Latest news with #aidcut
The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ordinary Zambians lose out twice: to global looting and local corruption
Your editorial (The Guardian view on Zambia's Trumpian predicament: US aid cuts are dwarfed by a far bigger heist, 10 January) highlights research by Prof Andrew Fischer, and the exploitation of Zambia's commodity resources via illicit financial schemes. Many Zambians have raised the issue of this looting for years, but have met coordinated resistance. Consequently, Zambia's treasury loses billions of dollars in revenue. These losses are driven by well-known multinationals working in concert with certain insiders close to the Zambian state. Your editorial also says: 'The US decision to cut $50m a year in aid to Zambia … is dreadful, and the reason given, corruption, rings hollow.' Alas, I disagree and wish to place this in context. The aid cut followed large-scale theft of US-donated medical supplies by individuals connected to and within the Zambian state. Even before Donald Trump assumed office, Michael Gonzales, the US ambassador, confronted Zambian authorities about this. US officials engaged in 33 meetings with senior members of the Zambian government and officers from the Zambia police service and other law enforcement agencies. US officials urged the Zambians to take action to ensure medicines reached the country's poorest citizens. The president's inner circle ignored the warnings, ultimately leading to the aid cut. The Zambian government's reaction was to dismiss these legitimate concerns, saying diplomats should stay out of Zambia's internal affairs. This response is inadequate, as the issues go beyond mere bureaucratic inefficiency and touch on profound state corruption. The government's refusal to confront this reality is disappointing and has led to more suffering, where ordinary people who benefited from this aid will be most MwambaZambia's high commissioner to South Africa (2015-19) As a Zambian and UK citizen, I am both enraged and heartbroken by Prof Andrew Fischer's research exposing the systematic plunder of my country's wealth. While Donald Trump cuts our aid, citing 'corruption', the real thieves operate with complete impunity under the guise of legitimate business. The figures are devastating: $5bn extracted in 2021 alone. This isn't corruption in the traditional sense, it's legalised theft orchestrated by multinational corporations that exploit our resources while leaving us in poverty. How can we be called corrupt when the very system designed to 'help' us facilitates our exploitation? I think of my fellow Zambians struggling to access basic healthcare, education and clean water while billions flow to Swiss bank accounts. We sit on some of the world's most valuable mineral deposits, yet we're drowning in debt. This isn't coincidence – it's by design. Foreign direct investment is often foreign direct extraction in disguise. Companies like Glencore and First Quantum Minerals have treated Zambia like a cash machine, using complex financial structures to strip our wealth while paying minimal taxes. When confronted, they simply leave or settle for pennies in the pound. This global economic architecture, which enables legal plunder, must be challenged. African countries need new models of resource governance that prioritise our people over foreign shareholders. We need transparency requirements exposing these shadowy financial flows, progressive taxation capturing fair value from our resources, and regional cooperation preventing companies from playing us against each other. The west's moralising about corruption while facilitating this systematic theft is breathtaking hypocrisy. Until the international community addresses the structural violence of this extractive system, their aid will remain what it truly is – a drop in the ocean compared with the torrent of wealth flowing out of MulaishoLondon
Times
12-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Britain ‘no longer a global charity' as aid budget slashed, ministers say
The days of Britain being a 'global charity' are over, ministers will declare on Tuesday, as they outline their approach to cutting the government's multi-billion aid budget by almost 50 per cent. Baroness Chapman of Darlington, the international development minister, will tell MPs that she is having to make hard choices over which areas to axe as a result of the prime minister's decision to divert aid spending to defence. Among projects already identified for closure include some supporting gender inclusion, education and improving digital access. Aid spending is due to fall from 0.5 per cent of UK gross national income to 0.3 per cent from 2027, resulting in budget cuts of £6.1 billion in development spending. Ministers have made clear that they do not
The Independent
08-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
US says it will reduce health aid to Zambia because medicines were stolen and sold
