Rwandan despot's £21m aid deal 'faces the axe' over country's appalling human rights record

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  Justine Greening will take a 'critical look' at decision by Andrew Mitchell
• Move has sparked row between Foreign Office and other donor countries
• They want Britain to take a tough stance against Paul Kagame's regime

By JASON GROVES

PUBLISHED: 17:54 EST, 9 October 2012 | UPDATED: 04:35 EST, 10 October 2012

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Ministers are poised to reverse the decision to send millions in aid to Rwanda amid concern over the African country’s dire human rights record.

Justine Greening said yesterday she would take a ‘critical look’ at the decision by Andrew Mitchell, her predecessor as International Development Secretary.

Mr Mitchell’s move to unfreeze aid to Rwanda has prompted an outcry and sparked a row between the Foreign Office and other donor countries, which have been pressing for Britain to take a tough stance against Paul Kagame’s regime.

Reversal? Justine Greening (left) said yesterday she would take a 'critical look' at the decision by Andrew Mitchell (right), her predecessor as International Development Secretary

The decision came on Mr Mitchell’s final day in the job before David Cameron made him Tory Chief Whip in a reshuffle.

Half of the money released by Mr Mitchell has already been sent to the regime run by his friend, President Kagame. The remaining £8million is due to be paid in December.

Miss Greening is mulling over the future of the entire £37million in general budget support the UK gives to Rwanda – half our total aid to the country. A £21million payment due at the end of this year now looks set to be axed.

 

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She is said to see a ‘distinction’ between humanitarian and development aid and general budget support that goes straight into the Kagame regime’s coffers.

Amnesty International has just published a devastating report on Rwanda’s human rights record. The report said Mr Kagame’s security forces had ‘illegally held scores of civilians in military detention without charge or trial amid credible claims of torture’.

The United Nations has accused the country of arming a bloody uprising in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Decision to be made: Miss Greening is said to see a 'distinction' between humanitarian and development aid and general budget support that goes straight into President Paul Kagame's (pictured) regime's coffers

Concerns have been raised about Mr Mitchell’s friendship with Mr Kagame, who played a role in helping to ‘detoxify’ the Tory party’s uncaring image.

He helped Mr Mitchell establish a project for Tory volunteers in Rwanda and the senior Tory is thought to have visited the country at least eight times in six years.

'I’m going to take a new approach to ensure that every pound we spend has the biggest possible impact'

Justine Greening, 
International Development Secretary

Miss Greening also pledged a ‘new approach’ on the wider aid programme, including starting talks with the Indian government on winding down its £280million a year in aid. 

Speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham yesterday, she pledged to take a tougher approach to aid spending, with a greater focus on helping the world’s poorest.

She said she would travel to Luxembourg next week to demand changes in the European Union’s aid programme, which has come under fire for pouring taxpayers’ money into relatively wealthy countries including Brazil, Iceland and Turkey. 

‘I’m going to take a new approach to ensure that every pound we spend has the biggest possible impact,’ she said.

Problem: One Tory delegate warned that Prime Minister David Cameron's (pictured) decision to pour billions more into foreign aid at a time of cutbacks at home remains a 'very thorny issue on the doorstep'

‘And yes, that will mean stopping some programmes where I don’t think they are working.’

Miss Greening was challenged by Tory delegates to do more to end the waste and corruption in the aid budget. One warned that Mr Cameron’s decision to pour billions more into foreign aid at a time of cutbacks at home remains a ‘very thorny issue on the doorstep’.

'We should recognise that as countries get richer we need to be responsible about how we transition in our relationship from aid to trade'

Justine Greening, 
International Development Secretary

Another, Emma Warren, from Reading, urged Miss Greening to do more to ‘make sure our money doesn’t end up in the pockets of corrupt individuals who are holding their country back’.

Miss Greening insisted there would be no retreat on the Prime Minister’s pledge to spend 0.7 per cent of Britain’s income on aid, which will see the aid budget rocket from £8billion to £12billion. 

But she said that aid would be focused more tightly on the poorest countries in future, with India set to lose out. ‘We should recognise that as countries get richer we need to be responsible about how we transition in our relationship from aid to trade,’ she said.

The aid programme to India is the source of huge discontent in Tory ranks, with many arguing it is wrong to hand huge sums to a country that is now wealthy enough to pursue a space programme.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2215369/Rwandan-despots-21m-aid-deal-faces-axe-countrys-appalling-human-rights-record.html#ixzz29s75LBUX 
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