Being a simple tax paying Canadian, there is something that has worried me for many years: Why do we never send an auditor with our foreign aid to Africa? How else can we be sure that the funds are being used for the benefit of the people and not for buying arms for the benefit of a general who wishes to lead a revolt or half of it being spent on the luxurious life led by a President, his family and their cronies while the rest of the country starves, and the remainder simply being transferred to a numbered Swiss bank account on behalf of the crooked President.
If these people want us to help them, then I for one do not wish to hear the feeble arguments of the African governments and the NGO’s telling me that it would not be politically correct to question the trustworthiness of some of the African rulers by auditing them with regard to the use to which they are putting the aid that we give them.
Remember, it is NOT Government money, it is our, the Taxpayers’, money. (If the Government has resorted to printing money other than for replacement bills, then we are in deep trouble).
Let us not forget that there is no such thing as Government money, and that includes the world bank, it is all coming from you and me the taxpayer; and if you think you are getting good value for your money when it comes to African aid, please read the following from The Wall Street Journal of March 21st:
‘………this is also the country (Kenya) where in 2004, British envoy Sir Edward Clay apologized for underestimating the scale of government corruption and failing to speak out earlier.’
‘Over the past 60 years at least $1 trillion of development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. Yet real per-capita income today is lower than it was in the 1970s, and more than 50% of the population — over 350 million people — live on less than a dollar a day, a figure that has nearly doubled in two decades.’
‘As recently as 2002, the African Union, an organization of African nations, estimated that corruption was costing the continent $150 billion a year, as international donors were apparently turning a blind eye to the simple fact that aid money was inadvertently fueling graft. With few or no strings attached, it has been all too easy for the funds to be used for anything, save the developmental purpose for which they were intended.’
‘Mobutu Sese Seko, Zaire’s president from 1965 to 1997, is reputed to have stolen at least $5 billion from the country. A month ago, Malawi’s former President Bakili Muluzi was charged with embezzling aid money worth $12 million. Zambia’s former President Frederick Chiluba (a development darling during his 1991 to 2001 tenure) remains embroiled in a court case that has revealed millions of dollars frittered away from health, education and infrastructure toward his personal cash dispenser.’
I was delighted to read not so long ago about the wonderful work of the writer Philippa Gregory in Africa. Apparently Gregory and some friends put part of their royalties together and with the help of another who lives in Africa, they have started Gardens for Gambia and have been going around village schools in The Gambia drilling wells for fresh water (over 100 wells to date) and then teaching the children how to grow their own vegetables in a small market garden. Similarly, Mortenson’s building of schools in Pakistan is another example of getting things done that really help these people. Surely these are far more worthwhile ways of helping people get on their feet and working towards a democratically driven economy, than simply throwing money at the problem. This type of aid costs far less money, needs very little administration even on the ground; but the main bonus, and it is a huge one, is that this type of direct work t does not help keep corrupt governments in power.
With some of the largest slums in the world and millions of the population starving, why is it that there are so many Range Rovers, BMW’s, and top of the line other makes of cars to be seen in the capitals of most of the African countries, along with the fact that there is plenty of smoked salmon, jewelry and some of the most expensive brands of blended and Single Malt Scotch Whiskies on sale in all these cities?
It makes you wonder what is behind all this at the donor end as well as the recipient’s. An interesting means of money laundering and/or rewarding others for services given and decisions well made.
And yet our government is quite happy to join with others in sending more and more of our money to Africa in the form of Foreign Aid. Aiding whom? You may well ask.
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