Day: March 16, 2023

Ministry of Innovation and Technology and the Delegation of the European Union to Ethiopia launched a five-year e-Government Strategy and Enterprise Architecture for Ethiopia today.

Innovation and Technology Minister Belete Molla said implementing the project will improve government services delivery, facilitate digital economy, and foster socio-economic development.

“ I am sufficiently informed that the ultimate goal of this project is to enable the Government of Ethiopia to be more efficient, result oriented, and to provide citizen-centered, secure and integrated e-governance services.”

According to him, the implementation of this project will go a long way to strengthen Ethiopia in the global digital economy by facilitating digital transformation for rapid, inclusive socio-economic wellbeing of our citizens.

A policy framework articulated under the Digital Ethiopia 2025 Strategy is enabling utilization of digital technologies across the sectors of the economy to improve the services, Belete noted.

EU Delegation to Ethiopia Economy and Infrastructure Team Leader, Sanne Willems said the Union funded the project that will be implemented by the ministry.

This is part of “a large project of 10-million-Euros to support the business environment and investment climate, including e-governance services,” she added.

The team leader pointed out that effective implementation of the project will enable the government to improve services delivery in an inclusive and transparent way.

The project also aligns with to the SDG-16 target and contributes to the strengthening of peace and justice institutions.

Willems stated that the EU and Ethiopia have been cooperating on various areas for over four decades.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Turkana County Commissioner Mr. Jacob Ouma has called for a multi sectoral approach to address high levels of child labour along Lake Turkana.

Ouma was responding to concerns by heads of departments in the national government who had expressed concerns over the high numbers of children involved in fishing and related activities in Lake Turkana.

‘Child labour is a time bomb which if left unchecked it will fuel insecurity in future,’ said Ouma. He had convened a meeting with departmental heads in his office on Thursday.

Kenya Fisheries Service Assistant Director Mr. Jospeh Kasuti cited child labour and use of unapproved fishing nets as some of the challenges facing his department. ‘Child labour is rampant along the lake, we do not encourage it and we only issue licenses to persons above 18 years,’ said Kasuti.

The Assistant Director said the lake has a potential to produce 30,000 metric tonnes of fish annually yet only 7,000 to 10,000 metric tonnes of fish are harvested annually and at the same time decried the post-harvest losses which accounted for 35 percent of fish caught in the lake.

‘Lake Turkana has over 60 species of fish, yet only 19 species are harvested. Tilapia and Nile perch are the most harvested species,’ he added.

Poor infrastructure and lack of electricity were also blamed for the low levels of exploitation of the lake and fishing sector. Use of undersized nets is another challenge in the sector.

Kasuti said 40 illegal nets were recently impounded and 11 suspects arrested

The Embassy of Netherlands last week pledged a 10 million pounds’ donation to exploit Lake Turkana which is shared by Turkana and Marsabit Counties.

In a meeting with stakeholders including officers from Turkana and Marsabit Counties, Dutch Ambassador to Kenya Maarten Brouwer announced that his country will invest pound 10 million for five years.

The Embassy has committed to supporting a co-finance of quick interventions as well as a long-term programme for sustainable development of the value chain.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Ethiopia and Somalia are strengthening bilateral relations in various fields of cooperation, First Secretary of Somalia Embassy to Ethiopia Mohamed Omar Yarisow said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, First Secretary Omar said that the strong bilateral relations between Ethiopia and Somalia is not just because they are neighbors or share common cultural heritage but also in terms of security.

“We are hoping that Ethiopia can play a very key role in liberation of a lot of Somalia and the stabilization against a lot of extremist groups, but more in terms of the cultural awareness that we share between the two countries. So we hope we can enhance as much as possible. Anything; that we can do to support the cause of a greater and more secure and more prosperous Horn of Africa is a benefit for everyone in the region,” he elaborated.

The collaboration in maintaining security across the region by leaders of the countries is pivotal; Omar emphasized, and noted “I think that close security collaborations will lead to a safer, secure and more stable region.”

