Courts Issue Warrants against Suspects in Tigray State

Nov 28 , 2020


Courts have issued arrest warrants against 167 individuals suspected of alleged crimes linked to the latest incident in Tigray Regional State. The courts have issued the arrest warrants, while investigations have been ongoing for five alleged crimes. High treason, armed rebellion, outrage against the Constitution, acts of terrorism-related to firing rockets, and hostile acts against a friendly country are among the alleged crimes. Attorney General Gedion Timothewos (PhD) described the alleged crimes as "grave" and "serious." "We've apprehended most of the suspects, especially the military officers and personnel," the Attorney General said. "The number could grow." Gedion also announced that a team had been deployed to Tigray Regional State to conduct a criminal investigation on the mass killings in Mai-Kadra, a town in the South-West Zone of Tigray Regional State. "The investigation will focus on who did what, why and after receiving whose order," he said.


Radar

Electricity Bills Get the VAT Jolt

The new Value Added Tax (VAT) has begun implementation on electricity consumption and various service fees affecting customers who use more than 200 kilowatt hours of electricity per month. Based on a directive from the Ministry of Finance, the tax will be applied to the excess amount of electricity consumption above 200 kilowatt hours. The Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) began implementing the VAT on bills starting from November though both prepaid and postpaid customers will have to pay V...


Radar

Gadaa Bank Expands Reach, Faces Lending Constraints

Gadaa Bank closed its first full fiscal year of operations with a net profit of 90.2 million Br. The 18-month-old Bank held its annual general assembly at Millenium Hall on Africa Avenue last week where the board announced that during the year, the Bank opened 15 branches and now has 85 operational branches. “Due to recently enacted policy measures on credit by NBE and unmet resource mobilization during the fiscal year, the Bank was unable to make loan disbursements,” stated Wolde...


Radar

Oromia Bank's Branch Expansion Weighs on Profits

Oromia Bank reported a 47pc decline in net profit to take in 840.9 million Br for the past fiscal year. Interest income grew by 21pc to reach 7.19 billion Br while personnel expense grew by 36pc to hit 3.16 billion Br. The opening of 72 new branches, bringing the total to 575, led to a four percent growth of deposits to 56.4 billion Br. The profits are “unsatisfactory against our ambitious moves,” said Assefa Seme (PhD), board chairperson. “The deviation is primarily attributed to our aggr...