Fresh rumble in AfDB as African group talks tough

…berates ex-Presidents for supporting Adesina

The controversy over some allegations of ethical misconduct against the President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, took another dimension over the weekend, as an undisclosed group of African staff of the Bank faulted the stance of former African Heads of State on the matter.

The members of staff, in their letter, titled, “Open Letter From a Group of African AfDB Staff Members to the Supporters of Mr. Adesina”, alleged that the African leaders’ protest letter, calling for caution by stakeholders, was written by Adesina himself.

They said, “What is striking in the messages of support, but not surprising to those who know the African backwaters, is that none of these backers are concerned with the 20 allegations of ethical breach and how serious they would be if they were confirmed. It is as if since Mr. Adesina’s record is extraordinary, we should not dwell on governance issues.

“The fact that supposed political leaders, lawyers… are using this argument, in front of the whole world, is a disgrace and shows that the bad governance, from which Africa suffers, has deep roots.”

These members of staff claimed that there was no current rule of the bank, which prohibited the investigation of allegations against the President of the Bank, saying this was the case in most multilateral organisations.

“Commonsense dictates that someone who is under investigation, even if he is the President, should be suspended administratively, especially when it is felt that he might interfere with the investigation. He has already, through his lawyer and the defence memorandum submitted to the Ethics Committee, interferred with the work and the decision of the committee. He could reoffend,” they argued.

The protest letter also debunked certain claims of AfDB’s performance under Adesina, alleging that the claims were smoke screens.

The letter read in part, “Under Mr. Adesina, the Bank was dismantled within the framework of a so-called insitutional reform (DBDM) that has become a long running story. The independent consultant hired in 2018 on the instruction of the Governors to evaluate the DBDM concluded that the reform was poorly designed, poorly implemented and poorly monitored. It has not improved the Bank’s effectiveness and efficiency…

“Internal audits in recent years have made it clear that internal control systems are not working well and that accountability and sanctions are absent in the Bank’s culture. The Bank has weakened completely under Mr. Adesina, its Vice-Presidents and Directors, who are, 80 per cent of the time, travelling outside Africa.”

The aggrieved members of staff concluded that the debate was being tainted “by the bad faith and lies of the President and his supporter.”

Meanwhile, other concerned Africans have sustained their calls for caution in the ongoing controversy, advising stakeholders to allow the process of investigation to take a normal course.

Adesina has, on his part, responded to all the allegations against him, insisting on his innocence.