Doctors arrested over embezzlement from charity
Niger’s government has made tackling corruption a priority since taking office in 2011, and last year president Mahamadou Issoufou fired two ministers suspected of illegally awarding state contracts.
The new investigation centres on $1.5 million donated between 2007 and 2010 by the GAVI Alliance, backed by the Gates Foundation, the World Health Organisation, the World Bank, Unicef, donor governments and others.
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Hide AdThe charity, which aims to improve access to immunisation in poor countries, was launched in 2000 with a $750m grant from the Gates foundation.
“Some 20 doctors and public health managers were the object of arrest warrants and therefore jailed following an investigation,” said a judge in Niamey.