By Masood Farivar
January 31, 2020

In the largest settlement of its kind, European aircraft maker Airbus SE has agreed to pay nearly $4 billion to resolve foreign bribery and other charges with authorities in the United States, Britain and France, the Justice Department announced Friday.

In an agreement with U.S. prosecutors, Paris-based Airbus, the world’s second-largest manufacturer of civilian and military aircraft, admitted using intermediaries over several years to bribe government officials and airline executives in order to win lucrative contracts in China and other countries.

Airbus entered into a so-called deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department three days after federal prosecutors accused the company of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and its implementation regulations. Under the deferred agreement, prosecutors agree to hold off on proceeding with a case against a company in exchange for meeting certain conditions.

The foreign bribery charges against Airbus stemmed from its offer and payment of bribes to foreign officials, including Chinese government officials, according to the prosecution agreement. Involved in the China bribery scheme were at least seven unidentified Airbus executives — including two Chinese officials and three entities responsible for making aircraft purchasing decisions for the Chinese government.

Between 2013 and 2015, Airbus executives made payments to a business partner in China that were intended to be used as bribes to Chinese officials, according to prosecutors. The bribes were paid in order to win contracts for the sale of Airbus aircraft to Chinese government airlines.

The AECA charges resulted from Airbus’ failure to disclose to U.S. authorities political contributions, fees and commissions made in connection with the sale and export of military goods and services to a foreign military.

“Airbus engaged in a multi-year and massive scheme to corruptly enhance its business interests by paying bribes in China and other countries and concealing those bribes,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Department will continue to work aggressively with our partners across the globe to root out corruption, particularly corruption that harms American interests.”

As part of the settlement, Airbus will pay nearly $600 million to U.S. authorities, $2.29 billion to authorities in France, and more than $1 billion to Britain’s Serious Fraud Office. The settlement with British authorities involves allegations of bribes paid in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Indonesia and Ghana.

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 

Enacted in 1978, the FCPA bars corporations and their executives from bribing foreign government officials to gain a business advantage. Over the past decade, the Justice Department has stepped up enforcement of the law, using its broad jurisdiction to target foreign executives and companies involved in bribing officials in other countries. Enforcement has remained robust under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump despite his past criticism of the law as unfair to American companies.

Historically, China has made up a disproportionately large number of FCPA cases involving foreign executives bribing Chinese officials. A 2018 Justice Department initiative aimed at countering Chinese national security threats to the U.S. prioritizes FCPA cases involving Chinese companies that compete with American businesses.

“International corruption involving sensitive U.S. defense technology presents a particularly dangerous combination,” said David Burns, a senior official in the Justice Department’s national security division.

The Justice Department encourages companies to self-report violations of foreign bribery and export control laws in exchange for leniency. Although Airbus disclosed the FCPA violations to the Justice Department only after they came to light in Britain several years ago, the company received credit for its cooperation with the ensuing investigation.

The post Airbus Agrees to Pay Nearly $4 Billion to Settle Bribery Case appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News/.

By Dawit Giorgis

In a brilliant book titled ‘A Time for Machetes,’ Jean Herzfeld discusses the Rwandan genocide with the killers.  The famous author of several books, Susan Sontag commenting on the book writes, “ Our obligation and it is an obligation, is to take in what human beings are capable of doing to one another, not spontaneously (crimes of this order are never spontaneous) but when mobilized to think of other human beings – people who were their school friends, neighbours, co-workers, and fellow parishioners- are not human beings at all, and when organized for and directed to the task of slaughter. For the issue, finally is not judgment. It is understanding.” To try to understand what happened in Rwanda has been very painful personally since I had seen first hand the effects of what happened in Rwanda in 1994.  But nevertheless, we cannot push it aside. We have to remember it, understand it and learn lessons from it.

On 31 January, I read a news post in Amharic written by a certain Yohanis Mekonen, including a huge number of comments, which reflected the shock and outrage of millions of Ethiopians.  The writer states that in the city of Harar, in an area known as ‘Fourth’, he verified the unloading of 36000 machetes in three separate storages belonging to the Risk and Disaster Management Agency, which usually stores food and humanitarian assistance to people affected by natural and man-made disasters. I used to head this agency but then it was called the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC.) The writer says that he called Addis Abeba, the headquarter of the agency and asked for an explanation. He was told that it was going to be distributed to 24 Eastern districts to be used as agricultural tools. Times may have changed but during the times I lived and worked in Harar, machetes were not normally used for agricultural purposes.

It is sensitive times and even if they were to be used for agricultural purposes the timing was not right. When some of our people are using machetes to kill others and are often seen in public threatening to kill holding machetes, it is certainly not a good idea to put these weapons in places where violent criminal gangs are operating freely and amongst people who are living in an atmosphere of fear of being slaughtered by machetes, unless it is intended to be used by them as weapons which is the opinion of many.

Once again I was reminded of the Rwandan experience. In 1993 approximately a year before the genocide took place, a project to import a large number of machetes from China, under the cover of agricultural tools, was underway.   Rwanda had never imported machetes from China or anywhere in the previous years. Linda Malvern, author of Conspiracy to Murder, the Rwandan Genocide explains her findings: (page 56)

“ As an illustration of the sheer volume involved, the total numbers machetes imported weighed 581,175 kilos and cost 725,000 US; there was an estimated one new machetes for every third male in the country.

One of the companies involved in these purchases belonged to Felicien Kabuga, the businessman who had helped finance the RTLM. (RTLM is the hate radio station, which spread hate speech and coordinated the genocide.

The silence of the Prime Minister in this and similar circumstances raises more concern about the capacity of the prime minister and lingering suspicions about his sinister agenda. But whatever the truth maybe it will eventually catch up with him and he will be brought to justice unless he takes bold steps to align himself with the forces of unity, peace and freedom. As of now, most people have come to believe that he is not serving the best interest of the country and himself.  In May 1998 the Prime Minister of Rwanda pleaded guilty ‘for sanctioning a climate of fear, hatred and paranoid, inciting violence and ultimately sanctioning mass murder’ and was convicted on all six counts.’

Under international law, crimes against humanity includes the following: Murder; Deportation or forcible transfer of population; Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law; Torture; Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity; Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court; Enforced disappearance of persons; Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.

Under Article II of the genocide convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group; Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

The Ethiopian government officials need to read the above over and over again and see what applies to them collectively and individually and understand what lies ahead for them in due time. And that time will come.

It could be proven in an independent court of law that some of the above have occurred in Ethiopia particularly since Prime Minister Abiy came to power.  This has all the hallmarks of possible repeat of history but one that can still be averted with the collaboration of the international community.   Prime Minister Abiy stands accused one more time for complicity with genocide and crimes against humanity. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines complicity;

“ Involvement or knowledge of a situation, especially one that is morally wrong dishonest “ Prime Mister is fully aware of the crimes that are being committed routinely in many parts of Ethiopia, largely directed at the Amharas. Amharas and Orthodox Christians are being singled out for persecution. Reminisce of the Nazi Germany, when Jews were being singled out and persecuted, Amharas’ are being offloaded from public transports and detained; Amahras are being chased from certain areas dominated by extremist Oromos, in Harar, Bale and Arsi for example; Amhara students are being persecuted, kidnapped, tortured and chased out of many schools in the Oromia region; Amahras are being hunted down and beaten and their houses burnt. Both the Orthodox Church and the Amhara ethnic group are the prime targets of these extremist elements. There are hundreds of thousands of people who can testify to the occurrence of these crimes. They have been committed in full view of the public and with the full knowledge of this Prime Minister.  In a court of law, he could be found guilty of complicity.

According to ‘FindLaw ‘ composed of legal experts, “Complicity is the act of helping or encouraging another individual to commit a crime. It is also commonly referred to as aiding anabetting.  One who is complicit is said to be an accomplice.  But, even though an accomplice does not actually commit the crime, his or her actions helped someone in the commission of the crime.

The concept of accomplice liability means an accomplice faces the same degree of guilt and punishment as the individual who committed the crime. Indeed, accomplices can face the same penalties, including prison time. The key consideration is whether the individual intentionally and voluntarily encouraged or assisted in the commission of the crime, or (in some cases) failed to prevent it.”

In 2017 the Rwandan government released an independent report accusing French officials of complicity in the 1994 genocide.  The report commissioned by the Rwandan government and conducted by a Washington law firm, alleges that French military forces trained their Rwandan counterparts, supplied tm with weapons even after an arms embargo, and gave cover, under the auspices of a United Nations-sanctioned humanitarian mission, in the last moments of a genocidal campaign.

More recently Gambia has denounced the Nobel Prize winner for peace Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s “silence” over alleged atrocities against Rohingya Muslims. The case was heard in the international Court of Justice (ICJ). Lawyers said Ms. Suu Kyi had ignored widespread allegations of mass murder, rape and forced deportation. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced its first ruling in the highlighted genocide case against Burma on January 23 of this year.  The court ordered Burma to carry out emergency measures to protect the Rohingya from further violence and persecution. Aung San Suu Ky is the democracy icon and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, who fell from grace.  This also can be repeated. PM Abiy is quickly falling from grace.

When responsible people who had the authority and the means to prevent crimes against humanity, men and women whose duty is to protect the people  betray the trust people had on them and allow mass murder, kidnapping, torture and mass displacement to take place, they are considered as accomplices to the crimes committed.  Their silence and inaction is complicity and is punishable both under international and domestic laws. The charges could even be more serious when it is targeted against specific groups of people with the intention to eliminate them, humiliate them, displace them. This will be tantamount to genocide. In Ethiopia it feels that this has already started. Heinous crimes are being committed almost on a daily basis largely against the Amharas.

The situation needs the urgent attention of the international community because this government of Prime Minister Abiy has failed to stop it. Now the people are asking seriously whether he is not an accomplice to a series of criminal events that have taken place in the last two years since he took power?  His silence and his inactions on all the criminal acts including the burning of churches, the murder of many, the war mongering by his own colleagues and the party that he leads, the kidnapping of Amhara students and the virtual impossibility of free movement in the country, has made it difficult to understand his behavior.

He travels to a country, Equatorial Guinea, the most corrupt nation on earth, to visit a President Teodoro Obiang Mbasogo, who has been in power for 41 years, to receive a prize from him.  In the same week he travels to Guinea Conakry, one of the most corrupt nations in Africa, whose president Alpha Conde is currently trying to change the constitution so he can stay in power for a third term, and then to Eritrea and gives the impression that the country is normal. During all these times the country was and is still gripped with fear with millions out on the streets demonstrating and demanding rule of law. He travels to seek adulation and to escape from the reality.  The demonstrations are unprecedented. The last time such demonstrations took place was in support of Abiy when he came to power. Such is the irony of history. It took the Prime Minster only two years to turn this tide of support against him though it did not take me that long.

The constant behavior of Ably is his narcissistic personality, which, according to the book on such disorder, ‘occurs where a person has an inflated sense of their own importance and seeks to gain recognition of this from others. Noticeable symptoms may include: Excessive self-importance, preoccupied with fantasies of power, success seeking, constant admiration, praise and approval’ etc.

