Tag: Ethiopia

The leader of Ethiopia‘s rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has said the group will not negotiate on the disarmament of the “Tigray army” as it prepares for peace talks with the federal government.

The TPLF-run Tigray TV reported that Debretsion Gebremichael made the comments during a briefing to local media.

“We should disarm because the [Ethiopian] constitution stipulates that [regional states] should not have an army. There is nothing like that,” he said.

However, Mr Debretsion said that “Western Tigray” should be given back to Tigray as it belongs to the region in accordance with the same constitution.

“According to the constitution, Western Tigray belongs to Tigray. So they [Ethiopian government] should hand it over to Tigray. This benefits the people of Tigray, if at all they hand it over,” he said.

The two sides are preparing to hold peace talks to end the civil war that has killed thousands of people and displaced millions since November 2020.

Source: BBC

Sudan’s military has accused the Ethiopian army of executing seven Sudanese soldiers and a civilian who were captives.

A statement published on Sudanese state media gave no further details.

But it called the alleged killings a treacherous act, and said there would be a response.

There has been no comment so far from the Ethiopian side.

A long-running border dispute has flared up over the last two years, with occasional clashes in the al-Fashaga area.

Sudan has also been angered by Ethiopia’s construction of a giant dam on the River Nile.

Source: BBC

Many people have reportedly been killed in western Ethiopia following an outbreak of ethnic violence.

Eyewitnesses in Gimbi district in the Oromia region say the rebel Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) attacked remote villages where ethnic Amharas live.

They say homes were set ablaze during the violence on Saturday.

The regional government also blames the OLA.

But a spokesman for the group issued a denial and said a militia set up by the authorities in charge of the Oromia region was behind the killings.

Mass burials have been taking place.

Although the scale of the violence is not yet clear, some people in the area say many dozens of civilians were killed.

Ethiopia has seen an unprecedented rise in ethnic violence in the past three years with thousands killed and millions uprooted from their lives.

Source: BBC

The charity Save the Children is warning that about 185,000 Ethiopian children are suffering from the deadliest form of malnutrition.

It says children, especially small ones, are suffering the most from famine, with much of Ethiopia gripped by the worst drought for 40 years.

Save the Children’s country director, Xavier Joubert, says the expanding drought is wearing down their resilience, already weakened by conflict and Covid.

With four rainy seasons already missed, and a fifth likely, the charity says 30 million Ethiopians need humanitarian assistance.

Parts of neighbouring Kenya and Somalia are also affected by drought.

Source: BBC

Africa’s third tallest building was over the weekend inaugurated in the city of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia – the seat of the African Union.

In attendance was Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and a government delegation given the significance of the building to the country’s economic structure and development.

“It is delighting to see that Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, on its 80th anniversary completed this state-of-the-art building. In order for our banks to compete with international banks, they need far more modernization in terms of manpower and operation aside erecting such magnificent buildings,” PM Abiy posted on Twitter.

Below are five facts about the building:

1 – It is a structure belonging to the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, the largest commercial bank in the country.

2 – The building is over 209 meters tall and has 53 floors with a total built-up area of 165,476.4 square meters.

3 – According to reports, it cost over US$303 million and was built over seven years.

4 – It was constructed by Chinese firm, China State Construction Engineering Corporation, CSCEC

5 – It is the tallest building in East Africa. It has a “diamond coat” with a tower facade height of 209.15 meters.

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Sudan and Ethiopia have begun negotiations to demarcate their border following a clash in a disputed area last week.

Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen is in Khartoum and is meeting Sudan’s cabinet minister, Omar Manis.

Ethiopian forces reportedly ambushed Sudanese troops along the border, killing four and wounding more than 20 others.

Sudan has since deployed troops to the Al-Fashaqa region.

In the contested area is some fertile land which Sudan claims but which has long been cultivated by Ethiopian farmers.

