Ethiopian Federal Police Charge Eleven Officials in Major Corruption Case

— The Ethiopian Federal Police announced that charges have been filed against eleven suspects following an investigation into serious corruption crimes.

In a statement issued yesterday, November 27, 2025, the Federal Police confirmed that the individuals were formally charged and taken into custody.

Defendants and Their Roles

• 1st Defendant: Ato Kifle W/Mariam Gawo, former CEO of the Ethiopian Agricultural Works Corporation.
• 2nd Defendant: Ato Woldeab Demise Kibret, Deputy CEO of the Agricultural Input Production and Supply Sector of the Corporation, and Chairman of the Soil Fertilizer Purchase Committee.
• 3rd Defendant: Ato Tensay Mecha W/Selassie, Deputy CEO of the Corporate Asset Management Sector of the Corporation, and member of the Soil Fertilizer Purchase Committee.
• 4th Defendant: Ms. Menbere Ha/mariam Negasa, Deputy CEO of the Corporate Finance Sector of the Corporation, and member of the Procurement Committee.
• 5th Defendant: Ato Million Geremew Eshetu, Senior Procurement Specialist, member and secretary of the Soil Fertilizer Procurement Committee.
• 6th Defendant: Ato Solomon Gebre Melek, Executive Director of the Agricultural Production Supply Sector, member of the Soil Fertilizer Procurement Committee, and Secretary of the National Soil Fertilizer Procurement Committee.
• 7th Defendant: Ato Mengistu Tesfa Lake, Executive Director of Input Supply at the Ministry of Agriculture, and Chairman of the National Soil Fertilizer Procurement Technical Committee.
• 8th Defendant: Ato Zelalem Dagne Rorisa, Manager of the Input Procurement and Transit Department of the Corporation.
• 9th Defendant: Captain Wondwosen Kassa Assefa, Deputy Executive Director of Ethiopian Maritime Transport and Logistics.
• 10th Defendant: Ato Tsegaye Berhe Kidanu, Director of the Inspection Directorate of the Ethiopian Conformity Assessment Organization.
• 11th Defendant: Ato Alebachew Moltot Dagen, Head of the Djibouti Branch of the Ethiopian Conformity Assessment Organization.

Allegations
According to the Federal Police, the defendants are accused of abusing their authority and violating procurement regulations, board decisions, and government authorizations related to the purchase of international soil fertilizers.

The charges allege that the group:

• Authorized improper payments of USD 204,000 for the disposal of contaminated fertilizer.
• Caused the Corporation to incur an additional USD 100,000 in transportation costs by falsely claiming equipment was removed from the Mekelle ship.
• Embezzled a total of USD 40,296,860 (equivalent to ETB 5,681,857,260), including costs associated with transporting substandard fertilizer.

Impact

• Authorities stated that the alleged misconduct resulted in significant financial losses to both the government and the public. The case is expected to proceed to trial in the coming weeks.