In the photograph his mother keeps of him, Skinder Germay, born in Sudan, is smiling widely, unguardedly. His mother thinks he was 20 when he was killed, but she’s not sure of his exact age. The yellow slip of paper she received when she and her four other children were released from Ketziot prison says Skinder was buried on March 26 in the cemetery at Kibbutz Hatzor. During her time in prison, the mother was taken to see his grave. She fell on it sobbing and wailing. “Anonymous” read the marker.
The mother, Yirgalem Beyene, who thinks she is 40, now lives with her four children in a typically, horribly overcrowded hostel for some 50 African refugees, roughly half adults and half children, in a South Tel Aviv slum. Speaking in Arabic through a translator, she says that since her husband wasn’t with them, Skinder, her oldest child, was the family’s protector on their way across the Sinai desert to the Israeli border. “He was very strong,” she recalls.
Guided by their Beduin smugglers, the family was in Sinai for about 10 days, moving at night, hiding in the day from Egyptian soldiers who are under orders to stop people from crossing into Israel. On the night of about March 23, the family got within a few hundred meters of the border. It was only a low fence. With Skinder cradling his two-year-old sister Rosa, they ran as fast as they could over the sand. The Egyptian border guards heard or saw them and began shooting.
“Right after he climbed over the fence, he got shot in the back,” says Beyene. A bullet or bullets also struck Rosa; she has a scar on her buttock and one of her fingers is permanently bent.
“My boy was laying on the ground,” Beyene remembers. “He said to me, ‘We’re in Israel, mother. Don’t worry, we’re in Israel. We’re safe.'”
Soon soldiers arrived. They called a helicopter to take Skinder to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, where he died a few days later. Beyene and her four other children were taken to Ketziot, where they stayed in tents for two months until the prison became too overcrowded with refugees, and they were driven to Tel Aviv’s Central Bus Station to be picked up and cared for by the country’s network of refugee aid workers.
Volunteers at the hostel, run by the nationwide African Refugees Development Center, say Beyene, a round-faced woman in a long, faded orange dress, does little now but talk obsessively of her son. She still hasn’t received his belongings — a cellphone, some documents, some money — so she isn’t absolutely sure it’s him who’s buried in that anonymous grave.
“I dream about him,” she says. “I can’t find any peace.”
SKINDER GERMAY was one of at least 18 refugees, nearly all from Sudan and Eritrea, who were killed this year by Egyptian soldiers as they tried to dash across the border, says Amnesty International. Three of the dead were younger than 18. In late June, Egyptian border troops shot to death a seven-year-old Eritrean girl and arrested her mother. Refugees caught in Sinai trying to sneak into Israel receive automatic one-year prison sentences in Egypt, says local Amnesty official Ilan Lonai.
These shootings have been on the increase since February, Lonai says, when Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asked Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm e-Sheikh to do more to stem the flow of African asylum-seekers coming over the border. They’ve been coming this route for four years, in flight from Egyptian racial discrimination, brutality and deportations back to their hostile homelands. During these four years, says Lonai, “the first real increase in shootings, the first time we’ve seen more than sporadic cases, has been since the Sharm e-Sheikh meeting.”
Compared to the 18 killings in the first seven months of this year, there were only six in all of last year, said Lonai.
The shootings plainly have had a deterrent effect. The monthly number of African refugees reaching the country peaked in February at 1,600, prompting Olmert’s request to Mubarak. The result: By May, the monthly total had dropped to 400, according to border control officials who briefed a Knesset hearing on the refugee situation last month.
During the hour-long hearing, the shootings on the Egyptian side of the border did not come up. Asked afterward what he thought of the practice, MK Zevulun Orlev, co-chairman of the hearing, said, “Oh, I don’t know anything about that.”
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Olmert, acknowledged that the prime minister “did talk to Egypt about improving control of the border.” But he wouldn’t address the shootings, focusing instead on “real security concerns” about people “just wandering into Israel illegally without any [security] checks. I don’t think any country would tolerate that.”
