How to Revoke a Power of Attorney in Ethiopia
· 9 min read
The Civil Code says a person who gave a power of attorney in Ethiopia may revoke it at any time, and that a promise not to revoke has no effect. A second law says a revocation is a paper of its own, with no legal effect until it is authenticated and registered.
None of the offices we checked publishes the steps for doing this from abroad. This guide sets out what the law says, what each office's page leaves out, and what to ask before you pay anyone.
We do not write revocations or powers of attorney, or tell you what either should say. Whether to end, narrow or replace yours is a question for an advocate you hire directly.
What the law says about ending one
The Civil Code of 1960 covers this in its rules on agency.
Article 2226 says the principal may revoke the agency at his discretion. The principal is the person who gave the power. The article adds that any term to the contrary has no effect. Article 2183 deals with third parties. It says the principal may at any time restrict or revoke the authority he gave the agent to make contracts in his name. He cannot waive that right.
Article 2184 says the agent must hand back the paper that shows his authority when the authority ends. He may not keep it until accounts between you are settled. If he says he has lost it, Article 2185 lets the principal ask a court to declare the paper revoked, at the agent's expense.
A power of attorney can also end with no revocation. Article 2182 lists four cases, for the principal or the agent: death, being declared absent, becoming incapable, and being adjudged bankrupt. That holds unless otherwise agreed.
Article 2227 deals with the agent's losses. Under it the principal must make good the damage a revocation causes the agent in two cases. One is where the revocation comes before an agreed date. The other is where it is made in a way that harms the agent. He owes nothing where the date was set only for his own benefit, or where he has a just motive. Whether that touches you is a question for an advocate you hire directly.
A revocation is a paper too
Proclamation No. 922/2015 names the "power of attorney or revocation of power of attorney". It says these papers have no legal effect unless they are authenticated and registered.
Authentication means an official signs and seals the paper. He does it after watching you sign, or after checking a signature already on it. Registration means the paper gets a number in a register, and a copy stays with the office.
The federal office for this is DARS, the Federal Documents Authentication and Registration Service. The same law says Ethiopian embassies and consular offices authenticate documents to be sent to Ethiopia.
What the offices we checked do not publish
We looked for the steps to revoke from abroad on three official sites.
Digital MoFA is the foreign ministry's app for powers of attorney made abroad. Its page lists six steps for giving one. One of them is "Add Effective and Termination Date, Review, and Sign". The page says nothing about revoking one.
The embassy in Washington says powers of attorney have run only through Digital MoFA since 2 April 2026. Neither that notice nor its power of attorney page mentions revocation.
The DARS website names power of attorney authentication and registration in its list of services. The list gives no requirements for a revocation.
We will not print steps that these offices have not published. Ask the embassy that serves you, in writing if you can:
- Can I revoke a power of attorney through Digital MoFA? If not, how?
- Which papers do you need from me?
- Does the revocation also have to be registered with DARS in Ethiopia?
- What is the fee, and how long does it take?
Who finds out
Registering a revocation puts it on record. We did not find an article in Proclamation 922/2015 that tells the office to notify an agent, a bank or a land office. Article 21 says a notary may not give information to third parties unless a court, or a body the law empowers, orders it.
Article 18 lets an interested person ask the office for a copy of a deposited document, or for evidence about it, for a service fee.
Under Article 2186 of the Civil Code, anyone who deals with an agent may ask him at any time to prove his authority.
What happens to something your agent did after you revoked, with a person who did not know, is a legal question. It is one for an advocate you hire directly.
What the Civil Code says about scope
Article 2183 lets the principal restrict the authority as well as revoke it. The Civil Code also sets limits on what a power of attorney covers.
Agency in general terms covers acts of management only (Article 2203). Article 2204 says what those are. It names keeping up property, leases of up to three years, collecting debts, investing income and paying debts. It adds the sale of crops, of goods meant for sale and of goods that spoil.
Anything beyond management needs special authority. Article 2205 lists what an agent may not do without it. He may not sell or mortgage real estate, invest capital or sign bills of exchange. He may not settle a dispute, agree to arbitration, make donations, or bring or defend a court case.
A special power covers only the affairs it names and what follows from them by nature (Article 2206). And Article 2181 says the scope of a power of attorney is read in a restrictive manner.
Offices may also apply directives we have not read. Ask the office that will act on your paper what it requires.
Which powers your job needs, and how to word them, is for you and your advocate. We cannot tell you that.
Replacing one
We found no separate route published for a replacement. Our guides describe the route that the offices we checked publish. The one on how to send a power of attorney to Ethiopia covers that route. The guide on power of attorney legalization takes the U.S. stamps one by one.
We have not found an official page that says a new power of attorney cancels an older one. Ask the embassy. Ask your advocate whether the old one needs its own revocation.
What it costs
DARS fees are set by Council of Ministers Regulation No. 543/2024, in a schedule attached to it. The copy on the Ministry of Justice website stops before that schedule, so we print no figure. Ask DARS.
The embassy's power of attorney page still lists a fee per document, for each authentication. It is USD 62 if you hold an Ethiopian passport or an Ethiopian Origin ID, and USD 95 if you do not. Its other page says this work moved to Digital MoFA on 2 April 2026, so ask which applies. Neither page says how a revocation is charged. Digital MoFA publishes no fee.
You pay the embassy's fees yourself, and any fee for a revocation, to the office that charges them. They never pass through us. A DARS registration fee for your new power of attorney is different. When we lodge it, we pay that fee to the office and pass it on at cost, with the receipt.
Where we come in
We do not sell revocations. A revocation is yours to sign.
What we sell is the step after a replacement exists. Your new power of attorney gets its stamp and reaches Addis Ababa. Then ask the office that will act on it whether it also needs registering with DARS. If it does, we lodge it.
