SHARJAH, ABU DHABI – Tsegaye Wolde Asfaw did not enter the country illegally, nor did he abscond from his sponsor.
Yet, for the past three years, the 32-year-old Ethiopian has been counting his days at the detention centre at Al Sader deportation facility in Abu Dhabi.
A diplomat from the Ethiopian consulate in Dubai confirmed that Asfaw was being held at Al Sader deportation centre since 2005 for no crime of his.
“There was no case against Asfaw. He was injured while at work and then quit his job. He filed a complaint against the company with the police and also approached the court and the labour department in Sharjah in order to get his salary dues for six months released,” the official said explaining how Asfaw came to be lodged at Al Sader deportation jail after falling foul of the Sharjah Naturalisation and Residency Department (SNRD).
The diplomat said Asfaw used to work for White Sea Shipping and Supply Company at Al Hamriya free zone in Sharjah as an engineer on a monthly salary of Dh 1,500.
“We tried several times to contact SNRD and the company owners in order to sort out Asfaw’s problem but they did not respond to us,” the official said.
Asfaw told Gulf News that he fell down on a huge fan at the work place in 2005 and lost a finger besides suffering other injuries.
“I was taken to a hospital by the company’s public relations officer. They did not report the accident to police,” he said.
The hospital medical report stated that Asfaw had incurred a six-per cent permanent disability due to his injuries.
“I reported the issue to the police, to the court and to the labour department stating that I had not been paid my dues and salary for six months. The case was investigated by police,” he said.
“The company claimed they had paid my salary and they produced a salary acceptance slip with my signature but police investigations could not authenticate the signature,” he said.
In August 27, 2005 the company signed an undertaking with the police that it would take responsibility for Asfaw’s medical expenses and hand him a compensation package but did not abide by the commitment.
The compensation case was referred to the Sharjah Sharia Court which ruled in favour of the company.
“I was accused of jumping from the tenth floor of a building at Al Hamriya free zone in Sharjah despite the fact that there was not even one ten-storey building there. I was detained in Sharjah Central Jail though there was no case pending against me. Then I was sent to the SNRD deportation centre and finally landed up here,” he said.
An official from the Ministry of Interior said the ministry had been trying for a long time to obtain an out-pass for Asfaw but the Ethiopian consulate had not been very cooperative.
Reigning Olympic bronze medalist Tsegaye Kebede, and former Chicago and London Marathon champion Felix Limo lead the list of international entrants for the 62nd Fukuoka Marathon on Sunday, December 7. Reigning Fukuoka champion and course record holder, and Olympic marathon gold medalist, Samuel Wanjiru, is not expected to compete.
The 21 year-old Ethiopian Kebede (he only weighs 50 kg/110 lbs), passed his teammate Deriba Merga in the final kilometer of the Olympic Marathon to get the bronze medal in 2:10:00. His other big accomplishment this year was that he won the Paris International Marathon last April in a personal best 2:06:40, just seven seconds short of Michael Rotich’s course record. This will be his first run at Fukuoka.
Limo, 28, is looking to get his marathon career back on track. He finished a disappointing eighth at London last April in 2:10:34 and was never a factor in the race. Last July he had a sub-par outing at the NYC Half-Marathon presented by NIKE finishing 15th in 1:05:22, citing back trouble. He registered two middling marks in his fall road races: a 29:53 10-K in Scicli on Sept. 28 and a 1:03:11 half-marathon in Newcastle on Oct. 5. Limo won the Flora London Marathon in 2006 in 2:06:39, and was also third there in 2007. He won Chicago in 2005 and set his 2:06:14 personal best when he won Rotterdam in 2004.
Elite athlete coordinator Wataru Ogushi has also invited Spain’s José Manuel Martínez (2:08:09 PB), Russia’s Aleksey Sokolov (2:09:07 NR), Canada’s Jon Brown (2:09:31 PB) and Ukraine’s Yuriy Hychun (2:10:59 PB).
The top Japanese entrants include 2005 IAAF World Championships marathon bronze medalist and the last Japanese to win Fukuoka, Tsuyoshi Ogata (2:08:37 PB); the man who was twice fifth at the IAAF World World Championships marathon, Shigeru Aburaya (2:07:52); Arata Fujiwara (2:08:40); Yuko Matsumiya (2:09:18); Satoshi Irifune (2:09:40); Tomoyuki Sato (2:09:43); and Seiji Kobayashi (2:11:02). There will also be hundreds of other Japanese men from all the major corporate running teams. The event serves as a selection race for the Japanese team for next summer’s IAAF World Championships.
