ESAT News (May 31, 2018) A request by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to address Ethiopians in North America at their annual sports festival has been declined by the organizing body. The request made by the Prime Minister to the Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America (ESFNA) through the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington, DC has been a hot topic of debate ...

By Engidu Woldie ESAT News (May 31, 2018) Ethiopia’s foreign reserve is at an all time low, only enough to cover imports for two weeks. Although not yet official, ESAT sources said the Prime Minister has made a decision to remove the Governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia, Teklewold Atnafu. According to reports reaching from Addis Ababa, the Deputy ...

by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (May 30, 2018) Andargachew Tsege, a political prisoner who was on death row and released yesterday after four years of imprisonment, said Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed spoke to him on a number of issues. He however told ESAT on a phone interview that he would not give details of the discussions with the PM. “I ...

By Engidu Woldie ESAT News (May 28, 2018) A high profile political prisoners is expected to walk free today after four years of solitary confinement. The leader of an opposition group based abroad, Andargachew Tsege was kidnapped at the Yemeni airport in June 2014, in a joint operation by the Yemeni and Ethiopian intelligence. He was sentenced to death in ...

By Engidu Woldie ESAT News (May 21, 2018) A leader of an opposition political party says what Ethiopia needs is a truly democratic transition, but not superficial reform if the intention is to move the country forward. Speaking to a gathering of his supporters in Washington, DC, Chairman of Patriotic Ginbot 7, an opposition group based in the Diaspora, Professor ...

ESAT News (may 18, 2018) At least 3,000 residents of Addis Ababa have been left homeless as their houses were demolished to provide land for investors. Authorities say the houses were built illegally. But residents of a subdivision in the capital locally known as Hanna Mariam have protested the move by authorities saying they had legally built their houses and ...

by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (May 18, 2018) Ethiopia is to issue citizenship to hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese refugees in line with the government’s commitment to the New York Declaration. But the news does not bode well for the Anuak community in Gambella. There are about 485,000 south Sudanese refugees in Gambella, the largest number of refugees in ...

by Engidu Woldie ESAT News (May 15, 2018) An Ethiopian born Swedish cardiologist and sixty other political prisoners were freed today after years in jail on trumped up terrorism and graft charges. Prosecutors in Addis Ababa last week dropped terrorism charges against Dr. Fikru Maru and 61 other political prisoners. “Five years of his life have been taken away despite ...

By Engidu Woldie ESAT News (May 14, 2018) The Oromo Democratic Front (ODF), an Ethiopian opposition party based in the Diaspora, announced yesterday that it had begun talks with the government in Addis Ababa. Patriotic Ginbot 7 (PG7) decried talks saying political conditions in the country should be made suitable first. The ODF said in a statement on Sunday that ...

ESAT News (May 11, 2018) The state news agency reported that federal prosecutors dropped charges against Dr. Fikru Maru, an Ethiopian born Swedish cardiologist and 61 others who have been detained for years on trumped up terrorism and other charges. Prosecutors on Wednesday downgraded terrorism charges against Dr. Maru et al to organizing revolt at the Qilinto prison. Thirty eight ...