Shadia hot foots to Djibouti after release
By Tedla Yeneakal
Shadia Nadi was released from jail by the Federal Supreme Court on Wednesday, February 21, and immediately traveled to Djibouti on the afternoon of the same day.
Shadia, who is a co-defendant of the former Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tamirat Layne, was sentenced to 14 years and 6 months imprisonment after being involved in illegal negotiations to receive 16 million US dollars from Ethio-Saudi business tycoon Sheik Mohammed Al Amoudi. The charges indicated that Tamirat had shared the money with his accomplices after convincing the former that the money was for government use.
Sources told Capital that Shadia flew to Djibouti on the same day. Shadia is a citizen of Djibouti it was learnt.
Tamirat Layne was convicted by the court of illegally engaging in a 16 million dollar deal to export textile products and using his position to export 1,000 tones of state coffee valued at 3.6 million dollars through a bogus firm. He was also found guilty of fraudulently winning a tender to supply construction equipment and of awarding a tender for road maintenance to certain bidders when lower bids had been received.
At the last hearing, that preceded in October 1997 along with Shadia, the court had ordered that Tamirat Layne, Hussien Abdalla, Nigusse Hailu and Munir Duri be sentenced to 18, 16, 14 and three years imprisonment respectively and setting the latter free as he had already been jailed for three years. The defendants were also fined sums ranging from 5- 60,000 birr.
In this week’s trial, the court released Shadia before she had finished her prison term. Court sources disclosed that she has been in prison for the past 10 years and 4 months.
It is to be recalled that at the previous hearing the court had ordered that 16 million dollars should be restituted to Sheik Mohammed Al-Amoudi. Since 9 million dollars of the sum was transferred to Shadia's account, the court also ordered this to be retrieved.
Moreover, it had ordered that 556. 3 thousand dollars should be recovered from Nigussie's account. It was also ordered that 6.4 million dollars should be paid to Sheik Mohammed Al-Amoudi from the account of Hussein Abdella. 1000 tons of misappropriated coffee worth 4.2 million dollars was ordered by the court to be paid to the government. The decision was reached by majority opinion.
Condos on rent for millennium
By Eskinder Michael
It was believed that accommodation would be the main problem for the highly anticipated millennium celebrations in Ethiopia, but the Addis Ababa City Caretaker Administration has turned that fear around by bringing the newly built condominiums into the picture.
Sources disclosed that the administration has decided that condominiums would be rented for guests who come for the celebrations, though the lucky winners of the draw for the houses are waiting in line.
The administration it is said, has decided to give a percentage of the rent on the condominiums that have been finished and those that would be completed before the end of this fiscal year.
The administration has not yet decided what percentage it would give to residents of Addis who were expecting to move into their fully paid up new homes before the end of this year.
Somewhere between 250 and 300 thousand visitors for the celebrations are expected throughout the year. The estimated number of guests had raised speculation over a shortage of accommodation.
The caretaker administration still believes that it is not too late to construct more houses in Addis Ababa, as it announced plans to build 33,000 condominiums in different parts of the city. The plans could face snags as sewers in the city aren’t able to cope with the high amount of waste that comes out of the condominiums. The Addis Ababa Housing Development Project Office believes that the sewer system in the city could be upgraded once the construction of the 33,000 condominiums is launched.
The administration intends to complete the houses before the end of the fiscal year and that they would be adequate to serve guests with all necessary facilities installed around the condominiums to make their stay more comfortable.
According to the administration, the city is ready to spend about 819 million birr for the construction of the low cost houses with construction expected to be completed during the current budget year. The city has already set aside 240 acres of land for the construction of the houses though that could prove inadequate.
With the administration ready to grant projects to construction companies by next month, some areas in the metropolis such as Gotera and Akaki will get priority this time.
This year’s plans to build 33,000 condominium houses will be followed by another ambitious plan of building about 30,000 houses. The Ministry of Works and Urban Development will undertake the construction of the low cost houses.
The condominium project was started in Addis Ababa in November 2004 and plans to construct 45,000 houses with an outlay of 1.5 billion birr allocated by the city government from its budget.
The city government has set itself the target of constructing 50,000 houses per year over three years.
The Addis Ababa Housing Development Project Office also announced that it has completed the construction of 88% of the total houses it planned to construct in the past two fiscal years.
The office had planned to finish the construction of 32,000 houses and so far, 30,700 are under construction. By the end of this fiscal year almost 30,000 will be completed and given to their owners. The construction of the rest of the houses will be conducted next fiscal year.
It is believed that the lack of cement and gravel in the country has contributed to the construction delays.
The Ethiopian government is also planning to construct hundreds of thousands of condominiums in the regional states of Oromia, Tigray, Amhara, Southern Nations Nationalities, and People’s Regional State and in the major cities - Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa and Harar.
It is believed that this project will cost the government billions of birr.
There is a great need for simple, decent and affordable housing in Ethiopia and especially in Addis Ababa. Filthy houses, leaking roofs, cracking mud and no windows, doors or sanitation are the real facts for residents of the capital.
The vast majority of Ethiopians are forced to improvise with housing that is cramped and unable to protect them from the harsh weather, insects and disease.
In a bid to combat this multitude of problems, the city government of Addis Ababa has launched a large-scale housing program. Over the coming five years, about 250,000 houses are planned for construction in the ten sub-cities.
Admassu, spouse seek asylum in Sweden
By Tedla Yeneakal
Dr. Admassu Gebeyehu, a high official of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), his wife Dr. Mulualem Tarekegn and an opposition Member of Parliament of the same party are said to have applied for political asylum in Sweden.
