The Council of Ministers in its 20^th urgent session held on May 7th discussed four key points and passed resolutions accordingly.

During its urgent meeting, the Council deliberated over the proposed legalization of the Council of Ethiopian Evangelical Churches and referred the draft proclamation to the House of Peoples’ Representatives to approval passing a decision on the issue.

The Council also discussed social and economic aspects incorporated the draft national transport policy aimed to modernize the sector through technological advancements, and passed a decision on the matter accordingly.

The Council also discussed the proposed national logistic service policy and passed resolutions aimed to ensure speedy and effective managerial and structural capability in the sector.

Recommending some improvements, the Council agreed on the draft logistic policy and referred it to the House for approval.

Furthermore, the Council passed a decision on a draft bill adopted to amend establishing regulation of the Ethiopian Development Bank focusing on increasing its capital so that the bank could effectively execute national development plans, and decided on its publication in the Negarit Gazeta.

Ethiopia has reported 25 new cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) today, the highest new cases in a single day.

The country had conducted a total of 1,843 laboratory tests during the past 24 hours, of which 25 have become positive for the virus.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Health, all the confirmed cases are Ethiopian nationals aged between 17-65 years.

The statement stated that 19 of the confirmed cases have no travel history abroad or contact with a previously confirmed case.

Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed said the government would take measures against activities violating constitutional laws so as to protect the safety and security of the public.

In a statement he issued on current affairs this morning, the premier said a need for the participatory democratic system is among the growing aspirations in modern Ethiopia, adding the upcoming national election is a critical milestone to address such desire.

The government has been undertaking all the necessary preparations for the upcoming elections despite some political elites need to avoid the vote, the Prime Minister said.

He recalled the announcement made by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) on March 31, 2020, that it cannot hold the election as per the time scheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the announcement of NEBE to postpone the election, the government was seeking options involving the participation of legal experts, he said, adding the experts formulated options that help postpone the election lawfully.

Various stakeholders have discussed the options, he said, adding the House of Peoples Representatives (HPR) has approved and referred the issue of constitutional interpretation to the council of constitutional inquiry.

The Premier extended his gratitude to those who contributed constructive ideas to the government on the legal options put in place.

According to the Prime Minister, those who complained about the issue of the constitutional interpretation put forward as an option to postpone the election have not legal grounds to do so.

The HPR is the highest authority of the federal government. Only the ruling Prosperity Party has a legislative power to lead the nation till COVID 19 crisis is over and the upcoming election held.

A claim by competing political parties to share power without elections is unacceptable and breaches not only the Ethiopian constitution but also international laws, he said.

The Prime Minister said the government is ready to take all the necessary measures to protect and defend the constitution.

Innovation and Technology Ministry today announced that Ethiopia is now technologically well equipped to launch electronic transactions.

This was indicated when the ministry discussed the electronic transaction draft bill with human resource and technology standing committee of the House of Peoples Representatives (HPR).

Constructive ideas and recommendations have been obtained from the meeting with the standing committee so that the country run the new transaction system with full preparedness, said Dr. Abrham Belay Minister of Innovation and Technology.

Dr. Abrham explained that an electronic transaction is the sale or purchase of goods or services, whether between businesses, households, individuals, governments, and other public or private organizations using mobile cell phones and related technological devices.

He said further efforts are needed to run the proposed electronic transaction system with fullest capacities.

A legal procedure underway to launch the new transaction system has a paramount significance to equally accommodate interests of both paper and computer-based segments of societies thereby facilitate conducive economic atmosphere and ensure good governance in the country, Dr. Abrham elaborated.

Dr. Abrham said “the draft bill awaiting the approval of the parliament is a supportive legal instrument for the existing trade and service laws” adding “It is a best solution that enables individuals to access digital services from anywhere using their mobile phones avoiding physical contacts.”

The standing committee urged the ministry to incorporate the recommendations it forwarded so as to make the transaction technology operational soon.

Ministry of Health announced that 17 new coronavirus cases have been reported in a single day as Ethiopia intensified its preventative measures to contain the spread of the pandemic.

