Tuesday, December 1, 2015

ODUU Mormiin Maaster Pilanii Finfinnee cimee itti fufaa jira.


Mormiin Maaster Pilanii Finfinnee cimee itti 

fufaa jira. 

 

OMN:Oduu Sadaasa 30,2015 Maastar pilaanii Finfinnee ilaalchisee mormiin barattoota Oromoo gadinaalee Oromiyaa hedduu keessatti itti fufee akka jiru himame.
Godina Harargee bahaa yuniversiitii Haramayaa keessatti mormii geggeeffameen, barattootaa fi poolisoota Federaalaa irra miidhaan dhaqabuu isaa himamaa jira.
Haaluma wal fakkaatuun mormiin kun itti fufuun godina Wallagga lixaa aanaa Laaloo Assaabii, Gimbii fi Ayiratti itti fufee akka jiru jiraattonni dubbatan.
Dhimma maastar pilaanii Finfinnee irratti, mormiin barattootaa torbaan lamaan darban godina Sahwaa lixaa aanaa Daandii magaalaa Gincii keessatti eegalamee ture, wayta ammaa kana babbaldhachuun, godinaalee gara garaa keessatti itti fufee jira.
Mormii jalqabame kana dhaasbisuuf jecha, humnootiin tikaa barattootaa fi jiraattota irratti tarkaanfii gara jabeennaa fudhataa jiraniin, namoonni hedduun kan miidhaman yoo ta’u, kan ajjeefamanis jiraachuun himamaa jira.
Haaluma kanaan Godina Harargee bahaa yuniversiitii Haramaayaa keessatti mastar pilaanii Finfinnee irratti mormii ka’een, barattoonni Oromoo hedduun, poolisoota Federaalaatiin reebichi hamaan kan isaani irratti raawwatame ta’uu barattoonni dubbataa jiran.
Bifuma wal fakkaatuun, godina Wallagga lixaa aanaa Laaloo Assaabii fi, aanaa Ayiraatti hiriirri mormii cimaani itti fufee jira.
Aanaa Laaloo Assaabii mana barumsa sadarkaa lammaffaa Wanjootti guyyaa hardhaa barattoonni hiriira bahuu isaanii jiraataan magaalattii tokko OMN tti himan.
Namni kun akka jedhanitti, hiriira san irratti, humnootiin darbatamaa jedhaman, dhukaasa irratti bananii, hiriira san bittiinneessuun barattoota hedduu hidhaniiru.
Manni barumsaa guutumatti cufamee jira. Lammiilee nagaa irratti wayta meeshaa dhukaasan argamaniiru jedhan.
Humnootiin darbatamaa jedhaman kun gara laafinna tokko malee barattoota nagaa irratti reebicha hamaa geggeessaa jiru.
Manni barumsaallee akkuma cufametti jiraachuullee namni kun dubbatanii jiru.
Gaafileen barattoonni dhiheessaa jiran kun, maqaa maastar Pilaanii Finfinnee jedhuun, ummanni Oromoo lafaa fi qabeenya isaa irraa buqqifamuu hin qaban kan jedhu yoo ta’u, garuu mootummaan deebii kennuu dhiisee rasaasa barattootarratti roobsaa jira.
Aanama kana keessatti, kanaan dura mormiin wal fakkaataan geggeeffamee akka ture kan nuuf himan namni kun, ammas bifa adda ta’een geggeeffamee jira.
Humnootiin tikaa mootummaa mormii kana dhaamsuuf jecha barattoota hedduu qabanii hidhuudhaaf barbaadaa akka jiranis dubbatan.
Yeroodhaaf barattoonni qabamanii hidhaman, barataa Boonaa Mulaatuu,  Maartaa Taammiruu,  fi Ayyaantuu Baculaa yoo ta’an, barattoonni kun barattoota kutaa 6ffaa, 8ffaa, fi 9ffaa ta’u isaanii mirkanaahee jira.
Kana males jiraattota keessaa obbo Mulaatuu Olqabaa immo reebichi cimaan kan isaan irratti raawwatame ta’uullee jiraattonni dubbataa jiran.
Kun kanaan osoo jiru, aanaa Gimbii manneen barumsaa Sadarkaa 2ffaa fi 1ffaa Burqaa Oonjoo fi Laaloo Oonjoo keessatti, barattoonni Oromoo gochaa maastar pilaanii Finfinnee irratti mormii dhageesisuu isaanii himame.
Humnotiin tikaa mormii kana fashalsuuf jecha, tarkaanfiilee reebichaa barattootaa fi jiraattota aanichaa irratti reebicha hamaa raawwatuu isaanillee jiraattonni himanii jiru.
Reebicha geggeeffame kanaan namoonni hagi tokko akka maleetti kan miidhaman yoo ta’u, namoonni hedduunis hidhamuu isaanii himamaa jira.
Akka jiraattonni himanitti, barattoonni Oromoo hiriira dhageesisan kanaan, wayta humnootiin tikaa reebicha irratti raawwataa turanitti jalaa dheessanii manneen jiraatotaatti dhokatanii kan turan yoo ta’u, humnootiin tikaa mana mana irraa deemuun, barattoota kana funaananii hidhaa jiru.
Usmaan Ukkumeetu gabaase.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

