25 May 2008
Nairobi — African governments were Saturday urged to reject donor aid tied to conditions that are contrary to their development goals.
Miss Elizabeth Lwanga, the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Kenya, said the governments should always scrutinise the demands put to them by the donors before accepting aid packages.
She was speaking at a seminar organised by the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) on aid effectiveness, political parties and the media, held at a Nairobi hotel Saturday.
"Our leaders should stop behaving like beggars. It is shameful for them to accept everything that comes their way regardless of the obvious harm that at times underline the aid agreements," she said.
According to Mrs Lydia Mutende, a Ugandan representative, some of these conditions include imposition of foreign personnel in the provision of technical support despite the availability of qualified personnel locally.
She also said that in some cases, the donors dictate strict procurement processes that contradict the procurement laws of the countries receiving the aid.
The EALA Speaker, Mr Abdirahin Abdi said involvement of parliaments of various countries in aid negotiations was long overdue.
This, according to him, will help African countries have the option of rejecting aid agreements that may, in the long run, hurt their prospects for development.
Mr Nico Scholten, the President of the European Parliamentarians for Africa (AWEPA) said the media and political parties must work together in ensuring donor aid is not misused.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
