Muslims outraged by heavy-handed government interference
Ethiopian Muslims angered by the heavy-handed interference of the government, staged one of the largest rallies following Friday prayers on April 27, 2012. In a move that appears designed to attract Western money and support in the name of fighting extremism, the regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is inflaming a Muslim population that has largely been moderate and peaceful. Lately, the regime seems to thrive on antagonizing every segment of the population. Amharas are being illegally and cruelly evicted from southern Ethiopia, massive arrests and killings continue in Gambella, Afar and Oromo lands.
Please click on link below to see Frdiay’s demonstrations in Addis Ababa.
Is Walmart working with corrupt Ethiopian officials? According to the New York Times, giant US retailer has been caught bribing Mexican officials to the tune of $24 million dollars. Bribery and partnership with ruling party-owned businesses is a must for doing business in Ethiopia. What is Walmart doing in one of the poorest countries in the world? We call on Walmart to come clean and disclose its dealings in Ethiopia.
Walmart might be coming to Ethiopia
By Tigrai Online
Walmart, the US multinational retailer corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores, and the Ethiopian government are conducting negotiating on the question of the former entering the Ethiopian market, it was learnt. According to sources, an Ethiopian delegation was in Washington DC last week to discuss the matter with officials of Walmart.
The negotiations started while Walmart got the go-ahead with its 2.2 billion dollars purchase of a controlling share in a South African chain, Massmart, earlier this month.
The move to invite Walmart came as a result of last year’s squabble between the government and local wholesalers and retailers following unprecedented commodity prices’ surge in the market. At the time the government blamed the wholesalers for artificially creating a price hike and took the populist yet controversial price cap measure.
Furthermore, the government issued a three-stage ultimatum of which one is inviting foreign companies into the market. After the lifting of the cap, the government undertook a measure to directly intervene in the market. However, the third option, which is inviting foreign companies, was considered by many to be highly unlikely and would not materialize.
Walmart, which was founded by Sam Walton, is the world’s 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000 list, and the largest public corporation when ranked by revenue. It is also the biggest private employer in the world with over two million employees, and is the largest. The company is controlled by the Walton family, one of the richest families in the world, whose combined wealth is estimated to be close to 100 billion dollars. The family owns a 48 percent stake in Walmart.
Meles Zenawi has a lot to hide. There is much stealing and naked brutality that needs to be kept under wraps. There is torture, imprisonment, murder and the trafficking of women for profit. Western donors, who sustain the regime with a wink and a nod, can claim ignorance as long as the brutish nature of Ethiopia’s own Joseph Koni is kept out of public view. The ruling dictatorship believes in total control of information. Brute force and information control sustains rule by a heartless ethnic minority.
Media Control In Ethiopia
Democracy Denied
By Graham Peebles | Eurasia Review
Democracy sits firmly upon principles of freedom, justice, social inclusion and participation in civil society. Where these qualities of fairness are absent so too is democracy, for the word is not the thing, to speak of democratic values is easy enough, to dismantle repressive methods and State practices that deny there expression is quite another.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi Asres of Ethiopia knows little of democracy, human rights or the manifestation of democratic principles and much of repression and intimidation. The EPRDF government rules Ethiopia with a heavy hand of control, restricting completely free assemble – a universal right written into the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), inhibiting the freedom of the media and denying the people of Ethiopia freedom of expression in manifold ways.
Media freedom is a basic pillar of any democratic society. Freedom of political expression, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press are essential elements of a democracy. Whilst media independence throughout the world is contentious at best, autonomy from direct State ownership and influence is a crucial element in establishing an independent media. The Ethiopian State owns and strictly controls the primary media of television and radio.
Not only is there no independent TV and radio in Ethiopia, but access to information is also tightly controlled, as Human Rights Watch (HRW) makes clear in its report, One Hundred Ways of Putting Pressure. Violations of Freedom of Expression and Association in Ethiopia, “the independent media has struggled to establish itself in the face of constant government hostility and an inability to access information from government officials.” Since the 2005 elections in Ethiopia the government has systematically introduced tighter and tighter methods of control, HRW continues, over the past five years the Ethiopian government has restricted political space for the opposition, stifled independent civil society, and intensified control of the media.
