Ethiopia a marvel of architectural and natural wonders

The famous rock churches of Lalibela in the northern highlands of Ethiopia
 were ordered by King Lalibela in the 12th century.

By JUDY SCHRAFFT

SPECIAL TO THE DAILY NEWS

This is where it all began.

In the second century A.D., two young men from Syria landed on the western shore of the Red Sea with a message that would change the world.

They brought the new religion of Christianity to the city now known as Axum, which became the religious center in the country known today as Ethiopia. The prevailing Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church is one branch of the original Coptic church, which today includes the Egyptian, Armenian and several other living Coptic entities. This quickly spread theology that predated the Byzantine Empire — brought by Roman Emperor Constantine to what is now Istanbul — by about 200 years; it is as alive and powerful now as then.

The Axumite kingdom was one of the ancient world’s great civilizations, with monolithic stone stelae — obelisks in the style of multi-story buildings. One obelisk, stolen during the Mussolini occupation and taken to Italy, was recently returned and repositioned to mark the subterranean tombs of Axumite royals.

The son of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon is said to have brought the Ark of the Covenant, containing the first books of the Old Testament, to Axum. It remains there today, preserved in a sanctuary that also houses gold and silver crosses used in holy ceremonies.

Religion pervades daily life in Ethiopia, which is sprinkled with churches in odd and obscure corners, forest groves, mountain tops, villages and towns. A call to prayer is heard several times a day; it is the Christian Orthodox call to Mass — in the original language of Ge’ez. While not spoken now, it is still used in all ancient religious ceremonies. The spoken language of Ethiopia is Amharic, although about 50 others can be heard.

Ethiopian woman leaps to her death in Oman

MUSCAT: A woman leapt to her death from the fifth floor of a building near Barka roundabout on Friday evening.

The victim was identified as an unskilled worker from Ethiopia working as housemaid for the last few months in Barka.

“It happened at around 7:45pm. We heard a noise of something falling near the Bank Sohar branch building. We found the victim’s body on top of a car parked in front of the building. Later, police came and cleared the body from the scene,” an eyewitness said.

Royal Oman Police (ROP) sources told Times of Oman that they have initiated a probe into the incident.

Sources told Times of Oman that the victim was working as a housemaid for the last four months at one of the offices in the building where she leapt to death.

Youth’s body found

Meanwhile, a youngster’s body was found behind one of the garages in Quriyat Souk on Friday. The body was in a decomposed condition and was beyond recognition.

Later, a special team from ROP identified the deceased as a resident of Al Jenin area in the Wilayat of Qurayat.

An ROP source said that they have initiated a probe into the death and they suspect an overdose of drug behind the death.

Sources in the locality told Times of Oman that the deceased had been a drug addict for the last few years and was missing for the last three days.

http://www.timesofoman.com

Ethiopia weighs benefits of foreign 'land grabs'

By Duncan Bartlett

Business reporter, BBC World Service

A new report from the US-based Oakland Institute says that in 2009 alone, foreign investors bought or leased nearly 60 million hectares of land in Africa - an area about the size of France.

Hailemariam Desalegn, the deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, told the BBC the arrangement was an advantage to Ethiopia.

But critics say the process amounts to a series of "land grabs" that deprive Africa of its own natural resources.

Benefits debated

In Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and China are planning to grow more than one million tonnes of rice in Ethiopia and take it back to their own countries.

They are doing deals with the government to acquire large tracts of Ethiopian land, particularly in the western region of Gambella.

The government argues that most of the land is not currently being used effectively and this foreign investment will benefit local communities.

Not everyone agrees.

An Ethiopian who is familiar with the region told the BBC that local people used the land for agriculture, hunting and for gathering fruit in times of famine.

He claimed that people had been bribed by foreign companies to leave their villages, although he was unable to offer evidence of this.

'Big country'

In the past few years, massive amounts of land in Africa have been bought by foreign organisations.

A new report from the US-based Oakland Institute says that in 2009 alone, foreign investors bought or leased nearly 60 million hectares of land in Africa - an area about the size of France.

Hailemariam Desalegn, the deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, told the BBC the arrangement was an advantage to Ethiopia.

But critics say the process amounts to a series of "land grabs" that deprive Africa of its own natural resources.

Foreign companies often pay compensation money to people living on the land they plan to acquire. They also offer them employment and help with more efficient and productive farming processes.

"Out of the arable land, the amount being sold is only 3%," Mr Hailemariam said.