It is widely known that the scheduled election is not going to change the complex political and security situation in Ethiopia. The whole purpose of this exercise is to anoint Abiy as the legitimate leader of Ethiopia. He will win under what is expected to be a rigged election. The controversy that will almost certainly come out of this choreographed and fake election will add another layer to the already complex security situation of Ethiopia.

There are Ethiopians and members of the international community who are recording all these crimes.  As I write this, the International rights groups, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International made a statement on; “ the worrying development especially with key elections coming… the return of mass arrests of opposition activists and supporters is a worrying signal in Ethiopia.” Human rights activists in and outside the country are putting the Prime Minister on notice that if he fails to stop this carnage, he will stand accused of crimes against humanity and of what could possibly happen (genocide of biblical proportion) as a result of his inactions.

Dawit Giorgis

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The post ‘Time for Machetes’ appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News/.

By Sintayehu  Gebremariam
E-Mail ___makuadu@yahoo.com __________________

Ethiopia, as a country that is known for being the first place to host human being and to be one of the few ancient civilizations, it also has a down side in terms of conflict and ethnic tension, since the medieval age, locally known as “Zemene Mesafent”. Like all modes of productions during the emergence of the feudal system, oligarchs here and there were climbing on the ladder of societal hierarchy, to become leaders and governors.

Most of the Ethiopian civilization began from the northern part of the country and most of its history falls on the shoulder of the Tigrian and The Amhara people.

In 1974, the monarch was removed by public anger and mismanagement of the country’s resources, to benefit the royal family and the elites who were working for the crown.

After that a military government took power as there was no organized party at that time, that can lead the country with a defined road. The subjective conditions against the monarch was fulfilled, but there was no any party, ready to lead the country. Then the military had to take the power in a promise to hand it over to a civilian government, in six months.

The Military Junta, known as Derg continued to lead the country, despite the promise of handing power to a civilian and elected government. The country was on a crossroad, whether to follow free market economy (Capitalism) or the Communist ideology, that was dominated by the USSR.

I believe due to the close relationship of emperor Haleselassie to the western worls, the powerful states rejected the military junta and the country was forced to seek help from Soviet Union.

In the absence of fertile ground to host a new ideology, the government declared socialism and the chaos began. The country lost extremely important and educated citizens for internal conflicts between parties and from actions taken by the government.

The guerilla fighters who were fighting to liberate Eritrea created another group in the Tigray Province of the country and began to fight the military government. After seventeen years of misery the country fell into the hand of the EPRDF, a front of guerilla fighters created by the Tigray People Liberation Front.

The TPLF declared democracy and called all stakeholders and different ethnic fronts to the capital and formed a transitional government, which ignited hope in the heart of many Ethiopians. It was new in its kind to see oppositions sitting together to confer about one nation.

That excitement did not stay longer. The TPLF changed into a tyranny or its bad character began to be revealed. The country went back to dictatorship in its worst form. The latent ethnic clash between tribes was fuelled by the TPLF in order to divide and rule the country. People became busy to work on hate against each other and united voice could not be achieved.

The need for democracy and justice increased and in 2016, the Ethiopian people began to fight against the EPRDF. Waves of demonstrations took the roads and villages of the country. The government used force to stop the public anger. Thousands were killed and many jailed.

The EPRDF began to have internal problem. Members and high-ranking officials who were participating in the crime done by the EPRDF formed a faction and they began to secretly work with different domestic and international forces to tumble the TPLF.

Such people who were commissioners and omissioners of crime came out with words of hope and change and convinced the public that the crimes of the past will never be committed again. They tried to fool the public and they were successful in easing the public anger, mainly by releasing political prisoners.

The new force, that believes brought change to the country used such tactic to defuse the collective power of the public and to instill another dictatorial government. Few weeks after the so-called reform, many people lost their homes, properties and their lives. Ethnic conflict was ignited all over the country and the government did not act swiftly to manage or handle such crisis.

At this time there are more than four million internally displaced people in Ethiopia, who are desperately looking for help. A Genocide took place in different places, mainly in the Guji zone of Oromia. The Oromos killed innocent members of the Gedeo tribe. It is a mass killing committed by the Oromos and the government led by an Oromo prime minister did not investigate or correct such an act of genocide.

The army and the security force of the country that was built by the EPRDF in the past twenty-seven years was relatively stronger that many other neighboring countries, which was capable of preventing external intrusions and stabilizing the country. Though Ethiopia is known for its anti democratic practice against citizens, it had strong army and reliable security system, that kept the country safe from intervention of external terrorist groups.

When neighboring Kenya and Somalia were being attacked by terrorist groups in different time, the Ethiopian intelligence assured the safety of the country and it was campaigning cross border to fight and destroy terror elements like Al Shabab.

At this time, Ethiopia is extremely vulnerable, n terms of internal and external security. The country that was trying to liberate the neighboring countries from terrorist hold is now in a very scary situation. Currently, the government of Dr. Abiy is incapable to protect the country from invasion and it is unable to stop the domestic violence that are taking away the lives of innocent citizens, everyday. Only in 2020, which is in less that a month in this new year, students in Oromia are kept hostages by local war lords, created after the arrival of the new prime minister. Girls are being taken hostage and the government is doing nothing to free those innocent citizens.

University students are being killed in campuses, because of their ethnic origin. Most of the universities in the country are being closed, due to security concerns. Highways get blocked by locally organized and armed hooligans. The government that came to power by cheating the public left the country vulnerable to internal and external security threats.

In Ethiopian reconstructing the security and intelligence services has been proved more difficult. As a result, significant insecurity has escalated in many parts of the country, leaving nearly four million internally displaced people. The government faces the challenge of anticipating and mitigating nationalist violence, particularly as the country prepares for elections in the coming six months.

Many Ethiopians both within the EPRDF and the opposition recognize the need for a national discussion on issues relating to the regain of control on the security and tranquility of the country, which is a driving factor for economic change and prosperity.  Similarly, the EPRDF is considering changes to the party and has floated the idea that it transforms itself to one party that individuals join directly rather than through membership in regional party associates. These questions, however, are tense with argument, and open debate is unlikely before the next round of elections.

First of all, the politicians and the public were expecting to see a transitional council or some kind of temporary government, to transform the country from where it is to a new kind of governance though a democratic election.

However, the new prime minister changed his mind and decided to continue to lead the country until the next election, which is expected by many trusted organizations including the international crisis group to be one of the bloodiest elections ever.

In the presence of such tension in Ethiopia, it will me a calamity for the country to hold an election in less than six months, in the absence of social consensus.

The tension in Oromia, Amhara, and other regions is manifestly preventing party members to campaign. The lack of safety and security can not allow the candidates to travel from place to place and to address their constituency groups. Many members of the opposition are strongly opposing the election process currently. They are asking the government to postpone he election at least by one year, until fertile and sfe ground is created. However, the new prime minister who wants to secure his position for the coming five years is going ahead with election, which is expected to be full of conflict and crisis.

It is believed that the prime minister is backed up back some Arabic countries and is relying more on the will of those governments, instead of relying on the Ethiopian people. Holding an election at this vulnerable time will totally lead the country in to crisis.

To be continued

The post THE CRISIS BEYOND HOPE appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News/.

Abebech Shiferaw
January 2020

Education seems the only way to get out of poverty for many Amharas. The culture is pro-education and civilization. As a result, Amharas scarify all that they can and Pass-through hardship to send their children to educational institutions.

Poor economic stand, scattered access to educational facilities, poor schools as many children and adolescents are learning under trees shelter, acute shortage of educational materials (for example, a text may be given for ten students), less qualified teachers and so on best describe Amhara’s scenario in today’s Ethiopia. Consequently, many dropouts from schools early and many more fail in national examinations. These groups of students’ fate is worrisome for they are neither educated people nor farmers and will be forced to be dependents on their poor families. As the education ladder increases, only a small section of Amhara youths will succeed to join higher education.

Even at a tertiary level of educational institutions, ethnic Amhara University students’ struggle for survival gets double. One, coping up with academic challenges of higher education and competing with other students who come from relatively more privileged regions. Second, the fight for survival becomes more tough as Amhara students are subjects of injustice in a different form by teachers, employees, other students, hosting communities and so on. Not only in other regions, Amhara students not immune to injustice even in the Amhara region. This is evidenced by unjust measures taken by Universities located in the Amhara region. For example,  more than 165 Amhara students were fired from universities located in the Amhara Region for the mere reason of protesting against the mistreatment of Amharas in different universities.

Not only this, currently over 50, 000 Amhara University students are displaced from different Universities as a result of intentionally calculated ethnic conflicts by terrorist groups which are believed to be supported by government apparatus in the background.

Worse yet, teaching-learning activities have been interrupted in most Universities. Many Amhara university students are warned by terrorist groups and their allies to evacuate from campuses forcefully where many died and got wounded. What is most tragic is that more than 20 females Amhara University students are recently abducted in a daylight by terrorist groups in the Oromia region while traveling back to their families. And yet, the government has been babysitting agents of hatred and has taken no major action though two months have elapsed since the incidence has been voiced by concerned media. This is a terrorist act has happened in a country where its Prime Minister is awarded with a Nobel Peace Prize??? What an unjust world! Did the Bokoharam terrorist groups in Nigeria do anything worse than this? Esteemed international communities/organizations, we need your eyes wide open and fairer mind at this critical juncture in history!

Obviously, the government seems not willing and is very far away from discharging its responsibilities thereby protecting the rights of citizens. Rather, the government, institutions, and officials are obsessed with the provision of false information which aims at creating a sense of confusion on the public.

The drama and seemingly deliberate miscommunication continued by the government. For instance, one university student who succeeded in escaping the abduction was treated inhumanely by officials in the Amhara region. This caused strong public anger and pressure on the less trusted government structure. Following this, peaceful mass demonstrations have taken in different parts of the country demanding the government to execute its duties properly and facilitate the release of kidnapped university students. Still, the usual misleading propaganda is going on by the government.  Giving a deaf ear for the loud quest for democracy, human rights and release of abducted girls, the government is irresponsibly working hard to deliberately protect the armed bandits from being labeled as “terrorist” groups nationally and internationally. Still no promising result, female university students are in the hands of the barbaric group and their fate is known to date.

In summary, the kidnapping of female university students is a clear terrorist act by terrorist groups based in and backed by the Oromia region of Ethiopia and Federal level authorities. This is a war declared against poor Amharas, Ethiopians and humanity at large. Hence, Ethiopians at home and abroad need to stand together and recollect our efforts in curbing this immoral and very illegal war against humanity and ensure the immediate release of kidnapped female university students. We need to be more organized and take pragmatic measures for better results in the short-run (securing the lives of University students) and in the long run, ensuring the security of Amhara people in the future. I call upon the international community and organizations to stand on the side of Amhara people to stop the war against humanity once again and bring terrorists to justice.

The post The Ethiopian Government is Behind the Kidnapping of Young Female Amhara University Students. appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News/.

