Ethiopia has banned all advertising of alcoholic drinks, as part of efforts to promote healthy living in the country.

“In addition to banning alcoholic drinks commercials, lottery prizes connected with alcoholic drinks and billboards promoting alcoholic drinks are prohibited under the new proclamation,” Health Minister Amir Aman told media outlets on Tuesday.

The ban comes after government forbade smoking near public institutions and introduced a car-free day in major Ethiopian cities one Sunday a month.

In February, the government banned smoking near government institutions, medical facilities, and entertainment spots, and prohibited the sale of alcohol to people under 21 years of age.

Aman advised advertisers of alcoholic drinks and broadcast media to prepare for the implementation of the new law and comply when it takes effect on May 29.

Under the new law, any advertisement of an alcoholic product shall contain a warning, as appropriate in writing or sound that it is illegal to sell it to a person under the age of 18.

The law also prohibits selling any alcoholic drink in health institutions, education facilities, universities and colleges, government institutions, places of worship, sporting places, and cinema houses.

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The Ministry of Peace (MoP) yesterday held a consultative meeting with international donors to discuss on the strategy for long-term solution of displaced community members in Ethiopia.

Representatives from UN agencies, development and humanitarian organizations as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations attended the meeting which focused on the reintegration of the displaced community.

Stating that 650-700 million US dollars is required to return, relocate, and reintegrate the displaced people, Zeynu Jemal, State Minister of Peace said the support from the international community is therefore crucial.

Works were underway with local investors to rehabilitate the displaced community, said Mitiku Kassa, Commissioner of the National Disaster Risk Management Commission, adding the government has put aside around 800 million birr for the reintegration process.

The reintegration will be conducted in three phases and 800,000 people will return to their villages in the first phase that will take one month.

The second and the third phases are expected to take six months and one year, respectively.

Source: FBC

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The National Security Council of Ethiopia said the federal and regional security institutions will take all the necessary, legal and proportionate measures to restore order.

The Council issued a statement today following the instability being observed in some parts of the country and around the Oromo administrative zone in the Amhara regional state as well as in north Shoa zone.
The lives lost and the damages caused to property in Kemissie, administrative center of the Oromo zone, and its environs is an unacceptably by any measurement, the Council said.

After offering its deepest condolences, the Council said ensuring rule of law and the wellbeing of citizens is the key responsibility of the government, it added.

Accordingly, the federal and regional security institutions were ordered to take the necessary, legal and proportionate measures to stabilize the areas and protect residents, the statement added.

According to the statement, a team composed of members drawn from the federal and regional institutions, has been dispatched to the areas in order to investigate the cause of the instability and bring instigators to justice.

The Council also called on mainstream and social media to refrain from disseminating erroneous information that instigates conflict.

Meanwhile, members of the National Defense Force were deployed in both the Oromo administrative and north Shoa zones in the Amhara regional state to restore order.

Colonel Tesfaye Ayalew, office head of the National Defense Force’s Vice Chief of Staff, told FBC today that the armies are currently taking peace stabilization operations.

Though urban areas are now returning to stability, there are also exchanges of gunfire in rural areas, he said.

Additional soldiers are heading to areas affected by the conflict, he noted.

Colonel Tesfaye finally said that those responsible for the conflict will face justice.

Source: FBC

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Ethiopia’s Transport Minister, Dagmawit Moges, on 4 April 2019 presented details from a preliminary report of the crash of the ET302 aircraft on March 10. According to her, the multi-pronged probe body had arrived at four major conclusions and had subsequently presented two safety recommendations to the plane maker, Boeing Inc. The four conclusions according to her pointed to the fact that the airline had done everything right before and during the flight which crashed six minutes after take off. As indicated on the report, the crew obtained the license and qualifications to conduct the flight. The takeoff role appeared very normal, she indicated.

Despite their hard work and full compliance with the emergency procedures, it was very unfortunate that they could not recover the airplane from the persistence of nose diving, it added. Based on the findings of the investigation, the report recommended  aviation authorities to verify that the review of the aircraft control system related to flight controllability has been adequately addressed by the manufactures before release of the aircraft to operation.

According to her information from the black boxes were the main basis of the preliminary report plus other information pieces gathered from the accident site, from the airline and the civil aviation authorities. Parties involved in the prob are Ethiopia Civil Aviation Authority – lead, US National Transport Safety Board, US Federal Aviation Authority, European air safety body, French aviation investigators and Boeing are the main. 

Meanwhile, the Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Group acknowledged the preliminary report of the accident of ET 302/10 March, 2019 and appreciated the hard work of the investigation team. The preliminary report clearly showed that the Ethiopian Airlines pilots who were commanding Flight ET 302/10 March have followed the Boeing recommended and FAA approved emergency procedures to handle the most difficult emergency situation created on the airplane, it said in a statement .