Owning information
Since the end of the civil war in 1991 privately owned newspapers and magazines have been appearing and despite heavy regulation by the Meles government, this area of Ethiopian media is expanding. This the government reluctantly tolerates, knowing that print media is of little significance, due to low literacy of the adult population (48%), a shameful figure that the EPRDF is no doubt delighted with, high levels of poverty and poor infrastructure making distribution difficult, newspapers are not widely circulated or read, consequently the main source of information for the majority of people is the state owned television and radio, which serve as little more than a mouthpiece of propaganda for the resident regime, the EPRDF.
Internet media is also restricted, with access to the web the lowest in Africa; Research & Markets found “Ethiopia has the lowest overall teledensity in Africa. The population is approaching 90 million, but there are less than 1 million fixed lines in service, and a little more than 3.3 million mobile subscribers. The number of internet users is dismal – below 500,000 at the end of 2009.” 1 The World Bank puts the figure a little higher at 7.5% of the population. In another demonstration of democratic duplicity, the government of Ethiopia controls all telecommunications. Internet and telephone systems must run through the State owned Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation.
The vast majority of the population – 82.40% in 2010, according to a World Bank report released in 20112, live in rural areas and have no access to the ‘worldwide web’ at all. By maintaining monopoly control of telecommunications the Ethiopian Government is denying the majority of the population access to another key area of mass information. This is an additional infringement of basic democratic principles of diversity and social participation, as Noam Chomsky makes clear “The most effective way to restrict democracy is to transfer decision-making from the public arena to unaccountable institutions: kings and princes, priestly castes, military juntas, party dictatorships, or modern corporations.”3
Party dictatorships fits the Ethiopian government tailor-made, although their arrogance and vanity would no doubt prefer the title of ‘kings and princes’, Emperor Meles perhaps, following in the brutal glow of that other conceited controller Halie Sellassie. The EPRDF regime is in fact a dictatorship and known as such to the majority of Ethiopians living inside and indeed outside the country, who are courageous enough to speak out and make their views known. Courageous indeed, for as with all cowardly brutal states, the EPRDF rules by violence, intimidation and fear, HRW again Ethiopia’s citizens are unable to speak freely, organize political activities, and challenge their government’s policies through peaceful protest, voting, or publishing their views without fear of reprisal. Such is democratic living under the Meles machine.
Law Breakers
Freedom of thought, freedom of expression and of information is a basic requirement under the UDHR. Article 19 makes this clear “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” Although the UDHR is not in itself a legally binding document, it provides moral guidance for states and offers a clear indication of what we as a world community have agreed as the basic requirements of correct governance and civilized living. In the preamble is stated “it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law.” Tyranny and oppression is the cloud under which the good people of Ethiopia are living and have lived for the twenty-year rule of Prime Minister Meles and co. It is through the implementation and enforcement of international law, established to safeguard the people’s basic human rights that the suffering and injustices may and will be brought to an end. The sister document to the UDHR the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) provides such legal protection and is indeed legally binding. There we find, Article 19, paragraph 1 ” Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.” And paragraph 2 “ Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.”
Ethiopia ratified this international treatise on 11th June 1993, and is therefore legally bound by its articles. By imposing tight regulatory controls on media inside and indeed outside of Ethiopia, the case of ESAT TV based in Holland, whose satellite signal is repeatedly [illegally} blocked by the EPRDF, is an important case in question. Not only is the Ethiopian government in violation of international law, but by completely restricting the freedom of the media and inhibiting completely any hint of dissent, the regime is also in contradiction of its own constitution. Article 29, entitled rather optimistically ‘Right of Thought, Opinion and Expression’ states, 1. Everyone has the right to hold opinions without interference. 2. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression without any interference. This right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any media of his choice. 3. Freedom of the press and other mass media and freedom of artistic creativity is guaranteed. Freedom of the press shall specifically include the following elements: (a) Prohibition of any form of censorship. (b) Access to information of public interest.4 Clear and noble words, indeed democratic in content and tone, however words that sit filed neatly upon the shelf of neglect and indifference, as the people suffer and cry out to their mother country, serve only as a mask of convenience and deceit allowing the betrayal of the many to continue. Human Rights Watch gently states, the 1995 constitution incorporates a wide range of human rights standards, and government officials frequently voice the state’s commitment to meeting its human rights obligations. But these steps while important, have not ensured that Ethiopia’s citizens are able to enjoy their fundamental rights.
