a) Star Business group, a holding company prominent in merchandize as well as trucking, banking and insurance.

b) Yegeta Trading Plc, engaged in merchandising as well as trucking and just acquired a new flour mill in Addis Ababa.

c) Abeba Gidey Trading Plc. similarly prominent in transport and whole sale trade. It also was moving into a commercial farming and manufacturing by acquiring businesses from the Ethiopian Privatization Agency.

d) The Hagbes family, an established name in the business of Engineering and Agricultural Equipment Supply. It also is involved in manufacturing real estate development and the like.

e) The Monitor group, actively involved in the publishing and printing industry as well as manufacturing.

1. Transport giants like TESCO of Tigrai, Tikur Abay of Amhara and Dinsho of Oromia.
   
2. Trading houses like Guna of Tigrai, Ambassel of Amhara, Dinsho of Oromia and Wondo of the Southern Region.
   
3. A huge brewery in Gonder, a Cement Plant at Messobo, Tigrai, a Pharmaceutical Plant, a textile mill as well as an engineering plant in Tigrai.
   
4. The giant publishing, printing, broadcasting as well as advertising corporation called Mega Corporations whose General Manager is the first lady, the wife of the PM.
   
5. Hiwot Agricultural Corporation, Mesfin Engineering, Addis Consultancy, Wegagen Bank, Africa Insurance, Desalegn Agri-Mechanization, etc. etc.
   

1. The Star Business Group, Yegeta Trading and Abeba Gidey Plc. completely dominated the trucking market, including the lucrative bulk fuel transporting business.
   
2. PACs like Guna trading and Ambassel trading were completely kicked out of the merchandising business, especially from the sugar auction market; still by the same TPSCs.
   
3. The lucrative fertilizer market (both import and transport), the business of transporting food aid, etc. were all fully dominated by TPSCs to the peril of PACs.
   

While the war for markets was raging between the PACs and TPSCs; there was a much more insidious war being fought within the leadership of the EPRDF coalition, especially within the TPLF leadership. This party crisis was related to the way Prime Minister Meles and his close allies in the government handled the Ethio-Eritrean relationship in general and the war in particular. Ato Melese was severely criticized and dabbed "a traitor" by his comrades in the TPLF Central Committee, to which he responded by calling them "corrupt" and "bonopartists".

This quarrel ultimately led to total split of the party leadership into two irreconcilable groups. One led by Ato Meles and the other by the ex-Defense Minister Seeye Abraha. Using his powers as the head of government (PM), Party Chairman and commander in chief of the Armed Forces, Ato Meles took swift measures firing 13 of the 28 central committee members of his party (Ato Seeye included), the chief of staff of the Armed Forces (General Tsadkan) as well as the Air force Commander (General Abebe).

Within a fortnight, Ato Meles rushed his new anti-corruption proclamations through his parliament and had them enacted as of May 24/2001

4.        Launching The Campaign

On May 25, 2001, Ato Meles issued orders to his bodyguards, for the arrest of Ato Seeye and his family members, Ato Bitew Belay, (another member of the anti-Meles faction in the TPLF) as well as the owners and managers of selected TPSCs and state owned Enterprises. The selection was cleverly made to include the archrivals of the PM in the TPLF as well as these of his PACs in the markets Ato Minwuyelet Atnafu and four of his executives from the Star Business Group, Ms. Yeshihareg Zewdie of Yegeta Trading, Ato Berhane Gidey of Abeba Gidey Trading, Mr. Hrair of the Hagbes group as well as Ato Fitsumzeab Asgedom of the Monitor group, featured prominently in the list of detainees. Ato Mulugeta G/Medhin and Ato Hailu Legesse, two Vice Presidents of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia were also in the said list.

Furthermore Ato Belete Alemayehu the General Manager of Methara Sugar Factory, Ato Berhanu Jijo, General Manager of Wonji Sugar Factory, Ato Shewaferaw Girma the General Manager of the Sugar Industries Support Services Center as well as Ato Demelash Arega a Department Manager in the center were called into the list. Ato Abraham G/Kiristos a nephew to General Tsadkan, Ato Mihreteab Abraha the youngest brother of Ato Seeye Abraha, and Ato Eskinder Yoseph the owner of Meskel Flowers Plc, were also included.

May 26, 27 and 28 2001, being public holidays, all the above listed targets were arrested on May 29 2001 first thing in the morning. That means barely two working days after the enactment of the Anti-Corruption laws, and two months before the Anti-Corruption Commission was duly formed and organized.

These two set of detainees had nothing in common, except their being the victims of the same aggression. Most of them did not even know each other until they met in prison.

