S. Sudanese accuse Ethiopian embassy in Kenya of denying visas

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

March 29, 2014 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudanese who recently entered Ethiopia from Kenya have accused the Ethiopian embassy in Nairobi of allegedly denying them travel visas.

The Kenya-Ethiopia border crossing sign (goseewrite)

The refugees who originally fled the current conflict to Kenya and managed to cross the borders to Ethiopia this week claimed Kenyan authorities have restricted both land and air travels for South Sudanese headed to Ethiopia.

Speaking exclusively to Sudan Tribune in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, two former South Sudan Government officials said they managed to cross borders to Ethiopia by bribing Kenyan brokers and security officials who allowed them through.

The bribes, they claimed, were mainly given to the smugglers on the Kenyan side, not Ethiopia.

They said a South Sudanese willing to travel to Ethiopia won’t find a visa from the Ethiopian embassy in Nairobi unless the individual produced a recommendation letter from the South Sudanese embassy in Nairobi.

They assumed that the Ethiopian embassy took the move through the influence of the Kenyan government, further accusing the latter of providing support to the government of Juba in the ongoing battle against SPLM in opposition rebels led by former vice-president Riek Machar,.

The accusations,however, could not be independently verified.

When asked to comment on the matter, ambassador Dina mufti, the spokesperson for Ethiopia’s foreign affairs ministry told Sudan Tribune he would contact its envoy in Kenya to verify these allegations.

The strongholds of the rebels are across the Ethiopian-South Sudanese common border.

"Any South Sudanese coming to Ethiopia is suspected to join the rebels," said one of them who asked not to be named for safety reasons.

They accused Kenyan and South Sudan government of being behind the conspiracy to bloc South Sudanese from travelling to Ethiopia where tens and thousands of South Sudanese took refuge following the conflict that erupted in mid-December and killed an estimated 20,000 people.

The conflict has forced over 250,000 people to flee to neighbouring countries.

The individual further alleged that Kenya, a member of mediating regional bloc (IGAD) was providing military support to South Sudan Government.

"On 18 March, Kenya deployed 40 of its military vehicles to [the] South Sudan government through [the] Ugandan border," they said.

New round of talks between the two South Sudanese factions has resumed in Ethiopia however Uganda’s participation as an observer is being an obstacle to push the face-to-face talks from moving.

Rebel negotiators have warned they will pullout of the talks unless Uganda who is in direct combat against Machar forces along side government Army is removed from the IGAD led talks.

The rebels accuse Ugandan forces, Sudanese rebel group JEM of allegedly continuing to kill people in Upper Nile, Jonglei, and Unity states. They urged all foreign troops to immediately pull-out for the South Sudanese conflict to be resolved.

(ST)

=>sudantribune

OLF Statement on the latest violent clash between Borana and Guji Oromo

Using Bloodshed to perpetuate their Rule- a Standing Policy of Ethiopia’s Rulers.
OLF Statement on the violent clash going on in southern Oromia

Since the violent formation of the Ethiopian empire three generations ago, Oromia and Oromo have been in constant conflict, instability, poverty and ignorance. The violence is applied either directly by the regime or through agents instigating conflict between neighbouring peoples or even tribes. Oromia and Oromo, who happen to be the main base of this empire, have borne the brunt of this violence.

Oromo suffered shocking extermination and mutilation, including severing of males’ limbs and females’ breasts, for resisting the imperial conquest. They were disfranchised of their land and dehumanized by reducing them to serfs and distrusting them, along with their dispossessed lands, to serve the victor militia forming the “neft’egna” (arms-bearer’s) system. Conflict was instigated with all the neighbours projecting Oromo as threats so that they would never think of resisting any more. Thus Oromo has to pay sacrifice in lives and property simply because of the possibility of being a threat in the future.

The current Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) regime, that usurped the power in 1991, is a good mirror of the successive regimes of Ethiopia in executing this policy. Under the pretext of development it evicted tens of thousands of Oromo from their ancestral land to sell to rich companies and enrich themselves. It dismissed hundreds of Oromo youth from higher education institutes and put them in jail under flimsy excuses for constant torture, to deprive Oromo of native intellectuals. Countless Oromo have disappeared; tens of thousands have fled their country.

The regime has intensified conflict-instigation between neighbouring peoples and Oromo by arming elements from the other side and presenting itself as a mediator. The case of such elements from Somali, Gumuz, Geede’o, Burji and Afar, with the neighbouring Oromo is a vivid example. They even applied the same policy between Oromo’s own tribes. The latest of such a case is the conflict that is going on between Boran and Guji Oromo tribes in the South.

