Sunday, September 20, 2020
Saturday, September 19, 2020
#AbiyAhmedMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopia
Abiy Ahmed is a Security Threat!
=======
Abiy Ahmed is the number 1 security threat in this extremely volatile region of the Horn of Africa. Peace has long been suspended in the entire region ever since he came to power and drove Ethiopia into chaos. Ethiopia has truly gone from crisis to crisis and a deeper and multifaceted set of crises.
Everywhere, across the country, the level of insecurity has risen. In most parts of the country, people live under the shadow of:
a) extra-judicial killings;
b) massacre of civilians;
c) political assassinations;
d) tortures;
e) political rape;
f) arbitrary arrests;
g) mass detentions;
h) evictions; and
i) various other acts of state terror.
Societal militarization through arming of vigilante groups has risen. Urban violence is rampant. Lawlessness and banditry has become the norm in some of the regions.
Abiy goes to the extent of randomly authorizing soldiers to "serve themselves" by confiscating money from people if people are seen with an amount that is above the legal limit.
Land grab, illegal settlement, an outright scramble for farmers' land has been done before the watching eyes of officials who act as patrons to the criminals.
Virtually all the important opposition political leaders are in jail.
Selected media outlets are targeted for arbitrary persecution. OMN is a case in point.
In the last two years alone, as per a conservative estimaate of the dead, over 3000 persons have been killed, and countless people have been subjected to enforced disappearance.
Millions have been internally displaced.
Victims of natural disaster such as flood, wild locusts, drought, environmental pollution, the global pandemic, and other local epidemics have all been left unattended to and unassisted by the government.
Development projects have been stalled.
Foreign relations, and treaties thereof, have been terribly mismanaged.
Foreign interferences that has compromised the national security architecture and has exposed strategic economic, military, and geopolitical, interests to risk has also been witnessed.
Constitutional institutions and their procedures are utterly undermined.
The defense forces' constitutional responsibility is trivialized, and the army is threatened with the risk of being disbanded. They are publucly told that, unless they support Abiy's personal right of rule (with or wothout election), they will soon be replaced by his 'republican guards' and 'special forces'.
The Regional States' constitutional authority is usurped or severely undermined. Those states which insisted on self-rule (eg. Tigray) are threatened with war.
Each nation's sovereignty has been trampled upon and several times violently repressed.
Unconstitutional and unbridled use of power by the executive (treaty power, war power, emergency power, power over fiscal decisions, etc) has become the new normal.
The country's international reputation and standing is at its lowest ebb. Our neighbors and strategic allies cannot trust Ethiopia anymore.
The internal instability, much of which is caused single handedly by Abiy's political (and arguably psychological) insanity has thrown the country's peace and security into chaos. This instability--especially the ebb in trust in Ethiopia's leader--has now started to spill over to the countries in the region all of whom are currently unsure of how things unfold. The distant and not so distant superpowers who have a stake in the region are now openly looking for another reliable partner in the region.
Abiy is radiating peacelessness and insecurity to to the entire region. By default, he is exporting Ethiopia's instability.
Internally, the country and its peoples are going through hell.
Thankfully, though, it will end soon. In fact, it should end soon. And then, there will be a respite before hurrying on to start afresh.
A respite is nigh. የእፎይታ ጊዜ ቅርብ ነው።
And then, ... we will start again.
Yes, we will restore peace. We will free the oppressed. We will restore agency to the people.
We will thereby restore sanity to public offices, and dignity and integrity to public service.
And then, we will be "ready to run, to win, and to serve, in style"--again!
#Abiy_must_be_removed because
#Abiy_is_a_security_threat!
#Abiy_is_the_past!
#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s neo-Neftegna regime filed terrorism and other charges against 24 prominent Oromo opposition leaders and activists in one of the most outrageous & fraudulent legal proceedings in the country.
