Development aid minister Bert Koenders and right-wing liberal (VVD) MP Arend Jan Boekestijn clashed on Wednesday night during a parliamentary debate on a controversial report into the Netherlands’ development aid policy in Africa, reports the Volkskrant.

The minister and the MP accused each other of telling ‘untruths’ about the implementation of the policy and the effect the money had, says the paper.
Over the eight years to 2006 the Netherlands spent €10bn in Africa.
According to Boekestijn, help to African countries was not effective and half the money went to corrupt or dictatorial regimes. Koenders reacted by saying that corruption was punished by shortening or stopping projects. He accused Boekestijn of ‘scattering slogans’ and pointed out that development aid was sufficiently monitored, says the Volkskrant.
Boekestijn wants a parliamentary investigation into the effectiveness of the aid, says the paper, but received little support from other parties. He went on to say he would not support Koenders’ budget for 2009.
Socialist party (SP) MP Harry van Bommel questioned the VVD’s motives, saying the Liberals have already said they want to halve the aid budget, says the paper.
The report into development aid was written by an independent evaluation body known as the IOB, and raises a number of issues about the ineffectiveness of aid spending.