THE APRM DEBATE: THE SECRETARIAT RESPONDS

Dear Dr. Jerome April 14, 009
I must thank you most sincerely for responding to my articles in detail, your language notwithstanding.

I must equally acknowledge new insights your letter has given me, issues I would never have known had you not written to me.

Yes, I am going to publish your rebuttal bellow to accord you the right of reply so that other concerned Africans including your colleagues in South Africa can see for themselves the calibre of leadership guiding the APRM Secretariat.

More importantly; don’t get me wrong, I sincerely appreciate your feedback because that was the intention of my series in the first place. Now that a dialogue has been created, it is my hope other interested parties will join in.

Unfortunately, before I received your letter, I had already been warned of all forms of threat coming my way. This is normal in this kind of business worldwide. I only hope that these threats will remain civilized.

Jerome, you have said that I published fiction, half-truths and innuendoes about APRM, countries and individuals linked with it. You may be right and wrong at the same time, depending on which spot one sits.

You are aware I don’t live in South Africa or West Africa. You may therefore want to remember that any information I get from these regions comes to me voluntarily from people that have either worked with you or are still working with you. In Kenya, we call such sources Whistle Blowers and they are protected by law. Therefore before you rush to judge, you may need to do internal self- peer review at the APRM Secretariat to find out where the rain started beating you.

If it is possible that all the information I have, has come from your offices, it means there is a serious “governance problem” at the secretariat that needs looking into. It means staff are not working as a team and possibly not talking to each other.

You have accused me of writing innuendoes about countries and past African leaders. To the best of my knowledge countries don’t govern themselves. They are governed by our presidents, prime ministers and kings. The more reason the Peer Review process for any country must be defended by the Head of State of the reviewed country. It is therefore imperative to accuse a particular head of State for manipulating the process rather than the country itself if such a scenario emerges like it did in South Africa in 2007.

I may be wrong but who does not know that the last Nigerian elections were rigged? Didn’t the opposition losers go to court contesting the election of the current Nigerian president? Were you not there in Addis Ababa when the scheduled South African Report was not tabled? You know why it wasn’t.

You live in South Africa. Thabo Mbeki is no longer the President. His term was cut short after a court ruling involving his feuds with Zuma. If I call his governance style a misnomer according APRM protocols and governance best practices, am I stretching my imagination too far?

I have written many positive articles about Prime Minister Zenawi, Mwai Kibaki, Paul Kagame, Yoweri Museveni, Abdulahi Wade and even Bouteflika of Algeria. At times I get busted by nationals of those countries for praising dictators. The other time Ethiopians accused me of being bribed by Zenawi to write a good article on him; a man I have never met one on one in my life . If you Google Jerry Okungu, you will see the number of hate mails I receive every time I wrote positively about particular African heads of state. However, such reactions have never stopped me from doing my job.

In this discipline, one gets used to the fact that either way there is bound to be a dissenting voice.

My job is to be a critic of the African continent; praise when praise is due but point out to the emperor that he is naked when indeed he is so that he can put on some clothes.

No one denies that Obasanjo, Mbeki, Wade and others gave this continent the APRM and NEPAD. No one denies that Mbeki’s Reinnausance was a great idea. However, the fact that they inspired the continent does not mean that they would never make fatal mistakes in their lives. The fact that Mugabe liberated Zimbabwe does not give him the right to oppress his people.

The crux of the matter here is simple. These people gave the continent a great idea. They preached its principles in order that this continent could move forward.

However, if the same people turn around to behave exactly like past African leaders then we have a right to question their sincerity. This much we deserve.

You have questioned my African values because I called into question why Kenya burnt after the 2007 elections soon after being reviewed two years earlier. You have questioned my African values because I called into question Mbeki’s belief in good governance soon after the ANC removed him from office on grounds of abuse of power.

If to have African values is to turn a blind eye to obvious injustices meted on us by our rulers, then I have no time for African values. If having African values means allowing heads of state to turn the APRM into a PR firm, then I have no time for those values.

Perhaps I believed too much in the future of APRM. I should have scaled down my expectations as earlier critics had done. Had I done so, we wouldn’t be having this discussion today.

Finally, it is not my intention to “destroy a noble initiative unprecedented anywhere in the world which is delivering on its mandate!”

On the contrary I want it to survive with all my heart and that is why when I see signs of destruction coming from within, I raise the alarm so that insiders like you can stop the haemorrhage.

Thank you Jerome for sharing your insights with me.
Let’s keep discussing Africa’s future together.

Jerry Okungu

RESPONSE FROM DR.AFEIKHENA JEROME, APRM SECRETARIAT, SOUTH AFRICA

Dear Mr. Okungu,
My attention has been drawn to the two articles, which you uploaded on the web, where I was seriously maligned. It is strange that you decided to publish fiction, half truths and innuendos about the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), as well as countries, and individuals linked with it. I do not know what your intentions are but your unrestrained vitriol and unsubstantiated attack is clearly in bad faith.

