Ethiopia Arrests State Minister for Finance on Suspicion of Corruption

By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia has arrested its state minister for finance on suspicion of corruption, state-run television said on Friday, part of an anti-graft drive that the government says has led to dozens of arrests in the last two weeks.

Alemayehu Gujo is the highest-ranking official to have been detained so far in the sweep that has also involved business owners. Zayed Woldegabriel, Director General of the Ethiopian Roads Authority, was also detained on Friday, the state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) said.

In an emergency session, Ethiopia's House of People's Representatives lifted Gujo's immunity from prosecution, the EBC said in a breaking news announcement.

"A warrant was then issued and led to his arrest," the broadcaster said, citing the Attorney General's Office.

Friday's arrest followed the detention of more than 40 officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation, the capital's housing development agency, the state-run Ethiopian Sugar Corporation, and the Ethiopian Roads Authority.

Charges brought so far include embezzlement and the siphoning off of billions of birr.

The anti-corruption drive is partly a response to unrest that wrecked the Horn of Africa country in 2015 and 2016 and which was sparked by a scheme to development and expand the capital, Addis Ababa. The protests turned into broader anti-government demonstrations over politics and human rights abuses.

The violence included attacks on businesses, many of them foreign-owned, including farms growing flowers for export.

The government subsequently acknowledged that maladministration and abuse of power was rife and that it needed to broaden political participation.

On Friday, it lifted a 10-month state of emergency that was imposed in the wake of the unrest.

(Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Editing by Katharine Houreld and Catherine Evans)

Copyright 2017 Thomson Reuters.

Ethiopian Parliament Lifts State of Emergency Imposed Last Year

WASHINGTON — 

The Ethiopian parliament lifted the state of emergency enacted last year, following months of protests that claimed hundreds of lives.

The parliament, which convened Friday for a special session, approved the measure shortly after listening to a report presented by Defense Minister Siraj Fegessa, head of the command set up to oversee the state of emergency.

In his report, Fegessa said that the country's peace and security situation has improved, despite some security issues remaining in parts of the country.

Emergency rule was imposed Oct. 9, 2016, after a development scheme for the capital Addis Ababa sparked unrest that turned into broader anti-government demonstrations about politics and human right abuses.

More than 600 people were killed in the unrest and over 21,000 arrested. The defense minister said 8,000 people are still behind bars, accused of crimes committed during the violence. Read more here

Exiled Ethiopia athlete, Feyisa Lilesa, keeps running, winning and protesting

Feyisa Lilesa, went to the 2016 Olympic Games to represent his native Ethiopia. He has since not returned to the country for fear of arrest, imprisonment and torture.

He won a silver medal in Rio but more than the medal his gesture at the end of his race is what made the biggest news. As he crossed the line after his 42-kilometer race, Lilesa crossed his hands above his head – a protest sign by the Oromo people back home.

After Rio, he sought for and was granted asylum in the United States and has been living there since leaving Rio. He was reunited with his family later – after his wife and two kids flew to join him in the States.

If I would’ve taken my medal and went back to Ethiopia, that would’ve been the biggest regret of my life. I wanted to be a voice for a story that wasn’t getting any coverage.

Despite his inability to return home, he continues to participate in marathons across the world.

His most recent feat was winning the 18th edition of the Bogota half marathon in Colombia, and after crossing the line in a time of 1: 04: 30 he again showed the anti-government gesture.

Feyisa Lilesa won the 2017 Bogota Half Marathon-crossing his wrists above his head at the finish line to protest against #Ethiopia-n govt.

— Mohammed Ademo (@OPride) July 30, 2017

He run in the name of Ethiopia and by winning, ensured that the title still bore an Ethiopian flag. The winner last year was fellow national, Tadese Tola. Tola broke a Kenyan dominance that spanned five years (2011 – 2015.)

Prior to Bogota, he had failed to make a mark at the London marathon where he promised to continue his protest against the government in Addis Ababa.

Clearly, the 27-year-old seems to enjoy running – far from home and on the tracks, winning and protesting in solidarity with other Oromos who remain in Ethiopia.

He has previously said returning home would have been his biggest regret in life even though the authorities said he was free to do so. He told the AP news agency that he wanted to be the voice of those suffering back home.

“If I would’ve taken my medal and went back to Ethiopia, that would’ve been the biggest regret of my life. I wanted to be a voice for a story that wasn’t getting any coverage.”

He also took part in the London marathon months back even though he failed to make a mark he stated at the time that he would continue protesting against the government. He has also previously appeared before the European Union parliament along with a leading opposition chief, Dr. Merera Gudina.

