23 January 2006
Edward Alden and Andrew Balls discuss claims that World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is building a cabal of supporters at the highest levels of the institution. The authors also highlight staff concerns over Wolfowitz's management style, as well as charges that newly-appointed Director of Institutional Integrity Suzanne Rich Folsom has inappopriately violated staff email accounts to investigate corruption cases.
Two articles in today's Financial Times, by Edward Alden and Andrew Balls, discuss claims that World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is building a cabal of supporters at the highest levels of the institution. The authors also highlight staff concerns over Wolfowitz's management style, as well as charges that newly-appointed Director of Institutional Integrity Suzanne Rich Folsom has inappopriately violated staff email accounts.
The authors highlight concerns expressed by World Bank staff over a number of presidential staff appointments in the past months, including the most recent of Suzanne Rich Folsom as director of the Department of Institutional Integrity. "Her appointment has raised objections that a person close to Mr. Wolfowitz, and with a political background, has been put into a senior position at a unit that was seen as independent of the president's office since it was set up in 2001," the authors contend.
One source noted that "Wolfowitz just does not talk to his vice Presidents. He speaks to a few close advisors - Kevin Kellems, Robin Cleveland, Karl Jackson, some others - but a lot of very good people are leaving."
The article also raises concerns over the president's management style, claiming that bank staff are dismayed by Wolfowitz's delays in pulling together his management team and the growing rift between his closest advisors and bank staff, fueled by both his advisors general suspicion of staff and staff fears that "the former defence secretary, who is closely associated with the US decision to invade Iraq, would attempt to foist a Bush administration agenda on the international aid agency."
The authors underscore the new president's focus on battling corruption, and the apparently unorthodox measures he and his supporters may be taking as a result. In particular, Alden and Balls discuss charges that Folsom has violated internal bank procedures and broken into staff email accounts to investigate corruption charges. Wolfowitz's office has denied those claims.
Appointments raising eyebrows include:
- Kevin Kellems, Special Advisor to the President and Director of Strategy of External Affairs. Former Communications Director and Spokesman for Vice President Dick Cheney, Kellems has advised both Paul Wolfowitz and Senator Richard Lugar, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
- Karl Jackson, Advisor. Previously served in the Bush administration.
- Robin Cleveland, Counsellor to the President. Former Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Supervising a portfolio of more than $500 million a year, Cleveland helped develop the United States' response to the tsunami disaster, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPfAR) and the Millenium Challenge Corporation.
- Robert Pozen, Special Consultant. Pozen has served as a visiting lecturer at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, the Vice-Chairman of Fidelity Investments, and the President of Fidelity Management & Research. The exact responsibilities of his assignment were not made public.
Notable departures have included:
- Shengman Zhang, Managing Director. Although Graeme Wheeler was appointed Acting Managing Director, Alden and Balls contend that a good part of the position's responsibilities have actually been transferred to Robin Cleveland.
- Roberto Danino, General Counsel.
- Ian Johnson, Vice President for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development.
Read the articles
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