OPDO’s Leader Aster Mamo Caught Speaking out of Both Sides of Her Mouth: She Supports the Addis Ababa Master Plan, and the Ongoing Oromo Students Nonviolent Movement Against the Addis Ababa Master Plan at the Same Time

OPDO’s leader Aster Mamo was caught today in double-speak. She spoke out of both sides of her mouth on the ongoing fight about the Addis Ababa Master Plan between the TPLF tyrannical regime and the Oromo people (represented by the brave Oromo students protesting in university campuses across Oromia).

Oromo analysts have stated that the Addis Ababa Master Plan is a plan to cleanse the Oromo ethnic group from the districts of Oromia surrounding Finfinnee – in the same way that Finfinnee is devoid of its Oromo identity, and also, if implemented, the Addis Ababa Master Plan will divide Oromia into “West Oromia” and “East Oromia.”

In the above report by Somalilandpress.com, OPDO’s Aster Mamo first stated that she and her organization supported the ongoing Oromo Students Nonviolent Movement against the Addis Ababa Master Plan to evict and dispossess Oromo farmers from their ancestral lands around Finfinnee (also called Addis Ababa).

The report said,

“Mrs Aster Mamo, the Deputy Chairwoman of the regional ruling party Oromo Peoples Democratic Organization (OPDO) said her party is pleased with the Oromo student protests happening in universities throughout Oromia. This week, thousands of Oromo students have demonstrated in several universities to express their concerns about the government’s investment plan around the capital Addis Ababa.”

Then, she dropped the bomb – she stated the following – which supported and justified the Addis Ababa Master Plan as a “job creator,” basically negating her own stance about supporting the ongoing Oromo Students Nonviolent Movement against the Addis Ababa Master Plan.

“Mamo said the development plans surrounding Addis Ababa are meant to create more jobs and gain capital and industrial know-how from corporations and investors.”

Such deceiving public statements to misinform the Oromo people, and being sales-agents when Habesha rulers are stealing land from millions of defenseless and voiceless Oromo farmers is not what the Oromo nation expects from OPDO.

The Oromo Students Nonviolent Movement Against the Addis Ababa Master Plan will continue

=>gadaa

Har’a Ebla 28,2014 Gootonni Barattooti Oromoo Yuuniversitii Bulee Horaa FDG Qabsiisan.

Ebla 28,2014 Bulee Horaa

FDG Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromoon eegale Yuuniversitii Bulee Horaa keessatti guyyaa har’aa ganama sa’aa 8:00 WD irraa eegalee hanga ammaa dhadhatnoo jajjabaa qabatee itti fufee jira.
Gootonni barattooti Oromoo gaaffiilee mirgaa kanneen akka:-

1. Oromiyaan kan Oromooti!
2. Finfinnee Handhuura Oromiyaati.
3. Mirgi Hiree Murteeffannaa Uummata Oromoof haa kennamu.
4. Mootummaan Gabroomfataa biyya keenya haa gadhiisu.
5. Siidaan Minilik Finfinnee keessaa haa buqa’uu fi kkf qabatanii salgaee jabaan dhadachaa jiru.

Haala kanatti kan baarage waraanni Mootummaa Wayyaanee barattoota hedduu seeraa ala tohannoo isaa jala kan galche yeroo ta’u diddaan ammoo ittuma fufee jira.
Hub:- Rakkoo Net workii irraan guutuu sagalee diddaa dabarsuun ammatti nu rakkisee jiraachuu gabaafna.

=>qeerroo

Dispossession, Annexation – TPLF’s Strategic Goal

April 28, 2014

Dispossession and annexation of land from the Oromo people and other people of Ethiopia is part of TPLF’s original play book or master plan. Once they changed their strategy from seceding from Ethiopia to ruling Ethiopia, they were determined to dispossess the Oromos of their ancestral land.

As everybody knows, the land policy in Ethiopia is that it does not belong to anybody but to the Ethiopian state. Who rules the Ethiopian state? -the TPLF regime rules it. In effect, they have made sure that all the land belongs to them and they have ascertained this legally. They have created this legal pretext to evict anybody they want.

