In 2011 Ethiopian Review, the longest running independent Ethiopian journal, celebrates its 20th year in service. It is a milestone period in the journal’s history and a special occasion for those of us who have labored hard to keep it going. As the editor-in-chief, in deciding who to select as Ethiopian Review’s Person of the Year, this time I have decided to look at our own accomplishments and recognize those who have been there through thick and thin over the years. While there are many individuals — too many to list here — who have been providing valuable support to Ethiopian Review, for their enduring contribution special recognition goes to: (In alphabetical order)
Wzr. Meseret Agonafer, who is a fountain of inspiration and moral support, as well an authentic example of a genuine friend.
Ato Elias Wondimu, who once served as the managing editor and after launching his own publishing house, Tsehai Publishers, continued to consult on the editorial direction of the journal.
There is another person who deserves even greater appreciation, for without his consistent moral support and advise there would not have been Ethiopian Review. He is my own father Kifle Seifu.
My father is currently in the US. I, along with my sister and brothers, have brought him and our mother here a few months ago after witnessing Woyanne going after the families of its opponents. He had already survived an attack about 15 years ago by Woyanne gunmen who sprayed his house in Addis Ababa with machine gun bullets. He returned fire taking down (wounding) one of the shooters. It was nothing short of a miracle that he survived the attack. He spent 3 months in jail and was released with the help of the American charge d’affairs in Addis Ababa and Ted Dagne at the U.S Congressional Service.
After he was released, for the past 15 years, Woyanne made sure that my father could not do any business in Ethiopia. Every venture he tried was blocked. After a long legal battle, about 4 years ago, three different courts, including the supreme court of Ethiopia ruled that properties (worth over 63 million birr) that Derg confiscated from my father returned. Woyanne refused to obey the court order and told my father that his properties would be returned under one condition: That he must stop his son from publishing critical opinions and reports about the ruling junta on Ethiopian Review. My father’s answer was unequivocal no. I’m proud of him for that to no end.
I don’t know any one who has worked so hard through out his life as my father did. One time when he was working as a contractor on the Ethiopian Air Force base in Debre Zeit he collapsed due to sleep deprivation. It was normal for him to disappear for several months at a time exploring mines in some of the remotest parts of Ethiopia.
Kifle Seifu, 2010
He is now 84 years old and after all the hard work through out his life he doesn’t have a penny in the bank. During the Derg era its prime minister FikreSelassie Wogderes, and security chief Tesfaye WoldeSelassie confiscated (robbed) most of his properties. The Woyanne junta that replaced the Derg refused to return his properties ignoring court orders, and made sure that he doesn’t earn a living in Ethiopia.
There are countless others who have lost much more than properties in the hands of the two barbaric regimes. They have taken away the lives of so many innocent Ethiopians. I am lucky and grateful to have my father still alive.
The two vampire regimes, Derg and Woyanne, have left my father penniless. But he has one thing that is more precious and that no one could take away from him — honor.
With his skills, experience and hard work, my father could have been one of the wealthiest individuals in Ethiopia. Unfortunately, in a country where the president is a pig, the prime minister is a mass murderer and the patriarch is a thief, it is extremely difficult for a person of honor to succeed and thrive.
I’m profoundly blessed to have a father like Kifle Seifu and in this special milestone year for the journal it is my honor to choose him as Ethiopian Review’s 2010 Person of the year.
Ethiopians in Los Angeles hold a fundraiser to assist Ethiopian boxing legend Seifu Makonnen who represented Ethiopia at the Olympics. Seifu, who is popularly knows as Tibo, is suffering from a kidney disease and is currently waiting for a transplant. The Los Angels Times has the following report:
By Kate Linthicum
Nearly every month in Los Angeles, Ethiopians host a benefit [to support fellow countrymen]. Earlier this year, at events for two compatriots with cancer, Abebe’s group raised more than $55,000.
It’s not as if they have time or money to spare. Many Ethiopians here work as taxicab drivers or parking attendants, and most send large remittances to relatives back home. But they give because they know that if ever they need help, they will get it. They give because this is a community that takes care of its own.
