Following a recent query from a friend to her Member of Parliament relating to t

he current inadequacies of the British international aid programme, she kindly f

orwarded her MPs response. I have commented below upon the MPs letter. I have om
itted any mention to a specific country because I am currently working in an Eas
t African country and do not wish to annoy the authorities here. Additionally, t
he problems in this particular East African country are mirrored in countries ac
ross sub-Saharan Africa. So my comments apply equally to many countries and not
just the one in which I currently work. And my comments relate to British aid, a
nd British taxpayers - but it is the same for every country which donates aid to
Africa.
As regards the response from the MP. It all sounds very positive, and I don’t do
ubt for one second that many people in power in the UK think they are really doi
ng a good job in helping Africa. The battle is in convincing them otherwise. For
example, the letter speaks of not tolerating corruption, strengthening anti-cor
ruption bodies and so on. But what happens when the corruption infects some of t
he highest offices is that everyone else who is favourably connected is immune f
rom prosecution. And what happens when the anti-corruption bodies are corrupt? T
he only people who get caught out for corruption are the little guys, or those w
ho are not in favour with some of the higher offices in the land. Corruption is
endemic in African society – we experience it all the time. From the traffic pol
iceman who wants a bride in order not to issue a fine, to the immigration offici
al who wanted “something for lunch” in order to issue us with an extension to ou
r original visa – he has a big appetite, it cost us $150!! Agricultural grants (
some of which is British taxpayers money) are given to those who are friends wit
h the issuing officers, and not to those who might make best use or be the most
needy. Huge amounts of money have gone missing from one particular grant making
body in East Africa and, in fact, it has become so bad that the programme has ju
st been halted until a way can be found around the corruption. I could go on; bu
t the point I am seeking to make is that the good intentions of the British Gove
rnment are, in many cases, not translated into reality on the ground – and Briti
sh taxpayer money is wasted and needy African deprived of opportunities to impro
ve their lot. And to believe otherwise simply demonstrates a lack of knowledge,
or a disappointing naivety.
The letter also illustrated how aid only treats symptoms, not causes and how muc
h aid is used for short-term fixes that create no real financial independence or
security. For example, the letter spoke about the number of boreholes that have
been funded, and the many people who will now have access to clean water. What
is doesn’t say is that East Africa, and probably most of Africa, is littered wit
h boreholes whose pumps are no longer working. Organisations and Governments fun
d the installations of boreholes, but provide no funding or organisational/logis
tical support to ensure the maintenance of the borehole. So when it breaks, it i
sn’t fixed. This is such a well-known situation that one British charity refuses
to install boreholes until a local committee has been formed to take responsibi
lity for collecting a levy from all the borehole users to pay for repairs when t
hey are needed. Unfortunately even this attempt at creating ownership doesn’t wo
rk because the committees cannot actually function as designed. People will not
give money to repair something that may go wrong at some point in the future. Th
e African mindset is all about survival. Whatever they have today (because it is
so little), they use today. They do not plan for tomorrow, or set aside for “a
rainy day.” So the well-intentioned plans of the British charity come to nothing
. I know of a recently installed borehole in exactly this situation. Installed b
y the charity mentioned, committee formed – and after several months of operatio
n there is not a penny in the bank for repairs! So, sadly, of all the boreholes
mentioned in the MP’s letter, many will be dysfunctional within a matter of a fe
w years – and, in some cases, even less. But what the process means is that Gove
rnments are able to blind the people with statistics – which are all true and ac
curate, but which do not tell the whole story. People fooled, consciences assuag
ed – and the aid bandwagon rolls on! And the lot of the poor African remains unc
hanged.
What the Government should be doing is funding water-harvesting education and fa
cilitation. That way, individual households can be empowered to collect the unco
untable litres of water that fall from the sky during the two rainy seasons each
year. Technology allows for the building of water tanks from discarded water bo
ttles. They are cheap, they solve a waste disposal problem and households can bu
ild as many as they want. Guttering can be installed for a lot less than a boreh
ole! There may be a place for boreholes, but they are only a small part of the n
ecessary solution.
And another measure announced in the letter was the giving every month of £7 to
some of the poorest families in some areas of one East African country as a pilo
t project. Again, this sounds good and, hopefully, makes some difference. But wh
at a perfect example of a short-term fix! How much better to take that money and
invest it into a corporate agricultural venture that would benefit all the fami
lies and, in the end, make them independent of monthly handouts from a foreign G
overnment. Simply handing out £7 a month is, in reality, changing nothing. It is
a very small amount. Not enough to make any difference to living standards, not
enough to fund the books and uniforms needed for a child’s education, not enoug
h to allow for any investment in development and financial or food security. So
the £7 consigns the recipients, and their children, to no-going dependence and p
overty. But the £7 handout does allow the British Government to quote these figu
res of how many people are being “supported” or “helped.” And, without realising
the truth on the ground, the British voters go away happy!!
Another figure the MP quoted was how British aid had increased the rate of enrol
ment for primary education. It is probably true that enrolment is up. However, t
hat ignores many other truths. The number of enrolled children is actually irrel
evant, the figure that counts is those attending. One school I know has 1,010 ch
ildren enrolled, and has an average attendance of around 600-700. And it is the
same, or worse, at most Government primary schools. The figure quoted by the MP
overlooks the most important fact, which is that most of the children attend a s
et of buildings, they do not go to “school” and get an education. What I mean is
that the Government primary schools have virtually no facilities, equipment or
resources. Many have poorly trained or even unqualified teachers. Many operate i
n buildings of planks of wood roughly nailed together. Most provide no food for
the children all day and, consequently, out of those who do attend many will dis
appear at lunchtime and not return. Enrolling a child for school and providing t
hat child with an education are not the same thing. It does anger me slightly th
at the British Government quotes such a figure when it knows the truth on the gr
ound. British people are being deliberately misled on this one, British taxpayer
s money is being wasted and, most importantly of all, children across Africa are
being denied an education and thereby consigned to ongoing poverty.
So although the MP undoubtedly quoted all these facts and figures quite genuinel
y, and perhaps believing they are making a difference, the reality is that many
MPs are being deceived and so is the British public. I use the word “deceived” b
ecause there are Government departments and agencies – particularly the Foreign
and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development(D
fID) – whose staff do know the truth about the inadequacies of the current syste
m; but they are not telling Parliament or public those truths.
There are billions living in unimaginable poverty, and the current aid system ke
eps them there – whilst caring people in the richer countries are lied to and de
ceived.