Ethiopians protest for jailed leader

www.nazrett.com Home of Ethiopian News and Blog Breaking News By Mark Roth About noon today, a group of protestors against the current Ethiopian government gathered at the Birtukan Mideksa corner of Liberty and Fifth avenues Downtown, seeking fair elections in that country and release of an imprisoned opposition leader, Birtukan Mideksa, a 35-year-old former judge and mother of a 4-year-old child who has been sentenced to life in prison by the government of prime minister Meles Zenawi. Mekdese Kassa, the spokesman for the group, who manages a cancer center in Baltimore, said that even though Mr. Zenawi was elected in 2000, many Ethiopians feel the results were manipulated, and even though new elections are scheduled next year, many opposition party leaders have refused to participate, believing the outcome will be rigged. They also said that Ms. Mideksa, after being pardoned by the government in 2007, was rearrested last year, allegedly for refusing to apologize for her crimes. Another rallying cry for the group was a 2003 incident in which hundreds of Anuak tribespeople were killed, allegedly with the help of government forces, during ethnic fighting. Referring to American aid to Ethiopia, Mr. Kassa said, “we are saying that U.S. money is being used to kill women and children as a form of genocide, and we want the G-20 to listen. We are focusing on human rights. Human rights violations in Ethiopia are worse than any country, you name it.” The group of about 30 people moved up Fifth Avenue toward the Convention Center area, intending to hook up- with other similar groups protesting the Zenawi regime. Source: THE BIG STORY G-20 Summit Ethiopian protest update

Three Million Children in Ethiopia Urgently Need Food amid Worst Crisis in Decades

www.nazrett.com Home of Ethiopian News and Blog Breaking News WESTPORT, Conn. (24 September 2009) Persistent drought compounded by higher than average food prices have created East Africa's worst food crisis in decades. Millions of children face the greatest risks, including severe malnutrition, disease, and death. But official food aid is falling well short of increased needs, particularly in Ethiopia. Across the Horn of Africa, an estimated 20 million people will need emergency humanitarian assistance through the end of this year. In comparison, last year – when drought, high food prices, and conflict were also at issue – only 14 million needed such assistance in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda. "We've not seen a food crisis of this magnitude and severity in many years, and it is children who will suffer the most if the world fails to respond quickly," said Ned Olney, Save the Children's vice president for Global Humanitarian Response. "In Ethiopia, millions of subsistence farmers are dependent on weather patterns they cannot control," he said. "Now their children face not only hunger, but the increased vulnerability to deadly disease that accompanies severe malnutrition. These kids need help now." Cases of acute watery diarrhoea are on the rise in Ethiopia, with 1,354 new cases and three deaths reported in just one week this month. Meanwhile, food aid is lagging behind greatly increased needs. The United Nations' World Food Program estimates a current shortfall of US$400 million worth of food needed to reach hungry families in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government estimates that 6.2 million people, half of them children, will need emergency food aid in the next few months. These needs are beyond those of the 8.2 million people in Ethiopia already receiving food aid through the Productive Safety Net Program run by the government together with Save the Children and other humanitarian agencies. That programme distributes food in exchange for community participation in public works, such as road, water well, and school construction and rehabilitation. In response to the current crisis, Save the Children plans to distribute food to 800,000 people in some of Ethiopia's hardest hit areas, and is expanding emergency health and nutrition programmes. These programmes include therapeutic feeding centres for severely malnourished children and supplementary feeding programmes for severely and moderately malnourished children. Sickness Worsens a Grave Situation Save the Children is also developing and expanding water and sanitation programmes to reduce cases of acute diarrhoea. Additionally, Save the Children is working with refugee populations in the Somali region, and plans to expand educational programmes currently serving 4,500 children in the Boqolmayo refugee camp. Save the Children also provides psychosocial counselling and health and nutrition support as needed to unaccompanied children in the refugee camp. With additional funds, these services could expand to help these children reunite with their families. More information Save the Children has worked in Ethiopia since the 1930s, and has had a permanent programme there since the 1970s. The agency responded to the food crisis of 1984 and has continued to provide life-saving services in times of severe food shortage. Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and Save the Children is dedicated to supporting long-term development projects to help families and communities better support themselves. Programmes include health care interventions to reduce high rates of child mortality and HIV/AIDS prevention and support programs. Save the Children also works closely with pastoralist communities, providing alternative basic education for children who cannot attend school, and livelihoods support so their parents need not sell off their animals — often their only assets — during times of hardship.

UN warns over East Africa hunger

www.nazrett.com Home of Ethiopian News and Blog Breaking News More than 20 million people in the Horn of Africa need food aid because of two years of poor rainfall, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) says. The body says cuts in its funding have made it more difficult to feed people across Kenya, Somalia, Somaliland, Eritrea, Djibouti and Ethiopia. The WFP says an added problem is that congestion in Djibouti's port is holding up the flow of relief supplies. Some 14 million people in the region were said to need food aid last year. The BBC's Uduak Amimo, in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, says the WFP is particularly concerned about Eritrea because it cannot get any reliable information. The agency says it cannot collect data because of movement restrictions and work permits not being issued. It says it is concerned that malnourished children and pregnant women are not getting the help being offered across the rest of the region. Meanwhile, congestion in Djibouti's port is holding up relief supplies. The Ethiopian government and WFP are trying to persuade Sudan and Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland to allow their ports to be used instead.

