reporter issue 765

www.ethiopianreporter.com

|1The Reporter | Saturday |May 07, 2011

By AsrAt seyoum

The Ministry of Trades (MoT) new directive issued this week has placed a limit on the level of stock that coffee exporters can keep at their stores and instituted tough penalty on export contact defaulters in the business.

In spite of unprecedented international price surge in recent time, it was reported that the Ethiopian coffee export sector faced serious export contract execution and market credibility problems. According to the new coffee directive some of the exporters who wrongly speculate about higher future prices in the international market and obsessed with keeping excess stocks in their hands are to blame for the difficulty.

Hence, the ministry is set to punish those with

an excess storage of export grade coffee for which there is no contract commitment deposited at the National Bank of Ethiopia, while fulfillment of export contracts could also result in serious penalty.

When it comes to holding a large stock without an export contract for over two months, the directive stipulates a three-to two-month ban from the commodity trade floor depending on the volume. If an exporter was found storing 500 tons of coffee without legal shipment contract, a

three-month ban from trading at ECX would be imposed, while for a volume ranging

from 54 to 500 tons a two-month baw would enforced, the

directive states.

However, delay in settlement of export contracts or defaults are dealt with a harsher punishment. For an export commitment, which was not honored

in due time or else within a month that follows, the

penalty can go as high as half year ban from the ECX floor.

Nevertheless, the directive signed by Yacob Yala, Minister of State for Trade,

was not restricted to export coffee only. In fact, the byproduct in the preparation of export coffee, which is sold at the local market, could not be stored as well, according to the MoT. The ministry said that some of the exporters are reluctant to supply the residual coffee to local markets, thereby creating artificial shortage and high prices. Hence, the directive stipulates that export coffee byproduct should be redirected to local markets within a two-month period after the shipment is made. However, the directive explains, withholding the byproduct from local market will be punishable by law.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, addressing journalists in his recent press conference, has also dwelt on the issue (coffee export). In the last budget year, some of the coffee exporters who entered export contacts before acquiring it in the local market faced

Vol. XV No. 765 | May 07, 2011 | ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA www.ethiopianreporter.com Price 5.00 Birr

Ins

Ide

Ethiopias performance on the Global Integrity Report: 2010 continues a pattern of wild swings, both up and down, for the past several years ...

3

Investigators are combing through material found within the compound Documents found at Osama Bin Ladens Pakistan home suggest he was planning new attacks on the US, including on the 9/11 anniversary, US reports say....

4

A single mother of three, in her mid 30s, struggles to make it through the days...

It was on September 2008 that Biniam Mengesha, 37, came across Monarch Innovative ...

11 20 15

Gold explorer Stratex International (STI) has discovered bonanza gold grades at its wholly-owned Blackrock Project in the Afar Regional State....

28

Cont`d on pAge 5

Pho

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New coffee directive to restrict exporters stock

All outstanding contracts this year ordered to be settled in one month

This week saw the celebration of World Press Freedom Day around the world with a twist in the Ethiopian context. While there have reportedly been erratic un-blockages of otherwise restricted websites by the government, there were a whole other set of disputes between government officials who attempted to hijack; censor the event, and moderators, designated speakers and organizers of an event to commemorate the day. The drama ended when the latter finally opted to walk out, painting yet another, darker smear over the already grim picture of the state of freedom of expression in Ethiopia, write Haleta Yirga and Merga Yonas. Pictured from left, Mimi Sebhatu, Amare Aregawi, Biruk Kebede and Desta Tesfa. SEE THE FULL STORY ON PAGE 9.

GaG SaGa Government officials hijack; censor; stifle press freedom day celebration event

With a great deal of sacrifice to

protect the countrys coffee sector credibility,

the exports have made the shipments absorbing

heavy losses.

The Reporter | Saturday |May 07, 20112|


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mailR Letters to the editorYes! Regime change is necessary in Eritrea. Now, not tomorrow Dear Editor,

I want to thank Mr Sam Akaki for writing his article (AU must support ethiopia on Eritrea to keep NATO out of Africa). Unlike the Foreign Minister Hailemariam Desalegn who had announced that Ethiopia was for regime change in Eritrea without giving any reasons, Sam Akaki has now convinced me and millions of other Ethiopians who were either opposed to the idea or not sure, that there are several legitimate reasons to support our brothers in sisters in Eritrea. As neighbors who have lived together, married across the border and shared common cultures for centuries; Ethiopian people cannot sit back and watch as tens of thousands of young Eritrean lives are wasted when they are conscripted into the army or forced out of their country to die in the Sahara desert, or in the Mediterranean Sea. And we cannot sit back and merely watch as tens of thousands of Eritrean people are living in appalling condition in refugee camps in Tigray and Harrar. If it was possible, we could simply give them Ethiopian citizenships, as Emperor Haile Selassie did with people from Jamaica many years ago, and allow them to settle here. But how many Ethiopians who are facing unemployment, and looking for land would want to absorb tens of thousands of Eritreans into the country? And how many of Eritreans would accept to abandon their country to Isaisas Afewerki and become Ethiopians? As we all know, the old saying is that east or west home is best, and almost all Eritreans would prefer to go back to their mother land! Mr Akaki is also right to say that if the African Union does not support Ethiopia to intervene in Eritrea, NATO will. I am totally against NATO intervention in Africa after seeing what they are doing in Libya. They are supporting a totally unknown rebel group who the US have said are connected to the fundamentalist Islamic terrorists Al Qaeda! Osama Bin Laden may be dead, but the Al Qaeda will live on for years to come.

Therefore, if Ethiopia cannot afford to absorb of thousands of Eritreans as our citizens; and if the Eritreans will not accept to abandon their home country and become Ethiopian; and if we do not want NATO to intervene in Eritrea; then we must take the only option left and help the Eritreans go back to their country. And if anyone is worried that about setting a precedent, Mr Akaki has told you that in 1979, Tanzania had helped Ugandans to go home and overthrow Idi Amin. And what makes me really proud as a young Ethiopian was Mr Akakis revelation that it was Ethiopia that gave South Africans the priceless support that eventually dislodged the Apartheid regime. That was when our country gave God-like Nelson Mandela passport and military training.

Sam Akaki, thank you for proving the compelling reasons why Ethiopia should help our Eritrean brothers and sisters to go home, live in peace and rebuild their shattered country which is now isolated from the rest of the world. We should help them now, not tomorrow when it will be too late for many of them to regain what they have lost.

BruktawitGebrekidan

Bole

Addis Ababa

Seizing the new Nile opportunityEthiopia is a country which probably is unmatched in squandering the opportunities it gets. We are not going to lament this subject here. After all, the past is the past.

Another opportunity has presented itself to us now in the form of a perceptible change in Egypts long-held views over the Nile. We should seize this opportunity with both hands..

Ethiopia and Egypt collaborated during Gamal Abdel Nassers presidency to create the Organization of the African Unity (OAU0. Nassers successor, Anwar Sadat, however, adopted a belligerent tone in relation to the use of the Nile and even threatened to invade Ethiopia. Things did not improve during the rule of Hosin Mubarak, whose government actively thwarted any project Ethiopia planned on the Nile and generally plotted to destabilize Ethiopia.

The winds of change are beginning to blow in Egypt following the abdication of power by Mubarak and the formation of a transitional government in February.

The Egyptian delegation, which was on a visit here a few days ago, extended a hand of friendship to Ethiopia and expressed Egypts desire to strike a new spirit of cooperation with Ethiopia. The delegation announced two significant policy shifts on issues that had hitherto hampered the flourishing of the ties between the two countries. First, it affirmed that Egypt no longer recognizes the 1929 treaty it signed with Britain apportioning the volume of the waters of the Nile that it and Sudan, then under British colonialism, can use. Second, it acknowledged that Ethiopia has the right to build dams or carry out other development works on the Nile and that if the riparian states use the rivers water equitably within a cooperation framework, there is enough water to go around for everyone.

These shifts signal a positive development for Ethiopia and the other riparian states. It was the refusal of the governments of Egypt and Sudan to recognize the legitimacy of these issues which prompted them not to sign the Cooperation Framework Agreement (CFA) that the other six Nile Basin countries inked. Hopefully, this change in view will mean that the agreement will eventually be signed by all basin countries and see the light of day.

