Government probing 63 civil servants over abuse of funds

Sixty-three people have been sent on paid forced leave at the Ministry of Health (MoH) on suspicion that they embezzled funds from the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), it has emerged.

MoH Principal Secretary Macphail Magwira confirmed the suspensions yesterday.

He said: “Yes, I can confirm that 63 people have been sent on forced leave to pave the way for further investigations into millions of kwacha which are believed to be misappropriated. The funds are for our donor, Centre for Disease Control, which has a lot of projects, including male circumcision.”

According to Magwira, CDC raised the red flag that some people at MoH collected allowances without undertaking field trips.

He said MoH asked the National Audit Office (NAO) to help with the audit to establish the truth. n