Ethiopian government officials, ordered the arrest of kidnapped Ethiopian university students family members. Ethiopian Satellite Television and Radio (ESAT) reported. Abducted Dembi Dolo university students, family members are accused of criticizing government officials for not paying enough attention to the abduction case. “The mass abduction took place in early December in Ethiopia’s restive Oromia region, focusing attention on security challenges as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tries to steer the country toward elections tentatively scheduled for August.” (News24) At the end of January tens of thousands of people protested against the abduction and the inaction of Ethiopian government.

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Jacopo Gnisci
Apollo magazine

Our understanding of the history of the emperors who ruled over late medieval Ethiopia is still quite fragmentary but, as far as we can tell, life at their courts was marked by violence, betrayal, and power struggles. Perhaps the most prominent among these rulers, who belonged to a house that rose to power in 1270 and traced its descent back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, was Zar’a Ya‘eqob (r. 1434–68). What is known about his reign has hitherto been gleaned mostly from Ethiopic texts in ancient parchment manuscripts, some still preserved in the country’s hard-to-access monasteries, others now in Western collections. However, objects such as icons and wall paintings can also provide insights into the culture and society of this period and, through an interweaving of text and image, present a fuller account of one of the most important rulers in Ethiopian history.

A retelling of his life could begin with a late 15th- or early 16th-century Ethiopic manuscript now kept in the Giovardiana library in Veroli, the frontispiece of which bears an image of the Virgin and Child. It contains a collection of texts known as the ‘Miracles of Mary’. The nucleus of these stories about the miraculous interventions of the Virgin, which vary in number and content in each manuscript, was written in 12th-century France, but the work was translated into Arabic in the 13th century, and into Ethiopic at the end of the 14th century at the behest of Emperor Dawit II (r. 1382–1413), Zar’a Ya‘eqob’s father. Because the Ethiopic version was soon enriched with local traditions about the Virgin’s miraculous powers, it is a valuable source for understanding the political and religious history of Ethiopia from the 15th century onwards.

One of the stories in the Giovardiana manuscript describes the miraculous birth of Zar’a Ya‘eqob. According to this text, his mother, Queen Egzi’ Kebra, had miscarried her first child and almost lost him, too. Seized by spasms five weeks into her pregnancy, she asked a priest called Athanasius to pray to the Virgin Mary on her behalf, after which her pains ceased and about eight months later, in 1399, the future emperor was born. Local traditions make this the first of many miraculous interventions of the Virgin Mary into the life of Zar’a Ya‘eqob, whose devotion to her reached the point of zealotry.

Moments after giving birth to Zar’a Ya‘eqob, the Giovardiana manuscript records, the queen used blades of grass to draw a cross in the name of Mary on the infant’s forehead. Such blessings were not unusual and the prince needed all the protection he could get: on the one hand, his father’s peripatetic court moved endlessly across the country according to the emperor’s whims or necessity; on the other, the process of accession to the throne often broke out into contests and violence (the right of primogeniture was not firmly established and members of the extended royal family schemed and competed against each other). It was probably for the best that the young prince was sent to study at the monastery of Dabra Abbay, a complex situated on the northern bank of the Takkaze River, to the south-west of the modern town of Shire. In medieval Ethiopia, as in Europe, monasteries were repositories of knowledge and centres of learning, and, judging from the many theological works which would later be written by Zar’a Ya‘eqob, the prince must have been a particularly gifted student. The Dabra Abbay monastery has preserved a remarkable collection of early manuscripts, some of which were probably seen by the prince, since they date approximately to the period in which he was sent there. One such manuscript, a Book of Hours, is illustrated with an image of the Virgin and Child and a set of colourful portraits of the apostles holding scrolls. The miniatures in this manuscript, which are strikingly hieratic and highly stylised in character, function as pictorial frontispieces marking the beginning of each new textual section.

In 1413 Dawit II died after being kicked by a horse. After Zar’a Ya‘eqob’s half-brother Tewodros I was crowned emperor, the prince, who would have been about 14 years old, was imprisoned with other relatives on Amba Geshan, an almost inaccessible 3,000m-high amba – the Ethiopian name for a fortress-like flat-topped mountain – regarded as a place of particular significance because of its distinctive cross shape. It was customary to banish men with royal blood to this barren mountain to reduce the risk of succession struggles between possible heirs. Yet Zar’a Ya‘eqob’s memories of this place cannot have been all bad since, years later, he had a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary built on its summit, endowing it with valuable items including a precious relic of the True Cross. That church has not survived, but among the treasures preserved in the modern church that has taken its place is a precious illustrated manuscript, one of the few in Ethiopia to be decorated with gold, which features a series of depictions of Dawit II adoring the enthroned Virgin and Child. For Ethiopian Christians, the Virgin, as the dwelling place of God, personifies the Ark of the Covenant, so the outstretched wings of the archangels Michael and Gabriel in the Geshan Maryam miniature allude to the two cherubim placed at each end of the Ark according to biblical passages such as Exodus 25:18. It is worth noting that the painter of these miniatures used chrysography for embellishing the vestments of the Virgin and the Child but not for the emperor, to emphasise the latter’s humility before God. Tewodros I (r. 1413–14) was succeeded by Yeshaq I (r. 1414–29), another half-brother, who was in turn succeeded by one of his sons, and so on. History has not preserved the particulars of what passed during Zar’a Ya‘eqob’s long period of captivity. In 1434, when the prince was in his thirties, he was freed (under what circumstances is unclear) and made emperor. The instability of the political situation is demonstrated by the fact that four kings had succeeded to the throne in the four years before his appointment. Among those who plotted against the new emperor were his daughter Shih Mangasa and her husband Isayeyyas. According to a group of homilies attributed to Zar’a Ya‘eqob that are known by the title Epistle of Humanity, his daughter and son-in-law consulted sorcerers and magicians to learn whether the emperor’s reign would be favourable to their interests. Upon learning that it would not, they conspired to overthrow him, but were discovered, put on trial and sentenced to severe punishments.

By the time of his coronation, which took place three years later, near Ethiopia’s holiest site – the Church of St Mary of Zion in Aksum, where tradition holds that the Ark of the Covenant is kept – his grasp on power was firm. He ruled until 1468 while waging a successful war against the neighbouring sultanate of Ifat and imposing a series of religious reforms designed to reconcile the different religious factions in his empire. Zar’a Ya‘eqob wrote theological treatises, particularly encouraging worship of the Virgin, introduced more than 30 feasts in her honour, and demanded that his subjects prostrate themselves before her image. In the mid 15th century there was a surge in the production of icons – which typically show the Virgin and Child surrounded by angels and Apostles or flanked by saints on horseback – that is undoubtedly connected to the emperor’s instructions. One of the most exquisite examples of the period would have thus originally been placed on an altar or throne in church. The painting’s linear elegance and clarity, together with the serene, contemplative expressions of its figures, would have instilled a sense of spiritual joy in those who beheld it. It also had a didactic function, for it shows the Apostles venerating the Virgin Mary and her Child. In other words, they perform, and therefore validate, the same act of devotion demanded from the viewers.

The emperor was a gifted politician and theologian, but callous in his treatment of opponents. When a group of monks, known as Stephanites after their leader, argued that the emperor’s devotion to Mary was excessive, they were persecuted and eventually put to death. In his writings, the emperor describes them as heretics, dubbing them as ‘enemies of Mary’ for refusing to prostrate themselves before her image, though he was probably more irked by their refusal to bow before him or recognise his authority in spiritual matters. Enraged by such defiance, Zar’a Ya‘eqob had Stephen bound, stripped of his monastic garb, and flogged. He was then shackled and thrown into a prison where he eventually died for the hardships he had to endure.

Even after Stephen’s death, his many followers did not escape Zar’a Ya‘eqob’s wrath, for they continued to refuse to bow before him, stating that ‘we do not prostrate ourselves before any other than the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’. In some cases, the emperor had their noses cut off; in others, he had them flogged ‘until their blood flowed on the ground like water’. The Stephanites somehow managed to survive by settling in remote parts of the empire, where they built monasteries, wrote down the stories of their spiritual fathers and portrayed them in their own distinctive style of painting. In one such manuscript, we find a portrait of a monk called Ezra, who was sent with some of his brothers to Jerusalem to be ordained as a deacon, for the Ethiopian patriarch refused to do so. After an arduous journey, Ezra managed to reach Jerusalem, where he was consecrated by the Armenian Patriarch Hovhannes Missirtzee. Upon returning to Ethiopia he too faced persecution, but nothing of the suffering endured by these monks can be detected in this or any other painting, in which they appear to accept their martyrdom peacefully.

Zar’a Ya‘eqob was also determined to root out pagan and magical practices from his empire. He regarded sorcerers as a personal threat and fearing that they might harm him, he had priests sprinkle holy water on his tent every day and recite passages from the Gospels and Psalms from dusk till dawn for protection. In The Book of Light, an apologetic and disciplinary work, he condemns the use of oracles, accusing heretics and magicians of ‘turning astrology, idolatry, and magic’ into their God, and of ‘ridiculing the Old Testament and the Gospels’ for their ignorance of the science of the Holy Scriptures. What emerges from these and other works is the picture of a man deeply concerned about the religious practices of his subjects and the unity of his church, who was prepared to resort to violence to uphold what he considered as ‘orthodox’. No other Ethiopian sovereign had, or would later feel, the need to write down and justify his deeds and orders as much as Zar’a Ya‘eqob, who perhaps used writing to address his own conscience as much as his subjects.

