Gadaa.com Editorial: The petition to reclaim the name Oromian Coffee has reached the 1,000-signatures goal. Gadaa.com was not the sponsor of the petition; however, Gadaa.com was compelled to spread the word about the petition out of a sense of civic duty to the Oromo people. While it is good to get the requested 1,000 signatures, it is very disappointing that a petition of this size (only 1,000 signatures) has taken more than a month to reach its goal!
Slow responses are as bad as no responses. Every Oromo must feel a sense of urgency to sign and spread the word about such petitions in order to fully utilize the Internet as a medium for a grassroot movement.
Thanks to all those who signed the petition (and/or those who told others about the petition) after having learnt about it at Gadaa.com.
Kibaki’s promises to pastoralists
Standard, Kenya -
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President Kibaki has created eight administrative divisions and pledged to establish a permanent military base on the Kenya/Ethiopia border.
The President said this after he took his re-election campaigns to upper Eastern, on Saturday.
Kibaki also unveiled a seven-point development programme aimed at turning the semi-arid region into an economic hub.
"This region is well endowed and I pledge to harness the local resources and open up this hitherto forgotten region into an economically viable unit," Kibaki said.
The President said the projects aimed at uplifting upper Eastern and North Eastern Province will not only be linked to other parts of Kenya but also to Southern Sudan ...
Kibaki also established a permanent military base at Forole to guard the 600km common border between Kenya and Ethiopia and curb armed raids from suspected Oromo Liberation Front militia.
He also created two police posts at Moite and Koya.
"I have also directed the provincial police officer to re-arm homeguards in Turbi and Dukana before we scale up the programme to other regions," he said ...
President dishes out new districts as polls near
Daily Nation, Kenya - Dec 15, 2007
President Mwai Kibaki’s intensified [election] campaigns in the last one month have increased the number of districts to 145.
The Head of State has nearly tripled the 57 districts he found in 2003 as he responds to public demand for closer administration.
A list from the Office of the President however still shows 137 Districts and four sub-districts.
President Kibaki, once a critic of the creation of districts and divisions by Former President Moi, directives which Internal Security minister John Michuki unsuccessfully challenged in court, has now come full circle.
In the two weeks the President has been in Western and Eastern provinces, eight districts have been born ...
Ethiopians Said to Push Civilians Into War Against Rebels
New York Times, United States - December 15, 2007
The Ethiopian government, one of America’s top allies in Africa, is forcing untrained civilians — including doctors, teachers, office clerks and employees of development programs financed by the World Bank and United Nations — to fight rebels in the desolate Ogaden region, according to Western officials, refugees and Ethiopian administrators who recently defected to avoid being conscripted.
Ethiopia has been struggling with the rebels for years. But with tens of thousands of its troops now enmeshed in a bloody insurgency in Somalia and many thousands more massing on the border for a possible war with Eritrea, the government seems to be relying on civilians to do more of its fighting in the Ogaden, a bone-dry chunk of territory where Ethiopian troops have been accused by human rights groups of widespread abuses.
In a recent report, government officials in the region called upon elders, traders, women and civil servants to form local “security committees” and mobilize their clans to destroy the rebels and their bases of support. The government says that the rebels are terrorists who have carried out assassinations and bombings, and that civilians have volunteered to fight them ...
Horn African Diaspora unites for peace and stability of the region
Meadna.com -
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A conference for peace and stability in the horn of Africa was held in London on Sunday December 9th 2007, bringing communities from Ogden, Somalia, Eritrea and Oromo together. The conference, first of its kind, was jointly organised by the Oromo Youth Organisation, Ogaden Youth Organisation, Eritrean Youth Organisation and Somalia Youth Congress to address problems in the horn Africa region including killing of civilians, destruction of livelihoods, war crimes, rape and sexual assaults, arrests and detentions, occupation, forced expulsion and violation of international rulings that are being committed by the Ethiopian regime.
Followed by the official opening of the conference, representatives of Oromo Youth Organisation, Eritrean Youth Organisation, Ogaden Youth Organisation and Somalia Youth Congress gave presentations on the state of affairs of their countries and people in historical context respectively.
