A halo around the sun startled people in Ethiopia during Sunday’s local elections, with many seeing it as a miracle or a sign from God.
The ring of light caused by sunlight refracted by ice crystals hung in the sky for almost an hour before it finally faded and disappeared.
Some Ethiopians say it last appeared in 1991 before a military regime fell.
But the BBC’s Elizabeth Blunt in Addis Ababa says there is little chance it could augur change this time.
She says the overwhelming majority of candidates are from the government party.
Churchgoers who had flocked to see the visiting Patriarch of Alexandria, Pope Shenouda, acclaimed the phenomenon as a miracle, or at least a sign of a blessing from God.
Pope Shenouda himself believed it was a signal from above.
“We accept any sign from God to encourage us in our way,” he said, “and confirm that we are going right in our way.”
Abuna Paulos Ato Gebremedhin, the Patriarch of Ethiopia Woyanne cadre, added his voice to those who believe in signs from God.
“If God reveals himself from the sky,” he told a press conference, “we believers do not get surprised. We only rejoice and double our efforts to thank God. Thank you, God, for revealing a sign.”
Dictatorship
But others looked for more secular implications.
Older people in Addis Ababa remember seeing the ring around the sun once before – in the last days of the Derg, the despised military dictatorship, just before its leader Mengistu Haile Mariam fled to Zimbabwe.
But there is little prospect of the government falling in these elections.
The opposition winners of the controversial elections in 2005 in urban areas never took their seats and did not stand again.
The most successful of the other opposition parties pulled out, complaining of intimidation and our correspondent says the results are almost certain to consolidate the ruling party’s hold on power.
Results have not been published yet but an election official said turnout had been massive.
We have set up a new website where Ethiopian-Americans can go to a central location to find out about events that we are planning, efforts that you can take part in, and also learn a bit about your fellow Ethiopian-American compatriots.
ethiopiansforbarackobama.com has four main areas:
* The main story: The main story is the event that is planned that you can take part in. If you are wondering what event is planned, whether its a volunteer effort, a fundraising drive, or a phone banking effort, you can go to ethiopiansforbarackobama.com and find out about any event that is in the works. The main story can also be a story that is relevant to the Ethiopian-American community from a political or a socio-economic perspective
* Fund-raising goal: People have mentioned in the past that the link to our group fundraising goal did not work. That issue has been resolved. As of now, we have raised $105.00 as a group. Our goal is to raise $10,000 on line between now and the end of May. Whether you want to contribute $10.00 a month or $50.00 once, you can do so by going to the donation link at ethiopiansforbarackobama.com
* Person of the Week: Each week, a person of the week will be highlighted to show that person’s efforts to elect Senator Obama our next president as well as a bio about him/her. This week’s person of the week is Samuel Getachew. Find out his story at ethiopiansforbarackobama.com Additionally, if you would like to tell your story and why you are inspired by Barack Obama, please submit a brief bio and why you support Senator Obama–along with a picture–to [email protected]
* Hot of the Press: You will find relevant campaign information about the political process at the right side of the website. This section is updated on an hourly basis, so you will be able to find out about breaking news, news about Barack Obama, HIllary Clinton, or John McCain
* Comments: You can leave your comments at the bottom of each main story. You also have an option of forwarding the news stories to others.
As Ethiopian-Americans, it is incumbent upon us to get involved in our democratic process. Debating political issues is not enough; without voting, we will remain an inaudible noise in the land of many voices. We sacrificed to become United States citizens, we have to do our part by voting and taking part in the beautiful democracy of our country.
Dr Berhanu Nega will discuss the current situation in Ethiopia with Ethiopians in Toronto on April 19, 2008.
Place: 40 Donald Ave., Toronto
Time: 2:00 PM
More info: 416 422 2962
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia: A human rights group said Friday that attacks on opposition candidates in Ethiopia had doomed hopes for fair elections this month and it was now “too late to salvage” the vote.
Human Rights Watch said it found that candidates and prospective voters had been threatened, attacked and arrested in the lead-up to the elections. Ethiopia will hold local, regional and some federal elections on April 13 and 20. The main opposition party said this week it will boycott the polls.
“It is too late to salvage these elections, which will simply be a rubber stamp on the (the ruling party’s) near-monopoly on power at the local level,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Still, officials must at least allow the voters to decide how and whether to cast their ballots without intimidation.”
