Thread by @JoshWalkos

The Tedros Thread🧵

The Troubled History of Tedros: A look at the ideology, scandals and genocide he is accused of participating in.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) was founded in 1975 during the Ethiopian Civil War, with the goal of overthrowing the Derg military regime that had taken power. From the outset, the TPLF espoused a Marxist-Leninist ideology, seeking to establish a socialist state in Ethiopia.

As the TPLF grew in strength and numbers, the need for a more structured and ideologically consistent organization became apparent. This led to the formation of the Marxist-Leninist League of Tigrai (MLLT) in 1985. The Marxist-Leninist League of Tigray (MLLT) was a semi-clandestine Hoxhaist communist party that played a leading role within the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in the 1980s during the Ethiopian Civil War.

The majority of the TPLF leadership, including Meles Zenawi who later became Prime Minister of Ethiopia, held dual membership in the MLLT.

Following the establishment of the MLLT, the TPLF underwent significant organizational restructuring. The MLLT took over key positions within the TPLF, ensuring that its members held influential roles in the decision-making process. This restructuring was aimed at consolidating the MLLT's control over the TPLF and ensuring that the organization's actions were in line with Marxist-Leninist principles. The MLLT's influence extended to all levels of the TPLF, from the central committee to local cells, effectively transforming the TPLF into a Marxist-Leninist organization.

The TPLF flag with its syndicalist symbolism.

The TPLF's rise to power came in 1991, when its forces, backed by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), seized control of Addis Ababa and toppled the military regime.

Meles Zenawi, the TPLF's leader, emerged as the new prime minister of Ethiopia, and the TPLF became the dominant force in the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition.

It was during this period that Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a Tigrayan himself, rose to prominence within the TPLF's ranks. Tedros served as the Minister of Health from 2005 to 2012 and the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2016, during which time the TPLF was the dominant force in the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government.

Tedros' tenure as a senior TPLF official has been the subject of significant controversy and allegations of misconduct. One of the most serious accusations is that he was complicit in the TPLF's systematic marginalization and oppression of the Amhara ethnic group, which the TPLF had long viewed as a threat.
gjia.georgetown.edu/2021/01/28/a-v…

According to a report by the Amhara Professionals Union (APU), a civic organization, the TPLF-led government under Tedros deliberately underfunded and neglected the Amhara region in terms of healthcare and other social services . The report cites data showing that the Amhara region consistently underperformed compared to the Tigray region, Tedros' home, in key health indicators such as infant mortality, maternal mortality, and access to healthcare.
moreshwegenie.org/sites/default/…

From the report:
“Dr. Tedros and the TPLF, who dominated and controlled the political scene in Ethiopia for nearly three decades before being ousted from public office after massive state-wide protests between 2016-2018. During TPLF’s reign, Dr. Tedros served as Ethiopia’s Minister of Health from 2005-2012 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012-2016.”

The APU report also alleges that the TPLF government, with Tedros as a senior member, used family planning programs as a tool to suppress the Amhara population. The report claims that contraceptive use, particularly injectable contraceptives, was aggressively promoted in the Amhara region, while other essential health services were neglected . The report argues, amounted to a form of "systematic genocidal violence" against the Amhara people.

The APU report calls Tedros' candidacy for the WHO Director-General position "an insult to the victim Ethiopians" and urges WHO member countries to carefully consider his track record before voting.

Here is an AP article for further reading on his links to theTPLF:
reuters.com/world/africa/e…

There have been multiple allegations that under Tedros’ tenure within the TPLF and as one of the top 3 leaders, there was a brutal genocidal campaign against the Amhara people who are considered the enemy by the TPLF. One shocking allegation is the sterilization of Amhara women without their consent via a “vaccination” campaign.

“Amhara women in their twenties tell to have failed to conceive after they were vaccinated in order to prevent them against a ‘potential disease outbreak.’ The young women who are sheltering near a church drink ‘holy water’ with the hope of regaining fertility. All of them tell that they are unable to conceive ever since they have been vaccinated. They also indicated that schools are empty since there were no children born in their village.”

