Another critical official sacked

The Eritrean government has sacked another of the 15 officials who signed a letter in March criticising President Isayas Afewerki for operating in an autocratic manner, AFP said on Tuesday. Presidential spokesman Yemane Gebremeskel told AFP that the finance ministry had sacked its director of land revenue, Brig-Gen Estifanos Seyoum. He has been replaced by treasury head Gabriel Fasil, in a move that was described as a routine reshuffling of department heads.

Estifanos was among 15 members of the central council of the ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), who accused Isayas of working in an “illegal and unconstitutional” manner by failing to hold regular meetings with government members, as provided for under the constitution. Leaked to a web site in May, the letter represented the first visible sign of dissent in the 10 years of Isayas’s leadership since the former Ethiopian province declared separation, AFP said. Other signatories who have been dismissed include Fisheries Minister Petros Solomon and Trade and Industry Minister Haile Woldetensae, who were both founding members of Eritrea’s liberation movement.