Their focus has mainly been the Oromo farmers. Under the guise of development, they have displaced thousands of Oromo farmers without any compensation forcing them to become beggars or laborers on their own ancestral land.

The Tigryan led minority regime disguised behind multi ethnic puppet representatives will continue this trend until they change the whole demographic situation of Ethiopia, mainly of the Oromos.

The current Oromo generation and all who stand for peace, justice and democracy in Ethiopia should fight this trend and put a stop to it. An injustice to one is injustice to all. This call includes the peace loving people of Tigray who have been duped by this regime.

If this continues, it will reach a stage where it would be irreversible and would remain a shame and a wound on the history of the Oromo people-and this is a strategic goal of the TPLF from the very beginning.

What everybody has to understand is that this is part of the regime’s grand strategic scheme to change the demography of Ethiopia when it comes to the Oromo people. In fact, they have also annexed huge chunk of the Amhara land in Gondar and other places in their pursuit to form a greater Tigray.

How long will this shame continue? How long will this trick continue? How long will making the Oromos beggars on their ancestral land continue? What is life full of shame, slavery and dispossession in the 21st century?

The TPLF regime disguised behind a prime minster from the South and an Oromo symbolic president would like the world to believe that they are purely doing well by pursuing development goals and who by any means speaks against what they do is against Ethiopia’s bright future.

Any kind of development that is not in the best interest of the indigenous people, any kind of development that goes ahead without respecting the people’s interest, any kind of development that is based on dispossessing the people of their land and their properties by force is bound to have a negative and destructive consequence in the end.

Unbalanced development dictated by the few with a far reaching strategic consequence to destroy a nation is bound to fail.

It is time to rise up and stop the shame, denigration and destruction of a great nation. Life without freedom is meaningless!!

=>ayyaantuu

Ethiopia: Arrests Upstage Kerry Visit

9 Bloggers, Journalists Held Before US Official Arrives

(Nairobi, April 28, 2014) – The Ethiopian authorities should immediately release six bloggers and three journalists arrested on April 25 and 26, 2014, unless credible charges are promptly brought, Human Rights Watch said today.

United States Secretary of State John Kerry, who is scheduled to visit Ethiopia beginning April 29, should urge Ethiopian officials to unconditionally release all activists and journalists who have been arbitrarily detained or convicted in unfair trials, Human Rights Watch said. The arrests also came days before Ethiopia is scheduled to have its human rights record assessed at the United Nations Human Rights Council’s universal periodic review in Geneva on May 6.

“The nine arrests signal, once again, that anyone who criticizes the Ethiopian government will be silenced,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The timing of the arrests – just days before the US secretary of state’s visit – speaks volumes about Ethiopia’s disregard for free speech.” 

On the afternoon of April 25, police in uniform and civilian clothes conducted what appeared to be a coordinated operation of near-simultaneous arrests. Six members of a group known as the “Zone9” bloggers – Befekadu Hailu, Atnaf Berahane, Natnael Feleke, Mahlet Fantahun, Zelalem Kibret, and Abel Wabela – were arrested at their offices and in the streets. Tesfalem Weldeyes, a freelance journalist, was also arrested during the operation. Edom Kassaye, a second freelance journalist, was arrested on either April 25 or 26; the circumstances of her arrest are unclear but all eight individuals were apparently taken to Maekelawi Police Station, the federal detention center in Addis Ababa, the capital.

The police searched the bloggers and journalists’ offices and homes, reportedly with search warrants, and confiscated private laptops and literature. On April 26, another journalist, Asmamaw Hailegeorgis of Addis Guday newspaper, was also arrested and is reportedly detained in Maekelawi. 

The detainees are currently being held incommunicado, Human Rights Watch said. On the morning of April 26, relatives were denied access to the detainees by Maekelawi guards, and only allowed to deposit food. 