Dr. Admassu, who was deputy mayor-elect of Addis Ababa is one of the few CUD leaders who have not been arrested along with other party associates, who have been accused of charges ranging from attempted genocide treason.
He was one of the prominent figures in the May 2005 elections, and was trying to have the party registered by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), in accordance with the decision made in September 2005 to unify the constituent parties of the coalition. However, he failed to complete the merger and obtain legal recognition from the board.
He did not join parliament and has been urging the government to release more than twenty members elected to the new council, including the elected mayor, Berhanu Nega, the speaker of the house and the party secretary general, all of whom are in jail and charged with treason, attempted genocide and intent to take over power by street violence.
His wife, Dr. Mulualem on her part, had joined parliament representing Woreda 12/13 of Addis Ababa but reportedly said she had been wrong in deciding to join alleging the government prevented them from exercising their democratic rights.
Sources disclosed to Capital that the couple first traveled to Germany on a private visit and then made their way to Sweden to seek political asylum.
Wegagen plans HQ tower
By Andualem Sisay
Wegagen Bank at the Hilton Addis on Friday evening unveiled the design of its head office building design, which will be built opposite Addis Ababa Stadium
In the presence of Berehane Deresa, Mayor of the Caretaker Administration of Addis Ababa, the Bank introduced a design that was selected as the best of five that made the final list.
The design was conceived by ETG Designers and Consultants (Eshetu Temesgen Gelan) which was awarded 40,000 birr. “Since our company began operating some ten years ago, says Eshetu Temesgen, owner and manager, “it is playing a key role in the infrastructure development of the country.”
“When we entered this design contest, we decided to win by presenting a quality-based design that is best for that central part of the city. Our professional’ team took adequate time of about four months to prepare this design which took into consideration the urban context.”
The estimated cost of the twelve-floor tower totals 80 mln birr. The company is hoping to finalize the construction of the building in two and half years, including the six months of preparations such as choosing the contractor and other pre-construction activities.
“According to ETG’s business proposal, the company will receive some 500, 000 birr when the final design is ready for practical implementation on 2,300 square meters of land,” says Demas Zewdu, Head of Corporate Planning and Business Development Department at Wegagen Bank. “Coincidentally, of the five designs submitted, ETG presented the lowest bid.”
“Although, we are not going to use all these twelve floors at once, through time, we will use them according to our needs. In addition to avoiding the expense of renting buildings, the construction of the head quarters will enable the bank to effectively implement new services and technologies,” he says.
Wegagen Bank currently has 400 share holders with 35 branches around the country, out of which 15 are in Addis Ababa. The bank is also planning to add two branches in Addis Ababa to meet client demand. The total assets of the bank have reached 3.1 bln birr with a paid capital of 266 mln birr.
It is to be recalled that the bank registered a 70.9 mln birr profit after tax in 2005/6. In addition to introducing a wide area network system in Ethiopian banking history, it is also planning to introduce an ATM service.
Road row
By Tedla Yeneakal
The Addis Ababa City Roads Authority (AACRA) is engaged in a heated row over the revised design of the road construction that will demolish residences of more than 20 households around the Summit Beverages plant.
Some residents anonymously told Capital that they have been given the land during the Derg regime in 1984 after they had been displaced from Eritrea.
“We are truly sad about the sudden change of the design of road. We are in a worrisome situation as we do not have any place to go and on top of that we have not been given any compensation payment.” said a frustrated resident who requested his name to be withheld.
“According to sources, the previous design was supposed to pass through the premises of Summit Beverages and parts of the fence as well as some buildings in the compound and was subject to alteration three times.
Fekadu Haile, General Manager of AACRA on his part told Capital that the need to change the plan came about as the authority revised the economical aspect of the compensation payment.
“We did not refuse to pay the compensation for tenants whose houses were demolished for the construction but asked them to bring proof of title deeds,” Fekadu responded to the residents’ complaints. “They could not bring any legal documents providing their ownership and it is not our procedure to recompense them.”
Midroc Construction won the bid to construct the 7.4 kms ring road project that stretches from the Summit Beverages company all the way to the area commonly known as Sefera Mender. Midroc was awarded the project last year in March at a cost of over 100 million birr.
The actual demolition started this week Friday, February 23,2007.
Fekadu said in addition that his authority is in the process of convincing the city administration so that the residents be given plots near their demolished houses, which is vacant at the moment, taking into consideration their lengthy stay in the area.
Another resident complained on his part that they were unable to present their title deeds as their land acquisition agreement involves farmer unions.
Sudan, Ethiopia to link electricity networks in 2008
By Groum Abate
The project that is expected to cost 61 million dollars for the 321 kilometer long electricity network between Sudan and Ethiopia is expected to be finalized in 2008.
A meeting due to progress in Sudan with officials of the two electric suppliers would decide the amount of electricity to be exported by Ethiopia to Sudan. It is expected that Ethiopia would export up to 200 megawatts to Sudan.
The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) some months ago had also signed a contract with Electricite de Djibouti, Djibouti’s national electric company, for a power purchase agreement that would finalize negotiations that have been taking place for the last two years.
The construction of the electric networks is expected to be launched shortly.
Ethiopia is constructing a number of power projects to step up its power supply.
The African Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of over 62 million dollars for the Ethio-Djibouti electric networking.
Installation work of electric lines between Ethiopia and Djibouti and Ethiopia and Sudan will be completed in the next three years, according to Sendeku.
