Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed recently conducted a marathon of discussions with representatives of opposition parties, the business sector, health professionals, representatives of public and private media houses, persons of creative arts and teachers on important issues of national significance and challenges in various sectors of the political system in the country.
According to the Prime Minister, the discussions primarily focused on demands from various sectors and were part of attempts towards further expanding inclusive political order and ensuring the prevalence of common political narratives which hinge around securing common standpoints on the promotion of the national interest of the country.
The merits of such discussions lies in the fact that it would enable the participants to share constructive ideas that could be used as inputs for the implementation of government socio-economic development plans and to further expand the political horizon in the governance of the country. The sector approach in the discussions has reportedly enabled the participants to forward deeper ideas and suggestion that can promote common understanding on the major issues of national significance in Ethiopia.
A number of policy and operational issues pertaining to the economic growth and development of the country and ways and means of tackling poverty related issues were discussed with the objective of projecting into the future prosperity for the country. Discussing on important socio-economic and political issues in the country ushers a new democratic culture that is necessary for promoting sector oriented and in-depth analysis of the challenges the country is facing.
Inclusive and participatory development programs can hit the targets set by the government can be fulfilled through common understanding on various issues that can be of value for the future development of the country.
On the other hand, such discussions will help to strengthen the purpose and of the objectives of the upcoming national dialogue in which thousands of agenda items would be discussed at all levels.
At this point in time when multi-faceted local and international conspiracies are looming to detail the country from the ongoing reform programs, multi-sector discussions would help to chart out common narratives that could unify the population under common strategies and goals for national development programs.
On the other hand, the discussions directly or indirectly highlighted on current government policies and strategies as well as more recent achievements and challenges that need to be retained and addressed before the end of the year and plans for the next fiscal year.
In less than a year, the country will stage the second national election which will be conducted under the situation of various challenges including conflicts and wars in some parts of the country. On the other hand, a National Dialogue is also to be held in the country in Ethiopia with the objective of discussing on multiple agenda items that have been submitted to the National Dialogue Commission while agenda gathering in Tigray is in process.
In the discussion conducted with the representatives of the business sector, Prime Minister Abiy identified five areas of challenges. The first is the stance of the current generation to transfer the current level of poverty to the next generation. The second is lack of commitment to repeat the achievements of the early morning into the rest of the day in a more refined manner, glorification of these engaged into war mongering rather than encouraging and admiring the farming community, challenges in production relations and lack of adequate productivity, the criticisms from those who have produced nothing but are ready to engage in gossips on those who work.
Apart from the above mentioned issues, the author has repeatedly wrote that corruption, nepotism and direct theft has continued to frustrate efforts made by public and private business institutions to effectively cut short the chains of conspiracy on business development in the country.
A considerable level of commercial activities conducted by portion of the private sector is managed in an old fashioned and habitual manner that is devoid of modern technological knowhow. This would create a considerable hurdle on promoting completion at the global level. Besides, hoarding basic commodities needed by the population and creating artificial shortage of most needed commodities to sell at higher prices in the market seriously disrupts normal trade transaction in the country.
Modernization of the business sector cannot be done only through the efforts of the government but also requires strong commitment from the private business in running their transactions based on acceptable regulations.
In the discussions conducted with the representatives of health professionals, the Prime Minister acknowledged the legitimacy of the demands of the professionals for increased wages, better working conditions, shelter and other services but stressed that their demands have been hijacked by the do nothing politicians under the guise of white gowns. He added that although the demands from doctors are legitimate but the way it was presented was unacceptable. Social media conspirators are already busy conducting propaganda war on the government by hijacking the legitimate demands of doctors and other health professionals in the country.
The Premier added that over the next two years, the nation shall be food secured and also noted that in the past years the country’s health policy focused on prevention but now the current policy stresses on prevention and treatment of various diseases prevalent in the country. He noted that several years back the budget earmarked for the health sector was around 70 billion Birr but at present it is almost 130 billion Birr.
Discussing with the representatives of teachers at the national level, the Prime Minister appreciated efforts so far made by teachers in promoting the education sector in the country and promised to address the demands of the doctors and teachers over time based on the economic progress and achievements in the financial capacity of the country over time. The importance of advocating for the national interest of the country and promotion of common narratives on the development of the various sectors of the national economy of the country were raised on almost all the discussions recently held with the representative of the sectors.
The meeting highlights the government’s focus on the education sector, recognizing the pivotal role teachers play in national development. While specific details of the concerns raised or the input provided by the educators were not immediately disclosed, the initiative signals an effort to foster a more collaborative approach to educational policy and implementation.
This engagement with teachers is part of a broader strategy by Prime Minister Abiy’s government to maintain open lines of communication with diverse segments of the Ethiopian population, ensuring that their perspectives are considered in national decision-making processes.
Over the Last 50 years, teachers in Ethiopia have rendered immense contributions not only in the education sector but also in various areas of socio-economic and political developments in the country. The demands forwarded by teachers for salary increment, housing, health and other services have been voiced for several years.
Full recognition for the contribution of teachers to the development of the country is a major peace and development of the country.
Discussions held with the leadership and rank and file professionals in the media primarily focused on a number of issues raised by the participants including structural challenges in media and communications, issues related to capacity building, promotion of digital media infrastructures, archiving and documentations, safeguarding the security of media professionals, skyrocketing of printing materials including papers, prevention of misinformation on social media, challenges in information gathering and sources of news items, challenges to establishing and disseminating common narratives, ethnic based media misinformation and other important points pertaining to media and communications.
The writer of this article is of the opinion that some of the most important points that should have been taken up by leaders of communication and media have been missed. For instance, the country lacks a viable media and communication policy and strategy that could streamline and create a common approach on media industry in the country. This is an important strategy document for establishing common media narratives in the sector. Even if every media house would possess editorial policy, media and communication policy which consider the political, historical and cultural diversity in the country needs to be put in place.
The need for controlling the operations of the social media has already been felt in the country. A lot of damage has already been done by those who use social media outlets to disrupt the economic development and nascent democracy which is gaining ground in the country. A number of social media operatives are already busy inciting war among the people of Ethiopia acting as 5th communists for some countries who never wish to see strong and prosperous country like Ethiopia on the Horn of Africa.
The so called activists and formers leaders of political parties in the diaspora all have something in common. They want to dismantle the political order and social fabric in the country and make the country vulnerable to foreign aggression and resultant poverty and destitution.
Discussions conducted with representatives of creative arts in the country on the role to be played by persons of arts in fostering common narratives on the socio-economic development of the country by arts which could help to spell out the vast and diverse cultural resources of the country in connection with tourism and creation of a positive image for the country.
The discussions highlighted the importance of inputs made by the representatives from all sectors in providing inputs and suggestions that are to be carefully considered by the government. According to the participants, such discussions need to be conducted periodically in the future.
BY SOLOMON DIBABA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 1 JULY 2025
