A confidential memo from the World Bank’s Kenya office that supports President Mwai Kibaki’s claim of victory in the country’s disputed elections plunged the Washington-based lender into controversy on Wednesday.

The leaked January 1 briefing note, originating from Colin Bruce, the World Bank’s country director in Nairobi, lays out the case for accepting Mr Kibaki’s victory on the basis of “oral briefings and documents from senior [United Nations Development Programme] officials” who “monitored the overall electoral process”.