Global Fund audit finds World Vision Malawi liable for K576 million in non-compliant malaria grant spending

An audit by the Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has found World Vision Malawi (WVM) responsible for approximately K576 million (US$125,901) in non-compliant expenditure and systemic control failures in its management of a K151 billion (US$33 million) malaria grant, raising questions over the organisation’s continued suitability as a Principal Recipient of Global Fund financing.

The report, dated 5 June 2025, concluded that grant activities between 2020 and 2022 were compromised by fraudulent practices, weak oversight and inadequate record-keeping, to the extent that auditors could not verify whether key health interventions had actually taken place.

The OIG identified four areas in which WVM’s conduct breached Global Fund grant regulations.

The most significant finding concerned K316 million (US$69,044) in fraudulent payments the organisation failed to prevent or detect.

Of this, K215 million (US$46,922) related to vehicle hire, after local supplier Planet Car Hire submitted 13 fraudulent invoices covering 41 vehicles purportedly used in indoor residual spraying campaigns.

Four vehicles billed as Land Cruisers or buses were in fact registered as motorcycles or small cars, while three summary invoices worth K125 million (US$27,284) carried duplicate reference numbers from previously paid periods with no supporting documentation.

The OIG concluded the supplier had “knowingly or recklessly misled” WVM for financial gain.

A further K101 million (US$22,122) stemmed from internal fraud, after WVM finance staff created and processed two fictitious payment requisitions – including a duplicate payment of K40 million (US$8,757) diverted to a personal bank account, and a second duplicate payment of K61 million (US$13,365) supported by a forged delivery note. WVM has since recovered the funds.

Auditors additionally flagged K260 million (US$56,857) in expenditure they were unable to verify as compliant, owing to poor record-keeping and a lack of supporting documentation across 15 billing documents for vehicle hire between 2020 and 2022 – bringing the total flagged non-compliant expenditure to K576 million (US$125,901).

The OIG noted that these record-keeping failures extended beyond financial controls to programme delivery, stating that the absence of reliable records “similarly prevented the OIG from confirming whether IRS activities actually took place as reported.”

The audit further found that WVM lacked uniform controls for reconciling and supervising suppliers.

Some 165 of the 510 vehicles used between 2020 and 2022 did not appear in any inspection reports, while district teams applied inconsistent reconciliation processes, and framework agreements for 2021 and 2022 did not require suppliers to submit invoices to the national office – weakening central oversight of a cost category that accounted for K52.6 billion (US$11.5 million), or 32 per cent, of the 2021-2023 grant budget.

Auditors also found WVM had failed to cascade the Global Fund’s Code of Conduct for Suppliers to vendors, as required under grant regulations.

WVM argued it had relied on World Vision’s own internal supplier code, but the OIG determined this “does not fully align, as not all Global Fund definitions are reflected.”

The findings strike at the core requirements for Principal Recipient status under Global Fund regulations, which require grant holders to safeguard funds, maintain adequate records, ensure supplier compliance and operate effective oversight mechanisms.

The OIG concluded WVM’s oversight mechanisms “were not effective, as they failed to identify the payments linked to fraudulent practices.”

WVM served as Principal Recipient for one of Malawi’s two Global Fund malaria grants between 2016 and 2023, part of a broader relationship in which the Global Fund has invested more than K10 trillion (US$2.2 billion) in the country since 2003. The organisation continues to serve as Principal Recipient for one of Malawi’s two Global Fund TB/HIV grants under the current funding cycle.

The audit does not make any determination on criminal liability, but establishes administrative accountability for safeguarding failures that occurred under WVM’s watch. The organisation has since taken action to dismiss implicated staff and overhaul its internal systems.

World Vision Malawi board chairperson Dr Rose Nyirenda could not be reached for comment.

A senior official at the US Embassy in Malawi, Uchechi Roxo, declined to comment on the findings, directing enquiries instead to Cuthbert Nyirenda at the Executive Secretariat of Malawi’s Country Coordination Mechanism, the governance body that includes the bilateral constituency represented by the US and UK.

Nyirenda had not responded to questions by the time of publication.