The Ethiopian National Security Council to stabilize the security of the country

Tigrai Online, Nov. 12 2017

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Ethiopian Minister of Defense, Siraj Fegessa press brief in the Ethiopian National Security Council meeting

The Ethiopian National Security Council has made plans to stabilize the current security situation in the country with full agreement of the regional authorities throughout the country. In a Meeting conducted by the Prime Minister himself in his office, members of the national and regional security officials discussed the current security situation in Ethiopia.

In the past few months the security in Oromia regional state has been going in a downward spiral. The regional police seem overwhelmed to say the least and as a result many people have lost their lives in recent demonstrations. In some cases the demonstrators mainly targeted people who are not from the region mainly from Amhara and Tigrai. According to credible reports Tigrai farmers who were settled in Southern Ethiopia in the Derg era are in danger. University Students in Metu town have been evacuated to Gambela regional state because of fear for their safety and the students are from Tigrai state. There have been incidents including some fatalities in the towns of Nekemtie, Shashemenye, Bedele, and many more targeting people from different regions of Ethiopia mainly Tigrai and Amhara.

A few months ago there have been attacks and counter attacks in the borders of the Oromia and Somali regional states where many people lost their lives and even many more were displaced.

Now the entire Oromia regional state security situation is deteriorating very fast at the same time destabilizing the whole country especially the neighboring Amhara and Somali states. Last year very similar situation in Amhara regional state and to some extent in Oromia resulted in devastation in terms of human life and ruined business. Not to mention the decline of tourist dollars because tourists avoided popular destinations like the city of Gonder.

The federal government’s response in Oromia this year and in Gonder last year has been shameful to say the least. Sometimes it is hard to tell if there is a central federal government. We understand the constitution grants some leeway to the regional states to run their own internal affairs, but when citizens lives are in danger, the federal government has to step in and takeover security. However, what we have been seeing lately is the opposite of the above, the federal government is scared to take responsibility and save its citizens lives.

The Ethiopian National Security Council has made plans to stabilize the current security situation in Ethiopia,

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn purportedly has said ensuring peace and stability so as to enable the public fully concentrate and exert maximum effort in the fight against poverty.

Ethiopian Minister of Defense, Siraj Fegessa has reportedly said details of the plan that would be implemented this year will be official soon.

According to the Ethiopian News Agency an agreement has been reached “not to allow similar protest rallies that the country has been experiencing lately, which caused deaths and property destruction in various places”.

The Ethiopian National Security Council meeting was attended by heads of all regional states, senior officers of the army, police commissioners, and other stakeholders the state news agency reported.

The federal government needs to do a little calculation and figure out you can’t fight poverty while public and private businesses worth billions are destroyed every year. What is the point of building economic development if you don’t have sufficient security?