By Chernor Ojuku Sesay
Thursday January 26, 2006
Civil society organization members have said even though the European Union (EU) in recent months donated a total of $36m towards the food security drive, “very little has been achieved.”
Information gathered by this correspondent indicates that the said $36m donor support was especially meant to improve on areas such as road networks, health, education and food security.
However, several civil society groups including donor agencies and the FAO Right to Food Secretariat, farmers and other stakeholders, claim that the manner in which the fund was allocated and utilized lacked accountability and called for a proper investigation to be carried out so as to know how the fund was used and who the beneficiaries were.
Responding to questions on the above anomaly, the Director of Agriculture in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, Patrick Hammer, said “the Ministry did not receive any money from the EU for food security.” He added that though he was aware of such a fund, the Ministry is yet to officially receive it. He went on to say that as far as accountability goes, the National Revenue Authority (NRA) is the proper body to tell the public how the said money was spent and who benefited from it.
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