Category: General

Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) is more capable than ever to defend national sovereignty and dignity of the country, Field Marshal Birhanu Jula underscored.

ENDF Chief of Staff, Field Marshal Birhanu made the remark at the commemoration of the 116th National Army Day observed with special event at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa today.

The reforms carried out over the past few years have exponentially strengthened ENDF’s executing capability in various ways, it was indicated.

Speaking on the occasion, Field Marshal Birhanu assured that ENDF is ready with a much greater capability to defend the sovereignty and dignity of the country that it received from its heroic forefathers.

He warned foreign elements to refrain from attempts of destructive acts to destabilize Ethiopia by orchestrating internal conflicts.

Field Marshal Birhanu said any attempt aimed at grabbing political power by force is absolutely unacceptable and intolerable as it is an act of dismantling a nation.

The 116th National Army Day was celebrated with a variety of special events across the nation.

At the commemoration of the Army Day held today with grand event at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, government officials, ambassadors and military leaders of various countries, senior leaders and members of the army, various sections of society, were present.

The day is observed to renew commitment and dedication of the gallant army in ensuring peace and stability of the country and to demonstrate the military preparedness as well as sustain the legacy of the army.

It is also to commemorate those who have paid dearly in maintaining the peace and sovereignty of the country.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Speaking at the commemoration of the 116th National Army Day at Meskel Square today, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stated that Ethiopia will continue contributing peacekeepers around the world as part of its international responsibilities.

The Prime Minister praised the Ethiopian National Defense Force’s long history of sacrifice and service in conflict zones ranging from Korea to Darfur.

He also praised the noble sacrifices of the Ethiopian National Defense Force in the cause of global peace.

“Our defense forces are symbols of peace wherever they go,” the premier pointed out.

Ethiopia is among the top contributor of uniformed personnel to UN peacekeeping missions. The country has demonstrated steadfast dedication to promoting stability and security across Africa and beyond for over 70 years.

“The main purpose of defense is to maintain peace,” the Prime Minister said.

“The Ethiopian army has sacrificed life and limb to protect the peace of all peoples, from Korea to Somalia, regardless of the changing tides of politics.”

Ethiopian peacekeepers build schools, health clinics and infrastructure wherever deployed across Africa. “They are symbols of unity and harbingers of peace,” the Prime Minister noted.

Extolling the troops to modernize and read voraciously, the Prime Minister called on them to always be ready to serve, not just Ethiopia, but the continent and the world while in need.

Ethiopia’s contributions to peacekeeping go back over 70 years. Ethiopian soldiers fought alongside UN forces in the Korean War in 1951. Ethiopian troops also helped restore stability in the Congo in 1960.

According to UN, today, Ethiopia is the top contributor of peacekeeping forces globally, with over 8,300 personnel deployed in hotspots like Darfur, Abyei and South Sudan.

It is worth mentioning that once the UN Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix said “Ethiopia is one of UN peacekeeping’s strongest partners.”

Truly, Ethiopia has been a beacon of peacekeeping across the world’s conflict zones. Its long tradition of sacrifice and service in the cause of peace will inspire generations to come.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Ethiopia has never invaded any country and it will never do in the future, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said.

Speaking at the commemoration of the 116th National Army Day at Meskel Square today, Prime Minister Abiy said that the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) has been tirelessly working in safeguarding the peace and ensuring the prosperity of the country.

The action of ENDF practically befits its name; that is defending the sovereignty of the country, not launching attack on others, he said.

By showing its determination for peace and development in all its deployment in Africa, the ENDF has become the emblem of peace, Abiy pointed out.

The premier also said that through selfless sacrifice, the ENDF has sustained a peaceful Ethiopia.

He added that Ethiopia had never been defeated by any force and it will never.

Even when regimes change occurred in Ethiopia, the ENDF remained firm in protecting global peace by paying priceless sacrifice from the Korean Peninsula to Somalia, he added.

The ENDF as always will continue to be a global peacekeeping force with high conviction, the premier noted.

The reforms undertaken over the past couple of years have exponentially strengthened ENDF’s executing capability in various ways, Abiy said.

Following Ethiopia’s need for dialogue on some issues, rumors of invasion threat is being heard, Abiy said, and underscored that there will never be anything that Ethiopia wants to achieve its aspirations through force and invasion.

He stressed that Ethiopia will pursue to ensure mutual benefits and prosperity through peaceful means and won’t pull trigger on anyone.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The Ethiopian 116th National Army Day is being celebrated with a variety of special events at Meskel Square.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, government officials, ambassadors and military leaders of various countries, senior leaders and members of the army, various sections of society, are attending the event.

The day is observed to renew commitment and dedication of the gallant army in ensuring peace and stability of the country and to demonstrate the military preparedness as well as sustain the legacy of the army.

It is also to commemorate those who have paid dearly in maintaining the peace and sovereignty the country.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

A high-level ministerial validation workshop organized by Ethiopia’s Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS) to endorse the government’s final pledges for the 2023 Global Refugee Forum (GRF) kicked off in Bishoftu today.

