UN Somalia Corrupt Contracts with Insider IDed to Inner City Press by Whistleblowers

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

UN GATE, Nov 15 – How corrupt is today's UN under Antonio Guterres? Today's example is his mission in Somalia, about which his spokespeople Stephane Dujarric and Melissa Fleming refuse all Press questions. Inner City Press has asked them, and others, about a sex abuse case against the UN there. Now this, from a UN whistleblower sent to Inner City Press:

  Dear Mr. Lee:      We are seeing so many posts on ICP and in the media these days, citing UN corruption,  coverup, HR irregularities, and generally bad management.  It is increasingly recognized that the problem is becoming endemic not only in the UN Secretariat, but also in the UN System as a whole.   

    The UN’s main mission in Somalia is no different, and perhaps a bit worse off than most.  For the past few years this mission has been following a path of procurement irregularities and waste which has cost the member states millions and millions of dollars in unneeded expenditures.  There are many examples of this, and here’s one.          The UN procurement rules require that when a contract period ends, and the service is still needed, the contract is replaced in a timely manner by a new contract which has been won through a fair and competitive procurement exercise. 

This is one of many “Hard and Fast”  rules of UN procurement, and is designed to ensure fair and transparent business competition, a fair price,  while combating unscrupulous contractors and/or UN staff.  While exceptional contract extensions can be approved by the most senior managers (the ones holding what the UN calls a delegation), these exceptional extensions are normally for a period of three, maybe four months.  So why has a main engineering high-value contract been extended a full 2-1/2 years past it’s last possible extension date. Contract number PD/C0056/17. 

Doesn’t make sense, right?     But it does make sense!  The contract provides the vendor – a company with in-country ownership in close Government connections - a monthly standing payout of $750,000 regardless of what little work is done.  So that’s over 20M in tax payers’ dollars that should not have been disbursed in the last 30 months, and yes; this amount of money goes a very long way in this environment.  It’s difficult to believe the HQ’s talk of a UN’s liquidity crisis when things like this are happening.  The UN's stance does not make sense.            A closer examination" - to follow

We'll have more on all this. No answer from UN Spox Dujarric on this, or nomination of Elise Stefanik. Keep the info coming.

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