By teresia njoroge

Ethiopian Airline is set to launch US $65m Ethiopian Skylight Five Hotel this month. This is according to the Airline’s Head of Infrastructure Planning and Development, Abraham Tesfaye.

The Head of Infrastructure Planning said that the million dollar hotel whose construction  began in 2016, will be officially opened to the public on the 28th of January. The hotel is located five minutes from the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It covers 42000 square metres with a parking lot that can accommodate more than 500 cars.

“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,” said Abraham Tesfaye.

Ethiopian Skylight Five Hotel

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

The hotel also encompasses a grand ballroom which has been designed to accommodate 2,000 persons convenient for conference and wedding parties. It also has five meeting rooms that can accommodate 20-30 persons, health center that provides spa, massage and gym services, an outdoor swimming pool with a pool bar and mini golf court in the premise.

Other recreational services such as a coffee shop, ticket office, and souvenir shop are also offered in the hotel. A large kitchen, laundry and cold room are ready service.

Ethiopian airlines is reported to have provided 35% financing while EXIM Bank of China provided 65% of the project’s financing. In addition to promoting Ethiopian tourism, this hotel will also welcome passengers during transits, stopovers or technical delays. It is expected to to generate over 400 jobs.

“Ethiopian Airlines will have a sufficient number of internationally standard hotel rooms to create an environment conducive to tourists in addition to receiving passengers during transit, stopovers or technical delays,” said Mr. Abraham Tesfaye.

Moreover, the Ethiopian carrier is also preparing to launch the construction of a second 5-star hotel. The entry into service is scheduled for 2021. It will be built on an area of 22410 metres, the hotel will have 637 rooms.

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Constitutional Court poised to rule on an appeal over the outcome of the elections held in December.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has rebuked the African Union (AU) over its calls to suspend the announcement of the final results of its presidential elections, insisting that the Constitutional Court assessing the vote’s legality was impartial.

The court will rule on Friday on an appeal filed by election runner-up Martin Fayulu – who says he was cheated of his victory in the December 30 election.

“The court is independent,” government spokesman Lambert Mende said on Friday. “I don’t think it is the business of the government or even of the African Union to tell the court what it should do.”

At a summit in Addis Ababa, AU leaders announced late on Thursday that the Union would dispatch envoys to Kinshasa in a bid to end the crisis.

AU commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, currently the AU chairman, are expected to fly in on Monday.

The summit also said there were “serious doubts” about the vote’s provisional results.

They called for the announcement of the final results to be suspended – a matter currently in the hands of the Constitutional Court, which must issue a ruling ahead of the scheduled swearing-in of the next president on Tuesday.

“I don’t know if there are countries where people can interfere like that in a legal procedure,” said Mende.

“The court will do what is right for showing the truth. We should all trust it.”

Appeal

On January 10, the electoral commission declared opposition leader Felix Tshisekediprovisional winner in the vote to choose a successor to outgoing President Joseph Kabila – with 38.57 percent of the vote against Fayulu’s 34.8 percent.

But Fayulu denounced the figures as an “electoral coup” forged by Tshisekedi and Kabila, and filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court a day later, claiming to have won 61 percent of the vote.

TALK TO AL JAZEERA

‘No revenge’: Martin Fayulu on DRC elections and corruption

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Elias Meseret, Associated Press

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — An Ethiopian rebel group recently welcomed back to the country accuses the reformist government of targeting it with airstrikes. The government denies it.

Tensions are growing with the Oromo Liberation Front, which a year ago was in exile and listed as a terror group after waging a deadly guerrilla war for self-determination. It was among a number of groups invited home to take part in political dialogue as part of sweeping reforms under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. He took office in April.

The OLF on Thursday said Ethiopia’s air force carried out airstrikes in the western Oromia region on Jan. 12-13, saying seven civilians, including a baby, were killed.

“Trying to hide this attack is like trying to hide with a stolen camel,” the OLF said in a statement. It also accused Ethiopian troops of burning people’s houses and stealing their belongings.

Abiy’s office denied reports of airstrikes but said rebel groups were “not heeding the call for peace.” A statement by press secretary Billene Seyoum accused the OLF of “egregious violence against community members.”

The statement said Ethiopian forces have responded to a request by the Oromia regional government and have been “undertaking a stabilizing operation over the past two weeks, and the area is now being secured.”

Abiy recently expressed frustration with the OLF, warning it against trying to take power in a few months’ time instead of following the path to what he has pledged will be free and fair elections in 2020. The OLF has expressed support for elections, provided they are on time.

In what analysts have called the core problem, OLF has said there was no agreement for it to disarm when it agreed to return home. Ethiopia’s government has said clearly it must disarm as the country’s legal framework doesn’t allow more than one armed entity.

The OLF’s members have been estimated at around 5,000.

Ethiopia is currently experiencing ethnic-based clashes in various parts of the country that have led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians. Ethnic minorities have been attacked and universities have closed.

The unrest poses the biggest challenge so far to Ethiopia’s reforms.

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Addis Abeba, January 17/2019 – An estimated 36 million of a total population of 41 million children under the age of 18 in Ethiopia are multi-dimensionally poor, meaning they are deprived of basic goods and services in at least three dimensions, says a new report released today by the Central Statistical Agency and UNICEF.

Titled “Multi-dimensional Child Deprivation in Ethiopia – First National Estimates,” the report studied child poverty in nine dimensions – development/stunting, nutrition, health, water, sanitation, and housing. Other dimensions included education, health related knowledge, and information and participation.

“We need to frequently measure the rates of child poverty as part of the general poverty measures and use different approaches for measuring poverty. This requires all stakeholders from government, international development partners and academic institutions to work together to measure, design policies and programs to reduce child poverty in Ethiopia,” said Biratu Yigezu, Director General of Central Statistical Agency.

The report adapted the global Multi-Dimensional Overlapping Deprivation Analysis (MODA) methodology and used information available from national data sets such as the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Surveys of 2011 and 2016. MODA has been widely used by 32 countries in Africa to analyze child well-being. The methodology defines multi-dimensional child poverty as non-fulfillment of basic rights contained in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and concludes that a child is poor if he or she is deprived in three to six age-specific dimensions. The report’s findings have been validated through an extensive consultative process involving the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth, National Planning Commission, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs together with the Economic Policy Research Institute, among others.

“Children in Ethiopia are more likely to experience poverty than adults, with distressing and lifelong effects which cannot easily be reversed,” said Gillian Mellsop, UNICEF Representative in Ethiopia. “Ethiopia’s future economic prosperity and social development, and its aspirations for middle income status, depend heavily on continued investments in children’s physical, cognitive and social development.”

The study finds that 88 per cent of children in Ethiopia under the age of 18 (36 million) lack access to basic services in at least three basic dimensions of the nine studied, with lack of access to housing and sanitation being the most acute. The study reveals that there are large geographical inequalities: 94 per cent children in rural areas are multi-dimensionally deprived compared to 42 per cent of children in urban areas. Across Ethiopia’s regions, rates of child poverty range from 18 per cent in Addis Abeba to 91 per cent in Afar, Amhara, and SNNPR. Poverty rates are equally high in Oromia and Somali (90 per cent each) and Benishangul-Gumuz (89 per cent).

Additional key findings from the report indicate:

High disparities across areas and regions of residence in terms of average number deprivations in basic rights or services. For example, the differences in deprivation intensity (average number of deprivations in basic rights and services that each child is experiencing) between rural and urban areas are significant; multi-dimensionally deprived children residing in rural areas experienced 4.5 deprivations in accessing basic rights and needs on average compared to 3.2 among their peers in urban areas;

Given their large population sizes, Oromia, Amhara, and SNNPR regions are the largest contributors to multi-dimensional child deprivation in Ethiopia. These three regions jointly account for 34 of the 36 million deprived children in Ethiopia, with Oromia having the highest number at 16.7 million, SNNPR at 8.8 million, and Amhara at 8.5 million. Regions with the lowest number of poor children are Harar at 90,000, Dire Dawa at 156,000, and Gambella at 170,000.

Although there has been progress in reducing child deprivation, much more remains to be done. The percentage of children deprived in three to six dimensions decreased from 90 per cent to 88 per cent between 2011 and 2016 and the average number of deprivations that each child is experiencing decreased from 4.7 to 4.5 dimensions during the same period.

Most children in Ethiopia face multiple and overlapping deprivations. Ninety-five per cent of children in Ethiopia are deprived of two to six basic needs and services, while only one per cent have access to all services. Deprivation overlaps between dimensions are very high in rural areas and among children in the poorest wealth quintiles.

The report makes the following recommendations:

Speed up investments to reduce child poverty by four per cent each year for the next decade if Ethiopia is to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal on poverty reduction; Accelerate investments in social sectors prioritizing child-sensitive budgeting at the national and regional levels to enhance equality and equity; and Improve collaboration among different social sectors to ensure that the multiple needs of children are met.

UNICEF Ethiopia

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Ethiopian troops in Somalia along with the Somalia government forces have killed 60 Al Shabaab insurgents in Kismayo area and destroyed four Land Cruiser pickups equipped with heavy explosives, Ministry of Defense said.

