ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia on Wednesday inaugurated a $14-million state-of-the-art bridge constructed over the Abay (Nile) River located 208 kilometres north of Addis Ababa.
The 300-metre-long and 9-metre-wide bridge, the first cable-stayed bridge in East Africa, was designed by Oriental Consultants Company Ltd of Japan.
The bridge was constructed alongside a 60-year old bridge built by an Italian construction firm. The government of Italy covered the cost of the older bridge as a compensation for the war damages it had caused during its brief occupation of Ethiopia in the 1930s.
MOGADISHU (AFP) — At least eight people were killed in the Somali capital on Wednesday in fighting that erupted after Ethiopia Woyanne-backed government troops raided a suspected rebel hideout, residents said.
Government troops and insurgents clashed using machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades in northern Mogadishu near a military camp, they said.
“I saw four civilians and two Somali soldiers who were killed by mortar shells,” said Hassan Abdullahi Abdulle, a resident.
The Somali army said it killed two insurgents while three of its men were wounded in the clashes.
“Two insurgents who were killed in the fighting were carried by their colleagues for burial after fighting stopped,” Somali army spokesman Dahir Mohamed Hirsi told AFP.
Residents said stray shells wounded at least 13 civilians — many of them children — in Huriwa, one of the most volatile districts in the seaside capital.
Several residents confirmed the clashes that came after days of calm in a city that is contested between the UN-backed government and Islamists accused of links to Al-Qaeda.
In Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian Woyanne defence ministry said at least 15 insurgents died.
“Fifteen Shebab (Islamist) insurgents were killed by the transitional government troops this afternoon in defensive measures taken after an attack on their military barracks in Mogadishu,” it said in a statement.
“Scores of others were injured while a number of weapons were captured during the attack,” it added, but the veracity of the statement could not be confirmed.
In Nairobi, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki pleaded with the world to help Somalia end nearly two decades of suffering that has been worsened by chronic food shortage.
“Indeed, the recent developments in that country will require a new impetus in bringing all the parties in the conflict to a process of dialogue that will guarantee the people of Somalia peace and security that they so much desire,” Kibaki said in a statement.
Kenya chaired a regional peace panel that helped reach a peace accord that brought Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed to power in 1994, but the aging ex-warlord has failed to restore stability in his nation.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — The price of chicken in Ethiopia is up by 100% this week while the country is gearing up to celebrate the Ethiopian NewYear-Enkutatash (gift of jewels) on Thursday.
Ethiopia, which follows its own calendar, will officially celebrate its New Year (2001) on Thursday-11 September 2008.
However, the price of various commodities remains a challenge for the majority of the people, particularly for the poor who constitute around 40% of the estimated population of 80 million.
However, only the price of chicken has dince Monday registered a dramatic increase of 100%. The new price is $8, when it was only $4 a few days ago.
“We are really confused as to what to do. The price of chicken has become almost equal to a price of sheep. This is really worrying,” Almaz Mitiku, 45 told APA.
Like Mitiku, many people are complaining about the sudden rise in the price of chicken for the New Year holiday.
“This is a New Year and the end of our New Millennium celebrations. That is why these merchants are making things expensive. The government should do something to control the market. How can I pay $10 for a chicken?” Meheret Bekalu complained.
She said that she was considering buying meat for the holiday if the situation continues like this until Wednesday evening, the eve of the New Year.
Chicken is one of Ethiopia’s traditional foods along with raw meat. “Many people have been forced this time to buy chicken due to the rising price of meat. That is why these chicken merchants have also increased the price by 100%, which is a bad omen for this New Year,” Bekalu said.
One kilogram of meat currently costs between $6 and $7 in many parts of the country, when it was $4 less than a month ago.
“We have no alternative for the New Year. The prices of both chicken and meat are up by 50 and 100 per cent respectively. We are really confused as to what to buy,” Tesema Mamo, 67, and a retired man told APA.
For the majority of Ethiopians, it is a must to have raw meat at home for the holiday, as people have the habit of eating raw meat in normal days.
