Botswana has defended its decision to deliver a congratulatory message on behalf of the Africa region on the re-election of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The decision riled Ethiopia and to some extent Eretria.
Responding to enquiries from The Telegraph the Ministry of Health spokesperson Dr Christopher Nyanga said Botswana is an executive board member of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Minister of Health Dr Edwin Dikoloti is the Vice Chairperson of the WHO Africa region which has 47 member states.
“Therefore, Botswana is from time to time mandated to speak on behalf of the Africa region on issues of regional and international concern,” said Nyanga.
He added that, “With respect to the congratulatory message you refer to, Hon. Dr Dikoloti made it clear that he was speaking on behalf of 45 members of the Africa region.”
Asked what Botswana’s position is in relation to Ethiopia and Eretria objecting to Botswana’s congratulatory message on the re-election of the Ethiopian public health researcher reportedly on behalf of the continent, Nyanga said: “The ministry has noted the responses from Ethiopia and Eretria on its congratulatory message to the re-elected Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.”
Sunday Standard had reported that Botswana rubbed Ethiopia the wrong way by rallying behind re-election of Ghebreyesus who has criticised the ongoing civil war and humanitarian crisis in his own country.
The Ethiopian diplomat has been Director-General of the United Nations’ health agency since 2017 and is the first African in the role. This was after he was nominated by his own country and endorsed by the African Union. But early this year he fell out with his country after he was accused of using his office to advance his political interests by lashing out at his country over the ongoing civil war that began on 3 November 2020 in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia.
Reports indicate that he originates from the same region.
At the just ended 75th session of the World Health Assembly, Ethiopian ambassador Mahlet Hailu did not have kind words for Botswana following the delivery of congratulatory message by Dikoloti and Masisi’s speech in which he assured the global community of Botswana’s commitment of Tredos re-election to office and support.
“My Government believes that the re-appointment of Dr Tedros will afford him the opportunity to continue to lead the Organisation and complete the mandate of the 13th General Programme of Work (GPW13) as extended to 2025, including its Triple Billion targets set for WHO to support us in realizing the SDG 3 by 2025,” said Masisi.
Dikoloti who made it clear that he was delivering the statement on agenda item 4 (election of Director General) on behalf of 45 African Member States said: “We congratulate Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on his re-election and wish him every success in his second term of office.”
But this did not go down well with Hailu who told Botswana in no uncertain terms that “There is no African Region minus some states and that includes Ethiopia” adding that “If one country opposes, there is no consensus to speak on behalf of the region.”
Immediate comment from the African Union (AU) and the WHO was not immediately available. The Telegraph sought to establish if the AU had given Botswana the mandate to “speak on its behalf” to congratulate Ghebreyesus.
Hailu also informed those in attendance that, “Botswana is welcome to list countries and speak on behalf of AU if it so wishes, let that be on record.”
The Ministry of Health had no immediate response to these claims.
Hailu also stated that Botswana’s conduct is “against the rules of procedure, the distinguished Botswana representative has no consensus to speak on behalf of the African group.”
Dikoloti also indicated in his congratulatory statement that, “The 45 African Member States pledge their continued cooperation with the Director-General and reiterate their support and wishes for a successful second term.”
But Hailu was also not impressed by this as she added that “First he (Dikoloti) needs to pass this decision within the group, which was not decided, so there is no consensus to deliver the statement or even speak on behalf of the group. There is no consensus. I want this to be on record.”
President Masisi had also indicated that “Dr Tedros has shown great leadership at the helm of the organization, most importantly, when the world is facing one of the hardest and unprecedented health and socio-economic crisis in modern time.”
According to international media reports, in January this year, the Ethiopian government had asked WHO to investigate Ghebreyesus.
The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry had written to the WHO’s executive board claiming Ghebreyesus spread harmful misinformation and “compromised WHO’s reputation, independence, credibility.”
The ministry said he had to be investigated for “misconduct and violation of his professional and legal responsibility.”
Media reports further indicate that Ethiopia accused the WHO head of supporting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), its adversary in a conflict in the country’s north.
It is understood that this followed a press conference in which Ghebreyesus, an ethnic Tigrayan, had repeatedly deplored the situation in his home country and called for humanitarian access to the conflict-ridden region of Ethiopia.
“Nowhere in the world are we witnessing hell like Tigray,” Ghebreyesus was quoted as saying at a media press briefing.
According to a report by the Voice of America, the WHO head condemned Ethiopia’s blockade of international access to Tigray, saying that WHO had not been allowed to send any supplies to the region since July, noting the U.N. agency had access to Syria and Yemen even during their worst conflicts. “Of course, I am from that region and from the northern part of Ethiopia. But I am saying this without any bias,” he was also quoted as saying.
