The Ethiopian Construction Works Corporation (ECWC), one of the state-owned enterprises under Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH), has overhauled its leadership and board structure, with the reshuffle marking the latest in a series of corporate reforms across government-owned firms.

The decision includes the replacement of the corporation’s Chief Executive Officer and all board members; a move that officials say follows a comprehensive review of the company’s governance and financial standing.

Yonas Ayalew, who led the Corporation for seven years, has been relieved of his position and appointed as a state minister under the Office of the Prime Minister.

According to documents reviewed by The Reporter, the changes were made under the direction of EIH, which oversees the performance and management of state-owned commercial entities.

The board overhaul also removed former chair Aisha Mohammed, minister of Defense, and her deputy Alemu Sime (PhD), minister of Transport and Logistics.

Other outgoing board members include Abdissa Yadeta, head of Secretariat at the Transport Ministry; Abreha Adugna (PhD), a state minister of Water and Energy; Lemma Gudissa (PhD), deputy director for academic affairs at the Ethiopian Civil Service University; Afework Nigussie, deputy manager at the Information Technology Park Corporation; and Muluneh Aboye, vice president for risk and compliance at the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia.

Their replacements include Yetmgeta Asrat, a state minister at the Ministry of Urban and Infrastructure Development, who now chairs the board; Berhanu Tesfaye from the Prime Minister’s Office; Helina Belachew, CEO of the Ethiopian Railway Corporation; and Wubshet Jekale, a professor at Addis Ababa University.

Additional appointments have been made from the audit, finance, and investment sectors, including five members drawn from EIH and independent institutions. One-third of the new board now represents independent bodies, according to officials.

Robel Tsegaye, former deputy CEO of the Ethiopian Engineering Corporation, has been appointed as ECWC’s new chief.

Brook Taye (PhD), Chief Executive Officer of EIH, confirmed the board and management reshuffle was carried out as part of a broader reform plan. Speaking to The Reporter, he said the change reflects the end of a major institutional restructuring phase led by outgoing CEO Yonas.

“Yonas has been serving for about seven years. He has now completed that assignment and has been transferred to another post,” Brook said. “We are very, very grateful to him.”

Brook recalled that when Yonas assumed the leadership of ECWC, the institution was in financial and administrative distress.

“When Yonas came in, the Corporation was in a very difficult state. It had serious corporate governance problems, was burdened with huge debts, and was entangled in unresolved and outstanding issues,” he told The Reporter. “He managed to correct those issues, set the institution on the right path, and now the company is profitable.”

The EIH head explained that despite its improved profitability, ECWC’s previous debt exposure had depleted its capital base. As a result, the Corporation received government approval for recapitalization, allowing it to begin paying dividends to both the holding company and the government by end of current fiscal year.

ECWC is one of the state-owned developers involved in large public construction projects. Most recently, it signed contracts valued at 67 billion Birr as part of the Chaka Housing Development Project, a 72-billion-Birr public-private partnership set to construct more than 4,100 housing units in Addis Ababa.

The project, initiated in July 2025, includes multiple private and public developers, such as Ovid Real Estate, ICE Housing Development Consortium, and ECWC. It is implemented through a 70/30 financing structure, with ECWC handling a portion of the civil works on 24 hectares of land.

According to the Ministry of Finance, ECWC was selected for the project due to its prior experience completing eight residential buildings valued at more than 800 million Birr.

“It was selected for this project because of its experience and partnership with private housing developers,” Abebe Gebrehiwot, head of the PPP department at the Ministry of Finance, said at the time.

However, ECWC has also faced criticism for project delays. In January 2025, The Reporter cited correspondence from the Ethiopian Engineering Corporation (EEC) noting that ECWC had finalized less than a fifth of a 65-kilometer road project linking Alaba and Wato despite taking more than double the contractual period. EEC attributed the delays to management inefficiencies, while ECWC representatives cited right-of-way issues and denied resource shortages.

Despite such challenges, EIH now lists ECWC among its profit-making subsidiaries. The corporation is expected to make its first dividend payment to the holding company and the federal government by the end of the current fiscal year, according to Brook.

“The Corporation will begin paying dividends—that is the tangible measure of reform,” he said. “When a state enterprise pays back into the system, it demonstrates sustainability, accountability, and operational maturity.”

EIH executives say oversight mechanisms have been strengthened, and a third of the Corporation’s new board members now come from independent bodies.

EIH expects the new CEO, Robel Tsegaye, to continue down the reform path. Robel, who previously served as deputy CEO of the Ethiopian Engineering Corporation, is credited with building its construction division from scratch.

Data obtained from EIH indicates that under Robel’s watch, EEC reported 8.9 billion Birr in revenue for the 2024/25 fiscal year, exceeding its annual target by 17 percent and the previous year’s figure by 81 percent.

