18 October 2018•Update: 18 October 2018
By Addis Getachew
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
Widespread lawlessness in Ethiopia is a threat to comprehensive reform measures in the country, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Thursday.
Ahmed was speaking at a question and answer session with members of parliament.
“The mob activities that the country has witnessed over the past six months is unprecedented and will remain a stain in the nation’s history,” the prime minister said.
Several hundreds have been killed and 2.8 million people have been internally displaced in the ethnic clashes in several places in the country. Hundreds of thousands have been rehabilitated over the past couple of months, according to government.
To cope up with the violence, Ahmed said, his government has made direct intervention to quell clashes, took preemptive measures by identifying potential areas and put in place mechanisms for sustainable peace.
‘Mutinous’ soldiers
The prime minister for the first time described the action of hundreds of armed soldiers who marched to his office and residence area last week as “mutinous.”
“Their motive simply was to abort the reform,” he said of the more than 240 soldiers who entered his office on pretext of demanding a pay rise.
That event sent a shockwave across the nation with people doubting the capacity of the government to protect itself against subversive forces.
“I was very much irritated at what the [soldiers] did, but did not show it for the sake of soothing the situation,” he said.
Ahmed, who came to power on April 2 already narrowly escaped an attempt at his life on June 23 when a grenade was thrown at a rally at Mesqel square in the capital Addis Ababa.