This conflict, that has been instigated by agents of the regime and is going on for days, has claimed about one hundred lives and considerable property. It is obvious that the regime can stop this immediately has it not been a party to it. There is no better evidence than this for the relation of enmity between this regime and the Oromo people.

The OLF expresses its deepest grief at this conflict and holds responsible and condemns the TPLF regime for instigating and perpetuating it. The OLF calls the Oromo elders, intellectuals and youth to be aware of this enemy schemes to weaken the Oromo unity and discharge their national traditional duty by intervening to immediately stop this conflict and reconcile those involved.

Vicroty to the Oromo people!

Oromoo Liberation Front
March 31, 2014

Read More:- 

Ibsa ABO- Walitti Bu’insa Booran-Gujii irratti- Bitootessa 31, 2014.pdf

OLF Press Release on Boren-Guji Clash- March 31, 2014 – English.pdf

OLF Press Release on Boren-Guji Clash- March 31, 2014 – Amharic.pdf

=>qeerroo

Is South Sudan Distancing Itself From Ethiopia?

A soldier with the Sudan People's Liberation Army - the army of the Republic of South Sudan - is pictured behind a South Sudan flag as he sits on the back of a pick-up truck in Bentiu, Unity State, Jan. 12, 2014. (Credit: Retuers)

Is South Sudan Distancing Itself From Ethiopia?

It seems South Sudan is attempting to distance itself from Ethiopia of late. On Sunday, 22 March, South Sudan signed bilateral military cooperation with Egypt, following a visit to Cairo by a delegation led by defense minister Kuol Manyang Juuk. The signing comes a week after state-owned News Agency of South Sudan reported Egypt condemned rebel leader Riek Machar and promised to send troops to South Sudan in support of the government.

But why is South Sudan risking its relationship with Ethiopia now? This military agreement with Egypt is certainly going test their relationship, especially with Egyptian leaders threatening military action against Ethiopia over the controversial Renaissance Dam. Perhaps Juba is suspicious Addis Ababa could be supporting Machar's insurgency?

Despite Ethiopia's public support for South Sudan, there are circumstantial evidence and rumors that suggest Ethiopia is arming and funding Machar's insurgency. Within this narrative, South Sudan's military cooperation with Egypt could be interpenetrated as a tit for tat move against Ethiopia. If these allegations are true, then this wouldn't be the first time Ethiopia supported insurgents while claiming they backed a recognized government.

Ethiopia regularly arms, trains and funds Islamist and warlord militant groups in Somalia, all while professing they support the government in Mogadishu. By supporting each side, Ethiopia seeks to permanently keep Somalia in a state of crises so it can continue to milk the international community for military and financial aid. Ethiopia also seeks to use the conflict to deflect attention from its deteriorating human rights issues by presenting itself as a loyal vassal for the West to conduct crises management in the region.

South Sudan's suspicions of Ethiopia's support for Machar is not without merit. Ethiopia is the only country that still maintains close ties with Neur rebel leaders, including Machar. In fact, Ethiopia arms, trains and supports Neur militant groups in the Gambela region against the Anuak ethnic group. Moreover, when South Sudan requested military assistance from Uganda to battle the insurgents, Ethiopia was the only African country that was adamantly opposed to it. The only rational explanation for Addis Ababa's bizarre behavior is they were attempting to favor the odds for Machar's insurgency to succeed.

But it seems Ethiopia's spoiler role in the region has finally caught up with it. South Sudan's military cooperation with Egypt could potentially provide Cairo the legal framework to intervene in Ethiopia under the guise of defending South Sudan from Ethiopian destabilization. With Egyptian troops heading to South Sudan, the Renaissance Dam also becomes within Egypt's combat radius, which is sure to sound alarm bells in Addis Ababa.

Cairo's military cooperation with Juba also gives more credibility to a report from February that alleges Egypt is seeking military defense pacts with Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia. Based on the countries Egypt is attempting to sign or has signed military agreements with, it appears Egypt's goal is to isolate Ethiopia regionally, something the latter has been attempting to do with Eritrea since 1998, but to no avail.

At any rate, South Sudan's military alliance with Egypt is a pragmatic move that serves both country's national interests. For South Sudan, the military alliance gives the young country access to advanced military equipment and trained troops that can decisively tip the battle in its favor. For Egypt, it gives the legal framework to defend its lifeline, the Nile, by using its defense agreement with South Sudan as a pretext for a possible future intervention against Ethiopia that will almost certainly mean the destruction of the Renaissance Dam.


