i worked diligently and tirelessly, with the support of sincere colleagues and senior officials, to stop the leakage or theft of tens of millions of dinars in monthly donation funds allocated to projects abroad about which little was known.
these efforts led to the disappearance of roadside fundraising campaigns, as well as dozens of similar campaigns on social media.
i felt relieved after the campaign’s success, but this relief ultimately faded with the renewed surge of advertisements for dozens of projects outside the country.
here are a few examples:
■ renovating schools in syria, target amount kd 41,300.
■ funding medical convoys to assist sudanese refugees, amount to be raised kd 8,445.
■ building a humanitarian city in yemen, amount to be raised kd 265,000.
■ building five sub-desalination plants in gaza city, amount not specified.
and this is just a sample, as it is difficult to list them all. it is noticeable that the requested amounts have become much lower compared to the past, as if this indicates the credibility of the advertisers.
in a recently broadcast interview, the saudi minister of islamic affairs, dawah and guidance, sheikh abdul latif bin abdul aziz al-sheikh, expressed strong views regarding his stance on donating to charitable organizations.
he stated that some organizations that collect donations take people’s money unjustly, adding that he rarely trusts charitable organizations.
sheikh abdul latif explained that some entities exploit people’s religious sentiments to collect donations by announcing completion percentages of mosque construction projects or issuing urgent appeals for contributions, such as repeatedly stating “60% remaining” or “20% remaining” to complete a project. some also collect donations for serving pilgrims, despite the availability of all services for them, including water, food, hospitals, air conditioning, and even misting systems to cool the roads.
he stated that the methods used by some charities are objectionable, as they are exploited by certain parties to take donors’ money and spend it on themselves or on unknown entities.
sheikh abdul latif stressed that the ministry discovered charities soliciting donations to build mosques in makkah, despite not having any mosque projects there.
he emphasized that mosques are already available in makkah and madinah, and that the government has built tens of thousands of mosques.
sheikh abdul latif stated that some charities collect funds, build a mosque for three million, and then make illegal profits of up to ten million.
he stressed that he has not and will not donate a single riyal to any charity because he considers this practice to be wrong.
sheikh abdul latif called for an end to this alien and unusual practice that exploits people intellectually and financially.
meanwhile, algeria arrested a senior hamas figure on charges of embezzling millions of dollars in donations intended for gaza.
contact with the office of hamas leader khaled meshaal confirmed that the arrest came after the political bureau received information about the disappearance of millions of dollars in aid.
he indicated that other individuals within hamas were involved in the case, and that one of them had informed the authorities due to a dispute.
gaza was among the first areas where we previously sought and succeeded in preventing certain charitable organizations from collecting donations during its most dire crisis. we demanded that aid be channeled exclusively through the kuwait red crescent society (krcs), and i was a major donor.
i urge the ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of social affairs to intervene once again to stop donations to any projects outside kuwait.