The Desert Locust situation continued to be serious in parts of the Central Region during February. Several swarms formed in central Oman and moved through eastern Yemen, Saudi Arabia, UAE to southern Iran. Hatching and hopper band formation are likely to occur in southern Iran. Immature swarms persisted in rugged areas of southern Ethiopia where little control could be carried out. These swarms are expected to move to the Ogaden region and perhaps to northern Somalia and breed. Locusts declined in the winter breeding areas on the Red Sea coast, especially in Sudan, and no signifi cant developments are expected. The situation remained calm in the Western Region.
Western Region. The situation continued to remain calm during February. Small-scale breeding continued for the fourth consecutive month in northwest Mauritania but locust numbers remained low and insignifi cant. Locusts increased slightly in central and southern Algeria where scattered adults were present in several areas. Low numbers of adults are likely to be present in parts of northern Mali and Niger but surveys could not be conducted in these areas due to insecurity. Scattered adults are expected to persist in these countries and small-scale breeding could occur if further rains fall. No signifi cant developments are likely during the forecast period.
Central Region. As vegetation dried out, several small immature swarms formed in central and southern Oman by mid February. Most of the swarms moved through UAE to southern Iran while a few swarms fi rst moved to eastern Yemen and then crossed the Empty Quarter in eastern Saudi Arabia to the Persian Gulf. The swarms were highly mobile so only limited control operations could be carried out. Immature swarms persisted in southern Ethiopia, but survey and control operations were hampered by the remote mountainous areas. Therefore, the current situation is not very clear. Nevertheless, the swarms are likely to remain in the Harar Highlands and eventually move to the Ogaden region and breed when the long rains begin in March or April. There is a low to moderate risk that a few swarms could move to northern Somalia. Locusts declined on the Red Sea coast of Sudan where ground control operations were carried out against late instar hopper bands and adults in the Tokar Delta. A few adults were present in southern Egypt.
Eastern Region. Small-scale breeding occurred on the southeastern coast of Iran during February. On the 20th, a small swarm from the northeastern Arabian Peninsula arrived on the southern coast, dispersed and laid eggs. As only part of the swarm was treated, hatching and small hopper band formation will occur in March. Scattered adults are likely to be present in western Pakistan. Locust numbers are expected to increase in the spring breeding areas of Baluchistan in Iran and Pakistan from breeding that occurs during the forecast period.
VOA PRESS RELEASE – Washington, D.C., March 3, 2008 – The Voice of America’s (VOA) Amharic Service has launched a new morning radio show, offering an additional half-hour of up-to-the-minute news and information to millions of VOA listeners throughout Ethiopia.
The new morning show features on-the-ground news reports, the latest U.S. and world news, cultural highlights, and in-depth coverage of social, political and economic issues directly affecting Ethiopians.
“We’re always striving to meet the growing needs of our audience,” said VOA Amharic Service Chief David Arnold. “We want to reach the widest possible audience, particularly in the rural areas where listenership has peaked,” he added.
The morning show airs live, Monday-Friday at 0300 UTC (6:00 a.m. local) via shortwave. In addition, VOA Amharic airs a one-hour evening show at 1800 UTC (9:00 p.m. local), seven days a week. Both programs are available live and on demand at www.VOANews.com/horn.
VOA’s Horn of Africa Service broadcasts 12 hours a week, in the Amharic, Afan Oromo and Tigrigna languages. More than 11 percent of Ethiopia’s 76.5 million people tune in to VOA Amharic weekly.
The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than 1,250 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 115 million people. Programs are produced in 45 languages.
For more information, call the Office of Public Affairs at (202) 203-4959, or e-mail [email protected].
London — A new Amnesty International report describes Somalia as one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. The report says the threat to journalists in the war-torn country is now the worst it has been since the Siad Barre government was overthrown in 1991. Tendai Maphosa has the details in this report for VOA from London.
At least nine journalists have been killed since February 2007, more have been threatened, arrested and harassed and more than 50 have been forced to flee Somalia, the Amnesty International report says. Radio stations and other media outlets have been repeatedly closed.
The attacks on journalists and the media, Amnesty concludes, indicate a systematic attempt to curtail independent journalism.
