The Ethiopian week in Review at Ezega.com

PR Log (Press Release) – Jan 03, 2009 – The leading news story this week was the re-arrest of Birtukan Mideksa, the leader of Unity for Democracy and Justice party. Birtukan faces life behind bars after a pardon she was granted last year was revoked. The government said her pardon was revoked after refusing to acknowledge that she had asked for the pardon that led to her freedom last year. The head of the party's parliamentary delegation, Temesgen Zewde, said the first step will be a legal challenge, since Birtukan's arrest appears to violate the terms of the pardon proclamation. Government spokesman Bereket rejected Temesgen's charge, describing the arrest as a technical matter with no political implications. The US government expressed concern over her arrest. "The United States is concerned about the government of Ethiopia's arrest of Unity for Democracy and Justice Party leader Birtukan Midekssa," said the US embassy information officer Darragh Paradiso. The arrest of Birtukan also caused much interest in the cyber world, with many sites providing discussions and extended coverage on this topic.

Another news headline that received much attention at Ezega.com was entitled “High profile corruption arrests continue”.  According to the article, Federal Police apprehensions of prominent businesspeople and veteran bankers has the private sector wondering where the arrests will stop. This time, Almaz Moges, whom the court ordered to return to her former post as General Manager of Nile Insurance in the appeal process, and Abebaw Desta, major shareholder of Star Business Group who had been jailed in 2001 but acquitted for alleged corruption after more than five years, have been taken into custody. Miniwyelet Atnafu, another major shareholder of Star Business Group; Temesgen Mehari, a returnee businessman also previously charged with corruption; Worku Megra, General Manger of Star Business Group, and Tesfaye Fante are all wanted by police but still at large. Police alleged that the suspects were dealing in unlawful financial guarantee bonds issued by Nile Insurance SC worth over 40.7 million birr.

At Ezega Jobs, many new and interesting vacancies were posted. Vacancy ads that received the most attention were “Accountant” by Joy Tech Plc; “Program officer” by CORDAID; “ICT Training expert” and “Computer Technician” by Oromia Information Communication Technology Agency. For more information, please visit http://www.ezega.com/index.aspx

At Ezega Real Estate, many interesting homes for sale and rent were posted. Most viewed posts were “Villa for sale in Addis Ababa” for ETB 1,973,485; “House for sale in Addis Ababa” for ETB 2,700,000; “G+1 House for sale in Nazret” for 435,000, “G+1 House for rent in Addis Ababa” for ETB 36,000; and “Villas for sale in Addis Ababa” for ETB 2,500,000. For more information, please visit http://www.ezega.com/RealEstate/Index.aspx

For detailed information on these and other posts at Ezega.com, Ethiopia’s leading online source for News, Jobs, Real Estate, Classifieds, Entertainment and Social Networking, please visit http://www.Ezega.com