TPLF’s Protracted Economic Sabotage as a Component of its Strategy of Balkanization

For more than two decades of its repressive rule in Ethiopia under the guise of EPRDF, terrorist TPLF was busy exploiting the economic potentials of the country through various means. From 1994 onwards, it established 34 endowment companies which were directly managed by terrorist TPLF officials including army generals and cadres loyal to the organization.

The endowment companies were established on funds and properties looted from all corners of the country for TPLF’s objective of financing rehabilitation programs in Tigray. Besides, one of the first destructive measures taken by terrorist TPLF cadres upon their entry in Addis Ababa was confiscating and looting properties in government offices and infrastructural facilities built by public fund.

Almost all the leadership of terrorist TPLF and few government officials were appointed as board chairpersons and shareholders. Terrorist TPLF generals and ministers managed to own apartments and malls through the easy access provided to them by officials of terrorist TPLF. Terrorist former officials siphoned out billions of USD through corruption and illicit financial transaction robbing the country of billions of Birr to weaken the economy to facilitate the destruction of the political order in the country.  Furthermore, terrorist TPLF was also behind the major illicit financial transactions and illegal transfer of money to foreign lands.

According to Global Financial Integrity’s estimates, between 2005 and 2014, an average of US$1,259 million to US$3,153 million dollars left Ethiopia as IFFs very year (GFI, 2014). From 1970 to 2012, the total capital flight from the country is estimated at USD 31 Billion.

This makes the country among 10 African countries most affected by IFF. The main sources of IFF in Ethiopia are trade mis-invoicing, informal remittance systems and illicit transfers by embassies and diplomatic officials. Ethiopia is also one of the countries that have a huge unaccounted-for flow of precious stones.

Manipulation and mismanagement of aid fund was one of the areas in which terrorist TPLF officials were engaged.

Dereje Faisssa, in his published article “Uneasy Partnership between EPRDF and Donors, (2020)” noted that in a period of 10 years starting from 2005, terrorist TPLF dominated EPRDF received 1.7 trillion Birr or about 26 billion USD in foreign aid but in spite of the huge amount of donations and loans the government has received, major infrastructural and industrial mega projects including 10 sugar factories, a fertilizer project and road projects that were meant to be completed on time never saw the light of day as the funds were misappropriated by TPLF appointed managers and their allied foreign firms.

For instance, according to the Office of the Attorney General which was investigating the case, none of the sugar factories or the fertilizer project awarded to MeTEC (one of the companies that were established by the terrorist TPLF to sabotage the nation’s economy) has been completed thus far. However, MeTEC was paid more than 90 per cent to some of the sugar projects. In addition, it took ETB 11 billion (€340 million) which was the total cost of the fertilizer project. MeTEC only managed to complete 40 per cent of the fertilizer project, which according to the contractual agreement should be completed some four years ago, resulting in a 100 per cent escalation on the total amount needed to complete the fertilizer project.

Although MeTEC had no mandate to provide any transport services but it bought two out-of-service ships from the state-owned Shipping & Logistics Services Enterprise at a cost of €2,9 million, the AG said. The ships were reportedly used in illegal arms trading and used to transport other contraband materials between Iran and Somalia. Furthermore, the corporation acquired five airplanes at a cost of ETB 25 million (€776,000) that was declared not to be airworthy by the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority. However, the aircrafts were used for private purposes by former MetEC officials.

According to the investigating police, MetEC also awarded the Tana Beles I Sugar factory project to a Chinese firm for close to €50 million. The company abandoned the project after completing 55 per cent of the work after already receiving full payment. Besides wasting the scarce financial resource obtained from a foreign loan, it led the government to enter a contract worth €5,6 million with another company in an effort to finalize the project.

Ethiopia was expected to start exporting sugar in 2014, but even up until 2017 the country was importing sugar. Similarly, the other mega projects (GERD and the fertilizer factories) have not been completed. The country has lost billions that were expected to be earned from exports.

The terrorist TPLF has been engaged in sabotaging the overall economic system of the country since the past three years by using its leverage built during its rule of more than two decades. According to evidences, the group has been playing significant role to the existing shortages of foreign currency, inflation and other manmade economic challenges.

With its continued attack on Amhara and Afar regions of Ethiopia by rejecting the humanitarian ceasefire that was declared by the government, this terrorist group has been destroying several social and economic institutions in the areas. Over the last 9 months, terrorist TPLF vandalized and destroyed schools, clinics, infrastructure facilities like Axum Airport and roads with total disregard of the services that these facilities would provide to promote social services in Tigray Region.

Over the last several weeks, terrorist TPLF continued to loot villages, individual households and shops owned by local merchants as part of its effort to destabilize the economic basis of the nation.

It must be stressed that terrorist TPLF was using the funds it receive from the endowment companies it established to finance ethnic conflicts across the country as a strategy for disintegrating the statehood of the country.

Ever since November 4,200, the day on which terrorist TPLF massacred hundreds of members of the ENDF in the Northern Command, the government was forced to expend more than 100 billion Birr in relief and rehabilitation programs in Tigray region inflicting unexpected expense on the government. However, continuous war, conscription of children and their mothers into the battle front have continued to characterize anti- human characteristics of terrorist TPLF.

Source: Ethiopia News Agency