The fight over Cosmo Trading Plc has outgrown the courtroom where it began. What started as a 20 million Br share sale in 2017 now sits before the House of Federation (HoF), where a dispute over control of a company, a hotel property in Addis Abeba and several vehicles has become a constitutional test over who may be treated as a “judgment debtor” and how far courts can go in enforcing contested commercial claims.

The House of Federation, with a mandate to rule on constitutional matters, intervened on April 27, 2026, after Haileyesus Mengistu and his sons, Abel and Noel, petitioned for a constitutional interpretation. Their move has stopped enforcement of earlier court rulings that had favoured Azeb Mihretab, a major shareholder in J.J. Property Management Plc. An appellate bench of the Federal High Court had allowed enforcement to proceed, but the House’s decision to hear the petition has frozen that process until it issues an interpretation.

At stake is not only Cosmo Trading’s ownership. The restraint now covers a nine-storey property on Africa Avenue (Bole Road) valued at about 800 million Br and five vehicles. Haileyesus, a businessman, and his sons claim the property was jointly owned by Haileyesus and his late wife, Rebeqa Hailu, a South African citizen who lived in Cape Town and died 18 years ago. Abel and Noel are seeking 400 million Br, which they claim represents their mother’s share in the property.

Azeb bought a controlling stake in Cosmo Trading for 20 million Br, covering 19,900 shares held by Haileyesus, each with a par value of 1,000 Br, and 50 shares each from two minority shareholders. The sale has since given rise to civil claims, criminal allegations, and competing accounts of who owns Cosmo Trading and how its finances were managed.