The pacemaking chores will be handled by Noritaka Fujiyama of Japan, Samson Ramadhani of Tanzania, and Jonathan Maiyo and John Kales of Kenya. As always, their goal will be to help the winner break the fastest time ever on the course: 2:06:39.
Fukuoka’s champions include some of the best marathon runners of all time, including Haile Gebreselasie (2006), Gezahenge Abera (1999, 2001 and ’02), Toshihiko Seko (1978, ’79, ’80), Rob deCastella (1981), Frank Shorter (1971, ’72, ’73 and ’74), and Jerome Drayton (1969, ’75 and ’76). A complete race history is available at this link: ARRS.net.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to the Woyanne regime’s stranglehold on the telecom industry, Ethiopia has the lowest mobile phone usage in Africa. Anarchic Somalia has more cellphone users per capita than Ethiopia. ETC is run by a Woyanne cadre named DebreTsion GebreMichael who doesn’t know any thing about technology. His primary focus is blocking web sites and jamming radio programs with Chinese help.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (Reuters) – Ethiopia Telecommunications Corp (ETC) plans to boost mobile subscribers to 15 million in two years, from 2.2 million now [out of 80 million people], using $1.5 billion from China’s ZTE Corp O763.HK, the Ethiopian firm said on Wednesday.
[In South Africa, that has a population of 47 million, there are 35 million mobile phone subscribers. Even Uganda, with 1/3rd of the population Ethiopia has, the are 6 million subscribers.]
ZTE, China’s second-largest telecoms gear maker, agreed in July to build a national network in the Horn of Africa country. It is building a $5.2 million plant in northern Ethiopia to make handsets, and industry sources say it will also set up a CDMA network with capacity for 2.4 million Ethiopian subscribers.
Abdurahim Ahmed, head of communications for ETC, said the company also planned to increase the country’s number of fixed telephone lines to 4.4 million by 2010 from 1.1 million now.
Chinese telecoms gear makers such as ZTE have made strides in recent years into more mature markets, and have long been established in emerging areas such as India and Africa.
(Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
Internal tourism expenditure in Ethiopia generated approximately US$ 132 million in revenue from a base of about 150,000 foreign visitors. These visitors came to Ethiopia for a variety of purposes such as leisure (63,000), business and conferences (62,000) and to visit friends and relatives (25,000).
The study further identified that within the leisure segment Ethiopia’s principal driver of demand is its rich culture and history. This paper looks at some key problems with Ethiopia’s tourism development. The lack of private investment results in a lack of high quality accommodation and services. Demand is another problem, because Ethiopia’s image prevents international operators from selling Ethiopian products while Ethiopian Operators have to promote and deliver services.
The overall supply chains that serve the tourism sector in Ethiopia have limited value added beyond the profitability of the individual service providers, such as tour operators and hotels. The government strategy is guided by the enhancement that tourism should be developed and this paper discusses solutions towards solving the key issues listed above. – The World Bank
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – General William E. Ward, Commander of the United States African Command, will arrive in Addis Ababa on Thursday to make a regular visit to the African Union, according to the Public Affairs section US mission to the AU said.
The commander is expected to meet with high-ranking African Union Commission officials to discuss long-term partnership and matters of mutual interest. He will also have a press conference.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Riot police in Zimbabwe are preventing striking doctors and nurses from protesting against the country’s collapsing health system.
Eyewitnesses say police broke up a protest Tuesday at a Harare hospital. The health workers regrouped later but are being prevented by riot police from leaving the hospital.
The protesters planned to present a petition to the government calling for “urgent action” to address the crisis in the public health system.
Their grievances include a lack of medical supplies, equipment and drugs, leaving poor Zimbabweans unable to access proper care. A cholera outbreak has killed at least 130 people.
Zimbabwe’s economic collapse has resulted in chronic shortages of food, fuel and other basic goods.
A diplomat from the Ethiopian consulate in Dubai confirmed that Asfaw was being held at Al Sader deportation centre since 2005 for no crime of his.
The 21 year-old Ethiopian Kebede (he only weighs 50 kg/110 lbs), passed his teammate Deriba Merga in the final kilometer of the Olympic Marathon to get the bronze medal in 2:10:00. His other big accomplishment this year was that he won the Paris International Marathon last April in a personal best 2:06:40, just seven seconds short of Michael Rotich’s course record. This will be his first run at Fukuoka.