The United States will cut $50 million worth of aid a year to the southern African country of Zambia because of the 'systematic" theft of medicines and medical supplies the money paid for, the U.S. ambassador said Thursday. The U.S. had discovered in 2021 that medicines and supplies that were meant to be provided free to Zambians had been taken and were being sold by pharmacies across the country, U.S. Ambassador to Zambia Michael Gonzales said at a press briefing. He said that an investigation of around 2,000 pharmacies in Zambia between 2021 and 2023 found that nearly half of them were selling medicines and products paid for by U.S. aid funds. The Zambian government had failed to do enough to address the corruption after the U.S. informed it of the theft scandal in April 2024, Gonzales said. There was no immediate government comment Thursday. The $50 million is part of $128 million the U.S. gives to Zambia a year for medicines, medical supplies and other support for its health sector. Gonzales said the cuts would affect medications for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, three critical diseases affecting Zambians. 'The United States is taking necessary steps to safeguard, and ensure the accountability of, American taxpayer funds,' Gonzales said. The action was separate to President Donald Trump 's decision to cut U.S. foreign aid across the world, Gonzales said. He said that the U.S. investigation into the theft also found that medications and supplies for Zambia paid for by the Global Fund and other international donors were also being sold in pharmacies. Gonzales said he had recommended to officials in Washington that the U.S. start cutting the aid from January next year to give Zambia time to plan new procurements of the life-saving drugs. ___
BBC News
08-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
US cuts aid to Zambia over 'systematic' theft of medicine
The US has announced that it is cutting $50m (£37m) in aid to Zambia's health sector, due to the country's failure to address the "systematic theft" of donated drugs and medical "difficult" decision was taken after repeated warnings to the Zambian government to safeguard vital drugs meant for the country's most vulnerable patients, said US ambassador to Zambia Michael Gonzales."We are no longer willing to underwrite the personal enrichment of fraudsters or the corrupt when patients go without or have to buy life-saving medications that we have provided for free," he added. The Zambian government is yet to comment. The cuts are separate to the sweeping foreign aid freeze announced by President Donald Trump in January. The Zambian health sector is heavily funded by foreign donors, but there have been previous reports of widespread misappropriation and corruption involving senior health officials. 'My wife fears sex, I fear death' - impacts of the USAID freezeUS cuts send South Africa's HIV treatment 'off a cliff'The US accounts for about a third of public health spending in Zambia according to a statement from the US embassy in the US officials said they had discovered the "country-wide theft" of medical products that were intended to be distributed for free to the public but were now being sold by private than 2,000 pharmacies across Zambia were found selling donated drugs and medical supplies in a year-long investigation conducted by the US embassy."Shockingly, across these visits, 95 percent of the pharmacies that were selling the kinds of products that the United States provides, were also selling stolen goods," the statement said. Nearly half of the pharmacies visited were found selling medication and supplies donated by the US government, it said. Other pharmacies were also found selling stolen medical stocks purchased by the Zambian government, the Global Fund, and Zambia's other donor partners, it added. The US embassy said it had presented its findings and offered experts for action to stop further theft and to bring the culprits to justice in April last year but no action was taken. "I regret that to date, the government's actions have fallen drastically short of demonstrating a commitment to safeguarding US assistance and the lives we aim to save," the embassy said. Zambia's law enforcement operations have focused on "low-level actors" and have led to the arrest of "only a few mid-level officials" instead of investigating supply sources and pursuing the masterminds behind the theft of medicines, according to the US embassy. Gonzales said the US "can no longer justify to the American taxpayer continuing to provide such massive levels of assistance."He said the cuts would affect drugs to treat malaria, HIV and TB. "This is not a decision we have taken lightly," Gonzales said, shedding tears as he explained how the measure would affect Zambian patients. The aid cuts will take effect January next year to give the Zambian government time to develop alternative arrangements but he said "the decision had been made". Since the Trump administration took office, it has cut billions of dollars in global health programmes, hitting African countries including Zambia, where HIV remains a major threat especially for adolescents and young announced the aid freeze on his first day in office in January in line with his "America First" foreign policy. The aid cuts have affected health programmes across Africa, including shipments of critical medical supplies, including HIV majority of the US Agency for International Development's (USAID) programmes, which provided health and humanitarian assistance to vulnerable nations, have since been March, Zambia's President Hakainde Hichilema said Trump had "slapped us on both cheeks", saying it was time for his country to strengthen its treasury to procure its own medicines. You may also be interested in: US issues warning over new Zambian cyber-security lawBitcoin in the bush - the crypto mine in remote Zambia'My son is a drug addict, please help' - the actor breaking a Zambian taboo Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