Findings from a two-week field study by the group in western Ethiopia support allegations made by the main opposition party, which says that 14,000 of its candidates have been forced to drop out of the race in western and southern Ethiopia because of intimidation, arrest and attempted murder.
Another opposition group says around 3,000 of its candidates have also had to drop out in similar circumstances.
The main opposition party announced Thursday it would boycott the elections. Opposition leader Bulcha Demeksa told The Associated Press that democracy has gotten worse since a 1991 coup brought Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to power.
“Democracy in Ethiopia is stillborn. It is not active now,” he said.
Officials from the National Election Board of Ethiopia denied allegations of irregularities, saying reports of threats and intimidation could not be proven.
“We have a vision as a board, and this vision is to see a valid democratic order in our country,” said deputy board chairman Addisu Gebreigzabhier.
Ethiopians will go to the polls over the next two Sundays, choosing among 4.5 million candidates for about 4 million seats at the local, regional and federal level. Nearly every open seat has a candidate from the ruling party, election officials said.
Election officials say there are 26 million registered voters, about a third of Ethiopia’s estimated population of 80 million.
Ethiopia has struggled with free elections and human rights issues in the past. In 2005, police shot 193 protesters in the aftermath of a hotly contested general election that was condemned for its irregularities by international observers. Zenawi, who was re-elected for his third five-year term, said he believed police were too forceful in controlling protesters but maintains the results were valid.
The news regarding the Gold brick scam from Ethiopia is both comical and sad. It is not desirable to be held up for shame and ridicule by the whole freaking planet. It is just another insult to our fragile ego. Go ahead and pile it on. Can we do something right for a change? The only positive news coming out of our homeland is ‘Lucy’. That does not count. It is just too old. In a two weeks time span the UN declared over 9 million Ethiopians are in need of food aid, there is going to be a power shortage for the next 3 months or more, there is water shortage, we are facing grain and beef shortage, the invasion of Somalia is turning ugly, inflation is hitting double digits and the repression is hitting a brick wall of indifference. Nation gone wild!
When you think you have seen it all, out of the blue the minority regime strikes again. The latest incident is humiliating to the maximum. Apparently the TPLF cadre led Régime ruling over Ethiopia has found itself to be at the other end of its natural state. It had been in the giving end up until now. This time TPLF was the receiver. Therefore condolences are in order. In 2006 and 2007 the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) bought 529 KG of gold from some dummy company and transferred $200,000,000.00 Bir (two point two million USD) into the scammers account in Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, which was transferred to a foreign account legally. Unfortunate for NBE out of the 529 KG only 30 KG was gold the rest being lead!
After you get over your initial shock you start to ask. How did this happen? It is conceivable that individuals are sometimes victims of con artists. But how in the world do you con a government? According to Wiki ‘Confidence tricksters often rely on the greed and dishonesty of the mark, who may attempt to out-cheat the con artist, only to discover that he or she has been manipulated into losing from the very beginning. This is such a general principle in confidence tricks that there is a saying among con men that “you can’t cheat an honest man.
It makes sense. Greed and dishonesty are the hallmark of TPLF administration. In today’s Ethiopia there is no rule of law and there is no place for honesty and service. Life has become one big scam. As the Nation became one big killing field during the Derg era, scam and con are a national virtue these days. The gap between the haves and the have not is very wide. The rich have an appetite that cannot be satisfied. The poor have lost all faith. The government is orchestrating all this with zeal.
There is a price tag on everything. Think of Ikea on a national scale. Everything has a price, and anything is possible. Woyane started by handing our Port to a two-bit dictator as a payment for cadre training. Since then fixing a price tag on Ethiopia has become routine. Even our National Army is for hire (Darfur & Somalia). Our daughters are for rent to Arab degenerates. There is nothing sacred anymore. Even the Abuna is a fan of Beyonce and some hip-hop group from the US was the headline performer during Woyane/Sheik Millennium celebration. Lord has mercy.
A one million Bir house is no big deal; a cow costs five thousand Bir, sheep is three hundred and Chicken is bargain at one hundred fifty. A working class lunch is four Bir while the unemployment is over 40% among the youth, a kilo of coffee goes for 40 Bir, butter costs 75 a kilo and berbere will set you back 90 Bir per kilo. With inflation nearing 40% life is a constant struggle.
