The Role of Ethiopian Public Intellectuals: Dr Fekadu Bekele – SBS Amharic

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ADDIS ABABA, May 26 (Xinhua) — Authorities in Ethiopia’s northern Amhara regional state announced on Saturday they’ve intercepted 116 guns and thousands of bullets which were being smuggled to Ethiopia from Sudan.

Aberaraw Yehuala, Chief of West Metema locality police department, West Gonder zone, Amhara regional state, said the illegal arms were intercepted through the coordination of local civilians, regional security forces and the Ethiopian army, reported state media Ethiopia News Agency.

Yehuala further said the arms were intercepted in a three-day period this week, during checks on lorries coming from Sudan and that three drivers have been arrested on suspicion of trying to smuggle the illegal arms to Ethiopia.

Violent anti-government protests in Gonder region of Amhara regional state in July 2016, over a reallocation of a district to the neighboring Tigray regional state two decades ago morphed into an armed confrontation between security forces and armed civilians, leaving several dead from both sides.

Since then, the Ethiopian federal government and Amhara regional state have strengthened checks on vehicles entering into and from Sudan to Gonder region to avoid a repeat of the July 2016 clashes that shocked many Ethiopians.

Ethiopia strictly controls licensing and movement of arms across the country and private arms ownership is relatively rare in the East African country.

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ESAT Tikuret Reyot With Andualem Ayalew Sat 26 May 2018

The post ESAT Tikuret Reyot With Andualem Ayalew Sat 26 May 2018 appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

By almariam On May 27, 2018

Author’s Note: In this memorandum commentary, I reflect on a poem read by the late Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah at the inauguration of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963 in honor of Ethiopia. Nkrumah’s special poem extols Ethiopia’s natural beauty and bounty and the wisdom of its people.

Nkrumah’s poem, “Ethiopia Shall Rise”, has puzzled me for decades. It is at once a prophetic, mysterious, cheerful, inspiring, upbeat and confident poem.

I know from PM Abiy’s public statements that he has profound respect for past African leaders. I do not doubt he appreciates and respects the two original giant pillars of African unity and Pan-Africanism, H.I.M. Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana.

A leader who does not look back and learn from the mistakes of his predecessors is doomed to repeat them. PM Abiy is determined not to repeat the mistakes of past African leaders but to follow in the footsteps of those who have done right by Africa. Like Mandela, he is determined to correct government wrongs with human rights.

Paraphrasing a line from Shakespeare, “Some are born leaders, some achieve leadership, and some have leadership thrust upon them.” Abiy is a born leader. Every day, he is proving to be a transformational leader.

Ethiopia is blessed with born leaders like Abiy. I don’t mean just political leaders. I mean young leaders in all fields of human endeavor. But they have not been given a chance to prove themselves. Few knew of Abiy Ahmed until he assumed office. Few would have predicted the rise of a young leader like Abiy and even fewer who could have predicted what he is doing today. Abiy is determined to empty the prisons of political prisoners.

Of course, I am not surprised. For years, I have been preaching the rise of Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation and proclaiming Ethiopia shall rise on the wings of her young men and women.

I have known for a very long time that Ethiopia is full of Abiy Ahmeds. They go by different names: Eskinder Nega, Lemma Megerssa, Andualem Aragie, Nigist Yirga, Emawayish Alemu, Abubakar Ahmed, Okello Akway Ochalla, Demeke Zewdu, Abubaker Ahmed and so many others.

Today we are witnessing in Ethiopia the victory of nonviolent resistance over the bayonets and guns of the Forces of the Dark Side.

I have previously chastised and challenged the Forces of the Dark Side to rise above their negativism, defeatism, cynicism and pessimism and join the Forces of the Light Side so that they too can see Ethiopia rising like the sun from the darkness of tyranny and state terror.

I hope Nkrumah’s poem will inspire PM Abiy Ahmed and encourage him to keep on keeping on following in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela and leading his army of 70 million young people on the long road to freedom. I also hope it will inspire all Ethiopians who love their country and people unconditionally and are determined to work to improve the lives and human rights of their people for no other reason but because it is the right, the human right, thing to do.

A new day is dawning and over the horizon and Ethiopia is rising. Let us all rise and shine in the Land of 13-Months of Sunshine.

The great Pan-Africanist’ ode to Ethiopia: Ethiopia shall rise. (Ye Ityopia Tinsae)

I am always fascinated by the idea of “rising”. Those of us in the Christian faith believe in resurrection. I believe an entire nation that has been left for dead can be resurrected, certainly not in three days, but in three years or so. When I think of Nkrumah’s poem, I think of a dead Ethiopia rising from the grave of ethnic apartheid, the hell of corruption and the pit of crimes against humanity.

Nkrumah’s use of the “rising” metaphor in his ode to Ethiopia is somewhat puzzling. Given the circumstances, it would have been more appropriate for Nkrumah to declare “Africa shall rise.” After all, between 1960 -1963, over two dozen African countries rose from the ashes of colonialism and became independent. (We’ll talk about neocolonialism another time.)

But Nkrumah prophesied about an Ethiopia rising. What did he mean by a “rising” Ethiopia? Rise from what? Rise like what? Rise like the Phoenix from the ashes?

In August 1962, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., gave his timeless speech in which he said, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed…” Dr. King was talking about the unfulfilled American creed of “all men are created equal”.

In May 1963, Nkrumah prophesied Ethiopia shall rise. Did he mean rise and shine on the African continent?

Mandela said, “Our greatest glory lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall.”

Are we witnessing the glorious rise of a failed Ethiopia?

We are today witnessing an Ethiopia rising. Behold, Ityopia’s Tinsae. My cup runneth over just thinking about it.

Ethiopia shall rise like the sun over Pan-Africa!

Nkrumah was passionate about Pan-Africanism, but he never wrote prophesying “Pan-Africanism shall rise”.

Nkrumah was passionate about Africa, but he never wrote a poem of an “Africa Rising”.

Nkrumah loved Pan-Africanism and Africa, but he had a love affair with Ethiopia. Nkrumah had a special place for Ethiopia in his heart.

Though Nkrumah was the foremost Pan-Africanist of his time and arguably of all time, he saw Ethiopia as a special beacon of light and freedom for all of Africa. He was deeply impressed by Ethiopia’s long and successful defense of its territory, sovereignty and independence from repeated incursions by European colonialists. He saw Ethiopia as the cradle of African civilization. He saw Ethiopia as the salvation of Africa. “Ethiopia shall rise and remould Africa’s destiny.”

Ethiopia shall rise over the Forces of the Dark Side and shine

Looking back, I believe Nkrumah was not only an ardent Pan-Africanist but also an African “prophet”.

Nkrumah’s poem is indeed “prophesy”.

Nkrumah knew Ethiopia shall rise long before the blind visionaries made her slip and fall into the quagmire of ethnic politics.

Nkrumah knew Ethiopia shall rise long before those who declared “Africa is rising… The African Renaissance has begun…”

“Ethiopia shall rise!”, poetically declared Nkrumah.

I say, Ethiopia shall rise like the morning sun and the full moon at midnight.

Ethiopia shall rise up and shake off the sooty dust of dictatorship that covers her.

Ethiopia shall rise again and brightly shine like a precious gem.

Ethiopia shall rise above sectarianism and communalism.

Ethiopia shall rise from the depths of doubt to the heights of faith.

Ethiopia shall rise, and stretch out her arms to God and embrace all her children.

When Africa was under colonialism, Ethiopia rose up against colonialism and became the sun light of freedom for Africa.

Today, Ethiopia is rising on the wings of Ethiopiawinet for all Ethiopians.

Lemma Megerssa said it best:

EthiopiaWINet is an addiction [deep passion]. It is in the heart of each and every Ethiopian. If there is a way to open and look at what is in the hearts and minds of Ethiopians, what we see here today [EthiopiaWINet] is what we have seen here today [our unity in our Ethiopiawinet]… [EthiopiaWINet] is to be free.

In my very first speech as a human rights advocate in 2006, I defined our Ethiopiawinet as a condition ordained by God: “We are first and foremost Ethiopians, one people, woven by the hand of the Almighty into the most beautiful ethnic mosaic in the world. Look in the Holy Bible. Look in the Holy Q’uran. The learned scholars tell us that Ethiopia and Ethiopians are mentioned in the Holy Bible no less than thirty-three times, and as many times in the Holy Q’uran.”

In my “I, Proud Ethiopian” commentary, I affirmed, “There is only One Ethiopia home to its diverse peoples. We believe in the indivisible unity and oneness of the Ethiopian people. There is no Tigrean Ethiopian. There is no Oromo Ethiopian. There is no Amhara Ethiopian. There is no Gurage Ethiopian. There is no Afari Ethiopian. There is no Somali Ethiopian…There is ONE and FOREVER will only be ONE Ethiopia and ONE Ethiopian people.”

Ethiopia is rising because Ethiopiawinet is rising higher and higher in the hearts and minds of the Ethiopian people.

I have quoted Gandhi hundreds of times over the past 13 years. “Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.”

Ethiopia is rising on the ashes of tyranny and despotism.

Ethiopia is rising because the Forces of the Dark Side are, in the end, falling.

Watching Abiy walk the talk on the long road to freedom

In my Memorandum No. 1 to PM Abiy, I advised him to follow in Mandela’s footsteps.

No doubt, he will take missteps and slip up as he matures in leadership. I am even more sure that the Forces of the Dark Side will toil day and night to trip, fall and never rise.

But if he follows Mandela’s footsteps, he could fall a thousand times and rise up each time and keep on walking on the log road to freedom.