The area borders Ethiopia’s Tigray region where fighting last month forced more than 50,000 refugees to flee into Sudan.

Source: bbc.com

Among the thousands of people fleeing the five-week-old conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region are a few dozen men, women and children from Eritrea, one of the world’s most authoritarian states.

They were already living as refugees in Tigray, which had long been a safe haven for them during years of conflict and repression in Eritrea.

But when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government launched a military operation against Tigray’s ruling party, the Eritrean refugees’ illusion of safety was shattered as violence escalated around their camps.

“Suddenly soldiers came to our camp and they started shooting,” Kheder Adam told AFP in a Sudanese refugee camp. “The situation was very serious. There was a lot gunfire.”

Kheder and his family had originally settled in one of the refugee camps in the Sheraro area of Tigray near the Eritrean border around two years ago, he said.

For years, Ethiopia and Eritrea had been officially in a state of war.

In 2018, Abiy took power, ending years of political dominance by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front — sworn enemies of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki.

Abiy and Afwerki signed a historic peace agreement that same year, winning the Ethiopian leader the Nobel Peace Prize.

After the dramatic shift in alliances, Abiy’s forces launched their operation in Tigray on November 4, Eritreans who had long benefitted from protection in Ethiopia appear to have become a target.

Since then, a few Eritrean refugees have managed to escape to Sudan.

The UN, meanwhile, has expressed fears for the safety for those still in Tigray, home to some 96,000 Eritrean refugees living in four refugee camps.

Source: africanews.com

A doctor in Ethiopia’s Tigray regional capital, Mekelle, says at least 27 people – including a 4-year-old, a 78-year-old and a family of four – have been killed in fighting between federal and regional troops, Reuters news agency reported on Sunday.

But a statement from Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office

on Monday says there have been no civilian casualties, and refers to Tigray regional forces as “the criminal clique”.

Reuters quotes the doctor it spoke to as saying medical services in Mekelle were strained, with no antibiotics and meals for patients and medics among other things.

The statement from Mr Abiy’s office on Monday says “the active phase of the operations has come to an end”, and the government is now “restoring law and order” while resettling those who’ve fled the region.

The prime minister insists that the regional forces had been defeated despite denials from the regional leaders.

Mr Abiy also said the Tigrayan forces that the military has been fighting for the last month do not have the capacity to mount a guerrilla war from the mountains in the northern region.

A spokesperson for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) Getachew Reda told the BBC’s Focus on Africa on Friday that its forces will not surrender and that they “intentionally withdrew from Mekelle” instead of it being fought over.

Verifying information on the ground has been difficult because of a communications blackout in parts of the region.

Source: bbc.com

Deadly fighting between Ethiopian federal forces and the regional government of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has already claimed hundreds of military and civilian lives, according to the scarce reports coming from the region.

Internationally, there are fears that the conflict, which is quickly escalating into a civil war, will threaten regional security in the Horn of Africa.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered a military operation against the TPLF on November 4, accusing the Tigray militia of attacking a government military base.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s defense minister, Dr Kenna Yadeta, remained bullish about the government’s ability to quickly end the violence.

“All the TPLF’s actions testify to their high level of frustration.They have no more strength, capability and time to intensify wars in the region. The Tigray junta has only a very short time left to be captured,” according to Kenna Yadeta, who was appointed defense minister in August 2020 as part of a major — and controversial — cabinet reshuffle by Ahmed.

“We can achieve a crushing victory any day from now,” Yadeta told DW.

Regional stability under threat
The victory may come at a severe cost to stability in the Horn of Africa, though.

To win it, there is a danger that the federal government’s focus on Tigray could weaken its involvement in backing the government in Ethiopia’s western neighbor, Somalia, against al-Shabab militants.

Ethiopia has already withdrawn about 600 soldiers from Somalia’s western border. However they were not part of the African Union’s Mission in Somalia (Amisom), which Ethiopia also supports.