16 Nov 2015 Oromia Insight Oromo-TV 15th-Year Anniversary Celebration P...

Irree fi Gaachanni Ummata Oromoo WBOn Godina Kibba Baha Oromiyaa Keessatti Tarkaanfii Hidhattoota Wayyaanee Irratti Fudhateen 9 Ol Hojiin Ala Godhe; Meeshaalee Waraanaas Booji’e. Hidhattootni Diinaa 5nis WBOtti Harka Kennatan.

Irree fi Gaachanni Ummata Oromoo WBOn Godina Kibba Baha Oromiyaa Keessatti Tarkaanfii Hidhattoota Wayyaanee Irratti Fudhateen 9 Ol Hojiin Ala Godhe; Meeshaalee Waraanaas Booji’e. Hidhattootni Diinaa 5nis WBOtti Harka Kennatan.
(SBO – Sadaasa 14, 2015) Humnaa fi qabeenya qabu irratti hundaawee mirga abbaa biyyummaa fi bilisummaa ummata Oromoo mirkaneessuuf qabsoo of irratti hirkannoon falmaa diina irratti godhu finiinsaa kan jiru gootichi WBO, godinaalee Oromiyaa adda addaa keessatti tarkaanfilee diinaa fi lukkeelee diinaa irratti fudhatu daran cimsuu irratti argama.
Haaluma kanaan abdii fi gaachanni ummata Oromoo WBOn Kibba Baha Oromiyaa Godina Baalee keessa sossohu tibbana diina irratti tarkaanfii laalessaa fudhateen injifannoo boonsaa galmeessee jira.
Haaluma kanaan Humni Addaa WBO Risaa jedhamu Sadaasa 10, 2015 Godina Baalee Ona Gooroo Baqaqsaa bakka Qalqalcha Bultii Tafarii jedhamutti ganama barii sa’aa 5:00 irratti humna diinaa ummata dararuu fi sochii WBO danquuf bobbaa irra ture haxiidhaan haleelee loltoota 5 yeroo irraa ajjeesu, 4 ol ammoo madeessuun meeshaalee waraanaa adda addaa irraa booji’uun dantaa qabsoo bilisummaa Oromoof akka oolche Ajaji WBO Godina Kibba Baha Oromiyaa beeksisee jira.
Humni Risaa tarkaanfii boonsaa kana fudhate diina irraa qawwee AKM-47 5, boombii harkaa F1 jedhamu 20, boorsaa waraanaa kan dugdatti baatamu 5 mi’a qabu waliinii fi meeshaalee biroo diina irraa booji’uun bu’aa qabsoo bilisummaa Oromoof akka taasise beekuun danda’ameera.
Kana malees Humni Addaa WBO (Risaan) Godina Baalee Ona Gooroo Baqaqsaa bakka Qalqalcha Bultii Tafarii jedhamutti wayta tarkaanfii kana fudhatetti sabboontota Oromoo hidhattootni wayyaanee maqaa ABO fi WBO gargaartu, nu rukuchiistu jedhuun qabanii deemaa turan keessaa tokko akka harkaa baases oduun kun ni hubachiisa.
Hidhattoota wayyaanee tarkaanfii humna addaa WBO Risaan haleelaman keessa turan keessaa 5 (shan) hidhannoo isaanii guutuu waliin WBOtti akka harka isaanii kennatan Ajaji WBO Godina Kibba Baha Oromiyaa mirkaneessee jira.
Tarkaanfiin diinaa fi lukkeelee diinaa irratti fudhatamu jabinaan kan itti fufu ta’uus Ajaji WBO Godina Kibba Baha Oromiyaa hubachiisee jira.
Xumura irratti Oromoota dabalatee ilmaan ummatoota cunqurfamoo sirna wayyaaneef meeshaa ta’uun qabsoo bilisummaa fi mirga isaanii deebifachuuf ummatootni kun taasisaa jiranitti gufuu ta’anii jiran hidhannoo isaanii sirna wayyaanee diina ummatoota cunqurfamoo empaayerattii ta’ee jirutti nannessuun xumura sirna gabrummaa isaa akka shaffisan WBOn hiree kanaan yaamicha isaa haaromsee jira.
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Gumaacha WBO: Hawaasni Oromoo Magaalota Riyaadii fi Tabuuk Akkasumas Naannawaa Magaalota Kanneenii Jiran Guyyaa Ayyaana Arafaa Sababeeffachuun Walitti Dhufanii WBO Jabeessuuf Riyaala Sa’udii 70,483 Gumaachan
(SBO) – Oduun Riyaad Sa’ud Arabiyaa irraa SBO dhaqqabe akka hubachiisutti, Konyaa ABO jalatti hawaasni Oromoo magaalaa Riyaadii fi naannawa isheetti argamu Fulbaana 26,2015 Ayyaana Arafaa sababeeffachuudhaan walitti dhufanii dhimmoota adda addaa irratti marii taasisuun walgahii bareedaa geggeeffatanii jiran.
