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- Ethiopia has declared a state of emergency under Article 93 of the constitution
- Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed warns grave legal measures” against anyone who undermines the fight against the pandemic.
Amid rising cases of Corona Virus, Ethiopia has declared a state of emergency under Article 93 of the constitution. In a statement, the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, explained that the move was necessary to arrest the spread of the pandemic. He sought support from all quarters and warned of ‘grave legal measures” against anyone who undermines the fight against the pandemic.
Ethiopia is home to almost 110 million people. Ethiopia started taking precautionary measures after the first coronavirus case was reported on March 13. Ethiopia, a major transport hub closed its land borders and schools, freed thousands of prisoners to ease overcrowding, sprayed main streets in the capital with disinfectant, banned large gatherings and advised work from home. But unlike Rwanda, Uganda, and Mauritius, Ethiopia refrained from imposing a lockdown.
Due to limited testing facilities, it is yet not clear how far the pandemic has spread. However, the Ethiopian government has accredited more laboratories to undertake the testing.
After Prime Minister Abiy’s came to power in 2018, this is the first state of emergency announced. According to the country’s constitution, under a state of emergency, the Council of Ministers has special powers” to protect the country’s peace and sovereignty” and can suspend some “political and democratic rights. The state of emergency can be approved by legislators and can last for six months and be extended every four months after that. It grants the federal government more power to work in coordination with regional governments, including their security apparatus. During the consultations about the imposition of emergency, the opposition Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) expressed concerns that a state of emergency would lead to human right abuses – a problem encountered under previous states of emergency imposed during several years of anti-government protests. Ethiopia’s elections planned for August is also likely to be further postponed.
