Wednesday, September 25, 2013

The Depths of Corruption in Ethiopia

By Ed McKenna, IPS
September 25, 2013



ADDIS ABABA/LONDON (IPS) – Ethiopia may be one of the fastest-growing, non-oil producing economies in Africa in recent years, but corruption in this Horn of Africa nation is a deterrent to foreign investors looking for stable long-term partnerships in developing countries.

“Bankers, miners and developers presenting projects to investment committees in countries that fare badly in corruption rankings frequently struggle to get investment. Corruption raises red flags because it makes local markets uncompetitive, unpredictable and therefore largely hostile to these long-term players,” Ed Hobey, the East Africa analyst at the political risk firm Africa Risk Consulting, told IPS.

On May 11, in the biggest crackdown on corruption in Ethiopia in the last 10 years, authorities arrested more than 50 high profile people including government officials, businessmen and a minister.

Melaku Fanta, the director general of the Revenue and Customs Authority, which is the equivalent rank of a minister, his deputy, Gebrewahid Woldegiorgis, and other officials were apprehended on suspicion of tax evasion.

But the arrests have raised questions about the endemic corruption at the heart of the country’s political elite.
Berhanu Assefa of the Federal Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission of Ethiopia told IPS that these arrests highlighted how corruption has insinuated itself into the higher levels of officialdom.

“Corruption is a serious problem we are facing. We now see that corruption is occurring in higher places than we had previously expected. Areas vulnerable to corruption are land administration, tax and revenue, the justice system, telecommunications, land procurement, licensing areas and the finance sector,” he said.
Ethiopia ranks 113 out of 176 countries on the Corruption Perceptions Index of Transparency International, a global civil society coalition that encourages accountability. The country has also lost close to 12 billion dollars since 2000 to illicit financial outflows, according to Global Financial Integrity (GFI), whose statistics are based on official data provided by the Ethiopian government, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Dr. Getachew Begashaw, a professor of economics at Harper College in the United States, told IPS that there was a fear that the recent high profile arrests were merely political theatre designed to placate major donors such as the World Bank and the IMF, and to give credibility to the new regime’s fight against corruption. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn took over leadership of the country after Prime Minister Meles Zenawi died in August 2012.

“They are using this as a PR stunt to appease not only the donors, but to also dupe the Ethiopian people. Because many non-party affiliated Ethiopians in the business community are complaining, and this complaint is trickling down to the average people on the streets,” he told IPS.

According to the World Bank, companies held by business group the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT) account for roughly half of the country’s modern economy. The group is closely allied with the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPDRF), an alliance of four parties.

EFFORT is a conglomerate formed from assets collected in 1991 by the EPRDF to rehabilitate the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia after it had been decimated by poverty and conflict. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) is the lead party in the EPDRF coalition.

Tigrayans, however, only account for eight percent of the country’s 90 million people. According to Abebe Gellaw, an exiled Ethiopian journalist and founder of Addis Voice, a web platform that provides news that is otherwise censored by the Ethiopian government, EFFORT has become a business racket for the Tigrayan elite who are monopolising major sources of the country’s wealth.

“The TPLF controls key government institutions and a significant portion of the economy. For over 15 years, EFFORT has been used by the TPLF to channel public resources and funds to the coffers of the TPLF through illegal deals, contracts, tax evasion, kick-backs and all sorts of illegal operations,” he told IPS.
Azeb Mesfin, Zenawi’s widow, currently manages the multi-billion-dollar business empire.

She claims her husband paid himself a modest salary of 250 dollars a month, yet the online website “the Richest.org”, which publishes the net worth of the richest people in the world, recently divulged that Meles was in fact one of Africa’s wealthiest leaders having amassed a personal fortune of three billion dollars. This has led many to question the provenance of the erstwhile leader’s wealth – when he had no known business engagements.

Illicit financial flows as a result of corruption are a major hindrance to a country’s development, undermining institutions, economies and societies. According to the Africa Progress Panel’s Africa Progress Report 2013, the continent is losing more through illicit financial outflows than it receives in aid and foreign direct investment.

A commitment to greater accountability and transparency to curtail illicit financial flows should occur on both the national and international levels, according to E. J. Fagan, deputy communications director at GFI.
“Reforms and policies are needed to strengthen customs enforcement and make governing apparatuses more transparent. The international community can create a multilateral system of automatic exchange of tax information that African countries like Ethiopia can access, so as to make it difficult for illicit actors to hide money and transfer large amounts of illicit money without detection,” he told IPS.

