ADDIS ABABA, Jan 4 (Reuters) – A U.S. team has started an assessment of the aid situation in Ethiopia’s troubled Ogaden region, the U.S. embassy said, after conflict there fuelled fears of a humanitarian crisis.
The Ethiopian Woyanne army launched a major offensive earlier this year against Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels in the remote eastern region, which borders Somalia.
The U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa said on Friday the team, made up of experts from the U.S. Agency for International Development and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would give an impartial assessment of the situation.
Citing poor rains and restrictions on transport due to the conflict, the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said on Friday it was “increasingly concerned” about food security in the region.
Last month, Ethiopian Woyanne expelled an Australian and a Briton working for the charity Save the Children UK after accusing them of diverting food aid to the ONLF.
Several aid organisations were ordered out of Ogaden in July. But the government has relaxed restrictions since then and licensed the United Nations and 19 agencies to work there.
(Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
አምስት የቅንጅት ለአንድነትና ለዴሞክራሲ የስራ አስፈጻሚ አባላትን ከፓርቲው ህገ ደንብ ውጭ አግጃለሁ በማለት ህዝባዊው ድርጅት በገዢው ፓርቲ እየተፈጸመበት የነበረውን የማፍረስ ጥረት ከፍተኛ እገዛ የሰጡት ኃይሉ ሻውል ወደ አገር ቤት የመመለሳቸው ጉዳይ አጠራጣሪ መሆኑን የቅርብ ምንጮች አመለከቱ፡፡
ሊቀ መንበሩን መመለስ ከሚጠራጠሩት ወገኖች አንደኛው በቀድሞው የመኢአድ ጽ/ቤት በመሆን የአቶ ኃይሉን ትእዛዝ የሚያስፈጽሙት አባላት ጭምር መሆናቸው ጉዳዩን አስገራሚ አድርጎታል፡፡ በጽ/ቤቱ በሚደረጉ የውይይት አጀንዳዎች ላይም ይህ ሃሳብ ተነስቶ እንደማያውቅ ማንነታቸው እንዲገለጽ ያለፈለጉ የቅርብ ወዳጆቻቸው ገልጸዋል፡፡
በተለይ ሰሞኑን ሳሪስ አቦ የሚገኘውን የአቶ ኃይሉን ቤት ለማከራየት በደላሎች አማካይነት እየተደረገ ያለው ጥረት አቶ ኃይሉ መኖርያቸውን በዘላቂነት በአሜሪካ ሊያደርጉ ይችላሉ የሚለውን ጥርጣሬ አጉልቶታል፡፡ለዚህ የመኖርያ ቤት የተጠየቀው የኪራይ መጠን 60 ሺህ ብር (U.S. $6,500 በወር) ያህል መሆኑን የተከራይ አፈላላጊዎቹ ገልጸውልናል፡፡
ይህ በእንዲህ እንዳለ የፓርቲውን ሃላፊነት ተረክቦ ወሳኝ እንቅስቃሴዎችን የጀመረው የቅንጅት ለአንድነትና ለዴሞክራሲ ፓርቲ የስራ አስፈጻሚ አካል በእሁዱ ላእላይ ም/ቤት አባላት የተላለፉትን ውሳኔዎች ለማስፈጸም ከፍተኛ እንቅስቃሴ የጀመረ ሲሆን በትናንትናው እለት በመሰብሰብ በተግባራዊ ሂደቶች ዙርያ በሚያከናውናቸው አጀንዳዎች ዙርያ መክሯል፡፡
Ethiopian Review readers have voted Prof. Alemayehu Gebremariam as “The 2007 Person of Year” who made the most significant contribution to the betterment of Ethiopia in the past 12 months. He was voted as “Person of the Year” for his relentless effort to help pass H.R. 2003 (Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007) in the United States Congress. He is a leading advocate of H.R. 2003 and an effective spokesperson for a coalition of Ethiopian groups that are laboring hard to get the bill passed.
Congratulation, Prof. Alemayehu.
