Up to half of the food aid intended for needy Somalis is routinely diverted, according to a United Nations report.

The report by the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia, originally tasked with tracking violations of the arms embargo, was very critical of the world body’s food agency WFP and condemned a de facto cartel of distributors.

The report, which was submitted to the UN Security Council’s sanctions committee, said that while access to WFP contracts should in theory be subject to tender, there was “little or no scope for genuine competition”.

“Preliminary investigations by the Monitoring Group indicate the existence of a de facto cartel, characterised by irregular procedures in the awarding of contracts by the WFP country office, discriminatory practices and preferential treatment,” the report said.

The Monitoring Group found that WFP transportation contracts are the single largest source of revenue in Somalia and “just three contractors receive 80 per cent of that business”, which weighed in at $200 million in 2009.

“For more than 12 years, delivery of WFP food aid has been dominated by three individuals,” it said. “These three men have become some of the wealthiest and most influential individuals in Somalia.”

The group added all three had been mentioned over arms sales and insurgent connections in some of its previous reports
In January, the food agency suspended its operations in southern Somalia.