Getachew Assefa on the Run

Getachew Assefa 

Unconfirmed reports are spreading on the internet claiming that an arrest warrant has been issued on Ethiopia's former Intelligence chief, Getachew Assefa.

Online media outlets such as ESAT, Addis Neger and Borkena.com are reporting that Getachew Assefa did not attend the just concluded regular meeting of the Executive Committe of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). According to the reports, his whereabouts are unknow at this time.

If true, this will mark yet another step towards further deterioration of relations between the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the rest of the EPRDF.

It is also being reported that some forty federal police officers who were detained in Mekelle Alula Aba Nega International Airport this month were tasked with serving arrest warrants to individuals such Getachew Assefa. They were reportedly released a few days ago and returned to Addis Ababa unsuccessfully.

Getachew Assefa is one of the members of the nine-member polit bureau of the TPLF. He has served as chief intelligence officer of Ethiopia since 2001.

He was relieved of his duty in June this year by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and subsequently named Security Advisor to the new Prime Minister. Read more here 

Mustafa Muhumed to act president of the Somali region

The new acting president has long been a vocal critic of Abdi Iley

Mustafa Muhumed Omer, 45, has been nominated as acting president of the Somali region until the next party congress in 2020, it was announced. The Ethiopian-Somali People’s Democratic Party (ESPDP)’s executive committee has elected him to be acting president in its meeting held today, BBC Amharic reported.

Mustafa had served as a humanitarian liaison officer for the United Nations in Mogadishu, Zimbabwe, the United Arab Emirates and Kenya. Prior to that, he held different positions in the Somali region until he was forced to flee.

Though Mustafa is not a member of ESPDP, the party’s rules and regulations permit him to be an interim president, Ahmed Abdi Mohamed “Ilkacase” who has been leading the region for the past two weeks said. Ilkacase had replaced the once-powerful president Abdi Mohamoud Omar (Abdi Iley) who was forced to step down after the intervention of the federal army.  It was not disclosed why Ilkacase wouldn’t continue with the position but a political insider said there have been unresolved issues surrounding Ilkacase’s legitimacy, his closeness to Abdi Iley and internal party squabbles that have heightened the debate on the succession.

Analysts predict that Mustafa will  set out to purge Abdi Illey’s factions and loyalists, and consolidate his own power in the region. There are already reports that indicate mayor of kebri Dahar and mayor of Gode have been removed from their posts and the party’s membership.

Mustafa has also been elected deputy chairman of the party, second to the chairman, minister of government communications affairs office, Ahmed Shide.

Mustafa has long been a vocal critic of Abdi Iley on issues of human right abuses and abuse of power. Mustafa has a B.A in Economics from Addis Ababa University and a master’s degree in Agriculture Economics from Imperial College, London.

Supporters say Mustafa would make a great president. Awol Allo, a lecturer in law at Keele University School of Law tweeted ,“I have known Mustefa Omer for nearly two years now and have had extensive conversations with him on the politics of Somali regional state, Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. I can’t think of a more intelligent, decent, and perceptive candidate that can move the Somali region forward,”

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Bahir Dar the 3rd Healthiest Cities in Africa

Bahir Dar is a northwestern city and capital of the Amhara region in Ethiopia. It is the southern port of Lake Tana, with a number of tourist attractions in the lake and the Blue Nile – which is known in the area as ‘Abay’. The town is known for its wide avenues lined by palm trees and flowers. Considered to be one of the most beautiful, well organised, and safest cities in the world, the town also has some of the healthiest people in the world. According to research in the International Journal for General Medicine ( https://goo.gl/mjzkMY ), the May 2015 report says, “Regarding the BMI of the respondents, 104 (2.9%) and 20 (15.3%) respondents were found to be obese and overweight, respectively. Of the total obese and overweight patients, 77 (62.1%) were females” . Though this report majorly focuses on Ethiopia, it gives clear data for comparative studies in major African cities. Therefore, when comparing different studies in Ethiopia, Bahir Dar fared well against cities like Addis Ababa and Gondar; for instance, the case of hypertension showed HTN prevalence in Gondar city in 2014 was 10.3%, while it was 8.6% in Bahir Dar in a 2017 study.
Read the full article here

President Isaias Afwerki to visit the Amhara regional state

President Isaias Afwerki will visit the Amhara regional state, according to Nigusu Tilahun, head of the regional state’s communication affairs bureau.

