Note: This email statement was issued by Ali Suleiman, External Relations Manager for Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) in response to the recent article titled "Is the government serious about fighting corruption? The case of alleged fraud and corruption at ECX". The statement which characterizes the article as one that "has overstepped the boundaries of factual and honest commentary," does not deny the allegation or condemn corruption but it correctly points out that I had an open and frank telephone conversation with Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin, CEO of ECX in which we had raised and discussed a wide range of topics, including the complaint pertaining to the alleged fraud and corruption. This conversation was not included in my article because: 1) as mentioned in the statement, Dr. Eleni was not at liberty to comment directly on the investigations being conducted by other organizations; and 2) our call was off the record and I had promised to keep it that way. Notwithstanding this fact, however, it is imperative that the government fulfills its duties of impartially investigating the matter in accordance with Article 403 of the Criminal Code which states: "unless evidence is produced to the contrary, where it is proved that the material element (the act) has been committed as defined in a particular Article providing for a crime of corruption perpetrated to obtain or procure undue advantage or to cause injury, such act shall be presumed to have been committed with intent to obtain for oneself or to procure for another an undue advantage or to injure the right or interest of a third person." It is only when the outcomes of such an investigation are publicized that the allegation will be deemed settled. At a minimum, that is what it takes to earn the public's trust.
Also, I would like to emphasize the fact that the views and opinions expressed in my writings are solely mine and not in any way related to the company that I work for. Contrary to what ECX has recklessly implied in its statement, I work voluntarily to promote the cause(s) that I am passionate about, including voicing the plight of the people and encouraging policymakers and donors to implement pro-poor policies and effectively utilize funds obtained in loans, on my spare time and by making use of my own hard earned resources. That said, I will soon share some comments on the statement. - Wondwossen Mezlekia
Also, I would like to emphasize the fact that the views and opinions expressed in my writings are solely mine and not in any way related to the company that I work for. Contrary to what ECX has recklessly implied in its statement, I work voluntarily to promote the cause(s) that I am passionate about, including voicing the plight of the people and encouraging policymakers and donors to implement pro-poor policies and effectively utilize funds obtained in loans, on my spare time and by making use of my own hard earned resources. That said, I will soon share some comments on the statement. - Wondwossen Mezlekia
Statement by ECX Regarding an Article “The Case of Alleged Fraud and corruption at the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange” posted by Wondwossen Mezlekia, March 20, 2012
Addis Ababa, March 23, 2012
Mr. Wondwossen Mezlekia is an Ethiopian-born resident of Seattle, Washington, working as a process owner at Symetra Financial, a retirement, insurance, and financial services company. He is also a self-professed coffee blogger and activist who, in his view, is helping to improve the lives of coffee farmers in Ethiopia. Over the past three years, with the understanding that Mr. Wondwossen’s interest in improving the lives of coffee farmers in Ethiopia is aligned with the vision and mission of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, ECX has regularly engaged in open dialogue and frank conversation via telephone and email with Mr. Wondwossen on any concerns he has wished to raise, as is done with all interested parties.
In January 2012, on a visit to Seattle, the CEO of ECX held a two and one half hour conversation with Mr. Wondwossen regarding the functioning of the Exchange and its impact on coffee farmers. During this conversation, Mr. Wondwossen raised the issue of an IT procurement of software, citing a complaint raised by a bidder based in South Africa. In response, the CEO gave a thorough explanation to Mr. Wondwossen on this matter, to the effect that the bid had been cancelled by the World Bank in early December 2010 after confirmation of a technical error made by the bid evaluation committee in the counting of the days of validity of the bid bond security following a bidder’s complaint. The CEO explained to Mr. Wondwossen that the bid approval procedure involved four layers of controls with an extensive review period over nearly six months. The bid evaluation report submitted by the ECX technical committee was thoroughly evaluated and approved by the procurement unit of the World Bank country office in Addis Ababa, then approved by the World Bank project leader in Addis Ababa, then submitted for extensive review by the World Bank IT procurement office in Washington. Over the period between July and end November 2010, over 30 technical queries were raised by the World Bank procurement evaluation team composed of some five World Bank experts in both Washington and Addis Ababa engaged in the review of this bid, on all aspects of the procurement process, including approving adjustments of several bid amounts for total costs omitted in the posted bid price. It is unfortunate that, due to the extension of the bid submission date by one month at the request of the bidders, the fact that the bid security validity period of one of the bidders had not been extended by the requisite additional 30 days was overlooked during this process.
This was a minor technicality in comparison to the complex parameters evaluated in great scope throughout this very detailed and careful process. Nonetheless, upon discovery of the oversight, the World Bank immediately canceled the award because no other bidder was considered responsive by its standards. As also informed to Mr. Wondwossen, while the bid in question was canceled, the World Bank project has continued and ECX is now successfully nearing the completion of the disbursement of funds for IT procurements under this project, intended to upgrade and extend the functionality of ECX’s trading system in the coming years.
As explained to Mr. Wondwossen, while the CEO was not at liberty to comment directly on investigations being conducted by other organizations, the fact that both the World Bank and the Prime Minister’s Office had conducted full investigations in 2011 is well known. Suffice to say that the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange submitted more than 1,500 pages of material in the form of documents, correspondence, emails, and other evidence to the Investigation Committee over a period of four months.
Furthermore, as also explained to Mr. Wondwossen, the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange took the initiative to approach the Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission in early 2011 to engage its expertise in helping to address concerns by market actors about rising corruption by those in the market who were engaged in offering bribes to ECX employees in the sampling and grading of commodities in warehouse sites around the country. This collaborative engagement between the Commission and ECX is what gave rise to the report on its activities submitted by the Commission.
It is unfortunate that Mr. Wondwossen Mezlekia, in his zeal to help Ethiopian coffee farmers, has overstepped the boundaries of factual and honest commentary in his recent posting on this matter. It is also important to note that while he reveals those who did not provide comment on this matter, he omits to provide the truth of the extensive and open dialogue held with the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange itself. This conduct cannot be seen as particularly helpful to anyone, least of all the farmers themselves.
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