Corruption Allegations Hit
WWF Programmes in Tanzania
Dar es Salaam — The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Tanzania is
embroiled in a corruption scandal over the alleged misappropriation of
Norwegian aid aimed at helping civil society organisations build capacity,
Norwegian and WWF officials said.
When Norway's government learned of the irregularities it immediately
suspended its funding to that project and to another $2.5-million REDD+
readiness project aimed at enhancing Tanzania's capacity to deliver data on
forest carbon stocks, said Naess Inger, the Norwegian embassy counselor on
environmental issues.
The Tanzania country director of the well-known conservation group has
since resigned.
An external auditing firm, Ernest & Young, has been brought in to
carry out an investigation into the problems, WWF officials said.
The auditing firm's initial report, seen by AlertNet Climate, suggests
that a share of NOK 25 million (approximately $1.3 million) injected by Norway
into a project called 'Strengthening Capacity of Environmental Civil Society Organizations'
has disappeared.
REDD - Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation - is
a U.N.-backed effort to protect tropical forests by having developed countries
pay poorer countries to protect forest, in exchange for the richer countries
receiving carbon emission reduction credits. REDD+ is a version of the effort
that focuses on ensuring forest communities gain from such payments.
PAYMENTS SUSPENDED
"We have suspended all further disbursements to the two projects
while awaiting receipt of the probe report by Ernst& Young ... further
decisions in line with our policy of zero tolerance of corruption will follow
later," Inger said.
According to Inger, the four-year capacity building programme, which
started in 2008, was aimed at empowering civil society organisations to help
improve the contribution of fisheries, forestry and wildlife to national
economic growth, poverty reduction and people's livelihoods.
She said investigations are ongoing to determine how a large sum of money
disappeared and to assess whether internal controls in the WWF system should be
improved.
A final report from the auditor is expected to be completed soon, she
said.
The director of WWF-Norway, Rasmus Hansson, confirmed that "per
diem" expenses are central to the auditor's investigation.
The allegations of fraud have emerged as part of an internal process,
but stem from several sources, Hansson said in an email interview with AlertNet
Climate. Suspicions were routinely reported on to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry's
corruption unit, he said.
WWF-Norway has funded various types of training for Tanzanian
environmentalists, including on lobbying political authorities. The courses
offered have been organised by WWF-Tanzania, which was required to report back
to WWF-Norway.
In December, the Norwegian Ambassador in Tanzania, Ingunn Klepsvikse,
visited WWF-Tanzania to ask for documented evidence on the use of Norwegian
taxpayers' money. During this visit, the envoy expressed concern about the
management of the Norwegian support and reported that the financial books she
was shown were not in order, Inger said.
According to Inger, the largest expense items in the capacity building
program have been for external lecturers, event expenses at hotels and various
allowances for seminar participants, as well as grants to activities of organisations
and youth groups.
She said WWF will take responsibility for paying back to the government
of Norway any funds that have disappeared, but insisted the setback will not
stop REDD projects in Tanzania or elsewhere.
"Norway is committed to assisting countries like Tanzania to
prepare for a future international REDD+ mechanism and (we) expect all our
partners to demonstrate good levels of governance in the management of
programmes (and) projects," Inger said in a statement, adding that,
"while this kind of incident is regrettable, it should not prevent the
many other valuable initiatives from progressing for the overall benefit of
Tanzanians."
RESIGNATION AND FIRINGS
Amid mounting pressure, WWF's Tanzania country director, Stephen Mariki,
resigned on Feb. 14.
Sources in Dar es Salaam said a high-level delegation from the WWF
regional office in Nairobi visited the WWF Tanzania office and pressed Mariki
to resign.
"I have not done anything wrong myself but since this scandal
happened under my leadership there was no option than to step aside"
Mariki said in an interview with AlertNet Climate, shortly after his
resignation.
"I have taken the right decision for the sake of my own
respect."
He blamed WWF-Norway for what he termed "blowing the issue out of
proportion" while defending his record on fighting corruption as being in
line with organisation policy.
According to Kimunya Mugo, the WWF Eastern and Southern Africa director
of communications, the group has terminated the employment of eight people in
connection with the fraud charges.
Kizito Makoye is a journalist based in Dar es Salaam,Tanzania
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