The ADB has approved the loan required for the execution of the project following its endorsement of the feasibility study. The Djiboutian Electric Power Corporation has agreed to pay half of the total sum while the balance will be covered by EEPCo.
The project enables Ethiopia to sell electric power to neighboring countries, while the 283km electric line will enable Djibouti to get access to hydroelectric power for the first time.
A series of discussions were also held with Kenya to connect the two countries with power transmission lines.
Ethiopia is currently building three hydropower dams at a cost of 1.4 billion dollars and hopes to generate millions of dollars in foreign currency by exporting excess electricity to neighboring countries.
The dams - harnessing power from rivers cascading from Ethiopia’s rugged, towering mountains - are expected to produce a total of 1,155 Megawatts.
By 2010, the construction of the Tekeze hydro power dam with a capacity of 300 MW, Geligele Gibe II with a capacity of 420 MW and Tana Belesse hydro power dam with a capacity of 435 MW will be completed.
Ethiopia currently generates 800 MW from four hydropower plants for domestic consumption.
Geothermal power project at Tendaho
By Groum Abate
A 2.5 million birr feasibility study is underway in Tendaho area of Afar State to generate geothermal power.
Another Geothermal Power Pilot Project, Aluto-Langano, that has been under rehabilitation and expansion with over 26.6 million birr to generate 30 MW would be finalized within four months.
The project which failed to become operational due to technical reasons after being finalized in 1998, is being upgraded to generate 30 MW instead of the initially planned 8 MW.
Aluto-Langano and Tendaho are the major geothermal projects expected to generate power in the foreseeable future. There are about 16 geothermal prospect areas identified in the country.
Project proposals have been submitted to the African Rift Geothermal Development Facility (ARGeo) so as to obtain the necessary funds to construct power generation stations particularly in Tendaho and Aluto-Lanagano. ARGeo has promised that Ethiopia would be one of the countries whose proposals would be given priority approval.
Ethiopia has the second largest geothermal resources in Africa, the greatest geothermal potential of Africa is within the East African Rift Valley that runs across Ethiopia for nearly 1,000kms and where a number of feasibility studies are currently underway, it was learnt.
Ethiopian Kidney Association creating awareness
By Andualem Sisay
The Ethiopian Kidney Association gave a training to telecommunication workers in Addis Ababa at the ETC head office on February 21, 2007.
The purpose of the seminar is to create awareness on how they would be able to protect themselves from kidney problems.
“Even in developed countries, kidney treatment costs people a lot of money and to avoid this, they are shifting to awareness raising campaigns,” says Dr. Lesane Seifu, President of the Ethiopian Kidney Association. “If we compare the HIV/AIDS treatments costs to that of kidney treatment it is decreasing over time. So, the main objective of our association is also to create this awareness among the society. At least once in a year adults are recommended to go to health centers to know the protein level in their urine that indicates the condition of their kidney.”
“When kidney problems occur especially (glomerulonephritis), protein will be observed in the urine and if people don’t respond to this result quickly and treat it, then it will be late for them to be cured. Due to the lack of this knowledge many people respond to their kidney pain too late, and that is why we are focusing on awareness creation,” he says.
In the seminar, the association stressed on the participants the need to test their blood pressure and the means of protecting themselves from kidney problems. According to Dr. Lesane, high blood pressure is one of the major causes that lead people to have kidney problems. During the seminar, the participants also took urine and blood pressure tests.
The seminar also cleared the superstitions of the public with regard to kidney problems, such as ‘my blood pressure is ok for my age, my blood pressure is ok if I am not suffering from headaches, following only the bottom blood pressure measurement (diastolic pressure) is enough for me to know my well being’.
There are many recognized types of glomerulonephritis, divided in acute, subacute or chronic glomerulonephritis. Causes are infectious (bacterial, viral or parasitic pathogens), autoimmune or paraneoplasitc.
A paraneoplastic phenomenon is a disease or symptom that is the consequence of the presence of cancer in the body, but is not due to the local presence of cancer cells.
The Ethiopian Kidney Association is a non-governmental organization with some 40 members and is planning to conduct such awareness creation seminars in various parts of the country.
Nile Day marked in Ethiopia
By Eskinder Michael
It was after Egyptian Minister of Resources and Irrigation Mohamoud Abu-Zaid met with Asfaw Dingamo, Minister of Water Resources that it was decided to mark the Nile Initiative day.
While celebrating the Nile Day, State Minister of Water Resources Adugna Jebessa said that Ethiopia was committed to provide its unwavering support for the realization of the ideals of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI).
“Lack of cooperation, understanding, and trust has led to Nile riparian countries become unable to use their resources though the Nile River provides in abundance. The situation has been changing after the launching of the NBI, the State Minster said.
NBI Executive Director, Audace Ndayizeye on his part said the NBI has initiated a Strategic Plan made up of two complementary sub-programs with a view to implementing their shared vision in to action.
Ethiopia celebrated the signing of the Nile Basin Initiative that was signed eight years ago on February 22, with a major celebration held in Kigali, Rwanda.
All Nile riparian countries hosted their own programs on the day. The celebrations will host three different meetings with the first being the negotiation committee which will meet on the institutional cooperation framework.
The council of ministers of Nile riparian countries will then meet to work on the achievements of the institutional cooperation framework.
The idea of forming a shared vision was first conceived on February 22,1999 when all Nile riparian countries decided to use the river Nile equally. There are nine countries in the Nile Basin Initiative with Eritrea given the role of observer.
The source of the Nile river has been the source of continuing controversy between Ethiopia and Egypt as the former claims that the root of the Nile lies in Ethiopia while the latter claims that the Nile belongs to it historically .
