Ethiopia and the US back on good terms?
Let me start this week’s newsletter with some highlights from US Secretary of State, Antony1 Blinken’s visit to Ethiopia.
The Secretary of State, who arrived in Ethiopia last Tuesday evening, met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Demeke Mekonnen, representatives from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, including spokesperson (and as of last week, head of Tigray region’s interim government) Getachew Reda, as well as civil society and aid organization representatives.
He said a few things on a couple of occasions. Once, while visiting the UN logistics center warehouse, he announced 331 million dollars in support for Ethiopia; intended to primarily go toward relieving the effects of the drought in the country. On that visit with him was Ethiopia’s Finance Minister, Ahmed Shide, who, after Blinken’s remark, said that the challenges Ethiopia faces with the COVID-19 pandemic and global food shocks have been worsened by a drop in external development assistance and now with Blinken’s visit, this will be ‘fully unlocked’.
Later, Blinken met with human rights advocates, which included the Chief Commissioner of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, Daniel Bekele. During this meeting, issues of, ‘humanitarian access, humanitarian needs…the issue of justice and accountability for the victims of conflict in Ethiopia, including victims of sexual and gender-based violence’ were raised according to an update by the Commission.
Later on, Blinken said that, according to reports from those he convened with, including representatives from the UN, there has been a significant drop in human rights violations and abuses in Tigray.
At the final press release held at Addis Abeba University, Blinken gave a speech where he mentioned that there was progress in the implementation of the peace deal in Ethiopia.
“By and large the guns are silent, humanitarian assistance is flowing, services are being restored, we’ve seen the TPLF disarm its heavy weapons, and we are seeing external forces moving out of Tigray, to include the Eritreans. It’s not a … complete, it’s a process but we continue to see significant movement in the right direction to fulfilling the commitments that were made in the agreement.”
When asked if the US will be reinstating AGOA privileges to Ethiopia by a reporter, Blinken said that as the peace deal progresses, ‘our own ability to continue to move forward on our engagement with Ethiopia, to include economic engagement, will also move forward.’
My brief report for VOA on this here and a much more in-depth coverage here.
Getachew Reda to lead Tigray
Getachew Reda has been elected to lead the interim regional government of Tigray by TPLF central committee members.
According to the Pretoria peace deal, this interim regional administration, in place until elections can take place, will oversee matters of the region. The interim administration, will replace the Tigray regional government, put in power during the local election in September 2020, which at the time was deemed unconstitutional by the federal government and a precursor to the breakout of war two months later.
This report by Addis Standard says that an earlier recommendation for the current president of the region, Debretsion Gebremichael, for this role was declined by the Prime Minister.
City council meeting raises questions
Among the many issues discussed at the recent Addis Abeba city council meeting which took place on Tuesday last week, one issue was making rounds on social media. Mayor Adanech Abiebie reported on what she said was a coordinated move to overthrow the government through large movements of people from the regions to the capital city. This movement is seen as a security threat added the Mayor according to this detailed Amharic report by Ethiopia Insider.
Asked about which regions these people where coming from, by a city council member, the response given was: 64% from Amhara, 21% from around the south and 14% from Oromia.
Opposition party, National Movement of Amhara, later put out a statement saying that the comments made were dangerous and divisive and called for the removal for the mayor. Then followed Enat party and other politicians who spoke questioning the statement according to this English article by The Reporter. The mayor’s statement also infringes on the right to movement of people according to an expert cited in the story.
This has also brought out extremely vitriolic responses on social media over the past week.
On ethnic based conflict
If you’re looking to understand more about Ethiopia’s regional composition, the inter-ethnic clashes that are taking place across the country and the rights and safety of ethnic minorities in Ethiopia, check out this article by Ethiopia Insight.
Here’s an excerpt:
“While it’s true that Ethiopian history is rife with attempts of forceful homogenization, these types of anti-imperial narratives are used by some as carte blanche to attack and forcibly displace non-indigenous minorities during bouts of violence.”
Social security fund on the horizon
A social security fund by the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs (Ministry) is in the works. This is expected to create a solution to the ever-increasing situation of people who have been forced to beg or engage in sex work in Addis Abeba. According to a report by Wazema Radio this will also outlaw begging and those found to help beggars once it is enforced. Come again?
In fact, the draft law has been finalized by the Ministry and sent to Ministry of Justice, the last step before heading for final approval to the house of representatives. According to a recent study cited in the report, there are nearly 90,000 people who are begging in the city and nearly 50,000 live on the main streets in the capital.
The full story in Amharic here.
Ethiopia and Egypt continue back and forth on GERD
My last update on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) followed a statement made by Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, at the Arab League Council. He asked for a united Arab stand against GERD, and the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs replied saying it was ‘dismayed’ by this.
Last week, Shoukry was quoted as saying, ‘we just declare all options open without defining specific procedures, and this serves the Egyptian interest in retaining all available alternative’, in relation to GERD, according to this report by the Egypt Independent.
The Ethiopian government said that it rejects this, specifically, ‘threatening Ethiopia with yet another ‘all options are open’ adding that ‘no interest can be advanced through threats and intimidation’.
A story in English by The Reporter here.
An update on the bajaj ban
Last week I wrote an update on the ban on operating three-wheeled bajajs in the city and the ensuing protests from drivers. Last week Thursday, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission put out a press release, saying the ban places restrictions on human rights. The Commission stated that it infringes upon people’s constitutional right to work, and if there are restrictions on these rights, they will need to fulfill certain criteria. The commission then asked for it to be lifted.
By Friday, the transport bureau had announced that the ban would be lifted starting the next day. The bureau said they’ve put together a directive for governing bajaj transportation in the city. The full story on Ethiopia Insider here.
Revisiting the events of Adwa
Adwa celebrations turned deadly a couple of weeks ago. The annual celebrations are hailed ‘as a symbol of African resistance to European colonialism’. This year, moving the celebrations from Menelik Square – where the statue of Emperor Menelik II is found – to Meskel Square was controversial. The move, according to this article by Ethiopia Insight, was seen as minimizing the role of the Emperor in the war (against invading Italians). But also, Saint George Church is found near this square, and it is said that the church played its role by marching alongside the emperor’s army.
But is Menelik a benevolent emperor – as seen by many believers in the Ethiopian Orthodox Teahedo Church or the imperialist whose assimilation campaigns resulted in the death and disfigurement of thousands…asks this article. We won’t have that argument here but head on over to Ethiopia Insight for a succinct news analysis on the events that took place on the last Adwa celebrations.
In other news
Universities in Tigray are preparing to pay employee salaries again after 20 months of no pay. The four universities in the region, Mekelle University, Axum University, Adigrat University, and Raya University have not been operational due to the war. The lump sum salaries will include salaries of the last three months. According to this year’s federal budget, the four universities have an allotted 3.5 billion Birr; Mekelle University takes the lion’s share at 1.2 billion Birr.
Government security forces are breaking up and disturbing opposition political parties from holding their general assembly. Opposition parties Enat, Balderas for Real Democracy and Gogot for Gurage Unity and Justice have had their members imprisoned, their meeting sessions interrupted by security forces and have faced harassment and threats according to the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia. The full story on Addis Standard here.
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Spelled as Anthony in the original post.