The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is preparing to fully implement Ethiopia’s newly ratified asset recovery law, aimed at preventing and suppressing unexplained wealth.
Justice Minister Hanna Arayaselassie, speaking at a press briefing on the recently approved Asset Recovery Proclamation No. 1364/2025, emphasized the law’s role in combating illegal activities, ensuring fairness, and closing legal loopholes. She highlighted that the new legal framework would strengthen the rule of law, promote financial transparency, enhance accountability, and safeguard public assets.
Under the law, the ministry is empowered to investigate sources of assets, prosecute illicit wealth accumulation, and inspect suspicious property. It can probe assets of unknown origin valued at Birr 10 million or more, conducting background checks spanning up to a decade.
According to the minister, the government has drawn lessons from international best practices to ensure the law’s effective implementation from federal to local levels. She stressed that the absence of such a regulation had previously allowed criminals to launder millions unchecked.
The asset recovery proclamation was approved by the House of Peoples’ Representatives on January 8, 2025.
Source: The Ethiopian Herald
