Woes mount at UN office over Tibaijuka demotion
Abiya Ochola
UN-Habitat Director General Anna Tibaijuka could have been demoted due to her efforts to restore order at the UN Office in Nairobi.
It has also emerged that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon did not consult his Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, Ms Rachel Mayanja.
The demotion has also opened up administrative problems at the UN Office in Nairobi (UNON), with issues of who will be in charge when new Director General Achim Steiner is out of station.
Dr Anna Tibaijuka, UN-Habitat Executive Director. UN chief Ban Ki-moon replaced Tibaijuka as the UNON Director-General, last week. Photo: File
According to correspondence in our possession, Dr Tibaijuka could have been hounded out as punishment for her dedication to restore order.
"It would be a paradox to treat her this way and punish her for her efforts to restore order and decency in administration at the Nairobi duty station," wrote Mozambican Permanent Representative to Unep and Un-Habitat.
An investigation by American media agency Inner City Press (ICP) revealed that Mayanja was not informed of the changes.
Asked whether Mr Ban consulted her before demoting one of his most senior female officials, she said: "I am not very familiar with this issue. I need to look into it and get properly informed before answering you."
Rotation principle
In demoting Tibaijuka, Ban espoused what he termed the principle of rotation, but questions are being raised as to the selective application of the principle.
Tibaijuka, a Tanzanian, has headed UNON for two and half years, while the head of UN Office in Geneva, a Russian, Mr Sergei Ordzhonikidze, has been head of station for seven years.
"If there is a policy of rotation, it is selective, it appears," observes ICP.
Tibaijuka’s demotion came after a memo changing the requirements for holding the office to fit in her successor.
In a UN memo dated April 28, last year, Ban stated, "The Office (UNON) is headed by a Director-General, at the Under-Secretary-General level, who is the most senior Under-Secretary-General among the Heads of the United Nations Programmes headquartered at the duty station, namely, Unep and UN-Habitat."
But in a new memo, called bulletin in UN circles, which came into effect on March 1, Ban quietly changed the clause omitting "most senior". It reads: "The office is headed by a Director-General, at the Under-Secretary-General level, designated by the Secretary-General from among the heads of United Nations Programmes headquartered at the duty station, namely, Unep and UN-Habitat."
Had the UN been strict acoording to the original bulletin, Mr Steiner would not have become UNON chief because with six years experience as an Under Secretary-General, Tibaijuka is his senior.
Tibaijuka is still the executive director of UN-Habitat in Nairobi.
Administrative troubles
According to ICP, Steiner is said to have, immediately upon appointment, run into administrative troubles when he tried to appoint the Officer-In-Charge (OIC).
"The Under Secretary General for Management Angela Kane demanded that the former DG (Tibaijuka) serve as OIC, not realising the legal contradictions in the new hastily prepared bulletin.
The former DG expressed the legal impossibility of her serving as OIC for the new DG, but her concerns were left unanswered," ICP says.
In the impending confusion, Steiner attempted to identify OIC by approaching the Assistant Secretary-General for UN-Habitat Inga Klevby, who allegedly refused on grounds that she saw no statutory basis or administrative guidelines to serve in that capacity.
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