A United States lawmaker, Scott Perry, has claimed that the US Agency for International Development provided funding to terrorist groups, including Boko Haram.
Perry, a Republican representing Pennsylvania, made the allegation on Thursday during a hearing by the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency.
The session, titled The War on Waste: Stamping Out the Scourge of Improper Payments and Fraud, focused on the misuse of taxpayer funds.
During his speech, Perry alleged that USAID’s funding had been diverted to terrorist organisations.
“Who gets some of that money? Does that name ring a bell to anybody in the room? Because your money—$697 million annually, plus the shipments of cash funds in Madrasas—is going to ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, ISIS Khorasan, and terrorist training camps. That’s what it’s funding,” he said.
Perry further claimed that USAID had spent $136 million on building 120 schools in Pakistan, but there was “zero evidence” that any of them had been constructed.
He also criticised USAID’s funding of women’s scholarship programs in Afghanistan, arguing that such initiatives were ineffective.
“The Taliban does not allow women to speak in public, yet somehow, you’re believing—and the American people are supposed to believe—that this money is going for the betterment of women in Afghanistan. It is not.
“You are funding terrorism, and it’s coming through USAID,” he said.
Perry also pointed out that USAID had spent $840 million over 20 years on Pakistan’s education programs, including $20 million to create educational TV programs for children who could not attend school.
“They can’t attend school because it doesn’t exist. You paid for it. Somebody else got the money. You are paying for terrorism. This has got to end,” he added.
Former US President Donald Trump has previously called for USAID to be shut down, accusing it of corruption. He made this statement on his Truth Social platform as part of his campaign to reduce government spending.
Elon Musk, whom Trump appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, has also spoken against USAID. He described the agency as a “viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America” and accused it of conducting secret operations.
Musk further alleged that USAID was involved in “rogue CIA work” and had funded bioweapon research, including COVID-19.
Trump, in his response, said his administration’s goal was to “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excessive regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies.”
The US government has not officially responded to Perry’s claims, and USAID has not issued a statement regarding the accusations.
