The New National AIDS Council Members have been officially sworn in on Friday May 19, 2017.
The immediate brief swearing in ceremony of the new council gave legitimacy to the convening of an urgent meeting which was held after the signing of their oaths.
According to the NAC Chairman, John Ipidari, the special meeting was purposely to discuss urgent matters which have been affecting the operations of the organisation for the past several months in the absence of a Council and a director.
Some of the urgent matters discussed included clearance of the NACS account so that it can access its BSP bank account, procurement of 800 cartons currently stored at the Murray Barracks warehouse and the purchase of condoms from Population Service International (PSI), and the most important and urgent issue deliberated on was the appointment of an Acting Director.
National AIDS Council has been operating without a Director for the last four months and this vacuum has affected the management of the agency.
The major resolutions passed at the meeting were:
-The appointment of a new director has been further delayed. The Council has passed a resolution that HHISP who was initially engaged with the NACS recruitment to re-advertise the position externally and potential candidates to be short-listed and submitted to the Council for its deliberation and appointment
-In the absence of a substantive director, three NAC members including the Chairman will become signatories to the bank account and the NAC resolution with the NEC National Gazettal Notice to be submitted to the bank for compliance purposes and accessibility of the bank account until a new director is appointed and automatically becomes the section 32 officer to approve funds.
-That when the signatures are cleared, the procurement and distribution of condoms will commence immediately. A current contractual agreement with Population Service International (PSI) for procurement of condoms will be reviewed by the bank signatories as soon as possible and once signed will pave the way the boxes of condoms including merchandise will be transferred to NACS for distribution.
After the appointment of a substantive Director, the NACS recruitment process of new staff as per the re-structure will commence and coordinated by the Director and HHISP.
The NAC Chairman has pledged the support for a stronger collaborative partnership and engagement with major stakeholders.
“The Council recognises the need for the NAC and its Secretariat to play a much more active role through this partnership to enable it to shift paradigms away from its past performance.”
He assured stakeholders that the new NAC will have to start by re-building its reputation and boosting the confidence towards promoting and strengthening a stronger partnership which he emphasized as very essential going forward.
The New NAC Members that were officially endorsed by as per NEC decision and national gazettal notice for the next five years and were officially sworn in.
The swearing-in ceremony was officiated by Margaret Asinimbu, Lawyer LLB- Commissioner For Oath.
The new NAC members are:
Mr. Joseph Thomas Wolom Sukwianomb- Government Departments
Mr. James Tony Wong- Commercial and Industrial
Ms. Monica Mauwe- Non-Government Organisations
Ms. Heisi Epy Novulu- Interest of Women
Mr. Ian Ako- People Living with HIV (PLHIV)
Dr. Paison Dakulala- Health Department
Ms. Betty Lovai- Universities
Mr. John Ipidari- Enclaves Industries
Ms. Christine Joan Sturrock- Bilateral Partners
Cardinal Sir John Mathew Ribat- Churches
Mr. David Bridger- Global Agencies
Rev. Dick R. Avi- Civil Society Organisations
A proper NAC meeting to discuss other important issues will be called for as soon as all other urgent matters are resolved which will also include the appointment of a new Director.