Kenya Suspends Head of National AIDS Control Council Amid Fraud Allegations

Kenya's National AIDS Control Council on Wednesday said that its director, Margaret Gachara, has been suspended after the launch of an investigation by the country's Efficiency Monitoring Unit into allegations that she obtained an inflated salary through improper means, Reuters reports. Gachara has been suspended and replaced by Dr. Patrick Orege until further notice, Kassim Mambo, public relations manager of the NACC, said. An official at the EMU on Wednesday said that Gachara had earned $20,830 in July, compared with the normal director's salary of $3,933 per month (Reuters, 8/27). The NACC last month was accused of mishandling money allocated for the fight against HIV/AIDS, and an investigation into whether the group misspent $250,000 during the observance of World AIDS Day in 2001 has been launched (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/10).