Ethiopia Addis Ababa City police fires over 300 staff

July 20th, 2009 | EthioPolitics.com |

By Yohannes Anberbir, Capital

The Addis Ababa Police Commission has fired over 300 of its staff.

This was the ruthless decision made following the self-assessment meeting the commission held in Tolay military camp in Welega Zone of Oromia region, 327 kilometres west of the capital.
Some high ranking officers are also included in the mass dismissal, a source at the commission told Capital.

Police commanders and chiefs of the city met at the meeting hall of the Ethiopian Mapping Agency two months ago to discuss weakening security issues in the capital. This led them to organise the self-assessment session in Tolay, which gave every employee invited an opportunity to openly point out the weaknesses of their colleagues in the presence of their bosses.

The meeting helped the chiefs of security to figure out what action needed to be taken to remedy the problems, the source said. According to him, over 300 officers are to be fired by the commission and many more are to be demoted. One of those to be demoted is the secretary of the commission, showing the seriousness of the measure, he added.

The commission recently deployed nearly 1,000 new police in the capital. The commission is accountable to Federal Police, but the city administration is currently drafting a bill that aims to return the former city police commission to its jurisdiction.

A need to oversee city security is the reason given by Mayor Kuma Demekssa’s administration to bring back the police commission under city control, which coincided with the restructuring of the police commission for similar reasons.

The commission was transferred to the control of the Federal Police by the ruling coalition, the EPRDF, in the aftermath of the disputed 2005 General Election.

This move came about after the Coalition for Unity and Democracy, who strongly contested the ruling party’s overall election victory, refused to take charge of the Addis Ababa City Administration, despite winning the majority of the capital’s seats.

This political scuffle resulted in a power vacuum in Addis Ababa, leading Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to propose the politically neutral caretaker administration and the transfer of responsibility for the police commission to the Federal Police.