Ethiopia is a very key player in terms of green energy in terms of tackling of climate change by planting billions of tree seedlings through the Green Legacy Initiative, Omar said.

“This is something that we hope to transfer within Somalia as well. We are trying to tackle the effects of climate change by promoting greenery.”

The First Secretary noted “I think the targets which have been set by Ethiopia is something that we are also transcribing within Somalia as well.”

“Ethiopia is key and advancer of green energy in terms of cars and electric cars which are being built within the country. We’re hoping this will transfer within the great Horn of Africa and a great to Africa as a whole,” he pointed out.

The Horn of Africa is drastically affected by climate change calamities even though its contribution is insignificant, he said, and stressed “so we need to be thinking of more broader or greener sort of ways of becoming resilient against climate change.”

According to him, the Green Legacy Initiatives which have been launched by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is playing a key role within the Greater Horn of Africa region.

It is to be recalled that the leaders of Ethiopia and Somalia have reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen cooperation in politics and economy apart from cooperation in peace and security during Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud visit to Ethiopia last September.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czech Republic, Jiri Kozak said that his country wants to increase relations with Ethiopia in agriculture, water development, youth empowerment and geological sectors.

The First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs held talks with State Minister of Finance, Samarita Sewasew in Addis Ababa.

During the discussion he said that the Czech Republic’s development support to Ethiopia has not been disrupted due to the war in Ukraine and Russia and the price inflation that followed it.

He explained that the Czech Republic’s relationship with Ethiopia has been given the highest priority in the New Africa Program that the country launched last year.

State Minister of Finance Samarita Sewasew on her part stated that Ethiopia’s relationship with the Czech Republic is strong.

She appreciated the contributions made by the government of the Czech Republic to increase the production of banana in South Ethiopia and other development supports.

Samarita pointed out that companies of the Czech Republic will be beneficial if they invest in Ethiopia in various sectors by using the economic reforms being carried out in the country.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Machakos Deputy Governor Francis Mwangangi has sounded a warning to land grabbers eyeing public land in the county. Mwangangi said unscrupulous people had resorted to grabbing public land in the county while invoking names of senior leaders to intimidate county officials. While addressing the press Wednesday outside his office,the deputy governor said the county government will not tolerate acts of illegal land acquisition and will deal with grabbers firmly. ‘We will not entertain such people and we will make sure any grabbed land has been returned to its rightful owners, ‘he said. He singled out Mavoko and sections along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway as some of the areas where the cases were rampant. ‘In Mavoko the land registry was transferred and 90 percent of those that engineered the transfer are land grabbers,’ revealed the deputy governor. The DG prevailed on the cabinet Secretary for Lands to have the registry reverted for easy management of land issues in the area. ‘We are also asking the national government to collaborate with the county government to protect public land in the county,’ he said. The deputy governor’s warning comes barely a week after county officials flushed out a private investor alleged to have grabbed 267 acres of public land in Kyumbi along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The World Food Program (WFP) has urged donors to step up the level of support for some 100,000 Somaliland refugees who have fled to Ethiopia recently.

Recall that about 100,000 Somaliland refugees, most of them women, pregnant and lactating mothers, unaccompanied children, elderly persons with serious medical conditions and disabilities, arrived at Doolo Zone of Somali Region, Ethiopia.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, WFP Representative and Country Director Claude Jibidar said it is a sad situation to witness those Somaliland citizens forced to flee their homes due to conflict.

Citing the gravity of the problem, he stated that WFP has “already provided some distributions. Distribution of food has been started and delivered for those people.”

Partners too have been supplying water, shelter, and everybody is mobilized to respond, the country director said, adding that it seems like this is a situation that will not change overnight.

Therefore “we need to step up the level of support so that we can sustain those people until they can go back home,” Jibidar said.

“My appeal is to all the supporters. I know the government through Ethiopia’s Refugees and Returnees Service is doing a lot to support and we will also do our best. I am also appealing to donors to look at this situation so that we can help those people while they are here.”