President says ‘nobody’ will change Israel’s Jewish and democratic character, after PA chief said he wouldn’t recognize Jewish state; Liberman uses remark to assail ultra-Orthodox

By MICHAEL BACHNER
3 February 2020

President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday rebuked Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for his claim a day earlier that Israel had brought non-Jewish Russian and Ethiopian immigrants en masse, and for citing that as a reason he wouldn’t recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

At a President’s Residence event launching an anti-racism initiative, Rivlin directly addressed Abbas.

“Do me a favor. Nobody is going to change the Jewish and democratic character of our state,” he said.

“We are a democratic state for all our citizens and it is a Jewish state for the simple reason that the Jewish people has no other state. It has returned to its land,” Rivlin continued.

“I was born 80 years ago, when there were a quarter of a million Jews in this land. Today I am the president of a state with 9 million citizens and 7 million Jews, who speak Hebrew and feel that this state is Jewish,” he said, adding that “we came to live in peace with whoever was born and lives in this land.”

Abbas made the comment in a lengthy speech Saturday delivered at an Arab League meeting in Cairo denouncing the new White House plan for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in which he said he was cutting all ties, including security coordination, with both Israel and the US.

Abbas, protesting that the plan requires him to recognize a Jewish state, derided the very notion, claiming many immigrants to Israel weren’t Jewish at all.

“There are 1.5 to 2 million Russians in Israel today, some of whom are Christians and some of whom are Jews. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the gates opened. To prove that they were Jewish, they would go to some rabbi, pay him 100 rubles, get a certificate that they were Jewish, and go to Israel.”

He added: “Even the Falash Mura from Ethiopia — believe me, the percentage of Jews among them is tiny.”

Abbas’s comments on Soviet immigrants were strikingly reminiscent of remarks made by Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef last month, in which he referred to them as “religion-hating gentiles.”

“Hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands of gentiles came to Israel under the Law of Return,” Yosef had said at a rabbinical gathering.

Abbas’s comments were quickly slammed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White party chief Benny Gantz, and were also used Sunday to fuel political jabs between the secularist right-wing Yisrael Beytenu party and the ultra-Orthodox parties.

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman argued on Facebook that Abbas — who is also known by his nickname Abu Mazen — had been building off Yosef’s remarks, which “today received the unequivocal backing from the chief anti-Semite Abu Mazen, who also claimed Israel isn’t a Jewish state and that the Ethiopian immigrants are Muslim.”

Liberman assailed the leaders of both ultra-Orthodox parties — Shas’s Aryeh Deri and United Torah Judaism’s (UTJ) Yaakov Litzman — saying that “for me, anyone who serves in the IDF, works and pays taxes is more of a Jew than Deri and Gafni combined, who spend all day squeezing money from the public coffers at our expense.”

In response, UTJ MK Moshe Gafni said that “the damage Liberman is trying to do to the State of Israel, the Torah and the people of Israel, is greater than the damage Abu Mazen is trying to cause.”

Times of Israel staff and agencies contributed to this report.

The post Rivlin chides Abbas for claiming Russian, Ethiopian immigrants aren’t Jews appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News/.

By Alemayehu G. Mariam

Those who can, will help us. Those who cannot, should leave us alone. Those who do not understand what we do will criticize us. Those who do not like what we do will oppose us. — H.E. Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed

The Story of All of Us: Ode to Unity Park in Addis Ababa

On a partly cloudy January morning
I took a walk in the (Unity) park
There I found His(Her)story with a puzzled look
Asking me curiously,

“Do you know?”

On these grounds of power and glory
In this place of honor and shame
Where hope and despair tangled to the bitter end
Is written the Story of All of Us.

“Do you know?”

In this place of sadness and joy
On these grounds where victory was conceived and defeat born
Where horror, terror and torture were hid in a dungeon
Is written the Story of All of Us.

“Do you know?”

On these grounds of promises made and promises broken
In this place of truth and deceit
Inscribed on the ancient granite walls
Is the Story of All of Us.

“Do you know?”

On these grounds of virtue and vice
In this place of darkness and light
Where quest turned into conquest
Is written the Story of All of Us.

“Do you know?”

On these grounds where trees stand tall
In this place where they stood silent sentry for a century
New flowers today sing in dazzling colors
And write the Story of All of Us.

Do you know?

On these grounds where our leaders prayed and sinned
In this place where they plotted and schemed
Did they forge one nation indivisible
Is written the Story of All of Us.

“Do you know?”

On these grounds where we founded our nation’s capital
In this place where our ancestors came together in wisdom and folly
To do dastardly deeds and recite sublime poetry
Is written the Story of All of Us in blood, sweat, tears and laughter.

Answered I to His(Her)story:

Now is the time to turn a page
To inscribe a new chapter filled with hope and optimism
To affirm in this hallowed park the sanctity of our unity
To boldly declare our humanity in our diversity.

Answered I to His(Her)story:

Now is the time to write the new Story of All of Us
To sing out loud our songs of peace, prosperity and unity
Rebuild our City Upon a Hill amidst a bed of new flowers
Then let our “sons and your daughters prophesy, our young men see visions, and our old men dream dreams”

Answered I to His(Her)story:

Somewhere ages and ages from now
A generation will walk in Unity Park and sigh in relief and pride:
“Thank God, our ancestors seized the moment
On two roads that diverged in the night
They took the road marked ‘Peace and Prosperity’
Made a right turn on a road named “Reconciliation and Forgiveness”
And that has made all the difference in the Story of All of Us!”

— Ode to Unity Park in Addis Ababa, written following my visit on January 28, 2020

What Unity Park means to me

When I was a child, I was taught to be proud and develop a sense of Ethiopian exceptionalism. After all, Ethiopia is a special place on earth and in the eyes of Heaven, Ethiopia is a scared land where the Ark of the Covenant rests and the Prophet Muhammad sent his first followers (the Sahabah) to flee persecution and seek refuge in the Christian Kingdom of Aksum. Ethiopia is the land of the free never colonized and victorious over those who dared to try. I was taught Ethiopia shall never falter because it is written, “Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.”

In the tourist brochures, Ethiopia was described as “The Land of 13 Months of Sunshine”.

Today, Ethiopia is described as the “Land of Origins”. Berit Reiss-Andersen, Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee introducing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony affirmed, “Ethiopia is the cradle of humankind, the first homo sapiens emigrated from the territory in your country. In this sense, we are all Ethiopians.”

I concur wholeheartedly.

But for most of my adult life, the word “Ethiopia” was synonymous with poverty, famine and misery.

Ethiopia, they said was the epicenter of “one of the worst humanitarian events of the 20th century.”

In the first two decades of the 21^st century, Ethiopia was known for massive human rights violations. Until recently, Ethiopia had the dubious distinction of being labelled the “second  worst jailor of journalists”.

But in the last 21 months, extraordinary transformations have taken place not only in the Ethiopian political landscape but also the entire Horn region.

Ethiopia’s global image has changed from warmaker to peacemaker. Ethiopia today has a leader lionized as a “champion of peace.”

Ethiopia today is the brightest star in the African constellation. Ethiopia is the New Spirit of Africa not only in the air but also on land.

Unity Park is just the first step in Ethiopia’s rise to a glorious brave new future of peace, unity, opportunity and prosperity.

Unity Park, which broke ground in January 2018, is the brainchild of PM Abiy Ahmed.

The park is part of PM Abiy’s “Home-Grown Economic Reform” agenda, which features tourism as a central component of Ethiopia’s economic development.

Unity Park is also part of the beautification of Addis Ababa (Sheger Project) covering some 56 kilometers of river cleanup and rehabilitation work supported by a grant from the Government of China.

For me, Unity Park and the larger Sheger Project are essential to the revitalization of Addis Ababa and the general well-being of its people.

I have witnessed with great sadness and heartbreak the indignity of the people of Addis Ababa continue to suffer because they have NO public green spaces for rest and relaxation.

The narrow strip of green spaces on Menelik II road south of the Grand Palace and east of the Jubilee Place where I used to play and ride bicycles over five decades ago with my friends have been fenced off for years, presumably for “development” purposes.

I can never understand the evil mind that denies citizens the right to enjoy a sliver of God’s good green earth!

Perhaps the most shocking and heartbreaking moment for me was the time I witnessed several bridal parties taking pictures on the sidewalk outside the walls of the Sheraton Hotel shortly after I left Unity Park. How ironic! I could not fathom that sidewalk is the only “green space” in the whole city for young brides and grooms to take their bridal pictures. What a heartless crime against young newly-weds.

Unity Park to me is “Medemer” in motion, an idea based on the principle that the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Addis Ababa (New Flower) was built by the blood, sweat, tears and laughter of Ethiopians of all ethnicities, religions, languages, traditions and customs. Today, Addis is a cosmopolitan city and a center of international diplomacy and home of the African Union.

Unity Park to me is the ultimate symbol and a living monument to one of my core beliefs,  “Ethiopians united can never be defeated.” If Ethiopians work together in common purpose, in good will and good faith, they will be victorious against their age-old enemies — poverty, hate and ignorance.

Unity is written in the DNA of Ethiopia.

Unity saved Ethiopia from the jaws of European imperial aggressor.

When Africans cast off the yoke of colonialism, they made Ethiopia the original home of the former Organization of African Unity and the African Union today.

Today Ethiopia stands united despite the best efforts of those who have tried to carve it up into kilil-istans and ethnic homelands.

Ultimately, Unity Park to me is the Story of All of Us. Not just our past history but the history we shall be writing together as we march forward and looking back only to see how far we have come.

Unity Park to me is a symbol of a rising Ethiopia. An Ethiopia rising above poverty and the politics of ethnicity; an Ethiopia embracing a new humanity powered by limitless opportunity and prosperity.

From a torture chamber to a tourist site

Unity Park is built on some 40 hectares on the grounds of the old Grand Imperial Palace (Gebi) which served as a seat of power in Ethiopia for over 130 years. The Palace sits on a hilltop  overlooking the city with tall eucalyptus trees stand sentry on its outer perimeter. The Park is built with funding from the government of the United Arab Emirates and contributions from well-heeled Ethiopians and cost of more than USD 160 million. No tax dollars are used in the project.

When I was growing up, the Palace was a place of mystery and dread, a forbidden city no one could enter or leave without the permission of the old emperors or their modern-day equivalents. I remember walking the outer perimeter of the Palace as a kid with my friends heading towards Arat Kilo always fearful of the mysterious goings on behind the iron wrought gates. I remember the honor guards standing at attention and occasionally scowling at passers-by who misbehaved.

As I think back now, the Grand Palace reminds me of China’s Forbidden City, presently a museum, consisting of a palace complex in Beijing. Like China’s Forbidden City, the Grand Palace has a complex of buildings which served as living quarters to Ethiopian emperors and their  households, provided office space to more recent leaders and also functioned as the ceremonial and political center of Ethiopia’s government.

Until recently, the Palace was a place of intrigue, conspiracies and horrors. It was a place where war and peace plans were drawn, public policies and plans drafted, ideologies argued and fashioned, death warrants signed and even shootouts held Dodge City-style among contending factions. The Palace also had a chamber of horrors where a self-styled gang of military thugs known as “Derg” conducted torture on political opponents and “enemies of the state”.

