Ethiopians last week, in more than one way told the world, especially the media in the West to stay away from their affairs. In a pro-military rally held on Sunday, thousands of Ethiopians expressed their support for the government forces that are fighting off Tigrarian rebel advances on key areas in the country. The Ethiopians on Sunday vowed to defend the capital from advancing Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) rebels
There is reported widespread public support against the TPLF and allied groups. Last week the Ethiopian government declared a nationwide state of emergency to protect civilians from the TPLF, which has claimed key gains in recent days while floating a possible march on the capital.
Key diplomatic establishments in Addis Ababa have ordered evacuation of their staff, with the US embassy announcing on Saturday that it had orderd the departure of non-emergency staff. Saudi Arabia, Norway, Sweden and Denmark had days earlier urged their citizens to leave.
Ethiopians at the Sudany Rally held signs blasting Western media for broadcasting ‘fake news’ overstating rebel gains.
Other signs urged the US, one of the harshest international critics of the war, to ‘stop sucking our blood’.
Addis Ababa mayor Adanech Abebe said in a speech that Ethiopia’s foes were trying to ‘terrorise our population’.
‘They say Addis Ababa is surrounded, but Addis Ababa is only surrounded by its incredible people, by its vigilant, heroic children,’ she said.
She was particularly critical of the US government, which last week announced plans to boot Ethiopia out of a vital trade pact because of rights abuses related to the war.
Meanwhile Uganda’s President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni last week called on fellow leaders from the region to devise a solution to the crisis. Uganda will next week host a summit of the Intergovernemental Authority on Development. IGAD is the premier regional organization for achieving peace, prosperity and regional integration in the region.
President Yoweri Museveni last week issued a statement at the ongoing World Leaders Summit during the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) on Climate Change in Glasgow, UK,in which he cited the depletion of forests, wetlands as well as the role of big emitters of greenhouse gases among as some of the irresponsible and sometimes greedy human actions” that have led to damaging the environment. Mr Museveni underscored that there is no separation of socio-economic transformation from environmental protection. “If you conserve under-development, you should forget about conserving the environment… Therefore, let the world banish greed, ignorance, irresponsibility and rebelliousness, save our planet and use our greater knowledge to ensure affluence for all the people of the world”. He called for a correct balance in sustainable use of natural resources. A copy of the full statement is attached.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the host of over 120 world leaders including US President Joe Biden, many African Heads of State and the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, urged the world leaders to make the bold commitments needed to avoid a “doomsday” scenario which could become a reality in the near future unless urgent action is taken. “The longer we fail to act, the worse it gets and the higher the price when we are eventually forced by the catastrophe to act” he warned.
More than 7,500 people at the weekend received their COVID-19 vaccine shots in a drive held by Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL) in partnership with Buganda Kingdom.
The activity organised at the kingdom headquarters in Bulange Mengo, Kampala, was in response to the call by the Katikkiro (kingdom premier) to the public to show up in large numbers at Bulange Mengo and get vaccinated to facilitate full reopening of the economy. Over the past 2 months, UBL and Coca Cola have supported the scaling up of COVID-19 vaccines extending mobile vaccination sites to bars, markets and public centers within the greater Kampala Metropolitan area. The weekend drive also focused on public sensitization to drive awareness of the benefits of vaccination as a measure against the prevailing pandemic.