But this hope can be dashed if the government, which will come to power in Egypt after the elections that are due to be held in September, were to reject the position adopted by the transitional government and revert to the Mubark era policies. We just have to keep our fingers crossed.

We believe we should not hesitate to reciprocate the goodwill shown by the current Egyptian government for fear that the government to be formed anew after the September election is an unknown quantity which cannot be trusted. It is up to us to demonstrate to the new government that it is in the interest of both Ethiopia and Egypt to deepen their renewed and improving relations. The Ethiopian governments announcement at the beginning of this week that it has decided to defer the parliamentary ratification of CFA until the new government is sworn in is a commendable gesture in this regard.

At this juncture we feel it should be pointed out that it is not the specter of war that necessitates friendly relations with Egypt. The Nile Basin countries stand to benefit politically, economically and socially if they were to agree on the principle that each of them has the right to use the Nile equitably and execute various development projects in this context and spirit.

This is why we should not let this opportunity to slip though our fingers.

We also need to do our best to convince Sudan to change its position too and bring it on board. Its then that the CFA will have the full support of the Nile Basin states.

In view of all this, it is incumbent upon the Ethiopian government to think carefully about the statements it issues as well as the manner in which it handles relations with Egypt and Sudan. It must see to it that we forge friendly ties with not only the governments of these countries but their people as well.

It is not only Egypt and Sudan that monitor what Ethiopia says and does. The other riparian countries also closely follow our every action because they too are signatories of the CFA. Therefore, lets show them that we will stand by them and the commitments we have signed up to; lets make a friend of not only their governments but also of their peoples.

As we said at the beginning, we have squandered many an opportunity over the years. One of the major weaknesses of the ruling EPRDF is the fact that it has failed to take advantage of opportunities which are of its own making or were presented to it on a silver platter.

This mistake must never be repeated again! Never!

Lets make proper use of the conducive opportunity the shift in Egypts policy over the Nile presents to us before we miss it! It may never come again!


|3The Reporter | Saturday |May 07, 2011 HEADLINES

By Bruh yihunBelAy

Ethiopias performance on the Global Integrity Report: 2010 continues a pattern of wild swings, both up and down, for the past several years.

The report, a major investigative study of 36 countries, was released on Thursday by Global Integrity, an award-winning international nonprofit organization that tracks governance and corruption trends globally. It highlighted that in 2010 Ethiopia saw marked improvement, including in public access to government information, better enforcement of conflicts of interest safeguards across all three branches of government, the professionalism of the civil service, and the existence and effectiveness of transparency around political financing.

According to the report, the countrys supreme auditor also continued to perform well. Despite those bright spots, significant challenges remain. Ethiopias recent parliamentary elections led to 99.6 percent of the seats being won by the ruling party. Many voters, opposition parties, and external observers expressed disappointment with the diminishing political space in the country, most noticeable in a recent spate of restrictive laws enacted

that curtail civil society organizations, the press, and the right of public demonstration. Restrictions around the creation of news outlets remain a major challenge to promoting an independent media, while both the national ombudsman and law enforcement agency come under routine political pressure.

Moreover, the report stated that several countries experienced improvements in their anti-corruption safeguards. Argentina, Ethiopia, and Peru led the gainers in the 2010 sample of countries.

The report also revealed that internet censorship remains a challenge in many countries covered. Through its highly disaggregated data, Global Integrity is able to track the prevalence of online censorship, both the restrictions placed by government in accessing certain websites as well as explicit censorship by government authorities of content published online. In 2010, Yemen, Ethiopia, and Egypt were among the worst performing countries when it came to internet censorship.

The country assessments that comprise the Report offer among the most detailed, evidence-based evaluations of anti-corruption mechanisms available anywhere in the world, Global Integritys

Managing Director, Nathaniel Heller said. They provide policymakers, investors and citizens alike with the information to understand the governance challenges unique to each country and to take action. The Global Integrity Report: 2010 covers developed countries such as Canada and Italy as well as dozens of the worlds emerging markets and developing nations, from Albania to Cameroon to Tanzania. Rather than measure perceptions of corruption, the report assesses the accountability mechanisms and transparency measures in place (or not) to prevent corruption through more than 300 Integrity Indicators as well as journalistic reporting of corruption. Gaps in those safeguards suggest where corruption is more likely to occur.

The Global Integrity Report is the product of months of on-the-ground reporting and data gathering by a team of more than 150 in-country journalists and researchers who prepared close to a million words of text and more than 10,000 data points for their respective countries.

Global Integrity is a leading international non-profit organization that tracks governance and corruption trends around the world. Working with a network of more than 1,200 in-country journalists and researchers in more than 100 countries, we aim to shape and inform the debate around governance and anti-corruption reforms through in-depth diagnostic tools at the national, sub-national, and sector levels. Our information is regularly used by aid donors, civil society, investors, and governments alike to press for governance reforms in both the developed and developing world.

Ethiopias performance on governance, corruption continues a pattern of wild swings, report shows

By Wudineh ZeneBe

The executive board of the Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA) that convened last Friday, April 29, decided to sell the Harrar and Bedelle breweries to the Dutch beer giant Heineken for a total of 163.4 million dollars.

Heineken won the bid for Bedelle brewery submitting 85.6 million dollars against local South West development that offered 70 million dollars; Carlsberg, the Danish brewery that had offered 68 million and St. George beer makers France based BGI that had put up 64 million dollars. Harrar Brewery was sold for the remainder of the 78.2 million dollars. Currently, Bedelle and Harrar breweries have an annual production capacity of 300,000 hectoliters and 200,000 hectoliters respectively.

The board, convened by Government whip and member of council of ministers Aster Mamo had unanimously decided to sell the breweries to the Dutch giant. The board office of the board is expected to send a letter to Heineken and make the hand over official.

The Ethiopian government now has only the Meta

Abo Brewery in its custody and is looking for bidders that are willing to work with it in a joint venture.

Heineken is believed to be the third largest brewery in the world. A can of Heineken sells in Ethiopia starting from 20 birr.

Heineken International was founded in 1864 byGerard Adriaan HeinekeninAmsterdam. As of 2007, Heineken owns over 125 breweries in more than 70 countries and employs approximately 54,000 people. It brews and sells more than 170 international premium, regional, local and specialty beers, including Cruzcampo, Tiger Beer, ywiec, Starobrno, Zagorka, Birra Moretti, Ochota, Murphys, Star and Heineken Pilsener. Heineken claims that the original Heineken recipe has not changed since the beer was first produced nearly 150 years ago.

With an annual beer production of 139.2 million hectoliters, Heineken ranks as the third largest brewer in the world after Anheuser-Busch InBevandSABMiller, based on revenue. Heinekens Dutch breweries are located in Zoeterwoudes-Hertogenbosch and Wijlre. The original brewery in Amsterdam, closed in 1988, is preserved as a museum calledHeineken Experience.

Harrar, Bedelle Breweries to be sold to Heineken

Meta Abo awaits privatization

In 2010, Yemen, Ethiopia, and Egypt

were among the worst performing countries when it came to internet

censorship.

By A stAff reporter

Ethiopia has completed the installation of power transmission lines that stretch to Djibouti and Southern Sudan,

According to the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo), the projects were carried out with a multimillion dollar fund from the World Bank.

Following the commissioning of the lines and the completion of the dams currently under construction, Ethiopia has agreed to supply 200MW of generating capacity to Djibouti, 500MW to Kenya and 200MW to Sudan. In addition, it is considering a 26km undersea transmission cable for exporting power to Yemen.

Nurturing ambitions to become a regional power hub, Ethiopia is aiming to realize its hydropower potential. Ethiopia is endeavoring to fully harness its hydropower potential, which is estimated to be more than 45,000 megawatts, to alleviate poverty, Mehret Debebe, CEO of EEPCo said. Recently, Ethiopia launched the construction of a US$4.7bn hydropower project in the Nile basin near the border with Sudan. The Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will enable transmission lines to further link Ethiopias hydropower plants to the 12-nation Southern Africa Power Pool via Tanzania.

At present, the country generates 2000MW of power for domestic demand, but in the next 5-10 years, its power capacity could increase to as much as 10,000MW. As a result, electricity rather than coffee could prove to be Ethiopias biggest export in a decade.