Egypt and Sudan remain the primary beneficiaries of the Nile waters.
The tow nations have irrigated three million and 1.3 million hectares of land respectively while Ethiopia has developed only 8,000 hectares, researchers said.
Enhancing productive capacities
By our staff reporter
Enhancing productive capacities is the most reliable long term path for economic growth for Least-Developed Countries (LDC), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said.
In a keynote address to a two-day workshop of LDCs of Eastern and Southern Africa here at UN conference center on Thursday, UNCTAD representative, Charles Gore said enabling LDCs to produce a wider variety of products across a variety of economic sectors is vital to bring about economic development.
The representative said instead of importing every item, LDCs should attach due attention to develop entrepreneurship skills with a view to enhancing economic growth and create more job opportunities.
Some of the items being imported to LDCs could be easily produced by themselves, he added.
Underdeveloped infrastructure, weak institutions and weak demand both domestically and globally, are the fundamental constraints of the countries to enhance productivity, according to a press release circulated in the course of the workshop.
International trade plays an important role in the development of LDCs, it said.
The workshop is intended to offer governments and their advisors information on UNCTAD research on productive capacities, economic growth, poverty reduction, and trade as they apply to LDCs.
It also draws on the expertise of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), which has established an African Learning Group on Poverty Reeducation Strategies.
Government officials, representatives of LDC development partners and senior executives of private sector development institutions are in attendance at the workshop.
The meeting is the first of a series of sub-regional workshops and policy dialog to be offered to the world’s 50 LDCs.
RECAMP CYCLE V evaluated
By Andualem Sisay
A conference evaluating RECAMP Cycle V, a political and military French government led program for the reinforcement of Central African peacekeeping capabilities was held from February 21st to 22nd 2007 at the Headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa.
During the two-day conference, participants evaluated the lessons learnt from the fifth RECAMP cycle. “We are working hard to bring together the AU and EU to meet our next strategic cycle of RECAMP at the continental level,” said Colonel Dominique Debruyne, in charge of the RECAMP. The two-year program was accomplished with a budget of approximately 1.5 million euros. Over half of this sum was covered by the French government, with the balance contributed by various African nations providing support such as vessels, aircraft and human resources.
H.E. Mr. Saïd Djinnit, AU commissioner for Peace and Security, Mr. Pierre-André Wiltzer, High Representative of the French Republic for Security and Conflict Prevention were among the attendants of the conference. As RECAMP V mainly took place within the ECCAS, the gathering was also attended by the Deputy Secretary General of ECCAS and representatives of the ECCAS member states and from the other regional economic communities, among others.
Lt. Col Thierry Fusalba, RECAMP communications officer stated to Capital that the just concluded fifth cycle was quite encouraging and that the succeeding cycles character will be determined according to the stipulations and requirements of the AU.
“The core of the RECAMP program is to train trainers with a view to enabling Africans to take ownership of peace keeping operations,” added Lt Col. Fusalba.
“The two year review showed that RECAMP V was on the whole very successful,” said Air Vice Marshal Roger Renard, organizer of RECAMP V.
Asked as to how RECAMP’s programs could help solve the ongoing crisis in Darfur and Somalia, “RECAMP focuses on building up the capacity of the African force and not on intervention, as these issues cannot be tackled directly,” he pointed out.
“RECAMP Cycle V, which was launched in June 2005, has trained high ranking military planners in order to conduct peacekeeping operations around Africa. The program is being implemented in consultation with African political and military leaders who determine whom should receive the training,” he said.
So far 150 ECCAS high ranking officers have been enabled to completely plan from strategic to practical levels of peacekeeping operations. Cameroon, Congo, Gabon and Angola are among the countries that have participated in the RECAMP Cycle V.
The twofold partnership of peacekeeping operation between the African Union and the European Union is being implemented by the intervention of three stakeholders: ie. African Union sub-region and its member states, non-African contributing countries, and third parties involved in crisis management operations.
Crisis management, formation of the force and command of forces are the jurisdiction of the African Union sub-region and its member states. Financial support, advice and expertise to the sub-region and troops are implemented under the pillar of non-African contributing countries. The activities that are under the jurisdiction of third parties involved in crisis management operations includes activities of UN agencies, international financial institutions, NGOs and other organizations.
Although, it is a program of the French government which was unveiled in 1998 at the Louvre Africa-France Summit in Paris, countries like Japan, Canada, the United States and EU members have also joined at a later stage and contributed to the implementation of the program.
RECAMP provides a solution to the peacekeeping needs expressed by organizations and African States, which aims at helping them reinforce their military capabilities as well as stage and conduct peacekeeping operations on the continent when necessary.
RECAMP is based on 3 sections: Cooperation, Training, Commitment
Cooperation
The technical cooperation part of RECAMP, which is implemented at the political, politico-military and military levels, contributes to the setting up of crisis prevention and management means in Africa within sub regional organizations with the European Union and in association with the UN.
Training
The RECAMP training programme is developed and conducted in partnership with the African Union, the European Union, African sub regional organizations, the African countries concerned as well as by many other European and Non-European partners, either sponsored by the State or by civil society. On one hand, it mainly focuses on developing decision-making and planning abilities at the strategic and operative levels, and on the other, on improving the interoperability of armed forces.
Commitment
The RECAMP concept has been in constant evolution since its creation. Its principal objective is to support the implementation of the standby African Force placed under the authority of the African Union as well as the rapid development of peacekeeping and security entities instituted by African Sub-region organizations.
