Billene Seyoum, from the Press Secretariat Unit of the Prime Minister Office of Ethiopia, today (April 09) gave a short video briefing aiming at providing context and clarity on the declaration of the State of Emergency that was declared by the Council of Ministers yesterday (April 08).

 

Ethiopia’s President Sahle-Work Zewde has joined the chorus of support for WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom.

“WHO under Dr Tedros effective leadership, are delivering on their mandate at a time we need them most. Let’s give them the space,” she tweeted.

Her remarks came following the US government’s accusation of WHO of being biased in favour of China in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“Our global priority is to save lives. COVID-19 is killing many. We must support and protect the most vulnerable. Now is not the time for blame game,” President Sahle-Work said.

Several African leaders also rejected the criticism by the US president on the UN health agency.

The presidents of Rwanda, South Africa, Nigeria and Namibia, along with Chairperson of the African Union Commission and the UN Secretary General rallied in support of WHO.

“Surprised to learn of a campaign by the U.S. government against WHO’s global leadership,” said a tweet by Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission.

He said the African Union fully supports the WHO and its Director-General. “The focus should remain on collectively fighting COVID-19 as a united global community. The time for accountability will come.”

Later he added: “I certainly do not imply that it is WHO or Dr. Tedros that need to account in this regard.”

Rwandan President Paul Kagame tweeted that he totally agreed with the African Union leader. He said Dr. Tedros had the “full confidence and support of Africa.” He added: “Save us [from] too much politics, Africa does not need it.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a tweet that the WHO is providing “exceptional” and “incalculable” leadership, adding that international solidarity is “the most potent weapon” against the pandemic.

Namibian President Hage Geingob added his support for the WHO and Dr. Tedros. “Global solidarity has become critical,” he said on Twitter. “Let’s hold hands in this crucial moment and focus on what matters, saving lives.”

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also expressed his support for the WHO, calling it “absolutely critical” to the war against the coronavirus.

He said the WHO’s response can be debated after the pandemic is over. “Now is not that time. Now is the time for unity.”

Commenting on the accusation by the US government, Dr Tedros said “For us small and big is the same. For us people in the North or in the South, East or West are the same”.

Dr Tedros said he has been targeted with racist attacks and death threats as the agency became embroiled in an increasingly polarized and heated political environment worldwide.

He said the personal attacks on him began more than two months ago. “Abuse, or racist comments, giving me names, black or Negro … even death threats.”

He called for a “quarantine” on divisive political attacks on the novel coronavirus response. “If you don’t want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it,” he said.

He called for global solidarity, warning the world’s countries that they would be “playing with fire” if they try to exploit the pandemic for political purposes.

“If you don’t believe in unity, please prepare for the worst to come.”

The House of People’s Representatives of Ethiopia (parliament) will hold an extraordinary meeting tomorrow.

The parliament is expected to approve the state of emergency and its inquiry board members.

The Council of Ministers yesterday declared a five-month state of emergency to avert the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) and reduce its impact on the country.

The parliament is also expected to approve the loan agreement signed with the International Development Association (IDA) to help Ethiopia’s COVID19 response efforts.

The Ministry of Health has confirmed one new case of coronavirus (COVID19) out of the 294 samples that were tested over the past 24 hours.

This brings the total COVID19 cases in Ethiopia to 56.

The new case is a 43-year-old Ethiopian born Canadian, with a travel history from Canada to Dubai and then to Addis Ababa, according to the Ministry.

Ethiopia has so far registered two deaths and four recoveries from the virus.

In its 18th urgent session held on April 8th, the Council of Ministers has passed decisions after deliberating on different issues.

The Council first discussed on the state of emergency draft bill issued to avert the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) and reduce its impact, according to a statement issued by office of the Prime Minister.

The draft bill was issued in accordance to Article 93 of the Constitution and was needed to respond to the political and socio-economic impact of the pandemic, it said.

Following the declaration of coronavirus a global emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO), about 70 countries have declared state of emergency to halt the spread and protect their people from the virus, it said.

After an in-depth deliberation and with a slight change, the Council of Ministers has decided the draft bill to enter into force as of  April 8, 2020, the statement indicated.

The Council also discussed the draft bill approving three loan agreements signed with the International Development Association (IDA), a financial institution which offers concessional loans and grants to developing countries.

