For his part, Ahmednasir Abdullahi, a lawyer who represented President Kenyatta in the 2017 election petition averred that Ethiopia’s survival was in question adding, “democratisation / openness is the only way out.”
Ethiopia’s government announced political reforms in January this year which move resulted in the mass release of prisonsers at the federal and regional state levels.
But in a shock move Premier Hailemariam Desalegn resigned his post last Thursday and the government subsequently imposed a state of emergency (SOE) with the reason that they needed to curb spreading violence.
Ethiopia’s political and security headaches are seen as a danger to the wider Horn of Africa region which already has a civil war raging in South Sudan and an insurgency in Somalia thanks to Al Shabaab. Diplomatic tensions are also high between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The SOE decision has been criticized by the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union as eroding the goodwill that resulted from the announced reforms and prisoner releases. The African Union which is based in Addis Ababa is yet to comment on the development.