I have concluded PM Abiy truly understands and applies Mandela’s principles of leadership:

Honesty, sincerity, simplicity, humility, pure generosity, absence of vanity, readiness to serve others – qualities which are within easy reach of every soul – are the foundation of one’s spiritual life.

Our human compassion binds us to one another – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.”

Lead from the front, but don’t leave your base behind.

Lead from the back and let others believe they are in front.

Over the past seven weeks, PM Abiy has shown honesty, sincerity, simplicity, humility, pure generosity, absence of vanity and readiness to serve his people.

PM Abiy in his spellbinding public statements speaks truth to power, that is himself and his own administration. He said, “We in the government are thieves. We steal the people’s money.”

PM Abiy said that he is young and has much to learn. If he makes mistakes, the people should teach him, as his parents, with a little “qunticha”, (a little more than “go to your room” type of punishment).

PM Abiy declared his cabinet will meet on Saturdays so that the work week is not wasted. He urged all official meetings should be short and purposeful.

PM Abiy preaching the gospel of Ethiopiawinet and convert the suffering of the people into hope for the future.

PM Abiy preaches revenge and hatred will only result in more suffering, poverty, conflict and death. As Dr. King said, “An eye for an eye leaves everybody blind.” PM Abiy does not want to see an Ethiopia of self-inflicted blindness.

PM Abiy says what he means and means what he says. He tells is like it is and lets the chips fall where they may. Just like me!

Ethiopia Shall Rise

In May 1963 when the Organization of African Unity (replaced by the African Union in 2002) was founded, Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah accentuated his closing remarks by reciting a poem he had written as a crowning tribute to an ascendant Ethiopia. Addressing H.I.M. Haile Selassie, President Nkrumah said: “It only remains for me, Your Majesty, on behalf of my colleagues and myself, to convey to the Government and people of Ethiopia especially to His Imperial Majesty, my sincere expression of gratitude for a happy and memorable stay in Addis Ababa…”

With confident cadence, Nkrumah recited a poem of such exquisite eloquence and grace that my eyes well up every time I read it.

Ethiopia shall rise
Ethiopia, Africa’s bright gem
Set high among the verdant hills
That gave birth to the unfailing
Waters of the Nile
Ethiopia shall rise
Ethiopia, land of the wise;
Ethiopia, bold cradle of Africa’s ancient rule
And fertile school
Of our African culture;
Ethiopia, the wise
Shall rise
And remould with us the full figure
Of Africa’s hopes
And destiny.

At that historic inaugural conference, H.I.M. Haile Selassie made the most compelling case, the most passionate plea for African unity, independence and Pan-Africanism:

…We look to the vision of an Africa not merely free but united. In facing this new challenge, we can take comfort and encouragement from the lessons of the past. We know that there are differences among us. Africans enjoy diverse cultures, distinctive values, special attributes. But we also know that unity can be and has been attained among men of the most disparate origins, that differences of race, of religion, of culture, of tradition, are no insuperable obstacle to the coming together of peoples. History teaches us that unity is strength, and cautions us to submerge and overcome our differences in the quest for common goals, to strive, with all our combined strength, for the path to true African brotherhood and unity… Our efforts as free men must be to establish new relationships, devoid of any resentment and hostility, restored to our belief and faith in ourselves as individuals, dealing on a basis of equality with other equally free peoples…

H.I.M.’s words could be said of an Ethiopia rising today. Change the word “Africa” with Ethiopia and his speech would offer a great moral and political lesson for contemporary Ethiopians. “History teaches us that unity is strength. Ethiopians today must establish new relationships, devoid of any resentment and hostility, restored to our belief and faith in ourselves as individuals, dealing on a basis of equality with other equally free peoples…”

Nkrumah is not only Ghana’s son, but also Ethiopia’s.

When the Forces of Darkness said Ethiopia’s history is only one hundred years old, Nkrumah said “No. Ethiopia is the cradle of Africa’s ancient rule.”

When the Forces of Darkness tried to shroud Ethiopia in the darkness of tyranny and dictatorship, Nkrumah said, “Let her shine. Ethiopia, Africa’s bright gem.”

When the Forces of Darkness said, “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the Ethiopian people,” Nkrumah said, “No. Ethiopia is the land of the wise.”

When the Forces of Darkness hatched plans to make the Nile a source of war, death and destruction, Nkrumah said, “No. Ethiopia is the birthplace of the Nile” which gives the gift of life to Africa.

When the Forces of Darkness toiled day and night to crush our spirits and cast our souls into the pit of despair and misery, Nkrumah said, “Hold on! Ethiopia is Africa’s hope and destiny. ”

When the Forces of Darkness seem invincible and we sometimes lost faith and felt downcast, we should let our spirits rise and be carried on Nkrumah’s prophetic words, “Ethiopia shall rise.”

As I read Nkrumah’s poem from May 1963, I also remember H.I.M. Haile Selassie’s speech before the United Nations General Assembly in October 1963.

In that speech, H.I.M. passionately defended the cause of Pan-Africanism and articulated the ideology needed for the ongoing struggle to protect and defend African independence and secure world peace:

… Until the philosophy that holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned; until there are no longer first class and second-class citizens of any nature; until the colour of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes, and until the basic human rights are guaranteed to all without regard for race… the dream of lasting peace … will remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued but never attained…. That until the ignoble and unhappy regimes that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique and South Africa in subhuman bondages have been toppled and destroyed; until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding, tolerance and good-will; until all Africans stand and speak as free beings, equal in the eyes of all men as they are in Heaven — until that day the African continent will not know peace. We Africans will fight, if necessary and we know that we shall win, as we are confident in the victory of good over evil…

In a risen Ethiopia, there shall be no place for a philosophy that holds one ethnic, religious, linguistic or gender group superior to another.

In a risen Ethiopia, there shall no longer be first class and second-class citizens.

In a risen Ethiopia, ethnicity, religion, language, region or gender shall have no more significance than the color of one’s eyes.

In a risen Ethiopia, human rights shall be guaranteed to all.

The great African author Chinua Achebe wrote a book (Things Fall Apart) asking why things keep falling apart in Africa. Things fall apart in Africa because African “leaders” do not respect the human rights of their people. To paraphrase Achebe, “Africa is what it is because its leaders are not what they should be.” Few African leaders respect the dignity and humanity of their people. How can Africa rise when her leaders trip and make her fall every time, and keep her from rising up by pressing their boots on her neck.

But things that fall apart also come together and rise.

I ask, “Why do things fall apart in Ethiopia?” Things fall apart in Ethiopia because Ethiopia’s “leaders” do not respect the human rights of their people.

So, I present again my poem “Ethiopia Up-Rising” , which I wrote on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the OAU/African Union in May 2013.

Ethiopia Up-Rising!

Ethiopia up-Rising! Africa Rising!
Ethiopia Africa’s bright gem
Shall rise up from the ashes of tyranny
Like the spring sun rising at dawn over the African horizon
Like the full moon rising over the darkness of the African night
Ethiopia shall rise and shine!

Ethiopia shall rise from the heights of Ras Dejen
To the peaks of Kilimanjaro
From the pits of the politics of identity
To the summit of national unity and diversity
Ethiopia shall rise and shine!

Ethiopia of the wise
Shall rise above the streetwise
Its people to galvanize, mobilize and organize
To humanize, harmonize and compromise
Ethiopia shall rise and shine!

Ethiopia Africa’s hope and destiny
Shall rise and its tyrants shall fall
Their lies, cruelty and corruption
Buried with them in the steel coffin of history
For “justice will rise in Ethiopia like the sun, with abundance of peace forever.”

Ethiopia shall rise by the sinews of her youth
Up-rise on the wings of her persevering children
Ethiopia shall rise and rise
Her youth will up-rise
Rise Ethiopia, up-rise.

My personal message to PM Abiy

For years, I have talked about the rise of the Cheetah Generation.

Ethiopia is rising today because Ethiopia’s Cheetah (young) Generation has risen.

The young people have risen and as they rose, they lifted up Ethiopia. Behold Abiy Ahmed, Lemma Megerssa, Eskinder Nega, Andualem Aragie, Nigist Yirga, Emawayish Alemu, Abubakar Ahmed, Okello Akway Ochalla, Demeke Zewdu, Abubaker Ahmed and so many other unsung young heroes and heroines building Ethiopia from the ground up so that she rise and shine.

My message to PM Abiy is this: You are doing a hellava job. Keep on keeping on. “A thousand-mile journey begins with the first step.” You are just taking your first steps on a thousand mile walk on the long road to freedom. But you are not walking alone. We are all walking with you. It does not matter if we are walking with you from ten thousand miles away. Let us all walk together under the Ethiopian sky.

Just keep walking. If you lead from the front, we got your back. If you lead from the back, you will find out we won’t back down, we’ll stand our ground against the Forces of the Dark Side.

Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow. Back in my day, we used to sing: “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow/ Don’t stop, it’ll soon be here/ It’ll be here better than before/ Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone/ Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow/ Don’t stop, it’ll soon be here/…”

I have heard you urging people in your town hall audiences to verify your statements by using the internet. Well, I am going to return the favor by asking you and all of my readers to listen to Margaret Singana’s song from South Africa “We are Growing” (full lyrics HERE), which to me means “We are rising. Ethiopia is rising! Higher and Higher…”

…

Be a man of kindness now
A man so big and strong in mind
Be a man so humble now
A man of man, now let it shine…

Let Ethiopia shine like the sun over the African continent!

“Ethiopia shall rise…rise… Up-rise!

ETHIOPIAWINET TODAY

ETHIOPIAWINET TOMORROW

ETHIOPIAWINET FOREVER!

Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino. His teaching areas include American constitutional law, civil rights law, judicial process, American and California state governments, and African politics. He has published two volumes on American constitutional law, including American Constitutional Law: Structures and Process (1994) and American Constitutional Law: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights (1998). He is the Senior Editor of the International Journal of Ethiopian Studies, a leading scholarly journal on Ethiopia. For the last several years, Prof. Mariam has written weekly web commentaries on Ethiopian human rights and African issues that are widely read online. He blogged on the Huffington post at  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ and later on open.salon until that blogsite shut down in March 2015.

Prof. Mariam played a central advocacy role in the passage of H.R. 2003 (Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007)  in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007. Prof. Mariam also practices in the areas of criminal defense and civil litigation. In 1998, he argued a major case in the California Supreme Court involving the right against self-incrimination in People v. Peevy, 17 Cal. 4th 1184, cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1042 (1998)  which helped clarify longstanding Miranda rights issues in California criminal procedure. For several years, Prof. Mariam had a weekly public channel public affairs television show in Southern California called “In the Public Interest”. Prof. Mariam received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1984, and his J.D. from the University of Maryland in 1988.

The post Memorandum No. 7: PM Abiy, “Ethiopia Shall Rise!” appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

By Assegid Habtewold

One’s leadership is tested when confronted with tough decisions. ESFNA’s leadership is at a crossroads. The decision in front of them makes or breaks the organization. It is going to leave a positive or negative scar in the history of the organization.

The decision? They have to make a quick decision, by tomorrow, whether to allow the newly named Prime Minister of Ethiopia- Dr. Abiy Ahmed, to address the Diaspora community at this year’s annual event in TX.

By the way, if the info I got is correct, it wasn’t ESFNA that initiated the invite. The PM himself took the initiative. He deserves appreciation for taking this historic and bold gesture!

Past leaders despised the Diaspora because of its firm stand about Ethiopians unity and its fight against repression and lack of democracy back home in Ethiopia. Unlike his predecessors, however, Abiy chose to reach out. This by itself regardless of the final decision ESFNA reaches is a massive milestone in Ethiopian politics!

That being said, here are a couple of facts. Though I don’t have the accurate statistics, from what I’ve read on social media in the past couple of days, Ethiopians in the US are divided on the issue. Some are advocating for his invitation while others oppose it. Both parties have strong positions and arguing based on the higher purpose of the organization and one of its internal regulations, respectively.

Ethiopians who are quoting the mission of ESFNA are saying that since the organization’s purpose is “Bringing Ethiopians together” and Dr. Abiy promotes Ethiopians unity, love, tolerance, and forgiveness among Ethiopians, he should be allowed to address the gathering when he visits the US. On the other hand, those who oppose the idea are quoting one of the internal regulations that prevent inviting politicians as guests. The latter argue that he is the chairman of the ruling party that ESFNA should be nonpartisan and refrain from showing favoritism to any political party. Of course, others counter-argue about the last statement by saying that though Abiy is the chairman of EPRDF, he is appearing at the event as the leader of the Ethiopian state, in his Prime Minister office.

There are many other forceful arguments from both sides, which I’m not covering for the sake of space limitation.

For your info, one of the themes I covered in my third book entitled “Soft Skills That Make or Break Your Success” was problem-solving and making tough decisions. From my experience as a workshop facilitator for some government agencies, major corporations, and community organizations on the same theme, I shared some insights, models, and approaches in the book on how to tackle problems like the one ESFNA leadership is facing. By the way, when I coach leaders, I don’t tell them what they should decide. My job is helping them gain clarity to make the right decision. It’s not my place, as a coach, to suggest what I think personally is right.

One of the most common challenges leaders face is making choices between two rights- Right Vs. Right. It’s easy to choose right from wrong. What would you do when you have two seemingly right choices like ESFNA is confronted with?

I encourage ESFNA’s leadership to do their homework and also take away emotion. You should be rational. Use your value as a barometer to make the right decision. For that to happen, nonetheless, you should avoid making a hasty decision. ESFNA’s leadership should first gather enough data to fully understand the issue, employ critical analysis, consult key stakeholders, sit down and brainstorm, and finally, make the RIGHT decision you and the coming generation leaders won’t regret.

At the end of the day, the question is whether the leadership should side with its purpose (mission) or the internal regulation. Which one should override? Is it the mission or the internal regulation that should take precedence? Which value (s) of ESFNA should dictate the final decision?

Of course, the decision should not be binary- Yes or No. During the brainstorming session, some of the leaders should come up with alternative options (middle grounds) that may satisfy both sides.

If you were one of the leaders of ESFNA, what would be your decision? Why?

Dr. Assegid Habtewold is an organizational and leadership expert and author, and the founder of PRO Leadership Global (www.proleadership.org). Assegid can be reached a ahabtewold@yahoo.com

The post ESFNA is at a Crossroads- Should it allow Dr. Abiy address the Diaspora or not? appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Ethiopia pardoned on Saturday an opposition leader with British citizenship who had been sentenced to death, the latest in a series of pardons and releases of jailed dissidents announced in the wake of years of violent unrest.

Andargachew Tsige was sentenced to death in absentia in 2009 over his role in the opposition group Ginbot 7, leading to his arrest in Yemen five years later and extradition to Ethiopia.

Andargachew served as secretary-general of the anti-government group, which describes itself as a reform movement but is branded a terrorist organisation by Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia’s political reforms
Attorney General Berhanu Tsegaye said on Saturday Andargachew has been pardoned “under special circumstances” along with 575 other inmates.

The decisions were made with the “intention of widening political space,” the attorney general told reporters in the capital, Addis Ababa. Andargachew is expected to be released within the next two days.

Thousands of prisoners, including several senior opposition leaders, have been freed since January having been accused of a variety of charges such as terrorism or incitement to topple the government.

SUGGESTED READING:Ethiopia activists stage online campaign for ‘Prisoners of Conscience’
The pardons are part of reforms that the government has pledged to undertake after violent unrest broke out three years ago, sparked by an urban development plan for Addis Ababa that critics said would trigger land seizures in the surrounding Oromiya region.

The protests broadened into rallies over political rights, leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in February. He has since been replaced by former army officer Abiy Ahmed.

New Ethiopia PM reaches out to opposition
Ginbot 7 is among five groups Addis Ababa has blacklisted under anti-terror legislation, alongside the secessionist groups Oromo Liberation Front and the Ogaden National Liberation Front, as well as al Qaeda and Somalia’s al Shabaab.

Last week, the government and an exiled opposition party from Oromiya opened talks with the aim of enabling it to return to the political fold.

The Oromo Democratic Front (ODF) was formed in 2013 by former members of the Oromo Liberation Front and seeks self-determination for ethnic Oromos, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group. Its leaders have been living in exile.

The post Ethiopia pardons opposition leader on death row appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban

“The President invited all Africans to travel to Rwanda without visas, we will follow you very soon,” these are the words of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed during a state banquet for Paul Kagame last Friday.

The idea as and when it is implemented will further open up Ethiopia to African visitors and help boost the country’s tourism potential and in the long run its economy.

Ethiopia boasts the continent’s best national carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, which has made the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, not just a regional but global aviation hub.

For a country that is widely seen as not open in respect of visa acquisition, the disclosure by the PM has been received with different reaction especially on social media. Ethiopia’s tourism agency has long branded the country as “Land of Origins.”

Whiles most people expressed joy at the idea, others also had concerns with respect to security and for one commenter, the state of the capital Addis Ababa – stressing the incidence of street dwelling and lack of basic amenities.

Fitsum Z. Mulugeta@fitsumzewdu

It’s about time, claiming to be land of origins #Ethiopia should welcome everyone ‘Home’ or at least #Africa/ns to their capital free of hustle https://twitter.com/ThisIsAfricaTIA/status/1000269038734467073 …

3:40 AM – May 26, 2018

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Gorbatchev@GmGorbatchev

Replying to @ThisIsAfricaTIA

If indeed it’s true it will be a good move for Ethiopia

9:41 AM – May 26, 2018

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efremJatta@efremkwassi

Replying to @AngelaRoothaan and 3 others

Africa needs to unite itself and work towards propsperity and peace. Then EU would be begging for for free visa agreement.

8:00 PM – May 26, 2018

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Olatunde A. D@OlatundeAD1

Replying to @ThisIsAfricaTIA

That will be great, that would bring a lot fortune to Ethiopian and strong relationship
More grease to elbow Ethiopia, good initiative

1:25 AM – May 26, 2018

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Benjamin G. Sishuh@bengsishuh1

Replying to @addisstandard

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I’m very happy to hear this amazing news!! #Ethiopia should be the first, everyone will follow!
This will attribute greatly to the weak internal integration and economy!

2:19 AM – May 26, 2018

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Benjamin G. Sishuh@bengsishuh1

Replying to @addisstandard

History teaches us that unity is strength, and cautions us to submerge and overcome our differences in the quest for common goals, to strive, with all our combined strength, for the path to true African brotherhood and unity.
Haile Selassie

2:37 AM – May 26, 2018

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Ruthie@mame1st

Replying to @addisstandard

Great for tourism but you need to tidy up AA. Especially strrt dwelling & toileting.

2:21 AM – May 26, 2018

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Kagame in Ethiopia on official visit

Kagame arrived in Ethiopia on Thursday evening for a three-day official visit. He was the first African leader to undertake an official visit to Addis Ababa since Abiy took office on April 2.

Abiy hailed his guest as not only leading his country but the entire continent in ways that were revolutionary. Kagame is currently the President of the African Union (A.U.) – a year-long roles that revolves among African leaders.

“President Kagame is not only the President of Rwanda but he is also leading the continent in great, wise and miraculous ways of transforming the continent and economic integration, as well as realising the vision of our forefathers,” Abiy added.