Walgahiin kun akkuma aadaa Oromootti eebba maanguddootaan kan jalqabame oggaa ta’u, dura ta’aan Konyaa ABO Riyaad hawaasa walgahii kana irratti argameen baga nagaan dhuftan jechuun simatan.
Biyya Sa’ud Arabiyaatti bakka bu’aan ABO Engineer Mahaammad Haajii sirna kana irratti argamuudhaan dhimma QBO ABOn durfamu, sochii WBO fi dhaamsa WBOn dhaammataa jiru irratti ibsa bal’aa hawaasaaf akka kennan oduun SBO dhaqqabe kun ni addeessa.
Hawaasni Oromoo Riyaadii fi naannawa ishee WBO jabeessuuf akkuma waadaa seenee tinnisa jajjabaa godhaa turetti, walgahii kana irrattis ibsa laatameefiin booda, Riyaala Sa’ud Arabiyaa 33,700 (Kuma Soddomii Sadii Fi Dhibba Torba) WBO jabeessuuf gumaachuun isaanii gabaafameera. Gara fuula duraattis WBO jabeessuuf waan danda’ameen bira dhaabbachuu irraa kan of booda hin deebine ta’uus mul’isaniiru.
Konyaa ABO jalatti Walgahii hawaasni Oromoo Riyaadii fi naannoo ishee Fulbaana 26,2015 Ayyaana Arafaa sababeeffachuun geggeeffatan kana irratti nyaatni aadaa Oromoo kan Godinoota Oromiyaa cufaa kan dhihaate oggaa ta’u, walaloolee fi diraamotni gara garaa miidhaa fi cunqursaa Oromoo irra gahaa jiru mul’isanis dhihaataniiru.
Artistootni Oromoo kan akka Bakkalcha Konbolchaa fi Siinboonee Addunyaa faa waltajjii kana irratti argamuun hawaasa kan bashannansiisan oggaa ta’u, xumura walgahii kanaattis hawaasni walgahe ibsa ejjennoo qabsoo jajjabeessu dabarfachuun walgahii isaanii milkii fi injifannoon xumurachuu isaanii oduun Riyaad irraa SBO dhaqqabe hubachiisee jira.
Haaluma walfakkaatuun Fulbaana 26, 2015ttis biyyuma Sa’ud Arabiyaatti Konyaa ABO jalatti hawaasni Oromoo kan magaalaa Tabuukii fi naannawa ishee jiraatu Ayyaana Arafaa sababeeffachuudhaan walitti dhufanii achumaanis dhimma QBO irratti walgahii godhachuu isaanii oduun walqabatee nu dhaqqabe beeksisee jira.
Qophiin hawaasaa kunis akkuma aadaa Oromootti kan baname eebba maanguddoota Oromoon oggaa ta’u, dura ta’aan Konyaa ABO Tabuuk Obbo Fayyisaa Kumsaa simannaa hawaasaaf godhaniiru.
Miseensi Gumii Sabaa ABO Jaal.Atoomsaa Kumsaa karaa bilbilaan walgahii kana irratti hawaasa walgaheef haala QBOn irra jiru irratti haasaa akka godhanis beekuun danda’ameera. Hawaasni Oromoo qabsoo isaanii cina dhaabbatanii akka jajjabeessan, WBOn humna ummata Oromoo waan ta’eef, haga Oromiyaan bilisoomtutti WBO jabeessuu fi Qabsoo itti fufuun daandii filmaata biraa hin qabne ta’uu Jaal.Atoomsaan dhaamsa isaanii keessatti hubachiisaniiru.
Haaluma kanaan hawaasni Oromoo magaalaa Tabuukii fi naannoo kanneen walgahii kana irratti argaman WBO jabeessuuf Riyaala Sa’ud Arabiyaa 36,783 (Kuma Soddomii Ja’aa fi Dhibba Torbaa fi Saddeetamii Sadii) tinnisa, bittaa fi gurgurtaa irraa argame walitti qabuun gumaachuu isaanii oduun SBO bira gahe hubachiisee jira.
SBOs Hawaasa Oromoo Sa’ud Arabiyaa WBO jabeessuuf gumaacha jajjabaa gochuu irratti argamaniin galatni kessan Bilisummaa dha jechaa, ammas irra deebi’uun hawaasa Musliimaan Baga Ayyaana Arafaan isin gahe jedha. Kanneen Hajjiidhaaf gara Sa’ud Arabiyaa deemanii balaan du’uu fi miidhaan adda addaa irra gaheef ammoo gadda isaa irra deebi’ee ibsa.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Caalaa Haayiluu: The Guy in the Next Cell | A Radio Documentary in Swedish about an Oromo Prisoner of Conscience in Ethiopia’s Prison

