• Five companies under the umbrella of Tiret are in trouble
• The officials were responsible for many of the decisions that led to Tiret’s bankruptcy: Anti-corruption commission head

Bereket Simon and Tadesse Kassa have been arrested in their residences in Addis Ababa on Wednesday on charges of corruption, Anti-corruption Commission of the Amhara Regional State said.

Zigale Gebeyehu, commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission said the two suspects were taken to Bahir Dar, seat of the Amhara regional state, where they were due to appear in court.

The commission has been gathering substantial evidences to bring charges against the two officials, he said. According to Zigale, Bereket and Tadesse were arrested in connection with mismanagement of funds in their roles as the heads of the immense state-owned holding company Tiret.

Zigale Gebeyehu revealed decisions from the officials to make purchases without feasibility study made Tiret to operate at a loss, eventually going bankrupt.  “While investigation would continue, there is enough evidence for pursuing the suspects in court,” he said.

The suspects were arrested to allow the police to follow up on information obtained during questioning and there are other suspects who would be followed up on, he said.

“With regards to financial irregularities in transferring shares of Dashen Beer, it could not only be Ato Bereket who approved it. Since it was decided by board members, there would be others involved,” commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission said.

“Public money have been misused for personal use, and since the officials have not carried out their duties properly, the five companies under the umbrella of Tiret have succumbed to bankruptcy,” he said.

It is to be recalled that Bereket Simon and Tadesse Kassa were dismissed from the central committee membership of ember of the Amhara Democratic Party (ADP) on August 2018.

Bereket served as minister of communication in the 1995-2012, government spokesman, 2012-2013 and Prime Minister’s Hailemariam Desalegn’s policy study and research advisor and Tadesse served as a board member of TIRET from 1995-2018.

Bereket who has been side-lined from the ruling party after the appointment of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been criticising the current administration. At a conference organized by Mekele University in mid-December, he accused the current administration of exposing the country to peril, leading foreign interference in the internal affairs of the country.

Image: Gedu Andargachew, Bereket Simon and Tadesse Kassa in Shadey celebration in Sekota town, capital of Wag Humira zone of Amhara region. 2016 Photo Sisay Guzay.

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