Rwanda’s visa-free regime

Starting January 1, 2018, Rwanda announced a global visa free entry for travelers from everywhere in the world.

A communique released by the Directorate of Immigration and Emigration said citizens of all countries the world over could enjoy 30 days visa on arrival under the regime. With some entrants required to pay a fee where applicable.

Rwanda already had such a system in place for all African countries and a number of countries outside the continent. The country is reputed as one of the most open in visa openness index publications.

A November 16, 2017 document read in part: “30 days visa upon arrival – Citizens of all countries to get visa upon arrival without prior approval, starting 01 January 2018. Before that, only African countries and few others were getting visa upon arrival.”

The new visa regime also touched on other areas like visa reciprocity for specific countries whose citizens get free visas with 90 days validity. The countries in question are Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, Ghana, Guinea, Indonesia, Haiti, Senegal, Seychelles and Sao Tome and Principe.

This is in addition to the Democratic Republic of Congo, East Africa Member Community Partner States, Mauritius, Philippines and Singapore. This takes immediate effect.

“Nationals of Australia, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States of America will be issued with entry visa valid for a period up to 30 days and pay for a visa ($30) upon arrival without prior application,” according to a government portal.

It also addressed the area of visa waiver for particular diplomatic and service passport holders, another directive that takes immediate effect. There is also a 90 day visa on arrival for travelers from the COMESA (The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) region subject to payment of visa fees.

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Dr Girma A Demeke The Identity and Prehistory of the Ethiopian People – Pt 1 SBS Amharic

The post Dr Girma A Demeke The Identity and Prehistory of the Ethiopian People – Pt 1 SBS Amharic appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia’s state-affiliated broadcaster reports that a landslide triggered by heavy rains has killed 23 people in the country’s Oromia region.

Fana Broadcasting Corporation reported that the landslide happened Saturday evening after hours of heavy rains in the area. The report said 16 of the fatalities were women. It said six others were injured and taken to health centers after sustaining heavy bodily injuries.

Ethiopia is receiving heavy seasonal rains which sometimes cause severe landslides in some parts of the country.

Close to 50 people died in a similar landslide in May 2016 after heavy rains caused flooding and landslides.

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Will Ethiopia’s new prime minister manage to introduce change and push the country towards democratisation?

by Yohannes Gedamu

Over the last three years, protesters across Ethiopia have been demanding political and economic changes and voicing their frustrations with government policies. Earlier this year, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the coalition that has been ruling the country for 27 years, finally realised that this latest episode of popular unrest will not settle without the government introducing major changes.

Thus, the coalition unveiled a reform agendafocusing on the need to broaden the political space, to release political prisoners, and listen to voices of opposition. As a show of commitment to the demands of the people to end the political violence and pave the way for the implementation of the reform agenda, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn announced his resignation on February 15.

After a month of suspense and uncertainty, Abiy Ahmed, a young technocrat from the establishment took his seat. Ahmed’s ascent to political power ensued amid visible intra-party tensions that exposed the deep divisions in the otherwise secretive EPRDF coalition.

In the absence of a strong and credible opposition – due to the EPRDF’s decades-long repression of political dissent – Ethiopians pinned their hopes on the new premier and his broad political appeal even though he himself is part of the ruling coalition they have long been protesting against.

A flicker of hope

Ahmed came to power with huge fanfare. Although the regional state of Oromia and the party that administers the region, the Oromo Peoples Democratic Organisation (OPDO), are considered to be the new premier’s main political power base, Ethiopians from the country’s second-largest region, Amhara, and its administrators from the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), also provided their full support to Ahmed.

The OPDO and the ANDM are two of the political parties that make up the four-party ruling coalition, and they enjoy massive political capital that comes with the responsibility of administering the two most populous and resourceful regions in the country’s federal arrangement.

Until recently, however, these two political parties were unable to exercise their political power at the federal level. The Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a political party that led the way in the creation of the EPRDF, was instead dominating the ruling coalition and controlling the security apparatus of the state.

For a long time, the OPDO and the ANDM were blamed for failing to foster unity between Oromos and Amharas. Recently, however, they united their efforts to bring an end to the TPLF’s domination of the ruling coalition and are now lauded for reigniting the once weakened Ethiopian nationalism among their supporters. By working together, the political elite within these two parties managed to garner wide popular support. Ahmed’s rise to political power was the direct result of the change in attitude within these two political parties.

Understanding the rising ethnic tensions and mistrust between regional elites that became evident in the last two decades, the new premier adopted a reconciliatory tone. Since taking office, Ahmed has been attempting to tackle the mistrust among factions within the ruling coalition as well as that of the citizens through discussions of “Ethiopiawinet”, the Amharic word for Ethiopianness.

Through these discussions, Ahmed has managed to further reinvigorate Ethiopian nationalism and utilise it as a uniting force. For many Ethiopians who were disillusioned by the divisive ethnic politics of the last two decades and even questioned the fate of the nation, his nationalist rhetoric has aroused new optimism.

Since taking office, Ahmed has also secured the release of thousands of Ethiopiansimprisoned in Sudan, Kenya and Saudi Arabia – a move that attests to his commitment to revive Ethiopian nationalism and protect citizens wherever they are.

However, Ahmed is still not immune to criticism.

Ethnic Amharas remain targets of brutal killings and evictions in a region known as Benishangul Gumuz. The fate of tens of thousands of ethnic Oromos, who have been internally displaced since they were evicted from Ethiopia’s Somali region, is still unclear as there are no signs for a return to normalcy.

Ahmed has condemned these injustices, but he is yet to take concrete steps to address them. Perpetrators of these crimes are still enjoying impunity, as none of them has been brought to justice or even questioned.

Furthermore, despite the relative calm in the country, extrajudicial killings of people still continue. Ahmed’s administration still has a long way to go in reassuring citizens and investors alike that calm is fully restored in Ethiopia.

Abiy’s premiership as an EPRDF’s survival project

Despite the cautious optimism that Ahmed’s assumption of the prime minister’s post brought, Ethiopia has still not embarked on a true transition to democracy.

To this day, the most important goal of the ruling EPRDF is its own survival. Under late-Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, the EPRDF survived internal divisions stemming from the way the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea ended.

The coalition also survived an electoral defeat in 2005. It did so by imprisoning the leaders of the opposition parties which won the vote and by clamping down on protests. 

After Zenawi’s death in 2012, many in Ethiopia once again questioned the EPRDF’s chances of survival. But the coalition managed to stay in power even after Zenawi’s passing, thanks to what they referred to as “the emergence of collective leadership”.

Having Ahmed assume the position of prime minister is yet another survival strategy by the EPRDF.

What the years of protests and opposition activism managed to achieve was have the four political parties within the EPRDF come to a consensus that limiting the dominance of the TPLF within the coalition is key to their collective survival.

Unfortunately, this would not necessarily translate into efforts to broaden the political space in the country at large.

Reforms enacted by the government thus far, the release of notable political prisoners and talks with the weakened opposition groups do not necessarily indicate that a roadmap for democratisation will emerge. Although some Oromo political leaders from the diaspora have returned home, others haven’t and the government has not taken the initiative to engage them. Ahmed needs to make good on his promises and invite the opposition leaders in the diaspora back home. Opposition leaders like Andargachew Tsege, who was recently pardoned by the government, should be included into the national conversation. 

In addition, despite commendable attempts by Ahmed to diversify the new cabinet, he has made the mistake of re-appointing many former officials to various important posts and board memberships. Moreover, although  his eager interest in listening to popular grievances across various forums is applauded, there is still no sign that institutional reforms are to follow anytime soon.

The electoral commission remains a partisan institution and the electoral system still favours the EPRDF. The “anti-terror” proclamations that were used to stifle political dissent are still laws of the land. Moreover, although Ahmed seems eager to correct the wrongs of the past few years, Ethiopia remains under a state of emergency declared manymonths ago. This makes it difficult for Ethiopians to exercise their rights to peaceful assembly and freedoms of expression.

Ahmed needs to use the popularity and approval he gained to start a meaningful dialogue with political opposition at home and abroad if any of his promises regarding democratic opening and hopes for national reconciliation are ever to materialise.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Can Ethiopia’s new leader bridge ethnic divides?

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By Yaye Abebe

The ongoing discussion on inviting Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to speak at the 35^th ESFNA sport and cultural festival in Dallas, Texas is in need of seeing the bigger picture.

Abiy came to power through the young generation’s sacrifice. In the past three years, the youth of Oromia, Amara and Konso paid with their lives to resist the EPRDF’s government with their blood and sweat. It is the youth that gave Ethiopia a glimmer of hope against a sustained, brutal crackdown and years of political repression by the regime.

The new Prime Minister so far has walked the talk by releasing prominent political prisoners such as Eskinder Nega, Andualem Arage, Dr Merera Gudina, Bekele Gerba, Ustaz Ahmedin Jebel, Nigist Yirga, Chaltu Takele, Andargachew Tsige and the tens of thousands of political prisoners who were languashing in federal and regional prisons.

Abiy has given Ethiopians a fresh hope with a message of peace, reconciliation and consensus building. His message of forgiveness is what Ethiopians for the past 27 years, or may be for the past 40 years, has been waiting to hear. The Prime Minister’s message is about the renewal and revival of the heart and soul of our country.

The way forward for the diaspora community is to empower and embrace the message of Prime Minister Abiy while sustaining the pressure demanding for the legitimate rights and interests of the Ethiopian people. We in the diaspora must walk the talk of unity and togetherness instead of fomenting the outdated narratives of us-against-them.

Today Ethiopia is on the early steps of healing the deep political wounds of the past 40 years that have mutated into generational, regional, religious and ethnic conflicts.