Zenawi, Save Lake Koka and Then Save Continent

www.nazrett.com Home of Ethiopian News and Blog Breaking News Last week Ethiopia's arch dictator was in tears - crocodile tears that is - over the unfair and shameful treatment of Africa by the heartless Western imperialists on the issue of global warming and climate change. Frothing at the mouth and brimming with moral indignation, the dictator threatened to go all out Gandhi on the West at the December climate change talks in Copenhagen. With sanctimonious and self-righteous rebuke, he railed: 'If need be we are prepared to walk out of any negotiations that threatens to be another rape of the continent... While we reason with everyone to achieve our objective we are not prepared to rubber stamp any agreement by the powers... We will use our numbers to delegitimise any agreement that is not consistent with our minimal position... Africa will field a single negotiating team empowered to negotiate on behalf of all member states of the African Union... The key thing for me is that Africa be compensated for the damage caused by global warming. Many institutions have tried to quantify that and they have come up with different figures. The sort of median figure would be in the range of US$40 billion a year.' Meles Zenawi's sidekick on climate change, African Union chairman Jean Ping, (the long-time and one of the closest advisers of Omar Bongo, Gabon's 42-year dictator who died recently) took an even harder line: 'It is my expectation that such financial resources must be from public funds and must be additional to the usual overseas development assistance... What we are not prepared to live with is global warming above minimum unavoidable levels... We will therefore never accept any global deal that does not limit global warming to the minimum unavoidable level, no matter what levels of compensation and assistance are promised to us. ' THE MORAL PROFUNDITY OF TYRANTS: HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL! It is truly refreshing to hear words and phrases that signal latent moral awakening in the 'conscience' of tyrants. Use of such phrases and words as 'not prepared to rubberstamp' (in contrast to a rubberstamp parliament), 'rape of a continent' (in contrast to the rape of Ethiopia), 'delegitimise' (in contrast to delegitimising rigged elections), 'walk out of negotiations' (in contrast to walking opposition parties through make-believe negotiations), 'compensation for damages' (in contrast to compensation for damages to families of victims of extrajudicial killings, victims of excessive and unreasonable use of deadly force under colour of law and victims of illegal arrests and detentions) give new meaning to the expression, 'Hope springs eternal in the human breast.' Mahatama Gandhi could not have been more proud of such resolute declarations of profound moral outrage against the wily Westerners who have been exploiting Africa for centuries. Indeed as Gandhi taught, 'Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as cooperation with good.' Therefore, never cooperate with the malevolent Western overlords on issues of fair play, equity, and certainly environmental justice! That is the essence of the bluster of a 'walk out' and 'delegitimisation' of the Copenhagen climate talks. Gandhi argued that the only way to get the British to abandon their evil ways in South Africa and India was to actively resist their colonial rule through civil disobedience, particularly through a campaign of non-cooperation. He encouraged Indian workers, policemen, soldiers and civil servants to go on strike. He called for massive boycotts of public transportation and English-manufactured goods. Gandhi used the moral weapon of Satyagraha (satya, meaning 'truth' and agraha, meaning 'holding firm to') to campaign against the myriad crimes and abuses committed by the British colonial masters. He aim was to use 'satyagraha to convert the wrongdoer, to awaken a sense of justice in him, to show him also that without the cooperation direct or indirect of the wronged, the wrongdoer cannot do the wrong intended by him.' Remarkably and commendably, that is the intrinsic logic of the Zenawi's outburst of moral outrage. By exposing the hypocritical West on climate change to the light of Truth and by threatening to visit moral condemnation upon them, they could be persuaded to change their evil ways. Indeed, by a resolute act of non-cooperation, the West could be held to account for its reckless abuse of nature and make Africans whole by paying them monetary damages. In short, the West could be named and shamed into doing right by Africa. But is the Zenawi's pronouncement of moral outrage sincere and made in good faith? Or is it a veiled threat of naked political extortion? BLOOD MONEY, CARBON MONEY AND THE SCRIPTURE-CITING DEVIL Shakespeare wrote, 'The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness is like a villain with a smiling cheek.' Or a villain shedding crocodile tears? The bluster about 'walking out' and 'delegitimising' the Copenhagen talks etc, is nothing more than a cynical and beguiling appeal to lofty moral virtues to guilt-trip and shakedown Western countries into paying billions of dollars every year as 'blood money'. That is certainly the conclusion of the Economist magazine, which in its recent issue stated that the wrath of the African 'leaders' is aimed at: '...making the rich world feel guilty about global warming. Mr Meles has made it clear he is seeking blood money - or rather carbon money - that would be quite separate from other aid to the continent. If the cash were not forthcoming, the African Union (AU) might take a case to a court of arbitration and ask it to judge overall culpability for climate change. In a rare fit of African unity, it was decided at a recent flurry of leaders' meetings that the United States, the European Union, Japan and others should pay the continent the tidy sum of US$67 billion a year, though it was unclear for how long.' In the end, all of the climate change pontification is about African dictators extorting a $67 billion payola (hush money) every year to line their pockets. It has absolutely nothing to do with remedying the environmental degradation of Africa. It has everything to do with Africa's tin pot dictators striking gold in a modern day El Dorado (also known as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, Western donors, etc). They know there is a huge pot of glittering gold at the end of the climate change/global warming rainbow. Africa's dictators are drooling - literally slobbering at the mouth and licking their chops - at the prospect of putting their grubby hands on that US$67 billion delicious golden pie and sinking their teeth into it. SAVE LAKE KOKA FIRST AND THEN SAVE AFRICA Let's face hard facts: Ethiopia is facing an ecological disaster! Not from catastrophic climate change (that is macro-climatic changes resulting from variations in solar radiation, deviations in the Earth's orbit, changes in greenhouse concentrations, etc), but from man-made causes. Ethiopia is facing an ecological catastrophe caused by deforestation, soil erosion, over-grazing, over-population, desertification and loss of biodiversity, and chemical pollution of its rivers and lakes. Hundreds of square miles of forest land and farmland are lost every year. According to the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute[1], 'Ethiopia loses up to 200,000 hectares of forest every year and warned that if the trend continues the country would lose all of its forest resources by the year 2020.' Other data show that 'between 1990 and 2005, Ethiopia lost 14 per cent of its forest cover (2,114,000 hectares) and 3.6 per cent of its forest and woodland habitat. If the trend continues, it is expected that Ethiopia could lose all of its forest resources in 11 years, by the year 2020.'[2] The wild animal population is disappearing at an alarming rate due to deforestation and loss of natural habitat, and hundreds of plant and animal species are facing imminent extinction. Relevant Links East Africa Ethiopia Climate International Organisations Sustainable Development Dr Gedion Getahun, Research Scientist at the Environmental Radioanalytical Chemistry in Mainz, Germany writes[3]: 'According to the UN, Ethiopia's forests are depleted, at present less than three per cent of the entire country is covered with trees... In Ethiopia, biodiversity is treated in very awful manner. The destruction of natural habitat as well as a threat to the flora and fauna and other biological resources diminish the economy of the country. This affects the country's wealth and with it, the existence and the well being of the nation. ' The Lake Koka environmental disaster - a topic of special coverage by the Al Jazeera Network[4] - a few kilometres outside Ethiopia's capital is only the tip of the iceberg of Ethiopia's environmental nightmare. As one resident of the Lake Koka community put it[5]: Page 1 of 212

