The challenge for Ethiopia as a democratic developmental state in the making is the same challenge that faces countries everywhere: to develop institutions and policy instruments, to win the hearts and minds of the majority of the population around democratic developmentalism, to secure resources, particularly foreign savings, to build an efficient, meritocratic and meritorious public service, and to insulate the state from private political pressure enough to allow 'inclusion' to be a positive form of 'embeddedness' rather than just another distortion. Only then can the state play a genuinely positive role in relieving Ethiopia's endemic poverty and inequality and truly serve the nation as a whole.
Ethiopians
in the Diaspora who have entertained ideas opposing the Gilgel Gibe
project too must rethink there stands and carefully delineate the
distinction between a seating regime and the long-term development of
Ethiopia. In the meantime, the government must bolster its initiative in
an effort to expedite the construction of the dam and must seek
alternative avenues, including capital and technical assistance from any
government that would support the Gilgel Gibe III project.
Fyodor Konyukhov preparing for an expedition to Africa
Voice
of Russia, Read More
The famous Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov has become the first European to see with his own eyes the legendary Arc of the Covenant that preserved the Scrolls received by Moses on the Mount Sinai.
Fyodor Konyukhov. Photo: RIA Novosti
This is the holiest relic of the Coptic Christianity. It has never been shown to any non-consecrated person. Most likely, this may be the reason that led to many theories about the place where it is being preserved. At a chapel in the ancient capital of Ethiopia, Aksum, the Ethiopian priests showed the Arc of the Covenant to Fyodor Konyukhov who has recently been ordained deacon by the Russian Orthodox Church, and is preparing for an African expedition with the blessings of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Kyrill. Sharing his impression Fyodor Konyukhov has this to say.
The absence of a strategic plan for succession, including the mechanics for transferring power, could also create difficulties and embarrassment when the inevitable happens, as it happened in Kenya. Kenyans were indeed shocked to observe how traumatic the transition process from Arap Moi to Kibaki leadership proved to be – just because officials did not know exactly what to do.
Afrik
Gambela, one of the nine regional states of Ethiopia is fast growing into what the local media has described as “a land grabbing” hub among Indian companies.
According to Ethiopian authorities, the land grabs will have a significant economic benefit. But critics have slammed the government for using the Gambela region as a commercial farming center.
Meanwhile, analysts argue that the concentration of foreign companies in one region could impact local farmers negatively and also risks whipping up controversy among riparian countries of the Nile basin owing to the region’s only water resource, Baro river, an important tributary of the White Nile.
Ethiopia's capital city Make it prettier and cheaper
Architects want to make the city that hosts the African Union so much nicer Aug 26th 2010 | ADDIS ABABA
AMHARIC has no precise word for architecture, but it needs one. Ethiopia’s capital, founded by Emperor Menelik II in 1886, now has 4.6m people but that figure may well double by 2020. Dirk Hebel of Addis Ababa’s revamped architecture school says that “the first thing we do is to sit down with the students for a day and explain what [it] is”.
Africa's North Korea
Inside Eritrea's open-air prison. BY NATHANIEL MYERS | JULY/AUGUST 2010 Restaurants are able to serve only a handful of items on their menus, and Coca-Cola halted local production a few years ago for lack of syrup. The bicycles that crowd the streets betray the desperate shortage of fuel; hiring a car to leave Asmara requires at least a day's notice so that gas can be arranged. Hospitals have reportedly run out of essential supplies; a friend working for the United Nations asked me to smuggle in basic antibiotics no longer available in town. At a popular market that specializes in recycled goods, I watched one metalworker transform castoff artillery shells into coffee urns.
During
the last 35 years more than half a million Ethiopians have settled in
Western Europe, North America, and Australia. Many Ethiopians in the
Diaspora have been uprooted and exposed to various challenging social
adjustments which are emotionally taxing starting from the very start of
the flight and all the way to the safe haven that the West represented.
Life as an immigrant in the West is never easy but comes with many daily
challenges and existential insecurity.
The long road of death, massacre in Sinai
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
Jerusalem Post
The Egyptian territory has become a human prison for African migrants.
They are hung from trees by metal chains attached to their arms and provided with plastic bags to collect their urine to drink when they are thirsty. They are gang raped, tortured with electricity and held prisoner in desert camps. When they escape they are shot, either by their Beduin captors or by Egyptian police. These savage and disturbing details, published piecemeal over the years, are just a part of the picture of what is being done in Egypt’s Sinai desert to African migrants.
Ethiopia, a tiger economy of the african continent (exclusive)
Visit Ethiopia
Why raise this topic when there are many more pressing political, legal and socio-economic issues confronting us daily in our country today? I indeed puzzled over it for hours, days and weeks before it finally clicked to me to dare say a few words about this nagging question, instead of seething silently, all to myself. In fact, what evoked this brief expose of mine are three momentous occasions that unfolded successively in a matter of a few months in the years 2004 and 2005.
My simple motto is this: Right or Wrong, Our Country First! If Wrong, Let Us Make It Right Together; If Right, Let Us Rejoice Together Being Citizens of a Great Country!
What else is the alternative? Regimes come and go; they are transient. Let us think of our common homeland and our poor but proud people who will be there for perpetuity, I hope. Adieu!
WHAT IS poverty and when is a person poor? Most would agree that poverty involves not having enough of certain things, or doing without others that richer people take for granted. But what is “enough”, which goods and services really matter, and who should decide these questions—researchers, governments or international agencies—are less tractable issues. Perhaps the poor themselves should have the final word. But this presents its own problems. Tabitha, a 44-year-old woman from a slum outside Nairobi, told researchers from Oxford University that going without meals was “normal for us”. Diminished expectations are only one of the effects of dire poverty.
“If you can show me how I can cling to that which is real to me, while teaching me a way into the larger society, then and only then will I drop my defences and my hostilities, and I will sing your praises and help you to make the desert bear fruit." [Ralph Ellison]
ALL AFRICA NEWS & INFORMATION SOURCE WEBSITE
Africa: The New Scramble for Minerals - the Untold Story
Dr. Kwame Osei 26 July 2010
Accra — 125 years ago the Western imperialists including America, Britain, France and Germany met at a round table to carve up Afrika into neo-political and neo-economic entities. This was known as the "Congress of Berlin" that became dubbed: "The Scramble for Afrika"
Today the same western powers but now including the Asians and the European Jews are now involved in another "Scramble for Afrika", this time for some very precious minerals of which could have just an impact as that first scramble for Afrika.
Coffee, Khat Biggest Forex EarnersAddis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
Ethiopia's total exports reached two billion dollars in the 2009/10 fiscal year. China, the United States, and India are major export destinations consisting of 36.5pc, 9.5pc, and 8.9pc of the total revenue gained from the export sector. Traditionally, Germany, has been a major destination for Ethiopia's exports but its percentage share has decreased with the rise of China's
Get the Teff Here: Ethiopia’s Grain comes to Kansas
On Aug. 5, the Solomon Valley Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Area, Inc. and the Kansas Black Farmers Association (KBFA) will host a Teff Field Day at the Mike and Teresa Webb farm at the corner of 30 and R Roads north of Natoma/south of Woodston. The Field Day will begin at 9 a.m. by visiting the Webbs’ teff field and conclude with a light lunch including teff products to sample.
Egypt extends olive branch in Nile river row
Mon Jul 26, 2010 7:55pm GMT
Egypt PM says "no strategic differences" over Nile waters
* Meeting of heads of state by November
By Barry Malone KAMPALA, July 26 (Reuters) - Egypt sounded a conciliatory note on Monday in a dispute over how Nile waters should be shared by the countries it passes through at an African summit in the Ugandan capital Kampala.
Ethiopian Government Plans to Sign Peace Deal With Ogaden Rebels Tomorrow
By William Davison - Jul 28, 2010 3:02 AM PDT Wed Jul 28 10:02:05 UTC 2010
Ethiopia’s government will sign a peace deal with the United Western Somali Liberation Front, a rebel organization that has been fighting for independence in the ethnic Somali region in the east of the country.
Watch the
full episode. See more Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.Abraham Verghese Extended Interview
By
Gamaa Hamduillah, Basant Zain-eddine | July 10, 2010
CAIRO - Egyptian Foreign
Minister Ahmed Abu Gheit was feeling positive about talks held in Addis
Ababa between Ethiopian officials and himself and Egyptian Minister of
International Cooperation, Fayza Abul Naga.
Obama to seize Africa's stolen cash
US President Barack Obama.
By ANGELO IZAMA in Kampala (email the author)
July 26 2010 at 11:30 US President Barack Obama has announced that Washington would seize money stolen by corrupt African leaders and hidden in the America and the West.
The announcement was made in a special message delivered for him by US Attorney-General Eric Holder at Speke Resort Munyonyo where African heads of state are meeting.
Mr Holder was part of the American delegation to the Kampala summit led by Mr Johnnie Carson — America’s top diplomat in Africa
China Building Africa's Economic Infrastructure: SEZs and Railroads
Publication: China Brief Volume: 10 Issue: 15July 22, 2010 06:10 PM Age: 4 daysCategory: China Brief, Home Page, Foreign Policy, Economics, Energy, China and the Asia-Pacific, Africa By: Loro Horta
In China, both government and private capital seem to believe in a great future for Sino-African relations. China has taken far greater risks in Africa than any other major power and is gambling serious elements of its national interest in the continent. Today over 20 percent of China’s oil imports come from the continent, from places like Angola, the Sudan, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea. The stakes are growing higher and higher every year. Therefore, China is willing to invest vast amounts of money, which is so desperately need by Africa.
Rebel meeting set to stir up new hostilities between old foes By ARGAW ASHINE in Addis Ababa Tuesday, July 27 2010
Some 250 Eritrean rebel group members are set to meet in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa to "strengthen the fight against the Eritrean government".
The July 31, 2010 meeting will be held under the Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA) and will bring together members of exiled Eritrean civil society organisations.
Mr Kornolios Osman Agar, leader of the armed rebel Democratic Movement for the Liberation of Kunama told the Africa Review that some 26 Eritrean exiled opposition groups will take part in the conference that they say is aimed at strengthening the fight against Eritrean government.