“Now, this is going to severely affect the efforts of the African Union mission that’s currently involved in stabilizing Somalia and ensuring there is a functional government, and organize the elections in the next few months,” said Hassan Khannenje of the Nairobi-based think-tank the Horn Institute.

The huge numbers of refugees likely to cross the borders of an already volatile region and the likely proliferation of light weapons and small arms could lead to a “catastrophe,” according to Khannenje.

“If Ethiopia goes, then there goes the Horn of Africa region. And that’s something they should worry everybody, both regionally and internationally,” Khannenje told DW.

Conflict spills over into Eritrea

Also complicating the Ethiopian government’s conflict with the TPLF is the involvement of Ethiopia’s northern neighbor, Eritrea, which borders Tigray.

Over the weekend, multiple rockets — fired from Ethiopia’s Tigray region — hit the Eritrean capital, Asmara.

The TPLF’s leader, Debretsion Gebremichael, said his troops fought Eritrean forces “on several fronts” for the past few days. He accused Eritrea of providing military support to the Ethiopian government and sending troops across the border, allegations that Eritrea denied.

“Asmara has been accused of allowing the Ethiopian Air Force to use its base in undertaking strikes,” said Hassan Khannenje, from Nairobi-based think tank, The Horn Institute.

“And so, the TPLF sees Eritrea as a fair target because of its alliance or perceived alliance currently with Abiy Ahmed’s government in Addis Ababa.”

Tigrayan forces and leaders were instrumental in bringing peace and relative prosperity to Ethiopia as part of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) by removing the brutal Derg military regime from power in 1991.

However, under its rule, Eritrea seceded in 1993, and the 19982000 war between Ethiopia and Eritrea followed.

When Abiy Ahmed swept to power in 2018, he made it a priority to normalize relations and make peace with Eritrea — a feat that won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019.

The TPLF’s resentment stems from a sense of being sidelined by Abiy’s government when he formed a new coalition government — known as the Prosperity Party — which excluded the TPLF. Abiy’s overtures to Eritrea are also seen as a betrayal.

‘No more brother wars’

But many Eritreans want peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia.

Over the weekend, hundreds of Eritrean refugees in the Tigray city of Mekelle protested against the war between Tigrayan and Ethiopian government forces.

They demanded both sides end the conflict immediately and strike up dialogue.

The demonstrators also demanded a solution for the growing refugee crisis, saying military violence threatened refugee camps in western Tigray.

“The war is unnecessary. We know war. It’s destructive. War between brothers is the worst. People have been persecuted and killed. The Eritreans here are against the war. It’s enough!” said one male demonstrator.

“It’s very sad that people speaking the same language and sharing the same language are fighting,” another protester told DW on condition of anonymity.

Others fear Eritreans living in Tigray could also become targets.

“Since we’ve been in Ethiopia, especially Tigray, we have found shelter and live like every other citizen,” a protestor told DW. “This war doesn’t just affect civilian life, it also affects us, the refugees.”

Regional rivals launch military exercise

Perhaps worryingly from an Ethiopian perspective, and further complicating matters, regional rivals Sudan and Egypt started joint military exercises over the weekend.

Both countries are in dispute with Ethiopia, over its Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile.

Sudan and Egypt both claim the structure will adversely affect their water supply.

The exercises include planning and running combat activities, as well as commando groups conducting search and rescue missions, according to an Egyptian defence ministry statement.

Source: dw.com

According to eyewitnesses, Ethiopian fighter jets on Thursday bombed Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front positions — a clear sign of escalation in one of Africa’s most populous and well-armed nations.

Prime Minister Abiy said there had been many casualties on the TPLF side, and there are reports of several Ethiopian Defense Force injured in the fighting.

The number of casualties from both sides is not yet precisely clear as the government has imposed a six-month curfew and cut off all internet and phone connectivity.

