XFenet Hailu: ENA

For centuries it has been told that coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia by the marvel of the shepherd Khaldi and his boppy goats. The nosy Ethiopian shepherd, Khaldi, spotted his goats grazing red berries plant he had never noticed before, after which the goats became playful. Then, Khaldi tasted the berries to offer the world with the astound beverage bean, Coffee.

Ever since its discovery, coffee has played a major role in securing the lion’s share of the Ethiopian economy and has promoted social cohesion and interaction among families, the neighborhood and the entire nation. Coffee ceremony has remained a traditional brand for unity, solidarity and peacemaking among Ethiopian people.

Besides its consumption, coffee production is significant to the Ethiopian economy as the source of income for about 30 percent of the general population; it is also among the top export commodity of the country. Despite the recurring fluctuation of prices at the global market, coffee still accounts for a major income at household level and for foreign exchange earnings.

Ethiopia produces first-rate organic coffees of dazzling Arabica varieties yet the country has remained largely detriment when it comes to the economic benefit. The hefty export volume failed to generate a proportionate increase in foreign exchange earnings due to a substantial turn down in the global coffee prices.

According to the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority, the country earned about 838.2 million USD from coffee export in 2017/18, which was 882 million in 2015/2016 budget year. This means coffee export has declined by 44 million USD as compared to last year.

Commenting on the main factors that contributed to the declining of the exports, actors of the sector explained that the moribund of price observed in the global market especially since 2011, export of raw coffee without adding value, intervention of brokers at the multiple levels of the export process are some of the bottlenecks that have inhibited growth in the national export earnings from coffee.

To reverse the situation, stakeholders urged the country to reintroduce various mechanisms, like exporting value added coffee and streamlining the value chain through promoting adapting specialty coffee to create for producers and buyers.

Specialty Coffee:

S.A Bagersh PLC is a company established in 1943 and is engaged in exporting raw and roasted coffee to the international market. The General Manager, Abdella Bagersh, told ENA that it’s time to pick for alternative preferences that are crucial to break the market price.

Abdella firmly advocates the need to work on specialty coffee and exporting the value added coffee bean as best options that his company learned from its experience. “We experienced that exporting specialty and value added coffee is the most preferred come out for maximizing export earnings from the sector,” he said.

His company exported about 100,000 kg value added coffee in 2018, and the demand for value added coffee at the international market is ever-increasing. However, Abdella urged that the government should work on modernizing the packing and branding process on the value added coffee, as branding plays a crucial role in raising the demand for quality coffee.

Azalech Coffee Company is engaged in roasting and packing coffee for local market since the past six years. As the market is promising, the company is getting ready to export value added coffee in abundance.  Owner of the company, Azalech Tesfaye, revealed that exporting value added coffee involves tedious processes, starting from selecting quality coffee bean from farmers all the way to market access with finest profit. But once you enter into the global market, it is gainful business.

“The work is very lucrative; especially if we work hard concentrating on the value addition part, we can overcome our limitations. So, I recommend that the need to boost our engagement on the production of quality value added coffee,” she said.

Market Development and Promotion Director at Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority, Dassa Daniso, believed that exporting value added coffee looks as if the best way trading, however, it shares only one percent from the general coffee export.

This is because the preceding coffee proclamation was discouraging for value addition. He insisted that the proclamation has discouraged Ethiopian coffee investors that exported value added coffee and forced them to buy raw coffee that has the least standard and quality on the market.

He enlightened that currently the government is working to change the tradition, “we launched coffee reform to encourage our investors and our reform started by amending our proclamation that banned our companies that engaged on value addition coffee to buy export standard coffee. So, they are now able to buy export standard raw coffee to prepare value added coffee.”

In line with this increasing the number of investors interested in value addition coffee and encouraging them to engage on specialty coffee is the other measure which is taking under the reform.

Market Linkage:

For most Ethiopian coffee growing farmers, getting lucrative and sustainable market access is a major challenge in coffee industry.

Niguse Woledesenbet, who is production quality and Preparation team leader at Keffa Wild Coffee Growers Cooperative Union, revealed that market access becomes a serious encumbers for the union since its inception 14 years before.

The union with 13, 000 members, is exporting about 21 tons of coffee annually, which is minimal in contrast with the country’s potential to export. “Our challenge is on quality and value chain,” he stated. So, he called upon the government to strongly work in creating market linkage on the top of enhancing quality coffee production.

Zinabu Aba Mecha is also coffee producer and exporter in Southern Ethiopia. He produces organic coffee on 100 hectare of land secured from the government. For Zinabu selecting profitable market linkage is a challenge that needs the intervention of the government and stake holders. “As one of coffee producers and exporters, getting the best market linkage is very challenging for me and now I am working with the government and other stakeholders to overcome the market challenge,” he said.

According to the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, the institution is now helping producers by creating vertical market integration that could help the farmers to get extensive market linkage.

In light with this, Feed the Future Value Chain Activity is another project funded by USAID to create market linkage for coffee producers. The project that has been launched for five years from 2017-2021 is supporting about 45,000 framers to get value chain in the country.

However, increasing the number of facilitators that are closely work on creating market linkage and improving the capacity of coffee growers and exporters on coffee specialty and value addition is imperative to re-secure and maximize the back polar gain of the country from its green gold, coffee.

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Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban

In less than a year since the two countries made peace, Eritrea has shut all border crossings with neighbouring Ethiopia, according to reports.

The final route to be blocked according to the DW Amharic service was the Bure – Assab crossing which was opened only last December. The Afar region communication bureau confirmed the report adding that the closure was only on the Eritrean side.

“After closing Serha-Zalambesa border crossing in December and Om Hajer-Humera last week, Ethiopia officials saying Eritrea shut Assab-Bure this morning – meaning all border points are now closed,” a Reuters journalist, Aaron Maasho said in a tweet of April 22.

The last time a border closure was reported was in December 2018 with the particular crossing point located in the Tigray regional state. A regional spokesperson said at the time, “The restrictions have only been imposed on the Eritrean side. We did not receive any prior notice.”

The Serha-Zalambesa crossing was opened in September 2018, coinciding with the Ethiopian New Year, after the countries agreed to remove their troops as part of a reconciliation process.

Thousands of people have crossed since. Trade has flourished and families separated since war broke out between Ethiopia and Eritrea in 1998 have reunited.

A spokesman for Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry at the time told reporters that he had no information about any border restrictions. Eritrea government has routinely not responded to reports.

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P R E S S  R E L E A S E
GREAT NEWS FROM ITALY

It is to be recalled that a mausoleum was established in 2012 for the Italian Fascist criminal known as “the butcher of Ethiopia”, Rodolfo Graziani, at an Italian town called Affile within the Italian province called Lazio. It is with great satisfaction and appreciation that we inform all supporters of justice for Ethiopia that an Italian court has confirmed its earlier verdict that those Italians responsible for the erection of the mausoleum be penalized by imprisonment, financial penalties, and suspension from Government jobs.

Those to whom the Global Alliance for Justice – The Ethiopian Cause would like to express its warmest appreciation and thanks for their immense contributions to the Italian court’s verdict for the removal of the Graziani mausoleum include the following:

1. E. Mr. Nicola Zingaretti, the Governor of the Lazio Province and the head of the Italian Democratic Party;
2. E. Mr. Emanuele Fiano, Member of Permanent Commission of the Constitutional Affairs of the Ministry of Interior;
3. ANPI (Associazone Nazionale Partagiane Italiani: National Association of Partisans in Italy);
4. FARI (Federazione delle Assemblee Ras Tafari in Italia: Federation of the Assembly of

Rastafarians in Italy); EXODUS; President of both: Mr. Carmelo Crescenti;

5. ECAI (Ethiopian Community Association in Italy);
6. Valerio Ciriaci: (Director of the documentary film re the Graziani mausoleum and Italian

Fascist crimes in Ethiopia: “If Only I Were That Warrior”).

The Italian Provincial Council (Lazio) has decided to remove the Graziani mausoleum. The court’s verdict includes the following:

1. 8 months imprisonment of Affile’s mayor, Mr. Ettore Viri, plus a penalty of Euro 120.00 and his suspension from Government job for 5 years;
2. 6 months imprisonment of two members of Affile’s Council i.e. Mr. Peperoni and Mr. Frosoni plus a penalty of Euro 80.00 and their suspension from Government jobs for 5 years;
3. Penalties of Euro 8,000.00 to be paid to ANPI and Euro 1,800.00 to be paid to the plaintiff.

The Global Alliance for Justice – The Ethiopian Cause calls on the Italian Government to ensure the expeditious removal of the Fascist criminal, Rodolfo Graziani’s mausoleum and the prompt execution of its court’s verdict. The Alliance also calls on the Ethiopian Government as well as the European Union to follow-up this case with the Italian Government for the purpose of its timely execution

It is known that under the leadership of Benito Mussolini, Fascist Italy had invaded Ethiopia during 1935-41 when huge war crimes were perpetrated, with the Vatican’s complicity, including the massacre of one million people of whom 30,000 were killed in only three days in Addis Ababa and over 2,000 monks and parishioners at the Debre Libanos monastery as well as the murder of Their Eminences Abune Petros and Abune Mikael, the destruction of 2,000 churches, 525,000 homes and 14 million animals plus the looting of vast quantities of Ethiopian properties of which 500 manuscripts are currently in the custody of the Vatican Library.

The Italian government has still not undertaken the required remuneration, and restitution of the looted properties to Ethiopia although it has agreed to compensate Libya with $5 billion for its massacre of 30,000 Libyans. The Vatican which has apologized to Jews, the people of Latin America and Rwanda has still not apologized to the Ethiopian people.

The Global Alliance for Justice – The Ethiopian Cause is engaged with its effort for the achievement of the following objectives:

1. Adequate remuneration, and restitution of Ethiopian properties by Italy to Ethiopia;
2. Vatican’s apology to the Ethiopian people for its complicity with Fascist Italian crimes in Ethiopia;
3. UN recognition of Fascist Italian crimes in Ethiopia; and
4. Removal of Graziani’s mausoleum in Italy.

Appeals for support have been submitted to all the concerned parties including the Italian, Ethiopian, USA and UK Governments as well as the UN, EU, and AU international organizations. Repeated appeals have also been submitted to the Vatican. In addition, a petition is being signed on the Alliance’s website: www.globalallianceforethiopia.net calling on the Vatican to apologize to the Ethiopian people.

The Alliance calls on all institutions and people who believe in justice to exert their maximum effort in achieving the above objectives.

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Farah, third last year and facing a monumental challenge to overcome Kenya’s world record holder and defending champion Eliud Kipchoge in Sunday’s race, said around 2500 pounds ($3,230) – in four currencies – two mobile phones and a valuable watch presented to him by his wife were stolen from a locked suitcase in his room while he was out on a training run on his 36 birthday on March 23.

Farah said he got little help from hotel staff in dealing with the issue and even less from Gebrselassie, a national icon in Ethiopia after a stunning track career that earned him two Olympic golds and four world titles over 10,000m and several world records.

“He didn’t respond even though that’s his hotel,” four-times Olympic champion Farah told reporters at the London Marathon launch on Wednesday.

Farah was so furious that Gebrselassie ignored his repeated texts and calls that he shared the last he sent, that threatened to publicly shame the Ethiopian.

“I want to inform you that I’m disappointed you have not made any effort to find my stolen money, and especially my watch,” he wrote.

