WASHINGTON, 3 April, 2008: No external institution can bring about real change in any nation; that burden lies squarely with the people and leaders of the country. The World Bank can be a partner and has taken on that responsibility in every country in Africa, according to a statement Wednesday.
For almost a decade the World Bank has supported anti-corruption efforts in Kenya through the Banks various programs. The Bank has also taken measures to mitigate corruption, including at times reducing its support to Kenya to humanitarian and emergency support only.
The Banks efforts to support good governance in Kenya are illustrated by the following:
– The Bank scaled back its program in Kenya to providing support for humanitarian and emergency operations between 1998 and 2004 due to Kenyas failure to implement structural reforms, poor governance practices (including inefficient use of public resources) and increasing evidence of corruption.
– In 1998-99, only one 40 million US dollar loan was approved on an exceptional basis to assist Kenya in reconstruction of roads, water and health facilities destroyed by the 1997-98 El Nino rains.
– After 2000 the Bank discontinued the use of budget support – which is the most flexible form of financing – due to slippages in reforms and governance issues. The Bank has also delayed providing new investment credits to sectors where corruption risks are high until the government took remedial action.
– In 2001, the Bank suspended funding for an urban transport project that had been approved in 1996 after an investigation by the Bank uncovered acts of corruption. The Bank laid down conditions for lifting the suspension, including investigation and prosecution of Government officials involved and a forensic audit of the project.
To date, the Bank has not provided fresh financial support for urban transportation.
– In 2002, the Bank took action against specific instances of corruption in projects it supports. The Bank fired two Washington-based staff members involved in corruption in the urban transport project and management called for an investigation which found problems in three other projects, although no Bank staff members were involved. In one of 3 sectors, education, projects were being implemented appropriately according to the review and the findings allowed the Bank to adjust its overall lending program.
– In May 2004, the government in Nairobi developed a new economic recovery strategy which promised to improve governance and tackle corruption, among other things, and this created the possibility of higher lending levels. However, some support was delayed following new evidence of corruption – the so called Anglo Leasing scam – where procurement of government equipment was found to be potentially fraudulent.
– The Bank delayed all new lending between October 2004 and January 2006, including for infrastructure, HIV/AIDS, health and education, pending clarification about specific corruption risks.
– Endorsement by the Banks Board in March 2007 of the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) Progress Report triggered new lending under a three-part approach: (a) proceeding with operations, with safeguards, where risks are manageable; (b) undertaking additional safeguards and other technical work in areas where corruption risks are high before proceeding with operations; and (c) completing due diligence economic analysis before proceeding with lending for development policy.
– This approach to lending to Kenya came out of a series of consultations on the Bank Group’s broader governance strategy as well as a series of intense public discussions with over 12 different multi-stakeholder sector groups.
– The updated CAS also introduced transparency initiatives; measures aimed at reducing public sector involvement in commercial activities (e.g, energy, telecommunications); public financial management, and licensing reforms (e.g. over 300 eliminated); and improvements in fiduciary and accountability systems.
– Analytic work was directed to judicial reform, parliamentary capacity for oversight, freedom of information laws, and access to justice especially for the poor. The Bank also implemented measures to identify and address corruption risks in ongoing and planned projects (e.g. independent complaints mechanisms).
– Within the CAS framework, projects worth US$662 million were approved. This comprised US$294 million from January 2006-February 2007, and US$368 million from March to June 2007.
– The Bank loaned Kenya 18 million dollar in 2004 to set the stage for financial and legal reforms. A follow up loan of 40 million is planned for financial year 09. It will focus specifically on the judiciary, given problems such as backlog of hundreds of thousands of cases.
Components will cover court administration, court transparency (including automation), judicial training and access to justice including through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. It is proceeding in part because the judiciary was showing some commitment to reforms , although the scope and depth of these reforms will have to be recalibrated to reflect events over the last three months.
– As an example, in August 2007 the authorities requested assistance from the Bank to conduct a forensic audit of the Judiciary. This resulted in the removal of the Registrar (the highest ranking civil servant in the judiciary) and several other individuals in the office.
– In 2007 the Bank also initiated a 114,4 million dollar project to automate much of the governments information technology so Kenyans can use computers to access land records and renew drivers licenses, among other tasks. This limits face-to-face contact between bureaucrats and reduces opportunities for corruption. The project will support a system that will facilitate asset declaration by public officials.
– The Kenya Anticorruption Commission once suggested that about 80 percent of corruption in Kenya is linked to public procurement. The World Bank is working to tackle Kenyas corrupt contracting and procurement system by setting up a citizen complaint system and enacting performance standards to measure such things as the thickness of the asphalt in a newly paved road. In addition, one of the World Banks procurement managers is on leave of absence from the Bank for the purpose of leading a complete overhaul of Kenya’s public procurement system.
– The Bank is providing technical support for creating a debt management system that would bring much greater transparency to debt contracting and upstream oversight of these transactions.
Finally, it is noteworthy that altogether, Bank and other donor financial support for Kenya is equivalent to about 1 percent of GDP, compared to about 10 percent of GDP for Ghana and a similar figure for Tanzania.
Greater responsibility lies with Kenyans to enforce transparency and accountability of the money they pay through taxes to finance economic activities.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