5.        The Game Plan

The police officers at the Central Investigation Department were clueless about the whole operation. There was no crime reported nor did they have a shred of evidence, what so ever. The Prime Ministers Office (the PMO) released a public statement in the evening of May 29/2001. After listing out the name of the detainees, the statement called on the General Public to send any information implicating them, through the telephone or fax. Simultaneously the houses and offices of all the detainees were meticulously searched for any evidence that would incriminate or at least connect the politicians (Ato Seeye, Ato Bitew and Ato Assefa) with the business people. Photo albums, office diaries, videos, etc. were given special emphasis in the search. General Tsadkan being the Board Chairman of Methara Sugar factory, the boardroom and the minutes of the Board's meetings were perused with the hope of finding anything that would connect the General to any of the business people. The Inspection Department Head of the CBE was ordered directly by the head of the Central Investigation Department, to conduct detailed investigations into the loan files of the business people and their companies. Similarly, the Auditor General was instructed to conduct what it called "Special Audits" on:-

- the loan files of the detainees in the CBE
- the tax files of the detainees in the Customs Authority, the Inland Revenue Authority and Addis Ababa Region Finance Bureau.
- the acquisition by Mr. Hrair and Ato Fitsum Zeab of four state owned Enterprises from the Ethiopian Privatization Agency, in which Ato Assefa Abraha ( Ato Seeye's younger brother) was a board chairman.
- the sale of Sugar through auction, by the sugar Industries Support Services Center, and
- AMCE, a local subsidiary of the Italian Truck Manufacturing Company called IVECO, for it was involved in the sale of trucks to the detainees.

While the above mentioned searches, inspections and audits were being conducted, the Central Investigation Department and senior officials both in the party and the government were busy recruiting false witnesses against Ato Seeye, Ato Assefa, and Ato Bitew. Extensive efforts were made to cajole some of the detained business people into falsely testifying against both brothers Seeye and Assefa Abraha. Some of them were even harassed and intimidated for refusing to comply with the request. The same attempt was made against General Tsadkan and Ato Alemseged G/Amlak, another- prominent member of the anti-Meles faction.

Ato Beshah Azmitie, the then General Mangaer of the Ethiopian Privatization Agency was later on thrown to jail for his refusal to testify against the Board chairman Ato Assefa. Similarly Ato Abate Kisho the administrator of the Southern Regional Government was imprisoned for his "failure to cooperate" (as they call it) against Ato Bitew Belay and Ato Seeye. Former Prime Minister Tamirat Layne who is serving a 17 years prison term, was charged along with Ato Seeye for he refused to testify against Ato Seeye, despite attempts to cajole him by promising pardon. Ato Tilahun Abbay the President of the CBE was promised ambassadorship in a beautiful European city in exchange for false statements against Ato Seeye, Ato Assefa, General Tsadkan and Ato Alemseged G/Amlak. His refusal cost him his freedom, and hence, he was charged along with 40 other bank executives and thrown to jail. Many others were obliged to flee the country and totally disappear to anywhere due to similar harassments and intimidations. Some of them seem to have succumbed to the pressure, cajoling or intimidation, hence their appearance as witnesses of the prosecutor in the on going trials.

6.        The Court Proceedings

It took six full months for the prosecutor to concoct anything that would remotely resemble a criminal charge. In the meantime and ten days after his detainment, the Federal First Instance Court ordered the release of Ato Seeye Abraha on bail. This was on June 9/2001 Friday afternoon. Despite Court orders, Police refused to obey, instead appealed to the Federal High court. The Appeal court endorsed the previous decision and ordered police to release Ato Seeye on Monday June 12/2001. On this fateful day, Ato Meles along with his "Minister of Justice" Worede Wolde Woldie drafted a note and sent one copy to the parliament and another copy to his printing company. By Tuesday morning this note turned out to be what is infamously known as the amendment to the anti-corruption law or the anti-bail law. This law sealed the issue of release on bail for all those "suspected of corruption", hence their languishing in jail up until now, and until such time in the future as they can prove there innocence.

Despite this amendment, the First Instance Court still tried to release Ato Seeye by way of implementing its pre-amendment decision, but to no avail for police re-arrested him right at the gate of the court. Another bench at the High court ordered the release of two other detainees, subsequent to their application for "Habeas Corpus" to which the prison administrator out rightly refused to obey.

