Local NGO closed down by authorities

A local NGO has been closed and its director jailed after being accused of corruption, sources told IRIN on Friday. Mahmud Abdi Ahmad, the head of the Ogaden Welfare Society (OWS), was arrested and being held in the federal jail in Jijiga, sources close to the case said. The charity, along with another local NGO, Guardian, had been at the centre of a row with the Ethiopian government after being accused of "threatening national security". Their offices in the Somali Regional State were raided by police in May and closed down after being banned from operating by the justice ministry. After initially winning the right to continue operating, pending a court case, the OWS was eventually banned from operating in August. Mahmud was arrested a month later. An appeal by the OWS has now been lodged with the High Court, but no date has been set for the hearing. The OWS was contending that it was the victim of a recent power struggle within the regional state’s ruling political party, saying its lawyers would fight the case all the way, the sources said. "We do not hold out much hope. I don’t think the government wants to reverse this decision. The court has approved the decision from the ministry of justice," one of them told IRIN. The OWS, which receives funding from international organisations like Christian Aid, employs more than 300 people, who are feeding up to 1,000 children a week. The charity cares for some 500,000 people in the Somali State, which suffers from one of the harshest environments in Ethiopia. It also looks after 12,000 internally displaced persons in Gunagadao, southeastern Ethiopia. Staff at the OWS regional office were told not to remove anything when the premises were raided. All the charity's property was subsequently confiscated. A petition signed by 200 elders and chiefs was delivered to the prime minister, appealing to him to reverse the justice ministry's decision. The Christian Relief and Development Association, which lobbies on behalf of NGOs in Ethiopia, has expressed concern over the case. Guardian has been providing 6,000 people with food in Gode, an area hard hit by the 2000 famine. Its chairman, Dr Korfa Garane, who is a member of the country's Council of People's of Representatives, has lobbied on Guardian's behalf. The charity was unavailable to confirm whether or not it was still closed down.