According to an internal U.N. report, the United Nations agency that administers a trust fund bankrolling Afghanistan’s police allowed procurement fraud to flourish for several years.
The report seen by The Wall Street
Journal, which hasn’t been made public, casts new light on possible
mismanagement at a U.N. office that has channeled billions of dollars
into the country since 2002.
The international community’s role in
Afghanistan has also been under the question following the report amid
delicate moment when U.S. and international troops are departing next
year.
LOTFA, the Law and Order Trust Fund for
Afghanistan which is administered by the UN Development Program is at
the issue which covers payroll and benefits for the Afghan National
Police.
Around $2.5 billion has reportedly been
delivered by Lotfa which was established in 2002 to help bankroll and
build the Afghan police force.
This comes as the international moitors
last year raised concerns about suspected fraud at the fund, allegations
first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Lotfa had previously been touted as a
model for international assistance however the reports casued a major
credibility problem for the UN in Afghanistan. The European Union at
that put tens of millions of dollars in anticipated donations on hold amid the investigation.
The United Nations Development Program
sent a high-level team last year to review the management of the program
which confirmed last December procurement fraud.
The report declared some Lotfa staff
colluded with suppliers to inflate the cost of contracts over several
years. More important, it pointed to wider problems with the management
of the UNDP country office.
A number of the staffers were dismissed
by UN after an internal investigation was launched despite UNDP
initially denied the allegations.
