APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Some 13 journalist serving in government and private media in Somalia are seeking asylum in Ethiopia after crossing the border to Ethiopia fleeing “intimidations and persecutions” from the Al-Shabab group, APA learned here on Saturday.
The journalists who entered the country told Ethiopian radio that Al-Shabab has currently been murdering journalists working with concerned bodies striving to bring peace and order in that country.
Mohamed Nor Mo’alim, a journalist serving in the government radio station was qouted as saying that he was repeatedly threatened to death for reporting the efforts of the Transitional Government towards ensuring peace in Somalia.
Kadar Shardi Ahmed from Radio Somali Weyn on his part expressed that his father and brother were murdered by Al-Shabab group for producing programs of immense importance to the country’s peace and stability.
Fardowsa Mohammed, Universal Television journalist, who left Somalia along with her four children told the radio that she lost her brother and was repeatedly threatened by the terrorist group as she became famous for producing programs featuring the reality on the ground.
The journalists said that Al-Shabab threatens even their families through telephone and other means.
The journalists also appealed for the international community to halt the “ill acts” of the Al-Shabaab,which is fighting the TFG of Somalia backed by Ethiopian forces since December 2006.
There are also journalists from state owned media like, Horn Afrik, Darban Radio, Banadir Radio Afrikada Bari, Universal TV, GBC, among others.
(African Press Agency) — The current power crisis in Ethiopia prompts surge of the sale of generators, mainly in Addis Ababa where many businesses and international organizations are operating. Owing to poor performance of seasonal rains, there is a short supply of electric power in Addis Ababa where each district receives power five days a week.
According to the Ethiopian Electric and Power Corporation (EEPC), the blackout which started in March 2008 will continue until the rainy season in June 2008.
However, big businesses are purchasing DC generators in an apparent attempt to prevent any impact on their profit making due to power cuts.
Hotels, hospitals, internet cafés, private businesses both small and big ones are the ones being affected by the power cuts in the city, home to around five million people and housing the African Union (AU) headquarters.
“Small generators with 2.0 horsepower have been sold much more than ever before. People who run the business are obliged to increase their supply considering the demand,” Tesema Zelalem, a salesman at a generator shop told APA.
He said that many people are still asking for generators since the government announced a week ago that the power cuts will continue until June 2008.
Private companies such as publishers, printers, and service giving institutions have expressed more interest to generator sellers, Zelalem continued.
“We found it necessary to buy this small generator to run my business. Losing power twice a week for 14 hours a day is too much, especially for the business community,” Meaza Mengistu who owns a cafe and was buying a generator.
The small generators are on sale for US$ 400 and US$ 500 depending on the brand and the guarantee.
“We are forced to buy generators even if the cost of diesel is increasingly on the rise,” Mengistu added.
The EEPC announced the need of power rationing to cope with the 80 megawatts shortfall.
According to economists, the current power crisis can cost the business community around US$ 100 million during the period (March to June 2008).
In 2007, EEPC signed an agreement with Djibouti, Sudan and Kenya to supply them electricity in the coming year, and a multi million-dollar hydroelectric power dam is being constructed in the country.
MOGADISHU (AFP) — Somali insurgents on Saturday seized a southern Somali town after clashes with government troops that claimed at least three lives, elders said.
Their fighters attacked Jilib township, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of the capital, touching off deadly clashes with government forces and allied militia.
“Clan militias in the town exchanged fire with the Islamists and three militiamen were killed,” said Mohamed Hassan Warsame, an elder.
“Local authorities emptied the town this morning after heavily-armed Islamist fighters took control of it.”
Abdullahi Mohamed, a local government official said they fled the town, leaving it in the hands of the Islamists.
“We escaped the town early this morning after heavily-armed Islamist militias attacked us. We have been told three militias were killed inside the town.”
(REUTERS) ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopian Airlines net profits for the first nine months of 2007/08 reached 484 million birr ($55.67 million), the airline said in a statement.
The state-owned carrier posted net profits of 129 million birr in 2006/07. The statement predicted that, based on the first nine months of 2007/08, the airline would achieve a record net profits and revenues. Expenses for the same period rose by 21 percent, the brunt of which Chief Executive Girma Wake said was spent on fuel.
“Fuel price remains of concern to the industry as a whole and Ethiopian Airlines believes that costs will continue to escalate into the next quarter given the present trend in price of fuel,” Wake said. Revenues for the period rose 29 percent to 6.6 million birr, he said.
The airline transported 1.9 million passengers, a 19 percent increase on last year. Wake said the improvements in revenue and traffic were due to increased frequency of flights, the introduction of new routes and an increase in cargo revenue
Endrias Eshete, who is known as the butcher of Addis Ababa University, has arrived at Dulles Airport in Washington DC today. He was taken to a van provided by the Woyanne embassy in a wheelchair. The tutor of Meles Zenawi’s daughter, Samuel Assefa, who also acts as an ambassador of Ethiopian in Washington DC, was at the air port to greet him.
