THE executive secretary of the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW), Rashid Mbaziira, is battling to save his name from a barrage of allegations of misconduct levelled against him before the council’s authorities.
Mbaziira, who leads the organisation in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, hails from Uganda. He was appointed in 2021, and his tenure ends on November 8, 2025. He took over from Canisius Kanangire, a Rwandan.
His tenure can be renewed for another four years, at the recommendation of the ministers representing member states.
The ICIR reports that AMCOW, supported by the Africa Union, rotates its leadership among member states. The incumbent president, Hani Sewilam – a minister of water resources and irrigation – is from Egypt.
Workers at the AMCOW headquarters, especially senior officials, are recruited from member states. But petitioners have claimed Mbaziira ignored this arrangement and employed only his cronies while sacking some Nigerians and nationals of other countries working at the institution.
Mbaziira has, however, denied all the allegations.
According to aggrieved staff his tenure has been dogged by high handedness, profligacy, staff intimidation and bullying, favouritism, disregard for regulations, and wilful dismissal of staff.
The ICIR obtained two petitions against Mbaziira. One was written by “concerned staff of AMCOW”, while the other was from Moshood Tijani, a professor and immediate past programme lead on groundwater at the AMCOW secretariat.
In the petition by concerned staff, addressed to AMCOW president (Hani Sewilam) and other leaders of the organisation, Mbaziira was accused of committing several infractions, including making AMCOW have a strained relationship with its strategic partners; un-procedural termination of staff contract; and questionable hiring of staff, bullying and intimidation.
Others are paralysing the oversight function of management and governance structures, acts of insubordination to the office of the AMCOW president, mismanagement of financial resources, and other acts calling into question integrity and professionalism.
About AMCOW
The AMCOW was formed in 2002, primarily to promote cooperation, security, social and economic development, and poverty eradication among member states through effective management of the continent’s water resources and provision of water supply services. It is supported by the Africa Union (AU).
In 2008, at the 11th ordinary session of the African Union (AU) Assembly in Sharm el-Sheikh, heads of state and government of the AU agreed on commitments to accelerate the achievement of water and sanitation goals in Africa and mandated AMCOW to develop and follow up an implementation strategy for these commitments.
Among others, AMCOW has been accorded the status of a specialised committee for water and sanitation in the AU.
Mbaziira denies allegations
After receiving a query from the AMCOW leadership on the accusations, Mbaziira, through a letter he addressed to the AMCOW president, Sewilam, on April 28, 2024, denied all allegations.
He said all claims against him were false, and said he had exceeded the target set for him by AMCOW and had improved on relationship with funders and other partners.
Quoting several AMCOW laws, Mbaziira detailed how all his actions aligned with the organisation’s guidelines and staff regulations and rules.
He said the AMCOW authorities did not grant him access to the petitions to enable him provide an appropriate response.
“The pertinent provisions of the AMCOW Staff Regulations and Rules (SRR) stipulate that I should have access to ‘all relevant documents. What I have instead received are interpretations of the contents of the petitions, presented as annexures 1a and 1b to your letter.
“This leaves me considerably handicapped in a way that I am confident your Excellency did not intend. This approach means I respond, not to the contents of the petitions but to interpretations of those contents.
“Given that interpretations vary, from one person to another, in terms of fairness and due process, the approach does seem sub-optimal. Nonetheless, I take all feedback seriously. I have provided detailed explanations, together with the means of verification to refute the allegations. At the same time, I acknowledge that a thorough response requires a full understanding of the specific claims made against me.
“Therefore, to ensure that any actions relating to this matter address legitimate concerns, I kindly request further details regarding the nature and specifics of the allegations. Of vital importance is the need to avail information substantiating the claims.”
Mbaziira, proceeded to make a 52-page response to the petitions, citing several AMCOW laws and regulations backing his claims.
He also attached supporting evidence to each response he provided.
Mbaziira used clauses such as “allegations having no basis”, “distortion of facts”, “claims rest merely on speculation”, “totally unfounded”, “petition lacks reasonable basis”, “the assertion is false,” allegation is unfounded and has no basis”, and allegation “based solely on hearsay,” among others, to refute the claims.
The ICIR reports that when confronted with Mbaziira’s claims of lack of evidence in their petitions, the petitioners said they attached evidence to their claims. The ICIR saw the annexures attached but could not not independently verify if they were evidence of the claims.