Turbulence on Africa's river of life
Five nations on the continent have signed an agreement for equitable sharing of the waters of the Nile, which has set them on a collision course with Egypt and SudanBy Raghda El Halawany, Special to Weekend Review
Don't we all Ethiopians feel delighted at our success stories from home? How many of us are prepared to make a difference in our homeland irrespective of our dislike for the incumbent regime or any other scapegoat? Regimes come and go but our people and our country will always be there. Can we think of the latter and lose no hope because of the former. How many of us want to emulate Adiamseged and Getahun, for example? Let us respond to this vexed question in time and positively.
Eritrea: Springboard for Terror
By Ryan Mauro On July 21, 2010 The dictatorship of Eritrea is rarely talked about, but it has formed a partnership with Iran, helping the Islamic Republic to threaten a strategic shipping lane and pressure the pro-American Sunni Arabs into submission. The East African country has also had relations with Somali Islamists, including an Al-Qaeda affiliate that has proven effective at recruiting Americans for jihad.
Somalia expert Dr. Mike Weinstein, Professor of Political Science at Purdue University and analyst for Garoweonline.com, told FrontPage that the Afewerki regime turned to Iran after receiving a “severe slap” from the West when it sided with Ethiopia over a border dispute and that his support of Islamists is an attempt “to stymie Ethiopia at every turn.”
Does Egypt Own The Nile?
by fred pearce
A Battle Over Precious Water
A dispute between Egypt and upstream African nations has brought to the fore a long-standing controversy over who has rights to the waters of the Nile. The outcome could have profound consequences for the ecological health of the river and for one of the world’s largest tropical wetlands.
IGAD defense staff gather in Ethiopia on Somali issue
APA
July 19, 2010
Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Chief of defense staff and military experts from the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on Monday begin a three day forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to discuss new troop contributions for Somalia.
Eight Pakistanis arrested over Kampala bombings
Security agents have arrested eight Pakistanis and two Ugandans over last Sunday’s twin bomb attacks in Kampala that left 84 people dead and over 50 others injured.
According to security sources that declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, the arrested Pakistanis are associated with an IT firm with headquarters in Pakistani but with offices in Kampala.
Sources close to investigations said it was too early to tell whether the arrested people were directly involved in the city bombings.
Museveni declares war on Al Shabaab
Source: Daily Monitor
The AU summit will take place. There is no way it can be stopped. It is not going to take place in a pitch President Museveni late last night indicated that the al Shabaab were behind the Sunday terror attacks in Kampala and declared all-out war on the Somali militants.“We are going to go on the offensive and go for all who did this in all areas, starting here,” he said. “We were just in Mogadishu to guard the airport and the presidential palace - that was all. Now, they have mobilised us to look for them. We were just doing our small mandate … now we are taking interest. It was a very big mistake on their side,” the President told journalists at a news conference at one of his country homes in Ntungamo, western Uganda between 11pm and midnight.
What can we do to increase the quality of products and services in Ethiopia? Coming up with quality products is an avenue to excel competitors as well as successfully penetrate the global market.” This was the quote of the week by Girma Biru, the minister of Commerce and Industry. I could not agree the least; quality is the main driver to effectuate the export market.
Conference was opened on July 2nd with a welcoming speech by Memher Solomon Welde Aregay. There were close to 200 people present in the Conference Hall, among who were many distinguished guests that travelled great distances from various parts of the world, including Mayor of Adua, Aite Araya Mereid, and Aite G/Egizabeher Tesfahuney, the former Director of Atse Yohannes High School; both had travelled all the way from Ethiopia. Also present at the meeting were Dr. Yetbarek G/Egziabher, W/ro Mizan Gezehagn, Prof. Desta Asayahegn, Dr. Elias Siraj, and many other prominent scholars, scientists, doctors, and Engineers that Queen Sheba School had produced over the years and who came from all over the United States and Canada. There was even a participant from as far away as Germany.
A still colourful page from the book despite the 1600 age of the worlds oldest christian book found in a remote monastry in Ethiopia. The text was thought to be medieval but carbon dating has taken it back to the 5th century AD.
Originally thought to be from around the 11th century, new carbon dating techniques place the Garima Gospels between 330 and 650 AD.
New dating techniques have put the creation of the two books to somewhere between 330 and 650, making them a close contender to being the most ancient complete Christian texts. The only major collection of scripture that is known to be older is the Codex Sinaiticus, a copy of the Bible hand-written in Greek which dates back to the third century. Unlike the Garima Gospels, the Codex includes large chunks of the Old Testament, but the entire work is divided between museums and monasteries in Egypt, Britain, Russia and the USA.
City of Axum Park, Denver CO
Ethiopia - A replica of Axum Obelisk to be installed at City of Axum Park in Denver
Denver Mayor John HIckenlooper and Mayor Ato Hagos Gebrewahid of Axum, Ethiopia, and others will meet at 9 a.m. on Monday June 28, in the City of Axum Park, located at the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Birch Street, to break ground on more than $620,000 in improvements, funded through the Better Denver Bond Program, Capital Improvement Funding and a Park Hill Thriving Communities Grant. The park is named for Denver’s ninth sister city. These renovations include a new playground, picnic shelter, new basketball court, benches, a concrete promenade and a new irrigation system for the park. Hickenlooper also will present Hagos with a scale replica of the obelisk that will be installed at the park as part of Denver’s One Percent for the Arts.
In Eritrea, the Young Dream of Leaving By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
NY Times
Published: June 19, 2010
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says that hundreds of thousands of people have fled Eritrea in recent years — the total population is less than five million — and nearly every day, 100 new Eritreans risk their lives to cross into Sudan.
Some of these defections have been hard to miss. In December, more than 10 players from the Eritrean national soccer team absconded to Kenya during a tournament. In 2004, some Eritrean refugees being sent home from Libya were so desperate not to return that they hijacked the plane.
Desta,
Asayehgn, Ph.D. Sarlo Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Economic
Development, Dominican University of California
An
Abstract
With
the hastening of the global poverty crisis and the absence of an adequate
social safety net for those marginalized and vulnerable sections of
society in the less developed countries, a number of researchers have
moved beyond the relentless pursuit of short-term toward long-term
anti-poverty, environmentally sustainable paradigms to assist chronically
poor sectors of society
Africa and the Failure of Development Aid: Time for Designing an Exit Strategy. By Tesfaye Habisso
For the past several decades since political independence from European colonialism, industrial countries have provided hundreds of billions of dollars to developing countries in the form of foreign aid or development assistance (also called Overseas Development Assistance, or in short ODA). The figure of ODA rose from $6,480,000,000 in 1965 to $46,697,000,000 in 1989 [Harriet Baldwin, et. al., The World Bank, 1993]. According to the World Bank, aid inflows to Sub-Saharan Africa rose from 3.4% in 1980 to 16.3% in 1995.
The Development Association of Shire in North America (DASNA) would deeply express our sympathy for Helen Gebregiorgis. Her family which includes Joseph Gebregiorgis, 13, Yaseen Shamam, 5, her daughter Nisreen Shamam, 6, Eyerusalem Gebregiorgis age 22 and 7-year-old niece, Nyella Smith loss their lives in a tragic home fire on June 12, 2010. This is one of the worst tragedies in the Seattle Washington community.
IMF Executive Board Completes First Review Under Ethiopia’s ESF Arrangement and Approves US$58.7 Million Disbursement Press Release No. 10/238
June 11, 2010
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved today the first review of Ethiopia’s economic performance under the 14-month arrangement under the high-access component of the Exogenous Shocks Facility (ESF). The Executive Board decision was taken on a lapse of time basis1. The approval will enable Ethiopia to draw SDR 40.11 million (about US$58.7 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 113.65 million (about US$166.2 million).
We are all learners of democracy; new converts to a strange religion not yet meaningfully embraced and internalized by the majority of the people. Under these circumstances, I think, it is not fair and reasonable at all to denounce the opposition collectively for their current failures and follies in the 2010 national elections, as furiously asserted here above by a professor of law and political science and an Ethiopian by origin presently residing in the USA, Professor Al Mariam.
The
recent signing of a new Nile Basin pact to replace colonial agreements has
once again triggered a debate about how the resource can be equitably
shared. Professor Pankhurst, who has been familiar with the issue for a
number of decades, analyses a book that attempts to locate a safe course
through these treacherous, uncharted waters. “If Egypt is a Gift of the
Nile,” as the Egyptians say, “the Nile is above all a Gift of Ethiopia”.
So said Gascon, a noted expert on the river.
Voices in the wilderness
Al-Ahram
Ruling party landslide victory, ethnic tensions and a volatile region are portentously tantamount to a political powder keg in Ethiopia. The only credible candidate is incarcerated, postulates Gamal Nkrumah
Political ideas need proper testing and Ethiopia has plenty of social and economic misery to go around to put all the ideologies to the test. A country of 85 million people with an average per capita income of $710, some 65 million Ethiopians live below the poverty line. More than 85 per cent of Ethiopians live in rural areas subjected to periodic drought and famine. Agricultural products account for 60 per cent of Ethiopia's exports -- coffee and tea being the chief exports.
The fact of the matter is that the Nile River, 85% of which come from Ethiopia, never belonged to Britain, and therefore, Britain had no right to give it away in the first place.
It is clear what Egypt fails to understand is that it is not the threats of war that scared Ethiopians and kept the Nile waters flowing for all these decades, but the various intrigues weaved by Egypt which hampered development and progress in Ethiopia.
of 11.18 percent over the last four years on improved infrastructure and significant growth in investment, its state news agency said on Friday.
Although still one of the world’s poorest countries, the Horn of Africa nation has posted the fastest growth rates of all non-oil producing sub Saharan countries in recent years.
“The investment sector’s growth stands at 31.5 per cent,” the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) said, citing Finance Minister Sufian Ahmed.
IN RESPONSE TO: Cruel Ethiopia
Source: The New York Review of Books June 2 2010
IN RESPONSE TO: Cruel Ethiopia from the May 13, 2010 issue Ken Ohashi, reply by Helen Epstein
Development assistance is a complex and difficult task. In a recent article,
“Cruel
Ethiopia” [NYR, May 13], Helen Epstein highlights some of the challenges. However, I think that Ms. Epstein’s argument conflates two closely linked, but separable, topics.
Ethiopians
have no choice but to look back and look forward. The opposition, in
particular, must reevaluate its political program in light of the
objective conditions of Ethiopia and reassess its tactics and strategies.
The opposition also must win the hearts and minds of the US and the EU
despite the latter’s cynical role in global politics. The Ethiopian
opposition must understand that the US and the EU have now hegemonic
control and it must recalibrate its performance in relation to the foreign
powers’ international status and the dialectical engagement with world
histories and global processes.