It reportedly completed 111 design projects, 272 supervision and contract administration assignments, and 53 construction projects during the reporting period.

The long-standing dispute, according to inside sources, boiled over when ECCSA demanded that AACCSA pay monthly rent for the offices it leases within the building, which also houses the offices of seven other chambers of commerce from around the country.

AACCSA and the other tenant chambers had been subject to a discounted rate (40 percent of market value) for a year, following a decision from the ECCSA board to begin charging rent in 2024.

However, AACCSA’s inability or refusal to pay rent has forced the Ethiopian chamber to seal its offices and bar its staff from entry, according to Sebsib Abafira, who was elected ECCSA president in July 2024.

He alleges that AACCSA violated the terms of its lease agreement with ECCSA, and justified his organization’s move to seal the office space as a valid legal decision.

ECCSA decided to begin charging rent in an attempt to cover costs associated with administering the building, including taxes and other expenses, according to the President. Prior to the move, AACCSA had no obligation to pay rent on the basis of a past agreement between the leadership of the two chambers.

Sebsib says the Addis Ababa Chamber and the other chambers housed within the property had been paying their rent regularly before AACCSA allegedly decided to cease payments.

A source who has served on the boards of both chambers told The Reporter that AACCSA’s objection to paying rent stems from a past decision from the Ministry of Trade granting ECCSA property rights but obliging it to accommodate other chambers of commerce within the building.

The long-serving board member views the dispute as a stain on the reputations of both chambers, and criticizes ECCSA’s unilateral decision to begin charging rent as being misguided.

The dispute with ECCSA comes as a blow to the Addis Ababa Chamber, whose plans to erect its own headquarters in the capital have made little progress.

In 2013, AACCSA unveiled the design plans for a headquarters its leaders estimated would cost upwards of 100 million Birr to construct at the time. However, a plot of land allotted to the Chamber has since been reclaimed by the Addis Ababa City Administration owing to a failure to begin construction on time.

Sources say the Chamber has filed a request for another plot and is awaiting a response from the City Administration. In December 2023, Chamber leadership told The Reporter that the planned headquarters project was expected to have a price tag in the billions of Birr.

In a letter issued on October 29, 2025, the Authority instructed no less than 100 domestic and international civil society organizations to register their assets with its offices before November 23.

Among the organizations cited in the notice are Mekedonia, Deborah Foundation, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Development and Christian Aid Commission, Catholic Aid, Full Gospel Believers Development Commission, and the Amhara Development Association.

The letter, signed by Deputy Director Fasikaw Molla, emphasized that CSOs have the legal right to own, manage, and transfer assets under the Civil Society Organization Proclamation.

However, it states that the Authority is also mandated to monitor and regulate these organizations, which includes maintaining a record of their assets to ensure that public resources are used for their intended social purposes.

The Authority argues that the lack of comprehensive data on the resources within the civil society sector necessitated this registration initiative. 

“Gathering accurate information will enable the Authority to strengthen transparency and accountability in the sector,” it reads.

Meskelu Menberu, head of fund and asset management at the Authority, told The Reporter that the registration process will proceed in phases, with the largest CSOs expected to declare their assets in the first phase.

While CSOs are already required to report their activities, financial records, and asset registry annually under the provisions of the CSO proclamation, Meskelu says there is a need to compile more in-depth information than the details provided in the annual report.

“We’re focusing on CSOs with [greater] capacity first,” he said, citing that 30 local CSOs and 70 international organizations are obliged to register their assets by next month.

An additional 100 CSOs will be expected to register before the end of the fiscal year, according to Meskelu.

The first batch of CSOs are expected to verify their assets and submit the information to the Authority via email before the deadline in three weeks’ time.

Meanwhile, officials at the Ministry of Justice are busy drafting an amendment to the CSO proclamation, which was only ratified by Parliament six years ago. Sources say they seek to revise a dozen key articles concerning registration procedures, daily operations, accounting and reporting standards, and administrative measures.

Officials at the Authority and the Ministry claim the revisions are necessary to enhance regulatory efficiency and ensure that CSOs operate in alignment with national legal and financial accountability frameworks.

However,  the proposed amendment follows more than a year of heightened government pressure on CSOs in Ethiopia, which has prompted international watchdogs and domestic observers alike to raise the alarm over what they see as an increasingly narrow civic space in the country.

In July 2024, the Authority announced its decision to revoke more than 1,500 CSO licenses for failure to meet new criteria and guidelines for registration. Less than six months later,  it suspended three prominent organizations—the Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE), the Centre for Advancement of Rights and Democracy (CARD), and Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR)—for “lacking political neutrality.”

