African leaders convened this week in the Ethiopian city of Bahar Dar to discuss illicit financial flows and what can be done to staunch them. A study commissioned by the Tana High Level Forum on African Security, which organised the conference, found that illicit flows from Africa grew at an average rate of 12.1 percent per year since 1970, and that capital flight from West and Central African countries accounted for most of the illicit flows from sub-Saharan Africa.

Out of Africa: The great money migration

Almost $2 trillion has left Africa illicitly since 1970, thwarting poverty reduction and economic growth. Mohammed Adow Last updated: 30 Apr 2014 13:13

Bahar Dar, Ethiopia - The figures are staggering: At least $1.8 trillion illicitly flowed out of Africa between 1970 and 2009. This is far more than the external aid the continent received over the same period, and almost five times its current external debt. According to researchers, the continent also loses at least $100bn a year in this financial haemorrhage. African leaders convened this week in the Ethiopian city of Bahar Dar to discuss illicit financial flows and what can be done to staunch them. A study commissioned by the Tana High Level Forum on African Security, which organised the conference, found that illicit flows from Africa grew at an average rate of 12.1 percent per year since 1970, and that capital flight from West and Central African countries accounted for most of the illicit flows from sub-Saharan Africa. Illicit financial flows consist of money earned illegally and then transferred for use elsewhere. The money is usually generated from criminal activities, corruption, tax evasion, bribes and smuggling. Yet the numbers tell only part of the story - a story that exposes how these highly complex and deeply entrenched practises have flourished, with a devastating impact on Africans' efforts to extricate themselves from grinding poverty. This scourge eats into the gross domestic products of African countries, draining foreign exchange reserves, reducing tax collection and investment inflows and worsening poverty. "The costs of this financial haemorrhage have been significant for African countries. It has heightened income inequality and jeopardised employment prospects. In the majority of countries in the continent, unemployment rates have remained exceedingly high in the absence of investment and industrial expansion," said Kenya's Central Bank Governor Dr Njuguna Ndungu. Worse than expected And some believe that the estimates of illicit financial flows underestimate the problem. "These figures do not capture money lost through drug trafficking and the loss of Africa's marine resources through illegal fishing," said Abdiweli Mohammed Ali, the new president of Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region. "Somalia loses between $800m and $1bn through illegal fishing every year. This is money we cannot afford to lose. Something must be done about the illegal international fishing cartels looting our marine resources," said Abdiweli, who is also a former prime minister of Somalia. It's shameful that Nigeria leads in such an unsavoury trend. But it must be pointed out that we are also leaders in trying to repatriate some of the stolen funds. - Nuhu Ribadu, former chairman of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission The study also found a significant link between increases in the price of oil and capital flight from Nigeria - Africa's largest oil producer, which also accounted for the highest amount of illicit outflows. "Some of the acceleration in illicit outflows was undoubtedly driven by oil price increases and increased opportunities to misprice trade that typically accompany increasing trading volumes due to globalisation," the report noted. For instance, Nigeria lost at least $250bn between 2000 and 2009. South Africa, which was the continent's biggest economy until it was recently overtaken by Nigeria, came second with a loss of at least $170bn over the same period. Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Angola, Sudan and Cameroon are also high on the list. Nuhu Ribadu, a former chairman of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said: "It's shameful that Nigeria leads in such an unsavoury trend. But it must be pointed out that we are also leaders in trying to repatriate some of the stolen funds. We managed to recover billions that former military dictator Sani Abacha stashed in banks abroad." Ribadu said Africa needs honest and committed leaders who will set examples by eschewing corruption and closing avenues of illicit financial flow. "It is the seriousness and commitment showed by African leaders that would convince foreign countries to work with them towards recovering looted monies stashed abroad." Skewing income distribution Experts say the enormity of the outflow explains why donor-driven efforts to spur economic development and reduce poverty have not achieved their full potential in Africa. Sustained illicit outflows have also turned the continent into a net creditor to the rest of the world. "Policy measures must be taken to address the causes of illicit outflows and also to impress upon the international community the need for better transparency and tighter oversight of banks and offshore financial centres that absorb these flows," said former South African President Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki is also the chair of the Commission on Illicit Finances established by the UN Economic Commission on Africa. As long as illicit capital continues to pour out of impoverished African countries at this pace, efforts to reduce poverty and boost economic growth will be thwarted, and income distribution will become more skewed, leading to economic and political instability. Yet there is a glimmer of hope, now that African leaders and governments are increasingly understanding - and coming to terms with - the dangers posed by illicit financial flows.

The bloggers’ Zone 9 website, reportedly named after the prison where political detainees are held, listed the names of nine people arrested, saying they were charged with having worked with foreign human rights activists to foment violence or instability.

#BBCtrending: Jailed bloggers spark Ethiopia trend

By BBC Trending

Just when US Secretary of State John Kerry visits Ethiopia, six of the nation’s leading bloggers have been arrested.