As part of his efforts to eradicate paganism and magical practices, Zar’a Ya‘eqob decreed that his people should have a cross tattooed on their hands or forehead – a practice which continues to this day in some parts of the country. He may have also encouraged his retainers to use small portable icons rather than magical charms for protection. When moving into battle against his enemies Zar’a Ya‘eqob is said to have worn an image of the Virgin Mary around his neck. This probably resembled the painting on the left wing from a small diptych preserved in the Institute of Ethiopian Studies in Addis Ababa, roughly dating to the time of his reign. The earliest examples of these icons belong to the mid 15th century approximately, and it seems likely that the emperor endorsed and promoted their production. Some portable icons have a pierced wooden cylinder at the top, through which a cord can be passed to enable the owner to hang it around his or her neck. Others, like the one shown here, would have been placed in a small leather satchel that could be worn by the owner, similar to the ones which to this day are used to protect manuscripts. Portable icons from this period, like the larger panels which the emperor’s subjects had to venerate in church, nearly always feature images of the Virgin and Child. In some examples, the Virgin holds a branch with buds. This motif, which may have been inspired by an Italian print or painting taken to Ethiopia as a result of the embassies exchanged between Zar’a Ya‘eqob and several courts of Europe, was probably understood as an allusion to Mary’s virginity, to the tree of Jesse in the Book of Isaiah (11:1), and the prophecy that ‘a bud shall blossom’ (Isaiah 27:6).

In 1445 Zar’a Ya‘eqob came face to face with his most dangerous opponent, Ahmad Badlay, the sultan of ‘Adal, who had already won several victories against the Christian forces of Ethiopia. On the eve of battle, according to a tradition preserved in the same manuscript in the Giovardiana Library that records his birth, men came to the emperor to offer him protective talismans made of wood or parchment scrolls with magic names. Zar’a Ya‘eqob ignored such suggestions and rode into battle wearing an image of the Virgin around his neck. When he met Ahmad Badlay, he slew him with his spear. The sultan’s body was cut into pieces and the war booty was donated to a church called the Mount of Thunder, founded by Zar’a Ya‘eqob a few years before. Here he had the bodies of his parents buried. And here he too would be buried after his death in 1468, having left an indelible mark on the socio-political and religious life of the Ethiopian empire.

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By Cassandra Maas

The Ethiopian House of Peoples Representatives passed a new law on Thursday that punishes “hate speech” and “disinformation” with hefty fines and lengthy jail terms.

Anyone who is involved in producing and disseminating hate speech and disinformation, even on social media, may be subject to imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to 100,000 Ethiopian birr.

The law was passed to ensure that individuals will not speak in ways that incite violence or are “likely to cause public disturbance or promote[] hatred and discrimination against a person or an identifiable group or community based on ethnicity, religion, race, gender or disability.” The government also aimed to control and suppress “hate speech, disinformation and other related false and misleading information.”

Many groups have opposed the passage of this law, including Human Rights Watch (HRW). HRW warned in December that the bill threatened free expression and expressed a need for Ethiopian lawmakers to significantly revise it.

This law is anticipated to affect the general elections in August.

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By: Berhane Tadese
February 17, 2020

Ethiopians use the month of February to commemorate the victims of Yekatit 12, 1937 (Ethiopian Calendar) and to honor the heroes who fought for Ethiopia’s sovereignty in the five-year (1935-1941) Italian occupation. Since 2014, the Ethiopian Community Mutual Assistance Association in NY (ECMAA) and Global Alliance for Justice have worked together to host panel discussions, poetry readings, and video screenings to remember the victims of this tragic day.

This year on February 16, 2020 , the two organizations hosted a special short play of “Petros in that Hour” followed by comedy performance. The play was performed by Tayitu Cultural and Educational Center at The National Black Theatre in New York City. The play, created by Ethiopian poet-Laurate Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin, tells the story of “last  days of Abune Petros”, a well-known Ethiopian Orthodox bishop  who assisted the Ethiopian troops in their struggle to resist the Italian fascist occupation and repeatedly publicly denounced the violence and terror committed by the Italian army. Abuna Petros, the martyr, rejected all Italian persuasion to accept Italian leader Benito Mussolini as the ruler of Ethiopia. He strongly denounced the invasion and encouraged the citizens to protect Ethiopian sovereignty.  The fascist Italy executed him by an Italian firing squad on July 29, 1936. It is interesting to know that prior to the trial the Italian authorities gave him a final offer to save his dear life.   Abuna Petros refused the offer.  In line with this story, Wikipedia states what Abuna Petros said…

“The tears of my countrymen caused by your gas and your machines will never allow my conscience to accept your ultimatum. How could I stand before God if I do not condemn a crime of such magnitude?”

Prior to his executions at public square where  large crowd gathered, he gave his last speech:

“My countrymen, do not believe the fascists telling you that the Patriots are bandits, the Patriots are fighting to free us from the terror of fascism. Bandits are the soldiers who are in front of me and you, who have come from far, terrorize and violently occupy a weak and peaceful country: our Ethiopia. God gives to the people of Ethiopia the strength to resist and never bow to the Fascist army and its violence. An Ethiopian land can never accept the orders of the invading army. Land of Ethiopia; I condemn you if you accept such an invasion.”.

In addition to Abuna Petros, Ethiopians commemorate many other heroes who sacrificed their lives to end the five-year Italian occupation. Professor Mesfin Woldemariam beautifully summarized  with this phrase to give tributes “…So many unsung and forgotten heroes unknown to Ethiopians and known only to God…” To name a few, the heroes include Shewareged Gedle, Ras Abebe Aregayi, Lt. General Jagama Kelo, Dejazmatch Geresu Duki, Dr. Melaku Beyan, Lij Haile Mariam Mamo, and Dejazmatch Kebede Bizunesh. The war has demonstrated indispensable unity of Ethiopians across ethnic lines.  As you read further into Ethiopian history, the unity of the country had also been demonstrated in March 1896, when Emperor Menelik II stood up by galvanizing armies from different ethnic groups against  invading Italian army; in spite of the fact Ethiopia’s armed forces and civilians were equipped with antiquated weapons. To the astonishment of the world, the well-equipped and armed invading Italian army was resoundingly crushed. This victory took place, during the first Italo-Ethiopian War, in the year 1896 at the Battle of Adwa. The victory demonstrated that Ethiopians unite and put aside their ethnic and political differences at crucial time for the sake of protecting the sovereignty of their country.  The famously known the Battle of Adwa became a source of pride for Ethiopians and other African people under colonial rule in Africa, the Caribbean, and North and South America.

Ethiopia has maintained its independence for over 3000 years and beyond. Unfortunately,  currently, the unity of Ethiopians endangered by diehard  ethnic politicians polarized political agenda. The country is challenged with growing ethnic tensions and conflicts across the country. One can only hope the young generation should study and learn Ethiopia’s historical events such as Yekatit 12.  The history of martyrs and  patriots,  like Abuna Petros, should inspire young generation to bring all inclusive ideas to make Ethiopia safe and livable by all humankinds. It’s important to remember the freedom and independence Ethiopia experiences now rooted from the unifying spirit of Ethiopians to resist foreign powers.

Thanks is extended to the sponsors and to W/O Alemstaye Wodajo, Founder and Managing Director –Tayitu Cultural and Educational center and the talented actors Ato Tesfaye Sima and Ato Abebayehu Tadesse for their cooperation to bring Petros in that Hour play to New York.

Long live Ethiopia!!!

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Teshome Debalke

The Arab world version of Free Press where no democracy will ever see daylight, Al Jazeera, the brainchild of the Qatari monarch it is light at the end of a long tunnel blinking on-and-off.

For the vast Middle Eastern population malnourished of information any info is better than being starved to death alive… so goes the story: The ‘good’ King of Qatar Tamim Bin Hamad Al  Thani gift to the Muslim world as long as it doesn’t question his legitimacy in a pay-to-play scheme was Al Jazeera.

The superstar among the many Al Jazeera journalist educated in UK is the Oxford University graduate and host of Up Front Madi Hassen.

In unprecedented breach of journalistic ethics, Madi Hassen paused a question: Is Ethiopia sliding backwards under Abiy Ahmed? In another words, Ethiopia was better off before the PM mister came to the helm of power.

Unfortunately, the question was posed for Lencho Bati, the Former Oromo Liberation Front official most of his adult life in exile that helped institute ethnic apartheid rule in Ethiopia with the ruling member party of the Tigray People Liberation Front before he Cofounded the Oromo Democratic Front few years back and returned home to become Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed’s “close ally and adviser”, according to Madi.

It is not clear why the PM sanctioned Lencho to speak for him nor, why Lencho proclaimed; Ethnic Apartheid Federalism is constitutional order and will stay.

What was fascinating about both Lencho and Madi is their selective amnesia to the source of all the problem of Ethiopia the new PM Minster facing. Therefore, both chose not to mention TPLF for different reasons. Lenco refer his former ally the ruling ethnic Tigray elites that made the mess in Ethiopia as “the previous regime… the former elites that are overthrown”

Understandably, Lencho is a willfully ignorant political opportunists as a proponent of ethnic apartheid in line with TPLF doing the bidding of his Arab and European enablers to disfranchise Ethiopians and Ethiopia as a nation.  Therefore, there is no surprise why he appeared on Al Jazeera to doubletalk for global audience.

But, the question is why Madi Hassen, the supposedly a Free Press journalist failed to mention the Tigray People Liberation Front better yet present a representative to dispute Lencho’s statement?

Madi Hasson question sighting Human Right Watch and Amnesty International accusing the PM for arresting “five Amhara journalists” as evidence says a willfully ignorant journalist of a make-believe Media masquerading as free press admitting journalists identified by ethnic or religious affiliation in like TPLF apartheid is a good thing. Therefore, Mehdi Raza Hassen born to Indian Shia Muslim family must be referred as a Shia or Sunni journalist whatever ethnic affiliation he may be in India by his own definition Or Al Jazeera financed by Sunni King of Qatar should be refers as Sunni Media. If not, why the celebrated Mehdi Raza Hassen employ double standard against PM Abiy and Ethiopia he wouldn’t do to the King of Qatar that pay his salary?

Quite frankly Mahdi program Up Front should be renamed Back Front to reflect the reality of what he does reinforcing ethnic apartheid rule imposed on Ethiopia by TPLF without a mandate but claims; PM Abiy has no mandate  to dissolve the same ethnic apartheid party as if King of Qatar that his own Al Jazeera came in being has a mandate to finance it nor rule for eternity.

