The government of PM Hailemariam has started to honor its pledge to weed out corrupt officials. If you
remember the late PM Meles told parliament that his government was fighting corruptionwith one hand tied behind because he said…some of his government officials were either already corrupted or waiting for opportune moment to be corrupted. On the face of it one can say indeed PM Meles was right, those corrupted and waiting to corrupt have started to surface either thinking the time is right to be corrupted now or hoping PM Hailemariam government will not be hard on them.
Be that as it may, how can one fight corruption effectively? Can you say EPRDF is effectively fighting corruption if it continues to arrest officials one after the other now and then? What is the lesson behind the arrest of high EPRDF officials? And why didn’t the arrest of PM Tamrat Layne teach the officials just arrested?
Given the magnitude or temptation to become a rent seeker or a corrupt official in Ethiopia today-with its ever growing economy and the vast government infrastructure expenditure managed by government officials, EPRDF has done well fighting corruption. But is that enough and is it working? Is there something that is missing that could help EPRDF avoid an embarrassment again and again when it arrest its own officials for corruption?
The challenge going forward will be magnified since many of the elder leaders who were less susceptible for corruption are being replaced while the country is engaged in a do or die economic expansion that will invite all kind of characters to the government! Have Your Say and share your thoughts!

