TheNewsGuru

Tag: Ethiopia

  • Tigray-Ethiopia: Writing a bloody peace in hopelessness – By Owei Lakemfa

    Tigray-Ethiopia: Writing a bloody peace in hopelessness – By Owei Lakemfa

    Ethiopia, which along with Liberia were the only two African countries Europe was unable to colonise, has been bathed in blood many times in the last six decades until a bloody peace was written on November 2, 2022.

    A civil war with Eritrea which was then part of Ethiopia, exacerbated the 1983-85 Ethiopian Famine resulting in 1.4 million deaths. The continuous wars against the Amhara-backed Menghistu Haile Mariam regime which ended on May 28, 1991, saw a loose front of Eritrean, Tigrayan and Oromo rebels gain victory. However, the Eritreans, the senior partners, decided to leave the Ethiopian federation to establish a separate state.

    This left the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, TPLF as the strongest force in the country, and its leader, Meles Zenawi took over the leadership. This was the beginning of the crisis that led to the 2020 Civil War which in the last two years has claimed 700,000 to 800,000 lives. This war, which pitched Tigray against the central government, the Amhara Youths Militia and the Eritrean Defence Forces, was so ferocious that from September-October, 2022 alone, about 100,000 people were killed.

    It was this latest carnage, the unceasing siege on Tigray and the employment of starvation on the Tigrayans that forced a ceasefire brokered by an African Union, AU team led by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    To properly understand this carnage and peace process, it is important to first understand that three main nationalities; the majority Oromo, the Tigray that ruled until 2018 for 27 years, and the Ahmara that had presided for the ages, are fighting for the control of the country.

    The Amharic who constitute 30 per cent of the population have been the rulers from the days of the monarchy to the military rule which came to an end with Menghistu’s ouster. The minority Tigray who were given more of military duties, took over from the former and ruled as a dictatorship for 21 years under Meles Zenawi and by proxy, for another six years under Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, a Southern minority. Power finally passed on to the majority Oromo when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali assumed office on April 2, 2018.

    The Oromos did not fully accept Abiy even when he came from their lineage. Rather, they continued their opposition to the central government perhaps believing Abiy is another Tigrayan proxy.

    The Tigrayan elites who had ruled the country since 1991 did not seem to have realised that power had changed hands. So, they committed two serious blunders in 2020. First, in defiance of the central government, they held parliamentary elections which had been postponed across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then when this led to rumblings, the TPLF on November 3, 2020 carried out a pre-emptive strike against the national army command in the region.

    Perhaps the Tigrayan military had assumed the conflict would be between it and the Ethiopian military, but the Ahmaric militia joined, seizing Western Tigray, and the Republic of Eritrean military crossed the border to carry out brutal attacks on Tigray from the North West.

    So Tigray found itself attacked on multiple fronts with severe food and medicine shortages. The war in Tigray was like a crime of passion; two former allies: the Eritreans and Oromos joined their old Ahmaric adversaries to annihilate their former Tigrayan allies.

    Tigray which had in March made the lifting of the blockade against it, and unfettered trade, as conditions for peace talks, by September, was in no position to give conditions.

    Under the Pretoria Peace Treaty, the Ethiopian government and the Tigrayan rebels agreed to end all forms of hostilities, including acts of violence, sabotage, air strikes, and “hostile propaganda, rhetoric, and hate speech”. They also agreed not to collude with any external force hostile to either party. The external force meant is clearly the Eritrean military.

    In its hour of need, the Eritreans had been of great assistance to the Ethiopian government, and with no certainty that conflicts will not resume in future, it is unlikely that Ethiopia would want to jettison the Eritreans.

    Both sides also agreed that federal authority will be restored in Tigray, including control of federal institutions. This clearly, is a restoration of central authority over the Tigrayan region.

    The government also agreed to ensure that Tigray is represented in federal institutions, including parliament. This is vital to reintegration. Although the issue is whether the centre would trust the Tigrayans enough to let them, at least in the short term, return to sensitive posts.

    This leads to the issue of disarmament in which both parties recognise the Ethiopia National Defence Forces as the only military force allowed in the country.

    In implementing this, the TPLF which has dominated Tigray for decades, is for the first time since its February 18, 1975 establishment, to be fully disarmed including of its light weapons, not later than today, Friday, December 2, 2022.

    To complete the defeat of the Tigray region, TPLF fighters will enter a disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, DDR, programme. Additionally, the Ethiopian military will return to the Tigray regional capital, Mekelle to take control.