According to observers, the ongoing fighting between Ethiopian troops and the TPLF seemed inevitable after the relationship between TPLF leaders and Abiy deteriorated when Abiy became prime minister.

The International Crisis Group NGO warned that Tigray’s conflict risks fracturing Ethiopia’s delicate federalism by creating a domino effect on other volatile regions such as Oromia and Amhara.

Protests in Oromia killed 167 people in July. A recent report by Amnesty International says an attack by the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) killed at least 54 ethnic Amhara people. The attack happened a day after the sudden withdrawal of Ethiopian Defense Forces from the Gawa Qanqa village, the report adds.

Roots of Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict

The primary origins of Ethiopia’s internal wrangles lie in a fight over its ethnic federal political system. The TPLF governing party, which dominated the country’s ruling coalition from 1991 until 2018, was the architect of ethnic federalism.

Under Ethiopia’s federal system, the country’s regions enjoy considerable autonomy, such as having their own security forces, their own parliaments, and the right to a referendum for self-rule. The TPLF and other parties that favor ethnic federalism saw Abiy Ahmed’s decision to dissolve the former ruling EPRDF coalition as an attempt to monopolize and concentrate power with his Ethiopia’s Prosperity Party. Ethnic Tigrayans make up about 6% of Ethiopia’s estimated 110 million citizens.

“Abiy’s pursuit of a unitary political party and a strong central government was a trigger for the TPLF army,” Kjetil Tronvoll, professor and research director of peace and conflict studies at Bjorknes Univesity College, Norway, told DW. “The TPLF overthrew the former communist PDRE government for the same reasons,” Tronvoll said.

The TPLF refused to join Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party, accusing him of altering the constitution and its guarantees of autonomy for the various ethnic regions. The TPLF also alleged that Abiy purged many Tigrayan leaders from federal institutions.

The last straw came when Addis Ababa said that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it would postpone elections that were scheduled to take place in August 2020. Tigray’s regional government defiantly held its election in September, prompting the central government to sever all ties and later suspend its monthly funding to Tigray. According to Tigray’s regional president Debretsion Gebremichael, that decision “was a declaration of war.”

Prospect of regional war

In October, the Tigrayan leadership defied Abiy Ahmed once again when it rejected a reshuffle of the military’s Northern Command. That particular command was vital during the 1998 – 2008 Ethiopia-Eritrea war. According to the International Crisis Group, more than half of Ethiopia’s Defense Forces personnel and military hardware remain stationed in the Northern Command.

“If the two parties do not come to a ceasefire, this could become the biggest war in Africa,” Tronvoll said. He warned that the conflict had the potential to pull in Eritrea, Somalia, and Sudan.

“Tigrayans are fighters. The international community needs to urge both Addis Ababa and Tigray to dialogue,” Tronvoll said, adding that for as long as this war goes on, “there will never be peace in northern Ethiopia.”

Source: dw.com

Ethiopian lawmakers endorsed a six-month state of emergency in Tigray on Thursday, after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered a military response to an attack on federal troops by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front ruling party (TPLF).

Abiy Ahmed, the Ethiopian Prime Minister, expressed in a national address, “The Amhara people, militia and special forces have bravely repelled attacks launched in some places in the Amhara region and managed to deter the expanding force.”

“The forces in the Amhara region, along with members of the national defence force, have not only put off the expanding force but also controlled key areas.”

The move is to assert federal control over a region whose ruling party has for months openly defied Abiy — who is a 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner and has been branded as politically illegitimate by certain groups in the Tigray region.

Civilians in Tigray vs the TPLF Party

Redwan Hussein, the Ethiopian Emergency Committee Spokesman, shared his insight on the matter, “This conflict is not between the Tigray region versus the federal government, this conflict is between a very small group which has narrow vested interests which is helping to destabilise the national order and to attain and regain control over the Ethiopian political order.”

“So the federal government has to do everything possible to maintain order and to uphold the constitution and again to liberate the Tigrayan people.”

