Global anger over Ethiopia, Zimbabwe bomb attacks

from MARCUS MUSHONGA in Harare & ADANE BIKILA in Addis Ababa
ADDIS ABABA (CAJ News) – THE United Nations (UN) and African Union Commission (AUC) have denounced assassination plots on the Ethiopian Prime Minister and Zimbabwean presidents in separate incidents this past weekend.

Zimbabwean President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, survived an attempt on his life as a bomb exploded moments after addressing a campaign rally of his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) in the second city of Bulawayo on Saturday.

Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, saw his rally on the same disrupted by a grenade attack in the capital Addis Ababa where he championed his reform agenda and efforts.

UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, expressed dismay at the news of the explosion during the ZANU-PF rally in Bulawayo in which Mnangagwa was unharmed but other party officials were injured.

“The Secretary-General condemns such acts of violence and calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. He wishes the injured a quick recovery,” his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said.

Dujarric said Guterres condemned the grenade attack in Ethiopia and sent condolences to the families of the victims.

“The Secretary-General expresses his solidarity with the government and people of Ethiopia.”

Meanwhile, AUC expressed shock and dismay at the violent incidents in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, AUC chairperson, condemned the attacks as “cowardly.”

He wished a speedy recovery to those injured during what he decried as a senseless act of violence, which could not be justified under any circumstances.

At the weekend, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is chair of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)‚ condemned the bomb blast in Zimbabwe.

– CAJ News