Close to 23,200 shares of Akir Construction Plc registered under Seifu Ambaye are to be auctioned off by judges at the Federal High Court.

Presided over by Judge Frehiwot Teshome, the Federal High Court had first passed the verdict in April this year, nearly eight months after Awetahegn Kiros, founder and previous major shareholder at Akir, filed a lawsuit. He accused Seifu of issuing cheques without sufficient funds, following Seifu's acquisition of an 80pc stake in the construction company for 16 million Br.

Akir Construction was incorporated in 2004. One of the pioneers in the construction industry, it was involved in large road projects, including Beredimtu to Emin, Gerecha, Zada to Wechecha and Sawela to Kako road projects.

Akir's assets and shares worth over 23 million Br under Seifu will be sold off to the highest bidder.

Seifu and his brother, Yekunoamlak Ambaye, both family members of the construction magnate Tekleberhan Ambaye, acquired Akir in July 2017, offering 20 million Br to buy out shareholders Awetahegn and his daughter, Tsion. The new owners received at least 2.3 billion worth of projects following the acquisition, including a 1.3 billion Br project the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) awarded the company for an 86Km road in Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State.

However, Awetahegn filed a lawsuit with the Federal High Court in October 2020, concerning five cheques of 13 million Br Seifu had written between November 2019 and March 2020 to pay for the acquisition. The cheques have all bounced, claimed the plaintiff. He claimed his approaches to the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), where Seifu held an account, on four separate occasions in early 2020, confirmed that the account holder did not have the funds to cover the cheques.