Tigray Civilians and the Ahead of Thursday’s vote, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, the national rights body, highlighted the need to maintain key services and supplies for civilians in Tigray — regardless of political tensions between certain groups and the rest of the country.

Source: africanews.com

At least 12 people have been killed in western Ethiopian state of Benishangul-Gumuz in the second round of violence in less than week, according to the authorities.

State spokesperson, Melese Beyene, has told the BBC that the violence was a “conflict among individuals” and that arrests were made.

But a senior official from the opposition National Movement of the Amhara, Desalegn Chane, told the BBC that the violence was a continuation of ethnic-related attacks against minorities.

He said the number of fatalities could be as high as 18.

Last week officials from the region said 14 civilians were killed during attacks. Fourteen others who were alleged perpetrators of the attacks were also killed.

The region has witnessed a surge in violence in the past few months with ethnic Amhara and Agew minorities being targeted. Article share tools.

Source: bbc.com

Ethiopia’s President Sahle-Work Zewde has promised that the upcoming election will be free and fair.

Ethiopia will hold its election before September next year.

The president said some reforms had been done on the electoral commission to ensure its independence.

President Sahle told a joint parliamentary sitting that the government would ensure peace, stability and security.

The current administration is serving an extended term after the election was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The northern region of Tigray went on to hold its election against advice from the federal government.

Source: bbc.com

Ethiopians are bidding farewell to veteran human rights advocate and political figure, Mesfin Woldemariam, who died last week at the age of 90.

His funeral is being held at the Addis Ababa university where his colleagues, students and family have gathered.

Government officials and diplomats are also expected to attend, the state-linked Fana Broadcasting Corporate reports.

It has tweeted photos of the funeral:

#Ethiopia is bidding farewell to late Professor #Mesfin_Woldemariam https://t.co/KZpMlvx7Te pic.twitter.com/K6svpbpZ2r

— FBC (Fana Broadcasting Corporate S.C.) (@fanatelevision) October 6, 2020

Mr Mesfin had been known as a critical figure of successive governments.

A geography professor by training, he wrote more than a dozen books on politics, history and culture. He was also a prolific commentator on newspapers and later on social media.

Source: bbc.com

The National Bank of Ethiopia says new banknotes worth 2.9bn Ethiopian birr ($80m; £62m) have been printed and are ready for distribution, according to Borkena website.

Those intending to change their old banknotes will be expected to appear in person and present their identity cards, the website reports.

The bank’s governor, Yinager Dessie, is quoted as saying that 3.7bn birr was spent on printing the new banknotes.

The new notes were unveiled on Monday and are meant to curb financing of illegal activities and corruption.

They have enhanced security features to combat the production of counterfeits.

Source: bbc.com

Police in Ethiopia have banned fireworks during Friday’s New Year’s celebrations citing a terror threat, state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting has reported.

The police spokesperson said they had intelligence that some individuals were planning to carry out an attack under the cover of fireworks.

Police had seized a grenade, four pistols and arrested 180 suspects in the capital, Addis Ababa, according to the spokesperson Markos Tadese who is quoted by Fana.

Ethiopians are celebrating the beginning of the year 2013 on Friday.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in his new year’s eve address said Ethiopians were hopeful for a better year.

Source: bbc.com

Two US Senators have sent a letter to the State Department requesting for help over the detention of Ethiopian opposition figure Jawar Mohammed.

Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith want the department to “take all appropriate actions” to ensure that Mr Jawar and fellow activist Misha Chiri “are treated humanely”.

They also want the department to assist the pair to “exercise their full rights”.

Mr Jawar was previously exiled in the US where he established a media business in Minnesota.

He was detained last month by Ethiopian authorities after being linked to the murder of a policeman during violent protests following the killing of music star Hachalu Handessa in the capital, Addis Ababa.

Mr Jawar’s allies deny his involvement in the murder.

