By Staff Reporter
ADDIS ABABA – August 22, 2023 (BORKENA) – Amhara Regional Council called an emergency meeting at the Conference Hall of the Council in Bahir Dar City on Friday, 25 August 2023. Two members of the council told Ethiopia Insider that the call was made last Monday inviting members of the Regional Council to attend this extraordinary meeting on the coming Friday.
The members of the Regional Council were told to report physically to the office of the council a day before the meeting. But members have not been informed about the agenda of the meeting, according to sources. A member of the Regional Council, expressed his thoughts to Ethiopia Insider on condition of anonymity that “as it is an emergency meeting, they probably did not want to disclose about the agenda”.
However, this same individual said that probably the “current affairs of the Region” can be high on the agenda. It is to be recalled that since the security problem in the Amhara Region is “beyond the capacity of the regional government,” the Federal Government has declared a state of emergency in the Region for six months, Ethiopia Insider said. People criticised that though it is said to be significant to declare the state of emergency, which has been implemented since 04 August 2023 in the Region, “it was the Regional Council that should have issued the decree,” the news source indicated.
The Amhara Regional Council held its regular meeting for the last time in mid July 2023. At this regular meeting of the council, the then timely issues of peace and security in the Region was discussed. The chief administrator of the Region, Yilikal Kefale (PhD), said in the speech he made at the time that they all “must return to normal lives promptly by indicating the way out without any hesitation through consultation,” he said.
Yilikal proposed recommendation to the Regional Council that five people from every Zonal council be elected and enter into consultation in a bid to solve the security problem in the Amhara Region. However, not long after this proposal, he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed requesting the intervention of the Federal Government. The Regional president implored then that the Federal Government should take “appropriate action” in accordance with the constitution as the “security breach in the state” is “difficult to control through the regular law enforcement procedure”.
As a result of the implementation of the state of emergency that was declared in accordance with this request, the federal police apprehended 226 people including council member of the Region, Yohannis Buwayalew. A member of the council told Ethiopia Insider that “there may be an appointment” at the emergency meeting of the Amhara Regional Council expected to be held on the coming Friday. Another council member of the Region expressed his opinion that “there is a possibility of impeachment after dismissal of some officials”.
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