Vehicle wars

The fuel shortage is more critical than I appreciated yesterday. It's the talk of the town, as is the beer shortage as deliveries of Tusker lager have stopped coming through Congo. People are panicking, possibly more so about the beer.

We got hold of some fuel and were decanting some into a jerry can when I realised a lit cigarette was dangling from Bennett's lip about 40cm above the fuel. I felt very close to having no face left so asked him to stand back.

When fuel is such a hot commodity it can cause all manner of shenanigans. It's challenging having a drum of fuel in the store, that the project has already paid black market prices for, as it can become a source of power and revenue for those who have a key to said store. I am understanding more about how much fuel we need for field journeys and therefore how much should remain and I am keeping a beady eye on levels in the drum.

One of the biggest challenges in donor funded development projects, if not the biggest, is different views on what some would call 'corruption' and others would call 'benefits' or 'activities', and where people draw the line between them. This is an age-old example of how cultural approaches to logic do not mesh together.

I've witnessed in many places around the world the practice of skimming a slice for yourself when dealing with payments and invoices. Someone buys something in cash using project funds, suggests to the supplier that the invoice is inflated, with the amount above the true cost shared between the supplier and the purchaser. The invoice looks legit to any auditor yet two people have pocketed extra. It skews budgets, undermines donor confidence (if donors realise) and is untransparent. In the UK it would be a criminal act, and I wonder how prevalent it is there.

Globally, the practice is widespread and much less clear cut in terms of legality. I've often been asked what I want an invoice amount to state, which is a supplier's way of asking whether to inflate. It's also hugely common everywhere to benefit from project-funded materials and resources such as pilfering some field rations for home use, borrowing (never to return) stationery or buying something for personal use with no intention of making it available for project purposes. I wonder how much funding is lost on these hidden costs that do not help to achieve project goals, or whether this is so ingrained in activities that projects and donors have unknowingly adjusted for it.

It's clearly malpractice and morally very questionable to personally benefit financially from project resources, as I am positive happens across the world where huge budgets are spending faster than managers can track, such as in emergency food relief. Selling of project resources to line your pocket is a sackable offence and a criminal act in most places but incredibly complicated to govern when wages are low and people feel the squeeze in many other areas of life.

In few places are these behaviours seen as unusual or shocking. It's a huge gamble to trust others with spending money that you're the answerable budget holder of, especially when they're handling significant amounts of cash, but you have to. It's also a challenge to avoid paranoia that money is being mismanaged and when instances arise, to tackle these mindful of different cultural attitudes. It's not helpful to rule with an iron fist on what would be clear examples of corruption in the UK, as you will not gain support of your colleagues if you are a minority and if people's own interpretations of corruption are a lot less defined.

Our vehicle was serviced to a higher standard than last time. I tested it and don't believe the brake pads have been tightened to such a degree that 1km out of town they'll start smoking and burning. It's good if a mechanic avoids causing that scenario.

This is a picture of Paul from a house over the road who was hanging around in the compound. I gave him a colour print out of this picture, which enthralled him. I used project ink in a somewhat hazy application of my own logic against inappropriate use, even though I judged the value of keeping up community relations to be worth it. Nothing in this world is ever clear cut. Ever.