The investigations ordered by the interim authorities of Tigray into the diversion of food aid in this region of Ethiopia have identified 186 suspects, members of governmental or humanitarian entities, according to the head of the commission of inquiry.
On May 3, Usaid, the US government’s humanitarian agency, and the UN’s World Food Program (WFP) announced the indefinite suspension of their food aid to Tigray due to diversions. Both then extended this decision on June 8 to the whole of Ethiopia, with Usaid citing a “widespread and coordinated” diversion of food aid across the country.
“Five entities – the Eritrean government, the Ethiopian federal government, the regional authorities of Tigray, the coordinators of the IDP camps as well as humanitarian workers – took part” in these hijackings, reports Tigrai TV, official media of the regional authorities of Tigray. , citing an interview conducted Wednesday, June 14 with General Fiseha Kidanu, head of the commission of inquiry. “Seven of the 186 suspects have already been incarcerated,” said General Fiseha, without specifying which entities they belonged to.
Historic drought
Between November 2020 and November 2022, Tigray was the scene of a brutal conflict between the Ethiopian federal government and the regional authorities who had gone into rebellion, during which the region was cut off from the world and deprived of humanitarian aid. Forces from neighboring Ethiopian regions intervened militarily to support the federal army. All the actors in the conflict are accused of multiple abuses.
As early as May 3, Getachew Reda, president of the interim regional administration set up since the end of the conflict, announced that, “in view of the seriousness of the problem and the accumulation of evidence”, he had launched an “investigation to hold all culprits to account.”
On Thursday, Ethiopia’s foreign ministry reiterated that an “adequate investigation would be conducted” domestically, in accordance with “the agreement reached between the US and Ethiopian governments” after the Usaid announcement. “Nevertheless, this will not prevent certain entities from wanting to use ‘diversion of aid’ as a tool of diplomatic pressure”, indicated, without further elaboration, Meles Alem, spokesperson for the ministry.
About 20 million people, or 16% of some 120 million Ethiopians, depend on food aid, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated at the end of May, due to conflicts and historic drought in the Horn of Africa.
