The Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia issued the following statement on recent issues
Addis Ababa, June 5, 2026 (FMC) — On the morning of 1 June 2026, before the first light had broken over the highlands, Ethiopians were already queuing. In Jimma, in Dire Dawa, in Hawassa, in Bahir Dar, in towns and villages whose names will never appear in international newspapers, men and women stood in line to do something that is simple and profound. They voted. More than fifty-four million of them registered to do so. That number, larger than the entire population of many nations, is the first answer to anyone who questions whether this election was real.
The will of the Ethiopian people
The National Election Board of Ethiopia confirmed that more than 50,188 of the 52,000 polling stations opened on time and processed voters throughout the day. Over 10,438 candidates from 42 political parties contested seats in the House of Peoples’ Representatives and in regional councils. This was, by every measurable standard, the largest and most administratively sophisticated exercise of democratic participation in Ethiopia’s history.
The African Union Election Observation Mission, comprising 83 observers from 37 African countries and led by former President of Kenya H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, assessed the election as “conducted within a legal and institutional framework that broadly supports democratic governance.” The IGAD Election Observation Mission, led by former Vice President of Uganda H.E. Dr. Speciosa Wandira-Kazibwe, confirmed in its published preliminary report that ballot boxes were correctly sealed in every station observed, that party agents were present throughout, and that the election represented major institutional, administrative and technological progress. The IGAD Mission designated these elections an Election of Many Firsts. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission confirmed it observed no human rights violations during the voting process. The Coalition of Civil Society Election Observers (CECOE) which deployed 65,299 observers nationwide, through 55 organizations accredited by the National Election Board, reported that it was able to observe activities without obstruction at 99 percent of polling stations.
These are the assessments of credible national and continental institutions delivering their honest judgements. They are not the voices of institutions hostile to Africa or those that measure African democracy against external templates. Certain international commentators in a flurry of haphazard articles have described this election as a coronation and its outcome as a foregone conclusion. The Office of the Prime Minister categorically rejects these characterizations as factually inaccurate, analytically uninformed, and disrespectful to the millions of Ethiopians who exercised a free and deliberate democratic choice. A predetermined result does not require 83 independent observers from 37 African countries, 65,299 domestic civil society monitors, or 1,100 accredited international journalists.
The Prime Minister extends his gratitude to every Ethiopian citizen who participated, to NEBE and its more than 350,000 deployed officials, to the security forces who protected the process, and to the African and regional observer missions whose presence affirmed Ethiopia’s commitment to democratic accountability.
On Ethiopia’s development
As Ethiopians cast their votes on June 1, 2026 they did so with the conviction of firmly anchoring their country in a genuine democratic culture. At the same time, the people have expressed their desire for Ethiopia to continue advancing a culture of rapidly realizing the comprehensive development that its immense potential and blessings make possible.
Ethiopia’s economy grew by 9.2 percent in 2024/25, making it one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Building on this momentum, the economy is projected to grow by 10.2 percent in 2025/26. Growth has been broad-based, with agriculture, industry, and services all contributing significantly to economic expansion. Increasingly, however, industry is emerging as a major driver of growth, reflecting the government’s sustained focus on manufacturing, industrialization, value addition, and export-oriented production. These outcomes are not projections alone; they are the result of deliberate, accountable governance tracked through the Prime Minister’s 100-day performance review system.
Total Exports are projected to reach 20 billion US dollars, an increase of nearly 50 percent since 2024. Inflation has continued its downward trajectory and is now approaching single-digit levels, a significant improvement from the double-digit inflation that weighed on households and businesses in recent years. This progress has been achieved despite external pressures, including recent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East that have affected global energy markets and other strategic commodities. The government has not entered any new commercial loan agreements from foreign sources since the Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda began, materially easing the national debt burden.
Behind these numbers is physical change that Ethiopians can see and touch. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is generating electricity for Ethiopian households, businesses, and neighboring countries. It was financed by Ethiopians, built by Ethiopian engineers, and completed in the face of sustained external pressure. Alongside hydropower, Ethiopia is expanding renewable generation through projects such as the Aysha II Wind Power Plant in the Somali Region and the Assela Wind Farm in Arsi Zone, strengthening the resilience of the national grid while advancing regional energy cooperation. The Bishoftu International Airport project, one of the largest single infrastructure investments in continental African history, has broken ground. These are not aspirations. They are facts.
In agriculture, the government’s food sovereignty agenda is producing structural rather than seasonal results. The partnership signed with Aliko Dangote’s group to construct the Gode Urea Fertilizer Plant in the Somali Region stands as one of the defining industrial investments of this period. With a planned annual production capacity of 3 million metric tonnes of urea, the plant will place Ethiopia among the world’s largest fertilizer producers. As the Prime Minister stated during a visit to the construction site on 17 May 2026, “the project represents a strategic investment in agricultural transformation, food security, industrial growth, and economic self-reliance.” For Ethiopian farmers, long constrained by unreliable and costly fertilizer supplies, its significance is immediate and tangible.
