Ethiopia loot: Meles tops list of millionaire officials

By Our Staff Writer; June 23, 2005

ADDIS ABABA (June 23) – Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and 14 of his top officials have stashed away at least $238 million dollars out of which Meles, the mayor of Addis and a top confident of the premier have a combined deposit of $100 million in overseas banks, a radio reported on Wednesday.

Meles, Addis Ababa Mayor Arkebe Ekubai, and TPLF founder and Meles Zenawi’s mentor Sebhat Nega were having their deposits in Bank of Malaysia and Deutsche Bank, Tensae Radio reported yesterday.

The radio said it has the evidence which verifies the loot of the Ethiopian treasury by the top-notch of the regime which is trying to contain public protests through killings, detentions and prolonging a state of emergency.

Reported in the loot of treasury of one of the world’s poorest countries is also the president of the Addis Ababa University, Prof. Endreas Eshete as well as Education Minister Genet Zewde, all with close ties to the ruling party.

The radio said the officials had a history of stashing away the funds and depositing them under the names of their direct family members.

Meles and his ruling party owns a chain of multi-million-dollar business establishments registered as “endowment funds” and are exemptred from taxation.

Almost all of Meles Zenawi’s officials were defeated in elections held in May but subsequent decreeing of a state of emergency and the brutal killings of unarmed demonstrators in Addis on June 8 has cast uncertainty about the future of the country , prompting observers to ask whether the looters would rely on violence to continue as government, or flee the country as most of the officials have their families settled in western capitals.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Ethiopia receives about $2 billion a year in humanitarian aid for survival.