The three agreements are $41.3m loan for Ethiopia’s COVID19 emergency response, $54.9m for the second Africa CDC regional investment project and $134.6m for Ethiopia’s growth and competitiveness programmatic development policy project.

The Council sent both draft bills to be approved by the House of People’s Representatives (parliament).

Ethiopia has declared state of emergency in response to coronavirus (COVID19) pandemic.

The move came as the number of COVID19 cases has shown rapid increase in the country, according to a statement issued by the government.

Ethiopia has so far registered 52 confirmed cases, with two deaths and four recoveries.

Despite the various measures taken by the government, data shows a rapid rise in COVID-19 infections, the statement added.

As part of efforts to contain the spread of the virus, schools and universities were closed and non-essential workers told to work from home.

According to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University, more than 1.4 million cases of coronavirus have been registered globally.

More than 82,000 people have died and more than 300,000 have recovered from the virus.

ክቡራትና ክቡራን ኢትዮጵያውያን

እየተመለከታችሁትና እየታዘባችሁት እንደሆነው ዓለም በአስቸጋሪ የፈተና ምእራፍ እያለፈች ነው፡፡ ዓለም ይሄንን መሰል ነገር ሲገጥማት ከመቶ ዓመት በኋላ የመጀመሪያ ነገር ነው፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት ኮሮና (ኮቪድ -19) የዓለም ሁለንተናዊ ችግር ሆኖ ብቅ ካለበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ ደረጃ በደረጃ የመፍትሔ ርምጃዎችን ሲወስድ ቆይቷል፡፡ ሕዝቡ ግንዛቤ እንዲያገኝ፣ የሕክምና ተቋማት እንዲዘጋጁ፣ የመከላከያና የሕክምና መሣሪያዎች ከውጭ እንዲገቡ፣ የማቆያ ሥፍራዎች እንዲዘጋጁ፣ ትምህርት ቤቶች እንዲዘጉ፤ አብዛኞቹ የመንግሥት ሠራተኞች በቤት እንዲወሰኑ፣ ብዙ ሕዝብ ሊሰበሰብባቸው የሚችሉ ሃይማኖታዊና ማኅበራዊ ተቋማት አገልግሎታቸውን ሕዝብ ሊሰበሰብ በማይችልበት መንገድ እንዲከውኑ፣ በአብዛኛው ሥፍራዎች የሕዝብ ትራንስፖርት እንዲቋረጥ፣ ለአስቸጋሪ ጊዜ የሚሆን ሀብት የማሰባሰብ ሥራ እንዲሠራ ተደርጓል፡፡

መንግሥት የኮሮና ወረርሽኝን በተመለከተ የሚከተለው ስትራቴጂ በመከላከል ላይ ያተኮረ ነው፡፡
1. ኅብረተሰቡን አስተባብሮ በባለሞያዎች ምክር መሠረት ለመከላከል መቻል

2. ከመከላከል ያለፈ ነገር ሲመጣ ለማከም የሚያስችሉ ዐቅሞችን ማዳበር፡፡

3. የከፋው ነገር ከመጣም አስቀድሞ በመዘጋጀት እንደየ አስፈላጊነቱ ተገቢ ውሳኔዎችን እያሳለፉ መሄድ፡፡
እስካሁንም በዚህ መንገድ ነው የተጓዝነው፡፡

አሁን ያሉን መረጃዎች እንደሚያሳዩት በቫይረሱ የተያዙ ወገኖች ቁጥር በፍጥነት እየጨመረ ነው፡፡ ይሄም በመሆኑ ሁላችንም ያለንን ዐቅም ሁሉ አስተባብረን ወገኖቻችንን ከዚህ ወረርሽኝ ለመከላከልና የታመሙትንም ለማዳን ማዋል አለብን፡፡ ያለንበት ጊዜ ሕዝብና ሀገርን ለማዳን ሲባል አስቸጋሪ የተባሉ ውሳኔዎችን መወሰን ያለብን ጊዜ ነው፡፡ ይህም ውሳኔ፣ እንደ ግለሰብ፣ እንደ ማኅበረሰብ፣ እንደ ተቋምና እንደ መንግሥት የሚወሰኑ ናቸው፡፡

