Ethiopia has detained a total of 63 individuals on suspicion of committing human rights abuses and corruption.

Attorney General Berhanu Tsegaye told local journalists yesterday that the arrests came after five months of investigation.

According to his statement, 36 of the suspects were detained in connection with human rights abuses, mainly abuses of political prisoners jailed for terrorism. The remaining 27 individuals were detained for serious corruption cases.

In particular, he singled out the Metals and Engineering Corporation (METEC) for corruption. He charged the organization for purchasing over $2 billion worth of supplies without official bidding process from abroad between 2011 and 2017. The corporation also allegedly bought billions more from local sources without the proper bidding process.

The Attorney General further said that seven secret detention centers were discovered in Addis Ababa.

He added some suspects are at large and being hunted.

According to him, some of the criminals have left the country, and Ethiopia is working to bring them to justice.

Ethiopian Airlines made its first landing in the Somali capital Mogadishu after 40 years absence. The flight, Et 377, landed at Aden Abdule International Airport on 9 November 2018.

Ethiopian suspended its operations in Somalia following the outbreak of hostilities between the two countries in the late 1970s.

Conflict in Somalia which erupted in subsequent decades has prevented most commercial air carriers from returning. Turkish Airlines is the only other major international carrier that flies to the country.

“Our flights will quickly grow to multiple daily flights given the huge volume of traffic between the two sisterly countries and the significant traffic between Somalia and the rest of the world,” Tewolde GebreMariam, Ethiopian Airlines’ chief executive, said in a statement when the airline announced a return to Somalia.

During their two-day meeting in Bahir Dar on 9-10 November, the leaders of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia appraised the Joint Declaration on Friendship and Comprehensive Cooperation signed in Asmara on September 6, 2018.

The tripartite discussions focused on regional economic integration, strengthening peace and security in the Horn region, and on developing a common and aligned voice on international agendas.

Furthermore, the leaders underlined the utmost importance of respecting the territorial integrity of Somalia and providing support for its people and institutions.

In a press statement, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, said they would work towards the historical transformation of the Horn of Africa region towards peace and integration.

“The three leaders reviewed developments and achievements since the signing of Asmara joint declaration on friendship and comprehensive cooperation in September and noted with satisfaction the tangible and positive outcomes already registered and agreed to consolidate their mutual solidarity and support in addressing challenges that they face individually and collectively,” said the joint statement.

The meeting of the three leaders comes amidst wide-spread optimism in the Horn of Africa region that it would move from a chronically unstable region to one of political cooperation and economic integration.

“The three leaders also welcomed the impending lifting of all sanctions against Eritrea and underscored their conviction the lifting of the sanctions would reaffirm their commitment to inclusive regional peace and cooperation,” reads part of the statement.

The runners filled Meskel Square in downtown Addis Ababa for the kick-off sporting t-shirts featuring the flags of Ethiopia and Eritrea, and it came as one of the major events since the two countries began a fast-paced diplomatic thaw ending two decades of tense relations.

Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia in 1993.  From 1998 – 2000, the two countries fought a war in which 70,000 people perished.

“It is a very happy day for the peoples of the two countries and I thank God for making me live to see this day,” said Tilahun Masresha, 79.

Masresha said he worked as a teacher in Embatikala in Eritrea for five years when the two countries were under one flag.

“We should never have been separated,” he said, pointing to his t-shirt that reads “We are one.”

On 8 November, Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki together with Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed visited the Amhara regional state in Ethiopia where they met Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as a follow up to the Declaration of Comprehensive Cooperation the trio signed in September in Eritrea’s capital Asmara.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Ethiopian Ministry of Education (MoE) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched the new READ II project to improve the reading and writing skills of 15 million children in grades 1-8.

The five-year-long, 86 million US dollars READ II project will build on successful partnerships forged between USAID and the ministry to improve primary-level reading skills by getting children to begin reading in their mother tongues, helping teachers to become better instructors of reading and supplying schools with supplementary reading materials.

The project will work with the ministry to refine and finalize a comprehensive reading package; develop a framework to align reading policies, initiatives, procedures, and resources; and bring together schools, communities, and education authorities to scale-up this program nationwide.

