Tanzania’s controller and auditor general has found irregularities of more than $1.6 billion in the funds allotted for the country’s covid-19 socioeconomic recovery and response plan. The money was found bilked from the government’s coffers and mismanaged. In September 2021, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) disbursed $600 million in covid-19 relief. Later, in November, the IMF cleared another $372.4 million to the country. Tanzania also received $112 million from the Global Fund, besides nearly $44 million from the US Agency for International Development and $546,000 from the Irish government through the World Health Organization. These funds were largely aimed at mitigating the pandemic’s adverse socio-economic impact amid a collapse of tourism and economic growth hampered by travel restrictions. The money was also intended to purchase medical equipment and PPEs and support public health programs, besides aiding post-pandemic recovery. But Charles Kichere’s audit has unearthed numerous shortcomings in the expenditures, which could be pointers to large-scale improprieties.
