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Irish
Foreign Minister in Ethiopia
Irish Foreign
Minister, Mr. Michael Martin paid an official visit to Ethiopia from
30 June to 2 July 2010. During the visit, the Minister conducted
fruitful discussions with high level Ethiopian Government officials,
including Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, and State Minister Dr. Tekeda
Alemu.
During the meeting
with the State Minister, the two officials exchanged views on
bilateral and regional issues. The Irish Foreign Minister commended
the sound policies adopted by the Ethiopian Government which
resulted in fast economic growth and major social development,
particularly in the areas of education, primary health care, rural
development, food security and other sectors. In this connection,
Mr. Martin reassured the State Minister that Ireland would continue
to assist Ethiopia in various fields despite the current budgetary
and financial constraints his country faced. He also expressed his
appreciation for the smooth and peaceful conduct of the recently
held national elections in Ethiopia.
During the exchange
of views on regional issues, the Irish Foreign Minister recognized
the very challenges Ethiopia had faced due to security problems
prevailing in the Horn of Africa. He also praised the Ethiopian
Government as well as other stakeholders for bringing North-South
Sudan political actors to Mekelle, Northern Ethiopia, for serious
dialogue focusing on post-referendum issues which ultimately
produced the Mekelle Memorandum. Sharing the wealth of his country's
experience in resolving such a protracted age-old conflict in
Northern Ireland, Mr. Martin noted that greater sense of
responsibility, wisdom and patience were needed to foster mutual
trust and confidence.
State Minister Dr.
Tekeda Alemu on his part expressed his satisfaction with the current
Ethio-Irish bilateral relations. He underlined that Ethiopia valued
and took its relationship with Ireland very seriously. He
acknowledged that Irish development assistance policy was in harmony
with Ethiopia's development strategies and the development program
being implemented by Irish Aid in various parts of Ethiopia proved
effective and sustainable. He also commended the Government of
Ireland for pursuing the principle that developing countries must be
allowed to own and lead their development strategies. The State
Minister added that Ethiopia highly valued the principled stand of
Ireland on major international issues. In this regard, he recalled
the firm and principled stand adopted by the Irish Government at the
time of Ethio-Eritrea war during which Ireland unequivocally stated
that Eritrea committed aggression and recognized Ethiopia's right to
self defense.
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Ethiopia at the G-8 and G-20 Summits
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi took part at the G8 and G20
Summits, which were held in Canada from June 25-26, 2010 and from
June 26-27, 2010 respectively. While the discussions of G8 Summit
were organized around the theme of Accountability and Effectiveness
in International Assistances, the theme of the G20 Summit focused on
the global economic crisis and possible solutions for sustainable
and balanced growth.
At both Summits,
Ethiopia was encouraged by the organization and content of the
discussions and the level of their relevance to Africa. Ethiopia
positively views the increasing importance and recognition by the
G20 leaders of the development need of Africa. In this connection,
Ethiopia welcomes the consensus reached by the G20 leaders to raise
the capital of Africa Development Bank by 200 per cent.
With regard to the
outcomes of the Summit, Ethiopia is optimistic that the mechanism
devised by the G20 leaders to tackle the ongoing global economic
challenges will be effective. Despite the fact that much focus has
been paid at the Summit on cutting deficits and reducing public
debts in the developed countries, Ethiopia believes that the
economic stability resulting from the above mentioned austerity
measures will eventually benefit Africa and the developing world.
Ethiopia also hopes
that the contractionary measures envisaged by some of the major
industrialized countries would not harm the sustainability of the
high economic growth rates in Africa. Moreover, it is Ethiopia's
conviction that ensuring the permanent and institutional
representation of Africa at the G20 will enhance the credibility and
effectiveness of the G20 as a truly global mechanism for
international economic governance.
Ethiopia also
welcomes the outcome of the G8 Summit, which reiterated its
commitment to continue its support for development and a strong
partnership with developing countries, particularly Africa. The 5
billion US$ pledge of additional funds that the G8 countries have
made to mobilize over the next five years for improving maternal
health and reducing child mortality in developing countries is worth
mentioning.
It is hoped that
the acknowledgment made by the G8 leaders at the Muskoka Summit of
the high economic growth rates that had been attained in Africa
immediately prior to the onset of the global economic and financial
crisis would send positive signal about the African continent to the
international business community.
Ethiopia's Prime
Minister participated at the Summits following the invitation
extended to him by the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Stephen Harper.
Ethiopia, however, strongly feels that the participation of African
countries should not continue to be on the basis of the will of the
host countries. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi expressed hope that the
issue will be settled at the AU Summit due to be held in Kampala.