"Of course it's huge when compared with small countries in Europe, but Ethiopia is a big country."

The area that is being leased is lowland where farmers are not willing to go and plough the land, Mr Hailemariam said.

It is often infested with malaria and the climate makes it unsuitable for small holder farmers, he added.

Food crisis

The other problem facing the country is the rising price of food. Food prices are now 30% higher than they were a year ago, according to government statistics.

The world's worst food security crisis is continuing in the eastern Horn of Africa, a US agency has warned.

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network said Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia were in the middle of the world's worst food security crisis.

Large-scale emergency assistance was urgently needed "to save lives and treat acute malnutrition" in the region, the US agency said.

So will selling food abroad lead to more shortages and higher prices? Not according to Mr Hailemariam.

"Small holder farmers feed themselves first and sell when there is a marketable surplus," he said.

"It becomes a problem for the urban poor who have less capacity to purchase food at inflated prices. That is why we as a government allocate certain commodities and subsidise them and in that way we can alleviate some of the problems in the urban area."

http://www.bbc.co.uk

የሽብር ወንጀል ክስ ተጠርጣሪዎች ተቀጠሩ

-    ስዊድናውያኑ ጋዜጠኞች ጥፋተኛ ተብለዋል

በሽብር ወንጀል ተጠርጥረው በፌዴራል ዓቃቤ ሕግ ክስ የተመሠረተባቸው እነ ኤልያስ ክፍሌ የክርክር ማቆሚያ ንግግር እንዲያደርጉ፣ እነ አንዱዓለም አራጌ ደግሞ ቀሪ የዓቃቤ ሕግን የኦዲዮና ቪዲዮ ማስረጃ ለማየት ለታኅሣሥ 17 እና 19 ቀን 2004 ዓ.ም. ተቀጠሩ፡፡ ለሁለቱም ተጠርጣሪ ተከሳሾች ለታኅሣሥ 13 ቀን 2004 ዓ.ም. ቀጠሮ የሰጠው የፌዴራል ከፍተኛ ፍርድ ቤት ልደታ ምድብ የወንጀል ችሎት ሲሆን፣ በእነ ኤልያስ ክፍሌ ላይ የመከላከያ ምስክሮችን መስማት የጀመረው ታኅሣሥ 11 ቀን 2004 ዓ.ም. ከሰዓት በኋላ ነበር፡፡

በእነ ኤልያስ ክፍሌ የክስ መዝገብ ክስ የተመሠረተባቸው የመኢዴፓ ሊቀመንበር ዘሪሁን ገብረ እግዚአብሔር፣ የአውራ አምባ ታይምስ ጋዜጣ ምክትል አዘጋጅ ውብሸት ታዬ፣ ሒሩት ክፍሌና መምህርትና አምደኛ ርዕዮት አለሙ ናቸው፡፡

የአምስተኛ ተከሳሽ ርዕዮት ዓለሙ ጠበቃ አቶ ሞላ ዘገዬ፣ የመከላከያ ምስክሮች ከመሰማታቸው በፊት ምስክሮቹ በምን ላይ እንደሚመሰክሩ ባስያዙት ጭብጥ፣ የሽብርተኝነት መሠረተ ሐሳብ ከዓለም አቀፍ ሕጎች አኳያ ለሙያዊ ማብራሪያ በምስክርነት ያቀረቧቸው የቀድሞው የቅንጅት የላዕላይ ምክር ቤት አባል የነበሩት ዶ/ር ያዕቆብ ኃይለማርያም ሲሆኑ፣ በፎቶ የተደገፈ ዘገባ ማቅረብ ከሕገ መንግሥታዊ መብቶች አንፃር ደግሞ ሙያዊ አስተያየታቸውን እንዲሰጡ ያቀረቧቸው የፖለቲካ ሳይንስ ምሁሩ፣ የኦህኮ ሊቀመንበርና የመድረክ ከፍተኛ አመራር ዶ/ር መረራ ጉዲና ናቸው፡፡

ዓቃቤ ሕግ ባለሙያዎቹ የሚሰጡት ማብራሪያ ከክሱ ጭብጥ ውጭ በመሆኑና የሕግ ትርጉም የሚሰጠውም ፍርድ ቤቱ በመሆኑ እንደሚቃወም በማመልከቱ፣ ፍርድ ቤቱም የጠበቃውን ጭብጥና ምስክሮችን ሳይቀበል በመቅረቱ፣ ሁለቱም ዶክተሮች ሳይመሰክሩ ወይም በቀረበው ጭብጥ አማካይነት ማብራሪያ ሳይሰጡ ተመልሰዋል፡፡

