Six high-level diplomats who have been serving at different consular positions have reportedly defected from the Ethiopian regime.
Sources told ESAT that these diplomats had not returned to Ethiopia and did not report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after completing their terms.
Sources from the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also revealed that the diplomats had served in Ghana, United States, South Africa, and India.
These diplomats were subordinate to ambassadors in respective countries. Mr. Yohannes Getahun and Ms Emebet Birru, (Minister Councilor and attaché at Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC respectively ), are among the top diplomats who have already defected, information ESAT received from Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Addis Ababa revealed.
Mr. Elias Worku and Ato Getachew Mulualem who served as counselors at Ethiopian Embassy in South Africa had purportedly defected from the Ethiopian regime. In addition, Ato Eshete Misgana who worked in Ghana as a counselor of the Ambassador did not report to the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Addis Ababa after his term was over.
Moreover, Ato Henock Asnake, a counselor at the Ethiopian Embassy in India, has also defected making him the 6th diplomat who defected from the EPRDF government.
Political defections at ambassadorial levels are common in Ethiopia. Sources from Ethiopian embassy locations around the world revealed that the embassy staff could not properly conduct their work due to ethnic bickering and nepotism.
ESAT also received a document that contains the names of newly appointed diplomats.