As reported recently, Ethiopia’s Council of Minister has been busy for the past few weeks legislating laws intended to consolidate power including by using economic repression tactic as a tool. Last week, it legislated a law that enables the Minister for Justice to freeze without a court order.
More detail is emerging this week. The Draft of “Asset Recovery Bill” is circulating on social media. Framed as a sort of “legal tool” to combat “economic crime” which the government claims has affected Ethiopia’s economy, the legislation, if approved in the parliament, will enable it to confiscate property/wealth linked with illegal remittance. Another striking element from the new bill is that the law will be applied retroactively for up to ten years.
Property owners will have to produce receipts of transactions for money received from abroad. Receipt of transaction from the bank is possible only if the remittance was made via “legal means” as opposed to remittance via black market.
“Since economic crime has been causing a serious damage to the country’s economy, it has become necessary to prevent and control this crime so that any person will not get any economic benefit from illegal activity,” reads part of the introduction of the draft bill – a bill that is prepared in eight parts and is thirty-six pages long.
It made claims that “unverified wealth,” is directly impacting the tax system, foreign currency, circulation of money and foreign direct investment.
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