Forighn Aid: Where Does All the Money Goes?

Does Ethiopia have a ‘government’ or is she under the care of the international community?

This is a very appropriate question to ask when one observes the number of countries and international organizations involved to do the basic service of what the government suppose to do from providing clean water to the citizens to infrastructure building the country needs for the survival of the population.

But, looking at the number of countries and institutions involved in many development projects one wonders if there is a government running the country or it is left for the international community?

In our transparent governance watch work and ‘Why fight Corruption?' series, we are compelled to ask what is the ‘government of TPLF/EPRDF of Ethiopia doing while most of its job is funded and done by the donors and non governmental organization? And where does all the funding goes and who is accountable for all the expenditure and the accountability required to prevent corruption?

The questions of foreign Aid and the corruption that follows has been the debate in almost all international development forums by the same people over and over again. Recently, Dr Moyo Dambisa book “Dead Aid” raised a hot debit when she argued the Aid model is broke, it is corrupting the officials and should be abandoned causing havoc in the foreign Aid community and the recipients defending it with out much to show for all the expenditures all these years.

What is striking is with billions of dollar expenditure no one is not sure where most of the money goes, how it was spent and why there is no public disclosure of the recipients and their credential and background of the managers.

Ethiopia, the darling of the international Aid receives the second highest foreign assistance in Africa, next to Egypt, but yet beside the occasional double digit talk the regime speaks, and the housing boom driven by the Diaspora spending and the road construction courtesy of donors the average Ethiopian standard of living remain the same or declined. And the number of people needing foreign food assistance continues to increase substantially with no tangible solution in sight.

According to WB Development Gateway foundation

26 donor countries 13 multilateral organization, and 40 funding agencies mostly western are actively engaging in one thing or another donating and funding millions of dollars worth of 1000s of projects every year. In addition, 100s of private foundations and over 3800 NGOs operating in the country are active on one thing or another.

Looking at the data we can not help but wonder, with only a handful of NGOs 20 years ago to over 3800 now, the growth the regime claim may have been too low in the poverty industry than the private sector.

It is common knowledge unscrupulous business and NGOs are created, particularly by the ruling party's affiliates to facilitate this massive infusion of fund and becoming a major ground for corruption and cronyism as it is common in the private sector. Its is also not unusual to hear the best jobs are found in the Aid sector and the industry is striving alike any other sector.

We believe expecting transparency from the regime and it’s affiliates is fruitless since the rule makers and breakers are the same, but challenging all the donor governments and funding agencies to demand transparency as a condition for funding can be an effective tool.

We also believe the ruling party affiliated businesses and NGOs who accumulated millions of dollars out of foreign Aid and through unethical business practices must be challenged through all means, including through donor governments and funding agencies.

Corruption must be fought in all fronts and each one of us can help

Investment: What We Do Not Know Hurts?

Freeing independent media is a life and death issue that can not be left to the regime.

Secrecy is a fertile ground for Corruption and under development, and Ethiopians are blind-folded and gagged in to poverty by the regime in power.

The ruling regime use public institutions with hand picked individuals to run them in order to control the flow of vital information and suppress independent media to sustain power as long as it can.

Without understanding these institutions and the individuals who manage them Ethiopians can not challenge corruption and fight for their freedom effectively. The first step is to identify the institutions, and the individuals who run key political, economical and social institutions and make the managers personally responsible and accountable.

This article addresses-the Ethiopian Investement Agency, one of the many public institutions that is used and abused for corruption and suppression of information from Ethiopians from participating in the development of their country.

EIA (sometimes referred as a commission) lead by Dr. Abi Woldemeskel, with an official title of Director General and the sole institution responsible to promote foreign investment in the country does not have an official website. That would make it the only public investment agency in the world that does not have an investment portal of its own.

Instead, the agency's website is run by a peculiar outfit registered in the USA, www.ethiomarket.com/ with a few pages designated for the Agency with irrelevant information www.ethiomarket.com/eic/.

The website does not have contact number, address or identifiable person [s] in the USA. So far we reached a dead-end to know who is running the one and only public investment agency's website of the country out of unknown location in the USA and who authorized it?

The 'Director General' must have known these individual[s] to surrender the nation’s only source of investment portal to allow them to channel all investment inquires from around the world. This kind of out-right corruption in a functioning government would send numbers of people to jail, charged with all kind of crimes against the public interest, but in today’s Ethiopia it is business as the usual.

