Ethiopia’s government said it won’t cooperate with a probe into whether the World Bank violated its own policies by funding a program in which thousands of people were allegedly relocated to make way for agriculture investors.
Ethnic Anuak people in Ethiopia’s southwestern Gambella region and rights groups including Human Rights Watch last year accused the Washington-based lender of funding a program overseen by soldiers to forcibly resettle 45,000 households. The Inspection Panel of the World Bank, an independent complaints mechanism, began an investigation in October into the allegations, which donors and the government have denied.
“We are not going to cooperate with the Inspection Panel,” Getachew Reda, a spokesman for Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, said in a phone interview on May 22. “To an extent that there’s a need for cooperation, it’s not going to be with the Inspection Panel, but with the World Bank”
Ethiopia, Africa’s most-populous nation after Nigeria, has made 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of land available to agriculture companies. Investors include Karuturi Global Ltd. (KARG) of India, the world’s largest rose grower, and companies owned by Saudi billionaire Mohamed al-Amoudi.
There is a “plausible link” between the Promoting Basic Services program, partly funded by the bank to pay the salaries of local government workers, and a resettlement process also known as villagization in Gambella, the panel said in a Nov. 19 report obtained by Bloomberg News. The World Bank confirmed the authenticity of the report.
‘Potential Non-Compliance’
The concurrent implementation of PBS and the resettlement program may raise issues of “potential serious non-compliance with bank policy,” according to the report.
“From a development perspective, the two programs depend on each other, and may mutually influence the results of the other,” the panel said.
Human Rights Watch, based in New York, made similar allegations about the resettlement program in a January 2012 report. Those findings and the Inspection Panel process are part of a “propaganda campaign being waged against the government,” Getachew said by phone from the capital, Addis Ababa. “It’s not a World Bank inspection panel, it’s a panel that likes to impose its mostly fictitious findings on the decision-making process of the World Bank.”
About 35,000 households voluntarily moved over the past three years in Gambella and now have better access to public services and are growing more food, State Minister of Federal Affairs Omod Obang Olum said in a May 15 interview.
‘Unprecedented’
The complaint to the panel was made on behalf of 26 Anuaks now living in South Sudan and Kenya. Refusal to cooperate with the panel by a World Bank member state is “unprecedented,” said David Pred, a managing associate at Inclusive Development International, or IDI, a California-based human-rights group that assisted with the complaint.
“I don’t see how the bank could justifiably continue supporting Ethiopia if the government simply rejects outright any semblance of accountability,” he said in an e-mailed response to questions.
The complaints should be investigated further “as they pertain to the bank’s application of its policies and procedures,” the panel said. The probe should not look at allegations of “specific human rights abuses” or the “underlying purposes” of the resettlement program, it said.
Donor Aid
Donors provided $3.56 billion of aid to Ethiopia in 2011, which was 11.3 percent of gross national income, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The World Bank said that while officials on PBS-funded salaries may have “responsibilities related” to resettlement, this doesn’t mean the two programs were “directly linked,” according to the panel.
There was no evidence of “forced relocations or systematic human-rights abuses,” according to reports by two fact-finding missions in 2011 and 2012 by donors including the U.K. and U.S. aid agencies. “Half of the people interviewed said they didn’t want to move” and some said public services hadn’t been provided in new sites, the 2012 report found.
PBS “does not build upon villagization, it is not synchronized with villagization, and does not require villagization to achieve its objectives,” the World Bank’s management said in response to the complaint. “Furthermore the bank does not finance” villagization.
Election Violence
PBS began in 2006 after donors stopped “direct budget support” to the federal government because of violence following a disputed 2005 election. The program provides block grants to regional governments that are mainly spent on education, health, agriculture, water and road workers.
A postponed March 19 discussion of PBS by the bank’s board has yet to be rescheduled, Guang Chen, the bank’s Ethiopia director, said in an e-mailed response to questions. “Staff are not authorized to comment prior to the board discussion,” he said.
Since 2006, PBS has cost donors and the government $13 billion, the panel said. The ongoing phase is funded by the government, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Union, the U.K., Austria and Italy.
The panel also can’t comment at this stage, operations analyst Dilya Zoirova said in an e-mailed response to questions.
