Maravi

Sweden not happy with govt over use of aid funds

Sweden not happy with govt over use of aid funds
By George Zulu in Monze
Thu 06 May 2010, 04:00 CAT

SWEDISH Ambassador to Zambia Marie Andersson de Frutos has said the Swedish people are not happy with the manner in which development cooperation funds meant to address poverty are being managed.

In an interview in Monze on Tuesday, Ambassador De Frutos said there was a big debate going on in Sweden regarding the utilisation of development cooperation funds given to the Zambian government.

“There is a big debate going on in the manner development cooperation funds are utilised by the government concerned, our people need to see change in the lives of the people they are helping through these funds.

It has to be change when we pay these funds and they must uplift the lives of the poor people. That is the whole ideology behind development cooperation funds,” she said.

Ambassador de Frutos said the scam in the Ministry of Health last year was a source of concern.

She said the freezing of funds following the scam was not meant to punish the people of Zambian but to initiate a platform for dialogue on how best the government could address such problems.

Ambassador De Frutos said she was happy that the Swedish government had continued funding the various development programmes which include the Ministry of Health.

“It has been an on-going discussion on how best to use development cooperation fund. We are not happy, of course we have raised this with the government concerned,” said Ambassador De Frutos.

“Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where we have to freeze funds due to mismanagement, but this is going hand in hand with the discussion that we are having with government to see how this can change. Our people have questioned how the development cooperation funds are utilised.”

A scam was last year unearthed in the Ministry of Health in which K10 billion was allegedly misappropriated by civil servants. The Swedish government, being one of the funders of the ministry, the Netherlands government and the GAVI Alliance, among others, suspended funding. However, both the Swedish and Netherlands governments have started funding the sector after the government pledged to take measures to prevent a recurrence of the graft.

Labels: CORRUPTION, DONORS, MARIE ANDERSSON DE FRUTOS, SWEDEN

posted by MrK @ 4:53 AM