However, the rising cost of food still continues to be the major challenge for the majority of the poor people.
The government is distributing subsidized wheat, edible oil and other food items for the poor in many districts in the country.
Ethiopia will also end its yearlong celebrations of its New Millennium, which was declared by the African Union as an African Millennium, which has been celebrated in and outside the country for the past 12 months.
Based on the Orthodox Julian Calendar, which is different from the Western or Gregorian calendar, the new Ethiopian year of 2001 begins on September 11, 2008.
On Wednesday 10 September 2008 (on the eve of its new year-2001), Ethiopia will officially end its New Millennium celebrations with various ceremonies across the country.
The Ethiopian calendar consists of 12 months of 30 days and the 13th month, called Pagume, has only five or six days depending on whether or not it is a leap year.
The Ethiopian calendar is seven years and eight months behind the Western calendar.
Enkutatash, which means “gift of jewels,” occurs in September with the clearing of the skies following three months of heavy rains.
The highland fields, covered with Meskal daisies, become golden. Meskerem (September) is a month of celebrations in which Ethiopians transition from the old to the new, expressing their hopes and dreams of the future.
On the first day of the New Year (Enkutatash), children usually in groups of five to ten visit their neighbors, wishing them a happy New Year. They sing a New Year song with cultural drums, who in return give out various gifts to the visitors.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Don’t the European politicians have any thing better to do with their money? The African dictators like Meles Zenawi will steal most of the fund. What Africa needs is accountable governments, not handouts.
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – The European Union has set aside 1 billion euros to fund power generation in several African states under a two-year partnership deal with the African Union to enhance investments in the sector.
Experts say Africa needs to spend an estimated $560 billion by 2030 to generate an additional 260,000 megawatts (MW) of power.
Countries to benefit from the EU windfall will include Senegal, Namibia, Ethiopia and Kenya, EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel told a news conference.
EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said the agreement, which runs from 2008-10, would also promote energy interconnection projects between Africa and Europe.
I’ve been cogitating about how best to continue my series of posts on Ethiopian music. Why all the worry? Well, I fear that some people (heck, maybe most people) will be so unused to the sounds of Ethiopian music that if I start with something too unusual sounding, they might not give it a chance.
Case in point: my normally very musically-open-minded husband. I had loaded some Ethiopian music on the ol’ iPod, and one day an Ethiopian song came up on shuffle that sounded pretty “out there” (even to me). Unfortunately, this was my husband’s very first exposure to any Ethiopian music, and it kind of left a sour taste in his mouth. It has taken weeks of me sneakily absconding with his iPod and stuffing it with Ethiopian tunes to get him to give Ethiopian music another try. Thankfully, it’s been a success. In fact, he commented just the other day about a song in the Ethiopiques series that he really liked.
All that to say that I don’t want to get off on the same kind of rocky footing on my blog! So I’ve been trying to find some ferenji-friendly music (read: music that won’t sound too off-the-wall to everyday Americans) to get the musical ball rolling. And I had been drawing a blank…until I ran across an artist named Minyeshu.
Right about now I might be provoking the ire of some Ethiopian folks who would argue against this choice! For starters, Minyeshu, though born and raised in Ethiopia, no longer lives there. She lives in western Europe and married a Belgian man, so strictly speaking this is diaspora music rather than music made in Ethiopia. Second, this is hardly classical Ethiopian music; it’s very contemporary stuff (her most recent album was released in 2008), clearly influenced by Western music. All in all, perhaps not the most “authentically” Ethiopian choice.
However, for those leery of Ethiopian music, Minyeshu’s music remains a great entry point. Sure, it’s westernized, but it retains elements of classical Ethiopian music–the minor keys, some traditional sounding vocal styles, and lyrics sung in Amharic. Plus, Minyeshu was born and raised in Ethiopia, and at a young age, she began performing with the National Theater of Ethiopia. While on a musical tour in 1996, Minyeshu visited Europe and, because of political instability in Ethiopia, decided to stay in Europe and make it her home.