This particular breach of duty, crime of corruption and cronyism must have been approved in the higher-ups, like many others who set-up front outfits to embezzle and take advantage of public institutions to the benefit of their partners and affiliates.

The website features EFFORT companies, further conforming our suspicion that it is a TPLF front that is channeling foreign investment inquires to its affiliates. Further investigation reviles, the same link is also found in most of the Ethiopian Embassies' websites around the world, once again proving it is beyond a simple error of judgment or the work of a small rogue group, but an elaborate scum run by TPLF's operatives.

Who is responsible and accountable for this elaborate crime of using public institution for personal or group gain on the expenses of millions of Ethiopians? Who has the responsibility to oversee the agency and investigate corruption? What can be done to fight these kinds of out-right corruption and monopoly of investment information?

For a starter, the responsibility rests squarely on the Director’s foot steps. Another institution who failed its responsibility is The Federal Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission, the sole government agency responsible to fight corruption in the country. It seems the commission is practically toothless when it comes fighting ‘the mother of all corruption’-the ruling regime and its affiliates business and agencies.

The Commissioner- Ali Sulaiman and the Deputy Commissioner Addsu Mengistu, the Director of research-Woldetensay Woldemelak, and the Ethics Education and Public Relations head-Berhanu Assefa are all responsible for allowing the out-right hijacking of a public agency for individuals benefit by being complicit in their job.

Another 'independent' Non Governmental Organization-Transparency Ethiopia, an affiliate chapter of the famous corruption fighter Transparency International will be discussed in more detail in the future article, but for now, we want to address one thing related to this expose.

TE, as ‘independent’ corruption fighter seems to be part of the make-believe world of 'fighting corruption', particularly when no mention of investigation of corruption on its official website is reviled in regard to the open secret of the ruling party's business and government officials mixing business with governance by amassing millions of dollars of public funds with out any accountability or oversight by anyone.

Transparency Ethiopia 'officials' whose main responsibility of fighting corruption should have been beyond chasing street vendors and putting up shows, but to go after the big money rollers in public agencies and their managers, including TPLF's business empires and their affiliates who are running the country while they are heavily involved in trade and businesses dealing around the world. EFFORT-the TPLF's business empire alone is sufficient cause to put all their resources to expose and make all the officers and owners accountable for corruption. What went wrong?

Since ET is a chapter of TI we demand they do a better job than the government Corruption Commission. But, one peculiar fact about TE caught our eyes on its website, that is, the Board of Director is the known TPLF journalist and owner of The Reporter newspaper- Amare Arigawi. How the rest of the organization's officers who are unknown to us yet did not raise conflict of interest issue to allow him to be on the board of director needs more investigation, but it further makes TE weak and a suspect.

Other institutions who supposedly’ have an oversight responsibility on paper in the Parliament are: THE LEGAL STANDING COMMITTEE Chairman-Asmelash W/Selasieand and Deputy Chairman, W/ro Fantaye Gezahegne, and also, TRADE AND INDUSTRY AFFAIR STANDING COMMITTEE Chairman- Kebede Abera and the Deputy Chairman-Ayele Siyoum are all responsible for failure to protect the public from an-out-right corruption in their ‘duty’ to protect the people of Ethiopia.

All public officials through out the country should disclose their assets and business interest to the public in order to institute transparancy and fight corruption. Independent organization and the media should have accesses to follow-up and monitor compliance. Any thing less is serving a corrupt system for personal benefit and illegal gain with much bigger implication in the future for those who knowingly and willingly participate in a corrupt system for riches and glory.

Let all of us fight the corrupt acts of public officials by making responsible individuals accountable.

Note: It is important to note that when the nation's investment agency is reduced to a half a dozen pages of unknown website in the US under Director Dr. Abi Weldemeskle who could not come-up with a website for the agency in his capacity, it is clear to see where his priorities are. Further, the capital city of the nation-Addis Ababa under Mayor Kuma Demeksa, and many others cities and regional capitals have no websites to promote investment except-the City of Mekele investment portal. Registrant: Djibruk / Endaslassie Mekelle, Tigray 1437 ET ; Administrative Contact: Alemayehu Kassahun alemayehuk@yahoo.com Nefas Silk Lafto SC, Kera street Addis Ababa, AA 43129 ET +251.911641116 (FAX) Current Registrar: NETTUNER CORP. DBA WEBMASTERS.COM -NEW YORK-NEW YORK Source