The Mesgana Dancers, a troupe of seven Ethiopian girls ages 9-12, will perform traditional cultural dances on Sept. 13 at 2 and 7 p.m. at the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City.
Mesgana, which means gratitude in Amharic, the national language of Ethiopia, is part of the Utah-based Children of Ethiopia Education Fund, founded by Murray residents Norm and Ruthann Perdue. The nonprofit foundation finds sponsors worldwide to help girls living in Addis Ababa, the country’s capital, get an education.
The Perdues offer Ethiopian students a chance to join the Mesgana Dancers, which tours America in the summers. Tickets to the performance are $15, available by calling 801-355-ARTS or visiting www.arttix.org. For more information about the Mesgana Dancers or COEEF, visit www.coeef.org.
Ethiopia at the Millennium Plus One: Unite, Resolve, Promote and Persist to Uphold the United Ethiopia-Nation as the Cradle of the African National Imagination!
Exactly a year ago, Ethiopia said good bye to the old millennium and welcomed a new one. Today, this September 11, 2009 starts Ethiopia’s long walk to a third millennium. It remains open whether this third millennium proves to be a period where problems are resolved, people are fed and cared, and the nation is free and united under the principle of civic-nationalism/patriotism. Is it the time for the making or re-making of Ethiopia as a nation to go strong, free and united with hope for the vast expansion of its possibilities?
Time to end the politics that keeps the country humiliated with unending hunger, diseases and ignorance. Time to end the scar of ethnic divisions, human-made disasters, knowledge deficits and rule by tyranny! Time to create a sustainable political system where open, transparent, just, free and honest governance reigns supreme across the breadth and depth of the land by employing principles of solidarity, justice and the expansion of human rights; and not the crazy scramble of using anything and any means to seize power for self- interest, for the individual or a section of a community or a portion of the people, even if this means breaking and degrading Ethiopia as a united entity, identity, history, civilisation and nation!
This is indeed time to pause and reflect whether Ethiopia can move in a new direction or remain on the beaten path of the past and its present divisive trajectory. This new beginning at this significant moment can refresh us with the ululation of ‘Inquitatash!’ ‘Happy New Ethiopian Year’ during this millennium plus one day, means making a new millennial New Year resolution for all Ethiopians to come to a historic unity over the defining principle that matters to Ethiopia’s timeless survival: that is, to upholding Ethiopian nationalism as a defence of African national dignity and the African national spirit, national purpose and national passion. Today, nothing less and nothing more is imperative than standing for Ethiopian nationalism as the cradle of African nationalism. Ethiopians, East, West, North, Central and South- must unite under one civic-Ethiopian patriotic/national purpose, strategy, passion and project.
New Year Resolution no.1: Debunk all politics that fragments and divides Ethiopia!
It is ironic to see how self- absorbed and in-ward looking Ethiopians have become specially those who dabble in politics, and who fight for power to pursue one or another political opinion, position, project or programme. Ethiopia has suffered from a politics that destroys what it should use as a resource to build itself and African dignity. Its history should not be rejected by those who put first their self or group-interest. Its history must be appropriated properly and justly. It must not be condemned. It must be used to learn from. Today’s generation must have an intelligent commerce with the past. Successive political groups have railed against Ethiopia’s historical achievement that other fellow Africans respect, instead of using it as a resource to build a united future for all the people living within it.
It is indeed odd to find some Ethiopians who fight the idea and reality of Ethiopia and who carelessly undermine a nation that has been seen by Africans as the birthplace of their nationalism to advance forward African peoples’ sacred and still not fully completed quest to reclaim their humanity, justice, full rights, dignity, solidarity and liberty.
The best present for all Ethiopians today is to send the message loud and clear to all near and far: Some Ethiopians who deny their ‘Ethiopianess’, that fight, undermine, ethnicise, vernacularise, racialise, segment, fragment and divide Ethiopia are not just undermining Ethiopia and the history that Africans have used from that Ethiopian data to feed their national imagination. They must be informed with clarity and confidence that they are indeed undermining the African nationalist imagination by attacking the Ethiopian effort to attain historic national unity from its diversity. They are undermining the birthplace of African nationalism to quote Africa’s own tried and proved son, Nelson Mandela. They are undermining indeed the role played by Ethiopia in constituting the historic unity of African nationalism.
Today the Ethiopians from Eritrea, Tigray, Gambella, to the Oromo lands and so on, who share the collective historical achievement of Ethiopia, that Africans the world over respect constitute a majority. Those, who believe in Ethiopia, and are proud of being Ethiopian, constitute the majority. Those that connive directly and indirectly to undermine Ethiopia and by so doing undermine also Africa, living both within and outside Ethiopia, are very few along with their internal and external allies.
