UGANDA ESCAPES RETALIATION FOR ALLEGED HIV/AIDS CORRUPTION

Ugandan government officials have hurried to soothe mounting concerns over alleged corruption involving transfers from the UN-administered Global Fund. Local HIV/AIDS activists had claimed that the funds were being diverted to "political" activities. The reports follow a recent announcement by the US government of a new initiative on malaria in Uganda, a disease which the Global Fund is also tasked with alleviating.

Meanwhile, government officials and opposition figures have accused each other of misallocating funds from the system. Government sources note that US$45mn has been disbursed by the Global Fund since the programme's inception in Uganda, while a total US$370mn is to be spent by 2010. However, there will be concerns that large quantities of aid funds are already encouraging corruption and distorting the US$300mn regional market, especially in view of recent revelations over missing UK government funds in neighbouring Kenya.