Audit of program development and support funds in Africa

Representative/Burundi (OAR/B), the Regional Economic Development Services Office/East and Southern Africa (REDSO/ESA), and REDSO/West and Central Africa (REDSO/WCA). Audit covers the period FY85-FY87. Of the 8 Missions audited, 6 were not in compliance with A.I.D. and Africa Bureau guidelines for PD&S funds because officials had broadly interpreted the criteria. USAID/Malawi and OAR/B showed no evidence of inappropriate use. Overall, as much as $2,513,683, or about 39%, of PD&S funds may have been used for inappropriate purposes. A large portion of these funds were used to hire personal services contractors for inappropriate purposes. For example, USAID/R, USAID/N, USAID/L, and REDSO/ESA used a total of $522,051 to hire full-time contractors to monitor and/or implement on-going food assistance or commodity programs. USAID/L hired an engineer, an intern, and a program manager for population activities, while USAID/K hired a project officer to implement a commodity import program. In many cases, contractors" duties included activities appropriate for PD&S funding, such as project design, as well as duties which were inappropriate. The amount of time spent on appropriate versus inappropriate activities could not be determined. PD&S funds were also used inappropriately for purchasing materials, underwriting project pre-implementation activities, publishing directories and brochures, supporting on-going approved projects, and conducting evaluations. While officials agreed that PD&S funds were inappropriately used in some cases, most often they maintained that the auditor"s interpretation of the guidance was too narrow and rationalized the use of PD&S funds because project funds were scarce.