EthioBlog

It's supposed to be a bank, not political party...Soon everyone will take out their money to avoid uncertainty and there will be no bank left. All this nonstop endless infighting for years, they're running this large bank like a bad habesha maheber.

It looks like this Bank is sinking deeper down into the ditches. First, its major shareholders and former executives got arrested on what most people agree to be a trumped up charges. Then, its president resigned followed by a series of arrests of former and current management of the Bank, including the board chairman. Then, a new board chairman took over the Bank, replacing the one arrested. Having been run without a president for nearly two months, the Board then appointed a president from a state-owned bank while close to half of the Board members opposing it as reported by Fortune. Now, three members of the Board have tendered their resignation, their reason being, among other things, interference by major shareholders. What’s unfolding in this Bank is the first of its kind in the banking history of Ethiopia. Despite all these, the government remained silent. Why? Well, one cannot help but assume that the government itself must be behind the crises as its silence amounts to acceptance. The so-called major shareholders now running the show are known to have been avid supporters of the ruling party. It is public knowledge that some of them were in the forefront in the fundraising task to build headquarters for EPRDF. Given these facts, it looks like the government, through its supporters (proxy), has taken over the Bank as part of the scheme to control the country’s financial sector, hence building an economic empire run by the ruling party’s business powerhouse. Which bank will be the next target; Awash, NIB, United,…? Let’s wait and see.