Nairobi: Ethiopia has asked the UN health agency to investigate its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for “harmful misinformation” and “misconduct”, accusing him of supporting rebels in his native war-torn Tigre region. has gone.
Tedros – the highest-profile Tigrayan overseas – this week described the conditions in the Ethiopian region as “hell” and said the government was blocking medicines and other life-saving aid from reaching locals.
Addis Ababa said his comments threatened the integrity of the World Health Organisation, and called on Tedros to be investigated for “misconduct and a breach of his professional and legal responsibility”.
“It is interfering in Ethiopia’s internal affairs, including Ethiopia’s relations with the state of Eritrea,” the foreign ministry said in a letter sent to the WHO on Thursday.
The government accused Tedros of supporting the Tigre People’s Liberation Front, his adversary in the 14-month war in the country’s north, and a listed terrorist group in Ethiopia.
At least 108 civilians have been killed in airstrikes in Tigre so far this year, the United Nations said on Friday.
Many more are facing starvation, with the World Food Program warning on Friday that its operations in northern Ethiopia were “towards a halt” as fierce fighting was blocking aid to millions of those in need.
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