“I have tried to contact you by telephone several times. Know that I am not responsible for what I say during the press conference in London and what influence it will have on your personality and your business.” He signed off: “Sir Mo.”

Later on Wednesday Gebrselassie fired back at Farah in a press release, calling his claim of robbery “unproven”.

Gebrselassie said Farah declined to use a safe box offered to him or give the money to a hotel official for safekeeping.

Gebrselassie, a former world record holder and current president of the Ethiopian Athletics Federation, said the matter was immediately reported to police, who interviewed five hotel employees but decided not to bring charges against any of them.

He added that despite a 50 percent discount on the room rate, Farah failed to pay a service bill of 2,313 pounds ($3,000).

“I found today’s accusations made by Mo with unproven premises, as an act of defamation on my hard earned reputation and business,” he said in a release posted on LetsRun.com. here

“Following this my lawyers will deal with the matter accordingly,” Gebrselassie said.

A spokesperson for Farah told the BBC late on Wednesday that he was disappointed with Gebrselassie’s statement.

“Mo disputes all of these claims, which are an effort to distract from the situation, where members of his hotel staff used a room key and stole money and items from Mo Farah’s room (there was no safe as it was faulty, and Mo requested a new one).

“Police reports confirm the incident and the hotel admitted responsibility and were in contact with Mo’s legal advisor.

“The hotel even offered to pay Mo the amount stolen, only to withdraw the offer when he prematurely left the hotel and moved to other accommodation due to security concerns.

“Despite many attempts to discuss this issue privately with Mr Gebrselassie, he did not respond but now that he has, we would welcome him or his legal team getting in touch so that this matter can be resolved.”

TASK AT HAND

Farah will need all his focus to be back on the task in hand on Sunday as although the race is widely seen as something of a head-to-head between him and the peerless Kipchoge, the Briton is only the eighth-fastest man in the field and his best of 2:05.11 is almost four minutes adrift of Kipchoge’s astonishing world record of 2:01.39, set in Berlin.

The Kenyan, who has won 10 of his 11 marathons, including the 2016 Olympic Games, is seeking an unprecedented fourth London win and would need to have something of an off-day to open the door for any of his rivals, but Farah said he was not turning up “expecting to finish third or fourth.”

“You look up to these guys, you have to learn from the best and I have learned from each race I’ve done,” he said.

“I think I could have gone 2.04-something in Chicago (where he set a European record of 2:05:11 while winning last year) but it was about winning the race.

“Last year in London when Eliud increased the pace at around 20 miles I went with it a bit but just felt tired and in my mind I felt ‘I cant keep that going’ and you end up taking it back a notch. But I am here to race and will give 100 percent as I always do.”

EXTRA ENDURANCE

Farah said he had underestimated the volume of training required to convert his track speed into the extra endurance needed for 26.2 miles on the road, but that he was enjoying the challenge.

“The most important thing is that I’m happy and enjoying it,” he said. “I’m still hungry, I feel like I’ve got my mojo back.”

While Farah and Kipchoge fight it out at the sharp end, around 40,000 others will be pounding the streets of London behind them in what organisers say is the world’s most popular race.

“We had 415,000 applications in five days,” said race director Hugh Brasher. “This weekend we will reach one billion pounds raised for charity by runners, with more than half of that coming in the last nine years.”

In the first race in 1981, co-founded by his father and former Olympic gold medallist Chris Brasher, five percent of finishers were female, while this year that figure is expected to be around 45 percent.

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Addis Standard

“I didn’t give her the drugs,” Simret Kahsay, the suspect who is in jail, denies giving cocaine on China bound Nazrawit Abera.

Mahlet Fasil & Zecharias Zelalem

Addis Abeba, April 24/2019 – The police investigating Simiret Khasay and Solomon Tsegaye, two suspects jailed on allegations of giving bottles of cocaine to China bound Nazrawit Abera, said they were preparing to send the evidence taken upon the detention of Simiret and Solomon for forensic analysis outside of Ethiopia.

At a hearing held on April 23, the police told judges at the Federal First Instance Court Arada branch in Addis Abeba that partial results of forensic analysis on the evidence show “unknown substance”, necessitating the need for outside forensic analysis, while some part of the evidence shows no trace of drug substance.

The case involves Simiret Kahsay, a former Ethiopian Airlines hostess, and Solomon Tsegaye, who are accused of having tricked Nazrawit, a career engineer, by giving her cocaine on shampoo bottles for smuggling into China. Since late December 2018, Nazrawit is detained in China on suspicion of smuggling the cocaine. No formal charges have been brought against her, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said as it promised to follow the case closely.

At a court appearance on Friday, April 12, Simiret denied all the accusations. “She didn’t get them from me,” Simiret told the court.

Simiret, 27, and Solomon were arrested in Addis Abeba on April 9 and have since appeared in court twice. During their court appearance on April 23, Solomon also denied wrongdoing and said the evidence taken from his residence and are under police custody were proteins that “I use for sports activities.”

Despite the denial by both suspects the judges rejected defense lawyer’s request for bail. On April 12, the police were given two weeks to finalize examining the evidence in the form of shampoo bottles that the police say link the two to the crime.

In what is quickly becoming one of the most scrutinized alleged criminal cases in recent times, Simret’s arrest came after public outcry and online campaign over the plight of Nazrawit Abera in China. Simiret told the court that her arrest was influenced by social media campaigns.

The office of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who is currently in China attending China’s Belt and Road Initiative summit, said today that PM Abiy has “expressed his concern on the detainment of the young female engineer Nazrawit Abera.” Ambassador Teshome Toga, Ethiopia’s Ambassador to China, said yesterday that Ethiopian envoys have visited Nazrawit “four times” since her arrest.

During her first court appearance on April 12, Simret’s lawyer told the judges that his client was being made a scapegoat to calm public fury. However, the Ethiopian Attorney General’s office told state media that preliminary investigations revealed that the bottles of cocaine found in Nazrawit’s luggage were obtained by Simret from Brazil, where she has previously traveled to and established links during her tenure as a flight hostess.

Simret Kahsay and Solomon Tsegaye’s next hearing is adjourned for 26^th of April. AS

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Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed and his delegation met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a
bilateral meeting ahead of the Belt and Road Forum.

The Chinese President admired the leadership of Prime Minister Dr Abiy and the reforms he
has led over the past year, noting that China holds Ethiopia’s development in high regard,
according to office of the Prime Minister.

He also shared the cancellation of interest-free loans matured till end of 2018.
Furthermore, President Xi emphasized that the Chinese government attaches high
importance to the beautifying Sheger project and is working on a grant assistance in its
support.

Both parties agreed to a strengthened cooperation between the two countries in various
sectors, according to office of the Prime Minister.

PM Dr Abiy for his part shared with the commitment of Ethiopia to deepening the
Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with China, which is enabling critical moves like
restructuring the debt of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway.

The railway project is an early harvest of the Belt and Road Initiative that Ethiopia is part of. In addition to a common understanding on global, regional cooperation and bilateral issues,

PM Dr Abiy also expressed his concern on the detainment of the young female engineer
Nazrawit Abera.

Prime Minister Dr Abiy arrived in China yesterday to attend the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF), which will be held on April 25-27 in Beijing.
This year’s forum will be held under the theme “Belt and Road Cooperation: Shaping a
Brighter Shared Future.”

The forum events include leaders’ round-table, high-level meeting, thematic forums, CEO
conference and other side events.

Representatives from over 100 countries, including 40 leaders of foreign governments have
confirmed their attendance.

The first Belt and Road forum was held in 2017

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By Gebre-Kirstos Abbay

24^th April 2019

The young charismatic leader Prime Minister Doctor Abiy Ahmed celebrated his first anniversary a few weeks ago. Ethiopians all over the world welcomed his leadership as soon as they listened, his first inauguration speech to the parliament. He mentioned the word Ethiopia many times which has been ignored by predecessor EPRDF leaders, namely the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Ato Hailemariam Desalegne. The majority of the people of Ethiopia inland and in exile were delighted to see embracing Prime Minister from the totalitarian regime, TPLF led government.

Despite the fact that opposition parties always have anti-government agenda, they were also in limbo not to be an obstacle for such an optimistic leader. Prime Minister Abiy has taken amazing formidable decisions that could not be dreamt at the presence of Ethiopian Peoples’ Democratic Liberation Front (EPRDF) leadership. He released all political prisoners, journalists that have been considered as terrorists, University students, social media activists and other victims that have been jailed for life with unfounded reasons. Not only this but also, he took the courageous initiative to restore peace and harmony between The Governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The border dispute of Badme in 1998-9 claimed over one hundred thousand innocent lives on both sides. The amount of money lost for armaments and logistics was severely high for the two poor nations. Since then even though there was no war, the area was under intense pressure for both the peoples who reside in the vicinity. The Government of late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi gained not only military supremacy but also managed to propagate smear campaign against President Isaias Afeworki.

Regrettable two and half decades have passed that hindered the socio-economic development of these developing nations. The new Prime Minister Doctor Abiy has thoroughly understood the unnecessary enemy rhetoric that has been fabricated to divide the two nations. Doctor Abiy also opened doors to those who fled their country in fear of persecution, torture and jail sentence, to return to their life without any interrogation.

Even those freedom fighters that were determined to overthrow Woyane led government of Ethiopia by armed struggle were invited to return home and to participate in the new reform peacefully. Among these were Ginbot 7, Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy, and OLF (Oromo Liberation Front).

The People of Ethiopia applauded the young Prime Minister for his wisdom and decisive measures. Nonetheless, there were also wicked faces that have lost power and economically disadvantaged people due to the reform of the new Prime Minister, mainly the ethnic affiliated Woyane (Tigray People’s Liberation Front) and their allies. Most of the key positions have been controlled by them and they were involved in various corruption networks and money laundering business. According to Global Financial Integrity, Ethiopia lost over US$16.5 billion dollars from 2001 to 2010 smuggled from the country illegally, and the major actors were believed to be Woyane groups.

Woyane authorities knew that they have been committing a crime against humanity in the past twenty-seven years, and the atmosphere of the reform didn’t seem to offer them security guarantee for their peaceful survival. The power and authority they had, suddenly evaporated before their eyes, and those who were claiming their lives were invited to return home as political oppositions. Having realized that all the suspecting authorities who had key positions rushed and barracked in Mekele, capital of Tigray which is their native place. Moreover, they have recruited, trained and deployed over sixty thousand well-armed militias, ready to confront if any adversary is observed.

These high officials include Sebhat Nega, Abbay Tsehaye, Seyoum Mesfin, and Getachew Asefa, the head of the security agency who was responsible for the kidnap, torture, and death of innocent citizens. There is immense evidence that these officials took many millions of local and International hard currencies prior to their departure. They have used this money to create instability in various parts of the country and to destruct the rapid pace of the reform.

TPLF Woyane indirectly employed Daud Ibsa who is the leader of OLF (Oromo Liberation Front) at the town of Zalanbessa on the way home from Eritrea, to carry out numerous anti-peace and instability actions, especially in Benshangul and West Wolega regions. The director of OMN (Oromo Media Network) Mr. Jawar Mohammed who acts as Jihad extremist is also approached through a representative, Mr. Alula Solomon who is the leader of Tigray Youth in America.

