Saturday, December 19, 2009

Some 74000 Africans cross Gulf of Aden to Yemen in record-breaking year

UNHCR (Press release)GENEVA, December 18 (UNHCR) More than 74,000 Africans, fleeing civil war, political instability, poverty, famine and drought in the Horn of Africa, crossed the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea on smugglers' boats and reached the shores of Yemen this year. This figure represents a staggering 50 per cent increase over last year's 50,000 arrivals, itself a record.

Refugees and migrants make the risky journey under harrowing conditions. In some cases they are beaten, raped, killed or just thrown overboard into the shark-infested waters. In addition, the overloaded and overcrowded boats sometimes capsize, resulting in the drowning of many onboard.

According to the latest UNHCR statistics, at least 309 people drowned or did not survive the trip this year. In 2008, some 590 people died during the crossing. Many more people went missing and are presumed dead. The mixed migration route through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea is presently the busiest and the deadliest one in the world.

Unlike in previous years, Somalis are no longer the majority of arrivals. With nearly 32,000 Somali arrivals this year their number remains steady in comparison to 2008. However, the number of Ethiopians reaching Yemen more than doubled this year to above 42,000.

While virtually all arriving Somalis approach the two, strategically positioned reception centres in Mayfaa and Ahwar, where they receive protection and assistance, only some 9,000 Ethiopians went to these venues this year. Most press on towards the Persian Gulf states in search of job opportunities.

The Mayfaa and Ahwar reception centres are open for all nationalities arriving in Yemen. In addition to provision of temporary shelter and assistance, they offer information and possibilities to apply for asylum and issue passes, valid for 10 days, for onward travel to Sana'a or Aden, where refugee status determination is carried out.

Upon arrival in Yemen, all Somali nationals are automatically recognized as refugees by the Yemeni authorities, under its group recognition policy. Presently, Yemen hosts some 150,000 Somali refugees. Other nationalities, including Ethiopians, wishing to apply for asylum are required to undergo the refugee status determination procedure conducted by UNHCR. The refugee agency believes some Ethiopian arrivals may have avoided approaching the reception centres, fearing arrest and detention as those who do not apply for asylum and are found to be in the country illegally could be deporte

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Ethiopia: Rebels spread jitters in oil region

By Barry Malone

JIJIGA, Ethiopia, Dec 11 (Reuters) - A rebel group's claims to have captured seven towns and killed 1,000 soldiers in fierce fighting in Ethiopia's oil-producing Ogaden region are almost certainly exaggerated, foreign aid workers in the region say.

Ethiopia's Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) staged bold raids on government positions last month and aid workers say several hundred people were probably killed on both sides.

But while the guerrillas are capable of causing instability in the vast Somali region, which includes the Ogaden and accounts for one-fifth of the country's landmass, experts say they cannot hold territory.

"They attacked more than twenty places," one aid worker, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters in Jijiga, the regional capital. "But they only managed to take one town, not seven." Continued...

Ethiopia: Meles insults US Ambassador

VOA
'The dominant role of ethnic Tigrayans in the government, especially in the military, has often been a contentious political issue in Ethiopia. Tigrayans make up about six percent of the population.

But Prime Minister Meles flatly rejected Ambassador Griffiths' assertions. "I have not heard of such idiocy. But if it has occurred, it proves the idiocy of the person in Geneva," he said. read more

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Canadian gets life sentence in Ethiopia


Canadian gets life sentence in EthiopistarPhoenex - Canada
He was found guilty last week on three charges related to membership of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). "The court has decided against the ...
read more

Friday, December 04, 2009

Ethiopia: International Crisis Group Warns of Potential for 'Violent ...

Voice of America
A new International Crisis Group report says Ethiopia is becoming an authoritarian one-party state, and warns that government policies there could lead to a violent eruption ahead of next year's elections. The report also faults the international community for downplaying Ethiopia's weak democracy.

