(Panapress) – The world soccer governing body, FIFA, and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) have moved to stop the management crisis dogging the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF), according to a joint statement from the two bodies.

To set the ball rolling, the federations said they had decided to establish a road-map geared towards normalising the situation at EFF “and bring back unity in the Ethiopian football community.”

FIFA said after hearing the parties embroiled in a leadership wrangle in Zurich, Switzerland, Friday, it together with CAF did not recognise decisions taken by one of the factions during the “so called general assemblies the faction convened in Addis Ababa on 29 January, 2008’’.

The Zurich meeting was chaired by CAF President Issa Hayatou and FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke.

The soccer governing bodies threw their weight behind one Dr. Ashebir and the remaining members of the EFF executive committee, saying they were the only ones duly recognised by FIFA and CAF as the legitimate leaders of the Ethiopian federation.

Stamping their authority, they convoked an EFF Extraordinary General Assembly to take place in Addis Ababa 29 March 2008.

The agenda of the assembly will be one item – “motion of dismissal” of the current executive committee, according to the EFF statutes. “The statutes stipulate that this motion, to be approved, has to be voted by secret ballot and supported by 2/3 of the valid votes cast by the voting official delegates,” said the statement.

If the above-mentioned motion for dismissal is supported, an Elective Extraordinary General Assembly will be convoked by the governing bodies in Addis Ababa 10 May 2008 to elect the new EFF executive committee, the statement said. “The candidates will have ten days, until 10 April 2008, to submit to the EFF general secretariat, CAF and FIFA their declaration of candidacy and their recommendations according to the EFF statutes,” it added.

It said if the above-mentioned motion for dismissal was not supported, the current EFF leadership would finish its regular mandate of four years, following the elections of July 2005. “FIFA and CAF will send a joint delegation to the two General Assemblies to control procedures as well as members’ accreditations, with all logistical aspects organised by the EFF General Secretariat, and will re-affirm that this road-map is guided by the rules and procedures of the EFF statutes as approved by FIFA and CAF,” the statement said.

Re-emphasising the legality of the move, the governing bodies called upon the “wisdom of all the members of the Ethiopian football community to respect this decision as stipulated in the Article 13.1.a and d of the FIFA Statutes.”

The two-day Kinijit North America general assembly meeting was adjourned Sunday evening after electing it officials and deciding on a new set of action plans. The assembly elected the following individuals to lead Kinijit North America:

1. Ato Aklog Lemeneh, Chairman
2. Ato Hiruy Aklilu, Vice Chairman
3. Ato Asalifew W. Giorgis, Inspector General
4. Ato Asheber Worku, Secretary
5. Ato Sisay Demamu, Finance Officer
6. Ato Dajene Asaye, Foreign Relations Officer
7. Ato Semeneh Meshesha, Public Relations Officer
8. Ato Tesfaye Legesse, Auditor
9. Ato Samuel Belehu, Organization Affairs Officer
10. Ato Yilma Adamu, Research and Development
11. Ato Lema Atkelt, Treasurer

Kinijit North America officials will give a live press conference on Monday at 1:00 PM EST. The press conference will be carried live via Ethiopian Broadcasting Network (click here to listen)

The newly elected Kinijit NA leaders

The new leadership of Kinijit North America, Feb. 24, 2008

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Democratic superdelegates are starting to follow the voters – straight to Barack Obama.

In just the past two weeks, more than two dozen of them have climbed aboard his presidential campaign, according to a survey by The Associated Press. At the same time, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s are beginning to jump ship, abandoning her for Obama or deciding they now are undecided.

The result: He’s narrowing her once-commanding lead among these “superdelegates,” the Democratic office holders and party officials who automatically attend the national convention and can vote for whomever they choose.

As Obama has reeled off 11 straight primary victories, some of the superdelegates are having second – or third – thoughts about their public commitments.

Take John Perez, a Californian who first endorsed John Edwards and then backed Clinton. Now, he says, he is undecided.

“Given where the race is at right now, I think it’s very important for us to play a role around bringing the party together around the candidate that people have chosen, as opposed to advocating for our own choice,” he said in an interview.

Clinton still leads among superdelegates – 241 to 181, according to the AP survey. But her total is down two in the past two weeks, while Obama’s is up 25. Since the primaries started, at least three Clinton superdelegates have switched to Obama, including Rep. David Scott of Georgia, who changed his endorsement after Obama won 80 percent of the primary vote in Scott’s district. At least two other Clinton backers have switched to undecided.