When I pressed Regev for a response to the shootings, he replied: “There is a good relationship between Jerusalem and Cairo, and when we want to raise issues with the Egyptians, we do it directly.”
The Egyptian Embassy had no comment whatsoever.
With about 10,000 African refugees now in this country and a great many more languishing in Cairo, there’s no debate that Israel has to get control of its border. Unfortunately, there’s no debate, either, over how this is being achieved – by Egyptians shooting at the refugees and Israel apparently turning a blind eye.
Aside from at least 18 refugees getting killed this year, there’s no telling how many have been wounded, captured and left to the mercy of Egyptian border troops. IDF soldiers, who are seen by the refugees as angels of mercy, have told how they watched and listened helplessly as Africans unlucky enough to be captured by the Egyptians on the other side of the border were beaten, at times to death.
Government officials do not refer to the Africans as refugees, rather as “infiltrators” or “job-seekers.” Whatever one wants to call them, they risk their lives – and, if they take their children, their children’s lives, too – to escape Egypt for this country.
‘THERE WERE 30 of us. When we were crossing the border, the Egyptians were shooting at us,” said “J.S.,” a 22-year-old man from the Ivory Coast, in an interview with Amnesty International last month.
“I had to leave everything behind. We had to make three attempts to cross the border. First, the police found us and started to shoot, so we had to come back. Second, we were in the pickup and a police car was chasing us. One guy was shot in the leg. The third time two people were killed. Some were captured and are in prison. Some are in prison here in Israel.”
The danger to the refugees, though, comes not only from Egyptian troops – it also comes from the Beduin smugglers they contact and pay off in various parts of Africa, and to whom they entrust their lives.
“I was alone with Beduin smugglers who took me from Eritrea to Sudan. When we started walking it was dark, almost midnight. They threatened me with a knife when I crossed. Two raped me,” said “H.,” a 25-year-old Eritrean woman, in a May interview with Amnesty.
In Sinai, she rode with 16 African men and another woman in the back of a smuggler’s pickup truck covered with tarpaulin and wood to hide the human cargo. Running across the border ahead of Egyptian bullets, she eventually made it to a Tel Aviv refugee hostel, but she was pregnant by one of the rapists. She tried to hang herself, but was rescued by a countryman who arranged for an abortion. “H.” is cleaning houses in Tel Aviv now.
In the refugees’ saga, there is one seeming contradiction: Egypt does not want them, yet Egyptian border guards shoot at them when they try to flee the country. The explanation for this, according to an Israeli refugee aid worker, is that the Egyptian guards will look the other way when a group of refugees crosses the border only if the group’s Beduin smugglers have paid them the requisite baksheesh. If the smugglers haven’t paid, the Egyptian guards will teach them a lesson for next time.
“I’ve heard this from refugees and from Israeli soldiers on the border, especially from Israeli Beduin soldiers,” says the worker.
The most recent killing near the border was of an Eritrean man two weeks ago. This new method of border control is making no waves here, and certainly not in Egypt. Amnesty International doesn’t even have representatives in Cairo because of the vagaries of Egypt’s dealings with NGOs.
“Our headquarters in London has been trying to create some sort of dialogue with the Egyptian Interior Ministry, to tell them that this must stop,” says Lonai. Nothing has come of this though. Amnesty has also tried to raise the issue with Israel’s Interior Ministry, the Knesset Interior Committee, the attorney-general and the prime minister. Nothing has come of that either.
IN THE SOUTH Tel Aviv hostel run by the African Refugees Development Center, there is one survivor’s story after another. “On the last night, we went through a valley. We had to climb over steep rocks, and we couldn’t see because there was no moon,” recalls Rim, 16, who made the trek with her mother and five brothers and sisters. She remembers the sound of gunfire and the sight of dead bodies in the sand. “A lot of people died on the way,” she says. I ask what happened to her father. “We tried to call him in Sudan,” she says, “but there was no answer.”