Watching history in motion in the park

For me, the visit to Unity Park was a whole day affair taking close to 6 hours. One can certainly rush through it in half that time but why? Enjoy the day at the park!

Unity Park is history in motion. I felt like I was walking with history brought back to life. I could feel the presence of those who made history and sense the ghosts of those upon whom history was made. I found myself walking in living history, history changing before my eyes in the renovation of old structures and reclaimed fallow land. Last year, I had seen the virtually dilapidated Palace and neglected grounds. It broke my heart then and today my heart is warmed seeing the place come back to life and radiant.

U.S. Ambassador Michael Raynor correctly described Unity Park as “quite spectacular.”

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni was spot on when he said, Unity Park “brings out the history of Ethiopia.”

I wholeheartedly agree.

Unity Park has several different areas (exhibits) to visit. Entering the grounds from the ticket office, one is greeted by a well-manicured green area with a children’s playground to the side. Wending along the pathway, there is a beautifully arranged  botanical garden of some 46 indigenous Ethiopian plants and herbs. The mixed bouquet from the garden wafts in the air to greet you. To the east, there is a cave made from molded concrete extending for over 170 meters. One can see one black-maned Ethiopian lion and 2 lionesses in the cave through a plate glass in well-kept enclosure protected by redundant safety measures. There is an exhibit of Ethiopian foxes nearby. There is a full-size zoo on the west side of the park that is expected to house over 300 animals when it opens. The Park has full modern veterinary and food preparation facilities.

There is an area on the west side of the park where futuristic regional pavilions are set   symbolizing the nine regions through cultural artifacts.

Unity Park offered me a variety of experiences.

I enjoy historic preservation and environmental conservation, things I have enjoyed doing in the U.S. over the years. I marveled at the restoration done to the Gibir Adarash, the large banquet hall that can accommodate several thousand guests. The leather ties securing the ceiling have been in place for well over one hundred years. Time has done nothing to diminish the beauty of the Gibir Adarash.

As walked through the various buildings in the Palace Complex, I paused to imagine.

Standing in Emperor Menelik II private prayer room, I wondered what he prayed for? Help to unite Ethiopia? Beat back the Italian colonial aggressor?

Standing on the watchtower, I imagined a marching army heading towards the Palace and what defenses could be deployed from the commanding heights of the Palace grounds.

Standing in Emperor Menelik II’s office, I wondered how he interacted with his official guests and ministers. He was known as a great listener and patient man (Emeye Menelik Aba Dagnew) but brooked no nonsense.

Standing in the great Fitawrari Habte-Giorgis Dinegede’s office, the commander-in-chief of the Ethiopian army in 1896 at the Battle of Adwa and Menelik II’s war minister and most trusted advisor, I wondered how the two sat together and drew up battle plans and peace strategies.

Standing outside Queen Taitu Bitul’s bedroom, I wondered how she ran the huge palace household. I pretended to hear her play the begena (an indigenous 10-string instrument), watch her playing chess and listening to her reading poetry. She was known for her artistic inclinations.

Standing the closet size “telephone room”, I wondered how Menelik II kept tabs on his governors throughout out the provinces. I heard the story that some governors would change their residences and relocate to avoid the Emperor keeping tabs on them by calling them on the phone. (They did not want to be tethered to the phone.)

Standing in the Throne House, I imagined Emperor Haile Selassie listening to oral arguments in legal cases and rendering a final decision. I wondered how horrific it must have been for the emperor to be murdered and buried under the office of Mengistu Hailemariam, the bloodthirsty leader of the military Derg. Yes, I imagined how Mengistu sat in his office and signed up death warrants for so many innocent victims.

I imagined Meles Zenawi scheming to maintain his hold on power and devising and refining his divide and rule strategy. I tried to imagine Meles sitting in his office brooding over his next steps against his opponents.

I imagined Hailemariam Desalegn in the Throne House a virtual prisoner of the TPLF. I wondered when he decided “Enough is enough” and bailed out leaving the TPLF holding the empty power bag.

Unity Park is a labor of love

Walking through Unity Park, one sees hundreds of young men and women artisans and laborers working on different projects carving out stones, planting flowers, sculpting felled trees, building structures and so on. There is much to be done. It is worthwhile to pause and watch the young workmen and women doing their craft. There is ample space for period artifacts and relics. The Park management will accept donations of historical items for exhibition.

It is expected up to 1,500 people will visit the park daily. Cost of admission is 200 Br for a regular visit and 1,000 Birr for VIP tickets. Non-national regular and VIP visitors will pay USD 20 and 50, respectively. Admissions revenue will be used exclusively for Park administration, improvements and maintenance.

Ethiopia’s Golden Age

Ancient Greece, modern Europe and America all had their golden ages. They had their time of peace, prosperity, and happiness.

Ethiopia’s Golden Age is upon us.

I might even be tempted to say we are beginning to experience our Age of Aquarius, when we as one Ethiopian nation will take control of our destiny with an expanded consciousness in which we embrace our humanity in our diversity and attain new enlightenment through the revelation of the truth “Love conquers all.”

IT IS OUR TIME NOW TO REVEL IN THE (UNITY) PARK!

The post Unity Park Addis Ababa: The Story of All of Us in the City Upon the Hill appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News/.

For sure, the Queen of Corruption of Angola will go down in flame by Luanda leaks but, her western accomplices will continue business as usual, thanks to the willfully ignorant western Media editors  that see no evil in crimes of corruption in no man’s land of Africa where there is no rule for the ruling party elites and their foreign accomplices.

Teshome Debalke
Feb 6, 2020

In the dance of corruption that left many African nations poor for decades ‘it takes two or more to tango’.

In recent France 24 Media debate on ‘what happened to Angola’s missing millions?’ the Consortium of Investigative Journalists through Luanda Leaks unraveled how the daughter of the Former President José Eduardo dos Santos and associates cleaned out the Angolan treasure of the nation with the highest foreign debt of any African nation with the help of western consulting firms.

What made the expose rare was the involvement of the world’s high-profile consultancy powerhouse like Price & Cooper Waterhouse (PCW) and McKinsey & Company among others were helping the Queen of Corruption Angola Isabel Dos DeSoto to launder vast amount of money through the familiar shell companies in the name of ‘wealth optimization’.

The oil and diamond rich nation of Angola where an average citizen lives under two dollars a day income familiar with most African nations being taken to the laundry by the ruling elites is not new. What is new is who are the friends and associates of the Queen of Corruption Isabel Dos DeSoto and her husband Sindika Dokolo and how and where the money went.

The irony Isabel Dos DeSoto is married to the son of a self-made businessman in the Democratic Republic of Congo Augustin Dokolo better known as and the Founder of the Bank of Kinshasa reviles; in the business of cross-border corruption and money laundering it takes two or more to tango and, it happened global consultancy powerhouses are in it big time as suspected.

Dokolo is as corrupt as his wife in his own right. According to BBC’s  Jul 2017 report titled Sindika Dokolo: Husband of Angola’s Isabel dos Santos convicted of fraud,  he said, “the conviction was politically motivated and that he will appeal against the one-year jail term.”

The ruling elites of the Former Portuguese colony of Angola like the elites of the Former African colonies of England, France, Spain, Italy and Belgium all have one thing in common – unholy marriage of corruption with the elites of their Former colonizers’.  But nothing even comes close to the intensity of African elites with their counterpart in their former colonizers England and France in facilitating corruption.

Ironically, Isabel Dos DeSoto’s lame defense for Luanda leaks like her husband was its “politically motivated” — the same old familiar African ruling elites’ lame excuse not to own their corruption in nations where the rule maker, enforcer and breaker are one and the same.

But, the marriage of corruption in Angola according to the Jan 2020 Guardian report titled The Dimond Deal that rocked Angola  involves the Government of Angola owned Banco Bic Angola under Isabella father 40-years reign and a dozen businesses  around the world including, Exem Holding in Switzerland, Melbourne Investments in the Netherlands, Sodiam in Angola, Victoria Holding Limited in Malta, De Grisogono Holding SA in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Hong Kong, UK and Italy. It illustrates how the people of Africa are taken to the laundry by corrupt elites and their partners in crime around the globe.

Sindika Dokolo

Appears to have invested $4m around the time of the purchase of De Grisogono. He says he has invested $115m in total

Government of Angola

Borrowed $147m to finance the purchase and running of De Grisogono. The loans were taken from Banco Bic Angola which is part-owned by Isabel dos Santos

Exem Holding

Switzerland

Melbourne

Investments

Netherlands

Sodiam

Angola

50%

50%

Victoria Holding

Limited

Malta

Victoria

Limited

Malta

De Grisogono

Holding SA

Luxemborg

De Grisogono SA

Switzerland

De Grisogono

Hong Kong

De Grisogono

UK

De Grisogono

Italia

The New York Times Jan 2020 article titled   How U.S. Firms Helped Africa’s Richest Woman Exploit Her Country’s Wealth put it this way;

“Ms. dos Santos, estimated to be worth over $2 billion, claims she is a self-made woman who never benefited from state funds. But a different picture has emerged under media scrutiny in recent years: She took a cut of Angola’s wealth, often through decrees signed by her father. She acquired stakes in the country’s diamond exports, its dominant mobile phone company, two of its banks and its biggest cement maker, and partnered with the state oil giant to buy into Portugal’s largest petroleum company.”

According to the article “some of the world’s leading professional service firms — including the Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey & Company and PwC — facilitated her efforts to profit from her country’s wealth while lending their legitimacy.”

In all honesty, the New York Times lame excuse not to find out what is going on when a daughter of the President of Angola flashing $2 billion with her Hollywood friends speaks for itself.

But, it should remind us the corrupt ruling elites of Ethiopia that employ the same excuses to undermine the new Prime Minster reform effort as Isabel Dos DeSoto and her husband expected to do in the coming days against their new reformist President Joao Lourenco Angola by employing the same embezzled money to cause more havoc than they already did on the people.

Ironically, Ethiopians don’t have the opportunity of the Consortium of investigative Journalists to find the ‘Mekele Leaks’ that would unravel the extent of Corruption led by the Queen of Corruption Azeb Mesfin.

Mesfin, the wife of the ruling member party TPLF late Chairman and PM of Ethiopia Melse Zenawi and associates’ center of intricate money laundering are believed to be primarily Rome, London, Dubai, Brussels, New York and Hong Kong.

Therefore, Ethiopians must rely on their own to find out who embezzled the billions of dollars from public treasury and where the money stashed.

The Consortium of Investigative Journalists analyzing Luanda Leaks gave a hint on the complex money laundering scheme of modern times involves high-powered consultancy firms employed by the ruling elites in the name of investment and ‘wealth optimization’.

The most visible consultancy firm doing the bidding of the ruling member party led by TPLF in the last two decades was Ernest Young (EY) of London led by its infamous Former East African Managing Partner Zemdenhe Negatu based in Addis Ababa before he closed operation and reemerged as Global Chairman of Fairfax African Fund based in McClain, Virginia.