It is interesting how willfully ignorant journalist like Madi pull a stunt like ‘mandate’ when it serve their enablers’ interest  but completely burry it when it rattle their enablers. Mehdi’s on-your-face high-pitch to cover up his double standard may work for his gullible audience around the globe but it doesn’t negate the reality; he is paid handsomely to talk about mandate but, selective amnesia not to change the narrative on behalf of the King of Qatar.

He is not alone, Al Jazeera willfully ignorant journalists that invite guest without reviling there background to do political hack job of their enablers is the norm than the exception. The usual suspects BBC, DW, France 24, CGTV, MSNBC, CNN, Bloomberg, AP, RT and the rest do the same exercise on behalf of their respective interest groups in a name of Free Press referred as Parachute or Yellow Journalism. Granted some do it worse than others, the end game is the same.

But, Mahdi’s style is exceptionally successful in its appearance of confronting power to account for the gullible. Unfortunately, in this day in age; style over substance is the winning the day and it shows when he confront a willfully ignorant self-proclaimed Oromo elite Lencho in ethnic apartheid state of Ethiopia he referred as “a close ally and adviser of PM Abiy Ahmed”.

For sure both Lencho and Mahdi have one thing in common. As master puppet of European colonialism; they both agree ethnic or religious apartheid is a good thing only for Ethiopia as implemented by nonother than TPLF warlords they loved to hate.

Mahdi attacked PM Abiy violating the constitutional order without a mandate as if TPLF mandate where Lencho is a part and partial had a mandate. At the meantime, Lencho vocally disagreed claiming ethnic Federalism is not going to change but the PM new party to unite Ethiopia – the same wine in a different bottle.

It is hilarious to see, willfully ignorant elites disagree  on the label of the same wine in different bottle. That, compatriots is the classic definition of ‘intellectual corruption’. How it came about  and why they do not own it is open for debate but, the reality is they are wasting time arguing over a spade in not a spade unfortunately at the expenses of the people of Ethiopia.

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By: SintayehuGirma
sintayehuGirma76@gmail.com

In a globalized world with more competitors vying for shelf space across the globe, consumers are overloaded with informa­tion and continue to place increasing importance on brands. In all types of daily decisions – not just purchasing – the average person relies on heuristics that minimize the amount of information required to reach a conclusion and minimize uncertainty. One of the signals that consumers use is the origin of a brand.

Every country is a brand. Some places do a better job at branding themselves to the world than others.Each of us have certain attributes/perceptions that come to mind when we think of different countries: France is “perfumes”, Italy is “fashion and design”, Sweden is “simple and functional design”, Germany is “great engineering”, India is “spices”, Argentina is “tango”, Switzerland is “watches”, China is “low cost manufacturing” what if, if “Coffee’’ is for Ethiopia.This is known as “place branding”. Many brands “borrow” these common perceptions and transform them into differentiating elements that help them compete locally and internationally.

Ethiopia Coffee and Tea Authority should start working on coffee as a global brand of our country because Ethiopia is the original home of the coffee (Arabica) plant. The south-western highlands where they first blossomed, gave its name to coffee. The formal cultivation and use of coffee as a beverage began early in the 9th century. Prior to that, coffees trees grew wild in the forests of south-western highlands and may in the region were familiar with the berries and the drink.

What is Branding?

Branding is the process of creating a name, design or symbol that identifies and differentiates a company from its competitors. A good brand reflects the benefits of a product or service and builds recognition and loyalty in customers. However, branding is an expensive process and is difficult to undo if the company’s direction change. Madison Garcia (2018)

Creating a global brand for Ethiopian Coffee presence in one or more international markets isn’t cheap or easy. But it is worthwhile for the country, provided you understand the reasons why. Here we spell out what a global brand is. A global brand is one that has a consistent identity with consumers across the world. It can be the use of a name, term, sign, design or combination thereof intended to identify one seller and differentiate it from competitors.

Few Reasons Why Coffee representsthe Country Brand

In the 21^st century all world integrated in strong market linkage. Especially in this globalization season most countries tries to promote and sell their unique products as a brand of their own country brand. If a country didn’t build its own brand for a unique product it allows others to talk negatively.

In this globalization season, many countries promote their brand to be competitive in the global market and win the opportunity. All governmental organization, private sector and civil society work collaboratively to identify one unique product/service to represent their country and build brand to get acceptance throughout the world. They build a system with all stakeholders to evaluate the branding process and its achievement. As brand professional argues “It is very common yet wrong Using different brand for a country’s product/ service because Customers couldn’t identify the product easily.” For instance, tourism might be the brand of the sector but it cannot be the brand of the country because it will not be effective. You can take Egypt as an example, when Egypt promote its tourist attraction it include the national and traditional dishes but this situation create discomfort among its tourists and they are complaining about it. As reports says it is advisable for countries to identify relatively best product to represent the country as a brand; regarding this our country Ethiopia must choose one icon product or service among coffee, Teff or athletics etc. We have to work on this area and start applying the branding system to be strong competitor in the world.

The writer of this article believes that due to a number of reasons coffee must be the icon brand of Ethiopia. Some of the reasons are listed below

• Ethiopia is the origin land of Coffee
• The word “Coffee” in English word and “Bunna” the Amharic word is easy to catch and pronounce.
• 25 billion cup of coffee is drunk throughout the world daily.
• 100 billion dollar business transaction has made on coffee next to petroleum.
• Coffee is known as energizer drink it cannot be substitute by other crops or product. When we compare coffee with other crops its price fluctuation rate is very rare.
• According to a report from the total population 18 years and above of the American people 50% of theme drinks coffee in daily basis.
• In addition to this china is a rapidly growing country, if we can take at least 10% of Chinese who drink coffee daily, it will create new market opportunity. To support this we have to give free coffee for Chinese who live in Ethiopia.
• To make strong we have to create different coffee day, held workshop and present coffee in international meeting. It helps to promote coffee. We can use famous athletes and celebrities to promote Ethiopian coffee and build our brand.

The product/ service that represent the country as a brand must be known and utilized by the over the world otherwise it will not be effective. When we see the Ethiopia case coffee is known all over the world so there so not any product to compare coffee. It is reported thought international media that Ethiopians coffee has unique test and aroma and also researchers proved that Ethiopian coffee is also good to our health.

Major Benefits of a Strong Brand

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There are endless benefits of building and maintaining a strong brand. Here are five of the major benefits you can expect to see when you have a strong brand.

1. Customer recognition.As it is known in the world Ethiopian coffee has its unique test and aroma. If we globally buildEthiopian coffee brand, it will be easy to build customer recognition. This means when a customer is shopping for coffee,they recognize your organic product in the running. Consumers are far more likely to choose a brand that they recognize over something unfamiliar, even if they don’t know a great deal about your product at the time.
2. Competitive edge in market.Your brand is what differentiates you in the marketplace. When customers recognize and back your brand, it helps lend a competitive edge to your product. The more recognition you receive and the more you build your brand, the more you will find that your brand elevates and is competitive with other well-known brands.
3. Easy introduction of new test of Ethiopian coffee.When you already have a strong brand and loyal customers, it is often easier and less expensive to introduce new products or test them out before you further invest in them. For instance, Ethiopia has organic coffee that grows in different part of Ethiopia example, “Sidamo Coffee”, “Harer Coffee”, “YirgaChefe Coffee” or “ Jimma Coffee”. If you have a loyal brand following, your customers will often be interested in your new products and even anticipate them being released.
4. Customer loyalty and shared values.The recognition and elevation that a strong brand builds upon all lend to greater customer loyalty. Customers are attracted to brands that they share values with. When you build a strong brand, you need to convey these values to build an emotional connection with customers. Brand loyalty often lasts a lifetime and even transfers to future generations.
5. Enhanced credibility and ease of purchase.Having a strong, well-known brand enhances your credibility with customers, your industry, and the marketplace as a whole. As you build your credibility, you also build recognition, loyalty, and competitiveness. Everything goes hand-in-hand, and you’ll find that your credibility has a direct connection to customers ease of purchase. We want to buy from companies we like, know, and trust. If you’re brand is credible, you’re far more likely to get the sale.

Economic Benefits of Creating a strong Brand

According to Bill Chiavravalle (2015) Great brands create consumer trust and emotional attachments. As a result, they foster relationships between consumers and products that lead to the following valuable benefits:

• Premium pricing: Consumers pay more for branded items that they believe have higher value and lower risk than lesser-known alternatives.
• Lower cost of sales: Consumers of valued brands make repeat and frequent purchases. As a result, customer-acquisition costs are amortized over a long-term client relationship.
• Lower cost of promotion: Consumers of valued brands become ambassadors who spread positive word-of-mouth at no cost to the brand.
• Higher market share: Valued brands acquire loyal customers who recruit more customers to the brand, increasing the brand’s share of market while reducing customer-development costs and building immunity to competitive attacks.

Public Relation tools to Promote the Ethiopia Coffee Quality

Generally, it is very important to use the following public Relation tools to promote the Ethiopia coffee quality.

1. Let famous people and athletes promote coffee on the international Medias.
2. Use local and international Media’s reports and monitor the message and invite the reporters to come in Ethiopia and visit the coffee production process.
3. Organize huge events and exhibition and promote Ethiopia coffee
4. Engage all governmental leaders and ambassadors to create global market linkage.
5. Advertise on less expensive international media.
6. Promote Ethiopian coffee in local governmental and private media, ministers’ office, tourism organization, investment commission and the Ethiopian tea and coffee development and marketing website, social media etc.
7. Work with an organization that works hard on the benefit of coffee producers, like Oxfam.
8. Work with international public relation institute to promote coffee in highly technology and professionalism.

It is better to participate all stakeholders and discussed on the country brand research and come to a common understanding. It is also very important to establish a committee working on the country branding.

According to Wally Alina, there are seven steps for a country branding promotion.