None of Obama’s have publicly strayed, according to the AP tally.

There are nearly 800 Democratic superdelegates, making them an important force in a nomination race as close as this one. Both campaigns are furiously lobbying them.

“Holy buckets!” exclaimed Audra Ostergard of Nebraska. “Michelle Obama and I are playing phone tag.”

Billi Gosh, a Vermont superdelegate who backs Clinton, got a phone call from the candidate herself this week.

“As superdelegates, we have the opportunity to change our mind, so she’s just connecting with me,” Gosh said. “I couldn’t believe she was able to fit in calls like that to her incredibly busy schedule.”

In Utah, two Clinton superdelegates said they continue to support the New York senator – for now.

“We’ll see what happens,” said Karen Hale. Likewise, fellow superdelegate Helen Langan said, “We’ll see.”

Other supporters are more steadfast.

“She’s still in the race, isn’t she? So I’m still supporting her,” said Belinda Biafore, a superdelegate from West Virginia.

Obama has piled up the most victories in primaries and caucuses, giving him the overall lead in delegates, 1,362 to 1,266.5. Clinton’s half delegate came from the global primary sponsored by the Democrats Abroad.

It will take 2,025 delegates to secure the nomination at this summer’s national convention in Denver. If Clinton and Obama continue to split delegates in elections, neither will reach the mark without support from the superdelegates.

That has the campaigns fighting over the proper role for superdelegates, who can support any candidate they want. Obama argues it would be unfair for them to go against the outcome of the primaries and caucuses.

“I think it is important, given how hard Senator Clinton and I have been working, that these primaries and caucuses count for something,” Obama said during Thursday night’s debate in Austin, Texas.

Clinton argues that superdelegates should exercise independent judgment.

“These are the rules that are followed, and you know, I think that it will sort itself out,” she said during the debate. “We will have a nominee, and we will have a unified Democratic Party, and we will go on to victory in November.”

Behind the scenes, things can get sticky.

David Cicilline, the mayor of Providence, R.I., indicated this week that his support for Clinton might be wavering after – he contended – members of her campaign urged him to cave to the demands of a local firefighters union ahead of her weekend appearance there. The firefighters, in a long-running contract dispute with Cicilline, have said they would disrupt any Clinton event the mayor attends. A Clinton spokeswoman said the campaign would never interfere in the mayor’s city decisions.

Obama has been helped by recent endorsements from several labor unions, including the Teamsters on Wednesday.

“He’s our guy,” said Sonny Nardi, an Ohio superdelegate and the president of Teamsters Local 416 in Cleveland.

The Democratic Party has named about 720 of its 795 superdelegates. The remainder will be chosen at state party conventions in the spring. AP reporters have interviewed 95 percent of the named delegates, with the most recent round of interviews taking place this week.

The superdelegates make up about a fifth of the overall delegates. As Democratic senators, both Clinton and Obama are superdelegates.

So is Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, which is one reason his phone rings often.

He is a black mayor, and Obama has been winning about 90 percent of black votes. His state has a March 4 primary with 141 delegates at stake. The Democratic governor, Ted Strickland, is stumping hard for Clinton – and perhaps a spot on the national ticket.

A phone call from former President Clinton interrupted Mallory’s dinner on a recent Saturday.

“I continue to get calls from mayors, congresspeople, governors, urging me one way or another,” said Mallory, who is still mulling his decision. “The celebrities will be next. I guess Oprah will call me.”

—
Associated Press Writers Ace Stryker in Salt Lake City, Laura Kurtzman in Sacramento, Tom Breen in Charleston, W.Va., John Curran in Montpelier, Vt., Joe Milicia in Cleveland, Dan Sewell in Cincinnati and Anna Jo Bratton in Omaha contributed to this report.

