The Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) has rejected a move by FIFA to reinstate the group’s ousted president calling the decision biased and one-sided.
The EFF’s general assembly fired former President Dr Asheber Woldegiorgise in January for what they said was the “dismal” record of Ethiopian football.
On 22 Febrary FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) released a road-map to normalize the problems within the EFF.
The road-map said that Dr Asheber and his executive committee are the only leadership that FIFA and CAF would recognise but that an extraordinary meeting of the EFF should be held on 29 March.
The agenda of the meeting would simply be a “motion of dismissal” of the current executive committee.
According to the EFF statutes for this motion to be approved it would have to supported by two thirds of the valid votes cast by the official delegates in a secret ballot.
“Fifa officials have taken a hasty decision before properly assessing the facts and documents submitted by us,” the EFF said in a statement.
“Their decision was biased and one-sided.”
“We are now trying to develop a sustainable project that would enhance the standard of football in Ethiopia from the current dismal position to a high level, and we hoped Fifa would stand at our side.”
FIFA is yet to react to the latest news from Ethiopia.
By Duncan Miriri and C. Bryson Hull
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s president and opposition leader signed a deal to create a power-sharing government on Thursday, hoping to end a post-election crisis that plunged the country into its worst turmoil since independence.
After a month of often bitter negotiations interspersed with violence around the east African country, President Mwai Kibaki and rival Raila Odinga inked an agreement and shook hands to a roar of applause.
“We have a deal,” mediator Kofi Annan said. “Compromise was necessary for the survival of this country … they kept the future of Kenya always in their sights and reached a common position for the good of the nation.”
Kibaki and Odinga were under intense pressure from the international community and Kenya’s 36 million people to find a solution to forestall more violence and help restore the country’s reputation as a stable, prosperous regional anchor.
Kibaki’s disputed re-election in a December 27 vote triggered ethnic clashes that killed at least 1,000 people and forced 300,000 more to flee their homes.
Under the deal, a new prime minister’s position will be created for Odinga, who has sought that job since he first helped elect Kibaki in 2002. He claims the president reneged on a deal to give him the job after that vote.
The deal will also give cabinet posts based on each party’s strength in parliament and create two deputy prime ministers’ jobs, one for each side of the coalition. Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has the largest number of seats.
Later, Kenya will undertake a full review of the constitution, a 45-year-old document which many Kenyans have pushed to change since the 1990s since it gives the president nearly unchecked authority over the affairs of state.
Many Kenyans want a new charter to help address rifts over land, tribe and wealth that have plagued the nation since before independence from Britain in 1963.
‘NEW CHAPTER’
Thursday’s talks brought Odinga and Kibaki to the same table for the first time in a month, after an exasperated Annan suspended negotiations on Tuesday and said the two leaders had to strike a deal themselves.
“As a nation there are more issues that unite than divide us. We’ve been reminded we must do all in our power to safeguard the peace that is the foundation of our national unity … Kenya has room for all of us,” Kibaki said in his speech afterward.
Kibaki ordered parliament to convene next Thursday to pass a constitutional amendment to push through the changes.
A beaming Odinga said after the signing: “We have opened a new chapter in our history, from the era of confrontation to the beginning of cooperation.”
“We should begin to ensure that Kenyans begin to celebrate and love each other, that we destroy the monster that is called ethnicity,” he said.
Shortly afterward, riot police fired several canisters of teargas at rowdy Odinga supporters celebrating just near president’s downtown office where the signing took place.
In his opposition stronghold Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria in western Kenya, residents took to the streets celebrating and ululating over the deal, witnesses said.
The immediate effect on Kenya’s economy was not clear as markets had closed, but the shilling currency had strengthened in anticipation of a deal this week.
“The closer you get to a resolution, the better. The question is now the magnitude of the damage done to companies and the economy,” said Matthew Pearson, head of African equities research at Renaissance Capital Management in London.