    Since the Tigrayan elections were held contrary to the instruction that they be postponed, in the eyes of the central government, there is no legitimate government in the region. Therefore, a new interim administration will be appointed to govern Tigray until elections are held at an unspecified date.

    The Federal Government also pledged to lift the tag of terrorism it had placed on the TPLF and begin a political dialogue with the group to resolve their differences.

    Both sides also agreed to protect civilians and uphold international humanitarian laws to which the country is a party. Aid is to start flowing into Tigray, essential services are to be restored while the government is to facilitate the return of those displaced by the war where the security situation allows. This might mean that areas seized by the Ahmaric may not be readily returned

    The agreement also provides for a Truth and Reconciliation body under a “transitional justice policy”.

    The peace agreement needs follow up talks and implementation steps. But it is unclear whether there will be good will on all sides or it is just an agreement to buy time. As it stands today, the elites of the three main nationalities, Amhara, Tigray, and now Oromo, have tasted power and may want to dominate others which would lead to future armed conflicts.

    If this type of mindset persists, hopelessness would rule the land and the lives lost in trying to reunite the country would have been sacrificed in vain. Africa, which has done quite well in the peace process, still has a lot of work in its hands.

  • Why Ethiopia suspended visa on arrival, new ways to apply – FG

    Why Ethiopia suspended visa on arrival, new ways to apply – FG

    The Federal Government says Ethiopia’s suspension of its “visa on arrival” to non-resident foreigners at all entry points is due to insecurity, especially regarding its current political situation.

    The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mrs Francisca Omayuli, said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

    The government, however, urged Nigerians intending to travel to Ethiopia to obtain appropriate entry visas at the country’s embassy or via an electronic visa (e-visa) through the country’s Immigration and Citizenship Service (ICS) portal at www.evisa.gov.et.

    “The suspension applies to nationals of all countries bearing Standard Passports, who seek entry into Ethiopia and not specifically targeted at Nigerians.

    “The Ethiopian authorities have explained that the measure is aimed at better border control of movement of persons into Ethiopia in view of the ongoing armed conflict in the Northern part of the country,” said Omayuli.

    She further explained that the measure was temporary, pending improvement in the security situation in the country, and not a replacement of Ethiopia’s open visa policy.

    She added that Nigerians transiting through Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to other destinations or those who intended to stop over would require valid entry visa to enable them access hotel facilities in the city.

    She said the temporary visa restriction came into effect on Sept. 29, and that the federal government would also liaise with the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and relevant airlines to ensure intending Nigerian travellers enroute Ethiopia were sensitised.

    “The general public is invited to take note of the new visa regime of the Federal Government of Ethiopia and be guided accordingly,” she added.

    Omayuli also expressed government’s concern over the Ethiopian government’s worry over the abuse of the country’s visa policy by some Nigerians.

    According to the Ethiopian authorities, some Nigerians who enter the country on tourist visas remain even after the expiration of their visas, engaging in unwholesome activities.

    “The activities of these few elements not only tarnish the image of the country, but limit opportunities for well-meaning Nigerians outside the country.

    “Such persons are enjoined to turn a new leaf and take advantage of the opportunity provided by the Ethiopian National Security Agencies to participate in the ongoing registration of undocumented migrants to avoid unpleasant situation,” Omayuli added.

  • Tigray Airstrike: respect the rights of civilians – UN

    Tigray Airstrike: respect the rights of civilians – UN

    The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, on Thursday, condemned the deadly airstrike on the Mai Aini refugee camp in Tigray, northern Ethiopia that left three refugees dead.

    Grandi reiterated UNHCR’s call for all parties to the conflict to “respect the rights of all civilians, including refugees”.

    According to him, UNHCR continues to gather and corroborate details on Wednesday’s attack that left three Eritrean refugees dead – two of them children – and four others injured.

    “Refugee settlements must always be protected in line with international legal obligations that apply to all who take up arms,” he said, offering his thoughts and deepest sympathies to the loved ones of those killed.

    Meanwhile, the wider humanitarian crisis that has wracked Ethiopia, since hostilities began between Government forces and fighters of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in November 2020, continues.

    Some 5.2 million people currently need help in the northern regions of Tigray, Amhara and Afar.

    Amidst allegations of widespread human rights abuses, thousands are feared killed as more than two million have been forced to flee their homes.