The choice of Alemayehu Gebremariam as “Person of the Year” by 35 percent of those who voted has two messages: First, Ethiopians strongly believe that H.R. 2003 will help bring about a positive change in Ethiopia; and second (the obvious one), Prof. Alemayehu and his coalition of activists have been highly effective in the face of an all out efforts by the Woyanne regime, its high-powered lobbyists, and the U.S. State Department to kill the bill, which was passed unanimously by the House of Representatives and is currently pending in the Senate. It is an awesome achievement.
But that is not the whole story. The result of the poll also reveals the fact that we Ethiopians overly rely on the U.S. to help us win our freedom. H.R. 2003 could be helpful to the struggle IF it is approved by the Senate and signed by the President. But it will not be a determining factor in bringing about change in Ethiopia. The only way freedom and democratic rule can prevail in Ethiopia is when Ethiopians stand up in unison and fight using any means available — coordinated political, military and diplomatic battles must be waged by a coalition of opposition groups.
The nucleus of this coalition already exists. It is called the “Alliance for Freedom and Democracy” (AFD). AFD’s current objective is to facilitate a national reconciliation dialogue. If Woyanne continues to reject dialogue with the opposition, AFD’s next step could and should be to prepare for an eventual fall down of the Woyanne regime by creating a transitional government in exile.
Ethiopian Review believes that the only route to regime change in Ethiopia is the one that is being followed by AFD. Because of this reason, Ethiopian Review’s choice for Person of the Year for 2007 would have been the chairman of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), Ato Daud Ibsa, who was instrumental in the creation of AFD.
Unfortunately, AFD could not achieve its objective of organizing a reconciliation conference so far because one of the main opposition parties that make up AFD (Kinijit) has been going through a leadership crisis and is unable to decide on its role inside AFD. The conference could have led to the formation of an all-inclusive transitional government by now.
The fact that AFD exits at all, however, has completely changed the Ethiopian political landscape over night by bringing ethnic-based, heavily armed groups like OLF and ONLF to the mainstream Ethiopian politics. As a result, OLF and ONLF now enjoy wide support among non-Ogadeni and non-Oromo Ethiopians as well.
Under the visionary leadership of Daud Ibsa, OLF has been transformed into a powerful political/military force that even non-Oromos are starting to rely on to help bring change in Ethiopia. With its military wing led by a professional officers corps of generals and colonels, and with a matured and highly experienced political leadership, OLF has become a leading player in Ethiopian politics. When the fast-decaying Woyanne regime falls apart, the OLF military alone can step in and maintain order, let alone joined by the other opposition parties such as Kinijit, ONLF, EPPF, TPDM and others.
OLF leader Ato Daud Ibsa has played a key role in the realignment of forces in the Horn of Africa region. His visionary leadership has contributed significantly to the recent paradigm shift in Ethiopian politics. We therefore believe that Daud Ibsa has been the most consequential person in 2007 as far as Ethiopia is concerned.
The second and third place winners of “The 2007 Person of the Year” poll are Kinijit vice-chair Bertukan Mideksa and Addis Ababa Mayor-Elect Berhanu Nega with 29% and 22%, respectively. This is not surprising since both Wzt. Bertukan and Dr Berhanu spent over half of 2007 in jail unable to function. And yet the combined votes they have received amounts to 51 percent. This shows the strong popular support Kinijit continues to enjoy.
The most talked about part of the poll for “Person of the Year” is the inclusion of Eritrea’s President Issayas Afeworki. He has received 19 percent of the votes — which is significant considering decades of enmity between Ethiopians and Shabia. As a result of several steps taken by Issayas Afeworki, the enmity is being replaced with friendship and a spirit of cooperation for mutual benefit.
What did Issayas do to gain the friendship of Ethiopians?