11th Addis Chamber Int'l
trade fair opens
By Groum Abate
The 11th Addis Chamber International Trade Fair (ACITF), in which establishments from 30 countries will participate to exhibit their products was officially opened at the Addis Ababa Exhibition Centre here yesterday.
Opening the fair, Trade and Industry Minister Girma Birru said that the trade Fair is believed to be a most important tool in promoting trade and investment between countries by providing opportunities for creating business links as well as facilitating technology transfer and promoting exports.
"Trade fairs like this would pave avenues for having a better interaction and understanding between peoples and countries. They would also strengthen the multidimensional relationship between different countries and their respective business people," he said.
He also pointed out that all the events organized under the umbrella of the fair such as the "Ethiopian Reflection Day" and "Special Days" will provide an appropriate forum to exchange views and ideas, to know the country and its people better and to forge closer personal or business relationships.
Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectorial Associations (AACCSA) President Eyesuswork Zafu on his part said that the emphasis on networking is intended to highlight and underscore its worldwide importance and impact on business and related activities as the world continues to get caught up in globalization.
Information or knowledge can serve as power if only properly organized, shared and applied, he said. "It is in reorganization of the indispensability of such planned and cost-effective communication, that the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce chose 'Networking for Successful Business' as a most fitting theme for this year's trade fair."
Organized by AACCSA in collaboration with the Ethiopian ICT Development Agency, the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation, and the Economic Commission for Africa, the fair will stay open for 7 days.
Ethio agri-CEFT pays Fafa 1.05mln birr
By Eskinder Michael
The Midroc Group owned company agri-CEFT lost a law suit to Fafa Foods S.C and last week paid over a million birr in punitive damages following an order by the Federal Supreme Court.
Fafa had over a year and a half ago sued agri-CEFT for 1.05 million birr in punitive damages after claiming that the latter hadn’t lived up to its commitment of providing 40,000 quintals of maize.
Agri-CEFT had won a tender floated by Fafa for the provision of 40,000 quintals of maize, but the latter had failed to deliver the order, forcing Fafa to resort to legal action.
If Agri-CEFT had delivered the requested amount of maize on time, then Fafa would have paid the former 3.98 million birr for the order, but the failure of Agri-CEFT to do so forced Fafa to look elsewhere for the commodity.
Fafa then floated another tender and signed contract agreements with three other companies. The new contract cost Fafa 5.02 million birr, forcing it to ask the Federal High court to order the accused to pay it 1.05 million birr for the extra cost incurred and for punitive damages.
Agri-CEFT had responded to the charges saying that though they (Agri-CEFT) had won the tender, Fafa hadn’t made it official, meaning that there was no binding obligation. Fafa countered that according to Penal Law articles 2070 and 2070, Agri-CEFT should be held accountable as it has entered a contract and should pay the difference including punitive damages.
The Federal Court ruled that Agri-CEFT should pay the difference of 1.05 million (3.98 million – the amount agreed upon with Agri-CEFT and 5.02, the price paid in the new deal) birr and awarded the plaintiff punitive damages. The decision however, was met with opposition as Agri-CEFT appealed the matter to the Federal Supreme Court.
The Federal Supreme Court upheld the ruling of the High Court by saying that it sees no problem in the way the High Court had handled the situation and that Agri-CEFT should pay the ordered sum of money.
Midroc Ethiopia, led by Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Arega Yirdaw, includes sister companies MIDROC Gold Mine, ELFORA, KOSPI, MBI, HUDA, TRUST, addis Home Depot and Trans-Nation Airways (TNA).
The Mekelle Chamber of Commerce and Sectorial Association with Enterprise Ethiopia, Business Management Unit, organized "Successful Enterprise Award 2007" where winners of business enterprises were awarded on February 17, at Axum Hotel, in Mekelle.
President of the Tigray Regional State left, Tsegay Berhe, awarded the winners.
The main objective of the programme was to recognize the contribution of the business community in developing the economy and to promote and encourage the business enterprises, and finally to take this as an example for other enterprises to follow in the footsteps of the winners.
Ethiopia showing steady progress; UNICEF
By Andualem Sisay
After her visit to different parts of Ethiopia, UNICEF Executive Director, M. Veneman, on Friday highlighted the progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals in the country and expressed hope for the future of the country’s children.
“Child mortality in Ethiopia has declined by 40 per cent in the last 15 years,” said Veneman. “We must build upon these gains to further improve the lives of children.”
Under-five mortality rates in Ethiopia have steadily declined to 123 out of every 1,000 live births. This is down from peak levels in 1990 when 204 out of every 1,000 children died before the age of five.
Yet with close to 400,000 children under-five still dying from preventable causes each year, Ethiopia continues to have one of the highest child mortality rates in the world.
Veneman’s trip to Ethiopia, which included visits to a commercial flower farm and a coffee cooperative, has underscored the importance of developing the national economy in order to achieve sustainable improvements in the conditions of Ethiopia’s children.
She also participated in the opening of the Plump Nut factory in Addis Ababa, which is producing the ready-to-use-therapeutic food.
“Therapeutic foods such as Plump Nut will help save the lives of severely malnourished children and help fight malnutrition across the country,” she said.
“Effective partnerships among Government, affected communities, donors and UN agencies have also been a major factor in this success. The Enhanced Outreach Strategy for child survival, the largest ever collaboration between the UN and the Government of Ethiopia and the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) campaign, are pillars of this success.”