April 30, 2014 (BBC Trending) — On Friday afternoon at 5pm Addis Ababa time, the mobile phones and inboxes of nine Ethiopian bloggers began to beep and vibrate with frantic messages. One of the members of social media activist group Zone 9 had been arrested – and others were being warned. But the alerts came too late and by the next day, five more bloggers and three journalists had been arrested All nine are in custody whilst police investigate allegations that the individuals have been working with foreign organizations, rights activists, and “using social media to destabilise the country”.

The arrests highlight the highly political role social media now plays in Ethiopia. Officially a democracy, human rights groups have repeatedly complained about the lack of press freedom there. Most of the TV and radio stations are state run. Because of this, the opposition and activists, including those based abroad, have come to dominate social media conversation in the country.

As you’d expect, then, since the arrests a protest hashtag, #Freezone9bloggers, has been tweeted over eight thousand times. Respectable by international standards, but a top trend in a country where the internet is estimated to reach just over 1% of the population. The Zone 9 bloggers began writing together two years ago and they use the platform to criticize the government, accusing it of human rights abuses and building poor infrastructure for example.

Paul Brown from BBC Monitoring says that the crackdown seems to be a response to a statement from the group posted on 23 April on Facebook. Zone 9 wrote that they would resume their blogging after several months of inactivity. He says that the arrests “suggest that the government is taking online activism seriously – probably because elections are due next year.” The Ethiopian government has not responded to BBC Trending’s invitations to comment but Getachew Reda, an advisor to Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, told Reuters that these arrests “have nothing to do with journalism but serious criminal activities”. The arrests come just days before the scheduled visit of US Secretary of State John Kerry, which is now set to take place today.

Source: BBC Trending

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Ethiopia says journalists arrested in ‘criminal’ crackdown

Ethiopia arrested several people identified by rights groups as journalists and bloggers in a crackdown against free speech. (File photo: Reuters)

April 30, 2014 (AFP) — Ethiopia said Tuesday they had arrested several people accused of “serious criminal activities,” but who rights groups said were journalists and bloggers detained in a sweeping crackdown against free speech.

“They are suspected of some serious crimes, and the police are investigating the case,” government spokesman Getachew Reda told AFP, without providing details of their alleged crimes.

The journalists and a group of bloggers known as “Zone 9” were arrested last week, prompting an outcry from rights groups.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called the arrests “one of the worst crackdowns against free expression” in the country, while Amnesty International said it was part of a “long trend of arrests and harassment of human rights defenders, activists, journalists and political opponents.”

Leslie Lefkow of Human Rights Watch said the “arrests signal, once again, that anyone who criticizes the Ethiopian government will be silenced,” and called for their immediate release.

The bloggers’ Zone 9 website, reportedly named after the prison where political detainees are held, listed the names of nine people arrested, saying they were charged with having worked with foreign human rights activists to foment violence or instability.

But the government dismissed the rights groups, and said those arrested were not detained for their work as journalists.

“We don’t take orders from Human Rights Watch,” Getachew said.

An opposition group staged a protest on Sunday following the arrests, calling for “greater liberties and a true democracy” in Ethiopia, but police shut the 200-person demonstration down soon after it started.

HRW said 20 members of the political opposition Semayawi or “Blue” party have also been arrested since Friday, although there has been no official confirmation of exact numbers.

Source: AFP

Breaking News: Live Bullet Against Oromo Students

Umni Waraan wayyaanee Agazi berged jedhamuu fi Federal polis jedhamu Bartootta Oromoo fi Uummata nagaa seeraan ala miidhuu dhiisee gara Mootummaa seeraan ala Uummata miidhaa jiru tti afaan Qawwee garagalfachuuf sochii eegalan!

Uummanni Amboo Waraanni Wayyaanee Dhiha Oromiyaa Wallaggatti Akka Hin Dabarreef Bakkoota 16 ol ta’anitti mukkeen guruguddaa jigsuun gootummaan diina dura dhaabbatan

Ebla 30/2014 uuummaanni Oromoo fi Dargaggeessii Oromoo Baraattootni Oromoo fi Barattootni Oromoo sadarkaa 1ffaa, 2ffaa, Qopha’inaa fi University Amboo yeroo amma kanatti hiriiraa guddaa guyyaa shaniif itti fufiinsaan gaggeessa jiru. Kessaattuu isa guyyaa har’aa wanti adda isa godhuu, Ummaanni Oromoo Magaalaa Amboo Jaarsaa, Jaartii, Manguddoon, Da’imnii waggaa 8tii olii, Shamarraan Dargaggeessii, Daldaltootni, fi Barattootni utuu hin hafiin keessatti qoodaa guddaa Fudhachuun FDG gaggeeffamaa jira. daandiin konkolaataa Finfinnee Amboo keessa dabarsee Dhiha Oromiyaa geessuu Cufameera,Gudarii fi Amboo Gidduu Bakka 16ttii Daandiin mukaa fi dhagaa Goommaa Konkolaataa karaa irratti Guuruun gubuun, Warannii Wayyaanee akka Wallaggatti gadi hin darbinee Amboo ittisee qabee Bilisummaa isaaf falmachaa jir.