ይህ ውሳኔ በዛሬው ትውልድ ላይ ብቻ የምንወስነው ውሳኔ አይደለም፡፡ በልጅ ልጆቻችን ላይ ጭምር የምንወስነው ነው፡፡ በዛሬዋ ኢትዮጵያ ላይ የምንወስነው ብቻ አይደለም፤ በነገዋና በከነገ ወዲያዋ ኢትዮጵያ ላይ ጭምር የምንወስነው ውሳኔ ነው፡፡ የኛ የመሪዎቹ ውሳኔ ብቻ ሳይሆን የእያንዳንዱ ዜጋ ውሳኔ በታሪክ የሚመዘገብ ነው፡፡

ይሄንን አስቸጋሪ ጊዜ ልናልፈው የምንችለው በአካል ተራርቀን በመንፈስ ግን አንድ ሆነን ከቆምን ብቻ ነው፡፡
የያንዳንዳችን ሀብት የሁላችን፣ የእያንዳንዳችንም ችግር የሁላችን መሆን አለበት፡፡ አንዱ በልቶ ሌላው ተርቦ፣ አንዱ ሠርቶ ሌላው ሥራ አጥቶ፣ አንዱ መኖሪያ አግኝቶ ሌላው ውጭ አድሮ፣ አንዱ አትርፎ ሌላው ከሥሮ ይሄንን ችግር ለማለፍ ፈጽሞ አይቻልም፡፡ ምክንያቱም ይህ ችግር የመጣው በህልውናችን ላይ በመሆኑ፡፡ ይህ ችግር የተጋረጠው ሰው ሆኖ በመኖርና ባለመኖር ላይ በመሆኑ፡፡

መንግሥት ችግሩን በደረሰበት ልክ ለመቋቋም ተዘጋጅቷል፡፡ የምንወስዳቸው ውሳኔዎች ክብደት እንደ ችግሩ ክብደት የሚወሰን ነው፡፡ ታሪክ እዚህ አድርሶናል፡፡ ሀገርና ትውልድ በእጃችን ላይ ነው፡፡ በዚህ ዘመን በምንሠራው ሥራ ወይ እንመሰገናለን ወይ እንወቀሳለን፡፡ ከምንም በላይ ግን በጊዜውና በዐቅማችን ማድረግ ያለብንን ካላደረግን የበለጠ እንወቀሳለን፡፡ ይህ ደግሞ ሁላችንንም ኢትዮጵያውያንን የሚመለከት ነው፡፡ ከተረፍን አብረን ነው፡፡ ከከሠርንም አብረን ነው፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት የኮሮና ወረርሽኝ እየተባባሰ በመምጣጡ ምክንያት የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ ዐውጇል፡፡ ይህም በሕገ መንግሥቱ ዐንቀጽ 93 መሠረት የተፈጸመ ነው፡፡ ይሄንን መሳይ ዐዋጅ ብዙ ሀገሮች ካወጁ ሰንብተዋል፡፡ እኛ እስክንዘጋጅና ሁኔታው የግድ እስኪለን ጠብቀናል፡፡

ጊዜው ሲጠይቅ ግን ዐውጀናል፡፡ ሀገርን ለማዳንና ትውልድን ለመታደግ ከዚህ በላይ ልንወስን እንደምችልም መታወቅ አለበት፡፡ ዜጎቻችንም ከዚህ በላይ ግዴታቸውን ለመወጣት ወገባቸውን አጥብቀው መጠበቅ አለባቸው፡፡

በዚህ ወቅት ሁላችሁም ችግሩን ለመቋቋም ከሚሠሩት አካላት ጋር አብራችሁ እንድትቆሙ ጥሪ አቀርባለሁ፡፡ ከዚህ በተቃራኒ ችግሩን ለማባባስ የሚሠሩ ካሉ ግን፣ በሕጉ መሠረት የማያዳግም ርምጃ እንወስዳለን፡፡
ወገኖቼ፤

ኢትዮጵያውያን የሚያምርብን መረዳዳቱና መደጋጋፉ ነው፡፡ ድኾችን እንርዳ፡፡ በአካባቢያችን ላሉት ዐቅመ ደካሞች እንድረስላቸው፡፡ የቤት ተከራዮቻችንን ዕዳ እንካፈላቸው፡፡