State suppression
In 2009 the EPRDF passed two inhibiting pieces of legislation that embody some of the worst aspects of the governments decent towards greater repression and political intolerance. The controversial CSO law, is according to HRW, one of the most restrictive of its kind, and its provisions will make most independent human rights work impossible. A ‘counterterrorism’ law was introduced at the same time; this second piece of repressive legislation allows the government and security forces to prosecute political protesters and non-violent expressions of dissent as terrorism. Since the introduction of these internationally criticised laws, the UN Jubilee Campaign in its report ‘Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review Ethiopia’ recommends the adoption of this law [emphasis mine] be repealed,” the umbrella term ‘terrorist’, meaning anyone who disagrees with the party/state line continues to be used and manipulated as justification for all manner of human rights violations and methods of suppression and control – the aim of all dictatorships. What defines a terrorist or an act of terrorism remains vague and ambiguous, enabling the Meles regime to construct definitions that suit them at any given time. Amongst other travesties of justice the legislation, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reveals, “permits a clamp down on political dissent, including political demonstrations and public criticisms of government policy, it also deprives defendants of the right to be presumed innocent.“5 A primary function of the media in a democratic society is to examine and criticise the government and provide a public platform for debate and participation. This law denies such interaction and freedom of expression. The law is in violation of the ICCPR and blatantly contravenes the much-championed Ethiopian constitution; idealised images of goodness, remaining un-manifest, stillborn.
The anti-terror law is a pseudonym for a law of repression and control, made and enforced by a paranoid regime, that is determined to use all means in its armoury to quash any dissent and maintain a system of disinformation and duplicity. Media organisations that disagree with the EPRDF party line run the risk of being branded, under this law ‘terrorists’, arrested and imprisoned as such. Dawit Kebede, editor-in-chief of Awramba Times, says “the law provides a pretext for the government to intimidate and even arrest journalists who fall afoul of its wording. Kebede said the regulations were a government campaign to oppress all forms of dissident activity.” (Ibid) This new unjust law completely inhibits ability of the media to report anything that is deemed critical of the current government. All opposing voices to policy are stifled; journalists are frightened and the facility to expose and criticize the many serious violations of human rights, to provide a balanced view of the issues facing the country are denied. The rights to freedom of expression and association are completely restricted, all independent voices have been virtually silenced and freedom of speech and opinion are denied. Human Rights Watch makes clear its concern, over the past five years the Ethiopian government has restricted political space for the opposition, stifled independent civil society, and intensified control of the media.6
Control flows from fear, the greater the dishonesty, corruption and greed the more extreme the controls become. Under the neglectful corrupt governance of the EPRDF, Ethiopians are subjected to a range of human rights abuses and violations political opposition has been unofficially banned, making this democracy sitting in the Horn of Africa a single party dictatorship. The UN in its human rights report finds, “resistance to opposition has become the primary source of concern regarding the future of human rights in Ethiopia” and confirms the view of HRW, stating “The CSO law directly inhibits rights to association, assembly and free expression.” The Meles regime seek, as all isolated corrupt dictatorships do, to centralize power, deny dissent and freedom of expression and suppress the people by intimidation, violence and fear. Creating an atmosphere of apprehension, extinguishing all hope of justice, true human development and freedom from tyranny. Disempowerment is the aim, the means are well known, crude and unimaginative, keep the people uneducated, deny them access to information, restrict their freedom of association and expression and keep them entrapped.
Demanding justice
The downtrodden suppressed people of Ethiopia, living under the brutality of the Meles regime, whose human rights are being ignored, without an effective media, have no voice. The controls that deny media freedom and the people the freedom of association and expression, guaranteed under the Ethiopian constitution and international law, must be repealed, HRW in its detailed report makes a series of basic demands of the Ethiopian government, which reinforce this, key among them is the call to “Guarantee unrestricted access to Ethiopia to international media and independent human rights investigators, and cease harassment of Ethiopian media.”
The days of the dictator are over no amount of repressive legislation can any longer safeguard a regime that rules through violence and inhibition. Meles and his cronies ensconced behind armed walls of duplicity may well seek control, the fearful always do. The will of the people is for freedom, peace and the observation of their human rights, it must and shall be done for justice and the rule of law underlies their call.