Eritrea "intimidates emigrants into paying tax" afrol News, 26 May
- The numerous refugees from Eritrea around the world are now mobilising to counter "blackmailing" and "surveillance" of them by "agents of the Eritrean regime." The Eritrean Diaspora claims it is intimidated to pay an illegal "tax" to Eritrea.
Several Swiss cantons have now started investigations into what is widely accepted as a "network of Eritrean agents disguised as asylum seekers blackmailing political refugees." Cantonal deputy Hans Egli says he has information that "refugees not paying the forced taxes of the [Eritrean] government are put on a 'red list', and their families at home are harassed or even killed."
From the fields of Ethiopia to Cornell
Wheaton senior one of six county students to win Gates Scholarship
by Amber Parcher | Staff Writer
Wheaton High senior Leuk Woldeyohannes has been around medicine all his life.
As a young boy growing up in Ethiopia, he visited rural hospitals in Africa's vast countryside with his parents, both doctors performing charity medical work. And when his mother got sick and eventually died from breast cancer, 9-year-old Leuk was by her side.
Stuck on the Horn of Africa Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, US Dan Simpson
June 2, 2010
Why are we wasting U.S. resources on this basket-case of a region?
Retired U.S. ambassador to three African countries, including Somalia, now a Post-Gazette associate editor
When Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh met with Vice President Joe Biden at the White House May 21, he carried with him the significance of representing the only successful partnership the United States has with a nation in the crucial Horn of Africa.
press release
June 2, 2010 Gilat to Provide Satellite Communications Equipment for SchoolNet Project Expansion in Ethiopia
PETAH TIKVA, Israel, Jun 2, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. /quotes/comstock/15*!gilt (GILT 4.49, +0.05, +1.13%) today announced that it has been chosen by Ethiopian Telecommunication Corp. (ETC), Ethiopia's national telecom operator, to provide satellite communications equipment which will be deployed as part of the nationwide SchoolNet project.
The saga of the Starbucks-Ethiopia affair Coffee Politics, US
May 31, 2010
Wondwossen Mezlekia
Disclosure: I introduced Ron Layton and LightYearsIP to the Ethiopian government in 2004 and helped launch the project to improve both farmer income and Ethiopia’s export income through trademarks. I resigned in March, 2007, a few weeks before the agreement with Starbucks was signed. I have never met the author of this analysis though we had telephone and email exchanges during the Oxfam campaign against Starbucks in 2006 and 2007, which he participated in.
Donor darling: What Ethiopian poll can teach Africa By WILL ROSS in Addis Ababa
Source: Africa
Review
Mr Meles told reporters after his victory. "If they feel that the outcome of the elections are such that they cannot continue our partnership, that's fine.
"We shall be very grateful for the assistance they have given us so far and move on. Clearly we are not a protectorate," he concluded.
Such comments are easier for Mr Meles to make now that he has a new friend in China - it will not utter a squeak over the elections.
After a decade of talks with no sign of concessions from Egypt, five African countries – Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda – made their own agreement on more favourable terms than the six per cent of water currently allowed them.
"We've been grappling with this since the 80s, Egypt didn't want anyone to talk about the Nile," said a senior UN official close to the talks. "Egypt has really pissed off other countries and this time unless there's a miracle they will have to give ground."
Statement by National Security Council Spokesman Mike Hammer on Ethiopian Elections
National Security Council/allAfrica.com, US
May 25, 2010 Washington, DC — We acknowledge the conclusion of Ethiopia’s parliamentary elections on May 23, 2010. We commend the people of Ethiopia for their civic participation and note that the voting proceeded peacefully.
We are concerned that international observers found that the elections fell short of international commitments. We are disappointed that U.S. Embassy officials were denied accreditation and the opportunity to travel outside of the capital on Election Day to observe the voting. The limitation of independent observation and the harassment of independent media representatives are deeply troubling.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Declares Victory in
Election Jason McLure May 25, 2010 Bloomberg
The EPRDF and allied parties garnered 534 seats in the nation’s 547-seat parliament, the National Electoral Board said today. The opposition Medrek alliance and an independent candidate won one each, with results for 11 seats outstanding, it said. The European Union’s chief observer of the election, Thijs Berman, criticized the electoral process, saying the “playing field is not level” in the country.
ADDIS
ABABA, Ethiopia — Tens of
thousands of ruling party supporters rallied Tuesday in Ethiopia’s
capital to celebrate victory in the national election, while the chief EU
observer said the poll had been marred by an uneven playing field. On
Tuesday, the national election board said it had counted nearly 98 percent
of votes and that the ruling party had won 499 of the 536 national
parliament races that had been settled. There are 547 seats total, and the
board said Tuesday that all but one of the capital's 23 seats went to the
ruling party.
Ethiopians
Celebrate Election Outcomes, Reject Human Rights Watch Report
Updates
with comment from EU election observer in third paragraph.)
By
Jason McLure May 23 (Bloomberg) -- Ethiopians voted today in the Horn of
Africa nation’s first national elections since 2005 after a campaign
marred by allegations of intimidation by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s
ruling party. About 31.9 million registered voters were eligible to cast
ballots to elect 547 members of parliament and representatives to regional
councils. A former Marxist guerrilla leader who has ruled Africa’s
second-most populous nation since 1991, Meles, 55, is expected to win
re-election easily, according to human rights groups and analysts.
East Africa: Negotiation Only Way Out of the Nile Basin Controversy
Joe Nugi 23 May 2010
Nairobi — Tension is building over the utilisation of the waters of River Nile, Africa's longest river, whose flow affects the interests of nine countries in the eastern, central and northern parts of the continent.
Even more telling was a provision that Egypt had to approve any major developments on the Nile, meaning that a sovereign state would have a resource within its national borders sanctioned by another state --not through negotiations, but through imposition of arbitrary force.
Britain 'keeping quiet about Ethiopia repression'
Telegraph UK
Britain has been accused of allowing hundreds of millions of pounds of its aid to be used to extend state-led repression in Ethiopia, as the country voted in national polls widely seen as deeply flawed.
Gwynne Dyer: Is a water war on the horizon over the Nile River?
By Gwynne Dyer
After he signed the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in 1979, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat said: “The only matter that could take Egypt to war again is water.” Well, the world kept turning, and now a potential war over water is creeping onto Egypt’s agenda.Egypt is the economic and cultural superpower of the Arab world: its 78 million people account for almost a third of the world’s Arabic-speaking population.But 99 percent of it is open desert, and if it were not for the Nile river running through that desert, Egypt’s population would not be any bigger than Libya’s (5 million).
Ethiopian Opposition Fears Rout in Parliament Vote Peter Heinlein | Addis Ababa24 May 2010
Voters wait in front of a polling station in Mojo, Ethiopia, 23 May 2010Early reports suggest Ethiopia's ruling party has won a massive victory in Sunday's parliament elections. Almost every major opposition leader appears to have been defeated.The headquarters of Ethiopia's main opposition party was like a funeral parlor as observers reported in from around the country, opposition leaders were dumbstruck at the possibility of a nearly complete rout. High-profile leaders such as former president Negasso Gidada, senior figures in the parliamentary opposition Merera Gudina and Beyene Petros, all appear headed for defeat.
Other prominent political leaders, including Hailu Shewal and Lidetu Ayalew were also said to have conceded.
Meles Zenawi's party 'heads for Ethiopia election win' Monday, 24 May 2010 21:01 UK
BBC
Three-quarters of results have been declared The governing party in Ethiopia is leading the vote count from Sunday's election, officials say.
Partial results show Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's party is ahead "in all regions", says the election board.
EU observers are investigating complaints of irregularities during the vote, but say it was largely peaceful and calm.Human Rights Watch has condemned the election as multi-party theatre staged by a single party state.
Ethiopia's ruling party on course for landslide (Reporting by Barry Malone; Editing by David Clarke) ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia's ruling party and allies won by far the most votes in all nine regions and cities that have given provisional results from Sunday's national election so far, the electoral board said on Monday."Definitely, at this point the EPRDF has won, definitely," said Merga Bekana, chairman of the Ethiopian National Electoral Board (NEBE).The EPRDF crushed an opposition coalition in the largest region, Oromia, which had been a hotbed of opposition support. The ruling party was also well ahead of the coalition in the capital Addis Ababa, reversing the result of a 2005 poll.
Ethiopians to protest "biased" election report Monday 24 May 2010 / by Desalegn Sisay
AFRIK.com
Ethiopians are expected to hold a public demonstration tomorrow, Tuesday, against the US based Human Rights Watch. The protest comes in the backdrop of a report released by the organization condemning the country’s election as unfair and undemocratic.Addis Ababa Youth Association has called the Ethiopian public to stand against the Human Rights Watch’s "biased" report.
By Daniel Howden, Africa Correspondent Monday, 24 May 2010Meles Zenawi could be heading for a quarter of a century in power in Ethiopia after he claimed his party was set to win elections held yesterday.The former guerrilla leader whose party has been accused of waging a war against its political opponents in the build up to the vote said that economic growth would assure victory.
Polls have closed in Ethiopia's first election since a 2005 contest which was marred by protests that led to the deaths of 200 people.Voting was smooth and steady in the capital, Addis Ababa, but the opposition said there had been irregularities elsewhere in the country.Officials have dismissed the claims.Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, a Western ally against militants in Somalia, is seeking re-election. A former Marxist, he cast his ballot on Sunday morning in his birth place in North Ethiopia in Adwa town of Tigray region.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
— Ethiopians went to the polls on Sunday to choose a new Parliament, with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s ruling party expected to sweep the vote and extend its 19-year rule, after a campaign marred by widespread complaints of harassment and intimidation of the opposition.
Ethiopia monitors to probe electoral fraud claims
BBC
European Union election observers in Ethiopia are investigating complaints of irregularities in Sunday's vote, but say it was largely peaceful and calm.However, US-based Human Rights Watch has condemned the election, saying it was preceded by months of repression. The BBC's Will Ross in Addis Ababa says the ruling party of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is expected to win.
Ethiopia poll tipped to return PM to power By the CNN Wire StaffMay 23, 2010 (CNN)
-- Ethiopians went to the polls Sunday in an election analysts say will likely return the prime minister back into power after more than a decade leading the Horn of Africa nation.Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is a major western ally who has helped battle Islamic rebels in the region. Ethiopia neighbors volatile Sudan and Somalia, the latter mired in violence as al-Shabaab militants demand a stricter form of Islamic law.
