APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday removed State Minister for Peace, Taye Dendea, from his position for apparently criticising the handling of a planned protest in the Ethiopian capital.
This decision was conveyed through a concise two-line letter directed to Dendea, which was also copied to many other government institutions, including the Minister for Finance.
“Thanking you for your contributions as State Minister for Peace since September 29, 2014 [October 9, 2021, G.C.], you are removed from your position as of December 1, 2016 [December 11, 2023],” wrote the Prime Minister to Taye Dendea.
Beyond his ministerial role, Dendea is a central committee member of the ruling Prosperity Party.
He is recognised as an influential ethnic Oromo politician within the ruling party and is believed to command considerable political support in his ethnic region.
Ahmed’s decision swiftly followed a critical message posted by the minister on his social media platform.
Dendea publicly criticised the government for its prohibition of an Anti-War Peaceful Demonstration scheduled for December 10, 2023.
In his Sunday social media update, he remarked, “…we had been condemning EPRDF for banning peaceful demonstrations. But today we have banned peaceful demonstrations in Meskel Square. To ban anti-war peaceful demonstrations in a square where we beat drums of war gives bad meaning. It may mean for those armed struggle to continue and those who are not yet in armed struggle to resort to that.”
He further suggested that those responsible for banning peace should be held accountable.
Reacting to the prime minister’s decision to sack him, Dendea said he was removed because of his unwavering support for peace in Oromia.
Writing on his Facebook page, the former minister made a frontal attack on PM Ahmad: “Now I understand that you are not only savages who don’t live by what you said but also play with people’s blood. I thought it was true when I was praising you about the war that you were doing in the name of the existence of the country and killing Ethiopians. Today I understand and they removed me from power for supporting peace so that the killing of our brothers will stop”.
On Friday last week, the organisers postponed the demonstration after the government arrested four protest leaders, labeling the demonstration as a ploy to create “turmoil and violence” in the capital, Addis Ababa.
MG/as/APA