Mugabe removed as WHO goodwill envoy after outrage

[webfact]

Mugabe removed as WHO goodwill envoy after outrage

By Stephanie Nebehay and Kate Kelland

 

FILE PHOTO Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe attends the 2nd Session of the South Africa-Zimbabwe Bi-National Commission in Pretoria, South Africa October 3, 2017. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/Files

 

GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has been removed as a goodwill ambassador, the World Health Organization said on Sunday, following outrage among Western donors and rights groups at his appointment.

 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus named Mugabe to the largely ceremonial post at a meeting on Wednesday in Uruguay on chronic diseases attended by both men.

 

At the time, Tedros praised Zimbabwe as "a country that places universal health coverage and health promotion at the centre of its policies to provide healthcare to all".

 

But Tedros said in a statement that he had listened to those expressing concerns and heard the "different issues" raised.

 

"Over the last few days, I have reflected on my appointment of H.E. President Robert Mugabe as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for NCDs (non-communicable diseases) in Africa. As a result I have decided to rescind the appointment," Tedros said.

 

The decision had been taken after consultation with the Harare government and was "in the best interests of the World Health Organization", he said.

 

Jeremy Farrar, a global health specialist and director of the Wellcome Trust charity and the NCD alliance, representing health groups combating chronic diseases, welcomed the reversal.

 

"Dr Tedros deserves all our support to ensure he and WHO build a global health movement that is inclusive and works to improve health for everyone," Farrar said in a statement.

 

Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Walter Muzembi accepted the move while insisting that WHO had "benefited tremendously" from having nominated Mugabe and the media buzz it brought to health issues.

 

"So on the balance, it is wiser to let go, and help WHO focus on its mandate while we focus Zimbabwe on its membership obligations," Muzembi said in a government statement.

 

Several former and current WHO staff had said privately they were appalled at the "poor judgement" and "miscalculation" by Tedros, elected the first African head of WHO in May.

 

Mugabe was head of the African Union when the bloc endorsed Tedros - a former health and foreign minister of Ethiopia - over other African candidates for the top post, without any real regional contest, they said.

 

Mugabe, 93, is blamed in the West for destroying Zimbabwe's economy and for numerous human rights abuses during his 37 years leading the country as either president or prime minister.

 

Britain had said Mugabe's appointment as a goodwill ambassador was "surprising and disappointing" and that it risked overshadowing the WHO's global work. The United States, which has imposed sanctions on Mugabe for alleged human rights violations, also voiced disappointment.

 

"He (Tedros) has to remember where his funding comes from," said one health official who declined to be identified.

 

The Trump administration, which is already questioning financial support for some United Nations agencies, is WHO's largest single donor.

 

WHO is struggling to recover a reputation tarnished by its slowness in tackling the Ebola epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa from 2014-2015 under Tedros' predecessor, Margaret Chan.

 

The agency is now grappling with a massive cholera outbreak in Yemen that has infected some 800,000 people in the past year and a plague outbreak in Madagascar that has killed nearly 100 in two months.

 

(Additional reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe in Harare, editing by Larry King)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-10-23

[nausea]

Who is this guy Tedros and how did such an incompetent get appointed?

[FreddieRoyle]

I hope this Tedros is one day forced to use the Zimbabwe public health system for a serious medical situation. One person he will not be meeting in hospital is Bob Mugabe, who does all his medical affairs over in Singapore. Funny that.

[LannaGuy]

Please remove the moron who suggested it.

[DoctorG]

45 minutes ago, nausea said:

Who is this guy Tedros and how did such an incompetent get appointed?

You scratch my back etc

 

If Tedros is not as corrupt as many African "elites" then he must live in a bubble. It can only be one or the other.

[Naam]

5 minutes ago, LannaGuy said:

Please remove the moron who suggested it.

[hansnl]

And now go onto remove the other offending UN figures sitting in commissions for this or that while coming from countries practising the opposite.

[klauskunkel]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

"Dr Tedros deserves all our support"

for being a clueless idiot, and we need much more of these idiots in influential positions and making decisions

Edited October 23, 2017 by klauskunkel

[phantomfiddler]

Life,s golden rule .... when you make a mistake .... do  your best to correct it ! In this case a huge mistake as mugabe is nothing more than a colostomy bag in need of emptying.