=>madote

KAANSARII FINFINNEE QABATEE OROMIYAA GUUTUTTI DARBUTTI JIRU KAN FAYYISU BILISUMMAA OROMIYAA QOFA

BY FAYISA LEMMA | Bitootessa 30, 2014

Akkuma beekkamu Finfinnee hardha hafteen nafxanyootaa fi wayyaaneen keesaa iyyitu kana waggaa 128 dura gosa Oromoo kan akka Gulallee, Galaan fi Oromoota biraa malee  osoo qorichaafuu barbaadamee habashaan tokko keesatti hin argamu ture. Finfinnees kaansariin hin qabne ture.Qabeenya uumamaanis badhaatuu kan turtee fi lafti ishees bosinaan kan uwwifamte turte. Birbirsa/piyassa bakka yeroo ammaa siidaan nafxanyicha seexana gurraachaa Minilik irra dhaabbatu kana Odaa Yaa’a Gulalleettu irra dhaabbata ture, kun hundi jijjiiramee , qilleensa bareedaa fi qabeenya uumamaa ishee dhabdee gammoojjii tahuu ishee caalaa kan nama gaddisiisu abbaa ishee Oromoota ishee kunuunsaa irra jiraachaa turan sababa kaansarii kanaa dhabuu isheeti.Oromoon akka kaansariin kuni finfinnee hin qabannee wareegama guguddaa kafalee jira,hunda caalaa lubbuu qaqqaalii isaa itti dhabee duguuggin sanyii irra gahee jira.

Erga Finfinneen dhukkuba kanan qabatamtee eegalee keessattuu waggaa 23 darbe babaldhachuu dhukkuba kanaatin Oromooti naannawa finfinnee jiraatan seeran ala Wayyaaneen lafa isaanii irraa buqqiffamanii bakka jiraatani fi waan ittiin jiraatan waan hin qabneef maatiin bittinaa’ee kun wardiyaa tahee,kun hojii humnaa qarshii baayyee gadi bu’aa taheen qacaramaa lafa irraa ari’ame irrattti hojjataa kan jiru yoo tahu kan humna hin qabne ammo kadhattuu karaa gubbaa tahee hafee jira.  Akka fakkeenyaatti bara 2012-2013 keessa maqaa “Bole Lemi Industrial Zone” jedhun maatii Oromoo abbaa warraa 800 ol kan buqqisan yoo tahu lafa kana wayyaaneen kampaanii biyya Chaynaa,Turkii, Hindii, Koriyaa fi Xaaliyaniif addaan qooddee gurgurattee jirti. Kana qofa osoo hin taane fabrikooti bakka kana irratti ijaaraman fi kan naannawa finfinnee bakka biraatti ijaaraman hundi kunuunsa fabrikkaan tokko naannawa itti ijaarameef godhuu qabu osoo hin godhin summiin xuraawaan fabrikkaa isaanii keessaa yaa’u lagoota naannawa san jirutti dabalamuu dhaan bishaan qulqulluu faalee yeroo adda addaa horiin baayyeen dhumatee jira,lubbuu namaatirras rakkinni gahee jira . Xuriin adda addaa kan mana fincaanii dabalatee kan FINFINNEE keessa yaa’u laga akka AQAAQII faaluun uummata keenya miidhaa jira, garuu kan miidhamu Oromoo waan tahef wayyaaneen furmaata laatuu hin barbaaddu. Misooma abaaboo maqaa jedhunis  akka fakkenyati Oromoota naannawa Magaalaa Mannaagashaa fi Sabbataa lafa isaanii irraa buqqifaman baayyinnaan warra isaan buqqise kanaaf  hojii humna kan hojjatan yoo tahu, bakka hojiitti akkamitti akka of eeggatuu qaban waan leenjin hin fudhatinif kemikalota  adda addaan dhukkuba gogaa fuudhanii kan du’ani jirus, kan waliin rakkatutti jirus baayyee dha.Kun hundi kan isaan irra gaheef Oromiyaan, lafti abbaa isaanii, kan akaakilee fi abaabileen isaanii, kan isaan hardha irra jiraachaa jiran badhaatuu fi barbaadamtuu waan taatef malee balleessaa tokkollee qabatanif miti.

