January 13, 2009

Former Ombuds for African Development Bank Passes

James Nabina and his wife Christiana Nabina died in Ghana last week. Nabina served as Ombuds for the African Development Bank and had been active with the International Ombudsman Association and the Mediators and Ombudsmen of the United Nations System (UNARIO). Nabina worked as a career diplomat for Ghana and joined ADB in 1985 as a translator. He was appointed the third Ombudsperson of the Bank in March 2004. He was a presenter at the 2008 IOA conference and hosted the IOA training in Tunisia in 2007.

He is remembered for maintaining professional high standards for the profession, caring always for the needs of those who consulted him, and being ever diplomatic in his resolutions. UN Ombuds John Barkat said that Nabina, "possessed the skills of an ombudsman and mediator, but, more importantly, those intangible qualities that helped bind people when they were feeling broken, and encouraged when they felt hopeless."

Nabina left ADB in June 2008 and had been re-establishing his home in Ghana, where he continued to promote mediation and connect with other ADR professionals. Services will be held on January 17, 2009, in Navrongo Northern Ghana, preceded by a wake service on the 16th. James and Christiana Nabina left four children.

1/26/09 Update: Police are investigating the possibility of food poisoning. (Daily Guide Ghana.)

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