The government is in a witch hunt for loan sharks. Several suspects were behind bars for a few weeks, while some still remain under custody with law enforcement agents of the Revenues & Customs Authority, in a facility near the Ethiopia Hotel.

In the meantime, the Authority has called members of the public to come forth with evidence that could show to who and how much the suspected loan sharks have provided to their clienteles.

There is an awesome reward offered; 20pc of the amount involved. Whether or not people are responding to this call is a subject of debate at the gossip corridors in town. Many are not happy, though, about the state's behaviour, that it tries to establish guilt only after detaining innocents, whose crime is yet to be proven in a court of law. That people are guilty before they are burdened to prove their innocence has become an ugly facet characterizing citizens' relationship to state lately. 

And gossip corridor could hardly contain its own brand of a witch hunt that could be on the list of this long clientele. It has now become the norm at gossip corridors in town to see the barons of Addis Abeba inquiring about their status with the suspected loan sharks.

The consensus is rather revealing; almost every businessperson worthy of a name has been a regular visitor to loan sharks. Of course, there are a few exceptions who will swear they were never trapped by the IMF-style scheme, despite several attempts to allure them.

Gossip claims those trapped by this seemingly eternal scheme are those in the construction industry. Ironically, it includes almost every one of the major companies. Gossip corridor could not agree, however, on one or two of the owners of construction firms largely involved in road constructions. Nevertheless, this reveals to what extent the sector is prone to the form of financing a banker described as "high return but high risk".

Indeed, the underground lending system yields a high return to those who masterminded the scheme, whether their unsavoury reputation is associated with Morocco or Washington D.C., where the IMF is headquartered. The formal banking system advances loans with an annual interest of 11pc on the average. Indeed, there are new banks on the block who will go as high as 14pc.

But when owners of companies such as construction firms are confronted with an impatient and angry labour force on Saturdays, the banks are far too slow to respond and not in a fire fighter mode. Owners and managers of construction firms have to turn to the loan sharks who happily provide loans for monthly interests of 10pc or seven per cent (for a regular customer with good record). What a return indeed, for a business to yield an over 70pc non-taxable return annually.

Not surprisingly, many businessmen and women are happy with the governments' effort to crackdown on the alleged loan sharks. They can hardly believe that their businesses with the loan sharks would make the latter super rich. Some loan sharks, such as the IMF, have a staggering liquidity of close to 270 million Br, gossip claims. That is the amount required by the Central Bank to establish three commercial banks.