Gidduu kana osoo rakinni olitti tarraahe hundi uummata Oromoo irra gahaa jiru furmaata kanaa kennuu dhiisanii kansaricha babaldhisuf,lafa daangaa finfinnee keessaa hunda gurguranii waan fixanif,lafa Oromiya tan gurguramtee hin dhumannetti darbuuf shira wayyaaneen lafa jala xaxxe maqaa magaalota naannawa Finfinne jiran Finfinnee waliin “ master plan”  tokko jala galchuu jedhuun baastee dhageenye jirra, ‘ Osuma beeknuu huuba waliin nyaanne jette sareen’, kan hanga hardhaatis wallaallee osoo hin tahin falmannee falmisiisaa oromoon baayyeen itti hidhamee,tumamee, hujii fi barnoota irraa itti ari’amee,biyyaa itti baqatee malee kaansarichi Finfinnee qabate salphaan hin babaldhanne.Hardha murteen kun Oromoof du’aa fi jiruu tahuu qaba,dhukkubi kaansarii kan Finfinnee qabe kun yoo babaldhate Oromiyaa ajjeesuu akka dandahu hundi keenya beekuu qabna.Oromoon kaabaa kibbatti, bahaa dhihatti tokkummaadhaan shira wayyaanee kana dura dhaabachuu qabna,’madaa quba miilaa irra jiruf mudaamuddin nama dhukubdi’, Finfinnee irraa fagaachuu keenyaa yookin rakinni Oromoota naannawa Finfinnee irra gahaa ture fi jiru waan nurra hin gahinif yoo caldhisne seenaan nu gaafata, keesattuu dhalooti qubee  “QUBEE GENERATION”  shira wayyaanee kana hatattaman uummata baldhaa Oromiyaa biraan gahuu fi fincila finiinsuu irratti akkuma asiin dura godhaa turre gahee guddattu nurraa eeggama. Hanga gaafa Oromiyaan bilisoomtutti kaansarin Finfinnee qabate akka hin babaldhanne godhuu qabna,garuu kaansarichi kan fayyu yoo Oromiyaan bilisoomte qofa.

Barreessaa qunnamuuf :  fayis2003@gmail.com

=>ayyaantuu

A rule-based Afan Oromo Grammar Checker

Debela Tesfaye
Information Technology,Jimma Institute of Technology
 Jimma, Ethiopia

Abstract—Natural language processing (NLP) is a subfield of
computer science, with strong connections to artificial
intelligence. One area of NLP is concerned with creating proofing
systems, such as grammar checker. Grammar checker
determines the syntactical correctness of a sentence which is
mostly used in word processors and compilers.

For languages, such as Afan Oromo, advanced tools have been
lacking and are still in the early stages. In this paper a rule based
grammar checker is presented. The rule base is entirely
developed and dependent on the morphology of the language .
The checker is evaluated and shown a promising result.
Keywords- afan oromo grammar checker; rule based grammar
checker.

I. INTRODUCTION

Natural language processing (NLP) is a subfield of
computer science, with strong connections to artificial
intelligence. Natural language processing (NLP) is normally
used to describe the function of computer system which
analyze or synthesize spoken or written language [3]. One area
of NLP is concerned with creating proofing systems, such as
spell checkers and grammar checkers. A grammar checker
looks for grammatical errors and, in many cases, suggests
possible corrections. Grammar checking is one of the most
widely used tools within language engineering. Spelling,
grammar and style checking for English has been an integrated
part of common word processors for some years now.
The great challenge of intelligent automatic text processing
is to use unrestricted natural language to exchange information
with a creature of a totally different nature: the computer.
People now want assistance not only in mechanical, but also in
intellectual efforts. They would like the machine to read an
unprepared text, to test it for correctness, to execute the
instructions contained in the text, or even to comprehend it well
enough to produce a reasonable response based on its meaning.
Human beings want to keep for themselves only the final
decisions.

Read More at thesai

Is this the most farcical use of taxpayers' money ever: Ethiopian gets legal aid from UK - to sue us for giving aid to... Ethiopia

• The farmer claims aid is funding a despotic one-party state in his country
• Alleges regime is forcing thousands from their land using murder and rape
• Prime Minister David Cameron says donations are a mark of compassion
• If farmer is successful, Ministers might have to review overseas donations

By IAN BIRRELL

+3

Gift: Prime Minister David Cameron claims the donations are a mark of Britain's compassion

An Ethiopian farmer has been given legal aid in the UK to sue Britain – because he claims millions of pounds sent by the UK to his country is supporting a brutal regime that has ruined his life.

