.7 million in mismanaged funds. The GIRM also arrested two prominent Mauritanians deemed responsible for some of the mismanaged funds, including the former Executive Secretary of the National AIDS Secretariat, who also happens to be the brother-in-law of the Mauritanian Prime Minister. The GIRM has shown a willingness to make difficult choices to reinstate Mauritania into the Global Fund, therefore Post has used this opportunity to propose to the Global Fund a technical assistance program to bring Mauritania's Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) into prescribed Global Fund operational and management standards. ¶2. (U) On September 10, 2009, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced that Mauritania's participation in the Global Fund was immediately suspended until the GIRM repaid, or accounted for, nearly USD 4 million dollars in funds that were either misused or unaccounted for between October 2006 - September 2008 (Reftel A). To underscore the seriousness of the Global Fund suspension, donor parties in Mauritania, led by the UNICEF representative, sent a letter to the Mauritanian Minister of Health demanding a full and just investigation into the charges and warning that the implications of the Global Fund fraud will reach far beyond the realm of Global Fund financing, but all international donor projects in the health field. ¶3. (U) On September 24, the Mauritanian Prime Minister sent a letter to the director of the Global Fund promising that the GIRM will reimburse USD 1.7 of funds that were used for fraudulent purposes. The GIRM is also assembling an independent inspection to determine the fate of the other USD 2.69 million in funds, which were not properly accounted for during the previous three year period. Last week, it was widely reported in the press, and confirmed by Mauritanian contacts that Dr. Horma ould Babana, former Executive Secretary of the National AIDS Secretariat (SENLS) and Salimata Cheikh Sow, AIDS Program Coordinator at SENLS were arrested due to their suspected involvement in the mismanagement of Global Fund payments. The arrest of Dr. Horma ould Babana is significant as he is the brother of the Minister of Health and the brother-in-law of the Prime Minister. The arrest of such a well-connected individual is an indication that the GIRM is taking these charges seriously. Post will closely monitor the future judicial proceedings of all individuals accused of financial wrongdoing in this scandal. ¶4. (U) One of the outcomes of the Global Fund investigation was a requirement that the Mauritanian Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) be reformed to be more independent of the GIRM and more accountable for Global Fund payments. A request for technical assistance to the Mauritanian CCM has been submitted to allow a Grant Management Solution (GMS) project to conduct a technical assistance program for the Mauritanian CCM. The proposal is currently under review by the Global Fund headquarters in Geneva. The charges of fraud involving Global Fund payments is an embarrassment for the GIRM, and their swift initial reaction to the charges indicates that this may be an appropriate moment to finally engage the CCM with a technical assistance program that could yield real structural and operational changes while bringing Mauritania's CCM in line with the Global Fund's CCM standards. HANKINS