4. Constitution of The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. www.africanlegislaturesproject.org/…/Constitution%20Ethiopia.pdf
5. The bureau of investigative journalism
http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/09/29/ethiopian-media-gagged-by-anti-terror-laws
6. Human Rights watch (HRW) http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2010/03/24/one-hundred-ways-putting-pressure-0
Graham is Director of The Create Trust, a UK registered charity, supporting fundamental social change and the human rights of individuals in acute need. He may be reached at [email protected]
I feel energized. Our freedom tree is bearing fruits. It is the result of the tireless effort of thousands if not millions of us working together in harmony. Due to the miracle of the Internet such as our independent Web sites and Social Media such as Facebook and Twitter and our potent weapon ESAT and the various local Radio stations such as Addis Dimts, Sheger FM among many we are able to be a voice for the silenced. We have been heard.
The ethnic cleansing that is being waged has become an international knowledge. This is not the first time the TPLF regime has practiced such crime against humanity. This is the first time it has been exposed for all to see. It is no consolation to the victims’ but for what it is worth their fellow citizens and the international community has recognized and felt their pain. We owe a debt of gratitude to our brave Ethiopians at home that face danger but are relentless in their pursuit of justice for their people. We thank our Independent Web sites for their wonderful job of informing us and giving us a forum where we can discuss our hopes, concerns, worry and try to find solution for our motherland.
The criminal activity being seen and documented in broad daylight did not please Ato Meles. He reacted in a violent way. We saw his fingers curl with anger and his veins stand with too much blood. We saw agony on his face and fear in his soul. I heard him refer to our country by name for the first time. It was normally ‘Ageritua’ and we are referred to as ‘Hezbua’. He was forced to utter ‘Ethiopia” and ‘Ethiopiawinet.’ How could he point his hate finger at us without calling us by our name? Interesting, don’t you think?
Here is what he said. ‘Those that want to be famous for their stand on the unity of Ethiopia, and claim Ethiopiawinet’ as their brand’ are attempting to paint a picture as if the Southern Kilil, Benchi Maji Zone, and Gura Fereda Wereda as declaring a campaign on Amharas in general and the people of Eastern Gojjam people in particular.’ It was a strange statement. I searched to see if anyone has made such claim. I could not find any one talking about a campaign by the citizens of those localities against Amharas or any one else. The truth of the matter is the issue is not whether it is against Amharas, Gambellans or Somlais. We were against the practice of ‘ethnic cleansing’ against anyone. The current crime just happens to be directed at the Amharas and that is a fact.
Why did he say that? I saw two reasons for his convoluted logic. He has done this before and it comes natural to him. First and foremost he wanted to foment hate between the people of Benchi Maji and the Amhara community. Second he wanted to cover his role in this criminal activity. He blamed it on the Administrations of the Southern Kilil from the President to the Wereda boss. It is never his responsibility for any thing bad happening in the country while good things are due his brilliant mind and astute leadership.
Both are not worthy of a statesman. The truth is there is no animosity between the people of Benchi Maji and their Amhara fellow citizens. They are simple farmers trying hard to make a living relying on sweat, determination and hard work. They do not compete rather they cooperate due to their common quest to survive in a very primitive environment. They have no time for hate and conflict. Life is hard enough as is. It is not all right for a leader to peddle hate and mistrust.
Second The Southern President Shiferaw Shigute, the local Zonal and Wereda officials are employees of Ato Meles. The buck stops at his desk. They would not even fart without his permission. He got them elected in a rigged manner and they owe allegance to him and to him alone. In case they try to get out of line he has his Army and security ready to pounce on them and they are perfectly aware of that fact. Their position is littered with the ghosts of jailed, exiled or killed former employees.
What I saw was a person finally coming to terms with his actions. It is a defining moment for our attempt to make him accept responsibility. To make him understand there is consequences to ideas, polices and style of governance. The ‘ethnic cleansing’ being practiced is the result of the philosophy of Kilil in its pure sense. Kilil is the corner stone of Ato Melese’s style of leadership and his never ending attempt to stay in power no mater the price. Kilil is different from Federalism. Kilil is Apartheid in black. The language of Kilil is not conducive to building a Multi National democratic country or institution. The current incident from Benchi Maji will not be the last one. As long as the concept of Kilil is imposed on our people incidents such as Bedeno, Gambella, South Omo and Benchi Maji will be part of our future. We do not need fortuneteller to know that.
