ADDIS ABABA-WHO Director- General Tedros Adhanom (PhD) has violated UN Codes of conduct, including the code of Ethics and Professional Conduct to advance terrorist TPLF interests in Ethiopia, renowned journalist Ann Garrison and New Africa Institute Executive Director Dr. Simon Tefamariam said.
In their article published on The Gray Zone, both stated that Tedros has violated these principles by allegedly using his influence to establish direct communication between the TPLF and United Nations in secret. And also he repeatedly voices opinions about Ethiopia’s civil war in public.
Following President Joe Biden’s unexpected January 10 phone call with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, WHO Chief unleashed a series of condemnations of Abiy’s government, accusing it of “an insult to humanity” for supposedly preventing aid from entering the Tigray State, the article added.
WHO regulation required staff members to always act with impartiality and professionalism and to ensure that the expression of personal views and convictions do not compromise the performance of their official duties or the interests of the organization.
In a formal complaint to the WHO, Ethiopia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry stated the director-general ‘has been interfering in the internal affairs of Ethiopia, including relations with the State of Eritrea.”
Ann and Simon further highlighted that the alleged actions by Tedros, which have come to light through leaked audio conversations of UN workers, constitute a violation of UN code, which stipulates staff maintain neutrality and refrain from intervening in the affairs of member states. A participant in the leaked discussion also states that the WHO Chief tried to replace the UN’s top coordinator in Ethiopia with someone willing to advance his political objectives.
In the leaked audio, Maureen Achieng and Dennia Gayle allege that Tedros even agitated for the UN to replace the Resident Coordinator, CatherineSozi, who oversees the organization’s operations in Ethiopia, ‘with somebody who will dance to their tune,’ rather than follow the official protocol of coordinating with Ethiopia’s elected government.
WHO Director-General answers to UN Secretary-General AntónioGuterres, but Guterres appears to have looked the other way as Tedros violated multiple UN Codes of conduct, including the code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, they elaborated.
“But as the audio leaks demonstrate, Tedros has been engaged in a behind the scenes campaign at the United Nations to legitimize the TPLF the party that represents his ethnicity in the conflict with Ethiopia since well before his latest torrent of partisan invective.”
In a leaked conversation with journalist Jeff Pearce, UN staffers Maureen Achieng and Dennia Gayle explained that in early 2021, as Ethiopia’s civil war intensified, the WHO Chief and his allies dispatched a ‘surge’ of UN staff to create a direct line between UN headquarters and Ethiopia’s Tigray State, where the TPLF were in control. They were part of the UN team working in Addis that Tedros sidestepped when he created direct links with the TPLF.
Tedros has had a global platform to promote TPLF interests on both an ideological and material basis. Despite his claims of neutrality, has not hesitated to use his position to agitate for his ethnic sect, the article remarked.
BY ESSEYE MENGISTE
THE FRIDAY 21 JANUARY 2022