Episode 157

ETHIOPIA: Tigray Political Feud & more – 5th Dec 2024

Taye Dendea still detained despite a court order, Fendika’s return, the Total Share Company tax amount upheld, court fees increased, Ethiopian Airlines’ flight to Liberia, and much more!

Thanks for tuning in!

Let us know what you think and what we can improve on by emailing us at info@rorshok.com 

Like what you hear? Subscribe, share, and tell your buds.

Rorshok Updates: rorshok.com/updates

We want to get to know you! Please fill in this mini-survey: https://forms.gle/NV3h5jN13cRDp2r66

Wanna avoid ads and help us financially? Follow the link: https://bit.ly/rorshok-donate

Transcript

Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 5th of December twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

The Tigray political feud up north continues with the interim regional administration and the dominant party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (or TPLF), still at odds despite reconciliation efforts. In the latest episode of this saga, the region’s capital is now in limbo because it is not exactly known who its mayor is.

The City Council voted in Redae Berhe as the mayor in its regular assembly almost two months ago, and got recognition from the TPLF. However, two months later, on Monday the 2nd of December, the region’s interim administration appointed Berhane Gebre-Eyesus as the city’s mayor. The administration said that they were the only ones with the authority to appoint mayors and other officials in the region, adding that appointments from other entities were illegitimate.

In other news, Taye Dendea, the former state minister of peace and outspoken politician, had been in jail for over a year until the Federal Supreme Court’s Cassation Bench ordered his release on bail on Monday the 2nd.

Federal prosecutors charged Taye on counts of disseminating anti-peace propaganda and unauthorized possession of firearms. The Federal High Court decided that he was not guilty of the first charge, but decided that the case against him on the unauthorized possession of weapons should proceed.

However, there was a twist in the tale, when masked individuals from the federal police crime investigation bureau forcibly took him to their office as he was leaving federal prison.

Next up, on Tuesday the 3rd, the House of People’s Representatives held its eighth ordinary assembly of the year and used the occasion to grill Kassahun Gofe, the Minister of Trade and Regional Integration. Members of the House said citizens are grappling with price hikes on food and other essentials, largely due to illicit trade activities. They asked the Minister what his office was doing to fix this.

The Minister responded that his office had taken measures against more than a hundred thousand merchants engaged in illicit trade, adding that his office shouldn’t be criticized for not taking enforcement measures. He also pointed out that production has increased, with the country producing the second-highest amount of sesame and peas in the world as well as becoming the largest producer of maize in the continent.

He admitted that there were problems such as an increased number of unauthorized checkpoints across the country, which has affected prices. He told parliament that the Ministry is working with other authorities to fix this issue.

It was a busy day for the House because it had other issues on its plate as well. Government representatives presented it with a draft bill that will criminalize the dumping or spilling of toxic chemicals into water bodies. A supervisory body will monitor water bodies to prevent toxic chemicals from being dumped. The draft bill additionally allows supervisors to enter areas where toxic chemicals have been dumped without obtaining a court warrant.

In more news from the House, a few days ago, on Friday the 29th of November, it approved another bill that sees a significant increase in court fees. Courts will charge litigators fees based on the amount disputed. Some members of the House criticized it because it can potentially alienate citizens who don’t have the means to seek access to justice.

Now let’s talk about some business developments that happened over the last week. Even though banks in the country are usually very successful, private bank Nib has been struggling. On Saturday the 30th of November, the Bank held its annual general shareholders meeting. Its executives and board admitted that the bank has been in a tough spot because of years of mismanagement that led it to run out of money. The Bank’s reputation has suffered because it simply didn’t have enough money on its hands. The chairman of the board said former executives should be held accountable. The board of directors also notified shareholders of plans to pull the Bank out of this rut. Recall that the National Bank banned the Bank’s former members from engaging in finance businesses for several years.

However, they said that despite significant setbacks, the Bank had managed over a billion birr, which is almost ten million US dollars, in profits.

Speaking of banks, at a networking event that the European Chamber organized, Mamo Mihretu, The National Bank governor, said that the country’s foreign currency reserves have reached almost six billion US dollars, doubling in a few months. Governor Mihretu attributed this increase to the policy change that the government implemented, pivoting from a fixed to a floating exchange rate — a decision he praised, saying that he's proud that his government made it happen.

He also explained that commercial banks are buying a total of five hundred million US dollars and selling seven hundred million US dollars every month. However, it’s not all good news, as his office released a report early this week saying that commercial banks have been defrauded significantly, losing more than a billion birr in total, which is more than ten million US dollars. The bank said that fraudsters have used various techniques like fake bank notes, forged cheques, and stolen ATM machines.

Total Share Company, the Ethiopian subsidiary of the French company Total Energies, will have to pay over five hundred million birr, which is over four million US dollars, in taxes after the Federal Supreme Court decided against the company’s appeal. The Federal Supreme Court upheld the decisions that the Federal High Court and the Tax Appeal Commission made concerning the case.

The key matters at issue were whether Total Share Company should pay duties in foreign exchange rates at the time when the imported goods were purchased or rates applicable when the imported goods were registered as imported. To the dismay of the company, the Court sided with this last interpretation of the law, significantly increasing its tax dues.

The company additionally argued that the tax authority is requiring it to pay more, citing undisclosed sales. However, according to the Court, the company didn’t produce enough evidence to prove this.

From private to state-owned businesses now, as Ethiopian Airlines made its inaugural flight to Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, on Saturday the 30th of November. The company executives, as well as Liberia’s president, among others, celebrated the launch of this flight service. The company’s fleet will be flying three times a week to and from Addis to Monrovia.

It was a busy week for Africa’s biggest airline, as it also revealed that it would be flying to New York, one of its six destinations in the US, every day. The carrier will also increase flights to Italy’s capital, Rome, Greece’s capital, Athens, and Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, with the last one getting an impressive number of flights - twenty-one per week. The company’s executives said that the airline will keep on increasing flights and adding new destinations, showing its position as the largest airline in the continent.

And to wrap up this week’s show, we’ve got good news from the entertainment scene. Popular cultural hotspot Fendika announced on Monday the 2nd of December that it is reopening after the municipal government decided to demolish the original location. Where did the club relocate? To the Hyatt Regency Hotel in the heart of the capital city, Addis. The hub also revealed that it will open its doors at the new location on Monday the 9th. Expats and locals alike frequent Fendika to witness and sometimes join in on cultural dances from various parts of the country.

Recall that last year we reported that the government had decided to allow the owner to renovate the original location, but the executive scrapped these plans and demolished the club as part of the Corridor Development Project. The Project aims to beautify the city by building wider sidewalks and bikelanes, demolishing establishments and homes built right by the main roads.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Do you know that besides the Rorshok Ethiopia Update, we also do others? Our latest ones are the Arctic Update, about the area north of the Arctic Circle, the Ocean Update, about the 70% of the world covered in salt water, and the Multilateral Update, about the world’s major multilateral institutions. The other ones are all country updates, we have a selection of countries from Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe. Check roroshok.com/updates for the full list, the link is in the show notes.

Ciao!

About the Podcast

Show artwork for Rorshok Ethiopia Update
Rorshok Ethiopia Update

Support us

We don’t want to have ads in the updates, which means we currently make no money doing them.
If you enjoy listening and want to help us out financially, you can do so by leaving us a tip. If you can’t help us out financially but still want to support us, please hit the subscribe button in your preferred podcast platform and tell your friends about us.
Support Rorshok Ethiopia Update
A
We haven’t had any Tips yet :( Maybe you could be the first!