The Ethiopian Parliament is the perfect example of a dysfunctional body. It is here Ato Meles shows up to inform them of his current dream. All Parliamentarians except one are hand picked by Ato Meles and his associates. There is no one sitting there except one that does not owe his position to anybody else except Ato Meles and his TPLF Party. The vast majority will not be elected as a dogcatcher let alone Parliamentarian in any normal setting. It is not because our country lacks such worthy individuals to run and get elected but due to lack of freedom and the yoke of dictatorship. Only the waste (zegach) rises to the top in TPLF controlled Ethiopia. They represent no one except themselves. They are happy to accept anything the master throws their way as long as they go along with his misguided and dangerous vision. Control of over ninety-seven percent of Parliament seats does not happen in a healthy society. It is a sign of something that has gone wrong.
This is what he told his choir regarding the ‘ethnic cleansing’ activity being carried by his surrogates at his behest.
“ The Southern Administration has given adequate explanation and I do not want to go into details …..due to historical circumstances in the last ten years about thirty thousand people from East Gojjam have settled in Bench Maji area thus for all practical purposes it has become East Gojjam and the local authority is in the hands of the settlers. There is land to be farmed and we have no problem with developing the place. I see one problem here the settlement activity is done on individual basis and this is destructive. Although there is savanna land available including jungle areas and it is here the settlers decided to farm because they were not concerned regarding deforestation to use the trees for charcoal and building purpose. Thus the Kilil and the Wereda decided to protect the forest and said what is done is in the past but from now there will be no settlement with out being organized. The Southern Kilil and the Amhara Kilil consulted on this and decided to deny individual type of settlement imitative and agreed on organized approach. This is not a criminal act against people of Benchi Maji or against Eastern Gojjames. Those who want to interpret such act as such are being irresponsible. Searching for the truth and like their slogan of viewing all Ethiopians as equal instead without basis and without looking at the existing situation and without basis based on selfish personal gains declaring Amharas hare being swept away, Eastern Gojjam people are being attacked is wrong it is not helpful the truth is what I just like what said.” Please click here to watch the video version of this drama.
You see what I mean. His version is an excuse not based on the real situation we are witnessing in front of us. The victims have names; faces and we have seen the pictures of the displaced with their family. They are not a figment of our imagination. Ato Meles sitting in his bunker at Arat Kilo does not have the time or the desire to face reality. Him or any of his officials have not met the internally displaced victims and shown any kind of empathy for their fellow citizens. The same person that is leasing virgin land to Indians, Saudis and other foreigners at dirt-cheap prices, the same leader that is destroying our cherished heritage such as Waldeba Monastery is going environmentalist when it comes to a few peasant subsistence farmers. He is blaming us for being concerned for our people and calling him out for his wrongdoing. Isn’t that putting things upside down or standing things head first. In this speech he even managed to include the Amhara Kilil in this ugly act. It is not that we had any expectation of the different Bantustan governors to stand up for their respective people but he speaks as if they are independent bodies that can address the concerns of their constituents. How could that not be when they in fact are his creation and do not posses any power nor independent will of their own? As my friend Ephrem said ‘how could the tail wag the dog?”
His response, excuse or shifting the blame is not based on valid ground. There are plenty of instances where such ploy has not worked at all. Hitler was responsible for the crime committed against the Jewish people. Those who obeyed his order and did the evil deed were judged as harshly as the architect of the criminal act. The Yugoslav leader Millosevic was put on trial with his main cleanser Karadzic and his General Ratko Mladic. I was just obeying orders is not a valid defense. Shiferaw Shigute’s and other Kilil administrator’s crime is not less than Meles Zenawi’s. The master and his servant are judged equally. We are putting anyone that hurts our people on notice that justice might be slow but it always happens. We all know the Ferenji sponsors of these misfits are not reliable allies. Their motto is ‘don’t do the crime if you cant do the time.’ Recent events have proven that principle. Gadaffi used to be a good friend of Tony Blair, Mubarak was a trusted ally of the US, the Shah of Iran was the number one policeman in the Gulf and Saddam was tolerated while Charles Taylor was a useful tool. Where are they now? You hear that Meles Zenawi, how about Shiferaw Shigute? Are we clear on this concept or are we self deluding?
