Dismissive Ethiopia tests US indulgence
October 10 2007: Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s prime minister, sat stiffly at a table as the frontman of the Black Eyed Peas strutted to the tip of the stage with the standard swagger of a Los Angeles hip-hop star.
Below the prime minister’s balcony, several hundred young Ethiopians surged towards the dreadlocked American, who told them: “Y’know, we celebrated the millennium seven years ago.”
Ethiopia did not. The country stuck with a form of the Julian calendar when the west switched to the Gregorian version four centuries ago, so its year 2000 rolled around only last month.
“Is this the real millennium?” the rapper asked, receiving an uproarious “Yes” from the crowd. “So, basically, when I go home, I can tell America to shut up?” he asked. The affirmative answer almost lifted off the roof.
The moustachioed Mr Meles did not flinch. But the exchange – a playful introduction to a song called “Shut Up” – captured something of the US’s increasingly testy relationship with Ethiopia: despite a six-year alliance with Washington, Mr Meles appears not at all inclined to move to America’s music.
Following the attacks of September 11 2001, the administration of President George W. Bush forged an anti-terror pact with Addis Ababa. It was predicated on Ethiopia’s formidable military and intelligence capabilities and its position as a Christian-led country surrounded by Muslim and Arab states.
But the relationship has begun to resemble many of Washington’s alliances with troublesome client regimes, based mostly on geopolitical interest. Ethiopia, which received $283m (£139m, €200m) of military and humanitarian aid from Washington this year, looks increasingly like Pakistan or Egypt: an awkward bedfellow that the US has to support for security goals but one that pursues its own, sometimes brutal, agenda regardless of American pressure.
When the US objects to Ethiopian policies – such as a crackdown on political opponents that killed scores of people in 2005 and a scorched-earth campaign against separatist insurgents this year – it is ignored. When America gives implicit acquiescence – as it did over the Christmas invasion of Somalia and Ethiopia’s bitter border dispute with Eritrea – the US goes through the motions of diplomatic pressure and claims to have been rebuffed.
But the wisdom of the alliance is now under scrutiny, particularly since the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill last week that would force Ethiopia to improve democracy and human rights or risk losing substantial aid.
In public, Jendayi Frazer, the US State department’s top Africa diplomat, remains staunchly pro-Ethiopian and the White House is known to be unhappy with this month’s congressional bill. But one US official says Washington has “titanic arguments” on many subjects with Mr Meles, whose star has fallen since he was hailed in the 1990s as one of a new generation of African leaders. “The Ethiopians are very proud and very independent,” the official adds. “On security, they have supported us strongly, but they also take positions which are not in line with ours.”
In consequence, Washington has become tied to Ethiopia’s local agenda and entangled in a web of mutually reinforcing conflicts, which run from Eritrea to Somalia and cut through Ethiopia’s own ethnically Somali Ogaden region.
The alliance with Ethiopia, the regional powerhouse with a population of 77m, was supposed to achieve the opposite. The US wanted to hunt terrorists, including those suspected of blowing up US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, to monitor links between al-Qaeda and local Islamists and to prevent the region disintegrating into a lawless incubator for extremism.
But the compromises Washington would have to make became evident after a disputed 2005 election, which revealed the Ethiopian regime’s authoritarian leanings. A total of 193 protesters accusing the government of rigging the election were killed in clashes with police. The violence was condemned by the US, which suspended aid temporarily, but Addis Ababa did not flinch.
The US quandary is also illustrated by Ethiopia’s invasion last year of neighbouring Somalia to oust the Islamic Courts Union, a group containing extremist elements that it saw as a threat. The US role in this invasion is still controversial, though American officials deny they encouraged the Ethiopians to act: “We specifically spoke with the government, [advising it] not to go into Somalia, because we didn’t know what the consequences would be,” says the US official.
But European diplomats dispute this account, saying the American attitude was ambiguous and was influenced heavily by those parts of the Bush administration charged with prosecuting the war on terror. The US embassy in Addis Ababa declined to comment on press reports that the US provided intelligence, military targeting and logistical support to Ethiopian forces during the invasion.
US Navy ships have since launched at least three precision air strikes inside Somalia, presumed to be targeting suspected al-Qaeda associates. But the invasion and its aftermath has done nothing to put an end to 16 years of violent chaos in Somalia.
Also going from bad to worse are Ethiopia’s relations with Eritrea. The neighbours fought a war in 1998-2000 that killed 70,000 people. Last month, Ethiopia threatened to terminate the pact that ended it, after years of intransigence over the demarcation of the two countries’ border.
The US failed – or did not try – to persuade Ethiopia to comply with the 2002 ruling of an independent boundary commission. “I think that’s when we let it slip away, when we let Ethiopia break its pledge to agree to the outcome,” says Donald Payne, a Democratic congressman who co-sponsored last week’s Ethiopia bill. “I think we could fight the war on terror and still have respectful policies from our allies if we chose to. However, taking the policy of least resistance may be easier for the Bush administration.”
An embittered Eritrea reacted by launching proxy wars to undermine the Ethiopian government inside the country, where a growing number of armed groups oppose the Meles regime. The most formidable is the Ogaden National Liberation Front, which this year escalated a campaign for self-determination.
Ethiopia responded with a crackdown, which is a source of growing concern to the US. Ethiopian armed forces have been accused of extra-judicial killings, rape, torture and the burning of villages – charges that Ethiopia denies – and a United Nations fact-finding mission to the region said last month it had heard direct accounts of “serious violations of human rights”.
Suspicions have been stoked by the expulsion of the International Committee of the Red Cross from Ogaden and a decision to exclude Médecins Sans Frontières, another aid group. Washington has refused to place the ONLF on its terrorist list or describe the crackdown in Ogaden as counter-terrorism.