The attack was carried out on Saturday after Al Shabaab tried to stop the movement of Ethiopian forces in Somalia, the state broadcaster ETV reported last night. Ethiopian troops have been operating under Africa Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

During its daytime newscast ETV reported that Ethiopian troops in Somalia which were patrolling the area were attacked and managed to reach their base. The news also indicated that along with the federal government of Somalia troops, Ethiopian forces in Somalia are preparing to take measures against Al Shabaab.

In a related development, the United States has said on Saturday it has killed 52 Al Shabaab extremists by airstrike, in response to an attack on Somali forces.

Recently Al Shabaab has been conducting terrorist attacks in different parts of Somalia and the neighboring Kenya. In the first week of this month seven mortar shells were fired by Al Shabaab targeting the AMISOM Basecamp in Mogadishu, but all of them failed to hit their AMISOM intended target.
Last December the terrorist group also claimed responsibility for the attack in Somalia. AL Shabaab has also attacked a hotel in Kenya last week killing many people.

As part of AMISOM, Ethiopia deployed hundreds of troops in Kismayo in January 2016 to protect the area from the terrorist attack along with other troops from Kenya and Burundi.

Reports also show that n the past few months the United States has also been targeting Al Shabaab using drone attacks. Ethiopian forces officially joined the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia in January 2014. The Ethiopian troops in Somalia have played a major role in driving Al Shabaab out of several strongholds.

The troops entered Somalia following the United Nations Security Council approval, which authorized an additional force of over 4000 troops to bring the number of AMISOM peacekeepers in Somalia to over 22,126.

Somalia has been racked by constant war for more than 20 years – its last functioning national government was toppled in 1991.

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Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban

Ethiopia’s ruling coalition says it is happy about the level of execution of a peace deal with neighbouring Eritrea. The deal was signed in Asmara in July 2018.

The Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front, EPRDF, Executive Committee at a regular session held in the capital Addis Ababa said deal had so far been a big success, state-affiliated portal FBC reported.

“The economic ties between the two countries laid a foundation to bring change in the horn of Africa and build Ethiopia’s image at the global level,” the FBC report said in part.

The landmark deal was signed when leaders of both countries met in Asmara during the Ethiopian Prime Minister’s historic visit. The two sides reestablished all friendly ties for the first time in two decades.

The EPRDF session was led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who is chairman of the EPRDF. It also evaluated successes since its last meeting last year. Amongst others the widening of the political landscape and increased human rights.

The session however expressed concerns about insecurity in parts of the country which had triggered mass displacements. It also identified the activities of anti-peace elements as a threat to reform efforts.

The Committee further tasked the media to play its rôle in advancing the course of peace and unity among Ethiopians. It identified the media as a key player that needed to contribute to the journey towards a multi-party system.

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By  Al Mariam’

Just a year ago…

Last year, on the occasion of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Day I pondered what Dr. King’s message would be for young Ethiopians were he alive.

I said he would advise them to continue engaging in acts of civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance against the 27-year long oppressive rule of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a gathering of hard-core murderous thugs.

When I joined the Ethiopian human rights movement following the Meles Massacres of 2005, I announced, “We prove the righteousness of our cause not in battlefields soaked in blood and filled with corpses, but in the living hearts and thinking minds of men and women of good will.”

I have always urged Ethiopia’s youth (Cheetahs/Abo Shemanes) to avoid violence and strive for peaceful change in Ethiopia using nonviolence, the most powerful weapon in the world.

Last year this time, I urged  Ethiopia’s young people to continue with their nonviolent struggle because ethnic apartheid in Ethiopia is on its last legs and victory is in sight.

On January 20, 2018, exactly a year ago today, I rhetorically exhorted Ethiopia’s youth in King-esque style:

How long, eske meche (እስከ መቼ!) will wounded justice remain downtrodden on the dirt roads in the countryside and the highways be lifted and the hearts and minds of every Ethiopian healed?
Not long! Qenu derswal (ቀኑ ደርሷል)!
How long, eske meche (እስከ መቼ!) before the truth crushed to earth rise up again in Ethiopia?
Not long! Qenu derswal (ቀኑ ደርሷል)!
When will the dark cloud of TPLF oppression be lifted from the Ethiopian skies and the sun return to the Land of 13 Months of Sunshine?
Not long! Qenu derswal (ቀኑ ደርሷል)!
How long before Ethiopia is free from the yoke of ethnic apartheid?
Not long! Qenu derswal (ቀኑ ደርሷል)!
We shall overcome!

A sustained youth-driven nonviolent movement in 2018 finally put an end to 27 years of thug-rule in Ethiopia.

But I remember…

I remember those who for years laughed at me when I said the thug-rule of the TPLF would end not with a bang — “the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry and  the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield” — but a whimper.

TPLF’s minions said I was naïve. I have been away from home so long, I have no idea of the reality “on the ground”.

They scorned me,  “Al Mariam is ignorant of the underlying factors of TPLF’s staying power and predicts state collapse on every small and big occasion.”

They said I simply did not understand how powerful and entrenched the TPLF is.

The TPLF has all the money. They control the army, police and security forces. They have a powerful secret Agazi force.

They have the support of the U.S., China and what have you.

They are invincible. They are untouchable. They are unchallengeable.

The TPLF and their lackeys succeeded in convincing their opposition that they can be removed from power only through brute force, the barrel of AK-47.

The late TPLF leader used to taunted them, “If you want to seize power, go into the bush like we did and fight your way back.”

The duped TPLF opposition adopted the battle cry, “Armed struggle to the end!”

I knew better.

I told Ethiopia’s young people not to be afraid because TPLF ain’t s _ _t.

I told them in Fbruary 2016, to keep on waging their nonviolent struggle because the TPLF is a Beast with feet of clay.

I told them, “When gazed upon, the T-TPLF appears awesome, formidable and infinitely powerful. It has guns, tanks, rockets, planes and bombs. Though the T-TPLF has legs of iron, its feet are made of clay.”

But I had assured Ethiopia’s young people with prophetic certainty, three years ago almost to the month, that the TPLF will soon be smashed and trashed into the dustbin of history in massive nonviolent resistance:

The T-TPLF is fast approaching its day of reckoning. What happens to the T-TPLF is in T-TPLF’s hands. It can choose the path of peaceful change or it can invite violent revolution. Regardless, the T-TPLF Beast will soon be carried away and ‘become like chaff from the summer threshing floors.’ It will be ‘carried in the wind so that no trace of them is found’ and those who have troubled the Ethiopia House ‘shall inherit the wind.’ It is so written!

Today, as I write this commentary, I am deeply moved that what has been written has come to pass with demonstrable accuracy.

Yes, in 2018, Ethiopia’s Abo Shemanes (Cheetahs) became victorious in a nonviolent struggle!

Yes, in 2018, the TPLF got smashed and was swept in the trash bin of history in a nonviolent youth resistance.

In the end, the mighty TPLF cut and run to hide in its self-made kilil hideout with its tail between its legs whimpering like a beaten dog licking its wounds.

“They make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. Howling with hunger for their prey, they sneak round and round the walls, prowling with stealthy footstep, and barking in unamiable concert.”

Today, the TPLF whines, moans, groans and cackles from its hideout, “But we are being persecuted because of our ethnicity.”

Hogwash! Baloney!

The TPLF complaining about ethnic persecution to avoid accountability is like the Devil quoting Scripture to save his damnable soul.

But none of it matters because we are free of the TPLF cancer.

True, the TPLF cancer is trying to come back. They are financing terrorism and insurrection with the billions they stole from Ethiopians. They are plotting to set Ethiopian against Ethiopian so they can return to power.

Let the TPLF be forewarned with this prophesy if they continue in their evil ways, “Their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.”

No matter. We are free of the TPLF.

In the words of Dr. King, “Free at last, Free at last, Thank God Almighty” we are free at last from TPLF thug-rule!

Where do we go from here chaos or community?”

Today, in the United States we celebrate the extraordinary life, achievements and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The third Monday of January, also known as King Day or MLK Day, commemorates Dr. King’s birthday. He would have been 90 years old this year.

My long-time readers know that hardly do I write a weekly commentary without drawing on the words of Dr. King. He has been an inspirational figure in my life since childhood.

The first time I “met” Dr. King was when I was in the ninth or tenth grade, one-half century  ago.

I heard an upperclassman at my high school recite Dr. King’s “I have A Dream” speech during assembly.

I was moved by the words as the student passionately recited them from memory. That event is forever etched in my mind.

I day dreamed of the day I would go to America and be part of the youth movements I read about in Newsweek and Time. I did not have much interest in the local socialist-oriented youth movement.

When I arrived in America in June 1970, I fit right in.

As an undergraduate majoring in political science, I even wrote a paper about the relevance of Dr. King’s ideas to the struggle in Africa.

I concluded Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin and Mao Zedong were the future of Africa.

Within a couple of years in America as college student, I was radicalized into believing violence was the way to victory.

My sophomoric mantra was, “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”

By the late 1970s, as the military junta (Derg) unleashed its “red terror” campaign in Ethiopia killing thousands of young people, including some of my friends and relatives, my views changed.