‘COMMON SENSE PREVAILS’
The crisis exploded after Kibaki was sworn in on December 30 and Odinga claimed the election was rigged.
Kibaki said he won fairly and blamed his rival for inciting violence and unrest instead of going to court to challenge the result — the closest in Kenya’s post-independence history.
Protests turned into riots and looting sprees met with a forceful police response and simultaneously, ethnic attacks by opposition backers on Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe exploded and later unleashed reprisal killings that left at least 1,000 dead.
The United States, Britain and the European Union applauded the deal, which they had pushed very hard to get finished as quickly as possible.
“We are pleased … It allows the Kenyan people to move forward with a very basic issue of governance,” U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said “common sense has prevailed … Real leadership, patience and tolerance is necessary to ensure that the agreement sticks.”
(Additional reporting by Wangui Kanina, Jack Kimball, Daniel Wallis, George Obulutsa and Bryson Hull in Nairobi, Adrian Croft and Sebastian Tong in London, and Susan Cornwell in Washington; Writing by Bryson Hull; Editing by Giles Elgood)
Founded in February 2007, EthioTube is the leader in Ethiopian online video, and the premier destination to watch and share original videos related to Ethiopia worldwide through a Web experience. EthioTube allows people, mostly Ethiopians, to easily upload and share video clips on www.ethiotube.net and across the Internet through websites, mobile devices, blogs, and email.
Everyone can watch videos on EthioTube. People can see first-hand accounts of current events, find videos about their hobbies and interests, and discover the quirky and unusual. As more people capture special moments on video, EthioTube is empowering them to become the broadcasters of tomorrow.
EthioTube is a way to get your Ethiopia-related videos to the people who matter to you. With EthioTube you can:
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* Blog the videos you take with your digital camera, cell phone or any other device.
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* Chat with friends, communicate, watch video clips… and much, much more!
The Team at EthioTube – Broadcast Ethiopia is delighted to announce the launching of Ethiopia’s answer to the very popular video sharing site – YouTube.
Dear editor, we kindly urge you to promote EthioTube by linking your visitors to our site and use our free service for your video sharing interests. Please help us in our endeavor of making EthioTube the platform for videos pertaining to Ethiopia.
Disclaimer: EthioTube is owned by Ethiopians and not affiliated with YouTube in anyway.
Alemayehu Gemeda
EthioTube – Broadcast Ethiopia
Founder and CEO
http://www.ethiotube.net
በመላው አገሪቱ በሚገኙ የቅንጅት አስተባባሪዎችና ለፓርቲው ከፍተኛ አስተዋጽኦ በሚያበረክቱ ግለሰቦች ላይ የተከፈተው ያለ ህግ ስርአት የማሰርና የማንገላታት ጥቃት መቀጠሉን አንድ የአመራር አባል ለዜና አገልግሎቱ ገለጹ፡፡
በደቡብ ኦሞ ዞን የጂንካ ወረዳ የቅንጅቱ አስተባባሪ የነበሩት አቶ ከተማ በላቸው በተመሳሳይ መንገድ የጥቃቱ ሰለባ በመሆን ላለፉት ሶስት ቀናት በእስር ላይ ከቆዩ በኋላ ዛሬ ከሰአት በኋላ በዋስ ተለቀዋል፡፡ በእስር የቆዩባቸውን ቀናት አስመልክቶ የነበራቸውን የፖሊስ ጣቢያ ምርመራ አስመልክቶ በስልክ በሰጡን አስተያየት ‹‹የፈጠራ ክስ መስርቶ የሃሰት ምስክሮችን ለማቅረብ ከፍተኛ ጥረት ሲካሄዱባቸው የቆዩባቸው አስነዋሪ ቀናት ነበሩ፡፡›› በማለት ገልጸዋል፡፡ አስተባባሪው የክልሉ ተወላጅ እንደሆኑ ቢታወቅም ብሄር ላይ ያተኮረ አሉታዊ ቅስቀሳ አድርገዋል የሚል ክስ እንደቀረበባቸውና ፍርድ ቤቱ የቀረበው ክስ ተጨባጭ መረጃ የሌለው ነው በማለት በዋስ እንዲሰናበቱ ማድረጉን አብራርተዋል፡፡