As I’ve been pointing out since Jawar and several others were arrested, this decision is entirely political and it is motivated by the the Prime Minister’s dictatorial desire to eliminate his formidable political opponents from Ethiopia’s political scene. The PM knows that his anomalous prosperity party which was wholly designed to consolidate his personal power has no hope of winning a democratic election and the only way he can realise his childhood dream of crowning himself the 7th King (as he repeatedly told us) is by disposing his powerful adversaries. That is elimination in “accordance with some prearranged rules”
This is not a “trial”. It is political repression through the weaponisation of the law and the court system. These proceedings have nothing to do with the rule of law or justice. And they do absolutely nothing to cure Ethiopia’s historic ills.
While the elimination of individuals who pose a critical electoral threat to the govt no doubt serves the personal interests of the showboat Prime Minister, it will haunt Ethiopia for decades to come.
Thursday, September 17, 2020
#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopia
They can try, as they have done hundreds of times, to destroy the OLF, but they never and never and never succeed. The OLF will be the winner at the end of the day when the Oromos have won their freedom which is the ultimate goal of the OLF fight!
Ms #SolianaShimelles was anti-OLF from the start and most importantly, she is motivated by #OromoPhobia even when she comments on Oromo issues. She has never been neutral as she would be as a member of the Ethiopian Electoral Board which should represent all political parties.
Since she was appointed by Abiy Ahmed without any approval from the other parties, she fulfills the mission given to her by Abiy to destroy the OLF. But she will be falling a million times and never succeeds in here lifetimes.
Last time she lied to VOA reporters when asked if Mr. Dowud submitted a letter to the board about legal action against those who violated OLF internal rules and opposed the OLF.
Contrary she endorsed the false allegations against the chairman of the OLF - Dawud Ibsa.
Here is proof that the letter was sent to the council while she lied to the media about it. Shame goes on her and on the board and it's just ridiculous to have such liars in that position. where is the dignity and responsibility for what they are meant to represent?
የምርጫ ቦርዷ ሶልያና ሽመልስ አልደረሰንም ብላ VOA Amharic ላይ ሽምጥጥ አድርጋ የካደችው ኦነግ ለምርጫ ቦርድ ያሳወቀበት ደብዳቤ::
ለታሪክ እና ለማረጃ ብቻ:
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
#AbiyMustGo#Ethiopia
OLF Press Statement
[VOL - September 13,2020] The Oromo Liberation Front passionately believes that sustainable and permanent solution to Ethiopia’s complex political problems could only be attained with an All-Inclusive democracy and participation of all political forces. To this effect, OLF had been working with various political forces including those in power of ruling the country and opposition groups to create a national consensus to solve the political crises in Ethiopia. Since, the OLF moved its leadership to the country on 15th September 2018 it committed itself to work with honesty and integrity for the success of the peace process that lead to inclusive true democracy.
Although OLF was not happy on how the transition to democracy in Ethiopia was handled by PM Abiy Ahmed’s government from the very beginning, we patiently dealt with the situations with the hope that it would be improved; but not without price. However, the Political reform started in 2018 have faced huge challenges both internally within the ruling party as well as externally with the opposition groups. The situations are getting worse from time to time and currently it reached at stage where everything is out of control leading the government to collapse.
Now there is very alarming instability and fractured political prospect in the country and the public have lost hope and trust from the ruling party. We observed a clear ‘’constitutional crisis” in the country and the party in power has fallen short of its initial promises and has been using the government organs responsible to protect the Constitution towards its own political benefits. Detaining leaders and members of opposition political parties and gross human rights violations is a day to day job of the Government security forces. Despite the atrocities, OLF and other opposition parties have continued to express their willingness to support the reform, individually as well as jointly.
In addition to our individual proposals, the OLF is involved in different fora of opposition parties to support the democratic transition. One of the fora was the Alliance for Multi-nation Federalism (Alliance) that aim to provide joint support to the transition and democratic process. In April 2020, this Alliance provided comprehensive recommendations to the government on the transitional process. The recommendations clearly set out how to continue with the reform towards political settlement based on consensus and spelled out how stable democratic governance could be formed through a step- by- step process.