“The recent political unrest and responsive actions taken by the Ethiopian government have threatened the progress that has been made,” the senators said in their letter.

Source: bbc.com

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has reshuffled his cabinet dropping a former close ally, Defence Minister Lemma Megersa.

Mr Lemma was recently suspended from the ruling party’s executive committee for “failing to discharge his duties”.

Takele Uma, the mayor of the capital, Addis Ababa, and Attorney General Adanech Abiebie have also been affected by the reshuffle.

Mr Takele has been appointed as mines minister.

There is, however, no indication if Mr Adanech will have a new position.

Source: bbc.com

The Foreign Correspondents’ Association of East Africa has called for the release of Kenyan journalist Yassin Juma who they say is still being detained in Ethiopia despite being granted bail by a court.

The association on Monday tweeted that the journalist was granted bail on Thursday but the Ethiopian authorities have not released him.

The journalist was arrested last month after the assassination of popular Oromo musician Hachalu Hundessa.

He was arrested at the home of Ethiopian activist and Oromia Media Network owner Jawar Mohammed, according to his lawyer.

He was charged with incitement and involvement in violence. He said he was at Mr Jawar’s home to conduct research for a report for a global human rights organisation.

Journalists want the Ethiopian and Kenyan governments to have him released:

An update on Yassin Juma – The FCAEA understands that Juma has not been released despite a court order granting him bail last Thursday. The FCAEA calls on Ethiopian authorities to release Juma immediately as per court instructions. #freeyassinjuma @ForeignOfficeKE @KenyaEmbAddis pic.twitter.com/6eWy9foTQO

— FCAEA (@FCAEA) August 10, 2020

Source: bbc.com

 

Internet services have been restored in parts of Ethiopia two weeks after violent protests broke out following the killing of popular Oromo singer Hachalu Hundesa in the capital, Addis Ababa.

People can now access wi-fi and broadband connections.

The authorities defended the shutdown – the longest the country has experienced since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in April 2018 – saying it was being used to fan inter-ethnic violence.

According to the authorities, trouble started after young people from the Oromia region insisted on diverting a procession escorting Hachalu’s body from Addis Ababa to his hometown of Ambo for burial. They wanted him to be buried in the capital.

The authorities say more than 200 people were killed in the clashes, including some security officers. At least 5,000 people were arrested.

The ethnic-based attacks were brutal and horrific, according to a report by the Mail and Guardian.

A foreign journalist based in Ethiopia has shared a video showing the destruction wrought by the violence in Shashamene, a town in Oromia 250km (155 miles) south of Addis Ababa:

A statue of former Ethiopian leader Haile Selassie has been destroyed in a park in Wimbledon, south-west London.

Police are investigating the incident, which took place in Cannizaro Park on Tuesday evening.

The damage to the bust was carried out by a group of around 100 people, according to an eyewitness.

It appears to be linked to unrest in Ethiopia sparked after a popular singer, Hachalu Hundessa, was shot dead earlier this week.

Demonstrations following his death saw a statue of royal prince Ras Makonnen Wolde Mikael, the father of Selassie, Ethiopia’s last emperor, torn down in the city of Harar in eastern Ethiopia.

Many ethnic Oromos say they were oppressed under Haile Selassie’s reign and their language and traditional religion were banned.

Hachalu’s songs focused on the rights of Ethiopia’s Oromo ethnic group and he had been a prominent voice in anti-government protests that led to a change in leadership in 2018.

What happened in Wimbledon?

Local resident Andrew Morris told the Press Association he had seen a mostly male group in the park, carrying fliers with Oromo slogans, while out walking his dog.

“I heard the statue being smashed up, but didn’t actually see it happen,” he added.

The Metropolitan Police said inquiries were ongoing and no arrests had yet been made after they were called to a report of criminal damage at 17:10 BST on Tuesday.