The ESFNA board needs to transcend the façade of political-free festival while in reality the tone and atmosphere of the diaspora community has been that of politicization, division and animosity. Churches are divided, communities are tense, generations are at odds: we are all suffering from disharmony.

Dear ESFNA, invite Prime Minister Abiy, not as a political party leader, but as a symbol of honoring the sacrifices paid by the youth for a transformative change in Ethiopia.

Inviting Abiy is a noble and historically appropriate move that will prevent unnecessary and unforeseen divisions within the diaspora.

Say Yes to Abiy! See you in Dallas!

The post Dear ESFNA, It is NOT about Abiy, It is about Us appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

IAAF

African junior cross-country champion Girmawit Gebregziabher and 2017 national 5000m silver medallist Tilahun Haile continued their impressive domestic seasons with victories at the Ethiopian Junior Championships in Assela, south-eastern Ethiopia, which concluded on Sunday (27).

In other highlights from five action-packed days of competition to select Ethiopia’s team for the IAAF World U20 Championships Tampere 2018, Berihu Aregawi kicked off proceedings on the opening day with a strong finish to win the men’s 10,000m, Getenet Wale won the men’s 3000m steeplechase in a stadium record, and Berhanu Soressa won a closely fought men’s 1500m on the final day of action.

The sprawling city of Assela, birthplace of Ethiopian distance running legend Haile Gebrselassie and 2013 world 800m champion Mohammed Aman, was the venue for this year’s Ethiopian Junior Championships as the country kick-starts its preparations for the biennial World U20 Championships in July.

SMOOTH-SAILING AREGAWI TAKES 10,000M CROWN

With a place in Tampere on the cards, the men’s 10,000m set the tone for tactical matchups on the open day as the pack of nearly 20 athletes settled for a pedestrian early pace, averaging 76-second laps in the opening half of the race.

Things began to change at about the seven-kilometre mark when a dozen athletes pushed the pace at the head of the pack, dispersing both the timid pacesetters and those clinging on to some hope behind the pack.

The leading dozen became the fighting seven with three laps left. The race turned into a three-man contest in the last 600 metres with Berihu Aregawi leading early contenders Tsegaye Kidanu and Aliqa Adugna. Aregawi won the tight contest in 29:36.67, a significant improvement from last year’s Ethiopian Youth Championships where he finished seventh in the 5000m.

“I never expected to win,” said Aregawi. “With five laps to go, I just realised I have some hope. With three laps remaining, I was almost certain that I would win it because I could feel my energy. I prepared for a faster race in training. This one was a bit slow. I have never run abroad [outside of Ethiopia], but now I feel like I could in Finland.”

IMPRESSIVE FINAL SPRINTS GIFTS HAILE 5000M TITLE

The men’s 5000m captured the spectators’ attention from the outset as the race got off to an explosive start. With two little-known runners setting the early pace and opening a gap at the front, the race turned into a game of catch-up as the chasers, earlier than they perhaps anticipated, quickened the pace to narrow the gap to the frontrunners.

The leaders were eventually closed down just after the halfway point as the pace settled down for two more laps. The pack started to stretch again three laps before the finish, but 10 men were still in contention for medals with 600 metres left.

At the bell, the crowd was on its feet in anticipation of a strong finish with Tilahun Haile, Milkesa Mengesha, Antenayehu Dagnachew and Tesfahun Akalnew all in contention for victory.

It was 2017 national 5000m silver medallist Haile who outpaced his rivals in the last 200 metres to stop the clock at 13:55.13 with Mengesha and Dagnachew coming home for the minor medals respectively.

“Knowing my competitors in the heats, I knew they would wait for me to take the first stride [in the finish],” said Haile. “After running two thirds of the race, I could feel the energy and freshness in me. Now I need to prepare for it [Tampere] both physically and mentally.

TWO MEDALS FOR GEBREGZIABHER, WALE CONTINUES STEEPLECHASE RISE

It has been a breakout year for Girmawit Gebregziabher. Following her victory in the junior race at the Ethiopian Cross Country Championships in February, she was Ethiopia’s only individual gold medallist at the African Cross Country Championships in Chlef, taking the women’s U20 title.

And in Assela, she further cemented her credentials as a star of the future with a convincing win in the 5000m in a four-race cameo that would also see her contest the heats and final of the 3000m and 5000m. In a bid to complete the double, she was pipped in the 3000m on the finish line by close rival Tsige Gebreselama in a pulsating finish.

Getnet Wale stole the hearts of many at the World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz two years ago when he twice fell at the water jump before rushing home for bronze in the 3000m steeplechase.

That performance and an impressive outdoor season in 2017 earned him a place on Ethiopia’s team for the World Championships, where he finished ninth in the final.

His performances against senior opposition have continued to impress this season. Two months after winning yet another national title, the 17-year old was again dominant in Assela as he plots a return to the World U20 Championships.

All 15 starters in the men’s steeplechase stayed in close contact with each other until the last three laps. When they entered the final two laps, four athletes tried to breakaway, but it was Wale who emerged victorious on the final lap, stopping the clock at a stadium record time of 8:35.01 ahead of Takele Nigate with Amsalu Belay coming home in third.

Elshadai Negash with the assistance of Abiy Wendifraw for the IAAF

LEADING RESULTS

MEN

800m
1 Tadesse Lemi 1:47.10
2 Tasew Yada 1:47.44
3 Addisu Girma 1:47.78

1500m
1 Berhanu Soressa 3:39.54
2 Melese Nebret 3:39.58
3 Kebede Endale 3:39.80

5000m
1 Tilahun Haile 13:55.13
2 Milkessa Mengesha 13:56.49
3 Antenayew Dagnachew 13:57.36

10,000m
1 Berihu Aregawi 29:36.67
2 Olika Adugna 29:37.12
3 Tsegaye Kidanu 29:38.60

3000m steeplechase
1 Getenet Wale 8:35.01
2 Takele Negate 8:35.53
3 Amsalu Belay 8:43.88

10,000m race walk
1 Yohannes Algaw 43:36.53
2 Tadelo Getu 43:42.22
3 Yetayal Tazebe 44:33.06

WOMEN

800m
1 Deribe Welteji 2:00.89
2 Hirut Mengesha 2:01.16
3 Frewoini Hailu 2:01.35

1500m
1 Denke Ferdessa 4:14.83
2 Almaz Samuel 4:15.28
3 Beri Abera 4:15.52

3000m
1 Tsege Gebreselama 9:28.38
2 Girmawit Gebrselassie 9:28.44
3 Aberash Menasebo 9:31.50

5000m
1 Girmawit Gebregziabher 15:48.81
2 Ejegayehu Taye 15:53.82
3 Tsige Haileselasie 16:01.82

3000m steeplechase
1 Etalemahu Sentayehu 10:07.47
2 Agere Belachew 10:08.05
3 Bethelhem Mulat 10:10.22

10,000m race walk
1 Mare Bitew 52:01.30
2 Sentayehu Mesre 53:10.25
3 Bonte Ali 56:59.55

The post HAILE AND GEBREGZIABHER AMONG WINNERS AT ETHIOPIAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

The purpose of this comment is to give feedback to Ato Yaye Abebe who is the author of; “Dear ESFNA, It is NOT about Abiy, It is about us…”  In that article Ato Yaye said, “The way forward for the diaspora community is to empower and embrace the message of Prime Minister Abiy while sustaining the pressure demanding for the legitimate rights and interests of the Ethiopian people.”

I believe the intent of the article that I also concur wanted to communicate about the importance of dialogue with those whose idea one may not necessarily agree with but for the goal individual share, which is the way forward.  That as it may, there are few outstanding errors in that presentation by Ato Yaye, I want to point out for him and the readers to think about:

• The statement, “Abiy came to power through the young generation’s sacrifice.” It is not only the young but also all Ethiopians including those in the Diaspora have sacrificed – hurt. Even those who torture and kill their brothers and sisters subconsioucly do hurt – leaving with fear is a case ion point.
• “… the diaspora community has been that of politicization, division and animosity.” Such perception is too generalizing and inaccurate. As a mater of fact the Diaspora has played and still is playing a big role pressuring the current dictatorial regime at least for the last 28 years or so.  Among other things, contacting the host country legislators to inform them about the Human Right violations in Ethiopia and what they need to do to stop it; like “Res.128 – Supporting respect for human rights and encouraging inclusive governance in Ethiopia.
• Also advocate not providing financial support to the regime and so on. Other roles the Diaspora played effectively is to be a voice for the voiceless by using various social media outlets – such as ESAT, SBS Australia, VOA, and DW Radio, even Forum 65 … etc.

Therefore, the objective lesson for all who are interested to provide constructive criticism or advise is, to make sure they are exercising that advise themselves before they extend it to others and, to make sure they respect other views that may not necessarily agree with theirs or are different.

Lemlem Tsegaw, May 29, 2018

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Mahlet Fasil

Addis Abeba, May 28/2018 – Ethiopia has finally released Andargachew Tsige, the co-founder and secretary-general of Ginbot 7, Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy. in the same day the attorney general confirmed that active criminal charges against Dr.  Berhanu Nega, leader of Ginbot 7 were dropped.

Andargachew was released this afternoon after speculations of his release gripped the country since yesterday. He is currently at his family’s house in Bole, Olympia area. The 63 years old father of three, Andargachew, a.k.a Andy, has been in Ethiopian prison for the last four years after Ethiopian security forces have kidnapped him from Sene’a airport in Yemen and renditioned him secretly to Ethiopia where he was already sentenced to death in 2009.

