The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) announced that it granted pardons to 503 individuals in recognition of the Christmas holiday. The release was made by prioritizing women and elderly in addition to the other legal requirements. The office also announced that 13,122 certificates were issued for individuals who applied for amnesty issued by the Parliament, excluding the beneficiaries form Gambela, Somali and Afar Regions because they had not sent the appropriate information yet.
The proclamation is effective over six months beginning in July 20, 2018 and goes until January 21, 2019 so people can petition for pardons up during that time period. There are 13 crimes eligible for pardons.
Zinabu Tule, the public relations director told journalists that their office is investigating clashes that have occurred throughout the country.
Hawassa
In Hawassa prosecutors have filed charges against multiple people for instigating violence in clashes involving Wolytia and Sidama nationalities.
In one case police presented evidence against 67 people suspected of contributing to fighting in Hawassa prison. The suspects include one high official from the prison administration and five members of the police force, according to Fekadu Tsega, Director at the OAG. The charges are based on conflict between the Wolyita and Sidam Nationalities in the prison.
The second set of charges involves the former city mayor and 33 other people for leading violence which broke out in Hawassa Town. Not every one of those 33 people are in custody as some have fled. There are 75 other people being charged with related crimes as well which Fekadu says are still being investigated.
Burayu
The clash between the Burayu and Addis Ababa youth is another event under investigation. Police believe that the violence stemmed from fights which got out of control and then were flamed by rumors and innuendo. For example, Fekadu talked about one false claim that made its way to broadcast media saying a little girl was killed and covered with the emblem of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).
A woman spoke with the media and said she saw a little girl being raped and killed. This became a major instigator for violence between Oromo and Addis Ababa youth. She later apologized saying that she made the claim because she thought it could have happened and she wanted to ‘inflate the activity’. According to the suspects under custody, they participated in violence because they saw their friends being beaten by the Addis Ababa youth when they tried to welcome their leaders to the capital city.
The situation escalated when youth tried to paint an emblem on city roads, according to Fekadu.
With regards to the events in Burayu town the Attorney General pressed charges against 109 people, while 28 are still at large. Three hundred and twenty one people were released because there was not enough evidence to try them. One of the difficulties in this case is that people traveled from Addis Ababa to fight in Burayu and then left so it was hard to determine who was involved. There are at least four police included in the charges and one station commander from Addis Ababa.
The head was charged as she and her colleagues were unable to prevent a child from being killed by a mob for wearing a t-shirt that had similar colors to the OLF emblem.
According to the update, there were about 37 individuals killed in Burayu and 28 in Addis Ababa. Two people were burnt beyond recognition.
“Political appointees and security forces actively participated in the violence,” said Fekadu discussing places like Burayu, Hawassa, Benishangul and others.
Pardons, ethnic clash tops court report
Duty-free privileges partially banned
The Government has temporally banned some duty-free privileges until the Ministry of Revenue (MoR) and the Custom Commission finish reforms targeted to stop abuse. Lack of standard on how duty-free privilege is being given out had been damaging the country’s income according to Adanach Abebe, Minister of the MoR.
When the General Auditor of the Federal Auditor General (OFAG), Gemechu Dubiso, addressed parliament last week he said people were abusing duty free privileges.
Approval of duty free requests is disorganized and lack clear standards, he stressed.
“The government gives up to 60 billion birr in revenue over a year for duty-free privileges without seeing as much benefit as much as we are waving,” said Gemechu. “The Ministry hasn’t follow-up with imported items permitted and people are bringing in more items than they are entitled to.”
He stressed that many investors re-sell items on the market, usually rebar.
Companies, he added, that are permitted to export their products are engaged in the local market sales. When the government waives its revenue it tries to encourage exports but these companies are not helping with that goal.
Adanech Abebe, agreed saying that actions are being taken to stop duty free abuse.
“There is a practice, we found different Bills of Quality (BoQ) were given for the same projects if we look at hotel projects as an example,” said Adanech. “So we need to have a proper standard for the way privileged projects operate.”
