Mr. Brendan Rogers:

The mistake occurred at this high level. I have been in the business for 20 years. This money was at the heart of the system in the central bank, which all our risk assessments would have stated was the safest place for money to be. The least safest place for it is in the districts. Deputy Deasy has travelled there and knows it is a very inhospitable climate. We are the only donor with offices on the ground to determine when the money is coming down so all of our focus was on this. This was a mistake and a problem, because we should have also been looking at the top and had a flow chart and a box ticking exercise to follow the money from the first account as it was transferred to the consolidated account and then taken. This was definitely a problem.

The PRDP is a major programme of €600 million but our element is in the districts. We were working with the Swedes, Norwegians and Danes in the districts with our money as part of the greater programme. There are 55 districts which are all fairly well budgeted. The money went into the system and we were looking at what came out in the 55 districts. We added up this money and ensured it was all delivered and that the roads and schools were built. The PRDP, which is the major programme for northern Uganda, is very fragmented according to the report with many other donors, including the United States, working on a project approach. With all of this fragmentation it is very difficult to have a full overview of the entire programme. This is a problem for the Ugandan Government and all donors. We focused on the districts, which Deputy Deasy visited, and this was a sub-part of the programme. Having said this, we were still in error when it came to tracking the money when it entered the system.