The Oromo representative, stating the present time as “historic moment”, expressed their delight to have the opportunity to “voice our voice for those voiceless majority Oromos in Ethiopia.” The presentation focused on gross violation of human right in Ethiopia including the extrajudicial killing, disappearances of hundreds of thousands Oromos, mass detention and economic crimes directed at all Ethiopian ethic groups denying them to engage in any significant economic activities. The presentation described the plight of Oromo farmers who are “facing unprecedented scale of eviction from their farming land which time in memorial belongs to their ancestors” ...
Remembering December 13th: A Day For All of Us!
Anuak Justice Council -
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The anniversary of the December 13, 2003 Anuak massacre is here again. Four years have now passed since the Anuak witnessed a horrific slaughter of their loved ones by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s military forces and some other pro-EPRDF government militia groups. The painful wounds from those losses will be reopened as many Anuak throughout Ethiopia and in the Diaspora observe the fourth memorial of this genocide that took place in Gambella.
Many of the Anuak families of these victims still do not know where the bodies of their family members are buried. As of today, no one has been brought to justice for committing these crimes. Refugees are still in camps in other countries. The remaining widows, children and orphans in Gambella have daily struggles made worse due to the absence of many men from their families, villages and communities. They live with traumatic memories that can be replayed like an old movie by simply closing their eyes. Yet, life must go on for the living ...
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ACT NOW - If Not You, then Who; If Not Now, then When?! - Sign this petition to reclaim the Oromian Coffee!
"We, the undersigned, are requesting that you change the name of your "Organic Ethiopian" to "Organic Oromian" including the attached map detailing the regions of Oromia on your marketing materials ..."
Click here to sign to the petition.
Spread the word: email all concerned.
Man accuses army of torture
Standard, Kenya -
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Army personnel involved in a military operation in Moyale allegedly tortured a father of two and other people.
Mr Jaldesa Duba Halake, 27, has recorded a statement at the Moyale police station and is seeking compensation for alleged torture.
On Sunday, hundreds of Moyale residents held a demonstration to petition local DC, Mr Victor Okioma, and asked him to take action against the army personnel.
Halake claimed he was tortured for two weeks by the military that was hunting down Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rebels in an operation that President Kibaki has since suspended.
He alleged that he was taken to the police in Moyale and the Ethiopian military was called to ascertain whether he was an OLF accomplice. He was, however, found innocent ...
Kibaki halted the operation on Saturday following an appeal by PNU politicians, saying the exercise had negatively affected their campaigns in the district. Three weeks ago, the Government sent the army to the border after armed OLF members fled into Kenya. The move was, however, criticised by local leaders who alleged that Kenyans in the region had been harassed and tortured ...
Armed groups along Sudan’s eastern frontier: An overview and analysis
ReliefWeb (press release), Switzerland -
... In the case of some groups such as the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which has operated as a guerrilla movement along the borderlands of Ethiopia and Sudan since July 1973, there is a wealth of information and hence no need to provide additional background in this report. Only the recent activities of this group in the area are discussed below ...
Full_Report (pdf* format - 592.4 Kbytes)
Tolosa and Biktimirova splash their way to Honolulu victories
International Association of Athletics Foundation, Monaco -
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This city of 800,000 welcomed the warm sunshine which greeted them yesterday morning. It was a much needed respite from more than a week of rainy weather, some of it accompanied by winds so strong they uprooted a few of Oahu's oldest trees. But the rains were back again this morning, and the downpour which began just minutes before the 35th Honolulu Marathon started at five o'clock set the tone for today's race where Ambesse Tolosa of Ethiopia and Alevtina Biktimirova of Russia splashed their way to victories and $40,000 in prize money.
For Tolosa it was his second win here in as many tries. Like last year, he used a patient approach, not taking the lead until the important climb up Diamond Head Avenue at the 38km mark. It was there he found himself in exactly the same position as last year: trailing five-time Honolulu Marathon champion, Jimmy Muindi of Kenya, by one step.
"He's a very challenging competitor," Tolosa said of Muindi after the race ...