Magaalaa Amboo keessatti daandiin keessaa keessaa fi daandiin guddaan dhagaa fi mukoota karaa irratti guuruun uummaanni daandii cufee;-

1. Gaaffii keenyaaf deebii nuuf kennaa Ijioolleen keenya hidhamaan nuuf haa hiikaman,
2. Nu hin ajjeesinaa waggaa 24 nuu ajjeessa turtan nurraa galaa isin ga’a .
3. Qotee bulaa lafa isaa irraa hin buqqisiinaa,
4. Finfinneen bulchiinsa Mootummaa Nannoo Oromiyaa jalatti deebitee Ofii keenyaan bulchachuu qabna,
5. Mirga Dimookiraasii Namummaa nurraa hin sarbiinaa,
   Warannii kun itti gaafatama seenaa keessa jirtuu nu hin ajjeesinaa mirga keenyaaf falmanna, -Gaaffiin mirga abbaa biyyummaa deebii argachuu qaba,
6. Bilisummaa barbaadna, garbummaan nu ga’a,
7. Isiin nu hin bulchitan, waggaa 24 nutti taphattan,
8. Ilmaan Oromoo hidjhaman haa hiikaman

Jechuun Hiriira Nagaa Guddaa ganama sa’aa 2;00 irraa egaluun kan jalqabame hanga amma sa’aatii 8;00tti itti fufee jira, Mootummaan Wayyaanee Sochii uummataa kanatti aaruun rasasasa uummata irratti roobsa jira, rasaasa Waranaana Wayyaaneetiin namoonni hedduun madaa’aniru.

Mana barumsaa sadarkaa lammaffaa fi Qophaa’inaa Gimbii fi Mandii keessatti FDG dho’uun itti fufe

Manneen barnootaa sadarkaa lammaffaa fi Qophaainaa keessatti barattootni Oromoo goototni imaanaa gootawwanii tiksan gaaffii abbaa biyyummaa itti fufuun magaala Gimbii mana barumsaa sadarkaa lammaffaa fi Qophaainaa Kompiriheensivii Gimbii keessatti FDG gaggeessan. Barattootni Oromoo gaaffiin mirgaa ilmaan Oromoo QBO keessatti wareegama baasaa as gahee fi haras itti jiru deebiuu qaba jechuudhaan FDG gaggeessanii jiran. Barattootni oromoo kunneen mana barumsaa keessatti walgahuudhaan tokkummaadhaan ABO gaachana ilmaan Oromoo tahuu kan dhaadatan Yoommuu tahu waardiyaan mana barumsaa fi waraanni mootummaa wayyaanee dura dhaabbatus gaaffii mirgaa irraa humni duuba nu deebisu tokko illee hin jiru, Uummatnis gamtaadhaan kaee falma jabaa gaggeessuutu irraa eegama jechuudhaan murtii dhumaa dabarfatanii jiran. Manneen barnootaa sadarkaa tokkoffaa keessattis barattootni Oromoo gaaffii mirgaa abbaa biyyummaa fi walabummaa Oromiyaa itti fufuu Qeerroon Gimbii gabaasee jira.

Kana malees barattootni Sadarkaa lammaffaa Mandii Mootummaan wayyaanee abbaa irree waan taheef biyya bulchuu hin qabu jechuudhaan dhaadannoo dhageessisaa FDG bobeessan. Mootummaan wayyaanee bakka maraa diddaa gaggeeffamaa jiru dura dhaabbachuu kan dadhabde yoommuu tahu Barattoota Oromoo mana barumsaa Mandii sadarkaa lammaffaa Mandii waraana hedduumminaan itti bobbaasuun reebicha hamaa irraan geessee jirti. Barattootni oromoo mana barumsaa kanaas reebicha mootummaan wayyaanee irraan gaggeessaa jiru dura dhaabbachuudhaan dhaadannoowwan

1. Oromiyaan kan keenya

2. Kanneen hidhaman haa hiikaman

3. Mootummaan wayyaanee Gamboomfataa dha

4. Nuyi Qeerroo dha

5. Oromoon Lagaan hin qoodamu

6. Finfinneen handhuura Oromiyaati

7. Sagaleen Uummata Oromoo haa dhagahamu

Kanneen jedhanii fi biroo dhageessisaa oolanii jiran. Oromiyaa keessatti ibidda qabatee mootummaa wayyaanee barbadeessaa jirutti tumsa Gochuun Oromoon Gumaa gootawwan keenyaa akka deebisu Qeerroon magaala Mandii gabaasee jira.

