The need for more information!

Lars Hofgren, Missionar und LMC Sekretär in Tanzania schreibt auf Seite 62 des LMC Manuals 2007:

"4.2 Information Sharing

The need to have more information on the activities for which LMC funds are used within the ELCT has been discussed many times, and this last year also in the board. We have written to the Nothern Members asking them to specify their needs. The results will be presented to the Planning Commitee and discussed there."

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This is a very strange request of the LMC to ELCT and the Northern Members, who provide the money and who are equally represented in the LMC round table and therefore deciding about the LMC budgets, are receiving audit financial reports from ELCT and about projects, who deliberate about the policies and plans related to programmes and on policies and matters related to financial managment.

The LMC holds in trust funds of the LMC members under the legal custodianship of the ELCT. That concerns the funds transfered via LMC from the in the board represented members (churches, mission societies and agencies).

LMC is as a "service organization" (for ELCT) responsible for distribution and and monitoring of subsidies for core programmes, administration, distribution and monitoring of subsidies to individual projects and fundraising.

All of the Northern mebers (Missions like NMZ, Bavarian Mission and KPS) are having representatives in the round table, (the highest decision making organ) and some of them in the board of the LMC (Manfred Scheckenbach from the Bavarian Mission is listed as LMC Associate Chairperson in October 2006 and he is also a board member).

I wonder why the secretary of LMC has to ask questions "on the activities for which LMC funds are used within the ELCT", Shouldn't there be standards, making sure that the funds are used in the way agreed upon before they were disbursed?

How can LMC or ELCT report to the donating people about the proper use of the money by the Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT), if they do not agree in advance about the use the money? What does a project proposal or a call to donate mean to them?

We know from Makete, that there is "a problem", are there similar "problems" in other dioceses? Many times the monies are used for "other purposes" without telling in advance and without explaining at all, where the funds have ended up.

A breakdown is needed here, from all over Tanzania and from all of the projects and donated money. By the way, this would be a good (but surely not realistic) exercise for the whole of the help industries: Puplish whom and what you fund!

Im Übrigen bin ich der Meinung, dass die zuständigen Missionssekretäre in Europa zurücktreten müssen und die Finanzgebarung in Europa und Tansania vollkommen offengelegt werden muss und Verantwortliche in Tansania und in anderen Ländern zur Rechenschaft gezogen werden müssen.