    And over the past few months, killings, looting and destruction of health centres and farming infrastructure, including irrigation systems that are vital to production, have caused humanitarian needs to surge.

    UN humanitarians report that the situation in the northern part of the country remains unpredictable and volatile.

    “In Tigray, the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, with tensions restricting the movement of humanitarian supplies along the only available route from Semera to Abala to Mekelle.

    “No trucks carrying humanitarian supplies have been able to enter Tigray since December 15,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists on Thursday in New York.

    Since July, 12, 2021, only 1,338 trucks have entered Tigray, which is less than 12 per cent of those required. Around 100 trucks must be admitted every day to meet the humanitarian need of people in Tigray.

    As of January 3, UN partners who have been distributing food in the region have only around 10,000 litres of fuel left, while at least 60,000 litres are needed to dispatch the limited food supplies that are currently available in Mekelle.

    “Several UN and non-Governmental organisations will be forced to cease operations if humanitarian supplies, fuel and cash are not delivered to Tigray very soon,” Dujarric warned.

    UN humanitarian staff have reported that people continue to be displaced, including from Afar, Amhara, and the Western Zone of Tigray.

    “People are also returning, along with those people needing food, water, sanitation and shelter,” said the UN Spokesperson.

    “Our partners continue to work with authorities to ensure that the returns are well planned, voluntary and dignified and that returnees have adequate support”.

    Meanwhile, despite challenges, aid organisations continue to provide critical assistance.

    In Amhara, more than 33,000 people received shelter and other aid during the past week, which Dujarric said brings the total number of people helped to 586,000.

    However, while food distribution continues across the north, it remains well below the require levels.

    “We urgently call on all parties to allow unimpeded and sustained access to people in Tigray, Amhara and Afar,”the UN official said.

  • COVID-19: Ethiopia reports 2,140 new cases

    COVID-19: Ethiopia reports 2,140 new cases

    Ethiopia registered 2,140 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 428,796 as of Monday evening, the country’s Health Ministry said.

    Meanwhile, the ministry reported 11 new related deaths and 1,490 recoveries from COVID-19, bringing the national death and recovery counts to 6,969 and 356,997 respectively.

    Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation, has so far reported the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the East Africa region.

    Amid its national push for vaccination, Ethiopia has administered 10,947,722 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, according to the ministry.

    Ethiopia is among the countries hardest hit by COVID-19 in Africa, following South Africa, Morocco and Tunisia.

  • Buhari returns to Abuja from Ethiopia

    Buhari returns to Abuja from Ethiopia

    President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to Abuja, the nation’s capital from Ethiopia.

    The presidential aircraft touched down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at about 1:30 pm on Tuesday.

    He was received by the Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari DSS DG, FCT minister, IG of police among other top officials.

    The President had spent three days in the East African country where he attended the inauguration of the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, for a second, five-year term in office on Monday in Addis Ababa.

    Buhari had earlier called for peace and stability in Ethiopia, amid the many challenges facing the East African country.

    He also assured the country’s leader that Nigeria would continue to support its unity and territorial integrity.

    According to Buhari, the outcome of the elections held in June is a reflection of the desire of the Ethiopian people for transformation through a free, fair, and credible electoral process.

  • AFCON qualifiers: Referee collapses in middle of football match

    AFCON qualifiers: Referee collapses in middle of football match

    On Tuesday, the match between Ivory Coast and Ethiopia was abandoned 10 minutes from time after the match referee collapsed.

    The match referee, a Ghanaian named Charles Bulu collapsed at the 80th minute of the Group K fixture in Abidjan.

    He was removed on a stretcher and taken to hospital, and the state of his condition was not immediately known.

    Originally chosen as the fourth official, Bulu handled the game because a fellow Ghanaian failed to arrive at the match venue.

    An Ivorian was drafted in as the fourth official, but Ethiopia questioned his neutrality as a replacement for Bulu and refused to continue playing.

  • Shifting power centres drive Ethiopia into endless wars – Owei Lakemfa

    By Owei Lakemfa.

    ETHIOPIA is today, bleeding. It bled yesterday. The day before, it bled. The challenge is how to stop its bleeding, stabilise, and hopefully, stop her from bleeding tomorrow. In the last four decades, it has been engaged in five quite bloody wars; two with Eritrea, one with Somalia over the Ogaden region and two civil wars. The Eritrean War of independence alone, went on for thirty years; September 1, 1961 to May 24, 1991.