A delegation from the regional state traveled to Asmara this week and met with representatives of the Amhara Democratic Forces Movement (ADFM).

After the meeting, the two sides signed a reconciliation agreement.

The agreement provides for the ADFM to pursue its political activities in Ethiopia through peaceful means.

During the visit, the delegation also met with the Presidential Adviser Yemane Gebreab on ways to strengthen people-to-people ties between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Nigusu added.

A delegation led by speaker of the council of the regional state will also travel to Asmara soon, said Nigusu.

በሻሸመኔ ከተማ በተፈጠረ መገፋፋትና መረጋገጥ የ3 ሰዎች ህይወት ሲያልፍ በርከት ያሉ ሰዎች ላይ ደግሞ የአካል ጉዳት ደርሷል

በሻሸመኔ ከተማ በተፈጠረ መገፋፋትና መረጋገጥ የ3 ሰዎች ህይወት ሲያልፍ በርከት ያሉ ሰዎች ላይ ደግሞ የአካል ጉዳት ደርሷል

አዲስ አበባ፣ ነሃሴ 6፣ 2010 (ኤፍ.ቢ.ሲ) በኦሮሚያ ክልል ሻሸመኔ ከተማ በተፈጠረ መገፋፋትና መረጋገጥ የሰዎች ህይወት እና አካል ላይ ጉዳት መድረሱ ተገለፀ።

አደጋው የደረሰው የኦሮሚያ ሚዲያ ኔትዎርክ ዳይሬክተር አቶ ጃዋር ሞሃመድ እና ሌሎች የቡድኑ አባላት አቀባበል ለማድረግ በከተማዋ በተዘጋጀ ስነ ስርዓት ለይ መሆኑን የኦህዴድ የገጠር ፖለቲካ አደረጃጀት ዘርፍ ሀላፊ አቶ አዲሱ አረጋ አስታውቀዋል።

በአደጋውም የ3 ሰዎች ህይወት ሲያልፍ በርካቶች ላይ ደግሞ የተለያየ መጠን ያለው ጉዳት መድረሱንም አቶ አዲሱ ገልፀዋል።

በአቀባበል ስነ ስርዓቱ ላይ በተፈጠረ መገፋፋትና መረጋገጥ በደረሰው አደጋ ህይወታቸው ላለፈ እና ጉዳት ለደረሰባቸው ዜጎችም የተሰማቸውን ሀዘን ገልፀዋል።

ከአደጋው ጋር ተያይዞም አንድ የሻሸመኔ ከተማ የፀጥታና አስተዳደር በሮ ተሽከርካሪ በእሳት መጋየቱንም አቶ አዲሱ አስታውቀዋል።

ተሽከርካሪው ፀጥታ የማስከበበር ስራ ላይ በተሰማራበት ወቅት ቦምብ ጭኗል በሚል በተሳሳተ መረጃ በእሳት መጋየቱን አቶ አዲሱ ገልፀዋል።

ሆኖም ግን በተሽከርካሪው ላይ ምንም አይነት ቦምብ እንዳልነበረ ከኦሮሚያ ፖሊስ ኮሚሽን ማረጋገጣቸውንም አስታውቀዋል።

በአሁኑ ወቅትም አደጋው ጋር ተያይዞ ወጣቱን በመምሰል የህገ ወጥነት እንዲስፋፋ መንገድ የመዝጋት፣ የዝርፊያ እና በፍቅር አብሮ የኖሩ ብሄር ብሄረሰቦች ላይ ጉዳት ለማድረስ እንቅስቃሴ እየተደረገ መሆኑን ምልክቶች መታየታቸውንም ገልፀዋል።

የከተማዋ ነዋሪዎች እና ወጣቶች ከዚህ ተግባር በመቆጠብ አስፈላጊውን ጥንቃቄ እንዲያደርጉም አሳስበዋል።