The House of Representatives in 2013 In violation of the Media Proclamation, it approved the appointment of members of the Executive Board of the Media Authority.
The parliament convened on March 29, 2014. At its sixth regular session, it approved the appointment of nine board members nominated by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, out of a total of 243 members in the lower house, with 11 abstentions and 17 abstentions.
March 27, 2013 The proclamation and the appointment of the board and its members to be established in accordance with the approved Media Proclamation No. 1238/13 are clearly stated in the proclamation.
Pursuant to sub-article two (a) of Article 9 of the Proclamation, the process of recruiting and approving Board members must be done in a transparent manner. He also said that the public will be given the opportunity to nominate candidates and comment on candidates.
However, the members of the Board who were sent and approved by the Prime Minister were nominated by the Prime Minister without any public comment.
It is also stated that the process of selecting candidates and the list of nominees will be made public through the media or other electronic media, but no nominated board members have been made public before being sent to parliament.
According to Article 5 of the Media Proclamation, two members of the Board must be from the civil society, two from the media and two from various institutions and sections of society relevant to the media, as well as three relevant government bodies.
However, there is no clear requirement that the members of the Board appointed by the House be elected in accordance with the above proclamation.
On the other hand, in accordance with sub-article six of Article 11 of the Proclamation, the selection of board members is required to be a member of a political party or a non-employee.
However, some of the board members approved by parliament are wealthy party candidates and government executives.
Examples include State Minister for Foreign Affairs Redwan Hussein (Ambassador) and Addis Ababa City Council member Agardech Jemaneh (Dr.).
The remaining nominees are Hassan Abdulkadir (Ambassador), Bedulu Waqjira (Dr.), Mesaye G. Mariam, Dr. Wodegeneh Meharene, Kesis Tagay Tadele and Ustaz Yassin Nuru, and Nassie Chali (Ambassador), many of whom are facing public opposition.
A number of media actors have been calling on parliament to reverse its decision, citing irregularities in the nomination of board members.
An expert, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on condition of anonymity, said:
He added that the idea of amending the media law from the outset was due to the pressure on media freedom in Ethiopia and as a result it was an obstacle to building a democratic system.
According to the international experience, such media regulators will be set up independently.
Contrary to the proclamation, it is shocking and unfortunate when a member of a political party becomes a member of the board, he said.
The issue of explicit proclamation is, “Who will stop me?” “Who will hold me accountable?”
Therefore, if the law is to be obeyed in this country, he said, it should not be taken lightly when the country’s highest legal body violates the law.
An unnamed commenter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said:
Why should not only the media and media outlets but also political parties, be concerned when the law is violated? They say they should ask.
He said media associations, political parties, and media outlets should be aware that if the government does not speak out on such issues, the next government will be distracted.
He added that the public should take this opportunity to shout out that the process is an illegal recruitment and recruitment process.
He also warned that if the government is silent on the issue, it may repeat its decision in the media today.
“The appointment of the Director-General of the Media Authority was outside the scope of the law. But no one asked and no one shouted. It is still being tried and tested. ”
“Even parliament has not been able to monitor the implementation of the law,” he said, adding that the issue should not be allowed to continue. He said unions and organizations working in the media should shout and question.
The Board shall have the authority to appeal the decisions of the Authority, to investigate the appeals of applicants and licensors, and to investigate and resolve complaints from the public regarding the licenses.
Advises on any policy issues regarding the implementation of the Media Proclamation; The proclamation stipulates that he will make a recommendation to the government as appropriate.