MON, JUN 22 2020-theG&BJournal- The Bureau of Boards of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) have agreed to an Independent Review of the Report of the Ethics Committee relative to the allegations considered by the Committee against the Bank’s President Akinwumi A. Adesina, and the submissions he made on April 8 2020 to the Ethics Committee of the Bank.
The Bureau of the Boards of Governors issued a Communiqué today ‘’in the interest of due process’’ to announce the latest development, saying that ‘’the Independent Review shall be conducted by a neutral high caliber individual with unquestionable experience, high international reputation and integrity’’ within a short-time period of not more than two to four weeks maximum, taking the Bank Group’s electoral calendar into account.
The review, according to the Communiqué, is ‘’based on the views of some Governors on the matter and the need to carry every Governor along in resolving it.’’
The Bureau also said that an independent comprehensive review of the implementation of the Bank Group’s Whistle-Blowing and Complaints Handling Policy ‘’should be conducted with a view to ensuring that the Policy is properly implemented, and revising it where necessary, to avoid situations of this nature in the future within a three to six month period and following the independent review of the Ethics Committee Report.’’
The Bureau reiterated in the Communiqué, that it agrees that the Ethics Committee of the Boards of Directors ‘’performed its role on this matter in accordance with the applicable rule under Resolution B/BG/2008/1 1 of the Board of Governors, and that the Chairperson of the Bureau of the Board of Governors performed her role in accepting the findings of the Ethics Committee in accordance with the said Resolution.’’
Whistleblowers, in the Bank on January 19, 2020, leveled over 16 allegations against Adesina accusing him of violating the Bank’s Code Conduct. Adesina in his April response argued that the disclosure does not meet the standard to qualify as a whistleblower complaint under the terms of the Bank’s Whistle Blowing and Complaints Handling Policy of 2007 and not ‘’based on solid facts.”
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