በቀጣዩ ሚያዝያ ለሚካሄደው የአከባቢና የማሟያ ምርጫ ፓርቲዎች የምረጡኝ ዘመቻቸውን የጀመሩ ሲሆን ወያኔ በ1887 ዓ.ም አጼ ምኒልክ አደረጉ የሚባለውን መስፋፋት በማስታወስ ‘ነፍጠኞች’ የአርሲ ሴቶች ጡት ሲቆርጡ የሚያሳይ ምስሎችን (ፖስተሮችን) የወያኔ ካድሬዎችን በክልሉ በማሰራጨት ላይ ይገኛሉ፡፡ በተለይ የኦህዴድን 18ኛ አመት የምስረታ በአል አስመልክቶ በአርሲ ልዩ ስፍራው ‹‹አኖሌ ሃርመ ሙራ›› በተደረገው ቅስቀሳ ‹‹በቀጣዩ ምርጫ የምኒልክ ነፍጠኞችን ጭፍጨፋ መቃወማችንን በሚያሳይ መልኩ ኦህዴድን እንምረጥ›› የሚሉና ተመሳሳይ አሉታዊ ቅስቀሳዎች ተንጸባርቀዋል፡፡
በዛሬው እለት በአዳማ በተካሄደው ተመሳሳይ የበአል አከባበር ላይ ከመቶ አመት በፊት የተፈጸመው የምኒልክ ዘመቻ ሰፊ ሽፋን ተሰጥቶት ለሚያዝያው ምርጫ በመቀስቀሻነት የዋለ ሲሆን በምርጫ 1997 ወቅት የአከባቢው ነዋሪ ህዝብ ‹‹ወሬ መፍጠራችሁን ትታችሁ አንገብጋቢ የልማት ጥያቄዎቻችንን አሟሉ›› ከማለት አንስቶ የክልሉን ፕሬዝዳንት በአሳፋሪ ሁኔታ በምርጫው እንዲሸነፉ ከፍተኛ ሚና መጫወቱ ይታወሳል፡፡
In preparation for next month’s fake local elections in Ethiopia, Woyanne has lined up 4 million candidates through out the country — 32,000 in Addis Ababa alone (300 per kebele council). Woyanne arbitrarily increased the number of seats in local councils to marginalize opposition parties and guarantee victory for itself. Many of the candidates are surprised to find their names in the candidates’ list representing Woyanne. Those who asked their names to be taken out are being threatened with losing their jobs and arrest… Read more at zikkir News Service
The Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit), which was forced by the Woyanne regime to change its name, will start collecting the 1,500 signatures that are required by the Electoral Board of Ethiopia to be registered as a political party. The officials of newly renamed Unity for Democracy and Justice will travel to various cities around the country to collect the signatures… Read more by zikkir News Service >>
STATEMENT FROM THE OROMO LIBERATION FRONT (OLF)
The National Council of Oromo Liberation Front has successfully completed its regular meeting that was held from March 16 to 21, 2008. During its meeting the National Council extensively deliberated, among others, on important issues relevant to the Organization, the Oromo people, the Ethiopian Government and the Horn of Africa and passed the below resolutions.
In its three decades long history, the Oromo Liberation Front has passed through ups and downs and it is continuing to rally the Oromo people in its struggle. The fundamental political objectives of the OLF, the realization of the Oromo People’s inalienable rights to self-determination, are intact. These fundamental objectives of the OLF are supported by millions of Oromos. In order to soon realize the fundamental objectives of the OLF, the Council has directed its Executive Committee to organize and conduct multifaceted struggle.
To thwart the Oromo people’s support for the OLF, the TPLF regime/the Ethiopian Government has engaged in unparalleled suppression of the Oromo people. The heinous atrocities the TPLF regime is perpetrating on the Oromo people is intensifying. Even the Oromo refugees who fled the country due to persecution and fear of persecution by the regime are not safe from the inhuman and cruel atrocities that TPLF regimes unleashed on the Oromo people. The recent mass killing/massacre of the Oromo refugees in Bosasso, Somalia, perpetrated by the TPLF regime’s forces is another evidence of the inhuman and cruel atrocities that the TPLF regime is perpetrating on the Oromo people inside and outside the country. The National Council of the Oromo Liberation Front again vigorously condemns the TPLF regime’s cruel and inhuman action taken against the Oromo refugees in Bosasso.
The National Council noted and appreciated the Oromo people’s support for the OLF that is unabated in spite of the TPLF regime’s arbitrary arrests, wanton and extra-judicial killings, dispossessions and other appalling human rights violations. The National Council again calls upon the Oromo people to continue its defiance of the tyranny of the TPLF regime, to foil the regime’s divide and rule tactics/ schemes and to double its just struggle until its legitimate aspirations for liberation, human rights and democracy are achieved.
There is no form of suppression and atrocity that the minority based TPLF regime did not and will not commit to perpetrate its tyrannical rule. The atrocities that the TPLF regime is committing against the people are evidence that substantiates the TPLF regimes unwillingness to peacefully and democratically address the peoples’ political questions for liberation and democracy. As a result, the TPLF regime, in contravention of its own constitution, international laws and norms, is escalating the suppression of and atrocities against the peoples of the country. It is also continuing its interference in the internal affairs of the neighbouring countries. The TPLF regime is an anti-peace and anti-stability force in the Horn of Africa. The Council, therefore, reminds and warns that the TPLF regime that it shall be responsible for the consequences of the tensions and worrisome situation that is prevailing the Horn of Africa.