The minister stated that legal gaps are the main reasons duty free privileges are being handled in a disorganized manner and that this would soon change.
Non-centralized service is another problem as 18 organizations give out duty-free privileges, which is unique to Ethiopia.
“We are considering how to create a centralized body to give duty free privileges,” said Adanech.
They are also looking at developing a manual to help alleviate the problem.
Doraleh Port to link with Ethio-Djibouti rail
The most modern port in the region, Doraleh Multipurpose Port (DMP), has announced that it will officially commence the link with Ethio-Djibouti Railway Line in the beginning of the coming New Year.
The port, which is the biggest not only in Djibouti but in east Africa, has officially started operation in June 2017. So far it has provided the best services to clients mainly for Ethiopians, according to Wahib Dahir Aden, CEO of DMP, who met Ethiopian journalists this month.
The railway line will be connected in the near future. “The work from the other port called SGTD or the former DCT, container terminal, has already started to connect with our port,” the CEO said.
“The first lines will be connected initially in the coming two months,” he said.
“In this port we have a capacity of accommodating a big vessel of dry bulk, for instance a vessel with 80,000 metric tons of dry cargo arrived at the port for the first time and this reduced costs,” the CEO explained. The arrival of these huge vessels with a big carrying capacity means from five to USD 7 less per ton for the clients. The port with its naturally high depth is considered as one of the best in the port industry.
Big vessels are the game changers in terms of significant reduction of costs and would accelerate the land fleet with the line that will be connected in the coming months. according to the top official.
Last fiscal year RoRo cargo declined because there were not as many active importers, the CEO explained. For the past budget year due to the hard currency shortage in Ethiopia the rate of cargo has gone down. The CEO said that the fleet via his port is maintained except for the vehicles. He added that the hard currency shortage and the political instability during the past period did not affect the DMP business.
He said that the port has changed the whole process of the logistics chain in Djibouti and also for final customers that are Ethiopian import, export actors.
“It makes things more smooth and efficient than before. For example the truck arrangement is done prior the arrival to the port and the vessel arrival,” the CEO said. This has allowed the truck and vessel’s stay to be shorter than before which reduced unnecessary extra costs, according to Wahib Dahir.
In 2018 the port has handled five million tons. “The reports we get from the major liners like Messina and Ethiopian shipping, and forwarders were very good which shows the operation was successful,” the CEO said.
Industrial park exports below targets
Five industrial parks located in Bole Leme, Hawassa, Mekele, Kombolcha and Killinto have a combined export income of nearly USD 85 million. Each company on average at the industrial parks exports a little less than USD 2.8 million annually. The government spent USD 780 million to construct the industrial parks so they are disappointed that income has not met expectations so far.
The parks have over 65,000 workers and 180 companies most of which export textile products.
Temesgen Tilahun, deputy head of Industrial Parks Affairs at the Investment Commission says that income will increase as challenges are dealt with.
“Don’t forget that we are beginners when it comes to industrial parks, we have to do a lot, we have a lot to learn, more foreign companies are interested in coming and working in the park sheds which will increase our exports.”
One thing that may help is making it possible for industrial parks to create their own power.
“Honestly speaking there is a power shortage in the parks which means the companies underperform so we have to solve this while at the same time adding more parks to create more job opportunities,” Leslie Neme, CEO of the Industrial Parks Development Corporation
She added that the Industrial Parks Development Corporation is researching methods to allow companies to generate power on their own.
International brands like Levi’s, Gap Outfit, TESCO, PVH, and Tal apparel have already set foot in the developed industrial parks and are exporting their products to the global market.
Recently, Dire Dawa and Adama Industrial Parks completed construction and one has started in Adama. Two industrial parks are being built by CCECC at a cost of USD 190 million and USD 12 million respectively.
Another issue is low salaries many workers are paid less than USD 40 per month, the minimum wage in many US states is USD 15 per hour.