The 40-page report by the International Crisis Group says that despite its democratic rhetoric, the government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is ...
read more

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Explosion Kills 2 and Wounds 25 in The Somali State of Puntland

Puntland State

Newstime Africa -Kent, England, uk
... assailants in a small car threw a hand grenade at a cinema in the city center where people mostly from Oromo community of Ethiopia were watching films. ...
read more

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

6 High Ranking Officers Defected

Reports reaching the Ogaden Online service desk confirm the defection of 6 high ranking military officers. It is reported that the recent ONLA commando attacks may have played a role in the defection of these high ranking officers. It is reported that all six officers who were based in military garrison in and around Addis Ababa were scheduled to be deployed in Ogaden.

File Photo/@ Ogaden Online The names and the ranks of the officers who defected are as follows. The spelling of the names may be incorrect:

1. Colonel Tadhase.
2. Captain Abraha.
3. Captain Haylo.
4. Second Lieutentant Da’ud.
5. Second Lieutenant Gabre.
6. Second Lieutenant Yohanas.

Aside from the defections, reliable sources indicate that there is an increased infighting within the Woyane militias following the spectacular losses in the hands of the ONLA commandoes in the many parts of Ogaden.
Ogaden Online

Saturday, November 28, 2009

OLF: Ethiopian Regime's Land Policy in Oromia

OLF Press Release

The Ethiopian regime has already sold hundreds of thousands of hectars of fertile agricultural land in Oromia to foreign investors. The regime has put the whole of the state of Oromia on the market. ... The Oromo people do not only farm the land but have a sacred traditional, spritual and cultural connection to their land. Read more

www.oromoliberationfront.info


Friday, November 27, 2009

US Congressman Criticizes Puntland For Abusive Behavior

US Congressman Donald Payne

Voice of America - USA
The ONLF is a separatist rebel group that has been fighting the Ethiopian ... gross human rights abuses in the Ogaden and cracking down on political opponents.
..read more

Negasso Gidada joins UDJ


BBC

Ethiopia's former President Negasso Gidada has joined an opposition party, as the country builds up to an election scheduled for next May.

Mr Negasso, in power between 1995 and 2001, said he had joined the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ) to try to unite Ethiopia. read more

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Oromo: Report on Treatment of Members of the OLF

By CORI
This CORI research analysis was commissioned by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Status Determination and Protection Information Section, Division of International Protection Services.

“In many cases, police and military officials also subjected these detainees to interrogation and torture aimed at forcing them to produce information about OLF activities that they did not possess. Police officials in Oromia often subject individuals who are arrested on suspicion of OLF-related activities to torture and other forms of mistreatment. In some cases torture is applied in the course of interrogations, while in other cases it is used as a form of punishment."To download the full report in PDF format, please click here.



Friday, November 20, 2009

Concern Over Aid To Ethiopia

Voice of America
So it is that US officials are concerned about recent reports that the Ethiopian government may be politicizing humanitarian assistance ahead of next year's ...America..read more

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Ethiopia denies rebels have captured seven towns


Reuters
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) said on Saturday it had taken the towns after almost a week of fierce fighting with the Ethiopian army. ...
read more

Related news:

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Ethiopian Oagaen rebels claim to have recaptured 7 towns


Earthtimes (press release) -London, UK
"The operation involved thousands of ONLF troops and resulted in two days of heavy fighting," the group said in a statement. "A significant number of Ethiopian troops have been killed and their military hardware captured or destroyed during this operation."