Ethiopia to extend electricity to Djibouti



Bambis NewsJUST ARRIVED

MAXIMA: From GreeceA big variety of Gift Chocolate Boxes: Big and Small

Top quality and absolutely fresh!!

ON SALE

BAULI: From ItalyCOLOMBA: 500gr, 750gr and 1000grCOLOMBA: LIMONCE 750grCOLOMBA : PANNA E CHOCOLATO 750gr CROISSANT: Soffice Sfoglia, Sfizio al Chocolato, Cacao, Crema, Ciliegia, Albicocca

MINI CROISANT: Cacao, Albicocca, Crema 750gr

DORIA: Biscuits BUCANEVE 200gr ZOODORIA 350gr DORIFLOR 450gr AMARETTI 350grMELODIE 200gr DORI CREM: Vanilla and Coca ATENE 500gr

DORI CRACKERSDORIANO: Salted 150gr GUSTOSI: Olive 40grDORIANO: No sugar 150gr GUSTOSI: Pomodoro 40grDORIANO: 5 cereals 150gr JUMBONET: Prosicutto 40gr JUMBONETI: Salamino PiccanteION: From Greece

NUCREMA: Hazelnut Spread 200gr & 400grNASCO: Assorted filled CandiesOMAMY: Assorted Candies in bagsION: Cocoa Powder 125gr packetsION: Cooking Chocolate: Black and Milk

NOTICE: Bambis will be closed on 5th May 2011 for Ethiopian Patriots Day

Information: 011 - 5521105 or 5505584

By A stAff reporter

Gold explorer Stratex International (STI) has discovered bonanza gold grades at its wholly-owned Blackrock Project in the Afar Regional State.The AIM-listed company said the first samples of outcrop at the Black Water zone returned grades greater than 30 grams per ton of gold and wide zones of gold mineralization up to 25 meters in width.

Surface rock chip samples returned up to 60.4 g/t of gold from Nesbitt and 34.6 g/t from Oasis vein systems at Blackrock, while channel-chip sampling of the Theodore target returned best grades of 25 meters at 1.15 g/t gold and 15.2 meters at 1.28 g/t gold.

Executive director David Hall said the results further highlight the potential for major multiple gold mineralization at this exciting discovery where four key zones have been identified to date. This fact is of considerable significance for the economic potential of all the discoveries in Stratexs newly defined Afar epithermal province.

With this in mind, the companys exploration program at Blackrock will continue apace as it looks to advance the Stanley, Nesbitt, Oasis, Theodore and Baker targets to a drill ready status.

We also eagerly await the results from a 3,000 meters drill program at our Megenta gold project in Ethiopia , where we believe there is a potential to intersect, at depth,

similar multi-gram gold grades, he said.

In a statement on Wednesday, Stratex said the excellent exposure throughout the license should allow the Blackrock prospects to be fast-tracked through to drill-ready status before the end of the year.

In the meantime, drilling of the companys first project in the Afar, Megenta, will get underway shortly, funded by the joint venture partnership with Thani Ashanti, an AngloGold Ashanti alliance.

The Black Water zone, one of four defined to date over 15kms, was prioritized for detailed mapping and sampling following encouraging early-stage results and five substantial NW-SE-striking vein systems have now been identified - Stanley, Nesbitt, Oasis, Theodore and Baker (south-west to north-east). The Theodore vein system has been traced for a distance of 1,600 meters and the other systems are between 700 meters and 1,100 meters in length.

Stratex unearths bonanza gold grades in Afar By A stAff reporter

Constantly monitoring the volume of business trips originating in the territories of Europe and Asia, Ethiopian Airlines is looking to increase the focus on the field of business travel in its extensive African network. Given that traffic is expected to further increase in this segment, the airline is setting up a new project to develop the companys corporate sales.

As a result of the long-term and successful cooperation with AVIAREPS as its preferred General Sales Agent in thirteen countries in Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Hungary), Russia and South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela), Ethiopian Airlines recently appointed the international leading aviation and tourism management company as its sole partner for global corporate sales for the regions of Europe and Asia. With two Global

Account Managers being responsible for the development of the new segment in Europe and Asia, AVIAREPS will set up regional activities to attract global companies to the attractive flight offers from Ethiopias flag carrier and conclude air transport contracts on behalf of its client. Based in Germany and China, both Account Managers are in charge of establishing contacts with affiliated groups, global companies and travel agencies to promote Ethiopian Airlines special company fares.

Founded in 1945, Ethiopian Airlines operates from its base in Addis Ababa and serves a total of 60 international destinations of which 40 are located in Africa. Thanks to its extensive partner network, numerous feeder flights offered by affiliates such as Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines and British Midland connect to Ethiopian Airlines flights leaving from the major European hubs in London (United Kingdom), Paris (France), Brussels

Ethiopian extends cooperation with AVIAREPS to encompass new sales project

Cont`d on pAge 8

District police charged the owner of an Ethiopian caf with the illegal narcotic khat after investigators intercepted hundreds pounds of the leafy substance, which is used as a common stimulant in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

Police recovered more than 300 pounds of khat that had a street value of more than USD 95,000, said Lt. John Haines of the 4th Police District.

The bust removes a major drug traffic dealer from the neighborhood north of Sherman Circle, Haines said in a statement.

Etana Shuremu, owner of the Dire Dawa Deli & Caf, 5333 Georgia Ave. NW, has been charged with unlawful possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. No one answered the phone at the business Tuesday,

and Shuremus attorney, Sara Kopecki, said she could not comment.

According to court documents, the investigation began in February when a DC police officer got a tip from a confidential informant that boxes of khat were being shipped from overseas to the Ethiopian caf. Khat is a plant cultivated in Kenya and Ethiopia that is typically chewed like tobacco, though it can be smoked and sprinkled on food. In its fresh state, its classified as a Schedule I controlled substance under United States law, along with drugs like LSD, PCP and Ecstasy. The khat leaves typically start to break down within 48 hours and become a much lesser stimulant considered a Schedule IV drug.

Ethiopian caf owner arrested in major khat bust

Cont`d on pAge 5


|5The Reporter | Saturday |May 07, 2011 HEADLINES

The leafy substance was shipped in boxes labeled green tea from the United Kingdom, police said. The source told police that 15 to 20 boxes were delivered three or four times a week. The informant provided cardboard packaging that contained the green tea label with a clear plastic bag containing khat residue that had been found in the trash, documents said.

The officers learned that the business was about to receive a shipment of khat from two overseas locations in March. Investigators obtained a warrant to open five packages addressed to Shuremu at a US postal facility before the boxes were delivered to the Dire Dawa caf.

A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) lab confirmed that the packages contained 230 pounds of khat, and that the dealers had devised a method to keep the khat fresh, documents said. Police executed another warrant at the store and recovered an additional 80 pounds. (washingtonexaminer.com)

Ethiopian caf... Cont`d from page 04

Cont`d from page 01

difficulties to honor the contract commitments, said the PM. However, with a great deal of sacrifice to protect the countrys coffee sector credibility, the exports have made the shipments absorbing heavy losses. According to some of the players in the sector, a somewhat similar trend is being observed this year as well. The directive seems to confirm the matter as it was one of the sections that it has incorporated. With regard to coffee contracts signed in the current budget year, if the shipment schedule is until March, then it should be ferried to its destination by the end of June, at the latest, the directive instructed. Exporters with coffee storage levels in excess of agreements to be shipped in the remaining couple of months in the budget year as well, seems to faces the same fate.

Meanwhile, sesame seed, another commodity added to the ECX trading forum is also going through a similar trend. According to sources close to the matter, following up on its trend at the beginning of the

year, where the commodity has slipped in export performance, has not shown significant change. Half year sesame export performance was 20 percent lower compared to last years, a scenario partly attributed to the fact that it joined the ECX club recently. The minister also said at the time that the government keeping an eye on the sector and its recent hiccups in its export performance. According to sources, that is why high government officials, possibly in the presence of the PM himself, are scheduled to talk to sesame exporters and other stockholders.

New coffee...

By yemAne nAgish

The European Union delegation to Ethiopia expressed intentions to expand its political engagements in the country. The union also noted that it is assessing the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), the ambitious Plan of the Ethiopian government, and looking ways of supporting it.