This puts it increasingly at odds with Ethiopia. An alliance of convenience is becoming less convenient for both countries by the day. (Barney Jopson, Financial Times)
Thursday, October 11, 2007
The news story of the new millennium
የፕሬዚዳንት ግርማ ወልደጊዮርጊስ በድጋሚ መመረጥ አገሪቱ የጀመረችውን ልማት ያጠናክራል
አሶሳ መስከረም 29/ 2000/ዋኢማ/ፕሬዚዳንት ግርማ ወልደጊዮርጊስ በድጋሚ የኢፌዴሪ ፕሬዚዳንት ሆነው መመረጣቸው አገሪቱ በልማትና በውጭ ግንኙነት በኩል የጀመረችውን መልካም ሂደት የበለጠ እንደሚያጠናክረው አንዳንድ የአሶሳ ከተማ ነዋሪዎች አስታወቁ።
ከከተማዋ ነዋሪዎች መካከል ወጣት አሰግድ መላኩና ወጣት ሰኢዳ ከድር በሰጡት አስተያየት፣ፕሬዚዳንት ግርማ ወልደ ጊዮርጊስ በድጋሚ መመረጣቸው ባካበቱት ዲፕሎማሲያዊ ሥራ ልምድ የአገሪቱን መልካም ገጽታ ለውጭ አገር በማስተዋወቅና የተጀመሩ ልማቶችን ለማፋጠን ያግዛል።
መምህር ዮሀንስ ዲንቃና አቶ አበራ አዱኛ በበኩላቸው፤ፕሬዝዳንቱ በተለይም እንደ ቤኒሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል ባሉና በልማት ወደኋላ የቀሩ ክልሎችን በተደጋጋሚ በመጎብኘት የሰጡት ትኩረት ሁሉንም ብሔር ብሔረሰቦች በእኩል ዓይን እንደሚያዩ የሚያሳይ ነው ብለዋል።
ወይዘሮ ከድጃ መሀመድና አቶ ታደሰ ገበየሁ የተባሉ የከተማዋ ኗሪዎችም ፕሬዚዳንቱ ኤችአይቪ/ኤድስን በመከላከል፣ የአገሪቱን የተፈጥሮ ሀብት መልሶ እንዲተካ ለማድረግ ያደረጉት አስተዋፅኦ ከፍተኛ በመሆኑ፣ በድጋሚ መመረጣቸው በቀጣዮቹ ስድስት ዓመታት በአገሪቱ ሰላም እንዲጠናከርና የእርስ በእርስ ግንኙነት እንዲጎለብት ያደርጋሉ የሚል እምነት እንዳላቸው መግለፃቸውን ዋልታ ኢንፎርሜሽን ማዕከል ዘግቧል። (http://www.waltainfo.com/AmNews/2007/Oct/10Oct07/37179.htm)
አሶሳ መስከረም 29/ 2000/ዋኢማ/ፕሬዚዳንት ግርማ ወልደጊዮርጊስ በድጋሚ የኢፌዴሪ ፕሬዚዳንት ሆነው መመረጣቸው አገሪቱ በልማትና በውጭ ግንኙነት በኩል የጀመረችውን መልካም ሂደት የበለጠ እንደሚያጠናክረው አንዳንድ የአሶሳ ከተማ ነዋሪዎች አስታወቁ።
ከከተማዋ ነዋሪዎች መካከል ወጣት አሰግድ መላኩና ወጣት ሰኢዳ ከድር በሰጡት አስተያየት፣ፕሬዚዳንት ግርማ ወልደ ጊዮርጊስ በድጋሚ መመረጣቸው ባካበቱት ዲፕሎማሲያዊ ሥራ ልምድ የአገሪቱን መልካም ገጽታ ለውጭ አገር በማስተዋወቅና የተጀመሩ ልማቶችን ለማፋጠን ያግዛል።
መምህር ዮሀንስ ዲንቃና አቶ አበራ አዱኛ በበኩላቸው፤ፕሬዝዳንቱ በተለይም እንደ ቤኒሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል ባሉና በልማት ወደኋላ የቀሩ ክልሎችን በተደጋጋሚ በመጎብኘት የሰጡት ትኩረት ሁሉንም ብሔር ብሔረሰቦች በእኩል ዓይን እንደሚያዩ የሚያሳይ ነው ብለዋል።
ወይዘሮ ከድጃ መሀመድና አቶ ታደሰ ገበየሁ የተባሉ የከተማዋ ኗሪዎችም ፕሬዚዳንቱ ኤችአይቪ/ኤድስን በመከላከል፣ የአገሪቱን የተፈጥሮ ሀብት መልሶ እንዲተካ ለማድረግ ያደረጉት አስተዋፅኦ ከፍተኛ በመሆኑ፣ በድጋሚ መመረጣቸው በቀጣዮቹ ስድስት ዓመታት በአገሪቱ ሰላም እንዲጠናከርና የእርስ በእርስ ግንኙነት እንዲጎለብት ያደርጋሉ የሚል እምነት እንዳላቸው መግለፃቸውን ዋልታ ኢንፎርሜሽን ማዕከል ዘግቧል። (http://www.waltainfo.com/AmNews/2007/Oct/10Oct07/37179.htm)
Ethiopia's oil consumption grows by three quarters in four years
Takes up 60% of export earning
Addis Ababa, October 11 – Ethiopia's oil consumption has sharply increased and the expenditure for oil is 60 percent of the revenue from export, the Ethiopian Petroleum Enterprise said.
Enterprise Public Relations Officer Damenu Kibret said yesterday that the country’s demand for oil has grown rapidly as a result of the economic progress during the past four years.
Accordingly, its consumption which stood at 1,245,000 metric tons four years ago jumped to 1,610,000 metric tons last budget year, he said.
Most of the oil imported is gas oil which is used to run heavy duty construction machineries and agricultural trucks, among others, he indicated.
One of the reasons behind the increase in the price of oil is the increase in the consumption of Jet A1 with the expansion of the flight destinations of Ethiopian Airlines and the flights of other airlines to the country in connection with the Ethiopian Millennium celebrations.
The Enterprise is working in collaboration with National Petroleum, Shell, Total, National Oil, Kobil and Nile Petroleum to meet the country's demand for oil, he said, adding that these oil distributors have assumed due responsibility to avoid interruption of oil supply in any part of the country.
The expense for oil would decline when the bio-fuel processing at Fincha Sugar Factory becomes operational, the PR officer said, adding that the production will also help reduce the amount of imported oil as the ethanol could be mixed with benzene for similar use. (WIC)
Opinion
Conservative Columnist: Symbolism and Realpolitik
by J. Peter Pham
Amid the complex dynamics of the Horn of Africa, the most significant national interest at stake for the United States is preventing Al-Qaeda (or any other like-minded international terrorist network) from acquiring a new base and opening a new front in their war against America and its allies. In this respect, Ethiopia is one of America’s most reliable African counterterrorism partners.
But, last Tuesday, the United States House of Representatives passed by voice vote and sent to the Senate the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007. The bill, sponsored by Congressman Don Payne (D-NJ) and some 85 colleagues from both sides of the aisle, declares official U.S. policy to “support the advancement of human rights, democracy, independence of the judiciary, freedom of the press, peacekeeping capacity building, and economic development in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.” It also prohibits, unless the president makes specific certifications, security assistance to Ethiopia and entry into the U.S. for Ethiopian officials accused of involvement in human rights abuses.
In certain districts, large Ethiopian-American communities hostile to the current government in their native country obviously make the legislation good electoral politics, but the motivations of the bill’s sponsors are still largely well-intentioned—both Payne, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, and the ranking Republican member, Chris Smith of New Jersey, have long histories of advocacy for the continent. Mass arrests, lethal force used against civilians and the Ethiopian government’s counterinsurgency campaign this summer against ethnic Somali rebels all lead one to think censure may not be such a bad idea. The government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi enforced a trade blockade in the eastern region of his country, exacerbating the already precarious balance of life there; many of Addis Ababa’s actions have endangered fellow countrymen. Yet, these humanitarian considerations need to be weighed against other U.S. interests.