OMN and OLF acted as a double-edged sword against Doctor Abiy Ahmed’s contentious reforms. Doctor Abiy Ahmed comes from the Oromo tribe and these two organizations presumably work for the benefit of the Oromo people. OLF created security problems in Western Wolega and Benshangul Regions, displacing other ethnic groups but heavily targeting the Amharas and Gurages. In the meantime, Oromo Media Network (OMN) instigates the so-called ‘Kerro’ (Jihad Militia) to defame the gracious works of the Prime Minister. OMN urges Kerro as if Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ignored the advantages of the Oromo people, and to put extra pressure, claiming untimely questions such as land ownership in the city of Addis Ababa to the extent of raising unfair demand of condominium houses as well. Kerro mobs have been noticed carrying machete and nail staffed clubs to intimidate the hopeful candidates.

Condominium houses have been constructed for pre-registered applicants who are committed to saving money in the bank for over five years being anxious to secure their dwelling. While the truth is this, OMN initiates complex issues among the Oromos to forcefully stop the legal distribution of condominium houses to those who have been saving and waiting for a long time. The excuse for such pretext was, the land that the condominium houses constructed belonged to the Oromo farmers who have been displaced with unfair compensation from the City Council of Addis Ababa. Many lawyers and human right activists condemn vehemently propaganda. They say “even if it is true, they should apply for a fair revision to improve their payment from the government rather than taking mob action to stop the distribution.”

It was at this critical point the prominent human activist and renowned journalist Eskinder Nega took the initiation to voice the victims of Addis Ababa. The Acting Mayor Engineer Takele Umma who is also from the Oromo ethnic group seems reluctant to obey the prompt recommendations of OMN instead of taking orthodox decisions. There are sufficient shreds of evidence that the mayor himself was involved in this dirty game of denial.

The President of Oromo region Mr. Lemma Megerssa who is believed to be one of the engines of the reform has also been suspected to be part of this conspiracy that downgraded his reputation. Mr. Megerssa has been detected several times making paradoxical speeches that have negative meanings when translated. He speaks positive things in Amharic and negative things in the Oromo language, this type of injustice gave support to the Mayor and OMN, while the reverse is true for the victims.

Oromo complex is the main factor that became the driving force to such an illegal claim. The President has been heard saying that he is trying to undergo social engineering to radically change the demography of Addis Ababa. He said that he has convinced about five hundred thousand Oromos from Somali region to resettle them around the capital. Almost all the employees of the Oromo region have been also issued land and house so that they will be part of the residence of Addis Ababa.

Prior to these, eighteen banks have been systematically vandalized the same day in the Oromo region. This type of daylight robbery would suggest as premeditated action taken to cover the heavy burden of logistical costs of the resettlement program. On the other hand, over five hundred thousand Gedo people were forcefully displaced by Oromo extremists from Guji zone where they lived over centuries. A few weeks ago on the 6th of April 2019, OLF organized armed troops suddenly attacked Amhara dwellings of Ataye town, Kar-Kore, Kemise, Majete, Chererto, Ephrata and surrounding localities, in Northern Showa Zone; and applied their primitive Geda system to displace, rob, and loot the belongings of the victims.

Immediately after the incidence, the Federal Defense Forces arrived at the area but didn’t take action to stop the raids for they didn’t receive orders from higher authorities to act accordingly. The Amharas, who lost confidence in the pro-OLF government, were finally obliged to defend themselves. Over 15 lives have been recorded lost with numerous civilian injuries. OMN director Mr. Jawar Mohammed tried to cover up the deeds of OLF to divert the case towards TPLF, but Amhara authorities have disproved the infidel report, asserting the invaders were totally OLF armed troops.

Having known all this Dr. Abiy had no gut to denounce the actions of both parties for all of them are Oromos. It is clear that Dr. Abiy Ahmed is also suffering from the notion of Oromo complex for he didn’t dare to rise up being fair and just. He didn’t even dare to destroy the imaginary tale Anole statue that was erected in Arsi region by TPLF Woyane as divisive pictogram between the Oromo and Amhara peoples. He is not willing to remove the blue circle star sign from the National Flag that is not accepted by Ethiopians. He seems comfortable with article 39 of the Constitution which is the mother of division, misery, and hatred.  Oromo Complex is a very sophisticated thing that is difficult to understand leave alone by other ethnic groups but also by the Oromos themselves. The elites propagate as if the Oromo Geda System is denied by the ruling class of the Ethiopian Monarchs as well as by the Orthodox Christian Church Leaders.

This allegation is far from the truth, for the first instance the Oromo Gada system is not that much to be proud of instead, it is very shameful, primitive, and barbaric practices. The so-called Geda System has eight years of five developmental stages. The first eight years is considered as a kid. The second eight years is taken as a teenager that participates in herding cattle. The third stage is recruited as youth ready to participate in the raids and looting of neighboring agriculturalists that live in highlands permanently. At this point, all Oromo youth and older are marching to the highlands at night and raid whatever is available and run with the booty to the lowlands where they live as nomadic pastoralists.

They have no clear doctrine of worship but they say God has sent three books to the world namely the Holy Bible to the Jews and Christians, The Quran to the Muslims and another book for the Oromos. The Jews and the Muslims picked the books and used them but the Oromo father neglected it and a black cow found it and consumed it. Then Black cows in the Oromo ethnic group are taken as sacred animals (The Oromo of Ethiopia 1500-1850 by Mohammed Hassen). When the black cows are dead their stomachs will be taken out to be read by wise Oromos who have the talent of reading the lost book, which is totally superstition and myth. Such infidel cheats are known as Aba Muda who is considered as a priest. Aba Muda will be visited by most of the Oromos once a year as a pilgrimage to get a blessing and to be anointed with butter by him.

The fourth stage group that is between the ages 24-32 will be selected to travel long distances as scouts to spy the next villages to be a raid. They study the number of people in that area the number of cattle they have and the type of weapon they carry and feed the information back to the Aba Gedas. The Aba Gedas will consider the power they have in comparison to the report they received from the scouts. Then they will go to weak areas like thunder and lightning in the middle of the night, raid everything and run away to the lowlands where they cannot be traced. The fifth stage is the time when the Aba Geda will be elected.

There are different leaders in the Aba Geda system.

Aba Geda is the leader of the community. Aba Dula is like a gang leader that is in charge of commanding the raid and looting campaign. Aba Boku is a spokesperson that explains the decision of the Aba Geda conference. Aba Sera is a retired person, over forty years of age and serves as a judge, etc. Whatsoever, this system is organized not to innovate new things but only strives on how to loot and rob other ethnic groups belongings by force.

Here there is another main thing that should be explained why such unlawful practices have become part of the norms to the backward Oromo ethnic group. In the Oromo culture, the firstborn son is the only child to inherit his parents’ property. The rest of the siblings are not allowed to share their parents’ wealth. Due to this fact, the others organize themselves and go somewhere to rob and kick start their independent life. After they get their share from the swag they will find their own new place and never go back to reside where they grew up. Because of this, the Geda system supports raids, looting and robbing other ethnic groups, which is disgusting and immoral. The Ethiopian Monarchs stopped such barbaric behavior and taught them even to wear clothes and start to stay in one area and do farming, instead of wandering from place to place following the tails of their cattle as pastoralists.

The Oromos used to piercing the vain and drain the blood of their animal alive, mix it with milk and drink it. One can imagine how barbaric it is and also the Holy Bible forbids such cruelty. For this reason, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church taught them to give up such type of inhuman behavior and to be kind and fair to animals. There are other superstitious practices accustomed by the Oromos such us worshipping a sycamore tree, (Adbar) smudging the bark with butter, and hanging slain chickens on the branches. Not only this but also rapping songs (wodaja) for fairies and calling of evil spirits to act as fortune tellers.

In spite of the fact that due to those two dedicated institutions they are transformed as modern peoples, but the Oromo elites try to hide the truth and accuse the Ethiopian Monarchs and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church which is a disgrace. Even recently though it was purposefully designed by TPLF in the 1990s’the Oromo elites were motivated to use Latin alphabets known as Qubee instead of very rich Geez alphabets. This shows that they feel being modern to cover their inferiority complex. Because of this, the new Oromo generation is denied to communicate with the diverse Ethiopian communities.

All these types of allegations are derived from an inferiority complex, but nothing else. Even now in the twenty-first century Oromo elites have no shame when they claim the capital city Addis Ababa as their territory, and demand special benefit for the Oromo people, denying other citizens. Dr. Abiy Ahmed who seems to be far ahead from the rest of the Oromo elites is believed to understand the reality, but lack the courage to confront those extremists like OLF and OMN.

On the contrary, the Amharas are far beyond the Oromos in everything. They are proud Ethiopians, fear God and believe that every human being is equal. They are confident in themselves and never be tempted to take advantage at the expense of someone else. Amharas love education and wisdom especially more in spiritual than secular life. They have written many books on animal hides and skins prior to the invention of paper.

The above history is just a synopsis but there are many that should be heart-breaking if they are mentioned to the public. Overcompensation is the sign of inferiority complex. Then Oromo complex is an incurable disease to Dr. Abiy Ahmed’s Government, Ethiopian contemporary reform and developmental harmony, unless and otherwise OMN (which acts as either Oromo Media Network or Oromo Muslim Network) and OLF (Oromo Liberation Front) are tamed by the exclusive force of law.

Oromo complex is a very big challenge to Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed’s government. Though there are still hopes to expedite the transitional reform the majority of Oromo elites are in delusion to take advantage bearing the slogan “Ke-enya” (belongs to Oromos only) in their minds instead of supporting the Prime Minister. Due to this fact, many key positions in the government have been taken by the Oromos and they are claiming even more. In the end, such injustice and unsatisfied greed will eventually act as terminal cancer and harm the visions and aspirations of this young Prime Minister. May God help him!

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War of words escalates between the two legends of distance running

Sean Ingle

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Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD)

Often described as mothers to the nations their husbands lead, Africa’s first ladies are often expected to be unifying figures, serving the president of the nation and the voters who entrusted him the mandate to lead.

A first lady by definition is the wife of the head of state, and it therefore follows that most African nations led by a male president, has a first lady.

As of March 2019, all African countries have male heads of state. The last female head of state who led an African nation was Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, whose tenure expired in January 2018.

Across the continent, several first ladies have been recognised, applauded and sometimes vilified for the roles they play to support the politics of their husbands.

As we celebrate women in the month of March and beyond, Africanews shall publish the profiles and work of different African first ladies, highlighting their politics and activism among other issues.

In this article, you will find the details of the following First Ladies;

• Rwanda’s Jeanette Kagame
• Gabon’s Sylvia Bongo Ondimba
• Egypt’s Entissar Amer
• Uganda’s Janet Museveni
• Ethiopia’s Zinash Tayachew
• Kenya’s Margaret Kenyatta
• Cameroon’s Chantal Biya

Rwanda’s Jeanette Kagame

• Full name / age: Jeannette Nyiramongi Kagame/ 56 years old
• Mandate: First Lady since 24 March, 2000
• Profession: holds a degree in Business and Management Science
• Politics: plays a symbolic supporting role to her husband’s political career
• Advocacy: runs Imbuto Foundation, whose mission is to support the development of a healthy, educated and prosperous society
• Family: Wife to president Paul Kagame since 1989, the couple have four biological children together.

Jeannette Kagame hosted the first African First Ladies’ Summit on Children and HIV/AIDS Prevention in May 2001 in Kigali, Rwanda, and co-founded the Organisation of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) in 2002. She served as the OAFLA president from 2004 until 2006.

The Imbuto Foundation – which means “seed” in Kinyarwanda, established in 2007, extends basic care and economic support to HIV affected families and has various programmes in health, education, youth and economic empowerment.