UK foreign aid, the final insult: Ethiopian sues Britain after claiming our £1.3billion programme supports ‘Stalinist’ regime that sent him to world’s biggest refugee camp
Four million people forced off their land by security forces while their homes and farms are sold to foreign investors
‘Mr O’ said by suing British Department for International Development he fights on behalf of Ethiopian people who are being relocated
Questions raised about British role in atrocities as annual payouts continue
When he refused to leave his land, he was taken to military barricks and tortured
Refugee camp over Kenyan border overflowing with Ethiopians is now largest in the world
A country is best represented by its people or leadership and leaders are the ones who are of the people by the people and for the people.
As a result, leadership shapes the character, behavior and culture of its people and the country.
A country’s good or bad image is determined by the good or bad image of its leader.
In this regard, it is the right time for Ethiopia to talk about the demonstration of the above facts.
Ethiopia is hosting one of the biggest continental events. As a seat of the continent’s grandest institution, Addis Ababa is colorfully celebrating the Golden Jubilee of Organization of African Unity/African Union (OAU/AU). Because of this all eyes are focused here.
Fifty-four African countries are represented and have convened here to celebrate the union.
This historical advantage has lifted the country’s image to the highest stage. So who to be praised? No doubt, its brightest leaders. Certainly, Emperor Haile-Selassie I. He is considered by many to be the Father of Africa. In the last half of the 20th century, Haile-Selassie’s name has never been omitted whenever the OAU is mentioned. It seems that His Majesty had amassed all the credit for the country’s success in the formation of OAU.
However, little attention is given to those who were doing the work behind the scenes. Sometimes, the success of these individuals goes unnoticed.
Obviously, one Ethiopian has been overshadowed by Emperor Haile-Selassie’s grace and reputation regarding the OAU. The man who looks to be left under the surface is the architect and the master whose role was instrumental. Also he is the person who was able to make Addis Ababa the home of the OAU.
He is the late Ketema Yifru, Haile-Selassie’s Foreign Minister He is rarely heard of and that is why some call him the “unsung hero” while others describe him as the “Amed Afash” (a person who is negatively rewarded).
After serving as a foreign minister for ten years from (1961 to 1971) he spent eight years in prison when the Derg was in power.
Ketema Yifru was also recognized by the media as having played a prominent role in the creation of Africa’s regional organization.
In a recently published article on his personal blog, Ketema Yifru’s son, Mekonnen Ketema quoted that his father as saying:
“Based on the discussions I had with my father as well as his taped and written interviews, I now clearly understand what he meant when he said, ‘Only a few are aware of the hard work and all the effort that brought about the creation of the OAU.’ Most of the public is not aware of the shuttle diplomacy, the closed door negotiations, and all the tireless effort, in general, that paved the way towards creating the OAU. In addition, the majority of the public are not aware of the fierce diplomatic battle that was fought by a number of states to have the OAU headquartered in their respective capital cities.
Legacy in vain?
Ketma Yifru’s widow, Rahel Sinegiorgis, was approached by The Reporter yesterday at her home located around Enderase, Casanchis. She said that she is unhappy about neglecting Ketema’s contribution towards the formation of OAU. “His legacy is really ignored,” she says.
Asked whether she was invited by the for the AU celebration she said, “No one remembers me and he was considered as if he was an ordinary person who has no contribution towards the existence of the organization.”
She remembers what the feeling was among the family when Ketema was about to propose the possibility of Ethiopian success to achieve the formation of OAU and making the seat of the OAU in Addis Ababa.
“It was really in an overwhelming moment when he first intended to propose his idea to His Majesty. Our concern was if his idea would become unsuccessful that will eventually bring shame and humiliation for the Emperor as he was a respected and graceful leader throughout the world”
In his will, he wrote from prison to his wife and children he describe himself as a person who came from a humble family, who did not do any crime but has done an outstanding job to help his country be the seat of OAU.
Documents reveal that the former Foreign Minister was the man responsible for the staging of the 1963 Addis Ababa Summit Conference, which paved the way to the creation of the OAU.
After being promoted to the rank of Foreign Minister in 1961— a period in which the rift between the Monrovia and Casablanca Groups seemed to have caused a permanent division in the continent— Ketema was an active participant in all the meetings and negotiations that led to the creation of the OAU.
Among others, he also played a leading role in the August 1963 Dakar Foreign Ministers Conference, where the question regarding the location of the OAU’s headquarters was once and for all resolved.
Even after the 1963 conference, Ketema had traveled throughout all 32 independent nations to convince every country that Addis Ababa would be the right place to be the home of OAU.
