ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Senior Ethiopian government officials, including former Deputy Minister of Economic Cooperation Alemayehu Gujo and former head of Ethiopian Roads Authority Zayid WoldeGebrel, have appeared before an Ethiopian court on Monday.
Fifty-three senior Ethiopian government officials, businessperson and middlemen have so far been arrested in connection with the country's biggest anti-corruption scandal. Fifty-one of the detainees have appeared to court as of Monday.
According to the criminal case presented to the court, the suspects including the former Ethiopian Deputy Minister of Economic Cooperation and head of Ethiopian Roads Authority, were arrested for a suspicion of embezzling over 1.256 billion Ethiopian birr (53 million U.S. dollars).
Other suspects who have appeared before the court on Monday as part of an alleged large-scale corruption also include a senior official from the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation and a private construction company owner.
Meanwhile, 2 suspects were arrested on Monday. However, only the identity of suspects who have appeared to court is so far revealed following their appearance to court.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Government Communication Affairs Office has previously indicated that the number of suspected government officials and their associates could still rise as the large-scale investigation is still underway in the east African country.
The Ethiopian government has stressed bad governance and corruption are among the major reasons for the preoccupations of the public back in late 2016.
The ongoing arrest of senior government officials, businessperson and middlemen is said to be part of the Ethiopian government's reform process, which started at the end of 2016 to provide a concrete answer to the preoccupations of the public. Enditem
