Generals are well off in Ethiopia

ETHIOPIA POLITICS & POWER/ON THE LINE

Generals are well off in Ethiopia

Ethiopian generals, who for the vast majority are Tigrayan, 

have a good many material advantages, such as free petrol 

(gasoline), an official car, free electricity and water, to 

name but a few. However, in some cases, these 

advantages can go even further, such as the possibility to 

import domestic equipment financed by the ministry for 

defence. They have also benefited from plots of land in the 

Bole neighbourhood in Addis Ababa and some of these 

generals were attributed official housing during the time 

when the late Meles Zenawi was Prime Minister. Some of 

them, like General Tadesse Gawna and Colonel Tsehaye 

Manjus, had no qualms about selling the plots of land they 

had been attributed. Others rent their official dwellings to 

third parties. One who does precisely this is General Gezae 

Abera who headed the army logistics department before 

going to live (asylum) in Sweden. Others are Generals 

Gebre Egziabher Mebratu, Teklai Ashebir and Fisseha 

Kidane, who receive monthly rents of between 30 and 

40,000 birrs (€1100 to €1500) each.

Indian Ocean Newsletter 25/11/2013 n°1366 - 25/10/2013