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| Meles Zenawi awards a prize to business tycoon and ruling party supporter Al Amoudi (ENA) |
The Reporter has raised key questions that why in the first place was the state-owned Lege Dembi privatized in 1998, and awarded to Al Amoudi at a neglible $178 million for a 20-year concession. In 2004-2005, for instance, Ethiopia produced an estimated 8,600 pounds of gold valued at $90 million.
The paper also reminds readers why Midrok Gold of Al Amoudi has never been audited. Forbes ranked Al Amoudi in 2009 the 43rd richest person in the world with a net worth of $9 billion.
Such meteoric rise of Al Amoudi from a mere net worth of half a billion dollars in 2002 to $9 billion this year has raised the eye-brows of political pundits like Tecola Hagos, a vocal critic of the Zenawi regime.
Writing on his website under the sub-title Mohamed Al Amoudi: The black horse rider Tecola, who had known Al Amoudi in person, says the country is being devoured by the powerful three.
"Al-Amoudi, Meles Zenawi, and Sebhat Nega are the three most involved individuals in international business, foreign exchange, or the gold business at the highest governmental and corporate level in Ethiopia," writes Tecola.
"If there are formal records of receipt in foreign currency by banks and other agents of the Ministry of Finance, the facts are recorded multiple times going through the scrutiny of very many Ethiopians. However if the initial recipient of such hard currency is a private business venture controlled by a single individual owner, the account books could be cooked very easily and millions of dollars or other hard currency could be siphoned off for distribution to the corrupt Government leaders and officials without being detected."
The Reporter has asked the following key questions:
No explanation was given by the government when it offered Lege Dembi gold mine for privatization. What were the details of the concession? The South Africans had submitted bid documents. It was alleged that their sealed documents were taken to a private home, opened, 'winning' bids prepared based on the South Africans'. Indeed, the government official who did the dirty job was rewarded with riches that he now runs businesses in Atlanta, Georgia.
Before making our own report, says the Reporter, we would like to get public opinions over Ethiopia's gold affair shrouded in mystery.
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