“Partnerships are essential for Ethiopia’s success against the challenges of poverty, disease, nutrition protection and education,” said Veneman. “We must act with urgency and build on our achievements so that Ethiopia’s children not only survive, but thrive.”
Sharing APRM pioneer experiences
By Andualem Sisay
More than 50 National African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) focal points and senior technical advisors from the National APRM Offices charged with the responsibility of APRM implementation at the national level shared their experiences from February 20-21 2007, at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The main objective of the workshop focused on facilitating dialog between APRM pioneer countries and other participating nations in order to share best practices and lessons learned from earlier experiences.
The challenges and prospects for the APRM participating countries in the Central, Eastern and Southern Africa regions was the major focus area of the workshop. A similar workshop was organized for the APRM participating countries from West Africa, in the aftermath of the NEPAD Multi-Stakeholder Consultations held in Abuja, from October 28 -31 2006.
Memorandum of Understanding on the APRM, which is the accession document for the APRM, APRM Base Document, Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance, APRM Organization and Processes are among the documents adopted by the 6th Summit of the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), held on March 9, 2003.
The primary purpose of APRM is to foster the adoption of appropriate laws, policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration. “This is done through sharing of experiences and reinforcement of successful and best practice, including identifying deficiencies and assessing the needs for capacity building,” states the APRM Base Document.
The overall responsibility of the mechanism is vested with the committee of participating Heads of State and Government (APR Forum).
The APR process will entail periodic reviews of the policies and practices of participating states to ascertain progress being made towards achieving the mutually agreed goals and compliance with adopted political, economic and corporate governance values, and socio-economic development codes and standards.
The effectiveness of the process is based on the participating country’s national leadership and ownership. Leadership in ensuring consistency with existing national efforts, like the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers processes, other National Poverty Reduction Strategies , Medium Term Expenditure Framework, National Human Rights Action Plans, Millennium Development Goals (MDG) strategies, ongoing institutional reforms, and other relevant governance and socio-economic development strategies, programs and projects are among the major determining factors.
ECA, as a Strategic Partner institution of the APRM, is organizing this training workshop, in collaboration with the APRM Secretariat based in Midrand, South Africa and the South Africa Institute for International Affairs (SAIIA).
There is no cholera outbreak:Dr Tewodros Adhanom
680 reportedly dead
By Eskinder Michael
Though reports have been flying around that over 680 people have died in a suspected cholera outbreak in Ethiopia, Minister of Health Dr Thewdros Adhanom has denied the reports.
Foreign aid organizations have been claiming that the deaths were attributed to a new wave of cholera that has also affected neighboring countries such as Somalia.
Some 60,000 people have been infected, but the country’s Health Ministry is resisting pressure to declare an emergency despite a U.N. warning that the disease is an epidemic.
OCHA believes that the disease has been spreading to several places in Ethiopia and should be addressed as soon as possible.
Ethiopia has denied the report, saying that there is no cholera. The fact that the UN hasn’t officially declared the disease as cholera makes it hard to claim that cholera has indeed killed all those people.
About eight regions in Ethiopia have had cases of infection, but sources in the Ministry of Health believe that the outbreak believed to be cholera is Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD). The Afar region has recorded more than 1,000 new cases in just a week.
The disease that Ethiopian health experts call AWD started in 2006 following heavy rains that hit several parts of the country. Stagnant waters led to the spread of the disease that claimed the lives of several people.
Over 200 people have reportedly died from AWD outbreak, after the heavy rainy season left behind several rivers and wells contaminated by the disease.
Sanitation and other protective actions have been slow for mobilization, also contributing to the snail’s pace of the recovery and prevention process.
A report from UNICEF stated that though the disease was detected a few months ago, it was still spreading to dry areas as well.
In October, OCHA had reported that 182 people had died from the disease, with close to 20,000 being affected, increasing the number of vulnerable by a factor of 100.
With Addis Ababa also being hit by the disease, the chances of a quick response to AWD seems to be far off, and Somali region being the latest, shows that the disease was still spreading ruthlessly.
The Ministry of Health has formed a committee that would come up with a speedy response to the outbreak that could just as easily become an uncontrollable epidemic.
US staged anti-terror campaign from
Ethiopia; NY Times, Ethiopia denies
Officials in Ethiopia are vehemently denying a report in The New York Times newspaper, which says that the U.S. military secretly used an airstrip inside Ethiopia to conduct attacks against Islamic militants in Somalia last month.
The New York Times report, citing unnamed U.S. officials, said that Ethiopia had, among other things, allowed the Americans to use an airfield in the east of the country as a staging ground for attacks against al-Qaida suspects and their Somali allies in neighboring Somalia.
The special adviser to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Bereket Simon, tells VOA that the report, published Friday, contains little truth and called the article ridiculous.
The United States has acknowledged that it carried out two air strikes in early January near Ras Kamboni, an Islamist stronghold deep in southern Somalia near the Kenyan border.
But Simon says the American war planes did not fly there from Ethiopia.
“The U.S. has not used any airfields in Ethiopia to mount the air strikes. This seems to be a pure and simple fabrication,” he said. “If any of the U.S. officials has said this, it must be a person, who has no knowledge of the reality on the ground.”
Simon says that does not mean Ethiopia has not cooperated with the United States on counterterrorism issues. He says his country fully supports U.S. efforts to eliminate terrorist threats in the Horn of Africa.
“Any cooperation is most welcome, and we will continue to cooperate,” said Simon.
The New York Times report says that cooperation between Addis Ababa and Washington is much closer than previously reported, and largely clandestine.