The ONFL said it seized the towns of Obolka, Hamaro, Higlaaley, Yucub, Galadiid, Boodhaano and Gunogabo and that its forces were "warmly welcomed" by the civilian populations....read more

Related news:

Thursday, November 12, 2009

FBI sued over Ethiopian jailing

BBC News

BBC News
An American man is suing the FBI for mistreatment while he was held in jail in Kenya and Ethiopia in 2007. Amir Meshal was arrested on the Kenyan border as ...
read more

Clear Oromo Kaayyoo In A Clear Mind Of Oromo Polity


By Fayyisa Oromia
In my opinions for the last many years, I personally tried to write on this and I did my best to clarify it in different ways. I used to write that our Kaayyoo is self-determination, Bilisummaa sabaa (freedom of people) and Walabummaa biyyaa (sovereignity/independence of Oromia), union of independent nations, sovereign state of Oromia in a united state of Africa, liberty for referedum, kilil-federation/Oromian autonomy as a mid-Kayyoo for Oromian independence the end-Kaayyoo...etc. Is this not clear? Am I not with clear mind regarding our destiny? Are Oromo elites, who do talk about these different concepts with clear mind for the clear Kaayyoo? I here just try to explain again what I already wrote regarding these concepts and I hope this can be helpfull for those still debating and discussing on our "differences in Kaayyoo"...read more

ONLF Says They Took Over Military Bases From Ethiopian Troops

The officials of the Ogaden Liberation Front ( ONLF) have Thursday said they took over the control of more Ethiopian military basses with fighting that continued in the Somali region under the Ethiopian control recently.

Abdukadir Hassan Hirmoge, the deputy chairman of ONLF guerrilas claimed victory over clashes between both sides which continued in the region in over the past days saying that they attacked more Ethiopian controlled areas like Dudume Adde and Dufan about 20 kilomitres to Dhagah-bur and many other military positions pointing out that they took over all the bases of the Ethiopians that they attacked in the recent fighting.

Mr. Hirmoge said that they also inflicted more casualties to the Ethiopian troops and captured more weapons from them adding that they will continue their fighting against the Ethiopians whom he accused commiting actions out of the humanity to the Somalis in the region like raping, robbing, killing and so on.

AllAfrica.com


Monday, November 09, 2009

A Crack Opens in the Ethiopian Landscape, Preparing the Way for a New Sea

Discover Magazine
Discover Magazine
In 2005, the earth cracked open in Ethiopia. Two volcanic eruptions shook the desert, and a 35-mile-long rift opened in the land, measuring 20 feet wide in ...
“The ocean’s formation is happening slowly, likely to take a few million years. It will stretch from the Afar depression (straddling Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti) down to Mozambique” [ABC News]. read more

Ethiopia: Journalists self-censor to avoid harassment from govt (Nebiat Gebissa)

Gadaa.com Oduu - News

Gadaa.com Oduu - News
EMF — Journalist Nebiat Gebissa, who worked at the state-owned Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency (ERTA), witnessed government's crackdown on the mass ...
read more

Oromo Gambling over the Politics of Disgruntled MassOpinion ...

By Coqorsa Liiban

Oromia is the forgotten nation, and Oromo are the forgotten people, and Oromo politicians are forgetting their cause and their people by turning to the politics of self consumption in which (ignorant) Oromo politicians are portraying each other as bitter arch foes, using their energy, time and scant resource to score a victory against each other, and giving uncompromised victory for the enemy of Oromo to strengthen its grip on power by exploiting differences within the Oromo camp and exploiting the desperateness of Oromo people at the pace and direction of its struggle. This chapter of fragmentation, disintegration, dismemberment, and disorientation, and vicious cycle of confusion prevalent in the Oromo politics is not only unabated, but it is contributing to the exasperation of the otherwise trifling issues that could be tackled through democratic culture of dialogue and inclusiveness to the extent of developing grave rift and division within the Oromo politics...read more

Gadaa.com

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Today in Oromo History: Qubee Adopted as the Official Alphabet for Afaan Oromo

By Leenjiso_Horo

On November 3, 1991, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) convened a meeting in Finfinne (Addis Ababa), where over 1,000 Oromo intellectuals met to decide the alphabet for Afaan Oromo. After many hours of debate, they decided unanimously to adopt the Latin alphabet, Qubee, the script for Afaan Oromo. Today, it’s 18 years to the date since the adoption of Qubee, and it has been the anchor of Oromummaa, the Oromo identity. The Oromo youth that comes of age since 1991 has been dubbed “the Qubee Generation.”...read more

Oromo Affairs


Sunday, November 01, 2009

Oromo refugees suffer in Sudan


(By Jalene Gemeda/VOA) Oromo are among the more than 230,000 refugees who have survived in 12 camps run by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in eastern Sudan. According to UNHCR, there are 180,000 Eritrean refugees in the country, and 17,000 Ethiopians. Some have lived there for 20 years, and some for more than 40 years...read more

Why is the West still feeding Ethiopia?

