Ethiopia declares state of emergency for six months after unrest following PM’s resignation

A state of emergency imposed in Ethiopia a day after the prime minister resigned will last for six months, the defence minister said on Saturday, as authorities sought to tamp down unrest in Africa’s second most populous nation.

Outbreaks of violence had continued in parts of the country and the government was banning protests, along with the preparation and dissemination of publications “that could incite and sow discord”, Defence Minister Siraj Fegessa told reporters.

“The government has previously made several efforts to curtail violence, but lives have continued to be lost, many have been displaced and economic infrastructure has been damaged,” he said.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn announced his surprise resignation in a televised speech on Thursday, the first time in modern Ethiopian history that a sitting prime minister had quit. He said he wanted to smooth the way for reforms.

I resigned my post to help facilitate peace in #Ethiopia. The State of Emergency the Government declared today is counter productive to peace and I ask the Government to suspend it as soon as possible. Otherwise i will be forced to take measures they will not like.

— Hailemariam Desalegn (@PrimeMinisterHD) February 16, 2018

A day later, the …read more