Ethiopia has participated in the State Department-funded capacity-building East Africa Counterterrorism Initiative (EACTI). The Terrorist Interdiction Program (TIP), which is designed to identify terrorists and hinder their movement across borders, is operative in Ethiopian airports and other international transit points. Last year, when no one else was willing to deal with the menace of a rising Islamist movement in Somalia— which included Al-Qaeda members specially designated by the U.S. government as well as by the United Nations Security Council—Ethiopian troops preemptively dispersed the militants. All this is more than can be said for any other country in the subregion.
Furthermore, Ethiopia has had a long history of cooperating with the U.S. Except during the Marxist dictatorship that lasted from 1974 to 1991, Ethiopia was a linchpin of America’s anti-Soviet containment regime along the southern tier of the Middle East. The Kagnew communications facility, for example, was highly valued by the U.S. military as part of its global radio system. An Ethiopian contingent fought alongside U.S. forces in the Korean War (the unit, dubbed the “Kagnew Battalion,” was attached to the 7th Infantry Division and fought in a number of engagements, including two famous battles at “Pork Chop Hill”). More recently, Ethiopia pledged 5,000 seasoned troops to the hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan’s Darfur region—the most substantial commitment to date to a mission that, notwithstanding its international cause célèbre status, has attracted few volunteers.
While obviously none of this qualifies anyone for an automatic free pass, it also should not be surprising that the Ethiopian government would react angrily to the bill’s passage. A statement by Samuel Assefa, Ethiopia’s Ambassador to the United States, labeled it “irresponsible legislation” which, if it becomes law, “would undermine regional stability in the Horn of Africa by jeopardizing vital security cooperation” between his country and America. The envoy took particular umbrage to what he perceived as a double standard given that there is no “Eritrea Democracy and Accountability Act” under consideration: “The fact is that the entire region faces a serious threat from Eritrea—a country that the U.S. Department of State is considering listing as a state sponsor of terrorism, and that has rejected the core institutions of legal opposition parties and a private press, officially banning both, and also outlawed worship by minority religious denominations.” Noting that a “recent United Nations report concluded that Eritrea has armed terrorists in Somalia with weapons including suicide belts and anti-aircraft missiles,” Ambassador Assefa lamented that “rather than move against the country that denies all rights and religious freedom to its citizens, and foments instability,” Congress decided instead to zero in on his country.
While promoting democracy in Ethiopia (and elsewhere) is and ought to be an objective of U.S. foreign policy—after all, although it is not without risks and needs to be pursued within the context of a broader strategy, democratization can counter terrorism in the long run by providing alternative venues for dissent in closed societies—it needs to be weighed against our other interests, both immediate and long-term. In 1985, pursuing the commendable goal of discouraging nuclear proliferation, Congress passed the Pressler Amendment, which required the president to certify that Pakistan did not possess a nuclear weapon as a pre-condition for further U.S. assistance. When, in 1990, President George W. Bush decided he could no longer make the certification, the U.S. suspended its aid program to Pakistan, including military assistance and training. Not only did the cut-off fail to have the desired effect—Pakistan conducted its first nuclear tests in 1998 in response to a round of testing by India—but because of the country’s suspension from the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program, the U.S. had little or no contact with an entire generation of rising Pakistani officers until after 9/11, when it was reinstated. This has only heightened concerns over the possible successors of President Pervez Musharraf and the retiring Western-influenced officers of his generation.
This same cost-benefit analysis needs to be applied when dealing with historical controversies like the Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution, which comes up for a vote this week and has more than 226 co-sponsors. It is difficult to argue with the general thrust of the latter legislation’s determination: The “Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the deportation of nearly 2,000,000 Armenians, of whom 1,500,000 men, women, and children were killed, 500,000 survivors were expelled from their homes, and which succeeded in the elimination of the over 2,500-year presence of Armenians in their historic homeland.” But does this gesture, meaningful as it may be to Armenian-Americans and Armenians worldwide, advance U.S. interests? And, if so, which ones and at what cost? (A bipartisan group of eight former Secretaries of State—Madeleine Albright, James Baker III, Warren Christopher, Laurence Eagleburger, Alexander Haig, Jr., Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, and George Schultz—sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warning that the resolution “could quickly extend beyond symbolic significance” and “endanger our national security interests in the region, including our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and damage efforts to promote reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey.”)
While the interests that might be pursued by a large, pluralistic country like the United States are infinite in number, the resources which it actually has at its disposal for their pursuit are always limited. Thus, as Hans Morgenthau repeatedly advocated, a rational hierarchy must be established among the elements which together constitute the national interest as well as the resources that condition the choice of means and ends. This is especially important in a democratic polity where the populist temptation is to present each of the various goals—defeating enemies, ensuring stability, opening markets, encouraging democracy, eliminating poverty and disease, promoting American culture, etc.—as equally essential, rather than in any way competitive among themselves. Morgenthau warned in The Purpose of American Politics that “the very survival of America calls for a new ordering of its relations with the outside world.” That, five decades later, Congress still indulges in symbolic gestures which, while not even serving core U.S. national interests, may nonetheless rattle the delicate balance of what our partners judge to be their most significant political or other interests, is a reminder of how much prudence is required to construct a rational, realistic, and, ultimately, sustainable foreign policy.
J. Peter Pham is director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University.
by J. Peter Pham
Amid the complex dynamics of the Horn of Africa, the most significant national interest at stake for the United States is preventing Al-Qaeda (or any other like-minded international terrorist network) from acquiring a new base and opening a new front in their war against America and its allies. In this respect, Ethiopia is one of America’s most reliable African counterterrorism partners.
But, last Tuesday, the United States House of Representatives passed by voice vote and sent to the Senate the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007. The bill, sponsored by Congressman Don Payne (D-NJ) and some 85 colleagues from both sides of the aisle, declares official U.S. policy to “support the advancement of human rights, democracy, independence of the judiciary, freedom of the press, peacekeeping capacity building, and economic development in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.” It also prohibits, unless the president makes specific certifications, security assistance to Ethiopia and entry into the U.S. for Ethiopian officials accused of involvement in human rights abuses.
In certain districts, large Ethiopian-American communities hostile to the current government in their native country obviously make the legislation good electoral politics, but the motivations of the bill’s sponsors are still largely well-intentioned—both Payne, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, and the ranking Republican member, Chris Smith of New Jersey, have long histories of advocacy for the continent. Mass arrests, lethal force used against civilians and the Ethiopian government’s counterinsurgency campaign this summer against ethnic Somali rebels all lead one to think censure may not be such a bad idea. The government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi enforced a trade blockade in the eastern region of his country, exacerbating the already precarious balance of life there; many of Addis Ababa’s actions have endangered fellow countrymen. Yet, these humanitarian considerations need to be weighed against other U.S. interests.
Ethiopia has participated in the State Department-funded capacity-building East Africa Counterterrorism Initiative (EACTI). The Terrorist Interdiction Program (TIP), which is designed to identify terrorists and hinder their movement across borders, is operative in Ethiopian airports and other international transit points. Last year, when no one else was willing to deal with the menace of a rising Islamist movement in Somalia— which included Al-Qaeda members specially designated by the U.S. government as well as by the United Nations Security Council—Ethiopian troops preemptively dispersed the militants. All this is more than can be said for any other country in the subregion.
