Year: 2016
- Africa
Editorial: Ethiopia drought a national disaster; it needs to be treated as such!
The first signs of a looming drought in Ethiopia began surfacing as far back as early 2015, when it became clear that a significant part of the country has experienced inadequate (and erratic) pattern of rain, the country’s main source of agriculture. In August 2015, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) issued a statement that…
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Prison police brings Bekele Gerba et.al to court barefoot, wearing only shorts and t-shirts
The police failed to bring Tesema Regasa and 15 others in the same file to the court Mahlet Fasil The Addis Abeba prison administration Qilinto prison police have this morning brought prominent opposition figure Bekele Gerba and the 21 others in the same file for a hearing at a court all barefoot. The detainees were also wearing mere shorts and…
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Opinion- Exam-Leaks: Disorientating and Overpowering a Leviathan
Yasin Muhe The Oromo activists achieved yet another spectacular victory by catching the Ethiopian regime off-guard and disturbing the “order” it set for the country’s youth. The leaking of the Ethiopian national examinations prior to the exam date greatly tarnished the self-imagery of the government while at the same time boosting that of its present-day nemesis, the Oromo youth activists. …
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Opinion- Questions on the morality and (im?)morality of leaking a national exam
Alemayehu Tesfa First, there was the #OromoProtest. It began (for the convenience of this short reflection, which intends to ask more questions than answers) in early November 2015 in Ginchi town, about 80km west of the capital Addis Abeba. It quickly spread like a bush fire throughout the Oromia regional state, the largest unit of the federated Ethiopia, touching…
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National Higher Education Entrance Exam Cancelled Due to Leakage
The Higher education entrance exam scheduled to take place as of Monday 30th May, has been cancelled by the Federal Ministry of Education (MoE) after the exam papers have been leaked ahead of time. The exams are taken by 12th graders in order to determine their entrance into tertiary education. The MoE as well as the state owned Ethiopian Broadcasting…
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From control to demagoguery
Kalkidan Yibeltal In Mao’s China, children were instructed in the “Great Leader’s” teachings from a very humble age. Not only that pictures of Mao were on the jackets of each text book, the contents of the subjects were intended to deepen the students’ comprehension of Mao’s acumens. As Anchee Mee relates to us in FROM MAO TO AMERICA: A WRITER’S…
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Book Review: A legend’s life & tragic death revealed
A New Book peeks into the life, works and mysterious disappearance of Ethiopia’s beloved author Baälu Girma, reveals a shocking secrete Kalkidan Yibeltal Towards the beginning of Endalegeta Kebede’s captivating yet, perhaps unduly, long new book, Baälu Girma: Life and Works, we find the young Baälu apprehensive and estranged, in a garments shop at the heart of Merkato, Addis Abeba’s…
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Exclusive: “I told [your Prime Minister] that a real leadership doesn’t depend on repression” Gianni Pittella
On March 30 – April 1, a group of three EU parliamentarians from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the second largest grouping within the European Parliament after the European People’s Party (EPP), visited Ethiopia. Led by S & D Group President Gianni Pittella (pictured above), the visiting members included Cécile Kyenge MEP, ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly vice-president…
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Opinion – Who is in control in Ethiopia?
By Leenco Lata Who is presently in control in Ethiopia? This is a strange question coming from a person who never minces his words when criticizing the EPRDF for installing an authoritarian order in Ethiopia, in which the top official is unquestionably in control. It is also strange to pose the question about a country where who is in control…
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Deaths Reported over Clashes as City Tried to Demolish Houses Built on “Illegally Obtained Land”
Mahlet Fasil The Addis Abeba city administration, backed by police, has reportedly clashed with residents in Woreda 12 of Bole Sub city it deems “illegitimate settlers” causing the deaths of multiple people yesterday. The clashes occurred as the administration tried to demolish houses built on “illegally obtained land.” As Sinishaw Assefa, a resident in the area known as Wora Ganu,…
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