In 2002, she released her first solo album, Meba, which–alas!–I have not been able to find a copy of. But I have discovered her second album, 2008’s Dire Dawa, and have thoroughly enjoyed it. It is (in brief) lovely, laid-back music brimming with quiet joy. And while it appeals to my Western ear, it simultaneously maintains a distinctly Ethiopian vibe. One review describes it particularly well:
“Like Aster Aweke and Gigi Shibabaw before her, Minyeshu Kifle has subtly adapted Ethiopian music for European and American sensibilities and…has added a soft-rock veneer and modern pop production to the characteristic asymmetrical rhythms and pentatonic scales of Ethiopian tradition….
[L]istening to the opener ‘Halafi Nen Kealem’ [sic]…, you can’t help thinking that if Sheryl Crow lived in Addis Ababa rather than California, she might sound a little like this.
If that sounds critical, it isn’t meant to be. The marriage of Ethiopian forms and Western pop motifs is effected with an easy panache and potency so that Minyeshu manages to sound both accessible to a wider audience yet still authentically — and proudly — Ethiopian at the same time.”
But hey–why not judge for yourself? You can buy Minyeshu’s Dire Dawa CD at Amazon. Unfortunately, because it’s an import CD, it’s kind of pricey: $29. So, in the interest of informed consumerism, I’ve taken the liberty of tracking down a couple mp3s from this album. If you choose to download them, please listen to them and then buy the CD if you like it.
Meles Zenawi was awarded an MA degree in Business Administration by the Open University in 1995, and an MSc in Economics by Erasmus University in 2004, while perpetrating egregious crimes against humanity. Rumors abound now he has given orders to scholars in the country to provide feedback on a thesis that he is working on for an advanced diploma in tandem with his relentless efforts to promote a policy of genocide by mass starvation [1], and to suppress basic human rights through systematic imprisonment, harassment and killings of innocent civilians [2].
Although dictators are generally known for the extreme measures they take to project a false impression of grandeur and to disguise their crimes and inferiority complex through absurd propaganda, Zenawi’s obsession with the ivory tower as a cover for his vices has no parallel in the annals of despots in power. It might come as a surprise that a leader of a country like Ethiopia, which is in the lowest ranks with respect to every conceivable measure of human development, could make time for advanced study. However, time is no constraint for an autocrat, who has no allegiance to the country he rules, who does not abide by any laws, and who subjects the constitution to the service of his selfish interest and those of his cronies.
Institutions of higher learning may not be held accountable for future actions of their graduates. However, it is contrary to reason for a university to claim it upholds the principles of fairness and justice while consciously admitting to its programs of study tyrants and despots with proven records of human rights violations and crimes against humanity.
Ironically, a stated mission of the Open University, one of Zenawi’s preferred institutions of erudition, is to promote “educational opportunity and social justice” [3]. His other alma mater, Erasmus University, declares that its “… driving forces are academic curiosity, critical reflection and social engagement”[4].
The lofty ideals of these universities are in sharp contradiction to their decisions to have an association with a despot with well-established records of anti-academic and anti-intellectual campaigns, which include the suppression of freedom of speech and other fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The world first witnessed Zenawi’s viciousness against the academic establishment when in January of 1993 he ordered his police to shoot and mutilate hundreds of Addis Ababa University students for peacefully exercising their freedom of expression. Subsequently, Zenawi fired over 42 professors from the same university when the academics expressed opposition to the brutal force the dictator used against the students. On April 18, 2001 Zenawi’s special forces police opened fire on a peaceful protest organized by students of the university, and killed at least 41 people and wounded hundreds [5]. More recently, in the aftermath of his infamous defeat in the May 2005 elections, Zenawi unleashed his special forces to mow down 193 unarmed civilians, and sent thousands of university students to concentration camps [6].
Since he assumed power, Zenawi has used economic deprivation as a tool of repression, and has subjected the vast majority of the people to immeasurable suffering. As the following facts suggest, no dictator in history has so blatantly and effectively utilized mass starvation for the purpose of propagating authoritarian rule to the same degree as Zenawi has done so.
