Bahir Dar, July 20, 2017 — Against a backdrop of mounting regional uncertainty, the Amhara National Regional Council convened its 10th regular session of the 4th working year today, with President Arega Kebede laying out a new transitional plan aimed at safeguarding the rights and interests of the Amhara people.
President Arega opened the afternoon sitting by responding to questions from council members regarding the 2018 budget‑year plan. He explained that the regional government would “take the assets in the region as part of the plan,” underscoring that the overarching goal of this transitional framework is to ensure that “enforcing the rights and interests of the Amhara region should be the main mission of the regional government.”
High‑ranking officials—Dr. Dires Sahilu, Dr. Gashaw Hailu, Dr. Mamaru Ayalew, Mr. Solomon Tasew, Dr. Demeke Boru, and others—briefed council members on ongoing developments in the water and energy, health, job creation, city planning, transport, logistics, and other critical sectors. However, apart from a brief comment by President Arega—“Since all of our people understand that the issue is not an ordinary extremist agenda, we have been able to dismantle the destructive agenda of the enemies of our country and region”—there was little further discussion of the broader instability concerns that continue to affect the region.
Central to the president’s presentation was the dual focus on economic empowerment and legal protection: “Enforcing the benefit of the people in the economy and enforcing their rights in various legal issues should be the beginning and end of the work of the leadership.” He warned that any actions undermining the region’s unity must be prevented, and described the transitional plan as “a tool to achieve these goals.”
To guarantee the plan’s success, President Arega called for “strong support and monitoring” led by a “very systematic” and “knowledge‑based” process. He emphasized that results and findings must be carried through by “a very committed leadership,” noting that while the plan cannot be executed “as usual,” “with hard work everything can change.”
Detailed discussions and briefing is expected to be held in the councils ongoing meeting regarding security concerns that has caused unrest in the regional state since April 2023 as clashes erupted between Amhara Fano militants and government forces following the Pretoria agreement that ended hostilities between the TPLF and federal government aligned forces.
