ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Half of Ethiopian women are victims of domestic violence, [the other half are kept poor and destitute by Woyanne] the country’s “justice minister” Dimegn Wube said in a statement received by AFP Saturday.
“The violence being committed against children and women is widespread,” she said, adding that women faced various forms of violence ranging from physical harm to death.
She urged “stakeholders to fight domestic violence that is affecting half of Ethiopian women.”
“Sources indicate that 79 percent of gender-based violence is committed in Ethiopia due to lack of education and the economic dependence of women on men,” she said.
Ethiopia is the poorest country in the Horn of Africa with around 81 million inhabitants, half of them women.
Under the constitution they enjoy the same rights as men, but traditional social structures remain deeply entrenched and do women no favours.
For Nearly a Month Kenya has convulsed with violence after a Highly Controversial Election that erupted into an orgy of violence. Since the 27th of December over 500 people have perished in the violence that has erupted along Tribal Lines and roughly a Quarter of a Million People have been driven from their homes. It has tarnished the Image of a Country that was considered to be a Stable Democratic State in an unstable part of Africa.
In several ways the Stablilty of Kenya is very crucial to East Africa. First of all it has a common border with what has been a flashpoint for some time now that being Somalia. For a Year now Somali Insurgents have battled a weak Transitional Government and its main backer neighboring Ethiopia. In the past the Muslim Inhabitants of Northeastern Kenya have been leery of US Activities in the Horn of Africa. US Planes and Ships did in fact support Ethiopian Forces as they entered Somalia.
Now the United States has been a ally of Kenya for decades now. Several US Administrations have had excellent relations with Nairobi. Whether its been President Arap Moi or Kibaki the US has felt that it has a friend in Africa. For Years the US Navy has used Mombasa at a Port of Call. The Naval Efforts in the failed UN Mission in the 1990s were based in that port city as well. and last year Kenyan troops sealed off the border with Somalia to prevent the Islamists from Crossing the border in an attempt to flee advancing Ethiopian Forces.
Since the Election the United States has had to change its statements at least once when it comes to the Elections. After Initially Congratulating President Kibaki Washington then had to backtrack after the violence broke out. The US Embassy sent over 200 observers to monitor the elections and they were among the throng that criticized the Elections. Now there is word that the International Republican Institute (IRI) A body which recieves its funding from Congress will not release its polling data regarding Kenya until a later date. TO this date the IRI has not stated who it feels actually won the Presidency on December 27th.
Another Factor that has not been reported in the US Mainstream Media but has generatied a lot of Interest is the role being played by a Rising US Political Star. This man is a Presidential Candidate as well and he has close ties to Kenya. Of course im talking about Senator Barack Obama from Illinois. We all have heard about how his father was from Kenya. What has not been revealed is that his Father is from the Same Tribe as the losing Candidate Mr. Odinga. While the Good Senator was Campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire the Candidate was calling to Kenya seeking a peaceful resolution to the Crisis. Also the Undersecretary of State for Africa Ms Frazier has been in the region trying to broker a peaceful Solution as well.
There is another sublte way for the US to restore order. It could have Uganda do it by Proxy. In more than one instance America has given Uganda a Proverbial Green Light to deal with the Militias in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It has also praised Kampala for being one of the first nations to support the African Union Mission in Somalia. Uganda offered to Guard Fuel Convoys travelling through Kenya on their way to Uganda to keep them Safe. The Kibaki Government Refused stating that they weren’t needed. there are reports of Ugandan Militia in the City of Kikuyu, This report has not been confirmed by authorities in Kampala or Nairobi. One thing is for certain however. The longer Kenya remains unstable the greater the potential Economic Danger for Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
From all Accounts a Stable Kenya means a stable region of East Africa. Stablility in Kenya is beneficial to US Interests. So What will the Administration do to ensure this?
The Author is an Editor for the American Chronicle and the Confused Eagle (morganrights.tripod.com) he can be contacted at [email protected]
The bodies of nearly 50 Africans trying to immigrate washed up on Yemen’s shores Saturday after their boat capsized in the treacherous waters of the Gulf of Aden.
The 35 survivors told authorities in Yemen that at least 135 people, all Somalis and Ethiopians, were crammed into the rickety boat, indicating that dozens more may have lost their lives.
The search continued for more bodies along the beaches of Yemen’s Abyan province, said an official on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the press.
Hundreds of Africans die every year trying to reach Yemen, many of whom drown or are killed by pirates and smugglers in the dangerous waters separating Somalia and the Arabian peninsula.