He says UK taxpayers’ money –  £1.3 billion over the five years of the coalition Government – is funding a despotic one-party state in his country that is forcing thousands of villagers such as him from their land using murder, torture and rape.

The landmark case is highly embarrassing for the Government, which has poured vast amounts of extra cash into foreign aid despite belt-tightening austerity measures at home. 

Prime Minister David Cameron claims the donations are a mark of Britain’s compassion.

But the farmer – whose case is  set to cost tens of thousands of pounds – argues that huge sums handed to Ethiopia are breaching the Department for International Development’s (DFID) own human rights rules.

He accuses the Government of devastating the lives of some of the world’s poorest people rather than fulfilling promises to help them. The case comes amid growing global concern over Western aid propping up corrupt and repressive regimes.

If the farmer is successful, Ministers might have to review major donations to other nations accused of atrocities, such as Pakistan and Rwanda – and it could open up Britain to compensation claims from around the world.

Ethiopia, a key ally in the West’s war on terror, is the biggest  recipient of British aid, despite repeated claims from human rights groups that the cash is used to crush opposition.

DFID was served papers last month by lawyers acting on behalf of ‘Mr O’, a 33-year-old forced to abandon his family and flee to a refugee camp in Kenya after being beaten and tortured for trying to protect his farm.

He is not seeking compensation but to challenge the Government’s approach to aid. His name is being withheld to protect his wife and six children who remain in Ethiopia.

‘My client’s life has been shattered by what has happened,’ said Rosa Curling, the lawyer handling the case. ‘It goes entirely against what our aid purports to stand for.’

 

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Mr O’s family was caught in controversial ‘villagisation’ programmes. Under the schemes, four million people living in areas opposed to an autocratic government dominated by men from the north of the country are being forced from lucrative land into new villages.

Their land has been sold to foreign investors or given to Ethiopians with government connections.

People resisting the soldiers driving them from their farms and homes at gunpoint have been routinely beaten, raped, jailed, tortured or killed.

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Exodus: The farmer claims villagers are being attacked by troops driving them from their land

‘Why is the West, especially the UK, giving so much money to the Ethiopian government when it is committing atrocities on my people?’ asked Mr O when we met last year.

His London-based lawyers argue that DFID is meant to ensure recipients of British aid do not violate human rights, and they have failed to properly investigate the complaints. 

Human Rights Watch has issued several scathing reports highlighting the impact of villagisation and showing how Ethiopia misuses aid for political purposes, such as diverting food and seeds  to supporters.

Concern focuses on a massive scheme called Protection of Basic Services, which is designed to upgrade public services and is part-funded by DFID.

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Force: Ethiopian federal riot police point their weapons at protesting students in a square in the country's capital, Addis Ababa

Critics say this cash pays the salaries of officials implementing resettlements and for infrastructure at new villages.

DFID officials have not interviewed Mr O, reportedly saying it is too risky to visit the United Nations-run camp in Kenya where he is staying, and refuse to make their assessments public.

A spokesman said they could not comment specifically on the legal action but added: ‘It is wrong to suggest that British development money is used to force people from their homes. Our support to the Protection of Basic Services programme is only used to provide healthcare, schooling, clean water and other services.’

BRUTALLY DRIVEN FROM HIS FERTILE LAND - AND HE BLAMES BRITAIN 

Intimidation: Riot police confront a man (not the claimant) near the Tegbareed Industrial College as officers beat rock-throwing students during a demonstration

As he showed me  pictures on his mobile phone of his homeland, the tall, bearded farmer smiled fondly. ‘We were very happy growing up there and living there,’ he said. This was hardly surprising: the lush Gambela region of Ethiopia is a fertile place of fruit trees, rivers and fissures of gold, writes Ian Birrell

That was the only smile when I met Mr O in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya last year. He told me how his simple family life had been destroyed in seconds – and how he blames British aid for his misery. ‘I miss my family so much,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to be relying on handouts –  I want to be productive.’

His nightmare began in November 2011 when Ethiopian troops accompanied by officials arrived in his village and ordered everyone to leave for a new location.

Men who refused were beaten and women were raped, leaving some infected with HIV.

I met a blind man who was  hit in the face and a middle-aged mother whose husband was  shot dead beside her – she still bore obvious the scars from  her own beating and rape by three soldiers. 

Unlike their previous home, their new village had no food, water, school or health facilities. They were not given farmland and there were just a few menial jobs. 

‘The government was pretending it was about development,’ said Mr O, 33. ‘But they just want to push the indigenous people off so they can take our land and gold.’ 

