Prime Minister gets rid of Auditor who exposed government’s corruption

ETP - Last (Ethiopian) year when the auditor General of Ethiopia, Lema Aregaw (seen here), presented his report to the House of People’s Representatives and officially exposed the deep seated corruption within the EPRDF led government of Ethiopia; everyone knew his days in office were numbered.His report indicated that close to 7.2 Billion Birr (approximately 900 million U.S dollars) was unaccounted for; most of it from the regional state coffers. It was an eventful day in the house that Tuesday; it was also the day when the very infuriated prime Minister gave the now infamous ‘the right to burn money’ speech. “The regional administrations” Prime Minister Meles said, “had the authority that could go as far as burning the money they received as subsidies from the federal government if they wished to do so”As expected, in a letter dated November 10, 2006, Prime Minister Meles has relived the auditor general from all his duties. What the Prime Minister did is of course illegal, since the law clearly states that only the parliament has the authority to remove the Auditor General from his position. Proclamation 68/1997 sub article (4) article 101 of the constitution states “the Auditor General is accountable to the Council of Peoples' Representatives and between sessions is accountable to the President of Ethiopia” Mr. Lemma Argaw has served as Auditor General for thirty years. He was appointed to his post in 1979 during the derg era; because of his professional reputation and unpartisan reports, he had managed to hang on to his post for decades.