(Aug 02, (Global Voice))--Last week, the Ethiopian government announced the arrests of ‘top officials’ accused of ‘misdirecting public funds’ to ‘maximize their private interests,’ employing favored euphemisms for corruption.
The names of those arrested were held back until later in the week, however, with one writer on Facebook comparing the delay to a suspenseful drama series. Ultimately, when a state-backed media website revealed the list of ‘top officials’ as 48 junior government bureaucrats, middlemen and investors, the news was less groundbreaking.
On Twitter, some complained that the government had overhyped the corruption story with ‘breaking news,’ noting the list of names released did not include a single top official. The highest official called out so far is the former chief executive officer of Capital Roads Authority (Addis Ababa), a position that is nowhere near as powerful as claimed by government media.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn launched a highly publicized campaign targeting government and state-owned company officials suspected of corruption. The campaign has led to the arrest and prosecution of hundreds of officials since January 2017. Read more from Global Voice »
The names of those arrested were held back until later in the week, however, with one writer on Facebook comparing the delay to a suspenseful drama series. Ultimately, when a state-backed media website revealed the list of ‘top officials’ as 48 junior government bureaucrats, middlemen and investors, the news was less groundbreaking.
On Twitter, some complained that the government had overhyped the corruption story with ‘breaking news,’ noting the list of names released did not include a single top official. The highest official called out so far is the former chief executive officer of Capital Roads Authority (Addis Ababa), a position that is nowhere near as powerful as claimed by government media.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn launched a highly publicized campaign targeting government and state-owned company officials suspected of corruption. The campaign has led to the arrest and prosecution of hundreds of officials since January 2017. Read more from Global Voice »
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