The petitioners also provided some documents they claimed were evidence of their petitions to The ICIR. However, this organisation could not defend their validity.
AMCOW orders probe
Despite Mbaziira’s response, at the 5th extraordinary meeting of the executive committee of the governing council of AMCOW, held virtually on May 7 2024, the governing council described the accusations as “very delicate and unprecedented.”
It constituted a committee comprising its Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) members to probe the petitions, to look at the following:
- Identify and procure an international independent consultant and independent auditor to carry out necessary financial and administrative audits related to the petitions and documents submitted against the AMCOW executive secretary. Hence after, submit a report to the fact-finding committee.
- Look into all AMCOW’s documents and rules of procedures to determine the processes that could be applied in this situation.
- Review the report submitted by the recruited international independent consultant and independent auditor and all related documents and may discuss the audit for further clarifications.
- Submit a comprehensive report with recommended procedures to an extraordinary council meeting that will be held to review the comprehensive report and take a final decision on the petition.
Tijani, a professor and immediate past programme lead on groundwater at the AMCOW Secretariat, claimed Mbaziira sacked him. He said his sack was communicated to him via mail, which he shared with The ICIR as evidence.
The ICIR reports that in his petition, Tijani said Mbaziira lied about his “false narratives about non-existence and/or inactive groundwater programme at the AMCOW Secretariat.”
He added, “Such false statements are clear deceit to cover up his hidden agenda of refusing to renew my contract despite that I had attracted funding to sustain and enhance the groundwater programme under a GEF-supported project, in conjunction with IWMI.”
Mbaziira fails to respond to ICIR’s queries
The ICIR reached out to Mbaziira through his Nigerian, and Ugandan phone lines and email address but he did not respond to any of the messages sent to him.
Similarly, 10 members of the AMCOW’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) contacted by The ICIR failed to respond to enquiries on the state of the probe into the allegations against the executive secretary.
Officials contacted include Sam Cheptoris, minister of water and environment, Uganda; Ms. Tahani Moustafa Sileet, ministry of water resources and irrigation, Arab Republic of Egypt; Ms. Ndiyakupi Nghituwamata, Executive Director, ministry of agriculture, water and land reform, Namibia, Ms Lindiwe Lusenga, deputy director general department of water and sanitation, South Africa; Kolawolé Saïd, directeur general de l’Eau (DGEau) Ministère de l’Energie, de l’Eau et des Mines (MEEM), Benin Republic;
Others are M. Harsen Nyambe, director of sustainable environment and blue economy-SEBE-African Union Commission, Mr. Sylvain Guebanda, chargé de mission en matière de l’Hydraulique, ministère du développement de l’Energie et des ressources hydrauliques, Central Africa Republic; Armel Alouna, Directeur Général de l’Hydraulique Ministere de l’ Energie et de l’Hydraulique, Congo; Hlaimi Aissa, director water resources, Tunisia; and M. Yusupha Bojang, AMCOW focal point at the ministry of water resource, The Gambia.
None of the TAC members responded to enquiries seeking the status of the investigation.
What petitioners told The ICIR
Some of the petitioners told The ICIR that the investigation has faced significant challenges, primarily influenced by regional politics and efforts to obstruct the process.
According to the petitioners, who wouldn’t want their identities revealed for fear of victimisation, when the decision to proceed with the investigation was made, Mbaziira enlisted Uganda’s Minister of Water and Environment, Hon. Sam Cheptoris, despite the fact that Cheptoris is not part of the current EXCO.
They said his presence was widely seen as an attempt to halt the investigation, positioning the Eastern African bloc in defence of Mbaziira, who they believe serves their regional interests rather than the broader mandate of AMCOW.
“This move was met with disapproval from many stakeholders, as it represented a conflict of interest. Staff members felt increasingly marginalised by the political machinations. While efforts to completely stop the investigation were unsuccessful, the insistence that Mbaziira should not be suspended or asked to step aside during the investigation process has caused further division,” they said.
The petitioners expressed concerns over the future of AMCOW, claiming that some member states were advocating for Mbaziira to step aside to allow the investigation to proceed without interference.
They claimed further that with donor confidence waning and internal divisions deepening, the future of AMCOW hangs in the balance.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2023. Contact him via email @ mfatunmole@icirnigeria.org