Somaliland: Somalia among Countries Misusing Australian Aid Money, Says Canberra

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innocent Football fans eagerly watch a match at Banadir Stadium in Mogadishu while officials siphon away aid money

Somalilandsun — Australia’s Foreign Affairs Department has revealed it had investigated the misuse of Australian aid money in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Afghanistan and Somalia.

According to ABC News, in one case the head of the PNG Law and Justice secretariat gave himself and his staff an unauthorised 23 per cent pay raise worth close to A$577,300.

Staff who resigned received excessive entitlements and assets worth A$40,000 went missing. The PNG government subsequently paid back the money in 2012.

ABC said the details of the case and others elsewhere in the region have come to light after the department disclosed them on its website in response to a Freedom of Information application.

In a ministerial submission in October 2013 the department insisted there were strong measures in place to combat fraud and corruption risks.
bernama