Reuters Blogs (blog)
It has now been 25 years since more than 1 million Ethiopians died as those of us lucky enough to live in the rich world sat transfixed in front of our ...
read more

Ethiopia: Member of the Ruling Party Defects and Exposes Human ...


Gadaa.com Oduu - News - Hillsboro,USA
Mr. Belete Etana Disasaa was the representative of the Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO), the Oromo branch of TPLF's EPRDF, from the Limu Kossa ...
read more

Band Aid saved me but 25 years later still hungry

The Sun

The Sun
Back then the camera slowly panned across the dustbowl Ethiopian plain revealing "the closest thing to hell on Earth. With wails of grief filling the air, ...
read more

Friday, October 30, 2009

Oromo Movement Of Tokkummaa For Bilisummaa

By Fayyis Oromia

A lot has been said and written about the importance of Tokkummaa Oromo (unity of Oromo people) in order to achieve our Kaayyoo (goal), which is the Bilisummaa (freedom) of Oromo people and the Walabummaa (soveregnity)of Oromia. Just for our objective understanding of what we are talking here, let me first put the operational definition of the two important terms (Tokkummaa and Bilisummaa). Tokkummaa is defined as the state of being undivided or unbroken completeness or totality with nothing wanting. It is the smallest whole numeral representation. It has the quality of being united into one. Unity can denote a combining of all the parts, elements and individuals into an effective whole. It is applicable to people and objects forming whole notions of any concept. It implies oneness when there is a certain usual division. Bilisummaa (liberation) may refer to either liberty, the condition in which an individual or a collective has the ability to act according to his/her or their own will like liberty of Oromo people or it may show the freeing of a place from a tyrannic regime, e.g. liberation of Oromia from Weyane's tyranny.
..read more
Source: www.oromiatimes.blogspot.com

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

OLF: Ejjennoo WBO Zoonii Kibba Oromiyaa Ilaalchisee Ibsa ABO


Tarkaanfiin WBO Zonii Kibbaa fudhates tattaaffi itti jirruu kan shafisiiu fi bu’a qabeessa taasisu jennee abdanna. Yaadaa tarkaanfataa isin dhiheesitan kana kanneen tokkuummaa Oromoo hin feene akka karaa irraa hin gufachiifnne qaroominaan tikfamuu qaba jenna. Dubbisuuf as xiqaa

Source: Oromo Liberation Front

Monday, October 12, 2009

Ethiopian army crosses into Somalia: residents

AFP

AFP
MOGADISHU — Several hundred Ethiopian soldiers crossed into neighbouring Somalia at the weekend, arresting dozens of villagers linked to hardline Islamists, ...
read more

Monday, October 05, 2009

Democracy And Development HinderedThe Oromo Factor | EMF


Fayyis Oromia -- Ethiopia, the ancient country with the history of 3000 years, is one of the least democratic and least developed countries in the world! ..read more

Friday, October 02, 2009

Eastern Africa: 4.4-million-year-old fossils from the Cush Land of Afar Region

www.latimes.com
The fossils described in the new studies were found 15 years ago in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia by a team led by paleoanthropologist Tim White of UC Berkeley. But White and his team have been relatively closemouthed about the fossils, and other researchers -- some of whom have accused him of hoarding the fossils for his own use -- have been eagerly awaiting more information.
Today, they are getting a surfeit: Eleven papers by 47 authors, and a similar number of short summaries prepared by each paper's authors.