    Historically, culturally and in terms of tradition and religious practices, no African country is greater than Ethiopia. The country is also one of the two sources of the great Nile River, and an origin of human civilisation. It is the only country in Africa that was never a colony, and has hosted the headquarters of the Organisation of African Union/African Union since its birth on May 25, 1963. Ethiopia, known in ancient times as Abyssinia provided refuge to the earliest Muslims when they faced annihilation in the Arab Peninsula. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) told the Muslims: “If you were to go to Abyssinia (it would be better for you), for the king will not tolerate injustice and it is a friendly country, until such time as Allah shall relieve you from your distress.”

    So in 615 AD, the first group of Muslims fled to the Christian Kingdom of Axum (part of modern Ethiopia) and were given shelter by King Ashama ibn Abjar. So Ethiopia was the first country in Africa where Islam took root. This was how Harar, in Eastern Ethiopia came to be regarded as the fourth holy city of Islam after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem.

    The story of the Ethiopian Queen Makeda of Sheba features in the sacred scripts of Judaism and Christianity in which she was reported as visiting King Solomon. Menelik which means “Son of a Wise Man” who founded the Ethiopian Empire in the 10th Century BC, claimed to be the product of the King Solomon – Queen of Sheba relationship.

    Also, the encounter between Evangelist Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch featured in the Acts of the Apostles (8: 26-39) where the former famously asked: “Do you understand what you are reading?” The Ethiopian Bible, which is about 800 years older than the King James Version is accepted as the oldest in human history.

    Ethiopia was never colonised mainly because its military, led on the battlefield by Queen Etege Tayitu Bitul, wife of Emperor Menelik II in March, 1896 defeated the 20,000 Italian army led by General Baratieri at the famous Battle of Adwa. Although Italy, under Benito Mussolini invaded Ethiopia from 1936-1941, it could neither conquer nor colonise the country.

    Despite such a rich and heroic past, Ethiopia easily slides into bloody and avoidable wars partly because those who hold the reins of power at any given time, refuse to run a federal system which is most suitable for a multinational country like Ethiopia with eighty different ethnic groups. Secondly, its attempt to colonise and annex Eritrea led to a long conflict. Thirdly, the country was run as a monarchy for centuries without allowing democratic rights.

    Fourthly, the military regimes that ran the country after Emperor Haile Selassie’s overthrow in 1974 were even more autocratic than the monarchs. Fifth, Meles Zenawi who led the coalition of guerrilla movements that removed the military also had an iron grip on power which his successor, Hailemariam Desalegn could not sustain partly because he was from a minority region and had no control over the quite influential army.

    Essentially, the Ethiopian political crises stems from its old and shifting power structures which has seen each new power centre imposing its will on others. Ironically, the majority Oromo never came to power until April 2, 2018 when incumbent Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali assumed office. The Ethiopian structure was such that the majority Oromo were suppressed, the Amhara (Amara) which is about half the Oromo population, was the ruling class which also imposed its language as the lingua franca, the Tigrayans who are some six per-cent of the population were the soldiers, the Eritreans were the colonised while other nationalities tried to find their level.

    Eritrea was in the 19th Century colonised by the Italians. Britain in 1941 during the Second World War seized it from the Italians. On December 2, 1950, the United Nations removed British control and handed Eritrea to Ethiopia as a trusteeship. Two year later, it passed Resolution 390 making Eritrea a self-governing entity within Ethiopia. The latter simply annexed it. That led to the 30-year war of Eritrean Independence. In 1974, a number of rebel Ethiopian groups including the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, TPLF, and the Oromo Liberation Front, OLF, joined the insurgency.

    After sixteen years and 1.4 million dead, the rebels defeated the Ethiopian military. Despite this victory, Eritrea refused to remain as part of Ethiopia, opting for independence. That left the minority TPLF as the strongest power in the country. With that, power in Ethiopia shifted from the Amhara ruling class to tiny Tigray. But this was not sustainable as the majority Oromos insisted on free elections and popular democracy which they were sure would take them to power. The Tigrayan hold on power began to loosen after Meles Zenawi died on August 20, 2012.

    The rise of Abiy led to a power shift to the majority Oromo. However, the TPLF continued to believe it had enough military strength to check the central government. In September 2020 it defiantly held parliamentary elections which the central government had postponed nationwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For inexplicable reasons, the TPLF in November 2020 attacked a federal military formation in the region. The Abiy government sent in federal troops which on November 28, overran the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle. Symbolically, that was where the Ethiopians defeated the Italian military 124 years ago.