1. Participate governmental body, industry representatives, artistes, educators and media representative to create branding program.
2. Conduct research on how local and foreign citizen perceive Ethiopian coffee.
3. Discuss and compare the result with highly influential people by analysis the strength and weakness of the country.
4. Participate professionals and brand counselors to create a central brand establishment strategy this main central strategy must be strong and easy to catch to identify the county good will/image.
5. Identify different technique to promote the branding strategy and our logo.
6. The content of the massage that is going to be promoted should be interesting and attractive to catch customers’ attention and it must be build from different sectors like tourism, investment attraction and export…
7. Established lazing program to link with the branding team.

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Judge vows ‘trial will take place in an orderly manner’ amid media frenzy and popular unrest sparked by accusations of racist bias

Noa Shpige and  Josh Breiner
Feb 16, 2020

The trial of the off-duty police officer who shot and killed an Ethiopian Israeli teen last summer, setting off protests that at times became violent, began Sunday in the Haifa Magistrate’s Court.

The officer, whose name has not been released for publication, was charged with negligent homicide in the June 30 death of Solomon Teka, 18. If convicted, he could be sentenced to as much as three years in prison.

Before the trial began, Judge Zaid Falah told representatives of the media that “the violence, the demonstrations and the media don’t influence the court. Acquitting the defendant does not mean finding fault with the deceased or the community, and his conviction does not mean finding fault with the Israel Police.”

The judge said he would visit the shooting site, telling Teka’s family: “I know it’s hard for you, but the trial will be conducted in an orderly manner.”

The Justice Ministry’s department for the investigation of police officers denied a request by defense attorney Yair Nadashi to see the criminal records of Teka and his friends. The lawyer said they were relevant to his client’s case and would shed light on his actions.

The indictment states that the officer, who was off-duty at the time and with his family, fired at Teka and a number of his friends in a park after they threw stones at him. He was charged with negligence and ignoring protocol by firing at the pavement, rather than into the air or at nearby sandy ground. The bullet ricocheted off the asphalt, hitting and killing Teka.

During Sunday’s hearing, relatives of Teka shouted “murderer” at the policeman and criticized the fact that he was concealed from them. Teka’s father, Woreka Teka, said: “If the judge wants we can have a fair trial, if there’s no cover-up and concealment.” A friend of the Tekas said at the end of the hearing, “There was a fraught atmosphere, the family is having a hard time, we are being trampled. We respect the court but we want justice and we will pursue the truth.”

Solomon Teka’s death aroused widespread protests by thousands of Israelis of Ethiopian descent against what they see as police violence and discrimination. There were violent clashes between demonstrators and police officers. Around 200 people were arrested on charges including disorderly conduct and suspicion of assaulting police officers.

skip – Ethiopian Israelis protesting police shooting of Solomon Teka

Nadashi said a great injustice was caused to his client, who was served with a flawed indictment when he did nothing wrong. The defense lawyer said the officer was put in a difficult situation, in which he and his family faced a clear and present danger, and that only used his personal firearm when he had no other choice. The officer’s behavior was brave and professional, his lawyer said, and he clearly had no intention of harming the deceased or his friends, but only of deterring them.

“The policeman and his family are relying on the court to give them a fair trial and uncover the truth,” Nadashi said.

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By Tekleab Shibru Associate Professor of Geomatics, Chicago State University

Egyptian president Al Sisi said; “Nile River is God’s gift to Egyptian people” in his twitter account on Oct 05, 2019. The president made the statement to reaffirmed to Egyptians people and international community that his country is going to take necessary measures to ensure Egypt’s water rights in River Nile i.e., Ethiopia cannot use a water from a Nile river flowing for 800 km in Ethiopia before departing to Sudan.  In my opinion, the first part of president’s statement is true, given the magnitude of the river’s footprint on Egypt’s history, culture, economy, and development. However, the truer statement would be not just the river, but the Ethiopia’s highlands are also God’s gift to Egypt. There cannot be Nile River, if the highlands aren’t trapping water-vapor from prevailing airmass (i.e., equatorial trade and monsoon winds), condense and turn them into a precipitation forming the Nile river.

Fig 1. Blue Nile in Ethiopia (Source CNN)

The highlands that made Ethiopia a water tower of Africa creates a unique hydrologic state and processes responsible for forming various river systems flowing into Egypt and other neighboring countries such as Sudan, Kenya, Somali and Djibouti. Examples are rivers such as Abay (i.e., Blue Nile), Baro, Tekeze, Omo, Juba, Shebelle and Awash. The rivers are significant for the very existence of life, ancient civilizations and current economic development in these countries, although historically, their uses were limited to supplying drinking water for the downstream population and their domestic animals.

However, with increasing sedentary life and advancement in agricultural science, the rivers became source of irrigation water for agriculture and agri-food production (i.e., including fishery production). The advent of regional trade and commerce made the rivers’ delta and floodplain a preferred habitat for human settlement. The rivers eased navigations, transportation of goods and human waste disposal. Currently, the rivers are landmarks and aesthetic for major cities and their population in the region such as Mogadishu (1.3 million), Kisumayo (180,000), Alexandria (3.3 million), Khartoum (5.3 million), Cairo (9.13 million) and Juba (300,000).

Fig.2. Nile River and the city of Khartoum (Source: National Geographic)

While Ethiopian rivers are rendering these benefits to the neighboring countries, their use at home is very small. The reasons are, first; in Ethiopian territory, the rivers flow 400 – 1000m deep valleys beyond people and domestic animals’ reach. Second, they have extremely short-leveled stretch, often interrupted by rapids and riffle (i.e., turbulent and fast-moving river), which made the river none usable for both irrigation and navigation. As a consequence, while the rivers are source of water for millions in the downstream countries, in Ethiopia, people and livestock are dying for the lack of water. According to USAID in 2020, 9.5 million Ethiopian populations were exposed to a serious food and water shortage, 4.5 million of children were malnourished and hundreds of thousands of livestock die from draught induced by failed rain. There is none Ethiopian city built along these rivers and in what looks like rubbing salt to a wound, the rivers erode 3.5million tons of fertile Ethiopian soil per year, thereby reducing soil productivity, causing croplands abandonment, and forming badlands and dissected by gullies on landscapes.

References:

Mohamed Zain (Sat, Oct. 5, 2019) President Sisi affirms Egypt’s water rights in River Nile, to take necessary measures, Egypt Today, extracted from https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/75536/President-Sisi-affirms-Egypt-s-water-rights-in-River-Nile

USAID (January 27, 2020) Food Assistance fact sheet Ethiopia, retrieved from https://www.usaid.gov/ethiopia/food-assistance

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America’s top diplomat in his final Africa stop has discussed political reforms with Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister, and Ethiopia says the U.S. plans to provide “substantial financial support” to strengthen them.

BY ELIAS MESERET
 Associated Press

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — America’s top diplomat in his final Africa stop on Tuesday discussed dramatic political reforms with Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister, and the U.S. plans to provide “substantial financial support” to strengthen them, Ethiopia said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed also spoke about Ethiopia’s dispute with Egypt over a massive dam project on the Nile River. “A great deal of work remains but I’m optimistic that over the coming months we can resolve this,” Pompeo said. An agreement had been expected this month.

Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populous nation, with well over 100 million people, and a key U.S. security ally in the Horn of Africa. Abiy is under growing pressure to uphold the reforms that won him the Nobel last year. He took office in 2018 and quickly eased regional tensions, freed political prisoners and welcomed opposition groups home from exile.

But a major test looms in August with an election that the prime minister has repeatedly vowed will be free and fair. Analysts warn that his loosening of repressive measures has unleashed long-held grievances among some of the country’s more than 80 ethnic groups. Clashes at times have turned deadly.

“A free and credible vote will show that everyone has a voice,” Pompeo told reporters in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. The U.S. says it has mobilized $37 million to support the country’s elections board.

“We have no experience of democracy in the past but we are opening up the space for all,” said Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew.

Separately, the Trump administration has pressed Abiy and his government to find a peaceful resolution to its dispute with Egypt over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is nearing completion.

Ethiopia says the dam is crucial in helping to pull many of its people out of poverty, while Egypt warns that too-rapid filling of the dam’s reservoir in the coming years will imperil its share of Nile waters.

Washington has stepped in to help host several rounds of talks after Abiy warned that his country could muster millions to fight over the dam issue but preferred to negotiate a peaceful solution.

Pompeo on Tuesday also announced that the U.S. would provide another $8 million to support efforts to fight a massive locust outbreak in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

The secretary of state is the first Cabinet official to visit Africa in 18 months. He also stopped in Senegal and Angola on a trip that seeks to reassert U.S. interests on a continent that many have accused the Trump administration of largely neglecting. China, Africa’s top trading partner for a decade now, is a major U.S. concern.

Ethiopia has close business ties with China and has grown closer to wealthy Gulf nations on the other side of the nearby Red Sea as well. Numerous global powers have been turning their focus to the African continent of more than 1.2 billion people, many of them young.

Analysts have said a key task for Pompeo is countering the recent messaging out of Washington as the Pentagon considers cutting U.S. military presence in Africa and new visa restrictions target Nigerians, Sudanese, Tanzanians and Eritreans.

“Peace in Africa will be won by Africans,” Pompeo told reporters.

___

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Date February 19, 2020
By Ermias Hailu

Following to the launch of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Egypt has been “the behind the curtain” organizer, financer, and leader of the instabilities Ethiopia has been experiencing. Egypt has developed and implemented   a “Grand Ethiopian Destabilization Strategy” to destabilize Ethiopia. The strategy was developed after a careful study and analysis of the internal weaknesses of Ethiopia, such as the fluid nature of EPRDF, growing dissatisfaction of the Ethiopian people on EPRDF governance, historic and current rivalry within different ethnic and religious groups, weaknesses of the current federal structure and economic disparity and poverty.  Egypt’s destabilization strategy has been implemented by involving various foot soldiers such as President Isaias of Eritrea, Dr. Berhanu Nega of Ginbot 7, Ato Daud Ibsa of OLF and so many underground agents with full involvement of various media outlets such as ESAT. The Egyptian intelligence has recruited many Ethiopian agents sold out for money and their political ambitions and these agents have been working 24/7 hand in hand with Egypt and Eritrea in spying and destabilizing Ethiopia (Please refer to Prophet Daniel book referred below for details).