The USAID READ II project is also aligned with the broader General Education Quality Improvement Program (GEQIP/E) and will provide training to more than 130,000 teachers in 20,000 schools across Addis Ababa, Amhara, Oromia, Somali, and SNNP regional states during the project.

During the launch event at Bakello Primary School, U.S. Ambassador Michael A. Raynor said, “The better educated young Ethiopians are, the better prepared they will be to ensure their own success and to help build the democratic, prosperous, and stable Ethiopia we all want to see.”

At the invitation of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo of Somalia arrived in the city of Gondar, Amhara regional state, today.

The three leaders will hold a tripartite meeting to cement the outcome of the Horn of Africa economic integration agreement signed in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, last September. They are also expected to visit various development projects in Gondar and Bahir Dar.

This is the second meeting between the three leaders of the Horn of Africa. They first met in the first week of September this year in Eritrea’s capital Asmara following which they issued a four-pillar comprehensive joint declaration, which included the establishment of a high-level committee tasked to oversee the multifaceted collaborations included in the declaration.

The joint declaration was issued “considering that the peoples of Ethiopia, Somalia, and Eritrea share close ties of geography, history, culture, and religion as well as vital common interests.” The statement also highlighted the declaration to promote relations between the three Horn of African countries was in the spirit and understanding of “respecting each other’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity; as well as desiring to bolster their historical ties to achieve their lofty objectives.”

With the assistance of China, Ethiopia is set to launch its first earth observatory satellite in September 2019.

“The satellite will be launched from China while the control and command station will be in Ethiopia. Most preliminary and critical design is done by our scientists,” says Dr. Solomon Belay Tessema, Senior Scientist and Director General of Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute at the Addis Ababa University.

China has provided six million dollars in financial support, in addition to training and launching cost.

“Our main goals by launching this first satellite are two. The first one is build technology application capacity and skills of our engineers through collaborations with different countries’ space scientists and institutions. So that they will be in a position to design, build and launch the second satellite independently. The second one is the direct support the first satellite gives to the social and economic development in terms of saving the money the country is currently spending for buying data, such as climate data,” he said.

He stated that the main focus of Ethiopia’s first satellite will be to gather data inputs related to water, agriculture, climate change, and environmental protection. Currently, there are 20 Ethiopian engineers involved in the launching and design of the first satellite.

“We use home-based strategy, which involves local engineers and students at MA and Ph.D.-level to be part of the science and applications of the technology and knowledge transfer,” Dr. Solomon said.

Reports show that in Africa, South Africa and Algeria have already launched their own communication satellite to the orbit so far, while Egypt has ordered one being assembled at the Airbus Assembly in Toulouse. Ghana is also said to be currently developing its own satellite.

In addition to the 20 Ethiopian space engineers, currently, there are some 60 Ph.D. and MA students at the Addis Ababa University Space Science and Technology Institute, which is teaching them in collaboration with Entoto Observatory and Research Center and many universities from across the world. Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space Science ad Application, Remote Sensing ad Geodesy are the four major areas the students are currently studying. Students from other African countries such as Rwanda and Tanzania are also among the students.

Since it has opened its doors for students in 2014, the Institute has been collaborating with Universities of space science in different countries such as United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, South Korea, and Chili.

Florida University, Paris Observatory, Torino and Rome universities, Korean Astronomy and Space Institute, Leister University and Moscow Universities are some of the partners of the Space Science and Technology Institute of Ethiopia where its students jointly exercise applications of space science technology, according to Dr. Solomon.

In addition, he also mentioned that South Africa’s North Western University, South Africa Space Agency, Cape Town University, South Africa Astronomy Observatory and Mbarara University of Science and Technology of Uganda and Rwanda Science and Technology University are also working with his institute.

He stated that the total spending on the satellite is estimated to cost around eight million dollars without taking into consideration insurance training cost. The cost includes design, development, and manufacturing of the satellite, which is done by both Ethiopian professionals and their Chinese partners.

Source: New Business Ethiopia

The UN Security Council is preparing to lift sanctions on Eritrea after the United States dropped its insistence on prolonging the measures despite a peace deal with Ethiopia.