Fighting between the Ethiopian-backed Transitional Federal Government, called the TFG, and Islamic insurgents is blamed for the ongoing insecurity. The TFG and the Ethiopians ousted the Islamic Courts from power at the end of 2006. Amnesty spokesperson Michelle Kagari said all parties are to blame for the worsening plight of journalists and ordinary Somalis.
“Violations against human rights and violations against international humanitarian law are being committed by all parties to the conflict so the Ethiopian troops linked to the TFG and armed opposition groups,” said Kagari.
The attacks, Amnesty says, mark a disturbing reversal from 2005 and 2006, when the media began extending news coverage beyond clan and warlord loyalties.
The Transitional Federal Parliament passed a media law in December 2007. Though it provides an overly broad and ill-defined framework that could ultimately subject all media to a series of confusing constraints, it does offer some positive features.
“The new Media Act is a marginal improvement on the rule by decree, we still have some concerns about that especially with regards to freedom of expression and the independence of journalists for example, the new media act says that the journalists must support the Somali state and culture, they need to be licensed, no government has the right to start dictating based on its own terms the context with which they should be doing their work; that is a violation of international law,” explained Amnesty spokesperson Kagari.
The draft law also would require journalists to promote such state interests as Islam, justice and democracy. It would also require the establishment of regulatory Media Council with a majority of members elected from private media outlets.
On Sunday, news reports said that Somalia government soldiers raided three independent radio stations in the capital Mogadishu. The soldiers reportedly forced the stations off the air, arrested a journalist and seized equipment.
But a government official told VOA that the government did not order the closure of the radio stations. Minister of Information Ahmed Abdi Salam, a former co-founder and director of programming for Horn Afrik, said some insurgents who were wearing government uniforms went into different businesses, including some of these stations and took some equipment. He said the stations were forced to close because some of their equipment was stolen by looters.
The news coming out of Kenya is heartwarming. Kenya is celebrating its second independence. It is another evolution in the process of Nation Building. The failed election of December 2007 was the catalyst to the need for change. The post independence period is entering a higher level or maturity. The existing system was failing to accommodate the aspirations of the population. Our Kenyan neighbors were faced with the same dilemma our country faced during our general election in May of 2005. ODM under Raila Odinga, relying on the strength of the Kenyan people and the Diplomacy of Kofi Annan and eminent African Leaders was able to craft an agreement with Mr. Kibaki and deliver the hopes of a bright future to his people. The two Leaders have planted the seeds of power sharing, compromise, rule of law and accountability.
In any construction endeavor, the foundation is what determines the strength of the structure. A house must sit on a solid footing to survive earthquake, flood, hurricane and other calamities; a car, a plane or a ship design includes a sturdy frame to withstand collusion and accident. Our body is several interconnected bones forming our skeletal system. A government should be built on a solid foundation of Democracy, Rule of law and checks and balances to withstand the many conflicting demands of society.
Signing an agreement is positive. The Kenyan people must feel a sigh of relief not to count Mr. Obama who doesn’t need to worry about civil war and ethnic conflict in the land of his father and grandfather. We thank the two leaders for looking at the big picture. Now comes the hard part of abiding by the agreement. Accommodation is not easy. It is a process that requires good will and trust. They still have to choose the road they want to travel. The path to follow so to speak.
There are lots of questions to be answered. The recent conflict, which engulfed the whole country, is a wake up call. It has brought up so many questions which were simmering under the guise of a stable democratic Kenya. Thus we wait to see how they resolve all this anger which was vented for two moths.
It is not really rocket science. It is a matter of copying certain generally accepted principles and rules and applying it to a defined geographic area. This is assuming the people in the vicinity have agreed to cohabit as one. It wouldn’t work without this. It is the core. How is the devil in this equation? This is what Seniors Kibaki and Raila have to determine. On the other hand what makes it easy is that the road have already been charted. There is no need to invent a new and improved philosophy, nor economic system. Others have gone this way, and experimented with what works and what doesn’t. Those countries that are classified as the developed world have left us a trail of success and failure. They have paid the price for being our guinea pig. We just learn from their experience and adapt to suit our situation. Some like democracy, respect for human rights, one-person one vote is universal value and it cannot be tampered with while others like monarchy or republic, voting cycle, number of representatives and the role of religion is tailor made for particular situations.
They can follow the South African path. It was the path of mutual self-preservation. What took place was not forgotten. What happened was not condoned. The solution was to build a new future on a solid ground of democracy and the rule of law. Racal divide (Apartheid) and so-called sovereign Home Lands (Bantustans) were replaced by equality and one nation. It has worked admirably since 1993. A solid foundation was laid. The rule of law was supreme in the new South Africa. Everything else follows.
Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga are faced with a difficult question. Should Kenya be one or be divided into sovereign Nations? The aftermath of the election showed signs of inter ethnic animosity. How to view this problem and devise a solution is a one of the key questions. Formation of Kikuyu Nation, Luhia Nation, Luo Nation, Kalenjin Nation and assortments of Nation and Nationalities is one road. Displacing people from their homes and moving them to their ancestors land to build an ethnically pure homeland is another avenue. Encouraging the formation of Political Party based on Ethnic identification is an option. Land is another thorny issue. The British during the era of British East Africa just proclaimed all land belongs to them and took it. After independence land has been privatized. The recent conflict has displaced citizens from all major ethnic groups. Should the government declare all land belongs to the State and rest this issue once and for all? Should the State control all media including telecommunications, radio and TV and Internet?
All these choices are the result of another chapter in the brief history of ‘Orange Revolution or Movement’ that has been waged in the last few years. The leader of the “orange’ phenomena is the ‘Ukrainian Orange Revolution’ of 2004. During the run-off vote of the presidential election the regime used voter intimidation and fraud to change the outcome. This resulted in a nation wide movement of protests and peaceful civil disobedience. General strikes and sit-ins were organized by the opposition to effective end. The Supreme Court annulled the results and ordered a revote. The court system was strong enough to assert the sovereign right of the people and the authorities were gracious enough to accept the rule of law. The Ukrainian Orange Revolution came to a successful and positive end. The Ukrainian people won.
The Ukrainian movement was an inspiration to the opposition parties during the May 2005 general election in Ethiopia. Kinijit, Oromo Democratic Movement and Hebret all accepted the principle of ‘peaceful’ struggle and change by democratic means. As witnessed by election observers of the European Union, Carter Center and independent local monitors the aftermath of the election was marred by fraud and ballot stuffing. The opposition refused to accept the ‘declared’ outcome and called for peaceful protest and civil disobedience. Unfortunately the authorities replied with a massive show of force and the result was state sponsored killings of hundreds of unarmed citizens, the imprisonment of tens of thousands of alleged opposition members and untold migrations of the young and educated out of the country. This attempted ‘orange revolution’ was nipped at its bud. It was not a pleasant time to be an Ethiopian.
The Kenyans have fared well. The first part of their struggle has come to a successful end. The second part is just beginning. Their neighbors north and south east and west all look eagerly and hope and pray for a positive outcome. A stable, democratic Kenya will be a useful ally in our struggle for freedom. It will be an inspiration to Africans in how to resolve conflict and accept the principle of compromise. Mr. Kibaki has shown what a great leader he is by putting the interest of Kenya ahead of all other considerations. His election in 2002 was a turning point in Kenya’s history. It was a peaceful transition from KANU, the ruling party since independence from Britain to Mr. Kibaki’s party. It is a rare event in Africa. The people credit him with bringing in needed reforms to the system, which enabled the opposition to organize and assume the duties entrusted to them. It takes a great leader to listen and do what is right. Kenyans will remember him for the greater good he did when the future of his country fell on his shoulders. Mr. Raila Odinga is a hero to his people for being steadfast in his resolution to assert the will of the people. He is a generous winner. He was wise enough to compromise and accept the promise of a better tomorrow.
President Museveni of Uganda addressing the East African legislative assembly said “ In the pre-colonial Uganda there was a joke about one of the clans whose members built a hut but did not leave space for the doorway only to discover the mistake when the house was complete. The recent problems in Kenya, tragic as they were, nevertheless, illustrated the point of short sighted political architecture.” He was telling Kenyans and all those who listen a way out should be part of a smart design. The Kenyans were wise enough to pay attention. As Ethiopia’s own Tamagne said ‘mechahcal yechalal’. We Ethiopians are paying attention. We are politely reminding those in power what goes up will come down, it is the law of physics. We just hope for a soft landing.
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The writer can be reached at [email protected]
(Press TV) – Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers have taken over one of Mogadishu’s largest markets over the weekend, opening fire on traders and killing 33 civilians in the attack.
Another 22 people have been seriously injured trying to save their goods from being looted in the violence that government soldiers have so far failed to control.