The recommendations were drafted within the framework of the Ethiopian constitution and considered the fallacies of the change process and the behavior of the ruling party; the current instability and security issues; and the human rights violations. In general, we analyzed the challenges of the reform system in both directions (the ruling party and the oppositions) and proposed workable recommendation that will be implemented jointly by the ruling party and the opposition groups.
The proposed recommendations highlighted to have binding political convention that enables other political parties to take part and to ensure proper oversight of the change process in order to build genuine democracy and help create sustainable peace in the country and would ensure livelihood improvement of citizens in which the Alliance and its member organizations, as well as all other forces would play their part.
The proposed binding political convention include the establishment of:
1. Council of Foreign Relation to inspire domestic trust and gain international legitimacy.
2. Coordinated National Security Council for monitoring the implementation of the Security arrangements in regions.
3. Democratic Building Institution to protect the autonomy and authority of independent judiciary, electoral board and independent media that could hold the executives accountable.
4. A body that resolve conflict and disparity between State building and Nation building to create national consensus on resolving outstanding political problems.
5. A body that would monitor the implementation of the convention to limit the quest of any further extension to the election and set out appropriate election date.
We also indicated the implementation of the recommendations including the details of responsibilities, system, and mechanism by which these parties would operate. We believe implementing these proposed recommendations will help to build democracy and help create sustainable peace in the country. It also addresses the security issues in regional states among themselves as well as the disparity between the government and opposition parties and differences among the oppositions themselves as well as address issue of contradictory stand on “State-Building” and “Nation-Building.
Therefore, we strongly suggest that the Ethiopian government should reconsider these recommendations as we believe it will resolve the current widespread crises. Also, we would like to reiterate our willingness to play our part in genuine democratic process if stakeholders discharge their responsibilities. In this instance, we would like to appeal to the international community to take serious action to safe Ethiopia from constitutional crises and total chaos. Particularly, we strongly appeal to the African Union’s (AU), the UN bodies, EU, and other international community to urge the Ethiopian government to engage with negotiation with opposition parties and jointly set out a road map to all-inclusive democracy through power sharing transitional government that will prepare and implement free and fair elections.
We praise the African Union’s (AU) role in leading and promoting dialogue-centered approach to conflict prevention and resolution in many African countries to maintain peaceful and secure Africa. We believe that the current crises in Ethiopia demands, more than any other entity, serious attention from the AU. In accordance with the article 4(h) of the Constitutive Act of the AU the Union has a right to intervene in a member state to prevent grave violations of human rights.
The national and international evidence clearly shows the continuous gross violations of human rights are committed by Ethiopian Regime on Ethiopian civilians for the last 27 years and in unprecedented scale in the last two years. In addition, there are Organized and strong armed forces emerging in most regional states that threaten the general governance and bring about security crises throughout the country.
Given the current crises and fast-moving potential conflicts and threats, the AU must intervene and excel its responsibility sooner than later. Also we would like to stress that the current situation in Ethiopia not only disintegrate the second largest country in Africa but also one of the biggest impediments to achieve AU Aspiration 4 of Agenda 2063 which aspires for “A peaceful and secure Africa”. Moreover, being Finfinnee (Addis Ababa) is the seat of FDRE, capital city of Oromia and the seat of AU headquarters, the security of the AU office and safety of more than 2000 employees working there must be taken into account in line with current peace and instability issues Ethiopia and in particular in Oromia.
We realize the role of UN in averting crises in the world and would like the UN bodies including UN Security Council (UNSC), the UN Human Rights Council, and others play their part in averting the current crises in Ethiopia. Particularly, the UNSC who has primary responsibility, under the UN Charter, for the maintenance of international peace and security, should not give a blind eye when one of the second largest country in Africa is encountered with political, social, human rights and economic crises and eventually collapse.