Human Rights Watch released a report in October 2013 documenting serious human rights abuses, including torture and other ill-treatment, unlawful interrogation tactics, and poor detention conditions in Maekelawi against political detainees, including journalists. Detainees at Maekelawi are seldom granted access to legal counsel or their relatives during the initial investigation phase.

The Zone9 bloggers have faced increasing harassment by the authorities over the last six months. Sources told Human Rights Watch that one of the bloggers and one of the journalists have been regularly approached, including at home, by alleged intelligence agents and asked about the work of the group and their alleged links to political opposition parties and human rights groups. The blogger was asked a week before their arrest of the names and personal information of all the Zone9 members. The arrests on April 25, 2014, came two days after Zone9 posted a statement on social media saying they planned to increase their activism after a period of laying low because of ongoing intimidation.

A Human Rights Watch report in March described the technologies used by the Ethiopian government to conduct surveillance of perceived political opponents, activists, and journalists inside the country and among the diaspora. It highlights how the government’s monopoly over all mobile and Internet services through its sole, state-owned telecom operator, Ethio Telecom, facilitates abuse of surveillance powers. 

Kerry is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom in Addis Ababa “to discuss efforts to advance peace and democracy in the region.” Kerry should strongly urge the Ethiopian government to end arbitrary arrests, release all activists and journalists unjustly detained or convicted, and promptly amend draconian laws on freedom of association and terrorism that have frequently been used to justify arbitrary arrests and political prosecutions. The Obama administration has said very little about the need for human rights reforms in Ethiopia, Human Rights Watch said.

“Secretary Kerry should be clear that the Ethiopian government’s crackdown on media and civil society harms ties with the US,” Lefkow said.  “Continued repression in Ethiopia cannot mean business as usual for Ethiopia-US relations.”

=>hrw

Disturbing Images of Oromo Students Injured By TPLF’s Military Police at a Peaceful/Nonviolent Rally in Wallaggaa, Oromia

(Note: more photos of the injured Oromo students can be viewed below.)

BACKGROUND
On April 26, 2014, Oromo students’ nonviolent protest was held at Wallaggaa University against the plan (called the Addis Ababa Master Plan) to evict millions of Oromo farmers and dispossess them of their land in Oromian districts surrounding Finfinnee under the pretext of the “urban development of Addis Ababa.” At the peaceful rally, the TPLF Ethiopian regime’s Military-Police shot at, battered and injured several unarmed students. Photo below shows the peaceful rally up to the point of the intrusion by the TPLF Military-Police into the Wallaggaa University campus to shoot and batter the unarmed students.

According to published data, under the current TPLF regime, Addis Ababa has expanded by ~400% since 1991 (from ~13,763.3-ha in 1991 to ~52,706.2-ha in 2014 – see data here); even though the Oromiyaa Region is a federally constituted state, it continues to be annexed by the Habesha government of Addis Ababa.

Political analysts have stated recently that the current Addis Ababa Master Plan will potentially divide the Oromiyaa Region into two by the proposed Addis Ababa’s annexation of Central Oromiyaa, and the subsequent eviction of the Oromo farming communities in Central Oromiyaa under the pretext of “industrial zones.” There are at least 8 industrial zones all over Oromiyaa, such as the Malka Jebdu area under the Dire Dawa Industrial Zone, the Ambo Industrial Zone, the Chinese-owned Bishoftu Eastern Industrial Zone – which is slated to extend all the way to Asella in Arsi Zone of Oromiyaa in the coming few years.

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QEERROO.org: FDG Gootota Barattoota Oromoon Qabate Itti Fufuun Har’as Yuuniversitii Wallagga Keessatti Haalaan Jabaate. Barattooti Oromoos Waraana Wayyaanee Agaazii Jedhamun Reebaman

(QEERROO.org) – Gabaasaa: Ebla 27/2012 FDG Gootota dargaggoota Barattoota Oromoo Yuunivarsiitii Wallaggaa jabaatee itti fufuun guyyaa har’aa Ebla 27,2014 falmaa jabaa keessa oolan.Goototni barattootni Oromoo gaaffii keenyaaf deebiin nuu kennamuu qaba jechuun guyyaa lammaffaa ganama irraa eegaluun dhaadannoo dhageesisa turanii jiru.