On the occasion of the Europe Day to me marked on Monday, May 9, the Union held a press briefing yesterday at the headquarters of the delegation in Addis Ababa. Ambassador Xavier Marchal, delegation head in Ethiopia explained the Unions and its member states political and economic relationships with Ethiopia, focusing on his current meetings held with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Highlighting that the European Union is the most important partner of Ethiopia, Marchal said that donors support through over one billion Euro per year. He further asserted that the EU member states have discussed with Meles on issues ranging form current political environment of the country to the GTP.

As to the head, according to the three pillars of the bilateral relationships namely political, economic cooperation and trade they reached an agreement to expand the political engagements as per Art. 8 of the Cotonuo trade agreement, allowing the EU to pursue political dialogue with African Caribbean Partnership (ACP-EU) countries, including Ethiopia.

We will have a number of additional meetings [with the PM] to discus specific issues of interest in different domains, whether they are governmental or non-governmental, the head noted.

Comparing the Unions previous engagements with the government with the current one, Marchal noted Before, we used to meeting the PM twice a year. Now we will still be meeting, but we will also go into more details to specific meetings and specific actors.

He said the Union has plans to reach political and civil organizations unilaterally. Nevertheless, the official asserted that the union has no plans to engage in bringing the opposition the government together for political dialogues.

The head also said that the member states have discussed with Meles about the Plan. We openly discussed the GTP. It is legitimate. Of course we are all assessing it and looking forward to supporting it. And the EU is aiming at better communicating its response, he noted. But the official reserved to speak of any specific decisions reached by the Union and member donors to support the Plan.

Ambassador Koen Varvaek, head of the EU delegation to the African Union, on his part highlighted the importance of the relationship existing between the EU and AU. He acknowledged that Africa is following a similar process of integration that Europe has succeeded in attaining.

With regard to new agreements reached between the two Unions, he said We have discussed what we want to do together and particularly what Africa wants to do.

Recognizing what AU is doing to tackle African problems, he praised that Africa has been an important global player when speaking as one voice on issues like climate change, having Meles as its spokesperson and Making a difference.

EU to expand political engagements in Ethiopia

Nevertheless, the official asserted that the union has no plans to engage in

bringing the opposition the government together for political dialogues.



1. Introduction

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs (CCP), AIDS Resource Center (ARC) is seeking a qualified video production agency to produce a drama series of four 15 minute episodes which focuses on raising awareness among pregnant women and their partners on the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV.

Your agency is invited to participate in this bidding process and submit a response according to the guidelines outlined in this RFP. As a result of this bidding process, CCP/ARC intends to select a winning agency and develop a contract for the service of producing the serial drama.

2. Organizational Background

CCP/ARC is an organization that develops and implements culturally appropriate strategic HIV communication interventions and serves as a hub of information on HIV, STI and TB related issues for individuals and organizations working on HIV in Ethiopia.

Currently, CCP/ARC is implementing a program on the prevention of transmission of HIV from mother to child by increasing the awareness of this issue among pregnant women and their partners. The program aims to create awareness among different target groups in Ethiopia about the risks involved in not getting tested for HIV before and/or during pregnancy, and that it is possible for a mother to have a child that is HIV negative even if she herself tests positive for the virus. The campaign will also focus HIV+ pregnant women, pregnant women in general, male partners, health service providers, and the community at large to take action and encourage the utilization of ANC/PNC and PMTCT services in order to get the appropriate health care for both mother and child. The target audiences will be encouraged to undertake healthier behavior and build support mechanisms collectively to encourage pregnant women to seek healthcare services. The video serial drama will serve as an example of what services pregnant women should seek during pregnancy, how male partners play a significant role before and after child birth, and the significant challenges that couples may face among family members and their community when HIV is involved. . The video vignettes serve as a wake up call for target groups to realize that they are at risk and to take actions to reduce their risk. This video serial drama will be a vital component of the various materials produced for this campaign and will be broadcast in mass media settings.

3. BackgroundHIV prevalence in Ethiopia among persons aged 15-49, as estimated by the 2005 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS), is 1.4%. Prevalence is higher among women, 2%, than it is among men, 1%. Only 12% of pregnant women in the 2005 EDHS knew that special drugs can reduce the risk of MTCT during pregnancy. Vertical transmission of HIV from the mother to the child accounts for 90% of pediatric AIDS cases.1

The Ethiopian Government recently revised the national PMTCT guidelines to address the vital situation of mother to child transmission of HIV in Ethiopia; however, uptake of services remains low. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is supporting the Ethiopian Governments efforts to curb MTCT through the implementation of a strategic behavior change communication campaign by the Center for Communication Programs (CCP). Ethiopia is one of the Sub-Saharan countries where HIV/AIDS is a serious problem. According to the Guidelines for Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV in Ethiopia, in the Single Point HIV Prevalence Estimate (2007), it was calculated that the current national HIV-prevalence estimate is 2.3% among adults aged 15-49 and it is estimated that there are 977,394 Ethiopians living with HIV/AIDS (41% males, 59% females) and an estimated 75,420 HIV-positive pregnant women were anticipated in 2007. 1

The term PMTCT is the acronym for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV. The PMTCT programs are undertaken by the Government of Ethiopia in an effort to alleviate the impacts of the epidemic in the general population and in children in particular.1 PMTCT programs provide for both prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child and enrollment of infected pregnant women and their families into antiretroviral treatment. Pregnant women, who often go untested without knowing their status, are at risk of infecting their child with HIV. Many women, especially in the rural areas, do not have access to health care services, which consequently leads to the low uptake of antenatal care (ANC), PMTCT services, and post natal care (PNC) . Vertical transmission of the virus has become staggering issue in Ethiopia. The Government, with the assistance of local and international NGOs, has made a commitment and is taking measures to reduce mother to child transmission by implementing effective PMTCT programs nationally to provide care and support to HIV infected pregnant women, men, and families in general.

The National PMTCT Guidelines were developed through a collaborative effort involving stakeholders from a broad cross-section of organizations and individuals working in the field of PMTCT. The guidelines serve as a hands-on tool providing guidance on how to provide standardized and high-quality services for individuals working on PMTCT in different sectors.

In addition, parts of the national implementation strategies include: integration of PMTCT services with routine maternal and child and reproductive health services at all levels, strengthening capacity of the existing health system through implementing the health network model, referral system, expansion of PMTCT sites; promotion of PMTCT services, empowering PLWHA networks, and reducing stigma and discrimination through community-based mothers support groups. 1 The National Strategy for PMTCT has adopted the WHO/UNICEF/UNAIDS 4 pronged PMTCT strategy as a key entry point to HIV care. The 4 prongs are: 1) Primary prevention of HIV infection, 2) Prevention of unintended pregnancies among HIV infected women, 3) Prevention of HIV transmission from infected women to their infants, and 4) Treatment, care, and support of HIV infected women, their infants and families. 1

1 Guidelines for Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV in Ethiopia, FHAPCO, FMOH, July 2007.

4. Scope of Work

Services to be performed under the contract are anticipated to directly support CCP/ARC in the production of the video serial drama as the creative development (script writing) has already been undertaken. Services include casting, directing, filming, editing and other production operations.

Following are the specification for the video vignettes:

Job Assignment: Production of a series 4 episodes

Duration: 15 minutes each

Language: AmharicShooting Format: DVCAM

Specific tasks include:

- Hiring and compensating production and post production crew

- Identifying and compensating actors and actresses

- Securing locations for shooting, including obtaining any necessary permits

- Providing props and wardrobe changes

- Ensuring continuity between the scenes

- Providing all equipment to ensure excellent quality filming

- Filming all scenes as per the script including b-roll

- Editing all 4 episodes

- Producing a rough cut edit and up to (2) more rough cuts as needed

- Producing a final ready for broadcast master

Deliverables:

- (2) Master copies in MiniDV format (with options for viewing with English subtitles)

- (2) DVD review copies per rough draft

- All dailies

- HD Data format file of the final approved video

CopyrightAll Copyrights will be that of CCP/ARCs.

5. Requirements for Responding

Responding agencies must prepare and submit a technical proposal and a separate cost proposal. Agencies are encouraged to follow the requirements below for preparing their proposals.