This from another report:

“The health officers of the government are vaccinating both male and female Amharas between 18-49 years of age monthly under the cover of trachoma and tetanus prevention. As a result the vaccinated people are complaining severe fever, gastrointestinal disturbances, abortion, hemorrhoids, impotency and death”.
upr-info.org/sites/default/…

Here is a video showing Amhara women being interviewed about the vaccination campaign and subsequent sterilization:

The systematic campaign, which lasted from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Amharas and the displacement of hundreds of thousands more. The TPLF's actions were widely condemned by human rights groups and other organizations, and the party's leaders, including Meles Zenawi, were accused of war crimes.

In 2020, the Ethiopian government accused Tedros of supporting the TPLF and its leader, Debretsion Gebremichael, in their conflict with the Ethiopian government.
apnews.com/article/corona…

Here is a copy of the letter sent to the WHO from the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

Tedros' tenure as Health Minister was also marked by another controversy – his alleged cover-up of multiple cholera outbreaks in Ethiopia . According to reports, Tedros repeatedly refused to acknowledge the presence of cholera in the country, instead insisting on classifying the outbreaks as "acute watery diarrhea" (AWD) – a move that was widely seen as an attempt to downplay the severity of the situation and avoid international scrutiny.
orfonline.org/expert-speak/d…

The decision to rebrand cholera as AWD had serious consequences, as it delayed the mobilization of resources and international assistance to combat the outbreaks.

“A group of American doctors wrote to Tedros in 2017 saying, "Your silence about what is clearly a massive cholera epidemic in Sudan daily becomes more reprehensible". “The inevitable history that will be written of this cholera epidemic will surely cast you in an unforgiving light,” they wrote, adding that Tedros was “fully complicit in the terrible suffering and dying that continues to spread in East Africa”.

The TPLF's authoritarian tendencies were also on full display during its time in power. The group was accused of cracking down on dissent, jailing journalists, and using draconian anti-terrorism laws to suppress political opposition . This heavy-handed approach contributed to the growing resentment towards the TPLF among the broader Ethiopian population.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

Another chapter in the history of Tedros that has been dutifully whitewashed or outright ignored is his tenure as Chair of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. He was chair from 2009-2011 and while there the fund's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) identified several instances of inappropriate use of funds and corruption in various grant programs.

In 2011, the OIG conducted an investigation into the use of funds in Mauritania, which revealed significant misuse of grant money. The investigation found that funds were diverted for personal gain, and there were instances of fraud, embezzlement, and misprocurement. Another investigation in 2011 focused on the use of funds in India, specifically with the Positive Support Foundation (PSF). The OIG found that funds were misused, and there were instances of fraud and misprocurement.

The OIG also investigated the use of funds in Nigeria, which revealed corruption and mismanagement of grant funds. The investigation highlighted the need for stronger oversight and accountability mechanisms. The OIG published a Lessons Learned Report in 2011, which highlighted the need for stronger anti-corruption measures, improved financial management, and enhanced oversight mechanisms to prevent the misuse of funds.

These incidents demonstrate that during Dr. Tedros' tenure as Chair of the Global Fund, the Office of the Inspector General identified significant instances of corruption and misuse of funds in various grant programs. So why not make him Director General of the World Health Organization right?

The 2011 OIG "Lessons Learned Report":
theglobalfund.org/media/2583/oig…

Not surprisingly given the trail of scandal he has left in his wake, Tedros’ tenure at the WHO has also been underscored with scandal. 

He has faced several scandals and controversies during his tenure. One of the most significant controversies revolves around his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Critics have accused Dr. Tedros and the WHO of being overly deferential to China, particularly in the early stages of the outbreak. Dr. Tedros praised China's response and transparency, despite evidence that Chinese authorities had suppressed information about the virus's spread and severity. 
theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Another major controversy involves allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse within the WHO. During the response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there were numerous reports of sexual exploitation and abuse by WHO staff. Dr. Tedros has been criticized for the organization's slow and inadequate response to these allegations.

