Date: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 11:52:33 +0200
Azeb Mesfin lost TPLF's cash cow
Saturday, August 17, 2013 _at_ 03:08 AM ed
By Abebe Gellaw
The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) has quietly removed the late
dictator's widow Azeb Mesfin from the helm of EFFORT as Chief Executive
Officer a few months after her husband's demise, it emerged.
Azeb, widely known as the 'Queen of Mega' and 'mother of corruption' among
Ethiopians, had snatched the reins of power within the Endowment Fund for
the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT) from her bitter rival Sibehat Nega and
Abadi Zemo. She was once the de facto second in command in her husband's
tyrannical regime.
The new boss appointed to as the Chief Executive Office (CEO) of TPLF's
multi-billion dollars business empire and corruption cash cow emerged to be
Berhane Kidane Mariam Yihdego, a Central Committee member of the TPLF.
According to informed sources, Berhane is a close confidant and business
partner of Sebhat Nega, a multi-millionaire in his own right like most
members of the TPLF ruling class.
Berhane, who enjoys multiple high profile positions as a privileged TPLF
loyalist, was the former General Manager of TPLF's propaganda mouthpiece
Walta Information Center from 2006 up to last year. Besides being the
President of the nepotistic and corruption-plagued Ethiopian Olympics
Committee (EOC), he sits on the boards of Wegagen Bank, which is also owned
by the TPLF, and Mekele University. The new EFFORT chief also claims to be
the founder and Deputy Board Chairman of a private company called "Ethiopian
Quality Award Organization," according to his CV.
TPLF's move to replace Azeb with the new loyalist was confirmed by Berhane
himself who recently sent an updated CV and a profile to the
Switzerland-based Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), where
he represents Ethiopia as EOC president. In his profile posted on ANOC's
website, he listed his current professional position as "Board of Director
and Chief Executive Officer of EFFORT Investment Group" since 2012. In spite
of the fact that the exact month of his appointment was not mentioned nor
made official, the ANOC website indicates that Berhane's latest profile was
updated on May 2, 2013. The French and Spanish versions of his profile web
pages also carry exactly the same information.
Walta reported recently that Berhane Kidanemariam, the new "Director of
EFFORT and TPLF CC member conducted a successful meeting with the Diaspora
in Seattle." The meeting, hosted by the Union of Tigrians in North America
(UTNA), focused on how EFFORT is implementing its objective of developing
Tigray and making it self-reliant, it stated.
Heaping praise on its former boss, Walta promoted the corrupt conglomerate's
new boss as eloquent, persuasive and visionary. "Berhane Kidane Mariam, with
his eloquent and persuasive ability, spelled out the objective of his
presence in Seattle and explained the development in Tigrai and the role of
EFFORT to uplift the hope and aspiration of many Tigrians from poverty to
self-reliance," Walta declared.
According to an insider, who confirmed the reshuffle, Azeb is deeply
resented and despised among high-ranking TPLF leaders and her fall from
grace and power has been quick and spectacular. The only playing card at her
disposal is her husband's foundation, which is not even given attention by
the TPLF bigwigs. "Without her husband, she is like a fish out of water. Her
survival among her rivals like the wicked Sibehat Nega will be short-lived.
Losing TPLF's blood-sucking machine is a big blow against Azeb," the insider
said.
Sibhat Nega has recently been quoted as saying that Meles is being used as a
cover and a bargaining chip by some who are exaggerating his success as a
ruler. The veteran TPLF strongman has been critical of those who tend to
heap praise on Meles, whom he slashed to have betrayed the TPLF and
endangered its unity by enforcing his will through his secretive inner
circle.
Meanwhile, Azeb is demanding huge plots of land around the metropolis in the
name of the Meles Zenawi foundation. "All the best land goes to the TPLF as
usual. It seems the TPLF has subverted the revolutionary slogan "land to the
tillers" with "land to the killers." All the corrupt TPLF generals and
officials have scrambled for the best land all over the country," Yalem Zew,
a political commenter said.
The late dictator appointed his wife to control the immense wealth of EFFORT
in early 2009. EFFORT, the biggest business monopoly in Ethiopia, controls
vast resources and over 60 companies in Ethiopia but TPLF claims that it is
the exclusive asset of Tigrians by virtue of their ethnicity. The corrupt
conglomerate has been widely criticized to have multi-billion birr loans
from state banks written off and for engaging in blatant tax evasion
enjoying "nonprofit" status as an endowment.
Ethiopian activists often mention the parasitic EFFORT as an example of
TPLF's apartheid policies that have deliberately created huge economic and
political disparities between the Tigrian ruling class and the oppressed
people of Ethiop
<http://addisvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/CV-of-Berhane-Kidanemariam
-CEO-of-EFFORT.pdf> CV of Berhane Kidanemariam CEO of EFFORT
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