A Thief Calling 'Thief!' - Meles Zenawi and Climate Change

www.nazrett.com Home of Ethiopian News and Blog Breaking News Last week we read in the news that Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was warning that African delegates may walk out of the upcoming UN World Summit on Climate Change to be held in Copenhagen in December unless they are assured of a huge sum - hundreds of billions a year - by the countries of the West. A number of things may come to one's mind on reading such warnings. For the sake of this article however, we will only focus on whether or not African leaders, and Meles in particular, have the moral high ground to issue that warning. We believe not. Let's unambiguously state from the outset that Western countries, and the US in the main, are largely to blame for the world's climate change and that they bear the highest responsibility for the consequences that occur globally thereof. That said however, nobody is free from blame either; it is only the degree of the blame that differs. It is true that Africa is on the receiving end of the environmental crisis resulting from climate change. But, Africa also has its part in contributing to the climate change. The cause for climate change is not just the emission of greenhouse gases, it is human activity in general as well as some natural changes occurring within and around earth. Nobody is to be spared of responsibility from the consequences of human activity in general. However, the degree of greenhouse emissions as a result of human activity differs from activity to activity. One thing for sure is that emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) since the industrial revolution have greatly increased and the global temperature has also risen. Industrialisation as one human activity is the biggest culprit in this respect. Other human activities that result in emissions of CO2 also contribute to climate change. These are fossil fuel burning, deforestation purposes and other forms of environmental degradation. Now, the industrialised countries are undoubtedly the first to blame for CO2 emissions as a result of industrialisation. In this regard, the greatest polluters at the moment are the US, China and India. The non-industrialised countries are not to be spared from blame either. They have their share of the blame too. In fact, from the angle of the prevalence of poverty and under-development, their mistakes are as detrimental to the existence of their own communities as we are going to see in the case of the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government in Ethiopia. In Africa as a whole, the degree of deforestation that results in soil erosion, the drying of lakes and the reduction of soil fertility and other forms of environmental degradation is extremely high. Until a few years ago, Africa was well-known for its tropical forests and wild animals. Today, it has been observed that the forest land coverage in Europe is much larger than it is in Africa. That means, Europe has more forests and trees than Africa. This is because Europe resorted to massive reforestation while Africa is still in the process of destroying its forests. Europe resorted to policies of massive reforestation while African governments resorted to massive deforestation or displayed utter insensitivity and complicity in face of massive deforestation. Now, here is the crux of the matter: government policies. What have African governments done to conserve the environment and their forests in particular? Let's focus on the records of Meles's government in Ethiopia and examine if Meles really has the moral high ground to accuse Western governments on grounds of polluting the world. Environmental protection or the conservation of nature are absolutely crucial for Ethiopia as the greater part of its social formation is constituted by activities of the natural economy, as well as the fact that more than 85 per cent of its population live in rural areas and depend on what nature provides. The rural population's survival depends on the environment and it goes without saying that the sustainable use of the environment is the crucial link to food security. From the point of economic growth, social development and indeed of social change, the protection of the environment is crucial for Ethiopia as it is connected with issues of rural development. Social development in rural Ethiopia cannot take place just by 'boosting production through the hard work of the peasantry', but by creating the legal, social and political environment that enables the peasantry to diversify its livelihood system. In other words, development and economic growth that in turn begins with the accumulation of wealth also begins with disengaging the peasantry from land and enabling it to be engaged in other livelihood systems. To enable the peasantry accumulate wealth through production surplus, it is crucial to ensure that its production target succeeds, which in turn requires the availability of rain or irrigated water and the conservation of the soil. And this is what protecting the environment all is about. It is indeed crucial to realise the environment-rural production-accumulation nexus. In an impoverished country such as Ethiopia which has no capacity to replace nature with technologically advanced alternatives accessible to a large population, once the environment is destroyed and eroded it is nearly impossible to recover it. In the face of an increasing population which still depends on nature and works on it for survival, the sustainable use of nature is indeed a very serious issue that requires not only seriousness of purpose on the part of governance but also intellect and capacity. Here, a number of crucial issues are interwoven and interdependent: protecting the environment, strategising rural development, population control and ensuring food security in the immediate term, and a comprehensive environmental policy to address these issues. The need for such a policy is to prevent the further erosion of the environment, ensure food security and generate rural development. In all these, the record of Meles Zenawi's government is abysmal. Now, what are Ethiopia's environmental problems that have a direct bearing on the prevalence of continued environmental destruction, poverty and under-development? First of all, massive deforestation. Trees and forests have a special function in preserving moisture and water and, above all, soil and its fertility. The preservation of forests and trees is absolutely crucial for Ethiopia's survival. Unfortunately, due to the utter neglect of successive governments in the country, massive deforestation has occurred. Records show that Ethiopia's forest coverage by the turn of the 20th century was 40 per cent. By 1987 (under the military government), it had gone down to 5.5 per cent and in 2003 (under Meles's government) it had gone further down to 0.2 per cent. In terms of area, Ethiopia's rate of deforestation was between 150,000 and 200,000 hectares of land a year. Deforestation has led to massive soil erosion. One of the most important functions of trees is to keep the soil intact from erosion by running water as a result of rain or from being blown away by strong wind. When soil is preserved, its nutrients are also preserved, meaning its fertility is also preserved. Trees also absorb and maintain water and moisture and play crucial role in balancing the ecosystem, which has strong bearing on agriculture. When deforestation takes place, all these crucial roles of trees are lost, exposing the land to further erosion of its top soil, with a huge negative impact on agriculture. A study by M. Constable suggests that the highlands of Ethiopia contain one of the largest ecological degradations in Africa. Soil erosion in turn contributes to the drying of lakes. In the last few years alone, three Rift Valley lakes have dried up: Lake Alemaya, Lake Adele and Lake Lange. When soil is massively washed into the lake, silt develops underneath, pushing the water upwards and expanding the area of water coverage. This gives the impression that the lake has more water and in fact makes it look as if flooding takes place. The reality is exactly the opposite, however. The water is pushed to a larger surface and exposed to massive evaporation, drying up at the end. Relevant Links East Africa Ethiopia Climate International Organisations Sustainable Development The same process is repeated at Lake Awassa. A study by one international NGO concluded that Lake Awassa is threatened by the same process through which the other three lakes dried up. The regional government of Meles Zenawi refused to accept the report and argued that they are actually noticing that Lake Awassa threatens a flood situation because they see more water in a larger area. (So much for the capacity his officials in the region.) Undoubtedly, the issue of water in general is crucial for Ethiopia as an agricultural society as it is often hit by drought, resulting in a situation of perennial food insecurity. There was no visible sign of seriousness or alarm on the part of Meles's government when the three lakes dried up completely. The town of Harrar, probably the fourth or fifth largest town in the country, which depended on Lake Alemaya for its water supply, was left to suffer from acute water shortage for weeks when the government watched the lake dry and did practically nothing noticeable until the last minute. This brings us to the policy of Meles's government. Page 1 of 212

The spring rains failed entirely, and the summer rains were three weeks late. But why is famine is stalking Ethiopia again?

