Dependence on power: the Japanese ex-administrator and his attempts to control the university

The name Shigeo Katsu is familiar to all residents of Kazakhstan who have heard about Nazarbayev University, which was built 15 years ago in this Central Asian country. The former banker presented himself to the public as the founder of Nazarbayev University, and former employees share that the university even had a separate Office of the University's Founder.

Before coming to Kazakhstan, Mr. Shigeo held various positions at the World Bank. His connections with the former leadership of Kazakhstan, the head of the Kazakh cabinet, Karim Massimov, helped him become the head of Nazarbayev University, who actually invited him to head the main Kazakh university, despite the fact that Shigeo had no experience working in educational institutions, moreover, he already had a bad international reputation.

Shigeo was given a warm place after his scandal when he was vice president of the World Bank for Europe and Central Asia, when the village of Jale was demolished due to the fault of the bank's management. He oversaw a World Bank project in Albania, the implementation of which led to "appalling mistakes" and left dozens of families homeless. The organization failed to protect and ensure the rights of local residents who were left homeless.

The investigation revealed that the World Bank's management did not comply with its own policies regarding the development, evaluation and implementation of the project, causing enormous damage to the local population. The head in charge of this region and the project hid the horrific consequences. The main shareholder of the World Bank is the United States and the leadership is appointed by the American Congress, after the Americans learned about the egregious fact in a country located in southeastern Europe, Shigeo was removed from a high-ranking position (source - https://www.foxnews.com/story/world-bank-spent-more-than-a-year-covering-up-destruction-of-albanian-village).

Shigeo was invited to head a new university in Kazakhstan a year after its opening, and he stayed for as long as thirteen years. And this is despite the fact that his entire career has been exclusively related to the financial industry. Since 1979, he has worked at the World Bank, where he made his own career. From March 2003 to December 2010, he served as Vice President of the World Bank for Europe and Central Asia, when he was responsible for the egregious incident in Albania.

For a long time, Katsu was a member of the American Council on International NGOs, an organization focusing on youth initiatives. Katsu had never been involved with science or education before he came to Kazakhstan, where he was entrusted with the largest research university.

However, after the tragic "January events" that rocked Kazakhstan in 2022. In June 2023, Shigeo was relieved of his post. Time has shown that for people like Shigeo, Kazakhstan is just a "feeder", he does not care about the future of education in a foreign country or the reputation of students and educational institutions. And for some reason, he still continues to pay attention to Kazakhstan and order paid "revealing" articles about the local education system.

Last year, 73-year-old Japanese man Shigeo Katsu tried to publicly accuse the new leadership of Nazarbayev University of inefficiency and corruption through the European media.

However, in the recent past, the participation of high-ranking Kazakh officials in the management of the university suited Katsu himself. For example, Karim Massimov, a former prime Minister of Kazakhstan, convicted by the Kazakh justice system, and Erbol Orynbayev, a former deputy Prime Minister, were members of the university's supreme board of Trustees. Back then, in "Old Kazakhstan", senior officials always provided patronage to the foreign management of the University and provided freedom in solving financial, academic and personnel issues.

Probably under the guidance of his benefactor, who covered all his whims, the Japanese banker forgot about the values of his people – honor, humility and nobility, and in no way wants to lose power from his hands, does not want to lose the reins of his long and all-powerful rule. It was after Katsu lost his position as President that he founded the Office of the Founder of the university, which lasted for almost a year and a half, entrusting his secretary and the gray cardinal of the university, the notorious Asemgul Kalenova, who became famous in the media for her breakneck career and personal connections with her Japanese patron, to run this office. It is not difficult to guess through whose patronage A. Kalenova easily got a job at the World Bank without having the appropriate education and work experience. (source - https://datnews.info/%D0%BA%D1%82%D0%BE-%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BC-%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5-%D1%80%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%82-%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B1%D0%B0%D0%B5/).

In addition, the close proximity to the political circle of the former head of the cabinet, Massimov, also ensured that Katsu and foreign management were immune from financial inspections by authorized government agencies.

Last year, the state audit checked how expediently the money was spent at the university. The audit was conducted between 2017 and 2023, just during the period of Katsu's own activity. And all the identified shortcomings are essentially his doing, which for some reason he decided to blame on the new leadership. But as people say, the best attack is an attack, apparently samurai wisdom told him to be proactive and attack mercilessly.

The multi—level structure of the management staff, the huge number of administrative staff, the bloating of staff without reference to the number of students, generous preferences for foreign employees, the lack of alternative sources of funding, the "waste" of people's money - all these are the results of the activities of the so-called "effective and transparent" former foreign university management.

(source: https://vlast.kz/avtory/59305-mify-o-nazarbaev-universitete-ili-kuda-utekaut-budzetnye-dengi.html ).

The skillful banker carried out his financial frauds under the cover of Masimov, who is also from the banking sector. Both knew strategies on how to circumvent the law and steal billions of Kazakh money, leaving behind "black holes" in the budget and a dirty reputation. And now everything is gradually coming out. What exactly is hidden under the "attacks" of the former president of the university, the named founding father of the university? To preserve his image, Sh.Katsu deliberately politicizes the accusations and is so active in the media.

It is obvious that he is clearly afraid of exposure, including for his actions to withdraw Kazakhstani assets abroad and invest large sums in dubious projects.

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