AP
Zersenay Tadese and Lornah Kiplagat brilliantly defended their IAAF World Half-Marathon Championship titles with runaway victories in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
The Eritrean and Dutch stars used almost identical tactics when stretching their opponents in the early stages of their races to collect winner’s purses of 30,000 US dollars (£17,598).
Tadese, who opened up a 30-second lead after 10 kilometres, scorched to a sub-one hour time of 59 minutes 56 seconds to destroy the ambitions of Patrick Makau Musyoki and Ahmad Hassan Abdullah.
The Kenyan matched his runner-up feat of last year by clocking one hour, one minute and 54 seconds while the Qatari bronze medallist finished in a season’s best 1:01:57.
The dominant Kenyans took team honours for the third successive year, their three counters posting a mark of three hours seven minutes and 24 seconds.
Eritrea and Ethiopia repeated their silver and bronze medal performances at the previous championships in 3:09:40 and 3:10:52.
“This was a race I was determined to win and yes, I did prepare specially for it,” said 26-year-old Tadese, effectively clinching a third successive global title having claimed the now-defunct IAAF World Road Running crown over 20km two years ago.
Kiplagat also stood head and shoulders above the opposition in her 13.1 mile race when after forcing a fast pace through the first 5km uphill stretch, she accelerated two kilometres later to destroy her rivals.
“I just wanted to get away and not place myself under any pressure as happened last year,” said Kenya-born Kiplagat, who has represented Holland since 2003 after marrying coach Pieter Langerhorst.
Kiplagat’s scorching pace in a perfect racing temperature of 25 degrees saw her roar to a season’s best of 1:08:37 to decisively win ahead of Aselefech Mergia and Pamela Chepchumba.
By Mohammed Omar SMC
A convey of Ethiopian military troops Woyanne henchmen which has left the Somali capital Mogadishu, and heading towards Afgoi district which is some 30KM from the Somali capital Mogadishu came under a remote control landmine explosion just some 18KM before reaching the actual destination on Sunday morning.
The explosion was an earsplitting one, and its sound was heard almost in the entire neighborhood.
“The Ethiopian troops TPLF thugs were traveling in 14 military trucks and immediately after the explosion they have alighted from the trucks and opened heavy fire in all the directions, they have also cordoned off the road for a brief time and later reopened it, I have seen them from very far collecting the bodies of 3 of their soldiers but what I can verify is that 1 of their military trucks was burnt to ashes” said Hassan Kassim a resident in the area.
It is the same, same place where Ethiopian military soldiers TPLF mercilessly butchered more than 80 innocent Somali civilians traveling along the road which links Mogadishu and Afgoi district.
Since the arrival of the Ethiopian troops TPLF in Somali particularly in the capital Mogadishu backing the Somali transitional government they have encountered uncountable attacks and roadside bombs.
Somali has not had effective central government for nearly two decades since late Mohamed Siyad Bare was overthrown from power in 1991.
By Martin Plaut BBC News
Aid agencies are warning that Ethiopian authorities are under-estimating the scale of the country’s drought.
Official estimates of the number of people facing hunger and hardship stand at 4.6m but agencies warn the real figure could be more than 8m.
There is also confusion over the amount of money needed to meet the crisis, with the Oxfam agency estimating it at about $500m.
However, the United Nations reports that $772m has already been pledged.
Proud people
Ethiopia is in the grip of severe food shortages after rains failed across a large swathe of the east and south of the country.
But attempts to deal with the crisis have been hindered by disputes over the number of people affected.
In April the first government appeal spoke of more than 2m in need of food aid. By June that figure had risen to well over 4m.
Aid agencies now say the official estimate has reached 6.4m – but has not yet been released.
But, say the agencies, even this underestimates the scale of the problem.
Ethiopians are a proud people, who hate the image of their country forever extending a begging bowl. And they are suspicious of the motives of the aid community.
In an interview with Time magazine in August, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said there were pockets of severe malnutrition but that the situation was manageable.
He questioned the way some agencies operated, saying they tended to use “hyperbole” to get the aid they needed.