www.nazrett.com Home of Ethiopian News and Blog Breaking News President Obama has clearly stated, particularly in his speech in Ghana, that African rulers cannot fool his government easily and he will not openly support their perpetuation of 'strongmanship'. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's trip to a select few African countries also seemed an endorsement of that message, though it happened in accordance with America's foreign interest in the region. Both Obama's speech and Clinton's trip have made it clear that African rulers must first champion free and fair elections, respect the rule of law and win the trust of their population should they want any kind of open alliance with the Oval Office. With Ethiopia one of the US's foreign aid recipients, the message from the White House must have intimidated Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's administration. During Bush's administration, the 'War on Terror' rhetoric worked really well in favour of Prime Minister Zenawi, who enjoyed unlimited support from the United States. Today however, he is having a hard time securing Washington's undivided attention. The Obama administration has carefully reserved itself from openly engaging Zenawi's government due to the post-2005 election violence and other negative human rights records. There is also a huge presence of Ethiopians in the Washington D.C. area who are preventing Zenawi from having a smooth ride with Obama. Most of the diaspora Ethiopians heavily criticise and oppose Zenawi's rule because of his party's monopoly over the economy and politics. Just recently there was a March 4 Freedom demonstration right in front of Capitol Hill, condemning the government in Addis Ababa and accusing it of 'genocide'. When Zenawi was recently asked about current Ethio-US relations, he defended his government's position by saying, 'I don't agree with everything under the sun, let alone with Obama. Do we express our disagreements openly when we disagree? Yes, we do. Does that create a feeling of tension from time to time? Perhaps it does. Does that mean that the relationship is fundamentally weak? No. And there is nothing new to the strains that you seem to notice; there is nothing specifically related to the Obama administration. If anything, the coming of the Obama administration may have eased some of the strains.'[1] Given the current political insecurity in Ethiopia, having an open alliance with Prime Minister Zenawi will be a disadvantage for President Obama. President Obama, before he took power, promised millions, including the Ethiopian diaspora who voted for him in droves, that he would bring change to Washington's foreign policy, which affects millions of poor people around the world. Breaking that promise means becoming another hypocrite - a typical politician who betrays people's trust. ZENAWI AND HIS HEGEMONIC PARTY Zenawi's loyalists may consider him a 'renaissance man' but for those who oppose his government he is just another 'tyrant'. Those who oppose him are worried that his party, if not he himself, will cling to power for as long as possible through undemocratic means. They accuse his government's senior, junior and low-ranking officials of corruption and exploitation, two unfortunate obstacles of progress that existed in Ethiopia even before Zenawi was born. The fact is that poor Ethiopians are tired of whatever kind of authoritarianism: 40 plus years of Haile Selassie, 17 years of Mengistu and now 18 plus years of Meles Zenawi. The ongoing political chaos has weakened their spirit. It is too much to endure, although the people are partially to blame for the mess. After all, the rulers did not ascend directly from hell. Although the elites are to 99.99 per cent loyal to Western ideologies, they come from within the society and are shaped by its culture. The sad reality is that the burden is always placed on the poor people. The disempowered elites run away to safe havens when the worst comes to worst, leaving the country and the defenceless people to fend for themselves, while the powerful ones who remain behind exploit the people unrepentantly. Today's political fight in Ethiopia is still based around ideology, and remains fundamentally similar to the time when Meles was a militant student. Economically, the country still heavily depends on foreign aid, forcing some to conclude, 'it's addicted to aid.' Although Zenawi argues that he will turn Ethiopia into a 'middle-income economy' soon, a growing number of children are exported to foreign countries as 'orphans'. Most people in today's Ethiopia are as poor as they were yesterday, if not more so. People with a 'middle-class' status barely exist. You are either on top of the pyramid or at the very bottom of it. So many young people die crossing deserts or deadly seas in search of a better life. The number of people who apply for the Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery to fulfil their American dream doubles every year. Many students who graduate from American or European universities rarely go back home. Most of those who graduate inside the country remain unemployed. There are few entrepreneurs; the concept of micro financing, which has changed lives in Asia, scarcely exists. A few, associated with the government, monopolise businesses. Doesn't this disturbing fact eat Zenawi's brain every time he goes to bed? Twenty years from now, long after I am done with school, I wish to see an aid-independent, democratic Ethiopia where fair politics reign, and where people wake up every morning wanting to do something positive in their homeland instead of dreaming about foreign countries. I also wish my future children to grow up in a respected country, enabling them to be proud of their Ethiopian and African identity, not to mention their ethnic heritage and where they are free to express their thoughts and to criticise their leaders fearlessly, using their constitutional rights. Ethiopia still has a huge chance to become a democratic and prosperous nation in the Horn of Africa. A significant number of South Africa's population, for example, is still poor; however, South African politicians and lawmakers have transformed the country from apartheid to a genuine democracy with the result that South Africa's economy is thriving and their democratic tradition is blossoming. There is no reason why Ethiopia cannot follow the South African path should there be dedicated leaders from both the ruling party and the opposition. If Zenawi and his party open up the space for a genuine multi-party system and establish a truth and reconciliation commission, historical antipathy between the various competing ethnic elites will surely be curbed and the poor will finally have their peace. Zenawi, 54 years old, had been giving mixed signals for months that he might retire from office. However, because his party's members 'love him so much' and because they see him as 'irreplaceable', they have 'urged' him to stay in power longer, until his 60th birthday. What a birthday present to a dedicated comrade, one may say! However, behind this love affair, there exists a calculated risk. Zenawi, no doubt, is the political mastermind of the ruling party, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), supposedly a coalition of four regional parties - the Oromo People's Democratic Organisation (OPDO), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), the Southern Ethiopian Peoples' Democratic Movement (SPDM) and the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF). However, the TPLF, as the founder of the other three pseudo-independent parties, monopolises everything. Considering the EPRDF's present obstacles - Obama's administration, human rights organisations, growing public discontent, global economic meltdown, and opposition parties - the presence of Zenawi as prime minister is crucial for the party's survival. Thus it was the right decision for the EPRDF to keep its strongman in power. Zenawi explained the party's decision to journalists, saying, 'In order to ensure policy continuity, and success in the implementation of the party's platform, the party felt that there was need for some additional time.'[2] Relevant Links East Africa Ethiopia U.S., Canada and Africa The EPRDF is determined to win in 2010. Given the difficult situations major opposition parties face, there is no doubt it will win. 2010 ELECTION For EPRDF politicians, the 2010 election is expected to be tougher than the 2005 election, which was disastrous, resulting in the government and the opposition forces blaming each other for the chaos. It was reported that about 200 people were killed and many injured during the crisis. Opposition leaders, their supporters, journalists and some employees of NGOs were thrown into jail and accused of 'treason'. After that election, most opposition parties were crippled because of their internal litigations and government interference. Many political prisoners, including the first Ethiopian female opposition leader, Birtukan Mideksa, still languish in notorious prisons

