Month: February 2016
- Africa
News: Addis Abeba and its surroundings hit by massive taxi drivers’ strike
Mahlet Fasil Taxi drivers in Addis Abeba and its surroundings are striking as of this morning against a new traffic regulation which started to be implemented as of Monday 22 February. In 2009 the Addis Abeba City Council favorably voted to ratify the new traffic regulation, Road Transport and Traffic Control Regulation. Following the 2009 ratification of the…
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Protest crackdowns: Beyond the body count
Mahlet Fasil & Kalkidan Yibeltal Ambo and Adaba What is now widely acknowledged as the ‘Oromo protests’ started in early November 2014 in Ginchi town, about 80km west of the capital Addis Abeba. It was pioneered by a small group of community members who protested against a planned take-over by the government of a plot of land –…
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Land Grabbing: Ugandan farmers call on UN to sever ties with Bidco Africa
Lake Victoria farmers cite Bidco land-grabbing, environmental destruction and human rights violations The Bugala Farmers Association has called on the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to sever its ties with Bidco Africa, a Kenya-based edible oil producer accused of land-grabbing, human rights violations and environmental disasters in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Over 100 farmers lost their land to Bidco…
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Forty per cent don’t access education in a language they understand
A new paper by UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM Report) reports that 40% does not access education in a language they understand. The policy paper, ‘If you don’t understand, how can you learn?’ released for International Mother Language Day (21 February), argues that being taught in a language other than their own can negatively impact children’s learning, especially for…
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Meta Abo Brewery appoints new Managing Director
Magunda succeeds Francis Agbonlahor, now Managing Director, Guinness Ghana Breweries Meta Abo Brewery S.C., a Diageo company, has appointed Baker Magunda as the new Managing Director, taking over from Francis Agbonlahor, who is now the Managing Director for Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited. According to a press statement from Meta Abo Brewery S.C., Mr. Magunda comes to Meta with…
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Oromo Protests: Dozens die in West Aris protests; situation “extremely volatile” – police officer
Four federal and two local police among the dead Mahlet Fasil What started as a “minor confrontation” between groups of civilians and federal security forces in West Arsi zone of the Oromiya regional state on Friday Feb. 12th has degenerated into an “extremely volatile situation”, a police officer from Shashemene town told Addis Standard by phone. The…
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Living dirt poor in the midst of glamour
Kalkidan Yibeltal The latest report assessing Ethiopia’s progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) released in October 2015 commended Ethiopia for being on track to attain five of the eight targets while achieving its target of reducing child mortality by two thirds ahead of time. However the progress report, the fifth since the MDG was first announced in…
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Editorial: Ethiopia should stop killing, maiming and incarcerating its people’s question
It is happening again, sadly. The government in Ethiopia is back to its signature of killing, maiming and jailing its own people because they are exercising their chance of rejecting state excesses using the only means available: taking to the streets to protest. Ethiopia is a country that has effectively obliterated several channels that normally help foster a healthy communication…
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Why Oromo Protests isn’t just a protest against a ‘Master Plan’?
In mid-April 2014 senior officials from the Oromiya Special Zone were the first ones to have publically resisted the Addis Abeba and Surrounding Oromiya Special Zone Integrated Development Plan (AASOSZIDP), popularly known by its misnomer ‘Master Plan’. Subsequently hundreds of thousands of university students and residents in various cities of the Oromiya Regional State took to the streets to protest…
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Lost lions discovered in Ethiopia
Born Free-supported expedition discovers lions living in remote area of Africa Wildlife conservationists have confirmed for the first time that lions are living in a remote national park in Ethiopia, following a recent expedition supported by Born Free. “The amazing discovery was made after an expedition into the heart of Alatash National Park in North West Ethiopia, on the…
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