International Development - WikiLeaks: UK Aid to Africa Allegedly Siphoned Off

Leaked documents reveal that millions of pounds of British aid money for Africa have ended up in the pockets of African ministers and officials. Photo by: Jumanji Solar / CC BY-NC-SA

 

Millions of pounds of British aid money for Africa have ended up in the pockets of African ministers and officials, leaked documents obtained by The Telegraph reveal.

 

Some 1.2 million pounds (USD1.9 million) in U.K. aid to Sierra Leone have been spent on plasma television sets, hunting rifles and other consumer items. It was intended to “support peacekeeping” but was stolen by the country’s “top brass,” Gordon Rayner and Steven Swinford of The Telegraph report.

Another 16.5 million pounds have been allegedly pocketed by Ugandan ministers. Meanwhile, some 800,000 pounds intended for educational projects have supposedly been stolen by Kenyan education officials. Also, textbooks valued at 10.6 million pounds have been “lost” to “fraud, theft, and destruction” from four years prior.

 

The leaked memo said the U.K. Department for International Development was aware of the corruption allegations in Kenya and was reviewing the issue, but would not pull the plug on the program.

 

“DfID considers the Free Education Program to be a major success and the level of losses to be within reason,” the U.S. embassy said in the cable, as quoted by The Telegraph.

 

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via devex.com