Ethiopia, the only African country to have successfully fended off colonial rule celebrates every May 28 as its National Day. This year marks the 26th anniversary of the day which started in 1991.
The day is a major holiday in the country commemorating the fall of the regime of its dictatorial Derg group. The Derg or Dergue is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army that ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to 1991.
The day was previously referred to as the Downfall of the Derg day and is commemorated at home and abroad. The Ethiopian government has been receiving felicitations from governments around the world.
On the occasion of Ethiopia’s National Day, the United States restated its support for the current government led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali.
Washington said it was committed to helping Addis Ababa in the area of sustainable development, democracy, human rights, peace and good governance.
In a statement released by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Department of State stressed that the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy had their unalloyed support in his bid to ring governance changes promised by the ruling coalition.
On behalf of President Trump and the people of the United States, I send my best wishes to all Ethiopians as they celebrate their National Day on May 28. The statement read.
Abiy Ahmed was sworn into office on April 2 this year, taking over from Hailemariam Desalegn who resigned to allow political reforms to be undertaken after close to three years of deadly anti-government protests across the Oromia and Amhara regional states.
