ETHIOPIA: Aby’s Report & more – 8th Feb 2024

Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 8th of February twenty twenty-four A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s report to the House of People’s Representatives dominated headlines this week.

He sat before the House on Tuesday the 6th and talked about the armed struggle for political power in various parts of the country, which is seriously affecting the nation's peace and stability. The Prime Minister said that the government will engage in peaceful political dialogue if armed groups end the violence. However, he also reiterated the government’s commitment to enforce the law. When asked why the details of the negotiation with the Oromo Liberation Army held in Tanzania weren’t revealed, the PM responded there weren’t any positive results that the government thought the public should hear, adding that if the negotiations are successful, they will let everyone know.

He was also asked about the memorandum of understanding signed between the country and Somaliland, which will allow Ethiopia to get a hold of a sea outlet. The memorandum has seriously disconcerted Somalia. Prime Minister Abiy said that his government isn’t ready to harm ‘Somali brothers.’ He also said that he doesn’t believe Somalia is thinking of an armed conflict with Ethiopia but that certain forces/entities are interested in a proxy war. He talked about how Ethiopia and Somalia have had great bilateral relations over the years and how many Ethiopian soldiers died in Somalia fighting against the terrorist group Al-Shabab, stressing that the two countries are on good terms but that Ethiopia won’t back down from defending in case of an attack.

On the economy, the Prime Minister generally had positive remarks to make as he said total deposits in banks have reached more than a trillion birr or a little over twenty billion US dollars, and almost two hundred billion birr or three billion US dollars have been loaned, most of it to the private sector. He also said that Ethiopia is one of the few countries in the world registering fast economic growth.

Another topic raised was the issue of the administrative boundary in disputed bordering areas of the Amhara and Tigray regions. Last week, on Thursday the 1st, the federal government issued a statement saying that the two regions had reached an agreement to resolve the matter through a referendum. However, on Monday the 5th, in a letter that Getachew Reda, Tigray region’s interim government president, signed, the region stated that it had not agreed to a referendum, saying that it would be unconstitutional and would transgress the Pretoria agreement. The PM was asked about this situation in the House, and he said that there were preparations to hold the referendum last year but that it was interrupted because of conflicts in the Amhara region. He added that if either or both regions don’t consider the referendum a solution, the federal government is open to hearing other solutions but won’t favor one over the other.

Still on the differences between the federal, Tigray, and Amhara regional governments, House members asked the PM about the drought in the northern parts of the country. He responded by saying that there have been no deaths recorded due to hunger and reported deaths in those areas have been caused by diseases and not starvation. However, Tigray’s interim administration is alleging almost nine hundred deaths due to hunger.

The British government announced a hundred and twenty-five million dollar (about seventy billion birr) aid initiative ‘to save the lives of mothers and babies in Ethiopia.’ This package comes after Andrew Mitchell, the UK’s development and Africa Minister, returned from a two-day visit to Ethiopia. He observed the drastic humanitarian situation in the country, especially in the Tigray region, where officials are comparing the current drought to the one of nineteen eighty-five. According to the UK’s statement announcing the initiative, the aid will be used to end preventable deaths among children, pregnant and post-natal women.

The next big news of the week also came from parliament as the house appointed Temesgen Tiruneh, the former National Intelligence and Security Services director general, as deputy Prime Minister. Temesgen replaces Demeke Mekonnen who resigned from his posts last week after a stint of over a decade as deputy PM. Temesgen is Abiy’s long-time colleague and advisor who rose through the ranks and became Amhara’s regional president five years ago. Recall that Demeke Mekonnen also doubled as minister of foreign affairs. The new minister of foreign affairs will be Taye Atske-Selassie, the former permanent representative of Ethiopia at the UN. Minister of Health Dr. Lia Tadesse has been replaced by Dr. Mekdes Daba.

Last week, on Friday the 2nd, the Parliament decided to extend the state of emergency declared in the Amhara region by four months after it received requests from the Ministry of Justice. The state of emergency was originally announced last year in August because of clashes between the government and a popular movement called Fano. Although fighting has decreased compared to the summer of twenty twenty-three, in some rural areas, there’s still news of conflicts.

However, not everyone is on board with this decision as the Caucus of Opposition Parties, a council of eleven opposition parties, issued a statement expressing its discontent with the extension of the state of emergency. The Caucus said that a state of emergency has been declared numerous times over the past six years but has been used to suppress public demands instead of addressing underlying issues. Recall that the Caucus opposed the original declaration of the state of emergency back in August last year.

In other news, the National Bank of Ethiopia has banned twelve former members of the directors’ board of Nib International Bank from working in any financial institution. In a letter the National Bank wrote to the former members, it said that after conducting an investigation, it found them jointly and severally liable for the problems caused within the Bank. The now banned members were unable to implement an effective liquidity risk management system, putting depositors at risk. During their tenure, the bank also failed to honor requests based on the Ethiopian Automated Transfer System, leading to fines from the National Bank.

And to close this edition, the feud between the federal government and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church continues as a prominent bishop who was in New York to do his duty was denied entry into Ethiopia upon His return. His holiness Father Petros is the secretary of the Holy Synod and the Church's Pope for the New York and its surrounding Diocese. Airport authorities denied him entry into Ethiopia upon arrival and made him fly back to New York. When asked why this happened, He said that security officers at the airport said that He didn't have the necessary documentation and refused Him entry. The officers said that Father Petros' green card had expired, but the Bishop said it was still valid for another three years. The government citing the expired green card as the reason for the entry denial was put into question, as he might have been denied entry because the Holy Synod didn't denounce an anti-government speech from another Bishop.

Aand that is for this week.

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