Two months ago, Amnesty International cautioned that “repressive” provisions in the draft amendment from the Justice Ministry could further constrict the country’s civic space.

Among them is a provision that would effectively end self-governance by allowing the government to hold a majority on the boards of CSOs. A statement issued by the watchdog also warns against provisions restricting funding for political advocacy and election monitoring, and granting the Authority the power to suspend or deny CSO registration.

The monthly publication indicates that the government raised 53.35 billion Birr from two auctions during the month, while the bulk of debt holdings remained concentrated among the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), and pension funds.

The bulletin, issued on October 28, 2025, provides a detailed snapshot of market activity up to the end of September and outlines the issuance plan for the second quarter of the 2025/26 fiscal year.

It reveals a domestic debt market that is both expanding and adjusting to investor sentiment favoring short-term instruments.

Two T-bill auctions held on September 3 and 17 generated total bids worth 56.46 billion Birr—almost six percent more than the 53.35 billion Birr offered, according to the report.

“Demand continued to favor short-term securities, with the 28 and 91-day bills oversubscribed due to stronger investor appetite for short maturities,” it reads.

On the other hand, the 364-day bill was significantly undersubscribed at only 36 percent, confirming a persistently weak appetite for longer tenures amid expectations of stable short term yields.

The Ministry document outlines that between July and mid-September 2025, T- bill yields displayed mixed movements across maturities, attributing the pattern to expectations of stable short-term yields and caution over longer-term commitments.

The 28-day rate fell from 15.8 percent to 12.6 percent, the 91-day rate saw a similar three-percentage-point decline to 15.3 percent, the 182-day rate dropped from 19 percent to 15.4 percent and in contrast, the 364-day rate rose from 15 percent to 20 percent.

The Ministry’s Debt Management Division observed that the bid-to-cover ratio for longer maturities has shown gradual improvement over the quarter, suggesting better alignment between issuance strategy and market preferences.

The report notes that net issuance reached 19.7 billion in the first quarter of the budget year. The government raised a total of 164.4 billion Birr through T-bill auctions over the three-month period. After deducting 126.1 billion Birr in refinanced maturities and 18.6 billion in rollovers, the net issuance amounted to 19.7 billion Birr.

The cumulative net issuance figure represents 11.4 percent of the annual net-issuance target of 172.9 billion, indicating the amount required to finance the funding gap by treasury is slightly below expectations.

Officials view the quarter’s performance as evidence of a “positive market response” and a “gradual improvement” in investor participation across maturities.

As of September 30, 2025, Ethiopia’s total domestic debt stock stood at 2.56 trillion Birr, marking another milestone in the country’s evolving debt landscape.

Treasury bonds dominated the composition, accounting for 79 percent of the total, while T-bills represented 11.3 percent. The remainder consisted of medium-term Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) instruments and other obligations, according to the Ministry.

The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) held the largest share with about 43 percent of total domestic debt. It is followed by the NBE (26.3 percent) and pension funds (19.3 percent). Other financial institutions and insurers held the remainder.

Within the T-bill segment alone, 182-day and 364-day maturities made up 38 percent and 37 percent, respectively, of outstanding bills.  Pension funds and CBE each accounted for about 38.5 percent of total holdings, reinforcing their dominance as the primary buyers of government securities.

Other financial institutions accounted for 15.9 percent, insurance companies held 5.5 percent, and other institutions, including Ethiopian Investment Holdings, represented 1.7 percent, according to the report.

Looking ahead, the Ministry of Finance plans to issue 243.05 billion Birr in Treasury bills during the second quarter of the 2025/26 fiscal year—lasting from October 1 to December 24, 2025.

The planned volume is designed to refinance maturing obligations, meet domestic borrowing needs, and manage market liquidity, according to the Ministry. Auctions will continue on a biweekly basis, offering maturities of 28, 91, 182, and 364 days, maintaining the structure established in the first quarter.

The bulletin emphasizes predictability and transparency as guiding principles for issuance, aiming for “smooth refinancing of maturing obligations and consistent market operations.”

The Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC) has unveiled plans for a USD 1.58 billion standard-gauge railway intended to connect northern Ethiopia with the Red Sea ports of Tadjourah, Assab, and Massawa.

‎The infrastructural ambitions were laid out in a 21-page company report presented on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, during the National Railway Business and Investment Summit held at the Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa.

The document obtained by The Reporter describes the 216 kilometer, single-track Weldiya-Hara Gebeya-Mekelle standard-gauge rail project as ongoing and estimates its total cost at close to USD 1.6 billion.

‎“The railway connects Ethiopia with Tadjourah, Assab and Massawa ports,” the summary reads, situating the line squarely within the government’s broader campaign to regain maritime access.

