President Mary McAleese stressed the importance of combating corruption in Africa as her three-country tour of the continent began in earnest yesterday.
Speaking in Lesotho, where she met the country's prime minister and discussed its HIV/Aids epidemic, she said good governance was "absolutely crucial".
"Just as our taxpayers are entitled to be told where their money is going, how effective it is, and to be sure that the money is going to good causes, here too the people of Lesotho want to be sure that they are getting good government and that their money is being well spent and that the development money that is coming in - the donor money - is being spent primarily on their interests and on no other interests."
She noted the government in Lesotho had been "working very well across all of those major problems and delivering results".
She was in Mafeteng, in south-west Lesotho, where health workers described how testing for HIV had been quickly rolled out after the government announced a "know your status" campaign two years ago.
Some 500,000 people - or almost a quarter of the population - are infected with the virus. But knowledge about the risks of transmission is improving and one in seven of those with Aids is now getting treatment.
Widespread malnutrition and the low status of women, who are legally considered minors by the state, have hindered progress.
Prime minister Pakalitha Mosisili assured the President his country was reforming, telling her of the number of women entering professions. Mrs McAleese continues her tour of Lesotho today before travelling to Mozambique and Tanzania.