President Mokgweetsi Masisi and the Minister of Health Dr Edwin Dikoloti have been sucked into the raging civil war in Ethiopia.
Botswana’s decision to congratulate on behalf of the African region, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on his re-election as World Health Organisation has riled the Ethiopian government .
The Ethiopian government is accusing Dr Tedros of backing rebels in his native war-torn Tigray region. Dr Tedros — the highest-profile Tigrayan abroad — fell out with the Ethiopian government after describing conditions in the Tigray region as “hell” and accused the Ethiopian government of preventing medicines and other life-saving aid from reaching locals.
There are fears of a brewing diplomatic tension between Ethiopia and Botswana after an Ethiopian diplomat took to the floor of the 75th session of the World Health Assembly and crucified Botswana for speaking on behalf of the African continent in support of Dr Tedros re-election.
In an impassioned outburst, the Ethiopian Ambassador, Mahlet Hailu charged that: “This is against the rules of procedure. Botswana does not have the consensus, the distinguished representative of Botswana does not have the consensus to speak on behalf of the African group. First he needs to pass this decision within the group which was not decided(sic). So there is no consensus to deliver the statement or even speak on behalf of the group. There is no consensus and I want this to be on record. There is no African region minus some states. There is one African region and that if my memory serves me right includes my country, Ethiopia. If even one single country opposes, there is no consensus to speak on behalf of the region. Botswana is welcome to list the countries and speak on behalf of A B C if it so wishes but not on behalf of the African region minus states. Let it be on record.”
This was after President Masisi and Minister Dr Dikoloti’s speeches in which they congratulated the WHO boss on his re-election and assured him of Botswana’s 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.
Dr 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.”
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. Earlier this year he however fell out with the Ethiopian government which is accusing him 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.
Dr Tedros has incurred the wrath of the Ethiopian government in the past after accusing it of placing the region under a de facto blockade. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government has accused him of bias, and of spreading misinformation. In January this year, the Ethiopian government asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to investigate Dr. Tedros. The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry wrote to the WHO’s executive board claiming Dr Tedros spread harmful misinformation and “compromised WHO’s reputation, independence, credibility.” The ministry’s statement called for Tedros to be investigated for “misconduct and violation of his professional and legal responsibility.”
Ethiopia accused the WHO head of supporting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), its adversary in a conflict in the country’s north. The letter from the Ethiopian government followed a media conference, during which Tedros accused the government of deliberately withholding food and medicine from millions of people in the Tigray region. “Nowhere in the world are we witnessing a hell as in Tigray,” Tedros said. He doubled down on his remark in a Tweet : “People in Tigray, Ethiopia, living under de facto blockade for over a year, are dying from lack of medicine & food, & repeated drone attacks. WHO & partners call for safe, unimpeded access to deliver humanitarian aid to the millions of people in great need. We need access now!”