Goototni Barattoota Oromoo Yuunivarsiitii Dirree Dawaa FDG qabsiisuun diina raasan. Dhaadannoolee garaa garaas dhageessisan

Mootummaa wayyaanee irratti diddaan Barattootaa jabaachuudhaan kan itti fufe Yuunivarsiitii Dirree Dawaa keessatti finiinuun itti fufe. Mootummaan wayyaanee garboomfataa dha, Hundeedhaan buqqauu qaba, Kanneen hidhaman nuuf haa hiikaman, Siidaan Minilk haa buqqau, Finfinneen handhuura Oromiyaatu, Lafa naannawa Finfinnee Murree hin kenninu jechuudhaan dhaadannoo qababachuudhaan ganama saa 8:00 AM irraa kaasanii dhaadannoo dhageessisuu kan eegalan Barattootni Yuunivarsiitii Dirree Dawaa Uummatni Oromoo magaala Dirree Dawaa keessatti argamus Dargaggootni Oromoo hiriiraa fi dhaadannoo dhageessifamaa turetti dabalamuun mootummaa wayyaanee dhiphina guddaa keessa seensisee jira.Goototni barattoota Oromoo Yuunivarsiitii Dirree Dawaa mootummaan wayyaanee hiriira nagaa seera biyyaan lafa kaawe deebisee dhorkuun isaa abbaa irrummaa isaa dachaan mirkansa kan jedhan yoommuu tahu wayyaaneen waraana hedduumminaan bobbaasuun reebichaa fi doorsisaan akkasumas hidhaan dura dhaabbachuu yaaltus barattootni Oromoo gamtaan kauun diina dura dhaabbachuun dhaadannoo dhageessisaa oolanii jiran.

Barattootni Oromoo Yuunivarsiitii kanaa Waamicha Oromummaa nu dhaqqabeen gahee keenya baane jechuun Uummatni Oromoo qotee bulaan, daldalaan, Hojjetaan nuyi ilmaan keessan ulee diinaan rukkutamaa fi ajjeefamaa waan jirruuf bakka jirtanii kaatanii waan qabdan maraan diina keenya Wayyaanee dura akka dhaabbatan jechuun Waamicha Oromummaa dabarfatanii jiran.

Godina Lixa Shawaa Aanaa Midaa Qanyiitti FDG Gootota Barattoota Oromoo M/B Ballaammii Sadarkaa 2ffaa Eegale

Ebla 30/2014 Godina Lixa Shawaa Aanaa Midaa Qanyiitti FDG Gootota barattoota Ooromoo M/B Ballaammii sadarkaa 2ffaa fi qopha’inaa fi uummata Ooromoo Magaalaa Ballaammiitiin har’a sa:aa 8:00 wd irraa eegaluun amma gaggeeffamaa jira, hirirri nagaa kun gaaffii barattootni kenyaa dhaabbilee barnoota olaanoo kanneen akka yuunibarsiitii Jimmaa, Harammaayyaa, Amboo, Adaamaa, Wallaaggaa, Mattuu fi Bulee Horaa kaasaa jiran guttummaan isaa Ggaaffii keenya jechuun sabboontotni Bbarattootni mana barumsaa Ballaammii sadarkaa 2ffaa fi Qophaa’inaa uummaata Mmagaalaa Baallaammii waliin ta’uun hiriira guddaa gaggeessuu irraatti argamu. Akkuma dhaabbilee barnoota olaanoo Gaaffii isaanii iyyaannoodhaan karaa seeraa qabeessaa ta’een Bulchiinsa aanaa Midaa Qanyii fi Bulchiinsa M/B Baallaammiitti galchachuun hiriiraa mormii guddaa kan uummata 4000 ol hirmaachisee gaggeessuu irraatti argamu, 

 Yeroo amma kanatti akkuma baratame mootuummaan abbaa irree wayyaanee humna waraanaa liyuu hayil fi kora bittinneessa jedhamu hiriiricha dura dhaabuun, Gaazii summa’aa kan nama boosisuu irraatti dhukaasuun bittinneessuuf yaalii guddaa godhus uummaannii fii barattootni nuti mirga keenyatu sarbamee mirga keenyaaf falmannaa jechuun FDG haalaan qinda’aa fi jabaa ta’ee itti fufee jira. Bbarattootni Mana Barumsaa Gabaa Kamisaa sadarkaa 1ffaa kutaa 1 -8ffaa barachaa jiran mana barumsaa gadhiisuun yeroo kanatti hiriirichatti makamaa jiru, Dargaggootni Oromoo mAgaalaa Ballaammii fi Barattootni Ooromoo Magaalaa keessaa nannaa’uun dhaadannoo isaanii dhageesisuun itti fufe. gabaasaan kun itti fufa.

Addis Ababa is growing fast and set to expand further, pitting the government against Oromo activists, seeking to protect their rights.

Protests Grow Over Addis Ababa’s Expansion

BY MOHAMMED ADEMO 

Addis Ababa is growing fast and set to expand further, pitting the government against Oromo activists, seeking to protect their rights.

Gambia Street in downtown Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, bustles with traffic. Credit: David Stanely

APRIL 29, 2014 (Think Africa Press) – Ethnic Oromo students in Ethiopia are ratcheting up opposition to the territorial expansion of the Horn of Africa nation’s capital, Addis Ababa. Thousands of students at all eight regional universities in Oromia, the largest of Ethiopia’s federal states, turned in recent days to demand an immediate halt to the city’s so-called “Integrated Development Master Plan,” unveiled earlier this month.