I learned that it was easy to rationalize the deaths of strangers, but the pain of losing family an friends was simply unbearable.

I began to study nonviolence as a means of political change.

As I read Dr. King, Gandhi and Thoreau in the 1980s, I became convinced the only thing that grows out of the barrel of a gun is death and destruction.

I began to realize violent revolution was a convenient altar for the power hungry and thirsty to sacrifice the blood of innocent people so they can seize power. I realized violence is a never-ending cycle. Violence solves nothing. It dawned on me that the cradle of violence is hate.

Dr. King wrote:

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy, instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.

This past Christmas one of the presents I received from my family was Dr. King’s book, “Where Do We Go From Here Chaos or Community?”

It is a prophetic book filled with hope and confidence in the infinite capacity for goodness in humanity.

Dr. King lays out his vision, dreams, plans and expectations for America’s future.

To me what is extraordinary about this book is best expressed in Mrs. Coretta Scott King’s Foreword.

Mrs. King wrote, the book “stresses the common cause of all the disinherited, white and black, laying the basis for the contemporary struggles… The solutions he offered can still save our society from self-destruction”.

Medemer: The solution to save Ethiopia and America from self-destruction

The eerie query title of Dr. Kings book today gnaws at the back of my mind: “Where Do We Go From Here Chaos or Community?”

We as in “We, the People of the United States”.

We as in “We the people of Ethiopia”, NOT as the so-called nations, nationalities and peoples in Ethiopia.

I have discredited the nonsense about “nations, nationalities and peoples” in Ethiopia.

But where do we go from here in the United States of America and in Ethiopia?

I am not sure if I should say The United States or The Divided States of America.

When I first came to America nearly 50 years ago, I attended a foreign student’s orientation at my college and was told America is a melting pot of races, ethnicities, cultures, nationalities, etc.

That was the first time I heard Benjamin Franklin’s saying, “United we stand, divided we fall”.

Almost fifty years later, Franklin’s words sound hollow to me.

In today’s America, it seems to me more like united we fall, divided we stand. Stand as in a face-off. Stand as in stand your ground, never give an inch.

Our Congress is divided. Our Supreme Court is divided.

Our country is divided between Red and Blue States, although the flag is red, white and blue. I always believed it was the United (not red/blue) States.

But today, we are divided by race, class, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, language and on and on.

We are divided by citizenship and immigration status. Some of us want to build a wall to keep out the rest of the world out of the land of immigrants.

What happened to our traditional motto, E pluribus unum (out of many, one)?

What happened to the pledge of allegiance, “one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”?

Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Today, it is, “Just for Us and Just (who cares about) Them.”

In the old days, they used to say, “Americans in unity, and unity in Americans!”

Thomas Jefferson boasted, “The cement of this union is the heart-blood of every American.”

I am afraid there is an evil coursing in the heart-blood of every American.

Division has become America’s leukemia.

I believe hate feeds the cancer of division in the American heart-blood.

As Dr. King said, “Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.”

But Ethiopians are also not spared the unchecked cancer of hate in heart-blood.

That cancerous hate metastasizes in ethnic arrogance, religious zealotry, intolerance, disdain for the truth and general ignorance of the ways of forefathers and foremothers.

A year ago, I trembled in cold sweat watching Ethiopia inching towards a creeping civil war.

Today, I rejoice in the fact that God has smiled on Ethiopia and steered her away from civil war to civil peace, to civil government, to civility and to civil reconciliation.

Ethiopians have an old saying. “If spiders’ web could be made into twine, it could tie up a lion.”

If thousands of spiders could come together for a common purpose (“Medemer) and work together, they could snag and bag that big ole king of the jungle.

“Medemer” is the only cure to the cancer of hate and division.

Last August, I told Ethiopians the only question they face is Medemer or not Medemer.

This past October, I formulated an equation for Medemer.

M(edemer)= Sc(social capital) x Ac2 (active citizens)

Where Sc is social capital defined as the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, and

Ac is defined as the number of people getting involved actively in their local communities and democracy at all levels (from towns to cities to nationwide activity).

“Medemer” is simply a metaphor for practicing the principle of inclusiveness.

Medemer is based on the principle, “Without you, there is no me. Without me, there is no you.”

In other words, without Oromos, there are no Amharas; without Amharas, there are no Tigreans; without Tigreans there are no Somalis; Without Somalis, there are no Sidama, without Sidama, there are not Woleyita; without Woleyita, there are no Afari; without Afari, there are no Harari; without Harari, there are no Anuak and on and on.

Without each other in Ethiopia, there is only “the other”.

The “other” who is the enemy.

The “other” who must be annihilated.

The “other” who is a stranger among us, even though in every way s/he is one of us, our flesh and blood.

In July 2008, in frustration over who is the enemy in Ethiopia,  I wrote a commentaryentitled, “We have met the Enemy. He is Us.”

Dr. King taught is that “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others’?”

For me, that question translates, “What are you doing within your power for the powerless, the defenseless, the hopeless and helpless?”

Most importantly, what are political, social and economic leaders saying to be inclusive or divisive?

In the United States, President Donald Trump has chosen the path of division. He wants to create an America of “Us and Them”.

He proclaims, “Let’s Make America Great”.

He is willfully ignorant of the fact that what makes America great is the great American Dream.

The world flocks to America in search of the American Dream.

I believe the dream we all came looking for in the land of immigrants is Dr. King’s “dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’”

We came looking for Dr. King’s dream that America “will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice” in a global desert of injustice and indifference.

We came looking for Dr. King’s dream that one day we will all “live in a nation [a world] where [we are] not judged by the color of [our] skin but by the content of [our] character.”

I wrote about my great Ethiopian Dream back in 2012.

It is a dream rooted in peace and I-N-C-L-U-S-I-V-E-N-E-S-S.

I insisted on inclusive dialogue to establish an Ethiopia at peace:

To restore Ethiopia to good health, we must begin national dialogue, not only in the halls of power, the corridors of the bureaucracy and the military barracks but also in the remotest villages, the church and masjid meeting halls and other places of worship,  the schools and colleges, the neighborhood associations and in the taverns, the streets and markets and wherever two or more people congregate.  We have no choice but to begin talking to each other with good will and in good faith.

But what will make Ethiopia great?

Medemer! Medemer!Medemer!

When we include everyone into the whole fabric of Ethiopia — that single garment of destiny Dr. King talked about — undivided by ethnicity, religion, language, etc., then we know we have attained greatness in Ethiopia.

In Ethiopia, H.E. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has chosen the path of inclusiveness to make Ethiopia great.

Every day, he preaches the gospel of “We and Us.”

For PM Abiy, “Us” includes our neighbors who border us, all Africans and all people of the world.

Every day, PM Abiy preaches and teaches the wisdom of Dr. King, “We must all learn to live together as brothers or we will all perish together as fools. We are tied together in the single garment of destiny.”

The essence of Medemer is that all Ethiopians are tied together in the single garment of destiny.

We are all part of a single garment of destiny! Not just an Ethiopian and American destiny. We are part of the single garment of human destiny. But what is that destiny?

As Dr. King said, “It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. We are made to live together because of the interrelated structure of reality.”

The network of mutuality that Dr. King talked about, as it applies to Ethiopia and America today, is Medemer.

In Ethiopia and in America, we must all practice Medemer — practice living together on the principle of “live and let live” and talking to each other in good faith and in good will — as brothers and sisters, as friends and foes, as country folk and city dwellers, as political and party leaders, as religious leaders, as professionals, as young people, as women, as farmers and workers, as…

That has always been the Medemer message and practice of PM Abiy to his people at home and abroad.

Amazingly, practicing Medemer, PM Abiy welcomed back into Ethiopia individuals, groups and organizations previously damned as “terrorists”, “extremists” and “criminals.”

PM Abiy said anyone who is willing to engage in the peaceful political transformation of Ethiopia is a “winner”.

He said the only losers are those who want to kill, steal, rob and cheat their way into power.

PM Abiy invited all opposition groups to peacefully engage in the political transformation of the country.

He said if his part loses in a free and fair election conducted under broad international supervision, he would walk away from power with no questions asked.

Many accepted PM Abiy’s invitation and committed to the principle of  Medemer.

But some chose to perish as fools and today are fomenting terrorism and insurrection throughout the country.

But we all know, there are no fools like old fools!

In conclusion, I want to answer Dr. King’s timeless question for Ethiopia and for America: “Where Do We Go From Here Chaos or Community?”

My answer is crystal clear: We must choose community because we are paying a very high price for chaos.

The P-R-O-B-L-E-M that has brought us to this point of self-destruction in Ethiopia and America is D-I-V-I-S-I-O-N manufactured by power hungry and thirsty so-called leaders.

The S-O-L-U-T-I-O-N that can save our societies from self-destructive division is Medemer!

In his book “Stride Towards Freedom”, Dr. King wrote:

Every step towards the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.  Without persistent effort, time itself becomes an ally of the insurgent and primitive forces of irrational emotionalism and social destruction.  This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.

Medemer requires passionate and dedicated exertions by individual Ethiopians and Americans.

Medemer is the only way we can fight the insurgent and primitive forces of hate and division.

