Conference Sharing on OAU/AU 50th Anniversary with “Land Grabbing in Africa”

 

Dear All,
You are cordially invited to attend a Conference Discussion Sharing Forum about “Land Grabbing in Africa” with its devastating catastrophic effects it puts on the People of Africa which in effect is causing harm and is hindering sustainable progressive development for the people of Africa. In extend it is hampering Climatic and the Environmental pollution that is destroying the Eco-system and nature.

Picture: ECADF file

The Forum will highlight and discuss how to find solution to fix the problem and urgently stop this mess that is destroying lives, the Eco-system and the natural seedlings of African foods and historical cultural traditional values.
Guest Speakers:
1) “Mr. Obang O. Metho” of Solidarity Movement will give a talk on the extent of Land Grabbing in Ethiopia and how it is devastating lives to victims of Land Grabbing
2) Mr. Maurice Carney, the Executive Director of Friends of Congo will Speak on Human Rights Violation and Crime in Congo, he will give first hand experience on Land Grabbing and Displacement of Congo people by Organize terror groups
3) Mr. Gnaka Lagoke, Ph.D (From Ivory Coast) will share on matters pertaining to Pan-Africanism with its relevance in the 21st century, particularly to the Diaspora, people of African descent.
Date: May, 10th 2013 at 12.30 a.m.
From: 12.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m.
Place: Montgomery Works at Wheaton Mall
11002 Virs Mill Road
Wheaton, MD 20902
Share and spread the word………….
Kindly go to the 4th Floor Conference Room turn right from the elevator Call Montgomery Works for direction assistance (301 946 1806) All are invited……
Best Regards,
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

Egypt drowns in the Nile ‘water war’ By Abdel Latif el-Menawy

Monday, 6 May 2013

Abdel Latif el-Menawy

Three years ago I warned of the water crisis and the Renaissance Dam via a series of articles. I traveled to Ethiopia and Eretria and met with late Ethiopian premier Meles Zenawi and Eritrean president Isaias Afewerki in an attempt to communicate and provide the public with the opportunity to know what’s going on. I have also done so out of my belief that journalism always has a role that when played properly and within the boundaries of national goals especially on foreign fronts, it can be a factor that helps achieving solutions. Back then, my concern was the crisis threatening Egypt; a war over the Nile’s water.
So I went to Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and South Sudan in an attempt to get a clearer picture and understand. Our problem is that we always have a prejudgment on people and certain issues, and such an attitude sometimes leads us to the wrong conclusions. My aim was to understand what is currently going on regarding the Nile water war, to understand the reason for the Ethiopian stance and to understand where we currently stand regarding this matter.
Back then, the suggested solution was that Egypt will not allow building any dams that affect its share of water. The international law actually stands on Egypt’s side regarding this point. At the same time, however, as studies were conducted to establish dams on the Nile from upstream countries, Egypt showed its willingness to contribute and cooperate in establishing them as long as no harm is done to Egyptian national security interests. I believe this is right path towards resolving this crisis: cooperating, studying and negotiating at the same time.
The nine countries that share the Nile with Egypt are considered unstable countries which are incapable of launching giant projects on the river or incapable of agricultural land reclamation. These countries also suffer from local crises. Some of them suffer from civil wars, tribal struggles and economic problems.
Huge projects also require international funding which cannot be provided without feasible studies approved by all countries that benefit from the river. Egypt’s entrance to deal with this crisis comes here. This point as well brings up the probability that there is no imminent danger that threatens the Nile’s flow to Egypt in the foreseeable future.

Political moves

During that phase, Egypt made several political moves. The most important of them was Egypt’s concern over its strong ties with the Nile countries particularly Ethiopia which is connected through the river to Egypt and Sudan. Another move was Egypt’s concern that developing the resources of the water cannot be carried out without the effective participation of all three countries since most of the Nile Basin countries enjoy more than one source of water. Egypt’s share of rainfall however does not exceed 20 millimeters whilst in some of the Nile Basin countries, it can reach 20,000 millimeters. This means that Egypt suffers from a water deficit that reached more than 30%. It overcomes this deficit through recycling water. On this basis, we must know that any expense, burden or effort carried out in the area of the Nile Basin countries is not a waste of resources but a form of direct colonization in the future. And therefore, cooperating and strengthening ties with these countries is an important fateful issue.

We must understand that any expense, burden or effort carried out in the area of the Nile Basin countries is not a waste of resources but a form of direct colonization in the future.