Today, Tuesday 29 April, an estimated 25,000 people, including residents of Ambo town in central Oromia, participated in a city wide demonstration, in the largest show of opposition to the government’s plans to date. A handful of students have been injured and others arrested in protests at the campuses of Jimma, Haromaya, Ambo, Wollega, Metu, Bolu Hora, Adama and Maddawalabu universities, according to local reports.

Once dubbed a “sleeping beauty,” by Emperor Haile Selassie, Addis Ababa is an awakening city on the move. Vertically, buoyed by a growing economy and rural to urban migration, there is construction almost on every block — so much so that locals refer to it as “a city under construction.” The country’s first light rail transit which will connect several inner city neighbourhoods, being constructed with the help of the China Railway Group Ltd, is reported to be 60% complete. Horizontally, over the last decade, not least due to an uptick in investment from returning Ethiopian expats from the U.S. and Western Europe, the city has expanded at a breakneck pace to swallow many surrounding towns.

Addis Ababa’s rapid urban sprawl is also getting noticed abroad. In 2013, it’s the only African city to make the Lonely Planet’s annual list of “top 10 cities to visit.” In April 2014, in its annual Global Cities Index, New York-based consultancy A.T. Kearney named Addis Ababa, “the third most likely city to advance its global positioning” in sub-Saharan Africa, only after Johannesburg and Nairobi. If it maintains the pace of development seen over the last five years, Kearney added, “the Ethiopian capital is also among the cities closing in fastest on the world leaders.”

Overlapping jurisdictions
Founded in 1886 by emperor Menelik II and his wife Empress Taytu Betul, Addis Ababa sits at the heart of the Oromia Regional State. According to the country’s constitution, while semi-autonomous, Addis Ababa is treated as a federal district with special privileges granted to the Oromia region, for which it also serves as the capital.

The Addis Ababa City Administration, the official governing body, has its own police, city council, budget and other public functions overseen by a mayor. The overlapping, vague territorial jurisdictions have always been the subject of controversy. Now contentions threaten to plunge the country into further unrest.

Home to an estimated 4 million people, Addis Ababa offers Ethiopia one of the few gateways to the outside world. The state-run Ethiopian airlines, one of the most profitable in Africa, serves 80 international cities with daily flights from Addis to Europe, different parts of Africa, the United States, Canada, Asia and the Middle East.

In addition to being the seat of the continental African Union, the city hosts a number of United Nations regional offices, including the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. There are also more than 100 international missions and foreign embassies based in Addis, earning it the nickname of ‘Africa’s diplomatic capital.’ All these attributes require the city to continually grow to meet the needs and expectations of a global city.

City officials insist the new “master plan”, the 10th iteration since Addis Ababa began using modern city master plans in 1936, will mitigate the city’s disorganised growth and guide efforts to modernize it over the next 25 years.

According to leaked documents, the proposed plan will expand Addis Ababa’s boundaries to 1.1 million hectares, covering an area more than 20 times its current size. Under this plan, 36 surrounding Oromia towns and cities will come under Addis Ababa’s jurisdiction. Oromo students, opposition and activists say the plan will undermine Oromia’s constitutionally granted special interest.

A history of problematic growth
Addis Ababa’s spatial growth has always been contentious. The Oromo, original inhabitants of the land, have social, economic and historical ties to the city. Addis Ababa, which they call Finfinne, was conquered through invasion in 19th century. Since its founding, the city grew by leaps and bounds. But the expansion came at the expense of local farmers whose livelihoods and culture was uprooted in the process. At the time of its founding, the city grew “haphazardly” around the imperial palace, residences of other government officials and churches. Later, population and economic growth invited uncontrolled development of high-income, residential areas — still almost without any formal planning.

While the encroaching forces of urbanisation pushed out many Oromo farmers to surrounding towns and villages, those who remained behind were forced to learn a new language and embrace a city that did not value their existence. The city’s rulers then sought to erase the historical and cultural values of its indigenous people, including through the changing of original Oromo names.

Ultimately, this one-time bountiful farm and pasture land from which it draws the name Addis Ababa – meaning ‘new flower’ – where Oromos made laws under the shades of giant sycamore trees, grew foreign to them by the day. It is this traumatic sense of displacement that elicits deep passions, resentment and resistance from the Oromo community. The Oromo are Ethiopia’s single largest ethnic group, numbering over 25 million – around 35% of the total population – according to the 2007 census.

Ethiopia’s constitution makes a pivot to Addis Ababa’s unique place among the Oromo. Article 49 (5) of the constitution stipulates, “the special interest of the state of Oromia with respect to supply of services, the utilisation of resources and joint administrative matters.”

The Transitional Government of Ethiopia, which drafted the constitution, was fully cognisant of the potential conflicts of interest arising from Addis Ababa’s unbridled expansion, when it decided “to limit its expansion to the place where it was before 1991 and to give due attention to its vertical growth,” according to Feyera Abdissa, an urban researcher at Addis Ababa University.