The fossils were found in a layer of sediment sandwiched between two layers of volcanic ash, each dating from 4.4 million years ago -- indicating that the fossils are also of that age.

In addition to the nearly complete fossil specimen of the female primate, which investigators have dubbed Ardi, the team found more than 100 fossils from 36 other members of the same species..... read more

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Oromo Talents In Abesha Political Club

By Fayyis Oromia
Who ever did the fault, the fact was that the talented Poland citizens played against Poland for the advantage of Germany. This is a classical example to be used to explain the reason for condeminig the talented Oromo individuals who played a political game in the club of Abesha against Oromo. It is fact, which we can not deny, that these Oromo individuasls were talented, but they played in a wrong club. So the above mentioned politically talented Oromo individuals and a lot of others in history played for Abesha against Oromo. We know the main motive of the soccer players is the money they do earn, but what was and is the motive of the Oromo individuals who played or are still playing in wrong political club? The temporary financial gain or some other life advantage? If so, then it can be simply put as an opportunism. Otherwise who was responsible for their choice of the club for whom to play? Was it only the political conviction and the understanding they had at that time, for some didn't know the viability of Oromia and might have thought their only country was Ethiopia? Well the previous politicians in history might have thought so, what about those serving Abesha today? Is it may be for they are the mentally enslaved part of Oromo national body as a result of the subjugation we endured in the last about 150 years? Or who really did the fault so that our talents could serve Abesha political club instead of Oromo club? Mind you there were/are also a lot of Oromo talents serving Abesha club in other fields like in language, art and sport, for instance Tsegaye G/Medihin aka Debteraw, Be'alu Girma, Tilahun Gesese, Abebe Biqila, Kenenisa Bekele, Tedi Afro (Tewodros Kasahun Germaama)...etc....read more

Ethiopia: Many Oromos Face another Bundle of Charges (HRLHA)

Gadaa.com Oduu - News
Seventy three Oromo nationals, ages ranging between the youngest of 18 and the oldest of 80 years, have recently been taken to court with another list of the usual political charges, which included alleged conspiring along with OLF (the Oromo Liberation Front) – an armed opposition political organization working to remove the government from power. The details of this newest bundle of charges include, among others, allegedly conspiracy to overthrow the government by collaborating with the OLF fighters by guiding them and providing them with information as well as weapons and ammunition, and fighting alongside the OLF fighters and inflicting casualties, including death on members of the defense forces. ...read more

Oxfam launches East Africa appeal

BBC News

BBC News
Seven countries are affected, with half of those threatened living in Ethiopia. However, Ethiopian officials say that fewer people will actually need food ...
read more

Friday, September 25, 2009

Ethiopia arrests 480 opponents - coalition


Sudan Tribune - Sudan
Another member of the coalition Bulcha Demeksa-a leader of a party that represent Ethiopia's biggest ethnic group, Oromo, recently told reports that “they ...
read more

Stop Olola on Oromo and Start Lola Against Weyane!

Fayyis Oromia

Now is the time to come to our sense. Our people are suffering under a yoke of Weyane. It is time to be effective and get rid of this fascist regime. We need to empower Oromo people against this brutal oppressor. One way of empowering Oromo liberation camp is by stopping the olola each of our organizations do against each other.....read more
oromiatimes.blogspot.com

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

TPLF racks up $100-million/year from adoptions of Oromia/South children

This is a video from Australia’s ABC - a documentary that reveals the exploitation of helpless children and their parents under the regime of Meles Zenawi. The TPLF government racks up $100-million per year from international adoptions (which some call ‘harvesting‘) of children, mostly from the Oromia and the South States.

ABC - Since Angelina Jolie adopted her daughter Zahara in 2005, the number of Americans adopting Ethiopian children has quadrupled.

