UN
Confirms
Gambari Spent
$614,000 on
Darfur House
for Him &
4 Guards
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 24 --
Months ago UN
whistleblowers
told Inner
City Press
that Darfur
envoy Ibrahim
Gambari had
spent hundreds
of thousands
of
dollars from
the UNAMID
budget
building
himself a
mansion or
"Hard-shell on
the Hill" in
the
peacekeeping
base in El
Fasher. Inner
City Press
inquired and published
it, complete
with
photographs.
Earlier
this
week, after
further
inquiries,
Inner City
Press put
a dollar
figure on how
much Gambari
had spent on
this house --
$620,000 --
and
quoted
attendees of
this month's
UN envoy
retreat at the
Greentree
Estate in
New York
City's suburbs
that Gambari
had flown to
New York
but attended
only the photo
op and
concluding
ceremony, and
was not
long for his
job.
After
publishing
that follow up
story, at the
UN's May 21
noon briefing
Inner City
Press asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
associate
spokesman
Farhan Haq to
confirm or
deny:
Question:
I wanted to
ask you about
Mr. [Ibrahim]
Gambari, the
United
Nations-African
Union Hybrid
Operation in
Darfur chief.
Previously
there was some
controversy
about a house
that was built
apparently
only for him
within the
El-Fashar
compound, and
I have now
learned
the cost of
it: $620,000
and I wonder:
where did the
money come
from? Was this
part of
UNAMID’s
budget? Was
this in fact
meant
for the
housing of
other staff
members and
devoted to
that? So, I
wanted to
know, one, I
don’t assume
that you’d
have a note
with
you, but is
there some way
to know where
that funds
come from and
also whether
Mr. Gambari’s
status as the
head of UNAMID
is in the
process of
changing in
any way around
the SRSG
[Special
Representatives
of the
Secretary-General]
retreat that
was held in
Greentree; I
have heard
that there was
notification
of a change of
status and I’d
like to get
you to confirm
or deny that.
Associate
Spokesperson
Haq: Well, we
don’t have any
appointments
to make
regarding
UNAMID; so, he
is the Head of
that mission
at this point.
Regarding a
budget, we
will check
with our
colleagues. As
you know,
all of the
Special
Representatives
and indeed all
staff have
accommodations
in their duty
stations. So
he will have
his
accommodation
provided. But
if there is
any detail on
the budgetary
information,
sure, I will
try and get
those for you.
The
next day Haq's
office
provided the
following:
Subject:
Your
question on
Ibrahim
Gambari's
housing
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Tue, May
22, 2012
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Regarding
the
question you
asked at noon
about the
housing in El
Fasher for
Ibrahim
Gambari, we
have the
following
information
from the
UN-African
Union Hybrid
Operation in
Darfur
(UNAMID):
The
funds
for the
residence came
from the
UNAMID budget.
The building
serves as the
Joint Special
Representative's
residence,
office and
representational
facility. It
also houses
four close
protection
officers.
The
total
cost of
construction
was $613,614
for the five
residents,
with
$65,000 for
furnishings
procured by
UNAMID on the
local market.
This
information
was presented
to the
Advisory
Committee on
Administrative
and Budgetary
Questions in
April.
Inner
City Press
obtained and
checked
ACABQ's most
recent (April
27, 2012)
report on
UNAMID. While
this lists on
page 35 the
"construction
of a hard-wall
(masonry)
warehouse...
in El Fasher,"
no house for
Gambari is
listed. New
construction
is listed at
$21.85
million: $17
million for
"engineering
projects" and
$4.85 million
for
"environmental
projects."
Which is this
hard shell on
the hill
mansion for
Gambari and
his four
guards or
protection?
And what will
happen to the
mansion when
Gambari leaves
UNAMID? We
will have more
on this: watch
this site.
Footnote:
Inner
City Press
previously reported
that Gambari
had
attended and
taken photos
with
International
Criminal Court
indictee
Omar al Bashir
at a wedding
reception for
Chad's Idriss
Deby and the
daughter of
janjaweed
militia
founder Musa
Hillal. To
prove the
point, Inner
City Press
searched for
and found the
wedding
reception
photos online,
with no
apparent
copyright.
During a later
dispute,
Reuters or
simply its
UN
correspondent
Louis
Charbonneau
made a claim
of copyright
to the
photographs --
the impunity
significance
of which
Reuters had
not written
about -- and
Inner City
Press in an
abundance
of caution
removed these
and all photos
from its
story. But who
was
served? Who
was protected,
by whom?
, 