“That can convey the message that the situation is hopeless when in fact it is not,” said the prime minister.
Yet if the 8m figure is correct, and if this is added to the approximately 7m who are chronically short of food, then as many as 20% of all Ethiopians could need food aid this year.
Oxfam has just released a fresh appeal. It says the aid required is $260m short of its target.
But figures produced by the United Nations office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs show that $772m has already been pledged, the vast majority from the US, which has nearly trebled its aid to Ethiopia this year.
The current crisis in Ethiopia is being lost in a swirling mist of competing figures.
MOGADISHU (Xinhua) – Talks aimed at pacifying the Somali capital Mogadishu is under way between leaders of Al-Shabaab Islamist movement, an insurgent group, and elders of the revered Hawiye clan, local media reports said Sunday.
The talks between the two sides comes after the elders this week managed to persuade the Al-Shabaab group to rescind their threat to shoot down planes using the airport in Mogadishu which they said is being used for military purposes.
“We are talking brotherly for the sake of our people and the leaders of the Al-Shabaab will take our advice as they listened tous before,” Ahmed Diriye, spokesman for the Council of Hawiye clanelders, told reporters in Mogadishu.
Diriye, who last week said he received death threats from members of the group, was hopeful that a deal could be reached regarding the security of the capital particularly in the few residential areas remaining in the city.
Spokesman for Al-Shabaab, Sheik Muqtar Robow Abu Masur, distanced his group from the death threats against the Hawiye elder, saying Diriye is “the grandfather of all resistant fighters” and can never be threatened.
Bridgye Ba-Houko, spokesman for AU peacekeeping force in Somalia, told Xinhua that he welcomes the efforts by clan leaders to bring peace to the city.
The Al-Shabaab group, listed by the U.S. as one of the foreign terror organizations, has been accused of operating from populated areas in their attacks against African Union peacekeepers and Ethiopian Woyanne troops backing Somali government forces, who in turn respond with heavier artillery shells that causes many of the civilian causalities.
Nearly a hundred and fifty civilians have been killed and more than three hundred others wounded as a result of heavy shelling between AU forces guarding the airport and the Al-Shabaab which attacked the airport with mortar shells every time a plane landed since Sept. 16.
The Reporter
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA – These past few weeks we have been writing about Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi’s investment in Ethiopia, with particular emphasis on the large tracts of fenced-off land that have been left undeveloped for a long time and projects that are abandoned/neglected after they are well under way.
Why this emphasis now? Does the issue truly deserve to be a subject of concern? Whether Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi’s investment is successful or fails, does it have such a meaningful impact on the Ethiopian economy to merit so much fretting and writing?
Yes, it does and as such needs to be emphasized. The Sheikh’s investment is the foremost and biggest non-governmental investment in Ethiopia. He is involved in such investment fields as agriculture, manufacturing, transport, hotel and tourism, finance and trading, education and health, sport and entertainment, mining and energy, construction, etc.
The diversity of the fields, the volume of investment as well as the job opportunities created by his investment are so significant that his role requires particular attention.
Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi’s decision to invest heavily in his country of origin and create thousands of jobs is quite commendable. Despite this, however, one glaring weakness is apparent in his investment: the absence of a management capable of making the investment successful.
Organizationwise, the appropriate organizational structure required for investment purpose is absent. There is lack of clarity as to where and how his major investment vehicle in Ethiopia – Midroc Ethiopia – and other companies are headed to, operate and are managed.
Some of the persons appointed to positions of management are known to have official portfolios and a sense of duty to serve their country. On the other hand, there are those who, without having an official portfolio, claim to be managers and wield considerable power. Heaven knows how they came to have such power.
Consequently, the incapable and unauthorized “management” is increasingly riding roughshod over and undermining the capable and properly appointed management. The investment, hence, is gradually becoming one which is not run by a legally appointed management but is being pulled about by a bunch of “cell-phone overlords” who have no official portfolio or office.
