(Daniel Berhane)

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegne dismissed his Justice Minister on Friday.

The reason for the dismissal of Justice Minister Berhan Hailu is said to be poor performance, according to unofficial sources.

This comes a day after the Minister was severely criticized by Members of Parliament (MPs) last Thursday, when Berhanu Hailu presented the nine months performance report of his Ministry.

MPs criticized the Ministry on areas of the legal reform program, esp. the drafting of Administrative law for almost a decade. Berhane defended claiming that the law would require a huge system, thus the reason the work is still around 50%.

An MP expressed dissatisfaction with regard to human trafficking and illegal drugs and medicines. Citing field visit observations, she underlined serious deficit of coordination and also unwillingness for collaboration among justice sector organs.

The Ministry’s performance was said unsatisfactory in terms of bringing illegal human traffickers to justice and due to its lack of coordination with health sector organs to combat illegal drugs and medicines.

Head of the Law and Administration Standing Committee went further to criticize the internal system of the Ministry. The MP claimed there is a worrisome gap and lack of coordination in the management of prosecution files the Ministry. He urged that the problem-maker should be identified and taken care of.

It appears PM Hailemariam Desalgne concluded that the problem is at the office of the Minister himself.

The state media didn’t corroborate the news of dismissal yet.

Hailemariam doesn’t need Parliamentary approval to sack a Minister, thus he may not make it public until he brings a nominee for Parliamentary approval.

Berhan Hailu will be the second Minister to be sacked in this week and the third since Hailemariam Desalgne became in charge of the government.

Bio: Berhan Hailu Dagne has been serving as Justice Minister since 2008, after serving as Minister of Information for three years. Previously, he served as Zone Administrator, then Head of Health Bureau of Amhara region, until he was appointed as Head of Ethiopia Radio and Television Agency by the Federal government.

He is member of the House of Peoples’ Representatives elected from Debre-berhane, Northern Shewa, Amhara Region.

Until last March, he was member of the Executive Committees of EPRDF and ANDM/EPRDF. Yet, he is still member of the Councils of EPRDF and ANDM/EPRDF – the second powerful organs of each party.

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