Ethiopia: Population, famine and fate

www.nazrett.com Home of Ethiopian News and Blog Breaking News The spring rains failed entirely, and the summer rains were three weeks late. But why is famine is stalking Ethiopia again? The Ethiopian government is authoritarian, but it isn't incompetent. It gives fertilizer to farmers and teaches best practices. By the late 1990s the country was self-sufficient in food in good years, and the government had created a strategic food reserve for the bad years. So why are we back here again? Infant deaths are already over two per 10,000 per day in Somali, the worst-hit region of Ethiopia. (Four per day counts as full-scale famine.) Country-wide, 20 per cent of the population already depends on the dwindling flow of foreign food aid, and it will get worse for many months yet. What have the Ethiopians done wrong? The real answer (which everybody carefully avoids) is that they have had too many babies. Ethiopia's population at the time of the last famine was 40 million. Twenty-five years later, it is 80 million. You can do everything else right - give your farmers new tools and skills, fight erosion, create food reserves - but if you don't control the population, you are just spitting into the wind. It is so obvious that this should be the start of every conversation about the country. Even if the coming famine in Ethiopia kills a million people, the population will keep growing. So the next famine, 10 or 15 years from now, will hit a country of a hundred million people, trying to make a living from farming on land where only 40 million faced starvation in the 1980s. It is going to get much uglier in Ethiopia. Yet it's practically taboo to say that. The whole question of population, instead of being central to the debate about development, about food, about climate change, has been put on ice. The reason, I think, is that the rich countries are secretly embarrassed, and the poor countries are deeply resentful. Suppose Ethiopia had been the first country to industrialize. Suppose some mechanical genius in Tigray invented the world's first steam engine in 1710. The first railways were spreading across the country by the 1830s, and at the same time Ethiopian entrepreneurs and imperialists spread all over Africa. By the end of the 19th century, they controlled half of Europe too. Never mind the improbabilities. The point is that an Ethiopia with such a history would easily be rich enough to support 80 million people now - and if it could not grow enough food for them all, it would just import it. Just like Britain - where the industrial revolution actually started - imports food. Money makes everything easy. In 1710, when Thomas Newcomen devised the first practical steam engine in Devonshire, the population of Britain was just seven million. It is now 61 million, but they do not live in fear of famine. In fact, they eat very well, even though they currently import over a third of their food. They got in first, so although they never worried in the slightest about population growth, they got away with it. Ethiopia has more than four times the land surface of Britain. The rain is less reliable, but a rich Ethiopia would have no trouble feeding its people. The problem is that it got the population growth without the wealth. Stopping the population growth now would be very hard, but otherwise famine will be a permanent resident in another 20 years. The problem is well understood. The population of the rich countries has grown about tenfold since the earliest days of the industrial revolution, but for the first half of that period, it grew quite slowly. Many babies died, and there were no cures for most epidemic diseases. Later the death rate dropped, but by then, with people feeling more secure in their lives, the birth rate was dropping too. Whereas in most of the poor countries the population hardly grew at all until the start of the 20th century. But once the population did start to grow, thanks to basic public health measures that cut the death rate, it grew faster than it ever did in the rich countries. Unfortunately, economies don't grow that fast, so these countries never achieved the level of comfort and security where most people will start to reduce their family size spontaneously. At the current rate of growth, Ethiopia's population will double again, to 160 million people, in just 32 years. You're thinking, that will never happen. Famine will become normal in Ethiopia well before that. No combination of wise domestic policies, and no amount of foreign aid, can stop it. And you are right. What applies to Ethiopia applies to many other African countries, including some that do not currently have famines. Uganda, for example, had five million people at independence in 1960. It now has 32 million, and at the current growth rate it will have 130 million by 2050. Uganda is only the size of Oregon. History is unfair. Conversations between those who got lucky and those left holding the other end of the stick are awkward. But we cannot go on ignoring the elephant in the room. We have to start talking about population again. Gwynne Dyer is a London-based, Newfoundland-born independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries. His latest book, Climate Wars, was published recently in Canada by Random House.