5.1 Technical Proposal

Agencys Relevant Experience

Agencies are requested to provide a list of videos produced in the past. They are also encouraged to highlight past experience working in social issues, health and HIV/AIDS. (One page only)

Proposed Team and Management Plan/Structure

The agency is required to include a management plan and structure, in sufficient detail to allow reviewers to know how the account will be managed, who will be responsible for what, how the work will flow through the agency, and how the agency will interact with CCP/ARC as the client (One page only)

Proposed Production Team

The agency is also required to include the names of the proposed production team including the Director. A short write up of the professional experience and resumes of the key team members involved in the production is also required. In case of assigning a new Director, his/her resume will be required by CCP/ARC.

Illustrative Time Line

CCP/ARC expects production to begin in June 2011. Agencies should prepare a sample timeline of activities and the timing and sequencing of production of the video episodes. (One page only)

License and Tax RecordThe Agency is required to provide copies of the Agencys business license and most recent proof of tax records.

Request for Proposals (RFP)Selecting Production Agency for the Production of Serial Video Drama

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthCenter for Communication Programs (CCP)

AIDS Resource Center (ARC)



BUSINESSReporterTHE5.2 Cost ProposalAgencies are asked to provide a detailed cost estimate for each of the items listed and budget notes describing what the estimates are based on.

Please note: Agencies are encouraged to provide full, realistic, and competitive estimates and should avoid attempts to underestimate their costs. Costs and rates you present in the proposal will be used in negotiating the contract, should your agency be selected as the winning agency.

Cost estimates should include the following at minimum but may also include other costs and fees that are justifiable and applicable:

1) Producer/Director

2) Cameraperson

3) Sound Engineer

4) Other technical staff/crew

5) Cast/Artists

6) Production equipment hire

7) Location

8) Transport/accommodation

9) Post production

10) Contingency

11) Master copy(s)

12) Total cost

6. Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be judged by using the following point system:

Agencys Past Experience in similar projects 20 Points

Proposed Producer/Director 25 Points

Agencys production staff/team 10 Points

Approach (including timeline, casting method etc) 20 Points

Cost competitiveness 25 Points

TOTAL 100 Points

Reviewers will base their final selection on the best value offered by the winning agency. This is not necessarily the cheapest; rather the most technically qualified agency which offers its services at a competitive rate and cost structure.

7. Deadlines

Agencies will have two weeks to prepare and submit their written proposals. Proposals will be due by 5:00pm on Monday May 23rd, 2011. Agencies are asked deliver their proposals in hard and electronic copy. Hard copies should be dropped off at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center for Communication Programs/AIDS Resource Center Office in Dembel City Center Building, 10th Floor, Room 1007B. Soft copies should be sent to Sophia Nur at [email protected], Hanna Shoaamare at [email protected] and Rahel Bekele at [email protected] 5:00pm on May 23rd, 2011.

All agencies will be notified of the status of their bid and the final outcome. CCP/ARC will not share any technical/cost information or any other details of any agencys proposal with another agency.

Key dates and deadlines

Key dates and deadlines are highlighted below:

Issue Date of the RFP: Saturday May 7, 2011

Proposal Due Date:

o Hard copies need to be delivered before 5pm on May 23, 2011 at the CCP/ARC Admin Office at Dembel City Center, 10th Floor, Room 1007B; Bole Road, Addis Ababa

o Electronic copies of the entire proposal should be sent to [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Completion of proposal reviews and selection of candidates: May 30, 2011 Notification: June 6, 2011

By AsrAt seyoum

A month has passed since the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), by the power vested in it by Proclamation No. 591/2008, instructed the all private commercial banks to allocate 27 percent of their gross new loan advancement to purchase its bond-like-bills. Apart from the compulsory bond purchase, retroactive application of the directive beginning from July, 2010 caught local headlines for a couple of weeks. However, as far as the news headlines go, commentators say that the dust has begun to settle down; but for credit-parched small businesses it is just starting.

For small businessmen like Zelalem Sitotaw, early thirties, the real impact of the new system in the credit market is being greatly felt at present. For Zelalem, taking a bold move to start something of his own four years ago has been moderately rewarding, he feels. Operating a small printing business and an on-and-off computer accessories import ventures, opportunity to expand and grow is available except lack of financial resources, he says. Having being capped for almost three years, however, the news of the lift of the credit ceiling felt like my plans could finally start to roll, he remembers. To the contrary, recent visits to my bank, with which I had worked with for quite some time in handling my checking account, showed me that credit is still hard to come by.

Following the issuance of the directive in March, according to customers, banks were still internalizing the full essence and working out strategies around 27 percent-bond predicament, as some were referring to it at the time. Customers like Zelalem go to the extent of saying that the credit market has come to a virtual standstill in the anxiously awaited aftermath. However, the task of the banks do not seem to be easy, according to Belay Dejene (name has been changed), a relatively seasoned export market player. He told The Reporter that in spite of available funds ready to be lent, the banks appear to be in some sort of a dilemma. A dilemma to approve loan facilities of either short term in nature or longer ones, he shares.

As the primary objective (at least the official one) is to lure the private banking into financing long-term schemes, which the sector do not dare to get into in the past. This in fact was the argument that Yohannes Ayalew, vice governor of monetary stability and chief economist at NBE, echoed at press conference where the move was announced. He even went further to estimate aggregate long-term loans advanced by private banks to be not more than 10 percent of the overall portfolio. Though not as high as Yohannes estimates, independent researchers agree that short-term credit do weigh heavily on the total advancement. Access Researchs review of the sector, in 2010, estimated short term loan given out in the period to account for more than 60 percent of the aggregate. Although the review took up an issue against labeling short term loans to domestic trade activities as unproductive, its findings did show that 29 percent of the overall loan in the private banks is concentrated in this sector, while the figure for Cooperative Bank of Oromia (CBO) rise as high as 77 percent.

Yet for the likes of Zelalem, a local businessman,

loans have been unattainable then as they are now, while the case appears to be better for exporters, at least in the past, according to Belay. Nevertheless, export loan are also becoming scare in these private banks, Belay notes. He says that Export of primary commodities is not consistent throughout the year in Ethiopia as various factors like rainfall tend to render it seasonality. Hence, he went on explaining, an exporter needs not take long-term credits; rather

the facility is preferable to be of short span and frequently changing hand between the bank and the exporter. As the whole concept around export trade is to reach the international market, credit would be required to cover an intermediate shortfall before contract is completed and payment is made, he expounds on the issue. Unfortunately, after the directive such is not an attractive business to banks, it seems.

According to the NBEs orders every time a loan is

Quest for bank credit

The aftermath in the lending sector

Cont`d on pAge 8

Each time the money is recycled 27

percent will be taken out of the loanable fund thereby reducing the

possible interest income that could have

been gained, the bank man

states.



Cont`d from page 9

EyeEconomic

By Jeffrey d. sAChs

Cont`d from pAge 7

Cont`d from pAge 4

The world is drowning in corporate fraud, and the problems are probably greatest in rich countries those with supposedly good governance. Poor-country governments probably accept more bribes and commit more offenses, but it is rich countries that host the global companies that carry out the largest offenses. Money talks, and it is corrupting politics and markets all over the world.

Hardly a day passes without a new story of malfeasance. Every Wall Street firm has paid significant fines during the past decade for phony accounting, insider trading, securities fraud, Ponzi schemes, or outright embezzlement by CEOs. A massive insider-trading ring is currently on trial in New York, and has implicated some leading financial-industry figures. And it follows a series of fines paid by Americas biggest investment banks to settle charges of various securities violations.

There is, however, scant accountability. Two years after the biggest financial crisis in history, which was fueled by unscrupulous behavior by the biggest banks on Wall Street, not a single financial leader has faced jail. When companies are fined for malfeasance, their shareholders, not their CEOs and managers, pay the price. The fines are always a tiny fraction of the ill-gotten gains, implying to Wall Street that corrupt practices have a solid rate of return. Even today, the banking lobby runs roughshod over regulators and politicians.

Corruption pays in American politics as well. The current governor of Florida, Rick Scott, was CEO of a major health-care company known as Columbia/HCA. The company was charged with defrauding the United States government by overbilling for reimbursement, and eventually pled guilty to 14 felonies, paying a fine of USD 1.7 billion.

The FBIs investigation forced Scott out of his job. But, a decade after the companys guilty pleas, Scott is back, this time as a free-market Republican politician.

When Barack Obama wanted somebody to help with the bailout of the US automobile industry, he turned to a Wall Street fixer, Steven Rattner, even though Obama knew that Rattner was under investigation for giving kickbacks to government officials. After

Rattner finished his work at the White House, he settled the case with a fine of a few million dollars.