The central focus of Egypt’s destabilization strategy has been to weaken EPRDF by eliminating its leadership and dividing the Ethiopian people by demonizing the TPLF and the Tigrayan people which they have been able to implement it effectively.  According to Prophet Daniel Abera’s book titled “When the Real World is Revealed” dated September 2014, PM Meles was killed by a “radioactive material exposure” that was planned and executed by the Egyptian’s intelligence.

The destabilization strategy of Egypt has the following goals:

• Weaken the EPRDF government and install Egypt friendly government in Ethiopia that will sign a binding water share agreement that protects so called “historical share “of Egypt (an agreement between Sudan and Egypt in 1959 with the then Egypt installed President of Sudan, Gen. Ibrahim Abboud, allocated 78% of the Nile water by volume to Egypt). If this goal is achieved, Egypt will allow the completion of GERD as it will benefit Egypt as “free of charge” reservoir.
• In case Egypt fails to install a friendly government, it will continue to destabilize and weaken Ethiopia including its defense force(https://www.zehabesha.com/who-is-the-mastermind-behind-the-instability-and-current-assassinations-in-ethiopia/) and destroy the GERD prior to its completion.

Where does Egypt stand regarding to the realization of its goals?

• Ethiopia is currently not stable and undergoing political transition.
• Even though Egypt has a very high hope that you will be easily manipulated to sign a water share agreement that benefits Egypt, it could not succeed so far except the verbal commitment you gave to President Sisi in Cairo on July 11, 2018.
• However, Egypt is currently pressurizing Ethiopia through USA and World Bank to agree on the dam filling and operation agreement that could jeopardize its sovereignty over the GERD and the Abay river. It has been recently reported in the media that you have said Ethiopia is ready to sign the agreement soon.

According to a new article in the media by Mada Masr on the ongoing negotiation between the three countries, the following are noted:

• Despite the Ethiopian Negotiation Team repeated claim that Ethiopia is not discussing “water share agreement”, the article stated above clearly stipulates that the main part of the ongoing negotiation between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan  is a “water share agreement” in which Egypt is demanding an annual guaranteed flow of 40 billion cubic meter. Considering the fact that Abay river (Blue Nile) annual flow is 48.3 billion cubic meters, Egypt is demanding Ethiopia to guarantee 83% of the annual flow free of charge. It is very clear that Egypt is trying to deny Ethiopia using the water stored in GERD for irrigation and to get any financial benefit from the stored water in the GERD. Based on the principles of equitable use, Ethiopia could give Egypt and Sudan 50% of the annual flow free of charge. However, since both Sudan and Egypt require additional volume of water, Ethiopia could release more water under a commercial agreement. A detailed proposal on the commercial arrangement is outlined in my article: https://www.zehabesha.com/the-final-push-of-egypt-to-secure-zero-sum-water-share-agreement-with-a-destabilized-ethiopia/
• The schedule for a stage-based filling plan must enable Ethiopia to fill the GERD within 3 to 5 years. Ethiopia should not accept any further delay without any financial compensation for the revenue/profit lost!
• The drought related security the Egypt is demanding during the operation of the GERD should not be accepted by Ethiopia. The same drought that affects the Aswan dam also affects Ethiopia and Ethiopia should use the water stored in GERD to mitigate this risk. Egypt has been mitigating the drought risk using the water stored in the Aswan dam for generations and it has to continue with that in the future. As additional drought risk mitigation for the future, Egypt and Sudan could fund construction of additional cascade of dams in the Abay valley and Ethiopia could assist them to mitigate such risks using the water to be stored in those dams.
• Egypt is still unreasonably demanding for the operational link of the GERD and the Aswan dam and Ethiopia has to reject it in totality (even the 152m shut level indicated is not acceptable). The amount of water stored in the Aswan dam is a function of the amount of the Nile river in-flow rate to the Aswan dam from Sudan( which is under the control of Sudan), the amount of discharge from the Aswan dam( which is under the control of Egypt), evaporation from Aswan dam and underground seepage rate from the Aswan dam. Sudan has already built the Merowe dam on the Nile and plans to build additional cascade of dams. Therefore, since none of these factors are under the direct control of Ethiopia, it is unrealistic and unreasonable for Ethiopia to agree any linkage of the GERD and the Aswan dam except giving assurance  to release the agreed amount of annual volume flow of water from the GERD as discussed above.
• It must be noted that Egypt is pressurizing Ethiopia to make a strategic deal at a time where Ethiopia is not stable and undergoing political transition, with a very weak negotiation position. Hence, the Ethiopian government must think twice before making a rushed strategic compromise and historic error that could discredit the sacrifice of out martyrs of the Ethiopia- Egypt war in 1874 to 1876 and that could enslave our future generations.
• Ethiopia should not be tempted to accept one time few billion-dollar grant from USA, World bank or from elsewhere as a deal sweetener to sign a rushed agreement. As outlined in my article referred above, Ethiopia could get billions of dollars from Egypt annually as a compensation to allowing Egypt to use Ethiopia’s water share.\

God bless Dr. Abiy and Mother Ethiopia!

The post Open Letter to Dr. Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia- Make Sure Ethiopia’s Water Sovereignty is Protected and the Agreement with Egypt is a win-win one! appeared first on Ethiopian Registrar: News/Breaking News/Your right to know!.

The Guardian
Juweria Ali and Tom Gardner
Thu 20 Feb 2020 

At first, 23-year-old Khadar Abdi Abdullahi’s eyes began turning yellow. Then the palms of his hands did the same. Soon he was bleeding from his nose, and from his mouth, and his body was swelling all over. Eventually he collapsed with fever. He later died.

A deadly sickness is spreading through villages near a Chinese natural gas project in Ethiopia’s Somali region, according to locals and officials who spoke to the Guardian. Many of Khadar’s neighbours have suffered the same symptoms. Like him, some died.

It is not clear what is causing the sickness, and officials in the federal government in Addis Ababa firmly denied allegations both of a health and environmental crisis in the Somali region, or of any problems relating to large-scale energy projects there

Poly-GCL, a partly state-owned Chinese company, has been prospecting for oil and gas in the Ogaden Basin, as the vicinity is known, since 2014. Calub, roughly 500km south-east of Jigjiga and near neighbouring Somalia, is due to start commercial gas production soon.

Khadar, like many from the area, is suspicious that the sickness is caused by hazardous chemical waste that has poisoned the water supply.

“It is the toxins that flow in the rainfall from Calub [gas field] that are responsible for this epidemic,” said Khadar, as he sat outdoors in the eastern Ethiopian city of Jigjiga.

He had recently been discharged from hospital; doctors there said there was nothing more they could do for him. He was weak and thin and his eyes were sinking into their sockets.

“There are new diseases that have never been seen before in this area,” said an adviser to the Somali regional government, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Without any public health protection, it is very clear that Poly-GCL uses chemicals that are detrimental to human health.”

It is an allegation the Guardian heard repeatedly during a recent visit to the thinly populated scrubland that surrounds Calub gas field, though it was not able to independently verify its veracity.

Poly-GCL did not respond to requests to comment.

Ketsela Tadesse, director of licensing at the federal ministry of mines and petroleum, said the government was not aware of any reports of spillages, adding that in any case there were “there are no permanent settlers” in the vicinity of the gas field.

“We can emphatically state that all the gas wells at Calub and elsewhere in the Ogaden Basin, are sealed, safe and secured … according to international standards,” Tadesse said.

What is clear, however, is that the mysterious sickness has caused deaths.

Ceeble Tuuba, a resident and prominent activist in the town of Haarcad, said her neighbour Cambaro Tawal was the first local to die from it, in 2014.

“The widespread symptoms from which locals living around Calub die are different from all others,” she said.

Tuuba cited the example of her two year-old nephew, who was taken to the hospital in Jigjiga earlier this year. He stayed there for a month, receiving multiple blood transfusions to no effect. He died after being discharged from hospital.

His symptoms were those common to all who have contracted this unidentified sickness, she said: swelling, fever, sleeplessness, yellowing eyes and palms, and lack of appetite.

A doctor from the referral hospital in Jijiga, who surveyed the area but wished to remain anonymous, said most of the symptoms locals exhibited in the clinics he visited were life-threatening.

Ceeble said “countless” of her neighbours had died in this way in recent years.

Hassan Ali, a doctor at a health clinic in Haarcad, claimed there is a direct correlation between the number of reported cases in each village and its proximity to the Calub wells.

Xuseen Sheekh Siraad, the chairman of Dhoobaweyn district, estimated that there have been at least 2,000 deaths since 2014.

But there is no official death toll and those who live around Calub are predominantly nomadic pastoralists, whose contact with the Ethiopian government is limited. Many bury their dead without informing local officials.

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Furthermore, Hassan explained, most do not come to the clinic, and even if they do it does not have the facilities to treat or even diagnose serious cases such as liver failure.

Last year, Poly-GCL conducted the first ever crude oil extraction tests in the Ogaden Basin. It also signed a memorandum of understanding with neighboring Djibouti to invest $4bn (£3.1bn) in building a 760km pipeline from Ogaden to the Djiboutian coast, which will enable Ethiopia to export as much as 6.3tn cubic feet of natural gas.

At a groundbreaking ceremony in June 2018, Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s Nobel prize-winning prime minister, said oil and gas would help alleviate the country’s unemployment problem.

“Oil production should never be a bane to us,” he declared, adding that earnings at full capacity could be as much as $7bn a year. Exports, he said, would begin in 2021.

But oil and gas exploration has a long and troubled history in the Ogaden.

When the former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie first embarked on oil exploration in the Ogaden in 1945, mass demonstrations forced him to suspend the project.

Between 1955 and 1991, 46 wells were drilled at sites in Calub and Hilala. None were successful.

In 2007, rebels from the secessionist Ogaden National Liberation Front stormed another Chinese-run oilfield, killing 74 workers and destroying the facility.

