The administrator of wereda Dekemhare, Wedi Gulay, as well as the town's financial manager (no name given), have been arrested on corruption and embezzlement charges.

As early as 2001, Wedi Gulay, who is reputedly from a well-to-do family (either Al Amoudi or Kekia), had earned a reputation as a lavish spender.  Then serving as an deputy administrator of Massawa, wedi Gulay used to host bountiful parties for senior PFDJ and government officials, including President Isaias Afwerki.  Massawa soon became the favorite destination of the officials.  Everybody knew that the money came from government coffers; but nobody minded as long as they were invited.

In 2004, Wedi Gulay was transferred to Dekemhare town and he was boisterous in his claim that he would transform the town to “Rome or Paris.” Again he resumed the lavish hospitality and the PFDJ dignitaries changed their itineraries to Dekemhare.  Their visits and accompanying praise seem to have affected his sense of power and he began to abuse the citizens of Dekemhare.  In town hall meetings, he would insult anyone who dared to question his policies, including arbitrary ones like the fund-raising he mandated for Women’s Day and Independence Day.  He was shielded for a while by the regional administrator, Mustapha Nurhussein, himself a notorious abuser of the public, until he was chased off to South Zone from Gash Barka after his feud with Major General Filipos Woldeyohannes.   

Wedi Gulay’s undoing is related to the firestorm that was created by the residents of Amhur.  The villagers, whose land was expropriated to build a technical school, were offered 3 million nakfas by Don Bosco, a private NGO.  When the villages asked for the money, Wedi Gulay allegedly told them, arrogantly, that he had spent it on improving the town’s infrastructure.  Others also complained that the cash they gave him from land sale transactions was not credited to the appropriate account.

A member of EPLF’s mechanized division (“Kebid Bret”), Wedi Gulay had no senior post, nor even an administrative post, prior to his sudden ascension to be the deputy administrator of Massawa. His elevation was made possible by the freezing of Wedi Andu, who was no longer favored by the President in 2001.

In the end, the President is the law and whether criminal behavior is punished, rewarded or ignored is entirely dependent on whether the alleged perpetrator of the crime is of use to President Isaias Afwerki.   If corruption charges are brought against people who are of use to him, he is dismissive and waves it off by saying, “Ezi beli'u setyu enabelkum zereba mimililas zeytigedfuwo.” This was his response when his generals allegedly embezzled roughly 350,000 of allowance money that rightfully belongs to the conscript youth of National Service.  Many of the youth who are AWOL or cross the border are never reported: the generals, according to the complaints, continue to cash their allowance as if they are still serving. But, once they stop being useful to him, their destination is the “Special Court."

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