After speaking out against forced relocations and returning to his village, Mr O was taken to a military camp where for three days he was gagged with a sock in his mouth, severely kicked and beaten with rifle butts and sticks. 

‘I thought it would be better  to die than to suffer like this,’ he  told me. 

Afterwards, like thousands of others, he fled the country; now he lives amid the dust and squalor of the world’s largest refugee camp. He says their land was then given to relatives of senior regime figures and foreign investors from Asia and the Middle East.

‘I am very angry about this aid,’ he said. ‘Britain needs to check what is happening to its money.
‘I hope the court will act to stop the killing, stop the land-grabbing and stop your Government supporting the Ethiopian government behind this.’ 

As the dignified Mr O said so sagely, what is happening in his country is the precise opposite  of development.

=>dailmail

Pride Versus Humility The Self-Perceived Paradoxical Identities of Ethiopian Journalists

Birhanu Olana Dirbaba

ABSTRACT

This is the first national and multilingual survey of Ethiopian journalists, resulting in, first, a comprehensive demographic profile of Ethiopian journalists; second, the overwhelming evidence of antipathy between government-employed and private-sector journalists that undermines the possibility of a collective identity or cooperative relations among Ethiopian journalists; third, the discovery of an apparent paradox between Ethiopian journalists’ pride in their country’s history as a sovereign nation and their regret at the lack of strong press traditions which is a by-product of this history and, finally, the tension that emerges in the data between Ethiopian journalists’ pride in and embarrassment about their chosen profession.

INTRODUCTION

Ethiopia is an ancient country that shows many faces to the world. It is respected variously as the cradle of humanity (homo sapiens), the birthplace of one of the world’s oldest but now defunct forms of democratic governance (the Oromo Geda System), the stronghold of African independence, and the homeland of the world’s most outstanding long-distance runners. At the same time, it attracts much more international media coverage as the land of famine, hunger, poverty, civil war, and autocratic governments.

Politically, modern Ethiopia has known three different types of governments: the imperial rule of Emperor Hailesilassie (r. 1930-1974; except for the Italian East Africa interregnum from 1936 to 1941), the Marxist military junta led by President Mengistu Hailemariam (r. 1974-1991), and the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front’s (EPRDF’s) revolutionary democratic government, led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi (r. 1991-2012), one of Africa’s longest serving leaders, who died in office in August 2012, and was replaced by Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn.

In 2012, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) had an estimated population of 92 million, making it the second most populous nation in Africa. The country is landlocked, has a predominantly agrarian economy, and regularly suffers extreme weather events such as drought and famine. The country depends on significant amounts of humanitarian and development aid from Western countries to alleviate its economic problems and food shortages. In the last decade alone, US$26 billion in aid was donated, primarily from the European Community, United States of America, and United Kingdom (Dereje, 2011).

The official language is Amharic. It is spoken by only 32.7% of the population, with another 31.9% speaking Afan Oromo, the language of the largest ethnic community of the country. In terms of religion, some 43.5% of the population are followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, another 33.9% identify as Muslims and there are smaller Protestant and Catholic congregations as well as followers of traditional beliefs (Central Statistical Agency [CSA], 2008).

Ethiopia has very limited media and communication resources. According to a recent Ethiopian Broadcast Authority report, by 2013, there were only 16 newspaper titles and 25 magazines available in the market (Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority [EBA], 2013). The country’s Telecom and Broadcast industry is under government monopoly. There are an estimated 1,400 professional journalists in the country or one journalist for every 65,000 Ethiopians. This number does not include around 200 EPRDF cadres that staff the party-owned media. The EPRDF government tightly controls both the state-run media organizations and the commercial press. These adverse conditions have dampened the professional ambitions of many dedicated and courageous Ethiopian journalists. It is a grim fact that those who take their work seriously live with the constant threat of prosecution, imprisonment, or exile. In a recent survey, Ethiopia is named among the countries most likely to imprison journalists or to force them into exile (Committee to Protect Journalists, 2011a, 2011b; Human Rights Watch, 2010; Witchel, 2011).

Thus, despite creating a constitutional and legal framework to protect press freedom and independent journalism in the 1990s as part of the post-junta democratization process, the Meles government then proved more than willing to contravene its own media rules and stifle media commercialization in the 2000s to ensure its own political survival. The recently appointed Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn seems set to follow the same path as his predecessor (“Ethiopia’s Hailemariam,” 2012).

Read More at sgo