Management of COVID-19 Related Funds: Project To Check Accountability, Transparency Launched In Cameroon

An initiative that seeks to advocate accountability and transparency of funding, open governance, interventions and finances targeted at combating the COVID-19 pandemic in some seven selected African countries has been launched in Yaounde.

Officials of Actions for Development and Empowerment,  ADE and those of Follow the Money talking to reports after launching the CTAP Project 

The initiative dubbed COVID-19 Transparency and Accountability Project (CTAP) was launched Monday 22 February 2021 at the Solomon Tandeng Muna Foundation in Yaounde.

The CTAP project is fronted in Cameroon by Actions for Development and Empowerment, ADE, a not-for-profit organization that seeks to empower young people to act around issues that affect their lives in partnership with a Nigeria organization, Follow the Money – the largest social mobilization and accountability movement in Africa that has advocated, visualized and tracked over 15 million dollars for social development across African grassroots communities.

Speaking while launching the project sponsored by Skoll Foundation and Conrad N. Foundation in partnership with Connected Development (CODE), the Founder of Follow the Money, Hamzat Lawal, said the project will build solid, deepening transparency and accountability across the seven selected countries; Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, Gambia, Zimbabwe, Liberia and Malawi.

Aside seeking transparency, Hamzat, said the apolitical organization will use the CTAP project to help build civic awareness and public trust between governments and citizens, help governments to transfer knowledge by changing narratives among youth, counter growing social media fake news due to government information hoarding and entrench citizen engagement among many others.

Hamzat boasted of the time-tested integrity of the 8-year-old organization which he maintained is not bankrolled by anyone with any hidden motive but simply an initiative to hold governments to account over use of state funds.

He stated that many governments have made attempts to compromise their works by proposing them huge sums just to kill their interest in investigating certain aspects of national funds notably that on handling of COVID-19 pandemic.

“Follow the Money has entrench herself with ultimate integrity…we have built public trust and have galvanize international support. This international support has help us going and shielded us from intimidation, harassment and even the fact that some of us have been exposed to bribery,” he revealed, while promising that they will stop at nothing but to investigate governments because dividends of resources, if judiciously used, will be enjoyed collectively by all citizens.

“We will remain an independent voice for the people, and will remain very transparent. The fact that we are transparent is also the fact that governments have not found anything on us after investigating us, our organsations, and our partners,” he stated, noting that governments have not seen anything to hold them down on.

Official launch of CTAP project 

On her part, Ndi Nancy Saiboh, founder/CEO of Actions for Development and Empowerment, ADE, who also doubles as Follow the Money Cameroon Lead, said the CTAP project will be used to address poor information access in the accountability of COVID resources and the effects of COVID-19 on socio-economic development in Cameroon.  

“As nations of the world tackle the plague of coronavirus, with funding for African countries amassing in millions of dollars, it has become expedient to demand accountable spending of the money to block financial leakages, ensure funds do not end up in personal pockets and ultimately advocate an improved healthcare system in the continent,” Saiboh said. 

She added that an online open data platform that curates and tracks all financial and material donations to fight against COVID would be set up while advocacy and collaboration with governments of focus countries and partners would be intensified among others. 

Worth noting is the fact that Follow the Money is made up of activists, social workers, lawyers, journalists, development consultants, researchers, data analysts, signed up on the organisations’s social mobility platform with goal to amplify voices of marginalized communities. 

The network’s activities has won them UN Action Award on Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs as well as got several recognitions from governments through invitations to be part of discussions on their budget appropriations and need assessment in various regions across countries. It has also visualized and tracked USD 15 billion and directly impacted 4 000 000 lives. 

By Doh Bertrand Nua