A total of 45 million Swedish kronor was intended for a census project in Mali. After a late report on the work, the Swedish embassy and an external auditing firm began to investigate the matter.
The auditing firm discovered that 7.3 million kronor, which comes from Swedish aid, has not been properly accounted for. Much indicates that the funds have gone to corruption, according to Johan Forssell.
We have initiated a process of recovery. If they cannot show where the money has gone, then the money will be paid back, he says.
This concerns funds that have been used for the years 2020, 2021, and 2022.
In January this year, the government decided to withdraw its aid to Mali. The decision was made before they became aware of the approximately 7 million kronor that has not been accounted for.
Support to small-scale farmers
In February, an agreement was signed between Sweden and the Kenyan finance department. 200 million kronor was intended for a project to support small-scale farmers in Kenya.
So far, 1.6 million kronor has been paid out in the project, "Kenya Agricultural Business Development Project" (KABDP), which was supposed to span several years, according to Forssell.
Now Sweden has terminated its support to the project immediately, he says.
The background is, among other things, a major corruption scandal that has affected Kenya. Widespread street protests have shaken the country this summer and led to President William Ruto dismissing all his ministers in July.
Money still going to Kenya
The government has also received other information that suggests there are problems with corruption within Kenya's agricultural sector. What emerges from this information and how it is connected to Swedish aid, Forssell does not want to go into.
We take the risk of corruption seriously and the information makes us feel uncertain about whether the money is ending up in the right place, he says.
The government's ambition is that the remaining part of the 200 million kronor intended for the agricultural project will instead go to another project in the country.
The starting point is that the money should go to Kenya, we will look at what opportunities exist.
