As
Kim Tapped for
World Bank,
Tales of
Ocampo, Rice
& Sachs,
Ban Switch
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March 23 --
Two weeks ago
at the UN there were
two reported
candidates to
head the World
Bank:
Jeffrey Sachs
and US
Ambassador
Susan Rice.
Now there are
none, what
with the Obama
administration
nominating Jim
Yong Kim.
There is only
as one of two
competitors to
Kim among with
Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala
a former
UN official,
Jose
Antonio Ocampo,
who left the
UN five years
ago amid
charges he's
turned a blind
eye to
corruption by
Guido
Bertucci, who
he
supervised.
Such lack of
accountability
has continued
with Ban
Ki-moon.
Back in
2009, two
of Ban's
closest
advisers
told Inner
City Press
they were
worried
that a
potential
triple switch
could cost Ban
a second term
at the
UN. China
would take
over the World
Bank from the
US in 2012,
the
theory went,
and because
Asia could not
control both
the UN and
World
Bank, Ban
would have to
go, perhaps
back to South
Korea as a
politician.
The
Europeans
would give up
the IMF --
this was
before the
final DSK
scandal -- in
order to take
over the UN,
under this
theory.
Nearly
all
mainstream
media reports
of today's
Obama
nomination
note the Kim
was
born in Korea.
So much for
Ban's advisers
fears. At the
UN on
Friday,
several
diplomats
complained
(despite Kim
being an
American)
that "South
Korea is
getting too
much, the UN
and the World
Bank." Sort
of.
One
anti-American
diplomat
ascribe
Seoul's double
play to it
being "a US
lackey."
But the Wall
Street Journal
and others
touted Sakong
Il as a
possible
replacement
for DSK.
Two
weeks ago
Inner City
Press asked
Susan Rice if
she was World
Bank bound.
"C'mon," she
replied, "I
have a great
job."
Sachs on the
other hand refused to
answer if he
should be
viewed as
an "inside the
UN" candidate,
and declined
to answer
questions
about Senegal
and Malawi.
(One wonders
what he'd say
of
this week's coup d'etat
in Mali).
Both
Rice and
Sachs tweeted
congratulations
to Kim, with
Sachs
essentially
standing
down. Perhaps
he'll say he
only ran to
block Larry
Summers.
Perhaps
in the triple
switch theory
above, Summers
would have
gotten the
IMF,
to play DSK
there.
Perhaps,
perhaps,
perhaps.
As Jose Antonio
Ocampo left
the UN in
December 2006
-- in fact at
the reception
of
Ban Ki-moon,
who replaced
Ocampo with
Sha Zukang on
China -- Inner
City Press
asked Ocampo
about the
Bertucci
scandal, and
"is he
staying?"
"How
can
I say?" Ocampo
said, in
Spanish.
"Who
makes
the decision?"
"You're
right
that I do. But
so
far I haven't
seen any
serious
accusations,"
Ocampo said.
After
mentioning
some, Inner
City Press
asked Ocampo
to comment on
rumors
that the
Chinese want
DESA. "There
are many
rumors about
posts,"
Ocampo
answered.
Now
he's running
for the World
Bank. But here's a
summary of
l'affaire
Bertucci:
Inner City
Press in 2007
asked Sha
Zukang,
Ocampo's
replacement
whose now
himself slated
to leave in
June, for an
update on the
Office
of Internal
Oversight
Services
investigations
of DESA:
Guido
Bertucci, the
Thessaloniki
Center for
"Public
Service
Professionalism,"
and
consultants'
contracts. Sha
Zukang pulled
out a piece of
paper and read
out from it.
"My colleague
provided this,
anticipating
some questions
from you," he
said. "Don't
ask further
questions, I
don't know the
details."
In sum, OIOS
released its
audit of the
Thessaloniki
Center on
August 2,
2007. While
Sha Zukang
said that DESA
has fully
implemented
Recommendations
3 and 4, and
part of the
first
recommendation,
it is
significant to
consider the
one still
unacted upon:
"The
Department
should
establish
accountability
for the
inefficient
use of
consultants,
including the
irregular
sign-off of a
consultant's
contract
indicating
that
deliverables
had been
provided when
no such
deliverables
had actually
been
received."
This is as
good a
definition of
corruption as
any. But where
was the
accountability?
Perhaps now.
Watch this
site.
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