ADDIS ABABA – African leaders have continued expressing supports to the World Health Organization,WHO, and its DirectorGeneral, Ethiopia’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus; following an attack on the world health body by American president Donald Trump. As the debate continued over the truth in Trump’s claim, the African Union Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, posted support for the WHO and Tedros in a tweet of April 8.
That tweet set off a reaction from a number of African leaders. According to Africanews, among African leaders that expressed supports include Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Hage Geingob of Nambia and Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria. The Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedu Andergachew also posted support for Tedros and the WHO. Tedros was a former Foreign Minister of Ethiopia having previously held the Health portfolio. South African president Cyril Ramaphosa who doubles as Chairperson of the African Union also weighed in reiterating the call for global solidarity.
“The most potent weapon against COVID-19 and its devastating health, social & economic impact is international cooperation & solidarity,” he said in a tweet. Ramaphosa later issued a full statement in his capacity as AU president reaffirming the continent’s support for the WHO. “Overall the AU recognizes and appreciates the good work that has been undertaken by the WHO and notes with a sense of satisfaction the various initiatives and measures that are continuously undertaken by the organization to mitigate the spread of the pandemic such as mobilizing resources, sharing real-time information and providing technical and material support,” the statement concluded. Kagame’s response read in part: “Is it Dr. Tedros, WHO, China …under attack or all of them together? Let’s focus on the fight against this pandemic, whoever should be held accountable will come later and done properly.
Save us too much politics, Africa does not need it. Who does?” During his daily briefing on the coronavirus pandemic, Tedros had declined to respond to questions about Trump’s specific criticisms and said, “Why would I care about being attacked when people are dying? I know that I am just an individual. Tedros is just a dot in the whole universe. I prefer to really focus on saving lives,” he said at the media briefing. For her part, Ethiopian president Sahlework Zewde posted on Twitter: “Our global priority is to save lives. WHO under Dr. Tedros’ effective leadership, are delivering on their mandate at a time we need them most. Let’s give them the space. COVID-19 is killing many. We must support & protect the most vulnerable. Now is not the time for blame game.”
The Ethiopian Herald April 10/2020
BY STAFF REPORTER
