Crucial lessons for Kenya’s public officials from Nobel panel scandal
What you need to know:
There have also been claims that academy members ignored complaints about sexual harassment dating back more than 20 years because they did not seem “important”.
This self-imposed institutional paralysis crippling the commission every day will eventually be the undoing of the officials.
- Just as the Nobel committee could not meet its quorum, the remaining commission will ultimately find it difficult to function.
The Nobel Prize for Literature has joined the #metoo movement; and it is not flattering. While we all wish that the winner would be picked under noble circumstances, rather disapprovingly, this is far from it.
It appears the Swedish Academy that awards the prize has shockingly been engulfed in a sex scandal. Who would have thought that one of the most esteemed world institutions dating back 232 years would fall victim of a sex scandal?
ASSAULT
Well, perhaps we ought to be empathetic to the institution itself because, after all, it is run by human beings and we all fall short at some point in our lives. Katarina Frostenson is a Swedish poet and a former long-serving academy member. Her husband, Jean Claude Arnault, is accused of sexually assaulting 18 women — including academy members and the wives and daughters of male colleagues. Mr Arnault denies the claims that he assaulted the women in his private literary club, which received funding from the academy. And it doesn’t end there. He is also accused of leaking the names of Nobel Literature Prize winners on seven occasions since 1996, including the shocking award to Bob Dylan in 2016. Mr Arnault denies all the claims.
There have also been claims that academy members ignored complaints about sexual harassment dating back more than 20 years because they did not seem “important”. Anna-Karin Bylund, a textile artist, complained to Sture Allen, the academy’s chairman in 1996, about alleged sexual harassment by Mr Arnault. Mr Allen, still a member of the academy, said he did not act on it because “the contents of the letter did not seem important”.
QUORUM
As a result of the latest scandal, six of the 18 members of the academy resigned, including Katarina Frostenson. Two others had already withdrawn, leaving the academy with 10 members. Like every company, a quorum of at least 12 members was needed for significant decisions such as electing a new member and a simple majority to choose an award winner. Given the reduced membership and the overwhelming scandal, it was only right that the academy rolled over this year’s prize winner.
Among the six members who resigned was Sara Danius, the first female leader of the Academy. Sara did not play any part in Mr Arnault’s assaults but took the fall for his actions. It is, therefore, ironic that so far Mr Allen has remained unscathed by all this yet he was informed of the allegations more than 20 years ago. It cannot be denied that Sara is yet another victim of Mr Arnault’s excesses.
But what does this have to do with Kenya? To draw a parallel, the academy members resigned in April, the same month three IEBC commissioners resigned. But whereas the academy members took a clean break, the same cannot be said of the commissioners, who are alleged to still continue to enjoy their perks.
SECRETARIAT
It took months of infighting before both resignations, with the Academy being made aware of the scandal in November last year. To the Academy’s credit, at least they have survived without a scandal for centuries as opposed to the IEBC, which seems to have never-ending wrangles, and to what end? What is the worst that could happen if all resigned, including the secretariat? Will we unearth a scandal that will be so horrific that we will find it impossible to comprehend its feasibility? Perhaps! Unlike the academy, election officials are not appointed to be lifelong members.
And, unlike the academy, IEBC officials continue to hold the electoral agency hostage at taxpayers’ expense. This self-imposed institutional paralysis crippling the commission every day will eventually be the undoing of the officials. Just as the Nobel committee could not meet its quorum, the remaining commission will ultimately find it difficult to function and make critical national decisions while standing on half a skeleton.
DYNAMITE
So where does that leave the academy? Just like the dynamite discovered by its patron, Alfred Nobel, the scandal blew up in everyone’s face. Is this the fate that will face IEBC and force its officials’ hand?
Burini works with international businesses on commercial litigation. [email protected]
