A United States lawmaker, Scott Perry, has accused the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, of funding terrorist organisations, including Boko Haram, ISIS, and Al-Qaeda.
Perry, a Republican from Pennsylvania, made these claims on Thursday during the first hearing of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, DOGE, The Economistreported.
The session, titled “The War on Waste: Stamping Out the Scourge of Improper Payments and Fraud,” focused on allegations of misappropriations of taxpayer funds.
He said: “Who gets some of that money? Does that name ring a bell to anybody in the room? Because your money, your money, $697 million annually, plus the shipments of cash funds in Madrasas, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, ISIS Khorasan, terrorist training camps. That’s what it’s funding.”
He said the USAID’s reported funding of $136 million for building 120 schools in Pakistan had “zero evidence” of the schools’ construction.
“You are funding terrorism, and it’s coming through USAID. And it’s not just Afghanistan, because Pakistan’s right next door.
“USAID spent $840 million in the last year, the last 20 years, on Pakistan’s education-related programme.
“It includes $136 million to build 120 schools, of which there is zero evidence that any of them were built. Why would there be any evidence? The Inspector General can’t get in to see them.
“But you know what? We doubled down and spent $20 million from USAID to create educational television programs for children unable to attend physical school.
“Yeah, they can’t attend it, because it doesn’t exist. You paid for it.
“Somebody else got the money. You are paying for terrorism. This has got to end.”
