Canadian political science professor John Young of Simon Fraser University says TPLF is still stuck in the Stalinist ideology of self-determination. Prof. Young, who is the author of Peasant Revolution in Ethiopia: The Tigray People’s Liberation Front, 1975-1991, noted that the TPLF leadership has not modified its outdated ideology of Stalin’s Bolsheviks that it copied during its armed struggle against the Derg. He also criticised TPLF’s decision to install Hailemariam Dasalegn as Prime Minister despite his incompetence to become a credible political leader with a real leverage of power. According to Prof. Young, Hailemariam is a technocrat who neither understands the complex political dynamics nor provides a credible political leadership.
Ethiopia’s Oromia region has been hit by a five-day shutdown called by the main opposition group – the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC).
The OFC says it has planned the protest to run from today (August 23) till Sunday August 27. The party said the call had been heeded with businesses and transportation service muted in most parts of the region.
Local media reports that the purpose of the strike is to remember protesters who were killed during the anti-government protests last year. It is also aimed at demanding the release of political prisoners arrested during the deadly protests.
The spreading protests led to the imposition of a state of emergency in October 2016. The six-month directive was earlier this month lifted by the parliament. It lasted a total of 10-months due to a four-month renewal in April this year.
The Oromia region is experiencing its second such protest this year. The first was in July when a tax hike by the government was resisted by a similar shutdown.
The OFC’s leader, Merera Gudina, is currently in detention awaiting trial on charges of terrorism. Thousands were detained during the protests that also hit the Amhara region. The government has since reported mass releases and says others have been processed for court.
INDIANAPOLIS — A 12-year-old girl has been given a third chance at life at Riley Hospital for Children after beating a brain tumor twice.
Kalkidan Sirbaro, who now lives near Fort Wayne with caregivers, is spending her new life giving back.
She spends her time weaving beautiful creations — because it’s what she knows.
“I like to keep working,” she said. “I don’t have the patience to sit and do nothing because I still have that blood. In Ethiopia, you start at 6 o’clock [a.m.] to work, and don’t stop till 11 or 12 o’clock at night.”
Sirbaro weaves slippers, scarves, hats, kitchen towels and hot pads. She sells them to send money back to her family Ethiopia — and gives them out to homeless people to keep them warm.
She weaves through touch, not sight, as she lost her vision as a young child.
Sirbaro lived in Ethiopia with her family until U.S. medical missionaries learned of her painful headaches and took her to the states to treat her
brain tumor.
“It didn’t feel good,” she said. “I cried every day and every night. Because of the headache I could not go to bed. I could not stand up. I didn’t want anything to do with anybody. Because I just could not cooperate with it and just was miserable.”
This tumor is different than most, because it grows back. Sirbaro came to Riley Hospital to get it removed again.
“Kalkidan has a pretty rare type of tumor called craniopharyngioma,” Dr. Daniel Fulkerson said. “That is kind of a cockroach of tumors. It is a benign tumor that keeps coming back and it is hard to kill. And it tends to grow right where your eye nerves are and where your hormones are. So it has affected her stature, she is very small and it took her eyesight.”
Through mission work, Sirbaro was able to get the surgeries she needed to survive. She now has a clean bill of health.
Cristiano Ronaldo was named Uefa Player of the Season for 2016-2017 on Thursday after a campaign which saw the Portuguese superstar help Real Madrid to the La Liga and Champions League double.
It was the third time that Ronaldo had won the award which was presented on the sidelines of the Champions League group stage draw.
His great rival Lionel Messi has won the prize on two occasions and could pave the way for him to capture a fifth Ballon d’Or title.
“There are the same goals every year, to meet the same challenges, win everything if possible, qualify for the World Cup with my national team,” said Ronaldo.
“This trophy will give me the motivation to keep working hard, never to give up. I am blessed and delighted to be with Real Madrid.”
Ronaldo won the Uefa award in 2013-2014 and 2015-2016 and in the Champions League last season, where Real defeated Juventus 4-1 in the final, he finished as top scorer with 12 goals.
Juventus goalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Buffon was second in the voting ahead of Messi.
Saudi Arabia has announced plans to expel migrants working or living illegally in the kingdom.
Illegal migrants have been ordered to register their intention to leave with the Saudi authorities by August 24 or face detention, fines and eventual deportation.
Of the estimated 10 million migrant workers in Saudi, up to 500,000 are Ethiopian nationals. The money that Ethiopian migrants globally send back home is significant—over $4 billion in 2015—and plays an important role in mitigating the crippling poverty in Ethiopian households. But while many of the Ethiopians in Saudi come for economic reasons, a significant number arrived after fleeing serious abuses at the hands of their government.