A pop-media obsession with celebrities adopting children in Africa has resulted in a queue of adopting foreigners dealing with opportunistic adoption agents in operating in a regulatory vaccuum. In Ethiopia - and beyond - its creating a heartbreaking mess.

International adoptions may seem like an ideal solution to the dreadful deprivation among the young in Ethiopia and the often impossible circumstances confronting parents trying to feed and raise their children.

The reality though, is far from ideal READ MORE.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Major Cattle Disease Eradicated in Ethiopia



16 September 2009

VOA

Rinderpest is an ancient viral disease that used to kill massive numbers of cattle in Africa, Asia, and Europe. In the late 19th century, a rinderpest epidemic wiped out an estimated 90 percent of Ethiopia's cattle and, as a result, approximately one-third of the human population died.

A vaccine developed in the 1960s eliminated the disease from much of the world. But the vaccine had to be kept cold. Researchers at Tufts University developed a heat-stable version that went into use in the 1990s...read more

Weyane’s Article 39: hidden agenda

Simply put, Weyane’s Article 39 is ye Amhara masferariya (scare tactics) and ye Oromo mataleya (deception tool) as well as ye Tegaru dibiq-tesfa (hidden agenda).

By Fayyis Oromia*

It is clear that the main promoter of Article 39 in the current Ethiopian Constitution is Weyane. The TPLF regime just did put the Article in a Constitution as a guarantee for an option to push for the independence of Tigrai in case it loses power in Finfinne palace. It was not planned to secure the right of other nations for this would be practically hindered as long as Weyane stayed in power. A very good example is the revision of the decision made by Somali Regional Parliament for self-determination in 1995, which caused the main conflict between ONLF and Weyane. Ogadenis were denied the right to self-determination, which is theoretically guaranteed as a constitutional right. Since then, the ONLF has to fight for the same self-determination, which it could have achieved in a peaceful way. This shows why the Article has no value for other oppressed nations other than for Tegarus. read more

Ethiopia rebels warn oil firms from restive Ogaden

AFP
In a statement, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) "strongly advises multinational corporations that Ogaden is a war zone"...
read more

Friday, September 11, 2009

OLF as a Trinity (one and three at a time)

By Fayyis Oromia*

This short essay is just presented as a clarification for Oromo foes, who are nowadays delighting by “perceiving” a division of the Oromo liberation vanguard into “three.” For their information, OLF has got, from the very beginning, only one Kaayyoo (goal), which


Leaders of OLF factions (left to right):

Dawud Ibsa, Dhugasa Bakako and Kemal Gelchu

also at the same time can be interpreted as three Kaayyoos Kaayyoo is self-determination, the three interpretations of the Kaayyoo are: in a pocket, and it plays with the three cards based on the objective reality it is in, aka according to the “here and now” of the situations. Even though the only one

-independence without a union,
-referendum on the issue: independence without a union Vs. independence within a union, and
-independence within a union.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Meles Zenawi: I am in the office until 2015


By ARGAW ASHINE, NMG correspondent in Addis Ababa Posted Wednesday, September 9 2009 at 10:08

In Summary

  • The 54 year-old former guerrilla leader was convinced by party members to stay on.
  • Ethiopia’s next general election is scheduled for June 2010.

Ethiopia Prime Minster Meles Zenawi will seek for a new five-year term, his ruling party announced on Tuesday.

Related Stories

The 54 year-old former guerrilla leader, who has been in power for 18 years, was convinced by party members to stay on.

The Ethiopian People Democratic Front (EPRDF) council underlined that the Ethiopian people and his party need Mr Zenawi for one more term at the end of a two day annual gathering.

“Meles is playing a key role in transforming Ethiopia....” EPRDF said in a statement.

In recent months, EPRDF’s chairman Zenawi has said he plans to go in 2010 if his party accept his resignation.

The council extensively debated on the issue and agreed to keep Mr Zenawi in office for one until 2015.

Ethiopia’s next general election is scheduled for June 2010.

The PM has increasingly become a champion of African in international forums.

