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Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has expressed concerns regarding the method used to send Dr Hyginus “Gene” Leon, the President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), on administrative leave since January.
The CDB has remained tight-lipped about the circumstances behind the decision to place the St Lucian-born economist on administrative leave.
During a CDB news conference earlier this month, the acting president Isaac Solomon confirmed that “there is an internal administrative process involving the president,” but did not provide any further details.
The situation remains unclear, and the reasons behind Dr Leon’s administrative leave are yet to be disclosed.
“The bank is extremely focused on preserving the independence, confidentiality and integrity of the process and as you can well appreciate in order for us to maintain the integrity and confidentiality of the process, we are unable to provide any other details at this time,” Solomon said then.
But during the 46th regular meeting of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders, Prime Minister Gaston Browne expressed concerns about the procedures followed by the Caribbean Development Bank with regards to disciplinary action against its superior officials.
Browne highlighted that subordinates within the institution were able to take disciplinary action against their superiors without consulting with the directors or governors of the bank. This, according to Browne, is fundamentally flawed and can be abused.
The same whistleblower system was previously activated during the race for the candidature between Leon and Professor Avinash (Persaud of Barbados), which practically eliminated Professor Avinash from the race.
Browne believes that the process could be abused and there may have been instances of such abuse in the past.
Therefore, he emphasized the need for changes in the procedures to ensure transparency and fairness in the decision-making process of the Caribbean Development Bank.
“But I imagine that the investigation that is taking place will confirm whether or not the…suspended president is guilty of any malpractice within the bank or if he would have breached whatever rules and regulations,” he told CMC
Adding, “so I think we have to await the outcome of that investigation before we start to make the adjustments,”.
“On first blush I think the whole process is somewhat flawed and I am of the view that even if it may be applicable to lower members of staff, certainly when it comes to the president there has to be some, at least notification, even out of decency to the directors and the governors”, he said.
He said based on the issue “there could be some form of intervention at the level of the governors.
“So it is a process we will be hopefully reviewing in the future to ensure that we do not have a system that potentially can be abused and could be weaponised against future presidents of the bank or senior members of the bank,” Browne told reporters.
Leon is the sixth president of the regional development finance institution. He was Leon was elected as the President of CDB Board of Governors in a special meeting held on January 19, 2021, for a five-year term, and he assumed office on May 4, 2021.
He leads a team of over 200 employees from the headquarters located in Bridgetown, with more than 35 years of experience in economics, financial policy development, and executive management.
He has spent over two decades working with the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has honed his skills in dealing with global financial issues.
Leon succeeded Dr Warren Smith, who retired in 2021 after serving as the president for a decade.
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