Sidama Coffee or “Sidamo” Coffee? The Implications of the Misnomer
American Chronicle, CA -
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Coffee is the second most widely traded commodity in the world next to petroleum where more than 80 countries cultivate coffee, which is exported as the raw, roasted or soluble product to more than 165 countries worldwide. It is the most important agricultural commodity in the world, and is worth up to $14 billion annually.
Coffee is believed to have been discovered a thousand years ago by a Kaffa goatherd, in the Kaffa region of Ethiopia. At present, coffee is one of the most important cash crops in the Sidama region and other parts of the country. In the year 2005, Sidama and Gedeo regions alone produced over 63,562 tons of coffee (Central Statistical Agency, 2005). This is about 1/3 of the total coffee output for the country during the year.
The Sidama people live in the Southern part of Ethiopia with notable geographical features such as lake Awassa in the North and lake Abaya in the South. The population of the Sidama land is about 5 million at present. The capital city of Sidama, Awassa, is 275 kms south of Addis Ababa. Sidama is the fifth largest nation in Ethiopia after Oromo, Amhara, Ogaden and Tigray ...
Germany releases plan to boost food security among herders
Business Daily Africa, Kenya - Dec 7, 2007
The nomadic lifestyle of pastoral communities may soon be replaced by sedentary agriculture following a US$7.5 million initiative by the German Government to boost food security and nutrition in three nations including Kenya.
Today pastoral communities like the Maasai rely heavily on livestock as a source of livelihood and are forced to shift base in search of pasture.
This, analysts say, does not augur well for food security and high standards of nutrition.
An initiative by the German government in Kenya, Tanzania and Afghanistan is, however, seeking to reverse the trend among pastoralists and rangeland communities living in these countries by ensuring they adopt more permanent and reliable production programmes. In Kenya and neighbouring Tanzania, the programme targets to boost the agro-pastoral capacity of the Maasai community ...
Millennium, a Disguise for Human Right Abuse
Ibsaa Guutama - Gubirmans Publishing - September 2007
OLA Shall Prevail in Defending the Planed Joint Attack
OLF -
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On November 14, 2007 the Kenyan Daily Nation newsletter reported that the Kenyan government and the minority Woyane-Tigray government have agreed to launch what they called “a joint search operation” on the Southern Command of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) at a meeting they held in a Moyale district of Hiddi lola town. In an apparent beginning of the so called “search operation”, on November 30, 2007 Reuters reported that the Kenyan Police had arrested 21 Oromo nationals, nine of which are of Kenyan origin accusing them of supporting OLA, and that two of the accused Oromos have already been deported to Ethiopia. It is our belief that the remaining detained Oromos will also likely be handed to the fascist Woyane regime by the Kenyan officials.
Our inside sources reported that the motto of this “joint operation” is to “eliminate or at least weaken” the Southern Oromia Command of OLA. It is also reported that, on the reported meeting, while the Kenyan government complained of not having budget for the operation, the minority Woyane regime agreed to cover all financial and logistic expenses. Our sources added that an army of four brigades is planned for this deplorable “operation” out of which the Kenyan government agreed to contribute one brigade while the remaining three brigades will be presented by the Woyane regime ...
UOEC office relocation
Oromo Gospel -
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The United Oromo Evangelical Churches (UOEC) Board had its first meeting on October 13, 2007 after our council meeting in Minneapolis, MN last summer. It was a whole day meeting from early morning to 8PM. The meeting was hosted by the Oromo church of Minnesota.
The board discussed on the vital issues of the UOEC’s work and the action plan for the 2007/2008 and made important decisions.
One of the major decisions was about the relocation of the UOEC office from Washington, DC to Minneapolis. The UOEC Council gave this mandate to the board last summer in its 9th Annual meeting. The full text of the minutes of the Council Meeting is as follows:
The suggestion regarding reorganizing and restructuring of the UOEC functional structure has been on the agenda for at least three years. However the practical situation did not allow us to translate this suggestion into any viable action.
i. Given the history in regards to various obstacles in the past the president asked the Council to authorize the UOEC Board to make its own study in consultation with other church leaders for the next 3 – 6 month and come up with final resolution.
ii. This will include the relocation of the office of the union from, Washington, DC where it is currently located to another location ...
President dishes out new districts as polls near
Daily Nation, Kenya -
President Mwai Kibaki’s intensified campaigns in the last one month have increased the number of districts to 145.