Critics Stifled in EthiopiaWall Street Journal, US May 22, 2010 Wall Street Journal
SARAH CHILDRESSNAIROBI,
Kenya—Elections in Ethiopia on Sunday are expected to return to power a 19-year-old regime that offers the U.S. a bulwark of stability
in a strife-torn region, but has drawn fire for alleged abuses to silence its domestic opponents.
Supporters of Ethiopia’s opposition coalition have been beaten and jailed, and one of the country’s last independent newspaper closed in December after its senior staff fled the country for fear of arrest.
Ethiopia rounds on Dutch embassy over May 23 poll By ARGAW ASHINE in Addis Ababa
Africa Review
Saturday, May 22 2010
The Ethiopian government has claimed that the Dutch embassy in the capital Addis Ababa is interfering in Sunday's election. Some 32 million Ethiopian voters have registered to cast their votes in this nation of 82 million, the second most populous in sub-Saharan Africa.A senior Ethiopian foreign affairs official who declined to be named alleged that the embassy had secretly held discussion with opposition politicians "to plot against a peaceful election process." According to the official, the embassy advised opposition party representatives to protest the election result if they failed to win.
It
is a disconcerting situation that is facing us all Diaspora Ethiopians. We
seem to learn less and less from experience as we grow older. How is it
possible that when the rest of the world is built on the accumulation of
experience that we Ethiopians alone seem to be affected by experience in
the opposite direction? Five years ago, these same issues of dissonance in
the Diaspora community was at fever pitch, and yet five years later we are
embroiled in the same type of political caldron right now.
Meles Zenawi party bullish over Sunday election By ARGAW ASHINE in Addis Ababa
Africa Review
Posted Friday, May 21 2010
In Summary
•Ethiopia goes to the ballot on May 23 with premier Meles Zenawi buoyant over expected win
•Ethiopia's 2005 elections were followed by violence that led to the deaths of at least 200 people Ethiopia's ruling party, led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, has predicted a landslide victory in Sunday's vote--as the opposition cries foul.The May 23 vote seems set to give Mr Meles a renewed mandate and garner more parliamentary seats for his ruling Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Party (EPRDF).
Repression Is Alleged Before Vote in Ethiopia The New York Times
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Published: May 20, 2010
NAIROBI, Kenya — Diplomats, human rights groups and witnesses say the Ethiopian government is methodically stifling dissent in the prelude to this weekend’s national elections, denying food aid to opposition supporters, jailing political opponents and possibly killing a few activists, part of a broader pattern of repression in several of America’s closest allies in Africa, especially during election time.
Ethiopia's elections
Five more years The results are not in doubt, only the prospects of millions of impoverished and hungry Ethiopians
May 20th 2010 | ADDIS ABABA | From The Economist print edition. PRESIDENT Meles Zenawi and his ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) expect a landslide victory in the general election due on May 23rd, and are likely to get one. The bigger question is whether another five years of EPRDF rule will help ordinary Ethiopians, who are among the poorest and hungriest people in the world.
In
many parts of the world democratically elected governments ignore
constitutional limits and deprive the people of basic human rights and
freedoms. In his book the Future of
Freedom, Illiberal Democracy, the U.S-American journalist Fareed
Zakaria enumerates a long list of what he terms “elected autocrats”.
He writes that “over the past decade, elected governments claiming to
represent the people have steadily encroached on the powers and the rights
of other elements of society”
Egypt continues its egregiously selfish actions as it refuses to allow the nations that are at the headwaters of the Nile to obtain their fair share of that river's supply of precious water ("Cairo keeps water rights to Nile River," Geopolitics, Thursday).The result is particularly severe in Ethiopia, where chronic lack of water for crops has placed nearly 60 percent of the population at the starvation level. Despite this, and based on an outmoded 1929 treaty between Egypt and England, Egypt has insisted on taking the majority of the Nile flow, satisfying 90 percent of its total water needs from this single source.
Kenya signs Nile Basin deal rejected by Egypt
Written By:Reuters , Posted: Wed, May 19, 2010
Kenya signed a new agreement to alter historic water sharing arrangements for the River Nile on Wednesday and said Egypt, which opposes the deal, had little choice but to join the other states. After more than a decade of talks driven by anger over the perceived injustice of the previous Nile water treaty signed in 1929, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda signed the deal last week, a move promptly challenged by Cairo."That treaty (1929) is obsolete. Nothing stops us to use the the water as we wish. It is now up to Egypt to come on board," Charity Ngilu, Kenya's minister of water, told a news conference.
P.M. Meles Zenawi interview about the coming election
ANALYSIS-Will Ethiopia's friendship with the West last?
Thu May 20, 2010
* Ethiopia key U.S. ally in the Horn of Africa
* Opposition questions relationship with the West
* Ethiopia votes in national elections on May 23 By Barry Malone
ADDIS ABABA, May 20 (Reuters) - When Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi came to power in 1991, leaders in the West clamoured to meet the 34-year-old former rebel who had spent 17 years fighting to overthrow a communist regime. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton famously said Meles was part of a "new generation" of African leaders who would bring democracy and industrialisation to the continent.
All about the Nile By AFRICA REVIEW Research
Wednesday, May 19 2010 at 10:51
In Summary
•The River Nile basin covers 3.1 million km2 - approximately 10 per cent of the land mass of Africa
•There have been numerous agreements regarding the Nile water resources, and these date back to 1891
•A 1929 agreement gave Cairo the right to inspect the entire length of the Nile.
The Nile gets its name from the Greek word Nelios, meaning river valley. The River Nile is about 6,800km in length and is fed by the White Nile, which flows from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile, which flows from Ethiopia. The River Nile basin covers 3.1 million km2 - approximately 10 per cent of the land mass of Africa.
Ethiopia rejects Egypt Nile claims Zenawi said Egypt's approach to the distribution of the Nile is out of date [Al Jazeera]Ethiopia's prime minister has rejected a threat by Egypt to prevent the building of dams and other water projects upstream on the Nile river. Meles Zenawi told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that Egypt will not be able to stop his country from building dams on the river. His comments came nearly a week after Ethiopia joined Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania in signing a new treaty on the equitable sharing of the Nile, despite strong opposition from Egypt and Sudan who have the major share of the river waters.
Is
this what we get from the EPRDF in the last two decades? Does the EPRDF at
all have a positive façade? Let me begin with the latter and galvanize
the central theme of this paper. I have always argued that objectivity and
integrity are two faces of the same coin. If I claim I have integrity, I
would be remiss if I fail to mention EPRDF’s achievements. All hitherto
governments of Ethiopia had merit and demerit and even the murderous Derg
government had initiated some major development projects like the Melka
Wekena Hydroelectric, the Shiwushu-Gumaro tea plantation, the Bahir Dar
and Komblecha textile industries, the Beles agricultural project, the
Muger cement factory, and Gilgel-Ghibe Hydroelectric. The latter is now
being expanded under the EPRDF.
President is set for Italian visit in protest over European aid for Ethiopia dam projects.
Egypt has intensified various diplomatic efforts to delegitimise recent new Nile deal signed by four countries.
Yesterday, Egyptian officials on Nile affairs met in Cairo and expressed their anger over Ethiopia’s new dam, inaugurated on Nile River last Friday.“Tana Beles dam aims to provoke Egypt’s anger and lead it to taking swift diplomatic behaviour which would turn global public opinion in favour of upstream Nile countries” a statement from the meeting said.
AFRICOM and the US's hidden battle for Africa By Ba Karang
15 May 2010 Source: Reporter
Stressing that recent US military interventions represent nothing more than 'the expansion and consolidation of Western capital', Ba Karang takes a look at the emergence of the US AFRICOM (African Command) programme. The African continent's emergence as a key oil and energy provider has not escaped the attention of the US government, Karang notes, and we are now seeing the 'aggressive birth' of AFRICOM.
Eritrea's President Isaias supports Egypt over Ethiopia on Nile river issue
Published 05/15/2010 - 4:17 p.m. GMT (JT) According to a publication by the Eritrean Ministry of Information, President Isaias Afwerki has reached an agreement with Egypt on various bilateral matters. President Isaias Afewerki said the Nile Littoral States (Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda etc) are however making the "wrong agreements and regulations" on the use of the Nile river. In an interview with Egyptian Television, Isaias said the position of upstream Nile countries "not only aggravates the situation but also creates tension. "
I
watched a truly despicable video of an interview given by Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi of distorted representations of
Ethiopia
’s history, comments on the decision of the United Nations in regard to
the disposition of Colonial territories, and on issues and concepts
dealing withself-determination, as part of his bid for Office in the 2010
elections. In lue of the fact that Ethiopia’s historians and
international relations experts are not engaged to correct such
distortions and are quietly allowing Meles Zenawi to keep propagating his
lies and distortions of Ethiopian History and vital interests without
proper challenge, I have stepped in to defend Ethiopia’s illustrious
history and its historical and legal rights to all the territories that
had been alienated through illegal means.
A Realistic Step Forward: The Ethiopian Elections in ContextJ.Peter Pham, PhD
On May 23rd, voters in Ethiopia will cast ballots in the country’s fourth parliamentary election since the establishment of a federal republic in 1995. While not a single ballot has yet been cast, some have already begun sowing doubts about the legitimacy of the poll. While there are undoubtedly areas where improvements are not only desirable, but quite possible with the right political will, so unhinged in their hatred for the incumbent government have so many of Ethiopia’s critics become that they have lost all sense of proportion and fail to evaluate developments in their proper context.
Part2 (on Eritrea and Assab & Article 39)
Tension over Nile waters rises May 14 2010 Even as down-stream countries meet to enact a new deal on sharing of the waters of the world’s longest river, Ethiopia launched a new hydro dam on Blue Nile. Above, a section of the Nile River. Photo/FILE
By ARGAW ASHINE NATION Correspondent, Addis Ababa
Ayder Memorial Library
All the hard work and dedication you put into this project is almost
over. On behalf of those who lost their
life and the Ayder Community, we ask you once more to open your hearts and donate as much as you can
to finish the Ayder Memorial Library we all started. Thank you for all your help and dedication.
Egypt won't give up one drop of Nile water rights By Samer al-Atrush (AFP)
CAIRO — Egypt is refusing to relinquish a drop of its legal right to the lion's share of Nile river water, despite demands from other African countries for a more equitable sharing agreement.Following years of barren negotiations, seven upstream African countries -- Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi-- are on Friday expected to push forward with a new water-sharing deal to replace an agreement that gives Egypt and Sudan majority control of the water flow.Egypt has repeatedly cited its "historical" right on the river which provides the country of 80 million people with 90 percent of its water needs.