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The
Somali National Regional State and Puntland State of Somalia sign
Memorandum of Understanding
The Somali National
Regional State and Puntland State of Somalia signed an all
encompassing Memorandum of Understanding on 28 June 2010 in Dire
Dawa. This was done on the occasion of the visit by a high level
committee of Puntland State of Somalia led by Vice President Abdi
Samad Ali Shire. The Ethiopian side in the discussion was led by Dr.
Tekeda Alemu, State Minister for Foreign Affairs. The delegations of
both sides held extensive discussions on issues of mutual concern as
well as on creating framework for collaboration in the fields of
security, trade and combating illegal activities along their common
borders.
In this regard,
they agreed to establish a Joint Intelligence and Security Committee
led by the officials of Puntland State of Somalia and the Somali
National Regional Government at the highest level to ensure frequent
and regular follow up and to achieve a level of response
commensurate with the challenges in the areas. The committee will
meet in the Somali National Regional State and Puntland alternately.
The committee will establish, as it deems necessary, various sub
committees including those at the border areas. The committees at
the border areas will exchange information frequently. The committee
held its meeting and drew up its terms of reference and plan of
action.
The two parties
agreed to exchange information at all levels to ensure the peace and
stability of people as well as a smooth movement of goods and
services and have agreed to appoint focal points for coordination.
The two parties agreed to cooperate to control human and arms
trafficking, money laundering and illegal drugs as well as control
contraband trade and other illegal trade activities. They have
designated Buhodle, Dhudub and Bokh as the three entry points for
legal movement of goods and services. They also agreed all trade
activities would be conducted in accordance with the laws and in
line with the applicable guidelines.
Both sides agreed
that there would be expanded cooperation most particularly in the
economic, trade and security sectors between the Puntland State of
Somalia and the Somali National Regional State. The two sides
underlined that contacts that Puntland State of Somalia has with
Ethiopia at the Federal level can not replace the indispensable and
vital relationship of cooperation and diverse activities between
Puntland State of Somalia and the Somali National Regional State.
The two sides affirmed their commitment to cooperating in good faith
with each other in protecting the interests of each other in the
security area so that those who seek to undermine the two sides,
most particularly through terrorist activities and extremism would
not succeed. The two sides agreed to fight against the terrorist
groups ONLF, Al-Shabab and other groups that are used as instruments
to undermine the Region's development endeavors and the peace and
security of Puntland.
The high level
Puntland delegation also visited the development endeavors of the
people and government of the Somali National Regional State. It also
attended a graduation ceremony organized for members of the United
Western Somali Liberation Front, who were given training on
Ethiopian Constitution, Foreign and Security and other policies of
the Ethiopian government in the economic social and political
sectors.
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Somalia has a new cabinet line up
The Prime Minister
of Somalia is expected to announce a new cabinet line up. The
cabinet is expected to include five Ministers from Ahlu Sunna Wal
Jama, as per the agreement signed between The Transitional Federal
Government and Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa on 15 March 2010 at the African
Union Head Quarters in Addis Ababa. Minor changes are expected in
the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Security. Yusuf Ibrahim Dheg
is expected to come back to take up the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
while Abukar Abdi Osman will take up the Defense Ministry. The
Minister of Interior, Sheikh Abdiqadir Ali Omar will remain on the
post. The former Speaker Sheikh Aden Madobe will take up one of the
Deputy Premier posts in addition to a Ministerial post of Seaport
and Sea Transport. Ahlu Suna is expected to take the Ministry of
Security and Pacification, National Planning and International
Cooperation, Ministry of Education as well as Ministry for
Reconciliation and Ministry of DDR. The total number of the cabinet
members is expected to be 39.
In the meantime,
the security situation in Mogadishou has been deteriorating over the
last few days requiring close monitoring.
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Somaliland votes a new president
Somaliland's
Presidential elections were conducted peacefully and the results
have been announced last night in Hargeisa by the Electoral
Commission. The elections were peaceful, and successful. The people
of Somaliland conducted an effective election by any standard. The
results announced by the Electoral Commission have indicated that
Kulmiye party secured 266,906 votes, UDUB 187,881 and UCID 92,459. A
smooth transition is expected since the parties are showing
readiness to accept the results.
The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
issued a statement congratulating the People of Somaliland. The
statement indicated that the people of Somaliland once again
demonstrated their sense of responsibility and commitment to
maintaining the peace and stability of the country as well as its
on-going democratization. It also added that the Somaliland
political parties had remained true to this high standard of
citizenship demonstrated by their people. The statement further
emphasized that it did not matter who had prevailed in the election.
