AS THE RAPIDLY-FATAL EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE IN SIERRA LEONE SPIRALS OUT OF CONTROL, DESPITE 2 PREVIOUS LOCK DOWNS OF THE COUNTRY, THE PRESIDENT, ERNEST KOROMA, SEEMS TO BE OUT OF IDEAS, AND THEREFORE RAISES HIS HANDS AND CONTINUES TO WEEP . AGAIN, NOTE THAT I MADE NO MENTION OF CORRUPTION BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COUNTRYS INABILITY TO CONTAIN THIS KILLER VIRUS.........Hehehehehehehe . “The root of all problems here is money-siphoning,” said a local journalist, who asked that I not identify him for fear of retribution. In Sierra Leone, such admissions are tied to a fear that thugs will beat people who voice concerns, or harm their families. The way people talked about these fears in Freetown struck me as reminiscent of the height of the mafia shakedowns in 1950s Brooklyn. One top global health official, insisting I not even identify his agency, said, “This place gives Nigeria a run for the money on corruption. Some $18 billion in foreign aid has poured in here since Koroma took office — where is it?” The answer seems to be connected to the fancy mansions that line tony hillsides of Freetown, complete with swimming pools and shiny new BMWs. All over the world, foreign aid and humanitarian assistance programs are subject to theft, typically executed by the government officials who are supposed to receive and process the cash. For example, a country’s farm program officer might take in $100 million in aid intended for purchasing seed and fertilizer for local farmers, and submit $100 million in receipts to the foreign aid donor. But that official may have purchased $90 million worth of farm supplies and pocketed $10 million right off the top. The frequency with which such “skimming” occurs and the size of the typical graft vary dramatically from country to country, and are measured by a variety of banking and finance institutions. Sierra Leone consistently ranks as one of the world’s most permissive environments for classic graft. No foreign aid or investment has been immune to “skimming,” including programs that are literally matters of life and death for the general population. In December 2011, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) audited spending for food and agricultural development in Sierra Leone, discovering $794,664 in “cost overruns” in a $13.2 million program implemented jointly by the government of Sierra Leone and the Christian charity World Vision. The audit concluded that “[p]rogram performance data could not be verified, and impact could not be measured,” and that “[t]he partner incurred unreasonable expenses and exceeded line-item budgets.”
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 17:51:17 +0000
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