Addis Ababa (PP News Desk)— The Somali language will become one of the five official languages in Ethiopia. Afan Oromo, “the most widely spoken language in Ethiopia”, Afar and Tigrignia will join Somali to become languages the Government of Ethiopia will use alongside Amharic.
“This is a big milestone for Ethiopian nationalities and endorsement of linguistic diversity of Ethiopia” said Roble Ahmed Bile, an Ethiopian civil servant in Jigjiga. “This a tribute to the late Meles Senawi whose love for the rich diversity of Ethiopian peoples made Ethiopia what it is today”.
Dr Abiy Ahmed, the Ethiopian Prime Minister, whose popularity had waned when he dissolved EPRDF last year to form Prosperity Party, has managed to introduce a surprise language policy that puzzles his opponents, who campaign on the altar of maintaining federalism against pre-1991 unitary system Abiy is allegedly seeking to reintroduce.
Influential Somali-speaking political leaders belong to one of the constituent parties of the Prosperity Party. Failure to be involved in the ratification of the Ethiopian constitution during 1990s made the Somali region of Ethiopia unrepresented in the former EPRDF coalition. Abiy government released prisoners in the former notorious Ogaden jail in Jigjiga.
© Puntland Post , 2020
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