In his article Mekonnen, describes it by quoting his father as saying, “His next step was to convince both the Monrovia and the Casablanca blocks to attend the proposed Summit Conference in Addis Ababa. It was decided that the Ethiopian government, in the person of Ketema Yifru, would lobby both groups, while the Guinean government, in the person of Diallo Telli, who became the first Secretary General of the OAU, would lobby the Casablanca Group members. It is important to note that by now the Ethiopian Foreign Minister was given full autonomy on this matter. The Emperor, who had envisioned himself as being the key player of such a diplomatic event, would give free reign to his young Foreign Minister.”
His wife’s remembers Ketema’s tour and said that he even had faced an accident but survived narrowly.
“…while he was on flight to Congo, the wing of his plane collided with a tree in the dense forest of the Congo jungle. But he was lucky and survived.” she said.
The widow also shared her feeling with The Reporter saying, “I feel sad wherever AU’s meeting is held every year because it reminds me of my husband.”
Especially, the very picture that comes to her mind is associating the African Hall and Ketema alongside His Majesty.
He was happy and considered himself as a luckiest person as he has seen OAU keep going for long years constantly and without interruption.
Verbatim from Ketema
This was the letter written by Ketema Yifru, former foreign minister and instrumental person in the formation of the Organization of Africa Unity (OAU), to his family from prison. Ketema was among the sixty ministers, generals and high-ranking officials of the Imperial era who were thrown into jail after Derg came to power.
“…..As far as I am concerned, I am confident that apart from serving my country with all my capacity and good intentions, I have done nothing wrong; hence my conscience will always be clear. If I have at all committed any crime, it would be that I, coming from a humble farmer, family rose to claim the top government position in Ethiopia which stayed under the the monopoly of a few individuals for so long. Indeed my crime is to seize the opportunity that my country has offered me and achieve great things in way that is exemplary to my fellow Ethiopians with humble begins. I always cherish the time I had and my contribution to the country while I was working in the foreign ministry. Especially, my contributions towards the formation of Organization for African Unity (OAU) and securing the permanent seat of this organization to be in Addis Ababa will always shine upon me like a morning sun, and will always be a source of pride for my wife and children.
Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE) Urges Secretary Kerry to speak out on behalf of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, an independent judiciary and open political space in Ethiopia
May 21, 2013
Secretary of State John F. Kerry,
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
VIA FACSIMILE
Dear Secretary Kerry,
We are pleased to know you will be one of the distinguished guests at the 50th anniversary of the African Union. This is a celebration not for Africans alone, but for the world. Sadly, the progress made over the last half-century falls substantially short of what could have been possible.
The formation of the African Union (AU) followed the liberation of many African countries from the minority rule exercised during the colonization of Africa. At the AU’s inception, the hope for Africa was that it become a continent where freedom of expression, freedom of belief, freedom of assembly, equality, impartial justice, and the rule of law would undergird all aspects of African life—just the same as what America’s founding fathers had envisioned for the United States. However, if the founders of the AU were alive today, would they be celebrating?
Today, most African leaders on the continent have not been elected through free and fair elections and their countries do not allow basic freedoms, independent judiciaries, open political space and multi-ethnic governments. Instead, corruption is rampant, the human and civil rights of the people are violated and ethnic and religious based conflicts have caused untold suffering in places like Darfur, South Sudan, the Congo, and Rwanda. The daily struggle for survival, the dislocation of the people, cronyism, ethnic favoritism and strong-armed leaders trump the maximization of human potential on the continent for all but a few. Yet, Africans have not given up their hope for the continent and continue to strive towards progress despite these obstacles.
The organization I lead, the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE), is an example of the desire of Ethiopians for such progress. The SMNE is a non-political, non-violent grassroots social justice movement of diverse Ethiopians whose mission is to advance the freedom, justice, human rights, equality, and reconciliation of all the people of Ethiopia, regardless of ethnicity, religion, political view or other differences.
The SMNE formed in response to the widespread human rights violations, injustice and repression perpetrated against the Ethiopian people by the TPLF/EPRDF an ethnic-based minority regime in power now for over 20 years. Instead, we seek a New Ethiopia where humanity comes before ethnicity or any other identity differences that can diminish the value of another human being. This is one of the SMNE’s core principles. Although you are celebrating the anniversary of the African Union at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; ironically, Ethiopia is one of the most repressive and undemocratic countries on the African continent. Ethiopia is an example of the failure of the implementation of the goals of the AU and its partners.