However, at home he is accused of a poor human rights record and oppression against opposition politicians and the media.

Last week, Mr Zenawi was elected to represent Africa in the climate change talks in Denmark, Copenhagen.

Daily Nation

Friday, September 04, 2009

Ethiopian court sentences six to death for massacre


ADDIS ABABA, Sept 3 (Reuters ) - An Ethiopian court has sentenced six members of the Benishangule-Gumuz community to death and another 97 to prison terms for the massacre of Oromo villagers last year, a state agency reported on Thursday.

The 103 had been charged with genocide for killings that took place in May 2008. They gunned down or speared to death 93 members of the Oromo tribe, the state-run Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported.

The two groups have for centuries lived side by side in western Ethiopia.

"The court found guilty the 103 members of the Benishangule-Gumuz after examining documents, pictures and video tape evidence presented by the prosecution and after the accused failed to exercise their right to defence," ENA said.

Those that escaped the death sentence were handed prison terms ranging between six years to life imprisonment with hard labour. (Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse, editing by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura)
Reuters

Bulcha Demeksa: OFDM is for Ethiopia, not Oromia

Oromo Opposition leader Bulcha Demeksa said most Oromos do not want secession from Ethiopia and his party has declared its opposition to the corresponding Article 39 of the current government's constitution. He told Voice of America (VOA) that his OFDM party, various Oromo and other Ethiopian opposition groups inside the new FDD coalition have put this policy as one of their several uniting causes.

Bulcha added that Article 39 was enforced into the constitution by Meles Zenawi’s TPLF in the early 1990s without the wish of Oromo people and the political groups active during the transition period. He said Oromo people want democracy, equality and self-governance.

Bulcha said Oromo people see the secession ideology as being detrimental as it fuels more conflicts and as being impractical for Oromo people which he symbolized as being the “stem” of Ethiopia, since they are the majority in population with the most economic resources.

Bulcha said, while Oromo opposition parties are closing gaps with other opposition leaders inside FDD, his OFDM party still supports regional autonomy and ethnic federalism. His FDD-Medrek opposition organization has been the target of increasing government harassment in recent months.

The OFDM chairman and economist Bulcha has previously suggested that the OLF organization might have also dropped its secession ideology. Unlike OLF, the Eritrea-armed ONLF rebels in the Ogaden region reportedly seek secession from Ethiopia to establish "Greater Somalia."

The battle between the ONLF and the government has led to massive humanitarian crisis in all corners of the Ogaden region, comparable to the Darfur crisis, with western human rights groups blaming the Meles administration for war crimes and alleged human rights abuses.

jimmatimes.com

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

ETHIOPIA:Ethiopia: Thousands affected by acute watery diarrhoea


Photo: Contributor/IRIN
The use of contaminated water has contributed to an acute watery diarrhoea outbreak in Ethiopia (file photo)
ADDIS ABABA, 1 September 2009 (IRIN) - Ethiopian health authorities have dedicated three hospitals in the capital Addis Ababa to patients suffering from acute watery diarrhoea (AWD), according to a health official.

Thousands of people have been infected and 34 killed by the outbreak, says the Health Ministry. Ahmed Imano, head of public relations in the ministry, said there were fears it could escalate with the rains.

"If the people do not take extra care, the number of patients will increase and the outbreak will escalate," Ahmed told IRIN on 1 September. "The public should treat water before use."

The hospitals - Zweditu, Ras Desta and Yekatit - have set up tents to accommodate patients. So far, about 5,700 cases have been reported across the country, including 4,200 in the capital, over the past two weeks.

Some 27 died in 31 woredas (districts) outside Addis Ababa. "The fatality rate in Addis Ababa is 0.2 percent," Ahmed added. read more

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Ethiopia troops enter strategic Somali town-locals


Reuters
By Mohamed Ahmed MOGADISHU, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Ethiopian troops in heavily armoured vehicles crossed into central Somalia on Saturday, witnesses said, ...
read more