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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Fri Nov 12 2010 - 13:11:33 EST
The BBC's misleading apology versus diversion of relief aid
By Aregawi Berhe |
November 11, 2010
Source: http://www.abugidainfo.com/amharic/?p=4694
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Last week, the BBC executive aired an apology in the face of the accusation
launched by Bob Geldof, saying "The BBC wishes to apologize unreservedly to
the Band Aid Trust for the misleading and unfair impression which was
created." Furthermore, the former BBC chairman Michael Grade emphatically
goes on to tell the world that ".of course, the money did not go to arms",
as if he had kept track of every pound collected from the British public
that was intended to alleviate the misery created by the 1984-85 famine in
Tigray, the northern part of Ethiopia.
Before getting across what really is "misleading and unfair impression", and
where the aid money was spent, let me present the crux of the matter as it
happened in July 1985 inside the Tigray People's Liberation Front / Marxist
Leninist League of Tigray (TPLF / MLLT) base area, Worie, where a meeting of
the Central Committee was held to set, among other things, a budget
allocation for the Front and the Party.
It was in 1984-1985 that Northern Ethiopia in general and the region of
Tigray in particular were hit by the country's worst famine in living
memory. The world was shocked by the human tragedy and responded humanely by
pouring in massive relief aid to avert the disaster. Of the relief aid that
was collected by the Relief Society of Tigray (REST), a "humanitarian" wing
of the TPLF, which amounted to $100,000,000 (one hundred million dollars) at
the time, 95% was diverted for political and military purposes of the TPLF
and MLLT. With an alarming proportion, 50% was to go for strengthening the
then created MLLT, 45% had to be spent on the Front's activities (that
included buying military equipment, like anti-tank mines, ammunition, radio
communication, vehicles and fuel, and also financing other friendly fronts
both from Ethiopia and Eritrea), and the remaining 5% was left for the
victims of the 1984-85 famine.
My appeal to raise the amount proposed for the victims of famine was flatly
rejected by the then chief ideologue (de-facto head) of the MLLT and the
current Prime Minister of Ethiopia. The MLLT was, at the time, in a position
to give ideological leadership to the TPLF and therefore Meles Zenawi
controlled the TPLF as well. The plan was then endorsed by the majority of
Central Committee (CC) members of the TPLF/MLLT, and subsequently I was
purged out of the CC. No less, no more, this is the hard fact.
The donor agencies and relief organizations involved in these donations did
not know what exactly happened to their funds, but it is certain that they
would not have approved the alternative spending of their funds. There are
grounds to thoroughly investigate the details of this diversion scheme. All
the donor agencies including Geldof's Band Aid and BBC could have asked
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to release the tapes and transcripts of the
Central Committee meeting and verify the facts for themselves and for the
generous people who made the donations, if they had the intention to do so,
instead of castigating individuals who stood for the truth to come out.
The story surrounding the aid corruption may be politically inconvenient for
the mentors of Meles Zenawi. It is public knowledge that Blair, Brown and
Geldof pushed Meles up the ladders of the African Commission while many
valorous, more experienced and literally better qualified African leaders
are out there. It is not surprising, therefore, if these guys stood on his
side and do their best to cover up or diffuse the story of the diversion of
relief aid and repress the misuse from being investigated. What looks
surprising, however, is to see the BBC executive jump on this bandwagon.
With brave journalists like Jonathan Dimbleby and Michael Buerk who exposed
famine in Ethiopia against the will of the wicked leaders at the time, the
BBC had earned a remarkable reputation for courage. What went wrong with
this monumental precedence?
Without addressing the essential issue concerning millions of people, i.e.
verifiable diversion of relief aid, succumbing to threats of an angry
individual like Geldof is simply diverting from the real matter like the
diversion of the aid money itself, as well as misleading and unfair to say
the least. On the other hand, Geldof who called us "disgruntled individuals"
had no reason what so ever to cause offence at anybody unless there is
something to cover up, as there was no direct reference to Geldof in the
first place.
On another note, many news outlets and websites were also confused as to
which side of the story to believe and had the "impression" that this huge
amount of aid money could not have been snatched from the hungry mouths of
millions of famine victims. Perhaps misled by the impression the BBC has
created, at one point, even the VOA gabbled over the true story of the aid
corruption, but soon corrected it, save the opportunists who unashamedly
stand on the side of the corrupt leaders rather than the people who are
still victims of recurring famine.
To millions of people and to me as well, the overriding matter is the fact
that a total of 95% of the relief aid has been diverted in July 1985 for the
Front's politico-military purpose rather than for victims of famine. The
details / minutes of this inhuman decision were well-documented in writing
as well as recorded on tapes. The tapes/transcripts if and when they are
made available will corroborate these facts. The tapes and manuscripts of
the controversy and decision over the allocation of the aid fund, as
important documents of the Central Committee of the TPLF/MLLT as they are,
can be found in the party archives and/or the office of the head of
TPLF/MLLT, Ethiopian PM Meles Zenawi. If the charge is now one of
'insufficient evidence', can the BBC and perhaps Geldof too cooperate in
launching an investigation on this aid corruption? Only this approach, (not
threats or misleading words), can draw the scandal to a close and may also
potentially help as a deterrent to prevent such evil deeds from happening
again.
-
The writer, Aregawi Berhe, was a founding member, chairman and military
chief of TPLF before he left the Front in 1986.
ezanareg@hotmail.com