Donors halt aid to Zambian social welfare scheme over suspected misuse
Lusaka — The UK and Finland have frozen funding to Zambia on suspicion that $4m they channeled into a social welfare scheme may have been misused, the Zambian presidency said on Tuesday. President Edgar Lungu later gave the country’s top public servant a week to take decisive action to curb all "malpractices" in the administration of the scheme. The social cash transfer scheme is a donor-supported programme under which the Zambian government relays money to vulnerable households in rural areas. The British high commissioner to Zambia Fergus Cochrane-Dyet said in a tweet that Britain had frozen all bilateral funding until audit results were known. "[Britain] takes a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and corruption." Officials from Finland did not immediately comment. Presidential spokesperson Amos Chanda said Lungu ordered an inquiry four months ago into possible "misuse" of the aid funds from 2012, and a number of suspects were due to be prosecuted. "They notified us about the suspen...
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