Ethiopia’s new anti-corruption committee is composed of seven members
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The level of corruption in Ethiopia has been growing in the past twenty or so years unprecedentedly in the history of the country.
Not only that it became prevalent across the country but also an anti-corruption commission formed to fight it proved ineffective.
When Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed made his latest appearance at the Ethiopian Parliament earlier this week, corruption in the country was one of the issues he was facing.
He admitted that it has become common in the government structure and the fight against it has been not so productive.
A few days after his parliamentary appearance, he announced a new anti-corruption committee composed of seven members.
The Minister for Justice, Gideon Timoteos, and the Director for Ethiopia’s Intelligence, Temesgen Tiruneh, are included in the committee.
The remaining five members are as follows :
Teklewold Atnafu
Solomon Soka
Debele Kabeta
Samuel Urketo (PhD)
Abuduhamid Mohammed
It is apparent that the individuals named as members of the committee do not seem to have any prior experience in terms of directly fighting corruption.
In a statement he released to announce the new appointment, Ethiopian PM Abiy said “corruption has become a threat to our national security.”
He stated that it can compromise the move toward “prosperity” and that there should be a concerted effort to prevent that from happening through reform measures and the application of technologies.
He also called on the public to support the committee by way of providing information about individuals engaged in corrupt practices.
Ethiopia’s Federal Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission of Ethiopia (FEACC) was established in May, 2001, with nine regional branches based in the ethnic-based regions. As it turns out, it did not hinder the growth of corruption across the country.
Corruption now constitutes a national security challenge to Ethiopia, as the PM pointed out in his recent announcement.
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Is this so-called anti-corruption and the vice committee against public resources had what it takes to stamp out or aleat can minimize this ampant devious practice in the nation ? I mean, had they the professional background, ethics, authority and strong mandate to do their job or is it just the usual toothless and helpless previous committees and groups that Abiy often used to appoint for plethora of other pressing socio-political issues ? If it turns out the first case scenario, it is good start. Also this anti-corruption work shouldn’t be limited on federal sectors and jurisdictions it has also to examine the runway curruption. nepotism, malfience , financial embezzlements at the regional levels. Good example the Somali Region, where financial embezelments and curruption in the public sector reached unprecedented heights as we speak.
Quote: “Corruption now constitutes a national security challenge to Ethiopia, as the PM pointed out in his recent announcement.” Unquote
a) The diplomatic statement by the Honourable Prime Minster is understandable.
b) But, for the Honour of the whole country Ethiopia, let the TRUTH be admitted in action.
c) Corruption in Ethiopia is NOT a new phenomenon.
d) It has been there for time immemorial.
e) What is required by the new YOUNG Government is to take effective open action, with broadcast news there upon,
against the ‘rich’ corruption. It can be done.
f) Anything less than open action can be interpreted that the government itself is part and parcel of the underground
market.
g) What will then follow is a gimmick (putting it lightly).
h) WHAT WILL IT BE ??????
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Post Script
Dear Readers: Please note that I did not write a word more than what others have said and written in the past. That being so, the utterance of the young Prime Minister will — needless to say — be “GONE WITH THE WIND”.
Some say corruption is the 2nd oldest profession that came around when mankind said ‘we need to have laws for everyone to abide by’. Both have fine tuning themselves since then to outsmart each other over emerging technologies. Offenders were flogged, sent to prisons for years and even led to the gallows. Free enterprise or not corruption has shown the dexterity to hang around everywhere. Once it was able to latch itself on to members of governance and the connected it has become deadly to billions others. Without going to other continents just look at our own case in Africa. Look at Mengistu, Mobutu, Gaddafi, Ziad Barre, Yahya Jammeh, Paul Biya and their contemporaries. The race one to out-rich the others became fierce manifested by one coup after another by one violent form of struggle by another. Every pilferer became gripped with runaway cupidity to become a lonely man/women at the top of the looters pyramid. During my boyhood years in the 1950’s we used to hear about one or two individuals who were merchants as being millionaires. Now the race is on to be the first billionaires whether others are dead or alive. That was what observers noticed in the old country during the years 1991 and 2018. The nation’s coffers were ‘compromised’ to the tune of 30 billion in US dollars in a matter of just a decade. Dare if you can trace it!!! It just thinned away in an exclusive black hole. Dare if you can find it! The solution has been to shut off or at least tighten the spigot at the source. This commission can be a good start. I wish them nothing but success in formulating the right tool to control this nations’ killer destructive bug. Good luck y’all!!!!