Federal prosecutors charged Azeb Asnake, the former CEO of Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), with alleged corruption involving 5.2 billion Br. Azeb was charged with 49 individuals from the Metals & Engineering Corporation (MetEC) and the EEP. Mulu Woldegebriel (Col.), former deputy director-general of the Corporation, is also a co-defendant. The charge filed on December 27, 2019, states that the EEP signed a 5.2 billion Br agreement with MetEC on November 26, 2014, for 123,189ha of forest clearing for the under-construction Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The project should have been delivered in 720 days, but it only progressed 30pc during the contract delivery period, according to the charge. It also states that the defendants allegedly amended an article to make a half a billion Birr down payment from MetEC before signing the contractual agreement. "The officials intentionally delayed the contract in a way that seemed to be done to cost the government one billion Br," the charge reads. Azeb departed EEP on August 2018.