At this millennium plus one moment, it is time we move a resolution to isolate these divisive and negative forces, by strongly underscoring the national historicity of Ethiopia’s diversity by recognising also that this historicity is the birthplace of African nationalism. Let Ethiopians convert their mathematical majority into a political majority with a strong sense of history and purpose. Let them all resolve and proudly stand up denouncing and condemning those that have been messing up Ethiopia’s future by undermining its historic unity of its diversity with the added affront to fellow Africans and their human dignity.
We believe that given a free dialogue, all Ethiopians will rise to the defence of Ethiopia as a united nation, as one people, as a historical unity built from diversity, and most importantly, as the birthplace of African nationalism. To all Ethiopians on September 11, 2008, on Ethiopia’s New Year Day, we say unite and rise above all the petty divisions and restore Ethiopia’s role as the most authentic historical source for furthering Africa’s national project and purpose.
Resolution no. 2: The Demand to Compensate Ethiopia is Just!
After we wrote in NES 21 demanding that Ethiopia must be compensated, there were various reactions from different sources. Some of the reactions tried to suggest that Ethiopia has been compensated already. But there were others who wrote to us, whatever the overtures from later day Italian regimes, far from getting full compensation, Italy’s loot from Ethiopia has not been fully recovered yet: “Badoglio took half of the silver in the then Bank of Ethiopia, and over 100 cases of loot, which enabled him to build his palacious house in Rome, while Graziani personally took 70 cases. Italy has still not returned the most important part of Ethiopia’s looted National Archives- the Ministry of the Pen Correspondence between Ethiopia and Italy- or the small aeroplane Tsehai assembled in Addis Ababa.”(Richard Pankhurst e-Mail communication, September 9, 2008)
Far from the material losses to Italy by Ethiopia, the tragedy that continues to afflict Ethiopia today- the ethnic and vernacular divisive politics was fully experimented upon during the fascist aggression. This disintegrative politics was planted as a cancer in Ethiopia by the Italian Fascist aggression. For this divisive cancer that they left behind, no repayment can be enough!! The fascist strategy was founded on’ political subversion’ of Ethiopia starting since 1933! Ethiopia’s historic national unity was deliberately subverted and the aim was to bring about the country’s complete disintegration. Mussolini, and his generals De Bono, Badoglio and Grazziani and others bribed, cajoled, fought and subverted the various internal chiefs in order to bring about the compete ethnic and vernacular disintegration of Ethiopia. The cancer they planted still plagues Ethiopia and indeed like other colonial powers that have done similar things in other parts of Africa, its remedy has remained elusive to Ethiopia as well even, sadly, to this day.
When Ethiopia fell under fascist occupation, the hope of African nationalism at the time also turned into despair. There cannot be enough monetary compensation to this outrage against Africa too! What is fascinating is to read today how those who have struggled their whole lives for African national dignity and identity reacted to the fascist aggression against Ethiopia in 1935! It is edifying to hear their morally uplifting, committed, determined and honest reactions and feelings.
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In his biography Dr. Kawme Nkrumah relates his reaction to the fascist assault against Ethiopia. He was in London at the time of the savage attack on the way to the United States, when he saw the newspaper poster, “Mussolini Invades Ethiopia.” He said he was immediately and naturally seized by a strong outrage.
Dr. Nkrumah said:
“At that moment”, he wrote,” It was almost as if the whole of London had declared war on me personally. For the next few minutes I could do nothing but glare at each impassive face, wondering if these people could realise the wickedness of colonialism, and praying that the day might come when I could play my part in bringing about the downfall of such a system. My nationalism surged to the fore; I was ready to go to hell itself, if need be, in order to achieve my object.”(Quoted in John. H. Brown, Public Diplomacy Press Review, USC Centre for Public Diplomacy, May 22, 2004)
Nelson Mandela felt a similar outrage: “I was seventeen when Mussolini attacked Ethiopia, an invasion that spurred not only my hatred of that despot but of fascism in general.”(Nelson Mandela, Long walk to Freedom, p.402)
For many Africans the world over Mussolini’s fascist aggression, that was opposed by only a few countries, amongst them notably Haiti and Mexico, in 1935 proved a ‘turning point in African history.” The only un-colonised nation in Africa was threatened with colonial enslavement. This radicalised Africans the world over creating strong African national movement and sentiment with a readiness to preserve what Ethiopia symbolised as a country that resisted successfully direct colonial enslavement. If Ethiopia succumbs to the same fate that others in Africa have, it appeared to them that their dream to be strong, free and proud would be subverted and may not be indeed realised. Other Africans fought for Ethiopia to preserve that hope that they too will be free if they fought to keep Ethiopia as a free and historically united nation.
They felt that their future independence was tied to the destiny of forestalling Ethiopia’s fascist colonial subjugation. It is a historically recorded matter that Africans across the continent tried to rally support under difficult conditions and those people of African origin scattered around the world tried to supply both military and financial support for Ethiopia’s anti-colonial struggles.