Caalaa Haayiluu: The Guy in the Next Cell | A Radio Documentary in Swedish about an Oromo Prisoner of Conscience in Ethiopia’s Prison

The following is a 49-minute radio documentary in Swedish by journalist Martin Schibbye for Sveriges Radio; Martin Schibbye was unlawfully imprisoned in Ethiopia’s notorious prison – Maikelawi – in early 2010’s. Next to his prison’s cell was Caalaa Haayiluu, an Oromo poet and prisoner of conscience – Caalaa Haayiluu was one of the estimated 30,000 Oromo prisoners of conscience; these prisoners are tortured and harassed for being Oromo as Amnesty International reported last year. Oromo is the biggest ethno-national group in Ethiopia, but the Ethiopian government is controlled by a minority hegemonic group hailing from North Ethiopia – the Ethiopian state’s/government’s policy is to eradicate anything of Oromo (through genocide and ethnocide), and replace it with the minority group’s national identities (with the ultimate goal of dispossessing the Oromo nation of its ancestral land and natural resources) — for this reason, poets – such as Caalaa Haayiluu – who write in the Oromo language (Afan Oromo) or those individuals who practice Oromo culture (Aadaa Oromo) or the Oromo religion (Amantaa Oromo), or study Oromo history (Seenaa Oromo) – are targeted for torture and harassment by the Ethiopian government. Caalaa’s crime is nothing but writing in Afan Oromo, the language the Ethiopian government wants to relegate to the regional level for a slow extinction, then replacement by the language from North Ethiopia.
(Source: Sveriges Radio)
Translated from Swedish using Google’s Translate service (the contextual meaning can be lost during this computerized translation.)

The Guy in the Next Cell (Sveriges Radio)

The poet Caalaa sat in the cell next to journalist Martin Schibbye at the police station in Addis Ababa [Finfinne]. He was tortured daily. Later, Caalaa, fleeing for his life, ended up alone in a wintry Hälsingland.
During Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson’s time in a cell at the police station in Addis Ababa [Finfinne], they could, some days, see how the prisoners were taken up in the exercise yard of an underground part of the station. The prisoners squinted against the bright light and were in poor conditions. At night, you could hear the screams from neighboring cells.
One of them shouting was Caalaa Haayiluu Abaataa, a young poet from the Oromo nation – imprisoned and tortured for his dissident poems. Martin threw a package Ethiopian “Nyala” cigarettes to him on one occasion and communicated through hand signals when the guards did not see them.
When Martin became free, he never thought he would see Caalaa again. But in December 2012, he received a friend request onFacebook from a refugee camp in Sudan. It was Caalaa – who had fled to the Sudan.
The situation in the camp was terrible, his friends had been killed by Ethiopian security forces and gangs of traffickers operating in the camps. He feared for his life and felt he fled from bad to worse.
“I am coming to Sweden,” he writes to Martin suddenly on a spring day in May. He has been accepted as a refugee en route to Sweden, and he will take a course in Swedish Migration Board director and then fly to Sweden. When he lands at the airport, he meets Martin up and has since followed Caalaa’s life as a quota refugee in Färila in Hälsingland. Now begins his real challenge.
The documentary “The Guy in the Next Cell,” is made by Martin Schibbye.

