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Owners of major businesses grouped into five sectors
have began raising funds that would be used in
financing the construction of a headquarters and a
training center for the ruling Revolutionary
Democrats. The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary
Democratic Front (EPRDF) needs 130 million Br in
order to build its political command center up at
Arat Kilo, and a training centre to an army of its
cadres in Sendafa.
The party has so raised 58 million Br from its four
million card carrying members, Hailemariam Desalegn,
advisor to the Prime Minister on public
mobilization, under ministerial portfolio, and
deputy head of the party’s secretariat, told
Fortune.
Businessmen and women involved in construction,
horticulture, transport, import and export and
manufacturing are officially requested by the party
to chip in filling the gap. A letter signed by
Hailemariam, and dated on June 13, 2008, propelled
some of them to act.
“As the construction of this complex requires a
considerable investment, we hereby seek the usual
support from our members and developmental
investors,” reads a letter, a copy of which is
obtained by Fortune.
There have been series of meetings among each
grouping to launch the fundraising efforts. For
instance, the importers group, led by Tadesse
Tilahun, head of NOC (Ethiopia), will lead the
fundraising exercise next Saturday, July 19, 2008.
Other members in this group include, Getu Gellete,
from GetAs International, Benyam Brehane, from
Country Trading, and Sabir Argaw, Alsam Trading.
Other sectors - such as Manufacturing sector is led
by Sied Mohammed Brehan, from Ambassador Garment;
construction by Samuel Teklay; and horticulture by
Solomon Sebhatu - are expected to follow suit soon,
developing their own preferred way of fundraising.
Top priority to the ruling party is the construction
of the headquarters. The party’s head office has
been an old building nationalized by the Derg on
Development through Cooperation Avenue (Edget
Be’hibret Godana), behind the Parliament.
It is the same building that used to house Mengistu
Hailemariam’s (Col.) Workers Party of Ethiopia (WFP).
“Building the headquarters is vital to strengthening
our party,” Hailemariam told Fortune.
Coming to power in 1991, after toppling the military
Derg regime, it wants to brand itself as a
“party for the future”.
EPRDF is an alliance of
four groups; the Oromo Peoples’ Democratic
Organisation (OPDO), the Amhara National Democratic
Movement (ANDM), the Southern Ethiopian Peoples’
Democratic Movement (SPDM), and the Tigray Peoples’
Liberation Front (TPLF). Together, they control 472
of the 545 seats in Parliament, following the
bitterly contested elections held in May 2005.
It [the EPRDF] always comes up with new ideas,
according to Hailemariam. Building a new edifice
appears to be part of this grand plan.
The headquarters will be erected on a 4,330Sqm plot
in Arat Kilo, off the road from Parliament building
to the Social Security Authority. The party secured
the plot in 2006 from the Addis Abeba Land
Development and Administration Authority during the
time of the Caretaker Administration. Settling a
20pc down payment of the 6.2 million Br lease price,
the EPRDF acquired the plot for 90 years.
The design of the structure was developed by
Begziabher Architects, a firm owned by Begziabher
Alebel, for free, according to sources close to the
project. With a budget of 40 million Br, the party
plans to start construction in September 2008.
Followed will be the construction of a training
centre in Sendafa, 39Km northeast of Addis Abeba, in
the Oromia Regional State. It is projected to
consume an investment twice the amount the party
will spend on its headquarters, according to sources
close to the project. The centre will lie on 25hct
of plot, and supervision during construction will be
conducted by MH Engineering Plc, a firm largely
owned by Meselle Haile (PhD).
The centre will incorporate and administration
building on a 673Sqm, a museum, 20 classrooms each
with a capacity of 70 seats, four lecture theatres
with 70 seats each, and dormitories for 470 student.
For senior party members, there will be VIP bedrooms
with en-suite baths, a lounge, a dining-room and a
kitchen.
Opposition political parties, who always demand
government funding, claiming that they are always in
financial trouble, are skeptical about the issue.
“We couldn’t secure any government funding,” Lidetu
Ayalew, president of Untied Ethiopia Democratic
Party (UEDP-Medhin) told Fortune. “But, the
EPRDF uses its power to amass money and strengthen
itself. It claims to have four million members. And
yet, it demands business-sector-specific
contributions. This is not apposite.”
Nevertheless, EPRDF seems oblivious to such
complaints. It plans to issue public tenders in
order to select the construction companies to be
awarded the projects, according to Hailemariam.
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