ADDIS ABABA ( Halbeeg News) – The Ethiopian parliament has postponed a national census for a second time on Monday.
The house cited security concerns as the main obstacle to the national exercise.
Both houses of parliament voted overwhelmingly to delay the census for one year due to an increase in ethnic violence.
“Our people are still displaced in many parts of the country,” lawmaker Tesfaye Daba said during a parliamentary debate. “Having this situation, I don’t think it wise to conduct the census this year.”
The census was postponed in 2017 due to the height of anti-government protest in the country.
Addis Ababa is expected to hold elections next year and the result of the census could have been very significant in the democratization process of the Horn of Africa’s populated country.
According to the previous census, the ethnic group of the Prime Abiy Ahmed, Oromo are the largest in the country accounting for 45 percent followed by the Amhara and Somalis and Tigre respectively.
Ethiopia’s populations are estimated at 105 million, the second most populated African state after Nigeria.
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