“The winners are the people of Somaliland and they need to be
congratulated,” added the statement.
Furthermore, the
Ministry encouraged all concerned to respect the provisional results
announced by the Electoral Commission. “If there are complaints, the
proper legal procedures need to be followed,” the statement added.
Full compliance to the rule of law is critical for Somaliland, for
its peace and stability and for the success of its democratization.
It assured the people of Somaliland that they can always count on
the full support of the Government and People of Ethiopia as they
continue to preserve their peace and stability and ensure the
democratic process is protected.
The statement also
conveyed the Government of Ethiopia’s tribute to the leaders of all
political parties of Somaliland, “and in particular to President
Dahir Rayale Kahin for his high sense of obligation to the people of
Somaliland, their peace and democratization as well as to the leader
of the winning party Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo for his magnanimity
and for his commitment to rebuild on what has been achieved in
Somaliland over the years.”
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The 18th Ordinary Meeting of the
Nile Council of Ministers conducted
The 18th ordinary meeting of the Nile
Council of Ministers (Nile-COM) in charge of Water Affairs from the
nine Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) member countries was held in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia, from 26-27 June 2010 under the theme "Working
together for a better future". The meeting was successfully
concluded.
The purpose of the meeting was to review the
progress report on the implementation of the just ending budget year
activities of the NBI and approve the work plan and budget for the
financial year 2010/2011. The Meeting was attended by Nile-COM
Members from Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and
Uganda. Burundi was represented by its Embassy in Ethiopia; D R
Congo was represented by the Chief of Cabinet of the Ministry of
Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism. The Nile-TAC Members,
other senior government officers, Management and Staff of the NBI,
as well as Representatives of Development Partners, attended the
meeting.
The meeting was
officially opened by Ambassador Teshome Toga, Speaker of the House
of Peoples Representatives’ of Ethiopia, who welcomed participants
to Addis Ababa and wished the Nile-COM fruitful deliberations. The
Speaker noted that Ethiopia had been an active supporter and
promoter of global and regional cooperation and as such was a
founding member of the UN and OAU/AU, among others, and also
continued to strongly support regional cooperation including the NBI
process. He further noted that through the sub-basin programs and
projects targeting poverty eradication, reversal of environmental
degradation and promotion of socio-economic development, the NBI had
realized many gains within a short time, and stressed that there
would be further gains if we continued to cooperate.
Ato Asfaw Dingamo,
Minister of Water Resources of Ethiopia and incoming chair of the
Nile-COM, Dr. Mohamed Nasr El Din Allam, Minister of Water Resources
and Irrigation of Egypt and outgoing Nile-COM Chair, Dr. Barbara
Miller, Nile Program Coordinator at the World Bank, , and Ms
Henriette Ndombe, Executive Director of the NBI Secretariat made
their respective statements.
The meeting was
preceded by the 31st Nile Technical Advisory Committee
(Nile-TAC) meeting, which was officially opened, on 24 June 2010, by
Mr. Abdoulahi Hassan Mohamed, Special Advisor to the Minister of
Water Resources of Ethiopia. The Nile-TAC, having reviewed the
progress report on the activities of the NBI and deliberating on its
plan and budget for the financial year 2010/2011, which was
submitted by the NBI Secretariat, prepared a report and submitted to
the 18th Nile-COM meeting for consideration and approval.
The Nile-COM, accordingly, considered the
report submitted to it during its meeting from 26-27 June 2010, and
adopted the plan and budget of the NBI for the financial year
2010/2011 totaling USD 11,271,862. Based on the tradition of
rotation within the NBI in alphabetic order, the chairmanship of the
Nile-COM was transferred from Egypt to Ethiopia.
Accordingly, Ato Asfaw Dingamo, Minister of Water resources
of Ethiopia assumed office for a period of one year. Likewise, upon
presentation by Egypt, Dr. Wael Khairy was appointed Executive
Director of the NBI Secretariat for a period of two years effective
1st September, 2010 replacing the current Executive
Director, Ms Henriette Ndombe who is from Democratic Republic of
Congo.
Immediately before the adoption of the
agenda of both the 31 Nile-TAC and the 18th Nile-COM
meetings, Egypt and Sudan expressed their positions that “the
signature by five States of the draft CFA has resulted in serious
legal and institutional implications that threaten the very
existence of the process of the NBI and its subsidiary action
program centres”. Egypt and Sudan thus objected to the adoption of
the agenda and to the discussion and approval of the budget and the
action plan for the year 2010/2011, and insisted that
addressing the legal and
institutional implications of the signing of the CFA by certain
States should be the only item of the agenda.