Your diatribe was not limited to me. You had the effrontery to insult in sullen and vain language, past African Heads of State who have all played inspirational roles in the Mechanism, including their Excellencies, Olusegun Obasanjo, Thabo Mbeki, John Kufuor and Meles Zenawi, the current Ethiopian Prime Minister, who is also the Chairperson of the APR Forum. Kenya, your country of origin, was not spared either from your mischief.
Haba Jerry, where are your African values?

I am surprised at your authoritative stance as you did not bother to verify your information before jumping to conclusions. The ethics of journalism dictates that you verify your facts, especially, when you purport to act in the public interest. It is amazing that someone who insinuates concern for probity and accountability would breach such a fundamental principle of the practice of journalism - hear the other side - with such reckless abandon. This is clearly a deliberate and belligerent negligence and falsehood on your part. Your irresponsible brand of journalism is made worse by the remarkably poor understanding of the Mechanism and how it works demonstrated in your wild assertions, despite your claim that you have spent several years with the NEPAD/APRM Process in Kenya.

Here are some of the facts:

The APRM Forum led by Prime Minister Meles Zanawi does not interfere in the staffing of the Secretariat. The assertion that he appointed his Ethiopian brother to take over from Dr. Kouassi is far from the truth. On expiration of Dr. Kouassi's tenure in June 2008, Mr Assefa Shifa, the IT Manager, who was then one of the most senior staff, was appointed Officer-in-Charge of the Secretariat by the Panel, pending the appointment of a substantive Head. He has been performing his duties, uninhibited, ever since.
The advert for the post and other vacancies are available in the African Business of April 1 2009 if you deem it fit to apply.

Close watchers and participants in the APRM process will indicate to you to that I am not interested in administration. My closest forays into management were the few instances that I acted for Dr. Kouassi, while he was away, during his tenure. I have always restricted my intervention, according to my job description, to the technical aspects of the Mechanism where I believe I am adding value.
It thus came to me as a surprise that I am alleged to be running the organization through the back door and that the Headship of the APRM has been reserved for me. For your information, I am not aspiring to the position. This should give you and your collaborators considerable comfort.

Since inception in 2003, the APRM has been straddled between two organisations - the United Nations Development Programme and the Development Bank of Southern Africa - and this has created several problems in operationalizing the mechanism for all role actors. The maximum contract which the staff you profess to love so much have been able to secure is one year and this has huge implications for their welfare and that of their families, in a sophisticated economy like South Africa. Since September 2008, none of them has been accredited. The result is that they are routinely detained and fined at OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg while travelling. In line with the quest to be an autonomous institution which is African-owned and African- driven, the restructuring programme seeks to transform the Secretariat into an (African Union) AU Office in South Africa. It was prompted by the recent signing of the Host Country Agreement between the AU and South Africa and it is geared towards correcting the above distortions and other inherent weaknesses in the Secretariat.

I am also not part of the Restructuring Team, which is headed by a seasoned Consultant with the backing of the entire Panel. He did present a synopsis of his report, including the Structure which you accused me of putting together with Professor Adedeji to Focal Points and Advisors to Heads of State participating in the APRM at their meeting in January 2009. Surely, a diligent observer, let alone someone who presumes to know so much about the Mechanism, should have been aware that a report had been tabled on the restructuring in January 2009!

As the Country Coordinator for Ethiopia, I am at a vantage position to let you know that Ethiopia's Country Review Mission is yet to be undertaken. Contrary to what you reported, the entire Panel, in its wisdom, took the decision that Professor Adedeji should take over Ethiopia's review for evidently worthy reasons. Not being the Executive Director, I will not usurp the responsibility to speak for the Panel beyond the fact that the decision was collectively made.

To their credit, no African Head of state has so far interfered in the Review Process in the nine countries that have completed the process to date. The APRM process is guided by the principles of objectivity, technical competence and freedom from political manipulation. The Statement of the Heads of States that have undergone the Review Process as well proceedings of the Peer Review are available in all Country Review Reports.

You accused Prof. Adedeji of nurturing ambitions to Head the Secretariat. If your history serves you right, Prof Adedeji was at a time the highest ranking African in the United Nations. To now nurture an ambition to head a small organization like the APRM at the ripe age of 79 is laughable, and could pass for the joke of the year. Professor Adedeji has been contributing his quota to Africa's development long before you were born.

Also, no member of the Panel travels by First class as you claimed.
The APRM is a reputable institution guided by rules. The accounts are audited annually by PriceWaterhouse Coopers. You may wish to request for the documents.

It is the responsibility of the APR Forum (Heads of State and Government Participating in the Mechanism) to appoint Panel Members contrary to your portrayal that Professor Adedeji is in charge. The decision to renew Professor Adedeji's mandate as Chairperson of the Panel was taken at the Forum Meeting of January 2009, held in Addis Ababa, after a closed door meeting.

I would suggest strongly that you verify your facts accordingly and publish a rebuttal and apology for defaming me, failure to do which I will advice myself on what to do, including seeking legal redress. You also owe the entire Continent an apology for your infamous articles and irresponsible postings aimed at destroying a noble initiative unprecedented anywhere in the world which is delivering on its mandate.
Dr. Afeikhena Jerome
Email address: afeikhenaj@nepad.org