By: Belayneh Abate As prudent Ethiopians know, the current donkey back riders of the Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) are fighting with the former donkey back riders of the EPRDF. The people should understand that these two groups of donkey back riders are fighting for power, and not for the Ethiopian people. As the two groups of the…
Ethiopia is at Risk of Becoming a Failed State! What Will You Do?
Increasingly, many, including me, believe Ethiopia has become a fragile state, in serious danger of collapse and descent into a failed state. Two growing sources of violence are potential threats: armed military conflict in the Tigray Region in the North and ethnic-based killing and violence in non-combat zones especially Oromia, Benishangul-Gumuz and the Amhara Region….
Ethiopia’s Nile mega-dam is changing dynamics in Horn of Africa
China, US, Turkey and Saudi Arabia vie for influence amid region’s renaissance. In a few weeks, Ethiopian engineers will start the multiyear task of filling with water the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Africa’s largest hydroelectric power plant and the most ambitious attempt to harness the power of the Nile in history. Eventually, the $4.8bn project…
Rumors about Egyptian military base in South Sudan
The stalemate between Ethiopia and Egypt over the Ethiopia Dam is now being exaggerated by the Egyptian Army Base in Pagak area of Maiwut county, South Sudan. By Lul Gatkuoth Gatluak The stalemate between Egypt and Ethiopia over the project of Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is now being exaggerated in Social Media. In the past…
Statement on the Gaps and Omissions in the latest Amnesty International Report
Statement on the Gaps and Omissions in the latest Amnesty International Report May 30, 2020 Human rights organizations play a crucial role in defending marginalized communities in these unprecedented times of rising authoritarianism and conflict. Often being one of the few venues for silenced voices, reports by international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International…
The Secret to Germany’s COVID-19 Success: Angela Merkel Is a Scientist
The chancellor’s rigor in collating information, her honesty in stating what is not yet known, and her composure are paying off. BERLIN—Today, we face the global outbreak of a disease that has the potential to catalyze what the historian Eva Schlotheuber terms a “pandemic of the mind.” As misinformation proliferates and lines between fact and fiction are…
Why we can hope that Ethiopia will be spared the worst of the pandemic
The current official projections suggest a worst case scenario up to 39 million people being affected by COVID-19 in Ethiopia. The Multi Sectoral Preparedness and Response Plan projects that 102,000 people could be infected in the next three months. According to the Ethiopian Public Health Institute by the end of April 235,000 people could be…
WHAT SHOULD BE AFRICA’S STRATEGY TO COUNTER COVID19? A STRATEGY FOR CONTAINMENT: IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS
MEHARI TADDELE MARU (@DRMEHARI) Super sense of urgency: clarity, clarity and clarity of strategy Addis Abeba, April 09/2020 – The current Covid-19 pandemic, like most of its kind, poses two closely interlinked challenges. They can be summarized as the demands for urgent actions needed to contain the outbreak; and the requirement to work on long-term strategic…
THE PROSPECT OF A COALITION GOVERNMENT IN ETHIOPIA IS REAL. LESSONS FROM THE POLITICS OF COMPROMISE
Belachew Mekuria, PhD, For Addis Standard Addis Abeba, October 01/2019 – 2020 elections are nigh and some campaign type of moves are observed in many parts of the country. This is a unique moment of history in Ethiopia’s nascent democracy, elections culture and practices. Not even the highly glorified 2005 election will be a match considering…
FAMILY MEMBERS ARRESTED FOR PLANNING CHILD MARRIAGE FOR 15-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN ETHIOPIA
Abraham Gelaw Earlier this year, Haderu Gebray, 15, and her parents were arrested for planning her wedding. Child marriage is illegal in Ethiopia yet her father, who works in government, planned to wed her to an older man she had never met. Her plight hit the media headlines instantly. All it took to create a…