Begashaw added that corruption in the social sphere also breeds social inequality, disenfranchisement and a breakdown in national unity and civil society.

“The very existence of parastatals and TPLF-affiliated endowed business conglomerates like EFFORT is a major source of corruption. The Birr (Ethiopian currency) will depreciate and inflation will skyrocket. The capacity of the state to provide public goods and services will decline. Free market competition will be eroded. Government revenue will be reduced and the budget deficit will rise.
“If they are really serious about combating corruption, they should start doing so from the top,” he said.


=>ethiomedia




Libya: Thousands of Refugees in Life-Threatening

HRLHA Urgent Action
September 24, 2013
For Immediate Release
The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) has learnt through its correspondents that hundreds of thousands of refugees in Libya, most of whom were from the Horn of African countries such as Ethiopian and Eritrea, are in a very dangerous situation after they were evicted from their original refugee camps in Benghazi, Libya where they stayed for the past three years. The eviction took place following the infiltration and assault of the refugees by who were described as workers of the Libyan Red Crescent on the 13th of September, 2013. The assault included beating and stabbings by knives. Those who broke out of the shelters to run away from the assaults were met with Libyan armed forces that were stationed around the camps prior to the starting of the assault. Then, the refugees were forced out of the camp on allegations that they attempted to instigate disturbances in the city, and taken to remote area known as Alshatti.
According to HRLHA correspondents, about 500 refugees are now held in what was known to be a private detention centre in Alshatti located on Sahara Desert border with no adequate supply of basic necessities. HRLHA has also learnt that the very adverse weather condition at Alshatti has worsened the situation to the refugees. Even two expecting women who delivered after arriving in Alshatti and their newly born infants were not treated differently. The fact that the refugees are now held in isolation where they are not visited by international agencies like the UN High Commission for Refugees and the ICRC until this Urgent Action is documented,  as they used to when they were sheltered in Benghazi, added to the very unfriendly living condition has raised their frustrations. The refugees who were contacted by HRLHA also mention that there have been detachments and disconnections among refugees who had acquaintances and/or relationships with each other. Most of the refugees who were taken to Alshatti are originally from Ethiopia and Eritrea, HRLHA correspondents have added.
The HRLHA managed to obtain the names of the following 33 refugees:
NoNameCountry of origin
1Foad KasimEthiopia, Oromo
2Abdi NagassaEthiopia, Oromo
3Derje GezahegnEthiopia, Amhara
4Dereje TeferaEthiopia, Amhara
5Abdulhamid AbdurahimanEthiopia, Oromo
6Nuredin HajiEthiopia, Oromo
7Mulatu KassaEthiopia, Amhara
8Abdurahiman JailanEthiopia, Oromo
9Aman AmidEthiopia, Oromo
10Nahom Gebre MariamEritrea
11Hani Gebre NugusErtrea
12Umar MohamedErtrea
13Wubshet TesfayeEthiopia, Amhara
14Abdi HuseinEthiopia, Oromo
15Mohamed LenchoEthiopia, Oromo
16Husein AbdulkadirEthiopia, Oromo
17Wazir AwolEthiopia, Oromo
18Husein AhmedEthiopia, Oromo
19Amadu TesemaEthiopia. Amhara
20Tekie GirmayEritrea
21Abdulmohamed NurErtirea
22Naigzi GoyitomEritrea
23Nigusu AbrihamEritrea
24Saladin MohamedEritrea
25Mohamed SaleEritrea
26Abel TadesseEthiopia, Amhara
27Gemed FikaduEthiopia, Amhara
28Yusuf TahirEthiopia, Oromo
29Abduzamed MohamedEthiopia, Oromo
30Aliyi HajiEthiopia, Oromo
31Awol AdamEthiopia, Oromo
32Selemon DestaEthiopia, Amhara
33Kedir MohamedEthiopia, Oromo
HRLHA is highly concerned about the safety and future fates of those asylum seekers and refugees in such an isolated and disconnected socio-political environment. Therefore, HRLHA calls up on the Libyan Government, first of all to ensure the safety and well being of the refugees and asylum seekers by providing full protection against any kind of attacks from any side or angle and allow access to the new location to the representatives of regional and international UN and humanitarian agencies as well as media organizations so that they could receive all the supports they need especially to bring their refugee lives to an end.
The HRLHA also urges all national, regional and international human rights groups, donor countries and organizations to join hands in putting pressure on the Libyan   government so that it abides by the international norms, the 1951 International Convention of the refugees and asylum seekers and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 14 (1) “ Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.”
Recommendation:
Please send appeals to the Libyan Government, concerned Libyan officials and to diplomatic representatives of Libya who are accredited to your country as swiftly as possible, in English, in Berber or Libyan Arabic Language, or in your own language expressing:
Your concern regarding the mistreatment of asylum seekers and refugees in Libya and they should be treated according to the 1951 International Convention of the refugees and asylum seekers and other international norms of refugee and asylum seekers rights.
Appeal to:
1. His Excellency Dr. Ali Zidan Prime Minster of Libya
Tel: +218(21) 444 3700, Fax: +218 (21) 360 0889
2. His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Abdul-Aziz
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Libya
Tel: 22 – 2921 340 21 218
Copied To:
UNHCR main office Geneva, Switzerland.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Case Postale 2500
CH-1211 Genève 2 Dépôt
Suisse.  telephone number: +41 22 739 8111
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Palais Wilson , 52 rue des Pâquis
CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland Telephone: +41 22 917 9656
Mail: civilsocietyunit@ohchr.org
African Commission on Human and Peoples‘ Rights (ACHPR
48 Kairaba Avenue, P.O.Box 673, Banjul, The Gambia.
Tel: (220) 4392 962 , 4372070, 4377721 – 23
Fax: (220) 4390 764
 E-mail: achpr@achpr.org
Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights Council of Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex, FRANCE
Tel: + 33 (0)3 88 41 34 21
Fax: + 33 (0)3 90 21 50 53
U.S. Department of State
Laura Hruby
Ethiopia Desk Officer
U.S. State Department
HrubyLP@state.gov
Tel: (202) 647-6473
Amnesty International Secretariat – London
Telephone: 44 20 74135500
Fax: 44 20 79561157
1Easton Street
London, WC1X0DW, UK
Human Rights Watch – New York, Tel: +1-212-290-4700
Fax:+1-212-736-1300
Email: hrwnyc@hrw.org