The Africans that have survived the journey register with the U.N. refugee agency and stay in refugee camps in Yemen, while others take jobs in the cities as laborers for less than a $1 a day.
The wave of refugees to the poorest country in the Arab world shows no sign of abating as violence continues to rock Somalia, despite Ethiopia’s December 2006 intervention in the country to support the internationally recognized government.
In 2007, Yemeni authorities said about 5,000 illegal Ethiopian and Somali migrants arrived in Yemen, while nearly 400 died along the way. Out of 88,000 registered refugees in Yemen, about 84,000 are Somali, according to the UNHCR.
DUBAI (Reuters) – Marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie has said he could withdraw from the event at the Beijing Olympics if the city fails to reduce air pollution levels.
The 34-year-old Ethiopian, who suffers from a breathing condition that forced him to drop out of last year’s London Marathon, spoke of his concern after winning the Dubai Marathon on Friday.
“When I come to Beijing, things could happen…it could be worse and that’s why I am a little bit worried,” he told Reuters Television in an interview.
“If things are like that (still heavily polluted) I would try to run a different distance, instead of the marathon.”
Pollution in Beijing, known for its noxious smog, is a major concern for athletes and officials planning for August’s Games.
Olympic chief Jacques Rogge said last year that some events might have to be rescheduled if the air quality was not good enough.
Beijing has poured 120 billion yuan ($16.55 billion) into clearing the smog, with factories closed, construction halted and cars cleared from the roads in an effort to lift the grey cloak that often shrouds the city.
Gebrselassie said he was not planning to run any more 42-km distances before Beijing, with a few shorter races on the agenda before relocating to an as-yet undecided location to prepare for the Games.
The Ethiopian, who has set 26 world records, ran the second fastest time in history in Dubai on Friday, finishing in two hours four minutes 53 seconds.
He had been chasing a $1 million prize on offer for breaking his own world record but fell 27 seconds short of the mark he set in Berlin last September.
“One pacemaker at the beginning of the race didn’t do the right job,” he said. “I told him several times just to slow down and he didn’t do that. He didn’t listen to me,” said Gebrselassie.
“I said to him four or five times ‘what’s going on, man? Cool it’ And that was the mistake…really I can say I’m lucky just to finish the race. In such a kind of race, when it’s too fast at the beginning there is a possibility just to drop out.”
(Writing by Alan Baldwin in London, Editing by Clare Fallon)
Kinijit North America has informed Ethiopian Review that five Kinijit supporters in Butajira, southern Ethiopia, have been arrested. Gizachew Lemma, Shemsu Yassin, Seid Kiyar, Yirgalem Nigatu and Tarekegn Abebe were arrested by by Woyanne gunmen this morning after being accused of holding an illegal public gathering with Kinijit leaders last week.
Later in the afternoon, three of them (Gizachew Lemma, Shemsu Yassin and Tarekegn Abebe) were released after they had been interrogated about the current Kinijit’s delegation visit in the area. Seid Kiyar and Yirgalem Nigatu are still under arrest.
ADDIS ABABA, Jan 18, 2008 (AFP) – Islamist insurgents battling the Somali government and Ethiopian Woyanne forces are increasingly taking the fight outside of the capital Mogadishu, an African Union report said Friday.
“Over the past weeks, the anti-government forces have spread their activities to regions that were previously peaceful, though not necessarily under government control,” said the report by AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare.
The report said insurgents were training recruits and planning attacks in the Lower and Upper Jubba regions, the two southernmost provinces in the troubled Horn of Africa country.
“Armed elements are also reported to be using the Lower Shabelle region to ferry arms,” Konare’s report said.
The report listed recent incidents it said were further evidence that the armed wing of the Islamist movement that controlled large parts of the country for months in 2006 was seeking to destabilise the government nationwide.
The African Union has around 1,600 Ugandan peacekeeping troops deployed in Mogadishu, but the contingent has struggled to make an impact, with the rest of the 8,000 forces pledged by the body slow to arrive.
Burundi has started deployed an 800-strong battalion but no timetable has yet been set for the deployment of contingents pledged by Ghana and Nigeria.
The Ugandan troops, which were dispatched to Mogadishu early last year, started rotating for the first time and a first contingent returned to Uganda on Friday.
A group of 200 Ugandan peacekeepers “came back flying our flag and a replacement is going,” Lieutenant Naboth Mugisha, an air force spokesman at Entebbe airbase, told AFP. A fresh batch of 200 left Friday for Mogadishu, he added.
