Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed
Addis Ababa, March 10, 2021 (ENA) – Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Yesterday delivered to the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) on current situation in Northern Ethiopia.
In his testament delivered to AUPSC, Abiy said claims of deliberate mistreatment of citizens in Tigray Regional State are baseless and aimed at sowing seeds of discord.
Abiy stated that, since April 2018, Ethiopia has been undertaking an unprecedented wave of reforms towards the realization of a true democracy, adding that the three decades preceding his administration were tainted with state capture by a minority clique.
To maintain power and control, the TPLF pitted ethnic groups against one another, fueling resentment, mistrust and animosity, while utilizing state power to suppress any form of dissent, he said.
The period 2016-2018 was a clear demonstration of the Ethiopian people’s unity in saying enough to TPLF’s systematic oppression.
The deep political, economic and social reforms initiated by my administration since 2018 have been rooted in the demands and needs of the Ethiopian people. And undertaking such reforms in a period of transition is not an easy feat.
He emphasized that Ethiopia still continues to be in a transitional phase as my administration, together with the Ethiopian people, work to rebuild our institutions in a manner that reflects our diversity.
Regrettably, Abiy noted that the TPLF rejected all reforms introduced from the beginning of the new administration’s tenure and the clique utilized the networks and systems it had established over three decades to undermine efforts being made.
He further stated that “As my administration intensified the work to build democratic institutions, to exercise primacy of human rights, and to undertake tasks aimed at untapping potential for national prosperity, the TPLF embarked on a wave of overt and covert operations to make Ethiopia ungovernable.”
Prime Minister Abiy elaborated that the Ethiopian people’s quest for equity across all protected categories and the efforts to realize this were considered unacceptable by TPLF.
As the architects of ethnic and religious divisions, together with their agents of destruction, TPLF began to apply pressure on the fault lines they were responsible for forming in the past three decades and its final aim was to deceitfully portray to the local and international community that it was better for Ethiopia, he said.
Behind closed doors as well as in public appeals, my administration made numerous efforts to calm the belligerence. Continuous provocations were thwarted in attempts to enable dialogue and find a third way. As the TPLF’s orchestrated attacks on innocent civilians throughout the country intensified, public pressure mounted for a response.
“Nevertheless, my administration continued to appease our people, pointing the direction instead towards dialogue as a means of settling any issues. We sent national elders to Mekelle and facilitated dialogue platforms to take place in Addis Ababa– which were all rebuffed by the TPLF.” he said.
Beyond the domestic terrorism TPLF cultivated over the past three years, and also vowed to utilize its existing networks to destabilize the Horn region, in attempts to undermine regional integration, the Premier added.
The Government of Ethiopian has expressed its will to openly engage African Commission on Human and People’s Rights in undertaking investigations jointly with the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, he affirmed.
Ethiopia has always stood by her neighbors and fellow Africans in their time of need. Through bilateral and continental instruments, the Government and people of Ethiopia have especially shown over the past three years, Abiy said.
He further noted that “Our pan-African ideals are rooted in the hope and possibility that our continental resources are used to uplift our people and our continent to its deserved stature as a global player.”
“Those that cultivate divisions amongst us as Africans do so to assert hegemony over the developmental possibilities we can manifest if we were united. Ethiopia’s insistence and call to her brothers and sisters to adopt our ‘African Solutions to African Problems’ approach is a call to assert our capacity to hold one another accountable when we need to without the domination of those asserting morale righteousness over us,” he added.
The Prime Minister reaffirmed that Ethiopia stands ready to enable the continental institutions and instruments that we have set up as Africans to function.
“We express our will to openly engage the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights in undertaking investigations jointly with the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission”, he noted.
Regarding to claims of human rights abuse in Tigray, Abiy stated that claims of deliberate mistreatment of citizens in the region are baseless and aimed at sowing seeds of discord.
Accordingly, the Federal Government has taken the lead in providing humanitarian assistance for several months now with more than 84,000 metric tons, reaching 4.1million people in the region.
While the international community has been loudly proclaiming the need for assistance, partner support remains at 30 percent while the Federal government has covered the lion’s share of 70 percent.
(Source: ENA)