During the 1998-2000 catastrophic war, Issayas Afeworki and the Eritrean leadership have observed that when Woyanne engaged in an ethnic cleansing of Eritreans, it was the people of Ethiopia who gave them shelter and protected them from Woyanne thugs who were confiscating their properties and forcibly deporting them. This has no doubt left an indelible mark on the Eritrean psyche. Ever since, Eritreans have stopped looking Amharas, Oromos, Guraghes and other Ethiopians as enemies. For the past seven years, the Eritrean leadership has been cultivating a better relationship with the people of Ethiopia. In return, several Ethiopian opposition groups, such as OLF, EPPF, ONLF, TPDM, SLF, and others have established close ties with Eritrea. Many opposition leaders have visited Eritrea in the past few years — some secretly, some in the open. For example, OLF and ONLF leaders make frequent visits to Asmara. The late chairman of ENUF and distinguished scientist Dr Kitaw Ejigou had been to Asmara for talks with Eritrean officials. Journalist Demis Belete, artist Solomon Tekalign, EPPF’s former head of International Committee Ato Zewdalem Kebede and a delegation of several Ethiopians have visited Eritrea for several weeks last year. The disgraced former chairman of Kinijit North America, Shaleqa Yoseph Yazew, had held meetings with Eritrean officials in UAE and probably in Asmara in the Summer of 2006.
After the May 2005 elections, when Woyanne unleashed its Agazi snipers and killers on Kinijit supporters, it was the Eritrean regime that had provided food and shelter to the thousands of young Ethiopians who fled the Woyanne terror campaign, while Sudan, Djibouti and Kenya deported back those who took refuge in their territories. Eritrea’s TV and radio stations have aired detailed accounts of the atrocities that were being carried out by Woyanne on Ethiopian civilians. These reports will no doubt be helpful for future war crimes trial of Woyanne leaders.
It is going to take time and a great deal of nurturing for the friendship of Eritreans and Ethiopians to fully realized. Woyanne will try any thing in its power to stop that, but it will fail. After 17 years of brutal rule by the tribal junta, and particularly after the atrocities it has committed following the 2005 elections, most Ethiopians now believe that any one is better than Woyanne, let alone our own Eritrean brothers and sisters who are willing to lend their hands. Woyanne’s divide and conquer tactic does not work any more.
Ethiopian freedom fighters have a powerful ally — the Government of Eritrea. If this friendship continues to grow, there is a real chance that 2008 will bring about the end of Woyanne rule, and Issayas could be chosen as “Person of the Year.”
It seems that Woyanne is determined not to allow Kinijit to survive in Ethiopia as a viable political party. Woyanne is using all instruments of coercion and repression to push out Kinijit from the political stage inside Ethiopia. Kinijit is not without options. If it is unable to open its offices inside Ethiopia and freely operate, it may decide to move its main office to Asmara and operate from there. The fact that Kinijit has such an option available to it will send chills through the Woyanne spine. Just imagine how Woyannes would react if Dr Berhanu Nega or another high profile Kinijit leader goes to Asmara and set up an office there? ‘Think outside the box.’
The person who won the 4th place is Ato Obang Metho, executive director of the Anuak Justice Council. Obang is a positive influence on Ethiopian politics. His consistent message of unity and cooperation has earned him respect and admiration from every quarter of the Ethiopian society. In 2007, he had visited several cities and participated in numerous public meeting where he urged Ethiopians to unite for a common purpose — freedom.
In conclusion, hopefully this poll has motivated others to contribute to the betterment of Ethiopia in 2008. Thank you for participating.