The demand for compensation for Ethiopia is not just a matter to recover monetary redress. It is above all a struggle to excavate the root of our current malaise and redress the political injustices that Ethiopia continues to suffer to this day by forces that try to create a rupture between Ethiopia’s proud history and the struggle to recover Africa’s full national dignity by the historical unity of Ethiopia’s diversity with the rest of Africa. The demand must continue and must be redoubled. All who believe in Ethiopia must struggle to right the historic injustice that Ethiopia still continues to suffer by revisiting Ethiopia’s negative and limiting encounter with the colonial experience since the 15th century!
Resolution no.3: Transform politics from the art of destruction to the art of the possible!
When political groups split into nine or ten groups, it is very often nothing to do with having major differences in principles. Those who say they uphold Ethiopia, who are also the majority, can live within one broad political front, against those who have tried, like Italian fascism before them did, to decompose the nation into different ethnic and vernacular nations, nationalities and peoples. It is ironic those that profess division of the Ethiopian nation as the birthplace of African nationalism tell us they have a front to club them together with the counter-intuitive politics of keeping Ethiopia’s survival by dividing it, whilst those who uphold Ethiopian unity and joined forces to do election together have scattered now!
It is important that all those who say they stand for Ethiopia’s historic unity in its diversity form a united front and strongly re-establish Ethiopia’s place as the cradle of African nationalism without too much procrastination.
Ideally those that oppose Ethiopian civic- nationalism can also form a front and a clear contest can emerge where opposed ideologies, national sentiments and programmes can oppose each other by creating the principle of competition with consultation and the vice versa, provided there is a prior agreement on a workable and tolerable level playing field for the play out of the parties forming a front around civic nationalism and those opposing it with vernacular-ethnic nationalism.
That is the only possible concession to ethnic nationalism that can be tolerated, that is to say, provided there is a democratic and clear playing field, a contestation involving the struggles that are freely conducted for the votes, voices and choices of the people can be mounted. There is no doubt civic nationalism and African nationalism will win over ethnic-vernacular nationalism in Ethiopia as a springboard to re-energise African nationalism.
The national politics must gravitate towards these two broad positions: those who uphold Ethiopia’s civic nationalism vs. those who uphold Ethiopia’s vernacular-ethnic nationalism. A clear democratic space must be created where those who win can govern so that the problem of transition from tyranny to democratic governance that has been so elusive for Ethiopia can be achieved without continuing further the suffering and enormous sacrifice incurred over centuries.
Concluding Remark
The millennium plus one should be a time to realise the richness of Ethiopia’s history as the cradle of African nationalism.
Those who reject this history must be resisted. The majority that stand for Ethiopia’s civic nationalism must not be indifferent. All must work over time to gain time to establish Ethiopia as part of the story of the recovery of African identity and dignity.
The political subversion of dividing Ethiopia has been one of the ugly legacies of Italian fascist aggression against Ethiopia. The struggle to compensate Ethiopia is a struggle to understand and expunge how this cancer was planted in Ethiopia’s political life. The demand must continue.
As those who stand for Ethiopia’s historic unity with diversity are the majority, there is an urgent need for all those engaged in civic- nationalism to form a united front and confront those who dabble in vernacular and ethnic nationalism to prevent and subvert Ethiopia’s history as the critical resource for Africa’s national identity, as already has been amply recognised.
If, in South Africa after the crime of apartheid fascism, there can emerge a unitary state with civic nationalism, there is no reason why Ethiopia cannot try to form a unitary state on the debris of ethnic-federalism, provided there is the political will, the determination, the imagination and the historic sense and civilisation to attain this ideal. Let Ethiopia upgrade into civic- nationalism and patriotism and not degrade into vernacular nationalism. Let Ethiopia form a unitary state on the basis of civic nationalism Only when it attains its various components’ historic unity on a civic- national basis or foundation can Ethiopia recover to re-energise and sustain by stimulating African national dignity ever more and more.
Let us make a millennium plus one resolution to convert the struggle by any means necessary since the European Scramble for Africa or even earlier starting in the 15th century if necessary, to finding solutions by any means necessary from today to sustain the long-term future of Ethiopia as a united people, nation and country! Let us all resolve Ethiopia must live on as a cradle of African nationalism that it is as is inscribed in history!
Mammo Muchie, Dphil
Professor, Chairperson NES
Coordinator of DIIPER
Research Centre on Development Innovation and IPER and NRF/DST SARCHI chair-holder, TUT, South Africa
Aalborg University
Fibigertraede 2, 9220-Aalborg East
www.diiper.ihis.aau.dk
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia’s dictator Meles Zenawi has said its neighbour and foe Eritrea is “incapable” of launching a war across its border even as regional diplomats fear the withdrawal of U.N. peacekeepers has heightened that possibility.
