Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — The father of Ginbot 7 high ranking official Andargachew Tsige has been roughed up and taken to Maekelawi prison by Meles Zenawi’s gunmen, according to Ethiopian Review sources.
On Friday, April 24, several gunmen surrounded Ato Tsige Habtemariam’s house in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa. The gunmen then roughed up the 80-year-old Ato Tsige and took him to Maekelawi the same day.
Ato Tsige continues to languish in jail. He is diabetic and recently had a heart bypass surgery.
Attacking elderly parents of opposition party officials — which did not occur even during the brutal Derg regime –shows how far Meles Zenawi’s traibalist dictatorship would go to silence dissent. Such inhumane attacks, uncharacteristic of Ethiopian tradition, also indicates the regime’s desperation and paranoia.
Earlier today, Ethiopian Review and EMF have reported that Ginbot 7 chairman Berhanu Nega’s family home has been surrounded by Meles Zenawi’s gunmen. Dr Berhanu’s father, Ato Nega Bonger was roughed up and mobile phones belonging to both Ato Nega and his wife, Wzr. Abebech Woldegiorgis were confiscated. Family members have been beaten up, at least on person was taken to jail.
The {www:Woyanne} regime alleges that Dr Berhanu Nega and Ato Andargachew Tsige, leaders of Ginbot 7 Movement for Democracy and Justice, are behind a coup plot that it claims to have foiled.
One of Kenya’s most respected law scholars, Prof Hastings Winston Opinya Okoth-Ogendo, is dead.
Prof Ogendo, a former vice-chairman of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission, died on Friday night in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he had gone on an assignment for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
He had left the country last Saturday. According to Ed Rege, a close family friend, Prof Ogendo fell ill last Monday.
“And for the next three days, his illness got worse,” said Mr Rege while briefing the media at the deceased’s {www:residence} in Karen.
“He was, on Wednesday, joined by his wife, Mrs Ruth Okoth. We understand that he was taken to hospital on Thursday to seek treatment but, unfortunately, he did not make it.
He died on Friday night while under intensive care,” Mr Rege said.
He told the Sunday Nation plans were already in place to bring the body back home by Tuesday this week.
He said an autopsy would be done before the release of the body.
A tentative burial date has been set for May 9 at Gem Rae in Nyando district. This is subject to approval from the family.
On receiving the news of Prof Ogendo’s death, Prime Minister Raila Odinga said it was a “blow to the pro-reform movement in the country”.
“I have received the news with disbelief. In Prof Ogendo, the country has lost a top brain. He was an undisputed authority on land law,” said the Prime Minister in a statement.
Mr Odinga said the don had hugely contributed to the National Constitutional Conference at the Bomas of Kenya and the search for a new constitution.
He added that the country had lost a patriot, a fighter and a high-calibre scholar.
Similar messages of condolences were sent by Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi and former Nyakach MP Peter Odoyo.
Dr Ben Sihanya, the dean of University of Nairobi Law School, said Kenya had lost a distinguished scholar, who participated in the {www:establishment} of the school.
“It’s a big shock to us. He is indeed irreplaceable. His expertise in land law was unrivalled on the continent. He has advised many governments on these issues. We shall miss him,” the dean said.
Born in 1944, Prof Ogendo attended Maseno and Alliance high schools before proceeding to the University of East Africa in Dar es Salaam and the Oxford University for his bachelor’s degree in civil law.
He then attended University of Yale between 1973 and 1978, where he earned a Doctorate of Science of Law.
Woyanne ambassador to Washington DC Samuel Assefa at his mother’s funeral in Addis Ababa (Photo: Addis Journal)
The funeral of Ethiopia’s first woman parliamentarian Wzr. Sinedu Gebru took place two days ago at the Holy Trinity Cathedral Church in Addis Ababa in the presence of family, friends and {www:Woyanne} regime officials.