The Ethiopian government responded by launching a counter-insurgency campaign involving tactics so brutal that Human Rights Watch said they amounted to crimes against humanity. Whole villages around Calub were razed to the ground.

The area remains heavily militarised, with police and soldiers patrolling the highway and the gas field’s 40km restricted zone.

Ismail Qamaan, 63, has lived his whole life in the Calub area and remembers the arrival of a German firm in the 1960s. He said a large truck recently drove across his neighbourhood, spilling a white substance.

Deaths increased following this spillage according to Ismail. “They have destroyed everything that we had,” he said. “They must account for what they did.”

But the most serious allegations came from two former employees of Poly-GCL.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an engineer who worked for the company in Calub for three years said that there were regular spillages of deadly drilling fluids including sulphuric acid.

Exposure to such chemicals can lead to liver failure and stomach cancer.

Ali Hassan Farah, another former employee, said that “those indigenous to the land die from raw toxins spilled out of sheer carelessness. Operational companies in Calub have forfeited their duty to protect local people.”

However, chemical spillages could have been caused by local Ethiopian transport firms, for instance, not Poly-GCL, and it is also possible that environmental damage predates the company’s arrival in the area.

At least two environmental impact assessments related to oil and gas development in the Ogaden have been carried out. The results have not been made public.

Ketsela said all impact assessments had been “checked and certified by relevant governmental bodies, and the ministry of mines and petroleum has been monitoring the situation since then”.

Since August last year there has been a new government in Somali region, led by acting state president Mustafa Omer, who has been praised for his reforms.

An official told the Guardian that the region was trying to repair the damage done under its authoritarian predecessor, including in the management of natural resources.

An 18th Century Ethiopian crown has been returned home after being hidden in a Dutch flat for more than 20 years.

Ethiopian Sirak Asfaw, who fled to the Netherlands in the late 1970s, found the crown in 1998 in the suitcase of a visitor and realised it was stolen.

The management consultant protected it until he alerted a historian and Dutch police of his discovery last year.

On Thursday, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received the crown, thought to be one of just 20 in existence.

The crown has depictions of Jesus Christ, God and the Holy Spirit, as well as Jesus’ disciples, and was probably given to a church by the powerful warlord Welde Sellase hundreds of years ago.

In a tweet, Mr Abiy said he was grateful to Mr Sirak and the Dutch government for the return of the “precious crown”.

What’s the story of the crown?

Mr Sirak left his home country in 1978 to escape the political repression of the Communist government, or Derg, which had come to power in 1974. The regime unleashed a wave of violence known as the Red Terror, which killed hundreds of thousands and forced many to leave.

The former refugee used to host Ethiopians who had left the country in his Rotterdam flat throughout the 1980s and 1990s. “Friends, refugees, whoever,” he said. It was one of these visitors staying at his home in 1998 who was carrying the crown in his bag.

“Most people don’t really care about this cultural heritage. I’m loyal to Ethiopia,” he told the BBC in an interview last year.

Mr Sirak confronted the man and insisted the crown was not leaving unless it could be returned to its home.

Image copyrightAFP/GETTY

After asking for help on internet forums – which yielded no useful answers – he decided the best course of action was to hold onto the crown until he knew it would be safe.

“You end up in such a suffocating situation, not knowing who to tell or what to do, or to hand over,” he said. “And of course afraid that the Dutch government might confiscate it.”

“I had fire alarms all over my house, eight or something like that. Really scared!”

‘I feel pity for the people who had to wear it’

But after the reforming Mr Abiy becoming prime minister in 2018, Mr Sirak felt the time was right to have a piece of Ethiopia’s history return to Addis Ababa.

He contacted Arthur Brand, known as the “Indiana Jones of the art world”, for help returning it home.

“I explained to him, look, either the crown will disappear or you [will], if you continue like this,” Mr Brand told the BBC.

“I said if the people who were involved at the time got knowledge of it, the risk was that they would come back and would take the crown from him.”

Image copyrightREUTERS

With the consent of the Dutch police, the art hunter placed the artefact in a secure facility. An expert confirmed it was genuine, and Mr Brand decided the best course of action was to announce it publicly.

“It’s an amazing piece. It’s very big, I feel pity for the people who had to wear it on their heads because when you wear this for a couple of hours your neck hurts,” he said.

Both men waited for the Ethiopian government to get in touch with the Dutch authorities to plan the return of the crown.

“I want this crown to be a symbol of unity and togetherness,” Mr Sirak said. “The crown will be celebrated by all of us Ethiopians, even Africans.”

BBC News

More than two decades after it went missing, a ceremonial crown dating back to the 18th century has found its way home to Ethiopia. The country’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, received the glistening artifact at a ceremony Thursday in Addis Ababa, in a triumphant end to a twisty saga that transcends national borders.

Abiy expressed his gratitude to the Dutch officials who facilitated its return — and to the man who found it, Sirak Asfaw, who was there for the handoff.

Sirak, a political refugee who fled to the Netherlands in the 1970s, played a big role in the curious journey of the ornate bronze crown, which Ethiopian authorities say had been missing since 1993.

Sirak told The New York Times last year that it turned up in a suitcase that a guest had brought to his house, back in 1998. He says he opened the bag and found the crown after its gleam caught his eye — and though he remains unwilling to name the guest publicly, he says he confronted the visitor and held onto the crown.

What to do next though, Sirak says, was not exactly obvious.

“What would you do if you found an incredibly valuable historical Ethiopean [sic] artefact … abroad?” he asked on an online discussion platform for Ethiopians not long after finding it, according to a video released last year.

It’s not clear how his query was answered, but Sirak is clear about what happened next: He just held onto it at his home for safekeeping — for more than two decades.

He says he didn’t trust the authorities in power in Ethiopia at the time. “To hand over such priceless cultural heritage onto strange hands, or officials of that regime, is very hard to do,” he said in the video, referring to the authoritarian regime that governed Ethiopia until recently.

“Furthermore,” Sirak said, “should the artifact fall into other foreign hands and wise, Ethiopian-minded leaders would claim it back, the oft-heard answer could be: ‘You may borrow it from us.’ ”

That comment was a pointed reference to a recent dispute between Ethiopian officials and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, which owns precious artifacts seized after the British military defeated Ethiopian Emperor Tewodros II in the 19th century. The museum has offered to loan the artifacts back to Ethiopia — an offer that Ethiopian officials have rejected as insufficient.

“You end up in such a suffocating situation, not knowing who to tell or what to do, or to hand over,” he explained to the BBC.

It was not until the reform-minded — and newly minted Nobel Peace Prize laureate — Abiy took office in 2018 that Sirak finally decided to come forward.

He contacted Arthur Brand, a renowned Dutch specialist in the recovery of stolen art whose work often draws comparisons to Indiana Jones. And Brand, who has described the crown as “one of the most exciting finds of my career,” then encouraged Sirak to hand it over to local authorities.

So the pair reached out to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the ministry hammered out the details of how to return the artifact to Ethiopia — where it hadn’t been seen since it went missing from the Ethiopian Orthodox Holy Trinity Church in the village of Cheleqot in the early 1990s.

Now, after 21 years hidden in a Dutch apartment, the crown is back in Ethiopia.

“We’re honoured and delighted to have been able to facilitate the rightful return,” said Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation. “This is the crowning achievement of returning this heritage to its rightful place.”

By Rémy Darras

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(Yimer Muhe – February 24, 2020)

Through the years, Ultra-Oromo Nationalist elites have authored articles and books on Oromo specific issues. It would not be an exaggeration to equate the essence of their messages with Hitler and his henchmen’s (Goebbles, Himmler etc.) demagoguery on the supremacy of the “Aryan Race”, and “Deutschland Uber Alles” of which the mantras of “Oromo First”, and “Greater Oromia” are corresponding carbon copies. The similarities between the two are astounding. Also, victimhood, narcissism, and scapegoating are very central to both the Nazis and the ultra-Oromo Nationalists. The Nazis believed they were victimized by the Jews and the rest of the world, and were always driven by a siege mentality that spared no one from being their enemy. The ultra-Oromo Nationalists have the Amharas to blame for everything. It is well established that Hitler and Goebbles had a narcissistic personality disorder. Jawar Mohammed boasts to be the best strategist alive. He claims to have invented the calculator. He tells us his resume includes working as a consultant for several foreign governments. His title is endless like the late ruler of Uganda His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Alhaj Dr. Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, CBE (Conqueror of the British Empire) aka “the Butcher of Uganda”. I would leave it up to the reader to determine whether Jawar Mohammed is a narcissist and a megalomaniac or not. Regardless, the ultra-Oromo Nationalists delusional sense of being trapped and hounded from all directions has been costing the lives of innocent people across Oromia, in Harrar, Dire Dawa, and elsewhere in the country.

Because of the ethnic and religious tensions the ultra-Oromo Nationalists are fanning ceaselessly, several churches and mosques have been burnt to the ground. Intra and inter-religious strifes are also on the horizon. Recently, an ultra-Oromo Nationalist church “deacon”, with Jawar Mohammed and Dr. Merara Gudina in the background, was inciting the public to cleanse the historical Debre Lebanos Monastery of Amhara monks. In this case, even the Almighty God did not fare better than “Oromo First”.

The Nazis did not stop after regaining and militarizing the Rhineland in contravention of the Treaty of Versailles. Instead, they continued voraciously swallowing country after country until they were confronted by the Allies with iron determination. Likewise, the ultra-Oromo Nationalists have been recklessly pushing and pushing the envelope on all fronts with no regard to the outcome. Currently, the ultra-Oromo Nationalists are in high gear working on their project of splitting the Ethiopian Orthodox Church to establish an independent Oromo Orthodox Church. They are also very busy creating division in the Muslim community by injecting the issue of identity through the back door. The truth is, there is no sanctity they will refrain from assaulting, and they will stop at nothing if left unchecked.