Furthermore, Ethiopia has had a long history of cooperating with the U.S. Except during the Marxist dictatorship that lasted from 1974 to 1991, Ethiopia was a linchpin of America’s anti-Soviet containment regime along the southern tier of the Middle East. The Kagnew communications facility, for example, was highly valued by the U.S. military as part of its global radio system. An Ethiopian contingent fought alongside U.S. forces in the Korean War (the unit, dubbed the “Kagnew Battalion,” was attached to the 7th Infantry Division and fought in a number of engagements, including two famous battles at “Pork Chop Hill”). More recently, Ethiopia pledged 5,000 seasoned troops to the hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan’s Darfur region—the most substantial commitment to date to a mission that, notwithstanding its international cause célèbre status, has attracted few volunteers.
While obviously none of this qualifies anyone for an automatic free pass, it also should not be surprising that the Ethiopian government would react angrily to the bill’s passage. A statement by Samuel Assefa, Ethiopia’s Ambassador to the United States, labeled it “irresponsible legislation” which, if it becomes law, “would undermine regional stability in the Horn of Africa by jeopardizing vital security cooperation” between his country and America. The envoy took particular umbrage to what he perceived as a double standard given that there is no “Eritrea Democracy and Accountability Act” under consideration: “The fact is that the entire region faces a serious threat from Eritrea—a country that the U.S. Department of State is considering listing as a state sponsor of terrorism, and that has rejected the core institutions of legal opposition parties and a private press, officially banning both, and also outlawed worship by minority religious denominations.” Noting that a “recent United Nations report concluded that Eritrea has armed terrorists in Somalia with weapons including suicide belts and anti-aircraft missiles,” Ambassador Assefa lamented that “rather than move against the country that denies all rights and religious freedom to its citizens, and foments instability,” Congress decided instead to zero in on his country.
While promoting democracy in Ethiopia (and elsewhere) is and ought to be an objective of U.S. foreign policy—after all, although it is not without risks and needs to be pursued within the context of a broader strategy, democratization can counter terrorism in the long run by providing alternative venues for dissent in closed societies—it needs to be weighed against our other interests, both immediate and long-term. In 1985, pursuing the commendable goal of discouraging nuclear proliferation, Congress passed the Pressler Amendment, which required the president to certify that Pakistan did not possess a nuclear weapon as a pre-condition for further U.S. assistance. When, in 1990, President George W. Bush decided he could no longer make the certification, the U.S. suspended its aid program to Pakistan, including military assistance and training. Not only did the cut-off fail to have the desired effect—Pakistan conducted its first nuclear tests in 1998 in response to a round of testing by India—but because of the country’s suspension from the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program, the U.S. had little or no contact with an entire generation of rising Pakistani officers until after 9/11, when it was reinstated. This has only heightened concerns over the possible successors of President Pervez Musharraf and the retiring Western-influenced officers of his generation.
This same cost-benefit analysis needs to be applied when dealing with historical controversies like the Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution, which comes up for a vote this week and has more than 226 co-sponsors. It is difficult to argue with the general thrust of the latter legislation’s determination: The “Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the deportation of nearly 2,000,000 Armenians, of whom 1,500,000 men, women, and children were killed, 500,000 survivors were expelled from their homes, and which succeeded in the elimination of the over 2,500-year presence of Armenians in their historic homeland.” But does this gesture, meaningful as it may be to Armenian-Americans and Armenians worldwide, advance U.S. interests? And, if so, which ones and at what cost? (A bipartisan group of eight former Secretaries of State—Madeleine Albright, James Baker III, Warren Christopher, Laurence Eagleburger, Alexander Haig, Jr., Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, and George Schultz—sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warning that the resolution “could quickly extend beyond symbolic significance” and “endanger our national security interests in the region, including our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and damage efforts to promote reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey.”)
While the interests that might be pursued by a large, pluralistic country like the United States are infinite in number, the resources which it actually has at its disposal for their pursuit are always limited. Thus, as Hans Morgenthau repeatedly advocated, a rational hierarchy must be established among the elements which together constitute the national interest as well as the resources that condition the choice of means and ends. This is especially important in a democratic polity where the populist temptation is to present each of the various goals—defeating enemies, ensuring stability, opening markets, encouraging democracy, eliminating poverty and disease, promoting American culture, etc.—as equally essential, rather than in any way competitive among themselves. Morgenthau warned in The Purpose of American Politics that “the very survival of America calls for a new ordering of its relations with the outside world.” That, five decades later, Congress still indulges in symbolic gestures which, while not even serving core U.S. national interests, may nonetheless rattle the delicate balance of what our partners judge to be their most significant political or other interests, is a reminder of how much prudence is required to construct a rational, realistic, and, ultimately, sustainable foreign policy.
J. Peter Pham is director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
EU urges Ethiopia to allow aid to Ogaden region
Tue 9 Oct 2007,BRUSSELS - The European Union called on Ethiopia on Tuesday to ensure that civilians in its troubled Ogaden region are protected and receive humanitarian aid.
U.N. investigators touring the impoverished, predominantly ethnic Somali region -- where Ethiopian soldiers have been fighting separatist rebels for months -- urged Ethiopia last month to ensure food and aid agencies can get in the region.
Ethiopia had said it would take action on that.
"The EU commends the Ethiopian government for its reaction to the (U.N.) report and calls upon it to follow up all recommendations of the mission, including actions to protect civilians in conflict," the bloc's Portuguese presidency said in a statement.
"(The EU) welcomes its stated willingness to ensure that the humanitarian needs of the population in the Somali region of Ethiopia are properly addressed," the statement said.
The statement noted "with concern ... the (U.N.) report's conclusion that humanitarian conditions within the conflict areas have deteriorated substantially over the past several months".
Medecins Sans Frontiers and the International Committee of the Red Cross have accused the Ethiopian authorities in Addis Ababa of denying aid groups access to the region.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels accuse Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's administration of blockading the region -- the poorest part of Ethiopia -- risking a "man-made" famine, along with burning down homes and summary executions.
Meles' government denies all the accusations, and calls the ONLF terrorists funded by arch-foe and neighbour Eritrea.(Reuters)
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Berhane Adere comes out of nowhere, zips past oblivious leader
Talk about coming out of nowhere.
Ethiopian Berhane Adere was a half-minute behind Romanian newcomer Adriana Pirtea with less than a mile to go Sunday at the hot, humid LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. Pirtea had run a well-paced race and had started waving to the crowd, smiling and certain victory was hers.
And then it happened.(Catch it here: http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=36199@wbbm.dayport.com)
Unknown to Pirtea, Adere, the defending Chicago champion, had started a furious kick with about 600 meters left and came blazing around the final turn from Roosevelt to Columbus at full throttle. Looking like a sprinter fresh out of the blocks, the crafty veteran Adere stayed to the far right and closed down the gap in a hurry while Pirtea ran comfortably down the left side, having no idea her world was about to be turned upside down.
