Ethiopia arrests head of relief services over corruption

Ethiopia has arrested head of National Disaster Risk Management Commission amid allegations of corruption.

Commissioner Mitiku Kassa, who has run the public body since 2015, was previously the state minister for disaster risk management and food security.

In December 2019, he was also appointed as a member of UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Internal Displacement.

Tadesse Ayalewe, deputy commissioner at the federal police’s Corruption Crimes Investigation Office said Kassa 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.