Bernard Dineen: Waste and suffering behind the new sacred cow of foreign aid

Aid is the sacred cow of modern politics. The myth is that the billions go directly to help Africa's and Asia's impoverished millions. The reality is different.

All too often, the aid goes to boost despots, particularly in Africa. In country after country, the aid has simply disappeared, into Swiss bank accounts and mansions in Marbella.

When Zambia became independent in 1964, it was the second richest country in Africa and received a steady stream of aid. The first President, Kenneth Kaunda, set up a socialist one-party state and nationalised everything. Now the country is a basket case. As for Zimbabwe, another recipient of billions in aid...

Aid has expanded beyond belief. Whenever there is a major humanitarian tragedy, private aid organisations rush in. According to the Red Cross, there are about a hundred on average after the recent Haiti earthquake, there was a constant stream parading across our TV bulletins, looking for a precious few seconds of publicity. They travel armed with stickers and flags with their logos, and rush to fix them on anything that might be seen by a TV reporter.

These are not the established charities like Oxfam or Save the Children. I watched day after day and saw scarcely any name that I recognised. I don't think it is over suspicious to conclude that some people are making a lot of money out of tragedy.

In the capital of Equatorial Guinea, an observer counted vehicles from 27 aid agencies in two hours. A Dutch journalist has written a devastating account the of the diversion of aid by crooked politicians.

Here is just one incident from Liberia. A medical charity arranged for a batch of wheelchairs to be flown in to the capital Monrovia to ease the suffering of local war invalids. The chairs turned up in the streets, modified into ice-cream carts and mobile shops. Vendors who had nothing wrong with their legs were using the chairs while amputees and cripples went on dragging themselves on their hands and knees through the filthy streets. Local government workers had distributed the wheelchairs among their families and friends, who in turn had rented them out to small-time entrepreneurs.

When I previously wrote on this subject, I received a letter from a bishop who had spent many years in Africa. He spoke of his anger at the posturing Western politicians who think themselves so big when in fact they are being taken for a ride by unscrupulous villains who exploit the poor people who put them into power.

He added: "Political correctness, which at its best is merely silly, is at its worst evil. We are so frightened now of being accused of racism, sexism, judgementalism, and a dozen other things, that people jump on bandwagons to show how 'caring' and 'in-touch' they are."

Meanwhile, ordinary Africans continue to suffer.

THE picture of a gifted teacher being taunted, insulted and bullied by pupils, while a girl ringleader films him with a camcorder for the entertainment of other classes, shames Britain. Throughout it all, he was abused with filthy insults.

The trouble began for Peter Harvey when a 15-year-old boy, who had assaulted another teacher, was moved into his class. When the boy went on to shove him during a lesson, the teacher asked for him to be removed but school managers reneged on a previous promise.

The fact is that some schools are a paradise for violent and abusive pupils. Secondary schools are fined millions of pounds a year if they expel these pupils. Nearly a third of local authorities are issuing these fines, which range from 1,500 to 10,000 per expelled pupil, putting unacceptable pressure on head teachers to avoid permanently excluding them.

Some of the incidents are well nigh incredible. One teacher was subjected to an assault by a pupil which ended his career. The 12 year old boy was strangling him to the point of unconsciousness but colleagues stood by because they were afraid to pull the boy off in case they were accused of assaulting him.

The only good aspect for Peter Harvey was that he appeared before a sensible jury and an eminently sensible judge. If it had been left to the Crown Prosecution Service, the story might have been very different.

HOW to maintain military morale in easy stages. Royal Marines found an Afghan planting a roadside bomb and the man was taken into custody in a tent.

A Commando sergeant and an officer burst into the tent and thumped him with a rubber boot. An offence against discipline certainly, but you might think it understandable after they had seen their comrades killed and maimed by these evil devices. The Afghan suffered a cut lip and bruises to his face.

You might see a case for a reprimand or even a reduction in rank. But that is not what happened. Army investigators, who have probably never heard a shot fired, moved in. The sergeant was made to remove his uniform for forensic testing, stripped of his firearm, and dressed up in a white paper forensic jumpsuit. Then he was forced to return to the UK.

What message does this send to our fighting men? This wholly disproportionate response must sicken anyone who believes in fairness.

Talking about boots, you may be interested to know that the Metropolitan Police have decided that shoe-throwing is a legitimate form of Muslim protest and not an act of violence.