Last week, the historical premises of the Greek Community School on DR Congo St. experienced commotion with the presence of security forces acting on the orders of the Federal High Court judges. The ruling came as the climax of a year-long legal dispute that pitted the Hellenic Community against the Education and Justice ministries, alongside the Authority of Civil Society Organisations.

The disagreement began in September when the Minister of Education, Berhanu Nega (PhD), corresponded with the Authority that a cohort of parents had lodged complaints against the School's managment. The Minister claimed parents contested the implementation of a standalone, for-profit English program. These complaints were rooted in allegations that the School professed to be a community-based establishment without formal backing from the Greek Embassy or the Greek community in Ethiopia.

The Greek Embassy was unresponsive last week, despite a request for an interview submitted by Fortune as the Embassy demanded.

Teferi Geletu, who leads the Authority's registration and document authentication division, highlighted that the School's management had initiated registering as an endowment organisation last year. However, this initiative was prematurely abandoned due to an emerging conflict of interest, arising when some school officials were elected board members. Teferi contended that the School could have finalized its endowment registration had it chosen to offer scholarships or established a separate entity dedicated to serving the public.

"It has no formally recognizable owner," Teferi said, emphasising that ever since the school's founders passed away several years ago, its ownership has been in legal limbo, since its foundation in 1953.

He also noted that the School's community was officially registered as an Idir, an informal community-based savings and credit scheme in Ethiopia.

Minister Berhanu again reached out to the Authority six months later, expressing concerns over the School's continued operation under the 'community school' banner. He argued that the school was collecting fees arbitrarily without conforming to the recognized classification of an international school. He also issued a letter to the Ministry of Justice highlighting that the "Hellenic Community Idir", which has been managing the School, had consistently failed to file taxes. He alleged they had consistently ignored requests to reorganize as an endowment institution.

Discontented with the School's disregard for governmental mandates, Berhanu advocated establishing an interim board to assume school management responsibilities.

A decisive ruling was passed in May by a Federal High Court, presided over by judges Ambico Jarsa, Sintayhu Berecha, and Abdu Ibrahim. They ordered the transition of caretaker responsibilities to a newly formed interim board.

This board was to be composed of members from the Ministry of Education, the Authority of Civil Society Organizations, as well as teachers and parents. Berhanu forwarded a letter to the Ministry of Finance imploring an audit of the School's properties. This, he suggested, would ensure the "self-proclaimed school management" paid its due taxes.