We appreciate the leading role the EU is playing in promoting economic integration, peace, and stability in Ethiopia, whilst supporting the implementation of national reform agenda and forming diversified development cooperation with Ethiopia. However, the Political reform started in 2018 have faced huge challenges, miss managed by PM Abiy and collapsed. This will halt the EU partnership and all the EU ambitions to Ethiopia. So, we believe that the EU will intervene with its capacities to avert the huge political crises that its key partners in the region is facing now.
Therefore:
1. We call up on the AU to intervene into the crises in Ethiopia based on its constitutive right stated in article 4(h) and other supporting articles of the Union.
2. We call up on the UNSC to take appropriate measures in accordance with its obligations stated in Article 39 and 41 of the UN constitutive act as the threats to peace and security is clearly evidenced in Ethiopia. We also appeal to UNHRC to act accordingly to address gross human rights violations in Ethiopia.
3. We call upon the EU to give serious attention to the instability in Ethiopia, especially Oromia, as this is huge conflict of a century and immensely affect the peace and stability in the horn of Africa, and affect the diplomatic and development partnerships of European countries with Ethiopia.
4. We call upon all Political Parties in Ethiopia to seriously take our proposal and work with us to avert looming and eminent chaos.
We hereby also call upon Independent Oromo Political Forces and the General Oromo people to prepare for Transitional Government of Oromia to avert any form of political and Security crisis. The OLF will continue to consult stakeholders on this position at both levels of government.
Victory to the Masses!
Oromo Liberation Front
Finfinnee
September 13, 2020
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopia
#Horn24News
AMERICAN CITIZEN MISHA KIDNAPPED BY ETHIOPIAN SECURITY AGENTS
American Citizen Misha Chiri kidnapped by Oromia Police moments after he was freed on bail by an Addis Ababa court.
I was arrested and detained together with Misha early July and faced similar charges.
His whereabouts remain unknown.
I was similarly kidnapped in the same style after the same court freed me on bail. This illegal kidnappings usually take place after the federal police fail to produce evidence in court. The case is then taken over by another police force...this time probably the Oromia police...who then will take another one month "investigating" making sure that Misha remains in detention for as long as they wish. He will be facing the same same charges that the Federal police failed to prove only difference this time is that the prosecutor is Oromia police. When Oromia police fails to sustain in court Misha will be freed on bail again and then again Kidnapped by Addis Ababa to make sure he is detained for another month adding up to 3 months on detention.
That is the justice system in Ethiopia for you...the headquarters of African Union.
Monday, September 14, 2020
#abiyMustGo#Ethiopia
BREAKING:
Abiy Ahmed government in Ethiopia abruptly made public new Bank (Birr) Notes. If I’m not mistaken, it might go into the market soon or may be injected already?
1. No one has expected this. No public notices given, no public discussions, or no consultations.
2. Not sufficient time to prepare for the financial instability this might cause. 85% of the population live in rural area and it takes them days to travel to towns where Bank are located.
3. Private sectors who don’t have prior notices can be harmed by this abrupt decisions.
4. The process the Gov’t followed seems to encourage government corruption and money laundering.
It seems that the change in Birr notes was done in secret, possibly with high government and Bank Officials’ discreet knowledge of the note reform.
This will give them sufficient time to “clean” their dirt money they acquired via corruption over time.
Another financtjonal injustice! And financial corruption by Abiy Ahmed government
More on this to follow later!
Sunday, September 13, 2020
#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopia
The arrest and detention of Kjetil Tronvoll, a highly regarded and engaged scholar with a particular expertise on Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, will have a chilling effect on freedom of expression and academic inquiry.
Since the assassination of Haacaaluu Hundeessa, the Ethiopian state has returned to its default position - a police state - where security forces arrest critical opponents of the PM, weaponizing the rule of law and the court system, and deploying Orwellian doublespeak to confuse the masses. This incident highlights just how emboldened and intolerant this neo-Neftegna regime has become. It is intended to send the message that the state no longer cares about public opinion (domestic or international) and that it would not tolerate anyone second-guessing the PM's pastoral decision.