ተከሳቹ የመከላከያ ምስክሮቻቸውን ከማሰማታቸው በፊት በወንጀል ሕግ 142(1) መሠረት የተከሳሽነት ቃላቸውን ሰጥተዋል፡፡

የመኢዴፓ ሊቀመንበር ዘሪሁን ገብረ እግዚአብሔር በሰጡት የተከሳሽነት ቃል፣ በሕግ የተቋቋመና ፈቃድ ያለው የፖለቲካ መሪ መሆናቸውን፣ በሕጋዊ መንገድ እንደሚቃወሙ፣ የተቃውሞ ወረቀት እንደሚበትኑና ይኼም ከፓርቲው ፋይል ጋር የተያያዘ መሆኑን፣ ከውጭ አገር ከአጎታቸው ልጅ ገንዘብ እንደሚላክላቸው፣ ከኤልያስ ክፍሌ ጋር በፖለቲካ መሪነትና የጋዜጠኛነት ግንኙነት እንዳላቸው ተናግረዋል፡፡

ጋዜጠኛ ውብሸት በሰጠው የተከሳሽነት ቃል ጋዜጠኛ መሆኑን፣ በሕገ መንግሥቱ የተፈቀደለትንና በአዲሱ የመገናኛ ብዙኀንና የመረጃ ነፃነትን ለመደንገግ የወጣውን አዋጅ ተከትሎ እንደሚሠራ፣ መከሰስም ካለበት በዚሁ አዋጅ መሠረት መከሰስ እንዳለበት፣ በኢሜል አድራሻ ተለዋውጧል የተባለው ጽሑፍ የትርጉም ስህተት እንዳለበት፣ እሱ ሰኔ 12 ቀን 2003 ዓ.ም. በቁጥጥር ሥር ውሎና በ13 ፍርድ ቤት ቀርቦ እያለ፣ ሰኔ 23 ቀን 2003 ዓ.ም. ተጻጻፈ የተባለ ኢሜል እንደ ማስረጃ እንደቀረበበት፣ አባቱ ዓይናቸውን ታመው እሱ ዘንድ ሆነው ሲታከሙ፣ ውጭ አገር የሚኖረው ወንድሙ ስለ አባታቸው ሲጠይቀው ‹‹ኦፕሬሽን እየተደረገ ነው›› ያለውን፣ ጦርነት የሚመራ የጦር ጄነራል ተደርጎ መቅረቡን፣ ኤልያስ ክፍሌ አንድ ጊዜ እንደደወለለትና ጓደኛውም ስለነበር ሁለት ጊዜ በድምሩ 300 ዶላር እንደላከለት ተናግሮ፣ ‹‹ፍርድ ቤቱ ትክክለኛ ፍርድ ይሰጠኛል›› የሚል እምነት እንዳለው በመግለጽ የተከሳሽነት ቃሉን አጠቃሏል፡፡

12 Ethiopians dumped in Lake Malawi

By Karen Msiska

MALAWI, SOUTHERN AFRICA — Twelve Ethiopians believed to have been illegally crossing into the country via Lake Malawi from Tanzania were dumped in the lake after dying of hunger, police have said quoting the other immigrants.

About 106 Ethiopians set off for Malawi on boats in what is a sign of desperation to get out of Ethiopia and arrive in Malawi but only 94 were intercepted by police at Sanga in Nkhata Bay Monday night.

“The dead bodies were dumped in the lake randomly as they did not die at the same time,” said Nkhata Bay police spokesperson Martin Bwanali in an interview on Tuesday.

He said the 94 Ethiopians have been charged with illegal entry into the country contrary to Section 21(36) of the Immigration Act, and that figure takes the number of illegal entrants arrested around the area to 183 over the past week.

He said police have also arrested a Malawian identified as 36-year-old William Banda from Chanthomba Village in TA Mankhambira’s area on suspicion that he has been coordinating movement of the illegal entrants by providing them with information on security presence on docking areas.

“Our investigations indicate that the boat the group was travelling on was dumped on the lake after those operating them got information that police officers were waiting for them in the area,” added Bwanali.

“We arrested Banda and told him to keep telling the group to dock but they responded by saying that they had information that he had been arrested. The transporters dumped them and are believed to have returned to Tanzania.”