It is to be recalled that the TPLF regime has repeatedly pledged to the peoples of the country and the international community that it is committed to bring democracy, peace and development to Ethiopia. Nevertheless, the hitherto process and records of the TPLF regime show that the regime conducts sham and rigged periodic elections for the sake of “legitimizing” its tyrannical rule. The truth the regimes’ records show beyond doubt is the TPLF regime lacks the political will and capacity to organize free and fair elections and to accept the verdict of the people. We, therefore, call up on all political forces that are struggling for liberation and democracy to pull our forces and resources together and remove from power the anti-people, anti-democracy and anti-peace regime of the TPLF and pave the way for liberation, democracy, peace and development.
The gross human rights violations it has engaged in, the economic exploitation and dispossession of the people it has embarked up on, its sinister acts of divide and rule and the acts pitting and inciting people of the country against one another and the wanton interference in the internal affairs, the aggression and occupation of neighbouring countries unmistakably demonstrate that the TPLF regime is an anti-peace force that is destabilizing the Horn of Africa. In a total disregard to the TPLF tyrannical regimes’ glaring bad human rights records and shameful and irresponsible behaviour, the Western Countries’ continued their economic, political, diplomatic and military support to the regime. The Western Countries’ support to the TPLF regime is not only saddening; it also contravenes their publicly known policies and stated declarations. Therefore, the OLF National Council calls up on Western Countries to review and reconsider their policies towards the tyrannical TPLF regime and stand with the OLF and other forces of liberation, democracy, justice, peace and progress.
Victory to the Oromo People!
National Council of the OLF
March 21, 2008
በሁሉም የአገሪቱ ቀበሌዎች በእያንዳንዳቸው 300 እጩዎች እንዲቀርቡ የሚል መመርያ በማውጣት ተቃዋሚዎችን ከጫወታ ውጭ ካደረገ በኋላ በግዳጅና በማባበያ ለአዲስ አበባ ብቻ 32 ሺህ እጩዎችን ያቀረበው ወያኔ አስቀድሞ ላወቀው የምርጫ ውጤት ለእጩዎቹ ሲሰጥ የሰነበተውን የህዝብ አስተዳደር ስልጠና አጠናቀቀ፡፡
በሁሉም ክፍለ ከተሞች በመሰጠት ላይ የነበረው ስልጠና አንድምታ አሁን ካሉት ተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎች አንዳቸውም የተባለውን እጩዎች አሃዝ ያህል ማቅረብ ባለመቻላቸው ወሳኙ ጉዳይ ለ2002ቱ (2010) ምርጫ ራስን ከማዘጋጀት ባለፈ ቀጣዩ ‹‹ውድድር›› አሳሳቢ ያልነበረበት መሆኑ ተመልክቷል፡፡
Teachers are replaced with TVs and hyenas roam near schools, although they are less harmful than the trigger-happy Federal Police.
By Lyn Barton, Western Morning News, UK
(Poltair School, Cornwall UK) — Two teachers from a Cornish secondary school have spoken of the life-changing experience of visiting a school in Ethiopia.
Peter Booth, one of the acting head teachers at Poltair School in St Austell, and Linzi Booth, director of its sports college, spent a week at Yirgalem School in southern Ethiopia.
Yirgalem School, at the heart of the coffee plantation industry, has 6,000 pupils aged between 15 and 20.
During the visit, the two Cornish teachers met staff and students and observed lessons.
They also taught rugby and rounders to staff and pupils, although the classes were a little larger than they were used to.
“One of the biggest differences between Poltair and Yirgalem is the sheer number of pupils who attend the school,” said Mr Booth. “There is no way that all 6,000 pupils can be taught at the same time, so it is usually a question of those children who turn up first being able to take part in the lessons.
“We are used to teaching classes of between 20 and 30 pupils in a sports lesson at Poltair. When we turned up to demonstrate a rugby lesson at Yirgalem, however, Linzi and I were greeted by 150 boys and 150 girls and only a tiny number of rugby balls.”
Mr Booth said the school was sited in a very poor area of the country, and so had very little equipment.
Most lessons are taught via TV screens at the front of the class which broadcast data sent from the Government.
“Unfortunately, although the lessons, which are made in South Africa, are generally of good quality, the pupils find them very difficult to follow as they do not have the text books to accompany them,” said Mr Booth.
Both teachers were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of pupils and said neither the staff nor students allowed limited facilities to stop them.
“Visiting the school was a very humbling experience which has changed my life,” said Mr Booth.
“Pupils in the UK take their right to a high-quality education for granted and it was incredible to see the youngsters having to battle to actually get inside the classroom in the first place and then work so hard to make the most of their chances.”
Both Poltair teachers say their visit to Ethiopia was an experience they will never forget.
“There were a few moments which will certainly stick in my memory,” said Mr Booth.
“One of these was meeting a hyena while walking down the hill away from the school. Having been told not to run away under any circumstances, Linzi and I stood absolutely still.
“We got a little worried when it began growling and started coming towards us and looked round for reassurance, only to see the Yirgalem staff running as fast as they could back to the school.
“Needless to say, we immediately followed their example.”