Conning their ferenji benefactors is a full time job with the TPLF (ferenji is not fooled, it serves its interest). The Ethiopian people are immune to this. They know their TPLF is one uncultured, uncouth wanna be dictator which should be kept at arms length if at all possible. The less you deal with them the better of you are. Last time the TPLF tried conning the people was the general election of 2005. Oh yes the people said, hold an election and of course we will be there for you. Stupid Woyane bought this. Illiterate peasants out coned them. They were forced to reveal their ugly side. Even their loudest supporters were shamed into silence.
The ‘Diaspora’ is the only victim of Woyane con. Greed is its undoing. Woyane dangles the gift of free land for lease and a very low cost as a come on. Once the initial deposit is made and ‘service quarters’ built the real con starts. Cost overruns, material shortage and inflation doubling the cost of construction is normal. And after all this hurdles are overcome then starts the real problem. A monster of a house with shoddy and sub-par construction using inferior material is ready and waiting. Not so fast my dear ‘Diaspora’ we have this little situation of no water and no electricity here. Of course we are an emerging democracy, you just have to be patience with us, could we have the property tax please, dollars will be fine and please use Wogagen Bank.
So, when I came across the Gold brick scam I did not know what to make of it. On one hand it was a national treasure being looted. On the other hand Woyane has been doing that for the last seventeen years so what is new? And when you consider the very cheap nature of the ruling class the whole thing feels like a setup. It could be a new way of scamming the ferenji for a few more dollars.
No matter, I would love to believe TPLF has been had. Due to the culture of greed and dishonesty they planted and nurtured, even the national treasure is fair game. It is a shame everyone talks as if it is Woyane’s gold. Well sort of true since NBE and everything else flows outward from the Prime Minster’s office. In Ethiopia micro management is taken to an insane level. One head is better than two is the guiding principle. The NBE director reports directly to the PM. The PM is ultimately responsible for the actions of NBE. Is this a leadership failure or not? In most Parliamentary Democracies the leader of the party is accountable to such colossal disaster. As they say in any system based on accountability, heads will roll. The only head rolling in Ethiopia is some hapless low-level operators left as sacrificial lamb.
TPLF is shell-shocked. They are discussing which enemy to pin it on. Is it the Opposition or Shabia, OLF or the Diaspora? They can always blame it on one of their inner circle that is in disfavor. My advice to TPLF is get used to it. We are entering an un-chartered territory now. With the Somali invasion a disaster, hyperinflation around the corner, HR2003 marching forward the balance is shifting. We saw Kenya. Zimbabwe is another lesson in the making. We are sure of one thing. The last days are always full of drama. Get used to being on the receiving end my dear Woyane.
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The writer can be reached at [email protected]
DJIBOUTI (Reuters) – Djibouti has arrested and repatriated nearly 7,000 immigrants this year, mostly Somalis and Ethiopians, in a crackdown on illegal migration to the Red Sea state, police said on Friday.
Thousands of people in the impoverished Horn of Africa risk death every year trying to cross the shark-invested Red Sea in rickety boats from Djibouti to Yemen, seen as a gateway to wealthier parts of the Middle East and Europe.
Djibouti is one of the closest African countries to Yemen, and is safer than lawless Somalia for migrants from landlocked Ethiopia and the northern parts of Somalia.
“This period is the season to pass through the border because it is the cooler November-to-May season. Otherwise in the summer many immigrants die in the desert from thirst,” Police Lieutenant Abdourahim Ali told Reuters.
The police said 6,723 immigrants mainly from Ethiopia and Somalia have been arrested and sent home this year. Djibouti caught and repatriated 16,091 people in 2007, and 12,579 in 2006.
Earlier this month, at least 53 Somalis drowned off the coast of Yemen while trying to cross from Somalia to the Arabian peninsula.
Near-daily violence in southern Somalia from an Islamist-led insurgency against the Somali government and its Ethiopian allies has displaced hundreds of thousands.
Djiboutian police said a recent surge in violence in Mogadishu had caused increased numbers of would-be migrants to come into Djibouti.
(Reporting by Omar Hassan; Writing by Jack Kimball; Editing by Bryson Hull and Caroline Drees)