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ቅንጅት ለአንድነትና ለዴሞክራሲ ፓርቲ ከተመሰረተበት ጊዜ አንስቶ ከውስጥም ከውጭም ከፍተኛ ችግሮች አጋጥመውታል፡፡ እነዚህን ሁሉ ችግሮች ተቋቁሞ በግንቦት 97 ዓ.ም. ምርጫ አመርቂ ውጤት ያስመዘገበው፣ ከጥምረት ወደ ውህደት ለመሸጋገር የበቃውና ዛሬም ድረስ በሀገሪቱ ፖለቲካ መድረክ ላይ ዋነኛ የመነጋገሪያ አጀንዳ እንደሆነ የዘለቀበት አብይ ምክንያት በፕሮግራሙ የገለፀውና በተፈፃሚነቱም አመራሩ ቃል የገባለት ዓላማው የሕዝብን ተቀባይነትና ድጋፍ በመግኘቱ ነው፡፡
ቅንጅት ዓላማውን ተፈፃሚ ለማድረግ በሚያከናውነው ትግል ከሚመራባቸው መርሆች መካከል ሕጋዊነት፣ ዴሞክራሲያዊ የጋራ አመራር፣ የአሰራር ግልጽነትና መልካም ሥነ-ምግባር ዋና ዋናዎቹ ናቸው፡፡ እነዚህ መርሆች በአገር ደረጃም ሆነ በፓርቲው ውስጥም ተግባራዊ እንዲሆኑ ቅንጅት በጽኑ ይታገላል፡፡
ፓርቲው የተነሳለትንና ሕዝብ መስዋዕትነት የከፈለለትን ቅዱስ ዓላማ ከግብ ለማድረስ፣ ለሕዝብ የገባውንም ቃል ተግባራዊ ለማድረግ በቅድሚያ የፓርቲው ሕልውና መረጋገጥ በእጅጉ ወሳኝ ነው፡፡ ለዚህ ደግሞ የላዕላይ ም/ቤቱ ተሟልቶና ተጠናክሮ መጀመርና በፓርቲው ውስጥ ለሚታዩ ሕገ-ወጥ ድርጊቶች እልባት መስጠት አቢይ ተግባር ይሆናል፡፡
ስለሆነም ነው የቅንጅት ሥራ አሰፈፃሚ ኮሚቴ ለሦስት ጊዜ የላዕላይ ም/ቤት ስብሰባ ጠርቶ በሦስተኛው በተገኙ አባላት አሳሪ ውሣኔ እንደሚተላለፍ ያስታወቀው፡፡፡ በዚህም መሠረት ታህሣሥ 20 ቀን 2000 ዓ.ም. በተካሄደው የላዕላይ ም/ቤት ስብሰባ፡-
1. የተጓደሉ የላዕላይ ም/ቤት አባላትን ስለሟሟላቱ፣
2. የፓርቲውን ሕጋዊነት ስለማረጋገጥና
3. ሊቀ መንበሩ ስለወሰዷቸው ሕገ-ወጥ እርምጃዎች
በሚሉ ወቅታዊና አንገብጋቢ ጉዳዮች ላይ ምክር ቤቱ በስፋት መክሮ የጋራ ግንዛቤ ይዟል፣ ውሣኔዎችንም አስተላልፏል፡፡
ም/ቤቱ የተገነዘባቸው ጭብጦች
1. ፓርቲው ሥራውን በአግባቡ መቀጠል እንዲችል የላዕላይ ም/ቤቱ ቁጥር ማሟላት እጅግ አስፈላጊ መሆኑን፣
2. በመተዳደሪያ ደንቡ አንቀጽ 9.2.3 መሠት የተጓደሉ የላዕላይ ም/ቤት አባላት የማሟላት ኃላፊነት ሥራ አስፈፃሚው በውክልና የተሰጠው መሆኑን፣
3. ከቅንጅት ለቀው የሌላ ፓርቲ አባላት በሆኑ፣ ከፓርቲው ጋር ላለመቀጠል መወሰናቸውን በተለያየ መንገድ በገለጹና በጤና ምክንያት ካልሆነ በስተቀር ከሀገር ከወጡ ቢያንስ ስድስት ወራት በሆናቸውና መኖሪያቸውን በዚያው ባደረጉት የላዕላይ ም/ቤት አባላት ምትክ ማሟላት አስፈላጊ መሆኑን፣
4. የፓርቲውን ሕጋዊ ሰውነት ማረጋገጥ ጊዜ የማይሰጠው ጉዳይ መሆኑን፣
5. ሊቀ መንበሩ አምስት የላዕላይ ም/ቤት አባላትን ማገዳቸውና እንዲሁም ተተኪዬ ሆኖ እንዲሠራ በሚል ሰው የመደቡ መሆናቸውን መግለፃቸው የፓርቲውን መተዳደሪያ ደንብ የጣሰና መሠረታዊ የሆኑትን የዴሞክራሲያዊ አሰራር መርሆችን ያላገናዘበ መሆኑን፣
