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Political Editor
THE United States Embassy in Harare was yesterday forced into fire-fighting after the exposure of United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) role in illegal regime change in Zimbabwe that saw the agency providing $850 million to anti-government civil society organisations over a period of three years.

USAID is currently investigating the misappropriation of funds by NGOs linked to the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition and on Monday, The Herald published an expose of how the funds meant for anti-Zimbabwe activities had been looted by a clique of individuals.

However, the US Embassy sought to airbrush the inadvertent exposure of the regime change agenda through the scam and played up some social activities that the agency carries out, while remaining mum on USAID’s political activities, including the so-called human rights and democracy promotion.

“The February 16 edition of The Herald newspaper published a page one article that carried a great deal of misinformation regarding USAID support to the NGO sector in Zimbabwe,” the Embassy said in a statement.

“One of the greatest pieces of erroneous information was contained in the headline itself, which asserted that the United States provided $850 million in funds to Zimbabwe NGOs between 2011 and 2014.

“We would like to set the record straight: In Zimbabwe, USAID provides funding to improve food security, increase agricultural production and farmer incomes, support economic resilience and develop small businesses, promote civil society and democratic engagement and provide health services to save lives.”

It said that in 2014, the US Government provided approximately $160 million in assistance to Zimbabwe, $130 million of which went to improving health services for Zimbabweans in areas including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, nutrition, maternal/child health and reproductive health.

The Embassy also claimed that it had provided over $2,6 billion in assistance to the people of Zimbabwe for the past 30 years.

However, the Embassy hinted that it was worried about any abuse of its funds.

“The US Government takes seriously allegations regarding misuse of resources. The USAID Office of the Inspector-General is an independent office responsible for investigating such claims,” said the statement.

USAID, which was founded in 1961 through the Foreign Assistance Act (1961), has a notorious history of subverting developing countries under the cover of assistance.

On its website, it says it plays “an active and critical role in the promotion of US foreign policy interests.”

“The investment we make in developing countries has long-term benefits for America and the American people,” it says.

Scholars note that USAID does overtly what the Central Intelligence Agency does covertly.

USAID has been sponsoring a phalanx of anti-governmental organisations since the turn of the Millennium.