Bob Geldof reacts to the BBC's report that millions of dollars from the 84-85 Ethiopian famine relief were diverted to buy weapons:
"Produce me one shred of evidence and I promise you I will professionally investigate it, I will professionally report it, and if there is any money missing I will sue the Ethiopian government for that money back and I will spend it on aid.Discuss.
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I had thought the use of Band Aid resources to make military purchases was accepted fact until Geldof blew his top.
Certainly I've read several authors, not least Tony Vaux (in charge of Oxfam's effort at the time), who have documented systematic diversion of food aid to the rebels. Perhaps not the same as the direct purchase of weapons, but not far off. Alex de Waal has even gone as far as to argue that the Band Aid effort prolonged the war by several months.
I can't WAIT to find out in what court Geldof plans to sue the Ethiopians. The court of public opinion? The tennis court at the Addis Sheraton? The possibilities are endless.
Andy's right; everybody who's paid the slightest bit of attention in the last 25 years knows that the Ethiopian government misused the aid funds it received in the mid-1980's, and that very little of that aid actually helped prevent starvation.
"There is not a single shred of evidence that Band Aid or Live Aid money was diverted in any sense, it could not have been"
While I find most people working in humanitarian aid of exceptional high moral stature, it is this mentality of "it could not have been"that is the most worrying. This is why the WFP Somalia scandal, combined with the focus of Transparancy International on humanitarian aid can be very helpful to build better systems.
In this aspect I find NGOs and UN-agencies more mature than some donors.
Have a little pity on Geldof. Everybody's remarkable ability to live in chronic denial is a hallmark of the human condition.