US demands investigation into AfDB's Adesina decision
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin rejected plans by the African Development Bank's board to end an investigation into its president, Akinwumi Adesina, and called for an independent probe into allegations against him.
Mnuchin, in a letter dated 22 May and addressed to Niale Kaba, chairwoman of the bank's board of governors, said the Treasury disagrees with findings by the bank's ethics committee that "totally exonerated" Adesina.
The intervention by the Treasury, the AfDB's biggest non-African shareholder, comes two weeks after the ethics committee found no evidence to support allegations of favouritism by Adesina. The 60-year-old bank chief, who has repeatedly refuted the allegations, is the only candidate up for election as president at an annual general meeting scheduled for August.
"We have deep reservations about the integrity of the committee's process," Mnuchin said. "Instead, we urge you to initiate an in-depth investigation of the allegations using the services of an independent outside investigator of high professional standing."
