From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:KENYA: HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS ASSAIL NEW WORLD BANK LOAN
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 17:54:12 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Reference: Human Rights; Third World Dvpmnt; Trade & Finance
Title: KENYA: HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS ASSAIL NEW WORLD BANK LOAN


washington, dec 11 (ips/jim lobe) -- representatives of major u.
s. human rights groups friday assailed the world bank for
approving a new credit to help the government of kenyan
president daniel arap moi reform and sell off parastatal
organisations less than three weeks before elections.

announcement of the 23.3 million dollar credit thursday night
took many observers here by surprise.  western donors announced
13 months ago a freeze on new loans and credits to kenya pending
major economic and political reforms by the moi government.

the new credit was the first provided by the bank since last
february when it approved two projects totaling about 100
million dollars to help preserve kenya's wildlife and underwrite
a water supply project for mombasa.

bank sources told ips thursday's credit did not represent
''any change in the bank's approach to kenya.''  one official
noted that the bank did not join in the statement about the aid
freeze issued by the donors at a meeting of the bank-chaired
consultative group for kenya in paris in november, 1991.

but the fact that the new credit was announced less than
three weeks before the controversial dec. 29 elections -- the
first multi-party poll in kenya's history -- angered human
rights monitors who had hoped that the bank would use its
considerable leverage with kenya to help assure fair elections.

election observers here, including the international human
rights law group and members of a team from the international
branch of the u.s. republican party, who have recently visited
kenya have expressed strong doubts about the fairness of the
voting.

they have said registration procedures and the make-up of the
electoral commission, among other things, strongly favour moi's
ruling kanu party.

the freeze on new loans andicredits to kenya was widely
depicted as an example of the institution's seriousness about
demanding that its clients apply principles of ''good governance,
'' in order to remain in the bank's good graces.

the bank, however, has been somewhat coy in defining what it
means by the term which first surfaced in a 1989 paper on
africa's long-term development prospects which focused on the
problem of what it called ''a crisis of governance.''

major elements of governance, as defined by bank officials,
include everything from ''transparency,'' lack of corruption,
and rule of law, to more political critiera such as public
''accountability'' and pluralistic institutions that assure that
governments and their programmes have the support of the people.
(more/ips)

kenya:  human rights (2)

some bank officials have argued publicly that these factors
imply respect for human rights.  indeed, in the 1989 study, bank
staff argued that the rule of law implied ''scrupulous respect
for the law and human rights at every level of government.''

on the other hand, the bank's general counsel, ibrahim
shihata, has tried to define ''good governance'' far more
narrowly.

in a 1990 memo, he wrote that ''governance becomes an issue
of concern to the bank only in its strict sense of the good
order required for a positive investment climate and the
efficient use of resources.''

he argued that ''political'' factors should guide the
institution's loan decisions only when they ''lead to direct and
obvious economic results relevant to the bank's work.''

but, the statement released by the bank on behalf of the
donors last november appeared to directlyhlink good governance
with political reform, bolstering the view that the bank itself
would take political factors into account when considering loan
applications from kenya.

''delegates underlined that good governance is a prerequisite
for equitable economic development and would therefore be a
major factor influencing aid allocations.

donors accordingly stressed the need for early implementation
of political reform to reinforce the benefits of economic
structural change,'' it said.

''this step will undermine whatever little faith people had
that the world bank was seriously interested in good governance,
'' adotei akwei of the new york-based lawyers committee for
human rights (lchr) told ips friday.

akwei, who heads the africa programme at lchr, added:  ''the
problem with the bank's ideas about governance don't really seem
to include the notion of real democratic participation.''

janet fleischmann, director of africa watch in new york city,
agreed with the assessment, telling ips, ''i thought most donors
(who sit on the bank's executive board) would wait until at
least after the elections.

''i can't see how the situation would have improved so much
in the last few months to warrant an apparent change in policy.
''(end/ips/jl/da/92)