    What happens next in Ethiopia will depend on how the central government wants to handle its victory in Tigray; will it be magnanimous in victory and pursue reconciliation or vengeance? What is clear to me is that every emergent power majority, creates its own power minorities. The best option for Ethiopia is to run a federal system in which all nationalities, no matter how big or small, will have the right to its own culture, history, language and a sense of belonging to a collective federation where all are born free with equal opportunities and rights. One of the best examples in this is the defunct Soviet Union where a person like Josef Stanlin from tiny Georgia had the right to lead that huge federation.

    I wish the leaders of restive countries like Ethiopia and Nigeria will spare time off their very busy schedules to read Stanlin on the National Question.

  • Suspected rebel group conducts ‘mass killing’ of civilians

    Suspected rebel group conducts ‘mass killing’ of civilians

    Local government officials on Monday said suspected armed rebels have conducted a mass killing of civilians in Ethiopia’s Oromia region.

    The massacre, which local authorities have called a “brutal terror attack” took place on Sunday evening in the Guliso area of West Wollega in the Oroma region.

    The regional government’s communication office and the Amhara Region Prosperity Party said in statements that armed men rounded up and executed civilians, mostly ethnic Amhara.

    “Women, children, the elderly and the youth were subjected to killings, abductions and injuries,’’the regional government’s statement read.

    Local authorities suspect the armed rebel group and ethno-nationalist movement Oromo Liberation Army to be behind the massacre, but no group claimed responsibility for the attack.

    An exact death toll also remained unknown on Monday, with local media reports speaking about “several dozen deaths.”

    Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Monday condemned the “heartbreaking” attack, saying he had deployed security forces to the area.

    “Ethiopia’s enemies are vowing either to rule the country or ruin it, and they are doing everything they can to achieve this. One of their tactics is to arm civilians and carry out barbaric attacks based on identity,” Abiy said in a statement.

    Ethnic Amhara are the second largest ethnic group after the Omoro in Ethiopia.

    The two groups have a longstanding conflict, with the Omoro accusing the Amhara of marginalising them.

  • 4,000 prisoners to be released over coronavirus fears

    4,000 prisoners to be released over coronavirus fears

    Ethiopia Attorney General Adanech Abebe said more than 4,000 prisoners are to be released in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus in prisons in the country.

    Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde has already signed an amnesty decree for 4,100 prisoners, among those benefiting from imprisonment of up to 3 years for minor offenses, as well as those who have one year left until the sentence expires. Pregnant women and mothers with babies will also be released.

    “Considering the nature of the transmission of the virus and to end the overcrowding in prisons, the cases of 4,011 prisoners have been discontinued and given pardons,” Adanech said, adding that the releases would begin Thursday.

    He added that prisoners convicted of murder won’t benefit from the amnesty.

    Released foreign nationals will be extradited to their countries.

    In Ethiopia, there are 12 confirmed cases of infection with COVID-19.

  • Photos: Ethiopia receives stolen priceless crown from the Netherlands

    Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali on Thursday received a priceless 18th-century crown that a former refugee had kept hidden in his apartment in the Netherlands for two decades.

    The handover took place at a ceremony in the capital, Addis Ababa, attended by Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation and Sirak Asfaw, the one-time refugee who is now a Dutch citizen.

    Asfaw fled Ethiopia during the late 1970s during the so-called “Red Terror” purges.

    He found the gilded crown — which features images of Christ and the Twelve Apostles — in 1998 in a suitcase left behind by a visitor.

    It had “disappeared” from the Holy Trinity Church in Cheleqot, a village in northern Ethiopia, the Dutch government said in a statement Thursday.

    Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch minister for foreign trade hands over the crown to PM Abiy Ahmed Ali in Addis

    Sirak assumed the crown had been stolen but worried it would “just disappear again” if he returned it to Ethiopia’s leaders, so he kept it in his apartment in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam, he told AFP last year.

    Only after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018 did Sirak feel comfortable handing it over.

    He then contacted Arthur Brand, a renowned Dutch art detective, who brought the story to the Dutch government’s attention.

    “We’re honoured and delighted to have been able to facilitate the rightful return,” Kaag, the Dutch minister, said in a statement Thursday.

    Abiy thanked the Dutch government for organising the artefact’s return, according to a report from state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate, which noted that the crown “is thought to be one of just 20 in existence”.

    By Thursday afternoon, the crown was on display at Ethiopia’s National Museum.