Malawi: Bitter Revolt Inside Malawi's Global Fund Body

What the report says

A dispute has broken out inside Malawi’s Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM), the body that helps oversee Global Fund support for HIV, TB and malaria programs. According to Nyasa Times, six senior CCM members say officials are trying to reverse or reopen a decision already taken on who should serve as Principal Recipient, the organization that would manage millions of dollars in grant funding.

The row stems from a meeting held on 18 August at Malawi’s Ministry of Finance, where the report says quorum was confirmed and members voted on all agenda items, including the Principal Recipient selection. The six objecting members — Dunker Kamba, Bishop Moffat Litchapa, Treza Mphwatiwa, Memory Kamwendo, Tionge Gondwe and Ishmael Phiri — later wrote to the CCM leadership after learning that the secretariat intended to seek comments or endorsement from members who had not attended the meeting, but only on the Principal Recipient issue.

They argue that allowing absent members to weigh in after the fact would weaken the meaning of quorum and make a completed vote less credible. The group also says the approach is unfair because other decisions from the same meeting were treated as final. In their letter, they warn that the process could damage donor confidence and expose the CCM to further dispute.

As reported by Nyasa Times, the six want the 18 August decision left intact and say they are prepared to raise the matter within CCM structures and, if needed, with the Global Fund Secretariat in Geneva. No formal response from the CCM chairperson had been reported at the time of publication.