When the Prime Minister stood at the inauguration of the Negele Borena Geda Airport on 27 May 2026, just days before this election, the symbolism was not lost on the people of Borena. Not long ago this zone carried one meaning internationally: drought. Three consecutive years of failed rains had killed millions of livestock, forced families to walk dozens of kilometres for water, and reduced communities that had sustained themselves across these rangelands for centuries to recipients of emergency food assistance. That is the Borena the world knew. The Prime Minister’s May visit told a different story. He reviewed water and irrigation infrastructure now supplying clean water to pastoralist communities and their livestock, visited cluster farms on land that was dust only a few years ago, inaugurated a cultural centre in Yabelo, and opened an airport that provides year-round connectivity to a region once isolated by seasonal conditions.
Manufacturing tells a similar story of transformation. At the 4th Made in Ethiopia Expo in May 2026, the government presented the results of four years of sustained industrial expansion. Manufacturing input supply has risen from nine million to more than fifteen million tonnes annually. Production capacity utilization has increased from 47 percent to 67 percent, manufacturing growth has climbed from 4.8 percent to 10.7 percent, and financing for small and medium enterprises has expanded from 8.1 billion birr to more than 50 billion birr. These gains are increasingly reflected in domestic production.
Twenty days after the Expo, the Prime Minister inaugurated the Grandeur Ceramic Manufacturing facility in Mojo, a major industrial investment completed in just nine months and sourcing more than 80 percent of its raw materials locally. Ethiopia, once dependent on imported ceramic products, is now preparing to end ceramic imports altogether and expand production for export.
In technology, the government is positioning Ethiopia as an early adopter of artificial intelligence and Industry 5.0 frameworks, recognizing that modern development is increasingly defined by data, innovation, and digital systems.
The rejection of extremism as politics
The Prime Minister, on behalf of the Government of Ethiopia, extends his deepest condolences to the families and communities in Arsi Zone who have suffered the loss of loved ones, injuries, and the destruction of homes as a result of recent attacks carried out against civilians, including those targeted in their places of worship by OLA – Shene insurgents. These attacks are not isolated incidents. They form part of a broader effort to create instability, undermine public security, and disrupt Ethiopia’s democratic processes.
In preparation for the 7th National Election, the Government devoted unprecedented attention and resources to ensuring that the electoral process would be conducted fairly, inclusively, and peacefully. Extensive preparations were completed more than a year in advance to safeguard citizens’ constitutional right to vote and to ensure that the election could proceed without security disruptions. At the same time, destructive forces, acting in coordination with foreign actors hostile to Ethiopia’s interests and local armed groups, undertook extensive preparations aimed at preventing the election from taking place. Before and during the electoral period, these groups mobilized their resources in an effort to obstruct citizens’ freedom to vote, incite unrest and violence, terrorize communities through attacks, restrict movement through ambushes and road blockades, and target vulnerable civilian sites.
In the Amhara Region, this included the provision of weapons, fighters, and logistical support to carry out provocations in border areas adjacent to Southern Tigray, as well as terrorist activities targeting civilians and major urban centres, including Bahir Dar, Gondar, Debre Birhan, and Woldia. In Addis Ababa, clandestine cells were organized to conduct attacks in selected locations; however, through effective intelligence and security operations, these plans were largely thwarted.
Similarly, in the Oromia Region, the OLA- Shene terrorist group, working in coordination with the extremist Fano armed group, sought to disrupt movement and public life by blocking roads and creating insecurity in various areas. Strong and timely action by security forces prevented these objectives from being realized. Unable to achieve their broader aims or withstand sustained security operations, these groups shifted their focus to softer civilian targets. In Arsi Zone, including Asko and surrounding areas, they carried out attacks intended to inflame ethnic and religious tensions and deepen social divisions. Despite these efforts, the situation has been brought under control, and coordinated security operations against those responsible remain ongoing.
The coordinated nature of these campaigns, combining violence against civilians with information and media efforts designed to amplify fear, division, and mistrust, has been significantly disrupted through the Government’s intelligence and security measures. The Government will continue to respond proactively to such threats and has already successfully foiled similar plots in many parts of the country both before and during the electoral period.
The Government wishes to state with complete clarity: those who carry out violence against civilians, regardless of the political rhetoric used to justify their actions, are not advancing a cause. They are committing crimes! Political grievances can and should be addressed through Ethiopia’s constitutional framework, the National Dialogue process, and democratic institutions.
Extremism, however, has no place in Ethiopia!