The probe, conducted by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), has discovered over-inflated bills, fraud and non-compliance with organisation rules connected with the United Nations’ (UN) refugee program in Uganda. A report from the UN’s internal watchdog said about £8.6m was spent on a recount of South Sudanese people who have entered Uganda, in a bid to potentially weed-out hundreds of thousands of “ghost refugees”. The findings of the report have sparked fears that leaders are pocketing profits for their own gains.
A carpark at the Office of Ugandan Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda’s was alleged in the report to have been built using money that was earmarked for refugees.
And the OIOS report pointed to a potential £6million overpayment for water supplies from the UN to Uganda.
Money that is said to be unaccounted for within the refugee programme should have been reserved for people who fled South Sudan for neighbouring Uganda.
But the numbers of people entering the country may have been deliberately over-inflated.
The practice could have been used to secure extra funding – with the OIOS report higlighting concerns that officials have pocketed the difference.
More than one million South Sudanese natives fled the country after fresh fighting broke out in July 2016.
Another finding in the report claimed the OPM paid £220,000 in allowances per year to dozens of staff.
The report said the prime minister’s office “was unable to provide documentation to substantiate that these civil servants were working on UNHCR projects”.
Another of the report findings stated the UN’s refugee agency gave £6.2million to a “partner” to build 1,200km (745b miles) of roads – despite the company “not having experience in road construction”.
UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said: “We have acknowledged serious shortcomings and have already started taking action.”
“The majority of the actions resulting from these reviews have been implemented even before the final audit report was released.”