You can see it at the home of a family that has just lost a loved one, where friends arrive for days of mourning, each with food, drinks or an envelope of money. You can see it at the hospital, where it’s not uncommon for an Ethiopian patient to receive 300 visitors a day.
It’s a way of life they learned at home, and it helps keeps them connected here.
Seeking asylum
Seifu Mekonnen was once one of the most feared boxers in East Africa. A heavyweight with a fierce punch, he was called Tibo, Amharic for “knockout.”
Ethiopian boxer Seifu Mekonnen
He has a clutch of gold medals from various victories across the world and a tattoo on his right shoulder of five interlocked rings — a reminder of when he represented Ethiopia at the 1972 summer Olympics in Munich.
But he hit his peak just as a hard-line military junta swept into power in his country, after the 1974 ousting of Emperor Haile Selassie I.
The communist regime put him in jail for several months. Later he was sent to train in Cuba. On a layover in Montreal on the way back to Ethiopia, he slipped a letter to airport police seeking political asylum.
He moved to Los Angeles with refugee status in 1978 and gave up boxing for another fight.
When Makonnen arrived in L.A., there were no Ethiopian restaurants or churches.
“Back then, everybody was on his own,” he said.
Makonnen helped found St. Mary’s Ethiopian Apostolic Church on Compton Avenue, the nation’s first Ethiopian church. While living in Washington, D.C., briefly, he opened a health center where Ethiopian athletes could train and started a weekly radio program about Ethiopian sports.
He helped build the community that now is helping him.
Together to help
The fundraiser-planning dinners have the feel of school board meetings. Decisions are made by consensus. Each person takes notes. One woman jots down the minutes, which are later typed up and sent out on the group’s listserv.
After three months of twice-monthly get-togethers, the event hall has been rented and the musicians’ travel arranged. But there is still much to be done. The invitations must be printed and the dinner menu chosen. Someone needs to make the rounds of all the Ethiopian-owned businesses to sell ad space in the February gala’s program.
The volunteers have embraced the American “do-it-yourself” ethic, with an Ethiopian flavor. Those who are hungry order food, and all eat from the same plate. They never raise their voices during two hours of sorting out event details. The meetings get heated only at the end, when the bill comes and they argue over who gets to pay it.
Beloved figure
Abebe first met Makonnen when he moved to L.A. in 1983. The former boxer was driving a taxi then, and he taught the newcomer from Addis Ababa how to find his way across a vast, unfamiliar metropolis.
Makonnen was diagnosed with diabetes in the 1980s.
The man who once skipped deftly in the boxing ring now steps slowly. He spends three days a week at a clinic undergoing dialysis. The treatments leave him exhausted and unable to work.
When Abebe heard about the fundraiser for his old mentor, he happily agreed to help. He drives to the Little Ethiopia meeting from Inglewood, where he lives with his wife and two children. Others come from the San Fernando Valley and Orange County.
“A lot of people love him and know him,” Abebe said of Makonnen, who has two grown children. “He needs another chance to live.”
When Makonnen heard about the gala, he was happy but not surprised.
“In Ethiopia, there is no ‘individual,’ ” he said. “You help people, and they’ll do good for you.”
A new political party named Oromo People National Unity and Liberation Movement has been formed and is currently introducing its political program to the public. The new party strives to make Ethiopia a country where the rights of the Oromo people are respected, according to Colonel Abebe Geresu, an executive committee member. Col. Abebe, who now resides in Asmara, is one of the high ranking officers who defected from the Woyanne regime along with General Kemal Gelchu and several others. Click here to read OPNULM’s political program.
