Donor money is supposed to be stolen and wasted by recipients

That is why the donors will endure lectures and insults from begging African dictators about their double standards and all ills. The truth is that their eyes are on a goal in future when they will have the last laugh at pay-back time.

We are about to lose count of the number of donors who have cut off aid to Uganda ‘till 2013’ which is just a few days away. By that time, the donors want us to believe that the government will have put systems in place to stop the theft of donor money, recovered what was stolen and put it to its proper use. This is ridiculous.

When one reads critical books on aid such as Lords of Poverty by Graham Hancock, Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins, Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo, The White Man’s Burden by William Easterly, The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity by Michael Maren and a whole load of others, they will realize what the real purpose of economic aid is. It has very little to do with philanthropy.

Contrary to what many people think, the donors are not the legendary mother goose that spends its life time fending for its young ones. They are in the area of giving as part of a cynical lucrative business.

This is the reason why however much is stolen, or however many conditions are broken or however many donor funded projects fail, the donors will pretend to be angry and sulk for sometime then resume their aid.

Aid, to put it very plainly, is intended to subjugate the recipients. Africa has the ‘misfortune’ of being the most endowed continent in terms of natural resources and mineral wealth. The major donor nations and institutions are fortunate to come from a long line of people who traditionally are long term thinkers and planners.

The aid money being stolen and squandered in Africa today will definitely be paid for by the generations to come with the mineral and other resources that are scattered across the continent. The risk is manageable and that is why they do not seem to care. The more donor money wasted the greater the stake and influence the donor country has on the continent’s wealth.

The more endowed a country is (however failed it is as state,) the more aid is poured into it. That is why the Zaire (present DR Congo) under Mobutu was given so much aid by particularly the US and France even when there was evidence that the money was being shared out by Mobutu and his cronies with almost nothing going to the people of Zaire. That is why the donors can afford to completely cut off aid to a country that does not have significant resources like Zimbabwe, even if its leader is no different from the so called blue eyed boys of the continent.

Now that Uganda has discovered oil, there is no way the donors can risk cutting off aid and walking away. The easiest way for them to exploit that oil in future is by ‘investing’ their money now and putting it in the hands of people who will waste it. The day that money is due for repayment, the borrower will be in a very weak position with little or no bargaining power.

That is why the donors will endure lectures and insults from begging African dictators about their double standards and all ills. The truth is that their eyes are on a goal in future when they will have the last laugh at pay-back time.

The reason why the donors are acting tough at this time is to play to the gallery back home. With most of the economies, particularly in the PIGS nations (Portugal, Italy/Ireland, Greece and Spain) doing so badly. With ridiculous levels of unemployment and despair, the leaders are pretending to show concern regarding foreign aid yet their citizens are eating from the garbage heap and sleeping in the cold.

The truth is that they do not want to lose sight of their long term goal of having a stake on this forlorn but rich continent of ours. They will pretend to be tough for sometime then the money will begin to roll again. That is part of the story of foreign aid. It is supposed to be stolen and wasted.

Mr Sengoba is a commentator on political and social issues.
nicholassengoba@yahoo.com