Ethiopia arrests 480 opponents - coalition

www.nazrett.com Home of Ethiopian News and Blog Breaking News September 24, 2009 (ADDIS ABABA) — A Newly allied coalition of Ethiopian opposition groups on Wednesday accused the Ethiopian government of launching a new wave of arrests against opposition members, ahead of the approaching national election. The alliance, Forum for Democratic Dialogue in Ethiopia (FDDE), said that government cadres have intensified a new wave of arrests against opposition members on trumped-up charges to cripple them from running in Next Year’s election. “As of today our party has received a list of 250 opposition members jailed in Oromyia region and another 230 in the Amhara region” Gebru Asrat, FDDE chairman told Sudan tribune. Prime Minister Meles’s former close ally, Gebru, said that the arrests were worsening after opposition groups and the ruling EPRDF party began talks on code of conduct. Recently, FDDE walked-out of discussions on code of conduct set by the Ethiopian government, demanding other electoral rules to be included on the talks, so the election is held in fair and free way, as government pledged. Issues of freedom to campaigning, intervention of security forces to stop, freedom of expression and movement were among others the opposition group demanded to be included for discussion alongside the talks on code of conduct. According to the opposition official, Oromya and Amhara are the two regions arresting is being most intensified but he says he believes that same harassment is being underway in other regions too and the above figure of arrests could rise anytime soon. “Opposition members, including potential candidates are being jailed on false allegation, accused of having links with anti-peace elements” Gebru said adding “meantime we are in the process of collecting names and figures of arrested members, we will soon announce when we have all the reports at hand.” Another member of the coalition Bulcha Demeksa-a leader of a party that represent Ethiopia’s biggest ethnic group, Oromo, recently told reports that “they simply produce fake document linking you to the outlawed Oromo rebels and then after you are simply thrown to jail.” Gebru Asrat believes that the waves of arrests are the sign of the ruling party’s “frustration” and sign of “no confidence." FDDE is a coalition of 6 opposition parties and two prominent independent politicians, the two former close allies of PM Meles, Negaso Gidada, former President and Siye Abraha, former Defense Minister. (ST)

Tasting Notes Of Ethiopian Coffee53

www.nazrett.com Home of Ethiopian News and Blog Breaking News Coffee Originating from Ethiopia is known for its berry like acidity, rich aroma and full-bodied flavor. Ethiopia produces some of the most unique coffee beans in the world today. These are organically grown by small farmers where most of them are Fair Trade certified. Ethiopian coffee farmer Sidamo province located at the southern region of Ethiopia is where the Yirgacheffe coffee beans are grown by small-holding farmers. According to The Coffee Review, “Ethiopian coffees are processed by the wet or washed method (fruit skin and pulp is removed before drying) express floral and citrus notes with particular intensity.” The tasting notes are somewhat citrusy with hints of flowers and honey. The floral character explores the sweet-acidic notes of berries and citrus. This highly aromatic coffee is sprinkled with toasty notes of nuts and nuances of creamy milk chocolates. This coffee has a smooth finish.

Silversmithery in Yemen

www.nazrett.com Home of Ethiopian News and Blog Breaking News Jewish Yemenite bride. (Wikipedia) Gold and silver have been traditionally known and valued as an ornamental and coinage metal since ancient times. Silversmithery is an artistic, interesting business that came into existence in Yemen long ago. Jews and coining Coinage can be cultural and historical markers, reflecting important elements of communities throughout history and around the world. In Yemen, it is said that the silversmithing was linked to the Jewish community in Yemen before 1948, when they started moving to United States and Israel. There were once Jewish communities that lived along side Muslim communities all over Yemen. Muslims learned the craft of silversmithing from these communities. A Muslim woman known as Aunt Zohrab said she was named after a Jewish