‎When asked by The Reporter whether the Woldiya–Mekelle corridor includes the Kombolcha-Hara Gebeya section, ERC Chief Executive Officer Hilina Belachew (Eng.) clarified that the project is separate from an arbitration case involving the Awash–Kombolcha–Hara Gebeya railway (AKH) project.

‎”The Awash–Kombolcha-Hara Gebeya Project and the Woldiya–Mekelle Project are different projects. The arbitration pertaining to the former project has not yet been completed,” she said, noting that the arbitration for the AKH project with Turkish contractor Yapi Merkezi remains unresolved though most issues have reached preliminary decisions at the London Court of Arbitration.

‎Hilina added that rehabilitation programs and financing mobilization efforts are underway to resume stalled works, with new maintenance and wastewater system fixes planned for the fiscal year.

‎The dispute between the Corporation and the Turkish contractor involves the AKH railway project, launched in 2015 with financing from the Turkish Exim Bank. Construction was later suspended following the outbreak of conflict in northern Ethiopia, which made project sites unsafe and inaccessible.

‎Officials say the war caused severe damage to equipment, stations, and unfinished infrastructure along the corridor. The construction work was forced to a stop as fighting spread through the Amhara and Afar regions. The escalation compounded earlier challenges linked to foreign-currency shortages and cost adjustments.

‎ERC and Yapi Merkezi have since filed claims against each other at an international arbitration tribunal. The contractor argues that design changes and force-majeure conditions increased costs, while ERC accuses the company of contract breaches and performance lapses.

Hearings are still underway, with preliminary rulings issued in favor of ERC, while the case has yet to be concluded, officials told The Reporter.

‎The suspension left key sections, particularly between Kombolcha and Hara Gebeya, incomplete. ERC says it is now preparing rehabilitation and financing plans to resume the works.

The Corporation also aims to separate legacy disputes such as the Yapi Merkezi case from new projects, including the Woldiya–Mekelle line, to maintain investor confidence and continue the country’s railway expansion.

‎Asked about other operational ventures and whether cross-border links are advancing, the CEO told The Reporter that several associated projects are in early stages and aligned with the National Railway Master Plan.

“There are cooperative and joint regional studies related to those. These studies highlight the regional integration we are pursuing with various countries,” she explained, referring to initiatives aligned with African Union directives.

‎Hilina emphasized that financing such large-scale links would require “diversified mechanisms” and collaboration with regional partners to make the projects bankable.

The revelation of a railway directly connecting Tadjourah, Assab, and Massawa comes against a backdrop of Ethiopia’s renewed political drive for sea access.

‎Last year, Djibouti’s government formally offered Ethiopia full administrative control of Tadjourah Port, but as of December 2024, Addis Ababa had not responded to the offer.

At the time, ‎Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, former Djiboutian Foreign Minister and current Chairman of the African Union, told The Reporter that his country’s gesture was meant to “defuse tensions between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu” and to reaffirm that “landlocked countries should have free, predictable, and unhindered access” under international law.

‎“We have offered it, but we are still waiting for the response,” Youssouf said during a press briefing at Djibouti’s embassy in Addis Ababa last year.

He referenced the Türkiye-facilitated Ankara Declaration signed between Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, which sought to normalize relations following tensions over Ethiopia’s MoU with Somaliland.

Prime Minister Abiy reiterated Ethiopia’s long-term maritime ambition in a September 2025 interview with state media, declaring that the return of Assab is “a matter of time”.

‎Speaking beside the newly filled GERD reservoir, he said, “The Red Sea was part of Ethiopia thirty years ago. The mistake took place yesterday and will be corrected tomorrow.”

‎Officials have since framed sea access as a matter of “national survival.”

Brigadier General Teshome  Gemechu, director-general for international relations at the Ministry of Defense, described Ethiopia’s claim over Assab as “historical” and “irrevocable,” while State Minister of Finance Eyob Tekalign said access to the Red Sea now forms part of the country’s geopolitical strategic agenda.

‎Eritrea, however, has rejected these assertions.

In a September 3 post, Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel dismissed Addis Ababa’s remarks as “reckless saber-rattling” and “political hogwash,”reiterating Eritrea’s 1993 referendum as an independent act of decolonization.

Nonetheless, ‎ERC’s plan to link directly to Red Sea ports follows years of technical groundwork. Back in October 2018, the Ethiopian Maritime Affairs Authority (EMAA) announced completion of a study specifying port usage rates and logistics services for Eritrean ports.

‎The study envisioned equipping Massawa Port with new infrastructure and coordinated tariff frameworks, in line with bilateral normalization between Ethiopia and Eritrea that year.