With 50 meters to go, Adere unbelievably surged into the lead, and Pirtea, finally seeing what was happening, tried to change gears but couldn't rekindle her mojo. Adere was sprinting so far to the right, she missed the ceremonial finish tape but crossed the front of the electronic timing mat, the only thing that counts. With her torrid finish, she won the slow, tactical race in 2 hours, 33 minutes, 49 seconds. A stunned Pirtea finished in 2:33:52, having learned a valuable lesson. It was the most unusual Chicago Marathon finish anyone could remember.
Bizarre and astonishing were two words that came to mind.
''With two kilometers to go, [I decided to] sprint,'' Adere said, admitting she had suffered a ''bad patch'' around the 22-mile mark, allowing Pirtea to make a solid break after the two had run together since breaking Russian Alevtina Ivanova just past 16 miles.
The very soft-spoken Adere said she could see that Pirtea was slowing down in the final stages and knew she still had a chance. She made the most of it.
Pirtea, who ran track at Texas-El Paso, has one image of Adere she wished she didn't have. ''I saw her flying [by her],'' Pirtea said. ''I wanted to push the pace, but it was too late. I didn't know what to feel. When I realized what actually happened, I had tears in my eyes.''
''I thought that someone in the crowd would say 'go' or 'someone's coming,' but nobody said anything,'' she said of the loud cheering on the final straightaway. ''I never looked back. That was my mistake.''
Kate O'Neill of Milton, Mass., was the second surprise in the women's race, moving from back in the field early to third place and a spot on the podium in her debut 26.2-miler. A former track All-American at Yale, O'Neill threw out any notion of running a fast time and focused on getting third place after going through the half-marathon in 1:15:40. One-by-one, she picked off fading runners, including Liz Yelling of Great Britain, Benita Johnson of Australia, Nuta Olaru of Romania, Teyba Erkesso of Ethiopia and Ivanova.
''I felt really good for the first half,'' O'Neill said. ''I didn't feel so good for the second half and knew I had to be careful with each mile. This is a surprise to come in third. I'm real excited.''
The women's race had another surprise when Paige Huggins of Littleton, Colo., also worked her way through the carnage of heat-depleted elites for eighth place. Her time was 2:40:14.
Yelling ended up fourth in 2:37:14, Johnson fifth in 2:38:30 and Olaru sixth in 2:39:04. Ivanova was handed a hat and given water by a coach during the race, and her status as the 11th-place finisher was under review by officials of USA Track and Field.
Adere earned $125,000, Pirtea $65,000, O'Neill $43,500, including $4,500 as bonus for first American, Yelling $25,000 and Johnson $15,000.
Former University of Wisconsin All-American Kathy Butler, a Canadian native who runs for Great Britain, led the women's field through the early miles but was caught by the lead pack before six miles and gradually faded from contention.(Chicago SunTimes)
Ethiopian Berhane Adere was a half-minute behind Romanian newcomer Adriana Pirtea with less than a mile to go Sunday at the hot, humid LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. Pirtea had run a well-paced race and had started waving to the crowd, smiling and certain victory was hers.
And then it happened.(Catch it here: http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=36199@wbbm.dayport.com)
Unknown to Pirtea, Adere, the defending Chicago champion, had started a furious kick with about 600 meters left and came blazing around the final turn from Roosevelt to Columbus at full throttle. Looking like a sprinter fresh out of the blocks, the crafty veteran Adere stayed to the far right and closed down the gap in a hurry while Pirtea ran comfortably down the left side, having no idea her world was about to be turned upside down.
With 50 meters to go, Adere unbelievably surged into the lead, and Pirtea, finally seeing what was happening, tried to change gears but couldn't rekindle her mojo. Adere was sprinting so far to the right, she missed the ceremonial finish tape but crossed the front of the electronic timing mat, the only thing that counts. With her torrid finish, she won the slow, tactical race in 2 hours, 33 minutes, 49 seconds. A stunned Pirtea finished in 2:33:52, having learned a valuable lesson. It was the most unusual Chicago Marathon finish anyone could remember.
Bizarre and astonishing were two words that came to mind.
''With two kilometers to go, [I decided to] sprint,'' Adere said, admitting she had suffered a ''bad patch'' around the 22-mile mark, allowing Pirtea to make a solid break after the two had run together since breaking Russian Alevtina Ivanova just past 16 miles.
The very soft-spoken Adere said she could see that Pirtea was slowing down in the final stages and knew she still had a chance. She made the most of it.
Pirtea, who ran track at Texas-El Paso, has one image of Adere she wished she didn't have. ''I saw her flying [by her],'' Pirtea said. ''I wanted to push the pace, but it was too late. I didn't know what to feel. When I realized what actually happened, I had tears in my eyes.''
''I thought that someone in the crowd would say 'go' or 'someone's coming,' but nobody said anything,'' she said of the loud cheering on the final straightaway. ''I never looked back. That was my mistake.''
Kate O'Neill of Milton, Mass., was the second surprise in the women's race, moving from back in the field early to third place and a spot on the podium in her debut 26.2-miler. A former track All-American at Yale, O'Neill threw out any notion of running a fast time and focused on getting third place after going through the half-marathon in 1:15:40. One-by-one, she picked off fading runners, including Liz Yelling of Great Britain, Benita Johnson of Australia, Nuta Olaru of Romania, Teyba Erkesso of Ethiopia and Ivanova.
''I felt really good for the first half,'' O'Neill said. ''I didn't feel so good for the second half and knew I had to be careful with each mile. This is a surprise to come in third. I'm real excited.''
The women's race had another surprise when Paige Huggins of Littleton, Colo., also worked her way through the carnage of heat-depleted elites for eighth place. Her time was 2:40:14.
Yelling ended up fourth in 2:37:14, Johnson fifth in 2:38:30 and Olaru sixth in 2:39:04. Ivanova was handed a hat and given water by a coach during the race, and her status as the 11th-place finisher was under review by officials of USA Track and Field.
Adere earned $125,000, Pirtea $65,000, O'Neill $43,500, including $4,500 as bonus for first American, Yelling $25,000 and Johnson $15,000.
Former University of Wisconsin All-American Kathy Butler, a Canadian native who runs for Great Britain, led the women's field through the early miles but was caught by the lead pack before six miles and gradually faded from contention.(Chicago SunTimes)
Study Finds HIV Infection Rate in Ethiopia Rose By 26 Percent
7 October 2007: The rate of the number of people tested for HIV/Aids in Ethiopia since February-August 2007 and found to be positive showed 26 % increase; compared to similar test conducted from November, 2006 -January 2007, a report compiled in September, 2007 disclosed.
The report entitled Millennium Aids Campaign Ethiopia (MAC-E) prepared FHAPCO (M&E Department) states the plans and actual performances carried out on HIV council ling and testing, ART treatments and the momentum for the continuation of the campaign to the third phase where the first two are already completed.
