ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – Police arrested yesterday the head of Ethiopia’s National Disaster Risk Management Commission (NDRMC) amid allegations of corruption, the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
NDRMC Commissioner Mitiku Kassa, who has run the public body since 2015, had previously been state minister for disaster risk management and food security.
In December 2019, he was also appointed as a member of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Internal Displacement.
Deputy commissioner at the federal police’s Corruption Crimes Investigation Office Tadesse Ayalewe told the broadcaster Mitiku was suspected of conspiring with a head of an NGO called Elshadai.
The charity received food and clothing that were purportedly intended for displaced persons, and these were then sold “to buy a residential house for the suspect,” Tadesse said.
The arrest was carried out after police conducted extensive surveillance on the suspect, he added.
Ethiopia is facing a major humanitarian crisis sparked by two conflicts and drought.
With nearly five million people displaced, a total of 26 million Ethiopians – almost a quarter of the population – need emergency food aid, according to the UN.
