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Construction Sector Corruption in Ethiopia 265
contractors in the sector, ERA has, on a pilot basis, experimented with
the use of a postqualification (rather than prequalification) procedure
for major roads contracts.
ERA’s role extends beyond federal roads and includes some capacity
building and other activities in support of District Maintenance
Organizations, RRAs, and woreda-level infrastructure planning. In recognition
of the risk that ERA’s own capacity is limited and is undermined
by high turnover of junior staff, the RSDP 3 includes specific capacitybuilding
interventions within ERA designed to consolidate and build on
existing initiatives related to the issuance of a new Procurement Manual
in 2008.
Federal ethics and anti-corruption commission. The FEACC has a twin
role in combating corruption, in its mandate both to educate and to
investigate. Related sections headed by ethics officers are established in
most government offices. Some government agencies managing large
budgets are considered strategic and vulnerable to the risk of corruption
and therefore are subject to continuous monitoring. These include ERA
and the Land Administration Division of the Addis Ababa City
Administration.
The government has encouraged respective regional governments to
establish their own ethics and anticorruption commissions. With a few
exceptions, the FEACC’s primary role on construction-related issues has
been to investigate allegations of improper land access as well as collusion
in the setting of compensation for resettlement of properties within the
reserve of proposed new road developments.
A recent FEACC annual report refers to several construction-related
matters, including a review of the working practices and procedures of
the Addis Ababa City Roads Authority (AACRA). Cases studied
included (a) procedures relating to valuation of compensation payments
at ERA and AACRA for properties expropriated as a result of
road construction, and (b) cancellation of a tender floated by the Road
Fund Office for the technical monitoring of rural and urban roads. The
FEACC has taken a keen interest in Ethiopia’s participation in the pilot
phase of the international Construction Sector Transparency initiative
described below.
Public procurement agency. The Federal Public Procurement Directive
of 2005 constitutes the legal framework regulating public procurement
in Ethiopia. A related proclamation determines the procedures