READ MORE: Jeanette Kgame’s Imbuto Foundation

Gabon’s Sylvia Bongo Ondimba

• Full name / age: Sylvia Bongo Ondimba/ 56 years old
• Mandate: First Lady since 16 October 2009
• Profession: Entrepreneur
• Politics: plays a symbolic supporting role to her husband’s political career
• Advocacy: runs the Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Foundation which is dedicated to ‘improving plight of vulnerable and disadvantaged people around the world’.
• Family: Wife to president Ali Bongo Ondimba since 1989, the couple have four biological children together. They also adopted a child in 2002.

Born in Paris on March 11, 1963 to French parents, Slyvia spent most of her childhood in Cameroon and Tunisia before moving to Gabon in 1974. Sylvia’s mother, Evelyne Valentin, was President Bongo Ondimba’s secretary.

READ MORE: The Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Foundation

Egypt’s Entissar Amer

• Full name / age: Entissar Mohameed Amer/ 62 years old
• Mandate: First Lady since 8 June, 2014
• Profession: Ain-Shams University graduate (Bachelor of Commerce-Accounting)
• Politics: plays a symbolic supporting role to her husband’s political career
• Advocacy: is dedicated to raising her family, and has reportedly turned down opportunities to work and build a career or personal legacy.
• Family: Wife to president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi since 1977, the couple have four children together.

Al Arabiya reported that Amer is Sisi’s maternal cousin, who the president fell in love with while the two were still in high school. They got married after Sisi graduated from the military academy in 1977.

Uganda’s Janet Museveni

• Full name / age: Janet Kataaha Museveni/ 70 years old
• Mandate: First Lady since 29 January 1986
• Profession: Teacher by profession, politician by practice
• Politics: Has served as an MP,and is currently a cabinet minister in charge of education and sports
• Advocacy: Founded an NGO dedicated to supporting children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, and also champions causes for the youth, women and children.
• Family: Wife to president Yoweri Museveni since August 1973, the couple have four children together.

Janet has consistently supported her husband’s political ambitions, and lived in exile from 1971 until 1979, and again from 1981 until Museveni’s resistance movement captured power in 1986.

In 2005, Janet expressed her ambition to join active politics and won a parliamentary seat in the 2006 general elections. She was re-elected in 2011, but did not seek re-election in 2016.

READ MORE: Uganda’s First Lady

Ethiopia’s Zinash Tayachew

• Full name / age: Zinash Tayachew Bere/ 41 years old
• Mandate: First Lady since 2 April, 2018
• Advocacy: Committed to supporting children’s needs in education. Has initiatives to enhance nutrition, mental health, women’s economic empowerment and protection of the most vulnerable.
• Family: Has three daughters with prime minister Abiy Ahmed, and in August 2018, the couple adopted a son.

ALSO READ: Ethiopia PM cheered for publicly showing affection to first lady

Zinash told her fellow first ladies at a meeting in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa in February that she was planning to build 20 high schools, 15 of which are under construction.

‘‘I have planned to construct boarding schools for the blind and the disabled. I also support institutions for the elderly and work on similar issues,’‘ Zinash said.

The Office of the First Lady says through her charity work that includes providing support to the ‘disabled and special needs communities’, Zinash has become ‘a hope for so many’.

Prior to taking up her role as First Lady, Zinash lived with her three daughters, in the United States.

READ MORE: Office of the First Lady of Ethiopia

Kenya’s Margaret Kenyatta

• Full name / age: Margaret Gakuo Kenyatta/ 54 years old
• Mandate: First Lady since 9 April, 2013
• Politics: Frequently campaigns with president Uhuru Kenyatta, meeting women’s groups to advance his political agenda.
• Advocacy: Runs ‘Beyond Zero’ initiative that focuses on maternal and child health issues.
• Family: Wife to president Uhuru Kenyatta since 1991, have three children together.

Margaret is liked by many Kenyans for her simplicity in regard to her dressing, nature and manner.

“She is my friend, partner and strong supporter. Strong and successful women make a strong and successful Kenya,’‘ president Kenyatta said of the first lady in 2018.

READ MORE: Office of the Kenyan First Lady

Cameroon’s Chantal Biya

• Full name / age: Chantal Biya (born Chantal Pulchérie Vigouroux)/ 48 years old
• Mandate: First Lady since 23 April, 1994
• Politics: Leads women in Biya’s ruling party as honorary president of OFRDPC.
• Advocacy: Founder, Chantal Biya Foundation, committed to humanitarian work
• Family: Wife to president Paul Biya since 1994, has two children with Biya.

Chantal is nicknamed Lioness of Cameroon, thanks to her extravagant hairstyles.

READ MORE: The office of the First Lady in Cameroon

First Lady of the week: Nigeria’s Aisha Buhari

• Full name / age: Aisha Muhammadu Buhari / 48 years old
• Profession: Beautician, entrepreneur and publisher
• Politics: Vocal critic of the former government, of Buhari and some of his appointees
• Advocacy: Women and Children’s Rights activist, head of “Future Assured Foundation.”
• Family: Wife to president Muhammadu Buhari since 1989, has five children with Buhari.

Aisha Buhari in photos

The office of First Lady

While the position of first lady is not legally or constitutionally provided for in many countries, many presidencies cater for the Office of the First Lady, through which the holder is facilitated to implement projects towards social causes, and often influence policy.

The Organisation of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD), created in 2002, brings together First Ladies of Africa ‘to advocate for policies that make health services accessible and laws that boost women and youth empowerment’.

‘‘First Ladies of Africa reinforce favorable policies and programs through advocacy, resource mobilization and development of partnerships with all stakeholders at all levels,’‘ reads part of the statement on the OAFLAD website.

OAFLAD is currently led by First Lady of Burkina Faso, Adjoavi Sika Kabore, who is deputised by her Kenyan counterpart Margaret Kenyatta.

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By Dr. Abdusebur Jemal

Ever since he emerged as the new leader of Ethiopia, Dr. Abiy Ahmed has crafted a new style of leadership hitherto unknown to the ears, mind and heart of Ethiopians. Indeed, when you look at his achievements so far, it is remarkable both in terms of substance and style. Where as it used to be that Ethiopians lingered in prison for simply writing, now they can freely speak and write. Where as the opposition parties used to be on the run, now they can join him at the palace and have substantive conversations over coffee. Not only that, even the tension between Eritrea and Ethiopia has decreased from “no war, no peace” to the historic meeting of Isayas Afwerki and Dr. Ahmed both in Asmara and Addis Ababa.

However, Dr. Abiy excelled in his quest to try to change the minds of Ethiopians. Ethiopia is an ancient country with proud but also tragic history. With being old comes wisdom. Sometimes being old also has its own baggage. For example, previous Ethiopian governments tended to represent and cater to the interest of specific segments of the population. Prior to the Dergue, the monarchy tended to prefer the Christians and specifically the Amhara elites and this is clearly evident if one looks at modern Ethiopia from cultural, religious and political and economic prisms. The Dergue was focused more on ideology and while it was a brutal regime that was unabashed about its genocidal intent, it was the first institution that made an attempt at forming an inclusive Ethiopia. And the Amhara elites lost the raw political and economic power under the Dergue regime while maintaining the cultural and linguistic supremacy.

The emergence of the Tigrean hegemons under the umbrella of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) changed the dynamic from nation-state to ethno-national model of governance. In the beginning, the Tigreans were given the benefit of the doubt but they would eventually succumb to the corrupting influence of money and power; they ended up establishing a Tigrean empire but with a new rhetoric of ethnic and religious equality. To be fair, the Tigrean elites understood that there are legitimate differences and aspirations among the people of Ethiopia. And they did allow people like the Oromos to exercise the freedom to develop their culture via things like language.

Still, their desire to control every aspect of the life of Ethiopians as seen in their unreasonable persecution of the Muslims of Ethiopia backfired. What destroyed the Tigrean grip on power was the youth protest from the Oromos and later from the Amhara group which presented a significant challenge to the Tigrean rule. Yet Ethiopia is still at cross-roads as just in the last three years alone, thousands have died and millions have been displaced. Some of these issues are still on going. And it is against this backdrop that social media and some people who supported Abiy started questioning his leadership capabilities. In fact it is alarming that some are calling for military take over while others are calling for his ouster. What Ethiopians who are turning on Dr. Abiy do not understand is that a dictatorship that took more than 60 years to build cannot be taken down in one year. If anything, we can face a situation like that of Egypt where millions marched and thousands died. Then due to mass propaganda from the Egyptian military and the secular people who irrationally hated the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptians ended up overthrowing a democratic government and now they are under the grip of the most brutal dictatorship in the history of Egypt. El sisi has killed thousands of Egyptians and he will kill more to say in power forever. I am not saying the government of Dr. Abiy is democtratically elected or his party is similar to the Muslim Brotherhood but if Ethiopians do not give democracy a chance we could face the fate that Egyptians are facing today. Hence these calls by Ethiopians are unfounded and they are based on emotion rather than reasoning. Here are the reasons why Dr. Abiy is still the best man for the job:

Ethnic Federalism:

• Ethiopia is still following Ethnic federalism which means big states like Oromia accept Dr. Abiy’s leadership not because he will bring them honey and milk but because he speaks directly to their aspirations for a better future. And as long as Dr. Abiy continues to implement policies that are address their needs, he has the support of states like Oromia. Now, there are Oromo activists who try to undermine Dr. Abiy but they will fail unless they come up with ideas and policies that are better than the prime minister’s one. And it is reasonable to argue that other states want to hold onto Ethnic federalism at least for now. This attitude might change in the future but for now the status quo remains in the form of Ethnic federalism.
• The current dominant narrative put forward by “Ethiopian Unity” wants to dismantle the current federal arrangement based on Ethnic federalism. While I understand their frustration, Dr. Abiy is not officially elected and does not have the mandate to touch Ethnic federalism. But if the Ethiopian unity camp wants to genuinely address the issue of Ethnic federalism, they need to sit down and come up with reasonable alternatives. Emotional tantrums do not change facts on the ground. Millions of youth in Ethiopia grew up with the mind-set of Ethnic federalism and do not even speak Amharic so there is no one formula that can be applied to unite the country as envisioned by the so called defenders of one Ethiopia.
• Ethnic federalism did not come out of a vacuum: it was a project that was borne out of decades of frustration and abuse. Many ethnic groups agreed to the formation of Ethnic federalism as a legitimate solution to the years of economic , cultural and political marginalization. Contrary to the popular assumption, ethnic federalism was not the sole work of TPLF. The Oromos, Southerners and Somalis all supported the project. And it would be wise to find out and speak to the needs of these communities before the arm chair generals and interment freedom fighters declare ethnic federalism dead. It requires smart policy and intelligent debate—something that people who hate Ethnic federalism are not currently engaged in.

