PESHAWAR - Leader of the Opposition in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan Abbasi on Wednesday strongly criticised the officials of UNICEF for their private visits to the house of PTI Chairman Imran Khan in connection to prevision of funds for the Sehat Ka Insaf programme.
In a statement issued here, he said that there were reports of embezzlement in the funds provided to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government by the UNICEF.
He said that before the local government elections, releases of funds were tantamount to interference of the UN officials in the political affairs of Pakistan.
He said that it was responsibility of the UNICEF officials to investigate the embezzlement in the funds but instead they conduct visits to the house of Imran Khan for discussing future line of action. He said that funds given by the WHO and UNICEF were not the personnel donation of any person but these were international funds for the children of any affected country.
He said as per the rules and regulations, the officials should hand over the amount to finance minister and then deposit to national exchequer.
"These funds should be used through health department via proper channel," he added.
He maintained that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finance minister has also raised several questions regarding the purpose of these funds and the coalition partners in the KP government were not on the same page on the issue and there were severe concerns among the opposition members regarding the transparency of Sehat Ka Insaf programme.
He questioned that the UNICEF and WHO must clear their positions whether these funds have been handed over for political purpose or for eradication of polio and other children diseases. He also questioned whether the contract of purchase of necessary items was announced through open tenders or was given to their blue-eyed people.
He appealed to the WHO and UNICEF to abstain itself from interference in the affairs of the country political affairs as it would tarnish the image of these reputed organisations across the country.