Wzr. Sinedu is an amazing Ethiopian who severed her country throughout her life as this brief biography shows (click here to read). Unfortunately, her legacy also includes having Woyanne ambassador Samuel Assefa as a son whose consciousness level is lower than that of a donkey. It is indeed sad that such a patriotic woman who fought for and diligently served her country had managed to raise a useless drunkard who is at the service of an anti-Ethiopia fascist regime.
Addis Journal reports Wzr. Sinedu Gebru’s funeral as follows:
The funeral for author, activist, patriot, and Ethiopia’s first woman parliamentarian, Sinedu Gebru has taken place at the Holy Trinity Cathedral Church on Wednesday, April 22, 2009, in the presence of Abune Paulos Aba Tagay Gebremedhin, the Woyanne-installed fake patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
President Girma Wolde Giorgis [Meles Zenawi’s puppet] paid his respect to the late Sinedu by sending flowers to her funeral. Mourners included the Ethiopian parliament’s woman representative, Netsanet Asfaw and other Woyanne officials.
The late Sinedu’s son, Ethiopia’s Woyanne’s current ambassador to the United States, Dr. Samuel Assefa, arrived in Addis Ababa on Tuesday to attend the funeral service. He was visibly shaken as prayers and blessings were chanted during the ceremony.
The Honorable Sindeu Gebru, who had been in a frail condition recently, died on Easter night at the age of 94.
Rita Pankurst, who has known Sinedu for many years, described her as a very independent-minded and formidable woman. “I have always been a great admirer of her. She was the heroine of my life.” Rita told Addis Journal.
Rita said she always went to see her on holidays with some flowers, including this past Easter morning where she was awake, but died that evening. Rita says Sindu, who has been the first Ethiopian school director of Etege Menen school, had done tremendous amount of job in promoting girls education. She was “a great believer in the importance of education, in general, and girls in a particular” according to Mrs. Pankurst.
Another former student of Etege Menen School said, “The loss of Woizero Sinedu is enormous but she leaves a legacy of accomplishment, hope and commitment for the community and her country.”
Pennsylvania, USA (AP). – An economics professor at a Pennsylvania university said Saturday he supports efforts to spread democracy in his native Ethiopia, but denied backing an alleged coup attempt there that led to the arrests of 35 people by the government.
“I’m very suspicious that there was an attempt at all,” said Berhanu Nega during an interview at his home outside of Lewisburg in north-central Pennsylvania. “This is not a government that has any credibility whatsoever in terms of telling the truth.”
He said he did not know who may have been arrested, and said it could have easily been some sort of overreaction.
“The government, every time, it panics,” he said. “It’s always treason, always acting against the government.”
Berhanu, 51, said he came to the U.S. as a young man in 1980, is married to an American citizen and has two sons. He is an associate professor of {www:economics} at nearby Bucknell University, a private liberal-arts school that enrolls about 3,400 undergraduates.
He previously taught at the university from 1990 until 1994, when he returned to Ethiopia to work at Addis Ababa University, according to a profile on the university’s Web site.
In 2005, he became the country’s first elected mayor when he won the mayoral race in Addis Ababa, the nation’s capital. But post-election violence over the election results led the Ethiopian government to shoot 193 protesters and to later jail Berhanu, other opposition leaders and thousands of supporters. Berhanu said the party was not responsible for the violent demonstrations.
The opposition leaders stood trial for nearly two years on charges of challenging the constitutional order — the charge was lessened from treason. The main clique of 38 opposition leaders pleaded guilty and were pardoned in 2007 after appealing to the government.
Berhanu and several other party leaders then left for the U.S., returning to the country in August 2007. He rejoined Bucknell as a visiting international scholar in economics in Spring 2008.
“It became very clear immediately after our release that they will not at all tolerate any opposition, meaningful opposition,” he said.
Berhanu also urged President Obama’s administration to “carefully revisit its policy toward Ethiopia.”
“It is just unseemly for any democratic government such as the United States to have any relationship with it,” he said.
(Associated Press writer Anita Powell in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report.)