#Ethiopia – An overwhelmed Andargachew Tsige (a.k.a Andy) told AS’s @MahletFasilcommenting on the huge gathering of families, friends and fans who waited for this moment for two days. pic.twitter.com/EFkhXDYBqP

— Addis Standard (@addisstandard) May 29, 2018

In similar development, the attorney general office confirmed this afternoon that criminal charges against against Berhanu Nega, leader of G7, as well as Jawar Mohammed, executive director of OMN media and a prominent Oromo activist, has been discontinued.

Dr. Berhanu and Jawar were the second  and third defendants  in absentia under the infamous criminal charges file under Dr. Merera Gudina, leader of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), who was released in March after his charges were also dropped.

The attorney general’s office has also said charges against two foreign based media organizations, OMN and ESAT were dropped. Both institutions were charged under the country’s repressive terrorism law.

AS

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By Keffyalew Gebremedhin
The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)

PART Two of two

As the last days of pseudo ‘liberationists’ of the marauding category everywhere await their sinking sun, challenges of all sorts to the United Nations no longer subtle, remain as insidious as ever. Their mission, if at all possible, is subversion of the ideals the Organisation stands for—pure and simple.

These phenomena are daily realities in both the developed world as in the least developed nations. Their driving forces are the hunger of brutes for power and wealths. In thinking of those, many are the moments I have wondered about what the United Nations has done right thus far to ride over many such obstacles and challenges both under normal times and during peak moments of the post-Cold War world.

There is no bette and latest indicator to reach such conclusion than the recent budget cuts by the Trump Administration from United States contributions to the United Nations. Polls show “58 percent of Trump voters agree the UN is still needed today.”

In this environment, it is also refreshing to note that Secretary-General António Guterres should resort to presenting the United Nations as a necessity for our world. He does this, to the extent possible, through continually preparing the Organisation for greater commitment and endeavours to attain its Charter objectives.

Those United Nations goals, as set out in the Preamble to the Charter, aim to enable the post-war world to:

• “practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and
• unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
• ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and
• employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples.”

Accordingly, Secretary-General Guterres observed on the 56th anniversary of Hammarskjold’s wreath laying ceremony on 12 September 2017:

“Dag Hammarskjold not only believed in the United Nations, he inspired so many others to believe in it, too. We need that spirit more than ever today.”

In a fitting tribute on the occasion, the secretary-general honoured his enigmatic predecessor picking a strand from one of his utterances:

“Everything will be all right – you know when? When people, just people, stop thinking of the United Nations as a weird Picasso abstraction and see it as a drawing they made themselves.”

That, Mr. Guterres followed with a pledge befitting the occasion:

“As Secretary-General, I am committed to understanding and interpreting this complex drawing, so it is clear to all people everywhere what it represents. At its root, the United Nations stands for hope – hope for peace, prosperity and dignity for all.”

The Hammarskjold factor

For most international civil servants and United Nations member states, the enormously collected and focused  Dag Hammarskjold, the second United Nations Secretary-General (1953-1961), remains the architect who, with the approval and collaboration of member states, had successfully elevated the Organisation’s Charter at a difficult time on a reliable pedestal to serve as beacon to states, cultures and humanity in general.

Consequently, with lessons learned from the failed League of Nations, among Hammarskjold’s achievements is his success in determining how the secretary-general and his staff should conduct their relations with states to ensure independence of the secretary-general and his staff.  In so doing, he managed to lock everything within key values of excellence, personal integrity, in concert with Article 100 of the Charter, i.e., “… the Secretary-General and the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any other authority external to the Organization.”

Hammarskjold had been credited for putting from the ground up most of the United Nations’ present operating manuals, recruitment policy, staff regulations (regularly updated), security, etc., as well as institutionalisation of peacekeeping, its essential policies, politics and procedures — following the onset in 1956 of the Suez Crisis (also see).

Most remembered is his sharp mind, we are told, which he employed to constantly undertake complex negotiations with member states, solely the United Nations Charter as his guiding light.

In his assessment of Hammarskjold’s achievements, I am hardly surprised that Brian Urquhart — one of the most experienced UN officials under the second secretary-general, in retirement still who happens to be our compass especially on the Hammarskjold era —should wonder in his Hammarskjold (1972) whether the person was “ahead of his time”, so “his personality and exceptional skill made an impression on his contemporaries out of all proportion to their lasting political or institutional value?”

He then concludes: “Hammarskjold was certainly a virtuoso of multilateral diplomacy and negotiation.”

At a time when trouble was assailing many parts of the world and demanding the secretary-general’s fullest attention, this writer takes pride that Mr. Hammarskjold should visit my country Ethiopia on December 29, 1958 rather on a more peaceful and hopeful undertaking. Brian Urquhart has documented that the secretary-general needed to travel to Ethiopia, “to open in the presence of Emperor Haile Selassie the first session of the UN Economic Commission for Africa [ECA]” where part of his statement lauded the emperor with the following words:

“In the days when international cooperation was not so well founded as it is today,” he told the Commission, “His Imperial Majesty, in the adversity then experienced, was a symbol to the whole world of the principles of international order. It is certainly a vindication of his faith that now, in happier times…the UN is to make its African home in Addis Abeba.”

The United Nations continues to be represented in Africa, with ECA as its regional coordination programme, focussing on human, economic and social developments as its particular goals. Hammarskjold tragically lost his life in Africa, following a mysterious plane crush over the Congo on September 18, 1961. To this day, the United Nations has continued to investigate the cause(s) of his death, following every lead it puts its hand on.

It is granted that perusal of the above paragraphs may get some into thinking this long piece is about Dag Hammarskjold. Admittedly, it’s hard to argue against such assumption. Instead, I would yield; suffice to leave that to how Alec Russell in a May 13, 2011 article on The Financial Times had described Mr. Hammarskjold as “the benchmark against which his successors have been judged – and most found wanting.”

The preceding, it seems, must have been a widely-shared view in-house too, especially if one dwells on the (above) words of the ninth secretary-general, the current occupant of that office.

Fact: This article is not about Dag Hammarskjold!

Hammarskjold inspires the search for what is right and proper for the United Nations. In that, while the two decision points hereunder might be Secretary-General Guterres’ considered views, especially in dealing with a large troop contributing nation, this piece essentially is about being forthright. That is to say, I have found it difficult to reconcile myself with two of his following actions. Those are:

• The appointment in the first place of Maj-Gen. Gebre Adhana Woldezgu Commander of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), announced on April 4, 2018. To the best of my understanding, no vetting of his alleged crimes have been undertaken to protect the Organisation from the implications of such association; and,
• Tthe secretary-general’s decision to receive and dispatch on May 1, 2018 the major-general to the Abyei mission, i.e., into the contested oil lands between the two Sudans, is taking for granted the concerns of the peoples of Ethiopia and South Sudan who deserve the appropriate responses by the general.

Mr. Guterres’ decisions came only about eight months after his pledge at the Hammarskjold commemoration (above). For me, its loudly-resonating remark underscored the importance of commitment to attain the goals of the United Nations Charter, as he put it at the time, with a view to promoting and protecting “… hope for peace, prosperity and dignity for all.”

Surely, I understand Mr. Guterres may have followed precedence. This wrongheaded decision and practice of entirely relegating UNISFA to the control of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF 1991- ) and its abuses and misuses thereon of the time-honoured United Nations institution started already in 2011. It is his predecessor Ban Ki-moon’s short-sighted action. Mr. Ban was overwhelmed with delight in the TPLF (Ethiopia’s) generosity to provide every UNISFA-required peacekeeper — including civilian and police force — at a time of diminishing numbers of troop-contributing states.

Inevitably, thus the UN surrendered to the wishes, political and economic benefits of its largest troops contributor’s. Such is the situation, for instance, in Abyei UNSFA has had until March 2018 force strength of 4,841 (uniformed), of which 4,321 or 89.4 percent are offered by Ethiopia.

The troops contributions of the other top nine states trail far behind Ethiopia’s in the following order of insignificance: Siri Lanka 5, Ukraine 4, Ghana 3, Namibia 3, Benin 2, Brazil 2, Burundi 2, Cambodia 2 and Guatemala 2.

For the TPLF, by using the nation’s resources was polishing its sooted image through such machinations and its fake double-digit economic growth fable.

This was the door the United Nations blindly walked in to its present trap. At no time has the UN been inconvenienced in becoming an ally of and agency for TPLF’s shameful ‘policy’ and practices of ethnic discrimination in Ethiopia. In other words, the UN has tolerated this for all these years, when UNIFSA commanders, save two, (as shown in the table below) happened to be all ethnic Tigreans, whereas Ethiopia has been known as a multi-ethnic state.

This TPLF crime, in which the UN became co-conspirator, is committed in the name of only less than six percent of Ethiopia’s 105 million population (2017). This — to put it mildly— is not only horrid and extremely annoying. But also on the part of the United Nations it borders betrayal of Ethiopia’s sacred trust, as one of its first few signatory states at San Francisco of the Charter on 26 June 1945.

The problem today is allowing this bad judgement by Mr. Ban KI-moon to stand now — seven odd years thus far, perhaps many more years to come too! Such monstrous failure by the Organisation brings to mind the 1867 famous remark by Prussia’s Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck: “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable —the art of the next best”.

I take it that the truism in this saying remains valid, its adherents motivated by practical necessities and considerations, especially when dealing with states’ restraint in contributing troops to the United Nations peacekeeping operations.

This writer is reminded of Hammarskjold’s personal side, revelatory of his handling of the management of the Organisation. In Markings, his sort-of-private diary, is something that is both informative and instructive. In there, he had written: “We have to gain self-assurance in which we give all criticism its due weight and are humble before praise.”

That’s what the people of Ethiopia look to now in the United Nations. They have had enough of the repression and humiliation by the TPLF, while the United Nations chose to side the former in violation of its creed.