Now is the time for vigorous and positive Medemer action in Ethiopia and America.

The alternative to Medemer is foretold by Dr. King:

We must all learn to live together as brothers or we will all perish together as fools. We are tied together in the single garment of destiny.

“Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,… [and] see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”

Medemer in Ethiopia. Medemer in America.

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By Mengistu Adugna (PHD)

This is just my brief reflection based primarily on recent events.

Of late, I hardly comment on Ethiopian politics as I have been appalled by distorted narratives of political twists by so called political parties and the opposition-to-change camp mushroomed on the social media, and by new breed of internet media streamers. It is astonishing to see everybody having ‘remedies and prescriptions’ for Ethiopia’s problems.

I think most social media users know the new political “analysts” such as Gigi Kiay, Yoni Magna, etc who fabricate, modify and crunch facts with all distortions just to generate revenue. Though these guys are not politicians, surprisingly, they have good number of followers on their respective YouTube channels. This group of people predominantly don’t play positive role in the Medemer narrative.

Despite the propaganda by the TPLF supporters (nearly all TPLF circles), their cronies, opponents of the change, the ‘Gigi’s and doubters of the political and social reform in Ethiopia, this week MEDEMER has gone another milestone by heralding the arrest of Bereket Simon (the crook and self-declared politician) and his accomplice. Kudos to the agents of change led by “Team Lemma” (Lemma, Abiy, Demeke, Gedu etc).

The progress made in the demobilization of the OLF(Shene) army by educating Daud Ibsa about the popular sentiment, and the PM’s visit to Italy/France and his addressing of the World Economic Forum (in Switzerland – Davos, Jan 22) can all be considered as part of wheel of MEDEMER rolling.

It is also inspiring to see Ethiopian youth and Orthodox believers celebrating the Ethiopian Epiphany (Timket), Jan 19, 2019 in a fascinating and colorful fashion. All these signals a bright light at the end of the tunnel for the country! So, can we still hear doubters who now doubt the integrity of Ethiopia? Of course, everything must be handled with care.

The number of political parties, including those who represent the Oromos should shrink to a bare minimum number. That is the only way we can support them. We can’t afford to have and support 100 political parties.

The two Getachews (Getachew Assefa and Getachew Reda), the Aboy Sebhat, Ato Abay Tsehaye and all TPLF-ites will have their turn to face justice eventually having their TAGARU meetings in the prison cells soon. Why? Because they couldn’t see and utilize the opportunity created for them to save their souls i.e. ran away like a fugitive and gathered in Mekele to plan, design, and execute their evil usual social cataclysm to destroy Ethiopia.

My appreciation to Abageda’s, Prof Merera and Jawar Mohammed for playing key role in telling off Daud Ibsa and his family of friends to come to terms with their senses. The Oromos can’t afford to have a killing machine destabilizing the region by being an accessory to the war mongers (scaremongers) gathered in Mekele and elsewhere.

Ato Demeke and Ato Gedu should continue the reform without caving into distraction and side-pulls here and there. I strongly believe that they are hardened by the support they continued enjoying. They have wise and well-educated partners like Ato Negussu Tilahun and Dr Ambachew. These guys can lead the people by example, with maturity and wisdom.

It also won’t be too late for the progressive agents of change within the TPLF circle to join the bandwagon. I personally and sincerely applaud the moves by the Prime Minister and by all agents of change around him. I like prof Merara’s responses to LTV Wektawi interview recently, however the professor was very diplomatic in some of his responses to the questions.

Kudos to Prof Merera inviting TPLF moderate elements to be engaged in a positive discourse than be a party to a destructive “revolutionary democratic-developmental state” – a nonsense that TPLF grinds in a pigeon hole.

Other political parties must continue a dialog in a civilized way to create a political platform that caters for all Ethiopians irrespective of their ethnicity, religion, language, etc. The current trend of splinter regions along language lines is not a healthy one. I think Dr Fikre Tollosa’s book (at least the intention of the book) is a good medicine to curb further Bantustanization of the regions and the country. Perhaps, Ginbot 7  is setting an example in bringing Ethiopians from all walks of life together. Can others learn from Ginbot 7. (Note: I declare that I am not a member of Ginbot 7).

Obo Bekele Gerba must restore his political composure and earn the trust of many Ethiopians that he has been losing in the last few months. As we all know Ethiopians in the diaspora rallied for and behind him when he was arrested by TPLF till he was released by the government of Dr Abiy a while ago. It is my hope that he will re-earn the trust of the people as I believe in his intellectual capability.

Long Live Ethiopia and God Bless the People of Ethiopia!!

We will continue supporting the change in the way we can!

Please share this message with all stake holders!

Mengistu Adugna (PHD)

Associate Prof of Cybersecurity

Columbia, Maryland, USA

M Adugna can be reached at sofomore@gmail.com

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Dr. Ashagre’s reminiscences (No. IV) on ESAT’s የሳምንቱ እንግዳ forum are interesting. However, I see a major error that crept into his analysis. His assertion that “self-determination up to and including secession” is universal is totally false.

The U.N. Charter does mention the principle of self-determination of peoples but does not assert that principle as one its members have to follow. The reference is actually an indirect one. When it was inscribed in the Charter, it was meant to apply only to colonial situations. Furthermore, since the founding of the United Nations as a world body, the norm has been invoked by its organs only in a colonial context.

The UN has categorically refrained from applying the principle of self-determination as one that includes the right of secession of part of the metropolitan territory of its member from the rest of the member’s territory. That was why the UN was politically and militarily involved in ending the secession of Katanga from the Congo in 1960. In addition to that, UN Secretary General U Thant, had strenuously opposed the attempted secession of Biafra from Nigeria in 1967. The Security Council had also categorically rejected the right of Biafra to secede.

Indeed, the situation could hardly be anything else. If it did not act in that manner, the UN would have let itself into an intractable political quagmire since its action would infringe on the principle of each nations’ national sovereignty which is untenable.

The concept of the right of secession was Leninist. It was originally enshrined in the Soviet Constitution at the time the Bolsheviks took power from the liberal-oriented Kerensky government in 1917. That right is a far cry for liberal democratic constitutions including those of Britain, France, the USA, and others. One should of course not forget the American civil war fought in opposition to the secession of its southern states and waged from 1861 to 1865; this fratricidal war ultimately consumed the lives of 620,000 soldiers.

Canada toyed with the idea of self-determination and the right of secession but soundly rejected it at the Victoria Conference in 1970. The TPLF made Ethiopia the only other country to follow the Soviet example and enshrined the right of secession into its constitution which still dangles over the head of our nation like Damocles’ sword. I hope the Abiy reform will lead to the ultimate abrogation of Article 39 once and for all and deal a mortal blow to this abominable clause.

In the case of the USSR, the right of secession culminated with the implosion of the Soviet state by the end of the 1980s. We are the only one of the odd twin remaining. I argued in opposition to this clause vigorously in my VOA interview in 1985 when the constitution was promulgated. Should we allow what happened to the Soviet Union, to happen to us? To keep quiet is to enable the evil doers to get away with their treacherous conspiracy; and that by itself is an egregious treason

Paulos Milkias Ph.D. (McGill)

Professor of Political Science

Concordia University, Montreal, Canada

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Janaury 25, 2019

His Excellency Dr. Abiye Ahmed
Office of the Prime Minister
Menelik Palace
Addis Ababa

C/O His Excellency Fitsum Arega
Ambassador to the US
Ethiopian Embassy
3506 International Drive NW
Washington D.C. 20008

Dear Prime Minister Abiye Ahmed:

First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation for Your Excellency’s commitment to uplift Ethiopia. Your Excellency has been a very much needed and long overdue beacon of hope and an inspiration to many Ethiopians and Africans worldwide.

I am writing this open letter to Your Excellency as Founder & President of Selassie Stand Up, Inc., a Pan-African organization established in the US to promote and advance the interests of Africans and peoples of African descent. Selassie Stand Up’s main objective up to this point was to ensure the building and erection of a commemorative statue of His Imperial Majesty (HIM) Emperor Haile Selassie front and center of the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Selassie Stand Up petitioned the African Union over six years ago to approve of the Selassie Stand Up project on the basis of HIM’s foresight, visionary leadership, and distinguished role in establishing the then Organization of African Unity (OAU), and for the Emperor’s formative and leading role in providing financial, military, strategic, and logistical support to African brothers and sisters in the quest to freedom and independence throughout Africa.

The Selassie Stand Up project was approved during the AU’s 29^th Ordinary Session pursuant to President Addo’s motioning of the Assembly to build and erect a commemorative statue of His Imperial Majesty (HIM) Emperor Haile Selassie in the African Union Headquarters building. The unveiling of the statue is confirmed to take place on February 10, 2019 during the 32^nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in the presence of African Heads of State and dignitaries in attendance. I would like to thank President Addo and the AU Leadership again as well as Your Excellency for ensuring this project would come to fruition under Your Excellency’s new leadership.

Despite several years of advocacy, lobbying of the Ethiopian Government, publishing of media materials, being interviewed on VOA’s Amharic program and using my own personal savings to finance the Selassie Stand Up project in an effort to speak truth to power and ensure HIM’s and Ethiopia’s rightful place in history, I have not received any formal invitation, notice or recognition from the Ethiopian Government to attend the unveiling ceremony of HIM Emperor Haile Selassie’s statue on February 10, 2019. As a proud and active member of the Ethiopian Diaspora who was born and raised in the United States and speaks and writes fluently in Amharic, I would have expected an official invitation from the Ethiopian Government by now especially with Your Excellency at the helm of the EPRDF. My previous efforts are well known by the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC, and the former Ambassador to the US, Mr. Girma Birru, in particular, who previously called me to indicate his support of the Selassie Stand Up project. Thus, I believe the Ethiopian Government, under Your Excellency’s refreshed leadership in the spirit of medemer, should have extended a formal invitation to me as President of Selassie Stand Up, Inc. to be present to attend the inauguration of HIM’s statue in the presence of African Heads of State during the 32^nd Ordinary Session on February 10, 2019.

There are also several other prominent members of the Diaspora and those within Ethiopia such as the family of the late Minister Ketema Yifru, Dr. Minassie Haile and Ambassador Konjit Sinegiorgis all of whom, if possible, should be present and able to witness the unveiling of HIM’s statue.

It is my hope that I will receive an invitation and attend the unveiling of the statue to occur on February 10^th 2019, and that the individuals aforementioned in addition to other esteemed guests would also have the same privilege. In this regard, I would like to work with Your Excellency’s Administration and AU Leadership on a grand inauguration that would be more inclusive and also afford an opportunity for ordinary Ethiopians to experience at the same time.

I thank you again on behalf of the more than 2,000 Selassie Stand Up members who signed the Selassie Stand Up petition and waited for over six years for this to happen.

Selassie Stand Up will continue in its efforts to ensure the Ethiopian people reconcile with their history and look forward to working very closely with the Ethiopian Government and leadership of the African Union.

Thank you for your time and attention to this noble effort of great imminence and historical significance.

Sincerely,

Nebyat Aklilu Demessie

Founder & President

Email: SelassieStandUp@gmail.com                                                               Mobile: 330/310-6749

https://www.change.org/p/the-african-union-au-build-statue-of-his-majesty-emperor-haile-selassie-center-front-of-au-building/u/8280050

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Business Daily

A multinational band brings an exciting fusion of global sounds to Nairobi early next month at a concert that innovatively combines the rich heritage of Ethiopian music with contemporary electronic rhythms.

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Ethiopia Athlete Getaneh Molla wins Dubai Marathon this morning registering the best time in Dubai Marathon history 2 hours, three minutes and thirty four seconds (2:03:34).

He is followed by two Ethiopian athletes, Hirpassa Negasso and Assefa Mengistu. In addition, the Ethiopian athletes have also scored good results. Those who finish the race 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th are all Ethiopians.

In September 2014 Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge set new world marathon record in Berlin finishing the race 2:02:57. The second world’s best marathon time is set by Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia registered 2:03:03 in Berlin in 2016.

I women category in Dubai Marathon a Kenyan athlete, Ruth, has won today’s race bringing back her country to victory at Dubai Marathon after five years.

Ruth is followed by seven Ethiopian athletes: Werkinesh Degeffa, Werkinesh Edossa, Waganesh Mengasha, Sititayehu Lewutegnn, Rahma Tussa, Muluhabt Tsega and Sule Utura who respectively finished the race from 2nd to 8th.

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The first marathon commemorated the run of the soldier Pheidippides from a battlefield near the town of Marathon, Greece, to Athens in 490 B.C. According to legend, Pheidippides ran the approximately 25 miles to announce the defeat of the Persians to some anxious Athenians.

When one thiks about the modern history of marathon two icons are always remembered: Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia and Paula Radcliffe of Britain.

Abebe Bikila
A member of the Imperial Bodyguard, Bekele was a last-minute addition to the Ethiopian team but caused a sensation by running barefoot through the streets of Rome and winning gold, the first sub-Saharan African to do so, at the 1960 Olympic Games.

Four years later he retained the title, this time wearing shoes. On both occasions he clocked world best times. He was inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame in 2012.

Paula Radcliffe
After a successful track and cross country career, the British runner moved up to the marathon in 2002 and set a scintillating world record of 2:15:25 at the 2003 London Marathon.

She also won the 2005 world title and triumphed in a number of other big city marathons in New York and Chicago. Only an Olympic medal has eluded her.

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WASHINGTON — The Saudi government has released Sheikh Mohammed Hussein al-Amoudi, an Ethiopian-born billionaire who was arrested in November 2017, in an anti-corruption sweep.Ethiopia’s Office of the Prime Minister confirmed the news.

The Reuters news agency, citing Ethiopian state television and two Saudi sources, also confirmed the release and reported that al-Amoudi was in transit to Jeddah, a Saudi city on the Red Sea.

The high-profile sweep in 2017 netted hundreds of top Saudi officials and influential business people and consolidated Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s power in the Kingdom, and beyond.

The Saudi government has remained tight-lipped about the charges brought against those arrested and the impact of the detentions on their vast wealth.

Months in the making

Reports of al-Amoudi’s possible release first emerged in May, when newly appointed Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed met with bin Salman in Riyadh to discuss mutual interests, including development partnerships and Ethiopian citizens detained in the Kingdom.

In March, The New York Times reported that Saudi officials had released many detainees in the months after the sweep, including al-Amoudi’s cousin, property developer Mohammed Aboud al-Amoudi.

At least one person died and more than a dozen others required medical attention during the round-up, The Times reported. Saudi officials have denied the allegations.

Al-Amoudi’s whereabouts were unknown after he was moved from The Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh, where many of the arrested officials were first detained in a round-up that drew international headlines, and false rumors of his death began to circulate.

In an email to VOA shortly after the arrest, Tim Pendry, al-Amoudi’s London-based spokesman, downplayed any impact on al-Amoudi’s business interests.

“This is an internal matter for the Kingdom,” Pendry wrote. “We have no further comment to make other than to say that the overseas businesses owned by the Sheikh remain unaffected by this development.”

Ethiopian roots

Born in 1946 to an Ethiopian mother in the north-central part of the country, al-Amoudi immigrated to Saudi Arabia, his father’s country of birth, in the mid-1960s, when he began building his international business empire.

By the 1980s, he had become a billionaire, and today his interests span from Europe and the Middle East back to Ethiopia, where his mining company, Derba MIDROC, has been accused of exploiting local communities in the Oromia region, the hotbed of protests that led to former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s sudden resignation in early 2018 and the ascension of Abiy.

Shortly after al-Amoudi’s arrest, Henok Gabisa, a professor of practice at Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia, told VOAthat most of the billionaire’s wealth came from the Lega Dembi gold mine, in the heart of the Oromia region.

Office of the Prime Minister – Ethiopia

✔@PMEthiopia

Ethiopian born Saudi business tycoon Mohammed Alamoudi has been released from prison in Saudi Arabia. It is to be recalled that earlier in 2018, PM Abiy Ahmed traveled to Saudi Arabia & discussed a number of issues with Saudi Crown Price Mohammad Bin Salman. (1) pic.twitter.com/TGSDj7iYUF

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In May, Ethiopian authorities suspended Derba MIDROC’s license after intense protests. Months later, in September, the government revoked MIDROC’s land lease.

As a Saudi citizen, the legality of al-Amoudi’s ownership of extractive businesses in Ethiopia is murky. Ethiopian law restricts how foreign citizens can invest in the country. But with both roots, and decades of involvement, in the country, al-Amoudi may have operated within a loophole.

Now, despite his freedom, al-Amoudi’s future is unclear. The political landscape in Ethiopia has shifted significantly since his arrest, and both the charges against him, and the impact of his detainment on his wealth and businesses, remain obscure.

• Salem Solomon

  Salem Solomon is a multimedia digital journalist with the Voice of America’s Africa Division. She covers the latest news from across the continent, and she also reports and edits in Amharicand Tigrigna.

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Ethiopian Jews suffered under the Italian occupation but by 1943 they were able to reach out to the emperor to suggest hosting Jews fleeing Europe.

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On the afternoon of Monday 21 January 2019, Pope Francis received in Audience Mr Abiy Ahmed Ali, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

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A tiny number of Syrian refugees, having travelled through Sudan, work in restaurants while others beg in Addis Ababa.

by Elias Gebreselassie

Addis Ababa – Abdulwahid Mohammed, a young Syrian refugee from Hama, is tending to customers at Damascus, a restaurant jointly owned by Ethiopians and Syrians in Addis Ababa’s Bole Michael district.

Mohammed, now 20, travelled to Ethiopia as a teenager with his family five years ago, fleeing theSyrian civil war.

He currently manages the restaurant, serving a mix of Syrian and Ethiopian food.

Among his Ethiopian staff, he is known as a shy workaholic.

“I came to Ethiopia through Sudan. Ever since arriving in Ethiopia I have found it to be a stable country, with a relatively easy process to get foreign residence ID. Ethiopian people have been generous to me,” he told Al Jazeera. 

Mohammed wears sunglasses during the interview to disguise his identity. He fears exposing relatives back home in Syria to possible retribution by both government and rebel forces.

He is one of the hundreds of Syrians who have set up home in Ethiopia, a non-Arabic speaking, predominantly Christian, East African nation.

Many Syrians know of Ethiopia through the Holy Quran, which mentions ancient Ethiopia as a place of refuge for the first Muslims.

YEMANE GEBREMESKEL, SPOKESPERSON FOR THE ETHIOPIA IMMIGRATION, CITIZENSHIP AND VITAL REGISTRATION AGENCY

While Syrians make up a tiny fraction of the refugee population in Ethiopia, estimated at more than 905,000 people by the United Nations, they have attracted attention and sympathy among locals.

The combination of extensive international media coverage of the Syrian civil war, the long distance between the two countries and the presence of light-skinned destitute people on the streets of the capital – a rarity in Ethiopia – has many Ethiopians extend their generosity, ranging from financial assistance to job offers.

Yemane Gebremeskel, a spokesperson for the Ethiopia Immigration, Citizenship and Vital Registration Agency (EICVRA), a government organisation that registers foreign nationals, said despite Ethiopia being a poor country, it has taken in refugees from more than 20 countries.

After undertaking a survey from August 1 to December 16, Gebremeskel said there were at least 560 Syrian refugees in Ethiopia, most of whom arrived via Sudan.

According to the agency, 157 Syrians have registered as refugees and 50 have received a temporary residency permit, while the rest are on transit and tourist visas.

The total number of Syrians who have entered Ethiopia since the start of the Syrian civil war in March 2011 is likely to be higher, according to the agency.

“Ethiopia has a long history of receiving refugees,” said Gebremeskel. “The Syrians are no exception, with Ethiopia having signed a raft of refugee conventions. The service being given to Syrians fulfils our international obligations.”

Women walk past the rubble of damaged buildings in Raqqa, Syria, May 14, 2018 [Aboud Hamam/Reuters]

The Ethiopian government has allowed Syrians to move around the country, unlike refugees of other nationalities, and helped them receive assistance from UN agencies.

On average, Syrians receive monthly stipends of $80 along with counselling, health and educational support from the UN.

Gebremeskel said while many arrive having consulted their Ethiopian friends in Syria or Sudan, other factors are at play.

“Many Syrians know of Ethiopia through the Holy Quran, which mentions ancient Ethiopia as a place of refuge for the first Muslims.

“There is also a strong historic religious connection between the Ethiopian and Syrian Orthodox Churches, so Ethiopia isn’t a totally foreign country to many Syrians.”

God is great, Ethiopians are treating me well. They are very nice but my situation is difficult. I want to find work in Ethiopia until Syria returns to peace and I can return.

AHMED, 18-YEAR-OLD SYRIAN

Despite their small numbers, the Middle Eastern refugees have a visible role, with Addis Ababa witnessing a mushrooming of Syrian restaurants and Syrian carpets gaining steady popularity among Ethiopian shoppers.

But other Syrians are forced to beg on the streets of Addis Ababa or near mosques and churches, holding “help me” paper signs in Ethiopia’s official Amharic language.   

Although they speak little English and no Amharic, their pleas elicit sympathy.

Ahmed (not his real name), 18, is a Damascus native and has been begging in the capital with his seven-year-old niece for weeks.

He arrived with his niece, brother and sister after the rest of his family was killed in the war.

“I came to Sudan five months ago by plane from Syria after many of my family members were martyred. I used to work in a shawarma restaurant in Khartoum. An Ethiopian who was working with me suggested I migrate to Ethiopia and I decided to take his advice and came to Addis Ababa,” said Ahmed.

He said he came to Ethiopia by road after receiving a visa from the Ethiopian embassy in Khartoum.  

At night, he stays in a hotel room and says he has already formed a friendship with a Syrian who works at a restaurant in Addis Ababa.

But not all Ethiopians have welcomed Syrians, with local media reporting occasional fights between the refugees and impoverished Ethiopians over “begging turf”.

There have also been occasional police raids on Syrian beggars while those on tourist and business visas, but neither on vacation nor employed, have created legal ambiguity. 

Nevertheless, for now at least, many are pleased to be in a country safer than Syria. 

“God is great, Ethiopians are treating me well,” said Ahmed, the beggar. “They are very nice but my situation is difficult. I want to find work in Ethiopia until Syria returns to peace and I can return.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

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By IBRAHIM ORUKO

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JERUSALEM —  Thousands of Ethiopian-Israelis are protesting in Tel Aviv against alleged police brutality after an officer killed an Ethiopian man two weeks ago.

Demonstrators blocked a major highway in Tel Aviv on Wednesday and paraded through major avenues of the city protesting what they consider to be systemic police mistreatment of the minority group. They carried signs saying “police are killing Beita Yisrael,” a Hebrew term for the Ethiopian Jewish community.

Earlier this month, a policeman shot dead 24-year-old Yehuda Biadga, a mentally distressed man wielding a knife, in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam. Israel’s Justice Ministry is investigating the incident.

Biadga’s family accused police of excessive force, and protest organizers called the incident “the straw that broke the camel’s back” after years of perceived discrimination by Israeli authorities.

• Associated Presss

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• The Horn of Africa (HOA) is being transformed from a hapless theater of endless devastating wars into a new positive model of regional conflict-resolution and regional alliance building.
• This change is being induced by grassroot political dynamics in the local states and concomitant changes in alliances of local, regional and global political forces.
• For the first time local forces and local interests have become the driving forces, as opposed to the dictates of global powers and regional hegemons.
• The confluence of local, regional and global forces is leading to a positive change, which is a rare occurrence in the Horn of Africa.
• The sustainability of this progress lies in the democratic transformation within the involved states and the continued support of the international community.

Within a few months of signing a peace and cooperation agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea in Asmara on July 7, 2018, things are changing at a staggering speed. Telecommunication between the two countries have quickly resumed. Ethiopians and Eritreans at the border jumped at the opportunity to visit and trade with each other without even waiting for formal structures to be put in place. The soldiers of the two states climbed out of their trenches to celebrate the New Year by dancing together, with the jubilant local people and the heads of the two states joining them. Ethiopia’s commercial ships have docked in Massawa after twenty years of absence and been loaded with zinc from Eritrean mines to be transported to China. The heads of states of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia visiting each other’s state capitals were greeted with genuine public euphoria. Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Djibouti signed agreements for regional peace and cooperation. Ethiopia and Somalia appealed to the UN to lift its infamous sanctions on Eritrea. On November 14, 2018, The UN lifted the unjust sanctions which had reduced Eritreans to lives of agony and desperation.

For the first time in many centuries, local forces and local interests became the driving forces, as opposed to the dictates of superpowers and regional hegemons. This is why the process has been amazingly fast, more substantive and hopefully more enduring. The crucial initiative was undertaken by the young, dynamic prime minister of Ethiopia, Dr. Abiy Ahmed, who had the courage and foresight to dismantle the ”no war no peace” policy of the TPLF regime. The change was sealed when Eritrea’s president, Isaias Afewerki, accepted Abiy’s peace overture. In particular, Isaias’s decision to directly engage Ethiopia without any need for intermediary was a novel diplomatic move which sped up the peace process. Abiy demonstrated his diplomatic acumen by bringing together the presidents of Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea to sign onto the regional peace and cooperation agreement.

Many pundits and political analysts ascribe the dynamics of this change to global forces: changes in US policy, the rise of China’s influence in the region, the resurgence of Russia or competition between the Gulf states Saudi Arabia and the UAE vs Turkey, Qatar and Iran. But these are concomitant factors rather than the leading causes. The main factor has been a nascent surge for peace and cooperation which has been the desperate yearning of the hapless people of the region for ages, but which has now found articulation and design in the actions of their leaders.

Colonialism carved the Horn of Africa (HOA) region into fragmented states. In the post-colonial era, the efforts of these fragmented states to sort out their mutilated existence and define their relationships often devolved into incessant violent conflicts. Many forms of competing national ideologies were hailed that then faded. Scores of devastating intra-state wars were fought. Proxy wars were fanned by superpowers, by regional powers and by local states. The net results: Somalia a failed state, Ethiopia on the edge, Eritrea in paralysis and Sudan in fragmentation. And the whole region of HOA became one of the most conflict-ridden regions in the world. This in turn paved the way for world powers to dictate the political future of the region without leaving room for input from the people of the region. Imagine, if you can, the rise of Emperor Haile Selassie into an absolute monarch without the military largesse of the US, or Siad Barre’s brutal dictatorship or Mingustu Hailemariam’s atrocities, without the Soviet’s massive military support and logistics. Even the TPLF’s domination was facilitated by US military and economic support. De Wall, Prime minister Meles’s confidant. characterized the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) dominated Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) regime, basically as a “counter-Terrorism rent-seeking state”[i]. The US’s generous military aid, which helped the TPLF/EPRDF to build one of the largest military forces in Africa, was considered payment for fighting America’s war against radical Islam—ignoring the fact that the same resources were used to brutally suppress its own people.

The nascent transformation currently unfolding is an antithesis of these phenomena. The elites of the region have come to the realization that divided they become peons of global and regional hegemons and united they stand strong to shape their destiny. Nationalist ideologies, focused on pushing one state’s parochial interests at the cost of a neighboring state, have not benefited their states in meaningful ways. It has only made them a dumping ground of obsolete military wares.

Even when external forces intervene with good intentions but without giving the leading role to local people and local forces, their actions end up leading to quagmires. The global effort to reconstitute the failed Somali state the fragmentation of the Sudan and South Sudan, the failed mediation between Eritrea and Ethiopia speak volumes.

The Abiy Factor

The landmark in the current political scenario of the Horn of Africa happened on April 2nd, 2018, when the EPRDF elected Dr. Abiy to be the prime minister of Ethiopia. His rise, which represented the ascendance of the Oromo People Democratic Organization (OPDO currently ODP) from junior partner in the TPLF-dominated EPRDF into the dominant party in the fragile alliance, is dubbed by some as a “silent coup d’ete.” But it represents more significant and fundamental changes in the political orientation and alliances locally and regionally. It came as a result of three years of resistance and protest by the Ethiopian youth, which paralyzed the TPLF-dominated EPRDF.

For the last twenty years, the perpetuation of a ”no war no peace” policy between Ethiopia and Eritrea was the cornerstone of the TPLF’s foreign policy. It was aimed at isolating Eritrea economically and politically with the intention of bringing down Isaias Afewerki’ s government through external pressure. With the aid of the US, it effected immense economic and political hardship on Eritrea. This policy came also at a major cost to Ethiopia. The TPLF, instead of marshaling its economic and political resources to solve Ethiopia’s daunting underdevelopment and poverty, was fixated on bringing down Isaias’s People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ). It made itself totally dependent on Djibouti ports for its exports and imports. Djibouti leveraged its opportunity to extort Ethiopia of its direly needed hard currency. The proxy war it initiated was countered by Eritrea’s quid pro quo. Due to complex political problems, Ethiopia was vulnerable. This misguided policy of the TPLF, along with its misgoverning and corruption, triggered its downfall. The first domino piece to fall was its infamous no war no peace policy. This in turn triggered a cascade of changes.

The TPLF as well as some political analysts—even some noted one—characterized Abiy’s rapprochement with Eritrea as a hasty act. On the contrary, this was a thoroughly calculated move on the part of Dr Abiy. He manifested his deep understanding of the geopolitical dynamics of the region in a long and thoughtful interview ten months before he became prime minister[ii].

To briefly summarize: He described how the Horn of Africa (HOA) is a conglomerate of major religions and ethnicities which are fighting for resources, power and influence; how these have made HOA states the instruments of proxy wars by global and regional powers; how interstate and intrastate conflicts are intractable problems; how the monopolar power of the US is shifting into a multipolar world with the rise of China competing for economic and political influence; how regional powers, Saudi Arabia, UE and Egypt on the one hand and Turkey Qatar and Iran on the other hand are competing to carve spheres of influence in the region; how Ethiopia’s size and central location makes it the locus of influence; and how peace and cooperation between the states is essential not only for economic development but also to protect the region’s interests in the global political and economic sphere.

That was why soon after Dr. Abiy took power, he embarked on a shuttle diplomacy to Somalia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Sudan. His critics characterized this shuttle diplomacy as foolhardy or fear of facing major domestic issues. On the contrary, these well-orchestrated strategic moves have netted him international stature, as well as unmatched popularity in the hearts of the people of the region. This stature and popularity translated into big political capital to push his reform agenda at home. Particularly his move to normalize Ethiopia’s relation with Eritrea had a flare of a genius. By directly appealing to the people of Ethiopia and Eritrea, expressing their sentiment for peaceful coexistence and cooperation in the languages they cherish, he unleashed a ground swell of popular euphoria, ”a love fest.”

These grand historical steps go beyond raising the spirit and optimism of the people. They represent concrete measures to untangle the intractable problems that have beset the region.

What did Ethiopia gain from peace with Eritrea? It gained access to Assab and Massawa, which will reduce its overall dependence on Djibouti and which will better serve the needs of northern and central Ethiopia. It will eliminate the massive expenditure of human and capital resources on an unnecessary military standoff.  Peace with Eritrea facilitated peace within Ethiopia. Eritrea became a bridge for peace between Abiy’s government and half a dozen armed organizations which had been for decades engaged in violent struggles against the previous Ethiopian regimes. Furthermore, fanning broader Horn of Africa consciousness has the effect of countering the dive into narrower and narrower parochial ethnic and clan alliances of both the political elites and the masses. It boosted immensely the country’s stature in the global arena. Foreign aid and investment are gushing forth.

The Isaias Factor

President Isaias is a controversial figure. For some Eritreans he is a hero who led the Eritrean struggle to independence and still guides it to stand against forces which are trying to roll it back. For some Eritreans he is a ruthless dictator who has subverted their aspirations for democracy. For some Ethiopians Isais is the enemy who is responsible for the secession of Eritrea.  According to them, he is an enemy who wants Ethiopia to disintegrate. On the opposite side, some Ethiopians see in him an ally against the TPLF and an ally in the struggle for democratic changes and unity of the country. Distinguished opposition leaders, such as professor Mesfin Woldemarion[iii] and Major Dawit have publicly affirmed this point of view[iv]. As a leader of a protracted and violent conflict that spanned nearly half a century, he is an amalgam of all the above elements. Someone’s hero is another’s villain. Yet he is an indispensable ally to lead the region from the quagmire of conflicts.

Ethiopia, Eritrea, as well as the whole HOA region, could hope for no better leader in the aftermath of the bloody divorce. He has a strong awareness of the historical, political, economic, cultural and strategical interdependence of Eritrea and Ethiopia. He has ad-infinitum reiterated his strong vision of two independent states with a strong economic, political and strategic alliance. He accepted the UN sponsored referendum as a peace bridge with Ethiopia. After Eritrea’s independence, he was actively working towards a strong economic and political relationship with Ethiopia and the rest of the HOA states. He has spoken at length against the ethnic-based federalism constructed by the TPLF. Because Eritrea has a similar ethnic and religious composition as Ethiopia, ethnic-based federalism is not only a menace to Ethiopia, but also a detriment to Eritrea too. His unequivocal endorsement of Abiy’s peace overture created a dynamic synergy between them. This dynamic synergy between the two leaders epitomizes the spirit of the two fraternal peoples. The hero’s welcome accorded to president Isaias by the Ethiopian people is a personal vindication and a tribute to his principled stands during the low and high moments in the two states’ history.

Eritrea won its independence after thirty years of war with a very little moral or material support from the international community. Eritrea’s independence was mainly a result of a devastating armed struggle and bitter sacrifices. When it gained its independence, it was greeted by its neighbors as a bellicose newcomer. Two decades of economic and political isolation, orchestrated by the TPLF and the US, dimmed Eritrea’s bright hopes. This created among Eritreans a feeling of a beleaguered state. Eritreans, defiantly but with a sense of resignation, persevered the UN sanctions and isolation, the economic hardships and the deferment of their hopes for a vibrant democratic state. Others braved arduous journeys, through forbidding deserts and across treacherous seas, to seek a better life in another place. The Eritrean reality is shrouded by the sadness of its enormous sacrifices and graced by its indomitable spirit to stand for its rights as a nation.

Isaias didn’t create the beleaguered state. He turned it into an impregnable fortress. A target of regime change policy, by the might of the US and cunning diplomacy of TPLF, he had no other choice but to fight on to break loose from this deadly chokehold. He gave this David vs Goliath fight his brand and flare. What he lacked in diplomatic tact, he made up for with his resilience. In the end he won, and Eritrea triumphed against external impositions.

What did Eritrea gain from peace with Ethiopia? It will reduce the heavy toll the Eritrean people have had to bear to defend their country. The economic engagement is highly beneficial to both countries. The freeze in economic relations between the two countries was imposed on Eritrea by the TPLF regime. With Dr. Abiy as the prime minister of Ethiopia, it has overcome its isolation. Instead of being treated like a pariah state, it has become a hub of top-level diplomatic traffic. It gained a reprieve from the well-orchestrated campaign of defamation and the endless self-fulfilling prophesies of its imminent demise in the international media. Tourism from Ethiopia and from all corners of the globe is rising. The PFDJ would be advised to take a lesson from Abyi’s administration about how to use this peace as a selling factor to woo international aid and investment.

Now that peace is flourishing in HOA, will the fortress Eritrean state be transformed into a flourishing democratic state? Will president Isais use the tremendous political capital he has gained to lead the democratic transformation? Will he take his triumph as vindication and take measures to heal Eritrea’s internal rifts?

If genuine change is initiated from within the ruling circle, change can come peacefully with less sacrifices. If President Isais and the PFDJ fail to take the initiative, then change will come from outside, from dissidents inside and outside country by force. That would be a destructive step into the abyss. Yet change is inevitable one way or the other.

The TPLF factor

TPLF’s policy towards Eritrea and towards the rest of the ethnic groups in Ethiopia are two sides of the same divide and rule policy. It was the political foundation of a narrow clique’s domination. The TPLF intentionally fostered and manipulated ethnic conflicts to prolong its tenuous hold on power. It wove historical conflicts into its foreign and internal policies. It fomented ethnic conflicts in its political propaganda. It amalgamated ethnic fissures into its institutional and organizational structures, and it even enshrined it in its constitution.

The Ethiopian people, particularly the youth fed-up with TPLF’s shenanigans, revolted. Through mass demonstrations and civil disobedience that lasted for three years, they paralyzed the EPRDF rule. Finally, the TPLF lost its dominant position in the EPRDF. Abiy and team Lemma ascended to power. One of the first bold actions they took was to dismantle the no war no peace policy with Eritrea, which they did by accepting unconditionally the Algiers peace accord which had been frozen by the TPLF for 18 years. This act heralded peace not only between Eritrea and Ethiopia, but also in the whole HOA region.

The TPLF’s institutional hold has been dramatically dismantled. They are no longer in a position to dictate policy in Ethiopia. Their only means of hindering the progress is sabotage.

The party and Tigray people are severely divided. The old guard, who are in their 60’s and 70s, who have amassed wealth by plundering Ethiopia and now have nowhere to turn, have retreated to Tigray kellile. The young party leaders are full of fury and bewilderment, and their tactics are frantic adaptations to day-to-day changing circumstances. The Tigray peasantry, which has paid dearly to bring changes in Ethiopia, which had been ignored and neglected when things were going well for the TPLF leadership, is now asked to be the TPLF’s fallback. The educated urban Tigrayans feel beleaguered and their cosmopolitan life style threatened.

The old guard, which feels especially threatened by the peaceful rapprochement between Ethiopia and Eritrea, try to impede the progress by spreading fear and xenophobia and by inciting acts of sabotage. In early January 2019, they incited youngsters, women and children to roadblock Ethiopian armed forces who were withdrawing from the border with Eritrea per the two countries peace agreement. [v]

Chief of Staff Let. Gen. Berhanu Jula characterized the incidence and the military’s response as f0llows:

There is an entity that has been employing fear and concern as a strategy. There is a force that is using the people as a cover to bring about instability. They are not many, and I am sure they will be exposed. Until then, we will not do anything that will bring us to a collision course with the people. We better feel bad rather than making the people feel bad.

The people of Tigray are closely tied, historically, culturally and linguistically, with Eritrea. They are close cousins with Tigrinya, the major ethnic in Eritrea. Many Tigrayan elites have supported and fought alongside Eritreans. They were inspired to organize and fight for their rights too. EPLF and TPLF had a united front for seventeen years. Despite frequent internal frictions, it was the longest lasting and most successful united front in Ethiopian as well as Eritrean history. Their united struggle was the paramount force that shattered the derge’s regime. Sadly, as a result of subsequent power struggles, they ended up unleashing the devastating 1998-2000 border war and two decades of mischief to undermine each other. Yet, despite the past devastating wars, the deportations and the economic hardships they have both lived under, the peoples’ affinity to each other–particularly, their desire to live in peace with each other, mend their broken lives and make up for lost time–has been unequivocally demonstrated. This peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea is a product of their enduring yearning for peace and fraternity.

Ethiopian and Eritrean elites should beware not to fall into the TPLF old guard trap by lumping the TPLF with the Tigray people. Other Ethiopians and Eritreans should sincerely understand and sympathize with the fact that the people of Tigray are the victims not the perpetrators of evil. Dr Debretsion[N1]  in his recent televised speech admonished the hot-headed Tigrayan for trying to block the federal force’s movements and the taunting of Ato Gedu Adnargachew, president of Amhara killele. He further gave information about lengthy rapprochements and dialogs between the Eritrean and Tigray killele officials at different levels in his effort to quell the preposterous propaganda fomented by the TPLF’s old guard, that the peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea is in an alliance to attack Tigray. This sharp contradictory political line within the TPLF is a manifestation of a deep-seated division. [vi]

All those Tigrayans, who support the changes, which, by the way, are the vast majority, should be encouraged to be part of the peace movement.  Bringing all positive forces under the big tent will make the movement strong and enduring. On the other hand, trying to score ephemeral victories or futile vendettas will be counterproductive.

In the same manner that Eritrea facilitated the rapprochement between Ginbot7, ONG, ONLF and the EPRDF, it should try to bring into the fold all peace-loving factions in Tigray. Opening the border wide open, not imposing new restrictions, is the path forward.

Conclusion: All factors in balance

Yet, even though a fresh invigorating wind of change is lifting our spirits, there are shuddering cold counter developments consciously working to subvert the movement while others, in pursuit of their own parochial interests, are inadvertently playing a negative role. The situation calls for vigilance.

In Ethiopia this great democratic transition is progressing on a fragile landscape. There was already one assassination attempt on Dr Abiy and one failed coup attempt so far. A couple of million people are internally displaced as a result of fratricidal conflicts. Armed bands are staking their claims and uprooting members of other ethnic groups that have lived in harmony for several generations. They are burning houses, looting businesses, robbing banks and blocking roads. Some are using the mass media to incite vulnerable youth by fabricating and spreading rumors. All of these actions are pushing Ethiopia to the edge. If Ethiopia implodes, it will be the end of the peace movement. As Ethiopia goes, so will the whole region.

However, these ominous treats cannot dim the epochal revolutionary changes the country is undergoing. The depth and breadth of the political and social discussions and the civility of the public participating in the discourse represents the soul searching of a nation. The freedom of the media and the tolerance of those in authority makes those dark times under the previous regimes feel ages away. The Abiy/Lemma team is guiding Ethiopia, so far successfully, with patience, restraint and appeal to the peoples’ commonsense. Some with good intentions have urged Dr Abiy to take draconian measures to assert authority, but authoritarianism is not the answer. It is exactly why the people of Ethiopia have rebelled against three despotic and corrupt authoritarian regimes.

The Eritrean community support for peace with Ethiopia is unequivocally strong. Their hope is not only for peaceful and fraternal existence with their neighbors but, very importantly, for the emancipation of their own society too. That is the unfinished chapter of their long arduous struggle. Now that peace has flourished in the neighborhood, the ‘fortress state’ must be transformed into a flourishing democratic state where people as individuals, as communities and as a nation could take control of their destiny.

In Eritrea, some of the opposition groups and individuals have become frantic. Standing against any initiative taken by the government, positive or negative, is the primordial and instinctive response of the diehard oppositions. Their media is filled with articles and analysis which try to cast doubts on the whole movement. That is tantamount to throwing the baby out with the bath water. The peace movement is not about President Isais or PFDJ rule; it is much larger. It raises existential questions about the survival and the future of the Eritrean state. It is about creating the essential environment to bring the kind of changes all segments of Eritrean society can accept. The peace movement requires the united support of all political factions, both the elites in power as well as in opposition. Acts such as the assassination attempt last December on General Sebhat Eframe, a top government official, are counterproductive[vii]. And equally, any measure by the authorities to tighten their hold will be futile. It would only increase the pressure rather than defusing it.

There is some legitimate unease about the peace process among common Eritreans, even among diehard government supporters. Its source is lack of transparency on the part of the Eritrean government. Eritreans depend for information about the details of the agreements and deals between the two states on second-hand and third-hand sources of information, i.e., on Ethiopian and international media rather than on their own government. The extent and degree of the public discussions and participation in this matter in the Ethiopian political arena, as compared to the Eritrea arena, is day and night. Lack of open discussions and participation by the general public has the effect of reducing the people of Eritrea into distant onlookers on matters so dear and close to their lives.

President Isaias and PFDJ should take this opportunity to loosen their iron grip and encourage the people’s participation through open forum discussions and open media. The people should be encouraged to express freely their support and even their opposition, if they have any. People in authority should be accessible to clarify all questions directly and in a timely fashion. There is no discernable explanation why such wildly popular public developments should be shrouded in secrecy. The Eritrean government should facilitate local and regional conferences of the people. It should welcome Eritreans in diaspora to participate, regardless of their political affiliations.

Since last June tremendous progress has been achieved. Hope has flourished. The driving force is the peoples’ yearning for peaceful coexistence and fraternal cooperation.

It is the product of their struggle to define their destiny.

It is a deep ground swell of democratic movement.

It is intertwined with their struggles to create just, sustainable societies and states.

It is a movement that arches from the local to the regional.

It is a counter-movement from the parochial divisive mindset to a global and inclusive consciousness.

Peace and fraternity to the people of Horn of Africa region!

This is Part I. Part II will deal with Somalia, Djibouti and the Sudan and South Sudan and Part III will deal with the role of global and regional powers.

[i][i] The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa: Money, War and the Business of Power 1st Edition

by Alex de Waal

[ii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9nDRxHtL3

[iii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzp21zjA85k

[iv]http://ethioforum.org/the-way-forward-for-ethiopia-and-eritrea-by-dawit-woldegiorgis/

[v] https://www.zena365.com/watch.php?vid=ed16d0645

[vi] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCwYiO9xI9w

[vii] https://twitter.com/AmbassadorEstif/status/1078902506892144641

 [N1]Include this Debretsion’s other name (since Debretsion is this piece’s author).

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