Revenge for their humiliating defeat in the First World War was not the only reason for the Nazis to ignite the Second World War, they were also looking for a vast “Living Space” or “Leben Raum” worthy of the “Aryan Race”. By the same token, we have heard to the rantings of Jawar Mohammed, Ezekiel Gebissa, Bekele Gerba, Tsegaye Ararsa, and Daud Ibsa and other ultra-Oromo Nationalists laying claims on Wollo, and other sections of the country as part of “Greater Oromia”. They are even shamelessly casting their eyes across the border upon Kenya. The Oromo Firsters’ failed incursions around Attaye, and Kemisie in the Amhara Killil, and more recently in the Afar Killil was nothing but an attempt to acquire their “Living Space”. Their very delusional and exaggerated self-worth is a time bomb that is ticking to explode unless they are reined in.

It is a fatal blunder to assume that the ultra-Oromo Nationalists are only Ethiopia’s problems. They are definitely dead set to disturb the statuesque not only in Ethiopia but also in the Horn of Africa in general. Even though they do not want to admit it, their fixation with their history of five hundred years ago have made them oblivious to the current world order and could care less for regional peace. Their Nazi-like agenda can be halted with minimum costs in lives, and minimum displacement of non-Oromos from Oromia only with the help of others. Therefore, entertaining the idea of some sort of African or international intervention is neither unreasonable nor premature at this time. The recent rapprochement of the ultra–Oromo Nationalists with TPLF – their godfather – has made both a more potent force of destruction that can be unleashed anytime for a wholesale extermination targeting the Amhara people and their culture, the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church, and other minority nationalities that might refuse to be co-opted. The current Constitution of the country that has enshrined Ethnic Federalism is their bible. They have vowed to live by it and kill for it.

“Kegnism” or “Kegna Politics”, as a rallying cry of the ultra-Oromo Nationalists, has so far wreaked havoc and is poised to inflict more in terms of lives and property. “Kegna Politics” is very nihilistic and has nothing to do with regaining what the ultra-Oromo Nationalists claim to be “theirs”.  In Harrar and Dire Dawa, in Koye Fecha, in the suburbs of Addis Ababa such as Lege Tafo, Sebeta and Sulilta, and in Wolega, Gedeo, Tepi etc., people have been forced to run for their life with only whatever they have on their back. Their properties have been confiscated, countless have lost family members, and thousands have been unaccounted for just because they are non-Oromos. The ethnic hatred the Ultra-Oromo Nationalists are spewing through OMN and the social media is responsible for all this chaos. And yet non-Oromos in millions are still living in Oromia expecting the worst of the worst at any time from the merciless ultra-Oromo Nationalist thugs driven by “Kegna Politics”.

Those who are willing to give the ultra-Oromo Nationalists the benefit of the doubt by blaming some of their excesses and very disturbing behaviors on the alleged unjust treatment of their ancestors in the past are indeed either gullible or overly generous or trying to be politically correct at best. For the ultra-Oromo Nationalists, it is not about rectifying past alleged wrongs. It goes beyond that. Under PM Abiy Ahmad, fellow Oromos are controlling the rein of power; they head most of the key Federal Posts and are in the process of controlling the country’s economy; and yet the ultra-Oromo Nationalists are far from being satisfied. What else could the rest of the Ethiopian people give up to satisfy the ultra-Oromo Nationalists enormous “Kegna” appetite? Obviously, what is left for them is exacting revenge on and humiliation of the Amhara people, and the ultimate destruction of the country. What we heard out of the London Oromo Lawyers Conference in October 2016, that the “Republic of Oromia” would be realized through the disintegration of Ethiopia, is still fresh in our memory.

Unquestionably, cruelty defines German Nazis more than anything else. Just think of the Holocaust, the gas chambers, the pogroms, the indiscriminate executions of children, the elderly, women, etc., and the mass graves in which six million Jews perished. Likewise, cruelty does define the ultra – Oromo Nationalists and the thugs that mercilessly carry out their bidding. Victims are not only killed, they are also chopped up with Gejera and Mencha and their corpses are dragged in the streets.  A young mother who had given birth few days earlier was clubbed and stoned to death. Innocent citizens have been burnt alive. The thugs’ cruelty knows no boundaries. Today, it is not uncommon in the Oromia Killil for Amharas and other minority nationalities to disappear without traces after they are forced to get off buses and other public transportations. Only time will tell how many have been buried in mass graves off the highways. Nothing is sacred for the ultra-Oromo Nationalists. Life is not sacred. Pacts, alliances and friendship are not sacred. Rule of law is not sacred. Even religion and the culture that they claim to be defending are not sacred either. Humanity is not sacred. We are still waiting to hear Jawar Mohammed express his remorse four months after 86 innocent people were murdered because of him.

Here it is worth mentioning the Nuremberg Laws of September 1935 that “… denied Jews German citizenship, voting rights, the right to marry a German, or to retain Government office.” Now, think of Bekele Gerba’s edict that directed Oromos to stop doing business with non-Oromos if they don’t speak Afaan-Oromo, and to stop marrying non-Oromos in order to save Afaan-Oromo, etc.  Due to such agitations by the ultra-Oromo Nationalists, the situation is progressively getting worse in the Oromia Killil. Things are getting out of hand, and in some areas anarchy is taking root. In the South, Zones, mainly encouraged by the ultra-Oromo Nationalists, are demanding to become Killils. University campuses have become battle grounds, and kidnaping is becoming a commonplace. OLF – Shene, allegedly the armed wing of OLF, which has robbed twenty three banks is controlling part of Western Wolega and killing local officials and residents. While Defense Forces are thinly spread specially in Oromia, other Killils are building up their Special Forces mainly to repel imagined or real attacks from each other, etc. All signs are pointing in the direction of a full blown genocide multiple times worse than Rwanda.  Right now, whether we accept it or not, a low level or controlled genocide is undeniably underway in the country against the Amharas, Wolaytas, Siltes, Gamos and others. That is why thinking of a regional or international intervention of some sort makes sense at this time before it is too late.

Addis Ababa which is “home to the third largest number of diplomatic missions in the world, only after New York and Geneva.” It is also known as the “Political Capital” of Africa. It is the seat of the African Union, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and is also home to more than 100 foreign embassies. Therefore, it is also in the International community’s best interest to help save the city from the dangers lurking around it, if anything to protect the diplomatic community. The ultra-Oromo Nationalists has the city surrounded by their Gejera waving thugs. We have seen their show of force in Koye Fecha and other parts of the city. They consider the city as their final battle ground. The writing is on the wall. The ultra-Oromo Nationalists are a legion of doom. The customary view that Ethiopia is at a crossroads is nothing but a fantasy at this point. The reality is the country’s survival is in grave danger. International organizations such as International Crisis Group (ICG) have already expressed their fear about the direction Ethiopia is heading to. That is why some sort of international intervention makes sense, and the sooner the better. The election can wait until the survival of the country is assured through the rule of law, and a conducive environment prevails.

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Blue and White’s Pnina Tamano-Shata laments police brutality, poverty within community, which has emerged as key sector in election and is seen moving away from Netanyahu

By MAUDE PETEL-LEGARE

AFP — The first Ethiopian-born Jewish woman elected to the Knesset, who says she is fighting for racial equality, has become a key player in the opposition’s effort to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Pnina Tamano-Shata, a former television journalist first elected to the parliament in 2013, represents an Ethiopian-Israeli community that experts say could be pivotal in the country’s March 2 vote.

The election is Israel’s third in less than a year and polls show another tight race between Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud and the centrist Blue and White party, of which Tamano-Shata is a member.

Sitting in a cafe in Hadera, a city north of Tel Aviv that is home to thousands of Ethiopian-Israelis, Tamano-Shata argued that racial inequality remained rampant after Netanyahu’s total of 14 years in office.

“There are more Ethiopians in prison, more police brutality against us, higher poverty and a higher suicide rate,” she told AFP in an interview.

The killing last year of 19-year-old Solomon Tekah by an off-duty police officer inflamed longstanding grievances among Ethiopian-Israelis, who claim they have repeatedly been targeted by police due to the color of their skin.

Tamano-Shata said her generation of Ethiopian-Israelis had a duty “to fight tirelessly for our acceptance.”

“We must assert that we are no different, that we are equal,” she added.

Operation Moses

Israelis of Ethiopian descent have historically backed Likud as a legacy of gratitude for the 1984-1985 “Operation Moses” that brought an initial 8,000 Ethiopians to the Jewish state.

That seven-week clandestine extraction after a devastating Ethiopian famine was carried out under the premiership of former Likud leader Yitzhak Shamir.

Tamano-Shata’s family was part of that operation.

She recalls traveling with her pregnant mother and sisters to a camp for the displaced in Sudan from where she and thousands of others were exfiltrated to Israel.

“We dreamed of Jerusalem for generations,” she said. “I was born in a village without electricity.”

The Ethiopian-Israeli community has since grown to 140,000-strong, including 50,000 born in Israel.

Their numbers may be rising, but Avi Yossef, a 35-year-old Ethiopian Jew born in a Sudanese refugee camp, said many in the community feel marginalized.

“Before someone even knows who you are, he looks at your skin color,” Yossef told AFP.

“You still need to prove who you are, that you are Jewish and grew up here, even if you speak perfect Hebrew.”

“Usually we vote for Likud because it’s the party that brought Ethiopians back to Israel. But in the last election, we voted for Blue and White,” he said.

In the September polls, two Ethiopian-Israelis, Tamano-Shata and Gadi Yevarkan, were elected to the Knesset under the Blue and White banner.

But last month, Netanyahu convinced Yevarkan to defect to Likud, underscoring the importance of the Ethiopian community’s vote.

Blue and White hit back after the defection was announced.

“Bibi, Ethiopian immigrants are not for sale except maybe one,” the campaign said, using the prime minister’s nickname.

Alon Burstein, a doctoral candidate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said their relatively small number had taken on greater importance as both major parties seek an elusive majority.

Despite the historic bond between Ethiopians and Likud, some feel “betrayed” by what they perceive as the party’s inaction in the face of racial injustice, said Burstein, who has written about the politicization of Ethiopians in Israel.