Personalization
of issues: This is when we are unable to conceptually
distinguish between people and their ideas or thoughts. For example, if
someone objects to a suggestion I make, I see the objection as personal
attack, not as a simple difference of opinion. In response to the
perceived personal attack, I respond with a personal attack, instead of
discussing the issues. Hence, the initial disagreement over ideas turns
into a personal struggle, and because it is a personal struggle where
pride and survival are at stake, we end up unable to constructively 'agree
to disagree'. Groups whose members find it difficult to 'agree to
disagree' become paralyzed by feuding and infighting and eventually
collapse.
Egypt tipped on Nile water use By REUTERS
Egypt needs to cut water waste and use new technology in agriculture and other fields to support its case for the lion share of the Nile's resources over other African states, a global water expert has said.The North African country, which gets almost all its water needs from the Nile, but faces possible shortages as early as 2017, has angered upstream states by sticking to colonial-era pacts that guarantee it can use most of the Nile's flow.
Nile treaties are malicious and must be renegotiated By JOHN B. OSORO Posted Tuesday, May 11 2010 at 18:02 Daily Nation
TANZANIA PLANS TO BUILD a 170-kilometre water pipeline from Lake Victoria to benefit an estimated 4,000 people in its arid northwestern region. Similarly, Kenyan policymakers often toy with the idea of pumping massive amounts of water from the lake to supply populations in vast water-deficit areas.Similar sentiments regarding the use of the waters are increasingly gaining currency among upstream countries.These plans remain just dreams, thanks to an abusive agreement drawn during the colonial days to dispossess Africans of their Nile heritage. There is a 1929 agreement between Egypt and Britain granting Cairo the lion’s share of the Nile water resource. This treaty shamelessly forbids Ethiopia, which generates over 85 per cent of the total Nile water, from irrigating farms.
Egypt, Sudan and the Nile Economist Online
May 10, 2010 An age-old row about a river
The main Nile-dependent countries are rowing about water again
MEETING last month, for the second time in five months, ministers from countries that share the Nile basin again failed to agree on how to allot water from the world’s longest river. A further step into discord is expected on May 14th, when seven of those countries plan to sign their own deal, leaving the two that most depend on its water, Egypt and Sudan, high and dry. Shrill editorials in Cairo and Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, whose Blue Nile supplies 84% of the water pouring into Egypt via Sudan, decry a trampling of national rights and even warn of war. Yet, amid such alarmist froth, the placid waters will still flow.
Head of exports council: Chinese in Ethiopia are threat to Egypt Author: Adel Elbahnsawy
In line with Egypt's policy of increasing investments in Ethiopia, a number of Egyptian businessmen have recently established a consulting firm in Ethiopia, said Mohamed Shaker el-Marqabi, member of the Egyptian-Ethiopian Business Council and head of the Export Council for Construction.El-Marqabi told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Egypt faces danger not in the form of Israel's presence in Ethiopia, which is limited, but rather from China, which is funding major projects in Ethiopia and other parts of Africa. Chinese investors are currently sponsoring a big dam in Ethiopia--Juba 3--which, when completed, will be the biggest hydroelectric station in Africa.El-Marqabi also said Egypt should not be so concerned about dams on the Nile River, as many assume, as the real danger lies in attempts by central African states to change the Nile's flow. According to el-Marqabi, hydropower projects shouldn't concern Egypt because they will not affect water distribution quotas.
Political
courage is also sublime when practiced against an entrenched power
structure and the leadership thereof. There were exemplary instances in
history where sublime act of courage is manifested by few under most
daunting situations. For example, the three hundred Spartans facing off
half a million Persian soldiers at Thermopile, the throng of very poorly
armed patriotic Ethiopians standing firm against well-equipped modern army
of Italy in several parts of Ethiopia, or the handful Ethiopian opposition
political parties engaging the violence of Meles Zenawi’s Government and
its security machine in 2005 and now et cetera. Such are acts of sublime
courage. Of course, the ultimate courage is to forgive those who do harm
us, as the Christ did forgive from the Cross, in great pain, those who
were responsible for his suffering. Such a life would be authentic and
sublime. When Abraham expressed in our discourse at the Arboretum about
his dream of becoming a “park ranger,” what he was seeking was
precisely an authentic and sublime life, fully expressing the notion of
“the courage to be.”
Ethiopian Opposition Activist Shot Dead; Third Killing in Week
Bloomberg
Jason McLure May 10, 2010
An activist campaigning for Ethiopia’s opposition Medrek alliance was shot dead in a rural part of Oromiya, the third killing in a week in the southwestern region ahead of elections on May 23.Girma Kabe was killed on May 4 in the North Shewa district, Negasso Gidada, a Medrek official, said in a mobile-phone interview today.“He was posting posters in daylight and he was shot,” Negasso said. “Our people say it was a deliberate political killing.”Tensions have been rising in Oromiya ahead of this month’s vote. On May 7, two people were killed in southern Oromiya when an unidentified person threw a hand grenade at a meeting celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization, which support’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Mob stabs Ethiopian cop to death News24/SAPA, South Africa
May 9, 2010
Addis Ababa – Ethiopian opposition supporters stabbed a policeman to death, police reported on Sunday, days after two people were killed in a bomb attack two weeks ahead of the May 23 elections.
The police officer was stabbed repeatedly by members of the Forum for Democracy and Dialogue (Medrek) party in the southern Oromya region on Saturday, the police said.“Supporters of Medrek stabbed to death policeman Hassan Regasa last night in the Oromya region,” according to a statement.Officials from Medrek were not immediately available for comment.On Thursday, in Adaba in the same southern region, attackers threw a bomb at a meeting of a party from the ruling coalition, killing two people.
Concerns are mounting as Uganda replicates Ethiopia’s authoritarian approach in the run-up to elections
Guardian, UK May 8, 2010 Uganda’s fragile civil society
Uganda president Yoweri Museveni on the campaign trail in 2006
Photograph: AFP
Once viewed as a hopeful place for civil society, Uganda is increasingly becoming a country where expressing democratic dissent carries a heavy price. As the 2011 general elections approach, the legal and political environment for civil society and pro-democracy activists in Uganda has deteriorated to such an extent that it is starting to resemble that of authoritarian Ethiopia, where elections are being held later this
...
Lebanon withholds crash
Reporter, Ethiopia
May 8, 2010 Kaleyesus Bekele
The Lebanese government has failed to release the preliminary investigation report into the crash of an Ethiopian airlines plane that plunged into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after takeoff from Beirut on the early morning of January 25.The International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) accident investigation procedure annex stipulates that the aircraft accident
Ethiopian Opposition Says Campaign Has Become War (Update1)
Share Business
ExchangeTwitterFacebook By Jason McLure May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Ethiopia’s ruling party has increased harassment of opposition supporters before a May 23 election in the Horn of Africa country, opposition coalition leader Merara Gudina said.
Activists loyal to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front have thrown stones at his car, breaking its windows and puncturing its tires over various occasions while campaigning in the Oromiya region in the past two weeks, said Merara, who is a parliamentary candidate.
For
Immediate Release The Gilel Gibe
III dam project, expected to more than double Ethiopia's electrical
production upon completion, now has a place on the Internet for those that
would like to voice their support of this wonderful endeavor. Those in
support can now go to www.gibe3.beteseb.org
to sign a petition to encourage international banks and friends of Ethiopia
to help complete the dam as well as get more information.
Thu May 6, 2:27 pm ET ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – Six former Eritrean government officials and a number of journalists have died in prison since their incarceration nearly a decade ago, a former prison guard said on Thursday.Former vice president Mahmoud Sherifo, military chief of staff Ogbe Abraha, and central committee members Aster Fisehatsion, Germano Nati, Hamid Himid and Salih Kekya were part of a group of 15 high-profile politicians that criticised President Isaias Afeworki and asked for reform in 2001. The six were among the eleven members who were subsequently rounded up and sent to the remote Embatkala and Eraeiro camps where temperatures can soar to up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 F).
It
seems that Ethiopia is on its way to a better condition, with regard to
the political, economic and social stability. If one is going to mention
the political development so it is good to look back on the old systems
that the country had. To blind the truth and to compare the EPRDF with
Derg which some parties are doing is not serious. Politics can be utilized
in many different ways. It can be used for peace and stability or for the
abuse of power that can lead to disaster for the citizens. Then my
question is? How is it today?
I extend my observations on “beauty” and the “sublime” to cover political and social engagements. A good illustration would be the courageous activities of the leaders of Medrek both here and back home in Ethiopia. The leaders of Medrek and their supporters have demonstrated their courage in facing brutal and savage individuals who have acquired illegally state power in Ethiopia. This opposition movement and real-time stand against the tyranny of the current Ethiopian Government leaders must be seen as a “sublime” act of singular courage. And Birtukan Mideksa from her prison cell is the personification of that singular sublime courage of opposition. She is awe inspiring, and here impact immense in the political and social lives of great many Ethiopians.
A
successful meeting among the Ethiopian community was held in Stockholm,
Sweden on May 2, 2010. A high level delegation headed by His Excellency
Ato Nega Tsegaye, State Minister of foreign Affairs (MOFA), W/ro Mebrat
Beyene, Director of the Ethiopian Diaspora General Directorate of the
MOFA, Ato Msganu Arega, Director of Political Affairs of the MOFA, Ato
Bruk Asmellash of the International Organization for Migration and W/ro
Haimanot Amare of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia. The meeting was chaired
by His Excellency Ato Dina Mufti, the Ambassador of Ethiopia to the Nordic
countries. The meeting was held with high spirit and enthusiasm with
mutual understandings and sympathetic views from the attendees.
1,000 Words About Ethiopia
Cross posted from Border Jumpers, Danielle Nierenberg and Bernard Pollack.
We started this trip in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a place most Americans associate with war and hunger because of the famines of the mid 1980s and 1990s. Even today, more than 6 million people in Ethiopia are at risk for starvation so we think we had mentally prepared myself for seeing very desperate people. Instead, though, we found farmers and NGO workers full of hope for agriculture in their country. That's been our greatest surprise about the continent in general — how vibrant, entrepreneurial, friendly, positive, and alive people are here. Six months and fifteen countries later, we're now in Dakar, Senegal, feeling more hopeful than ever that things are really changing.
