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A senior US Congressman has raised alarm over alleged links between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and terrorist organisations, including Boko Haram. Scott Perry, a Republican representative from Pennsylvania, made these claims during a hearing of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency on Thursday.
The session, titled “The War on Waste: Stamping Out the Scourge of Improper Payments and Fraud”, focused on concerns about potential mismanagement of taxpayer funds. Perry highlighted what he described as “improper payments” made by USAID, accusing the agency of unwittingly supporting terrorist organisations through its overseas funding programmes.
The Congressman referenced a figure of $697 million in annual US taxpayer money, claiming that it was being funneled into groups like ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and Boko Haram, among others. He argued that these funds were being directed towards madrassas (Islamic schools) and terrorist training camps, though he did not provide specific evidence to support the claim.
“The American people’s money, your money, is funding terrorism,” Perry asserted. “We’re talking about the same groups that terrorise countries across the globe, including Pakistan and Afghanistan.”
In his testimony, Perry also criticised USAID’s education projects in Pakistan, alleging that a $136 million initiative to build 120 schools had failed to deliver tangible results. “There’s zero evidence that these schools exist,” he said.
“The Inspector General can’t even gain access to verify whether any of the schools were built.”
In addition, Perry cast doubt on USAID’s educational support for women in Afghanistan, particularly its $60 million annual funding for the Women’s Scholarship Endowment. He contended that such efforts were futile in a country where the Taliban has imposed strict restrictions on women’s rights, including barring them from speaking in public.
The Congressman’s accusations come amid broader criticism of USAID, with President Donald Trump and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk both calling for the agency’s closure. Trump, who has previously condemned USAID for corruption, and Musk, appointed by Trump to head the Department of Government Efficiency, have both questioned the agency’s operations and its role in what they describe as rogue activities.
Musk, in particular, has gone further, labelling USAID a “viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists” and accusing the agency of funding secretive operations, including bioweapon research linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of a wider push to “save America”, Trump has pledged to dismantle what he sees as unnecessary government bureaucracy, including efforts to cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies like USAID. Perry echoed these concerns, stating, “The American taxpayer deserves better than to have their money spent on programmes that fuel terrorism and corruption.”
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— Imtiaz Mahmood (@ImtiazMadmood) February 14, 2025