Media:

• It would serve all of us to be careful about the cancerous nature of media: the TPLF used to be accused of using propaganda to promote its ideology (eg Jihadawi Harakat and Akel Dema). The fake documentaries they ran on state TV regarding the opposition and the Muslim movement was rightly condemned because of the irreparable damage and harm they caused Ethiopians. Likewise, many media outlets are resorting to innuendo and heresy to confuse the public. Here, the people in media will also be responsible if Ethiopia fails to get rid of dictatorship. It is not just Dr. Abiy and his leadership but those who participate willingly or unwillingly are also responsible for failing the aspirations of millions of poor Ethiopians, which are bread, freedom and justice.
• How is Media spreading innuendo; for example, ESAT recently told its audience that they had a damaging information on Dr. Abiy. This was later found to be a hoax. Even if it is true, there is no point of telling your audience the fact that Dr. Abiy used to work in the intelligence service of Ethiopia. Indeed, Dr. Abiy might even have participated in the killing of Ethiopians. The people of Ethiopia supported and continue to support Dr. Abiy because he did tangible things like releasing thousands of political prisoners. He respects the people of Ethiopia which is what we should expect from leaders. Not just TV, but print media and social media is rife with conspiracy theory and this is dangerous especially for Ethiopians where illiteracy is significantly high. There is no national agenda that is served if the people in the business of media misinform their audience. Constructive criticism is warranted and highly encouraged but spreading lie is dangerous for Ethiopia where ethnic and religious differences remain highly politicized. Perhaps Ethiopians are not used to this kind of freedom where anyone with a microphone can scream and tries to make a point but informed debate requires a wise mind. And it would benefit all of us if we take the time to reflect on issues before we type or open our mouths.
• Unfounded Phobia: it is a shame that there is a huge propaganda mill suggesting that Oromos are replacing Tigreans as a new hegemon. First, as an Oromo I do not see this point. If this is the case Ethiopians will fight it just like they fought against others. Just because you have some leaders in the position of power, it does not mean they are benefiting Oromos. Oromos are still being displaced and they are still poor. It is premature to suggest that they are taking over places like Addis Ababa, a city that is home to millions of mixed people. Again, unless people have proof, they should not engage in falsehood which does not serve the national agenda. If anything, Dr. Abiy should be commended for bringing hardcore Oromo nationalists to the forefront of Ethiopian politics. Yes, he should be criticized for poor performance and for not doing enough to for example stop the displacement of millions of Ethiopians. But to accuse Oromos of taking over Ethiopia is childish. When Oromos used to call for indepdendece they were condemned for being extremist and narrow-minded. When they try to come to the center of Ethiopian politics, they are accused of taking over state power. Those who claim to commit to the unity of Ethiopia need to make up their mind; you can not have it both ways.

The risk of failure:

• Abiy is unique in that he understands the historical make up of Ethiopians. And he deeply cares about the welfare of the nation. I am not arguing that the man is perfect. And no politician is perfect as we see from the experience of the United States, a mature democracy is in the midist of political upheaval. And it is a mistake to assume that Ethiopians can adopt democracy overnight.
• Ethiopians have never had a culture of democracy: this just means that it will take time to develop the culture of open debate, agree to disagree, the sharing of power, the respect for people who share different political views, religious freedom and the use of politics for the purposes of the common good.
• Many people made the mistake of assuming Dr. Abiy would usher in an area where elections are held overnight, the dictatorship that was in place for at least hundreds of years will evaporate. This perhaps comes from the fact that many Ethiopians attach political leadership to religious sentiments—this is a mistake. A politician is a person who can lie and our job is to elect someone who can lie less and get the job done.
• If the challenge to Dr. Abiy continues, we can end up with a civil war that no one can control. For this reason, it is better to work with Dr. Abiy and make sure that democracy that works for everyone can finally come to Ethiopia. The prime minister makes mistakes, and this is evident in his inability to control violence. I understand that Ethiopians love to spill blood and engage in wanton violence especially when it comes to politics and Dr. Abiy is right to show significant restraint. But Dr. Abiy needs to take swift action and destroy forces that are responsible for displacement of millions of Ethiopians. This is an organized crime that needs to be tackled urgently.

Stockholm Syndrome:

• There is no doubt that after being abused by successive Ethiopian governments, many Ethiopians long for strong man. But this is a mistake for many reasons. First, we can end up losing the whole revolution or reform to a military dictator that will control Ethiopia for the rest of our life. It is easy to call in the military but there is no civilized country that has prospered while being ruled by military.
• Much of the middle east and Africa were destroyed and are being destroyed because of the deep hold that the military has on these countries and societies. We should do our best to keep the military out of politics. And Dr. Abiy is doing a great job of educating the military on the need to focus on their duty and not try to run the country which will be disastrous on so many levels. The reason why Ethiopia is poor as a lot to do with the fact that we have been ruled by military or people who had deep connection to the military.
• Bringing back killers and people who use power as instrument does not address critical issues facing Ethiopia. Ethiopian elites need to put aside their egos and work toward a path that will pave the way for true democracy. That can come if every Ethiopian begins to think that everyone has access to bread, justice and freedom. Anything short of that is likely to fail.

A call for a new Ethiopia: guideline

• The current government of Ethiopia led by Dr. Abiy is not perfect but it is the best hope Ethiopians have and we need to work on making it more perfect than undermine it
• The government of Dr. Abiy should not listen to activists of any tribe or group. Dr. Abiy should do what he thinks is right all people of Ethiopia regardless of their ethnic or religious background
• Ethiopian academics including those inside and outside of the country should gather to debate the future of the country. The gigantic failure of Ethiopian elites led to the current situation where politics of zero sum game gave rise to Ethnic politics
• Media people should be cognizant of their reporting and report only the facts without sensationalism. The idea of journalists like Eskinder Nega forming committee to protect cities like Addis is dangerous because it undermines the work of journalists. This is called taking matter into one’s own hand and it is not democracy. Journalists should do journalism and politicians should do politics.
• Abiy should communicate directly with the Ethiopian people and should remain transparent and honest with his policies
• Ethiopians have a chance to engage in peaceful transfer of power and they should protect this opportunity at all cost.
• Opposition parties should work on their policies instead of blindly criticizing the Abiy government
• Finally, there is a chance that the current government could slid into the abyss of dictatorship and Ethiopians must use every peaceful means to preserve the newly found freedom and not abuse it
• International community: they should help protect the nascent democracy and this will be helpful as many countries are facing a huge blow in terms of refugees. If war breaks out in Ethiopia it will create a catastrophe that is hard to handle. The US should treat Ethiopia as a legitimate ally instead of a security partner and help make the transition to true democracy.
• Ethiopians should develop a sense of curiosity. So far, many Ethiopians I talk to exhibit a disease that is full of self-righteous and self-confidence. The reality requires somber reflection of the dire situation we are in. Yes, we have the opportunity to be a superpower in Africa. But only if we seize the opportunity unconditionally. And showing respect toward each other and treating each other with understanding and compassion is start. Like Dr. Abiy said, Ethiopia does not have “Jegna” but we have the chance to create one and this jegna will not come from the battle field but instead he will be the one that will uplift Ethiopia from the valley of violence, poverty and disease and most crucially ignorance.\

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National Endowment for Democracy calls for banning tribal politics in Ethiopia

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There are only about 500 Ethiopian wolves left in the wild—and they face a number of growing threats. One non-profit is working to save them.

JAYMI HEIMBUCH

APR 25, 2019

A thick layer of frost blankets the landscape, creating a gauzy haze over the tans and pale greens of the Ethiopian Highlands. Amid the frozen stillness, a rust-colored lump dusted in rime stirs. A black nose appears from beneath a thick tail, and two ears twitch atop an elegantly long head. At last, the wolf rises, arches its back in a long stretch, and shakes. Nearby, several other pack members rise as well, touching noses in greeting. Pups, just weeks old, emerge from a shallow den and begin playing, scrambling over rocks, tugging at each other’s tails. As the sky brightens, the adults trot off to patrol the edge of the group’s territory and begin the day’s hunt.

These highlands, which stretch across much of central and northern Ethiopia, are home to some of Africa’s highest peaks. They’re also the last—the only—stronghold of the continent’s rarest carnivore: the Ethiopian wolf. This is no easy place to make a living. At elevations of 10,000 to nearly 15,000 feet, conditions here are nothing if not harsh. Temperatures frequently dip below freezing, winds howl, and dry seasons can be long and punishing. But the organisms of the highlands have had time to adapt to their surroundings. With the exception of the giant lobelia, most plants here hug the ground, and many of the animals go a step further, seeking shelter below the surface.

Burrowing rodents are some of the most abundant wildlife on the highlands. In some places, the ground practically simmers with small, scampering animals. It’s no wonder, then, that the region’s top predator would have become a small-mammal specialist. Descended from gray wolf ancestors that arrived on the highlands from Eurasia around 100,000 years ago, and marooned on these Afroalpine “islands,” the wolves here have adapted to their new niche. They evolved to become smaller and leaner, with long snouts perfectly suited for snatching giant mole rats retreating into their burrows. Their coloring shifted to a rusty golden hue to blend in with the summer ground cover.

While the small size of their prey necessitates a solo hunting strategy, Ethiopian wolves have retained many of their ancestors’ behaviors, including their complex social structures; they live in tight-knit family groups, each made up of a dominant breeding pair and subordinates that help to raise the young and defend territories. Within these groups, there is a clear hierarchy reinforced by regular, ritualized greetings.

Highly adapted though they are, Ethiopian wolves are struggling to survive. There are currently only about 500 left in the world, distributed among six isolated populations, all on the highlands, and that number has fluctuated dramatically in recent years. The Bale Mountains in the southeast is home to the largest of the six populations, with around 250 individuals living in multiple family packs. This is where researchers at the non-profit Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Program have focused most of their efforts to learn about the wolves and the threats they face, and to try to protect the species from extinction.

While Ethiopian wolves have persisted on these Afroalpine mountains for millennia, scientists and conservationists are rightly concerned about their future. Yes, the carnivores are at the top of the food chain, they face little persecution from humans, and their prey is relatively abundant. Yet, despite these advantages, researchers who have spent decades studying these charismatic animals and who know them best have witnessed the species’ precarious wobble between existence and demise here on the “Roof of Africa.” Now they’re doing everything in their power to ensure the wolves’ survival.

Many threats have come together to push the wolves into their current unsteady circumstances, but three in particular are most pressing. Direct human encroachment on the wolves’ habitat is the most obvious of these threats. Ethiopia currently has the fastest-growing human population in Africa and this is increasingly pushing people deeper into wolf territory as they seek out land for their farms and livestock. The increased human activity drives wolves into hiding during the day, affecting the time that they can spend hunting and increasing physiological stress.

An increase in the number of people in an area also means a rise in the number of grazing animals. Overgrazing and soil compaction by herds of livestock can degrade the fragile highland habitat and reduce prey availability.

“In optimal habitat, packs are large, typically with six adult and sub-adult wolves, but as many as 18,” says Jorgelina Marino, EWCP’s science director. And this doesn’t include the pups born to the pack’s dominant female in any given year. “In less productive areas, which have less prey, and in areas where wolves are disturbed, packs are as small as two to three wolves, plus [that year’s] pups if they breed,” she says.

This increasing human encroachment is a major concern for Marino and other wolf scientists. However, along with the people and their livestock comes a third and more troubling threat: disease, especially rabies and canine distemper virus (CDV). Both of these diseases are relatively well controlled in most developed nations. But in many developing countries, where even human health is underfunded, systematic vaccination programs for animal diseases simply don’t exist. Domestic and feral dogs are frequent carriers of rabies and distemper and can, in turn, pass these diseases on to wild animals.

In the highlands, the dogs of herders are semi-feral, used more as an alarm system against leopards and spotted hyenas than as shepherds. They are not spayed or neutered, nor vaccinated, and they are left to their own devices to find food and water. That means they head out to hunt the same rodent prey as the wolves, bringing the two predators into contact with one another.

“Our studies have demonstrated that domestic dog populations are the reservoir of rabies in the landscapes where Ethiopian wolves live,” Marino says. “Outbreaks in wolves are always associated [with] outbreaks in nearby dogs.”

