Madam, - Joe Manning (December 18th) says that "the purpose of development aid is to help countries become self-sufficient and capable of looking after the needs of their people."
Mr Mugabe of Zimbabwe would agree wholeheartedly, as would any corrupt politician or bureaucrat. For them, "self sufficiency" translates as lining their pockets and "their people" means their own coterie!
EU governments today throw money at corrupt governments and administrators, something akin to pouring oil on flames. Funnelling aid directly to grassroots level would give ordinary people the means to bootstrap themselves - and their empowerment would do more for good governance than any idealistic notions of "untied" aid.
Were Ireland to direct its money toward local education facilities, basic agriculture and primary health care, the ground-up impact on the growth of democracy would be dramatically more telling than our current top-down approach. - Yours, etc,
Ted MOONEY, Fort Portal, Uganda.