In the campaign against al-Qaida and radical Islamists in Somalia in January, the report says, Ethiopian and U.S. militaries shared intelligence and information. Members of a secret U.S. Special Operations unit, deployed in Ethiopia, allegedly moved back and forth across the border to conduct ground operations in Somalia.
The report adds that the U.S.-Ethiopian alliance has deepened in recent years because both countries share a common goal - to root out Islamic radicalism inside Somalia.
In late December, Ethiopian troops, tanks and artillery helped Somalia’s secular interim government drive out a radical Islamist movement that had gained control of the capital, Mogadishu, and much of the south.
Since then, the government has struggled to stabilize the country, which has been without a functioning government for nearly 16 years.
Islamist insurgents have staged near-daily attacks against Ethiopian and government troops throughout southern Somalia. In Mogadishu, the relentless violence has killed and wounded hundreds of people and has caused hundreds more to flee to neighboring regions. (VOA)
Task force blames Eritrea
By Eskinder Michael
A report by the National Intelligence and Security Service and the Anti-terror Task Force of the Federal Police, blamed the Eritrean government as being behind the terrorist actions over the past year.
The task force has been investigating the failed attempt to plant explosives in hotels and most of all, at the African Union Summit held here in Addis Ababa in January.
The task force released a report that contained detailed schematics of the terror network, action plan and other vital information.
According to the report, ‘the Eritrean government used as instruments of its destructive plans the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), Ogaden National
Liberation Front (ONLF), Ethiopian Patriotic Front, and other groups who claim representation with the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) - all embraced by a group which formed in Holland in May last year.
The report also indicated that the task force had received testimonies from the suspects that senior officials of the Eritrean government such as Colonel Fitsum Yishaq, Colonel Ta’ime and Colonel Solomon were assigned to coordinate the planned terror attacks.
The Eritrean subjects were ready to execute a second round of attacks from April last year to January this year, when the networked plan of terror attacks were thwarted.
The report stated that major targets of the terror attacks were hotels, main roads, government officials, and institutions in Addis Ababa.
The National Intelligence and Security Service and the Anti-terrorism Taskforce under the Federal Police Commission stated that attempts by the Eritrean government to mastermind terrorist attacks were foiled,
The terrorist attacks were planned to be carried out during the 8th African Union Summit in which several African leaders, the UN Secretary General, senior officials of the European Union, the Arab League, as well as various delegates from across the world were taking part.
Police apprehended the masterminds of the attack just ahead of the summit, though the suspects were not identified at the time.
Ethiopia has repeatedly accused Eritrea of planting explosives in its territory and supporting rebel groups fighting low-level insurgencies against the government.
With Ethiopian forces in Somalia fighting the United Islamic Courts (UIC), Eritrea has been accused of supporting the UIC in terms of strategy, arms and troops. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was quoted as saying that they had proof that the ‘Eritrean government was in up to its neck in the matter’.
Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year guerrilla war, but war erupted again following a dispute over a border town.
Ethiopia second lowest in World chubbiness survey
By Groum Abate
In a list of the countries with the greatest percentage of overweight people, Nauru tops a list with an alarming 94.5% of its adult population (ages 15+) classified as such, based on the most recent estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO).
According to Forbes Magazine, Ethiopia and Eritrea rank as the lowest countries with fat people. 5.6 % of its adult population over ages 15+ in Ethiopia is overweight and Eritrea is declared as a country where the lowest percentage of overweight people live in, as only 4.4 % of the population are overweight.
There are currently 1.6 billion overweight adults in the world. In just 10 years, the WHO projects that number will grow by 40%.
The Federated States of Micronesia, Cook Islands, Nauru and Tonga round out the top five, all with a portly population of over 90%.
The U.S. weighs in at No. 9, with 74.1% of those over 15 years old considered overweight. However, given that its population is nearly 20,000 times that of Nauru, clearly the U.S.’s size belies its rank.
Experts say it is not surprising that people across the globe are increasingly becoming overweight. They blame urbanization and the influx of Western ways of life including myriad fast food choices, little exercise and stressful jobs.
"Due to urbanization, more people are living in more dense environments, in cities where they are removed from traditional food sources and dependent on an industrial food supply," says Neville Rigby, director of policy and public affairs for the International Association for the Study of Obesity. Modernization is causing countries with small populations and few resources to depend on imported, often over-processed food. "The Western diet overwhelms, and many people are not genetically engineered to cope with this," says Rigby.
On the list of "fattest" countries, eight of the top 10 are in the Pacific region.
In the last 50 years this area has established significant economic ties with the U.S. and New Zealand, which caused a surge in Western imports and a significant change in diet. Studies conducted by the WHO Western Pacific regional office and by the International Obesity Task Force, a London-based think tank, also point to several other factors they say contribute to the region’s high obesity rates. These include the common belief that beauty is marked by a large physical size, the reliance on fatty, nutrient-deficient imported foods and a decrease in activity caused by less farming and agricultural work.
Elsewhere, developing countries are dealing with what many experts call a nutrition transition--economies that are used to dealing primarily with undernutrition must now fight obesity.
China and India have relatively low percentages of overweight adults, 28.9% and 16.0% respectively. But obesity and its potential complications are increasing there at unparalleled speed due to the growth of urban populations and an expanding middle class who can afford richer food in greater quantities than their rural counterparts. In China, for example, the number of obese people has tripled since 1992, the WHO reports.
It should not come as a shock that the nation with the highest rate of adult diabetes is Nauru, where nearly 31% of the population is struck with the disease, according to the International Diabetes Federation. The countries with the largest numbers of people with diabetes are India (40.9 million), China (39.8 million) and the U.S. (19.2 million).