Grabben i cellen bredvid (Sveriges Radio)

Poeten Caalaa satt i cellen bredvid journalisten Martin Schibbye på polisstationen i Addis Abeba. Han torteras dagligen. Caalaa flyr för sitt liv och hamnar ensam i ett vintrigt Hälsingland.
Under Martin Schibbye och Johan Perssons tid i en cell på polisstationen i Addis Abeba kunde de en del dagar se hur fångar togs upp på rastgården från en underjordisk del av polisstationen. Fångarna kisade mot det starka ljuset och var i dåligt skick. På nätterna hörde man skrik från granncellerna.
En av dem som skrek var Caalaa Haayiluu Abaataa, en ung poet frÃ¥n Oromofolket som fängslats och torterades för sina regimkritiska dikter. Martin kastade ett paket etiopiska “Nyala”-cigaretter till honom vid ett tillfälle och kommunicerade via handsignaler när vakterna inte sÃ¥g dem.
När Martin blev fri trodde han aldrig att han skulle se Caalaa igen. Men i december 2012 fick han en vänförfrågan på Facebook från ett flyktingläger i Sudan. Det var Caalaa som hade flytt.
Situationen i lägret var fruktansvärd, vänner till honom hade dödats av etiopisk säkerhetstjänst och ligor med människohandlare opererade i lägren. Han fruktade för sitt liv och kände att han flytt ur askan i elden.
”I am coming to Sweden” skriver han plötsligt till Martin en vÃ¥rdag i maj. Han har blivit antagen som kvotflykting och han kommer att gÃ¥ en kurs i Migrationsverkets regi för att därefter flyga till Sverige. När han landar pÃ¥ Arlanda möter Martin upp honom och har sedan följt Caalaas liv som kvotflykting i Färila i Hälsingland. Nu börjar hans verkliga utmaning.
Dokumentären Grabben i cellen bredvid Ã¤r gjord av Martin Schibbye.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Shame on For Ethiopian regjim!!

Can Ethiopia cope with worst drought in decades?

Ethiopia is suffering its worst drought in 30 years, but the country is better equipped to cope than the crisis in 1984, writes the BBC's Clive Myrie, who has visited one of the worst affected areas.
It is a hard-scrabble life being a farmer in northern Ethiopia.
Normal years are tough. In some areas the soil is poor for farming. There is little or no application of manure, so it is low in nutrients and crop yields are not as high as they could and should be. Any failure of seasonal rains spells big trouble, because reserve stockpiles of food will never be plentiful.
Bertukan Ali has lived such a life like many of the rural poor in the district of North Wallo, the most drought-prone region of Ethiopia.
Earlier this year she and her family waited patiently for the spring "belg" rains to fall.
Day after day they waited. Their fields, full of sorghum seeds, were thirsty. But the rains never came.
"OK", she said to herself, "we'll survive. The spring 'belg' are notoriously unreliable anyway, the summer 'kiremt' rains will shower the sorghum seeds in warm water."
So they waited, and waited, but again the rains did not come.

'Everyone is suffering'

When I met Bertukan a couple of days ago, she had just buried her five-year-old son Abdu Mohammed. He was a sickly child, not in the best of health, but when the family ran out of food because the rains did not come, he just got weaker and weaker.
Bertukan and I visited his grave, crowned with a vibrant green canopy of vine leaves.
We stood in front of it, and suddenly she began to cry. I did not know what to do. I did not know how to console her, help take away her pain. So I put my arm around her, it seemed to make sense at the time.
Bertukan Ali
Image caption"Everyone is suffering," says Bertukan Ali
Bertukan told me that when Abdu Mohammed died, she felt as if she'd lost everything.
"Everyone is suffering," she told me. "We all have so little to eat because there was no harvest this season."
The UN says that in one area, two babies were dying every day. So Bertukan had joined a growing list of other mothers who had been left inconsolable.