Some Eritrean friends are asking me why is it necessary for Ethiopian Review to start a public discussion on concerns regarding the disappearance of Ethiopian patriots in Eritrea and problems facing Ethiopian opposition groups. They are urging me to work behind the scene to find solutions. That is also my preference. For over a year, my colleagues and I were engaged in intense behind the scene discussions with Eritrean authorities regarding Ethiopian opposition groups inside Eritrea, and particularly the Ethiopian People’s Patriotic Front (EPPF). As a strong advocate of cooperation between the Eritrean government and Ethiopian opposition groups, I would not want to jeopardize the progress that has been made in the past couple of years despite enormous difficulties. However, a corrupt mid-ranking Eritrean official named Col. Fitsum, who is assigned to advise Ethiopian opposition groups, has ran amok and it seems the Eritrean government is unwilling to control him. The rogue colonel has been trying to block the effort to revamp EPPF — an organization that has not moved an inch in its 10 years existence — and when he noticed that he is losing ground, he has launched a disinformation campaign using the Asmara-based EPPF radio and web site. He has also tightened his grip on EPPF more than ever. A few months ago, I and several others had finally decided that locking horn with a rogue, albeit powerful Eritrean intelligence officer in Eritrean territory is not worth it and decided to take a different route. This move seemed to have threatened the colonel even more and he started to take desperate actions, including the arrest of those who are thought to be involved in the new movement. He has also called an urgent meeting and ordered the dismissal of several EPPF central council members, including those who had already withdrawn themselves.
We will take a more in-depth look at EPPF another time. Here, I will try to illustrate that EPPF is not the only organization that is facing difficulties in Eritrea. In Ginbot 7’s case, for example, Col. Fitsum has dispersed most of the soldiers who had defected from the ANDM wing of Woyanne and arrived in Eritrea in early 2009 to join the new movement by turning them against each other. He forced the few who remained in Eritrea to create a new group named Amhara Democratic Force Movement so that they would not join Ginbot 7. With the exception of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), all the other Ethiopian groups are in the same boat. The only reason ONLF is facing little or no problem in Eritrea is that Col. Fitsum cannot get involved in their affairs. As a result, ONLF is the only opposition group that has been able to carry out serious military actions against Woyanne.
One of the Ethiopian armed resistance groups that seems to be by far the strongest is the Tigray People’s Democratic Movement (TPDM). I visited one of the TPDM shelters in Oct. 2009, and I was impressed by the sheer number of its troops. The first question that came to my mind while visiting the TPDM army was, why are we not hearing about any major military offensive by the TPDM forces against Woyanne? TPDM could easily make Tigray ungovernable to Woyanne if it is allowed to fight. ONLF doesn’t have 1/10th the number of fighters TPDM has, and yet it is consistently bleeding Woyanne’s nose until every one in the world knows about it.
I asked the TPDM leadership this very question. They were too afraid to give me an answer, but it was not necessary. I could read the frustration in their faces. Instead of fighting Woyanne, TPDM fighters currently spend their days toiling on farms without pay. The fighters want to fight. The leaders want to fight. But fortunately for Woyanne, they are put on a short leash by their Eritrean “adviser.”
A Kenyan journal, The Standard, reports that the government of Kenya is intensifying its crackdown on Ethiopians who are fleeing from Ethiopia to seek refugee in other countries. Most of the Ethiopian refugees Kenyan authorities are arresting use Kenya as a transit point to South Africa and Yemen. The recent crackdown is said to be related with Kenya’s fight with the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) at the urging of Woyanne, the ruling junta in Ethiopia.
NAIROBI (The Standard) — In Taita-Taveta, 57 Ethiopians were arrested on their way to Mombasa from Nairobi while 17 were intercepted on Nairobi-Nyeri highway.
The arrest brings to more than 70 the number of illegal immigrants so far arrested in Taita-Taveta County in the past two weeks. This is also the largest number of foreigners so far arrested.
Taita OCPD Nathaniel Aseneka said 56 men and a woman were arrested at Caltex filling station roadblock in Voi town. One of the suspects, however, escaped and police are still looking for him.
“We are detaining the suspects and will take them to court once we are through with our investigation,” said the police boss.
“We’re doing everything possible to rid the area of illegal immigrants,” Aseneka added.
No documents
Meanwhile, MPs Calist Mwatela (Mwatate), Dan Mwazo (Voi) and Thomas Mwadeghu (Wundanyi) accused some livestock traders of hiring foreigners as herders with no identification documents.
Elsewhere, police arrested 17 Ethiopians as they were travelling to Nairobi from Isiolo on Nairobi-Nyeri Highway.
They were nabbed on Monday night by police officers who were patrolling the highway at Huhi area, near Makuyu town.
Yesterday, Murang’a South OCPD Antony Onyango said the foreigners were arrested at 10.30pm after police manning a roadblock flagged down their vehicles.