The youngest kids in the hostel are playful and outgoing, but the older ones are quiet. Inside the rooms is the familiar jumble of refugee hostels around the Central Bus Station – bags of clothing and other belongings are piled in every available space, the trash stays a step or two ahead of the broom and the windowless bedrooms with their unmade bunk beds are suffocating. “The rent here is NIS 12,000 a month,” says ARDC director Johannes Beyn, adding that it’s paid by heiress Shari Arison.
On one of the bunk beds sits a pretty, pregnant Eritrean woman, Mulu Brahan. Her two barefoot sons, Natnael, nine, and Johannes, five, are playing on the other beds. Her daughter, Melat, 11, moves in and out of the room without a word.
Mulu, 31, made the journey here with Johannes a few months ago. Her husband, Michael Tustaselassie, 39, set out a few weeks later with the two older children.
He didn’t make it.
“They were in the Sahara Desert for 50 days,” says Mulu. “The Beduin kept the children with them in the front of the pickup truck, and they packed all the adults in the back. There wasn’t nearly enough water for everyone, and they kept the water containers in the back, away from the children. They put a little gasoline in the water so people wouldn’t be able to drink too much and it wouldn’t run out so fast.”
Along the way the smugglers would stop to rest or search for water, which isn’t easy to find in the Sahara. “Whenever the stopped and people got out, Michael would take water from the containers when no one was looking and give it to Natnael and Melat,” continues their mother.
Along the way Michael became ill. He stopped eating. On the last leg of the journey, when the smugglers let the refugees out of the truck to make the rest of the way on foot, Michael gave his son and daughter a container of water he’d hidden. He told them to go on ahead. “He died somewhere in the sand,” says Mulu.
Melat and Natnael kept walking with the other refugees, and when they got near the border, the Egyptian guards began shooting. The brother and sister hid in the sand for three hours. When the shooting stopped and the troops were gone, they ran to the border fence, climbed over and soon were picked up by Israeli soldiers. Later they were reunited with their mother.
Says Mulu: “They saw their father die.”
There is no happy ending to the family’s story, and the five-year-old, Johannes, is the only one who doesn’t know it yet. “When we first got here, Michael used to call from Sudan and tell Johannes that he would be in Israel soon,” says Mulu. “Now the boy sees me crying, and I tell him his father won’t be coming anymore. But he doesn’t understand. He’s still waiting for him.”
(AFP) GODINO JITU, Ethiopia: Former US president Bill Clinton on Friday pledged more support to combat HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia, where he started a four-nation African tour.
His Clinton Foundation announced the Horn of Africa nation will receive five million dollars over three years to help prevent the spread of AIDS, which kills around 370 Ethiopians each day, according to UN figures.
“I want to personally make sure that every baby born here will not be HIV-positive,” Clinton said on a visit to a health centre in Godino Jitu, 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Addis Ababa.
“This centre is one of several hundred that have received help from the foundation, but will soon be one of thousands,” Clinton told hundreds of residents.
The Clinton Foundation launched an anti-AIDS initiative in 2002 and this month has reached an agreement with several pharmaceutical companies to slash the price of the top anti-malaria treatment by 30 percent.
Clinton will also visit Rwanda, Liberia and Senegal, as part of a trip to promote his foundation’s efforts to tackle AIDS and malaria.
Former President Shines Light on AIDS, Povery in Support of Clinton Foundation
By KATE SNOW and DANA HUGHES
DEBRA ZEIT, ETHIOPIA —Nearly eight weeks after his wife dropped out of the presidential race, the former president has returned to Africa on what has become an annual pilgrimage to check in on the work of his Clinton Foundation.
“Oh yeah, I love this stuff,” he told ABC News with a grin, as he visited a new health clinic in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia.
Leaving Presidential Politics Behind
Ethiopia is a long way from New York or South Carolina. People here might know his wife ran for president, but few know much about the controversies and criticisms that haunted the former president during the primary season back home.