The Woyanne-led Ethiopian government has arrested 35 people suspected of a coup {www:attempt} allegedly backed by an Ethiopian economist now teaching at a Pennsylvania university, a government spokesman said Saturday.
Government spokesman Ermias Legesse said the group, which calls itself “Ginbot 7” (May 15) after the date of {www:controversial} 2005 elections in Ethiopia, was led from the U.S. by former opposition leader Berhanu Nega, who is an assistant professor of economics at Bucknell University.
“It is the party led by Berhanu Nega,” said Ermias. “If he comes to Ethiopia, we’ll arrest him.”
He said the alleged plotters were arrested Friday.
Interviewed in Lewisburg, Berhanu, 51, said he had no role in organizing any coup attempt.
“I’m very suspicious that were was an attempt at all,” he said. “This is not a government that has any credibility whatsoever in terms of telling the truth.”
Berhanu was elected mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005 but was arrested afterward along with more than 100 other opposition politicians and stood trial for {www:treason}. He and the others were freed in 2007 in a pardon deal. He left Ethiopia after the trial.
“It became very clear immediately after our release that they will not at all tolerate any opposition, meaningful opposition,” he said Friday.
Ermias said the group of suspects arrested Friday was comprised of two cliques, one of former soldiers, another of civilians.
“They were caught with weapons, uniforms, even plans,” he said. “I don’t want to give details about the plans; it’s for the court case.”
Ermias said the charges have not been set and court proceedings will begin soon.
“They decided to change the government in an unconstitutional way,” he said.
Asked if he considered violent regime change inevitable, Berhanu said he was still pushing for a peaceful, negotiated solution, but the Ethiopian government was showing “absolute intransigence.”
“When the option becomes freedom (or) living in some sort of slavery, I have no doubt that people will fight for freedom,” he said.
He did not deny raising money in the U.S. for Ethiopian opposition groups.
“All opposition groups raise money in the U.S.,” he said.
He said he hoped the administration of President Barack Obama would realize it is “unseemly” for the U.S. to have any relationship with the Ethiopian regime.
The opposition won an unprecedented number of parliamentary seats in the 2005 vote, but not enough to topple Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. The opposition claimed the voting was rigged, and European Union observers said it was marred by irregularities. The election was followed by violent protests. Ethiopia acknowledged that its security forces killed 193 civilians protesting alleged election fraud.
Since 2005, there has been only one opposition-led political protest in Ethiopia, held this month in Addis Ababa.
Berhanu said he believed the government is wracked by internal {www:turmoil}, perhaps even within the military.
“The government is becoming increasingly unstable and is lashing out at anyone it thinks is even mildly popular inside the country,” he said.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — The family home of Dr {www:Berhanu Nega}, leader of the Ethiopian opposition, Ginbot 7 Movement for Justice and Democracy (Ginbot 7), has been surrounded and his parents have been roughed up by {www:Woyanne} gunmen, according to Ethiopian Review sources.
Dr Berhanu’s 80-year-old father, Ato Nega Bonger, was inside the house when the gunmen forced their way into the house and started beating up family members, including Ato Getu Worku, who was later taken away and his whereabouts right now is unknown.
Meles Zenawi’s armed thugs also confiscated mobile phones belonging to Ato Nega and Dr Berhanu’s mother, Wzr. Abebech Woldegiorgis.
The extended family was gathered at Ato Nega’s house in Addis Ababa to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the death of Wzr. Abebech Woldegiorgis’ brother when the lawless regime’s security forces suddenly descended on them earlier today.
The Woyanne regime today also announced that it has foiled a coup attempt by Ginbot 7 and that it has arrested over 30 suspects who were found with a variety of weapons.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — The father of Ginbot 7 high ranking official Andargachew Tsige has been roughed up and taken to Maekelawi prison by Meles Zenawi’s gunmen, according to Ethiopian Review sources.
Pennsylvania, USA (AP). – An economics professor at a Pennsylvania university said Saturday he supports efforts to spread democracy in his native Ethiopia, but denied backing an alleged coup attempt there that led to the arrests of 35 people by the government.