Africa to be hit hard as UK foreign aid cuts revealed
Ethiopia declares 6 months state of emergency after businesses attacked
1:35 CAT | 09 Oct 2016
Africa News / Minister Getachew Reda says ‘foreign elements’ are behind recent assaults
Ethiopia’s federal government has declared a 6-month state of emergency as of Saturday, October 8, 2016, local media outfit, the Addis Fortune reports.
According to the portal, the cabinet of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn held an emergency meeting on Saturday afternoon where the government declared the state of emergency citing deteriorating security situation in Oromia regional state.
The news is also corroborated by known journalists working the east African country. The latest violence in the Oromia region was sparked off during the Irreecha festival a week ago, a stampede during the festival reportedly claimed over 50 lives according to official sources.
It is the first time in over two decades that such a decision has been taken. It will last for six months. ‘‘It may be shortened depending on the improvement on the security front,” Fortune quoted a senior government official as saying.
Since the October 2 incident, continued protests in the country has resulted in attacks on foreign businesses. The state security continue to conduct mass arrests and internet in the country was partially cut.
The Oromia region lies south of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and is the center of the Oromia protests last year which Human Rights Watch reported that over 400 protesters were killed.
Ethiopia’s federal government has declared a 6-month state of emergency as of Saturday, October 8, 2016, local media outfit, the Addis Fortune reports.
According to the portal, the cabinet of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn held an emergency meeting on Saturday afternoon where the government declared the state of emergency citing deteriorating security situation in Oromia regional state.
Security forces will be re-organised and given “extra powers” to restore law and order for an initial period of six months, which can be extended or reduced by lawmakers, the communications minister Getachew Reda told Bloomberg by telephone from the capital, Addis Ababa, Sunday.
“What we have is an organised attack against people, individuals, groups, investments and mostly targeting the kind of success stories that Ethiopia has been credited for,” Getachew said. “And more importantly, this an attack which is being orchestrated at the behest and with the support of foreign elements so it requires extraordinary measures.”
Anti-government protesters in Oromia, the country’s most populated region, attacked trucks, factories and farms, and also burned down government buildings. The attacks follow the deaths of about 100 Ormo on Oct. 2, when the forced dispersal of a protest at a cultural celebration caused a stampede.
The government regularly accuses Eritrea, on the nation’s northern border, of supporting hostile groups while it also blamed Egypt for supporting illegal acts. Ethiopia’s constitution says a council of ministers can suspend certain “political and democratic rights” during a state of emergency.
Source: Africa News / Bloomberg
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