The Political Prohibition Clause of the World Bank Charter and the Legal Implications for the Fight against Corruption in Africa

Abstract

Article 4(10) of the World Bank Articles of Agreements (hereafter referred the World Bank Charter) adopted in 1944 prohibits World Bank staff from taking political factors into account in their operations and loans decisions for projects of development. Article 4(10) has been at the heart of a sound debate that is reviewed in this paper in relation to human rights and corruption. The discussion is a step further of the colloquium referred as the “Justice and Development Week” organised in November 2010 by the World Bank Legal Vice Presidency Law held in Washington- USA. The purpose of that international meeting was to examine the political prohibition clause in International Development Finance. One of the issues raised during the seminar was the interpretation of the World Bank Charter particularly its Article 4(10).
This article discusses the matter and focuses mainly on major issues of the political clause: First, the historical reasons of the insertion of the political prohibition clause in the World Bank Charter and the arguments in support of as well as in opposition to such a restrictive approach by the Bank to engaging with corruption and human rights issues. Second, an analytical discussion of the Bank’s economic perspective and exclusive definition to corruption followed by the legal discrepancies of such a regime of sanctions in comparison with those set by UN and AU anti-corruption conventions.