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Haileleul Tadesse, former general manager of Anbessa
City Buses Enterprise, lost a court battle against
the Enterprise after months of litigation.
Haileleul sued Anbessa Buses, its board chairman
Tenager Yismaw and Hailu Mekonnen, service sector
director of the Privatisation and Public Enterprises
Supervising Agency (PPESA), on September 1, 2007,
accusing them of terminating his contractual
agreement illegally, abusing his constitutional
rights in its termination letter and unlawfully
denying employment in other institutions. He
demanded compensation for the morale damage he
claimed to have suffered as a result of his
dismissal.
However, after reviewing the charge for four months,
the First Instance Court, Ledeta Civil Bench,
acquitted Tenager and Hailu from the charge. In its
final verdict two weeks ago, the Court not only
discarded the charge, but ruled the plaintiff should
pay litigation costs incurred by the defendants as
well as ignoring the constitutional issue.
“I am extremely disappointed with the ruling, which
is unjust,” Haileleul told Fortune stating
that he would appeal at the Federal High Court.
Haileleul, who climbed the ladder from a position of
technical manager to general manager in the state
owned Walia Intercity Bus Services Enterprise from
October 2004 to February 2006, was hired as general
manager of Anbessa Buses in April 2006.
At Walia, Haileleul and his management were
recognised for their contributions in operations and
implementation capacity building programmes and
awarded a two month salary bonus by Tenager, board
chairman. However, Haileleul was fired a week after
the remuneration by Tenager on account of a
“managerial ethics blunder”.
Three months after his termination, he was hired as
general manager of Anbessa Buses with the approval
of the Enterprise’s Board of Directors led by
Zemedkun Girma. When Zemedkun, who was general
manager of Addis Abeba City and board chairman of
Anbessa Buses left the country after being hired by
the World Bank, Tenager assumed his position.
Tenager sacked Haileleul on June 18, 2006, again
claiming that there was suspicion that the dismissed
would not adhere to the Enterprise’s rules and
regulations.
At the time, Anbessa Buses had awarded a oil and
lubricants procurement tender worth close 70 million
Br to the National Oil Company (NOC).
The other bidder, Total, which was the sole supplier
for 30 years, wrote a letter to Board of the
Enterprise claiming that the award was granted to
NOC through means that do not comply with rules and
regulations of the Enterprise. In its three-page
appeal, Total also accused Haileleul of requesting
the company’s marketing manager for personal gains.
Tenager revoked the award also sacking the General
Manager.
The Board Chairman, in his letter, asserted that
inspections made on the ballestra and tyre
procurements made during the leadership of Haileleul
also involve flaws that not only resulted in firing
the manager but also holding him accountable.
Subsequently, instructions were circulated to the 81
Enterprises under PPESA informing them that
Haileleul should not be admitted in any of the state
enterprises.
“Tenager is attacking me only because of a personal
grudge he has against me,” says Haileleul also
requesting the invalidation of the letter circulated
in the enterprises.
His appeal was not accepted though. The Court, who
reviewed the audit report, found the plaintiff was
involved in fraudulent procurements as stated by
Anbessa Buses.
Judge Simegn Shiferaw ruled that Haileleul’s
termination is legitimate as it is in accordance
with the Enterprise’s rules.
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