Abiy Ahmed secretly monitored Ethiopia's ministers... using intelligence measures

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The day after his reappointment and coinciding with the formation of his new government, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed revealed that the process of selecting new ministers included “secret intelligence procedures” that included examining the candidates’ relationships and communications with their family members and those close to them.

Abiy said, during the session to approve the new government before the Ethiopian House of Representatives on Friday, that ministers and ministries have undergone, during the last period, procedures that he described as important, including intelligence measures to follow up on the relationships and communications between the candidates and their family members, including children, wives, and parents, as well as the people they communicate with.

He also added that the scrutiny process was not limited to candidates for ministerial positions, but rather extended to their close circles and their relationships with wealthy people, as part of an intensive evaluation process that continued over the past year.

While he considered that these measures came within the framework of an audit that he said was aimed at ensuring integrity and excluding those with suspicions, he added: “We did not appoint any person who has suspicious tendencies, or belongs to suspicious circles, as a member of the Council of Ministers.” On the other hand, the Ethiopian Prime Minister refrained from revealing more details about the intelligence procedures before Parliament, saying that some information is better not to disclose.

Abiy Ahmed's statements came after his reappointment as Prime Minister, after the ruling Prosperity Party won a wide majority in the elections that took place last June.

It is noteworthy that Abiy Ahmed assumed the presidency of the Ethiopian government in April 2018, after widespread protests against the ruling coalition at the time, and has led the country since then amid continuing political, security and economic challenges.

But his new term begins at a time when Ethiopia is facing pressure to accelerate economic reforms, improve public services, and enhance accountability, coinciding with renewed tensions in the north of the country between federal forces and fighters of the Tigray People's Liberation Front, about four years after the Pretoria Agreement, which ended a two-year war.

The new mandate also coincides with regional tensions, in light of the sharp dispute with Eritrea over Abiy Ahmed’s efforts to obtain a sea port, while Asmara and Addis Ababa severed diplomatic relations last week.