According to the report, in the first phase of the campaign that lasted from Nov 2006-Jan2007, 705,619 people were tested for HIV/AIDS and 37,943(5.4%) were found to be positive.
In the second phase, out of the 982,452 people tested, 70,470 were found to be positive (7.3%), according to the report, which showed a 26% increase by the end of August 2007.
The two major objectives of the campaign in the first phase were testing 320,000 people and enrolling 22,000 new patients to ART service; and more than double were tested. The ART plan for new patients fell short of the set target 11,582 but nevertheless a substantial increase from the previous trend, the report states.
In phase II of the campaign, though it was planned to test and council 1.8 million individuals over the seven months period, 982,452 were actually tested (53%) and 31,359 new individuals started ART (77%) from the 40, 710 planned to initiate.
In a round table discussion prepared yesterday at Internews meeting room, Dr. Yibeltal Assefa, health program officer at HAPCO discussed about the plan for the third phase of the program and the comprehensive Universal Access Program (UAP) set for 2010.
He said, "three million test kits are prepared for the new year which will render by far better testing and counseling services than the past years." Sensitization, social mobilization and community conversation are also the major areas of emphasis given in the third phase, according to the officer.
In the (UAP), it is planned to achieve to have one health center one test post in each woreda o f the country, Dr. Yibeltal indicated. (Daily Monitor)
The report entitled Millennium Aids Campaign Ethiopia (MAC-E) prepared FHAPCO (M&E Department) states the plans and actual performances carried out on HIV council ling and testing, ART treatments and the momentum for the continuation of the campaign to the third phase where the first two are already completed.
According to the report, in the first phase of the campaign that lasted from Nov 2006-Jan2007, 705,619 people were tested for HIV/AIDS and 37,943(5.4%) were found to be positive.
In the second phase, out of the 982,452 people tested, 70,470 were found to be positive (7.3%), according to the report, which showed a 26% increase by the end of August 2007.
The two major objectives of the campaign in the first phase were testing 320,000 people and enrolling 22,000 new patients to ART service; and more than double were tested. The ART plan for new patients fell short of the set target 11,582 but nevertheless a substantial increase from the previous trend, the report states.
In phase II of the campaign, though it was planned to test and council 1.8 million individuals over the seven months period, 982,452 were actually tested (53%) and 31,359 new individuals started ART (77%) from the 40, 710 planned to initiate.
In a round table discussion prepared yesterday at Internews meeting room, Dr. Yibeltal Assefa, health program officer at HAPCO discussed about the plan for the third phase of the program and the comprehensive Universal Access Program (UAP) set for 2010.
He said, "three million test kits are prepared for the new year which will render by far better testing and counseling services than the past years." Sensitization, social mobilization and community conversation are also the major areas of emphasis given in the third phase, according to the officer.
In the (UAP), it is planned to achieve to have one health center one test post in each woreda o f the country, Dr. Yibeltal indicated. (Daily Monitor)
Activists now detained for over two years
9 October 2007 – Anti-poverty activists Daniel Bekele(on your left) and Netsanet Demissie (on your right)today heard that they must wait in prison for at least another six weeks, as judges in Ethiopia's Federal High Court again delayed the verdict until 22 November 2007, bringing their total detention to over two years. Both activists are recognised by Amnesty International as prisoners of conscience.
“The courts must stop delaying. It is unacceptable to force these courageous civil society leaders to spend any longer in prison. Justice delayed is justice denied,” said Kumi Naidoo, CIVICUS Secretary General and co-chair of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP).
Daniel and Netsanet were due to hear their verdict this morning, 9am local time in Addis Ababa, on charges of conspiracy to overthrow the government, specifically, “outrage against the constitution and constitutional order.” Both coordinators of GCAP, they are the last two accused in the high profile Ethiopian treason trial that originally charged 131 politicians, journalists, organisations and civil society leaders.
“Both are dedicated GCAP campaigners. They spoke out against injustice in their country, so it's a double tragedy they won't be able to take part in GCAP’s global Stand Up and Speak Out day of action on 17 October. When we stand up next week, we will be speaking out in solidarity with them too,” said Naidoo.
In delaying the verdict, the judges explained that the Prosecution, and subsequently the Defence, had submitted their final comments to the court later than expected, not allowing the judges adequate time to make a decision.
Aside from their work with GCAP, Daniel is also head of the policy department at ActionAid International Ethiopia. Netsanet is also the founder of local human rights group Organisation for Social Justice in Ethiopia. Both Daniel and Netsanet assisted in monitoring the May 2005 election, peaceful and legitimate civil society work for which they now stand trial.
At the start of the trial in May 2006, 131 opposition politicians, journalists and civil society leaders stood accused of a range of charges from genocide to treason. They were among thousands who were detained following protests accusing the government of rigging the 15 May 2005 presidential elections. Many of the accused were acquitted during the course of the trial. Others were convicted but pardoned in July and August 2007 – all of whom had allegedly signed a confession, admitting use of "unconstitutional means to change the constitutionally established government functions” following the 2005 elections.
Although they were asked to sign a similar statement, Daniel and Netsanet declined. They argued that their activities in 2005 were entirely legal and did not serve to undermine, but rather to protect and promote Ethiopia’s constitutional order. (GCAP)
“The courts must stop delaying. It is unacceptable to force these courageous civil society leaders to spend any longer in prison. Justice delayed is justice denied,” said Kumi Naidoo, CIVICUS Secretary General and co-chair of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP).
Daniel and Netsanet were due to hear their verdict this morning, 9am local time in Addis Ababa, on charges of conspiracy to overthrow the government, specifically, “outrage against the constitution and constitutional order.” Both coordinators of GCAP, they are the last two accused in the high profile Ethiopian treason trial that originally charged 131 politicians, journalists, organisations and civil society leaders.
“Both are dedicated GCAP campaigners. They spoke out against injustice in their country, so it's a double tragedy they won't be able to take part in GCAP’s global Stand Up and Speak Out day of action on 17 October. When we stand up next week, we will be speaking out in solidarity with them too,” said Naidoo.
In delaying the verdict, the judges explained that the Prosecution, and subsequently the Defence, had submitted their final comments to the court later than expected, not allowing the judges adequate time to make a decision.
Aside from their work with GCAP, Daniel is also head of the policy department at ActionAid International Ethiopia. Netsanet is also the founder of local human rights group Organisation for Social Justice in Ethiopia. Both Daniel and Netsanet assisted in monitoring the May 2005 election, peaceful and legitimate civil society work for which they now stand trial.
At the start of the trial in May 2006, 131 opposition politicians, journalists and civil society leaders stood accused of a range of charges from genocide to treason. They were among thousands who were detained following protests accusing the government of rigging the 15 May 2005 presidential elections. Many of the accused were acquitted during the course of the trial. Others were convicted but pardoned in July and August 2007 – all of whom had allegedly signed a confession, admitting use of "unconstitutional means to change the constitutionally established government functions” following the 2005 elections.