Here in Africa, they tend to focus less on Bill Clinton’s politics, and more on things like money and much-needed AIDS medicines and health clinics. They know the Clinton name because his foundation has invested in things that help people.
And so it was no surprise that Clinton’s visit to see the new clinic Friday drew a crowd.
AIDS Devastates Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, health care clinics are few and far between.
There is one clinic for every 120,000 people. The roads are so bad and transportation so limited, that many people who are HIV-positive simply can’t access life-saving antiretroviral drugs.
The clinic the former president visited Friday has just nine workers on staff, and sees 60 patients a day, many of whom walk several hours to get there.
To improve the situation in this region, Clinton announced that the Clinton Foundation would spend $5 million over three years to refurbish 50 new clinics.
“You deserve to have a healthy life,” Clinton told a crowd of hundreds.
“It’s a big deal. It’s a big deal,” said Kassahun Mogus, one of the nurses at the Debre Zeit clinic. “He was the leader of the world. Then he comes here, in a small village, poor and uncomfortable place to visit, to see us, to help us our problems. I don’t know how I can tell you (how I feel). I have no words.”
The Future of Solar Power in the Third World
In the tiny village of Rema on Thursday, Clinton and daughter Chelsea sipped Ethiopian coffee in a small hut.
The village runs entirely on solar power — a project funded under the auspices of Clinton’s Global Initiative. For about $10 a house, families who live way off the electric grid have power.
The local school teacher told Clinton that before solar power her students couldn’t study at night. Now she’s opened up a night school for children and adults.
“This is the real future of solar energy,” Clinton said.
Bill Clinton: First Tourist
It hasn’t been all work. As one aide reminded us, some of the former president’s trip is like a vacation.
Clinton and his delegation spent Wednesday touring one of the world’s most famous Christian landmarks. For years, he said, he wanted to see the carved stone churches of Lalibela. With time on his hands, he finally had his chance.
Removing his shoes — in keeping with Orthodox Christian tradition — Clinton and his daughter admired frescos and ancient symbols carved into the rock. Some of the churches date back 900 years.
“All these churches are still in use,” Clinton said in awe.
The discussion is centered on the word ‘enemy’. It is not a simple word. Once a certain person or group has been identified as an enemy further action is called for. You have to get rid of your enemy. Getting rid of the enemy takes many forms. Lately we have been spending a lot of time and resources coming to grips with these two questions.
Before we go further I believe the whole discussion is a monumental waste of time and it is highly possible that the question has been raised by the Woyane forces to deflect our attention away from the task at hand of building a robust and united front to confront their crumbling system. As good Ethiopians schooled in the art of self-destruction we are too eager to wallow in this debate. I agree with Professor Alemayehu when he said ‘we have met the enemy’.
As we all know setting the agenda is the first order of business in any meeting. The agenda determines the outcome of the discussion. The agenda determines the tone of the meeting. Thus bringing the question of ‘enemy’ in the forefront of the debate regarding the ‘minority regime’ relegates the question of ‘what to do about it’ to the back. The discussion centers on this ‘philosophical’ question rather than the practical aspect of tackling the problem.
I will leave the definition of what to call the minority regime to the Ethiopian people whether at home or away from home. I am more interested in the actions of the regime since it ascended to power seventeen years ago. We will judge it by its actions rather than its pronouncements. In order not to be accused of bias and ‘hidden’ ethnic hatred I will rely on evidence by third party observers.
Woyane abuse of its power and authority started the day it assumed power. The first order of business was to implement the so called ‘ethnic based’ Federalism and the formation of ‘Kilil’. Every Ethiopian was forced to identify himself /herself as a member of a certain tribe rather than a citizen of a Sovereign Nation State. Populations were moved from one corner of the country to another to create artificial division and poison the atmosphere of unity and oneness that has taken many years to construct. The only beneficiary of this was the minority Woyane cadre that assumed the role of a baby sitter to the weak Kilil administrations they set up.
