CASH remittances from the diaspora could be taxed to finance HIV treatment if the Cabinet adopts a proposal for an Aids trust fund. The proposed HIV Trust Fund says unclaimed financial assets can also be used to bridge the short fall in donor funds. National Aids Control Council said if cabinet approves the proposal it will be taken to parliament.
The proposal was hammered out after the Global Fund failed to consider Kenya for the next round of grants. “We are comparing the trust fund with the one of Zimbabwe which worked well even when Zimbabwe was receiving no donor funds,” said Regina Ombam, head of strategy for NACC.
Last year, Sh60.9 billion was remitted into the country from the diaspora, most of it from relatives and friends, says Gitari Koori, head of the research department at Central Bank. “The monthly remittance flows have remained strong in 2011,” he said.
Speaking at a roundtable hosted by Internews in Nairobi, Ombam said it is proposed also that the government contributes one per cent of domestic revenue, about Sh100 million.
There are no official figures on the amount of unclaimed assets in Kenya, but according to a survey by the Retirement Benefits Authority in conjunction with the Unclaimed Property Asset Register, nearly Sh200 billion was held by different institutions in 2008. “Other proposals are to tax airtime, air ticket,” Ombam said.
At least 80 per cent of life-prolonging ARVs in Kenya are bought by donors. Currently, 520,000 people are on ARVs although up to 1.5 million Kenyans are living with HIV. Head of the National Aids and STI Control Programme Ibrahim Mohamed says the decision by Global Fund will not affect Kenya. “I don’t think it will affect Kenya a lot because Kenya has just received round 10 grants totaling to Sh32.7 billion,” he said.
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