Also arrested were two drivers who had been hired to ferry the 17 to a hotel in Narok town where they were to stay before travelling to South Africa. Onyango said they would be arraigned before a Thika court once investigation is complete.
The government of Kenya has launched a full scale attack against the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), and according to human rights groups, Oromo refugees through out Kenya, including the capital city Nairobi, are currently being harassed and abused by Kenyan security forces, a UN news agency reports. Read the full report below.
MOYALE, ETHIOPIA (IRIN) – The presence of an Ethiopian rebel group in northern Kenya, coupled with operations by security forces from both countries, has caused numerous casualties and displacement among local residents, who also complain of arbitrary arrests.
“They are a menace,” Moyale District Commissioner David Rotich said of the secessionist Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which first rose up against Ethiopian authorities three decades ago.
“They pose a major threat to security and development and are linked to a group of gun dealers and poachers across the region,” he alleged.
Residents of Moyale, Isiolo and Marsabit districts told IRIN that civilians were often detained by security agents who accused them of belonging to the OLF, or harassed by the rebels on suspicion of collaborating with the authorities.
A trader at Walda centre in Sololo, Moyale district, said several business people had to close their operations because of a wave of terror acts allegedly arising from the OLF presence in the area.
“Walda trading centre is a risky and difficult area to do business because it is considered the main military base for OLF rebels; Ethiopian Woyanne troops frequently attack us while pursuing the rebel fighters who also attack, abduct, kill and threaten local residents,” the trader said.
Identifying himself only as Wario, a hotelier at Turbi – where at least 80 people were killed four years ago – said the OLF, often comprising Kenyans and Ethiopians, once ordered him close his restaurant business because of his ethnicity.
“Our county council and government issues permits and licences for all traders to conduct business but [I believe] OLF makes the final decision; I was forced to close my restaurant because my crime was simple, I am a Gabra and therefore considered an enemy,” Wario said.
Most of the OLF fighters in northern Kenya are from the Borana community.
A retired chief from Sololo said: “The OLF was at first a pride to the Borana community but it is now a monster; it has killed many of our neighbours.”
On 15 December, 15 people died in Moyale and Marsabit districts after fierce fighting between the OLF and a splinter group in Badarero, Walda and Kate areas.
A Turbi resident, identified only as Ndege, said hundreds of families from his Gabra community remained displaced.
“We have suffered greatly at the hands of OLF; many people have been killed, many families are poor after losing their livestock to OLF, many have moved far away to look for manual work, other are recipients of relief food, beggars in towns and some young orphaned girls have been forced to work as commercial sex workers,” Ndege said.
Police operations
In November, Kenya police launched an operation to flush out the OLF rebels. However, residents said dozens of innocent youth were netted in the operation.
Moyale police commander Nathaniel Langat, told IRIN: “We have intelligence reports, what we are doing now is very different from the past operations, it has achieved a lot, the rebels have fled, many have crossed to Ethiopia, the government could not just sit and watch its citizens being killed, abducted and threatened by this bandits.”
Wenslas Ong’ayo, the Upper Eastern province regional commissioner, said the operation was being conducted “with a human face” and that no incidents had been reported so far. He added that all those arrested were found with weapons and had no permission to be in the country.
However, Wajir human rights network official Mukhtar Nur said an assessment conducted by the group established that local residents were living in fear of security forces and rebel fighters roaming the area.
“Young herders are no longer going out to look after their animals for fear of arrests,” he said. “Women are also afraid to go out to look for water or firewood because some have been arrested along the way, held the whole day and accused of ferrying supplies to the rebels.”
• Meanwhile, in Nairobi, some 200 ethnic Oromos from Ethiopia complained of police harassment at a protest rally on 23 December.
“The police come to our houses in the middle of the night, abusing women, ripping up our refugee documents,” Tsegaye Gudeta, spokesman for the Oromo Refugee Community Welfare Association, told IRIN.
“Besides detention, some of us are facing daily disappearances and abuse. We were afraid for our lives, have no other place to go and we couldn’t wait any more,” he added.
The protest was held outside the UN Refugee Agency, which Gudeta said should work with Kenyan police to increase awareness of refugees’ rights.