“Eritrea could not risk another war with Ethiopia, because its troops do not match the power of Ethiopian armed forces. They are not capable,” Prime Minister dictator Meles Zenawi said on Thursday night in the latest rhetoric between the two.
At the end of July the U.N. Security Council disbanded its peacekeeping mission on the volatile border where the Woyanne regime in Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a 1998-2000 war that killed 70,000 people.
The two governments intensely dislike each other and still do not agree on their frontier despite its “virtual demarcation” on maps by an independent boundary commission.
Both say they do not want another war, but keep their militaries on alert and accuse each other of fomenting tensions.
“Eritrea also knows the consequences of igniting another conflict with Ethiopia,” added Meles in a statement on state TV.
Because it knew it could not win on the battleground, Eritrea was trying to destabilise Ethiopia by “sending armed terrorists” into its neighbour and round the region, Meles said.
“As the whole world knows, Eritrea is now engaged in training, arming and dispatching armed terrorists to destabilise countries of the Horn,” he said.
This year Ethiopian Review starts to release its annual list of ’25 Most Influential Ethiopians.’ The list, which is prepared on Ethiopia’s New Year, September 11 (Meskerem 1), is about 25 persons who are the most influential (for good or bad) in the Ethiopian society.
The following is this year’s list. It is prepared in consultation with Ethiopian Review readers and editorial advisers.
Ethiopian Review’s “25 Most Influential”
1. Meles Zenawi, political leader: He is in charge of a murderous tribal gang named ‘Tigrean People Liberation Front (Woyanne) that has made Ethiopia one of the poorest, most miserable countries in the world where over 10 million people are currently starving. Meles spends millions of dollars to invade and occupy a neighboring country, Somalia, while tens of thousands of children in Ethiopia are dying of starvation. (watch this documentary by France24 TV to understand the extent of the suffering in Ethiopia). The tactics Meles is using to pacify Somalia includes slashing the throats of Somali religious leaders and prisoners of war, and gang rape of Somali women by Woyanne soldiers. The Meles army has left over 2 million Somalis homeless following the illegal invasion of their country in December 2006. Meles continues to terrorize the people of Ethiopia and Somalia with the full political and financial backing of the World Bank, the U.S. Government and some European countries such as the U.K. The Meles regime is killing, maiming, and terrorizing more innocent civilians than Al Qaeda could ever dream of.
2. Sebhat Nega, political leader/businessman: Without him there is no Meles. Considered by many as the ‘god father’ of Woyanne, he is in charge of the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT), a consortium of several multimillion-dollar industries that have mushroomed right after Woyanne took power. EFFORT is being used by Tigrean supremacist Woyannes to launder Ethiopia’s treasury for their ultimate goal of building ‘Greater Tigray’.
3. Azeb Mesfin, political leader/businesswomen. As the wife of Meles Zenawi, she has a stranglehold on the Ethiopian economy. No major private industry can do business in Ethiopia without making her a partner. Azeb is a member of the rubber stump parliament and serves in some committees, but she spends most of her time traveling to the U.S. and Europe to manage the treasures she is looting from the people of Ethiopia. She is currently buying homes and commercial buildings in Washington DC, Ohio, Colorado and California. She is believed to be the richest women in Africa.
4. Bereket Simon, propagandist. He is chief of propaganda for the Woyanne tribal junta. He works out of Meles Zenawi’s office of the Prime Minister. In 2005, he ran for parliament in Bugna district of Wollo and lost by a wide margin to a local farmer named Destaw Kassie. Bereket charged that he was cheated and sent his armed thugs to organize a new election. He won the re-vote, of course. The whereabouts of Destaw Kassie since then is unknown. Bereket is responsible for controlling the flow of information in Ethiopia. He is behind the blockade of Ethiopian news web sites such as EthiopianReview.com, the jamming of Voice of America, DW and other radio broadcasts to Ethiopia, the shutting down of most of the private newspapers in the country, and the jailing of journalists and editors. Bereket has paid a huge amount of money to the Chinese government to jam the VOA daily broadcasts to Ethiopia. VOA countered by launching more powerful frequencies. VOA continues to be heard through out Ethiopia clearly, despite desperate efforts by Chinese engineers to jam it. VOA also exposes the paradox of U.S foreign policy toward Ethiopia. On the one hand, the U.S. Government allows the VOA, which is under the supervision of the State Department, to expose Woyanne’s injustices. On the other hand, it continues to give political, diplomatic and financial support to the Woyanne regime.
