The Federal Attorney General revealed that charges on some 114 prisoners, including monks from the Waldiba monastery, who were arrested for terrorism and other crimes, were dropped yesterday.

In late December, Executive Committees of the ruling party, Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) had passed a number of decisions including dropping charges and releasing prisoners to widen the political space after an extended meeting.

It should be recalled that government has released and dropped charges of many prisoners at the federal and regional levels in line with the requirements set by the Federal Attorney General.

Thousands of prisoners have been released so far.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed held discussions with the residents of Ambo town (Oromia region) today.

In his address to the public who converged in Ambo Stadium starting from 10:00 a.m, the Premier tackled various local, regional and national political, social and development issues related to the current situation in the country.

Ambo is a town some 120 km west of the capital Addis Ababa, was not long ago that hit by protest against the Addis Ababa and Surrounding Oromia Special Zone Integrated Master Plan.

In mid-April 2014, the government announced its readiness to implement the master plan in a bid to develop the capital Addis Ababa and the vicinity of Oromia Special Zone in an integrated manner.

However, this move provoked an immediate reaction from some university students across the Oromia region, and Ambo was one of the towns that resisted the implementation of the master plan.

The town remained the heartbeat of spreading protests that started in late 2015 through to the reform of the ruling EPRDF party and the appointment of the new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

But now residents of Ambo town expressed their joy in the visit of the Prime Minister with the expectation that such a visit would be instrumental in finding viable solutions to public demands in various areas of socio-economic development of the town and the country at large.

Geremew Belay, a young resident of Ambo Town, said:

“Upon hearing that the Prime Minister will make a working visit to our town, we were excited to welcome him, and we are preparing a list of socio-economic challenges that the town is facing. We are optimistic that his visit will play a major role in solving a number of development problems the town is facing.”

Aster Nemera, a woman residing in Ambo town said “The visit of Prime Minister Abiy Amed to our town would usher a new hope and opportunity for the improvement of the livelihood of women in the town. We are also expecting the development of manufacturing industries in the town. She also said that Ambo Town Administration is expected to effectively respond to the development needs of the women in the town.”

Mekonnen Bedada, another resident of Ambo town, said the town administration needs to work in collaboration with the government to resolve public grievances in the areas of infrastructural developments like roads, potable water and electricity.

He added that the visit of the Prime Minister would help to speed up the positive responses to the development needs of the town.

In his visit to Ambo today, the Premier will also confer with representatives of the public, elders and youth groups.

Job opportunities were offered to 5.16 million people in the second half of GTP II according to Asefa Ferede, head of Public Relations of the Federal Urban Job Creation and Food Security Agency.  Over 60% of them are youngsters.

With the support of the government, the Agency renders short-term training for job seeker youngsters in different kinds of fields, addressing over 2.8 million people and lends money based on savings. The Agency is facilitating job opportunities, especially for young people. In the proposal of the GDP II, a plan was set to lend 21 billion Birr. While the plan is halfway through, about 18.1 billion Birr has already been given out with a total of 933,000 people beneficiaries.

The Agency had urged beneficiaries to save about 17 billion Birr, and they saved over 20.5 billion Birr, which is above the plan. This was made possible by mobilising youngsters and students engaged in TVET. The GDP II was also planning to create market links which have so far resulted in 37.6 billion Birr and benefited 2.6 million people.

According to Asefa, the Agency is institutionalized to facilitate job opportunities and security of food both at the federal and state level. It also plans and assesses different activities in the sector, builds the capacity of the unemployed and generally works on averting hurdles on the way to success.

There are different challenges that affect the sector such as lack of good governance, corruption, the dearth of working places and lack of training, even if the government is highly working on these shortfalls for a better outcome.  Asefa added that creating job opportunities and organizing jobless people in Micro and Small Enterprises is a very effective way of developing a country’s economy. This enterprise will also help for the transformation of knowledge and technology. Products produced by enterprises will curtail the outflow of foreign currency.

It is known that the major problem for most developing countries is poor economic performance, low economic growth, which is manifested in low economic activity and little investment.  However, currently, Ethiopia is trying to overcome this challenge by engaging the people in small scale enterprises, which is effective in reducing the problem of unemployment.

Source: The Ethiopian Herald

Dr Abiy sworn in as Prime Minister of Ethiopia at a ceremony held at the House of People’s Representative (HPR) today In his acceptance speech, the new Prime Minister said that the power transition is the beginning of a new political era in the country.

The government needs to seize the opportunity to maintain the sustainability of the gains made in the past and make reform on sectors that need improvement, he said.

“Taking lessons from our mistakes, we should work to bring about political stability, build a better and united Ethiopia,” the new Prime Minister said.

He said efforts would be made to compensate the economic slowdown resulted from the political instability occurred in the country, even by working overtime.

He further pledged to prioritise, building democracy; enhancing unity in diversity; forging national consensus fighting corruption, improving quality of education and maintaining the rule of law.

He also expressed his readiness to work with Ethiopians abroad and political parties as well as resolve problems with the government of Eritrea.

Ethiopia, a seat of several international and continental agencies, will continue to cement its foreign policy that was founded on mutual benefit and equality, he added.

The new Prime Minister also thanked the outgoing Premier Hailemariam Desalegn for his decision to step down from his post to become part of a solution for the political instability occurred in the country and to be a model for others.

Dr Abiy took office today as Prime Minister following an oath-taking ceremony. The outgoing Prime Minister Hailemariam and other senior officials welcomed upon his arrival office.

Hailemariam wished success for the new Prime Minister and pledged to provide his unreserved support for him.

Prime Minister Dr Abiy on his part expressed gratitude for Hailemariam for his contribution.