Although they were asked to sign a similar statement, Daniel and Netsanet declined. They argued that their activities in 2005 were entirely legal and did not serve to undermine, but rather to protect and promote Ethiopia’s constitutional order. (GCAP)
Ethiopia re-elects president for another six years
October 9, 2007 : Legislators in Ethiopia voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to re-elect the country's president to the largely ceremonial post for another six years, state media reported.
Girma Woldegiorgis, an 82-year-old former parliamentarian and member of the leading Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front party, faced one opponent, opposition candidate Beyene Petros.
On Monday, Girma used his last official speech before seeking re-election to urge his east African nation to build up its military in the face of what he called aggression by its tiny neighbor Eritrea.
The two countries have repeatedly swapped accusations and insults following two bloody wars, the last one ending in 2000. An unresolved border dispute continues to divide them.(AP)
Girma Woldegiorgis, an 82-year-old former parliamentarian and member of the leading Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front party, faced one opponent, opposition candidate Beyene Petros.
On Monday, Girma used his last official speech before seeking re-election to urge his east African nation to build up its military in the face of what he called aggression by its tiny neighbor Eritrea.
The two countries have repeatedly swapped accusations and insults following two bloody wars, the last one ending in 2000. An unresolved border dispute continues to divide them.(AP)
Famine Survivor Laments Decay at Once Thriving Resettlement Community
Abebe Ayenew, 61, was born and raised in Mota, a town in Gojjam (of the Amhara Regional State). However, due to the catastrophic drought that hit the nation in 1984/85, he could not sustain his life at his birthplace. He reminisces about what he went through during those harsh days.
"I lost my relatives, my cattle, and had to migrate to a place I do not know," he told Fortune soberly.
Abandoning his three hectares of land, Abebe fled his native land with his wife and seven children to join a huge resettlement project, Tana-Beles, in the Pawe Zone of the Beni-Shangul Regional State.
Funded by the Italian government, the resettlement and rehabilitation project lodged hundreds of thousands of famine victims in 1984/85, which is recorded as the worst famine in Ethiopian history, claiming the lives over one million people.
Following this famine, the then government wanted to resettle over 200,000 farmers from drought prone areas in the Amhara Region to Pawe, an area now in Beni-Shangul Gumuz. The original idea was to double Ethiopia's electric power and to provide irrigation for a settlement scheme that would take water from Lake Tana to the Beles River, across which five dams were to be built.
Egypt blocked a loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) because Cairo feared that the Tana-Beles project would consume too much Blue Nile water, according to an article in the New York Times published on February 7, 1990.
Italy came to the rescue with 400 million Br of financial support; and thus the project was launched in 1998 on 413,000hct of land.
An Italian construction firm still active in Ethiopia building hydroelectric dams, Salini Construction, was awarded the construction of the dams and the resettlement community, while the consultancy business went to the Italian firm Petrodini.
Abebe said that through the project, 46 villages and the localities were connected to other regions with gravel roads. Moreover, buildings, meeting halls, huge warehouses, bridges, tractors and agricultural machineries were acquired and built.
"By the time the government brought us to this place, we were fearful of evacuating our hometown," he recalled. "However, we were impressed by the construction activities that were being undertaken there. We were also told that we would become beneficiaries of electricity, education and health facilities as well as make a good living through irrigation farming."
Settling on five hectares of land in 'Village 24,' the output he reaped from the farm made Abebe gradually forget the scars left in his mind. However, everything turned upside-down when the Derg regime was ousted from power, he said.
The change of government in 1991 brought the project to a sudden halt.
"The Italians came here, and they helped to develop the project. I think it is a very sad situation," said an expert close to the project. "It was a very good beginning, and then that story came - instability and the change of government - which completely disrupted the project."
The project remained in the hands of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) for the following year before it was given to the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). A taskforce of 40 experts from the various government agencies was established to study the possibility of rehabilitation and to propose a budget. Over 200 million Br, a substantial amount of it in foreign currency, was required, according to the study.
A decision by the Council of Ministers, which felt that the budget requested was too expensive at a time of a limping economic recovery, decided in March 1995 to liquidate the project, distributing the properties to at least 24 state-owned enterprises. It had also decided to establish in August 1995 an 11-member Board of Trustees with the responsibility to follow the implementation of its decision.
Over the years, the Board has handed over several properties once owned by the project: an airstrip to the Ethiopian Civil Aviation; agricultural machinery to four regional states; and hospitals, schools and kindergartens to the Beni-Shangul Regional State. Now, close to 75,000 settlers live in 47 villages, according to information from the Pawe Woreda Administration.
This reporter was at the Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State last week and noted that none of the agricultural machineries the region secured from the deserted project is in use. Structures that were built are also deteriorating due to lack of renovation.
The State has made the former camp for the project's workers a boarding school that is currently providing education to 100 students. Though this school also received agricultural machinery, the equipment is sitting idle to rust; the edifices are also in disrepair.
"We were told that everything here would be ours," Abebe stated in despair. "However, the only things we are left with now are small pieces of steel and a warehouse filled with garbage."
Indeed, as Abebe says, little pieces of steel litter the ground at Tana-Beles, and one large warehouse is filled with expired fertilizer.
Taye Habte, vice administrator of Metekel Zone, argues and that the machines the project gave them were completely obsolete and not a single one ever functioned. According to Taye, Zone officials offered the machines for the boarding school to repair and use, but repairs were never forthcoming. They were able, however, to make use of the hen houses, fruit orchards and vegetable gardens, though budget constraints have also left these assets in poor condition.
The region has a 288 million Br budget for the 2007/08 fiscal year; 36 million Br of this amount was obtained from the Regional State while the balance is a subsidy allocated by the federal government.
The House of Federation has recently decided to employ a different formula in determining budget subsidies from the federal government to regional states. The House decided to use regions' need for expenditure and their capacity to mobilise tax as key determinants, helping those with big shortfalls while rewarding regions that raise their own resources.
A lot is at stake for the regional states; a total of 14.2 billion Br in federal subsidies was allocated for the 2007/08 budget year. The Benishangul Gumuz Regional State, like other small regions, claims to have lost six million Birr in revenue from the latest subsidy formula.
Meanwhile, the project's enduring infrastructures such as water pipes, roads and flour mills continue to be used in spite of their decaying state, while the banana and rice processing machines still lay idle.
"These machines are becoming useless," Abebe said.( Wudineh Zenebe, AddisFortune)
"I lost my relatives, my cattle, and had to migrate to a place I do not know," he told Fortune soberly.
Abandoning his three hectares of land, Abebe fled his native land with his wife and seven children to join a huge resettlement project, Tana-Beles, in the Pawe Zone of the Beni-Shangul Regional State.
Funded by the Italian government, the resettlement and rehabilitation project lodged hundreds of thousands of famine victims in 1984/85, which is recorded as the worst famine in Ethiopian history, claiming the lives over one million people.
Following this famine, the then government wanted to resettle over 200,000 farmers from drought prone areas in the Amhara Region to Pawe, an area now in Beni-Shangul Gumuz. The original idea was to double Ethiopia's electric power and to provide irrigation for a settlement scheme that would take water from Lake Tana to the Beles River, across which five dams were to be built.
