[afro-nets] Phantom Aid: Five Live Report: BBC Radio Five

[Sanjoy K. Nayak <sanjoy_k_nayak@yahoo.co.uk>]

Phantom Aid: Five Live Report: BBC Radio Five at 19:30 (UK) to-
day!
---------------------------------------------------------------

For a Summary see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk_politics/4191950.stm

Government 'wastes' African aid

The government has been accused of wasting hundreds of thousands
of pounds of African aid in Malawi. BBC's Five Live Report found
more than £700,000 was spent on hotel bills and meals for US
workers over four years. The National Audit Office said it may
mount an investigation into the use of consultants by the De-
partment for International Development (DFID).

The DFID has yet to issue a response to the accusations, which
will be aired in a programme on Sunday.

'Phantom aid'

One project in Malawi funded by the DFID has been accused of us-
ing international flights to fly in pens and notebooks bought in
Washington DC. The BBC report looked at several projects funded
by the department in Malawi, which is considered to be the
tenth-poorest country in the world.

This is what one British charity has called "phantom aid" Mat-
thew Chapman, BBC Five Live

Patrick Watt of charity Action Aid said: "(This is) another ex-
ample of aid money not really getting down to people who most
urgently need to benefit from it." He said: "It's an example of
phantom aid, when what Malawi needs is real aid." Conservative
international development spokesman Andrew Mitchell said there
appears to have been a breakdown in "transparency and account-
ability". "DFID need to get a grip and explain what has hap-
pened," Mr Mitchell said. "Hardworking taxpayers want to help
end poverty but they expect the money to be spent in an effec-
tive and accountable way." US agencies which had been brought in
as consultants included the National Democratic Institute (NDI),
used on a project to improve the parliamentary committee system
in Malawi. The £1m donated to the project from US funds was used
solely to pay for NDI staff there, the BBC report said. Spending
defended Over the four years of the project, the DFID donated
£3m to the project. Of that, £586,423 was spent on hotels in Ma-
lawi for the NDI staff. Another £126,062 was spent on meals. An
ex-staff member said computers, notebooks and other stationery
had been bought in Washington DC and flown over rather than
bought locally.

There are large areas of the aid system that are in urgent need
of reform Patrick Watt Action Aid

An NDI spokeswoman defended the spending, and said the British
department had never questioned it. World Learning, a US group
which had been brought in to distribute £4m of British money to
strengthen Malawian society had to cancel the project after six
months and a cost of £300,000. Dozens of local staff face losing
their jobs. Mr Watt said the large amounts of money spent of ad-
ministration and overseas staff meant "there are large areas of
the aid system that are in urgent need of reform". Malawian cam-
paigner Rafiq Hajat said: "Where you have so-called experts who
come from outside, charge exorbitant fees, live a five-star
lifestyle and then go back having left a couple of reports
mouldering on the shelf, that's how I would define phantom aid."

Story from BBC NEWS: Published: 2005/08/28 07:29:10 GMT © BBC
MMV