In response to the recent report highlighting supposed financial mismanagement within the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) released by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), William Hammink, Mission Director to Afghanistan for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) said that there is no concrete evidence to prove financial aid has been misused.
Although he was clear in stating that USAID would be continuing to help the MoPH with funding, he also was careful to show appreciation for SIGAR and the work it does.
"We welcome the role of the Inspector General because that is an important part of what we do to make sure that our programs are successful. As much as we feel confident that our programs are being successful, we always welcome an independent view to make sure that in effect we are achieving our goals," Mr. Hammink said.
"In the case of Afghanistan and in the case of Iraq, because the programs have been very large and because there has been so much funding not only from the USAID but also from the State Department, the Special Inspector General was created," he explained.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ken Yamashita, the head of the USAID Afghanistan, emphasized the fact that their programmes with Public Health have been successful and that there has been no financial malfeasance.
"I am fully satisfied and convinced that there has been no misuse whatsoever of our resources and the programs truly have been successful," Dr. Yamashita said.
Last week, MoPH officials refuted the charges lodged in the report and said that all aid money has been utilized in a transparent manner.
Suraya Dalil, Minister of Public Health, called SIGAR's report "baseless" and said that there are major gaps in their findings. The Minister challenged SIGAR to prove the accusations it made of corruption and mismanagement.
The SIGAR report advised USAID to withhold all future funding for the MoPH on the basis of there being high chances of misuse given its past observations. The report mentioned that defective accounting and corruption were key issues inside the Ministry.
In response to the report's allegations, the MoPH assured that the Ministry and its employees are ready to provide all necessary information regarding past utilisation of funds. However, it would appear USAID does not intend to pursue any out of the ordinary verification measures, at least not publically.