While the CEO of ETC, Tesfaye Biru, is having "fun" in Germany with his wife, the Board of Directors of
ETC has flashed out for good four of the highest management team members who were best friends of Tesfaye Biru. Tesfaye Biru
had delegated one of his friends, Abebe Belayneh, as an acting CEO before he left for Germany. The board, however, flashed
out Abebe Belayneh and appointed a new acting CEO in his place. The fate of the sacked officials is unknown. The employees
of ETC expect all (INCLUDING TESFAYE BIRU) to face trial for their corrupt practices for the last almost
three years time. It is to be recalled Tesfaye Biru and his crew spent 2 Billion United States Dollars on purchase of useless
telecom equipment within the last two years and half alone. The current acting CEO is ato Abebe Gashaw. He will remain acting
until Tesfaye Biru returns from Germany.
For almost all ETC employees, disheartening news
has also come from the media, which though praised the efforts, said they may not be enough to change the perception of ETC
as a corrupt company. The independent media reportedly said: "One cannot expect that just because of what happened, ETC’s
ranking will change...It is not just because four deputy CEOs have left office or has resigned, that means the system has
changed." A pro Government newspaper advised that ETC need to go beyond individuals leaving office, saying: "We think those
individuals took advantage of the system, so what is happening should give the Ethiopian Government an opportunity to think
on how to block the loopholes in the system that allows these vultures to rob
this poor country." The sacked officials have not been so far arrested and/or prosecuted. However, many still view this in
itself as an achievement worth celebrating.
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