The Ethiopian Federal Anti-Corruption Commission (FACC) has arrested 16 people including top government officials  on suspicion of  ”corruption related crimes” this afternoon, State TV announced.  Melaku Fenta, Director of Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority (ERCA) and member of the Executive Committee of Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) and the ruling coalition EPRDF and  Gebrewahid Woldegiorgis, Deputy Director and Head of Law Enforcement at the ERCA are among those detained.

 Mihreteab Abraha, one of the 16 people detained yesterday, is said to be younger brother of Ex-TPLF Commander now opposition, Siye Abraha.

In a very similar crackdown in May 2001, the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi  arrested Seye Abraha and his three brothers, Assefa Abraha, Mehreteab Abraha, and Fesseha Abreha, the former head of the regional affairs bureau in the Prime Ministers Office, Bitew Belai and the owners of the Star Business Group, Minwiyelet Atnafu, Abebaw Desta, Worku Megra, Abebaw Gelaye and Asnake Jembere, for allegedly being involved in corruption. All have later been released in different occasions after serving years in prison.

The 2001 arrest was criticised as a crackdown on Siye Abraha,  who then fell out with Meles and was said to be organising a  ”coup”.

Star Business Group was a family business of people who hail from Gojjam as is now the case when brothers Ketema Kebede and Simachew Kebede, owners of KK Trading and Intercontinental Hotel have been arrested along with government officials and particularly brother of Siye Abraha.

The Addis Abeba based English weekly, Addis Fortune today reported that the Minister of Justice, Berhan Hailu has been fired from his post by Prime Minister Hailemariam. It is to be recalled that in 2001 when Siye and Star Business Group owners were arrested, Bertukan Mideksa, the then Judge who released Siye on bail, has been fired. Berhan Hailu and Melaku Fenta are memebrs of the Executive Committee of ANDM and EPRDF. Both are also members of the Parliament and the Ministers Cabinet.

Based on tips that the Commission got from the public and conducting an investigation in liaison with the National Information Service and after gathering sufficient human and material evidence, the Commission has put the suspects under police custody until the case appears before Court they will remain in Prison, the Commission said in its statement.

Melaku was an official at the Prime Minister’s Office during the late PM Meles’ tenure before he was appointed to the Authority.

In a related news, the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) Executive Committee is holding a meeting today in Addis Abeba. The Front is said to be discussing the results of the recent local and city council elections and recent developments within the Party.

The rest of those detained yesterday were :

1.እሸቱ ወልደሰማያት – በገቢዎችና ጉምሩክ ባለስልጣን የአቃቤ ህግ ዳይሬክቶሬት ዳይሬክተር
Eshetu Wodesmayat – Prosecutor Directorate Director at ERCA

2.አስመላሽ ወልደማሪያም- የቃሊቲ ጉምሩክ ኃላፊ
Asmelash Woldemariam- Kaliti Customs Head

3.ጥሩነህ በርታ- በገቢዎችና ጉምሩክ ባለስልጣን የተወረሱ ንብረቶች አስተዳደር ቡድን መሪ
Tiruneh Berta – ERCA Confiscation Admin Group Head

4.አምኘ ታገለ- የናዝሬት ጉምሩክ ኃላፊ
Amogne Tagele – Nazret Customs Head

5.ሙሉጌታ ጋሻው- በኦሮሚያ ልዩ ዞን መሀንዲስ
Mulugeta Gashaw – Oromia Zone Engineer

6.ከተማ ከበደ- የኬኬ ትሬዲንግ ባለቤት
Ketema Kebede – Owner of KK Trading

7.ስማቸው ከበደ- የኢንተርኮንቴንታል ሆቴል ባለቤት
Semachew Kebede – Owner of Intercontinental Hotel

8.ምህረት አብ አብርሀ- ባለሀብት
Mehreteab Abraha – Investor and younger brother of Siye Abraha

9.ነጋ ገብረእግዚአብሄር- የነፃ ትሬዲግ ኃላፊነቱ የተወሰነ የግል ማህበር ባለቤት
Nega G/Egziabher – Owner of Netsa Trading PLC

10.ዘሪሁን ዘውዴ -ትራንዚተርና ደላላ
Zerihun Zewede – Transistor and Broker

11.ማርሸት ተስፉ – ትራንዚተርና ደላላ ናቸው፡፡
Marishet Assefa – Transistor and Broker