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The process of economic liberalisation in Ethiopia risks grinding to a halt as postponement of elections raises the prospect of a constitutional crisis. The elections, which were set for August, were postponed at the end of March because of the coronavirus pandemic. The constitution “does not seem to have envisaged the possibility of such an emergency during an election year,” says Zemelak Ayele, a constitutional lawyer in Addis Ababa. No target date for the elections was given. READ MORE:  Coronavirus: Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda see first East African cases “The issue of how the country will be governed in the interim period is a question that needs a clear answer,” says Ayele. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has taken  partial steps to liberalise the country’s state-directed economy . Reforms include planned new licences for mobile network operators and the sale of a stake in Ethio Telecom. The continuation of the current weak government, by definition unstable, is the

Ethiopia is imposing tighter controls at its border with Djibouti after authorities noticed an unusual spike in the number of returning nationals from the Red Sea nation. Officials said they were guarding against importation of the coronavirus from Djibouti, which has seen more than 1077 cases so far, the biggest tally in the Horn of Africa. They also said the returnees tried to enter Ethiopian territory illegally. In recent days, hundreds of Ethiopians residing in Djibouti have illegally crossed the border, raising concerns among Ethiopian health authorities. The mass exodus from Djibouti comes after the small nation saw a rapid spike in Covid-19 cases. Djibouti, by Tuesday, had only two deaths and 477 recoveries. But the rise in infection tally has jolted neighbouring Ethiopia which has 131 confirmed cases so far. Those numbers are a result of a ban on international flights, tight quarantine conditions and restricted land border entry points. Late in Ma

Ms Peninah Bahati Kitsao, 45, a mother of eight children who resorted to boiling stones to convince her two-year-old child that there was food for the family can now rest easy for some time.   Goodsamaritans have been trooping to the widow's two roomed house in Mleji village, Junda ward of Kisauni constituency, Mombasa county after her story was highlighted by Radio Maisha. The first person to respond to her pleas was Radio Maisha's News reader, Mike Nyagwoka whose financial injection enabled the family of nine to have a decent breakfast meal on Tuesday morning. ''I am grateful to all who have chipped in to support us. We now have meals on the table that can take us for the next couple of days,'' Peninah said. She had just returned from opening a bank account with the aid of a social worker, Mrs Priscah Nyakerari Momanyi after well-wishers who wanted to send her money encouraged her to do so. Peninah took reigns of her large family after the death o

Addis Ababa municipal authorities have demolished dozens of homes belonging to day labourers over the past three weeks, rendering at least 1,000 people homeless amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Amnesty International said today. Most of those whose homes have been destroyed recently lost their jobs due to the ongoing COVID-19 shutdowns told Amnesty International that they are now also having sleepless nights as authorities repeatedly confiscate tarpaulin or plastic sheeting they are using to shelter against heavy rains. Having a home is critical to protecting oneself from COVID-19, stopping its spread and recovering from it. The authorities must ensure that no one is put in a position of increased vulnerability to COVID-19 including by rendering them homeless.    “Stranded families have told us harrowing stories of how their children are sleeping out in the open, exposed to the drenching rain and cold,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Af

The Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council has revealed that Ethiopian forces and militias have seized a large part of his country’s territory along the border. “There are old problems. Herders have lost their livestock and farmers have lost their lands. The armed forces had nothing to do but to protect them because the Ethiopians imposed their presence,” explained Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan in an interview broadcast on Saturday on official  Sudanese TV . Al-Burhan’s announcement was the first admission by a Sudanese official of the Ethiopian occupation of agricultural land in Gedaref Governorate in the east of Sudan. He confirmed that a Sudanese soldier was killed and two others were injured during a recent cross-border attack by Ethiopian militias. READ:  Arab, Gulf countries intervene to help with Ethiopia dam dispute  Earlier this month, Al-Burhan accompanied the Army Chief of Staff, the Director of the Intelligence Service and other senior army officers

US President Donald Trump said he will send ventilators to Ethiopia in support of its effort to fight COVID-19. "Just spoke to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali of Ethiopia. His Country needs Ventilators, and the U.S. is in good position to help him. We will," Trump said on Twitter. Ali tweeted similar sentiments: "Encouraging phone call with @realDonaldTrump reconfirming continued US-Ethiopia relations. Appreciate the commitment of support to #COVID19 prevention and mitigation efforts as well as on desert locust control." Trump last year made an offer to mediate between Ethiopia and Egypt in their longtime dispute about filling and operation of Ethiopia's $5 billion hydro dam on the Nile River. Talks stalled after Ethiopia accused the US of siding with Egypt.  Source: AA

The walls of a 1,000-year-old church in Ethiopia have been discovered by archaeologists from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw. After being forced to abandon their excavation in March after just eight days because of coronavirus, the team led by the Centre’s Dr. Michela Gaudiello decided to use a drone to help with their research. Today, only large, several-meter stone pillars on the top of the hill towering over the surrounding area remain on the surface after the medieval church in Debre Gergis (‘Georgios Monastery’). Dr. Gaudiello said: “The locals know that there was once a Christian temple in this place, but due to the poor condition it is not known exactly in which period it was built and what its layout was. “We are the first archaeological research team in the world to regularly use a drone for the needs of archaeological documentation in Ethiopia.” In two archaeological excavations, researchers noticed damaged walls prob

In early February, officials from  Egypt ,  Ethiopia  and  Sudan  announced in a joint statement that they had cleared the way for the filling and operation of a disputed mega-dam being built by the Ethiopian government on the Nile River. The statement, which came on the back of months of US-led negotiations, caused many to believe the three northeast African countries may finally reach a deal on the multi-billion-dollar project.   This seemingly positive development, however, caused widespread concern in Ethiopia that its delegation is being pressured by the US to agree to a deal that is against the best interests of the country. As a result of this, on February 26, Addis Ababa announced that its delegation will skip the next round of talks in Washington. Despite Ethiopia taking a step back from the negotiations, the US continued its talks with the Sudanese and Egyptian delegations and put forward a draft agreement for all three countries to sign. Furthermore, US Treasury Secre

BY ANDUALEM SISAY GESSESSE – Since Ethiopia announced its first confirmed cornavirus (COVID-19) case in mid-March, the number of patients infected by the pandemic in the country has been growing and reached 116 on Wednesday this week (April 22, 2019). The next day on Thursday after conducting laboratory test for over 900 people in 24 hours, the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia for the first time reported that it has not found a single COVID-19 positive case. All the 965 suspected people were free from the virus. That was the first good news for the people, who have been under the fear of the pandemic partially locked-down. But not that much festivity for many Ethiopians including me. This is not because Ethiopians are immune from coronavirus or we pray for the suffering of people by the pandemic. It is kind of choosing between two evils – the least evil and most evil. I and millions in Ethiopia believe that coronavirus gave us a break from the ethnic politics, which engulfed us into

The Ethiopian community in the Washington, D.C., area is mourning the loss of a woman who died from coronavirus shortly after giving birth, without seeing her newborn. Wogene Debele of Takoma Park, Maryland, was eight months pregnant when she began experiencing symptoms including fever, shortness of breath and loss of sense of smell. On March 25 she was hospitalized, and her son was born one month early via emergency cesarean section. On April 21 she died due to complications from the virus. Her son is healthy and does not have the disease. On Friday at the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex in Virginia, mourners wore masks and stood at a safe distance from one another.  Her husband, Yilma Asfaw, collapsed on the casket, crying out in Amharic. “You didn't see the boy you were looking for. You left your four children, and what would I do for them?” Despite his distress, his friends and family were unable to comfort him due to the distancing restrictions. “The newborn baby