After so many months and that many futile court appearances, the first charges against the detainees were lodged in the months between October and December of 2001. Literally all the charges related to events predating the enactment of the Anti-Corruption laws. These laws were stretched to cover conduct that took place between 1-8 years before the laws were proclaimed. In effect all the defendants were charged on the basis of "ex-post facto laws". The newly established anti-corruption commission filed charges against Ato Seeye, his sister, three of his brothers, and Former Prime Minister Tamirat Layne, as well the General Manager of the Ethiopian Privatization Agency (EPA) Ato Besha Azmite along with Ato Fitsumzeab of the Monitor and Mr. Hrair of Hagbes. Although every body, including the PM, knows that these two gentlemen bought the state owned Enterprises through a competitive tender, by the recommendations of the EPA Board and the written approval of the PMO, they are languishing in jail for allegedly "buying them illegally".

Their businesses are also disintegrating under what are euphemistically called receivers. Ato Seeye's primary charge is that he allegedly asked an ex-Deputy Minister of Health to employ his sister in one of the Hospitals in Addis, for a mere USD 50/month despite the fact that she is a Professional Pharmacist. She has also been charged of having "illegally" benefited from the said employment, for which she is still behind bars with the right to bail denied.

Similarly, charges were filed against the detained business people at the Federal High Court. Some of them were charged of taking "illegal" loans that were settled years back. All of them were accused of simply "borrowing" while more than 40 executives, Officers and Managers of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, including the President, were summarily thrown to jail for having recommended the approval of the loan requests. Despite the fact that more than 85% of the said loans were approved by the Board of Directors of the CBE, the Board was left unscathed while those who recommended were charged. About 90% of these loans were settled years back and according to schedule, the remaining 10% were performing regularly and yet people have been jailed just for their involvement in the deliberations as Credit Officers, Branch Managers, Loan Committee Members, etc. The basis for these charges are supposed "violations" of bank policies and procedures as stated by the special inspection reports and special audit reports.

The charges against the Managers of the Sugar Factories are much more ridiculous, for they include allegations like "selling 80 quintals of sugar to the Ministry of Defense out of the auction process" or "selling 100 quintals of sugar to the trade union canteen of the factory without tendering" etc.

Such are the charges that sustain the now infamous anti-corruption campaign of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi knowing that even if all the allegations were true, not a single one of them would constitute a criminal act, the prosecutor is evidently determined to drag the process, for as long as possible. He has arraigned 56 witnesses and 120 documents against Ato Seeye et al. At the rate of 4 witnesses per month, the process will require more than a year to come to the stage of rulings. After one full year of hearings, the bankers' case has came back to square one, just because the prosecutor falsely declared to have withdrawn the old charges and replaced them by new ones. In fact it was just a ploy, it was the old charge in a new wrapping.

Twenty months down stream, the charges have progressed no where. But for the last twenty months the owners and executives of the once dynamic TPSCs have been languishing in jail while their companies are bleeding in the hands of the stooges assigned by the PM in the name of receivers. On the other hand, overdraft and term loan accounts of these companies have been swelling due to unpaid arrears just because they were frozen by Court orders. And most of the properties under restraint were already held by the banks (private and public) as collateral to these loans.

7.        Disguised Expropriation

As at June 2001, the big PACs owed close to 4 billion Birr of loans and advances to the CBE. Almost all of them were in arrears and hence at the verge of bankruptcy. Had it not been for the political clout of the owners, the CBE would have foreclosed their assets some twenty months ago. On the other hand the total outlay to the TPSCs was much lower, and more importantly all of these loans were performing very well.

After detaining their owners and managers, the courts gave restraining orders on the assets and properties of the TPSCs. Their overdraft accounts and loan accounts were frozen. Instead of servicing these loans, the assigned administrators or receivers were made to open new blocked accounts in which they accumulate cash incomes from sales and transport services. The courts refused repeated requests by the detainees that such incomes be used to service the loans at the Banks. Except the CBE, all private banks demanded that they services the loans they advanced to the TPSCs or be allowed to foreclose on the properties they held as collateral to the loans. The courts chose to ignore all these legitimate demands, or even out rightly refused in some cases.

However, the CBE, despite the fact that it had never demanded for anything, is now being allowed to foreclose the properties of the detainees. The decision to auction the properties of some detainees has already been taken by the Bank's Management.

What a vicious game! Irrespective of the courts' verdicts, these people will have lost all their properties by the end of the process. Now that the PM's convinced of never succeeding in getting a criminal verdict against these people, he seems in a hurry to expropriate these innocent citizens in guise of foreclosure. He used the restraining orders of the courts to forcedly put the loans of the TPSCs in arrears; and then instructed his stooges at the CBE to foreclose on their properties.

And all this is done in the eyes of the Whole World, by the dints and means of the very institutions that were meant to promote the respect to law and to defend private property, and above all, under the guise of combating corruption.

8.        The Impact on the Private Sector