Tigray, a ‘Battleground State’ in Ethiopian Elections Peter Heinlein
May 4, 2010 VOA
Ethiopia’s sparsely-populated Tigray region is shaping up as the focal point for the May 23rd elections for parliament. Tigray contributes only 6 percent of Ethiopia’s 80 million people. But, it could hold the key to the country’s political future.
Tigray might well be called Ethiopia’s battleground state, in more ways than one.
A homegrown rebel group, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, waged a guerrilla war in the 1970s and 80s that toppled the country’s Soviet-backed military regime. During the war, Tigray was the epicenter of a famine that killed as many as a million people. It was also the front-line state in a war against Eritrea from 1998-2000, which claimed another 70,000 lives.
NEW YORK (JTA) – For years, Dr. Rick Hodes has been going about his lifesaving work in Ethiopia with little fanfare but with a loyal following.
From medical specialists scattered about the United States who offer free consults and sometimes free surgeries for his patients, to the volunteers who have done rounds with him at Mother Teresa’s mission for the dying and destitute in Addis Ababa, Hodes long has been regarded as a lifesaver for otherwise hopeless, sick children in one of the world's poorest countries.
Challengers Face Long Odds in Bid to Unseat Ethiopian Rulers May 1, 2010 VOA Peter Heinlein
Standing in front of his rural mountaintop home, a 15 minute walk from the nearest road, Ayale Beyene, 28, shows visiting journalists the scars left by a grenade thrown at the house a few nights earlier. He speaks in his native Tigrinya with an interpreter. “I had just arrived home and heard a loud explosion outside the door. My parents and I were afraid. When my brother went outside, he found a second unexploded bomb,” said Ayale.
Eritrea is Africa's "biggest prison for media": RSF
(Reuters) - President Isaias Afwerki has turned Eritrea into Africa's "biggest prison for the media" since 2001 and four journalists have died in captivity, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Monday.Eritrea, which RSF ranks as the worst abuser of media freedom in the world, permits no independent media and the state-run newspapers and television network do not allow stories that challenge the nation's leadership or its policies.
The government has described a free press as "incompatible" with Eritrean culture and last year President Isaias said no Eritrean should want or need to attack their own country.
Nairobi
- Eritrean rebel groups are building a joint military front to depose a
government that they say is pursuing ethnic persecution and becoming a
growing threat to regional security, an opposition leader has told
Reuters. The Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation (RSADO) -- one of many
opposition movements based in nearby Ethiopia -- said the government of
President Isaias Afwerki targets ethnic groups, such as the Afars, and
will soon face military attacks. The African nation allows no opposition
groups inside the country and rights groups say thousands of political
prisoners are detained in underground jails without charge. "Innocent
Eritreans are being hunted down like animals and this has to stop,"
RSADO's leader Ibrahim Haron said in remarks made by telephone and in
e-mail exchanges.
The Bonsai Nation: Stunted Ethiopia[Unwarranted Analogy]
By Tecola W. Hagos May 2, 2010
Except for the very few lucky Ethiopians, growing in Ethiopia is a process that is akin to the training of Bonsai trees. We, Ethiopians in general seem to suffer delayed maturity; we are made to feel that we are in perpetual teenage years. This is a cruel distortion of our growth, no different than binding us down with wires and feeding us with minimal social responsibilities. This is not how one creates responsible citizens. This cruelty in the deformity of our personality, in the inhibitions and stunting of our mental growth can be observed in the many chat postings in the Internet.
Ethiopian Commission Probes Grenade Attack on Candidate’s Home
Bloomberg Jason McLure May 1, 2010
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission started a probe into a grenade attack on an opposition candidate’s home in a remote village in the north of the country, an investigator said. The state-run body will release a report on the April 27 incident after about a week, investigator Mulugeta Netta said late yesterday.Four members of the commission visited Ayale yesterday at his home in the country’s Tigray region, a hotbed of support for Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s ruling party. The probe comes amid rising tension ahead of Ethiopia’s May 23 election. Medrek leaders claim they are the victims of a widespread campaign of intimidation and harassment by government officials, police, and militia loyal to Meles.
Ethiopia's
opposition coalition Forum for Democratic Dialogue (Medrek) has dismissed
accusations that it was planning poll-related violence. Ethiopians go to
the polls in three weeks time. The ruling Ethiopian People’s Democratic
Front (EPRDF) has accused the main opposition coalition of planning
poll-related violence. EPRDF executive committee member Tedros Hagos
accused opposition groups of having close ties to outlawed groups
advocating the violent overthrow of the government.
EPRDF,
Forum trade accusations over killings
Reporter,
Ethiopia May 1, 2010
Yemane Nagish and Haile Mulu
Accusations
of candidate killings and attempts to kill between the EPRDF and the
Ethiopian Federal Democratic Unity Forum (Forum), a coalition of eight
parties, continued this week. In the latest allegation, Forum said
motivation the bombing residence Ayalew Beyene, a candidate running in the
regional state of Tigray for Arena Tigray, which is part of the coalition,
was political motivated. Asrat Abreham, head of public relations for
Arena, told The Reporter that two bombs were thrown at the residence of
the candidate during the night at the beginning of the week.
Dark Horses in Ethiopian Politics IDEA Viewpoint April 30, 2010Ghelawdewos Araia I have read the open letter (in Amharic) addressed to Mesfin
Woldemariam by some undisclosed concerned Ethiopians. They appeal to the
“good professor” to refrain from his actions, but they also politely
implied that they are running out of patience. I kind sympathize with
these Ethiopians, but for those of us who knew the professor since the
days of Haile Selassie University, we don’t harbor any illusion with
respect to the paradox of mental vision of Mesfin.
"To
solve the illigal aliens issue, one needs to make the procedure of
becomeing a US citizen easier and simpler and not harras the people who
come to work and contribute to the nation. To use a broad brush and think
of all of them as criminals and send the Police Force after them, is
totally wrong!" Please
take action and sign the petition below.
DASNA Sends Condolences in Response to Terrorist Attack in Adi-Daero, Tigray
The Development Association of Shire in North America (DASNA) condemns the terrorist acts in the town of Adi-Daero, Tigray. These terrible acts brought the end to five lives and wounded twenty members of our people. We would like to send our condolences to the families who have lost loved ones and pray for those wounded.
By
Barry MaloneReuters Wednesday, April 28, 2010; 5:31
AM ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The Ethiopian opposition may provoke violence
during the first national elections since a disputed 2005 poll ended with
street riots and the jailing of politicians, the ruling party has said.
The government said in 2005 that the violence was planned to force an
unconstitutional change after a vote in which both sides claimed victory.
Security forces killed about 200 people on the streets and the top
opposition leaders were imprisoned.
Reuters
April 27, 2010
Dina Zayed
CAIRO – In arid Egypt, officials have long angered fellow Nile Basin
countries by clinging to colonial-era water treaties giving it rights to
the lion’s share of water flowing down the world’s longest river. But upstream nations desperate for development are hoping to break with
the past, threatening to shut regional heavyweight Egypt.
MSP
Alliance, US Internet service providers alliance
April 26, 2010
Ethiopia has the lowest overall teledensity in Africa. The population is
approaching 90 million, but there are less than 1 million fixed lines in
service, and a little more than 3.3 million mobile subscribers. The number
of internet users is dismal below 500,000 at the end
The United Nations Is Beyond Reform…It Has to Be Reinvented”–Fmr. UN General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto
One of the higher-profile participants at the Cochabamba climate conference was the former president of the United Nations General Assembly, Father Miguel d’Escoto. A Roman Catholic priest from Nicaragua, d’Escoto served as foreign minister in Daniel Ortega’s government from 1979 to 1990. He joins us to talk about the failures of the UN, the importance of the Bolivia climate summit, why Latin America doesn’t need the United States, and much more. [includes rush transcript]
April
26, 2010 – 9:52 pm
(ADDIS ABABA) – The European Union will deploy 150 monitors for Ethiopia’s
elections next month, the bloc’s mission here said in a statement
Monday. Ninety of those observers already arrived in the country on
Saturday and the rest are expected one week before the May 23 elections.
Timeslive/AFP/SAPA,
South Africa
Accusations of harassment and even of murder have led to escalating
tensions in Ethiopia between the long-entrenched ruling party and the
opposition, a month ahead of general elections. Thomas Mukoya; Credit:
REUTERS:Intergovernmental
Authority on Development (IGAD) Chairman and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi attends the 14th extra-ordinary summit of IGAD Assembly [...]
Reporter,
Ethiopia
April 24, 2010 Yemane Nagish
The Ethiopian Federal Democratic Unity Forum (Forum) on Thursday said that
it does not accept the neutrality of the African Union and European Union
Election Observers.
“We know how the AU and EU observed previous elections in Ethiopia. This
time, too, we will not expect any impartial observation from them,” said
Beyene [...]
Interview
with Dr. Costantinos: Does growth in GDP transform itself into Human
Development and Human Security?Reporter,
Ethiopia
April 24, 2010 BT
Costantinos, Ph.D., is lecturer at the School of Post-Graduate Studies,
AAU and an Economist who has written many articles on the Ethiopian
economy. The Reporter interviewed him on current issues of the economy.
Excerpts: What is the current status of the Ethiopian economy?
Costantinos: according to the government and international finance
institutions,
Ethiopia
explosion kills at least five -officials Reuters
April 25, 2010
MAKELLE, Ethiopia – An explosion at a cafe in Ethiopia’s northern
region of Tigray killed five people on Saturday and wounded 20 others,
officials said, blaming the attack on neighbouring Eritrea. “This is an
attack by the Eritrean government to deliberately disrupt the upcoming
elections,” said Micheal Abraha, Tigray’s administrator.
Ethiopia is scheduled to hold [...]
What
was causing it? Ethiopia’s long history of food crises is shrouded in
myths and political intrigue. In 1984, famine killed hundreds of thousands
of people and left millions destitute. At the time, the UN attributed the
famine to drought. But most witnesses knew it had far more to do with a
military campaign launched by Ethiopia’s then-Soviet-backed dictator
Mengistu Haile Mariam against a rebel group based in the northern province
of Tigray, known as the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).1
Government forces isolated the peasantry, destroyed trade and markets, and
diverted food aid to their own troops.
Over
the past two years, by some estimates, 50 million acres of African
farmland was leased to foreigners, most from the Middle
East and Asia,
for up to 99 years. That's about twice the arable land in all of Germany.
