Management Of COVID-19 Funds:IMF States Position OnMismanagement Allegations

The International Monetary Fund, IMF, says it is certainly aware of the recent investigation launched by Cameroonian authorities on the two emergency disbursements it approved last year to beef up the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Director of Communications, Gerry Rice, made the remarks on June 24, 2021, while responding to questions from journalists at a press conference.

In his comment the CommunicationsDirector said their position remains firm. “We've been saying consistently that countries should spend to fight the pandemic, but keep the receipts and in fact, check the receipts. So, it's very important for us that accountability and transparency are upfront in this process, they don't take the back seat and we have agreed on specific measures to strengthen governance and reduce vulnerabilities to corruption,” Gerry Rice stated.

In more specific terms, the official said transparency for the case of Cameroon will include, the publication of public procurement results, the beneficial ownership of companies receiving procurement contracts and the issuance of a report on COVID-19 spending. This also includes the publication of the results of an independent audit of the spending.

The fund said it is currently engaged with Cameroon to figure out the best ways of moving ahead. “So we're engaged with the Cameroonian authorities and indeed other stakeholders on how best to support their efforts. And, you know, the whole objective, of course, is to save lives and livelihoods in Cameroon and elsewhere,” the IMF Director of Communications said. 

The fund said it had also responded to a recent letter written by a group of women, calling on the IMF to ascribe a condition on any further funding. “We received the letter from the women leaders in Cameroon and we have responded by reiterating some of these measures that we have in place that are aimed at strengthening governance and reducing vulnerability to corruption,” the director stated. He indicated that they are looking forward to meeting with the women during their next field visit. “We're looking to meet with representatives of those women leaders. Just as we often do here at the IMF, in our visits to countries with civil society and other stakeholders in the country,” he concluded.

The IMF official rounded off his intervention on Cameroon, stating that they do not take the current issues at hand lightly.