Election board chief arrested on corruption charges

The head of Ethiopia’s National Election Board has been arrested on charges of corruption and is expected to appear in court on Wednesday. Assefa Birru was held on Monday at the central police department in Addis Ababa after being accused of abuse of power by the Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. This is one of the most high profile arrests by the anti-corruption task force. Assefa is also the first person in the country to be charged with “obstructing” its work. “Let this be a warning to other officials,” Abraham Gozguze from the commission told IRIN. “Unless we fight corruption we will not build this country.” Assefa faces a single charge of abuse of power and also obstructing the work of the two-year-old anti-corruption commission. If convicted on both charges, Assefa could face a maximum of 25 years in jail and face a fine of 40,000 Ethiopian birr (US $4,600). “We are also investigating an embezzlement, fraud in his office,” Abraham added. He said Assefa had been under investigation for two months, but added that his arrest had no implications for elections in Ethiopia, neither was it related to election irregularities. The National Election Board was set up by the government before the first elections in Ethiopia in 1995 to monitor and ensure voting was fair. But critics argue that as a government body, it is not independent and have described its work as “window dressing”. At least 24 anti-corruption cases are still pending in Ethiopia involving several hundred people, added Abraham. Although the anti-corruption task force has made dozens of arrests, several high profile figures have been freed once their cases have been brought to court. Abraham dismissed claims that arrests made by the anti-corruption commission have been politically motivated.