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).
According to Billene, since the announcement yesterday there have been various speculations surrounding the decree which require some clarification.
In her attempt to clarify the major points, she said: “There are a lot of shifting variables and dynamics that the health crisis introduces which cannot be treated and addressed under a blanket state of emergency which is a uniform over time. Therefore, the announcement of a state of emergency yesterday is a decree to prepare the foundation for subsequent binding regulations that will be set by the federal government assessing these various shifting trends and dynamics that the virus will entail.”
According to the statement, the key characteristics of the state of emergency will include
1. The impositions are subject to vary
2. The impositions are binding on all Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians that are dwelling in the country
3. The scope of impositions can change from geographic location to geographic location depending on the severity of the threat
4. The imposition can change over time depending on the threat level assessments
5. The imposition can contract and expand within the five-month duration depending on the consistent threat level assessments that the federal government is undertaking.
The briefing also tries to address some issues that need some clarification including the rationale behind having a 5-month decree. Click here for more: https://bit.ly/3eiiPtM
