Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
Yohannes Anberbir
22 July 2008
Addis Ababa — Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has appointed former Minister of Revenue (MoR) Melaku Fanta as director general of the newly established Revenue and Customs Authority (RCuA), a merger of the former three revenue collecting agencies.
On Wednesday July 16, 2008, the Office of the Prime Minister sent a letter to Melaku informing him of his appointment as the Director General, as well as naming the four Deputy Directors.
These are Nebeyu Samuel, Tax Reform Department head at the former MoR; Tewodros Tefera, former deputy director of Federal Inland Revenue Authority (FIRA); Girma W. Tsadik, Large Tax Payers Department head of FIRA; and Gebrewahid W. Giorgis, deputy manager of the former Customs.
The reason for merging all the revenue collecting institutions is to effectively generate valuable revenue, according to the introduction of a bill which was presented to Parliament on the merger.
The country planned on generating over 25 billion Br for the concluded budget year, but ended up with only a little more than 19 billion Br. According to experts, Ethiopia is the only country out of the sub-Saharan African countries that is unable to fetch more than 18pc of its revenue.
The draft, currently referred to as the RCuA Establishment Proclamation no.587/2008 gives power to the Prime Minister to appoint the Directors, and the Authority is also accountable to him. The introduction of the draft states that the Director General would be a member of the Council of Ministers, however, the letter sent from the PM does not indicate this, Melaku told Fortune.
Melaku obtained his first degree in Economics from Addis Abeba University, and his masters degree in Business Administration from Open University, London. He also has another post graduate degree in Urban Governance and Public Management from HS University, Rotterdam.
He began building his career as Planning Department Head in the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, and then became Head of Regions Affair in the Office of the Prime Minister. He then went to the Federal Affaires Ministry as Head of Planning Department, and finally became a Minister of the former MoR, until his new appointment.
"My priority area would be generating more revenue for the country, and parallel to this, I would continue finalizing the reform started in the institution," he told Fortune.
The former Deputy Minister, Tezera Wodajo, State Minister Geremew Gerji, FIRA Director Abebech Bekalo, and Customs Authority Head Bogale Negash have still not been reassigned.
"The reform process is not finalized, and the rest would be seen in the subsequent process," Melaku told Fortune.
The Authority would consist of an Advisory Board composed of competent professionals assigned by the Director General. The board would be responsible for recommending to the Authority possible measures that would enhance the growth of government revenue and handle issues regarding taxes.
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