For example, in the last national election of 2010, the unpopular ruling party claimed a 99.6% victory after using an assortment of repressive methods to block political opponents, including imprisonment and misuse of foreign humanitarian aid to bribe voters and punish those who resisted. A few blocks away from the front door of the beautiful new building housing the African Union are journalists, political leaders, religious leaders and human rights activists who were convicted of terrorism and other crimes for simply exercising rights of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion and thought as enshrined in Article 30 of the Ethiopian Constitution. As this day is celebrated, there are those who have been taken away from their families and imprisoned just because they are asking for their God-given rights. Others have been shot and killed, tortured or driven from the country for doing this.
Mr. Secretary,
You should be aware that a protest is planned for May 25, 2013. Leaders of the Semayawi (Blue) Party, the Ethiopian opposition is calling for their supporters to come out on the anniversary of the AU to peacefully protest. Some will be wearing black as a symbol of their mourning for the lack of freedom, the criminalization of political expression, government interference in religious organizations, government control of Ethiopian institutions and its control of all aspects of life in the country—the media, the courts, the economy, the military, telecommunications, national resources, banking, the educational system and opportunities.
These protestors seek to show African observers of the AU’s celebration that they, Ethiopians of diverse ethnicity, region, gender and religion, are under tyranny. They hope it will inspire the Obama administration and others present to not overlook what is going on in reality on the ground. The protestors seek the release of all political prisoners, the restoration of freedom of expression, an independent judiciary, opening up of political space, halting the displacement of the people from their land and the rescinding of the Charities and Society Proclamation and the Anti-Terrorism laws, which both are used to silence civil society.
We are unsure about what the autocratic regime in Ethiopia will do in response. Some, especially the leaders of the protest, may be beaten, arrested and locked up in jail. The potential also exists for violence, particularly at the hands of the current government. This was the case in 2005 when Ethiopian government security forces shot and killed 197 peaceful protestors and detained tens of thousands of others. The opposition leaders were then imprisoned for 18 months.
We in the SMNE support the people and their demands for freedom, justice and meaningful reforms. We hope that the U.S., as one of the key donors to the TPLF/EPRDF regime, will not overlook this cry from the people, but instead will speak out on behalf of freedom and justice and against the use of any violence or other punitive repercussions against the people for simply exercising their God-given rights.
Mr. Secretary,
We understand the importance the US places on maintaining a relationship with Ethiopia, but it should be on the side of the people, not in support of a dictatorship. Following the Arab Spring, the people remained but the dictators were no longer in power. We call on Obama administration to side with the Ethiopian people who simply want the same freedoms Americans enjoy.
Lack of African progress cannot only be blamed on the dictatorships, but also on those who shore up their power. Some of the most democratic countries in our world should not settle for shortsighted goals—advancing their own interests. Instead, they should seek long-term goals and relationships, which must include the people. Relationships between countries, like between the US and Ethiopia, will always be most sustainable when national interests coincide with the human interests of the people.
Mr. Secretary,
This is not the first time we have approached you. We, the SMNE, sent a letter to you when you were the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. We also sent letters to: President Obama, Robert Gates, as Secretary of Defense, and to Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State. If we want a freer, more vibrant, more peaceful and stable world, it cannot be done without including Africa. Our human value should rise above national boundaries for no one is free until all are free—one of our foundational principles. When this principle is followed, it will bring greater harmony between people, communities and nations.
Mr. Secretary,
We should not feed the African people rhetoric of words while feeding the dictators with aid money. This kind of thing is unhealthy and will backfire. Will President Obama now choose to side with the democratic movement of the Ethiopian people or will he continue with the status quo, supporting a dictator who has stolen the votes of the people?
If President Obama wants to work on the side of the Ethiopian people towards peace, stability and prosperity in Ethiopia and in the Horn of Africa, now is the time to show such readiness. We are extending our hand to work with you Mr. Secretary, but leave the decision up to you.
We call on the Obama administration to speak out about the injustice in Ethiopia. As for us, we will carry on our struggle until we free ourselves. We are not asking anyone else to do it—the US, the EU, or others—but, we do ask the Obama administration to not be a roadblock to our freedom. It is time for Africa to progress and thrive! That would be cause for real celebration!