According to a July 28, 2003 report of the New York Times, in 2003 more than 12 million Ethiopians were at risk of starvation, half of those children under 15.
Based on a recent report of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), eight million Ethiopians are chronically food insecure and at least 3.4 million Ethiopians are in need of emergency food relief.
The Centre for Research on Globalization disclosed that several million people in the most prosperous agricultural regions have been driven into starvation [7].
On June 23, 2008, the Boston Globe reported: “People have become so desperate for food that they are eating seeds that were meant for their next harvest. 4.5 million Ethiopians are in need right now”[8].
Meanwhile, Zenawi has taken effective measures to perpetuate the famine for political ends, i.e., to penalize ethnic and political groups that did not vote for him, and to send a macabre message to others who may dare challenge his authoritarian rule in the future.
Remarkably, in a March 18, 2008, address to his rubber-stamp parliament, he unabashedly denied the veracity of drought-related deaths [http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/v-print/story/39021.html].
Recently, he ordered his Deputy Prime Minister to denounce reports of the current famine [10].
According to the June 13, 2008 issue of The Economist, “he has banned photographs of the starving and has told field workers not to give information to foreign journalists”.
As the Edinburgh Evening News (26th July 2008) correctly observed: “The catastrophe is not an accident of nature. The squalor and folly of the Addis Ababa regime needs to be corrected.”
On the political front, Zenawi has virtually incapacitated opposition parties with brazen use of torture and imprisonment.
Following his defeat in the May 2005 elections, he incarcerated leaders of the opposition and clung to power illegally[11].
As recently as last April, he conducted sham elections, excluding viable opposition through systematic intimidation, harassment and coercion. According to a Human Rights Watch report, candidates allied with his party were allowed to “… run unopposed in the vast majority of constituencies across Ethiopia. Local ruling party officials systematically targeted opposition candidates for violence, intimidation, and other human rights abuses since the registration period began. Particularly in areas with established opposition support, local officials arbitrarily detained opposition candidates, searched their property without warrant, and in some cases physically assaulted them”[12].
With regard to crimes against humanity, the charges leveled against Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic by the International Court of Justice pale in comparison to the crimes committed by Zenawi against the various ethnic groups in Ethiopia:
In the Gambella area, the Anuaks have been subjected to a government-sponsored genocide, and many more have been displaced from their homes [13].
In the Ogaden region, Zenawi has committed war crimes, burning homes and property, and firing upon and killing fleeing civilians [14, 15, 16, 17].
In other regions, including Oromia and Amhara, Zenawi has been waging covert and overt attacks against the inhabitants creating an atmosphere of siege and terror [18].
Zenawi has suppressed freedom of speech and the press, while giving a deceptive impression of an open society to the outside world.
In a recent report, the Committee to Protect Journalists found Ethiopia at the top of a list of 10 countries where press freedom has deteriorated over the past five years [19].
The present incarceration of Tewodros Kassahun (a.k.a. Teddy Afro) on trumped up charges is a glaring example of the policy of the dictator to stifle the voices of musicians and singers from reflecting the misery of the people [20].
John Dewey once wrote: “When men think and believe in one set of symbols and act in ways which are contrary to their professed and conscious ideas, confusion and insincerity are bound to result.” Thus, it is a travesty of scholarship for an institution of higher learning, that professes social justice, to open its doors to despots and tyrants with crimes so egregious as those committed by Zenawi. Irrespective of the source, the money the tyrants pay to these institutions for their diplomas is money tainted with the blood, sweat and tears of millions of helpless people. The credentials these institutions bestow upon the tyrants are potent weapons used to legitimize the authoritarian rules of the despots and to perpetuate their regimes through terror and repression.
Copies of this article are sent to:
1) Professor Brenda Gourley, Vice-Chancellor, The Open University
(http://www.open.ac.uk/vice-chancellor/Contacts.html)
2) Dr. A van Rossum, Chairman, Supervisory Board, Erasmus University
([email protected])