As bad as 1984?

Many Ethiopians still remember the famine more than 30 years ago that spawned a global humanitarian response.
I met a man this week in North Wallo, less than 50 minutes drive from Korem, the area where so many people died in 1984, who recalls a "famine of biblical proportions".
Abera Weldu
Image captionAbera Weldu vividly remembers the drought of 1984
Abera Weldu is now 68 and he has a face full of character. Like someone out of a pulp fiction novel, he had seen it all, done it all.
Every crease, every line, betrayed a life full of experience, and one of those experiences is having lived through the worst drought in a hundred years.
He looked me right in the eye, and like the man from a pulp fiction novel, gave it to me straight, both barrels blazing.
"Although this drought has just started, it's going to get worse," he said.
"It's already really severe. Some people have died of hunger, others are sick in their beds - right now it's just like 1984."
Media captionThe reasons for Ethiopia's drought
"Hang on," I thought to myself, "some estimates put those dying in the drought of 31 years ago at 100,000 to 200,000 people."
But the UN confirmed what Abera knew in his gut, from experience. The failure of the rains in 2015 were indeed as bad as the failure of the rains in 1984.

Much has improved

But much has changed in the intervening years.
In the 1980s, money that may have helped ease the effects of the drought, was instead used to fight a war to keep the country together, with the province of Eritrea wanting to break away.
Eritrea gained independence in 1993 but later fought a bitter border war with Ethiopia, which ended in 2000.
Map of food shortage areas in Ethiopia
Ethiopia's economy is now one of the fastest growing in the world according to the International Monetary Fund - a far cry from the 1980s.
So much so that the government is now able to set aside $192m (£127m) to help deal with the current emergency, although the UN says far more is needed.
Poorer farmers in rural areas have for several years now been able to take advantage of a sort of social security safety net, where in lean times they have received money for public works, like digging water holes for animals.
That has meant that fewer people have starved when harvests have been poor.
And crucially Ethiopia has moved to a much more federal system of government since 1984. This means local officials have more autonomy to assess regional needs and mobilise resources more quickly to deal with hunger.
When I spoke with Bertukan Ali, by the grave of her son, she was carrying one of her other little boys in a sling on her back. He looked fit and strong.
Maybe he will survive this drought.

This is How Ethiopian Regjim Developing Our Country!!!

Ethiopia hit by worst drought in decades

The UN says about 8.2m people need emergency food aid in Ethiopia, nearly double the number six months ago.

Conflicts, floods and failed rains caused by El Nino have sparked a sharp rise in the number of people going hungry in parts of east Africa, especially in drought-hit Ethiopia where about 8.2 million people are in need of emergency food aid, the UN has warned.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Thursday that due to El Nino, a global weather pattern that is expected to last until early 2016, "food insecurity is forecast to worsen over the coming months, especially in Ethiopia".
In many parts of Ethiopia, hundreds of thousands of farmers have fallen victim to the hot winds originating in the Pacific, causing the worst drought to hit the country and the region in decades.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Omar Mohammed, whose sorghum harvest has been ruined, said: "Every plant is dead. We have nothing now." 
The farmer said that the well in his village dried up a few days ago because many people from surrounding areas had no choice but to use it.
Struggling to feed his family, he had to sell one of his three cows to buy enough food to give one meal a day to his children.
"We have nothing to eat now. We need food, water," Mohammed said, adding that he has received no help from aid agencies or the Ethiopian government.

Cattle herder Mohammed Fanni said 40 of his cows have died. He now has only five left.
"The cattle die first," he told Al Jazeera. "Now as the drought is getting worse goats and camels are beginning to die too."
The UN said about 8.2m people need emergency food aid in Ethiopia, nearly double the number compared to six months ago.

That figure could rise up to 15 million next year unless the international community stepped up with donations.
Approximately $100m have been given by international donors since October, but the UN said they could need at least five times that much in the next few months.
'Different situation'
The Ethiopian government said its emergency food programme is helping but it admitted it needs urgent assistance.
Aid agencies told Al Jazeera that malnutrition cases in the area were rising, but praised the government for what they said was its crisis management and fast reallocation of budget money.


