‘A Criminal’: Ethiopia Accuses WHO Chief Tedros Of Backing Terrorist Group

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The World Health Organization chief is back in the news once again for the wrong reasons. The list of charges against Dr Tedros is growing. He has been accused of siding with China for denying Taiwan a platform, and now he is being accused of backing the rebels in Ethiopia.

Yes, you heard that right. The Ethiopian military is accusing Dr. Tedros of practically waging a war against the government of Ethiopia. How? By supporting the rebels, trying to procure arms for them and providing diplomatic backing. This is what the Ethiopian army chief has to say.

So this fellow is himself part of the team. As you know, he’s a member of the central committee of TPLF…

He is member of those who have a similar kind of thinking, what do you expect from him? We don’t expect he will side with the Ethiopian people and condemn them.

So he has left no stone upturned to help them. Will it be successful or not? That’s another issue. He has worked in neighboring countries to condemn the war. He has worked for them to get weapons.

Earlier this month, a domestic conflict began in Ethiopia. The two sides are fighting each other on one side of the Ethiopian government, led by the Nobel Prize winning prime minister of the Abiy Ahmad. On the other side is the Tigre People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). They ruled Ethiopia for twenty seven years before Abiy Ahmed came to power. But the TPLF’s has refused to recognize the prime minister’s authority and this has triggered a war between federal government force and the TPLF .

So what role does Dr Tedros have in this? He allegedly is backing the TPLF. The charges against Dr Tedros are serious, according to the Ethiopian military, Dr Tedros is trying to procure arms for them and providing diplomatic support as they wage this war against the government.

Even as health minister, Dr Tedros was not immune to controversy. This report came out when Dr Tedros was contesting the election for director general at the World Health Organization. He was accused of covering up not one, not two, but three cholera epidemics in Ethiopia.

A leading candidate to head the World Health Organization was accused this week of covering up three cholera epidemics in his home country, Ethiopia, when he was health minister — a charge that could seriously undermine his campaign to run the agency.

The accusation against Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was made by a prominent global health expert who is also an informal adviser to Dr. David Nabarro, a rival candidate in the race for W.H.O. director general.

Dr. Tedros, who uses his first name in his campaign, denied the cover-up accusation and said he was “not surprised at all but quite disappointed” that Dr. Nabarro’s camp — which he said included high-ranking British health officials — had switched to running what he called a “last-minute smear campaign.”

New York Times

The controversy did not die there. Another report came out at that time. It referred to Dr Tedros, his tenure as foreign minister from 2012 to 2016. In that period, protesters were allegedly jailed or killed in Ethiopia. The accusations gave birth to the

# No Tedros, for W.H.O

All the accusations, though, did not affect the outcome of the election. Dr Tedros, won and became the director general of the World Health Organisation in 2017. The victory made Dr Tedros a household name in Ethiopia. He was even ranked as one of Time magazine’s most influential people, and now he is being accused of playing a role in destabilizing the government in Ethiopia.

When the world is still gripped by the Corona virus, the conflict in Ethiopia could trigger a major crisis. Hundreds have died in the conflict, since the beginning of November. At least thirty thousand people have been forced to leave the country and move into neighboring Sudan.

If the charges against Dr Tedros are indeed true, his acts would have contributed towards the destabilization of the Horn of Africa. The WHO chief has not issued a statement in his defense yet.

But one thing is clear the crisis of credibility for Dr Tedros just turned uglier.