ከቻልን አናስከፍላቸው፤ ካልቻልን ቅናሽ እናድርግላቸው፡፡ ያም ካልሆነ ይህ ጊዜ እስኪያልፍ እንታገሣቸው፡፡ በዚህ ወቅት ተከራዮችን ከቤት ማስወጣት ፈጣሪም፣ ታሪክም ሕግም ይቅር የማይሉት ወንጀል ነው፡፡ ማናችን አልፈን ማናችን እንደምንተርፍ ለማናውቅበት ጊዜ ከመተባበር የተሻለ መሻገሪያ የለንም፡፡ የግል ባለሀብቶች የሠራተኞቻቸው ሕይወት እንዲያስጨንቃቸው አደራ እላለሁ፡፡ መንግሥት የኢኮኖሚ ችግሮቻችንን ለመፍታት አስፈላጊውን ሁሉ እየወሰነ አብሯችሁ እንደሚሆን በዚህ አጋጣሚ እገልጥላችኋለሁ፡፡

ለሌሎች ወገኖቻቸውና ለሀገራቸው ሲሉ ቤታቸውን፣ ሆቴላቸውን፣ አዳራሾቻቸውን፣ የእምነት ተቋሞቻቸውን፣ መኪኖቻቸውን፣ ገንዘባቸውንና እህላቸውን የሰጡ ዜጎቻችንን ስናይ ይሄንን አስቸጋሪ ወቅት ከፈጣሪ ጋር ሆነን ልናልፈው እንደምንችል ርግጠኞች እንሆናለን፡፡

በሌላ በኩል ደግሞ ከወገኖቻቸው መከራ ለማትረፍ የሚሽቀዳደሙ፣ ከመከራ እንኳን የማይማሩ ሰዎችን ስናይ መንገዱ ከባድ እንዳይሆንብን እንሠጋለን፡፡ በጎ አድራጊዎችን የምናመሰግነውን ያህል መንገዳችንን ይበልጥ ፈታኝ የሚያደርጉብንን ስግብግቦች ግን ለሕዝብና ለሀገር ስንል አስተማሪ የሆነ ቅጣት ለመቅጣት እንገደዳለን፡፡

የሕክምና ባለሞያዎቻችንን በሚቻለው ሁሉ እንርዳ፡፡ ያለ እነርሱ ግንባር ቀደምነት ትግሉን ልናሸንፍ አንችልም፡፡ የሕክምና ባለሞያዎችን ማክበር፣ ማመስገንና በጉዟቸው ሁሉ መተባበር ከእያንዳንዳችን ይጠበቃል፡፡

ለሕክምና ባለሞያዎች ተገቢውን ሁሉ አለማድረግ እጅን በእጅ እንደመቁረጥ ነው፡፡ ከእነርሱ በተጨማሪ የመከላከያ አባላት፣ የፖሊስ ሠራዊት አባላት፣ የኤሌክትሪክ ኃይልና የውኃ አቅርቦት እንዳይስተጓጎል የሚሠሩ ባለሞያዎች፣ የሚዲያ ባለሞያዎች፣ የመገናኛ መሥመሮቻችን ላይ 24 ሰዓት የሚያገለግሉ ዜጎች፣ እኛ ቤት እንድንውል እነርሱ ውጭ የሚውሉ ሠራተኞች ተገቢው ምስጋናና ድጋፍ ከቤተሰባቸውም፣ ከማኅበረሰባቸውም ያስፈልጋቸዋል፡፡

በዚሁ አጋጣሚ አርሶ አደሮቻችን የበልግ ወቅት እንዳያልፍብን ራሳቸውን ከቫይረሱ እየተጠነቀቁ በምርት ሥራ ላይ ጠንክረው እንዲሳተፉ አደራ እላቸዋለሁ፡፡ ከቫይረሱ ባልተናነሰ የእርሻ ምርት መቀነስና የእርሻ ምርት አለመኖር ሀገራችንንና ሕዝቧን ይጎዳል፡፡ እናንተ ሀገር መጋቢዎች ስለሆናችሁ፣ እየተጠነቀቃችሁ ካለፈው የተሻለ ምርት ለማምረት ትጉ፡፡ መንግሥትም አስፈላጊውን ሁሉ ሞያዊና ድጋፍ ያደርግላችኋል፡፡

