Afghan
Scandal
Blind to New
Kabul Bank,
Ban Passes
Buck to UNDP
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive, 4th
in series
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 25 -- For
the UN
system's Law
and Order
Trust Fund for
Afghanistan,
"no analysis
of risks
involved has
been carried
out
and documented
to continue
maintaining
accounts of
police staffs
in
the New Kabul
Bank," audit
documents
obtained by
Inner City
Press show.
As
noted
in the first
installment of
this series
LOTFA purports
to be
about training
and "building
capacity" of
Afghan police.
But it is
essentially a
money
transfer and
payroll
service,
with a
sideline as a
travel agency.
But
even its
payroll
service is
mismanaged. In
sample "Observation
#3"
the auditors
say that
"police
staffs
have to
maintain their
bank accounts
with New Kabul
Bank. It
is worth
mentioning
that there had
been reports
in early
August 2010
about
misappropriations
and large
financial
losses in
Kabul Bank,
the
operations of
which have
been taken
over by the
New Kabul
Bank. No
analysis of
risks involved
has been
carried out
and documented
to
continue
maintaining
accounts of
police staffs
in the New
Kabul
Bank."
Even
when give at
least 64 hours
to comment on
its own
internal
audits of
its scandal
plagued Law
and Order
Trust Fund for
Afghanistan,
the UN
Development
Program has
chosen to
attack the
Press and then
go silent
rather than
explain its
waste, fraud
and abuse.
As
well as
resubmitting
the first
round of
questions late
on June 22,
Inner City
Press
requested
comment on
this and two
other audits,
and asked UNDP
to state:
1)
WHY
Manoj Basnyat
is no longer
the country
director --
did this have
ANYTHING to do
with the LOTFA
irregularities?
2)
the
date on which
each of
Basnyet,
Sandeep Kumar
and Ubadallah
Sahibzada
became aware
of the
irregularities
and of the
attached
audits.
Thanks, on
deadline.
Twenty
hours later,
rather than
answer a
single
question or
comment on any
of the audits,
UNDP's
Abdel-Rahman
Ghandour
responded that
the first
round of
questions had
ended up in
UNDP's spam
folder.
But obviously
the
questions
above hadn't.
And still
there have
been no
answers, now
sixty four
hours in. (We
are seeking,
however, a
copy of
Sandeep
Kumar's
book "On the
Edge.")
And
so at the June
25 noon
briefing by
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin
Nesirky,
Inner City
Press asked:
Inner
City
Press: the Law
and Order
Trust Fund for
Afghanistan is
a program
that is run by
UNDP but I am
asking you a
question,
because a
letter
was sent by
the EU to SRSG
Jan Kubis
saying that
the now
seemingly
widespread
corruption in
the program,
including
double payment
of
Afghan police
and other
things, have
making them
pull money
back from
it. So, I
wanted to ask
you, that the
letter from
the EU to Mr.
Kubis says
that
whistleblowers
should be
protected and
I have spoken
to some of the
whistle-blowers
and they
allege for
example, the
profligate use
of Lear jets
by UNDP and
UNAMA, they
allege the
hiding
of armored
vehicles that
are sitting
unused in the
program and I
wanted to know
what’s the
Secretariat’s
response,
outside of
UNDP, which
has not
answered any
of my
questions,
what’s the
Secretariat’s
response to
the growing
scandal around
this law and
order trust
fund on
Afghanistan,
and what steps
has Mr., Mr.
Kubis or
DPKO or DPA
taken to
protect he
whistle-blowers
who brought it
to
light?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
On the last
part, there is
an established
program to
allow
such
whistle-blowing
activities and
that is clear
and already in
place. The
earlier part
of your
question on
the details of
this
program, you
need to speak
to UNDP. If I
have anything
further
coming from
the Mission
itself, I will
let you know.
But on the
program itself
you need to
speak to UNDP,
as I know you
have been.
Inner
City Press
has sent three
rounds of
questions to
UNDP, but has
yet to receive
a
single answer.
Watch this
site.
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