WBOn Haleellaa Mootummaa Wayyaanee Irratti Fudhataa Jiru Itti Fufuu Beeksise

Madda Oduu ABO/MOA | Fulbaana 23,2013)
Aasxaa WBOHumni addaa WBO Hararge Dhihaa keessa sosso’u tarkaanfii gara garaa fudhataa jiruun diina raasaa fi ummata gammachiisuu irratti argama. Akka kanaan Fulbaana 2, 2013 Harargee Dhihaa Ona Mi’eessoo karaa gara Gololchaa geessu irratti miseensa tikaa sirna Wayyaanee Alamayyoo jedhamu irratti tarkaanfii fudhateen akka hamaatti madeessuu irraa waldhaansaaf gara Finfinneetti dabarfamee jira.
Fulbaana 2, 2013 akkasuma Ona Mi’eessoo magaalaa Mi’eessoo cinaatti tika diinaa ummata hiraarsuun beekamu Fiqaaduu Fiqree jedhamu irratti tarkaanfii fudhateen du’aan adabe.
Kana malees humni addaa WBO Harargee Dhihaa keessa sosso’u Ona Xulloo Dabbasoo bakka Jaldoo jedhamutti humna diinaa paatroolii irra turetti haxxee hidhuun haleelee loltoota diinaa 7 konkolaataa ittiin sosso’aa turan waliin barbadeesse. Loltoota diinaa ajjeefaman keessatti gaafatamaan tikaa Olaanaa naannoo sanii Komander Lammaa jedhamu keessatti argama.
Humni addaa WBO tarkaanfii itti fufiinsaan fudhateen Ona Doobbasoo bakka Aynaagee jedhamuttis humna diinaa sakattaa irra ture haleeluun loltoota 8 ajjeesee 5 madeese. Lola kanaanis diina irraa meeshaa lolaa adda addaa hiikkatuu ajaji WBO Godinaa Harargee Dhihaa hubachiisa. Gama kaaniin Gootichi WBO Shawaa keessa sosso’u tarkaanfii gootummaa diina irratti fudhateen qondaala basaasaa diinaa tokko ajjeesee loltoota 2 isa waliin turan haalaan madeessuu beeksise. Tarkaanfii Fulbaana 19, 2013 galgala keessaa sa’aa 8:45 irratti Ona Boosat magaalaa Olancitii keessatti humni addaa WBO fudhateen qondaalli tikaa Wayyaanee Shambal G/Igzabeer jedhamu mana isaa keessatti oggaa ajjeefamu loltoota 2 fi namoota biro 3 isa waliin turan madaa’uu irraa gara hospitaala Adaamaatti geeffamuu ajajni WBO hubachiise. Basaasota diinaa kanneen wayta tarkaanfiin kun irratti fudhatame ummata Oromoo irratti karaa hojii basaasummaa itti jabeessaan irratti mari’ataa akka turan ajajni humna addaa WBO beeksise. Kana malees Qondaalli diinaa tarkaanfii WBOn ajjeefame kun Adaamaa hanga Dirree Dawaatti sosso’uun kan Oromoota hiisisaa fi ajjeesisaa ture tahuu kan hubachiise ibsi ajajaa WBO itti fufuun Shambal G/Igzaabeer dhiheenya kana sabboonaa Oromoo Taammiruu Alamuu ajjeesisu fi abbaa fi obboleeyyan isaa hidhuun irratti roorrisaa jiraachuu beeksise. Tarkaanfii diina irratti fudhatame kanaan ummatni naannoo gammachuu isaa WBOf ibseera.