Saturday, September 12, 2020
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
#abiyMustGo#OromoProtest#Ethiopia
Tigrayans are exercising their right to vote in defiance of the federal government which postponed the national elections scheduled to take place last month (August). Tigrayans are exercising the most important political rights guaranteed by the constitution at a time when the rights of citizens in other regions have been indefinitely deferred by the ruling regime through a dubious constitutional machination.
The Property Party postponed the elections mainly because the leadership knew that the party faced an electoral wipe out if it were to go into an election months after its establishment. A weird and uncanny construct created to serve an individual's desire for unlimited power, the Prosperity Party needed time to prepare for this election. As a party with no social basis and does not reflect the existing social cleavages or political fault lines in Ethiopia, PP needed to first purge its formidable opponents (especially in Oromia), establish patronage structures across the entire country, and institute divide and rule strategies (within ethnic groups and across groups) before it could muster the courage of going into an election of any sort - even if undemocratic.
Whatever the federal government and the House of Federation say about this election, the defiance by a regional state of a federal government in this country is unprecedented and cannot be written off as an ephemeral non-event. It would set an important precedent for Ethiopia's federation going forward
The statements and declarations by the federal government would have no constitutional or legal effect as far as regional and local elections are concerned. It is possible that the PP cabal might say that the Tigray regional state is illegitimate and withhold federal subsidies if PP remains in power whenever that deferred election is held, but that too would be too costly for any federal government and the Ethiopian state. If this election is seen as legitimate and credible by the Tigrayan people, any future action by the federal government would be seen as an attack as a democratic decision of the Tigray people, and could threaten the break up of the Ethiopian state.
Tuesday, September 8, 2020
#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopia
This is happening in the country Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed leading.
#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopia
Salaams from Nairobi
Allow me to extend my gratitude to all that supported the #FreeYassinJuma campaign throughout out my 49 days incarceration....I am back to my hometown Nairobi trying to take one step at a time.....post-detention adjustment comes with challenges...both mentally and physically.....InShaAllah I will get over this with time through professional help and prayers both
The list of those who advocated for my release is endless (Please dont feel left out am still gathering a final list) others prefer to remain anonymous for the assistance they offered to my children and co-parent while I was detained.
Bloggers, Social Media influencers and Media Personalities
Campaign leaders Ebba Abbamurti Mohamed Hared Mohamed Farrakhan Willis Nicholas Muyoti
Dr.Henok G. Gabisa Rashid Ronald Henry Njuguna
Arap Doyo NL, Mariamm Abeidi Mariamm, Prezo Nazlin Umar for taking the fight for my release to the doorsteps of the Ethiopian Embassy and Hirmoge Daud, Al-Amin Kimathi State House Spokesperson Kanze Dena Radio Maisha's Ali Hassan, Amina Dayano Sirayon Abdihakeem Jabarti Carbeed ZamZam Hassan, Issa Haji Abdullahi Ahmed Asmali
Behind them was a brigade of my Facebook friends and followers.......an endless list of loyalists Dorothy Melichar , Anney Peace Kenyajuu Mamake Amin, Shunnee Abeid...... Batran Abdi wetu thanks for the support against all odds, Msichana wa Chief Hayati Mamake Amara
Hon. Aden Dualle for taking my case to the National Assembly.
Foreign Correspondents Association East Africa, Committee For The Protection of Journalist (CPJ) . Haki Afrika, BBC, Media Council of Kenya's Victor Bwire, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Kenya Union of Journalists, Tv and radio stations in Ethiopia and Kenya for keeping the story alive.
BBC, no media covered my story extensively and constantly like BBC ....respect to one Emmanuel Igunza Kinyaga), SABC (Coletta Wanjohi big up for the coverage , NMG's Daily Nation.
Last but not least Kenyan Ambassador to Ethiopia Amb. Catherine Mwangi, one consular official who wants to remain anonymous, Ministry of Foregn Affairs Nairobi.
Kindly alert me on the comments of anyone I may have forgotten....the list is to be updated
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)