A spokesman for the ministry of agriculture in the capital Addis Ababa told Al Jazeera this is a very different situation to the 1980s, when a drought compounded by political unrest developed into a famine and killed more than a million people.
"The government is trying hard to save the lives of its citizens and successfully reallocating money from its budget," Alemayehu Berhanu said.
"During the previous drought we lost a lot of lives and animals. Now, because of government action and progress, we, as a country, are more resilient."
Floods and conflicts
While some countries - including Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti - could see drier conditions, other nations, such as Kenya, Somalia and Uganda are at risk of floods.
More than 90,000 people in war-torn southern Somalia have already been hit by weeks of severe flooding, almost half of them forced from their homes, the UN said.
In South Sudan, where a nearly two-year long civil war rumbles on, about 40,000 people are already starving, with tens of thousands more on the brink of famine, the UN has said.
El Nino is triggered by a warming in sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. It can cause unusually heavy rains in some parts of the world and drought elsewhere.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Gaaffii fi Deebii Hayyuu Duree ABO Duraanii Obbo Galaasaa Dilboo Waliin ...

Thursday, November 12, 2015

The Ethiopian Regime Is Destabilizing the Horn of Africa Region

The Ethiopian Regime Is Destabilizing the Horn of Africa Region

The Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn claims Al-Shabab is diminishing with Ethiopian support to the Somali government. He also told BBC Africa editor, Mary Harper, that "Ethiopians are satisfied with the system of government in the country."