But in the city’s 1997-2001 master plan, which has been in effect over the last decade, the city planners determined vertical growth posed key urbanisation challenges. In addition, most of Addis Ababa’s poor cannot afford to construct high-rise dwellings as per the new building standards. Officials also noted that the city’s relatively developed infrastructure and access to market attract the private investment necessary to bolster its coffers; the opening up to privatisation contributed to an upswing in investment. According to Abdissa, during this period, “54% of the total private investment applications submitted in the country requested to invest in and around Addis Ababa.” In order to meet the demand, city administration converted large tracts of forest and farmland in surrounding sub-cities into swelling urban dwellings, displacing local Oromo residents.

Local self-rule
In 2001, in what many saw as a conspiracy from federal authorities, the Oromia regional government decided to relocate its seat 100kms away, arguing that Addis Ababa was too “inconvenient” to develop the language, culture and history. The decision led to Oromia-wide protests and a brutal government crackdown, which left at least a dozen people, including high school students, dead. Hundreds of people were also arrested. In 2005, regional authorities reversed the decision amid internal pressures and protracted protests in the intervening years.

But the current opposition to the city’s expansion goes far beyond questions of self-rule. Each time Addis Ababa grew horizontally, it did so by absorbing surrounding Oromo sub-cities and villages. Many of the cities at the outskirts of the capital today, including Dukem, Gelan, Legetafo, Sendafa, Sululta, Burayu, Holeta and Sebeta, were one-time industrious Oromo farmlands. While these cities enjoy a level of cooperation with Addis Ababa on security and other issues of mutual interest, they have all but lost their Oromo identity. If the proposed master plan is implemented, these cities will come directly under Addis Ababa City Administration — thereby the federal government, further complicating the jurisdictional issue.

Among many other compromises made possible by Ethiopia’s ethnic federalism, each state has adopted the use of its native tongue as the official language of education, business and public service. In theory, the country’s constitution also grants autonomous self-rule to regional states. Under this arrangement, each state makes its own laws and levy and collect taxes.

In contrast, municipalities that fall under federal jurisdiction, including Addis, are governed by their own city administrations and use Amharic, Ethiopia’s federal working language. For the Oromo, as in the past, the seceding of surrounding towns to Addis means a loss of their language and culture once more, even if today’s driving forces of urbanisation differ from the 19th century imperialist expansion.

As seen from its recent residential expansions into sub-cities on the peripheries such as Kotebe, Bole Bulbula, Bole Medhanialem, Makanisa and Keranyo, the semi-agrarian community, including small, informal business owners, were given few options. The city’s new code requires building high-rises that are beyond their subsistence means. Unable to comply with the new city development code, the locals were pressured into selling their land at very low prices and eke out a living in a city that faces chronic unemployment. As a result, the horizontal expansion and displacement of livelihoods turned a one time self-sufficient community into street beggars and day labourers.

Activists fear that the latest expansion is part of a grand plan to contain a resurgent Oromo nationalism. As witnessed during the 2001 protests, any attempt to alter Addis Ababa’s administrative limits, unites Oromos across religious, regional and political divides. Unless halted, with a steam of opposition already gathering in and outside of the country, the ongoing of protests show ominous signs.

In a glimpse of the fervent opposition that could quickly turn deadly, within weeks after the plan was unveiled, two young and upcoming Oromo artists have released new music singles lamenting the city’s historic social and cultural heritage. One of the singers, Jafar Yusef, 23, was arrested three days after releasing his musical rendition — and has reportedly been tortured. Despite the growing opposition, however, the Addis Ababa municipal authority is vowing to forge ahead with the plan, which they say was developed in consultation with a team of international and local urban planners. Federal Special Forces, known as Liyyu police, who have previously been implicated in serious human rights violations, have been dispatched to college towns to disperse the protests. Soldiers in military fatigues have laid siege to several campuses, preventing students from leaving, according to eyewitness reports.

Trouble at the top while those at the bottom lack the basic necessities
The city administration is also riddled by a crippling legacy of corruption, massive inefficiency and poor service delivery. Its homeless loiters in the crowded streets that are shared by cars, pedestrians and animals alike. There are few subsidised housing projects for poor and low-income families. Many of the residents lack clean drinking water, healthcare and basic education. While some progress had been made to upgrade the city’s squatter settlements, the city is full of dilapidated shacks. Despite poor drainage system and other infrastructural deficiencies, studies show that there is a general disregard for health and environmental hazards in Ethiopia’s urban redevelopment scheme.

A lot of these social and economic problems are caused by the city’s poorly conceived but dramatic urban expansion. In the last two-decades, in an effort to transform the city into a competitive metropolis, there have been an uptick in the construction of high-rise buildings, luxury hotels and condominiums, which displaced poorer inhabitants, including Oromo farmers. “No one is ensuring the displaced people find new homes, and there are no studies about what his happening to them,” Mara Gittleman of Tufts University observed.

Regardless, the outcome of the current controversy will likely test Ethiopia’s commitment to ethnic federalism. The advance of the proposed master plan would mean further estrangement between the Oromo masses and Oromia regional government. Long seen as a puppet of the federal regime, with substantial investment in cultural and infrastructural development, regional leaders are only beginning to sway public opinion. Allowing the master plan to proceed would engender that progress and prove suicidal for the Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organization (OPDO), the Oromo element in Ethiopia’s ruling coalition. In the short run, the mounting public outcry may not hold much sway. The country’s one-time vibrant opposition is disarray and the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has almost complete control of the political system.