5. Al Amoudi, businessman. Leftovers from Woyanne-owned businesses go to this Ethiopian-born Saudi billionaire. In return, Al Amoudi says Woyanne is like his mother and that he is ready to sacrifice his life for it. During the 2005 elections, he was campainging for Woyanne candidates wearing a t-shirt with Woyanne logo. Al Amoudi invests little of his own money in Ethiopia, but controls several huge companies that he built or bought with borrowed money from the stated-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia. He borrows even from the World Bank to buy or start a business. He has recently borrowed $200 million from the World Bank to build a cement factory. Al Amoudi’s business interests range from hotels to mining. According to ER sources in the Ministry of Mining, over 70 percent of the gold that is mined at the Legedenbi location, south-western Ethiopia, is being transported directly from the mine to London by Al Amoudi’s private planes, and protected by Woyanne’s special forces units, without being inspected by the Ministry of Mining. Al Amoudi’s corrupting influence is having a devastating effect on the Ethiopian economy, not to mention his moral corruption, such as the sexual exploitation of teenage girls by him and his foreign and local groups of friends and business associates, his public drunkenness, and bribing critics of the Woyanne regime to keep silent. Some of Ethiopia’s icons in the arts and sports are in the pocket of Al Amoudi. Artists such as Tilahun Gessesse could have been powerful voices for the people of Ethiopia against the Woyanne injustices had they not been bought by Al Amoudi.
6. Abune Merkorios, patriarch. When Woyanne came to power in 1991, it had decided to either destroy or bring under its total control all major institutions of Ethiopia. One of these institutions is the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church (EOTC). Meles and his tribal gang (Woyanne) have completely dismantled the Ethiopian army and replaced it with the Woyanne army. Currently, over 90 percent of all the high ranking officers in the army are members of the tribal Tigrean People Liberation Front (Woyanne). Meles used a different strategy with the EOTC, a powerful Ethiopian institution with 2000 years of history. Since Woyannes could not dismantle the Church, they tried to install their own patriarch named Ato Gebremedhin (formerly Aba Paulos). But there was one problem: The longstanding rules (cannon) of the EOTC doesn’t allow the appointment of a new patriarch while the incumbent is still alive. To save the Church from legitimately being taken over by a Woyanne cadre, his Holiness Abune Merkorios was advised by the Church leaders to save his life by fleeing out of the country when Meles and gang came to power in 1991. His Holiness agreed and they managed to take him out of the country in a carefully orchestrated scape plan, thus denying Ato Gebremedhin legitimacy as the newly Woyanne-installed patriarch. Currently, Abune Merkorios is in the United States. Most Ethiopian churches continue to invoke his name as the legitimate patriarch. Millions of Ethiopian Christians inside the country and around the world follow him as their religious leader. His presence continues to be a major cause of restlessness to the Woyanne junta.
7. Mohamed O. Osman, political leader. As chairman of the opposition Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) since 1998, Mohamed Osman is leading a well-armed fighting force that is shaking the Woyanne regime from its root. In retaliation to ONLF’s military operations, Meles is carrying out a ‘scorched earth’ policy in the Ogaden region where Woyanne troops burn entire villages, massacre civilians and commit other crimes against humanity, as reported by credible international human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The crimes that are being committed by Meles in Ogaden in retaliation to attacks by Osman’s ONLF could one day put the entire Woyanne leadership on trial for war crimes.
8. Kenenisa Bekele, athlete. A triple Olympic gold medalist, he is the undisputed king of long-distance running. Kenenisa is a pride of Ethiopia, a great source of inspiration to other Ethiopian athletes, and a role model for those who strive to achieve excellence in their field of profession.
9. Tirunesh Dibaba, athlete. It is a joy to just watch her run. Tirunesh’s elegant strides make her victories effortless. She is the queen of world’s women long distance running, and like her team-mate Kenenisa Bekele, a perfect representative of Ethiopia in international stages.
10. Teddy Afro, artist, political prisoner. Woyanne is trying hard to eradicate Ethiopian nationalism, and is almost succeeding. Most Ethiopians today, particularly in the countryside, grow up knowing little about their Ethiopian identity. In Ethiopia under the Woyanne regime, awareness of one’s ethnic identity is more encouraged, and ‘Ethiopiawinet’ (Ethiopian national identity) is being undermined. Teddy Afro, through his songs, has been able to reverse this trend set forth by Woyanne — until Meles and Bereket have decided to stop him. Currently, Teddy is locked up in a dark prison cell at the notorious Qality jail.
11. Kemal Gelchu, military leader. He is highest army officer with the rank of general to defect to the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and later became head of the organizations’ military wing. Recently General Kemal had joined other OLF leaders to bring a change of leadership and strategy. General Kemal and friends want OLF to fight for “democratizing and unifying Ethiopia” where the interests and rights of Oromos, as well as all other ethnic groups, will be protected. OLF is the strongest armed opposition group that is fighting to remove the Woyanne dictatorship in Ethiopia.
12. Meazaw Getu, military leader. He is chairman of the Ethiopian People’s Patriotic Front, an armed resistance that is gaining ground in the fight against Woyanne.