The cost to lease land in Ethiopia...
Full
Article at Online NewsHour
The
Medrek conference held in Washington DC on April 18, 2010 was a huge
success, to say the least. But it would be only appropriate to begin with
the turn out, the enthusiasm, and the high moral of Ethiopians who
gathered on that day to witness for themselves the indomitable spirit of
their forefathers. The venue of the conference, the Sheraton hotel, was
filled to capacity with well over 800 people and quite clearly the
gathering exhibited exuberance beyond mere enthusiasm and it all
altogether fostered a festive mood in the Hall.
Indian firms have invested around $3 billion in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal and Madagascar to produce a wide variety of food crops and also crops that would be used to produce biofuel.
Under a duty-free tariff preference scheme, Ethiopian farm produce can enter the Indian market on lower tariffs. A branch of the Nile also flows through Ethiopia.Unlike most parts of the world, plenty of arable land in still available in scarcely populated areas of the African continent. Subsistence farmers who inhabit these areas have no political clout. The countries that acquire the land also get control of the key resource, water. The fight among communities and countries over water could be the defining trend in the next 100 years. Authoritarian and corrupt regimes, in alliance with global firms, can easily swing deals that in the long run could be detrimental to the sovereignty of the African states.
In
that one simple sentence, Negasso encapsulated not only the mood of the
moment but also the very essence of the up-swelling of hope and
aspirations of the people of
Ethiopia
. Negasso identified
Ethiopia
as “a wreath of flowers,” whereas each flower is beautiful on its own,
but in the garland connected as one by strong ties all the diverse flowers
transcend their individual limitations and become a field of greater
beauty. I pondered that image long after the conference was over, and it
still is fresh in my memory as I write, and I am ecstatic in having that
profound image in my arsenal of love for our Motherland when I think of
Ethiopia
. Thank you my brother Negasso for such profound insight.
ADA
raised 1.15 Billion Birr
What
a great day for the ADA Telethon held on Sunday, April 18, 2010 at the
Millennium Hall in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It was our most successful fund
raising event ever! We surpassed our
Telethon goal thanks to donors and supporters all over the word like you!
The generosity of the Ethiopian people was truly
evident. You opened your heart and wallet and pledged unprecedented 1.15
billion (yes with the Capital B) Many thanks also go to our versatile and
talented performers, models, organizers, and hosts.
Sincerely,
Solomon
Tadesse, ADA Executive Director
(Reuters)
- Sudan's first open elections in 24 years fell short of international standards, international observers said on
Saturday, the first authoritative judgments on the polls tainted by a wave of boycotts
Official results of the presidential and legislative ballots, which had been intended to turn Sudan into a democratic state after decades of civil war, are due on Tuesday."These elections have struggled to reach international standards. They have not reached them all," the head of the European Union observer mission in Sudan, Veronique de Keyser, told reporters."It is apparent that the elections will fall short of meeting international standards and Sudan's obligations for genuine elections in many respects," said a statement from the U.S. Carter Center, the only long-term observers of the polls.
The government in Addis Ababa accused the EU's chief observer at the time
of helping to spark the violence, but the head of the 2010 mission, Thijs
Berman, emphasised the mission's neutrality."I know there has been
criticism of the former EU mission, but we will carry out our mission
knowing our responsibilities," he told journalists in Addis Ababa.
"We wont interfere."Human rights groups and the opposition have
accused Zenawi's government of suppressing political opposition in the
country.
Maj.
Gen. (Ret.) Kulwant Singh and Dr. David Leffler
April 14 2010
Ethiopia opens new camp for Eritrean
refugees
Thu Apr 15, 1:40 pm ET
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – Ethiopia announced Thursday it has opened a new camp in the north of the country to accommodate the growing number of Eritrean refugees arriving each month.The first batch of 356 people arrived on Thursday at the camp in Adi-Harush in Tigray, the fourth to be established in the region since 2004, the Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs said in a statement "Eighty percent of the first group is composed of mainly young people between the ages of 21 and 34," it added.The agency said up to 2,000 mostly young men and women were now crossing the border each month to "avoid excessive repression, gross human rights violations and forced conscription into the army."
EU to send monitors for Ethiopian poll after row
Wed Apr 14, 2010
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The European Union has agreed to monitor Ethiopia's elections in May, nearly five years after Addis Ababa accused the EU's chief observer in the last poll of helping to spark violence.The U.S.-based Carter Centre declined an invitation to observe, saying there was not enough time to prepare for the May 23 vote in the impoverished nation on the Horn of Africa."(EU foreign affairs chief) Baroness (Catherine) Ashton last week decided to send a full observation team for the elections," EU ambassador to Ethiopia, Dino Sinigallia, said late on Tuesday on state-run Ethiopian
television
Ethiopia Politics Ethiopia's free election promise, hot and cold afrol News - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is promising a fair two-faced democratic dispensation, with one side looking smooth and polished and the other rough and thorny.
Read more
AU to send monitors for Ethiopia's May polls
ADDIS ABABA, April 14 (AFP) AU to send monitors for Ethiopia's May polls The African Union will send observers for Ethiopia's elections next month, the bloc's commission president said Wednesday."The team is ready but we have decided to not yet divulge the name of the group's leader or its members," Jean Ping told reporters without elaborating. Ethiopia will hold general elections on May 23. In the run up to the poll Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's ruling party has been accused of curbing political and media freedoms.
Ethiopians
underlined their dominance of distance running when Tadesse Tola and
Atsede Bayisa won the men’s and women’s races at the Paris Marathon.
Tola won the men’s race in a time of two hours, six minutes and 41
seconds while defending champion Bayisa set a new women’s course record
of 2:22.04 - one minute and one second faster than Marleen Renders’s
2002 mark.
Ethiopia's heated election campaign has spilled onto the floor of parliament, with bitter and at times personal exchanges between Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and opposition leaders. The prime minister was forced onto the defensive on issues from the economy to allegations of political dirty tricks.
Medrek
leaders from Ethiopia namely Engineer Gizachew Shiferaw, Dr. Negaso
Gidada, and Ato Gebru Asrat conducted a crucial meeting with more than 200
Seattle Ethiopian
residents and residents from neighboring areas on Saturday, April 10, 2010
at Garfield Community Center. The meeting was very civil and familial. The
members of the audience raised many important issues fundamental to
Ethiopia and Ethiopians. The three Medrek leaders discussed in at great
length openly and sincerely their political objectives and agenda. My
observation came to mind during the meeting that was thrown as question
and comment to the leaders of Mederk. The leaders expressed that politics
is not static but dynamic force that frequently tune to the local and
global contemporary politics. It is true at one historical junction we
lead to dismantle the brutal regime of the Derg to its demise, than after
we changed our views on a number of key issues. Experiencing this
difference can cause thoughtful people to change their views, while still
holding onto principle. Today Ethiopian politics to accommodate various
forces it become an ideological tug-of-war.
Ancient
Ethiopian history is replete with governance equated with justice.
Contemporary Ethiopia (especially under the rule of the Derg and the
EPRDF), on the other hand, is racked by sever injustice and human rights
violations. What we have now is cutthroat competition to wield state power
at any coast. In fact, there is a tremendous obsession of power among
Ethiopians and the wish to control the state machinery.
ADDIS ABABA, April 9 (Reuters) - An Islamist rebel group which had threatened to attack oil and gas firms exploring a potentially mineral-rich region of Ethiopia has surrendered, the government said on Friday.The United Western Somali Liberation Front (UWSLF) had been fighting since the 1960s for independence for Ethiopia's Somali region -- which includes the Ogaden and accounts for one-fifth of the country's landmass -- government head of information Bereket Simon told reporters.
By G. E. Gorfu Aristotle - Philosophy of Politics II
The Greeks lived in cities and Aristotle observed ‘the city naturally
comes into existence as a result of physical necessities, as a natural
completion of the smaller partnerships of households forming a village,
and a collection of villages forming a city.’ Yet he turned to human
nature to find the deeper purpose as to why the city existed at all. In
The Ethics he said: ‘Man is social, and therefore naturally political.
With the faculty of speech man can discern between the advantageous and
the harmful, and hence between what is just and what is unjust.’ Are
justice and what is advantageous the same or related?
These
residual elements, although their intellectual capacities and managerial
skills are totally skewed, they continue to deceive their gullible
imperialist financiers. They lie to them with extreme pomposity that
without them being in the helm of political power our Motherland,
Ethiopia, cannot survive. In their own dreams, she, the Motherland, the
mother of all victories,
cannot be a democratized, strong, peaceful, and prosperous country, where
all present and future generations of Ethiopians, comprising the
multi-nations, nationalities, and peoples, can collectively enjoy life.
Ethiopia has charged that recent human rights reports and Voice of America broadcasts are aimed at destabilizing the country ahead of the May 23 national elections. Jamming of VOA broadcasts to Ethiopia has been expanded in recent days.Government spokesman Shimelis Kemal describes the latest reports on Ethiopia by Human Rights Watch and the U.S. State Department as part of a pre-election smear campaign. "These reports are made under the guise of human rights concerns but primarily focused on defaming and unduly blemishing the good image of the country," said Shimelis Kemal.
Ethiopia denies huge dam will leave 200,000 hungry By Barry Malone ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia rejected allegations that building one of Africa's biggest hydropower dams would leave 200,000 self-sufficient people reliant on aid.Rights group Survival International (SI) said last week the dam would disrupt fishing and farming for tribal people, among them the Kwegu and Hamar tribes, and a group of charities have launched an online petition against the dam."We have made an extensive survey," government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said late on Thursday.
According to an article on VOANews, Ethiopian Airlines officials are closely following a report that a captured terrorism suspect has told of a bomb aboard a plane that crashed off the coast of Lebanon in January. Investigators have not determined the cause more than two months after the crash. A report on a U.S. Internet Web site says British intelligence agents have reopened their investigation into the mysterious crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet January 25. The Boeing 737 plunged into the Mediterranean Sea minutes after takeoff from Beirut airport, killing all 90 people aboard.News reports initially quoted witnesses as saying the plane had broken up in the air and fallen into the sea in a ball of flames. But Lebanese officials immediately ruled out terrorism, and suggested pilot error was to blame.