neighbor. Looking back to the past, she remembers some well-known Jewish silversmiths whose names were Isaac, Salem, and Abraham. “Silversmithery is not so easy to deal with, but it is a rather laborious job which needs a creative mind, and requires honesty, discipline, and technical skills to make beautiful jewelry which satisfies all tastes,” she said. “Of course, it is a very interesting, creative job, admittedly it is also a highly profitable business.” Sliver coins as jewelry Historically, coins of higher value are made of gold and silver, while minor coins are struck from copper all A shop for selling and buying silver in Ataq Shabwa. YT photo by Nasser Salah oy. In the second half of the 20th century, gold became almost exclusively used for non-circulating commemorative or bullion coins. Silver replaced nickel alloys to make coins known as token coinage, because they do not contain precious metals and cannot be exchanged for gold or silver. Coins were the main form of currency until European banks began printing paper notes However, in Yemen, coins are used to make jewelry. Silversmiths do not depend solely on raw materials, but also use traditional silver coins, which were once currency, such as the Austrian coin known as Maria Theresa Thaler (MTT) and the Saudi Arabian riyal. Before World War II, MTTs were used in many parts of Africa. They were common from to Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and down the coast of Tanzania to Mozambique. They were also used in Yemen along with the Indian Rupee and the South Africa UK Shilling, the standard unit of money for British colonies. In the past, woman used to wear a variety of jewelry made of glass, wood and plastic beads, typically threaded on strings. The jewelry was worn on arms, necks and ears. Also, imported brass chains were worn as belts. Over the course of time, brass jewelry became locally-made and is now worn along with the old used ones. Brass was used to make bracelets and anklets. The brass chain belt came to be decor A variety of sliver belts. YT photo by Nasser Salah ated with round metal objects about the size of 5 riyal coin size. This kind of belt was called “Atif.” Later, silver was introduced as well as gold. People in rural areas enjoyed wearing silver objects-known as masafa in Shabwa because the material is cheaper and stronger than gold. Different silver jewelry... Different names Silver jewelry was made to be worn on different parts of the body. Bracelets were known as m’aasem or shumilelat_ anklets were called hegool. Ganagin are earrings that are made of large rings strung hollow balls that jingle. This design was later made into small pieces called wazaq or gomak, and headdresses were known as hamool ar-ras. Other varieties of necklaces were called lazim, qladeh, matbakh , loopeh, khoter and rufroof. In additions, belts of different sizes with square or oblong decorative pieces are called mangad. More elaborate belts are called zimam. Rings are known in Shabwa as madawoor. Also women of the past used to wear a silver circles on their noses. However, Yemeni jewelry is not just for women. Yemeni men uses to wear silver adornments on their jambiyya knives, and bangles on their upper arms, called ma’adhadah in Shabwa, also they wore a ring with agate on their forefingers. Silver with Yemeni mark Silver jewelry that is presently available is made into light and attractive shapes for women to wear at marriage festivities a Necklace known as Al-Madbakh. YT photo by Nasser Salah nd other occasions. It is undeniable that Yemeni brides in rural areas once had no choice but to wear a heavy load of jewelry from head to foot. What a heavy load for poor bride! Now days, women wear light jewelry sets for decoration. There are remarkable silversmiths in Ataq, the capital of Shabwa. They remarked that silversmithing has improved considerably over the years and there is demand in Yemen and abroad for jewelry made by experienced and skilled Yemeni hands. Silversmiths commented, “We fully appreciate Yemeni immigrants, particularly in the Gulf States who are taking an active part to publicize the good reputation of silversmithery in Yemen.” Accordingly, a new variety of reasonably-priced pretty silver objects are designed to answer the demand at home and abroad. Indeed, silversmithery is regarded as a source of income like any other handicraft, and it can be a lucrative business