እንደ አቶ ከተማ አባባል በወረዳዋ ያሉት አብዛኞቹ አባላት በየጊዜው በሚደርሱባቸው እስር፤ ዛቻና ማስፈራርያዎች ራሳቸውን ከፓርቲ አባልነት በማግለል ላይ መሆናቸውን በሃዘን በማስታወስ በተለይ ሊቀመንበሩ ወስደዋቸው የነበሩት አስገራሚ የእግድ ውሳኔዎች ለበርካታ አባላት ፓርቲውን መልቀቅ መንስኤ እንደሆኑ ጠቁመዋል፡፡ በክልሉ ያሉት የፓርቲው አባላትና ደጋፊዎች በወ/ሪት ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳ ከሚመራው የስራ አስፈጻሚ ቡድን ጋር ቀጥተኛ ግንኙነት እንደሚያደርጉ በመግለጽ ፈታኙ ትግል ፍሬ እስከሚያፈራ በጽናት ለመቆም ቁርጠኝነታቸውን ጠብቀው እንደሚቆዩ ያላቸውን እምነት ጨምረው ገልጸዋል፡፡
By Joanne Tomkinson
(Reuters) — Aid workers in Ethiopia’s remote Ogaden region are currently facing an impossible dilemma. In order to carry on helping people in the east of the country, the government has warned them that they better keep quiet about allegations of army atrocities in the area.
International humanitarian staff have spoken anonymously to the Boston-based Christian Science Monitor about public executions, rapes, torture, arbitrary detentions and beatings of civilians by government forces in Ogaden, where most people are ethnic Somalis. Aid workers also accuse separatist rebels in the Ogaden National Liberations Front (ONLF) of terrible crimes against civilians who refuse to help them.
Relief agencies were expelled from Ogaden during Ethiopian Woyanne government crackdowns on the ONLF in late 2007. They are now gradually being allowed to return with food and medicines – but only if they stay silent about what they see.
“We have two options: either we come out with a nasty press release tomorrow on protection of human rights, and we will have to leave behind a substantial population still facing atrocities, or we just do our work,” an aid worker said to the Monitor.
Ogaden’s residents have greeted aid workers enthusiastically, eager to share their stories with humanitarians. “They have begged us to stay,” an aid worker tells the paper.
Conflicting reports from locals, and a ban on journalists entering the area, mean that allegations are hard to verify. The government denies its troops have committed any atrocities.
“I can assure you that the government is not in the business of killing people and putting them in mass graves,” government spokesman Bereket Simon told the Monitor.
The need for aid workers in Ogaden is great. Food and water are in short supply and medical supplies in the Somali area ran out long ago. The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights still has no access to investigate allegations, and the World Food Programme’s food aid distributions have been hampered by conflict in the area.
“You always come down on the same side,” the director of one organisation operating in the region said to the Monitor. “It’s better to keep yourself operational and to do something.”
Some frustrated aid workers are beginning to speak out discreetly, but it’s dangerous. International staff run the risk of being expelled or seeing their operations closed down, but the stakes are even higher for local staff. Many said they didn’t want to say anything to the Monitor for fear they might be imprisoned or killed.
One local aid worker who talked to the paper said: “It’s a relief to speak with you. You hear these things and they weigh on your heart.”
But for now, most aid workers are just getting on with the job of delivering humanitarian relief.
When does the moral duty to bear witness outweigh the need to try to save lives? Or where is it more important to stick by people who are suffering, even if it means not speaking out about what’s going on?
Does it depend how many aid agencies are on the scene? Is it possible to tell the truth and keep running a relief programme?