The yearly ‘Country Report on Human Right Practices’ printed by the US Department of State reads like some horror story fiction rather than a true report on the actions of a government in this day and age. The recurring words in every report is ‘extra judicial killings, rape, torture, forceful displacement of civilians and other ugly language. Following is extensive excerpts from sources revealing the ugly side of the minority government as seen by various concerned groups.
On Monday September 7, 1993 a large crowd of believers had gathered at Adebabay Eyesus, in the city of Gonder. Security forces who were trying to arrest Abba Amiha Eyesus, a hermit, opened fire on the crowd. The Ethiopian Human Rights Council has so far verified 18 deaths and 17 wounded. Large numbers of persons are still detained in Bahta Prison, the Palace, Police stations and other places. Even if Aba Amiha Eyesus had violated any law, there were better ways of apprehending him. To look for him in a crowd of thousands of people who had gathered to pray and cause such harm to many is irresponsible. Human Right Watch 1993
The Massacre At Jarso Wereda (Harerghe): IFLO has alleged that on September 5, 1993 EPRDF forces opened fire at a gathering of peasants when the people failed to meet their demands to produce certain wanted individuals. The result is 26 persons killed and 12 wounded. The names of those killed and wounded are listed below. Seven of the 26 killed are women.
Security forces killed and injured numerous persons while forcibly dispersing several demonstrations during the year (see Sections 1.c., 1.d., and 2.b.). On April 12, police forcibly dispersed a demonstration by students from Addis Ababa University (AAU); one female student was killed, and 50 persons were hospitalized for injuries (see Sections 1.c. and 2.b.). The demonstrations continued, and on April 17, police shot into a crowd of demonstrators after the demonstrations became violent (see Sections 1.c. and 2.b.). The official reports indicated that at least 31 persons were killed; however, there were credible reports that the actual numbers were significantly higher. No action was taken against the police by year’s end. In April the body of an Oromo Mekelle University student was discovered on a riverbank outside the city 1 day after the student participated in a peaceful protest against the use of force by police at AAU. The perpetrators remained unknown, and there was no reported investigation into the case at year’s end. – US State Department Report 2001
On May 8, authorities arrested Berhanu Nega and Mesfin Woldemariam, two prominent academics and human rights activists; 3 weeks later, they were charged with inciting the AAU students to riot during an April 8 panel discussion on human rights and academic freedom that was organized by the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) and with organizing a clandestine political party, the Ethiopian Democratic League (EDL).
1999 ETA president Taye Woldesemayat was convicted of treason and alleged involvement in an underground terrorist organization and sentenced to 15 years in jail (see Section 6.a.). -Human Rights Watch 2005
Following the December 2003 massacre of some 400 Anuak civilians in a Gambella town by mobs and soldiers, the military launched a series of attacks on Anuak villages that destroyed well over 1000 homes and left several dozen villagers dead. In numerous smaller incidents, soldiers have severely beaten and sometimes killed Anuak men they encounter along roads or in sweeps of Anuak villages. These abuses have forced several thousand Anuak civilians to flee their homes for camps across the Sudanese border, while others have sought refuge with friends or family in the relative safety of Gamble’s larger towns.
8th June 2005: Epode’s heavily armed forces deployed in the streets of Addis Ababa massacre at least 42 innocent civilians for taking part in a demonstration demanding the respect of the outcome of the elections in the country. Most of the dead had gunshots to the head and hundreds were wounded while thousands were abducted and sent to remote military prison camps. –Abbay Media
8th June 2005: Business owners, taxi and mini-bus drivers take strike action to protest over the ruling party’s alleged massive election fraud and its fierce violations of human rights. The streets of Addis Ababa under the intimidating control of the Pelf’s armed forces. The government places opposition leaders under house arrest.