This applies where your new power of attorney names Agar as your agent. We do not register a paper that appoints someone else.
We have not found an official rule on whether DARS takes a power of attorney from a representative. Before you pay, we check. If it does not, we tell you, and you do not pay.
POA intake + DARS registration + first action: USD 119.
Our timeline (5 business days from POA receipt) covers our own steps only: from the day your documents reach us to the day we lodge your new stamped power of attorney with DARS for registration. DARS does not publish a processing time for registration, and it is not part of it.
Proof on closing: scanned official receipt, scan of the stamped document, geotagged pickup photo.
That fee is ours alone. Official fees for the work we do under your new power of attorney, such as the DARS registration fee, are separate. They are passed on at cost with the receipt, and we add nothing to them. The embassy fees above, and any fee for a revocation, are yours to pay directly.
"Service fee refunded if SLA missed for causes within Agar's control."
Our POA representation page shows what we do under a registered power of attorney. Our prices show what each task costs.
What we do not do
We do not draft revocations or powers of attorney, fill in the powers in the Digital MoFA app, or give legal advice.
We do not take sides in a dispute between you and an agent, and we do not appear before any court.
We do not collect money owed to you, hold it, or pass it on to anyone, even if your power of attorney allows it.
Nobody can make these offices act sooner than they do, including us.
Sources
- Civil Code of the Empire of Ethiopia, Proclamation No. 165/1960. Articles 2181 to 2186 on the scope, end and revocation of authority, Articles 2203 to 2206 on general and special agency, and Articles 2226 and 2227 on revoking an agency. Checked 9 October 2026.
- Authentication and Registration of Documents Proclamation No. 922/2015. Revocation of a power of attorney among papers with no legal effect unless authenticated and registered (Article 9), what each word means (Article 2), embassies (Article 6), copies and evidence (Article 18), confidentiality (Article 21). Checked 9 October 2026.
- Council of Ministers Regulation No. 543/2024, fees for DARS services. Fees are set in an attached schedule, and Regulation No. 451/2019 is repealed. The posted copy does not include the schedule. Checked 9 October 2026.
- Federal Documents Authentication and Registration Service (DARS). Power of attorney authentication and registration in its list of services, with no requirements for a revocation. Checked 9 October 2026.
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Digital MoFA, Power of Attorney. The six steps, one of them "Add Effective and Termination Date, Review, and Sign", and nothing on revocation. Checked 9 October 2026.
- Embassy of Ethiopia, Washington DC, Authentication and Legalization. Power of attorney only through Digital MoFA from 2 April 2026, and nothing on revocation. Checked 9 October 2026.
- Embassy of Ethiopia, Washington DC, Power of Attorney. USD 62 or USD 95 per document for each authentication, and nothing on revocation. Checked 9 October 2026.
Note: the two law texts are unofficial copies. The Federal Negarit Gazette is the official text.
Questions people ask
How do I revoke a power of attorney in Ethiopia?
The Civil Code says the principal may revoke the agency at his discretion (Article 2226). Proclamation 922/2015 then says a revocation has no legal effect unless it is authenticated and registered. The federal office for that is DARS. Its list of services gives no requirements for a revocation, so ask what to bring before you go.
Can I cancel an Ethiopian power of attorney from abroad?
The law says Ethiopian embassies authenticate documents to be sent to Ethiopia. A revocation is one of the documents it names. But neither the embassy in Washington nor the Digital MoFA app publishes steps for revoking. Ask the embassy that serves you how to do it and what it costs. Ask whether the paper must also be registered in Ethiopia.
Does a power of attorney expire in Ethiopia?
The Civil Code articles we read set no fixed life. An office may have its own rule on how old a paper may be, so ask the office that will act on yours. The Code says the principal may revoke it. Unless otherwise agreed, it also ends when the principal or the agent dies, is declared absent, becomes incapable or is adjudged bankrupt (Article 2182). One of the Digital MoFA app's published steps is "Add Effective and Termination Date, Review, and Sign".
How much does it cost to revoke a power of attorney in Ethiopia?
We could not find a published figure. DARS fees are set by Regulation No. 543/2024, in a schedule. The copy on the Ministry of Justice website does not include it. The embassy's power of attorney page lists USD 62 or USD 95 per document for each authentication. It does not say how a revocation is charged. Checked 9 October 2026. You pay embassy and revocation fees to the office yourself. They do not pass through us.
What does the Civil Code say about returning a power of attorney?
Article 2184 says an agent returns the paper that shows his authority when the authority ends, and may not keep it until accounts are settled. Article 2185 covers a paper the agent says is lost: the principal may apply to a court. Whether and how these apply to you is a question for an advocate you hire directly. We do not go to court for anyone.
What is the difference between a general and a special power of attorney?
Under the Civil Code, agency in general terms covers acts of management only. Keeping up property, leases of up to three years and collecting debts are examples (Articles 2203 and 2204). Article 2205 says selling or mortgaging real estate needs special authority. So do donations, settling a dispute and going to court. Which one you need is a question for your advocate.
Will the bank or the land office be told when I revoke?
We did not find an article in Proclamation 922/2015 on notifying anyone, and none of the offices we checked publishes a practice. Article 21 limits what a notary may tell third parties. Article 18 lets an interested person ask for a copy for a fee. Ask the office that registers it, and ask your advocate who needs to see your revocation.
Can Agar revoke a power of attorney for me, or write the new one?
No. We do not draft revocations or powers of attorney, and we do not give legal advice. A revocation is yours to sign.
Is your new power of attorney stamped and on its way?
Once the new one reaches Addis Ababa, and if the office that will act on it needs it registered, we lodge it with DARS, carry out one task from our published price list under it, and send you the receipts. We never write the document.
See what it costs