World Food Program; Angel of Mercy or Angel of Death?

www.nazrett.com Home of Ethiopian News and Blog Breaking News By Thomas C. Mountain Online Journal Contributing Writer Sep 24, 2009, 00:19 Email this article Printer friendly page The World Food Program, or WFP, is one of the largest of the United Nations “aid” programs. In the Horn of Africa, the UN uses the classic carrot and stick approach, the WFP being part of the carrot with the Ethiopian military being the stick the UN uses on behalf of the Western governments enforcement of their foreign policy objectives in our part of the world. A good example of the WFP being an arm of the Western governments is how at harvest time in Somalia in 2006 the WFP dumped all of its grain aid on the Somali market to be given away “free” just as the Somali farmers tried to sell their domestic crop, bankrupting tens of thousands of Somalia/s agricultural workers. After angry protests from the affected Somali farmers, the WFP apologized, saying the offense was an oversight and it wouldn’t happen again. Then at harvest time 2007, the WFP repeated the same act of economic sabotage it carried out in 2006 and dumped its grain aid in Somalia, driving its nail into Somalia’s agricultural coffin. Angel of Mercy or Angel of Death? Maybe Somalia was something unusual; doesn’t the WFP bring desperately needed relief to those in the direst need? The answer brings to mind the experience we here in Eritrea had during our first in memory two-year drought which affected the entire country in 2003-4. With all of our rain-fed agriculture failing for an unprecedented two years, the government needed to provide our people 80 percent of their food needs through grain aid to avoid starvation. The WFP, along with the rest of the international community, provided Eritrea with less than 10 percent of what was needed, forcing Eritrea to dip deeply into its hard currency reserves and come up with over $100 million for basic grain purchases. For one of the smallest and most underdeveloped countries in the world, with only 4 million people, to come up with that kind of cash meant a lot of other critical programs in Eritrea suffered. To add insult to injury, in 2005 abundant rains brought one of the best harvests in Eritrean history and saw the WFP, along with its other aid partners, almost quintuple its grain aid, and, of course, demanding that it all be given away right as Eritrea’s farmers brought their crops to market. Eritrea’s government knew exactly what to do; thanking the WFP et al, it quickly warehoused the grain for when it would be best needed by everyone and proceeded to protect their own self sufficiency efforts in agriculture. The WFP, upon discovering its attempts to sabotage Eritrea’s agriculture had been sidetracked, proceeded to raise a hue and cry that aid was “spoiling,” demanding the grain be released immediately and claimed to be more caring about the hungry in Eritrea than Eritrea’s own leaders. In our part of the world, the Horn of Africa, we have come to expect any arm of the UN to behave pretty badly. When the government in Ethiopia held elections in 2005 and got soundly thrashed, it was various arms of the UN that jumped in and proclaimed its support for the Meles Zenawi ethnic minority regime in Ethiopia, and helped keep its local “enforcer” in power. This despite the Ethiopian regime killing over 500 and jailing another 50,000. In 2006, it was under the mantle of the UN that the West’s Ethiopian strong arms invaded Somalia, bringing to an end the efforts of the Union of Islamic Courts and the first real peace Somali had seen in 15 years. In 2007, the UN was there giving legitimacy to the other Western capo in the Horn, Kenya’s Kibaki, when he stole the election. Just as in Chad, where the UN openly sanctioned Western military intervention, i.e., French troops, to keep one of Africa’s most corrupt leaders in power, the rule of law has been so blatantly violated that only an organization that feels itself above any accountability would be responsible. Noam Chomsky has said that US foreign policy is like that of the mafia, and we denizens of Africa’s Horn have seen just how the UN is simply another arm of that octopus. Stay tuned to the onlinejournal.com for more news from Africa’s Horn that the so-called “Free press in the West” refuses to cover. Thomas C. Mountain, the last white man living in Eritrea, was in a former life, educator, activist and alternative medicine practitioner in the USA. Email thomascmountain at yahoo.com.