Letter from Oromo Community of Minnesota to the World Bank

Mr. James D. Wolfensohn, President
The World Bank
Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Wolfensohn:

The Oromo Community of Minnesota is shocked to learn that the World Bank released $400 million to the regime in Addis Ababa to restart its war-shattered economy and demobilize its huge army.  While our Community is happy to see the coming to end of the bloody border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, we are saddened that Meles Zenawi is escaping responsibility from his criminal role in sending thousands of Oromo youth to their death against their will.  We believe that using thousands of conscripts as cannon fodder and minesweepers in a war is a criminal act that should be recognized as a war crime and as a crime against humanity. Instead of helping in the effort to charging such a criminal tyrant as Meles with a crime against humanity, the World Bank has chosen to reward him instead.

While the desire of the World Bank to mitigate poverty and stop the total collapse of the economy is understandable, it is prudent to ask if the money lavishly bestowed on Meles will be used for the intended purpose.  It is the view of our organization that the aid program will have negative consequences not only on Ethiopia but also on the entire region of the Horn. We worry the money will go towards destabilizing the Horn as evident from recent Ethiopian military incursions into Kenya and Somalia. The money lent to Ethiopia will definitely be used to finance the war the Ethiopian government is waging against people fighting against tyranny. It is not yet clear what checking mechanisms the Bank has devised to verify that the money will not be used for other purposes. As is well known to the Bank, money is a fungible commodity.  There is no way that the Bank can check if this money will not be used for the government’s war efforts directly or indirectly. The government is already busy waging war against the Oromo people in the name of combating the Oromo Liberation Army.  Its huge army is pillaging villages, raping women, and terrorizing children and the elderly.  And the money it is getting from the World Bank will surely be used to continue this evil process. 

Since 1991 EPRDF received huge chunks of money from the World Bank, IMF and governments.  Instead of fighting poverty and improving the living standards of the total population, EPRDF starves other regions to develop Tigray through giant businesses owned by the ruling party.  Thus the Bank is indirectly contributing to uneven regional development, which is bound to be cause for future conflicts and instability.  The loan that is given to Ethiopia is made in such a way that it could be earmarked only for the development in Tigrai.  As if there were elaborate infrastructures in Zalambessa before the war, EPRDF is gearing up to allocate large sums of money to rebuild only “war-damaged regions.”

We believe the Ethiopian government does not deserve a pat on the back for its criminal act.  Appeasement of tyrants has not worked in history and will not work here too.  If the Bank really wanted to help, it should have put down more stringent conditions like respect of human rights, stopping of all wars against all the opposition groups and call for settlement of contradictions through negotiations. We are therefore asking you to reconsider your decision and make sure that the government of Ethiopia at a minimum respect human rights before receiving foreign aid.

Sincerely,

Nuro B. Dedefo, J.D.
President, Oromo Community of Minnesota