He said the group was met by some fishermen who noticed that the group could not converse in English or any local language and pulled their boat to land.

Banda has been charged with aiding and abetting human trafficking.

Police say most the Ethiopians immigrants are now taking advantage of Tukombo’s closeness to the hills and the lake which allows them to quickly get into the bushy hills after docking. Police arrested 89 of them in the area last week.

Source: The Daily Times

Malawi court convicts 90 Ethiopians

A court in Nkhata Bay, Malawi, has found over 90 Ethiopians guilty of illegal entry into the country four days after they hang out off shore Lake Malawi to elude police security.

The immigrants have since been fined K4,000 each or if they fail to pay the amount, go to jail for two months each.

Prison authorities in Nkhatabay have since raised fears of congestion at the district prison which has a capacity of 280 if the 94 Ethiopian illegal immigrants are eventually jailed.

Eight of the Ethiopians died of starvation on Lake Malawi where they camped for four days as they tried to elude security to illegally get ashore.

Police say the Ethiopian illegal immigrants, close to 100, were in a boat belonging to a Tanzanian national.

Nkhatabay police spokesperson Sergeant Martin Bwanali says 94 of the Ethiopians have been arrested for illegal entry into Malawi.

“They were forced to stay on the Lake for four days after being tipped by their Malawian agents that police were waiting for them on the shores,” said Sergeant Bwanali.

Sergeant Bwanali said police had prior information on the questionable visit by the aliens.

“Police officers were strategically deployed on the shores of the lake around the area to monitor what was happening,” he said. The Ethiopians were, however, tipped by their Malawian agents that police were monitoring them.

“The strangers then decided to remain on the lake for four days. In the process, eight of them died of starvation and were disposed off right in the lake,” said Sergeant Bwanali.

The tragedy, police suspect, forced the group to show up on the shore where they met local fishermen who sold them off.

The 94 Ethiopians are aged between 20 and 40.

The influx of illegal immigrants has often worried local authorities as they over-stretch government resources and causes security hazard as their backgrounds are not known.

It is generally believed that Ethiopians, Somalis and people from DRC find Malawi a soft security spot in their quest to travel to South Africa where they long to find a better life.

There is a rise in cases of illegal immigrants into Malawi.

Officials from the Immigration Department say close to 3,000 cases were recorded in 2011.

The arrests are being attributed to alertness of officials and routine security operations.

The increasing cases of illegal immigrants are blamed on porous borders Malawi has.

Ethiopians, Somalis, Burundians, Rwandese, Indians, Pakistanis and now Chinese nationals make up the majority of illegal immigrants found in Malawi.

Source: ZodiakMalawi

Ethiopian NYU Student Wants to Convert Dog Poop into Fuel

Melody Kelemu

GREENWICH VILLAGE — Growing up in Ethiopia, Melody Kelemu always had dogs, a lawn where they could walk around by themselves and gardeners who took care of any mess man’s best friend left behind.

When she moved to the city to start college at New York University, the Neuroscience and Environmental Studies major watched as residents cleaned up after their dogs every day, and began to wonder how the waste could be put to better use.

Now the 21-year-old junior is applying for an NYU grant to put machines into dog parks that would turn waste into energy to power lamps — including in Washington Square Park.

“It gives people a greater sense of satisfaction to know that you are doing something great while at the same time using something from your dog,” said Kelemu, who lives on the Lower East Side.

Kelemu’s plan, dog owners would collect dog waste in a specially made biodegradable bag and toss it into a methane digester — a hermetically sealed tank where the dog feces are broken down by anaerobic bacteria. Methane gas is released in the process, fueling a gas-burning lamppost in the park.

The digester has no smell and can accommodate waste from as many as 200 dogs per day. It takes waste from approximately 10 dogs to fuel a lamp for one hour, she said.

The device consists of two tanks, the second of which will be used to hold overflow waste. Kelemu said she would like to get other NYU students on board to maintain the machines.

Kelemu is applying for a $20,000 Green Grant from NYU’s Sustainability Task Force to cover the initial costs of the project. She said she plans to build the digesters herself, at a cost of $2,000 each, and the rest of the money will pay for maintenance and the production of biodegradable bags.

She said she’ll build the machine out of a water storage tank and scrap metal.

Kelemu would like to place a digester in the dog run on the south side of Washington Square Park and in the Mercer-Houston dog park, at the northwestern corner of Mercer and Houston streets.

She hopes to install the machines inside area dog runs by the summer.
http://www.balager.com