Gudina was arrested last December after returning from Brussels. He is currently in jail facing terrorism charges. He categorically denies all the charges. He is charged along with two other persons.

Lilesa, was named among the 2016 top 100 global thinkers by the US based Foreign Policy (FP) magazine. He was classed in the group of thinkers called “the challengers.”

Under the title, “For breaking the rules of the games,” FP wrote about Feyisa: “Given the fact that the Olympic Charter bans political propaganda, demonstrations are a rarity at the games. Nevertheless, Ethiopian runner Feyisa Lilesa snubbed the rulebook in order to call attention to the brutal actions of his country’s security forces.

“As the marathoner approached the finish line in second place, he crossed his arms over his head—an attention-grabbing gesture to show solidarity with his Oromo tribe. In the weeks before the race, the Ethiopian government had cracked down on protests by the embattled indigenous group and killed dozens.” Read more here

How climate change might affect the Nile

TO THE untrained eye, the satellite photos of north-west Ethiopia on July 10th may have seemed benign. They showed a relatively small pool of water next to an enormous building site on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the Nile river. But the project under construction is the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is more than halfway complete. And the water is why it is so controversial.

Since Ethiopia announced its plan to build the dam, it has inspired threats of sabotage from Egypt, which sits downstream and relies on the Nile for electricity, farming and drinking water. Egypt claims that it is entitled to a certain proportion of the Nile’s water based on colonial-era treaties. Ethiopia dismisses those agreements. The pool of water in the photos suggested that it was beginning to fill the reservoir behind the dam, reducing the river’s flow.

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That turns out not to have been the case. The pool was deemed by Egypt to be a result of construction and seasonal Nile flooding. But the alarms it raised are indicative of how sensitive negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have become. Talks over such things as how fast to fill the reservoir and how to operate the dam have stumbled. And a potentially huge complication looms over any discussion of the Nile’s future: climate change.

By 2050 around a billion people will live in the countries through which the Nile and its tributaries flow. That alone will put enormous stress on the water supply. But according to a study by Mohamed Siam and Elfatih Eltahir of MIT, potential changes to the river’s flow, resulting from climate change, may add to the strain. Messrs Siam and Eltahir conclude that on current trends the annual flow could increase, on average, by up to 15%. That may seem like a good thing, but it could also grow more variable, by 50%. In other words, there would be more (and worse) floods and droughts.

There is, of course, uncertainty in the projections, not least because differing global climate models give different numbers. But the idea that the flow of the Nile is likely to become more variable is lent credibility, the authors argue, by the fact that trends over decades seem to agree with them, and by consideration of the effects of El Niños. These colossal climatic oscillations, driven by changes in the temperature of the Pacific, are correlated with the Nile’s flow, and climate-change studies suggesting more extreme El Niños in years to come thus bolster the idea of a more variable Nile.

More storage capacity will be needed to smooth out the Nile’s flow. But unlike Egypt’s large Aswan Dam, which was built with storage in mind, the new Ethiopian one is designed for electricity production. Once water starts gushing through its turbines, it is expected to produce over 6,000 megawatts of power. It is unclear, though, if the structure has the necessary flexibility to meet downstream demands in periods of prolonged drought.

The talks between the three countries seem to be glossing over the potential effects of climate change. The filling of the reservoir is being negotiated in terms of years, but nature may not co-operate with their timeline. The countries would be better off focusing on how much water is needed downstream, which will vary in wet and dry years, say experts. Similar considerations will need be taken into account when running the dam. “Nowhere in the world are two such large dams on the same river operated without close co-ordination,” says another study from MIT. But so far co-operation is in short supply. The latest round of talks has been postponed. Even the methodology of impact studies is cause for wrangling.

Once the dam is up and running, the Nile’s variability will be controllable for some 60 years, say Messrs Siam and Eltahir. That assumes the dam is flexible enough and that the countries work together. Even then, storage would have to be increased by about 45% to keep things steady for the next 60 years. So the countries have time to build new dams; but that will need even greater co-operation. Read more here

Ethiopia Made 3.3 Billion USD from Tourism

In the just ended fiscal year, Ethiopia generated 3.3 billion USD from tourists that came to visit the country. This was disclosed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The money was generated from more than 886,000 tourists that visited Ethiopia during the period. The performance was 88.7 percent of the target the Ministry put by the start of the last fiscal year.

Compared to the 2014/2015 fiscal year, the revenue generated from tourism sub sector, has declined by 2.5 percent/.

According to the Ministry sustainable peace is key for capitalizing from the sector better in the future.

Source: Walta Information Center