At Abyssinia Bank and others…

By Our Contributor

February 6, 2006

Ethiopian Protest in Washington DC (Feb 1, 2006)

ADDIS ABABA – After the June and October anti-EPRDF protests, it is common to see notices on every walls of Addis Ababa that ask a possible locator for their missing loved ones. One can see these notices on the doors and walls of almost all churches, privately owned and governmental buildings. Most of the missing ones are males starting from age 11-60. It is uncommon to see such notices before. Many associated it with the EPRDF mass detention and hiding the whereabouts of the detainees.

Abyssinia Bank was crowded last Thursday, Friday and Saturday by customers who were asking for their provident fund payback. The bank clerks were busy at handling the large crowd. Bank officials were sad seeing refunding several millions in a few days. The same is observed in other private banks in the city. Many say it will have a big impact with the Banks performance. It is to be recalled that the government has the plan to change NGO employees provident fund to pension and take the money. Many other customers are rushing to collect their provident funds before seeing the government confiscated their money.