But why stop at governors or presidential advisers? Former Vice President Dick Cheney came to the White House after serving as CEO of Halliburton. During his tenure at Halliburton, the firm engaged in illegal bribery of Nigerian officials to enable the company to win access to that countrys oil fields access worth billions of dollars. When Nigerias government charged Halliburton with bribery, the company settled the case out of court, paying a fine of USD 35 million. Of course, there were no consequences whatsoever for Cheney. The news barely made a ripple in the US media.

Impunity is widespread indeed, most corporate crimes go un-noticed. The few that are noticed typically end with a slap on the wrist, with the company meaning its shareholders picking up a modest fine. The real culprits at the top of these companies rarely need to worry. Even when firms pay mega-fines, their CEOs remain. The shareholders are so dispersed and powerless that they exercise little control over the management.

The explosion of corruption in the US, Europe, China, India, Africa, Brazil, and beyond raises a host of challenging questions about its causes, and about how to control it now that it has reached epidemic proportions.

Corporate corruption is out of control for two main reasons. First, big companies are now multinational, while governments remain national. Big companies are so financially powerful that governments are afraid to take them on.

Second, companies are the major funders of political campaigns in places like the US, while politicians themselves are often part owners, or at least the silent beneficiaries of corporate profits. Roughly one-half of US Congressmen are millionaires, and many have close ties to companies even before they arrive in Congress.

As a result, politicians often look the other way when corporate behavior crosses the line. Even if governments try to enforce the law, companies have armies of lawyers to run circles around them. The result is a

culture of impunity, based on the well-proven expectation that corporate crime pays.

Given the close connections of wealth and power with the law, reining in corporate crime will be an enormous struggle. Fortunately, the rapid and pervasive flow of information nowadays could act as a kind of deterrent or disinfectant. Corruption thrives in the dark, yet more information than ever comes to light via email and blogs, as well as Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.

We will also need a new kind of politician leading a new kind of political campaign, one based on free online media rather than paid media. When politicians can emancipate themselves from corporate donations, they will regain the ability to control corporate abuses.

Moreover, we will need to light the dark corners of international finance, especially tax havens like the Cayman Islands and secretive Swiss banks. Tax evasion, kickbacks, illegal payments, bribes, and other illegal transactions flow through these accounts. The wealth, power, and illegality enabled by this hidden system are now so vast as to threaten the global economys legitimacy, especially at a time of unprecedented income inequality and large budget deficits, owing to governments inability politically and sometimes even operationally to impose taxes on the wealthy.

So the next time you hear about a corruption scandal in Africa or other poor region, ask where it started and who is doing the corrupting. Neither the US nor any other advanced country should be pointing the finger at poor countries, for it is often the most powerful global companies that have created the problem.

Eds Note: Jeffrey D. Sachs is Professor of Economics and Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. He is also Special Adviser to United Nations Secretary-General on the Millennium Development Goals. The article was provided to The Reporter by Project Syndicate the worlds pre-eminent source of original op-ed commentaries. With a unique collaboration of distinguished opinion makers from every corner of the globe Project Syndicateprovides incisive perspectives by those who are shaping politics, economics, science, and culture.

The global economys corporate crime wave

advanced a 27 percent bond purchase is mandatory, hence it will be costly to loan-short term high turnover credit, the like suited for exporters, confirms a bank professional who wanted to say anonymous. For instance, 100 million birr loan advance entails some 27 million birr bond purchases, which bears a 3 percent interest for the next five years, he explains. As a bank there are two scenarios to choose from, he said, assuming if it was a relatively shorter-term loan lets say that the bank can relend the money three times in one year. The total bond investment will add up to three times 27 percent of the 100 million birr, while the other choice would be to lend it only once for the whole year, he explains. Each time the money is recycled 27 percent will be taken out of the loanable fund thereby reducing the possible interest income that could have been gained, the bank man states. Not

to mention, three percent interest on the bond fall short of the 5 that banks pay to obtain it. However, he says, the fact that interest earning on the NBE-bills are non-taxable do count as one positive in the cost benefit analysis.

However, from where Belay is standing (as an exporter) recent tendency of banks to push longer term credits on the borrower is not fair. He told The Reporter that export loan of 100 million birr if acquired for the whole one year costs some 8.5 million (at 8.5 percent loan interest rate) as opposed to much a lower amount when utilized efficiently.

On the other hand, according to Zelalem, even long-term credits requests as well do face problems. He said that one of the primary roadblocks here is adequate collateral. Though, loan advancements for a relatively longer period of time seems to be the

banks favor, an issue of guarantee and collateral is holding them back, he says.

At the end of the day both Zelalem and Belay are not content with credit market. After the belated cap was released in March, a lot of business men including the above two were optimistic about the credit market as they had been very liquid in the cap days. With an aggregate deposit of 38.4 billion birr in 2010, the 12 private banks complained against the credit ceiling as they have plenty of liquidity at the time. However, after a month since the cap and new bond purchase system appeared in the scene, cash wrenched businesses still remain. Such is exhibited in both Zelalem and Belay. Even though different contexts, both do feel strained by the short term or long term dilemma that their banks are into. And both stresses that the credit market in the private banking industry is still not out of the woods.

Quest for...(Belgium), Frankfurt (Germany), Rome (Italy) and Stockholm (Sweden) to Addis Ababa.

With a total of 26 weekly services to China, Asia clearly forms one of the most important markets for Ethiopian Airlines and reaffirms the airlines leading position in connecting Africa and China. Starting in May 2011, Ethiopian Airlines will also be introducing daily non-stop flights from Addis Ababa to Beijing. With this new service passengers will save almost three hours on the current flight time and gain direct access to the African continent by linking the main hub in Ethiopia to various destinations in Africa such as Nairobi (Kenya), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Kigali (Rwanda), Khartoum (Sudan) and Djibouti (Somalia). With the launch of another new flight to Hangzhou also scheduled for May 2011, Ethiopian Airlines is increasing its Chinese hubs to four: Beijing, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Hangzhou.

Ethiopian extends...



By hAletA yirgA And mergA yonAs

But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it, so said John Stuart Mill, Englishp and economist.

Thus, the typical evil towards freedom of thought, opinion and expression are censoring the media, harassing, intimidating, jailing and killing of journalists. Various analysts who were/are on the same line with Mill also share his view by articulating further that a free press is a courageous venture which challenges assumptions, question authority, seek truth - no matter where that search lead-to the highest corridors of power or even if it leads to death.

When African journalists met in the capital of the newly independent state of Namibia in 1991, the social and political excitement that was sweeping much of the world in the wake of the Cold War had spread to the African Continent. Despite the toll taken by the multiple conflicts that ravaged the region in the previous decade, there was a sense of hope, expectation

and a strong will among civil society to grasp this moment to craft a new future.

The Windhoek Declaration - a statement of press freedom principles - was inspired by the then global move towards democratization and the recognition that an independent, pluralistic and unfettered media was indispensable for the future of every nation aspiring to democracy and social equity. It has been 20 years since this landmark declaration was produced by mainly newspaper journalists.

Whilst there have been important advances for press freedom on the African continent and elsewhere in the world, far too many restrictions continue to exist in the form of censorship, lack of access to public information and harassment, intimidation and outright attacks on journalists, which hinder press freedom and thwart economic and political development in far too many countries.

Indeed, several countries are generating a climate of fear for journalists which are lingering as monster impediment to carry out their profession to date. The World Press Freedom Day, which was celebrated on May 3, 2011with the theme of 21th Century Media:

New Frontiers, New Barriers, once again vowed to promote freedom of expression as the foundation for human dignity and the cornerstone of democracy.

Yet, what was sounded here in Ethiopia to celebrate the day was fully took the latter stated direction. It was Tuesday morning that over 160 people gathered at the Addis Ababa Hilton to observe the World Press Freedom Day, and to commemorate the 20-year journey of the private press in Ethiopia. The event was organized by the Horn of Africa Press Institute (HAPI), the Ethiopian Environmental Journalists Association (EEJA), and the Ethiopian National Journalists Union (ENJU). It is also backed by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in collaboration with the Office for Government Communications Affairs of Ethiopia (OGCA) under the theme 21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers as set by UNESCO. This international phenomenon was marred by hurdles in the Ethiopian scene from the get go, however.