The Head of State has nearly tripled the 57 districts he found in 2003 as he responds to public demand for closer administration.
A list from the Office of the President however still shows 137 Districts and four sub-districts.
President Kibaki, once a critic of the creation of districts and divisions by Former President Moi, directives which Internal Security minister John Michuki unsuccessfully challenged in court, has now come full circle.
In the two weeks the President has been in Western and Eastern provinces, eight districts have been born.
The newest districts are Chuka, Mara, Shinyalu, Kilome, Navakholo, Bura, Lafey and Siakago.
President Kibaki had also carved Laisamis, Chalbi, Garbatula, Tigania, Igembe, Imenti North, Imenti South, Mutomo, Kyuso, Mwala, Yatta, Kangundo, Mbooni, Kibwezi and Nzaui districts in Eastern Province.
Western Province earlier got Hamisi, Emuhaya, Mumias, Bungoma North, Bungoma East, Bungoma West, Samia, Bunyala and Teso South districts.
In Nairobi Province, the new districts are Nairobi West, Nairobi East and Nairobi North.
Had its share
Coast Province bagged Kilindini, Msambweni, Kinango, Kaloleni, Tana Delta and Taveta districts.
In North Eastern Province, Fafi, Wajir North, Wajir South, Wajir West, Mandera West, and Mandera Central are the new districts.
Central province got Nyandarua North, Nyeri North, Murang’a South, Kiambu West and Gatundu.
Rift Valley received Turkana Central, North Pokot, Samburu East , Samburu North, Trans Nzoia East, East Pokot, Uasin Gishu South, Wareng, Laikipia West, Laikipia North, Molo, Naivasha, Nakuru North, Narok South, Loitoktok, Kipkelion and Sotik districts.
Nyanza had its share in Rarieda, Kisumu East, Rongo, South Kisii, Borabu and Masaba districts.
OLF urges unity of Ethiopian opposition
Sudan Tribune, Sudan -
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The Executive Committee of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) held its regular session from November 25- December 1, 2007. In its deliberations the Committee noted that:
1. The political crisis in Ethiopia is deepening. In a futile bid to stamp out the Oromo Liberation Army and the Ogaden National Liberation Army, the regime in Addis is conducting a brutal crackdown in Oromia and Ogaden. The indiscriminate targeting of the civilian populations is causing a humanitarian crisis at par with Darfur. Political repression is also rampant through the width and length of the country. To make matters worse by severely restricting political freedom, even to the opposition in the parliament, the regime has emasculated the political process and made open resistance the only route left to seek redress for political grievances.
2. The specter of war, chaos and humanitarian disasters looms over the Horn of Africa. When the Ethiopian regime made an adventure into Somalia last year against clear warnings, it boasted that it would accomplish its stated goals and withdraw within weeks. A year later it finds itself in a quagmire. To cope with a determined resistance, the Ethiopian army is taking its wrath on the civilian population, as it has been doing in Oromia and Ogaden, unleashing a horrendous humanitarian crisis. The saber-rattling by the Ethiopian Prime Minister against domestic and foreign enemies in a recent speech to the Parliament does not bode well for a peaceful resolution. Now that the Border Commission has expired without completing its mission, the resumption of another disastrous war appears an ominous possibility ...
The Oromia Support Group in Australia voices concern over the mistreatment of Oromo refugees in Sudan [pdf file 77KB]
OLF - Dec 3, 2007
The Oromia Support Group in Australia and, in fact, Oromos everywhere, are alarmed by the report we received on the handing over of 15 Ethiopian refugees, the majority, if not all of them, were Oromo by the Sudanese authorities against their will to the Ethiopian regime. Most of these refugees were legal residents in Sudan for a number of years, and some carried UNCHR IDs. In July this year several Oromo refugees living in Khartoum and El Damazin were arrested and detained in Kobor prison in Khartoum. When Kobor prison became overcrowded, they were transferred to destination unknown to friends, most probably to the prison around Shendi. Around September 25, 2007, they were taken from their prison cells and transported to the border town of Metama and handed over in shackles to Ethiopian security and military forces on September 26, 2007 ...