9th June 2005: Amnesty International issues a press release saying that ‘over 1,500 students and other demonstrators are at risk of torture [and] further arrests are reportedly continuing in Addis Ababa and in other towns where student demonstrations took place’. The organization condemns the excessive use of force by the police, who it says ‘used live ammunition against peaceful protestors’. The excessive and indiscriminate use of force is in contravention of international laws. – Amnesty International 2008
Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Ethiopian troops in Somalia of killing civilians and committing atrocities, including slitting people’s throats, gouging out eyes and gang-raping women.
With all due respect this is the regime we are discussing here. It was given a clear slate to write on. This is the story as recorded by foreign observers. It is the tip of the iceberg. This is our starting point when we contemplate the definition of enemy.
We will always remember Dr. Asrat Woldeyes whose only crime was love for his country. Dr. Asrat was repeatedly hounded by Woyane tugs and confined to a small hospital room with armed guards outside. He was charged with the usual ‘armed conspiracy against the government’ and spent three and half years in Kerchele where he was ‘denied books and writing materials and other prisoners were punished if they spoke to him.’ The harsh prison conditions, stress and inhuman treatment by the authorities should never be forgotten. For every Dr. Asrat there are thousand other who are name less but nevertheless children of Ethiopia victimized by the regime.
We can include the many journalists who have been forced into exile, and those who are surviving under constant terror and harassment into the mix. We will remember those who have drowned in the ocean while trying to flee from the house of horror. We remember Ato Bisrat Abdi of Dessie who was savagely beaten by Woyane tugs just a week ago his crime being a member of Andenet. We as a people have paid a heavy price, are paying a heavy price in our unending quest for freedom and a yearning to build a strong and prosperous Ethiopia.
When the discussion centers on whether the regime is a friend or foe it is not an idle intellectual exercise. Those thousands of victims of the regime in its attempt to cling to power under any circumstances are real. They have family that loved and cared for them. They are not ordinary criminals but rather freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives so the rest of us can live free. No amount of self-righteousness will justify killing so a few can impose their form of democracy on all others.
I believe it is up to the minority regime to ask for forgiveness and join the civilized world where people are held responsible for their actions. It is not up to the victim to beg the victimizer and turn a blind eye to wards his crime. The victim might forgive but that does not mean he will forget. We do not hate because we are cursed by some ‘mindset’ that is clouding our judgment. We are forced to hate because some have refused to mend their ways of criminal behavior and continue to self deny their destructive action. Hate is a negative state of thought. But it is also a perfectly understandable manifestation when one is clubbed for seventeen years. No use to blame the victim for being outraged, it is a whole lot better to somehow reform or get rid of the victimizer.
How many have perished in Dedesa, Showa Robit, Bilate, Bir Sheleko, Zeway, Sendafa and numerous other camps. Auschwitz Birkenau, Treblinka, and Dachau were just names of places. The horror did not come out till late. Let us not dismiss criminal behavior as a simple matter of police action. Remember if we have properly dealt with the crimes of the Derg we would not be having this discussion today. The next government would have understood that there is a price to pay for illegal action. No amount of sophistry will save the Woyane regime from the harsh judgment of the Ethiopian people. Life is a learning process. I believe we are learning and our hope is the next time around will be a forward progress and a time of renewal. It is up to each one of us to contribute towards this noble cause.
Please refer to the following documents to have an in depth understanding of the criminal regime:
· http://hrw.org/reports/2005/ethiopia0305/
· http://www.abbaymedia.com/Remembering_Victims_of_June_2005.htm
· http://www.ethiopians.com/rep06.html
· http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/af/8372.htm
· http://www.asylumlaw.org/docs/ethiopia/usdos00_ethiopia_cr.pdf
· http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/1139
· http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/12/ethiopia.humanbehaviour
· http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/06/africa/somalia.php
The J. Paul Getty Museum has added a rare Ethiopian Gospel book to its collection of illuminated manuscripts. Created around 1504-05 with five full-page paintings and many ornamental touches, it is one of the few such volumes to have survived wars and a Muslim purge of early Christian imagery in Ethiopia.