Photos taken at Kinijit North America General Assembly meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, Feb. 23, 2008

Kinijit North America general assembly, Las Vegas (photo: Kinijit NA)

በቀጣዩ ሚያዝያ ለሚካሄደው አከባቢና የማሟያ እንዲሁም የቀበሌ ም/ቤት ምርጫ አላማቸውን ማስተዋወቅ ለሚፈልጉ ፓርቲዎች በተዘጋጀና በወያኔ ካድሬዎች ቁጥጥር በሚደረግበት መድረክ ላይ የተለያዩ አመለካከቶች ተንጸባረቁ፡፡

‹‹ለውድድሩ ካቀረብናቸው ወጣቶች 1/3ኛ ያህሉ ታስረዋል፡፡›› – አቶ ቡልቻ ደመቅሳ

‹‹ብዙ አኮኖሚስቶች፤ብዙ አናሊስቶች፤ብዙ…አሉን›› – አየለ ጫሚሶ

‹‹አባሎቻችን የኢዴአፓ አባልነታችሁ ኤክስፓየር አድርጓል ተብለዋል፡፡›› – አብዱረህማን

‹‹ህዝቡን ወተት በቧንቧ እናስመጣላችኋለን አንለውም፡፡›› – መስፍን ሽፈራው/መኢብን/

‹‹ደሃው ካለመረጣችሁ ማን ይመርጣችኋል?›› – በስብሰባው የተገኙት የወያኔ ጋዜጠኞች ጥያቄ

የየፓርቲው አመራሮች አላማቸውን ከማንጸባረቅ በተጨማሪ ምርጫውን ተከትሎ እየደረሱባቸው ያሉትን እንግልቶችና ውክቢያዎች ይፋ አድርገዋል፡፡ገንቢ በሆኑ አስተያየቶች የብዙዎችን ትኩረት እየሳቡ የመጡት የኦፌዴን ሊቀ መንበር አቶ ቡልቻ ደመቅሳ ለምርጫ በእጩነት ካቀረቧቸው ወጣቶች አብዛኞቹ ያለምንም የህግ ስርአት እንደታሰሩ የገለጹ ሲሆን ‹‹ኢህአዴግ በወጣቶች ላይ ምን እንዳየ አልገባንም፡፡›› ብለዋል፡፡

ለቅንጅት የስራ አስፈጻሚ አካል ፓርቲውን ለማስረከብ እንቅስቃሴ ጀምሮ የነበረውና በጸሃፊውና በምክትሉ እቅዱ የከሸፈበት አየለ ጫሚሶ በውይይቱ ላይ ያቀረበው አንድ ሃሳብም አነጋጋሪ ሆኗል፡፡ ‹‹ቅንጅቱ…›› በማለት ዙርያውን ከገረመመ በኋላ ‹‹… ብዙ ኢኮኖሚስቶች፤ ብዙ አናሊስቶች፤ ብዙ ምሁራን… አሉን፡፡›› በማለት ስለማን እየተናገሩ እንዳለ ጠቋሚ ሊባል የሚችል ንግግር አድርጓል፡፡ በአሁኑ ሰአት በአየለ ዙርያ ያሉት ጥቂት ግለሰቦች ያላቸው የትምህርት ደረጃ የአብዛኞቹ ኮሌጅ ፈር በመሆኑ አሉኝ የሚላቸው ተሳክቶ ነገሮች መስመር ቢይዙ የምሁራን ስብስብ የሆነውን የስራ አስፈጻሚ ቡድን እንደሆነ ጠቁሟል፡፡ ይሁንና ይህ ግብ በማወቅም ይሁን ባለማወቅ በሚፈጠሩ ችግሮች መጨረሻውን ማወቅ አልተቻለም፡፡

በሌላ በኩል በትግሉ ውስጥ የቆየውና የመኢብን ሊቀ መንበር የሆነው መስፍን ሽፈራው የምርጫ ቅስቀሳ ሊፈጸሙ የሚችሉ ቃል ኪዳኖች ብቻ ሊፈጸምባቸው ሚገቡ መሆናቸውን ለማመልከት ‹‹ለህዝቡ ወተት በቧንቧ እናስመጣላችኋለን ብለን ቃል አንገባም፡፡›› በማለት ሁኔታውን ገልጧል፡፡

የኢዴአፓው አብዱረህማን አባሎቻችን ላይ በደል እየተፈጸመ ነው በማለት ያቀረበው ዝርዝር ማን ምንን ይነካል የሚል ከትዝብት ያላለፈ ጥያቄ አጭሮ አልፏል፡፡

ከሁሉም አሳዛኝ የተባለው አጋጣሚ ደግሞ በምርጫ 97 ወቅት ለይቶላቸው ለወያኔ ሲሟገቱ የነበሩት የወያኔ ጋዜጠኞች ለተቃዋሚዎች የተለመዱትን አፍራሽ ጥያቄዎች ሲያከታትሉ መታየቱ ነበር፡፡