The rapid spread of COVID-19 across the world and in Ethiopia in particular, is causing harm in social, economic, and political arena in addition to health impacts. That is why recently the Institute for Security Studies hosted a virtual dialogue with scholars including Advisor of the Ministry of Peace.
Dr. Abdi Zenebe, Advisor of the Minister of Peace said that the Ethiopian government quickly recognized the COVID-19 as serious problem. This problem is not limited to health sector, but it affects other sectors such as: economy, politics, diplomacy and security across the country. Hence, these frustrating problems require coordinated response. Recognizing this, the Ethiopian government has declared the State of Emergency earlier.
Ethiopia, currently, is undergoing the major reform process that aims to establish a consulted democracy that requires a lot of efforts. As the country is the home of a great number of societies in variety of areas, the reform process undergoing still needs great emphasis.
In connection to the pandemic that the nation is facing currently, government’s utmost priority action is involvement in saving life. The government has mobilized resources and is becoming successful in bringing about unity among governmental and non-governmental institutions for the same purpose across the country. All these are conducted in accordance to the law of the land.
“I said earlier we are committed to building consulted democracy so that constitutional rules have to be respected and other laws of the land have to be respected equally. Every activity, practice and decision is taken in to the consideration of the contemporary political condition of the country. And we remain sensitive for the socio- economic realities also addressing the needs of highly vulnerable sectors in the same time business owners that are going to be affected by the pandemic that induced major global destruction,” he noted.
“We have been also working hard in respectable manner relating to cultural and religious values of the society. What we have been prioritizing is a participatory approach. It is difficult to establish a consulted democracy without having involvement from the public. We were collecting data from consulting with scholars and others to understand the people’s aspiration and expectation we have been working closely with the society.”
The government of Ethiopia is committed to maintaining the democratic political space. And this requires adhering both to the procedural and the substantial aspects of the democracy. Decisions are being made in line with the laws and the exhaustive requirements. And the actions thy have been taking are linked with the substantial component of democracy. Constitutionalism is crucial and the participatory approach remains important element realizing these issues, he stated.
Ethiopia is important actor in the sub region of the continent and also responsible for global arena. As a result, operation with the regional and continental institutions and different countries remains as very important factor. Ethiopia is committed to the principle of multilateralism that has been the most priority.
“We fear the dark days are ahead of us but we hope for the best. We are constantly preparing ourselves for the worst to come.” In general, what we understand is the disease has already affected much of the world and brought devastation. Despite this, we are observing lags in global collective response. And Africa is vulnerable in terms of institutions, health facilities and others and this is worrisome for development. However, Ethiopia’s response to address each and every gap and concern in challenging the pandemic disease is encouraging.”
The solution may not be expected quickly as the problem is going to be major. So awareness creation to cope up with the pandemic is essential as the nation is facing major challenges haven’t ever seen.
As to Dr. Abdi what is needed is to bring about behavioral change. To bring behavioral change in the short period of time, it requires constant engagement of artists, social psychologists and other actors to convey multiple messages using the vibrant media.
At the initial phase this problem is not limited to one particular area but affects socioeconomic, political, security and many other areas. Thus, it requires concerted response from all stakeholders. To this end, PM Abiy Ahmed has set up Ministerial Committee which is led by the Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonen and the Minister of Peace is the Secretariat.
This created stability and harmony across the government executives. And there is harmonious and smooth communication between regional and federal states. But it should not be limited to the government organs. Rather it is important to work in collaboration with the community for no one is to be idle. Fortunately, a lot of civil societies including political parties are working hard to address the challenges.
The other encouraging factor is high involvement of the youth. Though they are vulnerable in various areas, the country is blessed with huge youth population. In this regard Ethiopia is the country of young people. The youth has been active in Addis and across the country in disseminating messages and reaching out the needy distributing necessary materials to fight the pandemic.
Growing appetite for innovation and creativity intending to come up with different ideas and solutions to address the problem locally should be encouraged. The growing level of solidarity between the government and private sectors through Public Private Partnership has been enhanced during this period and the people are very committed and focused.
In addition, religious institutions have been working closely with the government in creating the awareness and taking the responsibility for behavioral change of the community and this is encouraging.
Regarding government’s action, they have been constantly working to ensure the continuation of financial income that employees get their salary on time. And also working lifting taxes especially on medical utilities to easily import and support the highly affected areas by the pandemic.
In terms of finance the Ethiopian government has injected 5 billion Birr to emergencies and 21 billion Birr to support banks. So, the loans have been also being extended for those who are highly affected by the pandemic, he said.
He added that as the policy direction, the primary policy that Ethiopia focuses upon is prevention. Based on the degree of the problem, it also considers containment and mitigation. Medical professionals and academics from different circles of researches both established in Addis and Ethiopian Diasporas have also been giving important advice. So the country is working on providing shield strategy for the most vulnerable.
Dr. Adem Kasse Abebe (LLD), Program Officer in Constitution Program of International Idea, said that one of the key or perhaps major critical measures that have been undertaken in response for consequences of COVID-19 is extension of the election period. National Electoral Board of Ethiopian has clearly declared that election cannot be conducted in August as it was planned because of the disruptions during the preparation.
Election extension is accepted but there are a lot of disagreements with what should be next since the constitution has not clearly stated legal procedure regarding the issue. “The under lined challenge and controversies that have essentially like to the couch 2018 situation that found ourselves, we are unlikely addressed by the constitutional interpretation exercises.”
As to Dr. Adem, there are two issues. The first one is how long does the state of emergency last. This is the critical factor. At the moment the Emergency is planned to end in September but no one knows how things are going. The second one is for how long will the preparations for election last following the end of the State of Emergency. This is again the difficult question that the House of Federation may not provide a ready made answer and it would have been answered by Electoral Commission.
Dr. Semir Yusuf, Senior Researcher at the Horn of Africa Program of Institute for Security Studies (ISS), the role of opposition parties, galvanization in Ethiopia is dependent on the capacity of opposition parties. But the pandemic leads them the weakening the intuition capacity of many opposition parties.
Monte McMurchyis, from the participants, for his part said that what is required is building up trust in the institutions and dealing primarily with the Election Management bodies which need to be political, professional and ethical. Most importantly, empowering and engaging local and regional leadership in all regions of Ethiopia in terms of advancing political and civics capability how to register and participating for vote.
As COVID-19 is continuing its spreading, managing election within this situation is risking lives of many so that the current leadership must continue in power. But the Election Management body must be ethical, professional and absolutely political in handling the situation properly.
The Ethiopian herald June 9,2020
BY ESSEYE MENGISTE
