In a rather hushed Addis Abeba, gossip corridors across the capital are gripped by both international and local issues: Most prominent are the possibility of a black man claiming the White House (they talk more about an election that is being fought 11,500Kms away than the local elections scheduled for April 2008), and Ethiopia’s largest ever scandal that is “gold-gate”.

With the exception of a few pro-Republican Ethiopians, many at the gossip corridors are excited because Senator Barak Obama (D-Ill.) has made it so far; nevertheless they are worried that further advances may not bode well for him. They see it as a matter of time before Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) devours her contender - as she had tried last week - or the Republican establishment starts to ambush him, employing their last canons in a bid to destroy his candidacy.

The general consensus is that Mr. Obama is a much easier contender to beat than Mrs. Clinton, thus his lead ahead of the lady is positive news to Senator John McCain (R-AZ), according to an assessment made at a gossip corridor.

The take at the gossip corridor is that Americans realise how much their moral authority on the rest of the world has been battered during the reign of Mr. “With Us or Against Us”, a phrase that may sound new to the West; but many regulars at gossip corridors are familiar with it from the younger years of the student movement in the 1970s. No wonder the Americans might have attempted to make a point of dramatic change in their collective decision by voting a black man into power, if not enjoy a woman Commander-in-Chief.

Whether someone comes from the ruling party or opposition, including the critics of both, Mr. Obama appears to enjoy overwhelming support and sympathy in Addis Abeba. Many began to pray for his soul, should he become the first black president of the United States (US).

Owing to a depressing confusion, the picture is different on the home front. There is hardly a widely shared view on the “gold-gate” and who should be responsible, although many agree that someone high up in the government should be put accountable. Investigators are in hot pursuit of suspects involved in the scam, to their credit.

According to gossip, there is as much effort in recovering whatever amount that was stolen from the national treasury. For instance, close to seven million Birr in cash and 70Kg of gold was discovered when police searched - for the third time - the house of one of the suspects, disclosed gossip. Few among the suspects have offered to return what they took, provided that the government concedes to lighter charges later on, claims gossip.

Whatever is evolving in the investigation or at the judiciary, members of gossip corridors are baffled by the very fact that this is a country that has no minister or top official in the government who has the integrity to resign in honour. Neither has the chief executive of the government ejected any of his officers for failing to stop massive robbery of public money right under their nose, gossip grumbles.

Business seems to be as usual for those in the government, while on the ground there is the murky business of exposing those responsible for the “gold-gate”. Where will this stop and how high will it go is what gossip is anxious to see.