6.2 billion Covid-19 package forensic audit to be finalized in a month.

 

State President Lazarus Chakwera has said the probe into the mismanagement of 6.2 billion Covid19 fight package is progressing well, and the forensic audit will take a month.

Making the sentiments at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe during the weekly broadcasts to the Nation on Sunday the 21st of February 2021, Chakwera explained that the probe will be in two phases, with the first to audit validation of the taskforce report and the probe of expenditure and whether the spending was lawful or not.

In his speech, President Lazarus Chakwera disclosed that heads of clusters and controlling officers have been interdicted for overseeing the mismanagement of Covid-19 funds and failing to submit expenditure reports, and are pending investigations.

On the probe into how Covid-19 funds were managed, Chakwera explained that it will be in two phases, emphasizing that all people involved in fraud will face the law.

Meanwhile, Dr Chalamira Nkhoma, Co-Chairperson of the Presidential Taskforce on Covid-19, has disclosed that as one way of enforcing financial prudence, clusters will be reviewed before they are given further funding.

Meanwhile, President Chakwera has expressed hope that the war against COVID-19 will be easily won if the country stays the course of prevention and treatment,.

Noting that the National COVID-19 positivity rate stands at 15 percent but targeted to be reduced to 5 percent, Chakwera lauded efforts by private citizens for realizing that the pandemic is here and it requires concerted efforts to win the fight.

-THANDIWE MZUMARA  For Luntha TV.