In many other countries, these Ethiopians could claim asylum and potentially be entitled to international protection. The problem is, Saudi has no refugee law and no asylum system and is not a party to the United Nations Refugee Convention, which means that should expulsions be carried out—as during an earlier expulsion of irregular migrants in 2013, many thousands of Ethiopians who should have refugee protection could be forcibly returned home to face the persecution they fled.
Abdi was one of them. He told me that police arrested him and some of his classmates after students at his school started protesting against the government. He was then transferred to a military camp, where soldiers beat him severely. After his release, he fled Ethiopia, traveling through four countries before finding a construction job in Riyadh. In early 2014, Saudi police deported him.
He returned to his hometown with the assistance of the International Organization for Migration. Six days later, he was detained again and taken back to the same military camp. He was kept in a dark hole for three months, and taken out nightly for beatings while he was questioned about what he had been doing in Saudi Arabia. When I spoke with him in December 2016 after his release he was again en route to Saudi Arabia.
Most of the Ethiopians we interviewed who were part of the 2013 Saudi expulsions were detained within a week of their return to Ethiopia. And most of those were tortured in detention. All had originally left Ethiopia because of Ethiopian government human rights violations. Since they were unable to claim asylum in Saudi, their fate was sealed when they were deported. Human Rights Watch has also documented detention and torture of forced Ethiopian returnees who had been living in Kenya, Egypt, Uganda, Djibouti, Somalia, and elsewhere.
Ethiopian security forces’ violent crackdowns have become frequent in recent years. Tens of thousands of Ethiopians, many of them from the Oromia region, have fled the country since November 2015, the start of a year of bloody protests. Security forces killed over 1,000 protesters, and detained tens of thousands more. Youth were targeted, torture was widespread in detention, and the future remains uncertain for many young Ethiopians. Earlier in August, the government lifted a state of emergency that had been in effect for 10 months.
I have interviewed hundreds of young Ethiopians who fled their country during this most recent violent crackdown. Many do not claim asylum in neighboring countries due to long refugee processing times, perceptions of pervasive Ethiopian government surveillance, lack of resettlement options, and the economic challenges of refugee life.
I recently interviewed 20 Ethiopian youth, mostly Oromo, in a neighboring country, all of whom alleged they had been brutalized by security forces for protesting. Most had visible torture marks and some had been shot, yet three quarters of them told me they had no plans to try to claim asylum anywhere. Instead they told me they would risk further abuse and conflict to make it to Saudi Arabia, where at least they could eke out a living and send money to their families back home.
During Saudi’s 2013 expulsions, over 160,000 Ethiopians were returned. Human Rights Watch documented various abuses in the deportation process, including xenophobic attacks, beatings in detention, and horrendous detention conditions.
Ethiopia’s donors have voiced concern over the humanitarian impacts of returning another 500,000 people to areas with endemic poverty and increasing drought.
By the end of June, only 45,000 Ethiopians had registered with the Saudi government and voluntarily returned home. For the rest, with no asylum system to turn to and deportations imminent, Ethiopian migrants understandably live in fear. Saudi Arabia should halt the deportations until it can establish refugee status determination procedures for those at risk of persecution, like Abdi, who are fleeing repression back home. As Abdi told me, “How long will I survive if I keep getting detained and tortured in my homeland?”
Researchers have shown that living near newly built roads in Ethiopia is associated with higher rates of infant mortality. Proximity to new roads has negative health effects because of toxic waste dumped illegally during the construction phase, according to early research by economists at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD).
The research shows that an additional road built within five kilometres increases the probability that a mother experiences an infant death by three percentage points from 8.5 per cent to 11.5 per cent The research team also found that children under the age of five living near a recently built road have a lower level of haemoglobin in the blood and are more likely to suffer from severe anaemia.
The research builds on an established body of evidence linking toxic pollution to the incidence of death and disease in less developing countries. Among the poorest countries, it accounts for more than three times the number of death and diseases caused by malaria, HIV, tuberculosis combined. The illegal flow of toxic waste is recognised to be one of the most significant forms of transnational crime, with potentially devastating health consequences for local populations.
The study is published as a Trinity Economics Paper by Dr Caterina Gennaioli from QMUL’s School of Business and Management and Dr Gaia Narciso from TCD’s Department of Economics.
The researchers based their investigation on the premise that road construction sites provide an ideal opportunity for the illegal disposal of toxic waste. They argue that the embankments and the sites set up during the digging phase provide a suitable place for dumping, and that newly built roads make previously remote areas more accessible and susceptible to dumping. They chose to focus on Ethiopia because of the country’s extensive road building programme which took place from 1997 to 2010. In addition East Africa is recognised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as a region under severe threat from toxic waste trafficking and dumping (UNODC 2009).
Road network data
The researchers used data from two rounds of the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) conducted in 2005 and 2011, which contain several indicators for health among adults and children, including infant mortality, anaemia, and the level of haemoglobin in the blood. They used georeferenced data on the Ethiopian roads network for the years 2000, 2005, and 2010. They were then able to link increased rates of death and disease known to be associated with the effects of exposure to toxic waste and the construction of new roads.
The research focused on roads constructed along the corridors connecting the capital Addis-Ababa to the neighbouring countries (Djibouti, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan and Kenya) and shows that the results only hold along two main routes connecting Ethiopia to Somalia and Djibouti. These findings are consistent with the anecdotal evidence on the likely routes followed by toxic waste (UNODC 2009, Greenpeace 2010).
The results were adjusted to take into account a variety of factors that could affect the findings such as pollution, urbanisation and migration.
According to Dr Gennaioli: “…Infrastructure development projects in Africa have been scaled up and are attracting substantial investments from foreign investors. Whether these projects foster illegal activities, such as the dumping of toxic waste, is likely to depend on the different institutional arrangements and quality of institutions across the continent. The evidence presented in the paper recommends that infrastructure development, particularly road constructions, should, at least, be accompanied by actions aimed at preventing illegal toxic waste disposal, especially in regions with weak institutions and a strategic geographical position.…”
A bomb explosion in the town of Jimma, located in Ethiopia’s Oromo region has injured about 13 people, local media portals have reported.
The town’s police commander, Inspector Fadil Mohammed, also confirmed the incident. Jimma is one of the main towns in southwestern Ethiopia, a fertile region where the government in 2004 had planned to resettle hundreds of thousands of peasant farmers.
The state-affiliated Fana broadcasting corporate reported that the injured persons were receiving treatment at a specialized referral hospital. Among them were a 10-year-old boy and two women.
The attack comes on the second day of a five-day stay-at-home strike called by opposition activists. The attack is said to have occured in a busy part of the town.
The strike, which is largely being observed, is to demand the release of political prisoners detained during the state-of-emergency rule. Ethiopia was forced to impose the rule in the wake of spreading anti-government protests particularly in the Amhara and Oromia regions.
People in the region have previously staged a shutdown to protest tax hikes by the government. Police confirmed that they are on a manhunt for the attacker.
Aside closed businesses, the BBC reports that road blocks have been mounted in parts of the region affecting public transport.
Authorities at a border post in Ethiopia’s east have arrested a man transporting over half a million dollars in cash.
Head of communications in the Oromia state said police on Wednesday arrested the suspect, one Habanee Arabnuur, at the Bordede check point.
A 34-second video shared by the communications chief showed that money comprised bundles of $100 bills.
He is reported to have confirmed that he took the money from the capital Addis Ababa and that it was meant to fund the activities of anti-government elements trying to incite violence and destabilize the region.
Ethiopia’s volatile security situation led to the imposition of a state of emergency in October 2016. The six-month duration was extended after expiry by four months. The parliament voted to lift it earlier this month.
Large scale anti-government protests were the reason for the state of emergency but there are instances of armed clashes and bomb attacks that have forced western governments to issue travel advisories for specific areas.
The United States and United Kingdom have maintained their security alerts imposed since last October even though the state of emergency has been lifted.
The Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to Ethiopia due to the potential for civil unrest and arbitrary detention. There continue to be reports of unrest, particularly in the Gondar region and Bahir Dar in Amhara State, and parts of Oromia State. This replaces the Travel Warning of June 13, 2017.
The Government of Ethiopia has demonstrated its ability and willingness to restrict or shut down internet, cellular data, and phone services, impeding the U.S. Embassy’s ability to communicate with U.S. citizens in Ethiopia and limiting the Embassy’s ability to provide consular services. Additionally, the Government of Ethiopia does not inform the U.S. Embassy of detentions or arrests of U.S. citizens in Ethiopia.
Avoid demonstrations and large gatherings, continuously assess your surroundings, and evaluate your personal level of safety. Be aware that the government may use force and live fire in response to demonstrations, and that even gatherings intended to be peaceful can be met with a violent response or turn violent without warning. U.S. citizens in Ethiopia should monitor their security situation and have contingency plans in place in case you need to depart suddenly.
Given the unpredictable security situation, U.S. citizens in Ethiopia should have alternate communication plans in place, and let family and friends know that communication may be limited while you are in Ethiopia. The Department of State strongly advises U.S. citizens to register your mobile number with the U.S. Embassy to receive security information via text or SMS, in addition to enrolling in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP)
While the Rainier Beach neighborhood has long been a thriving center for Ethiopian Americans in Seattle, many community members are worried about preserving connections amid rising real-estate prices, gentrification and the economic challenges for many elders who immigrated here.
Habtamu Abdi, civilian liaison between the Seattle Police Department and the East African community at the Ethiopian Community Center in Rainier Valley. (Photos by Matt M. McKnight/Crosscut)
Most community members now live miles from here, many in more-affordable cities like SeaTac, Tukwila, Kent, even Tacoma, according to Habtamu Abdi, an East African community leader. And while many still come here to run businesses, worship or just get together, there’s worry about maintaining connections to the neighborhood.
Community members have been working for more than a year to create a housing project for seniors and other low-income residents at the Ethiopian Community Center, a square, one-story building with a playground and large parking lot. But the going hasn’t been easy, despite signs of interest from city and other political leaders.
A proposal from City Councilmember Kshama Sawant to put more than $4 million into the project received two hearings from the City Council but not the kind of money she sought. And an effort to put state funding into helping get the project going has been tied up political wrangling around the state’s stalled capital construction budget.
The stresses of gentrification and housing affordability are not readily apparent. The Ethiopian Community Center sits a block from a church with signs in English and Amharic. And on either side of Rainier Avenue in south Seattle, immigrant-owned grocery stores, restaurants and shops display signs in Amharic.
The nonprofit Ethiopian Community in Seattle aims to build a housing complex of about 120 units for low-income seniors and families. It would be situated on what’s now the parking lot of the present community center, itself a property the community came together to buy in 2010.
“It feels bad when your kids want to play by Lake Washington [near Rainier Beach] or play in the parks but they can’t do so because the family lives away from here — that really hurts,” Abdi says. “Gentrification is real — it’s not something theoretical.”
With the first generation of Ethiopian immigrants in Seattle nearing retirement age, the project is intended to help the seniors, by providing living spaces for them in the upper levels of an expanded, multi-story complex.
According to Abdi, the project is necessary for Ethiopians to stay in Seattle.
“It’s not [us] demanding for a shining, skyscraper building in Rainier Beach — no, it’s about survival,” he says. “It’s about making sure that members of our community can afford to live close to their community center, close to their churches, close to their mosques, close to their schools and small businesses.”
Menbe Tadesee makes espresso while visitors converse at the Ethiopian Community Center in Rainier Valley, Seattle, Washington on Tuesday, August 15, 2017.
The Community Center is designed to be a gathering space, and it serves hundreds of community members, according to Abdi. There’s a computer lab where new immigrants can learn computer skills, a room where kids can get after-school tutoring, a cafe, meeting rooms and more. Inside, it’s decorated with paintings, photos and maps reflecting Ethiopian culture and history, and it’s packed with informational brochures, fliers and posters.
In 2010, the year the community built the center, the Ethiopian population in Seattle was between 25,000 and 40,000 — one of the largest such communities in North America. The Ethiopian presence in Seattle dates back to the 1970s, a period when thousands of people left Ethiopia for all corners of the world, fleeing murderous and oppressive regimes, war and drought. Political turmoil continued in the ’90s, and with it the migration of Ethiopians to places like Seattle.
When Ethiopians first settled here, Abdi says, they chose the Central District, Yesler Terrace and other places close to downtown. But, as he explains, “Today, most of those people and most of those neighbors are gone, because of the high cost of living. They were pushed back south to where we are today, Rainier Valley.” And now, community members are being pushed further south still.
One morning this spring, a few dozen Ethiopian community members came to the City Council chamber carrying signs with the green, yellow and red of the Ethiopian flag, asking the city for help in funding the housing project. There were first-generation immigrants and their children, and some elders testified using limited English.
“Ethiopians have lived in this area for many years, and have always been self-sufficient,” said Ezra Teshome, a businessman and longtime Ethiopian community leader, during public comment. “But now the time has come for the city to really provide the support and help because they can’t find housing in the Seattle area. Families are being separated. … This funding is critical.”
The community members were pushing for a budget amendment from Sawant, which ultimately failed to pass, picking up only one second from Councilmember Bruce Harrell, who represents Council District 2 and Rainier Beach. Sawant’s proposed amendment would have called for an end to the city’s sweeps of homeless encampments, and to divert the money that would have been used for sweeps throughout various city departments — an estimated $4.3 million — toward the Ethiopian community’s affordable housing project.
Liya Rubio, program coordinator for the Ethiopian Community in Seattle, told the Council that it’s painful to see elders coming to the community center and asking for housing. About the only solution that can be offered now is to suggest that people put their names in for federal housing assistance, which entails a lengthy and uncertain wait.
Another man testified, “It wasn’t long ago when I lived in a housing project and lived in my car for a year and a half hoping that one day I would make it successful.” Ethiopian Community Services helped support him, he said. He was able to earn two degrees, graduate from the UW, and now works as a technology consultant at Microsoft.
Though the project failed to secure the substantial $4.3 million sum, Abdi says the community is undeterred and will continue to work with the City in securing funding. The project was recently approved for $50,000 from the Office of Planning and Community Development, from its yearly budget of $200,000 set aside to assist similar community-driven projects in their preliminary design and development stages.
An overall view of the lot where proposed new housing would be built at the Ethiopian Community Center in Rainier Valley. (Matt M. McKnight/Crosscut)
The whole project will cost $32 million at a rough estimate, Abdi says.
The biggest funding challenge, Abdi says, will be the ground floor, which will cost $5 to $6 million. This floor will function as a community center, with the upper levels providing housing. While the city Office of Housing will likely be able to find ways to help fund the residential units, it can’t release any funding until the project demonstrates a viable source of funding for the first floor.
Another possible source of seed money will depend on whatever comes out of the state’s tangled capital budget negotiations, currently stalled by a dispute over well building in rural areas. State Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, who represents Rainier Beach and much of south Seattle, has proposed $400,000 for the project in the budget. Abdi says his fingers are crossed that negotiations will allocate it toward the project.
“I believe that the best way to address displacement is making sure that the community are controlling and shaping the development,” Saldaña says of the proposed state funding. “One thing that’s really remarkable about the Ethiopian community in Seattle is they haven’t gotten many handouts in the past … They’ve already made significant investments over the last 20, 30 years, and not only to better their community and to build thing their community needs, but also being a real contributor to the broader community as well.”
For now, pre-development and design will proceed, in partnership with nonprofit developer South East Effective Development (SEED). Community members will continue meeting with department leaders, City Council members and maybe the mayor, to advocate for more funding, Abdi says.
For Abdi, the success of the project depends on the community stepping forward.
“I strongly believe government by itself cannot be a solution,” he says. “We need to work harder to make sure people can live wherever they want to live.”
A boot camp style 2-day intensive workshop based on the top12 soft skills that make or break one’s success
The author of ‘Soft Skills That Make or Break Your Success: 12 soft skills to master self, get along with, and lead others successfully’, Dr. Assegid Habtewold is scheduled to facilitate a 2-day boot camp style workshop on September 2 – 3, 2017 in downtown Silver Spring, MD. The workshop is designed to equip you with latest insights, processes, and tools that empower you to develop your soft skills and in turn take your life, career, and business to the next level.
Silver Spring, MD, August 26, 2017 (Success Pathways)– Do you want to increase your self-awareness? Do you desire to control your emotions? Are you struggling to manage your time and energy? Is it hard for you to solve problems smartly and make tough decisions? Do you aspire to take your communication ability to the next level? Is it challenging for you to turn conflicts into opportunities? Are you leaving great stuff on the negotiation table? Do you want to lead change artfully and smoothly? Well, you need to attend the upcoming workshop on September 2 – 3, 2017 in downtown Silver Spring, MD.
For your information, research conducted by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation, and Stanford Research Center revealed, “85% of job success comes from having well‐developed soft and people skills, and only 15% of job success comes from technical skills and knowledge (hard skills).” Unfortunately, many professionals, business owners, supervisors, managers, and leaders over depend on their technical expertise. They neglect to develop their soft skills proactively, and thus, they pay dire prices individually and cause havoc in their organizations. Common workplace complaints such as high turnover, conflict, and low productivity many companies experience come down to lack of certain soft skills.
This 2-day boot camp style intensive workshop is based on the newly published book entitled “Soft Skills That Make or Break Your Success.” The top 12 soft skills that are covered in the book are industry and culture neutral. Regardless of your profession and cultural background, it equips you to take your life, career, and business to the next height. The workshop is highly interactive, dynamic, engaging, filled with small and large group discussions, and demonstrations. It’s based on adult learning principles.
Whether you are looking for a job that matches your qualification, start a new career, open a business, advance in your career, expand your business, or a supervisor/manager who would like to get along with diverse stakeholders and lead your team successfully, don’t miss this boot camp style workshop.
Information:
Title: 2-Day Intensive Workshop on the top 12 Soft Skills That Make or Break Your Success
Dates: Saturday, September 02 – Sunday, September 03, 2017.
Fee: 300 USD/Person (Only 20 participants per batch. First come, first served)
Assegid Habtewold is a coach, consultant, speaker, and trainer at Success Pathways, LLC. He has over two decades of leadership experience and has been empowering leaders from diverse industries on themes that are covered in this book. He has diverse professional background: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Master’s in Computer Science, and Doctor of Strategic Leadership. He frequently blogs and facilitates workshops on the 12 soft skills discussed in this book for some government agencies and major corporations.
Italian riot police turned a water cannon on Eritrean and Ethiopian migrants in Rome on Thursday, scattering them from a piazza where they had camped for five days after being evicted from a building where they had been squatting for several years.
Migrants threw bottles and gas canisters at the police, but were driven back by the water jet in Piazza Indipendenza, yards from Rome’s central Termini station. Among the migrants bowled over by the water was a woman walking with a crutch.
The clash reflected Italy’s increasingly hard line on migrants. About 400,000 have arrived since 2014, mostly sailing from Libya.
Almost all of the evicted migrants had reportedly received refugee status, or a similar form of protection, prompting protesters and aid groups to claim the eviction and the police operation proved Rome is abandoning migrants it had provided with asylum.
“In Germany and Sweden, refugees get help with housing. Here in Italy, you get evicted,” said Father Mussie Zerai, an Eritrean priest who assists migrants in Italy.
In the lead-up to the clashes, 800 Eritreans and Ethiopians were evicted on Saturday from an empty office building on Piazza Indipendenza that had been occupied by migrants since 2013.
Around 100 set up camp with their suitcases on the grass in the piazza outside the building. Early on Thursday, police arrived and turned their water cannon on the group.
In a statement, Rome police said the operation was “urgent and necessary” after the migrants refused offers of alternative accommodation, but also because of the threat from migrants equipping themselves with gas canisters and inflammable materials.
Zerai said the accommodation offer consisted of 80 places in migrant centers. “That is not going to take care of the 800 people who were evicted,” he said. “And why did they only start thinking of alternatives after evicting all those people?” he said.
After the piazza was cleared, migrants regrouped closer to Termini station before riot police chased them across a parking area in front of frightened tourists. In a video published by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, one person, presumed to be an officer, is heard saying: “If they throw something, break their arm.”
“It is shaming that the lack of alternative housing led to violence,” said charity Doctors Without Borders, which treated 13 of the migrants, mainly women, for injuries after the police operation.
Eritreans frequently qualify for asylum after fleeing their country’s brutal government, which keeps men in military service for decades. Many of the 800 who were living in the occupied building work in Rome and send their children to local schools.
“They are people fleeing war and persecution, already victims of terrible trauma. People who have the right to support to integration in a way to become autonomous,” said Stephane Jaquemet of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
“We are refugees, not terrorists,” said Yohannes Haglos, 35, one of the Eritrean refugees camped in the piazza. “Why does Italy hand out asylum permits only to turn its back on you, offering no languages courses, no help at all?
This is a race to reach unity through affirming the humanity and rights of others within and outside of our own groups.
The One Run is a means to bring greater awareness of our need to reach out to each other, to speak the truth, to forgive, to find healing for our wounds, and to restore justice to all the people.
ONE RUN is a race to promote justice by creating human rights awareness and advance reconciliation, justice, peace and humanity in Ethiopia.
It is meant to actively demonstrate how we must run together as one until we reach these goals.
Our motto are “Run Until We’re One!”
“Reaching Unity Through Our Humanity!”
”Run for justice, reconciliation, forgiveness, peace and humanity!”
Let us come together to take a stand for peace, justice, reconciliation and unity around shared values and goals.
All Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian runners, or even walkers, are invited to join together in this run to appreciate the value of every life.
We hope many other Americans will join us to also advance reconciliation between ourselves and others here in the United States.
It is an answer to a human condition that has no geographical boundaries. Everyone can join in this race.
Alex De Waal, in his book titled, The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa, Money, War and the Business of Power describes;political market place is a contemporary system of government in which politics is conducted as the exchange of political services or loyalty for payment or license. The Horn of Africa is advanced and militarized political market place, characterized by pervasive rent-seeking and monetized patronage, with violence routinely used as a tool for extracting rent. This is absolutely true none other than the Somali region of Ethiopia.
Today, The Somali Region of Ethiopia is profitable market place for military commanders of the Ethiopian defense Force. Though, the monopoly of the Somali region political and economy was in the making for quite some time, yet the different branches of the federal government offices such as the federal affair’s, the Federal intelligence and ministry of defense used to compete to seek rent in the Somali Region. However, since the death of Meles, no one has absolute authority as Meles did to manage the day-to-day operations. Hence, various military and civilian Tigrai powerful political individuals have bargained and created a competitive political structure to govern different Regions. The prime minster, an otherwise a decent man is merely a symbolic figure put there to create the image of a non Tigrayan figurehead for political consumption. As such the Ethiopian defense forces under the leadership of General Samora has come out as a winner to seek rent and be a caretaker for the Somali Region. The General has mandated, the commander in Chief of the 4th Brigade, Let. General Abraha to be the de facto ruler of the Somali Region. General Abraha has in return supporting Abdi Mohamud Omer to serve as the political manager for the Somali Region.
Abdi Mohamud Omer is neither a Somali nationalist who bargain in the interest of the Somali people in the so-called ethnic federal system of Ethiopia nor a unionist with a vison of prompting centralized united Ethiopian ideology. He is an opportunist who is obsessed with reading and understanding the psyche and mood of the Tigrai military commanders and act upon what he considers will gain him sympathy and loyalty. He is also a ruthless paranoid and a cruel administrator who will do anything to get the coerced adulation of the entire Somali population in the region and beyond. In doing so, he managed to create a one-man state; he has absolute arbitrary power to kill, jail, invades any community or region and has offered in return for loyalty the entire Somali Region budget in the Ethiopian political market place.
The hallmark of Abdi Mohamed administration is to terrorize the Somali People; creating one of the biggest mass incarcerations in the Somali Region called “Jail Ogaden”. Killing thousands of innocent man, women and children in the name of supporting the rebels, forced an educated mass to migrated and abandon their homes, mascaraed family remembers of those who opposed him from far and could directly retaliate against them.
Abdi Mohamed Omer have auctioned out a number of policy gains by previous Somali region leaders and politicians that had huge sentimental value for the Somali people, though these changes did not made any difference for Tigrai military leader’s political capital, he used it to attest his allegiance, For example, he made a change to resemble the Somali region flag to that of Tigrai Region by totally removing the Somali identity, he changed Thursday and Friday being the holidays for the Somali region people, denying the Somali ordinary citizens to spent time with their families and opportunity to attend Friday prayers. Yet He traded the Somali people lands to Afar region without any due process as long as it is prolonging his tenure. However, the main and most significant plunder by Tigrai leaders under Abdi tutelage is the visible and hidden financial robbery of the Somali Region budget and revenue. The looting is well-designed scheme undertaking for quite some time to create a centralization economy and power. To illuminate this system that permitted the monopoly of power and economy, (one man –state), one has to look at how Abdi is tasked to cleverly organize the different administrative structures to make sure they serve him and his patronage.
Administration: Abdi Mohamed administration by design operates under strict kin (blood) and mirage arrangements. He has fired or jailed every Somali person with conscious and dignity and replaced them with his family members, the inexperienced youth and aficionado members of the society. He has recruited his clan and immediate family members from diaspora and the region to run the day today activities. Here is the list of family members in key positions;
His First wife, Safiya Mohamed Mohamud is a Member of the federal Parliament from Jarar Zone
Khadar Abdi , brother of the second wife and Abdi Ilay brother in-low, Minster of Trade and head of the Party ,the most powerful man next to Abdi
Iliyas Abdi, brother of the second wife and Abdi Ilay brother in-low. Vice- minister of Water resources
Sucad Ahmed, Vice president, Minster of natural resources and Chairman of ESDA board, Married to Abdi Ilay cousin and commander of Presidential security
Yasiin Omer, minster of the revenue
Deeq Labagole, an MP from Mersin and Minster of Labor
Yasiin Abdiwaris an MP from Kabridahar and Minster of security
Farhan Mahamud Minster of Information
Nasradin Anab, Head of the design enterprise
Mohamed Shugri head of the finance for Liyu police
Mohamed Maki, Purchasing enterprise for the Liyu police
Lubi Kariye head of PSNP
Bashir Waal head of the Diaspora office
The Liyu police: is the pillar of Abdi’s administration and the most brutal and vicious force ever operated in the Somali Region. Initially, the TPLF formed the Liyu police as a counter insurgency force against the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a group fighting for self-determination for the Somali region. These force estimated to be around 40, 000 have been terrorizing the civilian population in the Somali region and Somali Border towns without impunity since 2008.
As any Somali leader, he used the clan card to recruit and mobilize the force. Initially, the Liyu police leaders were hired from close and trusted other sub clans to makeup the gap and implement the project; currently all of the former leaders of Liyu police are in jail Ogaden replaced by his close family members. Some of the current Leaders of the force are ex-members of ONLF and family members of Abdi Ilay who shifted alliance when he came to power. The Liyu police are more than a militia force;
It is an entry point for Abdi Ilay administration. Currently, all administrative and judicial leaders at all level (sub- district, district and zonal) are from Liyu police.
A revenue collectors; income and asset tax is collected by Liyu police all over the Somali region.
A business enterprise; the Liyu police have a number of enterprise organization that are contracting to build roads, houses and other services.
Housing Development agency
Water work construction Enterprise
Construction & Procurement special police Enterprise
In the past two years, the Liyu police have extended their rent seeking violence in the Somali Republic regions of Puntland, Somaliland, Galmudug and now in the Oromo region to gain loyalty, payment and license to continue killing innocent people. ……… Here are the top Liyu police militia leaders that are close family members of Abdi;
General Abdiraham Labagole , Commander in Chief of the Liyu Police
General Abdi Adan Waris, second in Command of the Liyu police
Colonel Deeq Bujo
Colonel Sh Mukhtar Subane
Colonel Nasradin Canab
Colonel Sanyare
Colonel farahmahad
Colonel Deeg Jeri
Colonel Yasiin Abdiwaris
Colonel Nasra Hassan
Elder’s council: Elders in the Somali community play a crucial role in managing public affairs, perceptions and providing support and legitimacy for leaders and institutions. They are highly respected and viewed as guardians of peace, resources and Welfare of their perspective communities. In the Somali Region, there has always been established traditional elders leaders and council in every clan and sub clan. Yet, Abdi Mohamed had created his own elders council (known by locals as the Liyu police elders council) sidelining those traditional elders who are not in agreement with his way of doing things. This tension is very noticeable particularly in Jigjiga zone where Garad Kulmiye Gard Mohamed Gard Dool, suldan Abdirahman suldan Bade, Garad Abdimaalik (Janan) Garad Osman, in Shinle zone Ugaas Mustafa Mohamed and many others are homebound and nonfunctional. This new elder council is led by his uncle and counselor colonel Ciro.
Media: in Somali region, there is no independent media what so ever, print, radio or TV. The only Media enterprise is Abdi Ilay’s TV, Radio and website managed by Ilay’s cousin, the information minister. It is another important instrument in creating the one man state and the Abdi’s utopia propaganda. More often, his media is also used to convey messages of intimidation for diaspora decedents. In the midst of extreme and severe drought in the region, with cost of millions of Birr, the media enterprise in 2016 has summoned a huge number of Somali musicians from diaspora to stay for almost a year in Jigjiga and sing songs of prosperity, Abdi’s talent and leadership and security and safety of the Somali Region.
Economic and financial monopoly:
He also altered the entire revenue collection, budgetary planning and finical system to benefit him and the Tigrai military leaders. Currently, the budget is planned purely based on estimated amount of revenue collection. For example, when the budget is put together, the administration in Jigjiga without any consideration of resources or ability of a district to pay will assign a figure. Then the district administration will coerce the elders, small business and the handful government employees to contribute. If the district could not meet the revenue request, elders will gather their clan and sub-clan to collect, sheep, goat, camel etc. just like they are paying blood or dia. If the district could not meet the request, they will not receive the allocated food aid. Furthermore, for the first time in the history of Somali region routine tax is collected in rural area from owning livestock. For example, if of someone has a 100 camel, he will be required to pay random amount as tax without any documentation or knowledge how often the tax will be collected. All of the many collected as tax are used to bribe military commanders so that he stays in power.
Contracts and business Licenses: in order to be able to do a business in the Somali Region whether by acquiring license or to set up a company to bid in the contracts, one has to be able to be part of an association. These associations have to be approved by the administration and often managed by assigned individuals based on the value and importance of the association. Abdi and his family members are involved in every big business in the Somali region, to mention a few;
The Oil Factory, Jigjiga
The Meat Factory in Dhagxle
Cement Factory in DiriDawa
The Khat export, taken away from Zuhura
The soft drink import, taken away from Zuhara and others
The contract to build the new Kabri-Dahar airport
The contract to build the new presidential Palace
Conclusions
The risk of empowering Abdi Mohamed without any checks and balances in the Somali region and beyond worries not only the Somali population, but also the bordering regions of Oromia, Somalia and the Ethiopian central intelligence. The increase in number and operations of the Liyu police beyond its original intent creates uneasiness within the intelligence community. As the Liyu police increase in number, their role in rent seeking in Somalia and now in Oromo region expands, Abdi Mohamed believes his bargaining power increases as well. He has positioned himself as indispensable and the intelligence community knows that the one clan militia with such a large amount of resources and weapons could instantly join the rebel group if Abdi feels threatened or they want to clampdown the power of his militia.
In the absence of strong Somali government, and the new and fragile South Sudan, the TPLF military commanders found themselves not only in international peacekeeping but also in high yield rent seeking operations and are making fortunes. Yet, for those commanders who did not join in the highly paid UN blue helmet, such as General Abarah and others, they expanded their share of rent seeking in the peripheral lands of Somali, Binshangul and Gambela. The income inequality, the Tigray domination of every sector, nepotism and lack of press and freedom of speech will lead to the escalation of the Oromo and Amara protests and shows signs of spreading to Somali and other regions.
Ali Abdi
Karamarda Group
Executive Committee
The Karamarda Group is a group of Somali Regional State citizens who are interested in promoting Democracy and Good Governance in the Somali Region of Ethiopia and could be reached at karamardagroup@gmail.com