Aristotle
- Philosophy of Politics
By G. E. Gorfu
Few people realize the importance of philosophy and its deep impact in
everyday life. Like the roots of a tree, or the foundation of a house, it
may be invisible or hidden from view; we may not talk of the philosophy
behind our actions and thoughts, or of what the real reason or logic
behind our thoughts and actions are, but we only need to dig a little
under the surface to find the rock bed on which our feet have always been
firmly planted. It is only then that we realize what we have taken as a
given or for granted all along is a system of thoughts which is, but a
philosophy. This applies in everything; even politics.
The political game that is being played out is one single manifestation of the process that may lead to the healing of the harm done to Ethiopia by the current leaders of the Ethiopian government. It should not act as a blinding curtain to all of us from seeing the great danger that Ethiopia heading toward, the chasm that is opening a few feet from us. There is no point to indulge in political sophistry trying to bring about a highly polished opposition-politics into the arena.
A U.S. congressional panel has described as genocide the 1915 killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.
The non-binding resolution in the House Foreign Affairs Committee recommends that President Barak Obama recognize the 1915 killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide. The measure was passed by a narrow 23 to 22 vote with one member not participating.The Obama administration opposed the resolution. After the measure passed, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. does not believe the full House of Representatives will or should vote on the resolution.
Ethiopia's May 23 elections for parliament have produced some interesting match-ups, with several prominent government officials facing stiff competition. One contest pits Prime Minister Meles Zenawi against a former comrade in arms, Aregash Adane. Aregash Adane seems an unlikely challenger to one of Africa's most respected leaders. Invited for an interview about her bid to unseat the prime minister, she arrives on foot. No aides, no driver, no car.
15
members of the Eriteran Air Force seek political asylum.
Saturday,
06 March 2010 18:15 Source Asena!
15
members of the Eriteran Air Force, who fled Eritrea in the past 4 days,
seek political asylum at an undisclosed location.
assenna.com
has received more details of the group, including list of their names;
but won’t reveal it for safety reasons.
Although,
loyalty is one of the several criterion to join the Eritrean Air Force,
many of them had already defected the PFDJ regime in a similar manner.
The repeated mass defection of its skilled officers has undermined the
young Eritrean Air Force significantly.
The
unelected president of Eritrea, Isaias Afewerki, often denies the fact
that Eritreans, particularly the youth, are running away from his
dictatorial regime in numbers. In a recent interview with Al Jazeera
International, he has surprised many by saying that the defection of the
Eritrean national football team in December last year, in Kenya, which
was in fact confirmed by his information minister at that time, was “A
fresh News” to him.
Born
the son of Mercha the Shum of Tembien and his wife Woizero Silass Dimtsu (Amata
Selassie) of Enderta, Dejazmatch Kassai could claim Solomonic
blood through the line of his paternal grandmother
Right
on the heels of our time with Surf
Is Where You Find It author Gerry Lopez, we have more good book
news to share with you this week.
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Restaurants are able to serve only a handful of items on their menus, and Coca-Cola halted local production a few years ago for lack of syrup. The bicycles that crowd the streets betray the desperate shortage of fuel; hiring a car to leave Asmara requires at least a day's notice so that gas can be arranged. Hospitals have reportedly run out of essential supplies; a friend working for the United Nations asked me to smuggle in basic antibiotics no longer available in town. At a popular market that specializes in recycled goods, I watched one metalworker transform castoff artillery shells into coffee urns. 
US President Barack Obama has announced that Washington would seize money stolen by corrupt African leaders and hidden in the America and the West.
The announcement was made in a special message delivered for him by US Attorney-General Eric Holder at Speke Resort Munyonyo where African heads of state are meeting.
Mr Holder was part of the American delegation to the Kampala summit led by Mr Johnnie Carson — America’s top diplomat in Africa
The dictatorship of Eritrea is rarely talked about, but it has formed a partnership with Iran, helping the Islamic Republic to threaten a strategic shipping lane and pressure the pro-American Sunni Arabs into submission. The East African country has also had relations with Somali Islamists, including an Al-Qaeda affiliate that has proven effective at recruiting Americans for jihad.
Somalia expert Dr. Mike Weinstein, Professor of Political Science at Purdue University and analyst for Garoweonline.com, told FrontPage that the Afewerki regime turned to Iran after receiving a “severe slap” from the West when it sided with Ethiopia over a border dispute and that his support of Islamists is an attempt “to stymie Ethiopia at every turn.”
According to security sources that declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, the arrested Pakistanis are associated with an IT firm with headquarters in Pakistani but with offices in Kampala.
Sources close to investigations said it was too early to tell whether the arrested people were directly involved in the city bombings.
President Museveni late last night indicated that the al Shabaab were behind the Sunday terror attacks in Kampala and declared all-out war on the Somali militants.“We are going to go on the offensive and go for all who did this in all areas, starting here,” he said. “We were just in Mogadishu to guard the airport and the presidential palace - that was all. Now, they have mobilised us to look for them. We were just doing our small mandate … now we are taking interest. It was a very big mistake on their side,” the President told journalists at a news conference at one of his country homes in Ntungamo, western Uganda between 11pm and midnight. 
Conference was opened on July 2nd with a welcoming speech by Memher Solomon Welde Aregay. There were close to 200 people present in the Conference Hall, among who were many distinguished guests that travelled great distances from various parts of the world, including Mayor of Adua, Aite Araya Mereid, and Aite G/Egizabeher Tesfahuney, the former Director of Atse Yohannes High School; both had travelled all the way from Ethiopia. Also present at the meeting were Dr. Yetbarek G/Egziabher, W/ro Mizan Gezehagn, Prof. Desta Asayahegn, Dr. Elias Siraj, and many other prominent scholars, scientists, doctors, and Engineers that Queen Sheba School had produced over the years and who came from all over the United States and Canada. There was even a participant from as far away as Germany.
A still colourful page from the book despite the 1600 age of the worlds oldest christian book found in a remote monastry in Ethiopia. The text was thought to be medieval but carbon dating has taken it back to the 5th century AD. 
afrol News, 26 May
- The numerous refugees from Eritrea around the world are now mobilising to counter "blackmailing" and "surveillance" of them by "agents of the Eritrean regime." The Eritrean Diaspora claims it is intimidated to pay an illegal "tax" to Eritrea.
Polls have closed in Ethiopia's first election since a 2005 contest which was marred by protests that led to the deaths of 200 people.Voting was smooth and steady in the capital, Addis Ababa, but the opposition said there had been irregularities elsewhere in the country.Officials have dismissed the claims.Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, a Western ally against militants in Somalia, is seeking re-election. A former Marxist, he cast his ballot on Sunday morning in his birth place in North Ethiopia in Adwa town of Tigray region.
The
Economist
(CNN)
-- Ethiopians went to the polls Sunday in an election analysts say will likely return the prime minister back into power after more than a decade leading the Horn of Africa nation.Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is a major western ally who has helped battle Islamic rebels in the region. Ethiopia neighbors volatile Sudan and Somalia, the latter mired in violence as al-Shabaab militants demand a stricter form of Islamic law.
threat by Egypt to prevent the building of dams and other water projects upstream on the Nile river. Meles Zenawi told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that Egypt will not be able to stop his country from building dams on the river. His comments came nearly a week after Ethiopia joined Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania in signing a new treaty on the equitable sharing of the Nile, despite strong opposition from Egypt and Sudan who have the major share of the river waters.
I
watched a truly despicable video of an interview given by Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi of distorted representations of 
By
ARGAW ASHINE (
BT
Costantinos, Ph.D., is lecturer at the School of Post-Graduate Studies,
AAU and an Economist who has written many articles on the Ethiopian
economy. The Reporter interviewed him on current issues of the economy.
Excerpts: What is the current status of the Ethiopian economy?
Costantinos: according to the government and international finance
institutions,
Indian firms have invested around $3 billion in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal and Madagascar to produce a wide variety of food crops and also crops that would be used to produce biofuel.
Under a duty-free tariff preference scheme, Ethiopian farm produce can enter the Indian market on lower tariffs. A branch of the Nile also flows through Ethiopia.Unlike most parts of the world, plenty of arable land in still available in scarcely populated areas of the African continent. Subsistence farmers who inhabit these areas have no political clout. The countries that acquire the land also get control of the key resource, water. The fight among communities and countries over water could be the defining trend in the next 100 years. Authoritarian and corrupt regimes, in alliance with global firms, can easily swing deals that in the long run could be detrimental to the sovereignty of the African states.
The government in Addis Ababa accused the EU's chief observer at the time
of helping to spark the violence, but the head of the 2010 mission, Thijs
Berman, emphasised the mission's neutrality."I know there has been
criticism of the former EU mission, but we will carry out our mission
knowing our responsibilities," he told journalists in Addis Ababa.
"We wont interfere."Human rights groups and the opposition have
accused Zenawi's government of suppressing political opposition in the
country.
Ethiopian
residents and residents from neighboring areas on Saturday, April 10, 2010
at Garfield Community Center. The meeting was very civil and familial. The
members of the audience raised many important issues fundamental to
Ethiopia and Ethiopians. The three Medrek leaders discussed in at great
length openly and sincerely their political objectives and agenda. My
observation came to mind during the meeting that was thrown as question
and comment to the leaders of Mederk. The leaders expressed that politics
is not static but dynamic force that frequently tune to the local and
global contemporary politics. It is true at one historical junction we
lead to dismantle the brutal regime of the Derg to its demise, than after
we changed our views on a number of key issues. Experiencing this
difference can cause thoughtful people to change their views, while still
holding onto principle. Today Ethiopian politics to accommodate various
forces it become an ideological tug-of-war.
According to an article on VOANews, Ethiopian Airlines officials are closely following a report that a captured terrorism suspect has told of a bomb aboard a plane that crashed off the coast of Lebanon in January. Investigators have not determined the cause more than two months after the crash. A report on a U.S. Internet Web site says British intelligence agents have reopened their investigation into the mysterious crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet January 25. The Boeing 737 plunged into the Mediterranean Sea minutes after takeoff from Beirut airport, killing all 90 people aboard.News reports initially quoted witnesses as saying the plane had broken up in the air and fallen into the sea in a ball of flames. But Lebanese officials immediately ruled out terrorism, and suggested pilot error was to blame.
15
members of the Eriteran Air Force, who fled Eritrea in the past 4 days,
seek political asylum at an undisclosed location.
Born
the son of Mercha the Shum of Tembien and his wife Woizero Silass Dimtsu (Amata
Selassie) of Enderta, Dejazmatch Kassai could claim 
Vertical
Ethiopia: Climbing Toward Possibility in the Horn of Africa