‎“Works were underway to equip the Port of Massawa with the necessary facilities, including renovation of roads,” EMAA communications head Yeshi Fekade said then, confirming that Eritrea was conducting its own tariff study.

The peace thaw that year also opened prospects for the state-owned Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Service Enterprise (ESLSE) to operate out of Massawa. Then-CEO Roba Megerssa told The Reporter in September 2018 that the Enterprise was “optimistic of winning a tough competition to take over the Eritrean Port of Massawa”.

‎He added that ESLSE was examining new cargo opportunities, including livestock carriers, and viewed the opening of the logistics sector to foreign partners as “a blessing rather than a threat.”

‎The latest ERC disclosure effectively places Ethiopia’s railway investments within a strategic Red Sea corridor plan that meshes physical infrastructure with diplomatic overtures.

‎While Djibouti’s Tadjourah offer remains unanswered, Ethiopia’s leadership continues to frame maritime access as both a developmental and sovereign priority. The planned Woldiya–Mekelle line, explicitly described as a port-linking route, signals that the government is pressing ahead through domestic institutions even as regional politics remain unsettled.

‎However, analysts contend that with financing needs exceeding USD 1.5 billion, execution will hinge on foreign partnership and multilateral funding, aligning with ERC’s own reference to “diversified financing mechanisms.”

Getachew Reda, former president of the Tigray interim administration (TIA) and current advisor to the Prime Minister, stated that the Eritrean government does not desire to engage in war with Ethiopia during the inaugural general assembly of the Tigray Solidarity Party (Simret).

The assembly took place on Friday, October 24, with leaders of various political organizations, representatives of the National Election Board of Ethiopia, members of the Prosperity Party, and other guests in attendance.

Getachew stated the conference could not be held in the Tigray region due to growing repression and instability, for which he blamed “an organized force operating under the guise of military authority.”

Getachew described a surge in illicit gold mining, corruption, land grabs, human trafficking, and theft, and accused members of the regional administration of participating in the criminal activity.

He claimed that these groups have weakened both the government’s capacity and regional stability in order to plunder gold deposits.

According to Getachew, who wrapped up his two-year tenure as TIA president in April 2025, Tigray is currently in the grip of power structures that prioritize self-preservation over public welfare and see the worsening of the Tigrayan people’s plight as strategically beneficial. 

“The ruling party is seeking to plunge the region into another war, but we will definitely cease such movement by any means,” he said.

Addressing the strained relationship between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Getachew stated that the Eritrean government “knows its capacity” and has no intention of initiating conflict or engaging in war.

He recounted that when Eritrean officials were questioned about their silence regarding Ethiopia’s military activity near the border, they allegedly responded that “elements in southern Tigray are acting on their behalf,” implying that any renewed fighting would begin in southern Tigray or northern Wollo.

“Tigrayan civilians would bear the brunt of such a conflict,” said Getachew, criticizing the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), his former party, for relying on foreign intervention.

“During the previous war, the United States pressured Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to sign the Pretoria Agreement, effectively saving the TPLF,” he said.

Getachew further accused the regional ruling party of exploiting internally displaced people for political gain and indulging in criminal activity. He advocated for a political realignment in Tigray, rejecting the TPLF’s divisive governing strategy, which he sees as favoring elites over the public interest.

He also questioned the present interim administration’s ability to effect substantial change.

“Our priority must be to guide the transition in an organized manner, establish a short-term transitional government, and implement the core provisions of the Pretoria Agreement,” said Getachew. “Afterward, we must concentrate on building a democratically elected administration.”

The PM’s East African Affairs Advisor also disclosed that the newly formed Simret party was unable to hold its assembly in Mekelle in August 2025 as originally planned due to harassment and intimidation, which he alleges has included office break-ins and the destruction of party materials.

Lieutenant General Tsadkan Gebretensae, former chief of staff of the Ministry of Defence, described the conference as historic, taking place during a period marked by authoritarianism, lack of accountability, and the absence of public participation in governance.

He added that the event was significant because it coincided with renewed efforts to restore stability in Tigray, reduce the suffering of its people, and amplify their voices.

During a presentation of the Ministry’s performance report on Thursday, October 23, 2025, lawmakers questioned the Ministry’s resolve in recovering misused public funds, ensuring accountability for rights violations, and protecting vulnerable groups in detention — warning that systemic failures risk undermining the rule of law and public trust.

The Legal and Justice Affairs Committee asked pointedly how officials were ensuring that “misused public and government financial resources” identified by the Federal Auditor General are being recovered and that those responsible face legal or administrative measures.

An MP warned that remarkable economic gains risk being undermined by the misuse of funds.

The representative cited audit findings that suggest limited public and government finances—which are expected to support development—have been increasingly misappropriated by individuals within various government institutions.