Purchased at an undisclosed price from a private collection in France, the new acquisition will go on view Aug. 12 in “Faces of Power and Piety,” an exhibition of portraiture in illuminated manuscripts at the Getty Center.
“This is a wonderful addition to the collection, visually and culturally,” said Thomas Kren, the Getty’s curator of manuscripts. “It’s a great and beautiful object. And it belongs to the classic tradition of Gospel books, one of the greatest vehicles for Christian art. Within that context, it’s a completely distinctive variation.”
The book — which measures 13 5/8 by 10 1/4 inches — contains full-page illuminations of the Virgin and Child and evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The portraits are painted in a bold style that Kren described as “almost modern.” Ethiopian illuminators favored blocks of vivid color and strong patterns, including zigzag motifs on textiles and clothing. In the Getty’s example, architectural borders enhance an eight-page concordance, or index, of Gospel stories; abstract designs frame other sections.
The area now known as Ethiopia had become a great power by the 3rd century. Christianity was introduced there in the 4th century, and a distinctive visual arts style emerged in the 6th century. But Ethiopian-illuminated manuscripts are few and far between outside their native land. The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, which claims the largest collection of Ethiopian art outside Ethiopia, has eight.
At the Getty, the recently acquired Gospel book has joined a single Ethiopian leaf from the 14th century, depicting St. John.
“In theory,” Kren said, “our collection is European, but we have a range of Gospel books. To have an Ethiopian example adds a whole dimension to this form of medieval Christian art.”
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The writer can be reached at suzanne.muchnic@latimes .com
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Chinese investors have built Ethiopia’s first glass factory worth $15 million, the Ministry of Trade and Industry announced on Tuesday.
The Chinese have been investing heavily in Africa, especially in resource rich areas. However, figures of their investment in Ethiopia were not readily available.
The China-Africa Development Fund, a private equity fund set up a year ago, funded the factory’s construction. It plans to spend about $300 million on projects on the continent in 2008.
“About 30 percent of the glass sheet produced by the factory will be for local use and the remaining 70 percent for export to East African countries,” the ministry said.
The Chinese construction company, CGC Overseas, built the factory in a suburb of the capital and plan to produce up to 60,000 tonnes of glass sheet per year, the ministry said.
Most raw materials such as silk sand and dolomite will be obtained locally but soda ash will be imported, it said.
CGC is involved in many development projects in Ethiopia including a $40 million water supply project for the historic eastern town of Harar and an agreement to import 2,000 construction vehicles for the Ministry of Works and Urban Development, according to government officials.
(Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse, editing by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura and Victoria Main)
(Tadias Magazine) New York – The presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama has hired Selam Mulugeta, an Ethiopian American who formerly served as a Congressional Staffer and Special Assistant to Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), founder and Chair of the Congressional Ethiopia and Ethiopian American Caucus.
“I will be a Field Organizer in the Northern Virginia region”, Mulugeta told Tadias Magazine. She joined the Obama for America campaign in Virginia.
“This means that I would be doing community organizing at the grassroots level to increase the number of registered voters, and most importantly, to increase voter turn-out in November.”
Members of the Democratic support group Ethiopians for Obama (E4O), which is active in Virgina, often say that the November election may be decided by a few thousand votes, and the robust Ethiopian American presence in the state may end up being a deciding factor. Mulugeta agrees.
“In states like Virginia, Ethiopians are in a unique position to swing the vote. If all of us who are eligible to vote do so, then we could potentially win the state. The responsibility is tremendous, but doable. We can accomplish this by investing more time in the campaign and fully extending the reach of our influence”, Mulugeta says.
“I am a member of the steering committee for E40. I have always supported the organization, even from its days as a loose discussion group formed in someone’s living room. I am so proud of the work that has already been done, and even while I was on the Hill I was quite adamant about engaging its leaders. My role in E4O will be to empower Ethiopians to realize that they can support the Obama campaign by volunteering.”
(