The ‘24 million Birr’ a year EY ‘consultant’ of the nation’s flagship Airlines was a celebrated expert in advising investors in ‘wealth optimization’ before he moved on to become a private equity fund manager of his own and undisclosed associates’ wealth optimization in Africa.

Unfortunately, to this day, no one knows who authorized his fee and what role he played worth the money he was paid out of the public coffer from one of the poorest nations in the world that still depends on foreign aid.

The London based New African Magazine in 2013 put him as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans as;

“Anyone who has done business in Ethiopia will have come across Zemedeneh Negatu, founder and managing partner of Ernst & Young in Ethiopia. Recently his firm has been responsible for many of the country’s major deals, including British alcoholic beverages company Diageo’s purchase of a local brewery. A true global citizen, having lived and worked extensively in North and Latin America as well as Saudi Arabia, Zem, as he is affectionately known, is often the spokesperson for the private sector at the country’s official international roadshows. He is part of a select group of business leaders who senior members of government consult during their strategy meeting retreats.”

Ironically, Isabel dos Santos of Angola is also included in the list as;

“Businesswoman and daughter to the president of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos, is worth an estimated $3 billion. With businesses in key sectors such as mining, telecoms, retail and oil, Dos Santos is the youngest female billionaire in Africa. She insists her business dealings are independent of her father, attributing her success to hard work. Those close to her insist she’s as bright and as tough as they come. With an engineering degree from King’s College in London, she shuns the limelight. Married to Congolese art collector Sindika Dokolo, and with her growing business interests, this is a couple we will see much more of in the coming years”

At the meantime, the new high-profile consultancy employed by the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation’s financed Agriculture Transformation Agency led by the CEO Bomba happen to be the same McKinsey & Company implicated in Luanda Leaks for its money laundering operation of the Queen of Corruption of Angola and her associates. The same firm according to CNN was in hot seat in 2017 0n its South Africa operation.

In an article titled Meet the Ethiopian American Economic Hitman from Wall Street to Poverty Street in the no man’s land that explore corruption in Ethiopia we identify;

“McKinsey & Company’s Sara Boettger is a ‘Senior Adviser for Agriculture Transformation Agency of Ethiopia’ led by Khalid Bambo, the Former Morgen Stanley sovereign fund manager and one of the Gate Foundation’s point man turn CEO of the Ethiopian Agriculture Transformation Agency.

And quoted John Perkins, the former economic hitman and the author of the Confession of an Economic hitman (2004) and the New Confession of the Economic hitman (2016).” Stating;

“I thought about the core tools we EHMs used in my day: false economics that included distorted financial analyses, inflated projections, and rigged accounting books; secrecy, deception, threats, bribes, and extortion; false promises that we never intended to honor; and enslavement through debt and fear. These same tools are used today. Now, as then, many elements are present in each “hit,” although that likely is evident only to someone willing to delve deeply into the story behind the story. Now, as then, the glue that holds all of this together is the belief that any means are justified to achieve the desired ends.”

The article also quoted the Executive Director of Oxfam International Winnie Byanyima August 2016 article titled A powerful and corrupt elite is robbing Africa of its riches stating;

“This is wrong. We must examine the root causes and do something to weed them out. As the Panama Papers show, so much of the tax avoidance or criminal movement of finance on the continent is made possible by a system propped up by a number of banks, law firms and other outfits based outside of Africa, working in collusion with African economic and political elites. It is a system designed in the Global North that helps Africa’s few wealthy and powerful elites to cheat the rest of us.”

Unfortunately, the non-for-profit sector is not immune in the name philanthropic advisory service either.

A good example is Synergos Consulting Service that pride itself as “a global nonprofit organization that brings people together to solve complex problems of poverty” and claim to provide “the social purpose advisory service within Synergos. We help clients generate sustainable economic and social value through their philanthropic efforts, core businesses, and CSR”.

The list of corporate foundations Synergos offers advisory service in what it refers as “to solve complex problems of poverty” are the same corporations accused of unethical business practices with the regime of poor countries in the name of helping.

Take Agriculture – Government & Global Foundation service of Synergos’ in what it refers as “supporting the Gates Foundation, the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), and the Ministry of Agriculture to strengthen commodity value chains and the institutions required to unlock the country’s huge agricultural potential. Synergos has established clusters of farmers to scale best practices with barley, tef, sorghum, wheat, and maize.”

The lists of projects and institutions the Gates Foundation funds  including Synergos and the people behind the institutions should give readers a pause and ask; is poverty that complex requiring foreign funding and advisory service than fighting corruption and mismanagement of resources that requires transparency and accountability of the same institution?

Apparently, according to Synergos, Abera Tola Gada is its “Regional Director, based in Ethiopia, leading our efforts in that country to help increase the food security and incomes of smallholder farmers and their families, bolstering the national economy”. He is also referred as Synergos Senior Fellow.

What stood out about Abera’s extensive experience outlined by Synergos Consulting Service is he started “as senior program officer for the Inter-Africa Group, a regional NGO dedicated to peace and development in the African continent”. Unfortunately, what Synergos Consulting Service didn’t tell us, Inter-Africa Group was established in 1989 by Abdul Mohammed, a notorious operative of Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) that moved to Addis Ababa with TPLF that took power from the Military regime of Derg in 1991. No one knows how Inter-Africa Group ended up to be “a regional NGO dedicated to peace and development of the region”  when in reality it is TPLF front that started in the diaspora in 1989 in London  and moved its headquarter to Addis Ababa in 1991 and became the ruling member party that implemented apartheid rule to instigate ethnic conflict within Ethiopia and beyond as witnessed in real time.

Inter-Africa Group’s “longstanding Experience and Commendable Track Record Since 1989” outlined on its own official website speaks; who-is-who and what Inter-Africa Group did or not in the last three decades. The low- profile Abdul Mohammed that masterminded the whole thing remained as Chair of Inter-African Group three decades later and speaks volume; IAG is not “dedicated to peace and development of the region” as it claims but quite the opposite.

But, how Abera Tola Gada that started as senior program officer for the Inter-Africa Group ended up to be a Regional Director of Synergos Consulting Service is only known to the mastermind Abdul Mohammed and associates that started the whole scheme on behalf of their enablers.

Regrettably, noting seems to get in the head of the elites of the so-called mainstream western Media journalists in abandoning their profession either.

Take for instant the latest Bloomberg Businessweek News by John Bowker titled Ethiopia Pushes Privatization to give the Economy a Sugar Rush.

What stood out in the Bowke’s article among many is the collaborators of the article are the same willfully ignorant journalists Nazar Manek, Samuel Gebru, Elen Proper, and Bella Genga of Bloomberg News  who, according to the article “adds greater detail on privatization plans in 5^th and 7^th paragraph”.

The self-described “Africa Business News editor at Bloomberg” based in Johannesburg according to his twitter profile (https://twitter.com/JohnHBowker) with four of his subordinates appears lost in the jungle of corruption and ended up picking and choosing talking points of the usual interest groups paragraph at a time in direct violation their profession that is visible for trained eyes. He and his subordinate are good cases for Consortium of Investigative Journalists to investigate corruption in the profession of journalism.

The fact, Bloomberg Company LinkedIn Profile shows Bowker started as a UK correspondent for ‘Transport/Defense’ for Thomson Reuters from Apr 2008 – Oct 2009 (1 year 7 months) and moved on as ‘Russian Companies Correspondent’ for Reuters  from  Oct 2009 – Nov 2012 (3 years 2 months) to end up as Business News Editor of Africa from Mar 2013 – Present (6 years 11 months) from Johannesburg, South Africa claiming; “I am responsible for business news coverage in sub-Saharan Africa” encapsulate; how low regard mainstream western Medias across the board have for the African affairs.

To begin with, how an English/Medieval History graduate from the University of St Andrews of Scotland ended up to be a business correspondence for two of the top Media outlets in the world is one thing but, the fact no one including his own Bloomberg subordinates in Ethiopia and Kenya won’t factchecks him when he makes mockery of reporting  on Ethiopia from South Africa shows; mainstream journalists covering African are going amok.

He wrote;

“Ethiopia is among Africa’s most dynamic economies, averaging annual growth of almost 10% for the past decade. Yet the country remains one of the most state-controlled on the continent, a legacy of the Marxist-Leninist Derg regime that ruled from the 1974 coup that deposed Emperor Haile Selassie until a return to democracy in 1991. “The private sector is not playing its natural role,” says Eyob Tekalign, a former diplomat and private equity executive hired by Abiy as state minister for finance. “Our growth had shortcomings in terms of quality, job creation, inclusivity, and benefiting the poor”

In just one paragraph of his article alone he botched the historical reality, fabricated facts, redefined democracy and skipped the reality of what happened from 1991 (“a return to democracy” to 2018 (the new PM emerged by popular revolution) under an ethnic apartheid rule of Ethiopia led by Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) that is causing havoc on the reform effort of the new PM Abiy.  By doing so, he not only accused Prime Minster Abiy government’s State Minster and Minster of Finance Eyob Tekalign is not a government official but a hired hand but, contrary to his official profile he was a former diplomat.

There is no official record Eyob Tekalign being a diplomat of any kind at any time nor, he claimed to be one on his own public profile.

Moreover, according to the esteemed Bloomberg Africa Business News Editor and his subordinates in Africa, factchecking appears to be too inconvenient for the narrative they put out. Nazar Manek in Addis Ababa and Samuel Gebru  in Nairobi are prime example of willfully ignorant Bloomberg correspondents feeding their clueless African Editor in Johannesburg to make a fool of himself reporting fairytales.

The Angola case is illustrates better how mainstem western Medias remained PR tools for interest groups for four decades until Luanda Leaks blew the lid open; the Queen of Corruption of Angola Isabel Dos DeSoto known as the richest women in Africa has partners in her corruption scheme as far as Hollywood, Wall Street and in western capitals.

No wonder mainstream Medias see no evil what was the obvious not to rattle her accomplices in western nations in the commission of her crimes in the no-man’s land of Africa. After all, it takes at least two to tango in dance of corruption of African oligarchs and, the criminal code stipulates; the accomplices in a commission of crime are equally liable as the principal. Yet, mainstream Medias put out propaganda as news in no see evil of corruption of the accomplices.

For sure, the Queen of Corruption of Angola is go down in flame alone by Luanda leaks but, her western accomplices will continue business as usual, thanks to the willfully ignorant western Media editors  that see no evil in crimes of corruption in no man’s land of Africa where there is no rule for the ruling party elites’ and their foreign accomplices.

Isn’t that what made Africa a risk-free heaven for willfully corrupt offshore investors no one seems to investigate?

The post Luanda Leaks is a good lesson how to fight modern-day corruption in Ethiopia appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News/.

Tedla Asfaw

According to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed the abductors of 17 Dembi Dolo Univesity students in the Oromo Region are unknown because no one claims the abduction.

Almost two months ago these students were abducted by Qeero, Oromo youth, according to the student who escaped the kidnappers.

The kidnapped girls used to call their parents for two weeks before nothing heard of them again.

