The independent sanction mechanisms put in place by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to improve its governance, control and accountability are effective but still face major challenges. Such was the opinion expressed on Tuesday, 28 May 2024 in Nairobi by the judges who sit on various sanction mechanisms at the Bank.

Justice Epuli Mathias Aloh, Chairman of AfDB Group’s Administrative Tribunal, Justice Leona Valerie Theron, Administrative Tribunal Judge, Justice Smokin Charles Wanjala, Sanctions Commissioner, Julius Nkafu, Member of the Sanctions Appeals Board, and David Simpson, Director of the Independent Recourse Mechanism, were speaking at a panel on the theme “Roles and Responsibilities of the Independent Accountability Mechanisms of African Development Bank Group”, held on the sidelines of the 2024 Annual Meetings of AfDB Group.

“The Bank did not originally have its own Administrative Tribunal. Over the years, we realised that people were suffocating. They would take a case internally and then not know who else they could take it to because the Bank has immunity. The Tribunal needs to exist as a last resort,” explained Mr Aloh, who believes a legal body of this kind is a necessity for the Bank. “Anyone who works for the Bank must be able to bring a case before this Tribunal, and I cannot recall any occasion when a decision taken by the Tribunal was rejected by the Bank’s management,” he added.

The Administrative Tribunal is an independent body of the AfDB. Its decisions are binding, final and not subject to appeal. It is composed of six judges, three of whom form a quorum for sessions.

“The Bank’s management is involved in the appointment of the judges, but there is no further relationship. The judges are independent. All of the requests we have submitted have been taken in a positive spirt. We have a institution that is credible and well perceived. Staff have faith in us and in the integrity of the Tribunal,” Ms Theron said.

For the past 60 years, the African Development Bank has set an example of accountability by putting effective mechanisms in place that enable experienced, independent and external experts to verify respect for the rule of law during their respective missions and to ensure that the Bank adheres to best practices in its work.

“Each of the Bank’s accountability mechanisms has a specific role and jurisdiction. I have served as Sanctions Commissioner for four years now and I have not seen any overlap in the way we work. Each mechanism has been carefully designed to ensure efficiency,” Mr Wanjala said. “The Sanctions Office was set up to warn or punish entities that are found to be involved in sanctionable practices. We try to be consistent in our decisions. We always give the parties concerned the opportunity and the time to explain themselves and we may change our decision based on their explanations,” he added.

Mr Nkafu believes that independent sanction mechanisms represent an additional and necessary safety measure for the Bank. “It is better to avoid making mistakes than to regret them when it is already too late. The Bank is very large and it has immunity, so it is important to have this structure and to maintain it for the benefit of those who need recourse,” Mr Nkafu said.

“We are trying to see where we can add value. Accountability is a watchword that we adhere to. We give preference to peaceful resolution of complaints. More people are using our services and they have confidence in us,” said Mr Simpson.

However, despite the high-quality of the work carried out by the AfDB’s independent sanctions mechanism, a number of challenges are still outstanding. “We need to know how we can remain relevant in an ever-changing environment. Are we sufficiently responsive? Are we dynamic? How can we measure our performance? These are all questions that we ask ourselves,” Mr Theron admitted. 

The AfDB Independent Recourse Mechanism. The Independent Recourse Mechanism (IRM), administered by the Compliance Review and Mediation Unit (BCRM), enables anyone who has suffered harm in connection with a project financed by the AfDB Group to petition the Bank to comply with its own policies and procedures. Functioning independently, the IRM intervenes on request when it has not proved possible to resolve the dispute at the level of the AfDB’s management. The IRM acts as a recourse system.

The AfDB Integrity and Anti-Corruption Office. True to the AfDB’s objectives of fostering economic growth and social progress in Africa, the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Office effectively manages the expertise and resources that are needed in order to fulfil its mandate of preventing and investigating corruption, strengthening integrity and anti-corruption within the Bank and across its operations, and working with internal and external stakeholders to combat fraud and corruption in the development sphere.

The AfDB Administrative Tribunal: The Administrative Tribunal is an independent body of the AfDB. The Tribunal’s secretariat is headed by an executive secretary who is appointed by the President of AfDB Group after consultation with the Tribunal’s chairperson. The Administrative Tribunal is empowered to hear and rule on any application by a member of staff challenging an administrative decision that concerns non-compliance with his or her employment contract or conditions.