Ethiopia and Kenya- Doing it my way

An ideological competition between two diametrically opposed economic models

 ETHIOPIAN BORDER GUARDS at the arrivals terminal in Metema check every passport against a handwritten list of undesirables to be kept out. This a country in which the state knows best. That may be tiresome for visitors, but it has made Ethiopia one of Africa’s development stars. A newly built road leading away from the border is surrounded by intensively farmed fields of sesame, Ethiopia’s second-biggest export after coffee. Golden bundles of harvested stalks sit on fields flanked by streams. It is a long time since famine-struck 1984, when Bob Geldof sang about the country “where nothing ever grows / No rain or rivers flow / Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?”
Now it is Christmas time in Ethiopia, up to a point. The country has a state-backed policy of boosting the economy and alleviating poverty, carried out by officials with near-dictatorial powers. Markets and foreign investors are allowed but mistrusted. The model borrows from China and is conceived as a rejection of Western free-for-all capitalism. It claims to nurture local employers and protect them from Wall Street predators. The government talks vaguely about moving to a liberal democracy in the future, but that is a long way off. The economy comes first. Meles Zenawi, the country’s late prime minister, developed a vision for the country of 85m that focuses mainly on improving its agriculture, which accounts for 46% of GDP and employs 79% of the workforce.
Some neighbours are following Ethiopia’s state-led development model, most notably Rwanda. Yet other African countries are taking the opposite approach. They have scaled back the role of the state and liberalised markets, embracing a Western model. Kenya, which proudly proclaims itself the homeland of the American president, leads the pack. It has attracted worldwide attention with its successes in telecoms and banking.

Abune Mathias elected as the new patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOTC)

Addis Ababa, 28 February 2013: Archbishop His Eminence Abune Mathias of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church in Jerusalem is elected the sixth Patriarch of the Church on Thursday, 28 February 2013, in Addis Ababa.

According to official results, Archbishop Abune Mathias received 500 out of 806 votes. Whereas, the other four candidates Abune Yoseph, Abune Mathewos, Abune Hiskiel and Abune Elsa got 98, 98, 70 and 39 votes, respectively. One ballot paper was disqualified. A total of 806 voters, including Archbishops, department heads of the patriarchate office, ancient monasteries and churches, clergy, representative’s of Church members and Sunday school students voted for the election of the new Patriarch. Delegations from Oriental Orthodox Churches, the World Council of Churches, the elderly, among others, observed the election.

Emirati woman who tortured, murdered Ethiopian maid to walk free after paying "blood money"

Ethiopian diplomat urges court to prevent repetition of murders

 An Emirati woman who murdered her Ethiopian housemaid in Abu Dhabi is set to walk free after the maid’s relatives agreed to pardon the defendant in return for diya (blood money), a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

A criminal court in the capital said it would issue a verdict on March 25 after the relatives of the maid said they had accepted diya from the Emirati woman, who confessed to have tortured her maid without intending to kill her.

During Monday’s trail, the unnamed woman said she could not remember details of her repeated torture sessions against the maid but told court that she has a problem with domestic workers after one maid had an affair with her ex-husband.

“The Ethiopian consul who was present at the trial asked court to try and handle the defendant after she is released from jail so she will not hurt others again,” the Arabic language daily Emarat Al Youm said.

Under Islamic law, killers can be saved from the gallows in most cases if pardoned by the victim’s family in return for blood money.
http://www.emirates247.com

Tullow Oil (LON: TLW) Discovers Ethiopian Oil

Oil exploration company Tullow Oil Plc (LON: TLW) discovered crude minerals along the Kenyan and Ethiopian borders along the Tertiary rift.
Tullow was under a fair amount of pressure to discover more oil after a disappointing trading performance in January and a failure to find oil off the coast of French Guiana last year.
Tullow’s partners include Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) and Africa Oil Corp. (TSX-V: AOI), and the oil find has been part of a vast project that covers Ethiopia and Kenya.
There could be as much as 23 billion barrels of oil concentrated underneath two basins, extending from southern Ethiopia to southwestern Kenya. This does not include two other unexplored basins.
You may be wondering why this is such big news, since oil in Africa is nothing new. Well, this is the first discovery where commercial production is truly possible.
Kenya could very well become the next major oil-producing nation in the world— something that could foster competition with the Arab world in the future. There could be “10 billion barrels of oil and gas” in just this area, according to Bloomberg. This location offers the real possibility of opening a new source of oil for the world market.

Desta Reopens After Owners of the Ethiopian Restaurant on Greenville, Shot to Death on the Porch of Their East Dallas Home

Last weekend Tizeta Getachew and Yemi Lemma quietly reopened the doors to their brother's restaurant Desta. The North Dallas Ethiopian restaurant was unexpectedly shuttered when owners Yayehyirad Lemma and Yenenesh Desta were killed in a shooting after an evening shift last summer.
Getachew and Yemi Lemma obviously had close personal ties with the restaurant, so when the landlord offered the opportunity to take over the lease they jumped on it.

