Askari Kanzu
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- Jan 7, 2011
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Food aid graft worsened Kenya drought impact -report
21 Mar 2012 18:49. Source: alertnet//Katy Migiro
A woman walks past carcasses of cattle in the drought-stricken Eladow area in Wajir, northeastern Kenya, August 4, 2011. REUTERS/Stringer
By Katy Migiro
NAIROBI, March 21 (AlertNet) - Rampant corruption in food aid worsened the suffering of Kenyans hit by drought last year, Transparency International said on Wednesday, with some politicians sabotaging food distribution and giving it out where it was not needed to win support.
Nearly 4 million Kenyans required food assistance in a "triangle of death" drought that struck 13 million people across the Horn of Africa last year. Most of the Kenyans who suffered were livestock herders living in its arid, marginalised north.
"It is one of the most vile, disgraceful, appalling acts to set aside food for the hungry in one place to benefit your election or your bank account in another place," famous fossil hunter Richard Leakey, chair of Transparency International-Kenya, said at the launch of a report in the capital Nairobi.
Food aid in Kenya is a multi-million dollar business that is highly politicised and vulnerable to corruption.
The report said there was political interference throughout the response process, affecting contracting, recruitment and the manipulation of targeting and distribution processes.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is in charge of Kenya's food aid pipeline, transporting food to districts. It then contracts local partners to transport, store and distribute food.
Leading political figures supported agencies that did not meet WFP and government selection criteria "to ensure usage of certain transportation and warehousing interests," the report said.
Source
21 Mar 2012 18:49. Source: alertnet//Katy Migiro
A woman walks past carcasses of cattle in the drought-stricken Eladow area in Wajir, northeastern Kenya, August 4, 2011. REUTERS/Stringer
By Katy Migiro
NAIROBI, March 21 (AlertNet) - Rampant corruption in food aid worsened the suffering of Kenyans hit by drought last year, Transparency International said on Wednesday, with some politicians sabotaging food distribution and giving it out where it was not needed to win support.
Nearly 4 million Kenyans required food assistance in a "triangle of death" drought that struck 13 million people across the Horn of Africa last year. Most of the Kenyans who suffered were livestock herders living in its arid, marginalised north.
"It is one of the most vile, disgraceful, appalling acts to set aside food for the hungry in one place to benefit your election or your bank account in another place," famous fossil hunter Richard Leakey, chair of Transparency International-Kenya, said at the launch of a report in the capital Nairobi.
Food aid in Kenya is a multi-million dollar business that is highly politicised and vulnerable to corruption.
The report said there was political interference throughout the response process, affecting contracting, recruitment and the manipulation of targeting and distribution processes.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is in charge of Kenya's food aid pipeline, transporting food to districts. It then contracts local partners to transport, store and distribute food.
Leading political figures supported agencies that did not meet WFP and government selection criteria "to ensure usage of certain transportation and warehousing interests," the report said.
Source