According to some sources, Britain circulated a draft resolution to the council on Thursday that calls for lifting the arms embargo and all travel bans, asset freezes and targeted sanctions on Eritrea.

The council is to vote on the proposed resolution on November 14, 2018. Diplomats said they expected the measure to be adopted after the US change in position.

Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace deal in July, but the United States, backed by France and Britain, insisted that Eritrea would first have to show progress on respect for human rights before sanctions could be lifted.

That position, however, recently changed — a shift some diplomats said was decided by US national security adviser John Bolton, who dealt with the Eritrea-Ethiopia conflict when he served as UN ambassador.

The council slapped sanctions on Eritrea in 2009 for its alleged support to Al-Shabaab jihadists in Somalia, but the draft resolution acknowledged that UN monitors had “not found conclusive evidence that Eritrea supports Al-Shabaab.”

The sanctions and arms embargo will end on the day of the adoption of the resolution, according to the text.

The peace declaration signed in July by the prime ministers of Eritrea and Ethiopia ended two decades of hostility and triggered a thaw in relations with Djibouti and Somalia that shored up stability in the Horn of Africa.

Ethiopia and Somalia had backed Eritrea’s call to end sanctions.

The draft resolution calls on Eritrea and Djibouti to continue to improve relations after the leaders met in Saudi Arabia in September to resolve a border dispute.

Prime Minister Abiy returned to Addis Ababa in the early hours of Thursday flying in from Frankfurt Germany where he had addressed thousands of Ethiopians from all over Europe gathered at the Commerzbank Arena 

Frankfurt was the final leg of a three-city tour that started in Paris and on to Berlin, where he met with the leaders of Germany and France.

He also represented Ethiopia at the G20-Compact with Africa summit that was hosted by the German government. Abiy made a strong case for G20 investment in Ethiopia which he stressed presented a competitive investment opportunity with ongoing reforms.

The Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt was his first engagement with fellow nationals in Europe with whom he shared three key messages –the need for peace, respect for the upcoming electoral process whiles reiterating the need to contribute towards the ongoing reforms back home.

The Prime Minister, who has championed several reforms across the social, economic, political and diplomatic spectrum, called on Ethiopians in the diaspora to ‘unite and build’ the country.

“Let’s unite and build the future Ethiopia. It is the responsibility of all to strive and do more to build a democratic Ethiopia,” the premier said.

The prime minister who sought to attract investment from France and Germany during his European trip also called upon Ethiopians to ‘draw lessons from Europe how to defeat poverty’.

He pledged to tackle the economic issues of unemployment and inflation affecting Ethiopia.

Abiy also vowed to deal with the current conflicts in some parts of the country, even as he pursues positive diplomatic relations with allies.

Abiy has consistently called on Ethiopians in the diaspora to engage in ongoing efforts to reform the country. In Frankfurt, Abiy tasked Ethiopians, whom he described as ambassadors of their country to contribute by ‘raising a dollar.’

Ethiopia’s parliament on Thursday swore in the country’s first female supreme court president, building on efforts by reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to achieve gender parity in government.

The appointment of Meaza Ashenafi comes two weeks after Abiy named ten female ministers to make Ethiopia the third country in Africa – after Rwanda and Seychelles – to have its cabinet split equally between men and women.

A prominent human rights lawyer, Meaza recently served as an adviser on women’s rights at the Addis Ababa-based United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

Naming her as his pick to head the Supreme Court, PM Abiy told lawmakers the court system needed improved capacities “to successfully implement demands made with regards to justice, democracy, and change in our country.

Meaza served as a Judge of the High Court of Ethiopia between 1989 and 1992. In 1993 she was appointed by the Ethiopian Constitution Commission as a legal adviser. She founded the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) and became its executive director.

She helped lead the development of the first women’s bank in Ethiopia, Enat Bank, which was established in 2011 and as of 2016 chairs its board of directors.

“I have made the nomination with the firm belief that she has the capacity required, with her vast international experience in mind.”

Parliament unanimously approved Abiy’s choice.

Under Ethiopia’s constitution, the court system operates independently of government.