Columnist Charles Onyango-Obbo, writing in The EastAfrican, concludes that, at least for Africa, his scandal may have been his biggest reform success.
In what I hope will not be construed as a slight to IMF resident reps, he writes “While the World Bank has done some good, it is an imperial institution supremely unaccountable in its relationship with poor countries. Not too long ago, in many African countries, the second most powerful person after the president was not the army commander or the vice president, but the World Bank country representative.”
Onyango-Obbo concludes: “The longer Wolfowitz held on, the more the Bank would have been disgraced. In the process it would have come to seem ordinary and less intimidating. Indeed, it could be argued that by the time Wolfowitz leaves in June, the World Bank will have been much diminished.
To regain its prestige, it will have to eat humble pie and relaunch itself as an institution that listens. The democratisation of the World Bank that campaigners and critics have fought for for decades, could finally be around the corner.
In scandal, Wolfowitz may have done more to reform the Bank than if he had been scrupulously honest. We have to thank an African woman, Riza, for these blessings.”