Former Director General of Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) Zayid Woldegebriel was among 14 individuals charged with corruption offenses before the Ethiopia Federal High Court in Addis Ababa on Friday.
The other defendants include Abdo Mohammed, engineering and operation Deputy Director General at ERA, and 10 officials of the ongoing Tendaho sugar factory project in Ethiopia’s Afar regional state located in northeastern Ethiopia.
The 14 defendants are accused of swindling the Ethiopian government millions of U.S. dollars by awarding companies in fraudulent tender bids, illegal payment deals with contractors and failing to ensure the quality of sugar and road projects undertaken by winning contractors.
The Federal High Court adjourned to October 3, to hear the defense from the accused.
The Ethiopian Government has indicated that the large-scale anti-corruption investigation and arrest of high profile individuals is part of the Ethiopian government’s reform agenda, which was started at the end of 2016 following mass protests in various parts of the country.
The Ethiopian government has since then stressed bad governance and corruption among the major reasons for the preoccupations of the public that rocked the East African country back in late 2016.
The anti-corruption sweep has so far led to the arrest of a Brigadier General, a Deputy Minister of Ethiopia Finance and Economic Cooperation and former head of Ethiopian Roads Authority.