Political artisans at the United Nations made a horrible miscalculation in not waking up in good time to correct, when ethnic discrimination is feathering its nest within the Organisation, even after seven long years of alliance with murderers!

Today is May 29

This is a day that also invokes the name of the second secretary-general, Dag Hammarskjold! This writer too considers himself his devotee, aspiring to remain Hammarskjold’s life-long student, honouring his contributions to mankind and civilisations.

That is why the General Assembly too in its resolution 57/129of February 29, 2003 has designated 29 May every year as the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.

On this day, the Secretary-General presides over a wreath-laying ceremony annually at the UN Headquarters in New York in honour of all peacekeepers.

This is in keeping with operative paragraph 1 of the resolution, which states: “to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in United Nations peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication and courage, and to honour the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.” 

Those slain peacekeepers in the cause of peace and under United Nations flag during the preceding year are posthumously awarded the Dag Hammarskjold Medal.

Already eighteen days ago on May 11, Mr. Guterres had a photo-up with all United Nations force commanders.

I must be frank to state in that connection my disappointment, since it includes someone he last April appointed as force commander —Maj-Gen. Gebre Adhana Woldezgu — the very subject of this article’s Part One . In that article, I had tried to reason out why I disagreed with the secretary-general’s appointment of that soldier, without duly investigating his  widespread alleged crimes of human rights violations.

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António Guterres

@antonioguterres

Meeting with Force Commanders from @UNPeacekeeping today, I paid tribute to the service and sacrifice of fallen peacekeepers and committed to improving security. I reiterated our zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse. https://bit.ly/2yD8arg 

12:53 PM – May 11, 2018

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The photo-up was, it appears, to enable the secretary-general impress on his force commanders and the United Nations of his “zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse.”

No doubt about its timeliness; this action is essential and fundamentally important, since the United Nations is not an organisation of angels. Already many United Nations peacekeepers — from both developed and developing nations — have been implicated in a number of sexual exploitations and abuses of minors.

And yet, I would have liked the secretary-general also announcing it is United Nations policy and practice to apply suitability test to those he accepts and appoints as commanders of United Nations peacekeeping operations.

This may inconvenience troop contributing states.

I hope the secretary-general would agree with me that peacekeeping is one of the most vitally important innovations of the Organisation— a hallmark of its relevance to a troubled world we live in. It should not be treated as less relevant of the Organisation’s work, or something worthless, as insinuated by the indifferent emplacement of a butcher of human beings  as force commanders, as has happened on April 4, 2018!

Ethnic conflict:. Renewed weapon in oppressors’s hands

In the post-colonial era and nearly three decades after the Cold War, tensions arising from scarcity of grazing lands and water are no longer the primary causes of ethnic tensions, especially in Africa. Rather it is power mongers exploiting differences based on ethnicity for political or economic reasons that have enabled its return with vengeance at present as the newest weapon to incite conflicts and instability.

In Ethiopia, following the onset of popular protests since 2014, besides TPLF shootings to kill of protestors and peaceful demonstrators, the regime’s greed for power and riches has compelled it to resort to inciting ethnic conflicts. Of late we hear, some leaders in the region, in collaboration with the TPLF army, are openly vowing to start an all out conflict amongst Ethiopians, if the TPLF is to lose power.

By a recent admission of the TPLF’s security institution, the population in this one of the few oldest nations in the world has been facing displacements. In the last three years, different parts of the country have been awash with state killings along the border between Oromia Region and Region 5, otherwise known as the Ethiopian Somali Region, according to the government-operated human rights organisation. Today, May 29, 2018, Dr. Addisu Gebre-Egziabher, head of the TPLF-run human Rights organisation, openly told the media his organisation has compiled names of state officials and regional leaders, who have their hands soiled in killings and or displacements of citizens, according to TPLF’s Fana

There is also ongoing conflict in Amhara Region up north, where the national army is deployed to defend the TPLF’s annexation of surrounding Amhara fertile lands to build its ‘Greater’ Tigray Region, as shown on the map here.

The root cause of the problem is the TPLF top military officers, one of them being the new UNISFA commander, and civilian leaders wanting to protect their monopoly and power of control over the Khat trade and contraband business between eastern Ethiopia (from their headquarters in the Ogaden Region) and other neighbouring states, entities and their delegated agents in the Middle East – especially Yemen, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, etc.

The TPLF pursues two approaches to crush the people’s struggle for the rule of law, freedom and democracy. As stated above, it has been employing typical divide and rule strategy, inciting ethnic conflicts amongst Ethiopians. The objective is to ensure continuity of the ethnic minority regime. The main beneficiaries are TPLF top military commanders, civilian leaders and the entire regional structure, who have been enriching themselves with illegal businesses and looting of state resources.

As a matter of fact, since summer 2017,  the border between Ethiopia’s Somali Region and Oromia Region was turned into a war zone, Abdi Ilay’s notorious Liyu Police, in collusion with the TPLF military commanders, attacking and displacing over a million people.

International Migration Organisation’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) in April reported “In 2017 Ethiopia’s humanitarian needs were aggravated by the outbreak of conflict along the Somali-Oromia borders and another drought affecting large parts of eastern and southern Ethiopia.”

These people have ended up in camps since September 2017, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA). IOM confirms, in 2017 alone, 700,000 people were displaced with the IOM recording a “significant spike” in September of that year, as per report of Kenya’s Daily Nation.

Right at its onset, horrified by the clear situation of ethnic conflict exploited for political purposes, the US Embassy from Addis Abeba in an official statement  on September 19, 2017 did not hold back in stating:

“We are disturbed by the troubling reports of ethnic violence and the large-scale displacement of people living along the border between the Oromia and Somali regions, particularly in Hararge, although the details of what is occurring remain unclear.

We urge the Ethiopian government to conduct a transparent investigation into all allegations of violence and to hold those responsible accountable.  At the same time, on the local level, communities must be encouraged and given space to seek peaceful resolutions to the underlying conflicts…These recent events underscore the need to make more rapid and concrete progress on reform in these areas.”

Strong as this statement is, given the wildfire of ethnic conflict in Ethiopia could create, as Newsweek’s Connor Gaffey, in asking why the US is worried about Ethiopia has picked aptly the implications. The US also has aired its disappointment with the TPLF regime it has kept as a close ally. It’s the TPLF bloggers that mostly tried to misdirect the strains against the person of US Ambassador Michel Reynor.

The issue

The issue here is the horrid allegations against the new UNISFA commander, i.e., his crimes of human rights violations in neighbouring Somalia and Ethiopia’s Somali Region. It’s in a mere surface-scratch, this article’s Part One of April 11, 2018 has learnt about. It’s that information that it signalled to all those with responsibilities to vet Maj-Gen. Gebre Adhana Woldezgu.

That article’s suggestion was for the United Nations to delay the general’s assumption of command, until his innocence is established. Without it, this writer strongly believes that Maj-Gen. Gebre Adhana Woldezgu cannot be considered a friend of the United Nations, especially as commander of one of 14 peacekeeping operations presently.

Tell me your friend and I will tell you who you are is an old adage full of wisdom. Maj-Gen. Gebre Adhana Woldezgu is seen here with his buddy Abdi Mohamoud Omar (Abdi Ilay), the infamous president of the regional state, otherwise known as Somali Region, or simply Region 5. He has been responsible for so many deaths and displacements of Ethiopians in that region.

Also Abdi Ilay happens to be the lynchpin to corrupt senior TPLF civilian and military leaders.

The sale of military weapons, according to the Somalia Monitoring Group report to the Security Council, became common phenomenon. In fact, the report levels responsibility for this on ‘Ethiopian military commanders and soldiers’.

When Maj-Gen. Gebre Adhana Woldezgu was in command of Ethiopian force in Somalia, the Somalia Monitoring Group reports (S/2008/274):

“According to arms traders, the biggest suppliers of ammunition to the markets are Ethiopian and Transitional Federal Government commanders, who divert boxes officially declared “used during combat”.”

The problem with the major-general is that, for him killing is habitual. In the Monitoring Group’s report of 16 July 2008 (S/2008/466) regarding the situation in Somalia, he commanded 50,000-strong in the US-inspired Somalia invasion by Ethiopia.

The report clearly states that the political process between the Transitional Federal Government and the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) could not make any progress any more. The obstacle was the inability to achieve “sustainable peace in Somalia and to recognize the responsibility to deploy a neutral force that would be accepted by Somalis. Opposition leaders also identified the presence of Ethiopian forces in Somalia and ongoing human rights violations as key areas to be addressed by the international community.”

Regarding the 2008 human rights environment, the secretary-general’s report states:

Already in 2007, shortly after Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia, according to the report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia (S/2007/436), that country was turned into an inferno for Somalia civilians on account of Ethiopian troops human rights violations:

“Whatever little confidence there was in the ability of the Transitional Federal Government to rule is fast eroding and antagonism against Ethiopia is at a crescendo — clearly not being helped by the Ethiopian Army’s heavy-handed response to insurgent attacks, involving the use of disproportionate force to dislodge insurgents from their suspected hideouts.” 

Why this article

This piece is a follow-up to Part I, explaining why this writer disagrees with UNSG Guterres’ appointment of ‘Gen. Gabre’ UNISFA Force commander. As in the ancient expression all roads lead to Rome, information about the commander this wrier has come across seem to point to the new UNISFA commander being tainted by human rights crimes & corruption in the two troubled nations of the Horn of Africa, Somalia and inside Ethiopia, especially Somali Region!

In writing this article, my intention is to humbly ask Secretary-General Guterres to be beholden to his words at Hammarskjold’s commemoration anniversary and enable the United Nations to live up to the expectations and promises its Charter promiseshave generated and from which he too had drawn the pledge he had uttered, above.