Oromo Opposition Calls Current Assab Status “Most Unjust”
Jimma Times, Ethiopia - Dec 2, 2007
The Chairman of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM) opposition party said the present condition of Assab port is unreasonable.
Bulcha Demeksa of the OFDM stated these comments about Assab to Jimma Times after indicating that he doesn’t expect the upcoming elections in Ethiopia to be any fairer than the previous ones. Last week, Dr. Yacob Hailemariam of the CUD opposition party made similar statements about Assab port’s importance to Ethiopia, as the deadline for the EEBC then approached, today leaving the Ethio-Eritrean border without being physically demarcated ...
Ethiopia-Eritrea commission ends, border unresolved
Reuters South Africa, South Africa -
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An international commission charged with setting the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea dissolved itself on Friday, leaving the two states who fought a border war that killed some 70,000 people to work it out alone.
Thousands died in World War One-style trench warfare in the 1998-2000 clash between the Horn of Africa neighbours and, according to the United Nations, the two sides have again amassed thousands of troops and artillery at the frontier.
The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, part of Permanent Court of Arbitration, fulfilled its mandate of determining the border in 2002. But a deadline for the two states to demarcate the boundary expired on Friday, with neither complying.
"Until such time as the boundary is finally demarcated, the delimitation decision of 13 April 2002 continues as the only valid legal description of the boundary," the commission said in a statement on Friday.
Tensions between the countries have ratcheted up in recent weeks with the approach of the deadline to physically mark the 1,000-km (620-mile) frontier ...
Kenya arrests 12 suspected Ethiopian rebels
Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, Kenya - November 30, 2007
Kenyan police said on Friday they had arrested 12 suspected Ethiopian rebels and nine locals accused of helping them in a remote region on the border with Ethiopia.
Two of the suspected members of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rounded up this week have already been deported while the others are still being interrogated, said Rono Bunei, district police commander in the Kenyan border town of Moyale.
"The operation is still going on and we shall not allow any group to use our soil to fight a friendly government," he said. The rest will be deported if confirmed as OLF members.
One of several insurgent groups fighting Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government, the OLF seeks greater autonomy for ethnically Oromo areas of south Ethiopia.
The nine Kenyans were arrested for offering shelter to the 12, police said.
Some locals said innocent youths had been arrested ...
China in Africa: Developing ties
BBC -
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An artist's impression of the new conference centre China is to build for the African Union at its Addis Ababa headquarters, at a cost of $150m (£75m). |
In almost every corner of Africa there is something that interests China.
The continent is rich in natural resources that promise to keep China's booming, fuel-hungry economy on the road.
There is copper to mine in Zambia, iron ore to extract in Gabon and oil to refine in Angola.
In other countries less blessed by natural resources, Chinese companies have spied trading and investment opportunities.
Africa's need for new and better roads, school buildings, computer networks, telecoms systems and power generation has opened a lucrative window of opportunity for Chinese firms.
The new Sino-African dynamic can leave the West ill at ease, reviving memories of Europe's colonial domination in Africa and drawing complaints that low Chinese bids are freezing out Western companies ...
Related News:
UN to visit Ethiopia trouble spot
BBC -
The UN's Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes, is set to visit the troubled Somali region - the Ogaden - in south-east Ethiopia. Large parts of Somali region were off-limits to all outside humanitarian agencies for several months this year.
Meanwhile the Ethiopian army conducted counter-insurgency operations against rebels operating in the area.
The UN managed to negotiate access to the area. Mr Holmes will be meeting UN staff and local government officials.
Painstaking process
The situation in central Somali region - known as the Ogaden - has been extremely difficult for most of this year.
Residents have been caught between actions by Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels and army reprisals ...
December 1st 2007 - World AIDS Day
Image Source: AbdiBorii.org
FACTS about AIDS in Oromia
- While the Ethiopian national HIV prevalence rate is estimated to be as high as 3.5% (UNAIDS 2007), a recent government source has put the HIV prevalence rate in Oromia at about 1.5%.
- Lack of government-supported aggressive preventive campaigns against HIV/AIDS in Oromia has been widely reported by many sources, including OLF, and the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office of Oromia has frankly admitted that the lack of "adequate coverage & good quality data" had caused the disease to spread in Oromia.