Diseases like rabies and distemper are particularly problematic for highly social species like Ethiopian wolves. If one member of a pack comes into contact with infected dogs, or with the remains of infected animals, while out hunting, it can spread the disease to the rest of the pack in a matter of days. If that pack encounters wolves from other packs, the disease can spread quickly through the entire population.

In 1991, conservation biologist Claudio Sillero was in the highlands studying Ethiopian wolves for his doctoral research when he witnessed the impact of a rabies outbreak. He found carcass after carcass, watching the majority of the animals he had studied die. He made it his mission to protect the species from extinction. In 1995, alongside Karen Laurenson, Sillero formed the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Program.

“It was very hard to see animals I had got to know so well perish to rabies,” Sillero says. “That convinced me that we had to do something about it. In 1994 we confirmed that the population had not recovered from the 1990–91 outbreak, and suspected CDV, which was reported in dogs. That was when we considered an intervention to vaccinate domestic dogs,” he says. Silero and colleagues began this effort the following year.

Since that time, he and his team have worked in conjunction with several partners, including the Born Free Foundation, the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, and the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority, to get ahead of disease outbreaks and build a buffer between wolves and neighboring humans and domestic dogs.

The Bale Mountain population has been hit by repeated rabies outbreaks over the past 30 years, including in 1991, 2003, 2008, and 2014. In the early ’90s, the estimated wolf population was reduced from 440 to 160 in just a couple of years, underscoring the disease’s alarming potential to wipe out significant portions of the population in the blink of an eye. And in every outbreak, scientists confirmed that the wolves had contracted the disease from domestic dogs.

Outbreaks of distemper in 2006, 2010, and 2015 in the Bale Mountains also took a significant toll. In 2010, one quarter of adult and subadult wolves in the region died from distemper. The loss of adults impacts a group’s ability to raise pups to adulthood. Only three of the 25 pups born to packs that researchers monitored during the 2010 breeding season survived to the subadult stage, representing just a 12 percent survival rate—a significant drop from the typical survival rate of 25 to 40 percent. In 2015, another distemper outbreak wiped out approximately half of the affected population.

The Bale Mountain wolves have been the focus of the team’s work for both biological and historical reasons. “Bale is where more than half of the global population lives, where the animals live at highest density, and where they are easier to observe and study,” Marino says. “Disease outbreaks have been recurrent, possibly because of the large number of animals and high densities, all of which favor epizootics. Also, in the earlier years, due to civil war and social unrest we could not travel freely in the mountains of north Ethiopia; by 1997 we were able to expand our activities to cover all the species’ range.”

Wolf populations are always subject to cyclical crashes and recovery periods as diseases hit and packs rebound. But if another outbreak strikes before a pack has had a chance to recover, it is more likely to wipe out the pack altogether. Scientists worry that the one-two punch of a rabies outbreak immediately followed by a distemper outbreak, like the combination that occurred in both 2010 and 2015, is exactly the scenario that could lead to extinction should it happen again.

Fortunately, EWCP has been working to implement a vaccination program that will protect the wolves from disease outbreaks. Rabies has been effectively wiped out among domestic dogs in the United States, and distemper is also under control in most areas, so there is little doubt that a vaccination regime has the potential to pull the Ethiopian wolf back from the ledge of extinction. Putting that program into practice, however, is far easier said than done.

The current vaccination effort is two-pronged, with the first focused on domestic dogs. The EWCP vaccinates an average of 5,000 domestic dogs annually in hopes of slowing the disease.

In the past, villagers have been tentative about vaccinating their dogs, worrying that the immunizations might make the dogs lazy, more dependent on village resources, and less helpful as predator alarms. However, educational programs by EWCP have now successfully demonstrated to villagers that vaccinations keep their dogs healthier and therefore allow them to work more productively.

Inoculating domestic dogs has also led to a drop in the number of rabies cases among humans and livestock—a pattern that local communities have started to see and appreciate first-hand. In villages where dogs have not been vaccinated, rabies affects roughly 14.3 percent of the community’s humans, livestock, and dogs. With vaccination, that figure drops to just 1.8 percent for livestock and dogs, and the risk to humans all but disappears.

The EWCP’s educational campaigns not only boost support for rabies and distemper vaccinations, they also help local communities understand how stewardship of the entire ecosystem plays a key role in keeping the habitats on which they depend healthy and thriving.

To date, EWCP has vaccinated more than 85,000 dogs. This effort provides a much needed buffer, but it isn’t a solution in and of itself. The population of dogs continues to grow, and new dogs are constantly introduced to the area as people move their herds around and new litters are born. Scientists know that preventing disease outbreaks will require vaccinating the wolves as well.

In 2011, the EWCP team was given permission by the Ethiopian government to start a pilot program testing oral vaccinations for the wolves. They used a baiting strategy with an oral attenuated live vaccine, which has been used successfully in bait drops in the U.S. to eradicate rabies in coyote and raccoon populations, and in Europe among foxes. The protocol worked so well that they have used the same delivery vehicle for the past eight years. The vaccine is held within a packet hidden inside a hunk of goat meat; as a wolf bites down, the vaccine coats the mucus membranes in its mouth and is absorbed into the animal’s system. Once delivered, it provides immunity for at least three years, though Marino notes that immunity likely lasts longer.

Team members on horseback distribute baits at night, an approach that minimizes stress on the wolves. Whenever a wolf takes the bait, a team member records the identity of the wolf and how much bait was consumed. During the initial pilot, the team trapped the wolves a few weeks later to find out what percentage of the pack had been vaccinated and thereby determine the efficacy of the strategy.

The team learned that if they could vaccinate just 40 percent of a family pack for rabies, with a focus on immunizing the breeding male and female, they could boost the survival chances of the family pack by as much as 90 percent. Some members may still succumb to the disease, but the pack as a whole will persist and rebuild its numbers.

Before EWCP started its pilot vaccination study, a rabies outbreak would wipe out anywhere from 50 to 75 percent of the wolf population in the region. But the most recent outbreak in 2014 told a different story: Less than 10 percent of the region’s wolves were killed by the disease. The combination of a rapid on-the-ground response by the team to vaccinate as many wolves as possible when the outbreak struck, as well as previous vaccination efforts that had provided immunity for a subset of the wolves, mitigated the impact of the recent outbreak.

In the wake of this powerful proof of concept, the Ethiopian government signed an agreement allowing EWCP to launch its first full-scale oral vaccine campaign in the summer of 2018. Aimed at all six remaining wolf populations, the program places a special focus on immunizing the breeding male and female of the family packs in each population.

Moving from a pilot program tested over several years to a full-scale rabies vaccination campaign is a major milestone in the team’s 30-year effort to conserve the world’s most endangered canid. The newly launched oral vaccination plan will provide an even more robust buffer between the wolves and the catastrophically deadly disease that threatens their future.

In an August of 2018 announcement, EWCP noted that the first five wolf packs were vaccinated using the new strategy. “The SAG2 vaccine, successfully used to eradicate rabies from wild carnivore populations in Europe, now raises hopes for the survival of one of the rarest and most specialized carnivores in the world,” it wrote in the announcement. Over the next three years, the team will expand the vaccination campaign to all six wolf populations in Ethiopia, some of which number only a handful of individuals, enhancing their chances of survival in a changing world.

“We now know that preemptive vaccination is necessary to save many wolves from a horrible death and to keep small and isolated populations outside the vortex of extinction,” Sillero says. “I wholeheartedly celebrate the team’s achievement.”

Meanwhile, EWCP is also devising a plan for ending distemper outbreaks. Though an oral vaccination for canine distemper doesn’t exist, injectable vaccinations do. In 2016, a distemper vaccine for Ethiopian wolves was proven safe, but there is no room for error with such a critically endangered species. Extensive trials are still ongoing, and the team is currently expecting lab results that will help determine whether or not the distemper vaccination program will move forward.

“Our expectation is that the government will allow CDV vaccinations in the future, at least in response to verified CDV epizootics among wolves,” Marino says.

The journey to save this charismatic species has been a long one, says Sillero, who has spent many sleepless nights over the past 30 years tracking wolves in frigid conditions. “But then in wildlife conservation there are seldom any quick fixes. We have gone through the hurdles to allay the fears of those that were concerned with vaccination interventions and gained their trust and support,” he says, with the resolve of someone unlikely to be discouraged by even the highest of hurdles. “With regular preventive vaccination we will hopefully reduce the wild population oscillations observed as a result of disease outbreaks, and render the last six wolf populations more resilient to local extinction.”

The presence of the Ethiopian wolf in the highlands is evidence of a healthy ecosystem, and the species is an ideal animal to act as an emblem for conservation in Ethiopia. An apex predator that is at once familiar and mysterious, the wolf is a compelling species with which many people feel a connection, as proven by the profoundly dedicated staff at EWCP. With the help and cooperation of local communities, the team will continue working to ensure that this elegant canid remains in its rightful place in the highlands indefinitely.

This story originally appeared in bioGraphic, an online magazine about nature and sustainability powered by the California Academy of Sciences.

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Addis Abeba, April 27/2019 – Former President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and a seasoned politician Dr. Negasso Gidada has passed away.

Addis Standard learned that Dr. Negasso passed away in Germany while receiving medical treatment.

Short Biography

Born on September 8, 1943 in Dembi Dolo, Wellega of Oromia regional state in western Ethiopia, Dr. Negaso Gidada studied History at the Haile Sellasie 1st University (now Addis Abeba University) from 1966 to 1971. From ‘71 to ‘74 he served as school director and history teacher in Aira, in Western Wallaga. He left for Germany in October 1974 and lived there until July 1991. During this time he studied History in the department of Ethnology at the J.W.Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. Politically, Dr. Negasso was one of the earliest members of Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) in exile.

During the 1991 regime change in Ethiopia Dr. Negaso left Germany for Ethiopia and joined former Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO), now ODP, which makes up one of the four coalitions of the ruling party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Front (EPRDF).

In Ethiopia one of the milestones of Dr. Negaso’s political activities in early ‘90s was to become a member of the Constitutional Drafting Committee, which was tasked to draft the present Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE).

Dr. Negaso also served as Chairman of the Constitutional Assembly, which adopted the current constitution. In 1995 he became the first Head of State of the FDRE and had signed on the proclamation that adopted the final copy of the constitution, which remained intact, but controversial, as of yet.

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Teshome Borago
Satenaw and zehabesha News Columnist

An Ethiopian rights group asked the World’s football governing body to ban the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) over xenophobic incidents this past week before a local match at the southern Hawassa city.

The Wolayta Committee on Human Rights (WCHR) accused the EFF of being unable to protect ethnic Wolaitas in the southern city from tribal attacks that left over a dozen injured and heavy property damage, according to ESAT media.

The game was between the  Wolaita dicha club and the Debub Police Sports Club (DPSC). The Wolaita Dicha posted on its Facebook page a complaint on the violence and successfully convinced the EFF to change the site of the match from Hawassa to Addis Ababa.

The DPSC is mostly associated with ethnic Sidama, and tribal gang activity in Hawassa has risen as some Sidama politicians have spread nativist propaganda that the city belongs only to their tribe.

Another local match in Hawassa with the popular St. George Sports Club (SGSC) was also postponed due to xenophobic attacks. The SGSC is often associated with ethnic Amhara and Gurage as well as other multiethnic urbanites. Last year, Hawassa markets used by Gurage and others were set on fire by gangs; while Wolaita businesses and civilians have also been targeted, including burned alive, according to Reuters.

