Uganda shaken by fund scandal

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KAMPALA, Uganda -- Uganda, which continues to win praise from President Bush and others as a model of success battling AIDS, is reeling from the disclosure that top officials, their relatives and colleagues siphoned off tens of millions of dollars in grants from the Geneva-based Global Fund.

Money went to charities that did not exist, into the personal bank accounts of government employees and even to fund a nationwide campaign to scrap term limits so that President Yoweri Museveni could run for a third term in office.

The most prominent official named was Jim Muhwezi, who served as health minister until being sacked last month. Two other senior ministry officials, Alex Kamugisha and Mike Mukula, also were named, with a recommendation that they be further investigated.

"This is the big leagues," said Justice James Ogoola, when asked to compare this week's American scandal over hurricane relief to the findings of a 10-month investigation that he just completed.

"This was assistance for people who were dying, who had absolutely no hope. This is exactly what the Global Fund was created for. The money came, and people were diving in for the kill," said Justice Ogoola, the top judge in Uganda's High Court.

Since its creation in 2002, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has committed $5.1 billion in grants to more than 130 countries to fight the three diseases that kill more than 6 million people each year. As of last year, the United States had given the fund $1.49 billion, according to the fund's Web site.

In addition to contributions from governments, rock star Bono and other celebrities have helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars from corporations and private charities such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The disappearance of a large amount of money first became public in August, when the fund abruptly suspended a $200 million grant. Mr. Museveni responded by appointing Justice Ogoola to investigate, and the fund lifted the suspension three months later.

"We didn't hold a single in-camera session. It was all public hearings, and we did that quite deliberately, so the people of Uganda could see with their own eyes what was going on," the judge said.

Immaculately dressed in a dark suit, he sat ramrod straight behind a huge mahogany desk, his hands folded as he answered a reporter's questions with a soft, deep voice.