I am not asking the secretary-genera to do the impossible. I am only calling upon him to remove doubts and misgivings, arising from this appointment. It is my sincere view the secretary-general should seize this once-a-life-time-opportunity to give pride of place to the Organisation’s Charter principles by reconsidering his appointment of Maj-Gen. Gebre Adhana Woldezgu at UNISFA, pending investigation of his alleged crimes.

I would like to inform the secretary-general that — as a proud ancient Roman expression has it about all its roads leading to Rome — all available information on the general also point to him being a fatally flawed soldier. We learn form his brief service in Somalia, his hands have been stained with the blood of innocent people.

For me, given the cruelty with which he mistreated ordinary Somalia citizens and also carried out massacres of innocent people, especially those in mosques or weddings is revolting, as Part I of this article of April 11, 2018 had pointed out. I strongly believe this person’s association with the United Nations in UNIFSA, which has troubles of its own, should be avoided at all costs, until he is proven innocent.

Not at all a hero he is. Outside his connection with the leadership in the TPLF, he is not that even to his sender — if at all the Front has any morals.

We have been taught by ancient civilisations heroism is about honour and honesty, loyalty to one’s nation and doing good by fellow human beings. In other words, heroism is hardly measured, as the major-general seems to think and believe, by the number of people a soldier or a general kills.

If the long past were to talk to us today, as the world’s famous mythologist Jospeh Campbell reminds us in his in 1949 A Hero With a Thousand Faces , “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

The key phrase here is “…to bestow boons on his fellow man”, not to rob the poor and private businesses that try to take care of their families and themselves, as the commander had done to build in one of the poorest nations in the world, Ethiopia, first world lifestyle for himself.

Among many instances, Somalia citizens across that country have established ‘Gen. Gabre’ is corrupt through and through. In one instance, only the breakdown of the $2.8 million he reportedly took as bribes and was found by diligent citizens and was reported widely shown in table 18 of the Fartaag Report speaks volumes, including names of forced payers to the general.

Woldezgul’s head is filled with gold, banknotes, cars he seized from Somalia, not integrity and judgement he needs as United Nations commander. Some of the money he received was reported to been turned into all forms of assets such as construction equipment, all of which not possibly in his name, write sources in Somalia. Possibly details of the mystery of his robbery could be unlocked the day some of those allies of his in some of the Middle Eastern states speak out.

Does Abyei deserve a horror?

I don’t think so. Nor do I think the United Nations wants that. However, if the past is any guide, the United Nations responsibilities in Abyei deserve a responsible commandant, unless once again some in the international community feel they give no hoot to what other countries do in Somalia.

This is a question that all along has puzzled the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia, as described in its November 2006 report and in compliance with Security Council resolution 751 (1992) concerning Somalia.

His brief stay in Somalia as “Supreme Commander of Ethiopian Forces” was known to have been the period he committed mass massacres during the invasion of Somalia he commanded and in Mogadishu, according to Somalia sources, before he was withdrawn. The TPLF later reassigned him as Senior Political Advisor at the TPLF-operated — in name the eight-nation Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), his target still Somalia — a matter that speaks volumes about the sending state’s intents too.

A thing that should worry Somalia first and foremost and the international community too is the legacy ‘Gen. Gabre’ has left behind. All foreigners and Somalia citizens have always spoken about Al-Shabaab thus far being the excuse for Somalia to continue as a failed state and terrorism its blighter. The UN Monitoring Group in its 2007 report observes:

“117. Whatever little confidence there was in the ability of the Transitional Federal Government to rule is fast eroding and antagonism against Ethiopia is at a crescendo — clearly not being helped by the Ethiopian Army’s heavy-handed response to insurgent attacks, involving the use of disproportionate force to dislodge insurgents from their suspected hideouts.”

However, more than the terrorism of an extremist group, it was “Gen. Gabre” as all Somalia citizens refer to him, who has badly undermined their country. He has needlessly prolonged that country’s prospects of rising out of its crisis to peaceful national existence on Al-Shabaab and other extremists’ graveyard.

Unfortunately, as a divided nation, Somalia has been laden by inability to see itself outside its disorderly present, people like the general corrupting its elites, thereby denying it the trust of and goodwill to live in peace with its neighbours in the Horn of Africa.

Stop for a moment and ask why several African nations inside the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) have for such a long time been paying with their blood, or their foreign allies mostly the United States with treasures. Al-Shabaab’s might is made up to be, possibly by states and their agents who have become beneficiaries in Somalia’s continued imposed no peace no total collapse state!

In my October 27, 2017 article on this matter, I argue:

1. “If the TPLF had the discipline to operate as per the

AMISOM mandate, the Horn of Africa could have also been long spared of present and future threats of the Al-Shabaab terrorism and related extremisms. In closer examination, one could sense this situation has prolonged Al-Shabaab’s life instead. With that, the Islamic extremist organisation of terror has utilised the opportunity to improve and develop its destructive capabilities to cause more havoc on innocent people, as witnessed in Somalia including on October 14, 2017 and even subsequently since.”

The secretary-general must see that the soldier I am talking about, he has now appointed to the very post, has miserably proved inadequate elsewhere in the first place. He failed because he lacks principles, the tact and political skills the responsibilities of the post badly require.

It worries me that his appointment of Maj-Gen. Gebre Adhana Woldezgu to a peacekeeping mission empowered to operate within the Organisation’s Chapter VII mandate may be taken, in his usual way, as mandate to kill in Abyei.

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By Tedla Asfaw

I remember Mandela walk out  from his 27 years jail in 1990. The world media was there to report this historical moment. The Ethiopian Mandela, Andargatchew Tsige who was kidnapped four years ago from Sanna Airport, Yemen  by Ethiopian and Yemeni unholy alliance did not get foreign media attention.

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BBC

British citizen Andargachew “Andy” Tsege, who was being held on death row in Ethiopia, has been freed.

He has been greeted by jubilant relatives and supporters at his family home in the capital, Addis Ababa.

The Ethiopian government had accused him of plotting a coup and he was sentenced to death in absentia in 2009.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he was “pleased” with the development and praised his department’s staff for their “tireless” work on the case.

Almost four years ago, Mr Andargachew was apprehended at an airport in Yemen while in transit and turned over to the Ethiopian authorities.

He denied the charges and was pardoned on 19 May, along with 575 other inmates, as part of the Ethiopian government’s current effort to promote reconciliation.

• More about Ethiopia
• Ethiopia to release political prisoners

Mr Andargachew, a father of three, fled Ethiopia in the 1970s and sought political asylum in the UK.

He was the secretary-general of banned Ginbot 7 (15 May) movement, named after the date of the 2005 elections that were marred by protests over alleged fraud that led to the deaths of about 200 people.

“I did not expect this much turnout,” he told supporters at his home after his release.

“Four years in prison is not that much of a sacrifice. I’m meeting you first because I respect you; I haven’t yet my father. Now, I’d like to go and greet my father.”

Image copyrightYEMI HAILEMARIAM

Attorney General Berhanu Tsegaye said his pardon was part of an initiative to “widen the political space”.

Maya Foa, the director of the human rights charity Reprieve, which has campaigned for Mr Andargachew’s release, said the new Ethiopian government “should be recognised for what they have done”.

Mr Johnson also commended the Ethiopian government, saying its actions sent a “positive signal” that it remained serious about “following through with promised reforms to increase political space”.

Mr Andargachew’s partner Yemi Hailemariam’s has led a campaign for his release.

“I am so thankful that the pain and anguish my children have had to go through could now soon be coming to an end,” Ms Hailemariam, who lives in Islington, north London, said last week in a statement released by human rights group Reprieve.

Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s new prime minister, has pledged to carry out reforms following anti-government protests that broke out in 2015.

The civil unrest led to the resignation in February of Mr Abiy’s predecessor Hailemariam Desalegn, who had defended the arrest of Mr Andargachew, saying the activist had wanted to destablise Ethiopia.

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Tyler Cowen, Contributor
Dallas News

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Etenesh Abera

Addis Abeba, May 30/2018 – Twenty four Ethiopians were killed in two separate car accidents in Amhara and Oromia regional states on Tuesday May 29 and Monday May 28, respectively.

On Tuesday May 29, eighteen people were killed and eight more were injured in a car crash in Ch’ach’a town, North Shoa zone of the Amhara regional state, when the public mid-sized bus they were traveling in collided with another minivan coming from the opposite direction, according to inspector Fikru Wube, road safety officer of the Angolala Werda police bureau.  The passengers were returning from a pilgrim at Tsadkane Mariam monastery en route Addis Abeba.

Thirteen of the victims were killed during the accident which happened at around 4:30 PM local time while the remaining five died after they were admitted to hospital. The injured were discharged after receiving medical treatment in near by health posts, according to inspector Fikru.

Similarly, six people were killed on Monday May 28 in Kuyera town, about 18 km before Shashemene city, in west Arsi zone of the Oromia regional state.  Redwan Abdella, a physician in Shashemene referral hospital told Addis Standard that the victims were all traveling to Addis Abeba when the minivan they were in collided with a truck in the outskirt of the Kuyera town.

According to Dr. Redwan five of them have died instantly while one died after being admitted to hospital. Among the victims were a mother and her eight year old son. More than a dozen were also injured; some have already left hospital after receiving treatments for light injuries while five more are still in hospital; two of them are in critical condition.  The accident happened on Monday at around 9:00 PM local time.

Ethiopia is one of the countries with “an unacceptably large number of road traffic deaths, with approximately more than 25 people per every 100,000 people killed in road crashes,” according to WHO’s 2015 Global status report on road safety. There are about 25, 837 annual road fatalities, according to the same report.

AS

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