The opposition to the expansion plans does not pose an immediate electoral threat to the EPRDF who, controlling the system as they do, are likely to claim an easy victory in next year’s elections. However, opposition, and the government’s possible aggressive response to it, could make Oromo-government relations more difficult. The government now has a choice, violently crackdown on protestors, labelling them “anti-development”, or engage with them as stakeholders representing historically marginalised communities. Ethiopia’s federal constitution suggests the latter course of action; sadly, recent history may suggest the former.

Source:  Think Africa Press

The Ethiopian government is extremely hostile to dissent. Members of opposition parties and independent journalists are regularly harassed, arrested and prosecuted.

ETHIOPIA: OPPOSITION LEADERS DENIED MEDICAL TREATMENT

Amnesty International

URGENT ACTION

OPPOSITION LEADERS DENIED MEDICAL TREATMENT

Olbana Lelisa and Bekele Gerba are being denied medical treatment. The two men, political opposition leaders and prisoners of conscience, are reported to be ill in Kaliti prison, Ethiopia. Olbana Lelisa’s friends believe his condition may be life-threatening.

Several months ago Olbana Lelisa and Bekele Gerba were moved from Ziway prison south of Addis Ababa, to Kaliti prison on the outskirts of the capital city, reportedly after a doctor in Ziway referred the two men for hospital treatment. However, since the transfer, the men have been denied access to a hospital. It is not clear what is wrong with the two men as they have not access to a full diagnosis.

Olbana Lelisa and Bekele Gerba were arrested in August 2011, within days of meeting with Amnesty International staff. They were charged with crimes against the state based on alleged support for the proscribed group the Oromo Liberation Front – a charge regularly used to silence members of ethnic Oromo political opposition parties. After a trial marred by irregularities, they were both convicted in November 2012. In a subsequent sentencing hearing Bekele Gerba was sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment and Olbana Lelisa was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment. Both sentences were later reduced on appeal to 3 years and 7 months, and 11 years respectively. Amnesty International considers the two men prisoners of conscience, imprisoned because of their legitimate and peaceful political activity, and should be immediately and unconditionally released.

Please write immediately in Amharic, English or your own language:

Urging that Olbana Lelisa and Bekele Gerba are given immediate and unrestricted access to a hospital for diagnosis and treatment, and that they are permitted to remain in hospital until the treatment is concluded;

Expressing concern that Olbana Lelisa and Bekele Gerba, as well as other prisoners, are denied medical treatment during imprisonment;

Expressing concern that the men were arrested and prosecuted for exercising their legitimate right to freedom of expression, in belonging to political opposition parties, and urging that they are immediately released.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 6 JUNE 2014 TO:

Minister of Justice
Berhanu Hailu
Ministry of Justice,
PO Box 1370,
Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia
Fax: +251 11 5517755

Salutation: Dear Minister

Minister of Federal Affairs
D. Shiferaw Teklemariam
Ministry of Federal Affairs
P.O.Box 5718
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Email: shiferawtmm@yahoo.com

Salutation: Dear Minister
And copies to:

Prime Minister
His Excellency Hailemariam Desalegn
Office of the Prime Minister,
PO Box 1031,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Fax: +251 11 552030 (keep trying)

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:

Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the first update of UA 263/11. Further information: http://amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR25/007/2011/en

URGENT ACTION

OPPOSITION LEADERS DENIED MEDICAL TREATMENT

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Olbana Lelisa was a party official in the Oromo Peoples’ Congress (OPC) party when he was arrested. Bekele Gerba was deputy chairman of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM) party and an English teacher at Addis Ababa University. Both men had met with Amnesty International delegates just days before their arrests. The Amnesty International delegation was expelled from the country on the same day that Olbana and Bekele were arrested. During pre-trial interrogation both were questioned about their meetings with Amnesty International.

During their trial, around May 2012, Olbana complained to the court that he has been attacked by a violent fellow prisoner who had been placed in his cell. The court took no action on his complaint.

The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners provide that “Sick prisoners who require specialist treatment shall be transferred to specialized institutions or to civil hospitals.”

Since the arrests of Bekele and Olbana, the OFDM and OPC parties have merged to form the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC). The OFC reported that another member – Mohamed Negashi, an OPC candidate in Dire Dawa during the 2005 elections, died of unexplained causes in detention in early 2014. His wife was denied access to his corpse for burial.

The OFC further reported that in March 2014 two young OFC activists were shot dead by police in Ginmir town, Oromia region. Seifu Oda, a 33 year old father of two, was reportedly taken from his home and shot in the mouth by police. The following day during protests about the killing, Seifu’s friend Abdi Bilya also an OFC supporter, was also reportedly shot dead.

The Ethiopian government is extremely hostile to dissent. Members of opposition parties and independent journalists are regularly harassed, arrested and prosecuted.

