Rhino: Reuters – The World Food Program (WFP) is investigating two senior officials in Sudan on charges including fraud and concealing information from donors about its ability to deliver food aid to civilians amid the country’s severe hunger crisis, 11 sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

The investigation by the World Food Program’s inspector general’s office comes as the program – the UN’s food aid arm – struggles to provide food to millions of people in war-torn Sudan, which is suffering one of the world’s most severe food shortages in years.

Five sources told Reuters that investigators are looking into whether WFP staff sought to cover up a suspected role of the Sudanese military in blocking aid amid a brutal 16-month war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Among those under investigation, according to six sources, is the deputy director of the program in Sudan, Khaled Osman, who has been placed on a “temporary assignment” outside Sudan, a de facto suspension.

According to four sources, a second senior official, Mohamed Ali, director of WFP’s office in the Sudanese city of Kosti, is also being investigated in connection with the disappearance of more than 200,000 liters of the organization’s fuel in the city. Reuters could not confirm whether Ali was still in his position.

Both Othman and Ali declined to comment when contacted by Reuters and referred them to the WFP media office.

Asked by Reuters about the investigation, WFP said that “the Office of the Inspector General is conducting an urgent review into allegations of individual wrongdoing in operations in Sudan” and declined to comment on the nature of the alleged wrongdoing or the status of specific staff members.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. government’s humanitarian aid arm, told Reuters in a statement that it received notification from WFP on Aug. 20 regarding “potential fraud affecting WFP’s operations in Sudan.” The agency says it is the largest single donor to the program, providing nearly half of the annual contributions.

“These accusations are of grave concern and must be thoroughly investigated … USAID immediately referred these accusations to the agency’s Office of Inspector General,” the agency’s statement said.

The investigation comes at a critical time for the WFP, which describes itself as the world’s largest humanitarian aid organization. The program won the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its role in fighting hunger and promoting peace.

The program is fighting acute hunger on multiple fronts. It seeks to raise $22.7 billion in funding to help 157 million people, including about 1.3 million on the brink of famine, mostly in Sudan and the Gaza Strip but also in countries such as South Sudan and Mali.

In addition to food distribution, WFP coordinates and provides logistical support for large-scale emergencies around the world in collaboration with other humanitarian organizations.

In the past few years, WFP’s operations have been plagued by theft or misappropriation of humanitarian aid in countries like Somalia and Yemen. Last year, WFP and the U.S. Agency for International Development suspended food distribution in Ethiopia following reports of widespread theft of humanitarian aid there.

More than a half-dozen humanitarian workers and diplomats told Reuters they are concerned that mismanagement in the Food Program’s Sudan office may have contributed to the failure so far to deliver sufficient aid during the more than 16-month war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The investigation comes weeks after the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, an international technical initiative that measures hunger levels, confirmed that famine has broken out in at least one location in Sudan’s Darfur region. The initiative has categorized 13 other areas across the country as being at risk of famine. It says more than 25 million people, or more than half of Sudan’s population, face critical levels of hunger or worse.

In April, Reuters reported that people in some parts of the country were forced to eat leaves and dirt in an effort to survive. In June, a Reuters analysis of satellite imagery showed that graveyards were rapidly expanding as hunger and disease spread.

Aid workers say they are having difficulty delivering supplies, in part due to logistical constraints and fighting. But they also point out that military-linked authorities have impeded aid access by withholding permits and approvals for transportation, while the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have looted aid supplies. Both sides deny obstructing humanitarian access.

Also under investigation are suspicions that senior staff at Sudan’s food program may have misled donors, including member states of the United Nations Security Council, by downplaying the Sudanese military’s reported role in preventing aid deliveries to RSF-controlled areas, four sources familiar with the investigation said.

Two sources familiar with the investigation said that in one instance in June 2024, Osman, the deputy director of the program, concealed from donors that military-aligned authorities in Port Sudan had denied permits for 15 trucks to transport essential aid to Nyala, South Darfur state, where some areas are at risk of famine, two sources familiar with the investigation said. The trucks waited seven weeks before they were finally given permission to move.

Eight sources reported that Osman, who was promoted within the Sudan Food Program office with unusual speed, had connections at high levels in the military. Osman controlled his colleagues’ access to visas to enter Sudan, allowing him to restrict the arrival of supplies and limit scrutiny of the military’s management of the aid, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the veracity of the accusations against Osman or the possible motive he may have had for misleading donors.

In a written response to questions from Reuters, the Food Program said it had taken “swift action” to strengthen its operations in Sudan due to the scale of the humanitarian challenges and after the IPC confirmed the outbreak of famine in Darfur. It added that it had initiated “immediate recruitment actions to ensure the safety and continuity of our life-saving operations.”

War broke out in Sudan in April 2023. It has driven more than 10 million people from their homes, causing the world’s largest internal displacement crisis as well as worsening hunger, high rates of acute malnutrition among children and outbreaks of diseases such as cholera.

The United States and human rights organizations have accused both sides of the conflict of war crimes, which both sides deny.

UN agencies operate out of Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, where the military-allied government relocated after losing control of most of the capital Khartoum early in the war.

The Food Program and other UN agencies have complained that difficult transportation has contributed to their inability to reach those in need, especially in RSF-controlled areas such as Khartoum and the Darfur and Kordofan regions. But aid agencies have largely avoided publicly blaming either side of the conflict.

In response to a request for comment on the military’s role in the hunger crisis, Sudanese Armed Forces spokesman Nabil Abdalla said the military was doing its best to facilitate aid “to alleviate the suffering of our people.”

An RSF spokesperson also said in response to questions that the investigation is a good step and should include all humanitarian aid.

On Aug. 1, the Famine Review Committee of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said the war and consequent restrictions on aid delivery were the main causes of Sudan’s food crisis.

Some aid officials said they were afraid to make accusatory public statements, fearing that the military would expel them from Port Sudan and deny them access to areas under its control where hunger is most acute.