Drogba charity cleared of fraud

DAKAR: A charity set up by Ivory Coast football star Didier Drogba to help children in west Africa has been cleared of fraud and corruption but may have “misled” donors, according to Britain’s charity watchdog.

The Charity Commission launched an investigation after allegations surfaced that less than one percent of £1.7 million (R30m) donated to the Drogba Foundation was spent on children in Ivory Coast.

The watchdog found no evidence of fraud or corruption, but said Drogba’s charity, set up in Britain in 2009, had failed to separate its activities from those of an Africa-based arm of the organisation – La Fondation Didier Drogba – established in 2007.

“Donors will have expected donations to have been used for charitable purposes, not accumulated in a bank account,” the report said. – Reuters