“WCHR believes that FIFA must ban the EFF until such xenophobic attacks stop during football matches in Ethiopia,” said the rights group on its Facebook page.

Analysts believe such violence is usually supported by local officials who exploit ethnic divisions for their power. Ethnic Sidama politicians have recently taken full control of Hawassa administration despite making up a minority, or about 40% of the city demography. Similar problems exist in Bishoftu and Adama city of Oromia where Oromos are a minority but control full administration of the two cities. Recent protests by multiethnic people of Adama town criticized the rise of Oromo radical youth (Qeerroo) harassing and displacing local residents. Both Sidama and Oromo officials have been accused of publicly advocating social engineering and demographic alterations.

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27 April 2019
By Kaleyesus Bekele

The Israeli fertilizer giant, Israel Chemicals (ICL), which filed a law suit against the Ethiopian government at the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in 2017 in connection with a controversial tax claim, recently dropped the charge.

ICL was involved in potash mine development project in Ethiopia after it acquired Allana Potash of Canada. The giant fertilizer producer, ICL, abandoned the potash mine development project in the Afar Regional State in the Dallol Depression and pulled out of Ethiopia due to a controversial tax claim in October 2016.

Samuel Hurkato, the Minister of Mines and Petroleum, told The Reporter that ICL has dropped the court litigation and sat down with the Ministry for negotiations. “We are negotiating with executives of ICL to amicably solve the disagreement. What we now need is an economic diplomacy,” Samuel said.

Bamlak Alemayehu, Acting Head of Legal Directorate, told The Reporter that Allana Potash which was working on the potash mineral development project in the Afar Regional State sold its mining license to ICL without the knowledge and consent of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum. “Allana has tax arrears and ICL failed to clear the tax arrears. Then ICL pulled out of the country and took the case to an international arbitration court. Now both the company and the Ethiopian government agreed to drop the court litigation and resolve the matter through negotiations,” Bamlak said.

According to Samuel, there was a problem with the Ministry’s licensing administration work. “We were supposed to monitor the transactions at international stock exchanges,” he said.

Samuel noted that ICL had conducted an advanced exploration work and invested more than USD 200 million on the potash development project. “They did a world class mining work. We hope that executives of ICL would soon come to Addis Ababa for another round of talks,” he added.

ICL leveled its legal charge against the Ethiopian government at the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague accusing the government of impairing its investment project and demanded USD 198 million in compensation payment.

ICL had filed an investment treaty claim against the Ethiopian government in relation to State “violations” of the Agreement on Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investments between Ethiopia and the Netherlands. ICL Europe, subsidiary company based in the Netherlands, filed the law suit. According to ICL the violations relate to, inter alia, the state’s imposition of an illegal tax assessment against, and its failure to provide infrastructure support to Allana Potash Afar PLC, an indirect subsidiary of ICL Europe.

ICL Europe filed the claim under the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law and requested that the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague administer the arbitration proceedings. The company said it has booked a full tax provision in respect of the tax claim.

After buying Allana Potash in May 2015, ICL was working on a potash mine development project in the Afar Regional State in the Dallol Depression through its subsidiary company Allana Potash Afar. ICL was trying to transfer the large scale mining license of Allan when then Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority (ERCA) claimed 50 million USD in tax payment from Allana Potash Afar, a subsidiary of ICL.

In April 2017, the Ethiopian government took over the potash mine concession where ICL was working on.

Allana Potash, a Canadian company listed in the Toronto Stock Exchange, was the rightful owner of the Dallol potash concession. In 2013, the then Ministry of Mines granted Allana a large scale mining license that enables it to develop the vast potash deposit estimated at 3.2 billion tons. Due to the commodity market crash occurred in 2013, Allana was unable to raise the required investment capital-700 million dollars-to develop the mine.

Consequently, Allana was sold out to ICL for 150 million dollars and de-listed from the stock exchange. The deal includes the acquisition of Allana Potash Afar, a subsidiary of Allana Potash, and the rightful owner of the potash concession in Ethiopia. ICL through the subsidiary company was planning to develop the potash mine and build three fertilizer blending plants at a cost of more than one billion dollars.

ICL applied to the then Ministry of Mines to transfer the mining license and the ministry was processing the request when ERCA claimed 50 million dollars tax payment from Allana Potash Afar. When ICL bought Allana Potash it assumed 10 million dollars VAT and Withholding tax arrears. ERCA also requested some 40 million dollars capital gain tax for the property acquisition. Allana Afar Potash refused to pay the tax claiming that it was made based on an “illegal tax assessment” and terminated the potash mine development project. According to ICL, the net value of the investment in the project as of June 30, 2016 was approximately USD 170 million.

ICL is the 6th largest potash fertilizer producer in the world and the 2nd in West Europe. ICL is a publicly traded company listed in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with a capital of 12 billion dollars. Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel the company earns an annual turnover of over six billion dollars. The company was established by the State of Israel in 1968 and was privatized in the 1990s.

RE

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By Alemwyhu G. Mariam

Author’ Note: Below is the full version of the speech I delivered during my induction into the “Hall of Fame” at California State University, San Bernardino on April 26, 2019.**

The video of my abbreviated speech is available in the embedded video below and also HERE.Thank you. [1]

After nearly 5 decades in academia, including as a student, I am honored to be recognized by my peers and inducted into the California State University, San Bernardino College of Social and Behavioral Sciences “Hall of Fame”.

I am humbled by the generosity of the SBS Hall of Fame Committee in selecting me for this very special honor from among many other worthy faculty members.

I am acutely aware that my family members, friends and colleagues present here tonight and the millions of readers of my weekly blogs over the past 14 years have long given up on the remotest prospect of brevity in anything I write.

I suspect some of them may believe I am afflicted by an ailment known as furor scribendi, mania for writing.

But tonight, I shall delight all of you with the brevity of my speech.

It was the garrulous blowhard and “intruding fool” Polonious in Hamlet who enjoined,

Since brevity is the soul of wit / And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief…

And so, I shall.

The substance of my [shortened] remarks tonight consist of only 600 or so words.

But first, I would like thank my wife of 35 years, Mesrak Gessesse, or 39 if you count the 4 years we played hanky-panky, for her love and support.  She is the wind under my wings.

Our daughters could not be here in person but are present in spirit. I thank them for their love and support.

I thank my old friends who showed up tonight. I wish to underscore the word “old”.

I thank Dean Rafik Mohamed for his outstanding, inclusive and attentive leadership of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

I thank chairman Brian Janiskee not only for his long and dedicated service in the political science department but also for his extraordinary leadership which has earned him the respect and appreciation of his colleagues.

I am pleased to see my colleague Mark Clark as an inductee. When Mark found out that I was FERPing [2], he immediately followed suit.

Mark, even though you spurned all of my efforts to become your role model during your long and illustrious career, I am glad you trusted my wisdom in the end and followed me out the door.

I thank all in attendance here tonight.

I congratulate the other inductees.

Induction into the “Hall of Fame” is a special honor which recognizes individuals who have “made substantial contributions not only to their respective professions but also to the greater community”.

I am honored to receive this recognition tonight.

I must say nomination to receive this honor has given me an opportunity to reflect on my decades-long service in American academe as a scholar and  intellectual and my life as lawyer.

I want to take this opportunity to share with you something  that is near and dear to my heart, or more accurately, something that has caused me a lot of heartache and heartburn.

Beginning in 2005 [3], I seriously began questioning my role as a conventional and as a public intellectual.

There is a difference.

A public intellectual is not merely concerned about advancing knowledge and learning but is also dedicated to defending and promoting the public interest.

In my case, that has involved efforts on parallel trajectories: defending and promoting American civil liberties and the U.S. Constitution as a lawyer and toiling as an activist and advocate for African human rights.

The public intellectual connects his or her scholarship to issues and policies that impact the lives of ordinary people, advocates and works for progressive change and above all serves as a self-appointed centurion — displaying courage and leading by example – against all who abuse and misuse power.

Above all, the public intellectual has an obligation to always speak truth to power and willingly shoulders the moral imperative of standing for and with the voiceless, the powerless and the defenseless.

That is why the tagline on my blogsite proclaims, “Speaking truth to power.”

I came to the United States from Ethiopia in 1970, almost 50 years ago. I returned for a visit 48 years later in 2018.

I consider myself an African intellectual in exile.

The late Prof. Edward Said has explained the trials and tribulations of the exiled intellectual better than I ever could.

As an exiled African intellectual, I am concerned about the resurgence of toxic tribalism masquerading as ethnic politics in Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular and the catatonic paralysis of African intellectuals in the face of such tribalism which threatens to engulf the continent.

I shudder to think about the coming to pass of Marshall McLuhan’s prophesy in  Africa.

In 1968, Marshall McLuhan foresaw what could happen in the burgeoning “electronic world that retribalizes man”.

He predicted that we will be living in an electronic envelope and that the quest for identity will hurl 20th-century man back to atavistic tribalism.

He argued humanity will be moving from a global village to a global tribe.

At the end of the second decade of the 21^st century, enveloped in the electronic envelope of Facebook and other social media and our minds tethered in digital technology, we are drowning in a bottomless sewer of programmed deceit, disinformation and agitprop.

Social media today, along with conventional media in the hands of untrained and untutored self-appointed journalists in Ethiopia and other parts of Africa, are the midwives of this global tribalism feeding the morbid desire for segregatory tribal identity.

Ecce Homo! (Behold the man!)

Ecce Homo in Africa with his digital crown of tribal thorns.

Global tribal man, especially in Africa, has become an electronic wolf to his fellow man in the 21^st century electronic world.

Ecce homo homini lupus!

What is of special concern to me is the fact that violence (not dialogue and debate) has become the lingua franca of the global tribalists in their echo chambers of identity politics in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa.

Today, in my native Ethiopia tribal (ethnic) identity is becoming more important than our “you-nity and hum-unity”.

The evangelists of hate, violence and division preach their apocalyptic gospel to an ancient people on Facebook, or is it Fakebook?

The cancer of tribal identity politics which continues to steadily metastasize in Ethiopia and the rest of Africa is fed by intolerant ethnocentricity, antagonistic exclusivity and shameless mendacity, often resulting in mass atrocity.

Today, McLuhan’s global tribalism is spreading like wildfire in Africa because African intellectuals in the continent and in the diaspora are unwilling, unable and unready to play their role as firemen and firewomen.

It is often asked, “Why is Africa poor? Why is Africa beset by conflict, strife and war? Why is Africa a continent of failed states?”

Prof. George Ayittey, the Ghanaian scholar, named one of the “100 top public intellectuals” put the blame on the failed “vampire” or “pirate states”  in Africa “which use the instruments of the state to enrich themselves, their cronies and tribesmen while excluding all others.”

I should like to finger failed African intellectuals as the unindicted co-conspirators with the failed vampire states.

An old Jewish proverb teaches, “A nation’s treasure is its scholars (intellectuals).”

I should like to argue, a fortiori, that Africa’s real treasures are its best and brightest minds!

Ralph Waldo Emerson described the scholar/intellectual as the “world’s eye”.

The office of the scholar is to cheer, to raise, and to guide men by showing them facts amid appearances. He plies the slow, unhonored, and unpaid task of observation. He is the world’s eye…

Sadly, African intellectuals by and large have chosen to “see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil” in the very face of Tribal Evil which is slowly creeping to swallow the continent.

Indeed, in many instances, African intellectuals have been the disc jockeys of apocalyptic tribal wars playing their melancholy songs of hate, strife and division.

