African Peer Review Mechanism (Johannesburg)
7 October 2009
document
The attention of the APRM Continental Secretariat has been drawn to the article entitled ''APRM at the Crossroads: Where is the African Union Leadership?'' written by one Jerry Okungu and uploaded in the New Vision Online of Uganda on Friday, 4th September, 2009.
Coming on the heels of rebuttal to two other totally uninformed and false articles written by him earlier in the year, it is rather unfortunate that thereafter he did not think he should contact the APRM Secretariat directly to cross-check his information. It is tragic for an African Journalist, writing on the basis of gossip and hearsay, to malign the APRM which has been acclaimed by the international community as a major breakthrough in its terms of reference and performance.
We would not have bothered to respond to what is turning out to be an obsession by Mr. Okungu to try to discredit the APRM Panel of Eminent Persons whose only sin is that it is working extremely hard to accomplish its mandate aimed at changing the governance terrain in Africa. As a responsible organisation saddled with advancing good governance on the continent, we are compelled to expose his falsehood by setting the record straight.
The members of the APR Panel of Eminent Persons that Jerry Okungu has laboured very hard to discredit, malign and libel, have worked very hard under difficult circumstances to make the APRM achieve its objectives. Whatever achievement the APRM has recorded is due to them. Participating member countries can clearly attest to this.
The seven-member Panel was inaugurated in 2003 for a five-year term. The core function of the Panel is to exercise oversight of the entire process with a view to ensuring the independence, professionalism, and credibility of the process. In executing this mandate, they meet about four times every year as it is the current practice for 2-3 days on each occasion, to among others, take stock of progress in the review process in the countries that have acceded to the Mechanism as required in the Base Documents.
They are neither remunerated for this thankless job nor involved in the core management of the organisation which is currently straddled between two reputable organisations- the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) that approve and disburse all financial transactions of the APRM in accordance to their respective financial rules and procedures. All APRM's requisitions are executed within the internal control frameworks. No Panel Member is involved in disbursement of funds. Their travel is organised solely by the APRM Secretariat in conjunction with the Development Bank of Southern Africa. In other words, the DBSA and UNDP work hand in hand with the APRM Secretariat.
In accordance with the base document which set up the APRM, the Forum allowed the Panel to select its Chairperson from among itself on a rotating basis annually. The first Chairperson was Madam Savanne and she was succeeded by her deputy, Amb. Betuel Kiplagat. Dr Dorothy Njeuma was in turn Amb. Kiplagat's Deputy and she succeeded him. When Dr. Njeuma became deputy, Professor Adedeji was elected her Vice Chairperson, and a year later, he became the Chairperson in July 2007.
By this time, the five-year tenure of the inaugural Panel was close to an end. Consequently, six months after becoming Chairperson, Professor Adebayo Adedeji, after consultation with the Panel informed the Forum of Heads of States and Government participating in the Mechanism at its Summit Meeting of January 2008 in Addis Ababa that the tenure of the inaugural Panel had come to an end and bade them farewell on behalf of the Panel.
The Forum in its reaction decided that there must be an orderly transition for a new team to emerge. It was agreed that four of the seven members, including Professor Adedeji, should stay on. After consultation which took longer than expected, no action could be taken on the order of disengagement. However, Madam Savane was disengaged in 2008 and Dr. Chris Stals also retired voluntarily in the same year.
At its January 2009 Meeting, the Forum after a closed meeting decided to appoint Professor Adebayo Adedeji as the Chairperson of the Panel for a period of one year with effect from February 2009. Meanwhile, Mrs. Domitila Mukantaganzwa was also appointed to the Panel. Amb Betuel Kiplagat and Dr. Dorothy Njeuma were asked to disengage in July 2009. The next phase is for the APR Forum to complete the disengagement process and reinvigorate the Panel.
The reinvigoration of the APRM is ongoing and it is not limited to the Panel but also involves the Secretariat. On 9 October 2008, the government of South Africa signed the Host Country Agreement for the APRM with the African Union. This has necessitated spelling out the full implication of the agreement as the 22-member staff are either affiliated with the UNDP or DBSA and none of them holds APRM appointment. As UNDP has indicated that it cannot have the staff on its payroll with effect from 1 October 2009, all positions were declared vacant and advertised. We are glad that more than a thousand people applied and their applications are receiving attention.
Mr. Assefa Shifa was appointed as Officer-in-Charge of the APRM Secretariat by the entire Panel at its meeting in Sharm el Sheik in June 2008 at the expiration of the tenure of Dr. Bernard Kouassi whose tenure was even extended by six months after serving his three-year term. His appointment was based solely on merit. Prior to joining the APRM, Mr. Assefa Shifa had worked with the UNDP for a decade and he was one of the most senior officials in the Secretariat then. Arrangements are ongoing to fill all vacant positions.
Professor Adedeji was, unfortunately, indisposed in the early part of 2009. After the January 2009 Summit, he attended the Panel Meeting for the second time this year on 29 and 30th August 2009. Subsequently, he led a 14-member APRM Country Review Mission fielded to Ethiopia from 31 August to 20 September 2009, which Jerry Okungu claimed in his earlier articles had been concluded. He was not even in Sirte, Libya in June/ July 2009 for the Forum Summit yet Mr Okungu claimed that he circulated a document during the last NEPAD Steering Committee meeting on selection of 9 APR Panel Members to be head-hunted possibly by himself at that time.
We strongly advise Mr. Okungu to desist from his track of falsehood and to always verify his facts-a core ethic of good journalism- before jumping into conclusions, especially as he purports to represent the public interest.
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