"We were aware how the place was ran and wanted to keep things that way," said Getachew, who worked at the restaurant when it originally opened. The menu hasn't changed, and many of the staff who worked at Desta before the closure have returned.
"We never wanted to let go, " said Getachewm when asked if she ever second-guessed her decision to leave her job as a director of a shelter to keep the restaurant open. "Next to their son, this is their only living legacy."
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com

Case of unborn child death complex

COURT APPEARANCE: Bililigne Gebretsadik has pleaded not guilty to careless driving causing the death of his wife's unborn baby.

A man charged with careless driving causing the death of his unborn child could have several hearings to determine complex legal issues.
Bililigne Yohannes Gebretsadik, 40, originally from Ethiopia appeared before Wellington District Court judge Oke Blaikie today.
He also faces two charges of careless driving causing injury relating to a two-car collision at an intersection in Newtown last June.
He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Ethiopia Tries to Capitalize on Its Running Fame

Benno Muchler

The Great Ethiopian Run drew about 36,000 participants in November. New training centers and a new marathon could help attract top international runners.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — On a warm Sunday morning in late November, about 36,000 people set off on the Great Ethiopian Run, a 10-kilometer race across the center of Addis Ababa. Diplomats, students, merchants, Orthodox priests, homeless children and professional runners were among the participants. It is one of Africa’s largest road races, hosted in the capital of a passionate running nation that has dominated long-distance competitions for the past two decades.

Haile Gebrselassie, one of Ethiopia’s most successful runners and businessmen, founded the race 12 years ago. He wanted to bring a big race to his home country.

Masresha Bekele (Professor) Remembers Yoftahe,Yohannes and Yonas

የአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲው ፕሮፌሰር ማስረሻ በቀለ እነ ዮሃንስ አድማሱ እና ዮናስ አድማሱን ያፈራው ትውልድ አባል ናቸው፡፡በተለይም ኢትዮጵያዊ መፃህፍትን አጥብቀው የሚሹ የዚህ ትውልድ አባላት ጠንቅቀው ያውቋቸዋል፡፡አሁን ያሉበት የዩኒቨርሲቲ ፕሬስ ከጥቂት ጊዜያት ወዲህ በገበያው ከፍተኛ ተቀባይነት ያገኙ መፃህፍትን ለህትመት በማብቃት ላይ ነው፡፡በዮሃንስ አድማሱ ጥረትና ድካም ተዘጋጅቶ በታናሽ ወንድሙ ዮናስ አድማሱ(ዶ/ር) የህትመት ብርሃን ያየው “ቀኝ ጌታ ዮፍታሄ ንጉሴ-አጭር የህይወቱና የፅሁፉ ታሪክ" የተሰኘ መፅሃፍ የምረቃ ፕሮግራም ላይ ይህንን ንግግር አድርገው ነበር፡፡በንግግራቸው የመፅሃፉን የህትመት ሂደት እና ከወንድማማቾቹ ጋር የነበራቸውን ምሁራዊ ወዳጅነት አጠር አጠር አድርገው ለታዳምያኑ አካፍለዋል፡፡የመተረክ ችሎታቸውና ለዛቸው ልዩ ነው፡፡በሸገርTribune ሊያደምጡት ይችላሉ፡፡

Musical Extracted from Ethiopian Theatre Afajeshgn"አፋጀሺኝ" of Yoftahe Nigusse

ኢትዮጵያዊ የባህል አምባሳደር” አርቲስት ተስፋዬ ለማ-በአውደሰብ

“ለራሱ ያልኖረው ኢትዮጵያዊ የባህል አምባሳደር” አርቲስት ተስፋዬ ለማ……!

በኤልያስ እሸቱ

“በኢትዮጵያ ሙዚቃ ከ45 ዓመት በላይ ስላሳለፍኩ ያንን ልምዴን ለቀጣዩ ትውልድ ለማበርከት ተነሳሳሁ። መጽሀፍ በአብዛኛው በኢትዬጵያ

ሙዚቃ ውስጥ ያለፉትንና በመሰማት ላይ ያሉትን ከአፄ ምኒልክ እስከ ደርግ ጊዜ ድረስ የኢትዮጵያ ሙዚቃ ምን እንደሚመስል የሚያሳይ

ታሪክ ያለው መጽሀፍ ለመፃፍ እየሞከርኩ ነው። እንደሚታወቀው በምኒልክና በሃይለስላሴ ዘመን ስለነገስታቱና ስለመኳንቱ ነው የሚፃፈው

በደርግም ቢሆን ስለሶሻሊዝምና ስለመሳሰሉት ነበር የሚፃፍ። በተለይ በዛን ወቅት ስለዘፋኝ እንፃፍ ቢባል ስንት ቁም ነገር እያለ ስለዘፋኝ

እንፃፍ ትላላችሁ ነው የሚሉት። እኔ ለማዘጋጀት የማስበው መጽሀፍ ሙዚቀኞችና ድምፃውያን ስላደረጉት አስተዋፆኦ በታሪክ መልክ በዚህም

ሀገር፣ በአውሮፓም በተለያዩ ላይብረሪ ውስጥ ተቀምጦ የልጅ ልጆቻችን ታሪካቸውን እንዲያውቁ ብዙ ይጠቅማቸዋል ብዬ አምናለሁ…..ውልደቱ በአዲስ አበባ መስካዬሕዙናን መድሐኒያለም ከዛሬ 65 ዓመት ገደማ  ነበር።