They have come to see Blue and White “as a good alternative,” he said.

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Members of 9 families have specially shortened immigration procedures, in move opposed by AG, who warned their arrival could be understood as election campaign stunt

By TOI

Dozens of Ethiopian immigrants landed in Israel on Tuesday morning, though their abrupt, government-sponsored arrival less than a week before the elections had been opposed by the attorney general, who ruled it could be seen as a campaign move courting Ethiopian Israeli voters.

The 43 members of the Falash Mura community arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on a flight from Addis Ababa. They were accompanied by ministers and figures from the ruling Likud party, including Immigration Minister Yoav Gallant, Communications Minister David Amsalem, MK Gadi Yevarkan, and former Knesset member Avraham Neguise, Channel 12 news reported.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently been pushing to bring 400 Falash Mura to Israel, where many of their family members already live. Some community members have been waiting for years to immigrate to Israel.

Earlier this month the cabinet approved bringing the new immigrants despite opposition over the timing from Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who argued in a legal opinion that the move could be interpreted as a campaign ploy directed at Ethiopian Israelis just weeks before the March 2 election.

The Health Ministry has also controversially eased demands for medical checks and vaccinations that apply to immigrants from Ethiopia in order to expedite the process, allowing at least some of the new immigrants to arrive prior to next week’s election.

Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz said earlier this month that he was “appalled to see how Netanyahu is carrying out a cynical election campaign on the backs of the Jews remaining in Ethiopia and their families here, whom he has neglected for a decade.”

Immigration and Absorption Minister Yoav Gallant welcomes members of the Falash Mura community as they arrive to the immigration offices in Ben Gurion airport, outside Tel Aviv on February 4, 2019. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Likud is seeking to woo Ethiopian Jews ahead of the national vote. Many members of the community turned their backs on the ruling party in last year’s elections, following a series of high-profile incidents of police violence and amid ongoing concerns over government neglect and discrimination toward the community.

Hours before the deadline to file party slates ahead of the March elections, Ethiopian Israeli MK Yevarkan left Blue and White for Likud, reportedly frustrated by his low placement on Gantz’s party slate. Yevarkan had been placed 33rd on Blue and White’s electoral slate, putting him in danger of not entering the Knesset, but is No. 20 on Likud’s ticket. Likud is expected to win at least 32 seats.

The Falash Mura are Ethiopian Jews whose ancestors converted to Christianity, often under duress, generations ago. There are approximately 8,000 members of the community in Ethiopia with close relatives in Israel who are waiting to immigrate.

While Ethiopian Jewish immigrants from the Beta Israel community are recognized as fully Jewish, immigrants from Ethiopia belonging to the smaller Falash Mura community are required to undergo Orthodox conversion after immigrating.

The planned immigration of 400 members will include about 60 families that have been divided, with either parents or children already living in Israel, a key criterion for inclusion in the program, according to a Channel 12 report last month.

The Ethiopian Israeli community says the process for immigration approval is flawed and poorly executed, dividing families. At least 80 percent of the Falash Mura members in Ethiopia say they have first-degree relatives living in Israel, and some have been waiting for 20 years to immigrate.

Then-Blue and White MK Gadi Yevarkan in May 2019. (YouTube screenshot)

About 140,000 Ethiopian Jews live in Israel today, a small minority in a country of nearly 9 million.

Some 22,000 were airlifted to Israel during Operation Moses in 1984 and Operation Solomon in 1991. But their assimilation has not been smooth, with many arriving without a modern education and then falling into unemployment and poverty.

2019 saw widespread and sometimes violent protests by Ethiopians in Israel, after the police killing of an unarmed teen, the latest in a series of incidents of racism and police brutality against Ethiopian-Israelis.

 

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Dejen Yemane Messele

Addis Abeba, February 26/2020 – In an unexpected turn of events, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Water, Irrigation & Electricity said today that Ethiopia will not take part in the upcoming trilateral GERD talks with Egypt and Sudan, which was scheduled to take place in Washington D.C. on February 27-28. The Ministry said it was skipping the next talks because it did not finalize the ongoing discussions with Ethiopia’s country team of experts.

Ethiopia has traveled extra-miles to accommodate the downstream concerns towards the construction of its giant hydro-power dam. Its historical approach to the use of the Nile waters is consistent and bases its principles on the equitable use of the water.

Egypt’s appeal to the world power: Deliberate Escalation  

Writing and agreeing on the terms and conditions of guidelines in the first filling and annual operation of the GERD could never take such a deadlocked phase of negotiation had Egypt been a good faith negotiating party. But it intentionally escalated the dispute by appealing to the world and regional powers. The appeal can fairly be taken as intentional escalation because the subject of the ‘dispute’ has no such a weight when we closely scrutinize it. Above all, there was no serious dispute on the filling and operation of the dam that could not have been resolved through the existing trilateral technical talks. It was open for crafting a technical guideline to regulate the first filling and annual operation of the dam, which could have been done by the simple proposal of the dam owner and with a joint discussion of the three states in good faith. But Egypt has twisted the issue and transcended it into becoming the Blue Nile dispute and appealed for external intervention by the US government and the World Bank. This was erroneous move since the Nile dispute is not only a dispute of the three states, but one that concerns all the basin states which have already adopted the cooperative framework agreement.

Away from this normal process, Egypt wanted to achieve its interests through external pressure, which complicated the negotiation process. Egypt’s appeal to the United Nations General Assembly and to the United States by misrepresenting the facts has directly and indirectly contributed to the deadlock.

Diplomatically, it was difficult for Ethiopia to decline the invitation by the US government and has therefor joined the negotiation. But that too was not sustainable due to Egypt’s ever changing proposal for increased concessions. It was obvious that, despite widespread fear by Ethiopians that their government would be forced to sign an unfavorable deal, Egypt’s extreme position and Ethiopia’s determined stance not to concede more than what it did would lead to a no deal ending.

But, beyond skipping the latest negotiations much effort is still needed from the Ethiopia’s side to complete its side of the deal without caving into a third party intervention. Filling and operations of the dam are naturally the mandates of the dam owner and the dam owner is expected to fill and operate the dam in a way not to cause a significant harm against other riparian states.  The reason why the GERD issue traveled this far is due mainly to the hydro-hegemony struggle from Egypt’s side.

An attempt to write a comprehensive agreement

Since the negotiations are initiated on the bases of the 2015 Declaration of Principles (DoP) the objectives of the ongoing negotiation must be an adoption of “guidelines and rules for the annual operation of GERD.” To adopt this guideline the negotiating states should strictly follow the procedures provided in the DoP. The procedures must be led by the principle of good faith to which the three countries have agreed on the DoP. They should cooperate to implement the recommendations of the international panel of experts (IPoE); respect the final outcomes of the Tripartite National Committee (TNC) Final Report on the joint studies recommended in the IPOE Final Report throughout the different phases of the project; utilize the final outcomes of the joint studies, to be conducted as per the recommendations of the IPoE Report, and agreed upon by the TNC, to agree on guidelines and rules on the first filling of GERD.

But, although Dr. Seleshi Bekele, Ethiopia’s Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, assured Ethiopians that the ongoing negotiations with the presence of the US and WB were being undertaken within the framework of the DoP, Ethiopia’s negotiating team has been put under immense pressure by the US and officials of WB, contrary to the letters and spirits of the DoP.

The attempt to write a comprehensive agreement which includes filling, refiling, long-term operation, and mitigation strategies are the source of the deadlock. These subjects of negotiations do have a direct and indirect implications on the water allocation of the Nile River. The three countries have no mandate to agree on the water allocation of the Nile river unilaterally. Any water allocation, as has been done in the 1959, made in the exclusion of one or more riparian countries will never remain valid under the customary international law of transboundary watercourses. The three countries mandate to negotiate on is limited only to the first filling and annual operation of the GERD, no more no less. Without this, looking for a balanced agreement is a jeering.

Convince the “observers”to quit the process

Ethiopia should attempt to distance itself from the observers-turned-negotiators in order to reach at an agreement on the first filling and annual operation of the dam. Ethiopia should make it clear that any volumetric indication in the filing and operation of the GERD would cause instability among the 11 riparian countries which could escalate into a threat to regional peace and security. Negotiations between the three countries should instead focus on reaching an agreement only on the first filling and annual operation of the dam. This task can smoothly be done by the three countries if Egypt drops its implicit intention of signing a mandatory water allocation treaty.

All stakeholders should share this burden of convincing the observers. The Ethiopian government, intellectuals, the African Union Commission and other riparian countries can play a role in this . The African Union Commission should pay attention to this fast-rack negotiation and possible cause of conflicts in the North Eastern Africa.

The eight other riparian countries too should express their concern on the ongoing negotiation with an implication of a mandatory water allocation which betrays the efforts that had been invested to adopt the cooperative framework agreement on the sustainable water utilization among all riparian countries. They can address their concern to the three negotiating states, to the African Union Commission and the United States. Ethiopian fellows should also know that irrespective of our reservations in the internal politics this is the decisive time to stand together to defend our sovereignty in a civilized and diplomatic way.  We have to avow our voices in all mediums.

But beyond that Ethiopia’s rightful decision to skip the latest round of talk in Washington D.C. should not be a one time off decision and must be supported by the other two countries: Egypt and Sudan. After terminating the Washington process the three countries should proceed to return to the technical talks under the framework of the DoP and discuss on how to adopt the guideline on the first filling and annual operations of the dam and should let the water allocation issue for the cooperative agreement framework. If they build trust, Ethiopia may unilaterally prepare the guideline and submit it to the downstream countries for approval. In the preparation of the document all countries should avoid controversial terms of “drought, prolonged drought and prolonged dry years” which have implications on the water allocation and long-term operation of the dam, and which, in the likely event of not being met, could ignite conflicts.

The very objective of the guideline should be limited to the amount of the water to be released during the first filling and annual operations of the dam. To ease the preparation of the guideline making reference to acceptable professional recommendations might of help.

AS

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