Addressing the workshop, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Demeke Mekonnen stated that Ethiopia shelters one million refugees and asylum seekers.

As one of the world’s largest refugee host countries, the deputy premier highlighted Ethiopia’s outstanding commitment to welcoming refugees and asylum seekers as a duty of its international obligation.

According to him, Ethiopia is working to facilitate the integration of refugees into their host communities and national systems.

Refugees and Returnees Service Director-General, Teyba Hassen said on her part that Ethiopia has developed a progressive legal framework for refugees to enforce the international rights and protection of refugees.

The one-day workshop has validated and endorsed six pledges which will be announced at the upcoming Global Refugee Forum (GRF) in Geneva in December 2023.

The pledges include addressing the adverse impacts of climate change; transforming selected refugee camps into urban settlements; integrating refugees into existing national systems; creating enabling environments for more investment in refugee hosting regions; providing access to land and irrigation schemes; and enhancing digital connectivity to boost government’s capacity to provide registration and civil documentation.

Ministers, representatives from relevant federal institutions, UNHCR, IGAD and the GRF team took part in the workshop.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) is marking its 116th Army Day with various events that depict the heroic feats it has accomplished for over a century. Over the course of its glorious history, the ENDF has defended not only the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country but also demonstrated an exemplary anti-colonial struggle that set an example for the decolonization of Africa and all countries and peoples who were languishing under the yoke of the imperialist colonial forces.

The recent history of the country shows that the defense force has repulsed scores of external aggressions and forces that threatened the statehood of the country. This article outlines some of the most unique features of the Ethiopian defense force both at national and international level.

First, the ENDF is a national force of peace which has been engaged in international peace keeping missions under the auspices of UNSC over the last several decades and to date. Suffice it to mention the heroic internationalist stance of the ENDF in Korea, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, and Somalia. In these missions, apart from keeping peace, the Ethiopian missions were actively engaged in supporting communities in the countries by providing livelihood inputs, including supply of relief food and water, construction of schools, clinics and other infrastructure facilities.

The ENDF has now become a center of science and technology specializing on the promotion of the defense capabilities of the nation. Apart from the above mentioned contributions, ENDF has become a pan Africanist force that rendering trainings and organizing the defense forces of several African countries in various areas of the defenses sector.

Among other things, the ENDF has been contributing to the mitigation of natural and man mad calamities which were cause by the effects of climate change in Ethiopia. The defense force contributed to provision of relief food and water supplies to areas affected by drought in the country.

The ENDF has now become an important center of higher education and learning in various areas of military and non-military capacity building programs. This has helped the defense force to effectively carry out mega projects in the country.

Moreover, one of the most important contributions of ENDF is related to the promotion of import substitution in which machineries and other technical goods, heavy duty trucks are now produced in ENDF technological enterprises.

It must also be noted that ENDF has pioneered in the struggle against terrorists that plagued the Horn of Africa. The army foiled repeated intrusions of Al-Shabaab and ISIS terrorists in almost all cases by its own efforts.

As a bulwark of peace and development, the peace and sovereignty of Ethiopia has been maintained despite the challenges. Above all, the ENDF is the guardian of the constitution and rule of law in the country. It will continue to be the sole defender of peace, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

KEETMANSHOOP: The Keetmanshoop Municipality has obtained 1 000 prepaid water meters for residents as a way to help them manage their debt.

Keetmanshoop Mayor, McDonald Hanse, at a press conference on Wednesday said the installation of prepaid water meters will allow customers to load their outstanding debt onto the meter.

“A percentage of every purchase will be deducted to reduce the debt. This way, residents will not face service interruptions, while having the opportunity to reduce their outstanding debt,” Hanse said.

Residents owe the municipality approximately N.dollars 119 million in water bills.

Hanse clarified that this initiative will apply solely to vulnerable, unemployed and elderly residents, recognising the unique challenges they may face.

“We believe this approach strikes a fair balance between ensuring that everyone contributes to our municipal services while offering a compassionate solution to our most vulnerable community members,” he added.

The installation cost of the water prepaid meter for residents will be about N.dollars 3 748, excluding value-added tax, while residents will pay N.dollars 22.91 per 1 000 litres of water. The municipality pays NamWater about N.dollars 19 for the same amount of water.

The mayor indicated that the first seven meters will be installed at the residences of the seven municipality councillors as a gesture of goodwill. However, this was not well received by the residents, who questioned the criteria used for the municipality to decide to install the meters at councillors’ residences first while there are vulnerable community members who could have been assisted in this manner instead.

Innocent Mathys, a Keetmanshoop resident, expressed dissatisfaction, saying, “The council’s preference on the water meters is a slap in the face, especially for the elders. You cannot say charity starts at home; whose home with whose money? You are supposed to look at the people who are really vulnerable and start with them. Leave the councillors; they are supposed to serve the people; they are not gods to be put first.”

The municipality’s acting Chief Executive Officer, Lee Mwemba, said the councillors and the municipality management would have a meeting to see if the decision could be reversed.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency