ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) — The following are news highlights in Ethiopia’s major media outlets on Saturday.

— Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Friday undertook sudden supervision of the offices of the Attorney General and the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA). (Fana Broadcasting Corporate/FBC)

— Ethiopia’s Minister of Urban Development and Construction, Jantirar Abay, on Friday said his office is preparing a 30-year spatial plan of Ethiopia. (FBC)

–Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar will pay official visit to Ethiopia in the middle of next week, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (Ethiopian News Agency/ENA)

— The Ebola preparedness and response task force continues to take protective measures through screening program in major ports of entry to Ethiopia.

A total of 4.5 million travelers have been screened at all ports of entry to Ethiopia on the 10th round Ebola outbreak, according to Dr Amir Aman, Ethiopia’s Minister of Health. About 30,000 travelers have been screened per day, he said. (FBC) Enditem

The post Top news items in Ethiopia’s major media outlets appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

By Kaleyesus Bekele

Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Group is to inaugurate the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport passenger terminal expansion and the five-star hotel near its headquarters in Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian Airports which joined Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Group in 2017 commenced the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport passenger terminal expansion project in November 2014 at a cost of USD 250 million. Due to additional work the project cost has escalated to USD 363 million.

The Chinese Construction firm, CCCC, is the contractor while the French Consulting firm ADPI is consultant of the project. The passenger terminal expansion building is designed by CPG, a renowned Singapore airport designing company. EXIM Bank of China has financed the project.

The expansion project comprises of three phases signed under two contracts. The first part is the expansion of the main passenger terminal from east and west side. The main terminal (Terminal II) which was inaugurated in 2003 has a designed capacity of handling six million passengers per annum. However, due to the steady growth of the national carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, currently the terminal is handling close to 11 million passengers. This has promoted the management of Ethiopian Airports to launch the massive expansion project which aims at increasing the capacity of the terminal to 22 million passengers. The existing terminal has a floor area of 48,000sqm and the expansion project will include the construction of 74,000sqm floor area.

Hailu Lemu, the expansion project lead engineer, told The Reporter that the east side of the expansion project which is one third of the expansion project has been completed and became operational. Two third of the project, the west side of the terminal is nearing completion. According to Hailu 80 percent of the civil work is completed on the west side. “Mechanical, electrical and plumbing work is being completed. The plumbing work includes sanitary, ventilation, and firefighting system,” Hailu said.

The floor tiles and painting works are being completed. The road network (access road) and parking lot construction is finalized.

The main terminal has three floors-ground floor, arrival and departure floor. The expansion project includes the installation of two escalators, eight elevators which can accommodate 208 passengers at a time, modern baggage handling system (BHS) and firefighting system. All the systems have been manufactured and installed at the new terminal.

The expansion project will provide 72 new checking counters and 21 boarding gates. According to Hailu 83 percent of the project (contract one) is completed. Work on the project will be finalized by June 2019. However, the expansion work on the main terminal (terminal two) will be inaugurated end of this month during the African Union heads of states assembly. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) is expected to cut the ribbon along with African leaders. Work on the expansion project is expedited so as to meet the deadline for the inauguration.

The second contract of the expansion project includes the construction of a VIP terminal and the expansion of terminal one (domestic and regional terminal). The construction of the VIP terminal commenced in September 2017. Hailu told The Reporter that the foundation and ground floor work has been completed and pillars are being erected. “The civil work will be completed after a year,” he said.

The VIP terminal will have two levels-on the ground floor where VIPs enter the terminal and will use elevators to go up to the second floor to board their planes. There will be three different access ways for diplomats, senior government officials and heads of states. The terminal, among other things, will have various saloons, press briefing room, conference room, restaurants, and cocktail ballroom. It will have its own parking lot and access road. The site is located at the old airport customs office a.k.a. Bole Gumruuk.

Hailu said work on the expansion of terminal one has commenced adding that it will be completed within two years.

Ethiopian Airlines has finalized the construction of a five-star hotel near its headquarters in Addis Ababa. The hotel named Ethiopian Skylight is built at a cost of USD 65 million.

Abraham Tesfaye, Ethiopian Airlines Group Infrastructure Planning and Development manager, told The Reporter that all the civil work has been completed and the hotel is fully furnished. Laying on 42,000sqm of land in front of the Millennium Hall off Africa Avenue, the building has eight floors.

Ethiopian Skylight Hotel has 373 guest rooms and three restaurants – a Chinese restaurant, an Ethiopian restaurant and a European restaurant. The hotel has three bars – lobby bar, executive (roof top) bar and Jazz club. Twenty seven of the guest rooms are spacious suites.

The hotel encompasses a grand ballroom designed to accommodate 2,000 persons convenient for conference and wedding parties. It also has five meeting rooms which can accommodate 20-30 persons.

The hotel has a health center that provides spa, massage and gym services. There is an outdoor swimming pool with a pool bar and mini golf court in the premise. The hotel encompasses a coffee shop, ticket office, and souvenir shop. A large kitchen, laundry and cold room are ready service. The hotel will have a parking lot which can accommodate more than 500 cars.

The Hotel is designed and built by AVIC, a Chinese construction firm, while Sileshi Consult is doing the supervision work.

USD 65 million has been invested for the design, construction and furnishing of the hotel out of which Ethiopian covers 35 percent of the equity financing while EXIM Bank of China provided 65 percent of the project financing.

Abraham told The Reporter that 400 people have been recruited and trained for the grand opening of the hotel slated for January 26. The work force will double when the hotel will be fully operational. “The hotel will provide high end services,” Abraham said. “We are striving to make Addis Ababa the main gate way to Africa. The hotel will play a significant role in boosting the tourism sector and making Addis Ababa a conference hub,” he said.

Ethiopian is exerting effort to make Addis Ababa the most convenient gate way for Chinese travellers. Ethiopian Airlines which was one of the few international airlines to launch flights to Beijing in 1973 today serves four destinations. It has 36 weekly flights between China and Africa and daily transports 3,000 to 4,000 Chinese travellers. The airline has recruited and trained Chinese flight attendants and also deployed Chinese information officers who assist Chinese travellers.

Skylight Hotel will be managed by a Chinese hotel management company called Grand Skylight Hotel Management Co. Ltd (GSHM). The big Chinese restaurant has six separate dining rooms decorated with Chinese costumes. “We want to attract more Chinese travellers and tourists by making Addis Ababa the most Chinese friendly hub in Africa,” Abraham said. “But that does not mean that we will discriminate other travellers,” he added.

The hotel will be inaugurated together with the airport terminal in the presence of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) during the upcoming AU Summit.

Ethiopian is under preparation to launch the second phase of the hotel. The second hotel will be built adjacent to the new hotel on 22000sqm of land. The hotel will have 637 guest rooms and a basement parking which can accommodate 550 cars. The total investment cost of the second hotel is estimated at 150 million dollars. Abraham told The Reporter that currently the design work is being carried out by AVIC which will also build the hotel adding that the ground breaking ceremony will take place in April 2019.

Some of the hotel owners in Addis Ababa are not happy by the decision of Ethiopian Airlines to venture into the hotel business. Abraham said that Ethiopian wanted to build its own hotel not to compete with the existing hotels but it needs to offer its customers a better product and service. “Our airline daily books 400 rooms for its passengers in Addis Ababa. We are not going to book all our transit passengers into Skylight Hotel. If we book 150 of our transit passengers into the new hotel we will take the rest to other hotels,” Abraham said. “We will host our gold and platinum members in Skylight Hotel. We will offer tour packages (air ticket and hotel service) through Ethiopian holidays and bring tourists.”

Abraham said Ethiopian government has plans to make Ethiopia one of the top five tourist destination in Africa and boost the number of tourists visiting the country to ten million. “There is enough market for all of us.”

Ethiopian Airlines has invested USD 550 million on infrastructure development projects in the past five years excluding the airport expansion project.

The post Ethiopian Aviation Group to inaugurate terminal expansion, hotel projects appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

According to Ethiopian lore, the Ark of the Covenant is hidden in a church in Aksum–a small city in the northern highlands–and guarded by a single monk.

The post Is the Ark of the Covenant in Ethiopia? appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

ESAT Special Program Major Dawit Wolde-Giorgis Speech On The 7th Vision Ethiopia Conference Dec 2018

The post ESAT Special Program Major Dawit Wolde-Giorgis Speech On The 7th Vision Ethiopia Conference Dec 2018 appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Driven from their rural homes by family problems and lack of opportunity, more and more children are making for Addis Ababa. Alone and vulnerable, they receive no state support

Global development is supported by

Tom Gardner in Addis Ababa

Behind Addis Ababa’s most iconic public space, Meskel Square, down a cobblestone alleyway in the shadow of half-finished high-rises, lies a small corner of the Ethiopian capital known by locals as “DC”.

Nestled between cramped brothels and dimly lit bars, it consists of low-slung, tin-roofed dwellings containing rows of bunk beds. Each night, hundreds of homeless children come looking for a place to sleep, sometimes two to a mattress.

One house, run by 27-year-old Mabit and her family of six, hosts about two dozen children a night. She charges them 20 birr (50p) each, and cooks food to sell to them. The dormitories are damp and crowded, and some of the boys can be drunk and violent, but it’s better than a night on the street.

“It’s like America,” says Mabit, explaining the district’s nickname. “It’s a better place for the boys.”

Street children, especially young boys, have been increasingly visible in Addis Ababa in recent years. Thousands ply their trade at the city’s traffic-choked intersections, some hawking cigarettes and chewing gum, others begging. Many clutch plastic bottles filled with glue from which they take regular sniffs.

The last official survey was conducted as far back as 2010, but even then there were an estimated 12,000 children living unaccompanied on the streets of the capital. NGOs estimate much higher figures today. Mabit, who has been renting beds to children for a decade, also reckons the numbers are rising, a view echoed by officials.

“We have a very huge problem – and it’s getting bigger and bigger,” says Hunegnaw Ayele Abate, director of social protection at the city’s bureau of labour and social affairs.

Children as young as six come to the city to escape rural drudgery and, in many cases, family breakdown. “The reason is always poverty – but poverty plus [something else],” says Lynn Kay, country director of Retrak Ethiopia, an organisation that rescues street children in Addis Ababa and reunites them with their families.

One recent survey found that almost half the street children sampled were living with step-parents because their biological parents had died, divorced or separated.

Chala, 15, from Hararghe in eastern Ethiopia, has knife scars all along his forearms. He came to Addis three years ago, after his mother died and his father started drinking, beating him and his five younger siblings. “I was the breadwinner,” he explains.

Most come from rural villages, and especially from what researchers call Ethiopia’s “southern corridor” of migrant-sending communities, where a tradition of relocation to Addis Ababa and even further afield is well established.

Sisay, 13, from the countryside surrounding the southern town of Shashamane, left for the capital two years ago with a large group of friends. “I didn’t know anything about Addis but my friends said it would be a really amazing place,” he says.

FacebookTwitterPinterest

Many of his peers in the capital are from southern areas like Wolayita, districts known for sending migrants to the capital. Such areas are characterised by high population density and land fragmentation, putting extra pressure on poor households with large numbers of children. Youth unemployment in some districts can be as high as 50 %. Child traffickingnetworks, which are often responsible for bringing girls to Addis Ababa, are particularly active.

Life on the streets of the capital is unremittingly tough, even for those who earn enough each day to afford a bed in DC or similar quarters elsewhere. School is impossible without a city ID card, begging is stigmatised, and police brutality is commonplace. One charity reports that, when asked to draw a picture of life on the streets, almost all the children it works with sketch an image of a policeman. “The police treat us like we are goats,” says Bedasa, 18, a friend of Chala.

Girls usually end up in domestic service, where sexual abuse is rampant. The US state department’s 2016 Trafficking in Persons report found that girls as young as eight were working in brothels around Addis Ababa’s central market. Kay says about 80% of girls who come to Retrak report sexual abuse, though she adds that a rising number of boys are reporting it too. Many contract hepatitis B, a liver infection that can be transmitted through sex.

Charity workers say glue-sniffing has increased dramatically over the past couple of years. The substance is easy to obtain: souks sell 5ml in plastic bottles for only 10 birr and there is no age restriction. Shoeshine boys who use glue for repairing shoes say it is now too expensive because the bulk is being sold to children for sniffing. “Nobody stops them,” says Muluken Seyoum, an official in the ministry of women and children affairs.

Chala says he and his friends do it to stifle hunger and numb the cold at night. “You will forget everything for hours,” he explains. “We know it’s scary but we can’t find a way to stop the addiction.” Bedasa says it helps them cope with pain when they are beaten by police.

There are no government programmes or facilities for street children. The only help comes from a handful of small-scale charities that receive little by way of government assistance. A restrictive civil society law makes it hard for them to operate. Hold My Hand, a shelter taking care of 26 boys, depends on the support of just two US donors. “Raising children from the street is not our job,” says founder Mikiyas Fekadu. “But we are doing it because [the government] is not.”

The government has instead pursued “a correctional approach”, says Tatek Abebe, an Ethiopian professor of childhood studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. This has involved police round-ups a couple of times a year, usually when the capital hosts African Union summits. Children are removed from the city and taken to nearby towns where they are given training and, in some cases, reunited with their families. The approach has been largely ineffective, though it is expected to continue.

“It’s kind of a vicious circle – we pick them up; they come back again. It’s a real headache for the government,” says Muluken.

FacebookTwitterPinterest

There are hopes that the country’s new administration, led by reformistprime minister Abiy Ahmed, will pursue a different tack. This year, the ministry of women and children affairs is using the motto “Children on the streets have a right to live” – which, Kay argues, is a “quantum leap away” from its 2017 motto, “Cleaning Addis Ababa’s streets of children”. The civil society law is being revised and Fekadu says the government has started consulting with NGOs more.

Meanwhile, Hunegnaw says his bureau’s approach to rehabilitation and reintegration is changing, with more focus on education and vocational training to discourage children from returning to the streets. “We’ve learned from the previous mistakes,” he says. The bureau is also proposing the creation of a special centre offering shelter, food and sanitation. An urban safety net programme, launched in 2017 and supported by the World Bank, now helps some of the city’s most destitute, including street children, by giving them a small cash handout in exchange for work like street cleaning.

But the broader problem is more intractable. Street children are “part and parcel of the wider process of urbanisation” says Tatek – and the population of Addis Ababa alone is expected to double to more than 8 million over the next decade. Nationwide, the urbanisation rate is an estimated 4-6% a year, putting enormous pressure on municipal infrastructure and services. Despite the misery of life on the streets, the alternative – a permanent return to the countryside – is “very, very rare,” he says.

Among the street children Tatek has studied since 2005, not one has gone back permanently.

 

The post Homeless children struggle to survive on the streets of Ethiopia’s capital appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki on Monday reopened a border crossing between their countries as part of an ongoing reconciliation between the former foes.

The two leaders re-opened the border crossing between Humera in Ethiopia and Oum Hajer in Eritrea on the western edge of both nations, according to the state-owned Ethiopia Broadcasting Corporation.

In September, an initial two land crossings between the countries were ceremonially reopened for the first time in 20 years, after Abiy settled a long-standing border dispute by agreeing to adhere to a United Nations ruling.

However, the major crossings between Bure-Debay Sima in the east and Zalambessa-Serha in the west were closed again last month without explanation, according to local media reports.

Nevertheless, relations between the neighbours have continued to improve rapidly with Monday’s reopening of the Humera-Oum Hajer border post the latest sign of normalisation allowing the free movement of people and goods.

Borders were sealed in 1998 as the neighbouring Horn of Africa nations cut diplomatic ties at the outbreak of a short but bloody two-year frontier battle.

An ensuing cold war stymied development, trade and undermined regional security, but in a surprise move last year, Abiy began peace overtures, which were welcomed by Eritrea.

(AFP)

The post Ethiopia, Eritrea reopen another border crossing appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

By Alemayehu G. Mariam

The post Reflections on the Rule of Law and Ethiopia’s Transition to Democratic Rule (Part I) appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Biggest political mistake is to be dismissive of with migration concerns – Varadkar

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said his first visit to a refugee camp had changed his perspectives on the issue but also argued it would still be mistaken to dismiss people’s concerns about migration.

The Taoiseach visited the Mai Aini refugee camp close to Ethiopia’s border with Eritrea on the last day of his three-day visit to Ethiopia. The camp houses around 12,500 of the 907,000 refugees registered in Ethiopia.

“I think coming here for me certainly helps to have a better understanding and change perspectives of the challenges we face in the world. We read about refugee camps, we see them on TV, it’s only when you can be in a place like that that you can understand,” he told reporters.

He also said migration needed to be managed in European countries such as Ireland.

“Generally speaking, Irish people have been quite welcoming of refugees,” he said.

“I think we also need to understand public concerns about migration. The biggest political mistake some people made across Europe is to be dismissive of people who have concerns about migration.

“They have concerns about the increasing impact migration has on housing for example, the impact on the health and education systems, particularly when there are a lot of kids in school who do not have English as a first language. They will have concerns about security and crime.

“Migration is a good thing. Ireland has benefited enormously from migration in my view.

“But it does need to be managed. We need to manage it right and see the picture as a whole, not just about responding to refugee crisis or humanitarian crisis, but the best in international development, peace and security. Those are the policies that work in the long term.”

‘Recalibrated perspective’

During his visit, the Taoiseach met newly-arrived refugees from Eritrea as well as those who have been there for some years. Some of the residents are women with children whose husbands have already made their way to Europe.

He also saw the camp school, which has almost 1,000 pupils, and the distribution centre where refugees get basic provisions such as the staple injera bread (made from a type of teff or wheat), beans, flour, oil and laundry soap. They also receive a cash payment of about €2 each month.

He met Selamawit Tesfagghi who was registering as a refugee with her two young children. She said she wished to join her husband who has been in Luxembourg for a year.

Asked by the Taoiseach how she hoped to get there, she said: “I have not started on my journey but I do have a plan to join my husband.

“Life has been very difficult for me especially when [I] don’t have a husband helping [me].”

In his comments, Mr Varadkar said he would return home with a “recalibrated perspective of what we must do in the world.

“Europe must do more in the future to bring to Eritrea, in particular, greater democracy, greater freedom, greater security and greater economic opportunity for them so that they don’t feel they have to leave their homes.”

He argued while the EU needed to respond to humanitarian and refugee crises, its best option was to engage in long-term investment and partnerships in Africa.

“By 2050 there will be 2.5 billion people living on the continent of Africa.”

He said its population would be five times larger than Europe.

“There is no way the EU could take 10, 20 or 30 per cent of Africa’s population.

“That’s why we have to do, above all, is to get Africa right, to bring to Africa security, to bring to Africa political freedom, bring to Africa economic opportunities. If we do that most people won’t leave their homes.”

He was asked if Ireland’s commitment to receive 4,000 refugees was paltry in the context of Ethiopia, a poor country, hosting almost a million refugees.

He said there was a case for increasing the number, but there were issues in Ireland relating to housing that limited the capacity. He added: “The solution is never going to be about accepting refugees . . . The solution is the underlying process (of African development),” he said.

On the last stop of his visit, Mr Varadkar visited St Mary’s Church and monastery in Axum, where ancient annals and paintings were housed. Access to the monastery was confined to males, and female members of his party were not allowed entry.

The post Taoiseach says visit to Ethiopia changed his perspective on refugee camps appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Addis Abeba, January 13/2018 – Protesters in Afar regional state have today blocked the main road connecting Ethiopia to Djibouti, the main import export route.

Protesters are demanding an end to what they said were violent incidents in the past several weeks perpetrated by armed men from the Somali Isa ethnic groups, which claimed the lives of many and caused property destruction, according to this blog.  The road blockage is happening between the cities of Semera and Awash. Pictures released by activists show several trucks standing on the roads. In addition, the Ethio-Djibouti railway is also affected by the blockage.

The blog further said that protesters were unhappy about a recent decision by the federal government to remove the region’s special forces from areas where the violence happened. They are also demanding the withdrawal from the area of the Isa ethnic groups and explanation from the regional and federal authorities.

Addis Standard

The post Main road connecting Ethiopia to Djibouti blocked by protesters in Afar appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Addis Abeba, January 13/2018 – Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) has began airstrikes in Qellem Wellega and its environs in western Oromia, a military source told Addis Standard.  

According to our source, the army’s targets are “military training camps run by OLA”, the armed group of the Oromo Liberation Front – Shane Group (OLF-SG).

The airstrikes have began this morning; it is unclear how long the army will conduct the operation. It follows yesterday’s bank robbery of the state owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and the Cooperative Bank of Oromia.

Sources told Addis Standard that the heist was staged by armed men who identified themselves as members of the OLF. We learned that at least a dozen bank employees, including two bank managers, were taken hostage. Our attempts to verify the information with both banks were to no avail, as of yet.

Briefing local journalists on a range of issues on Friday, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Defense Forces, General Berhanu Jula said that a grave damage was inflicted in western Oromia by OLF’s armed group in the past few months. But he said things were returning to normal after the intervention by federal forces.

On its turn, the OLF has been accusing the federal army of conducting illegal armed operations in areas where its forces were active.

Led by Dawud Ibssa, OLF-SG is one of the armed groups that agreed with the government of Abiy Ahmecd to return home and engage in peaceful struggles. However things went south between OLF and the government as both keep on accusing one another of violating the agreement for peace, which hasn’t been disclosed to the public in the first place. AS

The post Ethiopia Defense Force begins airstrike in western Oromia; says targets are OLF military appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Teshome M. Borago..Satenaw Columnist

New York City (PT) – While the international media has put spotlight on the negative impact of populism in President Trump’s middle America, what is happening in Ethiopia gives a whole new meaning to nativism. With 2.8 million dislocated citizens, Ethiopia ranked number one in the world for internal displacements in 2018. And according to IRIN, the carnage in Ethiopia shows no sign of slowing down in 2019.

The ongoing tribal conflicts nationwide have recently been exasperated by the ethnic violence in the border town of Moyale. Since the final weeks of 2018, Moyale has lived up to its nickname as “the city of death.” Located between Kenya and Ethiopia, the town is contested between the dominant Oromo Borana ethnic group and the Garre Somalis. Ethiopia’s ESAT media reported that around 600,000 people have been recently displaced from this region alone. Due to the lack of access to independent media, it is unknown exactly how many have died and how the conflict restarted. However, both the Oromo and Somali continue to point finger at each other and vow revenge, as hundreds have reportedly died during weekly massacres.

The growing ethnic violence in Ethiopia has thus dampened the enthusiasm for the new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and trigged an op-Ed report from the New York Times on Thursday, faulting the country’s backward constitution for promoting an ethnic-segregation system. “The fiction ofan ethnic homeland” has created “endless minorities” and “an additional layer ofprivilege,” said the New York Times article. The result is more tribal conflict and “mobilization of ethic militias” nationwide, warned the newspaper.

Better known as “Ethnic–federalism,” Ethiopia’s administrative system has been compared to apartheid in South Africa. Originally established by the country’s late Marxist Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, analysts believe ethnic-federalism is the main obstacle to liberal democracy in Ethiopia as it has institutionalized nativism and segregation. As the Moyale example indicates, ethnic nationalism has replaced Ethiopian nationalism nationwide; leading to vicious tribal competition for land.

To understand the impact of tribalism in Ethiopia, one has to compare it to the southern portion of Moyale in Kenya, where civic nationalism is prioritized over ethnicity. Known as the “Moyale constituency,” elected Kenyan officials discourage tribal attachment to land ownership and promote democracy and individual rights of all citizens. This has been the formula in the rest of Kenya and other successful liberal Democracies in Africa like Ghana. While minor election related tribal clashes have occurred sporadically in Kenya before, nothing compares to the endless tribal bloodshed in Ethiopia. Kenya has not officially outlawed ethnic political organizations (like Ghana did successfully), however what made Kenya stable compared to Ethiopia was its rejection of ethnic-federalism. Despite having 69 languages, Kenya has refused to structure its federalism based on language or tribe. However, the Ethiopian government continues to govern via ethnic segregation, recklessly distributing and assigning historically contested territories based on tribe. This policy has backfired. Since Ethiopia is mostly made of up multiethnic communities, this apartheid policy has created time bombs everywhere. Consequently, nativist tribal elites have instigated various ethnic cleansing of neighborhoods nationwide. For example, in southern Ethiopia, the ethnic conflict between the Guji Oromo and Gedeo led to hundreds of death and over a million more people displaced, according to IRIN.

The crisis in Ethiopia should not be ignored by the international community. Located by the vital Red Sea trade route, Ethiopia is the second largest nation in Africa and the headquarters of many global organizations. It also hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees from other countries as well as being a major contributor for the UN peacekeeping force. By 2050, Ethiopia is predicted to be in the top 10 of the biggest countries of the world. A collapse of such a massive state with political, diplomatic and historical significance globally will have a disastrous domino effect continentally.

The deadly tribal conflicts may soon overwhelm the center at any moment and trigger mass scale civil war. It is important that the international community use its leverage and put pressure on Ethiopia’s tribal elites toward moderation and cross ethnic tolerance; particularly since many of them have assets or live in the Diaspora. As the New York Times article recommended, Ethiopia must scrap ethnic-federalism and replace it with geographic federalism based on citizenship. It is clear that the policy of assigning tribal ownership of multiethnic towns like Addis Ababa, Moyale, Dire Dawa, Hawassa, Adama and many others has failed. Therefore, Ethiopia must establish deeper federalism that is tailored toward local realities. Not a return to centralization, as critics claim, but more federalism or decentralization is the better alternative. The end goal should be to bring government closer and closer to the individual. Otherwise, the Ethiopian state will continue to disregard human life and sacrifice it for the “greater good” of some tribal nativist interest groups. Independent and democratic institutions must gradually replace the local tribal administrative structures. Non-ethnic civil society groups in Ethiopia also need financial support from global organizations who share their common values of promoting individual liberty and democracy thru independent media and advocacy. In addition, Census reform must recognize mixed-ethnicity and promote the “identity development” of mixed or multiethnic Ethiopians; who in turn may become the bridge that connect rival ethnicities nationwide. Education reform must similarly teach the values of independent institutions, democratic culture, open society and ethnic tolerance. There are many cynics and critics who believe it is too late to reverse Ethiopia’s downward spiral. Yet, It took many dark years for nativist tribalism to proliferate nationwide, therefore it will take many more years to abolish it, perhaps a generation. The task is daunting and it is an uphill battle, but the struggle is worth fighting for to mold an African society that puts humanity before ethnicity.

The post Ethnic-federalism incites dangerous nativism in Ethiopia appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

by Katharine Houreld and Robin Pomeroy

Protesters in Ethiopia’s northeastern Afar region have blocked the landlocked country’s main route to the sea to demonstrate against surging ethnic violence, organisers said on Monday.

ADDIS ABABA: Protesters in Ethiopia’s northeastern Afar region have blocked the landlocked country’s main route to the sea to demonstrate against surging ethnic violence, organisers said on Monday.

Source: Reuters

The post Ethiopia protesters block main highway to the sea appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

By Damo Gotamo

It may surprise some people when they read the topic of this brief piece. But, for more than five hundred thousand residents of Awassa, who have experienced blatant discrimination in all sectors of the city’s life, the heading above isn’t surprising at all. Yes, there is an apartheid like system in Awassa where a few extremist politicians and their cliques do whatever they want without being accountable for their actions. There is discrimination in Tax payment, housing, Electric power distribution, Electric and water bill payments, and business and employment opportunities.

Residents of Awassa are frequently subjected to discrimination in tax payments. The majority of the tax payers in the city are forced to pay taxes more than their income and higher than the true value of their properties. But, on the other hand, Sidama politicians and Sidama residents in the city are either pay taxes below their income or are exempt from tax payments. The unwritten rule, which is carried out on a regular basis, states that one must be fluent in the Sidama language to dodge tax payments. Additionally, taxation is used as a tool to punish people of other tribes, particularly Wolitas who are considered as threats by Sidama extremists. I have met many non-Sidama business men who closed their business due to high taxation.

Lack of tax knowledge by employees in charge of taxation isn’t helping the cause of taxpayers. Tax employees are assigned based on nepotism. It merely takes a phone call from politicians in higher position to tell them how much to bill taxpayers. I have seen non-Sidamas paying three times as much as the Sidamas for comparable businesses and properties. If the tax payment history of the Sidama politicians in Awassa is investigated, we will unearth millions of birr in uncollected tax that would have entered the government coffers. The extremists must be accountable for overcharging citizens, dodging tax payments, and bankrupting the government.

Housing is a serious problem in Awassa. Many people can’t afford to pay a monthly rate let alone build their own house. As a result, more than half of the city’s population depends on government housing. To get a government house, a family has to wait for many years. However, government housing in Awassa is available only to Sidama officials and their relatives. People who have never lived in Awassa and don’t meet the income requirements would be given government houses bypassing the waiting list. Well paid officials particularly those who hail from Sidama tribe don’t need to wait to get a low income government housing. Corrupt lawyers, division heads, and police chiefs would easily get government housing. In many cases, it is common to see government houses converted to private houses illegally.

The discriminatory practices have often become a source of conflict between the people and officials in Awassa. On numerous occasions, I have witnessed confrontations between the city residents and officials; the residents demanding things be done according to the law and the officials who want to do things as they please. I hope those who used the government properties for personal use will be held accountable.

Many areas in Awassa don’t get electricity on a regular basis. Power interruption regularly occurs in many areas where the non-Sidama live and do businesses. In some cases, electric power is deliberately cut-off to ‘annoy’ the non-Sidamas. Many repeatedly ask why in areas where a single tribe and its politicians live power interruption is never a problem. While most of the residents suffer constant power blackouts, extremist Sidama politicians and their cronies enjoy power supply without interruption even if they don’t pay electric bills. Electric poles which are supposed to be evenly distributed in the city find their way to areas where the Sidama politicians live. It is common to see electric poles inside the fences of private homes of the Sidama politicians.

Awassa must be the only city in the world where politicians and their cronies don’t pay electric and water bills. The extremists are ‘special’ residents of the city who are treated differently from the rest of hardworking people. While thousands of city residents are forced to pay their bills higher than their actual usage, the Sidama politicians use electricity and water for free. Furthermore, electric and water bills aren’t charged to residents based on usage and on equal footing. Like taxation, the bills are tools to attack the ‘hated’ groups and benefits the ‘special’ ones.

It is almost impossible to get a job in federal institutions in Awassa unless the job seeker is a Sidmigna speaker. For example, out of twenty people in a small federal office, seventeen or more are Sidamigna speakers. Hiring practices are intended to help a single ethnic group. The non-Sidamas that work in government institutions leave their positions because of blatant discrimination and constant harassment. Challenging Sidama employees in any institution is a prerequisite for losing ones livelihood because it is seen as an attack on the Sidama tribe.

Nothing can be accomplished in Awassa without paying bribes to Sidama politicians. A bribe is one of the biggest sources of income to extremists. There seems a tacit understanding among the residents that ‘all must pay’ bribe in Awassa except the Sidama. For instance, getting new business permits and renewing the old ones is a big a challenge to non-Sidamas in the city. The non-Sidama must pay bribes to get a permit, or they will never receive one. A source ones told me that a client was told to pay a per dim to a government employee to come to his office (he was in other parts of the city having fun) to give a supporting letter to the client. Similar to the aforementioned discriminatory practices, the non-Sidamas are the only citizens of the city who must pay bribes to get things done. The extremists are like ticks who suck the blood of the residents of Awassa.

In addition to the above blatant discriminatory practices, many ‘favorite’ people in the city drive cars and motorbikes without a license. The people who woke at motor vehicle administration have no regard for human lives as long as they accept bribes and help people of their own tribe.

The city of Awassa needs a complete overhaul from the existing apartheid like system. After all, it is the second biggest city in the country and the pride of millions of Ethiopians. The government must take decisive action to remove the deeply entrenched extremist politicians and restore the city its former glory. The wish of the extremists is to make Awassa their amusement park. As of now, I and millions of others who love Awassa are deeply ashamed of what is happening in the city. We must not allow ethnic lords to further destroy the city. Their only wish is to live in the city without paying for anything.

The post An Apartheid like System in Awassa appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Professor Messay Kebede

The starting occasion of this article is a video I watched on the 7^th conference of Vision Ethiopia in which my old and dear friend and colleague, Dr, Befekadu Degefe, gives an insightful analysis on the requisites for economic development in Ethiopia. The analysis is premised on the commonly shared assumption that the private sector is the engine of economic growth and considers two possibilities by which said sector could be effectively developed. The first possibility is through a determined and systematic opening to foreign investments. The second is, paradoxical as it may sound, through state patronage harboring a nationalist agenda.

The obvious advantage of the first option is that it provides the Ethiopian economy with the much needed capital, know-how, and market access, all the more easily as it is in line with the fundamentally globalizing trend of our time. A major implication of this policy is that the Ethiopian government gives up the greater part of its role in the running of the economy.

According to Befekadu, the choice of over-relying on foreign investments has two major drawbacks. Granted that it is indeed necessary to curtail the economic role of the state to develop the private sector, such a policy assumes that the sector already exists and that state intervention prevents its growth. However, the fact about Ethiopia is that the private sector does not exist: it had started to burgeon during Haile Selassie’s reign but was trampled on by successive governments to the point of extinction. Under this condition, any unrestricted opening to foreign investments, far from encouraging the development of a national private sector, will only result in a state of severe economic dependency. In what appears as a veiled criticism of the direction of the existing government, Befekadu underscores that a withdrawal of the economic role of the state where the private sector is non-existent entails nothing less than a grave loss of sovereignty.

The other drawback of the policy is its one-sided view of the economic role of the state. The idea that both state ownership of the means of production and intervention constitute impediments to the development of the private sector, while true in principle, overlooks that the state can also be instrumental in promoting the private sector. In fact, historical facts pertaining to economic development attest that the private sectors in the most developed liberal economies, including the US, owe their growth to deliberate governmental policies. Implementation of protective measures and foresighted planning by the state, not its withdrawal, are necessary for the private sector to thrive. So stated, such a prerequisite for development seems easy to implement. Unfortunately, the single and hard to come by attribute is the availability of states that are truly committed to the defense of the national interests of their country. When a state generates some such commitment, it becomes naturally prone to devise policies aimed at furthering the private sector. So that, the paramount issue of economic development boils down to having or not having a state that is genuinely nationalist.

True, the general expectation is that a state, whatever its form may be, stands by definition in defense of the national interest. But this does not mean that the defense includes the economic development of the country. Far from it: traditional forms of political rule as well as perverted forms of modern governments aim first and foremost at protecting the narrow interests of given elites, less so at generating national wealth. The reason for this is that the condition for producing national wealth is different from the use of political power to insure the hegemony of an elite over the economic life of a country. In this last case, political power is used to exclude, that is, to reserve for the ruling elite whatever wealth the system produces by erecting political protections. Its purpose is less to enhance the production of wealth than to give the ruling elite a privileged, protected access to its control. Nothing prevents this political system from claiming that it is nationalist, except the fact that all the factors that encourage the private sector, such as free competition, the rule of law, protection of the national market against external competitors, stimulation of internal savings and investments, production of highly skilled nationals, the setting of national economic priorities, etc., are either ignored or given lip service.

In speaking of what needs to be done in conjunction with the issue of the state, Befekadu brings out the sad condition of education in Ethiopia. Since its introduction, modern education has been designed to produce, not innovators and entrepreneurs, but people with a dependent state of mind. Proof of this is that an Ethiopian goes through the various levels of modern education and graduates with one single objective, which is to be hired by somebody. In accordance with the state of the economy, the educational system is not designed to yield graduates capable of inventing and creating jobs for other people. Discussions on education in Ethiopia are focused on the question of how to teach and not on what to teach, that is, on what kind of graduates we want to produce. Needleless to say, the private sector cannot develop if the system of education does not produce self-reliant and creative people.

The inevitable follow-up question deriving from Befekadu’s analysis is, of course, the question of knowing the cause or causes of the emergence of nationalist states. The question has inspired rich and varied scholarly studies that are beyond the scope of this article. I limit myself to the conclusion I have arrived after an extensive reflection on these studies (see my books, Meaning and Development and Survival and Modernization: Ethiopia’s Enigmatic Present). For most development scholars, the issue of economic development is best summed up in the formula “tradition versus modernity.” It amounts to asking what motivates elites to move away from traditional social order and values so as to espouse modern settings and norms. What is traditional is custom-bound, authoritarian, and ascriptive, while the modern is innovative and achievement-based.

An inquiry into the history of modernization suggests that traditional elites embark on the path to modernity when they clearly realize (often under the influence of enlightened political leaders) that modern settings and values are necessary to preserve their social status. Indeed, what is more motivating than self-preservation? In other words, when the social order protecting the political and economic hegemony of a traditional elite is threatened (the threat can be caused by social crises, external invasion, internal dissension, etc.,), the ruling elite has the option of either defending its status and interests by increased authority and repression or engage in the task of reforming the society to counter the threat. The first option can only retard the inevitable defeat of the ruling class for the reason that its inability to find real solutions to the crisis invites popular uprisings leading finally to a revolutionary culmination. Experience invariably shows that the revolutionary solution draws the society into a bloody and disruptive process that often ends in the institution of another authoritarian regime that is no better than the previous one.

By contrast, the second option, the path of reform has proven to be more promising. The fact that the determination to reform derives from the clear understanding that more authority and repression do not provide the solution to the crisis indicates that a genuine commitment to change is in the making. Most of all, the fact that it is about the survival of the ruling elite itself makes the will to reform into a determination impelled by self-interest and hence more reliable and consequential. I see no better way to give the gist of this theory of modernization than to provide a quotation from my own book, Meaning and Development. I write: “the drive toward industrialization springs from the need felt by ruling classes to counter external or internal threat. Ruling classes become industrializing elites as soon as they accept change as the best way to preserve their interest and power. They thus make their societies into societies ruled by the standard of achievement.” As opposed to rent-seeking and ascriptive methods as well as to political exclusions based on race, ethnicity, and religion, the rule of achievement links social promotion to merit and actual contribution to the advancement of the society, by which alone the perceived threat can be removed.

Facts supporting the theory abound. Thus, Japanese industrialization was propelled by changes perceived as necessary to counter the threat of colonization. The industrialization of East Asian countries is little intelligible unless we connect it with the need to counter the influence and spread of communism through the realization of economic advancement. Likewise, the continuous wars between neighboring countries and the subsequent need to back or counter expansionist designs go a long way in explaining the industrialization of European countries as well as that of North America.

Interestingly, at about the same time of Japan’s awakening to the imperative of modernization and in response to the same similar colonial threat, Ethiopia went through a comparable awareness epitomized by the rise of Emperor Tewodros. What else were Tewodros’s endeavors to end the Era of the Princes and his failed project to manufacture the first cannon but telling indications of the need for modernizing changes to resist colonial onslaughts? Still highly cognizant of the looming danger, Emperor Menilik opted for the different solution of expansion to the south. He conjectured that the integration of new territories would provide him with the much needed human and material resources to ward off the colonial danger. Unfortunately, the growing influence of foreign interests coupled with the spread and consolidation of a landed gentry generated the premises of an imperial autocratic system that postponed the need for reforms. We know what came next: the revolution of 1974 and the rise of the Derg, which led to the subjection of Ethiopia to the divisive and hegemonic rule of the TPLF.

Another chaotic, bloody, and perilous revolution was about to engulf the country when, as a result of the ethnic inequality and perverted rule of the TPLF and in reaction to popular uprisings, internal dissensions grew within the EPRDF. This political evolution put Ethiopia back in the situation where it can nurture a reforming nationalist elite. That the will to reform came from inside the ruling EPRDF and that this will emerged from the clear grasp that increased repression, as advocated by the TPLF, is useless, is perfectly in line with the conditions that fashion modernizing elites. Both the stubborn policy of repression of the TPLF and the continuous popular uprisings created the condition in which the survival of the elites that control power became dependent on conceiving and implementing reforms replacing ethnic entitlements and clientelism with the standard of achievement.

Does this mean that, with the installation of Abiy as Prime Minister, Ethiopia is out of the woods and on the right track toward a successful modernization? Of course not, for it is one thing to take a positive turn, quite another to consolidate the turn with institutional and structural changes. To begin with, nothing guarantees as yet that a majority of the EPRDF members are really committed to fostering an achievement-based social order. Secondly, groups that either defend ethnicity as a political and economic entitlement or call for the hegemonic rule of a given ethnic identity still proliferate in the country. These last groups are all the more dangerous as they find a natural ally in the sidelined but not yet defeated number one promoter of ethnic hegemony, namely, the TPLF. Thirdly, in the face of growing tensions and instability in the social order subsequent to conflicts fomented by highly ethnicized groups, Abiy and his supporters may well be compelled to resort to authoritarian methods. In fact, given that the primary role of the state is to protect law and order, a return to authoritarianism could become inevitable, despite Abiy’s repeated reluctance to contemplate such an outcome. Also, seeing the weakness of opposition parties and their deep ideological divisions, there is no guarantee that the coming election will lead to a peaceful result. Most importantly, a defeat or weakening of the EPRDF will open the door to all sorts of scary possibilities, in view of the fact that I do not see how an alternative party or coalition of opposing parties could emerge given the weakness of the parties and their often wide ideological disparities.

As a matter of fact, unless there is an amendment to the Constitution, it is very difficult to see how an alternative party that would have a national reach could emanate from the current ethnically fragmented electorate in Ethiopia. The more one becomes aware of the legal and ideological obstacles standing against the rise of national parties, the more one realizes that the attempt to defeat or weaken the present standing and leadership of the EPRDF offers nothing but a situation favoring ethno-nationalist parties, which will then foment disorder and violence to achieve their true goals. My fear is not that the coming election will not be democratic but that the result will be so fragmented that it will hamper the formation of a government. All bets are off if the coming elections do not return to power the EPRDF with its present leadership. The effort to promote transfer of power in Ethiopia by means of democratic elections is laudable, but it can also turn into recklessness or naïve idealism if prevailing conditions are not conducive for a reliable peaceful transition.

To contemplate the likelihood of a return to authoritarianism can be justly characterized as a pessimistic predication. However, even in the case where authoritarian methods become unavoidable, all is not necessarily bleak. Authoritarianism is not always a negative outcome so long as it continues to promote the order of achievement. It is imperative here to distinguish between political authority used to protect privileges (be they based on ethnic, religious, gender discriminations or on class rigidity instead of social mobility) and authority used to promote a social order upholding achievement. The distinction goes against the widely held view that democratization precedes and conditions economic development and modernization. In reality, a closer look at the history of developed countries shows that democracy is more of an outgrowth of societies engaged in the path of promoting achievement than a sine qua non of modernization. As indicated in the beginning of this article, what needs to happen is the rise of nationalist elites, that is, elites committed to modernize their societies so as to solve the crises threatening their social standing. What drives them primarily is not the concern for human rights or the equality of ethnic and religious groups, but the design and implementation of efficient methods to ward off threats. So conceived, their inspiration is not so much humanitarian, at least at the beginning, as scientific, if by “science” we mean the design of efficient methods to solve problems. And one fundamental condition for achieving developmental results is the end of all forms of clientelism and rigidity in favor of openness based on merit.

We often hear that democracy is about nothing else but the very survival of Ethiopia as a country. In thus assuming that there is only one way out and, what is more, the most difficult to achieve, we corner ourselves instead of opening various options. Yet, as Hölderlin said, “where the danger is, also grows the saving power.” This truth was verified by the rise of Abiy and his supporters. It could well happen again if we make good use of authoritarianism in case the latter becomes necessary to protect law and order threatened by the still virulent aftermaths of two decades of ethnic divisive rule. Instead of the previous authoritarian systems with their sterile, divisive, and ascriptive methods of rule, there is the option for an authoritarianism inspired by nationalist elites and whose objective is to make social status conditional on merit rather than on ethnic, religious, class, etc., affiliations. This form of authority is best defined by coaching rather than repression and extortion.

Messay Kebede is a professor for the Department of Philosophy at the University of Dayton

Professor

https://udayton.academia.edu/MessayKebede

The post From Predatory to Modernizing Elites: Prospects in Abiy’s Ethiopia appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

By: Yohanan Yokamo (Lecturer, Hawassa University)

 The Sidama People are one of the indigenous Cushitic or Kushitic language speaking Ethiopians. After EPRDF (Ethiopia People Revolutionary Democratic Front) assumed power in 1991 immediately after the transition period (between 1991-1995) the Sidama nation was granted regional self-administration for a brief period with only the Gedeo and Burji incorporated to it. However, this was only short lived when unexpectedly previously five distinct regions of the south were merged all together without consulting the Sidama nation and others concerned according to primarily a decision of the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. According to Lovise Aalen, the zone council pushed the quest for a separate regional status all the way to the Council of Nationalities until the late prime minster intervened.

However, the Constitution provides the right to statehood and the Sidama People, unlike other nation and nationalities in the region, has made a strong request to exercise constitutional right in democratic way.

Now it’s a critical time and the Sidama people are in the verge of writing a new chapter in their history book. In July 2018, members of the Sidama zone council approved unanimously a request by the Sidama people for regional statehood for the second time. The first one was in 2005. After brief deliberation, the SNNPRS council endorsed the decision and handed it to the National Electoral Board for referendum.

Sidama People Struggle

The widely accepted narration through stories and tales by the Sidama elders and scholars about their experience and historical memory within Ethiopia is one of repression and discrimination. Yet the Ethiopian official discourse does not address the problem save concealing it by selectively memorizing events and course of actions that justify its line of choice.

The Sidama have demanded their freedom from the very first day they fell under SNNPR and the current quest of the Sidama for a separate region is part and parcel of the Sidama people struggle for self-determination.

The memory of the May 24, 2002 Looqe massacre of Sidama citizens demonstrating against the denial of constitutional rights to regional self-administration in Loqqe village (out skirt of Sidama capital Hawassa city), by regional police and federal troops is still fresh, and nobody was ever held accountable. Since that dark day, the repression was frequent. Now, led by Baalichcha Worawo’s (Commonly, Sidama’s courageous spirits), young Sidaanchoos and freedom fighters like ‘Ejjeetto group, in Sidaamu Affo Language’ led by personalities selected from Sidama people at different level are still at struggle even as we speak.

In the letter dated 08/11/97 members of the Sidama Zonal Counicil combined history, geography and injustice against the Sidama and formally requested for statehood in 2005. Due to polical intervention, referendum has not taken place.  Still people from all segments of Sidama society are demanding these denied rights. The EPDRF government, disregarding the provision of these rights in its constitution articles 39 and 47, has suppressed the Sidama nation and continually to ignore its people when they raise these legal and legitimate questions. Sometime also the regime tries to hoodwink the Sidama people by installing handpicked Sidama cadres to do its dirty work at regional and zone levels. For instance, there is a reasonable suspicion that in order to divert attention of the Sidama people from asking statehood request, the ruling party of SNNPRS (SPDM) recruited personnel’s have been working to divide Sidama activists and clan leaders to fight one another and furthermore some even claim that these persons ever have been working to create a conflict between the Sidama people and the surrounding Oromia people.

To this end, the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) that is currently at work clearly specifies that all nations, nationalities and peoples enjoy recognition and equal legal protection including the freedom to develop and preserve their identity and enhance the unabridged use and enrichment of their cultures and languages. (Art. 39 of the Constitution) In this regard, what the Sidama People requires is consistent with the Constitution, and is to make economic progress and develop its culture.

Once the decision is obtained from the election board, a referendum shall be organized within a year.  (Article 39 & 47 of the Constitution) If the referendum confirms the demand for separate statehood, which is the most likely outcome, then Sidama automatically becomes the 10^th State constituting the Ethiopian Federation, thereby injecting an informal amendment to, at least, Article 47 of the constitution.

There are those who are deriding, mocking, or otherwise undermining this decision today. But the Sidama people are not demanding anything outside of their own legitimate rights. The recent conflict between the Wolayita and the Sidama was a sad incident and caused destructive consequences form both groups. Apart from this incident, the Sidama have been accommodating the Wolayta and other ethnic groups peacefully, although there are concerns that especially some Wolayta are conspiring against the statehood request.  Such concerns are somehow reasonable to consider that many Wolayta politician, activist and scholars used to defend and made critique against the Sidama’s statehood request.

Next steps and Further Tasks Required

While the process granting is going on, the Sidama People may do well to:

1. Start good negotiations about shared immovable property (office buildings) with SNNPR region and also especially the manner, duration, and terms of cohabitation of SNNPRS, at least temporarily, as a boundary of Sidama National Regional State and properly divide the shared immovable properties of SNNPRS situated in Sidama’s Zone capital city, Hawassa.
2. The modes of protection to be accorded to minorities, i.e., non-Sidamas, residing in the region. In order to address the issue of minority and adjust adequate guarantees to the rights of their intra-unit minorities, the Sidama people has to carefully study the history, socio-economic, demographic and political position of Sidama Zone and its capital, Hawassa city and other citizens living in Sidama National Regional State.
3. Draft, adopts, and enacts its constitution;
4. Constitute its government institutions and structure, and assign officials as appropriate accordingly.

It is hoped that the recent Sidama decision today will open up a new chapter in the development of the country’s constitutional processes and the jurisprudence thereof. The youth can also best promote the image of Sidama nation and appeal its concern to the international and national bodies.

Although the Sidama youth and freedom fighters experienced repeated setbacks whilst doing so, during their pursuit of justice for their own nation, to date they aren’t in agreement with the decisions of those who are in power. These Sidama Ejeetto’s rather keeps pushing for better governance, justice and rule of law in Sidama land and beyond. The Sidama youth and freedom fighters keep pushing for the constitutional rights to be fully materialized as per constitution of the country until the Sidama is in position to manage its own resources and all-round affairs.

Government Silence Vis-Vis Sidama People Quest

The National Electoral Board has not yet formally set a date for referendum. According to article 47(3/a) of FDRE’s constitution, referendum should be held within one-year from the time the request has been approved by people’s representatives (in this case the Sidama zone council). Six months have passed since this happened. And yet, no official pronouncements from the board which, surprisingly, has chosen to remain silent on an issue of this magnitude. We know reform is taking place at the board, including installment of a new chairperson, but does that mean it is not to be able to announce at least a tentative date for referendum?

Delay of the referendum is opening a door for many illegal as well as unrepresentative Sidama and non – Sidama people to create chaos in the region in guise of Sidama people right. The board should quickly arrange a referendum for the Sidama People in accordance with the constitutional principles.

Recently when the Prime Minister talked to selected teachers from Ethiopia, PM Dr. Abiy has made an answer to teachers question stating that the boundary commission is working to address issues including the question of statehood. However, what many of people wrongly associated the PM’s answer with the ongoing Sidama people question have forgotten to identify that Sidama do not have boundary problems and at no time presented any boundary claims to any state organs. The boundary commission does not concern the Sidama nation. Its work does not relate to the Sidama referendum and the commission is not required to conduct the referendum. Pursuant to article 47(3) (a) of the Constitution, it is the council of SNNPRs that would organize Referendum to Sidama nation.  However, due to lack of experience and required human resources, the SNNPRS council has endorsed the National Election Board to only to manage the conduct of the referendum polls.

It is also good to look a bit closely into the claims that many other nation in SNNPR or others working to reverse the quest of the Sidama people for its own statehood in different way. For instance, other nations like Wolayita, Keffa and Gurage in the SNNPR have made similar demands. Many arguments being made that the case that these nations made similar question for independent region might create a challenge the demand of Sidama. However, such arguments do not consider that Sidama request to its own region is independent constitutional and legal question that they should not waste your energy trying to defend the indefensible in democratic manner. Unless their argument fails logical and legal test that might be considered as blindly opposed to this legit question.

Furthermore, the Sidama’s request for statehood has a positive implication to other nations of SNNPRS asking similar request. This is because the Article 46 (2) of the Constitution of Ethiopia affirms that “States shall be delimited on the basis of the settlement patterns, language, identity and consent of the people concerned”. Thus, because SNNPRS was not delimited on the basis of the settlement patterns, language, identity and consent of the people in contravention to Article 46(2), it is a matter of time for the SNNPRS to be dismantled.

Furthermore, by looking at the latest report of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRC), one can get a look why many in one or other way working to reverse the quest of the Sidama people for its own statehood and self-governance legal question in the process.

In this regard, one Development Economist and the former Sidama Development Corporation Director, Dr. Wolassa Lawisso has pointed out that the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, has refused to live up it ethos of defending the rights of all citizens impartially. In its report on the unrest in Sidama in June and in other parts of the country, the council squandered an opportunity to conduct a professional and objective assessment of what unfolded in Sidama. Instead, the commission exclusively dwelt on a one-sided anti-Sidama narrative. As Dr. Wolassa has reasoned that the report blatantly portrays the unrest as an attack on Wolayita by the Sidama youth during the Sidama’s most peaceful traditional New Year Fichchee while it was crystal clear that the unrest was carefully planned and stage-managed by anti-peace and anti-reform elements that have been wreaking havoc across the country since the new government took office in March/April 2018. Sidama was no different. The report flagrantly paints the Sidama nation, the victim as the perpetrator of the injustice. It ignores the fact that the Hawassa massacre was the second massacre of the Sidama nation in two decades after the Looqqee massacre of 24 May 2002. The report never cared to even mention the names of the Sidama victims killed by government security forces in Hawassa in June 2018.  Again the report never cared to assess the atrocities meted the Sidama female students in Wolayita Sodo University.

Conclusion

The Sidama struggle for political and economic equality in Ethiopia has been around for a long time.

Therefore, the repeated denial of the said constitutional rights of the Sidama nation to regional self-administration is one of the driving-forces in uniting the Sidama youth and freedom fighters (Ejeetto) and others segments of the society, further shaping and reinforcing their nationalism and national identity.

Thus, it’s possible to say that the Sidama youth and freedom fighter can be the owner of its destiny and can shape its futurity by rejecting all forms of injustices imposed on Sidama people as a nation. The role of the Sidama Ejeetto therefore cannot be underemphasized.

Currently, those could help build a strong, if not unbreakable, bond between the Sidama people and others are still silent and wrongly acting against the Sidama People. This genuine quest for regional self-administration is morally and politically strong and will continue for generation unless Sidama’s false marriage is annulled. The Sidama nation will continue with their quest with utmost heroism, bravery and unshakable unity.

Reference

• Aalen ‘The Politics of Ethnicity’
• Ambaye Ogato (PhD), COMMENTARY: SIDAMA-WOLAYTA CONFLICT: A PRISTINE MYTH TURNING INTO REALITY? HOOLA HALALEHO
• Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis (June 5, 2007): Seyoum Hameso and the Sidama Diaspora Intellectuals
• Hammer: Sidama People, 1998
• Markos Tekle Rike (PHD), State-Society Relations and Traditional Modes of Governance in Ethiopia: A Case Study of Sidama 2014
• Government Sponsored official Book titled ‘Ye Sidama Biher Tarik ena Bahil’
• Tunsisa Tafe (PhD), 2019)’High Hopes for Referendum to Resolve the Sidama People’s Quest for Regional Statehood Despite the Surprising Silence of the National Election Board of Ethiopia’ (Unpublished)
• Wolassa Lawisso (PHD, 2019): The Ethiopian Human Rights Council Abuses the Human Rights of the Sidama Nation in its 146th Partisan Report (unpublished)
• Wolassa Lawisso Kummo, “The Sidama Nation: History, Culture and Political Economy” 2016
• Yared Legesse (LLB, LLM, S.J.D): ‘Secession under the Federal and Sub-national Constitutions of Ethiopia: Navigating the Distance between Text and Structure’

Online Source:

• Federico Mayor, Director General of UNESCO 1989, accessed on December, 2018)

The post The Case of the Sidama People’s Referendum for Regional Statehood in Ethiopia: The Need for Speedy Proceeding! appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Billy Kobin, Louisville Courier Journal

Muhammad Ali once said his “greatness came and started in Louisville.”

Now his name will be among the first things visitors and travelers see when they fly into his beloved hometown.

City officials announced Wednesday that Louisville International Airport will be renamed after the boxer and humanitarian often called “the Greatest.”

The new name: Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.

“Muhammad Ali belonged to the world, but he only had one hometown, and fortunately, that is our great city of Louisville,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “Muhammad became one of the most well-known people to ever walk the Earth and has left a legacy of humanitarianism and athleticism that has inspired billions of people.

“It is important that we, as a city, further champion The Champ’s legacy,” Fischer continued. “And the airport renaming is a wonderful next step.”

The Louisville Regional Airport Authority board approved Fischer’s motion that the airport be renamed. But the SDF code will not change, officials said.

The post Louisville is renaming its airport after Muhammad Ali appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Corbyn rips May, demands no confidence vote 02:12

But May urged lawmakers to listen to the British citizens who voted to leave the EU. “I ask members on all sides of the house to listen to the British people, who want this issue settled, and to work with the government to do just that,” May said.

What happens now?

May now has 24 hours to save her government. If she loses the vote of no-confidence, it makes a general election more likely.

If she survives, however, May said she would follow a two-stage process to break the Brexit impasse. First, she offered cross-party talks with lawmakers as an attempt to try and figure out a way forward. May promised the government would approach those talks in a “constructive” manner.

Then, if a consensus emerges, she would take a revised plan to the European Union.

What happens now with Brexit? May’s big defeat leaves no clear options

But there isn’t much time: Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, whether a deal is in place or not. “Every day that passes without this issue being resolved means more uncertainty, more bitterness and more rancor,” May said.

It seems likely that May will survive the confidence vote. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) — the Northern Irish party that props up May’s minority government — said it would work with the Prime Minister to secure a better deal.

DUP leader Arlene Foster welcomed Tuesday’s vote, saying the UK parliament had “acted in the best interests of the entire United Kingdom.”

Foster added: “Whilst some may wish to use this defeat to boost their political ambitions, we will give the government the space to set out a plan to secure a better deal.”

Pro-Brexit supporters hold up placards outside the UK Parliament as MPs debated.

European response

Moments after the vote, European Council President Donald Tusk demanded the UK “clarify its intentions” on its plan “as soon as possible.”

In a statement, Tusk said: “We will continue our preparations for all outcomes, including a no-deal scenario. The risk of a disorderly exit has increased with this vote and, while we do not want this to happen, we will be prepared for it.”

In a tweet, Tusk also pointed out that the UK could unilaterally withdraw its notification to leave the EU: “If a deal is impossible, and no one wants no deal, then who will finally have the courage to say what the only positive solution is?”

Donald Tusk

✔@eucopresident

If a deal is impossible, and no one wants no deal, then who will finally have the courage to say what the only positive solution is?

76.9K

11:40 AM – Jan 15, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacy

President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, also warned of the ticking clock. “I take note with regret of the outcome of the vote in the House of Commons this evening. I urge the UK to clarify its intentions as soon as possible. Time is almost up,” Juncker wrote.

How the UK got here

Tuesday night’s vote was the product of more than two and a half years of tortuous debate and negotiations, after 51.9% of British people voted to leave the EU in 2016.

Untangling a 45-year marriage was not as easy as some Brexiteers claimed it would be. Particularly when it came the contentious Irish backstop — an insurance policy to prevent the return of border infrastructure between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland — which has been a thorn in the side of May’s deal.

Here’s what you need to know about Brexit 03:23

May’s defeat seemed inevitable. Lawmakers were due to vote on her deal in December but the process was thrown into disarray after May pulled the plug, admitting she would lose the vote “by a significant margin.”

The biggest challenge came from hardline pro-Brexit lawmakers within her own Conservative party — their opposition to what they see as an overly soft exit has dogged her deal from the start.

It’s hard to see an obvious way out of the mess. Even if a consensus can be reached in parliament, there’s no guarantee the EU would agree to reopen negotiations.

If no agreement can be reached, and the UK edges towards crashing out of the EU without a deal, it’s possible the government could collapse, or the Conservative party could replace May as leader.

Another possibility is that parliament could force a second referendum, or — least likely of all — scrap Brexit altogether.

The only certainty is that with just 73 days left before the country is due to leave the EU, the UK is no closer to knowing what will happen.

The post British lawmakers crush Theresa May’s Brexit deal by historic margin appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

The festival of Timket is celebrated on January 19th (20th in a leap year) and it commemorates the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist at River Jordan.

In Ketera, the Tabot (replica of the Ark of the Covenant) is taken out of each church and borne aloft by high priests to the nearest river, lake or pond where the communal baptism is to take place the next day.

The procession is attended by chanting and dancing crowds in dazzling white traditional dress, which contrasts with the colours of the ceremonial vestments and sequined velvet umbrellas of the priests.

The Tabots stay overnight near the water and ceremonies continue overnight.

Timket celebration starts the next morning, when the ceremony begins with pre-sunrise rituals, which include the Kidane (Morning Prayer) and the Kidasie (the Divine Liturgy).

And then follows the blessing and sprinkling of blessed water on the assembled congregation in commemoration of Christ’s baptism.

It takes the better part of the day before the procession breaks up to return the Tabots to the churches in the afternoon.

By afternoon, all the Tabots are returned to their churches in a procession with the priests and young people animated and leaping like King David in the Bible.

Both the Ketera and Timket ceremonies particularly are so colorful that they are attended by several tourists from around the world.

Source: FBC

The post Ketera, Eve Of Epiphany Celebrated in Ethiopia appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

by  JOSEPH HAMMOND

The Ethiopian government announced this week a new offensive against the Oromo Liberation Front which suggest the challenges the government faces in managing its transition to a more open society and bringing lasting peace to the Horn of Africa.

Accusing the OLF of descending into banditry and other crimes since a peace agreement was signed by the two sides last year, a government spokesperson has announced that the campaign will target Omoryia province’s Kelem Wollega Zone, where the government claims the OLF operates training sites. The region is ethnically more than 90 percent Oromo, the majority of whom are Protestants (though the country overall is largely Sunni Muslim or Orthodox Christian).

The OLF has increasingly splintered in recent years though the main dissident factions continue to use the OLF name and flag.

The government has denied that the fighting has involved airstrikes but, has admitted that air mobile forces have been used in the operations. A review by The Defense Post of material posted by pro-OLF social media accounts did not show any digital evidence of airstrikes.

Even so, the fighting in the Kelem Wollega Zone suggests the difficulty in integrating formerly armed resistance groups into Ethiopian society.

“The time we fought for and the time many Ethiopians died for has come,” Ephrem Madebo, a spokesperson for Ginbot 7, which was once was one of the most notorious armed groups in Ethiopia, told The Defense Post. “We strongly believe that we Ethiopians can now discuss the future of our nation. So why fight or carry guns?”

Since coming to power, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has led a transformation in the Horn of Africa. Abiy has pledged to restore democracy in the country and open up civil society as well as to privatize Ethiopian national airlines and liberalize the telecommunications network where government-run Ethio Telecom maintains a monopoly.

But it is Ethiopia’s signing of a peace deal with neighboring Eritrea that has received the most international attention.

From the Ethiopian perspective, the main strategic gain from this agreement was that Eritrea agreed to close several camps operated by Ethiopian rebel groups in the country. Ethnic clashes last year in Ethiopia resulted in the internal displacement of some three million people with the OLF being the largest armed challenge to government rule.

In July, Ethiopia’s parliament voted to lift the terrorist label on three armed groups: the OLF, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and Ginbot 7, whose formal name is Patriotic Ginbot 7 Movement for Unity and Democracy. The reintegration of Ginbot 7 has thus far been largely been a success. In a December media appearance group reiterated that it seeks the incorporation of 550 former guerrillas within Ethiopia’s armed forces.

The Ethiopian government first listed Ginbot 7  as a terrorist organization in 2011 but the group formally renounced armed resistance last year, and in September a group of former guerrillas departed their former base in Eritrea and crossed the border into Ethiopia, many still in uniform.

“Justice, liberty, democracy and equality are the normal way of life in [now in] Ethiopia. Almost all of our members started the struggle to do this in Ethiopia,” Madebo said.

Madebo stated that even during periods of armed struggle the group never abandoned non-violent initiatives and that, from their perspective, the group was forced to take up arms by “the regime in Ethiopia.”

The OLF was founded in Oromia in 1973 and like Ginbot 7 was hosted by Eritrea until recently. The OLF was one of many insurgent groups fighting communist leader Meriam Mengistu who held power from 1974-1991. Following that victory the OLF entered into negotiations with the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) whose forces were the first to capture the capital Addis Ababa. Negotiations with the EPRDF broke down in 1992 and the OLF resumed the armed struggle.

Today a rival Oromo group – the Oromo Democratic Party – is one of four parties within the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). In November, the clout of this group further expanded when it merged with another Oromo group that had long been in exile.

The expanded ODP party has accused the OLF of failing to integrate within the Ethiopian state. Indeed other groups within the OLF have announced their plans to disband, and this week another guerrilla leader with the OLF accepted a government peace offer.

Ginbot 7 is betting hard that the democratic process will bear fruit. In recent weeks it united with three other opposition parties Semayawi Party (Blue Party), Ethiopian Democratic Party, and the Unity Party to provide a united front.

“Ginbot 7 and other opposition parties are joining together ahead of the upcoming elections because the EPRDF has a clear advantage in resources, logistics and manpower, said Jordan Anderson, a country risk analyst at IHS Markit.

“They aren’t copying the EPRDF structure, as this would mean maintaining separate constituent parties for different regions, which is incongruous to the ideology of parties like Ginbot 7, who emphasize a unified and centralist vision of Ethiopia.”

Ginbot 7 was formed in 2008 and takes its name from a protest movement that sprang up following Ethiopia’s disputed 2005 elections. The group can rely on the deep pockets of the Ethiopian diaspora in North America and has interest in forming alliances with separatist groups like the OLF.

“For the same ideological reasons, Ginbot 7 was always unlikely to unify with what it views as ethnically-focused or ‘separatist’ opposition parties,” Anderson said.

However, as the recent fighting attests some ethnic Oromo are making a different calculation. Oromo make up somewhere between 34 to 40 percent of the country, and it is from this ethnic group that Abiy Ahmed hails.

Long-time OLF chairman Dawud Ibsa Ayana has accused Ahmed’s government of failing to abide by the accord and integrate OLF forces into the army and police.

“The government forces started war recently on OLF positions,” Dawud Ibsa said in one media appearance before the latest government offensive. Ibsa speaks for one faction in the OLF that, according to the Ethiopian media, is the only armed resistance group with offices and a sizable presence in the capital.

At stake is more than Abiy’s reform process: the long-term stability of Ethiopia, a country of roughly 100 million people in which the right of secession is ingrained in the constitution.

Elections are likely still a year away won’t be until next year, and the prime minister has already promised they will be free and fair.

“Before a lot of people used to talk about democracy here but, now we have a real democracy,” said Miriam Tadele, a recent graduate accountant looking for work near Mexico Square in the nation’s capital of Addis Ababa. “It was a dictatorship before but, I think if there are elections the votes will count this time.”

The post New Ethiopian offensive suggests difficulty in managing peace process appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Mebratu D Kelecha, For Addis Standard

Addis Abeba, January 15/2019 – There are diverse experiences of “democratic transition” around the world, as well as the causes that lead to such transition and its outcomes. As the factors of “democratic transition” are inherently diverse and complex, the current transition in Ethiopia also cannot be explained by one factor, as shown below.

Factors that cause transition

The ruling EPRDF rejected changes for a long time. Curbing reformist elements within the party and suppressing the oppositions were rampant. These practices forced some groups to take up arms against the regime because they believed that there was no alternative to moving to a democratic system except through armed struggle. But the current transition is not linked to any of these arm struggles waged against the regime by rebellions. It must be clear that none of the armed forces solely caused the ongoing changes in the country except to play a role in popular protests and solidarity movements organized by the lead organizers. In fact, many of them were invited to come to the country after the protest movements forced then prime minster Hailemariam Desalegn to resign and brought Abiy Ahmed to the helm of the national power. Opposition forces have not been able to meaningfully challenge the EPRDF because of its extreme polarization and fragility partly as a result of its own repressive policies. Thus, no political parties, their leaders or ideology can fake political history and claim victory for a political current that they have not precipitated, controlled or delivered.

However, there are many other interrelated and essential factors that have caused the transition. First, there are factors that aggravated the regime’s crises and the inability of the EPRDF to confront them effectively. These crises include economic, cultural, social and political. The regime could not effectively cope with these crises, despite public tolerance, so it further lost its legitimacy as the public opposition intensified against it, supported by largely non-violent movements. After being plunged into a constant crisis, EPRDF embraced the political openness to overcome its problems and seem to be following the path of democratization to accommodate the opposition.

Second, since the death of the late Meles Zenawi in August 2012, there have been concerns about the relative balance of power among political actors in the constituent parties of the EPRDF. In addition, public protests threatened the cohesion of the ruling elite, empowering those in need of change, gradually joining popular protests. This strengthened the public support of the popular protests and increased the perseverance of the grassroots social movements and their effectiveness in fighting the heavy-handedness of the government. With the intensification of protests, the rift between the hardliners and the soft-liners in the EPRDF has widened, and eventually the reform wing of the ruling elite has come to the conviction that moving on the road to democracy is the safest way to avoid the possibility of regime change by force. On the other hand, the absence of strong opposition forces capable of coordinating and leading the transition has increased the bargaining capacity of the reformers within the ruling party to continue incumbency during the transition period to avoid the possibility of regime change that they feared would disintegrate the country.

Third, the popular protest that shocked the country for more than three years is the main trigger of the transition. It is argued that the current transition took place based on an agreement reached through bargaining and negotiations between the reform wing of the ruling party and the lead organizers of the popular protests, especially after the twin politicians, Lemma Megersa and Abiy Ahmed, were appointed to the office of president and vice president of the Oromia regional state respectively. The reform group was also convinced that it is unable to continue the closed policies and repressive practices due to the pressures from popular protests. Thus, the option of political openness and the transition to a democratic system agreed with the lead organizers of the social movements.

As noted here, the current reform is triggered by a combination of factors, mainly pressures from popular protests and the political leadership of the reform wing of the EPRDF regime. Thus, it is a transition from within the existing system and the grassroots social movement. The process began when the group known as TeamLemma has come to the conviction that the cost of opening up and democratization was less than the cost of continuing the two and half decades authoritarian practices. Since then, this reform wing has played a key role in shifting the balance of power within the EPRDF and in engineering radical reforms.

The transition process so far corresponds to a gradual transformation of the political system into several stages: from movement to political openness, a promising democratic transition through the promise of free and fair elections in 2020 and another stages of consolidation of democracy. Despite inspiring reform initiatives, the unprecedented developments in the country require a political road map and appropriate institutional support. From this perspective, the creation of a new democratic system is facing a major test.

Decompression of authoritarianism

Today in Ethiopia there are signs of a more liberal and open political space than ever before. This includes the release of imprisoned journalists and political prisoners, the easing of restrictions on public expression, the decriminalization of armed opposition groups previously seen as terrorists (save for latest developments involving the OLF, which requires its own analysis), and the commitment to respect human rights. The open rejection of the “messianic” ideology of revolutionary democracy by ODP and ADP, much to the chagrin of the TPLF, is another sign that seems to be moving in the right direction. These are bold steps to correct past mistakes. And, the new prime minister has expressed his desire to create a durable democratic space of a wider spectrum in his inaugural speech in parliament on April 2, 2018, and at the consultative meeting held on 27 November 2018 with more than 80 political parties registered in Ethiopia as well as those that returned to the country at the invitation of the Prime Minister.

Despite these real hopes, however, it does not mean that it as simple as a walk in the park. The challenges remain immense and range from political, security, economic to social problems all of which requiring quick and appropriate responses from the Government. If not properly managed, the current political opening may take several dangerous routes. Returning to some form of authoritarian regime or engaging in an internal conflict is not impossible, as deadly conflicts persist. It is too early to comment on Ethiopia’s course in this regard, but there is some evidence that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s reform programs are being seriously tested. However, a non-violent transition, the kind of transition initiated by the reformist group within EPRDF and supported by the non-violent popular uprising, is often accompanied by a higher degree of democracy and better opportunities to continue and strengthen the emerging democratic system. Organized political parties should be able to take advantage of this opportunity to advance democratic governance on the horizon. So far, the one thing so clear is that the old authoritarian elements of the regime have collapsed, but building a new democratic system faces a serious challenge.

Obstacles and Challenges facing the transition

After a year of political openness, one of the questions that has yet to be answered by the group leading this transition is what should be the next step after the release of dissidents and the decriminalization of armed opposition parties to create free and open democratic space? Central to this is the strength of the opposition forces to engage in the transition process and the ability of the Government to ensure respect for the rule of law while accommodating diverse views on the programs of transition. These points are elaborated as follows.

The popular protests that have endured heavy government crackdowns for more than three years in a row led to the collapse of the old EPRDF as we know it and opened the transition to democracy in the absence of a viable and alternative opposition force to participate. As it appears in the transition process, the opposition parties are weak and therefore have limited capacity to influence the management of the transition process. This is the main reason why the popular protests did not pose a major threat to the ruling party’s continued incumbency to lead the transition to democracy. Not surprisingly, activists and individual figures appear to have a greater influence on the transition process than organized opposition parties. The influence of the opposition forces is weakened even after the collapse of the undemocratic elements of the regime. As a result, the structure of the current transition reflects a significant power imbalance between the Government and the opposition in favor of the former. The opposition and their leaders are lagging behind in bargaining and negotiating with the Government on the steps and actions necessary to create a democratic system on the ruins of the old regime. The continuing fragility of the opposition could lead to yet another stage of EPRDF dominance in the political settlement of Ethiopia if the opposition forces remain weak and cannot form a viable alternative to negotiating the rules of the democratic game. In addition, the public is concerned that if there is no consensus on the rules of the democratic game before the elections within EPRDF and among the opposition forces, the electoral process and the possible consequences of electoral violence will pose a serious threat to the survival of the Ethiopian state.

On the other hand, everyone now understands that the decompression of authoritarianism does not in itself lead to transition to a democratic polity unless the rule of law is respected. A look at change and continuity in the political life of Ethiopia tells us that the release of dissidents and a thriving press at the beginning of the 1991 transition period did not lead to a new democratic dispensation, except that they first raised public expectations, a kind of euphoria that we have been witnessing lately. However, the failure to fulfill promises led to growing frustration over the next 27 years of the EPRDF rule. Respect for the rule of law should be the top priority of the government. In this regard, the continued conflicts in different parts of the country is worrying, since the likelihood of such events to trigger a return to some form of authoritarianism or might escalate into the disintegration of more than 100 million population of the country is not unlikely. Such a scenario may plunge the entire region into chaos. The collapse of the current Ethiopian state is tantamount to committing collective suicide, and therefore political parties, particularly the youths, have a vested interest and moral responsibility to prevent such a tragedy from happening by deescalating the conflicts. Thus, ensuring peace and order should be a priority for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed by establishing the rule of law to resolve conflicts that spread throughout the country. It also helps create a sense of citizenship and belonging to a political community without political affiliation or membership in ethnic communities, which will have a positive effect on reducing tensions.

Citizen perseverance is also key to the success of democracy in any country, so the Ethiopian public is no longer satisfied only with the holding of an election but will also be very interested in what happens to their votes after the elections. In other words, new generations of young people want to do whatever the law allows, so that their votes have real impacts, unlike in the past. As elections are too close, can the government put in place institutional backing to the expanding democratic space to meet the growing expectations? There are several things that must be wisely managed to deal with this concern.

First, on the way to building democracy, it is necessary to clarify the short-term and long-term agendas. The question is, of course, “how”? It is necessary to organize the rules of political engagement and participation. A clear political roadmap is needed to support the impressive measures aimed at creating a transitional order. Thus, the new political leaders must proceed by distancing themselves from self-praise triumphalism. They will have to be courageous, show political imagination and tolerance for differences in order to create a solid democratic order. Clear vision and purpose are needed to tread the uncharted waters of post-authoritarian construction.

Second, institutional and political reconstruction are required to entrust people with all sovereign checks and balances. There is need for strong civil society organizations dedicated to promoting the values ​​of democracy, voter education and constructive engagement with key actor such as the electoral commission, political parties and the security agencies.

Third, the significant rise in the level of access to and use of social media and modern technology and tools such as the Internet, mobile phone, Facebook and Twitter have become important means of mobilization particularly during the protests across the country. Parties and candidates have embraced them, but the influence they exert in the political field comes with treacherous possibilities. Certain aspects of the wave of ethnic conflicts spreading throughout the country can be attributed to the increasing use of social media. Moreover, the growth of “fake news” is a threat to the spread of legitimate news. An increasing number of Ethiopian journalists often use social media platforms to get news, creating the possibility of writing an incorrect story. Thus, with increasing reliance on social media to obtain news and form opinions, can the new leadership find a method of ensuring that the political news being broadcast on social media does not endanger public peace and order?

Fourth, the creation of a durable democratic space should not become hostage to the generosity of the incumbent or the short-lived passion of the population. Much needs to be done starting with the revision of the repressive laws such as the electoral laws, the anti-terrorism, cyber-security and charities legislation and proclamations. However, the most sustainable support for democracy must come from the institutional checks and balances of government power. For instance, a durable democracy needs a legislative body that can serve as a significant audit of the executive. In the past, because of the democratic centralism ideology of the ruling party, the Ethiopian parliament was a mere rubber stamp of EPRDF decisions. For the first time, ODP’s MPs have deviated from the decision of the party when eighty-eight lawmakers voted against the second state of emergency declared by the Council of Ministers in mid-February 2017. Such a different voice is strictly contrary to the discipline of the party. Thus, in the interests of a wider democratic space, can the ruling party continue to provide more room for the opposition and encourage pluralism in its own ranks?

Fifth, the existence of an independent and impartial judiciary is a fundamental requirement of democratic Ethiopia. The recent appointment of a prominent lawyer and women’s rights activist Meaza Ashenafi to head the Federal Supreme Court indicates the desire to do away with the basis of authoritarian rule in Ethiopia: executive control over the judicial system. However, creating an efficient and independent judiciary is a long-term effort.

The same holds true in reforming the electoral board. In the light of the upcoming general elections, it is urgent to take bold measures to strengthen the independence and authority of the National Electoral Commission, including procedures for a strong public scrutiny of its officials. The same applies to other key institutions, such as the Commission on Human Rights and the Ombudsman. However, given that the elections are a mere one year and a half away, can we expect that the reform leaders will be able to strengthen these institutions and institutionalize the rule of democratic game so that they play a crucial role to safeguard against authoritarian bents in the transition process? This shall be a test of time as we proceed to the forthcoming general elections.

Finally, the biggest challenges will come from competing nationalism and their potential links to organized politics. The new leaders seemed to have embraced a pro-Ethiopian nationalism and enjoy a broad based support. For some time, it seemed this support was a lasting support. But there is no guarantee that this support from the rival nationalist movements will continue, because their alliance is not strategically based on shared political visions. This exacerbates the challenges facing the current transition. On one hand the fierce rivalry between the various competing nationalist movements may not create a fertile ground for the development of a democratic culture. On the other hand, the inability of the government to tame these nationalist movements to the extent that it undermines the possibility of transition to democracy is also endangering the incumbency of the EPRDF as a governing national coalition in the forthcoming elections.

Basically, the threat to EPRDF’s survival comes from multiple sources: one from its incapability to tame the nationalist movements; two from its regional competitors; and three from its own ranks. It seems that some elements of the EPRDF and the armed opposition parties are preoccupied with their own gain at the expense of the collective fate of the country. The question and the great concern is therefore if political openness endangers the survival of the EPRDF or poses a serious threat to the survival of the state, will the new leaders remain committed to expanding the democratic space or resort to the use of force to overcome the threat? Again, the use of force to overcome this danger would undermine the aspiration to expand democratic space. One of the big risks that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed faces is also the ways in which the basic contradiction within the EPRDF and between rival nationalist movements can be accommodated in his present initiatives and future reform programs. It is therefore not easy to know where these links, competition and conflicts between political parties and varied nationalist movements will lead.

People’s power victories can be lost

The authoritarian rule is gone, but the remnants may still exist. Not much in terms of personalities, political language and symbolism of actual political power, but in terms of political chaos or even immorality. Politics must be restored as a moral project with goals beyond leaders, parties and ideologies. The critical mass that ultimately led to the defeat the old order, with the tipping-point provided by TeamLemma, should be able to prove its sustainability in the reform and transition phase. In other words, they must be able to institutionalize a new democratic order on the ruins of the old and the vestiges it left behind. But this is a tight political rope for all concerned. The presence of two divergent visions of Ethiopia — one slipping toward despotism with political regionalism rearing its head, and the other, an ambition toward a democratic future — is a delicate path to navigate by the current leadership. As recent trends go by, once again, it seems the party, the state and society are being blended in political warfare – and uncertainty is clouding the hopes for free and fair elections. The inability to overcome these challenges means that people’s power victories can be lost, leaving the stage for unpredictable fall out. No victory that began defeating the power of the people outlasts it.

AS

The post DAUNTING CHALLENGES MEET ETHIOPIA’S PROMISING REFORMS appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.