Tanzanian microbiologist Joyce Msuya will today assume her role as the acting head of the UN Environment Programme after Erik Solheim resigned on Saturday.
Solheim’s resignation followed audit queries on his huge travel expenses amounting to Sh50 million. The money is believed to have been splurged on travel and hotel accommodation.
He was barely two-and-half years into the job, having joined UNEP in mid 2016. The UN agency is headquartered in Nairobi’s Gigiri area.
The internal audit report said Solheim was away from Nairobi 80 per cent of the time and had illegally allowed other European staff to work away from the headquarters.
Solheim sent his resignation on Saturday after receiving the final report prepared by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services.
The report said he had “no regard for abiding by the set regulations and rules” and said the expenses were unjustified.
In a statement on Tuesday, Solheim said he had received the audit report and that he was resigning with a “heavy heart”.
Read:
UNEASY DONORS
“For this reason, after deep reflection and in close consultation with the Secretary-General, I am stepping down as executive director of UN Environment Programme with effect from November 22,” Solheim said.
He said he had informed UN secretary general Antonio Guterres of the decision.
Donors had already began withholding funding to UNEP, citing mismanagement and misuse of resources.
The Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden are among European countries that announced they were halting funding for the agency “until the issues around Solheim were resolved.”
The total sum at stake is in the region of Sh5 billion, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported.
Yesterday, Guterres said he had appointed Msuya to replace Solheim in an acting capacity.
“The deputy executive director of UNEP, Ms. Joyce Msuya of Tanzania, will be appointed as the acting executive director while the secretary general launches a recruitment process,” Guterres office said in a statement.
The recruitment is often done in consultation with member states.
Guterres praised Solheim as a leading voice in drawing the world’s attention to critical environmental challenges, including plastics pollution.
“He has led advocacy at the highest levels of government, business and civil society to drive the transformational change needed to make a real difference in the lives of people and promote the cause of the environment,” Guterres said.
Soheim was appointed the sixth UNEP executive director in May 2016 for a four-year term. He succeeded Achim Steiner.
He was previously the chairman of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. He also served as an Environment minister in Norway.
More: