By Rob Young
Business reporter

Details have begun to emerge of the final moments of an Ethiopian Airlines flight which crashed three weeks ago.
An anti-stalling system on the plane, a Boeing 737 Max, has been blamed for the disaster which killed all 157 people on board.
Soon after take-off – and just 450ft (137m) above the ground – the aircraft’s nose began to pitch down.
One pilot, according to the Wall Street Journal, said to the other “pitch up, pitch up!” before their radio died.
The plane crashed only six minutes into its flight.
‘Catastrophic failure’
The Wall Street Journal – which says it’s spoken to people close to the ongoing investigation – says the information it has “paints a picture of a catastrophic failure that quickly overwhelmed the flight crew”.
Leaks this week from the crash investigation in Ethiopia and in the US suggest an automatic anti-stall system was activated at the time of the disaster.
The Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) flight-control feature was also implicated in a fatal crash involving a Lion Air flight in Indonesia last October.

The Boeing 737 Max went down shortly after take-off from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.

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All 157 passengers and crew on board were killed during the crash earlier this month
An investigation of the Lion Air flight suggested the anti-stall system malfunctioned, and forced the plane’s nose down more than 20 times before it crashed into the sea.
The Ethiopian authorities have already said there are “clear similarities” between the Lion Air incident and the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
The airline and authorities have refused to comment on leaks from the investigation.
Concerns about the Boeing 737 Max have led to a worldwide grounding of the plane.
System update
Boeing has redesigned the software so that it will disable MCAS if it receives conflicting data from its sensors.
As part of the upgrade, Boeing will install an extra warning system on all 737 Max aircraft, which was previously an optional safety feature.
Neither of the two planes that were involved in the fatal crashes carried the alert systems, which are designed to warn pilots when sensors produce contradictory readings.
The aircraft update is designed to ensure the MCAS will no longer repeatedly make corrections when a pilot tries to regain control.
Boeing is also revising pilot training to provide “enhanced understanding of the 737 MAX” flight system and crew procedures.

Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the accident, which took place just minutes after the plane took off from Bole Aiport in Ethiopia
Earlier this week, Boeing said that the upgrades were not an admission that the system had caused the crashes.
Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the accidents, but a preliminary report from Ethiopian authorities is expected within days.
Boeing has tried to restore its battered reputation, while continuing to insist the 737 Max is safe.

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LONDON (Reuters) – Liability claims related to the Ethiopian Airlines crash and the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft could be the largest non-war aviation reinsurance claim on record, hitting reinsurers’ profitability, reinsurance broker Willis Re said.

The crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 on March 10 killed 157 passengers and crew, the second deadly crash involving a Boeing Co 737 MAX 8 airliner in five months.

As the crash site and black boxes are investigated, the 737 MAX 8 has been grounded worldwide as a precautionary measure and regulators are stepping up action to improve air safety while Boeing is carrying out a software upgrade to the plane’s automated flight control system.

Liability claims for the passengers’ loss of life and in relation to the grounded aircraft could total around a billion dollars, James Vickers, chairman of Willis Re International, told Reuters by phone, a large sum for the aviation reinsurance market which Vickers said was “very small and very, very specialist”.

Reinsurers help insurers share the cost of large claims, in return for part of the premium.

The losses could erode three to four years of aviation reinsurers’ premium in the “global excess of loss” category of reinsurance, Willis Re said on Monday in its summary of reinsurance activity at the key April 1 renewal date.

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It was with great shock and disbelief that I watched Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed threatening our people during the conference that was held at his office a few days ago. Compare the Abiy who talked about democracy, justice, equality and Ethiopianwinet at his inaugural speech and the man who we watched at the Conference. Compare the Abiy who preached love, peace, forgiveness and reconciliation a year ago and the man who we watched at the Conference. The vehemence of his expression of intent to “go to an open war” against those who attempt to organize in civic groups such as those led by Eskinder Nega, the Council of Trustees “Ye Bale Adera Mikir Bet” is very troubling!

In his remarks, Dr. Abiy claimed several outrageous things that must be confronted and nipped in the bud. He blamed those who advocate a citizen based politics in favor of those who drive ethnic politics and at times come out with machetes and sticks.

It is amazing to hear Dr. Abiy blaming those in the conference and others in the opposition for not organizing a panel discussion in Tigray to find out why “they isolated themselves” whereas in fact the TPLF mafia criminals have been taking our Tigray fellow Ethiopians hostage and sieging the region so they are not held to account for the crimes they committed against the people of Ethiopia for nearly three decades.

The other appalling comment he made was regarding journalists where he said they haste to be imprisoned to become heroes instead of complimenting his government for the absence of imprisoned journalists. By his assertion, those journalists who paid dearly and suffered from the brutal dictatorship of the TPLF regime for merely speaking truth to power paid sacrifice to simply become heroes. Based on his claim, those who stood for freedom, justice and equality paid great sacrifice merely to become heroes. Martin Luther King Jr. paid the ultimate sacrifice to become a hero. Nelson Mandela spent nearly a third of his life in jail to become a hero.

As we all know, leaders of political parties and other Ethiopians while supporting the change that started to take place a year ago have been pointing out the need for a road map so we know how we as a country could go about realizing a political system that is genuinely democratic for all Ethiopians. He claimed that road map is not a political economy concept! He alleged that the idea of a road map was first written by somebody under the influence of “khat” and has been picked up by everyone else since!!!

The Merriam-Webster defines road map as, “a detailed plan to guide progress toward a goal.” Accordingly, what our people have been asking for is simply a strategy, step-by-step detailed plan that should be undertaken by your government and all stakeholders to create a genuinely democratic society. This could mean restoring peace and security across our country, building democratic institutions, revising the ethno-centric constitution that was imposed on the Ethiopian people by TPLF with one that maintains the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ethiopia as well as protects the individual and group rights of all Ethiopians, revoking other draconian legislations made by TPLF such as anti-terrorism, press freedom, and civil society organizations, preparing for a genuinely free and fair democratic national election, ensuring the democratic rights of all Ethiopians, making national economic and social policy reforms, replacing the ethnic-based narrative with an Ethiopian one through education, art, etc. especially among our youth, mending the rift that TPLF viciously created among our people through its ethnic-based politics and federalism, recreating a federal structure that unites rather than divides our people, etc. A road map can and should be developed to not only know how we go about in creating a democratic society but also to institutionalize the process and hold all stakeholders to account.

Dr. Abiy did not spare a slight to leaders of political parties who he said that while sitting alongside him have been asking him to “walk the talk”. He claimed that there was no better democracy than having said leaders sit alongside him!!! As we all know, democracy is “a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.” And in the words of Abraham Lincoln, “a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” It is not about sitting with a Prime Minister!

The fundamental change for a genuinely democratic system that generations have sacrificed for and which we all hoped had started a year ago is off track. I believe it is not late for Dr. Abiy to introspect and return to the Abiy we met a year ago, a person who showed humility, respect and love for our people and country! I believe it is not late for Dr. Abiy and his team to reflect, get back on track and do the right thing not just for a specific ethnic group but for all Ethiopians since the destiny of all our people is inseparable for better or worse!!!

Feleke Alemu

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The report will be closely examined for clues to any similarities between the March 10 accident and a Lion Air crash in October, also involving a 737 MAX, that killed 189 people.

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By Gemechu Aba Biya

During your press conference on March 28, when asked if your government is weak, you responded that it has never been stronger.  The evidence you provided to support your claim is that Ethiopia has not been invaded by another country.  Yes, Mr. Prime Minister we are grateful to you that Ethiopia has not been invaded by Djibouti.  You also said that strength is a matter of perception and that Ethiopians misconstrue strength.  Ethiopians, you assert, associate strength with government abuse.  Unless a government uses brute force against demonstrators, imprisons journalists, or tortures prisoners, Ethiopians don’t consider their government strong, you implied. This is an insult to Ethiopians.

Ethiopians have a clear understanding of a strong government.  A strong government is a legitimate government that enjoys public support, irrespective of its military might. New Zealand has a strong government. Because of your government’s inability to maintain law and order, its incapability to take decisive action against the OLF, its powerlessness to bring to justice former government officials who had committed crimes against the Ethiopian people, your endless pandering to Oromo nationalism, and your pre-occupation with entertaining Jawar Mohammed’s equally limitless temper tantrums, you have lost considerable legitimacy from the public.  And a government that has lost legitimacy is indeed a feeble government.

You and your officials maintain that during the period of transition to democracy, it is normal that people may abuse the newly gained freedoms. While this is true, you seem to forget that it is the responsibility of your government to ensure that these freedoms are not abused.  On the contrary, your government tolerates, abates, and promotes the abuse of freedom of expression.  When Jawar Mohammed and his followers demonstrated carrying sticks, machetes, and other lethal weapons against the allocation of condominiums to lower income households in Addis Ababa, your government caved in the next day and postponed the decision indefinitely.  Your endorsement of unlawful behavior has contributed to lawlessness in Ethiopia.  A government that rules a country where lawlessness is widespread is a weak government.  In fact, it is as a failed state.

Similarly, you and your officials are also fond of saying that a house that has been barricaded for a long time, needs to vent its stench; what comes out is not always pleasant.  Tolerance is needed, you sermonise, but there is a limit to tolerance.  Indeed, certain types of behavior, for example crime, cannot be tolerated.  A government that tolerates crime promotes crime.  A government that allows armed insurrection, bank robberies, and internal displacement has failed to protect its citizens.  Such a government forfeits its right to rule.

Many of the individuals and groups venting ethnic hatred are those who have returned from abroad because you opened the door unconditionally to everybody.   It is professional hate mongers like Jawar Mohammed, Ezekiel Gebessa whose academic “expertise” includes cataloguing ethnic tropes, insults, and slurs;  and others who are spreading their poisonous propaganda in a systematic and organized manner using the platform that your government has approved: the OMN. I realize that ESAT too has been accused of spreading ethnic hatred.  If that is the case, as has been alleged by some ethnic nationalists, then it too must be held accountable.

A strong government admits its mistakes; a weak government claims perfection.  When asked about any mistakes that you may have made over the last year, you answered “none”.  I respectively disagree.  There are at least two major missteps that you made since you became prime minister.  You made a colossal error in embracing the spiteful, little-minded, and egomaniac Jawar Mohammed.  To stoke his little ego, you shamefully called him a “freedom fighter” last July in Minnesota when you shared a stage with him. By doing so, you turned the little man into an important political actor.  It’s a well-known fact that the man has no political principles, except promoting his own egotistical agenda, which includes creating a crisis to put himself in the limelight.  He craves being the center of attention.

He will always manufacture a crisis to pursue this political agenda.  For example, in September of 2018, when Ethiopian nationalism was on the rise, he and the other Oromo extremists felt that the Oromo youth might embrace Ethiopian nationalism. To nip in the bud, they started inventing stories.  Jawar Mohammed fabricated stories about 43 dead Oromos in Addis Ababa, Oromo residents in Addis Ababa being attacked because they were Oromos, and the existence of a political party to exterminate Oromos.  The strategy was to undermine national unity and to weaken your government.  Within six months the strategy has paid off handsomely because of your inaction.  That was the turning point.

Confident that he has taken you hostage, the little Ayatollah now claims he owns you.  He has declared himself the leader of the other government in Ethiopia, the government of the Kerros.  He has issued a fatwa against your government saying that it cannot do anything without his approval.  Your bullying of Iskinder and your equivocation on Addis Ababa corroborate that the fatwa is succeeding.

Not only have you promoted this egomaniac political criminal, but you have provided him with police protection while he is spewing ethnic hatred and undermining your government. Ethiopians are wondering why they should pay for the protection of Jawar Mohammed, a man who is determined to destroy Ethiopia. At the same time, you are intimidating Iskinder Nega, a dedicated Ethiopian nationalist.    Your government prevented him from holding a press conference on March 31. The unequal treatment of these individuals signifies moral, ethical, and political cowardice.

The other major blunder your government made was begging Dowd Ibssa to return to Ethiopia.  He had insisted that certain conditions be fulfilled or he would pass his remaining days in Asmara, but you sent Obo Lemma and Workineh Gebeyehu to plead with him to return to Ethiopia.  He has created havoc ever since he returned.  As you stated some time ago, over the previous 27 years, the OLF had not liberated an inch of land in Ethiopia.  Thanks to your incompetence, naiveté, or hubris; today, it controls swathes of areas in Wellega and claims to administer some districts in Bale.  Your government resuscitated a political organization from its deathbed.

When Dowd Ibssa publicly defied your government and refused to disarm, you were politically too frightened to take any action against him or his organization.  And yet, you are bullying Iskinder Nega who is peacefully organizing the population of Addis Ababa.  (I don’t agree with his idea of establishing a caretaker government for Addis Ababa).  Strong governments don’t tolerate armed insurrection; nor do they bully citizens who engage in peaceful dissent.

It was the Gada elders that had to disarm the OLF partially, while your government sat idle when the OLF was robbing banks, assassinating government officials, killing police officers, and terrorizing the population of Wellega.  Even today, despite an agreement that the OLF signed with the Gada elders to lay down its arms, a certain faction has refused to disarm.  What has your government done?  Nothing.

As a result of your miscalculations, you have been taken hostage by the OLF and Jawar Mohammed. You have been unable to liberate yourself from their captivity. Your party is now fighting for its political survival by adopting the extremist positions of the OLF and Jawar Mohammad, but this has diminished your support with the rest of the Ethiopian population so much so that some Ethiopians are convinced that you are a Manchurian Prime Minister advancing the political agenda of the OLF.

Finally, the court has issued warrants for the arrest of the former government officials who had committed crimes against the Ethiopian people, but the TPLF government has refused to hand over the criminals, and your government has done nothing to enforce the law.  The TPLF has also prevented the transfer of heavy military equipment from Tigray to other parts of Ethiopia.  Your feeble attempt to implore the TPLF by sending elders has not produced any results.

Consequently, most Ethiopians think that your government is weak not because it’s not abusive enough, but because it has failed to enforce the law.  Having failed to respect its social contract with the Ethiopian people, it has lost legitimacy.  Still, it can regain the legitimacy it has squandered by taking decisive actions against criminals, hate mongers, and corrupt officials.  Unless your government starts enforcing the law, maintaining law and order, and treating Ethiopians equally, the Ethiopian people will soon start looking for an alternative leader: a strong Oromo leader who is also a staunch Ethiopian nationalist.

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By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam
April 2, 2019

H.E. Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed
Office of the Prime Minister
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Dear Prime Minister Abiy:

I refer to my personal letter to you dated April 8, 2018.

In that lengthy letter, I congratulated you on your appointment as prime minister and gave you my full support.

At that time, I “knew” you from watching a few videos online.

But I had carefully studied those videos with a scrutinizing and dissecting forensic eye to answer one question: Are you a man who means what he says and says what he means? I concluded you were indeed so.

Today is exactly a year since you took office.

It is time for kudos, congratulations and a pat on the back for a job well done!

I congratulate you and those who have worked long and hard with you over the past year to make 2018 a historic year in Ethiopia.

There are so many to thank and congratulate, but there is not enough space or time to name them all.

I will mention just a few.

I thank and congratulate H.E. Oromia President Lemma Megerssa.

I thank and congratulate H.E. Gedu Andargachew, former Amhara region President.

I thank and congratulate H.E. Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen.

I thank and congratulate all of those people, especially the young people, in your office, in your administration, in the civil service, in the security and in the military who have been the backbone of the peaceful political  transition over the past year.

I thank and congratulate the millions of ordinary citizens of Ethiopia who have shown you love, respect and appreciation over the past year.

Above all, I thank the young people (yes, I have a special place for Ethiopia’s young people in my heart and mind) of Ethiopia who paid the price in blood, sweat and tears to put you in office and for becoming the wind under your wings for the past year  so you can soar over the boundless skies over Ethiopia. Ethiopia is free today because of the ultimate price paid by its young people.

PM Abiy, I had planned on writing a long discourse laying out the facts on your  historic and monumental achievements over the past year to a candid world.

Alas! There is little I could tell the world for the world has spoken about your achievements with unheard-of and unprecedented acclaim and appreciation and rendered a verdict on your first year.

The Financial Times, a newspaper that has been in operation for over a century and half, beat me to the punch! The Times wrote, “Abiy Ahmed has overseen the swiftest political liberalisation in Ethiopia’s more than 2,000-year history.”

What more can I add?

But that’s not all.

The African Leadership Magazine declared you are the “2018 African Leader of the Year”.

The Italian Institute for International Political Studies wrote, “Abiy Ahmed is the Leader to Watch in 2019”. The Institute  added “he is the bravest and most innovative leader in Africa today.”

The New York Times wrote, “Abiy Ahmed is most closely watched leader in Africa: a man who says he wants to change his country from the inside out — and fast.”

The Washington Post editorialized, “Abiy Ahmed pulls off an astonishing turnaround for Ethiopia”.

BBC wrote, “Abiy Ahmed has been doing the seemingly impossible ever since he unexpectedly became prime minister of Ethiopia in April.” BBC says, you have  done the “equivalent of making the sun rise from the west.”

CNN even tried to explain “Why Ethiopians believe their new prime minister is a prophet”. CNN concluded, “Abiy Ahmed is the prime minister who captured Africa’s imagination.”

Herman Cohen, former U.S. Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, tweeted: “For the first time in my professional life, I am nominating someone for the Nobel Peace Prize: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. If he brings multiparty democracy to #Ethiopia, the entire Horn of Africa will be transformed for the better.”

According to the Nobel Prize Foundation, for the 2019 Nobel Prize there are 304 candidates out of which 219 are individuals and 85 are organizations.

A few weeks ago, Peace Research Institute Oslo, regarded as the world’s “oldest and most prominent peace research center” nominated you as the leading candidate for the  2019 Nobel Peace Prize.

I could go on and on.

But there is nothing I can add to what has already been said except offer you a casual reminder.

People who have read that you have done the “equivalent of making the sun rise from the west” in Ethiopia now fully expect you to walk on water.

THANK YOU…

As I can add little to what those in the international community have said, I will take the easy way out.

I will simply thank you personally and on behalf of the millions of Ethiopians who support, respect, admire and love you for what you have done for Ethiopia, for the Horn of Africa and the entire region for the past year.

Thank you for being the Fire Chief organizing the fire brigade to save the burning House of Ethiopia and cutting the fuse on the Ethiopia powder keg.

Thank you for ending our 27-year long night of captivity in ethnic apartheid and taking us on long day’s journey into the light of peace, reconciliation and harmony.

Thank you for resurrecting ETHIOPIAWINET from the burial crypt of ethnic apartheid.

Thank you for standing up for the principle “Ethiopiawinet is an addiction”, the only antidote to the mental slavery of ethnic apartheid.

Thank you for proving to us the Beast which ruled Ethiopia with an iron fist for 27 years had feet of clay. Today, the Beast is in hiding rolling out one plan after another calculated to wreak havoc and destruction in Ethiopia.

Thank you for upholding the rule of law and uncompromisingly rejecting collective punishment and by adamantly refusing to engage in mass arrests, mass incarcerations, mass persecution and massacres.

Thank you for stabilizing the Ethiopian economy plundered by the TPLF and  arranging billions of dollars in loans, grants and investments from the United Arab Emirates and the World Bank.

Thank you for elevating women from second class citizenship to the epicenter of power by appointing women to one-half of the nation’s ministerial positions and hundreds of sub-cabinet positions.

Thank you for standing your ground that the only path for our future is forgiveness, love and reconciliation.

Thank you for telling the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth about the inhuman crimes of the TPLF: “Jailing and torturing, which we did, are not constitutional. Does the constitution say anyone who was sentenced by a court can be tortured, put in a dark room? Torturing, putting people in dark rooms, is our act of terrorism.”

Thank you for sowing love and harvesting peace with our neighbors and brothers and sisters: “Forgiveness frees the consciousness. When we say we have reconciled, we mean we have chosen a path of forgiveness and love. When I spoke with [President] Isaias, I told him that there may not be enough hotels as Ethiopians visit Massawa and Asmara. He said he would leave his house for them and stay in balconies.”

Thank you for making us feel, Diaspora Ethiopians, proud to be Ethiopians. For 27 years, we were told Ethiopiawinet is a crime, a badge of blame and shame. We were  forced to confess our tribal and ethnic affiliations. But no more!

Thank you for coming to America to show us your love. Did we not show you we love you more? We love ya!

Thank you for making a gift of a great idea to the Ethiopian Diaspora called the Ethiopian Diaspora Trust Fund.  We have taken the first baby steps in making Ethiopia a foreign aid free zone. Our motto in EDTF is, “Ethiopians helping Ethiopians, one dollar, one day at a time.”

Thank you for inviting me to return to my homeland after 48 years and live out my declaration, “I, PROUD ETHIOPIAN.”

Thank you for bringing back the lost rainbow to our rainbow nation.

Thank you for showing courage under fire, literally, telling the Forces of Darkness who raised their swords and grenades who told you are not strong enough to weather the storm and did everything they can to  bring you down.

Thank you for telling the Forces of Darkness, “I am the storm” that will wash you into the dustbin of history.

Thank you for bringing change by changing the hearts and minds of Ethiopians.

Thank you for endless efforts to liberate our minds from the mental slavery of backward ethnic politics.

Thank you for showing us that it is only through the collective efforts of Ethiopians working together (Medemer) that they can build the New Ethiopia as the shining city upon a hill.

Thank you for teaching us power does not come from the barrel of the gun but the power of love.

Thank you for teaching us killing to remain in or to grab power is the politics of losers and preaching  the only way we can solve our problems peacefully is through civilized dialogue, not through the chatter of AK-47s.

Thank you for proving Mandela’s maxim. “People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

Thank you for preaching Ethiopia will rise up as a nation only when the power of love overcomes the love of power of those in power and those hungry and thirsty for power.

Thank you for preaching we cannot make progress unless we learn and practice to forgive and reconcile.

Thank you for showing us a new way to do our politics, Medemer.

Thank you for saving the corrupt criminal leaders of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front. Without you, I shudder to think what could have happened to them. Those ignorant and arrogant fools have no idea you are their insurance policy from the bottled-up wrath of the people!

Most of all, PM Abiy THANK YOU for…

Busting wide open the political space that had been the playground of the masters of ethnic apartheid for the past 27 years.

Emptying the country’s prisons of political prisoners.

Travelling the Horn of Africa and the Middle East freeing unjustly imprisoned Ethiopian refugees.

Ending gross human rights violations in Ethiopia and bringing those criminals to the bar of justice.

Guaranteeing with unwavering certainty that in May 2020 Ethiopia will have an internationally-monitored free and fair election.

Allowing opposition leaders to return home from abroad and freely and peacefully participate in their country’s politics.

Granting amnesty to those unjustly declared to be “terrorists”.

Laying the groundwork for true multiparty democracy and offering to help opposition parties to organize and build coalitions for a robust multiparty democracy.

Restoring the people’s constitutional rights to free expression and allowing the media to function freely.

Allowing internet access without control or censorship.

Allowing the people to exercise their right to peaceful protest.

Bringing harmony and understanding among factions of the two religions in Ethiopia. You played a decisive role in bringing healing to the Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Church in the country and in the Diaspora. You played a decisive role in bringing healing to factions in the Islamic community.

Abandoning your predecessors’ long-standing practice of collective punishment for the crimes of a few.

Ending torture in Ethiopia’s prisons and exposing the secret prisons of the previous regime.

Removing criminals against humanity from the police, security and military forces.

Professionalizing the country’s defense and police forces to be in the service of the whole nation, not a single group.

Bringing a new era of peace with our neighbors.

Proving Mandela’s maxim: “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.” The partnership you and H.E. President Isaiyas Afeworki created has wrapped the people of Ethiopia and Eritrea in a single garment of social, economic and political destiny.

Playing a central role in bringing  South Sudan’s power contenders to the peace table and sign an agreement to seek  political and not military solutions to their country’s problems.

Being a messenger of peace in the Horn of Africa. For going to Somalia and telling the people their peace and stability is Ethiopia’s peace and stability.

Building a bridge of hope and cooperation with Egypt over the River Abay (Nile) and not a dam of strife and war.

Working to bring peace between Arab neighbors in the Middle East.

Showing Africans soft power is more powerful than brute power.

Working to make sure the Horn of Africa does not become the  battleground in global and regional geopolitics by leading a peace initiative with the contending regional powers and others to peacefully engage in the Horn of Africa.

Establishing  a commission to look into privatization of certain state-run institutions and liberalizing the economy with the aim of improving services through market competition.

Establishing commissions to study regional  border disputes, reconciliation and peace and other urgent issued facing the country.

Setting in motion an open, accountable and transparent government in which ministers will be evaluated by parliamentary committees, government agencies and offices are required to publish information on their activities.

Cleaning up your party of the “dead wood” and bringing in young people to leadership positions.

Encouraging Ethiopia’s Cheetahs (young people) to believe in themselves and in the higher destiny of Ethiopia.

Inviting the older generation (Hippos) has a place in the construction of the New Ethiopia.

Teaching us all the values of unity, civility, humanity, Ethiopianity and Africanity are  far more important than ethnicity.

BUT, BUT, please accept my apologies….

PM Abiy, while you and your leadership have performed extraordinarily over the past year, those of us who have been yapping for change, democracy, human rights, rule of law and good governance for years have little to show for ourselves.

Recently, you boldly stated, “Ethiopia has no heroes today”? I guess you are still wondering where Ethiopia’s heroes have gone?

But it is not only the heroes that have gone AWOL (absent without leave) in Ethiopia.

Her intellectuals, faith leaders, opposition leaders and journalists are also MIA (missing in action).

You are searching for Ethiopian heroes and I am searching for Ethiopia’s intellectuals, faith leaders, opposition leaders and journalists.

Could we be looking for the same people?

Maya Angelou said, “I think a hero is anyone really intent on making this [world] a better place for all people.”

That is my simple measure of heroism too.

Are Ethiopia’s intellectual heroes, faith leaders, opposition leaders and journalists making Ethiopia a better place for all Ethiopians?

I am afraid not, and so I offer you my humble apologies.

Ethiopia’s intellectuals

PM Abiy, you must be terribly disappointed over the failure of Ethiopian intellectuals in the peaceful revolution over the past year.

I certainly am.

I had expected they would be the tip of the spear in generating creative and innovative ideas to help transition Ethiopia from dictatorship to democracy.

Intellectuals are supposed to be the visionaries inspiring an awakening society.

They are supposed to guide the masses away from the common evil to the common good.

They are supposed to be the vanguard leading the way in the struggle for freedom, democracy and human rights.

I was confident when you began your service a year ago today that at least a segment of the Ethiopian intellectual community will offer fresh and creative economic and political ideas to transition Ethiopia into a constitutional multiparty democracy. I expected the experts to self-organize and offer technical advice and support to you and your administration.

Over the last year, there is little trace of these intellectuals showing up to do the heavy lifting in transitioning Ethiopia into multiparty democracy. It seems to me they have taken the quizzical attitude, “What’s in it for me!?”

But they have been MIA (missing in action) for a long time.

Back in June 2010, I wrote a commentary entitled, “Where have Ethiopia’s Intellectuals Gone?”

This was what I wrote at the time:

The purpose of this commentary is not to moralize about the “failure of Ethiopian intellectuals”, or to criticize them for things they have done, not done, undone or should have done. The purpose is to begin public discussion that will make it possible to find ways of making them a powerful force of peaceful change in Ethiopia.

Suffice it to say, in general, the Ethiopian intellectuals over the past year have been reduced to leering spectators, yawning bystanders and  deer-in-headlight onlookers.

They are corralled in their own little online chat rooms chatter boxing or pseudonymously dishing out criticism and condemnation in their blogs.

It is a pity to see so many of them turning gossip mongers in search of the next juicy scuttlebutt and blathering babblers.

The problem of intellectual bankruptcy has been diagnosed by Prof. Mesfin Woldemariam in his 2015 Amharic  book, “Adafne: Fear and Failure”.

Prof. Mesfin has explained how Adafne has made Ethiopia the land of chatterboxes and windbags.

There is an iconic slogan that has been used for decades to raise funds for the United Negro College Fund. “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

It is an apt reminder to Ethiopia’s intellectuals.

Albert Einstein’s warned, “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” I wonder whether Ethiopia continues to be beset by conflict and strife because intellectuals stand on the sidelines scratching their heads and twiddling their thumbs.

Profound apologies, PM Abiy!

Ethiopia’s faith leaders

PM Abiy, you must be terribly disappointed over the failure of Ethiopia’s faith leaders.

I certainly am.

When you reconciled Ethiopia’s faith leaders who had been at loggerheads for decades last summer, you observed that they should be teaching society peace, forgiveness and reconciliation.

Amazingly, they did not even learn the very lesson of reconciliation you practiced with them in healing interdenominational schisms.

Faith leaders have the power to teach and preach and change hearts and minds. They have the ears, hearts and minds of their followers.

But I see few of them teaching, preaching and most importantly practicing what they teach and preach.

I don’t see them practicing inclusion. Neither do I see them working in the community guiding people away from the path of hate, division and conflict to the highway of love, reconciliation and unity.

I don’t see many interfaith movements trying to anticipate and mitigate conflict. Nor do I seem them launching inclusive national dialogues to deal with problems of ethnic hatred and mistrust, displacement and bigotry.

I have been frustrated with Ethiopia’s faith leaders for a very long time.

In my July 2012 commentary “Unity in Divinity”, I urged the establishment of an interfaith council to work on broader issues of religious freedom in Ethiopia.

I argued that a threat to the religious liberty of Muslims is a threat to the religious freedom of Christians. I urged Ethiopian “Christian and Muslim religious leaders [to] play a critical role in preventing conflict and in building bridges of understanding, mutual respect and collaborative working relations…”

My plea has fallen on deaf ears.

Profound apologies, PM Abiy!

Ethiopia’s opposition

PM Abiy, you must be terribly disappointed over the disarray and sheer incompetence of the  opposition.

I certainly am.

You are the only leader in African history, as far I have been able to research, who has made repeated overtures to help the opposition organize and effectively compete in a scheduled election.

You keep telling them to create coalitions instead of playing childish party games scattered into 107 different groups.

Your predecessors jailed, killed and tortured opposition leaders. But you embrace them and offer material and moral help to get them organized.

Truth be told, what you are doing for and with the opposition is so unprecedented in African history, I just don’t get!

The role of opposition leaders and parties is present alternatives to the ruling party, hold them accountable to public scrutiny, openly challenge their policies and produce more effective ideas and policies for the public’s consideration.

Is that what the Ethiopian opposition doing today?

I see them chasing their tails and running circles. Dealing with the fragmented opposition is like herding cats.

I hear the opposition talking loud and saying nothing.

I have been frustrated with Ethiopia’s opposition for many years.

This was what I wrote in September 2012, in my commentary entitled, “Ethiopia’s Opposition at the Dawn of Democracy?”:

I asked out loud (but never got answer), ‘Who is the Ethiopian ‘opposition’?’  I confessed my bewilderment then as I do now:  ‘There is certainly not a monolithic opposition in the form of a well-organized party. There is no strong and functional coalition of political parties that could effectively challenge both the power and ideology of the ruling party. There is not an opposition in the form of an organized vanguard of intellectuals.  There is not an opposition composed of an aggregation of civil society institutions including unions and religious institutions, rights advocates and dissident groups. There is not an opposition in the form of popular mass based political or social movements. There is not…’

The situation is far worse today.

But I don’t entirely blame them. For decades, leaders and members of the opposition have been jailed, persecuted and prosecuted for merely trying to organize.

But it is a new day.

I hope opposition parties will up their game for the 2020 election.

Profound apologies, PM Abiy!

Ethiopia’s media

PM Abiy, you must be terribly disappointed over the lack of professionalism and ethics and the viral spread of lies, fake news and disinformation on the traditional and social media and other online outlets.

I certainly am.

In 2015, Ethiopia was 4th on the top ten list of Most Censored Countries in the world list if the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Since you took office a year ago today, things have changed completely.

According to CPJ, your administration has “released imprisoned journalists and lifted bans on numerous websites. For the first time since 2004, no journalists were in jail for their work in Ethiopia.”

This is an historic achievement.

But the question is: Has the press lived up to its professional and ethical standards?

The media is a vital pillar of any democracy.

There can be no democracy without a vibrant and robust press. American Founding Father Thomas Jefferson wrote,

The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.

I wholeheartedly agree with Jefferson.

The media plays critical roles in society by informing, educating and enlightening society.

They play a central role in identifying problems and in the search for solutions. They hold government accountable by serving as watchdogs.

Is that what Ethiopia’s media are doing today?

Sadly, I see and hear a lot of yellow journalism (based on sensationalism and gross exaggeration).

I see and hear wanna be journalists spreading lies, fake news and disinformation seeking a few cents by tricking people to click on their YouTube channels.

I don’t blame the traditional media entirely. They have endured decades of suppression, persecution and prosecution.

But it is a new day today.

Ethiopia’s media must up its game as the 2020 elections draw near.

In the coming year, I hope your administration will do its best to help the press attain greater professionalism and live by universal codes of journalism.

Profound apologies, PM Abiy.

Where do we go (or do not go) from here?

The past year has had its highs and lows.

You have been lionized by millions and demonized by few.

Your patience, fortitude, courage and forbearance have been tested.

The ancient philosopher Seneca said, “Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.”

So it is.

I have been heralding Ethiopia’s irreversible march from dictatorship to democracy for years.

In April 2011, I wrote a commentary entitled, “Ethiopia: The Bridge on the Road(map) to Democracy”.  I suggested,

We can conceive of the transition from dictatorship to democracy as a metaphorical journey on the road to progress, freedom and human enlightenment (democracy) or a regression to tyranny, subjugation and bondage (dictatorship). Societies and nations move along this road in either direction. Dictatorships can be transformed into democracies and vice versa. But the transition takes place on a bridge that connects the road from dictatorship to democracy. It is on this bridge that the destinies of nations and societies, great and small, are made and unmade. If the transition on the bridge is orderly, purposeful and skillfully managed, then democracy could become a reality. If it is chaotic, contentious and combative, there will be no crossing the bridge, only pedaling backwards to dictatorship. My concern is what could happen on the bridge linking dictatorship to democracy in Ethiopia when that time comes to pass.

In June 2012, I wrote a commentary entitled “Ethiopia: On the Road to Constitutional Democracy”.  I argued with supporting historical evidence that “Most societies that have sought to make a transition from tyranny and dictatorship to democracy have faced challenging and complex roadblocks.”

Focusing on the practical lessons of the “Arab Spring”, I proposed a constitutional pre-dialogue and offered some suggestions:

The search for a democratic constitution and the goal of a constitutional democracy in Ethiopia will be a circuitous, arduous and challenging task. But it can be done… To overcome conflict and effect a peaceful transition, competing factions must work together, which requires the development of consensus on core values. Public civic education on a new constitution must be provided in the transitional period.  Ethiopian political parties, organizations, leaders, scholars, human rights advocates and others should undertake a systematic program of public education and mobilization for democratization and transition to a genuine constitutional democracy. To have a successful transition from dictatorship to constitutional democracy, Ethiopians need to practice the arts of civil discourse and negotiations….

The prize waiting at the end of the rainbow

PM Abiy, after the rain, thunder, hail and lightening have passed, a magnificent rainbow will rise over the rainbow nation of Ethiopia.

After the dust settles on the Forces of Darkness, the sun will shine brightly over Ethiopia.

So, what is it going to be like in 2019?

South Africa’s Margaret Singana’s foretold it in a song (full lyrics HERE) long ago.

In 2019, PM Abiy, “We are Growing.”  Ethiopia is rising. Ethiopia is rising! Higher and Higher…”

Just keep on doing what you are doing… The dogs will always keep barking, but the camel keeps on walking.

Just keep on being

…

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

Hear the children, hear the children
They are talking to you
Hear the wind blow, hear the wind blow
It is blowing for you…

Above all else, PM Abiy, listen to Ethiopia’s young people. They are the future of Ethiopia!

CONGRATULATIONS, PM ABIY ON AN OUTSTANDING YEAR AS ETHIOPIA BELOVED LEADER!

Alemayehu (Al) Mariam

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Addis Abeba, April 03/2019 – The conflict that erupted around the boundaries of Melekoza and Basketo Special woreda of Gamo Gofa zone has left more than 37,000 people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, the UNOCHA said.

“Ethnic Basketos who have been displaced from 11 kebeles of Melekoza woreda are now sheltered in six collective centers in Basketo Special woreda,” UNOCHA said, further cautioning that “IDPs are hugely concerned about the lack of shelter materials amidst imminent heavy rains in the area.”

So far the National Disaster Risk Management Commission (NDRMC) dispatched some 4,233 quintals of food basket targeting some 24,870 beneficiaries.

Background

The conflict started on 23 September 2018 within Melokoza woreda of Gamo Goffa zone when ethnic Basketos in 11 kebeles in Melokoza woreda requested to be part of Basketo Special woreda, which was opposed by Melokoza woreda.

The conflict resulted in the loss of lives and property. Non-food items and shelter materials were also distributed to the displaced, though they were not adequate. “Shelter and non-food items materials are priority needs for the displaced people.”

Addis Standar

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Vision Ethiopia Eighth Conference,
in Collaboration with
the Ministry of Culture and Tourism
and
the Ministry of Science and Higher Education
Bahir Dar, June 12-14, 2019
Colloquium on the interface between
culture, heritage, conflict resolution, democratic governance & national unity Second and Final Call for Papers

Following the successful conclusion of Vision Ethiopia’s Seventh Conference that was held in Addis Ababa in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Board of Directors of Vision Ethiopia is pleased to announce that the Eighth Conference will be held in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, between June 12 and 14, 2019. It will be followed by an optional post-conference tour of historical sights and scenes.

Consistent with Vision Ethiopia’s mission, the primary aim of the Eighth Conference is to create an independent forum for scholars, policymakers and other professionals to present their well thought out policy-related work on contemporary issues that affect all Ethiopians. As the country goes through a difficult transition, the need for an independent forum is becoming increasingly important. In this second and final call for papers, we have tweaked the theme of the conference to reflect the rapidly changing situation in the country. It is against this backdrop that the Eighth Conference intends to address Ethiopia’s collective cultural and natural heritage, crossing multiple disciplines.

Authors are expected to explore a wide range of issues, including competing ontological and epistemic factors interfacing culture and heritage, in building peace, democracy and national unity. The link between culture, ethnicity, faith, economics and governance system remains a delicate issue for many developed and developing countries. Notwithstanding the Ethiopian exceptionalism, many observers agree that competing narratives, agencies and structures are challenging the rare window of opportunity for transitioning the country into a post conflict political, economic and social order. Papers that interface these topics are particularly welcome.

While there is remarkable evidence of human ancestry, heritage buildings, obelisks, fascinating landscapes, rituals, writing systems, arts, manuscripts, inscriptions and other priceless heritage, Ethiopia’s diverse and rich cultural and natural treasures remain unprotected, unrestored, under-researched; they are underrepresented globally; poorly taught at schools and universities; and inadequately managed, marketed and resourced. The forthcoming conference is, therefore, intended to serve not only as a forum for the sharing of knowledge, skills, and experience that would be useful for policy makers and practitioners, but also for examining the role of culture in fostering transition to peace and democracy. The building of local capacity in the preservation, management and prudent development and marketing of the country’s cultural and natural heritage are important. Understanding the behavior, value, aspirations and vulnerability of Ethiopia’s millennials is relevant for creating awareness of the richness and common threads of Ethiopia’s diverse cultures.

Presenters could explore, inter alia, the relevant features of the colloquium: understanding of Ethiopia’s indigenous knowledge; protection of intellectual property rights for indigenous knowledge; regulatory reforms with regard to trade in and preservation of indigenous knowledge and other cultural heritage, including artifacts, religious relics, historical buildings, and ways and means of preserving manuscripts and other priceless objects. Other aspects of the conference may include ways and means of accelerating the return of stolen and ransacked national heritage. Papers may explore avenues of cooperation within Africa for the preservation of African footprints in the rest of the world.

We particularly invite experts and other professionals from diverse disciplines, such as sociology, constitutional law, political science; heritage building and artifact engineering, anthropology, archaeology, ethnography, museology, musicology, and philology of Ethiopian languages. Innovations in fighting water hyacinth weed (emboch), and the economics, management and accounting for cultural and natural assets are welcome. Papers on the ways and means of administering successful free and fair election, regulating the behavior of political actors, human displacement, illicit financial flows, and food insufficiency are contemporary issues affecting the livelihood of millions of Ethiopians.

Papers must have theoretical depth and be supported by reliable evidence. They must be cross-disciplinary, grounded in the pertinent literature, and have policy (solution) orientation. While we acknowledge the work done by contributors to conferences on Ethiopian studies over the years, pure theoretical papers that are appropriate for an academic audience may not be of interest for this colloquium. Instead, manuscripts that have interfacing characteristics and policy implications are in consonance with the rapidly changing politics, economics and technology in the country. In addition, papers must be dispassionate, forward-looking, innovative, objective, non-parochial and independent. Their conclusions should be triangulated before the manuscripts are submitted. Authors are advised to avoid using anecdotal evidence, political posturing, and case experiences need to be put together in a coherent manner geared towards providing useful policy options. Finally, authors are encouraged to articulate why their paper is important for the type of transition that Ethiopia is undergoing. We encourage academics and professionals in Ethiopia to share their research findings and experience, with a view to influencing pragmatic decision-making that benefit all Ethiopians.

All papers and proposals will go through a normal review process. The decision about the format, venue or date of presentation of an accepted paper is at the discretion of Vision Ethiopia. Papers may be written in either Amharic or in English. However, speakers are encouraged to consider reaching a wider Ethiopian audience, as the primary mission of Vision Ethiopia’s conferences is the creation of public awareness of issues of national importance. Completed papers not exceeding 5000 words in length along with an abstract and a conclusion must reach Visionethiopia18@gmail.com on or before May 15 2019.

Consistent with our past practice, we aim to transmit the proceedings of the conference live, and to make open space available for the media. The copyright of the videos is the property of Vision Ethiopia. Travel and hospitality industries, hotels and transport companies, as well as exhibitors and heritage institutions in Ethiopia that might be interested to be part of the conference must send their requests to the same email address (above) before May 15, 2019. For more information about Vision Ethiopia, please visit http://visionethiopia.org/

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Pilots of a doomed Ethiopian airliner had followed Boeing’s emergency steps for dealing with a sudden nose-down turn to a point but couldn’t regain control.

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Feb. 2019

By Ataklti Tsegay Tesfay,MD

Despite the continuous record of human rights violation and different political turbulences in the country, Ethiopia was showing an ascent on its economic development for about a decade. The projection of the government and other trusted independent agencies was to see the country in the group of middle-income nations of the world in the coming decade. Yet the confluence of rapid urban expansion, on-going conflicts within Ethiopia and in the region and high levels of vulnerability to on-going drought and seasonal floods continued to generate numerous new displacements every year. At the same time, the gap between the few privileged entities and the unfortunate majority continued to grow. Significantly, the country has invested in progressive social protection programmes and sustainable development for a number of years and is making progress in addressing a number of drivers of displacement. But the number of internal displacements remains persistently high with a particularly alarming level of new displacements recorded for 2017 [1].

Ethiopia is a part of the “cradle of ancient civilization” and is one of the few countries to never been colonized. This has not, however, prevented the country from suffering ethnic conflict and political instability, accompanied by social crises, including large scale displacement. In recent years, Ethiopia has been suffering from internal displacement because of different reasons. Ethnic violence, conflict over resource and local boundaries, protracted drought, seasonal flooding and so on. Even under such a circumstances it continued to become the largest refugee-hosting country on the continent [2].

In the month of April 2018, a new prime minister sworn and took office with promises of bringing substantial change to the overall life of the country through “political reform”. The inaugural speech of the new prime minister ignited hope in the heart of millions of Ethiopians. The social chaos that ruined the country for the past three or four years was expected to end. However, the humanitarian crises in Ethiopia significantly deteriorated, experiencing an increase in the number of internally displaced people [3].  The continued inter-communal/ethnic violence along border areas of Oromia and Somali regions and The emergence of conflict in West Guji and Gedeo, situated along the border between Oromia region and SNNPR region are the major inter-communal/ethnic violence regions that have contributed to the significant increase in the number of internally displaced people in the country. The conflict in the Gedeo and West Guji zones of the SNNP and Oromia Regions displaced more than 950,000 innocent citizens, and the ethnic conflict in the Somali region that took place in August 2018 forced more than 140,000 people to leave their homes and to reside in open fields, without proper support. It is also known that the conflict along the regional Somali-Oromia borders, which intensified in September 2017, led to the displacement of around 1 million people from both regions [1]. In August 2018, with the violence having subsided in the Gedeo and West Guji zones of the SNNP and Oromia Regions respectively, the Government of Ethiopia has been actively insisting the displaced people to return to their homes.

‘Ethiopia’s Neglected Crisis’, by IRIN journalist Tom Gardner, 28 Feb 2019 indicates that the Ethiopian government pressurized ethnic Gedeos to return to their homes, in spite of the unsolved and legitimate concerns of the people. The Gedeos tried to comply with the order of the government. However, another mass displacement occurred in June which was for the second time shortly after return to their domicile.  In both times, the sole cause of their displacement was ethnic clash and violence, which is beyond control of the government. The New action plan drawn up in February by the National Disaster Risk Management Commission (NDRMC) aimed to resettle or return those people to their origin in 60 days, as the rainy season is approaching. The government expects displaced Gedeos to return home, without a feasible plan to enable them to return to “normalcy”. Aid workers said that food assistances for the IDPs in several regions, especially near the border with the west Guji have been blocked since August 2018, in order to force their return to the Oromia region. They also say they are worried about the spread of infectious diseases.  According to IRIN visit to the site, he observed that families of up to 10 individuals were living in wooden shelters well below the UN standards for camp shelter space. Many children had swollen bellies/sign of malnutrition/ as well as scabies, diarrhea and other indications of unhygienic living conditions [4].  It’s only at the beginning of 2019 that humanitarian agencies were allowed to carry out formal verification process before rendering distribution of aid.

From 10 to 12 December 2018, UNHCR and partners conducted a rapid survey in 74 IDP sites in Gedeo and Guji zones to assess the views of the IDPs on the possibility of return to areas of origin and to ensure a voluntary and principled return process. The result of the survey indicated that 94% of the interviewed IDPs preferred not to return to their homes before peace and tranquility is restored in the respective regions. On top of the security threat for their lives, they raised concerns of lack of sufficient support, and the difficulty to live in burned and damaged homes [1]. The existence of such complicated crises made the IDPs feel uncomfortable to return to their homes immediately. It is said that some non-governmental partners are closely lobbying the Government agencies to allocate budget and to restore peace and security to make the returnees safe, and to afford them additional time, instead of pushing them to return, focusing only on addressing the political aspect of the crises.  They are insisting that the government should design and implement a lasting peace and security plan to make sure that such crises will not happen again.

Similar displacements are also taking place in the northern part of the country. A report released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in January 2019 disclosed that Tigray region experienced a 60% increase in the influx of displaced population from other parts of the country over the past two months. In this regard, 72,113 displaced citizens of Tigray Ethnic origin are currently sheltered in 149 transitional shelters in Tigray region. Women and minors under 18 years of age account for 42% and 37% of the total number of displaced respectively. Ethnic conflict remained as the primary cause of displacement for an estimated 98 % of the displaced population [5 and 6].

A report from European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations/DG-ECHO/ published in 25 Feb 2019 indicated that Clashes over the first 2-3 weeks of  Feb 2019 in North Gondar have raised the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Amhara region to an estimated 90,000. Of those, 40,000 of them are displaced in relation to the conflict between ethnic Kemants and Amharas that took place in North Gondar zone. Dozens of deaths and extended burning of houses and villages have been reported. Violence and displacement have been occurring particularly since November 2018. Displaced people in the region also came from Oromia regional state mainly from Buno Bedele, Jimma, Nekemt and Kelem Wellega zones, Benishangul Gumz, Kemash zone, SNNP (Bench Maji zone) and Somali regions since October 2017[7]. Overall, the IDPs lack adequate access to basic needs such as food, water, shelter. It is also difficult to provide those people with sanitation, education, health and resources that are vital for their daily living.  On February 15/2019, the Amhara regional state announced that the humanitarian crisis in the region is beyond its response capacity and readiness. Having said that, the regional government pleaded for support from indigenous and international humanitarian communities. Because of the deterioration of the security of the region, though it was not categorized as a state of emergency, a strict decree similar to state of emergency was declared in the West & Central Gondar as well as the city of Gondar. The regional state requested the federal government to deploy soldiers from the ministry of defense to implement such decree, in the region.

In general, in 2018 the Ethiopia became a leading country with fastest growing internally displaced population (IDPs) in the world. More than 80 per cent of the near 3 million IDPs were displaced due to ethnic conflicts and inter-communal violence. The rest fall under other factors of displacement like protracted drought and seasonal flooding. Women and the youth account for 51% of the total displaced population in the country, calling for gender and youth-sensitive programing in addressing the displacement crisis such as prevention of gender-based violence, availing education, vocational training and other livelihood opportunities[8].

The preliminary report of The Government-led multi-sector and multi-agency needs assessment/conducted from 17 Nov to 15 Dec 2018 in all regions/  indicate that the level of humanitarian needs in 2019 will remain similar to that of 2018 mainly due to mass internal displacements in various parts of the country, and related humanitarian and protection needs.

Additional concerns are the incapability of the IDP-hosting communities to accommodate the additional new consumers on top of the already existing scarcity of resource. It is obvious that those hosting communities will need sustainable assistance in 2019. The majority of the displaced population in the country is residing with host communities (37%), which are often themselves vulnerable; or are settled in make-shift camp sites (33%) [9]. the unrests have disrupted basic public services and upset livelihoods, contributing to the deterioration of the food, health and nutrition in some areas. The massive conflict-induced displacement since April 2018 in different parts of the country has strained water and health care services in host communities, which were already in deficit prior to the displacement. Even prior to the displacement crisis, there was widespread food insecurity and acute malnutrition in most of the IDP-hosting communities.

Meanwhile, humanitarian needs resulting from direct/immediate drought impact have decreased because of the climate induced displacements shown a slight improvement declining from 531,001 to 498,417 people.  Despite the overall good seasonal rainfall, food insecurity and malnutrition remained high in 2018, and is projected to remain the same or worst in 2019 due to slow or limited recovery. This is a result of the severe impact of two years of back-to-back (2016/2017) drought, as well as failed rains in pocket areas of the country in 2018. Between January and October 2018, at least 280,892 children under-5 were treated for severe acute malnutrition, representing 90.3 per cent of the projected admissions for this period based on the annual target of 370,000. Admissions for acute malnutrition treatment remained high in Somali and Oromia regions. Also during the same period, at least 1 million moderately malnourished children under-5 were treated, representing 64 per cent of the annual target. Even in a ‘normal’, non-drought year, there are approximately 2.2 million moderately malnourished children under-5 and pregnant and lactating women; as well as 300,000 children under-5 that are severely acutely malnourished. The annual projection for children treated for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in 2018 has increased from 350,000 to 370,000 during the 2018 Humanitarian and Disaster Resilience Plan (HDRP) mid-year review. Similarly, the projection for children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers treated for moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) was increased from 3.5 million to 4.16 million, with increased coverage of support provided for IDPs living within and beyond priority one woredas. Looking at IDP-specific data, 260,000 IDP children under-5 were treated for MAM, while 201,000 IDP pregnant and breastfeeding mothers were treated for acute malnutrition. Food insecurity and malnutrition remain a high concern due to protracted drought conditions and massive internal displacements resulting from inter-communal conflict in various pockets of the country.

Disease outbreaks such as acute watery diarrhea (AWD), mainly due to poor water and sanitation facilities in IDP sites and in drought and flood-impacted communities were also identified as areas requiring continued prevention and response measures in 2019. According to the latest displacement tracking matrix (DTM 14) covering November-December 2018, 92 per cent of the internally displaced people in the country do not have access to safe drinking water at 5 liters per person per day; while 61 per cent of the IDPs do not have access to sanitation facilities, posing health outbreak risks[10].

Over all the public unrest that took place in many cities in the country between 2014 and 2018 was expected to bring a social and political reform that leads the country in to a better status. Many Ethiopians were hoping to see some kind of transitional that could design a road map to rescue the country from disintegration and further crises.

The ruling front that led the country for the past twenty seven years did not want to establish a transitional government formed by different stakeholders. Instead a group of politicians from that same front came as a faction and made some significant changes. The release of prominent politicians, journalists and activists ignited hope in the heart of Ethiopians. The sense of national unity and democracy that was preached by the current prime minister was taken as a green light to permanent liberation of the country.

However, such hope did not last long. The government began to deal with violence and lawlessness as an arbiter, not as a government responsible to make sure that all citizens are protected, by law. The leniency of the government led to the establishment of gangs everywhere in the country and mob justice replaced courts and police services. The government became incapable or unwilling to enforce law. Such unprecedented decision of the government encouraged criminal gangs to loot, rape robe and kill innocent citizens, like that of Burayu, small town near the capital.

The government also entered in to a routine of attacking and blaming other social groups, instead of conferring with the public to resolve the crises. Many Ethiopians lost hope and remained uncertain about the future. Some criminal gangs also continued to cause clashes between ethnic groups, which will be unlikely to end up soon.

It’s unfortunate to have such huge number of internally displaced people at home which are facing hunger and disease. From my articles review I learned that the Ethiopian Government clearly understood the magnitude of humanitarian/ health crises that the country is facing. But, I feel that enough due attention was not given proportional to the degree of the problem; which I believe shall be started from acknowledging the huge magnitude of the problem followed by trying to mobilizing resources and involving international humanitarian and aid organizations in overcoming the problem. Keeping peace and security throughout the country, and urgent humanitarian/ health assistances to the IDPs shall be one of the few government’s top priority as both issues are a matter of survival for the citizens. That is why The Guardian on its editorial opinion on Ethiopia, published on January 7, 2019 says

‘’Change is welcome, but must be secure”

In the process of such crises women and young children are the most vulnerable. If the handling of the government does not change dramatically, it will be sad to see serious social crises of its kind, in the coming season. The government needs to act swiftly and take some magical measures to save the lives of millions of Ethiopians, who potentially in a dangerous situation.

To be continued

References

1. European Civil protection and Humanitarian Aid Operation/ECHO/- 21 January 2018
2. Danish Refugee Council: Regional Mixed Migration secretariat, Horn of Africa and Yemen, Update May 2016
3. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, Operational Update, September 2018.
4. Ethiopia’s Neglected Crisis; No easy way Home for doubly displaced Gedeos. Report from IRIN. 28 Feb 2019
5. IOM-OM: Ethiopia-Displacement and Tracking/DTR/ Report 15,Jan-Feb 2019.
6. The Reporter: IDPs continue to climb in Ethiopia, 19 Jan 2019. By Dawit Endeshaw
7. Report: European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operatio/DG-ECHO/, Published on 25 Feb 2019.
8. Ethiopia Humanitarian response Situation Report No. 20, January 2019.
9. UNOCHA, Humanitarian Bulletin ,Ethiopia, Issue #3| 04-17 February 2019
10. IOM-OM: Ethiopia-Displacement and Tracking/DTR/ Report 14, Nov-Dec 2018.

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By Samuel Gebre

•  World Bank committed more than $4 billion financing to country
•  Africa’s fastest-growing economy seeks to plug budget deficit

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed attracted a record $13 billion of inflows in his first year in office, as he moves to reform the nation’s economy by allowing in more foreign capital.

The funds, some from the World Bank, come as the Horn of Africa country seeks to plug a funding gap that the International Monetary Fund has said poses risks to the nation’s medium-term outlook. Last year, Abiy pledged to open up the state-owned telecoms company and airline to foreign investors for the first time.

“In the past seven months alone, through investments, loans, grants, remittances and services, we brought $13 billion,” Abiy, 42, said Tuesday in a televised address, without giving details on sources of the funds. “If we didn’t do this, it would’ve been impossible to get out of our troubles.”

The IMF in December estimated Ethiopia’s public debt would be 57.2 percent of gross domestic product in the fiscal year to July 7 and forecast the current-account deficit at 6.2 percent of GDP. “While debt is sustainable in the medium-term, Ethiopia remains at high risk of debt distress,” the Washington-based lender said at the time.

The World Bank committed $3.2 billion in 2018 and $1.3 billion this year in financing to the country, it said Wednesday in an emailed response to questions.

Ethiopia, whose economy IMF data shows is the fastest-growing in Africa, needs to refinance maturing debt, fund infrastructure projects, pay wages and boost foreign-currency reserves, Abiy said in a separate address last week.

The inflows are “good news especially for foreign reserves,” said Pieter du Preez, an analyst at Paarl, South Africa-based NKC African Economics.

Abiy, who marks one year in office this week, has made rapid changes to the country’s once tightly regulated political and economic space. The ruling politburo has announced plans to open up state-owned industries, from telecommunications to sugar and power generation, to foreign investors. In February, he said the government had rescheduled 60 percent of its loan repayments to 30 years from 10 years.

Costs for the much-delayed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, initially estimated at 80 billion birr ($2.8 billion), could rise by about 60 percent. State-owned Ethiopian Electric Power Corp. holds more than 300 billion birr of debt, equal to 99 percent of its capital, meaning that should the state-owned company be sold, the nation would get only a 1 percent stake, according to Abiy.

“Abiy has surprised many with what seems to be a dramatic shift in thinking in the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front party,” said Du Preez. “Abiy has promised to reduce the government’s role in the economy through privatization while also opening the economy to greater foreign participation.”

Elections Scheduled

Other sources of funding last year include the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development that allocated an 11 billion-dirham ($3 billion) economic aidpackage in June last year.

Besides the economy, Abiy took steps to boost diplomatic relations, including ending decades of enmity with neighboring Eritrea. At home, he pledged to open up political space, freed prisoners, and allowed opposition parties to express themselves.

The country is scheduled to hold general elections next year, which Abiy pledged will be democratic, while warning the more than 100 political parties to operate within the law. “Whoever wants to be elected needs to be registered, be ready to compete and let the election committee hold the elections,” Abiy said.

The nation’s lawmakers indefinitely postponed plans for a census before the election. The last count was conducted in 2007, and Ethiopia ranks as Africa’s second-most populous nation with 105 million people.

The post Ethiopia Draws Record Inflows in Abiy’s First Year in Office appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Preliminary report shows significant similarities between two crashes

The post Preliminary report shows significant similarities between two crashes – CNN appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

By Hadra Ahmed, James Glanz and Hannah Beech
New York Times

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Just two minutes after takeoff, the captain of the doomed Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 said the plane was having problems. Pilots then began having trouble controlling the aircraft.

In the plane’s short and fatal flight, pilots initially followed safety procedures recommended by Boeing, performing actions on the emergency checklist, including cutting off electricity to an automatic system that was pushing the nose down. But they were still unable to prevent the jet from crashing, according to an initial report by Ethiopian investigators.

About six minutes after takeoff, the plane went into a fatal dive that killed all 157 people on board.

The report, released Thursday, laid out a timeline of the flight based on analysis from 18 Ethiopian and international investigators and information from the jet’s flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. The investigators’ initial report was released several hours after a news conference held by Ethiopia’s minister of transportation.

The data showed that shortly after liftoff, a crucial sensor that measures the angle that the plane is moving through the air, began fluctuating wildly on the pilot’s side, falsely indicating that the plane was close to stalling. The sensor, one of two sensors on the plane’s nose, began giving readings nearly 60 degrees different from that of its counterpart.

About a minute and a half after takeoff, after the pilots had performed routine tasks like retracting flaps on the wings, the false reading appears to have set off an automated system known as MCAS, the black box data shows. MCAS is intended to prevent a stall and began rapidly pushing the nose of the craft down.

A Faulty Sensor

Moments after takeoff, one of two crucial sensors that measure the plane’s angle of attack diverged wildly, eventually triggering an automated system that pushed down the nose of the plane.

The pilots countered that by pushing electrical switches on their control wheels that adjusted the angle of stabilizers on the tail of the plane, which had been moved by MCAS. About five seconds after the pilots tried the right the plane, MCAS again engaged, moving the stabilizers to a dangerous angle in another nose-down action.

The pilots pushed the electrical switches again. Then, the report says, they followed the emergency checklist and disabled the entire stabilizer electrical system using the so-called stabilizer trim cutout.

“The first officer called out ‘stab trim cutout’ two times,” the report says. “Captain agreed and first officer confirmed stab trim cutout.”

Although that move disabled MCAS, it also forced the crew to control the stabilizers manually with wheels at their feet — a physically difficult task on a plane moving at high speed. A little under four minutes after takeoff, the first officer said the manual method “is not working.”

Soon after, the black box data indicates, the crew turned electricity back on and tried two more times to move the stabilizers by hitting the switches. But once they turned the electricity back on, MCAS engaged again, putting the plane into a dive from which it would not recover.

The crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10 followed the unrecoverable nose-dive almost five months earlier of another jet of the same model, a Boeing 737 Max 8, in Indonesia. Indonesian investigators have implicated MCAS in that disaster, in which the plane’s computer system appeared to override pilot directions based on faulty data.

“These guys are executing the checklist,” Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for the American Airlines pilot union, said of the Ethiopian pilots after reviewing the report. “They were identifying the problem and taking swift action.”

The initial findings are likely to heighten scrutiny of the Max, Boeing’s newest and top-selling generation of jets. Since the Ethiopian Airlines crash, airlines worldwide have grounded their Max fleets, amid concerns over the apparent propensity of MCAS to malfunction when fed erroneous data.

The post Ethiopian Airlines Pilots Followed Boeing’s Safety Procedures Before Crash, Report Shows appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

BBC

Passengers from 35 countries were on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi that crashed on 10 March, killing 157 people.

Among the victims were 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians and eight Americans.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the crash as a “global tragedy”. A large number of passengers were affiliated with the UN or had been on their way to an environment conference in Nairobi.

A former Kenyan football administrator, a “stellar” US student and a Slovakian MP’s family all died in the crash. One Kenyan man lost his wife, daughter and three grandchildren, while a Canadian family of six also died on flight ET302.

One of the youngest passengers was just nine months old. Here is what is known about some of the victims.

Kenya

Image copyrightHASSAN KATENDE/FACEBOOK

Senior Capt Yared Mulugeta Gatechew, of Kenyan and Ethiopian heritage, was the flight’s main pilot. He had been working for Ethiopian Airlines since November 2007 with the company saying he had a “commendable performance” with more than 8,000 hours in the air.

Hassan Katende, a friend, said he learned of the crash on social media and that his “hair just stood up” when he heard that he had died. “I can’t sleep. It’s shocking. It’s very hard to believe. It’s really unbelievable,” he told BBC Amharic.

Image copyrightGEORGETOWN LAW

Among the victims was Cedric Asiavugwa, a third-year law student at Georgetown University in Washington DC. He was reportedly travelling to Nairobi to attend the funeral of one of his relatives.

“With his passing, the Georgetown family has lost a stellar student, a great friend to many, and a dedicated champion for social justice across East Africa and the world,” Georgetown Law Dean William Treanor said.

Mr Asiavugwa was committed to issues of social justice, especially for refugees and other marginalised groups, the university said. He also carried out research on subjects ranging from peace to food security in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Sudan.

Image Copyright @Nmwendwa@NMWENDWA

Report

Hussein Swaleh, a former Kenyan football administrator, also died in the crash, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said.

The head of Kenya’s football federation tweeted that it was a “sad day for football”. Mr Swaleh was reportedly returning home after officiating in a CAF Champions League match in Alexandria, Egypt.

Image Copyright @NatcomUnescoKe@NATCOMUNESCOKE

Report

Former Kenyan journalist Anthony Ngare, 49, was deputy director of communications for the UN’s cultural agency, Unesco, and had just represented Kenya at a UN conference in Paris.

The Kenya National Commission for Unesco described Mr Ngare as “one of its shining stars”. He was formerly an editor at local media house Standard Group and had also worked at a government agency.

Image Copyright @SaddiqueShaban@SADDIQUESHABAN

Report

Retired top military officer George Kabugi had 37 years of military experience, having joined the Kenya Army in 1979. Dr Mumo Nzau, a friend, described Mr Kabugi as highly motivated and a true Kenyan patriot.

John Quindos Karanja lost his wife Ann Wangui Quindos Karanja, his daughter Caroline and her children, seven-year-old Ryan Njoroge, five-year-old Kelly Pauland nine-month-old Ruby Paul. Ann Wangui had been living in Canada for a year, helping her daughter with the small children and the new baby.

Canada

Image copyrightCARLETON UNIVERSITY

Nigerian-born Canadian Prof Pius Adesanmi was the director of Carleton University’s Institute of African Studies. His contributions were “immeasurable,” said Pauline Rankin, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

“He worked tirelessly to build the Institute of African Studies, to share his boundless passion for African literature and to connect with and support students. He was a scholar and teacher of the highest calibre who leaves a deep imprint on Carleton.”

Benoit-Antoine Bacon, president and vice-chancellor of Global Affairs Canada, said: “Pius Adesanmi was a towering figure in African and post-colonial scholarship and his sudden loss is a tragedy.”

Canadian-Somali Amina Ibrahim Odowa and her five-year-old daughter, Sofia Abdulkadir, were also among the victims. They had been travelling to Kenya from their home in Edmonton for her wedding.

“Her fiancé hasn’t even had water since the news broke. He hasn’t eaten anything. He’s in bad shape. Our elder sister is also in shock. We aren’t ok. We hope to at least see her body,” her brother told the BBC.

She leaves behind two other young daughters, who are said to being cared for by their grandmother.

Image copyrightFACEBOOK

Environmentalist Peter DeMarsh was on his way to a conference in Nairobi, his sister Helen said on Facebook. “Praying for him as we remember his brilliance, devotion to humanity and the wellbeing of the planet.”

Mr DeMarsh had moved back home to New Brunswick to be close to his elderly mother, his sister said. He leaves behind a wife and a son.

Image copyrightFACEBOOK

Derick Lwugi, 54, was an accountant and pastor from Calgary, CBC News reports. He was described as a “pillar” of the local Kenyan community. He leaves behind his wife, who is a domestic abuse councillor, and three children aged 17, 19 and 20.

Image copyrightFACEBOOK/KOSHA VAIDYA

A family of six were among the Canadian victims – Kosha Vaidya, 37, and her husband Prerit Dixit, 45, were taking their 14-year-old daughter Ashka and 13-year-old daughter Anushka to Nairobi, where Kosha was born.

Relatives told Canadian media that the family of Indian origin had only planned the trip 10 days before. Kosha’s parents, Pannagesh Vaidya, 73, and Hansini Vaidya, 67, decided to join them as it had been 35 years since the couple had been in Kenya.

Image copyrightDANIELLE MOORE/FACEBOOK

Danielle Moore, 24, was travelling to a UN environment conference in Nairobi.

On 9 March, she posted a message on Facebook: “I’m so excited to share that I’ve been selected to attend and am currently en route to the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya with United Nations Association In Canada and #CanadaServiceCorps / #LeadersToday!

“Over the next week I’ll have the opportunity to discuss global environmental issues, share stories, and connect with other youth and leaders from all over the world. I feel beyond privileged to be receiving this opportunity, and want to share as much with folks back home.”

Ms Moore studied marine biology at Dalhousie University and later at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences in 2015. She was working both as a member of the clean ocean advocacy group Ocean Wise and as an education lead at the charity Canada Learning Code.

Dawn Tanner, 47, a special education teacher from Hamilton, was also on the flight.

The Grand Erie District School Board issued a statement confirming her death and paying tribute to her work. Her son, Cody French, described her as an “extraordinary woman”.

Angela Rehhorn, 24, was one of the many environmentalists on board the flight. She was a conservation volunteer from Ontario, on the trip as part of the UN Association of Canada’s Service Corps programme.

Stephanie Lacroix had graduated from the University of Ottawa in 2015 after studying international development, and had recently joined the UN Association in Canada.

Another Canadian heading to the UN Environment Assembly was Darcy Belanger – who set up the non-profit environmental group Parvati.org.

Image copyrightLINKEDIN

“Darcy was truly a champion and a force of nature, one whose passing leaves an unimaginable gap in this work as well as in the lives of his family, friends and colleagues,” the group said in a statement.

Victim Micah John Messent, from British Columbia, had shared his excitement online at being selected to go to the UN environment conference before the crash.

Ethiopia

Nine Ethiopians were killed in the crash.

Ahmednur Mohammed Omar, 25, was the co-pilot. He was one of eight crew members who lost their lives in the crash. Ethiopian Airlines said that the first officer had flown 200 hours at the time of the disaster.

Sara Gebre Michael was the lead hostess on board the flight. Prominent Ethiopian artist Tesfaye Mamo, who was her neighbour, told the BBC she was a caring mother, and would be sorely missed. She is survived by her husband and three children.

Ayantu Girma was also part of the hosting crew. Her father Girma Lelissa told the Ethiopian news site The Reporter that the 24 year old had been an air hostess for just two years. He added that he would find it difficult to believe the news unless he got and buried her body.

Four Catholic Relief Service employees from Ethiopia also died in the crash. Sara Chalachew, Getnet Alemayehu, Sintayehu Aymeku and Mulusew Alemu had been on their way to Nairobi for training.

Tamirat Mulu Demessie was an aid agency worker for Save the Children.

Nigeria

Image Copyright @GeoffreyOnyeama@GEOFFREYONYEAMA

Report

Retired Nigerian diplomat Ambassador Abiodun Bashua was also among the victims, the foreign affairs minister tweeted.

UK

Joanna Toole, 36, was one of seven Britons killed in the crash. She was from Exmouth but was living in Rome, her father Adrian Toole said. He paid tribute to her 15 years working in international animal welfare organisations.

“I’m very proud of what she achieved. It’s just tragic that she couldn’t carry on to further her career and achieve more,” he told the BBC. “She was very well known in her own line of business and we’ve had many tributes already paid to her.”

• British dad’s ‘pride’ in ‘loving’ daughter

Joseph Waithaka, 55, was a dual British-Kenyan national. His son, Ben Kuria, said he was still in shock after hearing that his father, who moved to the UK in 2004, was on board the flight. Mr Kuria described him as a “generous” man who “loved justice”.

A father-of-three, Mr Waithaka lived in Hull and worked for the Humberside Probation Trust before returning to live in Kenya in 2015.

Image copyrightPA

Sarah Auffret was a University of Plymouth graduate and a polar tourism expert. She was on her way to Nairobi to talk about the Clean Seas project in connection with the UN Environment Assembly, according to her Norway-based employers Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO).

“Words cannot describe the sorrow and despair we feel. We have lost a true friend and beloved colleague.”

Ms Auffret also held French citizenship, Norwegian media reported.

Image copyrightFAMILY PICTURE

Oliver Vick, 45, was travelling to a posting with the UN in Somalia. “Olly was well-loved and had an energy and zest for life which lifted and inspired all that met him,” his family said.

Sam Pegram, 25, from Lancashire was another British victim of the crash. His family told a local newspaper they were “totally devastated” by his death.

Germany

In total, five Germans were killed in the crash.

Image copyrightIOM

Anne-Katrin Feigl was a German national who worked for the UN migration agency, the IOM. Ms Feigl was en route to a training course in Nairobi.

Catherine Northing, chief of the IOM mission in Sudan where Ms Feigl worked, called her “an extremely valued colleague and popular staff member, committed and professional”, saying “her tragic passing has left a big hole and we will all miss her greatly”.

Norman Tendis, a pastor for the Evangelical Church in Austria, was on his way to launch a roadmap he developed for church engagement in ecological and economic justice. The World Council of Churches said he was “instrumental in helping local churches invest their resources to make a better planet”.

Max Thabiso Edkins, a German-South African, worked as a communications officer for Connect4Climate – a World Bank climate change advocacy platform.

Sweden

The Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs confirmed four Swedes died in the crash.

Image copyrightJONATHAN SEEX/FACEBOOK

Hospitality company Tamarind Group announced “with immense shock and grief” that its chief executive Jonathan Seex was among those killed.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and the Tamarind community and all the others who have suffered unfathomable losses,” said the company, one of Africa’s leading restaurant and hospitality firms.

Josefin Ekermann,30, was from Stockholm and worked in civil rights. She was on a business trip in the region when she died in the crash.

Alexandra Wachtmeister, 50, had worked at the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA) for 16 years before her death.

“We remember Alexandra with joy; listening, present and a person who took the time with others. with an aptitude to tie friendships and create networks wherever she worked,” they said on their website.

Another 55-year-old Swedish man was also killed, local media report.

India

Image Copyright @ASteiner@ASTEINER

Report

There were four Indian nationals on the Ethiopian Airlines flight.

UNDP consultant Shikha Garg, who lived in the capital Delhi, was on her way to the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi.

Her husband Soumya Bhattacharya – who she married in December – had been due to travel with her, but had to pull out due to a last-minute meeting, the Times of India reports.

Ms Garg’s father Satish Garg – who spoke to her moments before the plane left – described his daughter as a “brilliant student”, while friends have spoken of her vibrant personality.

Nukavarapu Manisha, from Andhra Pradesh, was also on the flight. She was meant to be visiting her pregnant sister in Nairobi. She had been working as a doctor in the US for East Tennessee State University, which paid tribute to her “as a fine resident, a delightful person and dedicated physician”.

The other two Indians who died were named as Vaidya Pannagesh Bhaskar and Vaidya Hansin Annagesh.

Slovakia

Lawmaker Anton Hrnko announced with “deep grief” that his wife Blanka, son Martin and daughter Michala were among the four Slovaks died in the crash.

Italy

Eight Italians were killed in the crash. World Food Programme employees Maria Pilar Buzzetti and Virginia Chimenti, as well as Paolo Dieci, a founder of the non-governmental organisation, were among them.

Sebastiano Tusa, an archaeologist and councillor for social affairs in Sicily also died. He had been on his way to a UNESCO conference, Italian media reported.

Three members of a non-profit group – Carlo Spini, his wife Gabriella Viciani, and Matteo Ravasio – were also victims.

Russia

Aleksandr Polyakov and his wife Ekaterina worked for Russia’s Sberbank bank, local media report. They were in Africa on holiday, Ria Novosti quoted Sberbank as saying.

A third Russian victim was identified as Sergei Vyalikov.

Norway

Image Copyright @rodekorsnorge@RODEKORSNORGE

Report

Karoline Aadland, 28, was a programme finance co-ordinator for the Norwegian Red Cross. “Our thoughts are with her next of kin. Our focus is on providing them with assistance in this difficult time,” the Norwegian Red Cross tweeted.

Ireland

Image copyrightWORLD FOOD PROGRAMME/PA

Michael Ryan worked for the UN’s World Food Programme. His projects included creating safe ground for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and assessing the damage to rural roads in Nepal blocked by landslides.

Irish Prime Minister said: “Michael was doing life-changing work in Africa with the World Food Programme.”

US

Image Copyright @IQAir@IQAIR

Report

New Jersey native Matt Vecere was one of the eight American victims. On Twitter, his employer described him as a great writer and an avid surfer with passion for helping others.

Image Copyright @Nasir_Barud@NASIR_BARUD

Report

Siraje Hussein Abdi was a 32-year-old Somali-American who had lived in the US since 2002 and was visiting relatives in Africa. He had spent three months in Morocco where his wife lived and had decided to go to Nairobi to see his siblings, his sister Ardo told Voice of America Somali.

She described Mr Abdi as open, sociable and likable. “People loved him, may Allah give him mercy.”

Image Copyright @fetaldocmn@FETALDOCMN

Report

Dr Manisha Nukavarapu was a second year resident doctor at East Tennessee State University’s Quillen College of Medicine. She was visiting family in Kenya and her death was confirmed by the medical school’s Dean Bill Block.

Image Copyright @CharlieDeMar@CHARLIEDEMAR

Report

US Army Captain Antoine Lewis – seen here in two photos tweeted by a CBS Chicago journalist – was also on the flight. He was in Africa to do Christian missionary work, and reportedly leaves behind his wife and 15-year-old son.

Brothers Melvin and Bennett Riffel were also among the eight victims from the US. A family friend told NBC News that the brothers were “just wonderful and they’re going to be missed deeply.”

They were reportedly returning from a trip to Australia. Melvin’s wife was expecting their first child, local media report.

China

Eight Chinese nationals died in the crash. The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said four of the victims worked for Chinese companies, two were working with the UN and another two were travelling privately.

Egypt

Six prominent Egyptian nationals were on board the flight.

They included some of the country’s leading scientists. Dr Ashraf El-Turki, head of the Department of Pesticide Research at Egypt’s Agricultural Research Center, was killed.

Assistant researcher Abdul Hamid Farraj and engineer Du’aa Atif Abdul Salamwere also on the ill-fated flight.

Two translators, Susan Abu Faraj and Esmat Aransa, had been on their way to join an official African Union mission in Nairobi.

The sixth victim was named as Nassar Al-Azb, a programmer on his way to a conference.

France

Nine of those killed held French citizenship. They included Sarah Auffret, who was also a British citizen.

French-Tunisian Karim Saafi, 38, was on a mission as a co-chairperson of the African Diaspora Youth Forum in Europe.

Image copyrightLINKEDIN

Xavier Fricaudet was a teacher based in Nairobi, Kenya. Before that he had taught in other countries, including Guyana and Russia.

Suzanne Barranger, 63, and her husband Jean-Michel, 66, also died in the crash.

Two others, Camille Geoffroy and Clémence Boutant, both worked for humanitarian groups.

Austria

The Austrian Foreign Ministry confirmed that three doctors travelling to Zanzibar had been on the flight.

Spain

Two people from Spain died in the crash. Jordi Dalmau Sayol, 46, was a chemical engineer working for a water infrastructure company.

Pilar Martínez Docampo, 32, was an aid worker for an NGO in Ethiopia.

Israel

Two men from Israel were on the flight – Shimon Ram, 59, and Avraham Matzliah, 49, were identified in Israeli media.

Emergency workers from the country were sent to help local teams with identification and recovery.

Morocco

Dr Ben Ahmed Chihab was one of two Moroccan nationals to die in the disaster. The other was El Hassan Sayouty, a professor at Hassan II University of Casablanca.

Poland

Two Polish nationals were on the flight. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki confirmed the news, and said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would support their families.

Togo

Image Copyright @ryanlenorabrown@RYANLENORABROWN

Report

Dr Kodjo Glato was a professor at the University of Lomé. In a statement (in French), the institution offered condolences to Dr Glato’s family.

Ryan Brown, Johannesburg bureau chief for international news organisation CS Monitor, tweeted that Dr Glato had “a passion for sweet potatoes and how they could be used to improve food security in West Africa”.

He also owned a non-governmental organisation called Farmers Without Borders, Ms Brown told the BBC.

Belgium

Ghislaine De Claremont was the only national from her country killed on the flight. The mother-of-two, and grandmother to four children, had been on the trip as a gift from her former colleagues from ING bank, where she had just retired.

Djibouti, Indonesia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, Serbia, Uganda, Yemen, and Nepal each had one victim die in the disaster.

The post Ethiopian Airlines: The victims of ‘a global tragedy’ appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

The World Is Made Up of The Hunters and The Huntees!

Belayneh Abate

Our conscience has been repeatedly stabbed  by the endless massacre, incarceration, torture and massacre of the Ethiopian people. The non-Amara Ethiopian people suffered from these heinous crimes because they refused to give up their natural resources or they demanded more privileges.

On the other hand, the Amara People faced ethnic cleansing because it was declared as oppressor of  the “nations and nationalities.  As a result of these declaration, the Amaras have been subjected to systematic  massacre, incarceration, torture, sterilization, displacement, starvation, poor education and economical development.  As the testimonies, physical and mental status of Amara prisoners demonstrate, even the detention centers  were disproportionately harsher on Amaras.

No creature in the universe sits idle when its progenies face atrocities that lead to extinction. The Amara elites have been sitting idle when their progenies have been systematically subjected to ill-treatment in every corner of the country.

As humans,  we hope the world to be fair, compassionate and free of corruption and crimes. In realty, the world is full of corruption, unfairness, injustice and murders.

Ideally, we want the globe to be free of racial, sexual, religious, social status or  other forms of discrimination.  In realty, the globe has been inundated with  any forms of discrimination since the birth of mankind.

Ideally, we wish the honest, the loyal and the just  govern nations. In realty, the liars, the traitors, the hypocrites, the criminals rule countries.

Because the liars, the traitors and the criminals  rule countries, the earth has been Hell for the weak since the era of genesis.

As philosophy teaches, the wise man Socrates was voted to death because the liar and the unjust rulers mislead the public that Socrates was corrupt and against all Gods.

As scriptures teach, Christos was crucified because  of his liar accusers, who preached that he was against the Laws.

As history teaches the shrewd Europeans enslaved the naive Africans, Asians and Latin Americans using bible as their entrance gates.

As we know, the Jewish people were massacred by the Nazis because they were blamed for all the problems of that time Germany.

Similarly, the Amaras have been massacred,  imprisoned, tortured, displaced, sterilized,  and subjected to illiteracy and starvation because they are blamed for all the problems of the country.  The elimination of Amara has continued and a large number of them are currently displaced  even from the outskirts of Addis Ababa and other parts of the country where their forefathers protected spilling their blood since the earth was created.

Despite this survival threat of the Amara , the Amara elites still  talk about empty love, unity, reconciliation, forgiveness  standing behind the  Ethiopian People’s Democratic Front (EPRDF) appointed “prime mister “.  This  criminal prime mister is the leader of EPRDF that hanged water bottles on testicles  of men to sterilized Amaras. This hypocrite prime mister is the leader of EPRDF that administered unique birth control programs to sterilize Amara women. This prime mister is the leader of EPRDF that killed a son and forced his mother to sit on her son’s dead body.

As many opportunist elites think, this hypocrite- pastor  prime mister is not a man of love and unity. If he was a man of love and unity,  he could not have served the Tigre Peoples Libration Front for more than 20 years. If he was a man of love,  he could not have built a breast monument based on baseless folktales.  If he was a man of love and God  he could have gone to a Monastery for redemption and repentance, not to palace to have more luxurious life and fame at the expense of martyrs  his party crucified.

Dear Amara Elites, please stop being taken away by  the undeliverable preaching of the hypocrite and criminal pastors. By the time criminal pastors preach about “unity and love”, the Amara People are being displaced even from the outskirts of Addis Ababa,  Begemidir, and Gojjam. Despite these ominous dangers the Amara people is facing throughout the country , you are still beating the drums with unborn again pastors, who spit empty love words. Empty love words come also from the mouths of monsters  that snatch believers from the hands of God. As the book of books teaches, you identify monsters by their past and current deeds, not by their empty words.

Ideally, we want the whole world to be united, to be fair and just. Unfortunately, the world has never been united, fair and just since Adam was through out to Earth from the Garden of Eden. Hoping the world will be united, fair and just  one day, the religious and  the cultured Amara people suffered more than the Jewish People suffered in Europe  for the last 27 years.

The Amara people that has never been tricked even by the sophisticated European colonizers were deceived and betrayed by its on  elites. Some  deplorable Amara elites served its killers in different capacities, and majority others  kept silence enjoying their luxurious lives. It is past due for Amara elites to stand by their people and teach the victimized Amaras about survival facts in a hostile environment.  One of these  survival fact is what   Richard Connell said in his beautiful writing, the Most Dangerous Game:  “The World is Made Up of The Hunters and The Huntees.”

Keep denouncing hunters,  but you shall  stop serving the hunters and making the Amara people the Huntees to promote ethnic cleanings of Amaras  again.  Thank you.

The writer can be reached at abatebelai@yahoo.com

The post A Message to Amara Elites: Never Allow Ethnic Cleansing of Amara Again! appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Tomorrow, there will be a competition in other systems. Around 200 athletes are competing for medals.

The post Great day for the Ethiopian Judo & JuJitsu Sport. appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

The chair of a U.S. House Foreign Affairs subcommittee has called on the Eritrean government to release an American citizen who has been detained in the country for more than six years.

Ciham Ali Abdu was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Eritrea. In December 2012, Eritrean officials apprehended Ciham when she attempted to leave the country without a mandatory exit visa. Her family hasn’t seen or heard from her since, despite attempts to learn about her whereabouts and well-being.

U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, called for Ciham’s release in social media posts Friday.

“I was in Eritrea just last month,” Bass wrote on Twitter and Facebook. “The country’s leaders should release Ciham, who had a birthday this past week, and all of Eritrea’s political prisoners to send a message that the country is embarking on a new path that includes respect for human rights.”

Bass visited Eritrea and Ethiopia with Reps. Joe Neguse and Ilhan Omar, both of whom joined Congress in January. Neguse represents Colorado’s second district. His parents emigrated from Eritrea to the U.S. in 1980. Omar, a Somali-American, came to the U.S. as a refugee in 1992 and represents Minnesota’s fifth district.

It was the first congressional delegation to visit Eritrea in 14 years, according to the U.S. Embassy in Asmara.

​Official denials

The Eritrean government refuses to acknowledge Ciham’s citizenship, or even her existence.

Bass, who represents California’s 37th District, near where Ciham was born, is the highest-ranking U.S. official to put a spotlight on her case. The U.S. State Department hasn’t officially confirmed Ciham’s imprisonment, saying only that the U.S. government is aware of reports about Ciham’s detainment.

Bass told reporters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last month that she had just recently learned about Ciham’s case, according to the Associated Press. Human rights groups have for years called for the 22-year-old’s release.

At a town hall meeting Saturday in Los Angeles, Bass said she was committed to working with both the Eritrean and Ethiopian governments, along with the U.S. Embassy in Asmara, to secure Ciham’s freedom.

Vanessa Tsehaye founded One Day Seyoum, an organization focused on securing the release of her uncle, Seyoum Tsehaye, an Eritrean journalist who has been imprisoned since 2001. Tsehaye spoke to VOA Wednesday, on Ciham’s birthday.

“She has been in prison without a trial, and it can’t, it simply cannot stand,” Tsehaye said. “Even the excuses they try to use for people, like journalists or politicians, or [raising] issues about national security. And those kinds of excuses don’t stand when you are talking about a girl who was 15 when she was imprisoned for simply attempting to leave the country.”

The United Nations, Amnesty International and other rights groups have accused the Eritrean government of human rights violations designed to suppress dissent, including arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances and torture.

Congressmember Bass

@RepKarenBass

I was in Eritrea just last month.

The country’s leaders should release Ciham, who had a birthday this past week, and all of Eritrea’s political prisoners to send a message that the country is embarking on a new path that includes respect for human rights.

CNN Africa

@CNNAfrica

Ciham Ali, an Eritrean-American was 15 when she was jailed in Eritrea for trying to leave the country. Seven years later, there’s still no word on her #HappyBirthdayCihamhttps://cnn.it/2E1Ocux 

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8:55 PM – Apr 5, 2019

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The government has denied those claims and criticized the U.S. and U.N. for seeking to undermine its sovereignty. VOA’s attempts to reach the Eritrean embassies in London and Washington went unanswered.

After fighting a 30-year war for independence from Ethiopia, Eritrea gained international recognition in 1993. The country has not held a national election nor ratified its constitution since then, but recent peace overtures with Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia have raised hopes for reform and justice for detainees like Ciham.

“We think that there’s a chance that Ciham might hear and see our messages,” Tsehaye said. “So we want her to know that there are people fighting for her and that she is being remembered and that we will stand in solidarity with her until the day she is released.”

• 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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The software at issue in two deadly crashes of Boeing 737 Max jetliners runs on two identical computer processors tucked inside a small metal box the size of a toaster.

Boeing designed that software, known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). But the lines of code underpinning this system and the physical box it runs on were programmed and built to Boeing’s specifications by a lesser-known company called Rockwell Collins, one of the hundreds of partners that Boeing relies on to assemble the 737 Max.

Boeing is mired in legal risk as investigators home in on MCAS as a key factor in two plane crashes that killed a total of 346 people in Ethi­o­pia and Indonesia. This week, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg acknowledged it was “apparent” that MCAS had been activated in both crashes after being fed erroneous data from sensors. The company said Friday that it would decrease its 737 Max production rate from 52 aircraft per month to 42.

Boeing’s 737 Max planes are the subject of congressional inquiries, a federal audit and a criminal probe by the Justice Department.

[Boeing CEO apologizes for lives lost and acknowledges role of company’s flight-control system in two crashes]

The scrutiny is already spilling over to Boeing’s wide network of supply chain partners. Rosemount Aerospace, the maker of a sensor on the 737 Max, this week was sued by the family of an American victim of the Ethi­o­pia crash, claiming the company was negligent. Both Rosemount and Rockwell Collins are owned by United Technologies, a U.S. manufacturing giant.

“These parts are screwed together from all over the world,” said Mike Boyd, an aviation analyst with Boyd Group International. “You better believe that anybody who has so much as a fingerprint on this MCAS issue is getting a lawsuit.”

A list of more than 900 companies that contribute to the 737 Max was included in a settlement that Indonesian airline Lion Air offered to families of the victims of the October 2018 crash, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post. The airline offered about $91,000 in exchange for waiving the right to sue any of those firms, which included Boeing, engine-makers GE and Safran, and smaller makers of parts like LED lights and electromechanical switches.

Rockwell Collins was on the list. (It was acquired by United Technologies last year for more than $30 billion and is now known as Collins Aerospace.) According to communications between Boeing and 737 customers reviewed by The Post, Collins built the 737 Max flight-control computer and wrote the software code that contains MCAS, among other components of the plane.

United Technologies repeatedly declined to answer questions about Rockwell Collins and Rosemount for this story.

Boeing spokesman Peter Pedraza said Collins “has a deep legacy of expertise” in aircraft electronics.

“The aerospace industry globally functions by bringing expert suppliers of structures, systems and services together to develop and produce aircraft,” he said.

Boeing is preparing a software fix that is designed to address the underlying problems with MCAS and has said it expects to have a solution ready “in the coming weeks.”

Lawyer Frank M. Pitre speaks during a news conference about a lawsuit filed against Boeing and Rosemount on behalf of the family of Samya Stumo, 24. Stumo was killed in the Ethio­pian Airlines crash last month. (Ashlee Rezin/AP)

As more aspects of commercial jets have become automated, Boeing and other manufacturers have come to rely more on companies that build the computers and software that power autopilot functions. On a typical passenger flight, pilots manually taxi the jet and perform the takeoff, then turn over the physical control of the plane to the computer.

Rockwell Collins won the contract to produce the flight-control computer for 737 models in 2003, a coup over its primary rival in the aviation electronics business, Honeywell. Collins tasked hundreds of employees, including hardware and software engineers, with designing a new computer based on specifications provided by Boeing, according to two former Collins employees who worked on flight controls.

The computer this team created, used in several 737 models since then, relies on a “dual dual system,” which means it has two computers — each the size of a large toaster — housing two processors apiece. The design is meant to ensure that if one processor malfunctions, the plane can seamlessly shift to another one with the exact same functions.

[All eyes are watching as Boeing prepares software update months after Indonesia plane crash]

The hardware and software for a new plane’s computers can take more than three years to develop, the former Collins employees said. Boeing may spend roughly $200,000 for a flight-control computer on a single new plane, estimates Chris Brady, a former 737 pilot who catalogues aircraft features and adaptations on his website, the Boeing 737 Technical Site.

Boeing is known to work closely with its software partners on flight-control systems. Employees of Rockwell Collins, based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, used to hold all of their internal meetings before 10 a.m. local time because that’s when Boeing managers in Seattle would usually start calling to check their progress on the 737 computer, said one of the former employees.

It’s unclear how much direction Boeing gave Collins in the specific design of MCAS and whether anyone at Collins raised concerns about the safety of the system. Typically, Boeing handles the process of certifying flight controls with regulators like the Federal Aviation Administration after they are completed and added to the plane.

Collins has also provided free software upgrades to 737 owners — similar to Apple’s or Android’s periodic updates to smartphone operating systems. Notably, Collins issued a software update to 737 Max flight-control systems on Jan. 25, designed to change MCAS functionality to improve its safety “when flap position failures are detected,” according to a notice Boeing sent customers about the changes.

This software update, which has not been previously reported, came three months after the Lion Air crash and about six weeks before the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, raising questions about whether Boeing and Collins attempted to change the MCAS software as a result of the first accident and whether they obtained approval from regulators to do so.

Separately, Boeing submitted a proposed fix to MCAS to the FAA on Jan. 21, the agency’s acting administrator said in a Senate hearing last week. It’s unclear how the proposed fix may have differed from the software changes made available to customers a few days later.

Pedraza, the Boeing spokesman, said the two software updates were unrelated, and he referred to the Jan. 25 changes as a “standard service bulletin” to 737 operators.

A spokesman for Ethiopian Airlines declined to comment on whether the plane that crashed in March had received the Jan. 25 software update.

Samya Stumo’s mother, Nadia Milleron, becomes emotional during a news conference announcing a lawsuit the family filed against Boeing and Rosemount. (Ashlee Rezin/AP)

While United Technologies is confronted with questions about Collins, it already faces a lawsuit against Rosemount, its aircraft sensor subsidiary.

The family of Samya Stumo, an American woman killed in the Ethiopia crash, filed a lawsuit against Boeing and Rosemount in U.S. District Court in Northern Illinois on Thursday. The legal complaint alleges that Boeing designed and installed a “defective flight control system” on its planes and accuses Rosemount of negligently developing defective angle-of-attack sensors.

A preliminary report on the Ethio­pian Airlines accident, released Thursday, found that the sensors began registering erroneous readings less than a minute after takeoff. Sensors on alternate sides of the plane showed wildly divergent measurements for airspeed and altitude.

[Family of American woman killed in Ethio­pian 737 Max crash sues Boeing]

Investigators of the Lion Air crash also said Rosemount’s sensors fed the wrong signals to the flight-control computer, causing the MCAS feature to repeatedly push the plane’s nose down.

“The way product liability law works is that component part manufacturers have liability, just like the general manufacturer,” said Brian Kabateck, a lawyer representing victims of the Lion Air crash in a lawsuit against Boeing. If Boeing believes that any suppliers are at fault, it typically would file a counterclaim against those suppliers to force them to share liability, Kabateck said.

Others say Boeing should bear full responsibility for weeding out potential flaws in the aircraft systems it buys.

“At the end of the day, it was Boeing’s responsibility to integrate this box into the plane and to integrate the external sensors,” said Richard Aboulafia, a Teal Group aerospace analyst. “There might be individual factors that played a role. But responsibility for coordinating all of the technology and the onboard inputs falls to Boeing.”

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Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

A high-level US delegation just returned from Ethiopia, which is arguably America’s closest ally on the continent of Africa. How did these two countries become so close? Journalist James Jeffrey explains.

It’s noticeable soon after you land in Washington – the city is full of Ethiopians.

Their ubiquitous presence – behind the counter at Starbucks or the wheels of taxis – in the bastion of American government symbolises the two pillars of this alliance.

The Ethiopian diaspora across America – the second largest community after Nigerians – has played an enormous role in influencing ongoing political reforms that have rocked Ethiopia since the beginning of 2018.

These have included the opening of borders, the freeing of political prisoners, the lifting of restrictions on media, and the opening of political space to previously banned groups, as well as a significant redistribution of power within the ruling coalition government.

Expatriate Ethiopians run numerous TV stations and online media which are beamed into Ethiopian homes or to smartphones more than 11,000 kilometres away in the motherland – often, in the past, with a message critical of the government.

At the same time, US foreign policy significantly influenced last year’s seismic events and is helping the Ethiopian government prepare the country for crucial national elections in 2020.

A US House of Representative Congressional Delegation (Codel) has recently returned from a visit to Ethiopia and Eritrea.

During that visit, US Ambassador to Ethiopia Michael Raynor announced the US will be “embedding senior US government officials at key Ethiopian economic ministries and operations for a sustained period of time”.

Image copyrightUS EMBASSY IN ADDIS ABABA

Last month, the ambassador also visited the site of the Ethiopian Airlines crash to pay respect to the lives lost and offer messages of condolence and support to those working on the investigation.

A unique relationship

“No other African country has this sort of relationship with the US,” says Tewodrose Tirfe, chair of the Amhara Association of America, a US-based advocacy group for the Amhara, Ethiopia’s second-largest ethnic group.

“Because Ethiopia was not colonised, it was able to have a formal direct relationship with the US that goes back to 1903 when the US representative handed his papers to Emperor Menelik.”

US influence in Ethiopia includes a sizeable financial component. Not including funding for security – the size of which isn’t known – Ethiopia has received about $4bn (£3bn) from the US government over the last five years towards humanitarian issues and development.

Meanwhile, remittances from Ethiopia’s global diaspora was estimated in 2017 at $4.6bn, according to a report commissioned by the European Union. The largest portion originates from the US because of the number of people and the fact they are more wealthy than diaspora elsewhere, says Mr Tewodrose.

Flowing through informal channels, much of that money moves between relatives but some goes towards supporting political opposition in Ethiopia – including armed resistance – all in the name of freedom.

Image copyrightESFNA

“Living in the US has a tremendous influence on how I perceive democracy and freedom of speech,” says Gennet Negussie with the Ethiopian Advocacy Network, a grassroots collection of organisations promoting democracy, human rights and justice in Ethiopia, who has lived in the US since 1988.

“My experience in the US has opened my eyes and created a desire to get involved in changing the authoritarian government in Ethiopia and helping with the democratisation of Ethiopia so people have a say in the political system.”

Successive waves of emigration during decades of tumult in Ethiopia have formed a worldwide Ethiopian diaspora of around two million people. Though there is no census data, a million are estimated to live in the US, of whom about 250,000 are concentrated across Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland.

“Ethiopians came to the US for the same reasons as others, because it symbolises the ideals of freedom, respect for human rights, better opportunities for their children and that notion that if you work hard enough, there’s no limit to what you can accomplish,” says Mr Tewodrose.

“And the stories of those who are successful, becoming engineers, professors, doctors, go back to Ethiopia and encourage others to try for the same experiences.”

Ethiopians entered the US through various means ranging from the granting of political asylum and student visas to sponsorship from US organisations. While some entered through undocumented channels or on travel visas and stayed afterwards, official immigrant applications from Ethiopians have done well historically.

“The Ethiopian diaspora established a good reputation for being hardworking and enterprising, excelling in performance, valuing education, providing community service and establishing churches,” says Bonnie Holcomb, an anthropologist affiliated at George Washington University who has researched the Ethiopian diaspora for decades.

“They integrated well, were not isolated, and showed they were not going to be a drain on the US coffers.”

Diaspora politics

Across all generations the Ethiopian diaspora includes the likes of myriad journalists, bloggers, activists and academics, all closely following and often commenting on events in Ethiopia.

Last year’s reforms mean some of them who previously couldn’t return to Ethiopia are now doing so, including exiled leaders of previously banned political parties.

Ginbot 7, one of the most prominent, was founded in 2008 by Berhanu Nega, a university professor at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, and another Ethiopian exile, Andargachew Tsege, in Washington DC, before the group based itself in Eritrea.

Similarly, the Oromo Liberation Front, another major opposition group, maintained an office in Washington DC while operating a military camp in Eritrea.

During protests between 2015 and 2018, Ivy League-educated Jawar Mohammed played a pivotal role in orchestrating Ethiopia’s National Youth Movement for Freedom and Democracy – popularly known as the Qeerroo – young Oromo activists at the heart of protests and strikes that brought down Ethiopia’s previous prime minister.

Throughout these protests the US-based diaspora also lobbied the US government – while reaching out to human rights organisations and international media – to put additional pressure on the Ethiopian government.

Finally, in 2018, a week after the 2 April swearing-in of Abiy Ahmed as Ethiopia’s new prime minister, the US House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution that was unusually outspoken for US public policy in its criticism of Ethiopia’s government.

Image copyrightJAMES JEFFREY

The resolution – known as HR-128 – condemned excessive use of force by Ethiopian security forces; the detention of journalists, students, activists and political leaders; and the regime’s abuse of anti-terrorism laws to stifle political and civil dissent and journalistic freedoms.

“If you look at the reforms that followed in Ethiopia, they basically matched one for one the points in the resolution,” says Mr Tewodrose, whose organisation collaborated closely with US lawmakers supporting the resolution.

“We the diaspora know that by being here, in the world’s most powerful country, we can try leverage that to influence things in Ethiopia, because the policy the US takes will likely be followed by other countries.”

A country of enormous consequence

That said, the US diplomatic relationship with Ethiopia has had its ups and downs.

The US was a strong ally of Emperor Haile Selassie – Ethiopian soldiers fought with the allies during World War Two and alongside Americans during the Korean War – but after he was overthrown by a military coup in 1974, Ethiopia pivoted to Russia for arms and financial and ideological sustenance.

Image copyrightJAMES JEFFREY

Following the 1991 revolution that defeated the military regime and brought in the present government, Ethiopia was back with the US. Since 2001 and the 9/11 attacks, the US-Ethiopia relationship has strengthened with Ethiopia viewed as a vital bulwark against the spread of radical Islam and terrorism in the Horn of Africa.

“The US has understood for many years that Ethiopia is a country of enormous consequence,” says Mr Raynor, the US ambassador to Ethiopia.

“A country with a large territory and a large population; a country with enormous potential and a rapidly growing economy; and a country that has played an outsized role in keeping the peace in Africa – and beyond – for many years,”

But some commentators say the ongoing shake-up in Ethiopian politics could affect US-Ethiopia relations, added to which US foreign policy in Africa has shifted to looking more at the rise of China and Russia, and not terrorism, as the biggest threat.

Image copyrightUS EMBASSY IN ADDIS ABABA

The relationship remains very strong, says Sandy Wade, a former European Union diplomat in Addis Ababa.

“US diplomats have won the respect of Ethiopian authorities by not speaking out publicly while making constructive criticisms in private.”

That has never been the style of US-based Ethiopian media, which has a history of being one-sided and virulently anti-government.

This has led, some argue, to worsening ethnic tensions, especially negative perceptions of the Tigrayan minority group due to its association with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front party that formerly dominated the government.

Ethnic tensions are one of the biggest of many challenges facing Ethiopia’s reforming government, Mr Tewodrose says. But he remains, like those at the US embassy in Addis Ababa, buoyant about the country’s emerging prospects.

Image copyrightUS EMBASSY IN ADDIS ABABA

“Ethiopia is in the midst of a moment unlike anything I’ve seen in my career – the opportunity to reinvent a country of great size and consequence into a true democracy,” Mr Raynor says.

“We feel strongly that the US has both an opportunity and an obligation to do everything we can to support the success of this moment.

“Ultimately, it’ll be up to the Ethiopian people to see it through,” Mr Raynor adds, “but we will be absolutely be by their side, every step of the way.”

BBC News

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By  Damo Gotamo

The arbitrarily imposed ethnic federalism has affected the lives of millions of Ethiopians who live in different cities of the country. Ethnic animosities and divisions TPLF goons had planted in the country have been exploding like a time bomb in every corner of the country destroying the lives of millions of people after the rogue group has been removed from power. Citizens in Addis Ababa, Awassa, Dire Dawa and other cities have been living under constant fear and mercy of ethnic extremists. People who were born in these cities have been treated as second and third citizens by people who are unfamiliar to a city living.

In cites where they are born, citizens are prevented from participating in a political process, excluded from employment opportunities, evicted from their homes and business places, and harassed and persecuted for no apparent reasons.

The recent unrest in Dire Dawa, which caused the death of innocent people and led to the resignation of the city’s mayor is the fruit of ethnic federalism. The wind of change blowing in the country is a welcome relief to millions. However, until the government takes drastic action to change the situation, the suffering of citizens at the hands of ethnic lords will continue. Like other cites, Awassa has been a living hell for its multiethnic residents. The federal government has all the reasons to make Awassa a federal city. Removing the city from the jaws ethnic entrepreneurs and making it a city for all is something that should not be left for tomorrow.

Ones dubbed as a ‘small Ethiopia’ and a favorite destination of every one, Awassa has been under siege by Sidama extremists since prime minster Abiye came to power. In a city where ninety-eight percent of residents are non-Sidamas, a few Sidama extremists are running the city like a private corporation. They have been allowed to create a system similar to the defunct Apartheid system in South Africa. The system they have established helps and benefits a single ethnic group excluding other groups in the city.

Almost all key government positions are held by ethnic Sidamas. Merit system has no place in the city. Ethnicity is the only requirement for employment and advancement. People who don’t have a third grade education and with forged diplomas have been brought from a place called Benesa and given a free pass to corrupt the bureaucracy. The first thing a new recruit learns is how to ask a bribe. One only needs to visit various government institutions in the city to see how incompetent and illiterate individuals who are unfit to positions they are occupying struggling to read and write simple sentences related to their jobs. Many educated residents left the city and those who remained lost any hope of living. I know many people who lost their minds. It is also common to see helpless youths chewing Khat from down to dusk in every corner of the city.

Education institutions are overrun by those who won’t mince when they call themselves instructors and have nothing to show except forged degrees and diplomas bought from black-market. Students are advised not to ask questions in the class rooms. Asking questions and embarrassing the quacks would be a sure way to earn a failing grade. The quacks remind me of the recent BBC’s article about an illiterate college graduate teacher who ‘thought’ students for seventeen years before he gave up him job. He could barely read and always asked students to read for him in class rooms. I sometimes wonder if how many illiterate instructors have infested our learning institutions. We will sure find out their numbers when the government starts cracking down on them. But, I can assure that here in Awassa there are many of them roaming in different campuses where they shouldn’t be in the first place.

Corruption in Awassa is rampant. Non-Sidamas get nothing done for them without paying bribes to ethnic lords who occupy all key positions in the city. The Sidama ethnic entrepreneurs have two sources of incomes: regular government salary and bribe. Residents in the city are sources of uninterrupted income to ethnic ticks that survive by sucking the blood of others. In addition to paying taxes, citizens must pay bribes to get things done. The ethnic bosses have no shame asking for money the very people they harass regularly. Due to the recent unrest and slow downs in economic activities bribe monies are not coming easy. To tackle the problem, ethnic lords have concocted a new trick to get bribes: to visit business men of the city at their work and ask them to pay them ‘little money for gas’ and get anything they want.

There is no justice to non-Sidamas in Awassa. People in the city are victims of incompetent judges and law enforcement officers who hail from a single ethnic group. I have seen people who have committed murders released from prison after serving only six months, while those who are in jail for petty theft locked up for years. It is painful to see uneducated and inexperienced so called judges rendering verdicts that affect the lives of thousand of people people in the city.

The police force of the city which is entirely made up of the Sidama ethnic group is the primary   reason for the suffering of Awassa residents at the hands of ethnic lords. Extremists use the force to do anything they want including attacking and displacing people they don’t like.

The gun wielding incompetent and poorly trained police force harasses, beats, and displaces city residents with impunity. Its members accept bribes and work with the group which calls itself Ejjeetto in harassing and displacing people of the city. When the infamous Ejjeetto resorts to lawlessness, the police force does nothing except encouraging them.

True change in Awassa starts when the current police force is completely disbanded and a new force comprising the residents of the city is established. People are expecting a multi-ethnic and competent police force which doesn’t serve the interest of a few ethnic lords in the city. In addition to ensuring the safety of the citizens in the city and emancipating them from ethnic entrepreneurs, the federal government has other important reasons to make Awassa a place for all Ethiopians.

The government has made large investments in Awassa with a view of creating employment opportunities and alleviating the people of the country from poverty. One of the largest industrial parks in Africa has been built in Awassa. When fully operational, the park will employe sixty thousand people and expected to generate one billion dollars a year in exports. It is a pride of millions of Ethiopians. Since coming to power, prime minster Abiye has brought to the park foreign leaders and dignitaries for official visits signaling how important are the city and its industrial park to the nation.

The express Highway which will connect Addis Ababa to Awassa is another important investment the government has made in Awassa. When the work is completed, it will take less than three hours to travel between the two cities. The road will help the industrial park ease its supply chain process increasing its competitiveness in the world markets. It will also help other businesses transport their items from one city to the other in a short period of times. Travelers will arrive at destinations of the two cities early, carry out their businesses and will return to their origin on the same day.

The federal government has also spent an enormous amount of money building an international airport in Awassa. When fully operational, it will directly connect big cities like Washington to Awassa. The airport will play an important role in bringing tourists to our county which will help ease the need for foreign currency.

Awassa is big, beautiful and multiethnic city endowed with convenient weather.

Its role in helping ease the activities of Addis Ababa must be taken into consideration when making it a federal city. Addis Ababa is seat to the federal government, African Union, embassies, and different international organizations. It can’t handle all the activities that are taking place all year long and beefing the help of other cities. How about making Awassa the seat of the Ethiopian parliament? It sounds music to the ears of Awassa residents.

Like the United States and other developed countries, Ethiopia also needs multiple business cities to help the country achieve its developmental objectives. Who doesn’t want to have cities like Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York in his country? Therefore, the government has the duty to make Awassa not only a place for all Ethiopians but also citizens of the world.

Extremism elements in the city spread lies to justify their lost cause. Since last year’s massacre of the hard working Wolitas in the city, they have been claiming that Emperor Haile Selasie had displaced Sidama farmers from Awassa to establish Awassa. This narration is taken from the playbook of extreme Oromo politicians who claim that Addis Ababa was established by displacing Oromo farmers. The claim of Sidama extremists couldn’t be further from the truth.

Awasasa was founded in early1950’s by different ethnic groups in the country. All groups had a hand in creating and developing the city. If what the Sidama ethnic entrepreneurs are telling us is true, after displacing the Sidama farmers from their land Emperor Hiale Selasie had settled other tribes in the city.  Put another way, the emperor had too much love for Wolitas, Oromos, Kembattas, Gurages, and others he chased out Sidamas to bring other to the city. This a lame and preposterous claim born out of desperation. The truth is Sidamas were complacent with their way of life in places they had settled. They had never tried making Awassa their home.

It was only after the TPLF had invaded the country and introduced ethnic politics that some ethnic lords showed up and started telling us the city is theirs. Many are wondering why they didn’t raise the same claim before. Instead of living in peace with their fellow human beings  who have contributed to the creation and development of Awassa, ethnic entrepreneurs spread hate, fear, dread, and apprehension among the city’s residents. They want to own things that they haven’t worked for.

The embittered and despairing ethnic entrepreneurs want to appropriate the lands, buildings, and shops of others. They fail to understand what it takes to be successful. They are victims of  ethnic propaganda TPLF goons brought to the country. The venomous propaganda is still lingering in their minds after the TPLF left the scene. They act in impulse and break the laws of the county testing the limits and patience of the federal government. They don’t heed the advice of others. A few days ago, they opened a propaganda war against Abate Kisho, the former president of the region, after he told them that their erroneous path and lawlessness adventures would not help the people of Sidama and others.

By looking at the names of places in Awassa, one can easily find out who the original settlers of the city. Names like Pizza, Harrer Sefer, Wokuro Sefer, Philadelphia sefer, Geberel Sefer, and others are sufficient proofs that who was behind the creation and development of Awassa. It is only after the arbitrarily imposed ethnic federalism that Sidama extremists started to replace the original names with their new versions including the name of the city. Nothing offends the ethnic entrepreneurs more when people call and write the city by its true name, Awassa.

Residents of Awassa are the sole sources of the city’s budget. The city collects its tax revenue from  non-Sidamas and big establishments like the Industrial Park, Lewi and Haile resorts. They produce a large part, ninety-nine percent of the city’s tax. Therefore, claiming Awassa as a Sidama only city is a complete detachment from reality and complete nonsense. Why the extremists need a special privilege in a city where every ethnic group has contributed its share in its creation and development is beyond anyone’s comprehension.

At the moment things don’t look good in Awassa. People live in constant fear unsure of what the future holds for them. They all think that something has to happen and happen soon to change the current gloomy atmosphere riding over the city. Everybody is tired of ethnic entrepreneurs who have besieged the city. Business activities have cooled down affecting everyone including Sidama business.  Children are afraid of going to school.

The hesitation of the federal government to undertake decisive action against organized criminals in the city is emboldening them for further lawlessness. As I write this piece, the desperate extremists are preparing the Sidama women to go out to the streets and disturb the peace of the residents. They are even threatening to blow bridges that connect the city to different places unless their demands are satisfied.

The prime minster’s responses don’t inspire confidence to Awassa residents. Instead of beating around the bush, our leader must give the extremists absolute, complete, unqualified, and final response so that people of the city can resume their peaceful life. They aren’t afraid of anyone and operate in the open. He must call a spade a spade. Sidama extremists are good for nothing terrorists and must be designated so the government. Handing over Awassa to people who can’t think outside their village and don’t want to see anyone except their own tribe in the city is tantamount to taking the country into the dark ages. Like Addis Ababa , Awassa belongs to its residents

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