I hadn't thought of MY being accused of witchcraft! That is a horrid
possibility, I agree.

Meanwhile, here are the latest developments (from a message I just
sent to other friends) that have certainly left me thinking about
giving up. I am having another interview at the Ministry tomorrow.
We'll see what comes out of it.
___________
aaaaaAAaaaah!

On 8/19/13, Nell Angelo <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>I thought the audit problem would resolve smoothly, but now it looks
>like I've lost a key document for the audit. I even think I know when,
>though not where. It might mean that I cannot sell the car, and/or it
>might mean a big fine. I'll learn more tomorrow when I go to see my
>auditor (gv't) at the Ministry of Revs and Customs.
>
>Losing the document is depressing. My mind is simply not working very
>well, compared to a couple of years ago. But when I find out what the
>consequences are, I can make a plan.

The gv't auditor, a nice man called Abdahrama, told me I must have
"an evidence" from my local police department for the lost document.
Actually I mispoke by calling it a document -- it was a sales-receipt
pad. The way Abdahrama described it, it sounded as though all I needed
to do was to report the loss and get a letter saying I reported it.
(This is in the chain of tasks to sell my car -- so I don't return to
the US with nothing but a couple of suitcases and my animals. The
current multi-step task is getting a tax clearance from the Ministry
of Revenues and Customs.)

Abdahrama also told me that since the business has had a loss for 5
years, I must now declare it bankrupt and close it. I can't get the
clearance till I do that. Close your eyes and try to imagine how many
steps that process entails.... The delay could lose me the car sale,
and cost me a huge fine for not fulfilling the conditions of the
car-sales agreement.

After that interview, I left the Ministry and drove the 2 hours back
to Addis Alem, wrote a (required) letter of request to the Police
Department, had Abrahame write a version of it in Amharic, and took
it to Police Chief Assefa.

Who refused, saying I had to have three witnesses to the loss.

Words fail me.

[Posted in FML 7883]