By Toby McIntosh
The World Bank has declined to disclose a copy of a contract awarded by Sierra Leone to monitor its Covid-19 spending.
Releasing the Bank-financed contract, the Bank said, would interfere with its ability to ensure that the loan is used only for the intended purpose.
The Bank’s secrecy comes despite the Bank’s insistence that recipient governments operate transparent contract systems and conduct audits.
The $324,000 auditing contract was awarded June 23, 2020, by the Sierra Leone government to the accounting firm BDO Sierra Leone. The contract amount was four times larger than the projected expenditure ($80,000) and is for “internal audit services.” It is termed a “direct” contract, meaning that it was not subject to competitive bidding.
Eye on Global Transparency first requested Bank documents about its “prior review” of the contract. Denying the request, the Bank on Feb. 23 used an exemption in its Access to Information Policy which states that secrecy is justified in “exceptional circumstances” if the likely harm from disclosure outweighs the benefits of disclosure. (See EYE article.)
EYE then asked only for a copy of the contract. That request was denied, too, based on the same exemption. EYE then appealed to the Bank’s internal Access to Information Committee.
The Committee’s May 24 decision supports the initial denial. (AIC Decision. Case No. AI7461)
It provides an iota of additional amplification on the Bank’s rationale, stating:
…. the Bank has an interest in restricting public access to contractual information resulting from procurement processes carried out in Bank-financed projects. Such interest is to enable the Bank to fulfill its mandate under its Articles of Agreement, i.e., make arrangements to ensure the proceeds of any loan are used only for the purposes for which the loan was granted, with due attention to considerations of economy and efficiency (see Articles of Agreement, at Article III, Section 5(b)).
In other words, disclosing the contract would interfere with the Bank’s ability to monitor whether the funds are used correctly, according to the decision.
The Bank Committee’s decision also includes one factual nugget, indicating that there was an “amendment” to the contract.
The denial comes despite the Bank’s regular admonition to recipient governments that they should disclose contracts and Bank support for transparent country procurement systems. The word “transparency” appears often in this World Bank statement from November 2020 about fighting contract-related corruption in the context of expanded spending to fight the pandemic.
EYE was unable to locate the audit contract or an amendment on Sierra Leone’s online procurement website, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it wasn’t disclosed by the Sierra Leone government.
The existence of the auditing contract, “Internal Audit Services for the Sierra Leone COVID – 19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Project,” is known because the World Bank lists it on the Covid-19 “procurement” page for Sierra Leone. The contract itself, however, is not posted.
The contract was the subject of a “prior review” by the Bank staff. The Bank routinely conducts reviews of government contracts using Bank funds if they are of “high value and/or high risk,” according to the Bank procurement rules.
In deciding not to disclose the contract, the Bank used the “Prerogative to Restrict Access” exemption, section (IV 2) of the Access to Information Policy. It states:
The Bank also reserves the right not to disclose, under exceptional circumstances, information that it would normally disclose if it determines that such disclosure is likely to cause harm that outweighs the benefits of disclosure.
Out of 6,524 public access requests received by the Bank from July 1, 2010, to Dec. 31, 2020, just 15 requests (0.23%) were denied under the Bank’s exercise of prerogative clause, according to Bank statistics.