“This was revealed as the [Auditor General] presented its consolidated report to the House of Peoples’ Representatives for the fourth consecutive year. The Ministry of Justice, in collaboration with other relevant offices, should provide an explanation regarding what measures have been taken to ensure that this money is recovered and what challenges have been encountered in the process,” said the MP.

Furthermore, the Committee demanded clarification on whether administrative actions have been taken against  entities accused of misusing resources, and whether there exists a legal mechanism that holds them accountable, as indicated in the Ministry’s fiscal plan.

Another member of the Committee raised concerns that anti-trafficking measures “remain insufficient compared to the scale and complexity of the problem.”

“It is evident that anti-human trafficking activities being carried out both by the Ministry and through national coordination efforts have been expanding over time. However, compared to the magnitude and complexity of the problem, the ongoing efforts are not yet at a level that can provide an adequate and proportionate solution,” he asserted.

The Committee demanded officials explain what the Ministry’s quarterly plan incorporates and whether or not it has a distinct and innovative approach that would enable stronger and more effective action. It also inquired who will actually be responsible in leading anti trafficking efforts at  regional level.

“Even if it may not be possible to create a completely free zone that prevents human trafficking, it is still possible to establish areas with a reduced level of risk through proper leadership and coordination. Discussing this and finding ways to make it happen is important,” noted an MP.

The MP also pressed Ministry officials to explain how they intend to “ensure accountability for extremists and insurgents implicated in human-rights violations, killings, and hate speech.”

Lawmakers further questioned the handling of confiscated properties under special asset-recovery procedures, asking what safeguards exist to prevent closure of cases without due process and to guarantee that recovered assets are returned appropriately.

The Committee relayed public questions from Maji constituency in South West Ethiopia, reporting that members of a neighboring region attacked Siyali Kebele, killing about ten peaceful residents, but have yet to face justice.

One MP cited complaints that gold jewelry and over twenty legally registered firearms seized during police operations “have not been returned,” calling for restitution “through lawful means.”

In the East Gojjam Zone, she said, citizens “harassed, robbed, or detained amid insecurity cannot even move or trade,” urging the Ministry to act with partners “to ensure accountability and restore justice.”

MPs also cited serious gaps in correctional facilities, particularly for children living with their mothers in detention, noting that no specific budget allocation exists to cover their needs. The Committee urged “targeted measures to protect these children’s rights.”

Senior Justice Ministry officials acknowledged the scrutiny but defended their results.

One official said a first-quarter client-satisfaction survey showed 93.7 percent positive feedback across eight service areas.

“Our reform is delivering,” he said. “Digitization, coordination with police and correctional institutions, and improved prosecution quality are our priorities.”

While officials from the Ministry of Justice did not provide direct answers to questions raised by the public and presented by Committee members, they offered general explanations addressing the concerns.

Ermias Yemaneberhan (PhD), state minister for institutional building and reform at the Ministry, said his office would work with regional administrations to deliver organized and lawful responses through proper channels. He also outlined the Ministry’s cooperation with regional administrations and its engagement in legal and prosecutorial matters.

On the other hand, Belayhun Yirga, state minister in charge of the legal and justice division, stated that there would be no immediate responses to the issues raised by the public but noted that the Ministry would take the concerns into consideration.

“There will be no specific responses given here today,” he said, “but we will take the concerns raised by the public and address them through follow-up action.”

The Committee urged Ministry officials to ensure that investigations are carried out into violations of human rights in all areas where there is relative peace.

“Responsible bodies must be held accountable. We must be able to raise public trust,” noted a member of the Committee.

“We are seeing, in different areas, conflicts being stirred up, while criminals work behind the scenes to cover up their crimes. There are groups who, from time to time, instigate unrest for the purpose of hiding their wrongdoing,” he said. “It is important that we thoroughly investigate the crimes behind such disturbances. In relatively peaceful areas, we must go in and show the public that accountability exists — that our people can see justice being done. We must create a situation where we can visibly demonstrate this to the public.”

An Egyptian military delegation visited Mogadishu earlier this week as part of Cairo’s plans to take part in the mission as a troop-contributing country. A UN Security Council report from April 2025 indicates that close to 1,100 Egyptian military personnel will take part in AUSSOM.

The delegation’s visit comes amid growing friction with Ethiopia following last month’s inauguration of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which Cairo says is a threat to Egypt’s water supply.

Ethiopia itself is contributing 2,500 troops to AUSSOM, which replaced the African Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) at the beginning of this year and is scheduled to last through 2028.