MC Lil' M.Z. & His Stooges (Deputy PM Addisu & Pres. Girma) LOL - No Worries These Days
With a loan of $640 million on its way from India (Yes, India), a divided opposition in & outside the Empire, and the illegal investment schemes (the encroachment of Oromo farmland by the so-called diaspora investors) in Oromia at all-time high profit levels, the trio has nothing to worry about, but laugh out loud (LOL) unrestrainedly. Do not mention the major humanitarian crisis looming over Ogadenia, the illegal war in Somalia, and the HR 2003 bill, you will spoil this precious moment of the trio.
Athletics stars Gay and Defar take top IAAF awards
AFP -
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Tyson Gay and Meseret Defar |
World champion sprinter Tyson Gay of the United States and Ethiopian middle-distance starlet Meseret Defar were on Sunday named by athletics' world governing body, the IAAF, as the top athletes of 2007 ...
Defar, the 23-year-old reigning Olympic champion over 5,000 metres, has been in startling form on the track, winning all her races this season and setting two world records and a world best.
She set world records of 14:16.63 for the 5000m at the Bislett Games in Oslo in June, and 8:23.72 for the indoor 3000m in Stuttgart in February.
In May, she also ran two miles, a distance not recognised by the International Olympic Committee, at Carson in a world record time of 9:10.47.
Defar, who won 5000m gold at the Osaka World Championships, said: "This is very special for me. This is very special for Ethiopian women.
"Those who struggle very hard and who don't have very many opportunities to achieve the highest levels of athletics. So I dedicate this award to them" ...
Sidama struggle veteran dies
The Sidama Concern -
Woldeamanuel Dubale Hankarso died on Tuesday, 20 November 2007. Mr Hankarso was active in the struggle for the rights of Sidama people for self-determination, and he led the movement for liberation in the early 1980s. He lived in exile for decades, first in Somalia and later, during the TPLF regime, in the UK where he died.
Just before the May 2005 election, he went back to Sidama for reasons unknown to many people. He became ill just after the Ethiopian millennium and remained ill until his death. His body is flown to Sidama today for burial. We extend our condolences to his family members and friends ...
Some OLF Suspects Released, But Replaced by New Comers – Bulcha
Jimma Times, Ethiopia -
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Qallitti Concentration Camp, where thousands of Oromo prisoners of conscience languish. |
The Chairman of the OFDM opposition party told Jimma Times that many Oromo Ethiopians suspected of being OLF members were released recently. However, “just as many” new OLF suspects have been detained.
Bulcha Demeksa, leader of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement, has been outspoken in parliament condemning the widespread imprisonment of Oromos by government forces. In response, Bulcha says a number of them were released but “many have been imprisoned during the same period.”
He said the OLF suspects suffer without a trial and despite the widespread detainment "no one has been convicted of being an OLF member or supporter.” Bulcha has been disclosing similar problems, particularly in August, and other activists complained the imprisonment of Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) workers in its Nekemte town branch in Oromia ...
Ethiopia: What Lays Beneath “A child that is born in prison fears the free world”
Ayyaantuu - November 20, 2007
Ebissa Ragassa, Freelance WriterThus far the appearance of Ethiopia has been perpetuated rather than the nature of Ethiopia as it really is. Each successive government continues to affix its own veil rather than shade some light on the causes of Ethiopia’s dysfunction. Massive energy and vital resources are spent by ruling groups in indoctrinating, creating a hypnotic state among its very citizens and imposing flawed model of thinking, rather than encouraging mutual reality. All different Ethiopian citizens or peoples of that land are contending based on their own individual or group’s appearance of what the state of Ethiopia is, or what it should be. Henceforth, the fundamental nature of Ethiopia has not changed since its inception. For some, Ethiopia is a step-mother; for other, it is their biological parent. For some, it is source of empowerment; for other, it is a cause of agony. For some, Ethiopia is an ancient country; for others, it is a two-century-old in the process of becoming. The clash of these competing ideas is the present day drama of Ethiopia. Whether the drama will unfold in tragic end or in a new beginning remains in our determination to look beyond the appearance, unwrapping the veil of Ethiopia, hopping over the propaganda and the our biases, and entering the domain of the truth.