6. የሊቀ መንበሩን አካሄድ እየተከተሉ በሀገር ውስጥ በሕገ-ወጥ ተግባር ላይ የተሰማሩ ግለሰቦች ቅንጅትን ለማዳን በሚል ሽፋን የሚያከናውኑት ተግባር የግል ፍላጎትን ለማሳካት የሚከናወን ከቅንጅቱ መሠረታዊ ዓላማ ጭራሹኑ ባፈነገጠ መሆኑን ተገንዝቧል፡፡
የተላለፉ ውሣኔዎች
1.1 በተጓደሉ የላዕላይ ም/ቤት አባላት ምትክ ስለማሟላት፡-
ፓርቲው የገጠመውን ውስጣዊና ውጫዊ ችግሮች ተቋቁሞና አስተማማኝ መፍትሔ ሰጥቶ የተነሳለትን ዓላማ ከግብ ለማድረስ የሚያስችለውን ተግባር ለማከናወን ላዕላይ ም/ቤቱ በአጭር ጊዜ ቁጥሩ ተሟልቶና ተጠናክሮ ሥራ መጀመር ስላለበት የሥራ አስፈፃሚ ኮሚቴው በድርጅቱ መተዳደሪያ ደንብ አንቀጽ 9.2.3 በተሰጠው ኃላፊነት መሠረት የማሟላቱን ሥራ አከናውኖ በአስቸኳይ ለላዕላይ ም/ቤቱ እንዲያሳውቅ፣
1.2 የፓርቲውን ሕጋዊነት ስለማረጋገጥ፡-
ቀደም ሲል ይህንን ተግባር እንዲያከናውን የተቋቋመው ኮሚቴ ያከናወናቸውን ተግባራት በመገምገምና እንደ ግብአት በመጠቀም የፓርቲውን ሕጋዊነት በአጭር ጊዜ ለማረጋገጥ የሚያስችሉ አቅጣጫዎችን በማጥናት የሥራ አስፈፃሚ ኮሚቴ ለላዕላይ ም/ቤቱ እንዲያቀርብ፣
1.3 አቶ ኃይሉ ሻውል የወሰዷቸውን እርምጃዎች በተመለከተ፡-
ሀ/ የፓርቲያችን መተዳደሪያ ደንብ በክፍል ሦስት አንቀጽ 24 በስምንት ንዑሳን አንቀፆች ውስጥ እንኳንስ የሥራ አስፈፃሚንና የላዕላይ ም/ቤት አባለትን ቀርቶ ማንኛውንም አባል የማገድ ሥልጣን የሚሰጥ ቦታ የለም፡፡
ለ/ እንዲሁም የግል ተወካይ የመሾምም ሆነ የመመደብ ሥልጣን ለሊቀ መንበሩ የሚሰጥ አንቀጽ የለም፡፡ ዴሞክራሲያዊ አሰራርን በሚከተል ፓርቲ ውስጥ እንዲህ ዓይነት አሰራር ፈጽሞ ሊኖር አይችልም፡፡
ሐ/ የፓርቲያችን መተዳደሪያ ደንብ አንቀጽ 23 ንዑስ አንቀጽ 1 ሊቀ መንበሩን ተክቶ የመሥራት ኃላፊነት የተ/ም/ሊቀ መንበር መሆን በግልጽ ይደነግጋል፡፡
መ/ በፓርቱው ሊቀ መንበር፣ ተ/ም/ሊቀ መንበር፣ ም/ሊቀ መንበር፣ ዋና ፀሐፊና ሌሎች የሥራ አስፈፃሚ ኮሚቴ አባላት ላይ እርምጃ መውሰድ የሚችለው ላዕላይ ም/ቤት መሆኑን የሚደነግገው የመተዳደሪያ ደንባችን አንቀጽ 9.3.18 ይህ ሊሆን የሚችለው በ2/ኛ ድምጽ መሆኑን አስፍሯል፡፡
ስለሆነም ሊቀ መንበሩ የወሰዱት እርምጃ ፍጹም ሕገ-ወጥ ነው፡፡ የሕግ የበላይነት መርህ በቅንጅት ፖለቲካ ከሚሰጠው ሥፍራ አንፃር ደግሞ እንዲህ ዓይነት የሕግ ጥሰት ሲፈፀም በቸልታ ማለፍ በፍፁም የሚቻል ነገር አይደለም፡፡ በመሆኑም ደን በሚፈቅደው መሠት ጉዳዩ በዝርዝር ታይቶ ውሣኔ እስከሚሰጥበት ጊዜ ድረስ ሊቀመንበሩ ሕገ ደንቡ ከሚፈቅድላቸው ውጭ በመንቀሳቀስ ቅንጅቱንና አጠቃላይ የፖለቲካ ትግሉን የሚጎዳና የድርጅቱን አባላትና ደጋፊዎች የሚያሳዝን ተግባር ከመፈፀም እንዲታቀቡ ም/ቤቱ በጥብቅ ያሳስባል፡፡
2.4 በሊቀ መንበሩ ሕገ-ወጥ ድርጊት ላይ ተመርተው በሀገር ውስጥ በተመሣሣይ ተግባር ላይ የተሰማሩ ጥቂት የላዕላይ ም/ቤት አባላትም በፓርቲው ሕጋዊ አሰራር ላይ እንቅፋት ከመሆን እንዲቆጠቡ ም/ቤቱ በጥብቅ ያሳስባል፡፡