የኢንዱስትሪ ምርቶቻችንም ፈጽመው መቆም የለባቸውም፡፡ ለሠራተኞቻችን ሕይወት እየተጠነቀቅን፣ በወረርሽኙ ምክንያት የሚያጋጥመንን ተግዳሮት ሁሉ እየተቋቋምን በፋብሪካ ምርቶች ላይ የተቻለንን ሁሉ ጥረት እናድርግ፡፡ ከበተለይም ከውጭ የምናመጣቸውን ምርቶች ለመተካት ለሚደረገው ጥረት መንግሥት አስፈላጊውን ድጋፍ ሁሉ እንደሚያደርግላችሁ እገልጥላችኋለሁ፡፡ በተለይ ግን በምርት ዝውውር ጊዜ ከፍተኛ የሆነውን የመጨረሻ ጥንቃቄ እንዲደረግ ለአፍታም ቢሆን እንዳትዘነጉት ይሁን፡፡

ይህ ጊዜ ያልፋል፡፡ ሀገራችን ከዚህ የሚስተካከሉና ከዚህም የሚብሱ ፈተናዎችን አልፋለች፡፡ ዓለማችን በየዘመናቱ የከፉ ተግዳሮቶችን አልፋ ነው እዚህ ዘመን የደረሰችው፡፡

የሚሰጡንን መመሪያዎች በሚገባ እናክብር፣ የጤና ባለሞያዎች የሚሉንን ለሕይወታችን ስንል እንስማ፡፡ በኮሮና አይቀለድም፡፡ ጉዳዩ ከመኖርና ካለመኖር ጋር የተያያዘ ነው፡፡

ይሄንን ፈተና ለማለፍ ባለ ሦስት መዓዝን ትብብር ያስፈልገናል፡፡ ወደ ጎን እኛ እርስ በርሳችን፡፡ እያንዳንዳችን ደግሞ ከፈጣሪያችን ጋር፡፡ እኔ ከሌላው ወገኔ ጋር፣ ሌላው ወገኔ ከእኔ ጋር፣ እኔና ሌላው ወገኔ ከፈጣሪ ጋር የምንገናኝበት መሥመር መቼም መቋረጥ የለበትም፡፡

በርትተንና ተረባርበን የሚጠበቅብንን እናድርግ፣ ጸንተንና በተሰበረ ልብ ሆነን ወፈደ ፈጣሪ እንለምን፡፡ ፈጣሪ ከእኛ ጋር ነው፡፡ መከራውን ያቀልልናል፤ ፈተናውን ያሳልፈናል፤ ማዕበሉን ያሻግረናል ብለን እናምናለን፡፡

የሃይማኖት አባቶች ያዘዙንን ጥንቃቄ እየፈጸምን ያዘዙንንም ጸሎት ተግተን እንጸልይ፡፡
ኢትዮጵያ በልጆቿ ጥረት ታፍራና ተከብራ ለዘላለም ትኑር
ፈጣሪ ኢትዮጵያንና ሕዝቦቿን ይባርክ
መጋቢት 30/ 2012 ዓ.ም

ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ዐቢይ አህመድ

H.E. Gedu Andargachew, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, received monetary and in-kind donations on behalf of the National Resource Mobilization Committee, from various organizations to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The historic peace accord between Ethiopia and Eritrea has opened a door for new cooperation in the East Africa region, Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew said.

Gedu also praised the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the forefront reform supporters in Ethiopia.

In his exclusive interview with Al-Ain News, Foreign Minister Gedu said the fruit of rapprochement between Ethiopia and Eritrea has “opened the door for cooperation and integration between the countries of the region.”

Following the peace agreement, the two countries are currently enjoying good neighborliness and linked by friendship, he noted.

The peace accord opened a “new chapter” which enabled to end the two decade feud and melted the ice of differences between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Gedu added.

It also paved the way for embassies to open in Ethiopia and Eritrea on the top of development of ports and the resumption of flights between the two countries.

The Foreign Minister noted that the pivotal agreement removed relations between Asmara and Addis Ababa from the bottleneck and created a state of optimism about stability in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea.

In light of the rapprochement between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Gedu appreciated the role of the UAE in smoothing the progress to end the 20 years standoff between the two countries in a peaceful way.

The UAE and its direct financial supports to the ongoing Ethiopian reform have been at the forefront, he hailed.

Gedu noted that the assistance provided by the UAE to Ethiopia especially, in the economic field is crucial and Ethiopia has been encouraging more Emirati investors to launch their projects in the country.