Selassie lived in Wimbledon in 1936 during his exile following the Italian invasion of his country. The statue was sculpted by Hilda Seligman, while he stayed with her family, and later erected in Cannizaro Park.

Source: bbc.com

Ethiopia’s health minister has told journalists that the country needs 131 million face masks in the next four months, state-linked Fana Broadcasting Corporate reports.

Minister Lia Tadesse is quoted as saying that the face masks are needed in healthcare facilities across the country.

Plans are underway to manufacture the face masks locally, the broadcaster reports.

The country has so far confirmed 1,257 coronavirus cases and 12 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

Ethiopia has been instrumental in distributing coronavirus supplies donated by China across the continent.

Source: bbc.com

Every weekday at noon, radio host Mehret Debebe heads to his studio for a live call-in show devoted to a single topic: what the coronavirus means for Ethiopia.

The questions come from across the country, as farmers in remote regions ask how they should prepare – and in some cases whether the virus is even real.

The answers come from even farther afield.

That’s because Mehret has taken to stacking his guest list with Ethiopian doctors based abroad, often in countries like the United States that have been hit much harder by the pandemic.

“We are still in the pre-crisis phase, so I think learning from them would help a lot,” Mehret, a US-trained psychiatrist, said of his diaspora guests.

“We don’t know what the crisis will be like.”

The World Bank says Ethiopia has just one doctor for every 10,000 people – a ratio that’s half of neighbouring Kenya’s, four times lower than Nigeria’s and nine times lower than South Africa’s.

But the global response to the pandemic has benefited from the work of Ethiopian doctors overseas, including aides to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus – who is himself Ethiopian, though not a doctor, and emergency-room physicians in hotspots like New York.

Mehret’s show is part of a broader effort to enlist those doctors to help shape the local response.

Just 250 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, have been confirmed so far in Ethiopia, but experts warn the health system could easily become overwhelmed by a major surge.

“That’s the worst-case scenario,” said Dr Wubrest Tesfaye, Mehret’s co-host.

“Having first-hand experience from a person who is at the front, responding to the highest outbreak crisis, would give us the right kind of information” on how to prepare.

The view from New York

It was late March when Tsion Firew, an Ethiopian emergency-room doctor based in Manhattan, realised the pandemic could be as bad as anything she’d seen in her years of responding to conflicts and humanitarian disasters.

Critical patients just kept coming, and the lack of information about the virus elevated fear and anxiety.

“I actually felt like I was back in Mosul,” she recalled, referring to her time in the Iraqi city after it was liberated from the Islamic State group in 2017.

She talked about her experiences on a recent episode of Mehret’s show – a segment Mehret said helped underscore the gravity of the virus for listeners.

Tsion’s time in New York, the worst-affected US city, has also informed her work on an Ethiopian government task force to fight the virus – which she does in the mornings before hospital shifts.

When she disagrees with Ethiopian officials, like when she thought they were moving too slowly to procure testing materials, she pushes back “forcefully”, she told AFP.

“After seeing what I saw every day, the amount of death I saw every day, my tone changed,” she said. “I became more pushy, even with the health minister.”

‘Time is of the essence’

Another recent guest on Mehret’s show was Dawd Siraj, an Ethiopian expert on infectious diseases at the University of Wisconsin.

He used his two appearances to break down the science behind the virus, shifting the conversation towards facts and away from what he described as “supranatural” narratives.

“The foundation of science and the methods of reaching conclusions are solid. I want to explain this to the public in an easy, understandable way,” he told AFP.

Mehret said it’s a welcome message in Ethiopia, a deeply religious country where many assume God will protect them from the disease, in part because there haven’t been many local cases so far.

“When it comes to COVID,” he said, “people really think God will take care of it because they don’t see it.”

Like Tsion, Dawd is a member of the health ministry’s coronavirus task force.

He also serves on a diaspora advisory council established by Fitsum Arega, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s former chief of staff and Ethiopia’s current ambassador in Washington.