Abdel Latif el-Menawy

This is why the presidential initiative back then to establish a commission for the Nile Basin countries was important regardless of signing the Nile Basin Initiative now among the Nile Basin countries. Another important move was the concern not to escalate the rhetoric when addressing this issue yet emphasize that Egypt’s historical rights of the Nile water are nonnegotiable.
But at the same time, some of us must not be carried away with enthusiasm or with the desire to achieve fake heroic acts and end up escalating the rhetoric to reach the extent of making threats and sounding the drums of a war when there are no drums! The issue must be resolved through maintaining patience, resuming negotiations and emphasizing that the concept of cooperation is the basis to compensate what was lost and the basis to maintain our rights that will not be harmed.
Although it has been three years since all of this, the group ruling Egypt drowned in its failure, greed and fake renaissance and drowned us with it.
According to media reports, the Brotherhood has not yet awaken from its slumber and is still studying the experts’ commission’s final report on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. The report will be submitted before the end of May in order to be put before the presidents of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. The report indicates that Ethiopian studies on the dam “are incomplete.” This is the same conclusion drawn by the experts’ commission’s last progress report. A practical study has also confirmed that the expected results from establishing the dam will be “disastrous” and will lead to displacing millions of Egyptian families.

Eskinder Nega’s letter from Kaliti prison – “I shall persevere!”

EMF – Here is Eskinder Nega’s 2 pages of letter from Kality Prison, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
I shall persevere!
So that I may do the deed
that my soul has to itself decreed
-Keats.
Individuals can be penalised, made to suffer [oh, how I miss my child] and even killed. But democracy is a destiny of humanity which can not be averted. It can be delayed but not defeated.
No less significant, absent trials and tribulations, democracy would be devoid of the soul that endows it with character and vitality. I accept my fate, even embrace it as serendipitous. I sleep in peace, even if only in the company of lice, behind bars. The same could not be said of my incarcerator though they sleep in warm beds, next to their wives, in their home.
The government has been able to lie in a court of law effortlessly as a function of the moral paucity of our politics. All the great crimes of history, lest we forget, have their genesis in the moral wilderness of their times.
The mundane details of the case offer nothing substantive but what Christopher Hitchens once described as “a vortex of irrationality and nastiness.” Suffice to say, that this is Ethiopia’s Dreyfus affair. Only this time, the despondency of withering tyranny, not smutty bigotry, is at play.
Martin Amis wrote, quoting Alexander Solzhenitsyn, that Stalinism (in the 30s) tortured you not to force you to reveal a secret, but to collude you in a fiction. This is also the basic rational of the unfolding human rights crisis in Ethiopia. And the same 30s bravado that show-trials can somehow vindicate banal injustice pervades official thinking. Want to unlearn from history, we aptly repeat even its most brazen mistakes.
Why should the rest of the world care? Horace said it best: mutate nomine de te fabula narratur. “Change only the name and this story is also about you.” Where ever justice suffers our common humanity suffers, too.
I will live to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It may or may not be a long wait. Whichever way events may go, I shall persevere!
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
History shall absolve democracy
Eskinder Nega
Kaliti prison
Addis Ababa

ነጻነትን ከነጻ አውጭዎች የምንጠብቅበት ጊዜ ላይ አይደለንም!

ነጻነት እኛ ሰዎች በልደት ወደዚህ አለም ስንመጣ አብሮን የሚመጣ የተፈጥሮ ፀጋ ነዉ። ነጻነት ከሌሎች የምንጠብቀዉ ወይም ማንንም ስጠን ብለን የማንጠይቀዉ ፈጣሪ ለእያንዳንዳችን ያደለንን፤ በዚህ አለም ቆይታችን ለደቂቃም ቢሆን እንዲለየን መፍቀድ የሌለብን ኃብት ነዉ። ነጻነታችን እጃችን ላይ ሲኖር በግለሰብ ደረጃ የምንደሰትበት፤ እንዳንቀማ በጋራ የምንጠብቀዉና እንደወያኔ አይነቱ ፀረ ህዝብ ኃይል ሲቀማን ደግሞ በጋራ ታግለን ማስመለስ የሚገባን የግልና የጋራ ኃብት ነዉ። ዛሬ ከ21 የወያኔ አመታት በኋላ እኛ ኢትዮጵያዉያን በድህነትና በረሀብ የምንጠቃዉ፤ በዘረኝነት አለንጋ የምንገረፈዉ፤ የምንሰደደዉ፤ የምንታሰረዉና የምንገደለዉ ይህንን ፈጣሪ ያደለንን ነጻነት የሚባል ኃብት ወያኔ አንድ፤ ሁለትና ሦስት እያለ ሲቀማን አፋችንን ዘግተንና እጃችንን አጥፈን ስለተመለከትን ነዉ። መፈናቀላችን፤ ስደታችን፤ ዉርደታችንና በገዛ አገራችን ሁለተኛ ዜጋ ሆኖ መኖራችን እንዲያበቃ ለማድረግ ያለን ብቸኛ አማራጭ ሌሎች መጥተዉ ነጻ ያወጡናል ከሚለዉ አመለካከት ተላቅቀን ነጻነታችንን ለማስመለስ ህዝባዊ ትግሉን መቀላቀል ብቻ ነዉ።

