The notary public activity, which has legal and economic implications in any nation, is a very important service to be delivered. In Ethiopia, the role is monopolized by the government with having a specialised agency under the Attorney General.
This specialized agency, which is known as Documents Authentication and Registration Agency (DARA), has different tasks to be performed. Most of them have serious implications on the economic, social and legal transactions of the societies.
According to the Ethiopian law, Documents Authentication and Registration Agency has numerous notarial activities that include but not limited to authenticate and register documents; verify copies of documents against their originals and register same; administer an oath and receive affidavits and register same; keep custody of specimen of signature and draw up model documents are some of the key activities.
In addition, it also ascertains the capacity, right and authority of persons who are about to sign or who have signed documents submitted for authentication as well as determine the legality of documents submitted for authentication.
Also read: The new currency notes in Ethiopia
Following the recent change of currency notes in Ethiopia, the agency has now serious duties and responsibilities in an effort to meet the main goals of the currency notes change. In line with this, the agency is now doing
- The authentication of immovable asset transactions with serious check-ups;
- Linking activities of the agency with the banking sector; and
- Networking with relevant stakeholders for prerequisite monitory
In an effort to minimize the possible money laundering activities, all business transactions that shall pass through bank transfers and physical cash transactions were highly discouraged till recently. Furthermore, as a capacity building, the agency is widening the verification process in an effort to manage the security of the business transaction.
These processes shall be encouraged and the digital transformation process shall be promoted with the help of strong and dedicated employees that the agency already maintains. The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that the country is looking for demands this type of effective and efficient agencies.
