BURUNDI: EU asks Bujumbura to probe corrupt officials

BUJUMBURA, 23 June 2006 (IRIN) - The European Union (EU), a major donor to Burundi, has asked the government to investigate claims of corruption and forgery in a EU-funded programme that was set up in 2001 to rehabilitate infrastructure in the country that is emerging from 12 years of civil war. "The money was allocated to Burundians to improve their living conditions but instead of serving the interests of the Burundian community, it has been used to enrich some individuals, that is unacceptable," Georges Marc André, the EU representative to Burundi said on Thursday in Bujumbura, the Burundian capital. The EU's contribution to Burundi accounts for 50 percent of the country's donor aid. Andre made the remarks after the EU mission presented a report on the five-year Burundi Rehabilitation Programme, known by its French acronym PREBU, to Burundian authorities on Wednesday. The report was compiled by the EU's anti-fraud bureau, the Office Européen de Lutte Anti–Fraude (OLAF). OLAF said it had found that a series of irregularities occurred in the disbursement of funds under the rehabilitation programme. These included cases of fraud, corruption and forgery. André said some entrepreneurs OLAF interviewed said they had been "forced to give bribes to get tenders". He said the EU expects the Burundian government to follow-up on the recommendations in the OLAF report and take legal action against those responsible. André declined to disclose the amount of money embezzled, saying it was not the amount that mattered but the fact that the money had been diverted from its intended purpose. Following the release of the report, André said, the EU now wanted guarantees from the government that money from European taxpayers would be used for the benefit of all Burundians. If the government fails to act on the report, André said, the move would have a negative impact not only on EU funding for the country but also on aid disbursement from other donors. The Burundian prosecutor-general, Jean Bosco Ndikumana, said on Friday he had received the EU report and was ready to begin legal proceedings but was waiting for the go-ahead from the Ministry of Justice. However, Ndikumana said all embezzlement cases would normally fall within the competence of an anti-corruption court, and although the Burundian parliament has adopted a Bill establishing the court, it is not yet operational. "But even if it is not yet put in place, it will not hinder us from investigating these cases, we will transmit it to the court later on," Ndikumana added. The rehabilitation programme ended in December 2005, having helped in the repair of destroyed social infrastructure such as schools, health centres and water supply in several provinces in the country. On 21 June, the office of the EU representative in Burundi issued a statement saying the programme had facilitated the rehabilitation of several social infrastructures across the country. However, it deplored the existence of fraud that it said had "limited the impact of the funding as the interest of some individuals had harmed in unacceptable way those of the majority".