As I said our relentless struggle on behalf our people is showing signs of momentum. It is not based on hate or directed at ethnic group or persons but love for people and country. It is invigorating to see our work being translated to action. The current discussion on waging peaceful resistance on a higher level is both promising and shows the maturity of our movement. Boycott is a tried and successful method of showing our disgust with the system. We are flexing our muscle on behalf of our people. It is not an overnight success. It takes time and requires patient explanation so our people know and understand the important role personal responsibility plays in the search for freedom and equality. Putting the needs of the many in front of self-gratification is not an easy concept to master. But we are up to the task. I have no doubt with that. When properly understood by many it will become natural as our love for our ancient land.
Fighting dictatorship takes many forms. Some use the power of the gun, others organize, many utilize boycott, citizens resort to sabotage among many other forms of making life difficult for the abusers. All are respect forms of gaining self worth and dignity. It is the combination of all these that bring the day of reckoning closer and the process of building a free and harmonies society begins in earnest. Our love and respect for each other, our commitment to equality and democracy will win over the hate and divisive politics peddled by the dying regime. Each one of us is responsible for our own actions as we hold the TPLF regime responsible for its actions. We each answer for our own sins not our friends or neighbors. Shifting responsibility onto others has not done us any good. It only makes us weak and the laughing stock of the world around us. Today the sleeping giant known as the Diaspora is stirring. It is showing signs of connecting the dots and at long last understanding without our effort there will be no Ethiopia to go to. There will be no Timket, no Fasika, no Ethiopian Eid Al-Fitir, no Adis Amet and no proud history. Our children will be dispersed and no one will be there to tell our gallant history and the sacrifice of our ancestors. It is a shame if we let that happen on our watch. Eskinder said no. Andualem said no. Reeyot said no. What say you my friend?
Editor’s Note: The average Ethiopian has to work two weeks to afford one chicken. Meles Zenawi’s economic nirvana is creating a living hell for Ethiopia’s 99 percent, while creating unprecedented wealth for a tiny ethnic minority.
One chicken costs US $11.50 while the average civil servant earns $25 a month. The astronomical cost of living has to do with bad policy, the printing of worthless money by the government and the decision to export food while local people starve.
Doro What?
By Solomon Bekele | Capital Ethiopia
Last Easter chicken was sold around 90 birr. Now it has skyrocketed to a ghastly 200 birr, shocking customers like this one who returned the chicken she tried to buy after hearing the price. For many this is not a holiday without chicken but for the last couple of years consumers have been playing a game of chicken at the market as they struggle to afford what is a holiday staple.
Easter Holiday market, no trade bonanza
In the laissez-faire school of thought, markets-know-best, prices are free to rise and to fall as supply and demand require. But considering the last three or four holidays, ‘the free fall’ action has never been witnessed. Rather, what we have observed is a one directional upward market movement. In the year 2010 Easter Holiday, the average price for a chicken was between 50 and 70 birr in markets across the city. In 2011 for the same Easter Holiday, the cost for chicken went up to 90 birr. This year in the week leading up to the Holiday, the price of chicken has skyrocketed up to an unbelievable 180 birr.
To the surprise of many, a week from the Holiday a chicken was sold up to 200 birr at Debre Zeit market. “The first time I heard about this exorbitant price, I screamed. I checked and it was true. I decided not to buy the bird for the Holiday, though, traditionally having Dorowot -sauce made of chicken- is a must for Easter,” a woman residing at Debre Zeit who preferred anonymity told Capital. In relation to the chicken, in 2010 the price of an egg was 1.15 birr. Last year it was 1.50 birr. And this time it is 2.20 birr per egg.
Capital’s Easter market animal and animal products assessment suggests that the increase of prices is here again remarkably high as compared to the previous years. Of course, the reason for the sharp price rise is well understood. The Easter holiday is special for the Orthodox Christian community in Ethiopia as it comes after a two-month long fasting period. That makes it different from all other religious holidays. The Christian community hence flocks to the markets to buy sheep, oxen and other animal products such as cheese and butter.