I shall argue Africa is poor, beset by violence and strife because its best and brightest children at home and abroad have chosen to worship at the altar of the unholy trinity,  “I, me and myself.”

Such intellectual narcissism has been the source of the deficit in civic courage — the reluctance or refusal to speak truth to power  and in defense of human rights and the rule of law, and against pernicious tribalism — among African intellectuals  and is a sad testament to their moral bankruptcy.

As I see it, the problem is not just saving Africa, but also rescuing African intellectuals from the morass of intellectual and moral bankruptcy in which they have plunged themselves.

Can African intellectuals save themselves by saving Africa?

To me the word African means Afr-I-Can.

I should like to believe Africa is a continent of “I CAN DO” people.

But seven decades after the formal departure of colonialism, Africa has become a continent of “NO CAN DO” intellectuals.

In June 2010, I wrote a commentary entitled, “Where Have the Ethiopian Intellectuals Gone?”.

Little did I imagine nine years later I would be asking the exact same question!

They say, “tempus fugit” (time flies) and “carpe diem” (seize the day).

But time marches on, and Africa unable to keep pace with rest of the world, can only march to the beat of the tribal drummer.

It seems to me African intellectuals — and more specifically Ethiopian intellectuals — are stuck in a time warp, benighted about their country’s and continent’s painful history, disengaged from its present agony and tribulations and depravedly indifferent to its future.

On April 28, 2014, [exactly five years ago today] I wrote a commentary entitled, “Is there any hope for Africa?”.

It was a question intended to provoke African intellectuals into a fierce debate over the direction of the continent.

The theme of that commentary was “hope’s on the ropes in 2014 Africa.” I asked whether despair or repair looms in the future of Africa.

But my call for debate fell on deaf ears. It proved to be the solitary wail of an African Cassandra in the intellectual wilderness of the African diaspora.

What is to be done?

African intellectuals must get involved and personally identify with the fate of the continent.

They must have skin in the African game of thrones and fight for democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

I am ashamed to admit that Western intellectuals, scholars and human rights advocates and organizations have done more for the dignity and welfare of Africans than African intellectuals.

That is a hard truth to swallow even for one who prides himself for speaking truth to power and anyone who cares to listen!

African intellectuals must articulate a creative vision for the continent. They must be African “(Wo)Man Thinking” in the Emersonian sense, and beyond.

I would argue they must be African Wo/Man Praxis in which African intellectuals objectify thought into action that alleviates human suffering and elevates the human rights and dignity of their people.

Emerson argued the American scholar should be the tip of the spear in creating a new American cultural identity sixty years after the declaration of American independence.

I should like to argue African intellectuals should also be the tip of the spear for a new African (not tribal, ethnic) identity 70 years after African independence from European colonialism.

African intellectuals should put their noses to the grindstone and shoulders to the wheel and come out swinging against the politics of violence — tribalism, communalism and sectarianism on the continent.

African intellectuals must establish knowledge institutions and think tanks, a futile effort I sought to undertake in October 2006 and later in December 2016.

How wonderful it would be to have a “Union of Concerned African Intellectuals” in the continent and in the diaspora.

Most importantly, African intellectuals must teach and empower African youth who today are toying with the fate of the continent using the matchsticks of social media to stoke up and fan the flames of tribalism, communalism and sectarianism.

Finally, whether African intellectuals chose to save Africa (and themselves) from the global tribalism of the electronic age by manning up and taking responsibility for the fate of the continent will determine if they will be consigned to the African Hall of Shame or honored in the African Hall of Fame.  

Thank you very much!

——————

** https://inside.csusb.edu/content/csusb-college-social-and-behavioral-sciences-induct-five-its-hall-fame

[1] I extend special thanks to my former student Amanda Aguilar who introduced me at the “Hall of Fame” event. I am humbled by her kind words. I believe the greatest tribute a teacher can aspire to get is the heartfelt appreciation of his/her students.

[2] FERP or Faculty Early Retirement Program.

[3] Following the 2005 parliamentary election in Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, the late capo di tutti capi (boss of all bosses) of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front ordered the uses of deadly force against protesters resulting in the massacre and of hundreds of people. The Meles Massacres became a defining moment in my life and marked my transition from a conventional intellectual to a public intellectual.

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An Ethiopian official has revealed his country has finalized preparations to extradite a double-murder suspect to the U.S.

BY ELIAS MESERET, Associated Press

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By XINHUA
ADDIS ABABA,
At least 17 people have been killed in ethnic clash in Ethiopia’s Benishangul Gumuz regional state, located in the western part of the country, state media outlet Amhara Mass Media Agency (AMMA) reported on Monday.

The ethnic violence which occurred at the weekend involved members of the local Gumuz ethnic group and Amhara ethnic group, reported AMMA.

AMMA further reported 11 of the dead were ethnic Amharas while the rest were ethnic Gumuz, with both sides using blunt weapons and modern firearms during the clashes.

Regional and federal security units are currently been deployed in the affected areas to prevent a recurrence of the violence.

Benishangul Gumuz regional state, located in western Ethiopia along the border with Sudan, hosts Ethiopia’s largest development project, the 6450 MW Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Hydro Dam, which is under construction on the Blue Nile River.

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 By: Metta-Alem Sinishaw, Washington, DC

Ethiopia is a multilingual, multiethnic, and multi religion country characterized by a history of intermittent political, religious and ethnic conflicts. Delayed democratization continues causing instability and poor economic and land policies made the country one of the poorest that depends on aid. After long history of authoritarian rule, the new leadership brought optimism to transitioning the country to democracy.  Despite the hope, security, stability, and ethnic conflict that lead to millions of displacements and social immobility remain major challenges.  If the federal government is unable to maintain peace and security, will the new leadership democratize the country or manipulate its vulnerabilities and the country’s geopolitical advantage to become another strongman?

Some argue that ethnic conflict is rooted in the Ethiopian state formation and expansion, but others contend. The introduction of ethno-linguistic federation in 1995 to address historical ethnic grievances resulted in the proliferation of ethno-nationalist movements with political and legal foundations. As ethnic politics become the modus operandi, ethnicity emerged as the sole organizing principle with which political actors mobilize their bases. Unclear ethnic administrative ethnic boundaries brought countless claims and counterclaims on land and water sources. Demands for statehood and fair federal representation and investments, cultural, and language policies keeps growing. Ethnic rivalries have been eroding social harmony and leading to protracted public protests that brought the new leadership to power earlier in 2018.

The new leadership of Abiy Ahmed showed genuine commitment to democratization and lifted restrictions on media, legalized outlawed political parties, invited exiled politicians, reconciled with Eritrea, promoted gender parity in cabinet, promised for free and fair elections, expanded political space, and established boundary and reconciliation commissions as well as legal reform councils and working groups to address the sources of ethnic conflicts and promote civil and political rights.

Despite promising reforms and public optimism, however, ethnic tensions and violence are on the rise at an alarming rate. The core areas of contention that brought the new leadership into power such as the constitution, equitable resource distribution and development, form of federalism, distinction between self and shared rule, land ownership, and inclusive governance remain outstanding. There are nearly 3 million internally displaced people (IDP) caused by security and political instability and there are strong signposts that the trend may continue. Human rights advocates complained about arbitrary detentions, forced displacements, and crackdown on some opposition groups who failed to lay down arms in recent conflicts. The government has allegedly hindered relief efforts and disrupted internet access to resettle the IDPs and quell unrest, respectively.

No doubt, that addressing protracted conflicts in a divided society takes time and resolving conflicts require understanding of contexts, causes, the dynamism under which the conflict persists, including triggering and mitigating circumstances.

Yet, despite the political will of the new leadership, the changes we have observed remains more of a personal ingenuity of the premier than policy oriented institutional approach. The public and pundits alike continue demanding for clarity in domestic and foreign policies. Lack of a roadmap about the political transition brought dissatisfactions and public anxiety due to increased violence. The problem with foreign policy stems from the administration’s increasing partnership with the Gulf and Horn countries with no clear direction.

Ethiopia’s stability should be evaluated within the larger framework of the Horn, Red Sea, and IGAD region where growing radicalism, porous border, transnational crime, conflicts, poverty, and delayed democratization are the key features. Ethiopia participates in AU and UN missions in Sudan, South Sudan, and Somalia and hosts nearly a million refugees, mainly from neighboring countries.

The effect of rivalries among China, Russia, and the recent partnership of Saudi Arabia and UAE versus Qatar and Turkey on the Red Sea and Yemen remains unclear although countries are leveraging on emerging dynamics to enhance their own interests. The reconciliation with Eritrea improved regional stability and interstate relationships.  However, the ongoing negotiation for comprehensive agreement is reportedly hindered by Eritrea’s agreement with UAE, the trade liberalization required to attract Ethiopian investment, and the difference in currency imbalances. Continued animosity between the ousted TPLF leaders and Eritrea undermines the pace with which relations could improve. Currently, all four routes of road transportation between the two countries are closed with no clear direction of future relationships.

Ethiopia labored to smoothen the relationships of Eritrean with Somalia and Djibouti and collectively hold multiple summits, open diplomatic offices, and agree to remove trade and economic barriers. Although the motivation behind the new integration effort remains unclear, the engagement brought hope to reverse the tension among countries and improve on their complicated relations. However, there are no clear agreements or strategies on how they will promote investment, enhance economic growth, and fight al Shabab in the Horn of Africa.

The political situation unfolding in Sudan has serious repercussion on transboundary crimes and illegal arm smuggling that could aggravate Ethiopia’s security challenges and undermine further Ethiopia’s capability to participate in peacekeeping missions.

In addition to lack of clarity about reform efforts, Ethiopia has wide ranging vulnerabilities that could be detrimental to the democratization effort. Weak institutions, fragmented opposition groups, proliferated ethnic based media outlets, increasing tendencies ethnic based regional militia, and deep entrenched authoritarian political culture poses a risk of reversal. Divided ruling coalition, fragmented opposition groups, ethnic hostility, lack of democratic culture, and weak institutions together with poor economic conditions are real challenges for Ethiopia’s journey towards democratization.

Domestically, despite the administration promise to hold democratic and acceptable election in 2020, the ruling party remains divided with a much more fractured opposition political party. One year away the election, it is unclear whether the election will be rolled out as planned and opposition groups are demanding for more time to get ready for election as their mobility is compromised due to security concern. A recent increase in publishing costs for print media only adds a pain for the opposition parties and further undermine the much-acclaimed press freedom the new administration professed.

The country continues facing major economic challenges, among others, increasing debt, limited competitiveness, foreign exchange shortages, inadequate tax collection, and underdeveloped private sector. Increasing population further depletes its aid dependent economy and worsens social welfare. High youth unemployment, if accompanied by a drought, could become a humanitarian crisis and a fertile ground for radicalism and aggravate ethnic conflicts and instability with a spillover effect to the Horn region.

In the absence of peace, deteriorating economic condition, increasing ethnic media outlets, intensifying regional special militia, and inability of the central government to maintain security, democratization could be difficult, if not impossible. Facing with these challenges, will the new prime minister resolve the ruling party’s internal contradiction and appease ethnic tension, restore security, promote stability, and bring economic prosperity? If unable, will the new prime minister not effectively manipulate the country’s vulnerabilities and take advantages the geopolitical conditions to emerge as strongman?  If the new administration is unable to democratized as promised, the question would be could Ethiopia remain a viable federation in the absence of democracy? So, what shall, or can we do to help the democratization process, individually and/or collectively?

For your comments, mettaalems@gmail.com

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