Germany did not cut aid to Uganda refugee programme, says UN

KAMPALA - United Nations refugee agency, UNCHR has refuted reports that Germany, one of the countries contributing to the refugee effort suspended funding to Uganda. 

Duniya Asram, the UNCHR spokesperson in Uganda, said they were surprised by the news.  

"There has been no new development [concerning the refugee funding situation]. Germany has not withheld any funding," Asram told New Vision.

"We have checked with the Germany embassy …they are equally surprised.  We have heard that the ambassador was misquoted," she said in response to recent reports that originated in German publication Deutsche Welle (DW) last month. 

Quoting the Germany ambassador to Uganda, Dr. Albrecht Conze,  Deutsche Welle reported recently that his government had withheld sh400b  (€100 million, $106m) of funds it had pledged to Uganda for refugee resettlement annually.

The reports said that action had been taken in response to allegations of corruption in Uganda's refugee programme.

Germany's reaction, the report said, followed the UK and Japan in suspending some aid meant for refugees in Uganda. The report claimed that Germany's reponse was as a result of what they said is a lack of justice and accountability after last year's corruption scandal in the country's refugee programme.

Allegations of corruption in Uganda's refugee programme first emerged in February 2018, leading to the discovery that there were 300,000 fewer refugees in the country than previously thought.

An audit carried out by the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services, published in November last year, found the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, had wasted tens of millions of dollars in spending on Uganda in 2017 alone.

Funds were lost through corruption, improper behaviour around the awarding of major contracts, and overpaying for goods and services.

With 1.2 million refugees, Uganda remains the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa.

UNHCR said recently they are in constant dialogue with donors to ensure they have all the information and assurance they need about the accountability issues in Uganda.