Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA: September 9 (EI) — Ethiopia on Monday marked the first-ever National Democracy Day amid call to build independent institutions so as to drive the country’s ambition towards democratization.
Marking the inaugural democracy day, which was commemorated on Monday across Ethiopia with various activities that aimed to promote the essence of democracy and democratic institutions, government officials and experts echoed the need to instill strong and independent institutions.
“Our long journey has clearly shown that we cannot realize our socio-economic ambitions without democracy,” Shitaye Minale, Deputy House Speaker of the Ethiopian House of People’s Representatives – the lower house of the Ethiopian parliament – told an event in Addis Ababa.
According to Shitaye, building independent institutions is “a crucial step and founding pillar” to realize reliable democratic platform in Ethiopia.
Shitaye also emphasized the need to sustain the autonomy and operational freedom of all public institutions so as to drive the momentum in the country’s quest towards democratization.
Ethiopian government officials and experts also echoed the need to create sustainable peace, ensuring the equality of all Ethiopians through maintaining equal opportunity for cities from all walks of lives, building an enabling and participatory democratic systems, as well as promoting inclusive national consensus to see the desired outcome in the country’s aspiration.
The Deputy House Speaker also noted that the ongoing comprehensive national reforms, which are being implemented to strengthen justice and administrative institutions, positively complement the Ethiopian government’s ambition in building democratic system in the country.
Experts also stressed the need to ensure rule of law, as it plays pivotal role in empowering democratic institutions with greater autonomy and operational freedom.
Solomon Nigusse, a professor at the Addis Ababa University, emphasized that ensuring rule of law is the basic pillar of democratization, saying that “one cannot talk about democracy without respecting rule of law.”
The scholar further argued that “building democracy is not optional in diversified country like Ethiopia. Democracy for Ethiopia is a means of realizing its long-term ambitions.”
The Ethiopian government, in a bid to promote citizens participation in promoting good-governance, has been undertaking various initiatives that aimed to enhance citizens’ contribution across various major governance platforms.
On September 10, Ethiopia will also commemorate the first-ever National Justice Day, which will recognize personalities that contributed to Ethiopia’s ongoing reforms in the justice sector.
According to the Ethiopian Federal Attorney General, the upcoming national justice day celebrations, which will also feature various activities in the presence of senior high-level Ethiopian government officials on a national level, would help to mobilize awareness among the general public and justice bodies.
The first-ever National Justice Day is expected to bring together some 15,000 Ethiopians from all walks of life in the capital Addis Ababa to mark the day, it was noted.
