Due Attention to the "Local Ethiopians," Please!
The House of Peoples' Representatives this week endorsed a bill providing for foreigners of Ethiopian origin to have "certain rights" to work and live in Ethiopia. The person who bears an identity card of 'foreigner of Ethiopian origin' need:
- No entry visa to come to the country
- No resident permit to live in the country
- No work permit to work in the country
And, the foreigner of Ethiopian origin will not be allowed to work in such places as:
- Ministry of Defense
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Intelligence and Security Institutions
- And has no right to elect or be elected in national elections
The move followed a meeting between Ethiopian government officials and Ethiopians who were here for their extended vacation of the New Year. Some of these visiting Ethiopians were keen to invest or do some kind of job and live here, as business is generally not as easy in those foreign countries they used to work in. It was wise of the Ethiopian government officials to seize this opportunity and try to attract more investment to the country.
But things at home are really discouraging. Investors have now lost confidence and business is moving too slowly or has come to a stand still in some areas, particularly after the government's "campaign against corruption". Top bank executives and the who's who in business are now behind bars for an alleged corruption.
No one will be against any campaign against corruption but what worries most of us is the way in which the government is going about the campaign. The bank officials and the businesspersons were rounded up en masse, just like that, and put in jail with no bail rights. The old maxim "innocent until proven guilty" has no meaning and significance as far as the masterminds of the campaign are concerned.
This created an atmosphere of confusion and lack of confidence on the part of businessmen who are out there to do clean business. Banks and businessmen were not sure what kind and amount of collateral is legible to borrow money and which kind of undertaking will not throw them to jail. This, added to the prevailing hindrances to business activities in this country (the extremely expensive price of land lease, bureaucratic bottlenecks, and the bad attitude of the government towards investors-calling investors all kinds of names by government officials including the PM) will paralyze private investment, which in turn will have a bad effect on the overall economy of the country.
While encouraging those in the Diaspora through various incentives is a laudable undertaking, we believe that local investors and potential businesspersons deserve due attention, care and above all justice!
The bill is not effective untill it becomes a low in the country.

Taken from Addis Tribune!!