In
response to the so-called legal and institutional implications of
signing the CFA by five countries, Tanzania, supported by
Burundi, D. R. Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda noted that
while it was the sovereign right of the signatories of the CFA to do
so and that the agreement had not yet been ratified to enter into
force and create legal rights and obligations, it was not the
appropriate forum for discussing CFA matters. The Nile-COM
accordingly noted the objection of Egypt and Sudan and went ahead
and adopted the agenda and approved the items as included in the
various sections of that agenda.
In addressing the requests of Egypt and
Sudan to deal with the legal and institutional implications of the
signing the CFA by five countries, the five countries stressed that
there is no way for them to go back to renegotiating the text of the
CFA, which had already been concluded, and that the signed agreement
could not be unsigned. However, the seven upper riparian countries
agreed to hold an extra-ordinary meeting of the Nile-Com at a time
and place to be decided in due course, to discuss what Egypt and
Sudan called the legal and institutional implications of signing of
the CFA.
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Eritrea’s Information Minister has “no comment” on the Agreement
with Djibouti
We have been commenting on
the nature and implications of the deal Eritrea and Djibouti struck
earlier this month to end their two-year border dispute. It was a
move that caught most analysts by surprise because it was out of
character for Eritrea to submit to a negotiated settlement of
disputes resorting instead, as it often had, to belligerent
posturing. We have also been remarking that the enthusiasm with
which the news of Eritrea’s renewed good faith was received by the
international community was perhaps a bit too optimistic. The lack
of transparency with respect to the manner of the negotiations and
the deafening silence of Eritrean officials regarding the agreement
were indeed sources of scepticism, not to mention the fact that
Eritrea has yet to commit itself to addressing the other two
components of Resolution 1907.
It was clear that any
decision by the international community to give Eritrea a clean bill
of health must first take stock of the very issues that necessitated
the resolutions in the first place. Eritrea must show unequivocally
that it stands along the elements of peace in Somalia, not with
extremists. It has to stop all its support to the likes of Al Shabab
in their campaign of terror and destruction against the government
and peoples of Somalia. At the very minimum, this would require that
Eritrea recognize the TFG as the legitimate government of Somalia.
Equally important, Eritrea has to stop all its destabilizing
activities throughout the region. It was clear from the very nature
of the regime that the mere signing of an agreement does not
necessarily guarantee that Eritrea will desist from its
destabilizing activities including against Djibouti.
UN Secretary
General Ban Kin Moon, who is mandated to submit a report on the
status of the implementation of the resolution soon, has recently
made a statement with regard to the agreement in which he praised
Eritrea for “taking steps in the right direction” while at the same
time indicating that “Eritrea needs to do more” in order to fully
satisfy the demands of the resolution. The Secretary General is
right in insisting that Eritrea do more, but he should also
emphasize that all the components of the resolution be fully met
before sanctions are eased. In this regard, his remarks that
Eritrea’s participation in the Istanbul conference amounted to a
change of attitude towards the TFG and of readiness to play a
constructive role in the region is naïve at best.
In fact, Eritrea
has made it clear that was never its intention. In a letter the
Eritrean permanent representative to the UN wrote in response to the
Secretary General’s report, it has made it clear that Eritrea has
not changed its position with regard to the legitimacy of the TFG or
the peace process in the country, laying to rest whatever optimism
people may have had in this regard. While he is at it, the Eritrean
official also denied that his country had ever invaded Djibouti
though ironically he confirms once again that his country signed the
agreement with the facilitation of the government of Qatar, whose
good offices, according to the official, “were first requested by
Djibouti.” The subtext is all too clear: Eritrea did not ask for it.
After all, the government still denies it ever invaded Djibouti
territory. It is not at all clear if the government in Asmara
sincerely believes the agreement means anything at all. Eritrea’s
Information Minister’s response to queries from the Reuters news
agency to say a word on the agreement was very telling: “no
comment”. So much for Eritrea’s renewed good faith.
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Jason McClure’ Cold-War mentality
The successful completion of the May 2010 elections in Ethiopia has
certainly been received with a high level of enthusiasm by the great
majority of the Ethiopian population. The widespread rallies that
millions of people in different parts of the country made in the
aftermath of the peaceful conduct of the election were clear
indications of the amount of enthusiasm the results had generated.