We must recognize that Ethiopia is just an idea that exists in our mind; it is not a natural phenomenal like the sunset and sunrise that continue to exist independent of our thought. Ethiopia is not a fixed entity despite the common perceptions. Although some group do entertain that Ethiopia is a natural phenomena that can only be transformed by divine intervention, I contend that Ethiopia is a thought that can be altered to transcend us, elastic enough to stretch us. Since Ethiopia is an idea, it does not belong to no one, no ethic group has patent over Ethiopia, while Ethiopia’s past history is contrary to this idea ...
Ethiopians Dominate Beirut Marathon
International Association of Athletics Foundation, Monaco - November 18, 2007
The Ethiopian pair of Tamrat Elanso and Adaneche Beyene Jemilu proved to be easy winners of the BLOM Beirut International Marathon on Sunday.
But pride of place was acknowledged to belong to the meeting organisers who ensured the race went ahead without a hitch despite Lebanon's present political situation ...
Ethiopia: Bekele announces marriage
AfricaNews, Netherlands -
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Ethiopia' s triple World and 2004 Olympic 10,000m champion Kenenisa Bekele has announced he will marry film actress Danawit Gebregziabher at a wedding ceremony on Sunday 18 November 2007.
Today’s announcement of the marriage plans of the 25-year-old Bekele, will cause an equal stir of excitement in the Ethiopian capital. It was only in January 2005 that the World and Olympic champion suffered the tragic loss of his then-fiancée Alem Techale, the 2003 World Youth 1500m champion, who collapsed and died while on a training run with him in the outskirts of Addis Ababa. His new fiancée Gebregziabher was an actress in Ethiopian hit-movie “The 11th Hour”.
The wedding will take place at the Sheraton Addis, one of only two five-star luxury hotels in the country.
Bekele’s training and competition plans remain unknown for the remainder of 2007, but in January 2008 he is scheduled to compete in Edinburgh against Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea, the World XC and Road Running champion ...
Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement ready to participate in upcoming election
OromoIndex - Nov 17, 2007
The Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM) disclosed that it will participate in the upcoming local election.
OFDM Chairperson, Bulcha Demeksa, told WIC that the movement will participate in the election for woreda and kebele councils as well as in filling vacated seats in the House of Peoples Representatives in all woredas of Oromia State and some woredas of SNNP State.
The party has been making preparation to field competent candidates as it believes that woredas and kebeles are the can help alleviate the economic and social problems of the public and become closer to the community, he said.
The Chairperson further indicated that the newly organized National Electoral Board has been consulting state governments and political parties to respond to the questions it raised in connection with the election.
A transparent system should first be put in place in order to carry out free and fair election, Bulcha said, adding that the media should also pave the way for the opposition parties to express their views on the election ...
Police harassment rampant at border
Daily Nation, Kenya - Nov 15, 2007
My recent trip to the Moyale border town from Marsabit by a lorry exposed me to police misconduct and lack of professionalism.
The trip took me through four police checks that operated like toll stations.
Vehicles and passengers were searched for reasons other than security concerns or roadworthiness.
Of the four check points, Wolda, Turbi, and Marsabit Town KBC transmission station were the worst.
Drivers and their passengers were not allowed to go past the metallic barriers before paying bribes.
I and a local councillor aboard the same lorry had rough time trying to speak for the innocent passengers harassed by the police.
The officers have apparently introduced a new system to identify travellers. Proficiency in Kiswahili language and vaccination marks have apparently become the basis for identification, instead of national identity cards.
At Marsabit KBC station, a woman with a baby strapped to her chest was ordered to alight from the lorry for not being fluent in Kiswahili.
The civic leader and I, had to intervene and save the woman from being taken to an extortion corner to negotiate for her freedom ...
Eritrea, Ethiopia urged to settle their border dispute peacefully
AFP - November 14, 2007
The UN Security Council on Tuesday urged arch-rivals Eritrea and Ethiopia to settle their border dispute peacefully and to take "concrete steps" to demarcate their frontier.