According to various media and observers during the meeting, the drama began to unfold with the belated start of the activities one hour later. The delay was due

to discords that arose between the organizers (HAPI, EEJA and ENJU) and government representatives over the schedule of events the former had developed in cooperation with UNESCO. OGCA had given the organizers orders to alter the schedule one day prior to the day of the event, which the organizers deemed unjust, and hence rejected, for reasons of inadequate time and the connotation of censorship it carried, they had rationalized.

Subsequently, the event started with the original schedule, albeit late, with addresses by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and African Union Chairperson Jean Ping through their representatives. Also represented was OGCA. Bereket Simon, head of the office with a ministerial portfolio, through his deputy Shimeles Kemal, delivered a message. Following these messages, not swallowing the organizers move, government reps tried to distribute their own set of programs for the rundown of events they had in mind.

The completely different proceedings from what the schedule stipulated were befuddling to the participants of the event.

POLITICSReporterTHE

Cont`d on pAge 31

Ethiopia: Freedom of expression being suppressed



ConneCting the d ts

POLITICSReporterTHE

Cont`d on pAge 27

Commentary

The answer to the above question depends on whom you ask. If you ask the youths of Africa or any other region in the world to day, the answer would be a resounding yes! Thanks to the unhindered flow of global information via the Internet, Twitter, Face book, etc. the youths of today, who presently constitute not less than 60 percent of the populations of many countries, are well informed about current events of great magnitude such as political revolutions unfolding throughout the world and their fervor for change has risen beyond our expectations. For them, global revolution is in the air. On the contrary, if you ask the long-enthroned rulers and patriarchs of Africa or other leaders anywhere in the non-democratic world or citizens of functioning democracies, the answer would undoubtedly be in the negative for the obvious but different reasons. Whatever the case, it is quite untenable to compare the political, historical and cultural context of North Africa with sub-Saharan Africa and also to put the countries of the region in one basket and predict that the revolution virus will attack one country after another, in a sort of domino effect.

Be this as it may, the Encyclopedia of Revolutions and Revolutionaries chronicles more than a thousand cases of internally driven regime change from the ancient world to the present. Some were peaceful, with regimes dissolving without a trace. Others were not peaceful at all. Many ended in greater liberty, while some ended in terrible tyrannies. The difference, in case after case, is the intellectual climate that surrounded the great event [C.H. Rockewell: 2003]. Today, North African and Middle Eastern Arab countries are experiencing, one after another, internally driven regime change and the contagion is expected to spread quickly to the rest of Africa and elsewhere. Those autocratic and un-elected life-presidents and monarchs of North Africa and the broader Middle East who were for long propped up by the West (except perhaps Brother Gaddafi of Libya) and who have had exercised their sway unconstrained, without compromises and concessions, and who were not willing to share their authority and fortunes except with their family members and cronies, are now facing the fury of their masses and most of them finding themselves on the verge of eviction and dishonorable exit from power or even their earthly life. The specter of political revolution toward regime change is taken by some circles to pose a looming threat to the political elites of sub-Saharan Africa in particular and the non-democratic countries of the globe in general, today.

Yes, revolution is in the air and gradually gaining momentum. Like an ineluctable and irresistible airborne-virus, which infects anyone with whom it makes contact, the revolution bug seems to have bitten us all. Whether on the street or online, it seems people have little else to enthuse about. And Africans are no different. And all this, because of the events in North Africa and the Arab world in the last three months. From one part of the Arab world to the other, street protests have become de rigueur. The list seems endless; Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Algeria, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Iran, Bahrain, Syria, the gulf Emirates, Kingdom of Jordan, etc. In all these places, Arab citizens, having tired of the rule of un-elected and unaccountable despots, have taken to the streets to forcefully eject their oppressors. While the situation is still fluid in many of these countries, street protests have already seen off dictators in two countries,

Tunisia and Egypt. In a third, Libya, a virtual civil war, as some call it or the supreme ruler and his forces undertaking a ruthless campaign of massacring those Libyan masses opposed to his brutal regime as others argue, is in full swing and many thousands of innocent civilians have lost their lives. The killing fields are still active and there seems no end in sight for the carnage. And the international coalition hurriedly formed by the US, NATO bloc and some Arab countries, thanks to the UNSCs Resolution No. 1973 passed recently, is now raining cruise missiles and deadly weapons against Gaddafis forces in Libya under the guise of humanitarian intervention, to avert the indiscriminate massacre of civilians by their own rogue regime and brutal leader. What the outcome of all this will tantamount to, only time will tell.

Generally speaking, however, young Africans in the urban centers and institutions of higher learning, just like the Arab youths of North Africa and the Middle East, who have been glued to their internet, Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Websites, Television sets or Laptops, like people everywhere, as these events have unfolded, are wondering if a similar revolution could happen in sub-Saharan Africa, too. Naturally, for a great majority of Africans, especially the urban populations, are utterly dissatisfied with the current state of their countries: bad governance, non-respect of human and democratic rights, suppression of dissent and free press, narrow political space for opposition parties and all voices of dissent, rampant corruption, massive unemployment, intolerably high costs of living, very low incomes, heavy-handed approach of urban administrations toward the public, such as demolitions of shanty quarters and dwelling houses in the name of urban development but without any consent of the occupiers or the owners, etc. Yes, today, many sections of African populations are completely disgruntled and disenchanted with the periodic elections and wonder when it would be their turn

to cast off their oppressors. Today, everybody is talking about revolution. So topical has revolution become, that one topmost leader or lawmaker after another, from West Africa to the Horn of Africa, ahs found it necessary to reassure every visiting foreign delegation of the donor community (development partners), that the sort of regime-change that took place in Tunisia and Egypt, could not happen here. According to our leaders, this is because of the supposed legitimacy that the latter enjoy and claim to have gained from free, fir and credible periodic elections that take place every four or five years in Africa. In short, because of a well functioning and stable democracy in place, that is. Therein lays the concern. Do all African countries really have functional democracies wherein the peoples can hire or fire or peacefully change their leaders on a constitutionally or legally agreed upon time frame and on a contractual basis, and where citizens are ensured a robust rule of law, a vibrate free press, protection of human and democratic rights, an independent and accessible judiciary? Do people in these countries feel free from state terror, from fear and anxiety and thus enjoy individual physical safety and security? Do these Africans have genuinely elected and capable leaders who are free from corruption, discriminatory practices and other malpractices and who also are responsive to the needs and aspirations of the citizens? Sadly, there are presently a great majority of citizens whose responses to these questions would be in the negative in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa. It is indeed sad that, this is the stark African reality today except for a few countries that can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

An objective analysis of the events in the Arab world (North Africa and the Middle East) shows, though there were social and economic factors involved, the main reason for the recourse to street protests as a means of changing the leadership, was because constitutional option were non-existent. All these Arab countries suffer from a lack of functional democracy and a two-to-three-decade-long emergency law imposed upon them by their unchallengeable and unaccountable leaders. As a result, street protests represent the only viable option for these nations, for effecting leadership change. Democracy provides a safety-valve, however fragile it may be in most sub-Saharan African countries, in that it provides citizens an opportunity to take or try to take revenge on their oppressors, through periodic elections. Thus, voting can be cathartic. It gives you the opportunity to express your support or disapproval of your leaders or their policies, allowing you to vent your frustrations about the direction of your country, and its leadership. If Arabs had real democracy, they would have been able to change their leaders, without this entire blood-curdling catastrophe. And In am talking about real democracy here, where citizens votes count; not sham-democracy, where votes are rigged, voters intimidated, and elections stolen in broad daylight.

Democracy developed as an alternative to absolutism. It empowers citizens by giving them the right to vote. Through the vote, citizens have the power to hire-and-fire their political leaders as they deem fit. Elections were devised as a tool for sharing and rotating power, among different political parties, thus ensuring peace within the realm. When elections are routinely stolen, they become a weapon for monopolizing and perpetuating state power and political exclusion.

