Description: http://www.google.ca/gwt/x/i?gl=CA&u=http://media.tcm.ie/media/house/ieauthors/conorryan.jpg&hl=en-CA&ei=IRcVU4ngKKrKsAeS6oGwCw&wsc=yh By Conor Ryan Investigative Correspondent
The case has led auditors at the Department of Foreign Affairs to suggest that
lessons had not been learned from the last high-profile fraud case.
That incident saw a sophisticated fraud being used to steal €4m in aid supplied
by the Government to a programme run through the prime minister’s office in
Uganda.
The latest case involves a programme funded by Ireland and five other European
countries. It was managed on the ground by the Danish embassy in Kampala. It is
not known if the financial irregularities identified involved fraud or poor
accounting.
The Department's auditors' report said concerns have now been appropriately
addressed but when the alarm bells sounded, the information was not shared
properly. It said this was particularly troublesome given the procedures
adopted after the fraud uncovered in 2012.
“The emergence of a subsequent separate instance of fraud in Uganda... gave the
audit committee cause for concern insofar as itsignalled that the need for
vigilance had not permeated throughout the organisation,” it said.
A statement from the department said the audit that had discovered the
irregularities had been commissioned by the six partner countries and Irish Aid
was pressing for a resolution.
Following the report, it had taken six weeks for the audit conclusions to get
from the partner organisations in Uganda to Irish Aid headquarters.
The funding related to a programme operated between 2007 and 2011.
It provided grants to 29 Ugandan NGOs. The department said the capacity of the
Irish embassy in Uganda has been strengthened and an evaluation of an intensive
programme of assessments of spending through Irish Aid will be published
shortly.
“Several steps have been taken by the department to ensure that the financial
and risk management systems used to oversee and manage Ireland’s aid programme
are strong and robust enough to operate successfully in very challenging
environments.
“The ambassadors in the overseas missions that manage Irish Aid programmes have
undertaken a full review of their management and risk assessment systems,” it
said.
The continued support of Uganda has been the subject of particular scrutiny.
Last week, Labour TD Dominic Hannigan called for the Government to stop its
€20m support programme because of a decision to vote through a law that jailed
gay people because of their sexuality. “We can’t support the Government of a
country if that Government turns it back on a minority of its population,” he
said.
© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved
EM
On the 49th Parallel
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni na Dk. Kiiza Besigye Uganda ni katika machafuko"
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