Ox’s price tag has shown a great leap forward. In the year 2010 the price stood between 4,200 and 6,000 birr. Last year it was available between 5,000 birr to 7,000 birr. This year the price shot up from 7,000 to 10,000 birr. As usual very many people put their money together to share an ox. In Amharic this is called Kircha. The price of an ox used for special raw meat has now gone up over 15,000 birr. A kilo of meat for the raw meat in butchery shop now has gone up from 120 to 140 birr.
Butter has shown considerable increase with the price tag ranging from 160-180 birr per kilo. Last year its price was from 100-150 per kilo. What is said to be the best butter, Sheno butter, has risen to 200 birr per kilo. Last year Sheno butter was sold at 150 birr. In 2010 the same quality butter was available for 100 birr only.
The price of sheep ranged from 1,250 birr to 2,500. Last year the price tag was between 750 and 1,800 birr. The year 2010 passed showing the price tag between 700 birr and 1,200 price range for sheep. Currently, the best quality, which is called Mukit in Amharic, costs over 3,000. Last year it was only 2,000 birr.
Capital learnt that onions are sold between 8.50 and 9.50 per kg at the newly set vegetable market at Saris. Last year it was 4.50 to 6.00 birr per kg. In a very unusual market character, onion prices had shown little increase in the two-month Easter fasting season where a lot of vegetables are consumed.
Opposite to this, one finds cheese. Although cheese is not consumed in significant amounts during the two-month fasting season, it showed a sign of price increase. Now cheese is sold 50 birr per kg at groceries up from 40 birr. In small markets the price is well over 35 birr per kg. But their quality is lower than what is sold at big groceries.
The price of Teff went up to 1,250 birr from 1,000 birr per quintal (100kg). This increase occurred regardless of quality. White Teff, or Magna rose to 1,450 birr while middle quality Teff, Sergegna, was up to 1,350 birr.
Though not directly related to the holiday, coffee has shown a modest price increase with the tag of 115 birr per kg. It is not only coffee that showed minor price rise this time. Locally produced edible oil went up from 45 birr per litre two months ago to between 55 and 65 birr. At Shola market, oil price per litre was 55 birr while the product of the Abuare Edible Oil Mill was 65 birr per litre. The reason for the price rise was directly related to the Orthodox Christians’ fasting season, where it is not permissible to eat butter, meat and other animal products and the unavailability of the imported oil in the market for the last couple of months.
The unavailability of imported oil from the local market is not an exception. Other commodities like sugar and oranges were also scarce. The sugar price went up to 25 birr per kg while oranges are sold 19 birr per kg.
As usual Bazaars are organized in almost all sub cities in Addis Ababa in connection to the holiday. They are accessible for shoppers, because they are at the side of the main city roads. What is noticeable at this time is the expansion of the areas of the bazaar. For instance, the number of pavilions set at Kazanchis and Arat Kilo has almost doubled compared to the last Christmas holiday. All pavilions are packed with different kinds of materials for sale. People do not usually buy home furniture for the Easter holiday. The usual stuff people prefer to buy for Easter are kitchen utensils and food items, in particular animal and animal products. In the pavilions one gets things ranging from cheese and honey up to electronics materials. Another noticeable factor Capital observed is the flow of people at the bazaar expecting a price reduction, as the prices in these bazaars are traditionally lower than one finds in the shops. For example shoes are available from 155 to 190 birr. The same kinds of shoes in shops would cost from 175 to 225 birr respectively.
Besides this bazaar, what is a custom in the holiday season is a big sale in Addis. Big Christmas and New Year sales have been a tradition in the west. Both the public and the traders get ready to participate in that trade bonanza. The traders want to clear what they have in store and the public want to buy what they want at cheaper prices. What is interesting to note is that during the big sale, prices are genuinely reduced.