13. Alemayehu G. Mariam, professor, attorney. He has helped the Ethiopian Diaspora to open a new front in the battle against the Woyanne brutal dictatorship — the U.S. Congress. The “Freedom and Democracy in Ethiopia Act” (H.R. 2003) is being looked at as a grave threat by the Woyanne regime. Meles is currently paying a powerful U.S. lobbying firm, DLP Piper, $50,000 to kill H.R. 2003. The House of Representatives last year passed the bill and it is currently pending in the Senate. Dr Alemayehu and friends at the Coalition for H.R. 2003 are laboring hard to get the bill passed in the Senate.
14. Leul Qeskis, political leader. He is an elected member of parliament from Gondar. Before escaping to Eritrea, Leul was Kinijit’s top representative and organizer in Gondar. When the Woyanne junta had rounded up and jailed all of Kinijit’s top leaders, Leul and a group of other members of parliament decided not to join the rubber stamp parliament. Instead, they decided to flee the country and help armed resistance fighters. Leul and friends spent over 3 months in the mountains, deserts and jungles of Ethiopia with fighters of the Ethiopian People Patriotic Front (EPPF). Currently, Leul is a key individual who is helping EPPF to restructure itself and broaden its support base.
15. Berhanu Nega, political leader. He is the legitimately elected mayor of Addis Ababa who spent almost two year at the Qaliti jail after helping to mastermind the defeat of Woyanne at the 2005 elections. When Woyanne prevented the oppostion Coalition for Unity and Democracy (Kinijit) to freely operate inside the country, Dr Berhanu Nega and friends formed a new opposition movement, Ginbot 7, in exile that has adopted a strategy that calls for change in Ethiopia by any means available.
16. Andargachew Tsige, political leader. He is one of the top leaders of the newly formed Ginbot 7 Movement for Freedom, Justice and Democracy in Ethiopia. Andargachew is said to be the architect of Kinijit’s 2005 election victory. He is considered by many to be the best Ethiopian political theoretician, analyst and strategist of the day. We will see if he can live up to his reputation by what he is doing with Ginbot 7.
17. Abebe Belew, artists, radio host. He hosts the most popular Ethiopian radio program that is listened by tens of thousands of Ethiopians in the Diaspora. His Washington DC-based radio program is also available on the Internet, making it accessible to a worldwide audience. Recently Abebe has launched a weekly radio broadcast to Ethiopia, which now can be heard by millions of Ethiopians inside the country.
18. Seye Abraha, political leader, former political prisoner. He is the former defense minister of the Woyanne regime. After a confrontation with Meles Zenawi, Seye was thrown in jail on trumped of charges of corruption. Seye is a Tigrean supremacist who is much more popular among Tigreans and rank-and-file Woyannes than any of the current top Woyanne leaders. The Meles crime family is afraid of him and keeps him on a 24/7 surveillance. Meles has reason to be afraid. There is a real possibility that Seye could replace him in a mutiny within Woyanne. The only reason Meles has released Seye after keeping him in jail for 6 years is to placate Tigreans whose support he needs if he starts war with Eritrea.
19. Abraha Belai, journalist. He is the chief editor of one of the most widely read Ethiopian web sites. Abraha is also a founding member of Gasha, a Tigrean political group. He is one of the few Ethiopians with Tigrean ethnic background who have consistently opposed the Meles dictatorship, particularly after the former defense minister and high-ranking member of Woyanne, Seye Abraha, was thrown in jail in 2001. Abraha Belai, through his popular web site, ethiomedia.com, had played a key role in rallying Ethiopians behind Kinijit before, during and after the 2005 elections. However, after Seye Abraha was released last year, Abraha’s focus has changed. He is now working to help reform Woyanne with Seye Abraha at the top, rather than destroying it. Abraha is also working hard openly, as well as behind the scene, to make sure that Ethiopian opposition groups, such as Ginbot 7, will not cooperate with the Government of Eritrea. Because any force that comes from the north with the support of Eritrea could completely eliminate Woyanne, instead of reforming it by removing Meles Zenawi. Abraha Belai does not seem to be an ardent Tigrean supremacist like his friend Seye Abraha and other Tigrean elites, but his vehement opposition, and emotional reaction, to any cooperation between Ethiopian opposition group and the Eritrean government is puzzling, to say the least. It should be noted here that Abraha Belai is a strong supporter and admirer, as well as a close friend of Seye Abraha, a former Woyanne military chief who had killed tens of thousands of Ethiopians when he fought on the side of Shabia. So is it his position that only Seye Abraha can deal with Eritreans?