Ayyaanni Kabajaa Guyyaa “Alaabaa Wayyaanee” Oromiyaa Godinotaa Gara Garaa Keessatti Diddaa Ummataan Fashale.

Godina Lixaa Shawaa Magaalaa Amboo irraatti guyyaa kaleessaa Fulbaana 23,2013 Guyyaa Ayyaanaa Alaabaa Ethiopia ykn kabachiifachuuf jecha  baatii tokkoo fulduraa uummataa dirqiin akka bahee kabajuuf ololaa kan ture guyyaa kalleessaa diddaa uummataa Amboo fi nannoo ishee kanneen akka Anotaa Gudar, Xiiqur Inciinnii, Dannoo, Calliyaa Geedoo, Midaa Qanyii Ballaammii, Iluu Galaan Ijaajjii, Gincii, Jalduu, Adaa’aa Bargaa, Meettaa Roobii fi Gindabarat fa’itti utuu hin kabajatiin hafuun Caasaan wayyaanee illee bakkotaa adda addaatti qoodaa irraa fudhachuu kan didaan ta’uun Wayyaanee rifaasisee jira.
Haala kanaan Mootummaan Wayyaaneen hidhatootaa fi poolisotaa of harkaa qabdu bobbaasuun uummataa akka dirqiin ummmata baasaniif ajaja dabarsanis uummaannii ajaja wayyaanee kanaa hin fudhannuu, ayyaannii alaabaa kun kan saboota Habashotaa waan ta’eef nu hin ilaallaatu, nuti alaabaa mataa keenyaa kan Oromiyaa ni qabna gaafaa Oromiyaan bilisomtuu faajjii keenyaa ol kaasuun kabajannaa malee fajjii diinaaf hin jilbeeffaannuu jechuun mana gadii ba’uu diduun wamichaa wayyaanotaa lagachuun jibbinsaa fi mormii sirna nama nyaataa wayyaaneef qabuu ifatti mul’isuun guyyaa kabaja wayyaanee kana salphisee jira.
Haaluma walfakkatuun Godinotaa akka Kibbaa Lixaa Shawaa, Jimmaa, fi Iluu Abbaa Booraa, Aanotaa garaagara godinotaa kanaa keessaatti uummaannii guyyaan kabajaa ayyaanaa alaabaa abashotaa ilmaan Oromoo fi Oromiyaa hin ilaallatuu jechuun ajaja dirqiin
guutamee Wayyaaneen dabarsituu hin fudhannuu jechuun walga’ii kabajaa ayyaana isheef wayyaaneen godinotaa fi aanotaa irraatti waamtee ummataa waraabuun karaa foddaa TV EPRDF ummaanni na jaalataa alaabaa keenyaa kabajaa jira, alaabaan keenyaa alaabaa bilisummaati jechuuf qophooftee ummataan duraa fashalaa’e. Qeerroon Bilisummaa Oromoo Alaabaan Wayyaanee kun alaabaa
gabroomsaaa kan mirgi dhala namummaa ittin sarbamee, kan mirgii amantaawwaanii itti sarbamee, kan bilisummaan Ummataa Oromoo fi ummatotaa biyyaattii ittin sarbamee fajjii garboomsaa ta’uu ummaannii keenyaa fi dargaggoonnii Oromoo kana hubatuun bakka hundaattii kabaja fajjii garboomsaa kana akka balaaleffaannuuf duraa dhaabbannuu, jechuun dhaamsaa uummataa Oromoo hundaaf bifa garaagaraan dabarsa.