In Ethiopia this time it seems the businesses are attempting to duplicate this world experience. We now see businesses in areas such as Piazza, Merkato and Kazanchis advertising by poster or showing signs of their ‘big sale’ with up to 50 percent price reduction. In some cases the reduction is not genuine. Capital learnt that some shops ‘make a certain percentage reduction from the fake price tag.’ As it stands, assume that the price of a shirt was 200 birr before the big sale. The price of that material is now slashed by 35 percent sale price. But the price tag shows the original price as 270 birr, and then after the sale it becomes close to the original 200 birr. But different boutiques and shoe shops do make genuine price reductions, as we witnessed actual price reduction at Kazanchis shoe shop and Piazza boutiques. However, few people go and take advantage of the sale.
The big sale practice didn’t knock at the door of groceries just yet. In Europe and elsewhere in the world the big sale include all markets. There is even a holiday travel fare. In our case the vegetable and groceries and supermarkets are unfamiliar to this kind of practice.
Even though prices are rising, people’s purchasing power generally is not. As a result, people may not be able to afford extra shopping for Easter. As it stands, they do not have much discretionary income though prices of animals and their products, directly related to the Easter holiday have once again gone up.
AS Africa’s economies grow, an insidious attack on press freedom is under way. Independent African journalists covering the continent’s development are now frequently persecuted for critical reporting on the misuse of public finances, corruption and the activities of foreign investors.
Why this disturbing trend? In the West, cynicism about African democracy has led governments to narrow their development priorities to poverty reduction and stability; individual liberties like press freedom have dropped off the agenda, making it easier for authoritarian rulers to go after journalists more aggressively. In the 1990s, leaders like Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia were praised by the West as political and social reformers. Today, the West extols these men for achieving growth and maintaining stability, which they do largely with a nearly absolute grip over all national institutions and the press.
Then there’s the influence of China, which surpassed the West as Africa’s largest trading partner in 2009. Ever since, China has been deepening technical and media ties with African governments to counter the kind of critical press coverage that both parties demonize as neocolonialist.
In January, Beijing issued a white paper calling for accelerated expansion of China’s news media abroad and the deployment of a press corps of 100,000 around the world, particularly in priority regions like Africa. In the last few months alone, China established its first TV news hub in Kenya and a print publication in South Africa. The state-run Xinhua news agency already operates more than 20 bureaus in Africa. More than 200 African government press officers received Chinese training between 2004 and 2011 in order to produce what the Communist Party propaganda chief, Li Changchun, called “truthful” coverage of development fueled by China’s activities.
China and African governments tend to agree that the press should focus on collective achievements and mobilize public support for the state, rather than report on divisive issues or so-called negative news.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in Ethiopia, which remains one of the West’s foremost recipients of development assistance and whose largest trading partner and main source of foreign investment is China. The prisons in Ethiopia, like those in China, are now filled with journalists and dissidents, and critical Web sites are blocked.
This is particularly troubling in Ethiopia, a country where investigative journalism once saved countless lives. In the 1980s, the tyrannical president Mengistu Haile Mariam denied that a famine was happening in Ethiopia, even as it deepened. The world did not move to assist millions of starving Ethiopians until international journalists broke the dictator’s stranglehold on information.
Nearly three decades later, Ethiopia is still mired in a cycle of humanitarian crises and conflicts. But today, journalists are denied independent access to sensitive areas and risk up to 20 years in prison if they report about opposition groups designated by the government as terrorists. “We are not supposed to take pictures of obviously malnourished kids,” an Ethiopia-based reporter recently told me. “We are effectively prevented from going to areas and health facilities where severely malnourished kids are, or are being treated.”
This silencing in turn frustrates the ability of aid groups to quickly mobilize funds when help is needed. And with civil society, the political opposition and the press severely restricted, there is hardly any domestic scrutiny over how the government uses billions of dollars of international assistance from Western governments.
Rwanda is another worrisome case. The volume of trade between Rwanda and China increased fivefold between 2005 and 2009. During the same period, the government has eviscerated virtually all critical press and opposition and has begun filtering Rwandan dissident news Web sites based abroad.
As powerful political and economic interests tied to China’s investments seek to stamp out independent reporting, a free African press is needed more than ever, as a key institution of development, a consumer watchdog and a way for the public to contextualize official statistics about joblessness, inflation and other social and economic concerns. But support for the press, in order to be effective, will have to mean more than just supporting journalism training and publishing capacity; if such efforts are to succeed, they must be integrated into a wider strategy of political and media reforms.
Mohamed Keita is the Africa advocacy coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists.