[ezzra]

Now that the position is vacant who are they going to give it to? Syria's Bashar al Assad, ISIS Abu Backar al Bagdadai or maybe Kim Un Jun? but the latter is too busy starving his people and going nuclear....

[boomerangutang]

Good. Mugabe is a buttplug.

[AhFarangJa]

It must have been a big bung into a bank account ........ Nobody could be some dim with only one head otherwise....

[bert bloggs]

Mugabe put him in the position he now holds ,so just paying the favour back .

[craigt3365]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tedros_Adhanom

 

He seems to be a very capable person.  Born in Eritrea and held numerous positions in health care for the Ethiopian government.  He's got some impressive accomplishments.  Why he would recommend Mugabe is bizarre.  Luckily, that's been stopped.

[bert bloggs]

15 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tedros_Adhanom

 

He seems to be a very capable person.  Born in Eritrea and held numerous positions in health care for the Ethiopian government.  He's got some impressive accomplishments.  Why he would recommend Mugabe is bizarre.  Luckily, that's been stopped.

see above .

[steven100]

and here's me thinking Mugabe is nothing more than an a** hole .... 

[Sydebolle]

If you are in the REMOVAL mode then please add WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus  also to the list of those to be honored by such treatment. This fellow is a disgrace to the UN in general, the WHO in particular and should be fired on the spot. 

[craigt3365]

7 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

If you are in the REMOVAL mode then please add WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus  also to the list of those to be honored by such treatment. This fellow is a disgrace to the UN in general, the WHO in particular and should be fired on the spot. 

So ignore all of this man's accomplishments and fire him for one bad decision?  Really?

[eliotness]

46 minutes ago, steven100 said:

and here's me thinking Mugabe is nothing more than an a** hole .... 

 

That man was responsible for the murder of thousands of his countrymen.  He is far worse than just an a...hole, he is a very evil bastard.

[YetAnother]

5 minutes ago, eliotness said:

 

That man was responsible for the murder of thousands of his countrymen.  He is far worse than just an a...hole, he is a very evil bastard.

so that still leaves all of us scratching our heads on the initial appointment; surely the appointer knew these things

[craigt3365]

8 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

so that still leaves all of us scratching our heads on the initial appointment; surely the appointer knew these things

Seems Mugabe got him the position.  Trying to pay him back?  Definitely a bad decision.

[Andaman Al]

2 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

So ignore all of this man's accomplishments and fire him for one bad decision?  Really?

Well in all honesty, there are 'bad decisions' and decisions that can only be rationalised by assuming there was a large bank transfer involved somewhere. It is a bit like appointing  Dr Joseph Mengele as Head of Great Ormand Street hospital or Ted Bundy as Local Community supervisor, Charles Manson as Head of Pre-Natal care units. The only thing that the WHO should have recommended Mugabe for would be as the guinea pig for any new vaccines with any suspected deadly toxic side effects.

[Baerboxer]

"Mugabe was head of the African Union when the bloc endorsed Tedros - a former health and foreign minister of Ethiopia - over other African candidates for the top post, without any real regional contest, they said."

 

There's the answer, right there! Poor judgement my arse. He was paying back his debt!

[KBsinter]

The most evil corrupt, criminal in Africa, "and that saying something" I knew someone who regularly visited Mugabe as a agricultural expert for the UK goverment,

whow the stories would shock you,(he was on first name terms with Mugabe).......... 

[Lokie]

14 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

Life,s golden rule .... when you make a mistake .... do  your best to correct it ! In this case a huge mistake as mugabe is nothing more than a colostomy bag in need of emptying.

Although a colostomy bag is useful, they say the good die young? maybe why this P O S is now 93. Hopefully he will fade into a sad helpless old fool who may meet a fate as bad as some of the ends dealt to thousands of innocents under his rule. An horrible excuse for a human being...

[Stargeezr]

anyone who thought that Bob was a good choice , as a good  anything, should have to go visit his country and walk the streets alone at night. See how nice the country is, and just how really nice Mugabe is as well.

Geezer

[Sydebolle]

20 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

So ignore all of this man's accomplishments and fire him for one bad decision?  Really?

Maybe the WHO job is too demanding; so put the man back where he belongs and where he can achieve something. Once QE2 knew what Mugabe was all about she de-knighted him without further delay. So the WHO chief either clearly did not do his homework or was paying back a non-monetary debt. 

Such a person is definitely NOT fit to run the WHO - me thinks ..........