During the interview, PM Desalegn painted a very rosy picture of the situation in Ethiopia and its dealings with the region. The regime seems to be on a charm offensive with the Western media. According to Mary Harper, PM Desalegn requested for the interview, which was conducted impromptu. After listening to the interview, I wished Ms. Harper had scrutinized the PM a bit more on Eritrea and Somalia as she did with his domestic human rights violations. For example, the PM was never confronted on the important issue of the boundary demarcation with Eritrea. He freely pontificated on the issue of refugees without being challenged about the role of the Ethiopian regime in refugee production.
One can easily make a case that in fact Ethiopia is destabilizing the region through its interventions in Somalia and its insidious refusal to implement the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Ethiopia has chosen to blackmail Eritrea with impunity through a "no war, no peace" strategy assisted by successive U.S. administrations. As a result, Eritrean survival as a state is increasingly threatened, exacerbating the acute issue of refugee flows.
The Eritrean regime's response of indefinite conscription of its population into the military is having disastrous consequences. Eritrea is hemorrhaging and experiencing unsustainable brain drain. A whole generation is being wasted in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Sudan, and those who made it farther are suffering all the tragic consequences of life-in-exile. The Ethiopian regime, while claiming the moral high ground, appears to be enjoying humiliating Eritreans by every means available.
Mr. Girma Asmerom, who is the Eritrean envoy to the UN, dubiously claims that the reason for the exodus is economic and that the pull factor from Europe exerts a "pull factor" when it "freely" grants asylum to Eritreans. He also blames Eritrea's suffering on a conspiracy by Western countries to weaken the regime. It is true, as Mr. Asmerom also asserts, that many African countries in addition to Ethiopia are experiencing unprecedented migrations of their own; neverthelsss, the Eritrean exodus is numerically more alarming and qualitatively different from other migrations in Africa.
To dismiss it as motivated primariy by economics is to wallow in a dangerous self-serving denial. Indeed, there can be no doubt that a major cause of the refugee exodus is the indefinite military conscription by the Eritrean regime and by the loss of even basic freedoms for the people. The Eritrean government has declared a self-defeating war on the Eritrean people while deceptively affording the same Ethiopian government the opportunity to play the magnanimity game.
It is also true that the U.S. continues to reward the Ethiopian government despite its intransigence in the face of accusations of human rights abuses and other flagrant violations of international law. The U.S. wrongly and stubbornly assumes that Ethiopia is a stabilizing force for the region.
Faced with isolation from the world community as well as by UN sanctions and Ethiopian belligerence, the Eritrean regime appears to be looking to strengthen its alliances with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. There are reports that Eritrea is "making available...its land, territorial waters and airspace to conduct military operations" against the Houthis in Yemen in exchange for fuel and monetary compensation. About 400 Eritreans are also said to be embedded with troops from the UAE/Saudi campaign in the Yemeni civil war.
If true, this is a dramatic turnaround after the rumors that Eritrea was serving as an Iranian conduit for the transfer of weapons to the Houthis. It appears that the latent Ethiopian ambition to snatch and annex the port of Assab, its refusal to demarcate the border between the two countries, and the effectiveness of Ethiopian campaign to isolate the Eritrean regime may have driven it to entangle itself in the Yemeni conflict. The Yemeni conflict started out as a local civil war but is increasingly a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The Ethiopian regime has been able to get away with its belligerent policies partially because it has powerful friends within the Clinton and Obama administrations in the person of Dr. Susan Rice. Her influence is quite depressing for any self-respecting African: Dr. Rice actually advised "the Clinton White House...to avoid any public recognition that actual genocide was being committed [in Rwanda], because to do so would legally require the United States to take action."
According to Howard French, a keen observer of Africa, writing in The Atlantic and quoting Samantha Power, says that Rice has a "Cold War" approach to African politics, who supports African strong men whom she approves of -- regardless of their human rights track record and complete disregard for international lawSalem Solomon, writing an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times articulates the destructive role that Susan Rice has played with the Eritrea Ethiopia dispute.
Decisions by the likes of Susan Rice impact the lives of so many like we witness with the youth exodus from Eritrea. It should be noted that Ethiopia has a population approaching 100 million while Eritrea's population is approximately 5-6 million. I fear that increasing Ethiopian bravado over U.S. support may cause more states to collapse in the Horn of Africa.
U.S. military involvement in Africa is much deeper than is generally acknowledged. The U.S. has a base in Arba Minch, Ethiopia, which it uses to unleash drone operations in Somalia, in addition to camp Lemonnier in Djibouti.
The U.S. encouraged Ethiopian intervention in Somalia in 2006 with disastrous implications. Any one with a cursory understanding of the region knows that Ethiopian intervention only strengthened the extremists in Somalia, resulting in the emergence of Al-Shabab. Even as PM Desalegn was claiming in his interview that Al Shabab is "diminished," it struck with a suicide attack in Mogadishu against a well-fortified hotel which hosts foreign journalists and important Somali political and military figures. The violence shows no sign of abating. If anything, it has expanded into the neighboring countries of Kenya and Uganda.
Ethiopia and Somalia have a long history of mutual distrust and acrimony roughly similar to the history of India and Pakistan. Somalia has border dispute with both Ethiopia and Kenya whose roots are in colonial impositions. It would be just as cynical and foolish for Ethiopia to send troops to Somalia as for India to send troops to Waziristan intending to stabilize its relation with Pakistan.
Regarding democratic elections in Ethiopia, Susan Rice could not contain herself fromchuckling cynically about the regime's 100% claim of victory. How she could reconcile her sarcasm with her impassioned speech during the mourning for the late Prime Minster, Meles Zenawi, is puzzling. She called those who oppose Meles fools and idiotsAfter the violence and rigged election of 2005, hopes for any democratic transfer of power in the country have been dashed.
There are also questions raised on the sustainability of the much publicized double- digit economic 
growth of Ethiopia, despite the current dramatic makeover of Addis Ababa: the government seems oblivious to the fact that 80% of Ethiopians are peasants even asfamine now threatens 15 million Ethiopians. The impact on the country of the foreignland grab, with its environmental cost and human displacement and the destruction of the pastoralist life style, has received wide coverage. A fertile area the size of Belgium has been leased cheaply to Indian and Saudi investors in the name of development. Along with the environmental costs, the displacement of indigenous pastoralists is enormous.
Mary Harper in her report says that inequality gap in Ethiopia is one of the narrowest in the world. However, a quick search shows that inequality in Ethiopia is one of the highest in the world. Ethiopia's positioning in UN's Human Development Index (HDI) is 173rd of 187 countries for the 2013 data. Transparency index ranks Ethiopia 111th of 177 countries for corruption, "with a score of 33 on a scale where 100 means very clean and 0 means highly corrupt." The country suffers from high levels of bribery and those with access to state power act in brutally self-interested and exploitative ways. By most accounts, polarized ethnic divisions in the country have led to winner-take-all situations.
In an ideal scenario, the brotherly people of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti and Somalia, whose fates are intertwined by geography and history, need cooperation and trade between and within themselves based on mutual respect for basic human rights and due regard for the health of the environment. Increased militarization and fragmentation will only entrench existing cycles of violence, death, displacement, environmental degradation and famine. As it stands, the egoistic leaders are making the region dangerous and vulnerable to intensive neocolonialist extractive exploitation by the U.S., China, Canada, India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others.