The WHO's definitions of "overweight" and "obese" are based on an individual's body mass index (BMI), which measures weight relative to height. Overweight is marked by a BMI greater than or equal to 25 and obese is defined as having a BMI greater than or equal to 30.
It's important to note that the definitions for overweight can vary by country and study. For example, in China, where the population has a high susceptibility to abdominal obesity (which is not directly reflected in BMI calculations), the cut-off point for overweight is 23.
Ministry of Health receives donation
By Tsion Aklilu
The World Health Organization (WHO) donated to the Ministry of Health emergency health kits and a Toyota Land Cruiser on February 21, 2007. Dr. Kebede Worku, State Minister of Health, accepted the donation from Dr. Olusengu Babaniyi, representative of WHO for Ethiopia.
According to a press release from by WHO, the donation was obtained from the Royal Government of Norway in response to a direct request for emergency health kits. The donation made is rated in kind and cash, to cover costs of local transport for the training on the use of kit. The donation is expected to be used for emergenies, particularly for acute watery diarrhea (AWD).
Dr. Kebede has noted that parts of the country affected by the recent floods are facing difficulties of water access, sanitation and hygiene services. He added in his speech, “It is not possible to address the emergency situation through government efforts alone, we need to strengthen partnership with development partners and donor agencies.”
WHO has valued the donation in kind and cash at1, 024,177 USD. According to Dr. Olusengu, the emergency health kits amount to 28 metric tons and cost more than 800,000 USD.
Each health kit box holds drugs for about 1,000 people and lasts for three months. The drugs will be distributed to all regions affected by floods and AWD, said public relations head of the ministry, Ato Mohamed.
First $150 laptops arrive in Africa
By Groum Abate
African countries will be among the first to get $150 laptops, after officials announced they would start receiving products from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative.
Rwandan president Paul Kagame, for example, said last week that the government intends to provide the laptops to primary schools. The Rwandan government, through its ministries of Infrastructure, Education and Science, Technology and Research, will collaborate with the OLPC in introducing the machines in schools.
"Rwanda wants to transform into a knowledge-based economy, hence the need to provide schools throughout the country with computers," Kagame said.
Libya, Nigeria, Egypt and Ethiopia, among others, are also expected to receive the machines this month.
Libya has agreed to work with the OLPC project to deploy the laptops for every school-age child in the country. The commitment for the PCs, however, differs from country to country depending on the number of primary school children, according to Jackie Lustig, a spokesperson for OLPC.
"Nigeria, Rwanda and Libya have shown commitment to the OLPC. We are also in discussion with several other countries that have approached us and showed varying levels of interest," Lustig said.
Lustig said that Libya has committed to providing 1.2 million children with the laptops within one year while Rwanda will provide 2 million children with the laptops over five years.
Libya has said, however, that it will buy more laptops than the number of children in the country and will contribute the extra machines to poorer African nations.
The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has said Nigeria has committed to buying one million OLPC machines.
The rollout has already started in some countries in Africa but the full-scale distribution is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of this year, Lustig said.
However, there are different projects under way in Africa to meet the need for low-cost computers. In Kenya, for example, the government has managed to assemble low-cost computers with the help of several vendors. Lenovo, Sahara Computers and Mecer PC have been appointed by the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) to assemble the first computers in the Madaraka line this month. These computers are priced at $450.
FIRA collects over 1.93bln birr from VAT in half year
By Tedla Yeneakal
The Federal Inland Revenue Authority (FIRA) disclosed that it has collected over 1.93 billion birr from registered Value Added Tax (VAT) payers over the past six months.
The number of registered VAT payers has reached over 26,290 and the revenue collected has exceeded that of the same period last year by 31 percent.
The increase in revenue is attributable to the increase in the number of registered VAT payers, the modernization of the system and the various sensitization activities carried out.
The business community should also contribute their share by meeting obligations at the moment when the government is striving to blend the country among the middle-income countries, the authority stated.
FIRA has also announced recently that it collected 3.12 billion birr from tax and non-tax revenue in the past six months, slightly falling off its target by 9 %.
Abebe Kebede, Public Relations head with FIRA told Capital that the authority had originally targeted to generate 3.43 billion birr.
Accordingly, FIRA collected 1.693 billion birr from direct taxes, 1.426 billion birr from non- tax revenues and the remaining 1.95 million birr from non-tax incomes, including penalties, interest and other incomes.
“For the authority, any target over the 90% mark is a good record, however, we have collected an amount which is slightly less than our record because of some tax collections which are due in January and others which have also failed to pay their taxes as they have declared bankruptcy,” Abebe said. “We have certainly increased the quality of our service and the tax based education that has been embarked on by FIRA certainly helped the authority.”
The authority, during the same period last year, collected 2.49 billion birr, which when compared to this year’s revenue is up by 629 million birr or 25 %.
FIRA is managed under the Ministry of Revenue, which was established by proclamation no 256/1994 article 4, 5 16 and 26 issued on Oct. 10, 2002. In accordance with the proclamation, the aims, powers and duties bestowed on the former Revenue Board by proclamation No 5/1987 are fully transferred to the Ministry of Revenue. In addition, the ministry is given the responsibility of conducting the Revenue sector reform program continuously. Furthermore, the Ministry leads and supervises three affiliated revenue sectors, namely: the Federal Inland Revenue /FIRA/, the Ethiopian Customs Authority /ECA/ and the National Lottery Administration /NLA/.
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