Transparency International (TI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW), two renowned international organisations have accused Cameroon, Ecuador, Egypt and Nigeria of not transparently managing the emergency loans gotten from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help cushion the health and economic shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This observation is contained in a detailed report published by the two organisations 31 March 2021.
The report said based on analyses carried out between January and March 2021 on documents published by these governments, as well as loan agreements and other documents published by the IMF, there remain inconsistencies in the types of measures to which governments committed their implementation, and the role of the IMF in ensuring compliance.
The report said accessibility, and quality of the disclosed information varies widely and is inadequate for meaningful oversight for any of the four countries.
The IMF initially pledged to use its US$1 trillion lending capacity to help countries cope with its COVID-19 shocks. It approved only 10% of this amount, in part due to technical restrictions as well as many countries’ mounting debt.
Recent developments in the G20 and G7 are likely to help boost countries’ reserves, and the G7 has specifically pledged to “work with the IMF to make progress on enhancing transparency and accountability.”
The report called on governments to spend as much as they can but keep evidence of receipts which are publicly accessible, comprehensive and credible so as to check corruption allegations as well as check if the deprivation of basics rights as a result of the health crisis are addressed by these governments.
Cameroon’s health sector, the report said is the most underfunded in Africa with two-thirds of total spending on health in the country coming from people seeking treatment – double the regional average. It stated that majority of families do not seek health care because costs are too high Cameroon lacks a social safety net with nine out of 10 workers employed in the informal economy.
“The COVID-19 pandemic brought fresh urgency to increasing funding for healthcare centres and supporting people who lost earnings. In April 2020, the health minister announced a 58 billion XAF (US$105 million) response plan and on May 4 the IMF approved a US$256 million emergency loan to help finance it. In October, the IMF approved a second US$156 million loan to finance a more robust US$825 million three-year package to support the country’s health system and help businesses and households affected by the pandemic,” the report revealed.
As part of the May loan, the report said government had pledged to use the funds transparently, and committed to issuing semi-annual reports on COVID-19 spending; commission an independent audit; and publish “documents related to results of public procurement and [beneficial ownership information] of companies awarded contracts.”
It revealed that from the beginning, “virtually no public information was provided regarding the government’s COVID-19 spending”.
Healthcare centres made urgent appeals for support from an emergency health fund into which they have been paying 10 percent of their revenues since 1993, according to medical staff whom Human Rights Watch interviewed from various regions in April and May, but they said they had received no support.
“The government does not publish any information about the fund and did not respond to a Human Rights Watch letter regarding it. The president established a second solidarity fund and appealed to private companies and citizens to contribute, but that fund was also not transparent,” he further stated.
HRW through interviews quoted a medic who reported shortages in basic hospital goods, including thermometers, disinfectants, and medicines, as well as ventilators and oxygen, and protective gear for doctors and nurses, such as masks, gloves, and glasses.
They quoted a doctor as saying one his hospital only received 12 masks, 20 boxes of gloves and four full body gowns for its 50 employees until his district’s 10 medical facilities finally received a combined total of 10 million CFA (US$17,000) in August.
The report reveals that those who lost their jobs or wages due to the pandemic received little or nothing to stave off hunger. The report revealed that based on over a dozen interviews HRW conducted, hotels received only very partial or no compensation for their costs, adding financial strain at a time when the industry was already struggling with pandemic-related restrictions leading to layoffs and steep wage cuts.
The report said government has not published any information regarding its contracts with or reimbursements to such hotels.
“After public pressure, the Health Ministry, citing the “urgency of transparency”, published a two-page statement on July 29 about how it spent about 22 billion FCA (US$40 million), which it said was its total expenditure to respond to COVID-19 in the preceding five months. It included only vague categories that provide no real possibility for the public to verify.
In its letter, the IMF said that the Ministry of Finance is preparing a report on its COVID-19 spending, which it expects the government will share “in the near term.”
By Doh Bertrand Nua
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