Egypt blocked a loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) because Cairo feared that the Tana-Beles project would consume too much Blue Nile water, according to an article in the New York Times published on February 7, 1990.
Italy came to the rescue with 400 million Br of financial support; and thus the project was launched in 1998 on 413,000hct of land.
An Italian construction firm still active in Ethiopia building hydroelectric dams, Salini Construction, was awarded the construction of the dams and the resettlement community, while the consultancy business went to the Italian firm Petrodini.
Abebe said that through the project, 46 villages and the localities were connected to other regions with gravel roads. Moreover, buildings, meeting halls, huge warehouses, bridges, tractors and agricultural machineries were acquired and built.
"By the time the government brought us to this place, we were fearful of evacuating our hometown," he recalled. "However, we were impressed by the construction activities that were being undertaken there. We were also told that we would become beneficiaries of electricity, education and health facilities as well as make a good living through irrigation farming."
Settling on five hectares of land in 'Village 24,' the output he reaped from the farm made Abebe gradually forget the scars left in his mind. However, everything turned upside-down when the Derg regime was ousted from power, he said.
The change of government in 1991 brought the project to a sudden halt.
"The Italians came here, and they helped to develop the project. I think it is a very sad situation," said an expert close to the project. "It was a very good beginning, and then that story came - instability and the change of government - which completely disrupted the project."
The project remained in the hands of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) for the following year before it was given to the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). A taskforce of 40 experts from the various government agencies was established to study the possibility of rehabilitation and to propose a budget. Over 200 million Br, a substantial amount of it in foreign currency, was required, according to the study.
A decision by the Council of Ministers, which felt that the budget requested was too expensive at a time of a limping economic recovery, decided in March 1995 to liquidate the project, distributing the properties to at least 24 state-owned enterprises. It had also decided to establish in August 1995 an 11-member Board of Trustees with the responsibility to follow the implementation of its decision.
Over the years, the Board has handed over several properties once owned by the project: an airstrip to the Ethiopian Civil Aviation; agricultural machinery to four regional states; and hospitals, schools and kindergartens to the Beni-Shangul Regional State. Now, close to 75,000 settlers live in 47 villages, according to information from the Pawe Woreda Administration.
This reporter was at the Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State last week and noted that none of the agricultural machineries the region secured from the deserted project is in use. Structures that were built are also deteriorating due to lack of renovation.
The State has made the former camp for the project's workers a boarding school that is currently providing education to 100 students. Though this school also received agricultural machinery, the equipment is sitting idle to rust; the edifices are also in disrepair.
"We were told that everything here would be ours," Abebe stated in despair. "However, the only things we are left with now are small pieces of steel and a warehouse filled with garbage."
Indeed, as Abebe says, little pieces of steel litter the ground at Tana-Beles, and one large warehouse is filled with expired fertilizer.
Taye Habte, vice administrator of Metekel Zone, argues and that the machines the project gave them were completely obsolete and not a single one ever functioned. According to Taye, Zone officials offered the machines for the boarding school to repair and use, but repairs were never forthcoming. They were able, however, to make use of the hen houses, fruit orchards and vegetable gardens, though budget constraints have also left these assets in poor condition.
The region has a 288 million Br budget for the 2007/08 fiscal year; 36 million Br of this amount was obtained from the Regional State while the balance is a subsidy allocated by the federal government.
The House of Federation has recently decided to employ a different formula in determining budget subsidies from the federal government to regional states. The House decided to use regions' need for expenditure and their capacity to mobilise tax as key determinants, helping those with big shortfalls while rewarding regions that raise their own resources.
A lot is at stake for the regional states; a total of 14.2 billion Br in federal subsidies was allocated for the 2007/08 budget year. The Benishangul Gumuz Regional State, like other small regions, claims to have lost six million Birr in revenue from the latest subsidy formula.
Meanwhile, the project's enduring infrastructures such as water pipes, roads and flour mills continue to be used in spite of their decaying state, while the banana and rice processing machines still lay idle.
"These machines are becoming useless," Abebe said.( Wudineh Zenebe, AddisFortune)
Ethiopia’s First Private Radio Station Goes on Air With Tilahun’s Voice
Sheger 102.1 begins broadcast, while Zami 90.7 plans Saturday debut
The first ever privately-owned commercial radio in Ethiopia is on air. Sheger Radio started its historical transmission on the morning of October 4, 2007, with music legend Tilahun Gessesse. The test transmission, which will continue for a month, played for two hours on Thursday and ran again beginning at noon on Saturday.
Sheger Radio, available on FM 102.1, will continue playing music for the coming 30 days - for two hours each day - from its temporary studio located inside Tadesse Lemu Building, Belay Zeleke Road. During this period, station managers will assess the transmission's range and troubleshoot the equipment.
Once the testing is concluded, the station will transmit for 18 hours a day, beginning 6:00 AM, according to Meaza Birru, a prominent radio personality and general manager of Adey-Tensayie Plc, Sheger Radio's parent company.
Adey-Tensayie is one of the two companies granted FM commercial licenses almost a year ago by the Federal Broadcasting Agency. Owned by Meaza Birru and Teferi Alemu, the company was established with a capital of 2.5 million Br. Both companies granted commercial licenses were bound by a deadline for initiating operations that will come to an end this month.
"How to come up with truly suitable program to attract audiences continued to boggle me and my colleagues until everything was finally made possible to kick start our program just a day before the deadline," Meaza said. Sheger 102.1, with a motto "It's About You!", will feature entertainment, news and talk-shows on social issues, according to Meaza, who also runs a weekly eight-hour entertainment show on the FM 97.1 every Saturday. Yesterday's transmission will be the last of the popular "Chewata" program to be heard over the state-owned radio station, she disclosed.
"I am the happiest person to run a radio station of my own, for it is my lifetime dream that has come true," said Meaza.
Her excitement will soon be shared by another outstanding radio personality, Mimi Sebhatu, who will be running ZAMI FM 90.7 radio station.
ZAMI will launch its test transmission on October 12, 2007, for eight hours a day, beginning 6:00a.m., Zerihun Teshome, CEO of ZAMI Public Connections Plc, told Fortune. Owned by Zerihun and Endalkachew Sibehatu, ZAMI was established in June 2000 with a capital of 1.5 million Br.
Zerihun disclosed that broadcast testing will begin from its temporary studio located inside the building where the Ambassador Theater is found on Taitu Street.
"It's been long and arduous road to here," Mimi, who will be running the station, said. "We're well prepared to meet the challenges of running the first ever 24-hour radio transmission."
Having a motto "The Voice. The Difference," ZAMI FM 90.7 will be a news-based radio station, also incorporating talk shows and radio magazine formats, Mimi said. She too will drop most of her programmes now airing on the state-owned FM station, although she said she is determined to keep her broadcast on the national radio, transmitted daily except Saturdays. (AddisFortune)
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