A non-binding statement read out by Indonesia's UN envoy Marty Natalegawa, the council chair this month, pressed the two Horn of Africa neighbors "to take concrete steps to implement immediately and without preconditions the delimitation decision" made by a UN-appointed boundary panel.
It also appealed to the two sides to "refrain from using force and settle their disagreements by peaceful means, to normalize their relations, to promote stability between them and to lay the foundations for sustainable peace in the region" ...
Ethiopia: New Deal to Smoke Out Oromo
AllAfrica.com, Washington -
Kenya and Ethiopia have agreed to flush out Oromo Liberation Front insurgents on their common border.
The deal was hammered out during a security meeting held at Hidi Lola Town in Ethiopia.
The rebels have been sneaking into Kenya across the porous boundary.
The Kenyan delegation was led by the Moyale district commissioner, Mr Victor Okioma, while the Ethiopian team was led by Region Four provincial commissioner Abdulkadir Abdi Nura.
Mr Okioma said that the rebels destabilised security on the border and that Kenya had resolved to smoke them out of their hideouts.
He expressed satisfaction that communities living on the border were willing to provide information on the rebels to the authorities.
Mr Okioma said the meeting also assessed achievements by border security committees.
He noted that a conflict between the Borana and Gabra communities had been contained, and highway robbery stemmed across the boundary.
Mr Nura said they had granted amnesty to insurgents who surrendered themselves to Ethiopian authorities.
| Previous Claims by the Woyane Regime: (Even Jesus Chris did not resurrect from death these many times as the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) did - if indeed, the OLA was "completely annihilated" at each of these events as claimed by Woyane)
Ethiopian forces "totally annihilated" armed rebel group - Addis Zemen paper
Ethiopia says Oromo rebels crushed The Ethiopian army says that it has "completely annihilated" forces loyal to the armed separatist movement, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) ...
Ethiopia: Defence Ministry says Oromo Liberation Front "totally annihilated" Ethiopia: Defence Ministry says Oromo Liberation Front "totally annihilated" The OLF [Oromo Liberation Front] armed group ... |
| History repeats itself. Not the 1st War Drumbeat against Oromo - OLF Responses:
Oromo rebels ask Kenya to end "misguided" joint military operations with Ethiopia The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) views Kenya as a friendly and peace-loving country with whom the Oromo people have lived in harmony as good neighbours for years. Thousands of Oromo refugees have fled the wrath of successive Ethiopian regimes taking refuge in the peace of Kenya. The policy of the OLF towards Kenya and other neighbouring countries reflects the sacred desire of all our peoples to live in harmony as neighbours and work towards peace and progress.
Oromo rebels denounce joint Ethiopian-Kenyan military operations The Horn of Africa is an extremely troubled region. Conflicts, devastating wars, and the displacement and mass exodus of people seem to have become the accepted norm and regional political culture. Instead of joining hands to curb these negative political trends, some countries in the region are pursuing unwise policies and practices that seem to further exacerbate the already delicate situation.
Ethiopia said preparing for major military operation against Oromo rebels The objective of the weyane government's military operation is a futile hallucination to annihilate the OLA - Voice of Oromo Liberation. |
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Students seek Oromo organization
SCSU University Chronicle, MN - November 12, 2007
SCSU Oromo students are looking to form a student organization on campus to support each other and to share their culture with the community.
The Oromo make up a large portion of the population in the Horn of Africa.
According to the U.S. State Department, in Ethiopia alone, Oromo people constitute more than 40 million of the country's 77 million inhabitants.
Though they are the numerical majority in the country, Oromo people face discrimination and experience dire human rights abuses there.
Minnesota has the largest community of Oromo people in the United States.
According to Minnesota Public Radio, "They have established a base camp of sorts (here) to speak out against abuses in a way they can't in their homeland," especially with the help of local groups like Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights.
Although much of Minnesota's Oromo population resides in Minneapolis, SCSU has, according to estimates by Oromo students themselves, around 20 to 30 Oromo people. This year, they are trying to create an Oromo student group on campus.
"We want to organize ourselves," said SCSU student Yohannis Dalla. "We want to do something helpful in the campus area. We want to have a student advisor, a club, and we want to motivate our students. We want to know what we can do at this school to help our kids" ...