Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ASMARA345
2007-04-02 13:22:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Asmara
Cable title:  

ERITREAN MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT "FROZEN"

Tags:  PGOV PINR EAID ECON ER 
pdf how-to read a cable
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FM AMEMBASSY ASMARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8805
INFO RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 6078
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1058
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1326
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 4696
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1503
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEPADJ/CJTF-HOA J2X CAMP LEMONIER DJ
C O N F I D E N T I A L ASMARA 000345 

SIPDIS

AIDAC
SIPDIS

USAID FOR AA/DCHA, FFP, OFDA
USAID FOR AA/AFR AND AFR/EA
KAMPALA FOR USAID/FFPO
NAIROBI FOR REDSO/RFFP
ADDIS FOR USAID/FHA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/01/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINR EAID ECON ER
SUBJECT: ERITREAN MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT "FROZEN"
BY GSE


Classified By: AMBASSADOR SCOTT H. DELISI FOR REASON 1.4 (B) AND (D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASMARA 000345

SIPDIS

AIDAC
SIPDIS

USAID FOR AA/DCHA, FFP, OFDA
USAID FOR AA/AFR AND AFR/EA
KAMPALA FOR USAID/FFPO
NAIROBI FOR REDSO/RFFP
ADDIS FOR USAID/FHA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/01/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINR EAID ECON ER
SUBJECT: ERITREAN MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT "FROZEN"
BY GSE


Classified By: AMBASSADOR SCOTT H. DELISI FOR REASON 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (C) President Isaias Afwerki has, by all accounts,
recently
"frozen" Minister of National Development (MOND),Woldai
Futur,
essentially stripping him of his substantive responsibilities
but
stopping short of formally dismissing him. In January the
European
Commission and World Bank both received instructions
directing them to
address all future correspondence regarding their development
programs
administered with MOND to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
Until
recently, however, it was uncertain whether Woldai would
retain a
meaningful role in other aspects of development.
Increasingly the
answer appears to be "no." Most recently an Eritrean
government
employee confirmed to Poloff that the oversight of all
development
programs, including internationally funded development
programs, had
been transferred to the MOF. Included in the reshuffle is
the Warsay-
Yekalo campaign for nation-wide economic development, which
was to be
partially funded by international partners such as the World
Bank and
European Commission. As a result, there is little left for
Woldai to
oversee and we note that the Minister, who in the past year
had
featured prominently in the pages of the
government-controlled press
has disappeared from view.

-------------- Q
"Freezing": An Eritrean Tradition
--------------


2. (C) Eritrean government officials are often "frozen" by
President
Isaias Afwerki when he believes they: are not adhering to the
party
line, have garnered too much influence, are no longer useful
to him,
or have alienated him in one way or the other. Individuals
often
maintain their titles and their pay; however, they are given
no
meaningful work, as seems to be the case at present with
Woldai.
Officials in the MOND have refused to meet with us to discuss

developments within the ministry and no one knows precisely
what
Woldai did to warrant being frozen. On many issues, such as
the
Government of the State of Eritrea's (GSE) dramatic shift on
food aid
policy to "cash for work", he was an unapologetic, and often
hard-
line, advocate of GSE positions. On other issues, however,
particularly in arguing for economic reforms sufficient to
win IMF
support for Eritrean eligibility for HIPC debt relief, he
appeared at
times to be swimming against the tide. Woldai, a U.S. legal
permanent
and employee on leave of absence from the IFC had been
allowed to work

for the GSE as the Development Minister since 2002. (Note:
Woldai's
immediate family resides in the U.S. End Note.)

--------------
The Elusive Berhane
--------------


3. (C) Meanwhile, the decision to shift many of the MOND's
responsibilities to Finance Minister Berhane Abrehe Kidane,
seems an
uncertain choice. Given his lack of engagement with the
international
community and absence of a clear track record in development,
the
shift does not appear to be based on his expertise and
experience.
His reclusive nature, although, makes it hard to assess his
capabilities. Although Berhane (known in some circles here
as "Dr.
No") has served as Minister of Finance since 2001, to the
best of our
knowledge, he has never met with any of the serving
Ambassadors in
Eritrea, routinely denying requests for meetings or even
courtesy
calls. The former World Bank Country Director, who served in
Eritrea
for three years, never received an appointment with the
Minister
during his tour. In the final months of his posting in
Eritrea, the
Country Director finally met the Minister in Washington, when
the
Minister was representing the GSE at the World Bank annual
meeting.
Neither has the designation of the Ministry of Finance as the
point of
contact for the World Bank and EC resulted in a change of
behavior for
the Minister. The Minister has not met with the new World
Bank
Country Director and the Director's daily phone calls to his
office
have not been returned. The EC has similar problems in
engaging the
Minister and is uncertain as to what the change means for the
future
of its programs here.

--------------
BIO NOTE
--------------


4. (C) Prior to serving in his current position, Berhane
reportedly
served as the acting Minister of Land, Water and the
Environment and
as the Director of Macro Policy and International Economic
Cooperation
in the Office of the President. A former fighter, he is
close to
President Isaias Afwerki and one Eritrean characterized him
as
President Isaias' "international message boy". He frequently
travels
outside of Eritrea, representing the President in Europe,
Japan,
Libya, Sudan, the Gulf States, and China (including the 2006
China-
Africa conference in Beijing as well as presenting Eritrea's
speech at
the 60th UN General Assembly). Born May 18, 1945, Berhane is
married

with children. He obtained a master's degree in civil
engineering
from the University of Illinois Champagne-Urbana in 1972.
Few of our
Eritrean contacts know much about him but one reported he is
considered to be quite arrogant, keeps to himself and does
not
socialize with President Isaias' usual whiskey-drinking
crowd.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


5. (C) With the transfer of many of the MOND's
responsibilities to
the MOF, President Isaias may well be continuing a trend of
consolidating government control under a cabal of trusted
long-time
friends and compatriots. Whatever the motivation, however,
the latest
GSE move is another strange twist in the saga of development
aid here.
Woldai Futur was often a challenging interlocutor, resistant
to
working in partnership with donors and advocating policy
positions
that seemed to fly in the face of his reputation for having a
keen
understanding of international development issues. However,
given the
Finance Minister's almost legendary inaccessibility to the
GSE's
foreign partners and his lack of apparent substantive
background on
development issues, we imagine that constructive engagement
on
development programs will only be more difficult (if that is
possible)
in the months ahead. End Comment.
DeLisi