We heard also from Oromo Kilil officials that the OLF Kidnapped them even if the leader claims that he has nothing to do with them and blames the government to disguise its own military activity against them.

The Primeminister assertion in the parliament today that the army did not find any evidence of the whereabouts of these girls without elaborating the surrounding behind the kidnapping is problematic.

The area is a “military conflict zone” all

communications cut off for more than two months now.

There was no single bullet fired in this area before Abiy Ahmed comes to power. Why now ??

 The Ogaden that was a battleground for 28 yrs is now peaceful compared to this part of the Oromo Region. Here we go, the birth of a New Fighting Force in the Oromo Region?

The Oromo Regional military structure and the rebel structure are not separated. All the kidnapping is part of the ongoing ethnic cleansing “Ethiopia Out Of Oromia, Oromo First “which is the rallying cry of those in the bushes and the so-called peaceful Oromo parties campaigning for election 2020 in coming August.

Before few days of the kidnapping, Bekele Gerba called for all Oromo Students to leave Amhara Kilil and come home.

The Qerros answered his call by kidnapping students. Since the kidnapping, Bekele, Jawar, and Merara among many went silent about the kidnapped students.

These same people were the first to point fingers to Amhara Region for any incident. Their silence is a clue for who the kidnappers are ??

The kidnappers are not as sophisticated as Al Shabab and Boku Haram because they have zero experience on the battlefield.

This is just to boost their stand as a new fighting force without facing any battle.

We know who the kidnappers are, they are Oromo First, posturing themselves as a new force for the future Oromo Republic. By-election or kidnapping !!!!

 

 

The post We Know Who the Kidnappers Are !!! appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News/.

THIOPIA has been plunged into further instability after armed men executed scores of women and children in an attack on Sunday which has been blamed by officials on a separatist group active in the region.

The killings in the Gawa Qanqa village in Guliso District, West Wellega, have been blamed on the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an insurgent group known for kidnappings and bomb attacks in the south and western parts of the country.

The death toll is unclear, with Amnesty International reporting 54 deaths after speaking to survivors, an increase on the earlier figure of 32 given by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

According to the EHRC the victims, who were members of Ethiopia’s Amhara ethnic group, “were dragged from their homes and taken to a school, where they were killed,” in a “massacre” that involved up to 60 “armed and unarmed assailants.”

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed condemned the attack as “heartbreaking.”

“Ethiopia’s enemies are vowing either to rule the country or ruin it, and they are doing everything they can to achieve this. One of their tactics is to arm civilians and carry out barbaric attacks based on identity,” he said.

But questions are being asked as to why the government suddenly withdrew security forces from the region just a day before the attack, despite the volatile security situation.

Survivors said it paved the way for OLA fighters to round up civilians and massacre them.

Amnesty spokesman Deprose Muchena said: “The fact that this horrendous incident occurred shortly after government troops abruptly withdrew from the area in unexplained circumstances raises questions that must be answered.”

Opposition party the National Movement of Amhara (NAMA) slammed the government for failing to protect civilians.

Fears of war and the possible break-up of Ethiopia were raised last week as the northern Tigray region’s rejection of a military appointment threatened to spark a conflict.

The powerful northern region defied the capital Addis Ababa in September by holding elections deemed “illegitimate and unconstitutional.”

Federal lawmakers have demanded that funding is cut to the Tigray parliament in a bid to bring it back in line.

Last week a report from the International Crisis Group warned that the stand-off “could trigger a damaging conflict that may even rip the Ethiopian state asunder.”

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Addis Abeba, November 04/2020- Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has just announced that the National Defense Forces (ENDF), led by a command post, is given order to start military offensive against TPLF in Tigray regional state.

PM Abiy claimed TPLF “took measures” and “tried to rob the Northern Command.” He also claimed TPLF “opened war through Dashlah”.

The Northern Command is based  in Mekelle.

“The government tried to avoid war, but war can’t not be avoided by one side,” PM Abiy said.

“Led by a Command Post, our National Defense Forces (ENDF) is given order to discharge its responsibility to save the country. The last point of the red line is crossed; to save the country the use of force has become the last alternative.”
The Prime Minister called on the Ethiopian people “to follow the situation calmly, monitor possible localized flare ups, and to stand with the national army.” AS

The post BREAKING: NATIONAL DEFENSE FORCES GIVEN ORDER TO “START MILITARY OFFENSIVE AGAINST TPLF”: PM ABIY AHMED appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News/.

Drawn-out internal conflict could move Ethiopia’s attention—and troops—away from the fight against al-Shabaab militants

Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning Prime Minister has ordered the military to confront the country’s Tigray regional government after he said it carried out a deadly attack on a military base overnight.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on national TV the army had been attacked “this evening in Mekelle and many other places, by traitors and the force they organised”.

The reported attack by the well-armed Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), immediately raised concerns that one of Africa’s most populous and powerful countries could plunge back into war.

Mr Abiy said “the end is near” for the regional force, which is based in Ethiopia’s most sensitive region, neighbouring Eritrea.

He added there had been months of “provocation and incitement” and declared “the last red line has been crossed”.

The row has escalated in recent days with both sides accusing each other of plotting a military conflict.

Military operations in the region had commenced, Mr Ahmed’s spokeswoman Billene Seyoum said, without giving further details.

Internet access monitor NetBlocks said the internet had been shut down in the region, confirming reports that authorities had barred telephone and internet services.

The TPLF had been the dominant part of Ethiopia’s governing coalition before Mr Abiy took office in 2018 and announced sweeping political reforms that won him the Nobel last year.

Those reforms, however, have opened space for old ethnic and other grievances. The TPLF, feeling marginalised, left the coalition last year.

In September, Tigray held regional elections in defiance of the federal government, which called the vote “illegal”.

Debretsion Gebremichael, the president of the Tigray region, said that Mr Abiy’s government was planning to attack the region to punish it for holding the September election.

Tigray’s population makes up 5 per cent of Ethiopia’s 109 million people, but it is wealthier and more influential than many other, larger regions.

A report by the United States Institute of Peace said the fragmentation of Ethiopia “would be the largest state collapse in modern history, likely leading to mass interethnic and interreligious conflict … and a humanitarian and security crisis at the crossroads of Africa and the Middle East on a scale that would overshadow the existing conflicts in South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen”.

The international community needs to rally around the idea of national dialogue in Ethiopia, the International Crisis Group warned a week ago.

“The alternative, given the country’s multiple and bitter divides, is a potential march to war that would be catastrophic for Africa’s second-most populous country and would send shockwaves, and refugees, into other Horn of Africa countries as well as across the Mediterranean,” the group wrote.

AP/Reuters

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By ELIAS MESERET and CARA ANNA Associated Press

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia approached civil war on Wednesday as its Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister ordered the military to confront the country’s well-armed Tigray regional government, accusing it of a deadly attack on a military base and declaring “the last red line has been crossed” after months of alleged provocations.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s move against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, in one of Africa’s most populous and powerful countries, sent a shock wave through the long-turbulent Horn of Africa region. Ethiopia’s neighbors include Somalia and Sudan, and the prospect of spreading instability sent a chill down observers’ spines.

Signaling the gravity of the threat, the United States in the midst of its election drama issued a statement urging “an immediate de-escalation.” The United Nations expressed “alarm” and made a similar plea.

“We have to guard against ‘just another tribal African war,’” former U.S. diplomat Payton Knopf told The Associated Press. “This is much more akin to what an inter-state war would look like,” with large and highly trained ground forces, mechanized units and heavy artillery. “This is not Syria, right? This is not Yemen. This is a different order of magnitude.” He compared Ethiopia to the former Yugoslavia.

Internet and phone lines were cut in Tigray, challenging efforts to verify the Ethiopian government’s account of events. A statement on Tigray TV accused the federal government of deploying troops to “cow the people of Tigray into submission by force” and said airspace over the region was closed.

The prime minister announced “several martyrs” in the overnight attack in Mekele, the northern Tigray region’s capital, and Dansha town. The region is Ethiopia’s most sensitive, neighboring Eritrea, which fought a long border war before the two countries made peace in 2018.

Abiy in a national address late Wednesday said the attack was aimed at making Ethiopia vulnerable to outside enemies, without naming names. The army late Wednesday said it had launched a counter-attack and asserted “massive” damage, and Abiy said the military will conduct further operations in the coming days.

Ethiopia declared a six-month state of emergency in Tigray on Wednesday, saying “illegal and violent activities” were threatening the country’s sovereignty. A Tigray TV report that the Ethiopian military’s northern command had defected to the Tigray government was “not true,” the prime minister’s office told the AP.

The TPLF dominated Ethiopia’s military and governing coalition before Abiy took office in 2018 and announced sweeping political reforms that won him the Nobel last year. Those reforms, however, opened space for ethnic and other grievances. The TPLF, feeling marginalized by shifts in power, left the coalition last year.

Tigray officials have objected to the postponement of Ethiopia’s national election because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which extends Abiy’s stay in office. In September the region held an election that defied the federal government and increased tensions over a region of some 5 million people that, despite its small share of Ethiopia’s population of 110 million, has had outsize influence.

Last month, the federal government further angered the TPLF by moving to divert funding for Tigray to local administrations instead of the regional government.

On Monday, Tigray leader Debretsion Gebremichael warned a bloody conflict could erupt, accusing Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders of making “all necessary preparations to start war” against the region. There was no immediate Eritrea comment.

Ethiopia was already stressed by a dispute with Egypt over a massive Ethiopian dam project that has drawn rare attention by President Donald Trump to Africa, and by a multi-layer crisis with the COVID-19 pandemic and deadly ethnic violence.

Now the greatest test of Abiy’s rule has come, as the fighting in Tigray could inspire other restive regions in Ethiopia.

“This war is the worst possible outcome of the tensions that have been brewing,” said William Davison, International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for Ethiopia. “Given Tigray’s relatively strong security position, the conflict may well be protracted and disastrous.”

Abiy’s statement alleging the overnight attack accused the TPLF of arming and organizing irregular militias in recent weeks. “TPLF has chosen to wage war,” his office said. “The last red line has been crossed with this morning’s attacks and the federal government is therefore forced into a military confrontation” to save the country.

The head of Ethiopia’s new state of emergency committee, Redwan Hussein, told reporters the federal government’s conflict is with a “small clique of TPLF circles that are keen to destabilize Ethiopia,” and the government must do everything possible to “liberate the Tigrayan people.”

The TPLF has said it’s not interested in negotiating with the federal government. “What we need now is a national dialogue,” a senior TPLF official, Getachew Reda, told the AP on Sunday.

Observers have worried for months about the growing tensions and their implications for the Horn of Africa, where Abiy has cast himself as a peacemaker.

A report last month by the United States Institute of Peace said the fragmentation of Ethiopia “would be the largest state collapse in modern history, likely leading to mass interethnic and interreligious conflict … and a humanitarian and security crisis at the crossroads of Africa and the Middle East on a scale that would overshadow the existing conflicts in South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen.”

The international community needs to rally around the idea of national dialogue in Ethiopia, the International Crisis Group wrote last week. “The alternative, given the country’s multiple and bitter divides, is a potential march to war that would be catastrophic,” it said.