The latest peacekeeping mission in Somalia will be the first to feature Egyptian military personnel, as ATMIS drew troops from Ethiopia, Kenya, Burundi, Djibouti, and Uganda. Cairo’s participation indicates deepening ties with Mogadishu, prompted by a year-long standoff with Ethiopia over a controversial maritime access deal with breakaway Somaliland that has since fizzled.

In August 2024, Cairo delivered military equipment to Somalia, pushing analysts to express concern over the potential for a proxy conflict between Ethiopia and Egypt. The concerns have been revived by Cairo’s intentions for AUSSOM, but Ethiopian officials maintain they do not see the deployment of Egyptian troops as a direct threat.

Suleiman Dedefo, ambassador to Somalia, told Somali media outlets this week that Ethiopia is “neither threatened nor comfortable” with the presence of Egyptian troops in Somalia.

Meanwhile, AUSSOM continues to face serious financial challenges that threaten to undermine peacekeeping efforts.

During the 80th UN General Assembly last month, AUC Chairperson Mahamoud Ali Youssouf stated the AU would be doubling its financial contribution to the peacekeeping mission to USD 20 million in 2025. However, the figure represents only a tenth of the funding needed to sustain AUSSOM until 2026.

The AUC chair urged partners to bridge the financing gap.

“Together, let us ensure that Somalia’s future is defined by hope, not relapse,” said Youssouf.

During his address at the assembly, President Taye Astkeselassie also urged the UN and partners to extend their support to AUSSOM in a bid to fight terrorism in the region.

A landmark report from the Commission of Inquiry on Tigray Genocide (CITG) has accused Ethiopia’s transitional justice process of being structurally incapable of addressing crimes committed during the Tigray war.

The report’s authors described the process as “non-compliant with international standards” and warned that it risks becoming a tool of “victor’s justice” rather than a path to genuine accountability.

The 150-page document titled ‘War-Induced Genocidal Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Tigray’ provides one of the most comprehensive assessments yet of conflict-related sexual violence in the region.

Drawing on data from more than 481,000 respondents, nearly one-third of the accessible female population aged 15 and above, and more than 2,000 in-depth interviews, the report concludes that sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Tigray was not random but systematic and constituted “genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes”.

At the heart of the report lies an unflinching critique of Ethiopia’s transitional justice initiative, launched by the Council of Ministers in early 2024 as part of the post-Pretoria Agreement process.

The Commission argues that the framework does not comply with international standards, and criticizes the dialogue’s architects for failing to apply a victim-centered approach, lacking gender sensitivity, and operating without public trust and inclusiveness.

“The national accountability mechanism, including the ongoing national transitional justice, is unlikely to investigate and prosecute the crime of genocide committed against Tigrayan women and girls,” reads the report.

It warns that the process is fundamentally compromised by political interference and by the fact that the federal government, whose security forces are among the accused, retains control of the design and implementation of justice mechanisms.

“The implication of the ENDF [Ethiopian National Defense Force] and civil officials in the commission of genocide made it unlikely for the federal government to investigate and prosecute its own crimes,” the report states.

Its authors accuse the federal government of seeking to end independent investigation into the crimes committed during and after the two-year war.

In a stinging legal analysis, the Commission argues that by situating transitional justice under federal jurisdiction and the oversight of the Ministry of Justice, “Ethiopia’s process risks shielding perpetrators from accountability”.

“The fact that the federal government is one of the alleged perpetrators makes it unlikely to impartially and independently render genuine prosecution through its institutions. This is proven by the track records of the federal government over and over again,” reads the report/

State and Individual Responsibility

The Commission asserts that both Ethiopia and Eritrea bear state-level responsibility for atrocities committed during the conflict.

“Ethiopia is additionally accountable for failing to prevent serious SGBV crimes committed by other state or non-state actors on its territory,” the regional commission contends in its report.

It also identifies a wide range of perpetrators — including members of the ENDF, the Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF), and regional militias — as directly involved in acts of genocidal sexual violence.

“There is reasonable ground to believe that the ENDF, the Amhara Forces, and the EDF have committed genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes,” the report concludes.

According to the findings, the EDF accounted for 55.63 percent of recorded SGBV cases, followed by 35.78 percent attributed to ENDF, 7.5 percent to Amhara forces, and 0.07 percent to Afar forces, while 2.89 percent were cases of co-perpetration.

The Commission’s data reveal the staggering scale of sexual violence committed during the war.

Nearly 60 percent of the 481,000 respondents reported surviving at least one form of gender-based violence. No less than 152,000 of them were the victims of rape, and close to 13 percent endured sexual slavery.

Seventy percent of rape survivors who identified the number of perpetrators reported gang rape, with 13 percent describing attacks involving between six and 50 perpetrators.

The report documents patterns of sexual violence that were “deliberate, organized, and used as a weapon of war” — including forced impregnation, mutilation, and the insertion of foreign objects into reproductive organs.