በመጨረሻም ቅንጅት በሕጋዊነት፣ በጋራ አመራር፣ በአሰራር ግልጽነትና በመልካም ሥነ-ምግባር መርሆች ላይ ተመስርቶ አሁን የገጠሙትን ውስጣዊና ውጫዊ ችግሮች አልፎ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ የጣለበትን አደራ ለመወጣትና የገባውን ዓላማ ከግብ ለማድረስ ትግሉን በጽናት ይቀጥላል፡፡ ለዚህም ተግባሩ እውን መሆን ሕልናውናውን ማረጋገጥ ወሳኝ በመሆኑ ይህን ጉዳይ በተመለከተ ከሚመለከታቸው ወገኖች ጋር ሁሉ ተግቶ ይሰራል፣ በሂደት የሚያጋጥሙትንም ችግሮች ለሕዝብ እያሳወቀ ጥረቱን የሚቀጥል መሆኑን እየገለፀ ሕዝቡ የተለመደ ድጋፉን እንዲሰጥ ጥሪውን ያቀርባል፡፡
የቅንጅት ለአንደነትና ለዴሞክራሲ ፓርቲ
የላዕላይ ም/ቤት
ታህሣሥ 23/2000 ዓ.ም.
አዲስ አበባ
fivertofashion.com
Matthew Williamson, the British celebrity designer, whose achievement have been recognized by the fashion industry consistently for several years, is disappointed as Ethiopia’s Intellectual Property Office conveyed their annoyance over replication of their traditional prints in his creations.
The designer has imprinted these African-inspired designs in his Spring Summer 2008 collection. The Ethiopian Government Woyanne launched an inquiry against him to protect their national costume.
In order to defend Matthew Williamson, his spokesperson, in a statement, said, “Historically, Matthew Williamson bases his collections on the idea of a modern girl who is a global traveler. Her style is in part defined by incorporating many different cultures, traditions and customs.”
It was further stressed, “The spring-summer 2008 season was particularly inspired by the idea of modernizing and celebrating certain traditional African fabrics and costumes.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE
These greedy dictators want to control every thing, even the fashion industry. If we are to follow the Woyanne logic, then the U.S. Government can tell other countries not to manufacture jeans. What a bunch of idiots! If Woyanne stands for Ethiopia’s interest, why does it give away large swaths of fertile land to Sudan?
