The governing coalition EPRDF obtained much more than the 20 million Birrs ((EURO) 1.2 million) that it had been expecting in election campaign contributions from the businessmen supporting it. And that does not include the non-monetary gifts such as the election T-shirts donated by a textiles company. The Saudi-Ethiopian magnate Mohamed Hussein Al Amoudi is, as usual, at the top of the list of donors. But other entrepreneurs close to the regime put their hands in their pockets, frequently Tigrayans like the most influential members of the government. One such was Samuel Tafesse, the head of Sunshine Construction whose business benefited usefully from the sponsorship of AzebMesfin, the wife of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
The chairman of the Ethiopian Horticultural Producer-Exporter Association, Tsegaye Abebe, was one of the organisers of an EPRDF fund-raising meeting, whose attendees included two major contributors Yerga Haile, the owner of the firms Eney Construction and Eney Real Estate, and Getu Gelete, the owner of Getu Commercial Building.
Source: Indian Ocean Newsletter
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