In
Congo, UN's Embattled Doss Bars Union Chief from Premises, Scandal
Expands
By
Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, August 25, updated Aug. 27, 9 pm -- Alan Doss, the
Special Representative of UN
Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon in the Congo, is embroiled
in a nepotism scandal at UNDP
in New York. Meanwhile in Kinshasa, he has barred Guershom Nondo,
the
president of the MONUC staff union, from UN premises.
When
on August 25 the Staff Union in New York sought to solve this labor
problem, they were first told that the head of Peacekeeping's
Department of Field Support is away from New York. Her deputy, Tony
Banbury, was deemed too busy with other meetings to attend to this
problem in the Congo. Finally a lower ranking official
said that the "Special Representative" -- that is, Alan
Doss -- would surely take care of the problem.
But how can the UN
preach good governance, transparency and labor rights, particularly
in the Congo, when the chief of its mission there explicitly asked the
UN
Development Program to bend its rules -- show him "leeway"
-- and give his daughter the job of the
assistant to the Deputy Director of
UNDP's Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, who was subsequently
pepper sprayed by UN Security after he displayed Doss' email asking
for "leeway." He then allegedly bit Security Office Peter
Kolonias, but that's another story.
UN's Alan Doss in Goma -- preaching?
And
here is another story: a UN whistleblower who served in Liberia says
that
while it is a non-family duty station, Doss brought family members
there, something prohibited to other UN staff, and tried to get them
hired, for example by UN Volunteers. Inner City Press has been told
this by several well-placed sources. The UN has still refused to
answer questions posed in writing on August 14 to Ban's
Spokesperson's Office and August 14 to Peacekeeping, "Please
describe and account for -- including use of UN / Mission resources
including air resources -- any presence by Doss family members along
with Mr. Doss in DRC, and before that in Liberia (for that latter,
including any effort to use UN Volunteers resources)."
For seven and ten days, no answers from the UN.
Inner City Press has asked Doss for his side the the story and received
a terse email that he began at DPKO on July 1, the rest is being
investigated.
On
August 24, Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's Spokesperson Michele
Montas if, as has been said would happen, Ban has received a report
on l'affaire Doss now that Ban has been back in New York for five
days. No, the Spokesperson said:
Inner
City Press: Marie had said … now it’s, I don’t know, about 10
days ago … that the Secretary-General took these allegations about
Mr. Doss, the job that UNDP -- the whole nepotism issue seriously,
and he expected
to receive a report on his return to New York. I am
wondering, has he received this report yet? And if not, when is he
going to receive it?
Spokesperson: Well,
you know, I asked the question today and the answer I got is
that he has not received the report yet, and is still expecting it
from UNDP.
Inner
City Press: Because, the thing is, when she said it, she said it was
somehow different than the UNDP one. She said he expected to receive
it upon his return to New York. That’s why it sort of seemed to be
maybe just an update on what had had happened, or why the
investigation is taking so long.
Spokesperson: As far
as I know, he has received nothing new about the case.
And
on August 27, Ban Ki-moon leaves town again, for Vienna and Norway
and Geneva. His Deputy Spokesperson said he
took allegations of
nepotism seriously and expected to receive a report when he returned
to New York... Watch this site.
Update of August 27,
11 am
-- for the record, Alan Doss' MONUC now states that "Mr.
Nondo has neither been banned from MONUC premises, nor suspended."
That's not what Mr. Nondo's email to UN Headquarters in New York has
said. We note the UN's strange position on putting actual documents
online, that it is somehow undiplomatic. We also note that the UN
and DPKO have refused, since August 14 and 17 respectively, to
provide any answer to whether Alan Doss has used UN resources for his
family in his previous "non-family" post in Liberia. There are a
number of other questions left unanswered by the UN and DPKO, we will
be writing separately on that topics shortly. Watch this site.
Update
of August 27, 9 pm --
On staff
relations
in the Congo, the UN on Thursday morning wrote
Subj:
Your Report/Question on MONUC and Mr. Nondo
From:
unspokesperson-donotreply [at] un.org
To:
Inner City Press
Sent:
8/27/2009 10:19:21 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Dear
Matthew, Your report regarding MONUC and Mr. Nondo was incorrect.
MONUC
informs that Mr. Nondo has neither been banned from MONUC premises,
nor suspended.
While
for the record Inner City Press appended the incorrect position to its initial
article, Inner City
Press has Mr.
Guershom Nondo's e-mail about the situation, and now puts it
online here. Nondo states:
"Please
be advised that starting this morning I am not allowed to enter MONUC
premises... MONUC administration has decided to put me in
administrative leave starting this morning until further notice. This
decision is related to ... the ongoing interim Salary Survey as well
as all similar activities."
Inner
City Press
asked the UN Spokesperson's office, which erroneous charged error,
for a response, even suggesting they seek one from DFS Officer in
Charge Tony Banbury, but none has been received. Banbury has been
aware from the first article
that the issue is being raised. Is the
claim, as with the UNDP worker whose job Doss stole for his daughter,
that the lower ranked staff member is lying? How low will the UN go?
How much abuse of power will be permitted? Watch this site.
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