Afghan
UN Audits Find
Contracts on
Blank Paper, Musical
Mispayments
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 2 --
Since June
Inner City
Press has
published a
series of
internal
audits of
irregularities
in the UN
Development
Program's Law
and Order
Trust Fund for
Afghanistan.
The UN's
outgoing
Afghanistan
deputy Michael
Keating told
Inner City
Press,"we
need to be
more explicit
in
acknowledging...
the risks that
are inevitably
there with a
program of
this size and
complexity and
not try to
hide those
risks." Video
here, from
Minute 11:07.
But
now another
troubling
audit has come
in from
sources to
Inner City
Press, of
UNDP's policy
and advisory
development
Letters of
Agreement in
Afghanistan;
two pages are
being
exclusively
published
today by Inner
City Press.
The
problems are
myriad: money
paid to the
wrong Afghan
ministry (in
one
case, to the
Institute of
Music instead
of to the
Ministry of
Education);
contracts on
blank paper
without
letterhead at
the
Ministry of
Foreign
Affairs; no
oversight, no
required
audits. Click
here for Page
1 of this
audit; click
here for Page
2.
Back on
September 20,
Inner City
Press asked
the UN
system's top
envoy to
Afghanistan
Jan Kubis
about the
series of audits of the
Law &
Order Trust
Fund for
Afghanistan
published by
Inner City
Press over
the past three
months; he
said there
will be a
public
accounting. Video
here, from
Minute 3:37.
This is more
than Inner
City Press has
received from
UNDP, which
has sent a few
responses but
no direct
comment on the
exclusively
published
leaked audits.
Inner City
Press asked
Kubis about a
letter the
European Union
sent to Kubis
about the
scandal, which
Inner City
Press put
online here.
Kubis said
that the EU
states are
more and more
convinced that
the necessary
steps are
being taken by
UNDP. He said
the auditing
of LOTFA is
going on, but
a midterm
review will
give rise to
general public
information.
But when?
Inner
City Press
exclusively
published
three more
audits. In
LOTFA "Observation
19," the
auditors drily
note:
"During
the
course of our
physical
verification
of assets, we
noted that
some of the
assets, which
were appearing
in Statement
of Assets,
were not
physically
present."
This
diplomatic
"not
physically
present"
phrase, if
accepted,
would have a
good future on
all manner of
criminal
defense.
In Observation 18,
the auditors
state that
"during the
course of our
audit we noted
certain
instances
where purchase
orders were
not raised in
respect of
procurement of
goods,"
including over
$300,000 for
the purchase
of Toyota
vehicles.
Observation
17
"note[s]
instances
where
evidences of
required
approvals by
Special
Procurement
Commission
were not
available with
the contracts"
and
"recommends
that the
provisions of
the
Afghanistan
Procurement
Law should be
complied"
with. Ya don't
say.
Beyond
this UN system
corruption,
there is a
more serious
debate about
the proposed
spending on
constructing a
new electoral
roll -- would
it be done
fairly for all
groups and how
much would it
cost. This
question could
not be asked -
Kubis had a
flight to
catch.
On
his way out he
told Inner
City Press
that the
electoral
issue, and how
the 19% budget
cut to UNAMA
is being
(mis?)
implemented,
would still be
issues when he
comes to the
UN next time.
We aim to be
here, and to
ask. And now
the UN
Security
Council is
considering
traveling to
Afghanistan.
Watch this
site.
, 