The WFP representative also expressed readiness to help the refugees when they go back and can resettle in their own home.

The Ethiopian host communities have generously welcomed the refugees, sharing them the little they have in one of the areas hardest hit by drought affecting the Horn of Africa.

The Refugees and Returnees Service and the UNHCR have together affirmed last week that many of the families have settled within the communities in common buildings or in open areas.

“The Government of Ethiopia, having maintained its longstanding generosity to asylum seekers, is receiving the needy by keeping the humanitarian and civilian nature of the overall response,” Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS) Director-General Tesfahun Gobezay said.

According to him, “RRS and the UNHCR are coordinating with federal and regional government bodies, UN agencies and other partners to respond to the needs of the newly arrived asylum-seekers.”

UNHCR Country Representative Mamadou Dian Balde noted that Ethiopians have “once again shown tremendous generosity by keeping their doors open for their Somali brothers and sisters in need of protection.”

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

A multi-agency security team on Wednesday raided an illegal alcohol plant operating at a residential house at Korosit village in the outskirts of Kericho town, recovering fake Kenya Revenue Stamps (KRA), ethanol and counterfeit alcohol totaling to over Sh 22 million. The 3pm incident was carried out by a team of security officers from agencies including Directorate of Criminal Investigations Nairobi (DCI), the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and Kericho Security team where three rolls of fake KRA stamps were recovered with a value of Sh 12 million in lost revenue, 763 cartons of assorted counterfeit alcoholic brands with a street value of Sh 3, 552,000 and three drums containing suspected Ethanol with an estimated value of Sh 7,230, 000. The brands of alcoholic drinks that were found packaged in the house include Best Vodka, Space Vodka, Smart Vodka, Venice Vodka, Tycoon Vodka, Cane Extra and Chrome Vodka and shockingly they bore stickers that indicated the brands were products of existing reputable and certified distillers and had valid Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) marks. Police are hot in pursuit of the plant owner who is said to have fled the police dragnet. Addressing the press, Kericho County Police Commander Rico Ngare said the plant might have been in operation illegally for a long time while describing the conditions in the premises as dirty and unhygienic, terming the syndicate a public health risk as it was not approved. ‘We have been trailing the suspect from March 3 following a tip off and today this is our breakthrough. The environment under which the illegal liquor is conducting operations is dirty and here we observe that the suspected liquid said to be Ethanol is mixed with water and the mixing is done without certified approximations,’ Ngare said. ‘Those behind this are using their own approximations and this is very dangerous and are using recycled bottles collected from bars after revelers empty the contents which are not adequately cleaned posing a health risk to consumers,’ he added. The Police Commander said three stamp rolls each having 24,000 KRA fake stamps were recovered, new assorted bottle tops and 763 cartons of assorted counterfeit alcohol valued at Sh 3, 552,000 had fake KRA stamps affixed on the bottles. They included 199 cartons of Best Vodka, 221 cartons of Space Vodka, 218 cartons of Smart Vodka, 65 cartons of Venice Vodka, 58 cartons of Tycoon vodka, one carton of Cane Extra vodka and one carton of Chrome vodka and thirteen drums each containing 250 litres of a liquid suspected to contain Ethanol worth Sh 7,230,000. The police boss confirmed the illegal alcohol plant had evaded taxes amounting to over Sh 12 million, revealing that KRA have taken up the case to establish the correct market value of the illegal liquors. He appealed to members of the public to give information on anyone brewing and selling the counterfeit liquor for the County to be free of these illegal substances which were destroying families and the young generations. When KNA visited the area, the team from KRA was busy documenting evidence from the residential premise which has been operating as an illegal alcohol plant disguised as a livestock farm where pigs, chicken, cows, rabbits were seen feeding in their respective wooden houses within the compound. On March 5, police in Soin/Sigowet sub-county within Kericho County arrested four suspects after they were found in possession of chang’aa and 5,000 litres of Kangara was destroyed in Chemogoch village.

Source:Kenya News Agency