Large numbers of ethnic Oromos are regularly arrested on the accusation of supporting the Oromo Liberation Front. This includes many members and supporters of Oromo political opposition parties, and other people from all walks of life. These arrests are based on an actual or imputed opposition to the government.

In early 2011 – the year that Olbana and Bekele were arrested – hundreds of members of Oromo opposition parties were arrested, apparently as a result of the government’s fear that the Middle East and North Africa style uprisings would spread to Ethiopia. Large numbers of students from universities across the Oromia region were arrested during the same period.

The OFDM and OPC parties told Amnesty International that a number of their members arrested in March and April 2011 subsequently disappeared, leading to concerns that these individuals were being held in arbitrary detention.

Name: Olbana Lelisa, Bekele Gerba

Gender m/f: m

Further information on UA: 263/11 Index: AFR 25/001/2014 Issue Date: 25 April 2014

Source: Amnesty International

Human Rights Watch released a report in October 2013 documenting serious human rights abuses, including torture and other ill-treatment,unlawful interrogation tactics, and poor detention conditions in Maekelawi against political detainees, including journalists. Detainees at Maekelawi are seldom granted access to legal counsel or their relatives during the initial investigation phase

Ethiopia: Arrests Upstage Kerry Visit

9 Bloggers, Journalists Held Before US Official Arrives

APRIL 28, 2014

•  EMAIL

The nine arrests signal, once again, that anyone who criticizes the Ethiopian government will be silenced. The timing of the arrests – just days before the US secretary of state’s visit – speaks volumes about Ethiopia’s disregard for free speech.

Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director

(Nairobi) – The Ethiopian authorities should immediately release six bloggers and three journalists arrested on April 25 and 26, 2014, unless credible charges are promptly brought.

United States Secretary of State John Kerry, who is scheduled to visit Ethiopia beginning April 29, should urge Ethiopian officials to unconditionally release all activists and journalists who have been arbitrarily detained or convicted in unfair trials. The arrests also came days before Ethiopia is scheduled to have its human rights record assessed at the United Nations Human Rights Council’s universal periodic review in Geneva on May 6.

“The nine arrests signal, once again, that anyone who criticizes the Ethiopian government will be silenced,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director. “The timing of the arrests – just days before the US secretary of state’s visit – speaks volumes about Ethiopia’s disregard for free speech.”

On the afternoon of April 25, police in uniform and civilian clothes conducted what appeared to be a coordinated operation of near-simultaneous arrests. Six members of a group known as the “Zone9” bloggers – Befekadu Hailu, Atnaf Berahane, Natnael Feleke, Mahlet Fantahun, Zelalem Kibret, and Abel Wabela – were arrested at their offices and in the streets. Tesfalem Weldeyes, a freelance journalist, was also arrested during the operation. Edom Kassaye, a second freelance journalist, was arrested on either April 25 or 26; the circumstances of her arrest are unclear but all eight individuals were apparently taken to Maekelawi Police Station, the federal detention center in Addis Ababa, the capital.

The police searched the bloggers and journalists’ offices and homes, reportedly with search warrants, and confiscated private laptops and literature. On April 26, another journalist, Asmamaw Hailegeorgis of Addis Guday newspaper, was also arrested and is reportedly detained in Maekelawi.

The detainees are currently being held incommunicado. On the morning of April 26, relatives were denied access to the detainees by Maekelawi guards, and only allowed to deposit food.

Human Rights Watch released a report in October 2013 documenting serious human rights abuses, including torture and other ill-treatment,unlawful interrogation tactics, and poor detention conditions in Maekelawi against political detainees, including journalists. Detainees at Maekelawi are seldom granted access to legal counsel or their relatives during the initial investigation phase.

The Zone9 bloggers have faced increasing harassment by the authorities over the last six months. Sources told Human Rights Watch that one of the bloggers and one of the journalists have been regularly approached, including at home, by alleged intelligence agents and asked about the work of the group and their alleged links to political opposition parties and human rights groups. The blogger was asked a week before their arrest of the names and personal information of all the Zone9 members. The arrests on April 25, 2014, came two days after Zone9 posted a statement on social media saying they planned to increase their activism after a period of laying low because of ongoing intimidation.

A Human Rights Watch report in March described the technologies used by the Ethiopian government to conduct surveillance of perceived political opponents, activists, and journalists inside the country and among the diaspora. It highlights how the government’s monopoly over all mobile and Internet services through its sole, state-owned telecom operator, Ethio Telecom, facilitates abuse of surveillance powers.

Kerry is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom in Addis Ababa “to discuss efforts to advance peace and democracy in the region.” Kerry should strongly urge the Ethiopian government to end arbitrary arrests, release all activists and journalists unjustly detained or convicted, and promptly amend draconian laws on freedom of association and terrorism that have frequently been used to justify arbitrary arrests and political prosecutions. The Obama administration has said very little about the need for human rights reforms in Ethiopia.

“Secretary Kerry should be clear that the Ethiopian government’s crackdown on media and civil society harms ties with the US,” Lefkow said.  “Continued repression in Ethiopia cannot mean business as usual for Ethiopia-US relations.”