This state of affairs necessarily creates a potentially alarming situation. If, God forbid, something bad were to happen to Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi, can his companies operate normally under this condition? As things stand now, the answer must be no. So what would be their fate? They would fold up. Can the government prop them up? No, it can’t. Is there another local investor which can come to their rescue? No. Can anyone bail them out as the US government did its financial institutions? No.
Their failure will entail the loss of countless jobs and “toxic” debts for the banks which lent them money; their incaple managements will cause financial loss through their incompetence. The result is a disastrous chaos.
It’s because we foresee that such an unpleasant scenario will unfold that we believe the situation calls for urgent attention.
Can the situation be ameliorated before it develops into a full-scale crisis?
If the Sheikh is determined to address the problem fundamentally, we believe it can be resolved shortly. It is our wish for the problem to be properly handled and to see both him and the nation benefit from it.
There are a range of measures that can be taken with a view to bring about the desired solution. What are these?
One: To create a capable and strong management
Assess the existing situation critically so as to identify both strong and incapable members of management. Headhunt for competent persons experience at running the investment locally and, if necessary, abroad with the aim of putting in place immediately a capable, strong and forward-thinking management.
Two: Get rid of greedy, incapable and unappointed “shadow managers” and “cell-phone overlords”
We think that the fact that there exists a chronic managerial problem, and it is the major problem, is obvious to everyone. The problem is not attributable to the absence of capable persons willing to work for the Sheikh; rather it can be traced to the proliferation and the ascension to power of individuals who claim to be loyal servants but, in fact, derail his investment for their own selfish interests and who, without having any official portfolio or office, meddle in and hold up things orally through their cell phones. If these individuals are relatives or friends, they can be assisted without being allowed to interfere in work-related matters. But they must be purged from managerial positions within the investment.
Three: Establish the ” Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi” foundation
It is undebatable that Sheikh Al-Amoudi is entitled to give away his money to whomever he pleases. But he can earn public gratitude when he makes the donation institutionally for a cause which benefits both the public and the nation. This way he gets both spiritual and personal satisfaction.
It should not be doubted that throwing away his money for unworthy causes will not earn him thanks. It will only damage his reputation.
The foundation to be established can support various worthy endeavors in the fields of science, research, sports, arts, etc. Hence, it should be created immediately and commence operation. When it does so, it will have an all-round beneficial effect and put the Sheikh in a good stead with the public.
Four: Focus on dependable investment areas, exit from unviable investments, swallow only what can be chewed
Amassing vast tracts of land and fencing them off without developing them or acquiring pubic enterprises from the government and leaving them idle is not a mark of prudence but an action which seems to be motivated by the desire to stick one’s fingers in every pie. Therefore, the Sheikh’s investments must be focused; he must abandon those activities which have no prospects of earning him a return.
Five: Assess and identify companies in terms of profitability, human resource, organization, technology transfer and societal benefit.
An investment can be deemed to benefit a nation and its people when it creates wealth by becoming profitable; it brings in technological know- how; it engages in the development human resource through education and training; and it provides a service which is of value to the community. Companies need to be assessed from this perspective.
Six: Engage in a healthy competition and cooperate with other investors.
The tendency presently being observed is one of unhealthy opposition, suspicion and creating impediments vis-à-vis other investors and not to act as a role model and benefactor for them. This should be immediately halted and be replaced by a culture of responsible corporate governance which is exemplary and promotes a healthy competition. It is high time for an altitudinal change.
Seven: Provide the necessary governmental support
The government must take it upon itself to closely monitor the investments of Sheikh Al-Amoudi so that it can discuss and work with him in resolving the problems attending them. Overall, the investments are beneficial to the country. This said, however, there are harmful aspects of these investments which must be done away with. In view of this, the government ought take a decisive action in that it must support areas of the Sheikh’s investment which are performing well and have the courage to “amputate” the “gangrenous” ones or administer a panacea to those which can be cured.
These solution measures by no means are exhaustive. The important thing is to abandon a spontaneous brand of management and make the transition to a scientific investment management. If there is a commitment to this goal, it can be accomplished successfully.