The council’s “action plan” explains how it will use “experiences learned from around the world” to help with everything from sourcing personal protective equipment to preparing for possible lockdowns should the situation in Ethiopia deteriorate.

“The key is to get ahead of the virus. Time is of the essence!!” the document reads.

Staying vigilant

Last week, Mehret aired an interview with Wondwossen G Tekle, an Ethiopian endovascular neurologist at the University of Texas who recently came down with, and recovered from, COVID-19.

Along with his symptoms – the aches, the chills, the loss of taste and smell – Wondwossen described the importance of prevention in keeping Ethiopia’s caseload under control.

Though the total remains low, there are now dozens of cases of community spread, and officials warn that complacency could undermine containment.

Mehret said he hoped listeners gleaned from Wondwossen’s story that “this thing can catch anyone, and you can recover”.

But he also wants them to understand the importance of continued vigilance.

“I think COVID is giving us time because maybe COVID knows we don’t have enough preparation,” Mehret said.

“But if we have all this time and we have done nothing and if the epidemic happens, I think shame on us.”

Source: France24.com

The Council of Ministers has passed decisions for federal government employees to work from home effective March 25, 2020, until further notification.

The measure has been taken to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus COVID-19, said the Council in a statement after holding an extraordinary session this morning.

“Employees who will work from home will be selected based on criteria to be set by each Ministry and communicated with their workforce,” the Council said in a statement.

During this period, employees working from home are expected to be accessible for tasks that require their contribution, the statement added.

The Council also announced the establishment of a sub-committee, in addition to the COVID-19 Ministerial Committee, to coordinate efforts to address the pandemic.

The Council of Ministers, chaired by Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed, stressed adherence to all measures drawn by the federal government on COVID-19.

Source: fanabc.com

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has sought the help of Chinese President Xi Jinping for students in the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

Mr Abiy said he discussed support for the students with Mr Xi and said he was pleased that China would be “providing special care and support to Ethiopian students”.

The prime minister hailed China’s efforts in containing coronavirus.

Mr Xi was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying he appreciates the support African countries have given to China.

He said Africa had “illustrated brotherly friendship” during the coronavirus outbreak.

 

The parliament of Ethiopia recently passed a law imposing jail terms for people whose internet posts stir unrest, a move the government says is needed to prevent violence ahead of elections.

This new law will fine upto 100,000 Ethiopian Birr ($3,000) and imprisonment of upto five years for anyone that shares or creates social media posts that are deemed to result in violence or disturbance of public order.

This law was passed by 297 law makers who were in favour of the bill and 23 were opposed to it. Lawmakers who were opposed to the bill said it violates the constitutional guarantee of free speech.

But even as Ethiopia has made efforts to free political prisoners and journalists and lifted a ban on opposition parties, the authorities have struggled to contain a surge in ethnic violence. An election this year is seen as the biggest test yet of whether his ambitious political reforms can stick. Some 297 lawmakers who were present in the chamber voted in favor of the bill while just 23 were opposed.

“Ethiopia has become a victim of disinformation,” lawmaker Abebe Godebo said. “The country is a land of diversity and this bill will help to balance those diversities.”

The law was first endorsed by Abiy’s cabinet in November. At the time, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on freedom of expression urged authorities to reconsider it, warning it would worsen already high ethnic tensions and possibly fuel further violence.

International rights groups say it creates a legal means for the government to muzzle opponents.

Source: allafrica.com

Ethiopia’s electoral board has postponed the highly anticipated general election by nearly two weeks to 29 August.
Voting day had been set for 16 August, which was met with criticism as it coincided with the height of the rainy season in country where many people live in rural areas.

Announcing the revised timetable, the chair of the electoral board, Birtukan Mideksa – a former judge who was once a political prisoner – said that the end of August generally saw relatively less heavy rain.

Voter registration is due to begin in April and political parties can commence their campaigns late in May.