The ministry revealed the figures on its daily update on Wednesday and noted the increase marked a big jump since the first case confirmed on March 13, 2020.

Health Minister, Dr. Lia Tadesse told ENA that the 17 new infections were identified following the analysis of 1,382 samples taken over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 162.

She said that Out of this number who have diagnosed with the virus four of them have no travel history while the rest have a history of recent travel from Djibouti and Somalia.

All the reported cases were in mandatory quarantine in the town of Jigjiga and Afar Regional State, the Minister added.

Furthermore, two patients have fully recovered from the virus raising total recoveries to 93.

To-date, 26, 517 people have tested for COVID-19, of these 162 have confirmed positive, 93 recoveries, and four death recorded in Ethiopia.

Globally confirmed coronavirus cases surpass 3.5 million as the cases in Africa close to 50, 000 with nearly 2, 000 death records, according to Africa CDC.

በብሄራዊ የኮቪድ 19 ሃብት አሰባሳቢ ኮሚቴ ስር የተቋቋመው ንኡሰ ኮሚቴ ባለፉት ሳምንታት በተለያዩ አገራት የሚገኙ የኢፌዲሪ ሚሲዮኖችን በማስተባበር በኢትዮጵያ ወረርሽኙን ለመከላከል የሚያስችል በውጭ አገር ከሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያዊያን እና ትውልድ ኢትዮጵያዊያን እንዲሁም ከኢትዮጵያ ወዳጆች ግምቱ ከ100 ሚሊዮን ብር በላይ የሆነ ድጋፍ በጥሬ ገንዘብ እና በአይነት አሰባስቧል።

Ethiopians across the nation are observing the 79th anniversary of patriots’ victory over fascist Italian forces.

Here in Addis Ababa, it was celebrated at the victory monument around Arat Kilo in the presence of members of the community, representatives of Ethiopian Patriots Association and high ranking government officials. Coordinator of Public Service Delivery Institutions of Addis Ababa city with the rank of Deputy Mayor, Engineer Endawok Abitie, together with representatives of Ethiopian Patriots laid wreath at the victory monument commemorating the day.

In her message to the people in connection with the day, President Sahle-Work Zewde said “Even if we cannot mark the day encompassing the victory monument as we did in previous years due to coronavirus threat, I believe we celebrate it inwardly with deep sprits of the victory gained through perpetual gallantry and sacrifices of the beloved sons and daughters of Ethiopia.”

“We shall replicate the national unity and bold aspirations we demonstrated at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in combating multidimensional challenges we face today” the President stressed.

She underlined “We should make the victory of the patriots in an everlasting spirit, and replicate it in other national gains.”

The President said the fight against the coronavirus is a battle with an invisible enemy of elusive nature, adding “the defeat of the pandemic is certain if the people follow the protective guidelines set by the government”

Ethiopians celebrate the day every year on May 5 commemorating the victory of patriots against fascist Italian aggressors.

The House of People’s Representatives (parliament) in its 3rd special meeting today approved a resolution seeking constitutional interpretation.

Constitutional interpretation is one of the four options put forward for conducting the 6th general election, which was initially scheduled to take place on August 29, but postponed following the outbreak of the coronavirus.

The parliament approved the resolution seeking interpretation on articles 54/1, 58/3 and 93 of the Constitution with a majority vote and 25 votes against the resolution.

The parliament also approved six loan agreements.

The House of People’s Representatives (parliament) will hold its 3rd special meeting tomorrow to approve options put forward for conducting the next election.

The four options presented last week were the dissolution of parliament, declaring a state of emergency, constitutional amendment, and claiming constitutional interpretations.

Ethiopia has reported five more cases of coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 140.

In a statement issued today, the Ministry said it conducted 1, 758 laboratory tests over the past 24 hours and five of them became positive for the virus.

Of the five cases, four are Ethiopians, while the other one is a Swedish national.

Ethiopia has so far reported three deaths and 75 recoveries from the virus with an overall test count of 24,088.