A total of 77 current and former officials in Oromia Regional State have been arrested over suspicion of corruption, and most of the suspects arrested have already appeared in court. The arrest over a week ago granted the Region’s Anti-Corruption Commission the right of custody. The suspects come from several offices and levels in the regional administration, which includes Oromia Credit & Saving Association, Oromia Procurement & Property Disposal Agency, the region’s roads authority, Gelan’s and Shashemene’s city administrations and Jimma zone. The arrests were made by forces from the Oromia Police Commission, based on the investigation conducted by the Oromia Anti-Corruption Commission in the past year, according to Abebe Kebede, the Commissioner. The investigations conducted by the Commission spanned nine branches, 10 files and involved the procurement of items in excess of 71 million Br in value, according to the Commissioner. Among the arrested were Mohammed Qasim, director of the region’s procurement agency, Mengistu Regassa, head of Bole Lemi Industrial Park, Teshome Legesse, head of Oromia Credit & Saving Association, and the mayors of Gelan and Shashemene.
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