The Commission concludes that perpetrators “prevented birth through forced impregnation or induced miscarriage,” and “inflicted conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction” of Tigrayans in whole or in part.

Beyond the documentation of atrocities, the report places significant emphasis on the failure of local systems to respond to survivors’ needs. It found that 73.6 percent of survivors experienced high-level psychological distress, while nearly half reported social exclusion or family breakdown as a result of stigma and rejection.

The Commission stresses that economic losses were no less severe, with many survivors “unable to work due to physical injury or trauma or forced to relocate after looting and destruction of their property.”

It emphasizes that such enduring consequences make transitional justice not merely a legal question but a public health and social emergency requiring state-backed rehabilitation.

Nevertheless, the federal government is failing to provide meaningful redress or protection, according to the Commission.

“The transitional justice process as designed does not provide a realistic pathway to address sexual violence committed by the EDF,”reads the report.

It echoes earlier warnings by the UN International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE) that “the vast majority of Ethiopians asked by the Commission about accountability and healing expressed their complete lack of trust in Ethiopian state institutions to carry out a credible process of transitional justice”.

The document stated that  the ICHREE’s own assessment of the government’s actions to date highlights this mistrust.

“The government’s consultation process falls well short of African Union and international standards. Rather than reflecting victims’ voices, it is hostage to an arbitrary deadline for completion. Impunity, rather than accountability, is the norm regarding past violations,”it reads.

Commission investigators say survivors’ testimonies confirm this sentiment — 81 percent of respondents expressed willingness to pursue legal action, but those who are not looking to institute legal action believe that the legal institutions are biased and incompetent.

“The prosecution of the transitional justice process will end up selective and as victor’s justice as there is no means available to run the TJ process impartially,” the report concludes.

The Commission calls for the establishment of international accountability mechanisms, including referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC) or the creation of an ad hoc tribunal “so that the crimes of sexual violence would be investigated and prosecuted by an impartial and independent body”.

Its authors also urge that health facilities must be reconstructed and expanded to accommodate confidential survivor-centered medical services, and call for socio-economic empowerment programs to combat stigma and restore livelihoods.

For the Commission, the question now is whether the federal government will allow an impartial reckoning. The report frames transitional justice as the decisive moral and political test of the post-war era.

“Without impartial investigation and prosecution, healing and justice for affected women cannot be achieved,” reads the report.

Abraham Ayalew, head of the national cooperation secretariat at the Ministry, spoke about the lack of progress on the victim rehabilitation fund established by Parliament during an event this week marking the launch of an International Organization for Migration (IOM) initiative.

Although the Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Persons Proclamation established a fund for the rehabilitation of victims of human trafficking and smuggling in 2020, the absence of regulations and directives outlining how the fund will function means it exists only in name, according to Abraham.

The fund is meant to cover medical, legal, and health costs for trafficking victims, as well as pay for material support, technical training, reintegration, and the construction of shelters. It would also serve to “pay compensation determined by the court in accordance with Regulations to be issued by the Council of Ministers.”

However, no regulations have been ratified by the Council yet.

The proclamation envisions the fund being pooled from the government budget, confiscated properties and fines collected from convicted traffickers, and grants and donations, but no money is flowing in due to the absence of a supporting legal framework.

“So far, we haven’t put any money seized from human trafficking into the government’s coffers. Of course, fines have been collected, but this money is not going into the fund either,” said Abraham.

Trafficking has become increasingly entrenched in Ethiopia as shrinking work opportunities and worsening economic conditions push citizens, mostly youth, to emigrate in search of a better life. Although there are efforts being made to send Ethiopians abroad for work through formal channels, the vast majority of emigrants leave the country through a large trafficking network consisting of brokers and smugglers.

This often leads to serious rights violations, abuses, and deaths.

In August, more than 160 Ethiopian migrants were presumed dead after a boat capsized off the coast of Yemen. Seventy-six of them have since been confirmed dead, while the rest are still missing. This week, the bodies of 10 migrants (most of whom are Ethiopian) washed up on the coast of Djibouti.

The IOM estimates that up to 300,000 Ethiopians migrate each year, with the vast majority doing so through dangerous smuggling routes.

This week, the organization unveiled a five-year strategic plan aiming to provide sustainable solutions to displacement and find safe migration routes.

During the launch ceremony, Houria Ali, a state minister for Women and Social Affairs, noted that conflict, drought, and climate change are fueling illegal migration and human trafficking.

The strategic plan is a roadmap focused on preventing irregular migration by providing protection and life-saving support to displaced persons, rehabilitating and repatriating displaced people, and promoting a regular migration system, according to IOM Ethiopia chief Abibatou Wane.