In Ethiopia, reforms are already underway since the installation last year of 42 year old Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Women have been named to some of the government’s key positions – president, chief justice and half of all ministers. Thousands of political prisoners and journalists have been freed while senior officials accused of human rights abuses and corruption no longer enjoys immunity.
Ethiopian lawmakers unanimously elected the country’s first female president on Thursday, days after approving one of the world’s few “gender-balanced” Cabinets as the country’s dramatic reforms continue.
Several hundred people attended the rally, outside the headquarters of the Democratic Alliance for Peace – the party of the current President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Some 30 people were hospitalized, according to the protestors, including prominent opposition figure Etienne Fabaka Sissoko who was reportedly in a coma after security forces fired live ammunition at protesters on Saturday.