20. Berhane Mewa, TV executive. He is the general manager of the Virginia-based Ethiopian Television Network. Berhane is currently finalizing a plan to make the 24/7 TV network available to Ethiopians inside the country via satellite. If successful, ETN could be the first TV network that is owned and operated by Ethiopians. If the Woyanne dictatorship is afraid of the VOA and DW, wait until what an independent 24/7 TV network that can be accessed by any one with satellite dish in Ethiopia can do. ETN is an exciting and promising endeavor that needs to be supported by all Ethiopians who care about the future of their country.
21. Tamagne Benene, artist, TV show host. He has consistently for the past 17 years fought Woyanne’s effort to silence Ethiopian artists from speaking out against the regime’s injustice. When some popular artists wavered, Tamagne remained true to his beliefs and conscience. This earned him the love and admiration of Ethiopians around the world. Tamagne continues to be a strong voice for those Ethiopians who are silenced by the Meles dictatorship.
22. Obang O. Metho, human rights advocate. When Meles and gang are brought to face charges of crimes against humanity, the work done by Obang to document the genocide of Anuaks in western Ethiopia alone could result in conviction. Obang is a tireless human rights advocate who works day and night to expose to the international community the Woyanne regime’s crimes against the Anuak ethnic group and all other Ethiopians.
23. Liya Kebede, model, fashion designer, humanitarian. She is a supermodel who has graced the covers of many of the world’s top fashion magazines. Liya also runs her own children clothing line named ‘Lemlem’ and works with the United Nations on humanitarian missions.
24. Mesfin Woldemariam, political leader, scholar, human rights advocate, peace activist. Although he has lost some credibility after his recent uncalled for verbal attacks on armed freedom fighters, Professor Mesfin continues to be a strong voice against the Woyanne regime’s repression. He is currently a senior leader of Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), and wields the strongest influence in the party.
25. Iyasu Alemayehu, political leader. He is a leader of the reactionary wing of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP). Iyasu spends most of his time and effort as a leader of an opposition party fighting other opposition parties. He has helped or led the effort to cripple and even destroy some promising opposition alliances for no reason other than that he or his party was not in charge. Half of the EPRP leadership split last year after many in the top leadership of this highly secretive party became frustrated by lack of progress. The group that has emerged out of the split up calls itself EPRP-Democratic. After the split up, Iyasu’s influence, or potency to do harm, has been greatly diminished, but he continues to be in charge of most of EPRP’s assets that he uses to attack other opposition groups and leaders.
ADDIS ABABA (IRIN) – Fewer Ethiopian parents are subjecting their daughters to female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM), according to an NGO campaigning to eradicate the practice.
“The knowledge [that FGM is harmful] is increasing,” said Abate Gudunfa, head of the Ethiopian National Committee on Traditional Practices (commonly referred to as EGLDAM – its name in Amharic]. “Children born more recently are safer.”
A network of 40 NGOs, including EGLDAM, the government and international organisations, are involved in anti-FGM campaigns in Ethiopia. Policies have also been reviewed to ensure participants are punished.
“Prevalence, especially among newly born children is decreasing – meaning that more families have sufficient awareness and do not support this practice anymore,” Abate added.
A 2007 survey conducted by EGLDAM found that prevalence across the country had dropped from 61 percent in 1997 to 46 percent.
Nine regions including Tigray, the Southern and Oromiya as well as two city administrations namely the capital Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa, showed the highest improvement.
Other regions recorded minimal change. “There is almost no decrease in Afar and Somali [regions] – the strongholds of infibulation,” the survey noted.
Assessing prevalence among various ethnic groups, EGLDAM found a decrease in almost all. Some 29 groups reflected a 20 percent decline, of which 18 were located in the Southern Region.
“Those ethnic groups …should be considered real success areas and given due attention as possible learning sites,” EGLDAM said. “Six ethnic groups show about or less than 10 percent decrease and should be considered as groups of probable major resistance to change.”
These included the Harari, Shinasha, Alaba and Hadia ethnic groups.
Old tradition
Female circumcision is one of the 140 harmful traditions still commonly practised in Ethiopia. Often female circumcision involves the removal of part of the clitoris or the clitoris and all or some of the labia.
In some cases, genitalia are sewn up, leaving a small hole for urine and blood to pass. When combined with excision, this is the most severe form of FGM, according to experts.
In some communities, the girls are secluded for a month with their legs bound together to immobilise them, as they wait for the bleeding to stop and scar tissue to form.
FGM is carried out on girls as young as 80 days old, particularly in the predominately Christian highlands, and up to 14 years of age in the lowland Muslim regions. Some excisors use the same knife or razor blade on all their victims, regardless of the danger of spreading infections.
Globally, an estimated two million girls are still at risk of undergoing FGM each year. Activists say FGM is deeply entrenched in society despite various efforts to stop it.
According to the Inter-African Committee, the practice is a serious health issue affecting women, helping to spread HIV/AIDS and responsible for high female mortality rates in Africa.
MANILA — The Dominican Province of the Philippines is set to open the first Catholic university in Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, eastern African country.