The scandal first came to light in September 2020 when The New Humanitarian and the Thomson Reuters Foundation reported that WHO personnel and other aid workers had engaged in sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) during the Ebola outbreak.

The allegations included instances of rape, forced abortions, and sex-for-work schemes. An independent commission appointed by WHO confirmed these reports, identifying 83 alleged perpetrators, including 21 WHO staff members.
thenewhumanitarian.org/investigations…

This is a recreation made by The New Humanitarian based of testimony from a woman who has accused WHO workers of sexual misconduct:

Here is a sampling of some of the allegations from The New Humanitarian article:

“Among the 34 women who recently shared accounts of abuse, one said she was 17 when a man claiming to be a WHO worker presented her with a sex-for-work arrangement. “Sir, I’m still just a child,” she said she told him, but he insisted and brought her to a hotel where they had sex.” “My life became so bleak. This was my first time to be with a man like this, in this case, an old man. I felt awful,” she told The New Humanitarian in September, adding that she ended up with a venereal disease from the abuse.”

Another survivor was 25 when, because she was desperate for money, she accepted a sex-for-work offer from a man who said he was a WHO staffer. She said the man expected regular sex and would call her late at night.

“I didn’t want to ruin my own life,” she said. “Life is so hard as is, so I would always go whenever he called.”When she became pregnant, he stopped taking her calls, and she lost her cleaning job soon after, she recalled, adding that she then had an abortion that has left her with ongoing health problems.”

Tedros has been implicated in this scandal through his relationship with Dr. Boubacar Diallo. An AP article states:

“Over 2018 and 2019, three Ebola experts, including two who worked for WHO at the time, told the AP they raised concerns about sex abuse in general, and Diallo in particular, with senior managers. But they said they were told that controlling the Ebola outbreak was more important, and two said Diallo was considered “untouchable” because of his relationship with Tedros.”

“In a speech in January 2019, Tedros singled out Diallo among the Ebola responders working under heavy gunfire in Beni.”
apnews.com/article/united…

When you consider that Tedros was part of the TPLF leadership that embraced a Marxist-Leninist, specifically Hoxhaist, ideology in the 1980s through their MLLT vanguard party, his support and praise for China during the pandemic makes a lot more sense.

Hoxhaism is an anti-revisionist and dogmatic form of Marxism-Leninism that adheres strictly to the ideological line and policies of Enver Hoxha, the former leader of socialist Albania. The guy was a completely narcissistic madman.

The TPLF has since said they have moderated their Marxist-Leninist views but there is little proof of that. It is more likely that they take that stance because of the social stigma placed on Marixist ideology.

Since joining the WHO Tedros has also joined forces with Bills Gates for a variety of “Global Health” projects. For instance, during his initial days in office, Dr. Tedros met with Gates to discuss collaborative efforts on primary health care and other health initiatives. The Gates Foundation, being one of the largest donors to the WHO, has significantly influenced the organization's agenda.
fic.nih.gov/News/GlobalHea…

Bill Gates is no stranger to controversy and even has his own history of introducing vaccination campaigns to “developing” countries that happen to end up sterilizing and harming people. The long drawn out genocide of the Amhara people that happened while Tedros was a leader in the TPLF via policies geared towards those evil ends, should give the world pause about the reasons he is now Director General of the World Health Organization.

How anyone can support this man as the Director General of the WHO given his verifiable troubled past riddled with scandal, impropriety, genocide and Marxist-Leninist ideology is an indictment of the institution that wants to dictate what constitutes “global health” for the rest of us.

It seems Tedros is quite adept at making things go away that could tarnish his reputation. This is of course, with the help of his friends in high places.

This thread was adapted from an article of the same name that was just published on my substack here:

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