Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopia’s new prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, apologised to people harmed in recent political unrest and reached out both to the political opposition and longtime rival Eritrea at his swearing-in on Monday. Abiy is the first ethnic Oromo to be selected by the ruling Ethiopian …
Read More »Ethiopia’s ruling party picks ethnic Oromo, Abiy Ahmed, as PM
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopia’s ruling coalition on Tuesday elected as leader Abiy Ahmed, from the country’s largest ethnic group the Oromo, paving the way for him to become prime minister, state media reported. As the leader of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), Abiy is set …
Read More »Bus crash kills 38 in Ethiopia: state media
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Thirty-eight people have died after the bus they were travelling in plunged off an embankment in northern Ethiopia, state media said on Tuesday. “A total of 38 people, (28 male, and 10 female) were killed in the accident,” state-affiliated Fana Broadcast Corporate said of …
Read More »Killing of civilians by Ethiopia troops no accident, say residents
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Residents of a town in Ethiopia’s restive Oromia region on Monday disputed the government’s characterisation of a deadly shooting that left nine civilians dead as an accident. Ethiopian state media said Sunday that soldiers shot nine civilians near the town of Moyale on the …
Read More »Africa, US move on from ‘shithole’ remarks as Tillerson starts tour
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Washington’s top diplomat began his first Africa tour Thursday by meeting with the African Union chief, who said the continent had moved on from a reported insult by President Donald Trump. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and AU commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat discussed security …
Read More »COMMENT: Africa’s fallen liberators
In both South Africa and Ethiopia, the dominant political party grew complacent and corrupt, and suffered decay COMMENT | BINIAM BEDASSO | The leaders of two key African countries resigned their posts within 24 hours of each other recently. South Africa’s Jacob Zuma finally buckled under pressure from his own party …
Read More »Ethiopian ruling party to meet next week to choose new PM
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopia’s ruling coalition will meet next week to choose a successor to Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn whose surprise resignation last month has sparked a rare succession race, state media reported Wednesday. Hailemariam’s decision to step down was unprecedented in the 27-year reign of the …
Read More »Ethiopia in ‘uncharted territory’ as party chooses PM
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopia’s governing coalition is facing an unprecedented tussle behind closed doors as it seeks a new prime minister after Hailemariam Desalegn’s shock resignation from the helm of Africa’s fastest growing economy. With opposition parties enfeebled, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition wields …
Read More »Ethiopians strike over state of emergency
Burayu, Ethiopia | AFP | Businesses closed in Ethiopia’s capital and its largest region on Monday to protest a state of emergency declared after the prime minister’s resignation last month. Shops were shut and roads deserted in parts of the capital Addis Ababa and in towns in the surrounding Oromia …
Read More »Shock as 88 Ethiopian MPs vote against emergency decree
Fractured Ethiopia parliament endorses emergency decree Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA | AFP | Ethiopia’s parliament approved a nationwide state of emergency on Friday despite unusual opposition from some lawmakers, in the latest sign of fractures within the all-powerful ruling coalition. The council of ministers made the emergency declaration last month, one …
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