But then again, this was not entirely surprising after all; it was
in large measure a reflection of the extent to which the peoples of
Ethiopia take the process seriously and the manifestation of the
unflinching resolve of Ethiopians to own the process. There also
appears to be a near unanimous agreement among various stakeholders
in the political process to view the results of the election in a
favorable light irrespective of the relative performance of the
contending parties. Even the staunchest of the government’s
detractors within the opposition seem to have come to terms with the
assessment that the results are as much reflections of the
incumbent’s track record in development as they are the result of
peoples’ disenchantment with the zero-sum politics of the
opposition. To the extent that the rather wide margin by which the
incumbent won the election is relevant, it is in the unequivocal
message it sends to both the winners and losers alike that the
mandate of the peoples of Ethiopia can be won only by a proven
commitment to improving their lots through hard work than by mere
sloganeering and propagation of hate. The reason why most gloomy
predictions by too many western pundits of a post-election
Armageddon rang abysmally hollow has everything to do with the
commitment and vigilance of the peoples of Ethiopia to see their
will respected. Those who might doubt the sincerity of the peoples’
resolve for democracy and good governance are certainly in for
disappointment.
Jason McClure of
Bloomberg news—along with the coterie of interest groups he
represents, of course—is one such people. He has long since crossed
swords with sworn detractors of the whole economic and political
developments in the country and has seldom missed an opportunity to
paint the government of Ethiopia in the ugliest of light possible.
His almost daily doodles on the web have always been selectively
negative. In a recent report he wrote to the Newsweek (June 18,
2010), presumptuously entitled “why Democracy Isn’t Working”, he has
once again engaged in yet another mud-slinging campaign against the
Ethiopian government. In a style typical of his previous reports, he
draws pervasive conclusions on the basis of one or two observations
colored by his own bias. While his latest article is supposedly
meant to show the trend throughout Africa towards what he calls ‘a
new age of authoritarianism’, its main thrust, however, is an
unmitigated campaign to discredit the recent political developments
in Ethiopia particularly the results of the election. Mr. McClure’s
penchant for hyperbole and downright fabrication is quite
phenomenal. His visceral hostility to the government of Ethiopia
coupled with his proclivity to offer his services to anyone out to
get the government has rendered his judgment all too skewed
apparently beyond repair. His explanation as to why hundreds of
thousands of people in the capital went out on a rally in support of
the EPRDF, for example, was an outright lie that would put even the
most ardent of the government’s detractors to shame. People, he
tells us, “were paid the equivalent of a day’s wage for a few hours
of shouting against Human Rights Watch”. What this shows of course
is the extent to which he is willing to go to tarnish the
government’s image even if he has to fabricate the most outrageous
of lies. But more importantly, such remarks also betray his
deep-seated contempt for the people who took it upon themselves to
go out in droves to express their desires to have their will
respected by the likes of Mr. McClure.
It is not for the
first time that Mr. McClure got involved in an out and out smear
campaign against Ethiopia. He has in several occasions colluded with
the most rejectionist elements of the opposition in trying to
create—even succeeding to do so—a media circus contrived to muddy
the waters of the electoral process long before campaign had been
properly begun. In his latest report too, he cites dubious sources
to make his mendacious claims plausible. It is difficult—even
unnecessary—to respond to every mendacious allegation that Mr.
McClure makes in his recent article. That would be a tall order. But
one inescapable conclusion is that his is a mentality that belongs
in the cold-war era, putting as it does higher premium on using any
leverage that comes with aid to effect changes in the political
structures of recipients for the sake of serving narrow ideological
interests. His view of democracy for instance leaves no room
whatsoever for the natives to manage their own affairs. It has to be
consonant with some pre-packaged matrix to be dictated by the
ideological high priests of the orthodoxy Mr. McClure’s handlers
preach.
Clearly, Mr.
McClure has been frustrated by the generous outpouring of public
support to the incumbent as displayed in the rallies by millions of
people throughout Ethiopia and more particularly in the capital.
These developments certainly run counter with the kind of Armageddon
scenario the likes of HRW would have us believe the country would be
unless the opposition won. His involvement in reporting about the
state of democracy in Ethiopia is apparently informed by his
fancying himself as having the central role to play. If that sounds
too much of an overreach a foreign correspondent can ill afford, Mr.
McClure would accept none of it. His zeal to denigrate every
development—however positive, borders on the messianic. But his
frustration is likely to continue to mount—and along with it his
hysterical postings—with each passing day as Ethiopia marches
triumphantly along in its fight against poverty.
One final statement
is in order. McClure is a disgrace for journalism. Though he
insinuates in his article that there is no free press in Ethiopia,
he probably has never enjoyed as much freedom to write as he wished
as those reporters in Ethiopia writing for Fortune, the Reporter and
the Capital.
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