Freeze the Youth Fund :: Mmegi Online

Abuse of public funds is usually discovered in retrospect. Uncovering the rot usually happens when an audit is carried out. Very rarely are public finance managers given an opportunity to witness the abuse actually taking place; a unique vantage point from where one can stop the rot as it happens.

A case in point is the Youth Development Fund (YDF), established seven years ago. It is as noble an initiative as any other in government’s array of measures to support its citizens. The YDF, an empowerment programme aimed at out-of-school, marginalised and unemployed youth, provides successful applicants with up to P100,000 comprising of both a grant and an interest free loan.

As with the road paved with good intentions, the YDF has morphed into a sinkhole of public revenues, with millions of pula disbursed and unaccounted for, while the projects initiated have in many cases collapsed.

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