Kakata, Margibi County — A  leaked audio on Margibi County Health Officer (CHO) Dr. Augustine Nyankun Fannieh and other senior staff of the County Health Team discussing their involvement in financial corruption surrounding fraudulent billings and collection of kickbacks from vendors has surfaced.

The leaked audio embroiling the Margibi County Health Team administrators in financial impropriety surfaced at the time the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Ministry of Health (MOH) Fixed Amount Reimbursement Agreement (FARA) Program is providing annual financial support of US$801,693.00 to the Margibi Health System.

The FARA program supports the cost of implementing components of the Essential Package of Health Services that support family planning, maternal and child health and malaria prevention and treatment at 24 health Facilities across Margibi.

The five-minute-long audio recording emanated from a conversation between the Margibi County Health Officer Dr. Augustine Nyankun Fannieh and others including the County Health Services Administrator, Leroy Darworzia, County Health Services Department Director, James Tamba Varney, Compliance Officer, George Y. Gaykpua, Finance Officer, Roland M. Reeves, Assistant Finance Officer, Kusie E. David and Procurement Officer, Dornuu Horace.

The leaked audio, which dates back more then five months ago, was recorded during a senior-managerial meeting triggered by a growing rift amongst the county health team officials over the unfair distributions of kickbacks from corrupt dealings.

In the recording, Dr. Fannieh can be heard in a somewhat angry tone mandating the procurement officer Dornuu Horace to desist from collecting kickbacks from vendors on behalf of the health team and only focus on his responsibility of processing procurement documents and bargain with vendors and allow the accountant to do the collection of kickbacks.

Dr. Fannieh stated: “Any transaction that goes on in term of remission; you give something and the procurement do something. The understanding is you need the money back to do something else.”

“The procurement supposed to do all his procurement thing and go and do the paper works, have the discussion and all with the vendors and whatever. Whatever is agreeable, you come and inform the County Health Services Administrator to know what is it; the accountant issued the cheque to the vendors and whatever amount that is agreeable that supposed to come back or wherever it is supposed to go; going forward it is the accountant that will go for the money, not the procurement,” he commended.

Courtesy of  Journalist Yawah