The Order of Preachers Master General Fr. Carlos Azpiroz Costa, OP has appointed a Filipino Dominican, Fr. Virgilio Aderiano Ojoy, OP, to head the Ethiopia Catholic University of St. Thomas Aquinas (ECUSTA) in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.
The initiative of establishing an educational institution in Africa came from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ethiopia (CBCE), which sought help from the Order of Preachers, one of the leading religious orders of the Church also known for its missionary and educational work. The Dominican Master agreed to send friars to put up the university, according to the Varsitarian, the student paper of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), Manila.
Under the memorandum of agreement between the Dominicans and CBCE, the Catholic university in Ethiopia will be owned by the Catholic Bishops of Ethiopia, but administered by the Dominicans.
“There was this world-wide search among Dominicans but the qualifications were quite stringent,” said Ojoy, who will be the founding rector of ECUSTA.
Among the key requirements to qualify for the position were the attainment of a doctorate degree in any field and an administrative experience of at least 15 years, which became Ojoy’s edge over other candidates.
“There are quite a number of Dominican priests with doctorate degrees in the Order,” Ojoy said. “But only few have 15 years experience in administration. For those who were qualified, their provinces were not willing to give them up.”
Azpiroz then asked the Philippine Dominican Province to provide personnel for the school, which will open this year in Addis Ababa.
The foundation of ECUSTA was highlighted in the Acts of the General Chapter of the Order in Bogota, Colombia last year, which noted that Filipino Dominicans have put up a community in Addis Ababa, the House of St. Augustine of Hippo, and that the opening of the new university, with five faculties temporarily at Nazareth High School, was “imminent.”
The chapter also cited the fact that the university would be an undertaking of the entire Dominican family, noting that the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, which runs Siena College in Manila, has been invited to join.
Meanwhile, the CBCE appointed last December priests Abba Tsegaye Keneni as project director and Abba Ketema Asfaw Weldeyes as vice-president of ECUSTA.
The university is expected to open this September.
“ECUSTA could operate starting September if the government would grant the permit to begin the school operations,” said Ojoy, formerly the vice-rector of UST.
Ojoy, who will formally assume the new post in January 2009, plans to focus on three areas—a strong skeletal force, a fundraising office, and adequate facilities.
“I will have a careful recruitment of qualified, competent and committed skeletal force, both from the Philippines and in Ethiopia,” Ojoy said, referring to professors, administrators, and a support staff.
Even though the university has been assured of a one-million euro subsidy from Italy, Ethiopia’s former colonizer for the first five years of operation, Ojoy still wants to have an office for fundraising.
Some of the proceeds from fundraising will be used to provide equipment needed inside classrooms.
The university will initially operate with five courses—Education Management, Literature, Philosophy, Arts, and Sciences.
According to Ojoy, the new staff and faculty of ECUSTA would be trained in UST and seek experts from UST to help in Ethiopia in the operations of the university.
Ethiopia is a progressive African country with a population of 83.1 million, 61 percent of whom are Christians.
The Orthodox Church has dominated education in Ethiopia for many centuries until secular education was adopted in the early 1900s. The elites, mostly Christians and central ethnic Amhara population, had the most privilege until 1974, when the government tried to reach the rural areas. In fact, until right now, it is only the elite Christians who have better chance to higher education. Languages other than Amharic are suppressed.
The current system follows very similar school expansion schemes to the rural areas as the previous 1980s system with an addition of deeper regionalization giving rural education in their own languages starting at the elementary level and with more budget allocated to the Education Sector. The sequence of general education in Ethiopia is six years of primary school, four years of lower secondary school and two years of higher secondary school.
Ethiopia is Africa’s oldest independent country. Apart from a five-year occupation by Mussolini’s Italy, it has never been colonized.
But the nation is better known for its periodic droughts and famines, its long civil conflict and a border war with Eritrea.
Ethiopia has an economic growth rate of seven percent. It has seven universities, the largest of which is the state-run Addis Ababa University.
Ethiopia is also one of Africa’s poorest states. Almost two-thirds of its people are illiterate. The economy revolves around agriculture, which in turn relies on rainfall. The country is one of Africa’s leading coffee producers.
Ojoy graduated cum laude in 1978 from the Dominican House of Studies. He then received a meritissimus in UST after finishing his Masters in Higher Religious Theology.
Ojoy finished his licentiate in Higher Religious Studies in UST and later earned his doctorate in Higher Religious Studies and another doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.
Among the academic positions which he had held in UST were acting dean and regent of the Faculty of Arts and Letters (1990-1991), secretary general (1991-1992), and vice rector (1992-1995).
At the Angelicum School of Iloilo, he was high school moderator (1983-1984). Ojoy also became a rector and president of Aquinas University in Legazpi City, Albay (1995 -1999).