Mootummaan abbaa irree akkuma amala isaa gaaffii barattoota karaa nagaa fi demookiraasii dhiyaateef deebii humna waraanaa fi loltuu of harkaa qabuu fi qawweetti dhimma bahuun barattoota Oromoo dararuu irratti argama. barattootni hedduunis humna waraanaa kanaan qabamanii hidhamaa jiraachuu maddeen keenya gabaasaniru, barattootni Oromoo hedduun humna polisii federaalaatiin rebbichaa cima irra ga’ee yeroo amma Hospitala Naqamatee galanii jiraachuun ibsamera. barattoota humnota federaala wayyaaneen midhaan qaama isanii irra ga;ee kunis:

1. Barataa Dawuti Gonfaa,
2. Barataa Abdiisaa Nagaasaa,
3. Barattuu Geexee Tafarii,
4. Barataa Ababa Kumarraa,
5. Barataa Tashoomee Daawuti,
6. Barataa Dasitaa kanneen jedhaman kan keessatti argamaan humna poolisii Federaalaa Wayyaaneen reebamani midhaan qaama kan irra ga’ee ta’uun ibsamera.

Goototni Barattootni Oromoo Yuunibarsiitii Wallaaggaa akkuma gootota barattoota Oromoo Yuunibarsiitii Jimmaa, hidhaan, reebichii, doorsifnii, barnoota irraa arii’atamuun duubatti nu hin deebisu jechuun guyyaa har’aas FDG itti fufanii olaniiru.Maqaa barattoota hidhamanii guutuu fuula duratti dhiheessina.

Gama biraan waraanni Wayyaanee kan Agaazii jedhamee beekamu magaalaa Naqamtee qubachuun uumata goolaa jira. Addatti Yuuniversitii Wallaggaa keessa namoota barattoota basaasan dabballoota OPDO kanneen akka:

1. Tafarii Xiyyaaroo Bulchaa Godina Wallaggaa Bahaa
2. Tolasaa Waggaarii Bulchiinsa magaalaa Neqemtee irraa
3. Eebbaa nama jedhamu itti aanaa President Yuunibarsiitii Wallaggaa kanneen jedhamanii qabachuun barattoota itti roorrisaa jiraachuun beekame.

Muktaar Kadir haala kana dhaamsuuf jecha naannoolee FDG ka’an mara irra naannawuun milishootaan qabatee uumataa fi barattoota akka sodaachisaa jirus odeessi jiru ni addeessa.

=>gadaa

PM says Renaissance Dam issue will be resolved through good relations

Mahmoud Taha

Al-Masry Al-Youm

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb said Egypt will resume negotiations with Ethiopia to reach a solution for the Renaissance Dam crisis.

 

He also added that his visit to Tanzania, one of the Nile basin countries, would contribute to resolution of the issue.

 

Mehleb said he will resolve the problem through Egypt’s good relations with all of the Nile basin countries. He added that no talks have been held over the issue yet.

 

He indicated that Egypt does not oppose Ethiopia taking advantage of the Nile to generate electricity on the condition that it would not harm Egypt’s water rights. “We need water and they need electricity,” he said, adding that it is possible to reach an understanding that achieves the interests of everyone without harming anyone.

 

Mehleb expressed his understanding for Ethiopia's development needs and the rest of the Nile basin countries. He added that Egypt depends on the Nile as its primary source of water and that Nile basin countries should find a solution based on good relations.

 

Mehleb added that he welcomed Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete's idea to hold a meeting for Nile basin countries' foreign ministers to address viewpoints over the framework agreement stricken between the basin countries.

 

According to Mehleb, Egypt looks forward to holding the meeting soon to resolve the issue through negotiations.

 

Tensions have erupted between Cairo and Addis Ababa, as the latter insists on the construction of the Renaissance Dam, which Cairo believes will affects its share of the Nile water.

 

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

=>egyptindependent