Fighting could undo Ethiopia’s military cohesion, the group warned: “Tigray officers hold positions throughout the armed forces in different parts of the country; some might prove more loyal to their region than to federal authorities.”

It was not immediately clear how Ethiopia’s regions would respond.

The head of the Amhara region, Temesgen Tiruneh, in a Facebook post said members of Tigray’s security forces were welcome to defect, writing that “we know you are fighting because you’ve no choice.” The Amhara and Tigray regions before Abiy’s rule were locked in a bitter confrontation over disputed border areas.

Anna reported from Nairobi, Kenya.

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CNN
November7, 2020

Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States, CNN projects, after a victory in the state where he was born put him over the 270 electoral votes needed to win.

With Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, Biden now has a total of 273 electoral votes.

Before becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Biden served as vice president under former President Barack Obama. He is also Delaware’s longest-serving senator.

Throughout his campaign, Biden has argued that the “soul of the nation” is at stake, and has promised that he would seek to heal a country fractured by Trump’s presidency.

Watch moment Wolf Blitzer announces CNN projection:

5 min ago

Kamala Harris will be the country’s first female and first Black vice president

Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Kamala Harris will be the United States’ next vice president, CNN projects.

She will be the first woman to hold the office. She will also be the nation’s first Black and South Asian vice president.

Harris, who has represented California in the Senate since 2017, is the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, and she grew up attending a Black Baptist church and a Hindu temple.

She was the first Indian-American and second Black woman to serve as a senator.

These are the Presidents who have lost reelection

From CNN’s Adam Levy

President Trump’s reelection defeat makes him the 11th sitting president in US history to lose the White House in a general election campaign.

Ten of those were outright reelection bids. Gerald Ford, who ascended to the presidency following Richard Nixon’s resignation, also lost his campaign to remain president in 1976.

The last president to lose a reelection bid was George H.W. Bush in 1992.

Grover Cleveland lost his reelection campaign in 1888 but won back the White House four years later by defeating sitting President Benjamin Harrison. He is the only president to have served two nonconsecutive terms.

This list does not include sitting presidents who did not receive their party’s nomination for the next general election.

10 elected presidents lost their reelection campaigns:

• John Adams (1797-1801; lost to Thomas Jefferson in 1800)
• John Quincy Adams (1825-1829; lost to Andrew Jackson in 1828)
• Martin Van Buren (1837-1841; lost to William Henry Harrison in 1840)
• Grover Cleveland* (1885-1889; lost to Benjamin Harrison in 1888)
• Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893; lost to Grover Cleveland in 1892)
• William H. Taft (1909-1913; lost to Woodrow Wilson in 1912)
• Herbert Hoover (1929-1933; lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932)
• Jimmy Carter (1977-1981; lost to Ronald Reagan in 1980)
• George H.W. Bush (1989-1993; lost to Bill Clinton in 1992)
• Donald Trump (2016-present; lost to Joe Biden in 2020)

1 non-elected president lost in the following general election:

• Gerald R. Ford** (1974-1977; lost to Jimmy Carter in 1976)

*Cleveland later won a second, nonconsecutive term

**Ford was not elected vice president or president

Trump arrives at his golf course as vote counting continues in key states

From CNN’s Betsy Klein

President Donald Trump walks to the motorcade on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 7. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

President Donald Trump arrived at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, at about 10:30 a.m. ET, according to the reporters who travel with him. Meanwhile, voting results continue to get tallied.

This visit marks the 410th day Trump has spent at one of his namesake properties since taking office. It’s the 299th day he’s spent at a golf club, per CNN’s tally.

Trump, who last golfed on September 27, is at his club as he waits to see if he will serve a second term. Based on the states CNN has projected so far, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden currently leads Trump by 253 to 213 electoral votes.

Results coming in from Pennsylvania in the next few hours could decide the election in Joe Biden’s favor. With 20 electoral college votes, the Keystone State would put Biden over the 270 threshold needed to win the presidency. This could very well happen while Trump is on the golf course.

According to a reporter who saw him, Trump was dressed in a white “Make America Great Again” cap, windbreaker, dark slacks, a non-dress shirt and “shoes that look appropriate for golfing.”

Meanwhile, the President continues to spread information on Twitter, baselessly claiming he has won the election, when, in fact, that determination has not yet been made.

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BY GIULIA PARAVICINI and Dawit Endeshaw
Nov. 8, 2020,

GONDAR, Ethiopia (Reuters) – Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed replaced his army chief, the head of intelligence and the foreign minister on Sunday as the military continued a five-day old offensive in the restive Tigray region with a new round of air strikes.

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By AP
Khartoum,

Thousands of Ethiopians fleeing conflict in the northern Tigray region have crossed west into neighbouring Sudan, a government official said Tuesday.

Among those streaming across the border were several Ethiopian soldiers, said Alsir Khaled, head of Sudan’s refugee agency in the eastern border town of Kassala.

“Refugees are pouring in, and the situation is changing by the hour,” said Khaled.

At least 2,500 refugees were counted in the past two days, but hundreds more civilians arriving are yet to be processed by authorities, he added.

Around 30 Ethiopian soldiers who also fled “handed themselves over at a Sudanese military checkpoint,” Khaled added.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops and air force jets into Tigray last week in a campaign against the regional ruling government.

Much of the fighting has reportedly been concentrated in western Tigray, near the border of Sudan and Eritrea.

One eyewitness told AFP that families with young children were struggling to cross a river to reach Sudan.

UN refugee agency spokesperson Babar Baloch on Wednesday said that there were “more than several hundred asylum seekers” at two border entry points in Sudan’s Gedaref state.

UNHCR was “mobilising resources to provide lifesaving assistance”, Baloch said.

“The arrivals are being screened by the authorities, and will be relocated from the border points to the existing reception centre in Shagrab camp in Kassala state,” Baloch said.

Ethiopia’s Abiy on Tuesday signalled that the end of military operations were “coming within reach”, as the African Union called for an immediate cessation of the fighting.

But that has not stopped the flow of refugees.

Khaled said Sudanese efforts to help the refugees were stretched, and that they were awaiting support from international refugee agencies.

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By Prof. Alemayehu G. mariam

“We shall never forget the barbarism and savagery committed by the greedy and ruthless TPLF junta on members of our Northern Command. We shall not rest even for a moment until this junta is brought to justice and punished. I would like to reassure the Ethiopian people once again that until our efforts to ensure the supremacy of the rule of law is completed, there will be no negotiations with this junta. ” PM Abiy Ahmed, November 10, 2020

_____________

One thing the international meddlers should know is this: “Ethiopian solutions for Ethiopia’s problems. African solutions for Africa’s Problems.

All who seek to pressure the Ethiopian government to “negotiate” with the TPLF should STOP MEDDLING and ask themselves a simple question: “Would they negotiate with a certified terrorist group that declared war on their national defense forces, caused untold deaths and misery on civilians and trashed their constitution? Of course not!

The sanctimonious holier-than-thou leaders and politicians urging PM Abiy to negotiate with the TPLF terrorists should be honest like Secretary Mike Pompeo and declare:

“We stand with the people of Ethiopia and will work with all who are committed to peace, prosperity, democracy, and the rule of law.”

If there is going to be negotiations, let it be on the battlefield. The TPLF will soon be served with two choices: Surrender or Go Six Feet Under!        — Alemayehu G. Mariam

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is being pressured to “negotiate” with the certified terrorist group known as the “Tigrean People’s Liberation Front” (TPLF).

Let there be no mistake.

The TPLF is a terrorist group registered in the Global Terrorism Database.

Let me make it crystal clear! The TPLF is a terrorist group registered in the Global Terrorism Database.

On November 4, 2020, the TPLF terrorists attacked the Ethiopian Northern Command fort in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and declared war on the Ethiopian federal government.

Today, efforts are underway to pressure Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to “negotiate” with the TPLF terrorists.

The U.S. Embassy urged “an immediate de-escalation of the current situation in Tigray” and “strongly encouraged all parties to prioritize civilians’ safety and security.”

The U.N. Secretary-General called Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok of Sudan, currently chairing the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD),  Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, current Chair of the African Union and “expressed the readiness of the UN to support the IGAD and the African Union in any initiative to address the situation.”

The African Union also called for a ceasefire and the European Union expressed its intention to “support to any initiative of IGAD and the African Union to address the situation.”

The purpose of all the telephone calls and public statements is to pressure PM Abiy to “negotiate” with certified terrorists!

PM Abiy has made it crystal clear that he does not negotiate with terrorists.

He stated, “The TPLF has chosen to wage war. The last red line has been crossed with this morning’s attacks and the federal government is, therefore, forced into a military confrontation.”

Just today, PM Abiy declared, “Until our efforts to ensure the supremacy of the rule of law is completed, there will be no negotiations with this junta. ”

Only US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo got it right!

Damn right!

The United States is deeply concerned by reports that the Tigray People’s Liberation Front carried out attacks on Ethiopian National Defense Force bases in Ethiopia’s Tigray region on November 3.  We are saddened by the tragic loss of life and urge immediate action to restore the peace and de-escalate tensions.  The protection of civilian safety and security is essential.  We will continue to follow this situation closely.  The United States stands with the people of Ethiopia and will work with all who are committed to peace, prosperity, democracy, and the rule of law. (Italics added.)

Secretary Pompeo’s statement mirrors exactly what PM Abiy has been saying since he came to office in April 2018.

Explaining the current situation, PM Abiy stated the military operations in Tigray seek “to restore the rule of law and the constitutional order, and to safeguard the rights of Ethiopians to lead a peaceful life wherever they are in the country.”

Law and order and peace!

That has been the rallying cry of PM Abiy Ahmed for the past two years.

PM Abiy could best be described as the supreme advocate of prosperity.

He loves prosperity so much that his political party is known as “Prosperity Party”.

Democracy is what PM Abiy pledged from the day he took office on April 2, 2018.

In his inauguration speech before Parliament, PM Abiy pledged:

We Ethiopians need and also deserve democracy. Democracy is not for us an alien idea. When it was foreign to many peoples and countries, we lived under and governed by our democratic Gadaa system becoming an example on to the world… Democracy is unthinkable without freedom. Freedom is not a gift doled out to people by a government. Rather a gift of nature to everyone that emanates from our human dignity. We need to respect all human and democratic rights, especially to free expression, assembly and organization, by upholding the constitution that emerged from this understanding of freedom. The rights of all our citizens to take part in all structures and at all levels in a democratic manner need to be fully realized.

He solemnly cautioned, “Many have also been martyred to give birth to our new democratic order. To develop our fledgling democracy, it is not necessary for us to pay any additional life and bodily sacrifices.”

Pay with additional life and bodily sacrifices is exactly what the TPLF has done over the past 27 years and now in its cowardly attack on the Northern command.

Did Abraham Lincoln negotiate with the South Carolina militia leaders that attacked Fort Sumter?

What happened to the Northern Command in Ethiopia on November 3, 2020 is not much different than what happened to the United States Army at Fort Sumter, near Charleston, S.C. on April 12-13, 1861.

