WASHINGTON – As Ethiopia slips further and further into the quagmire of a failed state, top-notch officials are fleeing the country before the immigration door is slam shut for them and their immediate family members.
Within a space of two weeks, the ruling party of Meles Zenawi has lost two officials who could have been described its most trust worthy.
Eshetu Alemu (top left photo), director of the state-owned Ethiopian Telecommunications Agency (ETA) has reportedly sought a political asylum in the United States.
The online Reporter said the ETA chief travelled to the US early in May to attend a two-week executive management training. He was expected to return home but the media was tipped that he had sought a political asylum in Washington.
Earlier last week, AFP reported that the country’s state minister for communication affairs has refused to return home from the United States.
“Ermias Legesse was issued with an 11-day visa and left for the US in the second week of June, but has not returned,” according to AFP.
“He didn’t report back, but there is nothing political in that,” said an official who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.
“He has chosen to stay there. It seems he has dreamt about going to the US,” he added. “Sometimes strange things happen.”
Ermias, who is in his thirties, was appointed to the position earlier this year.
The US Embassy in Addis Ababa declined to comment on the matter, but a diplomatic source said Ermias “has not been reachable for several days.”
[Meanwhile, the Reporter said Ermias had already sent his resignation paper to Meles Zenawi.]
Despite deepening political and economic crises brought about by the policies of a reviled regime, observers say Meles Zenawi would tap into the strength of his vicious security forces to hang onto power indefinitely.