Is the North African-Type Revolution Inevitable in the Rest of Africa?By tesfAye hABisso

This weapon-ization perverts the ideal of democracy, taking us back to the alternate model of government: absolutism. Make no mistake about it, the wounds inflicted on the body-polity by vote-stealing are so grievous, they hark back to the violence and banditry of feudalism. When citizens are disenfranchised and denied the ability to choose their leaders, through election rigging, the resulting conditions approximate the feudal state. History teaches us that the only way to change the leadership in a feudal polity is through violence and bloodshed. You will recall the Russian and French revolutions where citizens rose up, and in an orgy of blood-letting, extirpated the members of the aristocracy. Denied constitutional means of change, the citizens of the Arab world had no choice but to confront tyranny with the only option available to them: REVOLUTION. The question for our esteemed lawmakers and rulers in the sub-Saharan region is this: Do our peoples in Africa today enjoy

Democracy provides a safety-valve, however

fragile it may be in most sub-Saharan African countries, in that it provides citizens an

opportunity to take or try to take revenge on

their oppressors, through periodic elections. Thus, voting can be cathartic.

Ever since the announcement of the death of Osama Bin Laden, the man who tops the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Most Wanted list with a tag of 25 million dollars, The Bystander has come to understand that the infamous terrorist has more than half a dozen names; Osama Bin Muhammad Bin Ladin, Shaykh Usama Bin Ladin, the Prince, the Emir, Abu Abdallah, Mujahid Shaykh, Hajj and last but not least; the Director. What was even more mind-blowing was the fact that Bin Laden had been living in the compound in Abbottabad, a town located some 60 kilometers from the capital Islamabad, for more than five years. And according the reports that are being released the house is everything but simple. The house, according to property experts, cost about quarter of a million dollars. The compounds thick, 15-feet-high walls were topped with three tiers of barbed wire, which set the compound apart from the rest of the neighborhood. The courtyard surrounding the house was considerably large. Reports indicate that only a handful of people lived inside the compound and so it is unclear what the large space was needed for. Meanwhile, census takers had seemingly not visited Bin Ladens property. Painted on the entrance gate to most homes in the neighborhood was a note in Urdu saying that census enumerators had visited over the past two months. But Bin Ladens house had no note. The households that participate in the census have to give details about everyone who lives there. The area Bin Laden lived in was built after the devastating earthquake that hit Pakistan in 2005 and killed more than 73,000 people. Still, The Bystander could not help but wonder how Bin Laden got the house in the first place and for that matter how do other well-known personalities get a hold of their summerhouses and estates. At that moment he recalled what the waitress once mentioned which is something of the sort. The president of Djibouti Ismal Omar Guelleh owns not one but two houses in Addis Ababa, the waitress revealed. According to the waiter, one is located around Lem Hotel while the other is located around Bole.



By tiBeBeselAssie tigABu

A single mother of three, in her mid 30s, struggles to make it through the days. The recent loss of her husband who was the love of her life has left her heart shattered. The pain, frustration and emptiness is clearly visible on her face when she talks about him. She reminisces about how strong she use to be but the loss has now crippled her and created a void in her heart that cant be filled by anything.

She exhausted all her finances on his treatments which provides her some comfort in knowing that she did all that she can to save him. One of the few things that still brings a smile on her face is the pleasant task of raising her children, but the mourning seems eternal and ready to explode when she is alone. Her eyes swell up with tears when she thinks of how she wasnt able to afford a tomb for him..

She recently got hired as a maid to help in her efforts to come up with the money By the grace of God in a year or two, I will be able to raise the money thats needed to have a tomb built for him, she declared..

The burial mark (tomb) seems like the only connection left with her deceased husband and she seems persistent to keep that relation in any way that she can.

Placing a burial mark at the site of the burial is a very common practice that dates back to ancient times and when ever archeologists explore those periods the first thing that they do is study the tombs, to find clues that reveal to them as to what kind of people lived there and the lifestyle they lived.

One of the great wonderers of the world, the Taj Mehal in India, was built by Shah Jahan to honor his third wife; it stands as a symbol of eternal love. The Egyptians erected magnificent pyramids to commemorate their pharos

Be it in the present or ancient time people have always had their own ways of dealing with their loved ones corpse. One method of disposal for a lack of a better word-might be unacceptable to others, for example cremations are common in the west but are considered taboo in Ethiopia. Since there is no isolated area for burial places religious places take the lions share when it comes to tombs.

Aba Woldemariam Alemu, a preiest, in Gulele subcity Kechene Medhanialem Church says that underground cemeteries were common in ancient Ethiopia and a group of ancient people are still buried there.

Even if Aba Woldemariam does not know how the marble tombs came about, he says its a recent phenomenon and is now common place in the orthodox Christian cemeteries.

Most of the tombs in Kechene Medhanialem Church are made of marbles or cements which are rectangle, decorated with flowers and angels holding swords, with short biography inscriptions engraved with a quote from the bible, most specifically from Psalms.

One of the inscriptions on the tombs of a16 year old named Eden Tesfahun, in Kechene Church, reads beachir tekechech (the short lived life) and there is a sign of a candle which symbolizes how her life was short lived.

Her father, Tesfahun Tilahun, still makes weekly visits to the cemetery where his child was buried 2 years ago to clean her grave. He doesnt hide the fact that this place provides him some comfort.

The engraved inscription are mostly taken from the bible and the most common quote in Kechene or Trinity Cathedral Church is Ruchayen chershalehu literally translated to I finished my journey.

There are also inscriptions which prophesize life after death and the existence of the soul and rejoicing with God.

Engineer Tadese Birhanu who is the head Engineer at Trinity Cathedral Church, has spent the past decade building tombs and designing engraved messages, he has had some strange requests apart from the common bible quotes. One request was for an engraving that read lemin fitit bilachihu tayugnalachihu, enem endenante sew neberku which translates to why do you stare at me? I was also a human being.

People who are alive also come to him and order a tombstone and choose designs of what they want when their time comes. To Tadesse, choosing a tomb engraving message while one is still alive, is a courageous acts that amaze him.

Trinity Cathedral Church is one of the first class grave yards. All the deceased popes are on one side and the patriots, especially the freedom fighters at the time of the Italian occupation, are located on the other. Inside lies the body of the last emperor of Ethiopia, Emperor Haileselassies (he also had the church built) Most of the patriots who are mentioned in the history books are also buried in there. Walking around the location of the patriots

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& Bits PiecesBy leyou tAmeru

Ed.s Note: Leyou Tameru is a graduate of Georgetown and Addis Ababa University Law schools, specializing in International Legal Studies. Born and raised in Addis Ababa, she seeks to understand the impact of economic, political and social issues on everyday lives. She can be reached at [email protected]

LIFESTYLEReporterTHE

This week, we celebrated a holiday that has long been observed in Ethiopia. When Ethiopia was under the rule of the Emperor Haile Selassie, this holiday used to be referred to as Liberation day. Then, during the time of the Derg it was renamed Patriots Day. And today, we call it Ethiopian Patriots Day. Despite the entire name changing, the 5th of May is a symbolic day in Ethiopian history. It is the day that the Italians entered Addis Ababa, and began the five year long occupation in 1935. It is also the day where Emperor Haile Selassie ousted the Italians in 1940 and raised the Ethiopian flag, thereby officially ending the occupation. Just in case you were wondering, the 5th of May commemorated in the day of liberation and not the beginning of the occupation.

Many countries celebrate a day of independence, be it independence from a colonizer or the downfall of an oppressive regime brought about by a new regime. In Ethiopia, we celebrate both. During the era of the Derg, September 12th was commemorated as the end of the monarchy. And now, May 27th is commemorated as the downfall of the Derg. Needless to say, but I will mention it just in case, that September 12th is no longer marked as a holiday on the calendar.

Ethiopia is not the only country celebrating two such holidays. There are other countries, among them Mexico. Coincidentally, Mexico also celebrates May 5th, a day more frequently referred to as Cinco to Mayo. It marks the day that the Mexicans won an important battle against the French, and ousted them from Mexico in 1862. Mexico also celebrates an independence day, on the 16th of September, marking their independence from the colonizers.

So my question is as follows, are liberation and independence objectives that will be achieved once and for all? Or do we feel the need to perpetually liberate ourselves from something or someone? Does that mean that the enemy no matter who or what it may be, is ever present? This may sound a bit like a paradox, but is that what keeps history going?

History has mostly, if not all the time, been told from the side of the victor. She/he who conquers and she/he who liberates is she/he who records and she/he tells the story. This could be part of the reason why liberation stories are so glorified and so heroic. Fur