Meles Zenawi appointed Endrias Eshete as head of the Addis Ababa University to stamp out any criticism of the Woyanne regime by the university’s faculty and students. Endrias allowed, and often invited, Meles’s death squads, the Agazi special forces, and the notorious Federal police to enter the AAU campus and attack the students. Under Endrias’s watch thousands of AAU students have been savagely attacked, tortured, imprisoned and killed.
Endrias Eshete and Ambassador Samuel Assefa are old time drinking buddies and close friends of Meles Zenawi’s family. Samuel is a personal tutor and chaperon of Meles’s older daughter. When she was admitted to Georgetown University in Washington DC about two years ago, Meles removed the previous ambassador, Kassahun Chekol, and sent Samuel Assefa, who has no diplomatic experience, to DC as an ambassador. Samuel’s main job, however, is not diplomacy. He is a personal servant to the dictator’s daughter.
The House of Peoples’ Representatives last week discussed the newly drafted press law. The government believes that the bill will be instrumental in creating and developing a “responsible” press. But to the opposition parties, the bill constitutes a tool which the government can use to suppress freedom of expression.
Five years ago, the government introduced a draft press law which many in the country and abroad described as a “draconian” law. Following an outcry by the private press, and an appeal by some of the western embassies here, the government stopped short of putting it into law.
Now, it has come up with a new one that appears to be less “draconian”, albeit a very restrictive law, as some see it. Some parliamentarians argue that there is no way that the law guarantees access to information.
Some of the MPs spoke out against what they called “restrictive” provisions in the draft press law. Temesgen Zewdie, an opposition MP, said that the draft law severely curbs freedom of expression, and is directed at people’s freedom. The draft, according to him, violates the freedom of expression stipulated in Article 29 of the Ethiopia Constitution.
Ownership of the media is another issue which some MPs raised their concerns about. The draft law prohibits multiple ownership of print and electronic media. It prevents an owner of a media outlet from owning another outlet, or having effective control over other outlets.
The new law also forces owners to divulge their sources of capital, and that any source outside the country is completely prohibited. Temesgen argues that the law is intended to curb the right of citizens from setting up press outlets. He added that Ethiopians in the Diaspora, those who adopted other citizenships, will also be barred from investing their money in the media due to the draft law. “Just because government anticipates challenges from the private press, such shameful proclamation cannot be written into law,” he stressed.
The right of access to information as provided in the draft proclamation is another point of controversy for the parliamentarians. According to Article 14 of the proclamation, the possibility of getting information from government institutions heavily relies on the goodwill of the public relations officer of the institution. Article 14.3 stipulates that the public relations officer has thirty working days to respond to the request by the person seeking a specific information. On top of that, he can refuse to give that information if he deems it necessary.
The public relations officer is also empowered to extend the thirty-day period to sixty days, “if many other similar requests are made by others, if compiling the information requires obtaining the information from branch offices or if it becomes necessary for the officer to consult with other government organizations,” as written in Article 14.8. Temesgen raised his concern about getting timely information from government institutions if such provisions are included in the press law.
Tesfaye Fufa of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM) opposes the inclusion of articles which by nature belong to the criminal code rather the press law. He said that his party believes that the press law must be re-drafted by an independent board whose members represent different sectors of the society.
The preamble of the proclamation has it that it has become necessary to replace the existing press law i.e., proclamation 34/92 with a more advanced law. Unlike what opposition parties argue about, the preamble stresses that the proposed law guarantees freedom of expression and ensures transparency in government institutions.
Compared to the existing law, the draft proclamation levies heavy fines on press outlets that transgress the law. A media organization can be fined up to 100,000 birr for defamation. This amount of fine has not been stipulated in the previous law.
A federal or regional prosecutor can bar publications from being distributed if he is convinced that irreparable damage could be done once the publications reach the public.
The prosecutor is also empowered to bar the distribution without seeking a court order, if he doesn’t have “enough” time to secure one. After that he has to notify the court of his decision within 48 hours. The court will have 24 hours to approve or disapprove the prosecutor’s decision after it receives notification from the prosecutor.
After the debate in parliament, it was decided to refer the draft press law to the parliamentary standing committees for Legal and Administrative Affairs and the Information and Cultural Affairs. 302 MPs voted in favor and 34 against it.
One could ask what will happen to the several government owned media outlets such as Ethiopian Television, Radio Ethiopia, and the several newspapers if the law is put into effect. Since multiple ownership will be prohibited if the proclamation is voted into law, what will happen to these government owned media organizations? Will they be privatized? Or will the law only apply to private ownership? If that is the case, can the government be above the law?
Meles Zenawi appointed Endrias Eshete as head of the Addis Ababa University to stamp out any criticism of the Woyanne regime by the university’s faculty and students. Endrias allowed, and often invited, Meles’s death squads, the Agazi special forces, and the notorious Federal police to enter the AAU campus and attack the students. Under Endrias’s watch thousands of AAU students have been savagely attacked, tortured, imprisoned and killed.