On the morning of April 12, 1861, the South Carolina militia bombarded the federal Fort Sumter and after monthslong siege forced the United States Army to surrender.

South Carolina seized all Federal property in the Charleston area and a federal naval resupply effort failed.

The strategic aim of the militia was to vanquish the U.S. Army, Navy and Marines, take over federal property including military installations and prepare the way for secession, break away from the Union.

On the morning of November 3, 2020, the militia and regional forces of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front bombarded the Northern Command fort of the Ethiopian federal government with the same exact aims of the South Carolina confederate militia. Not unlike the South Carolina militia, the TPLF militia sought to wipe out the Northern Command, take over all Ethiopian federal military installations and property and prepare the way for secession.

The sneak attack on the Northern Command was a well-coordinated effort by the TPLF. But no one had expected the TPLF would undertake such a cowardly attack.

Unlike the U.S. Army that evacuated Fort Sumter, the valiant soldiers of the Ethiopian Northern Command literally held the fort down and defended against the TPLF militia and regulars.

Ethiopian federal troop reinforcements arrived within hours and mounted a lightening counterattack and routed the TPLF. Thousands of conscripts in the TPLF militia and regulars surrendered to federal forces.

It was a victory that cost the lives of federal troops, militia forces pressed into service against their will and civilians.

When the South Carolina militia attacked Fort Sumter and began its war efforts to break away from the United States, did President Abraha Lincoln negotiate with secessionists in south Carolina?

No! Hell, no!

On April 15, 1861, just three days after the attack on Fort Sumter, President Lincoln issued a Proclamation calling forth the state militias of some 75,000 troops to suppress the rebellion and urged “all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union.”

Can anyone reasonably expect less from Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed facing the same existential threat to his nation?

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did exactly what President Lincoln did.

He mobilized elements of the Ethiopian Defense Forces and deployed them to defeat the TPLF forces and bring their terrorist ringleaders to justice.

Ethiopia’s Federal Council of Ministers issued a declaration “recognising that illegal and violent activities within the National Regional State of Tigray are endangering the constitution and constitutional order”.

PM Abiy stated, “Our defence forces have been ordered to carry out their mission to save the country. The final point of the red line has been crossed. Force is being used as the last measure to save the people and the country.”

The bottom line and the frontline…

The bottom line is that the TPLF which looted, plundered and destroyed Ethiopia for 27 years and bragged about staying in power for 100 years was put out to pasture in 2018 with out a single shot being fired.

The TPLF could not face that fact and so decided to use the billions it looted from Ethiopians to finance terrorism throughout the land.

Since April 2, 2018, the TPLF has been obsessed with overthrowing the government of PM Abiy Ahmed, destabilizing Ethiopia and wreaking havoc in the society.

The issue in the federal defensive action against the TPLF is crystal clear.

The Ethiopian Federal Government has a duty to ensure the Constitution is defended, protected and preserved.

That duty is clearly stated in Article 51(1) (federal government must defend and preserve the Constitution), Article 51 (16) (declare and to lift national state of emergency), Article 93 (1)(a) (Council of Ministers have power to decree state of emergency) and Article 9 (supremacy clause).

No one with a sane mind can argue that bombardment of a federal military installation without provocation or cause can be deemed constitutional.

For years, the TPLF has been threatening war and secession.

I have addressed the TPLF’s war-drumming and -mongering in my February 4, 2018 commentary thoroughly.

What the TPLF leadership did on November 4, 2020 is make good on its long promised threat of war on Ethiopians and the federal government.

There is not a rock PM has not turned to negotiate, mediate, arbitrate and reconcile with the TPLF.

Over the past two years, numerous attempts have been made to bring the TPLF to the discussion table.

Ethiopian elders, religious leaders, civic advocates and activists have urged and even gone to the TPLF’s hideout to work out a peaceful resolution of disputes.

But the TPLF spat on the faces of these leaders.

The TPLF continued with its long train of abuses and usurpations with the aim of unleashing chaos, destruction and instability in Ethiopia.

The TPLF’s guiding mantra follows the proverbial Ethiopian donkey which  said, “I do not care if no grass grows after I m gone.”

In other words, “Après moi, le déluge.” After me the flood. 

Yes, the flood of blood in Ethiopia.

The TPLF planned, financed and organized terrorist activities throughout Ethiopia causing untold deaths and displacement of millions of people.

The TPLF declared the federal government “illegal” and conducted its own elections in violation of Article 102 (1) of the Constitution of Ethiopia.

The TPLF mobilized its regular regional force and dragooned farmers, students, laborers and others into its militia to attack a federal military installation.

The TPLF pledged to make Ethiopia ungovernable by financing and terrorism throughout Ethiopia.

STOP MEDDLING. Ethiopian solutions for Ethiopia’s problems. African solutions for Africa’s Problems

The United States Government will never negotiate with terrorists and sacrifice its Constitution, compromise its armed forces and the peace and security of its citizens.

Neither will the Governments of the U.K, France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Russia…

Neither will the Governments of Nigeria, Kenya, Sudan, Rwanda….

To negotiate with terrorists is to invite more and more terrorism.

What is good for the goose is good for the gander.

What is good for America, Britain, France, Spain… in dealing with terrorists is good enough for Ethiopia!

NO DEAL WITH TERRORISTS

All who seek to pressure the Ethiopian government to “negotiate” with the TPLF should STOP MEDDLING and ask themselves a simple question: “Would they negotiate with a certified terrorist group that declared war on their national defense forces, caused untold deaths and misery on civilians and trashed their constitution?

Of course not!

President Lincoln did not negotiate with insurrection leaders that bombarded Fort Sumter?

Why should PM Abiy negotiate with the TPLF terrorists that bombarded the Northern Command fort?

Those who pontificate about negotiations should first understand the root cause of the problem and the existential threat the TPLF poses to Ethiopia.

Scripted blather about “negotiations” will not intimidate the Ethiopian people or their leaders.

If there is going to be negotiations, let it be on the battlefield. The TPLF will soon be served a final notice: Surrender or Go Six Feet Under!

The sanctimonious holier-than-thou leaders and politicians pestering PM Abiy to negotiate with the TPLF terrorists should be honest like Secretary Mike Pompeo and declare:

“We stand with the people of Ethiopia and will work with all who are committed to peace, prosperity, democracy, and the rule of law.”

HAIL TO THE HEROIC ETHIOPIAN DEFENSE FORCES.

YOUR SACRIFICES SHALL BE SEARED NOT ONlY IN OUR HEARTS AND MINDS BUT ALSO IN THE GLORIOUS PAGES OF WORLD MILITARY HISTORY.

NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF ETHIOPIA HAVE SO MANY OWED SO MUCH TO SO FEW!

The post A Simple Question to All Who Seek To Exert Pressure on Ethiopia: D0 YOU NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISTS? appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News/.

Amnesty International UK
Press releases

Hundreds killed and wounded in knife and machete attacks on night of 9 November

Witnesses say Tigray People’s Liberation Front responsible

‘This is a horrific tragedy’ – Deprose Muchena

Amnesty International has verified video footage and photographs that show scores of people were killed and wounded in knife and machete attacks in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region on the night of 9 November.

The gruesome evidence shows bodies being carried away on stretchers or strewn across the town of Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) in the South West Zone of Ethiopia. Amnesty’s Crisis Evidence Lab used satellite imagery to geolocate and confirm the exact location where the crimes were committed (14.071008, 36.564681).

Amnesty spoke to witnesses providing food and supplies to the Ethiopian Defense Forces immediately after the deadly attack, on the morning of 10 November, who found dead bodies and injured survivors strewn across the town. Witnesses confirmed that the majority of dead bodies were found in the town centre, near the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, and along a road that exits to the neighbouring town of Humera.

Gaping wounds confirm use of knives and machetes

Witnesses told Amnesty that victims had gaping wounds which appear to have been inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes. Amnesty has confirmed these reports after commissioning an independent pathologist to verify the claims.

One distraught witness told Amnesty:

“Those wounded told me they were attacked with machetes, axes and knives. You can also tell from the wounds that those who died were attacked by sharp objects. It is horrible and I am really sad that I witnessed this in my life.”

‘Soaked in blood”

Amnesty has not yet been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings, but has spoken to witnesses who said forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front were responsible – apparently carrying out the killings after they suffered a defeat at the hands of federal Ethiopian Defense Forces. Three people told Amnesty that survivors of the massacre said they were attacked by members of the Tigray Special Police Force and other Tigray People’s Liberation Front members.

A civilian who entered the town after it was retaken told Amnesty:

“There was a military operation by the Ethiopian Defense Forces and Amhara Special Force against the Tigray Special Police and militia during the daytime on 9 November. After they defeated the Tigray forces, the Ethiopian Defense Forces spent the night on the outskirts of Mai-Kadra town.

“When we entered, we saw a lot of dead bodies, soaked in blood, on the streets and rental dormitories frequented by seasonal workers. I am still in shock struggling to cope with the experience.”

This was corroborated by another eyewitness, who said:

“We went to the town immediately after the army and the Amhara Special Force took control of Mai-Kadra town on 10 November at around 10 am. The army entered … after encircling the town overnight. There was no exchange of fire for the army to take over the town. But when we entered the town, what we saw was devastating. The roads were strewn with dead bodies especially in the centre of the town, and on the road that connects the town to Humera.”

While the official death toll in Mai-Kadra is not yet known, the Amhara regional government’s media agency AMMA reported there were around 500 victims, adding that they were primarily non-Tigrayan residents of the town. A man who is helping to clear the bodies from the streets told Amnesty that he had looked at the state-issued identification cards of some victims, and most were Amhara.

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s East and Southern Africa Director, said:

“We have confirmed the massacre of a very large number of civilians, who appear to have been day labourers in no way involved in the ongoing military offensive.

“This is a horrific tragedy whose true extent only time will tell as communication in Tigray remains shut down.

“The government must restore all communication to Tigray as an act of accountability and transparency for its military operations in the region, as well as ensure unfettered access to humanitarian organisations and human rights monitors.

“The Ethiopian authorities must immediately, thoroughly, impartially and effectively investigate this blatant attack on civilians and bring those responsible to justice in fair trials.

“The Tigray People’s Liberation Front commanders and officials must make clear to their forces and their supporters that deliberate attacks on civilians are absolutely prohibited and constitute war crimes.

“All parties in the Tigray conflict must ensure full respect for international humanitarian law and human rights law in their operations. The safety and protection of civilians must be paramount.”

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ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – The leader of Ethiopia’s Tigray region told Reuters on Sunday that his forces bombed the airport in Eritrea’s capital Asmara on Saturday evening, confirming earlier reports from diplomats of a major escalation in an 11-day old conflict in Ethiopia.

Tigray’s President Debretsion Gebremichael also said that his forces have been fighting Eritrean forces “on several fronts” for the past few days.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a military offensive in the restive Tigray northern region on Nov.4. Eritrea’s government has denied involvement in the conflict.

The post Forces from Ethiopia’s Tigray region bombed Eritrean capital, Tigray leader says appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News/.