ነጻነታችንን የቀሙን የወያኔ ዘረኞች ነጻነታችንን እንደቀሙን ለረጂም አመታት ለመግዛት እንዲመቻቸዉ በዘር፤ በቋንቋ፤ በክልልና በሐይማኖት ከፋፍለዉን ከሃያ አንድ በፊት በኢትዮጵያ ሀዝብ ላይ ጀመሩትን እስራት፤ ስደት፤ ግድያና ዝርፍያ አሁንም እንደቀጠሉ ነዉ። የወያኔ ዘረኞች ነጻነታችንን ቀምተዉ እየገዙን ቢሆንምገዛናቸዉ ብለዉ እጃቸዉን አጣጥፈዉ አልተቀመጡም። ዜጎች ነጻነታቸዉንና መብታቸዉን እንዳይጠይቁ አፋቸዉን ያዘጋሉ፤ አንዱ ለሌላዉ አንዳይቆም አገር፤ ባንዲራና ኢትዮጵያዊነት የሚባሉ ትላልቁቹን የጋራ እሴቶቻችንን በየቀኑ ያፈርሳሉ። ይህ የሚያሳየን ዜጎች ትልቅተስፋይዘዉ፤ ቤተሰብ መስርተዉ ለራሳቸዉና ለአገራቸዉ የሚኖሩበት ግዜ እየጠፋ ተስፋ መቁረጥ፤ ስደትና የመከራ ኑሮ ዘመን እየከበበን መምጣቱን ነዉ። ይህ ከሆነ የነገዋንየነጻነት፣ የፍትህ፣ የዴሞክራሲባለጸጋ ኢትዮጵያንለማየትእያንዳንዱዜጋበቻለው አቅሙሁሉጠንክሮበመታገል እና ከራሱባለፈሌላውዜጋ የነጻነት ትግሉንጎራእንዲቀላቀል ብሎም የዚህትግልባለቤት እንዲሆን እንጠይቃለን፡፡የሀገራችን ህዝብ የነጻነት ችቦ አቀጣጣይ የትግሉአካልበመሆንመስራት እንጅ፣ ከቶ ሌላ አካል፣ ሌላ ሃይል መጦ ነጻ ያወጣኛል በሚል በባርነት እየተገዛ መጠበቅ የለበትም። ነጻነትናዴሞክራሲ በችሮታ አሊያም ከሰማይ እንደሚወርድ መና የሚጠበቅ ስጦታ አይደለም። ነጻነት የራስን መሰዋእትነት ይጠይቃል። አለበለዚያ “ላምአለኝበሰማይወተትዋንምአላይ” እንዳይሆን ያስፈልጋል።

የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ በወያኔ የዘር በትር አለንጋ የሚደርስበት ግርፋት፣ ስቃይ፣ ርሃብ፣ ስደት፣ እንግልት በራሱ በህዝቡ ላይ ነው። ስለዚህ ህዝቡ ራሱ ለራሱ ነጻነት፣ በእምቢ አልገዛም ባይነት የሚነሳበት ጊዜው አሁን ነው። ነጻነትን ከነጻ አውጭዎች በመጠበቅ እስከመቼ የወያኔ የጥይት ሰለባዎች እንሆናለን?

ወገንሁሉለራሱ ነጻነት፣ ህልውና ሲል የለውጡ እንቅስቃሴ ታጋይ የመሆን ኢትዮጵያዊግዴታውንእንዲፈጽምጥሪ እናደርጋለን፡፡ለአገሩ፣ ለማንነነቱ መሰዋእትነት ለመሆንእንደሚኮራሁሉአገሩም በሱ ትኮራለች ፡፡

በርግጥ ነው በህወሃት/ኢህአዴግ የአሰቃቂ ዘመናት ስለአገራችንየፖለቲካጉዳይማሰብና መናገር ወንጀልና ሽብርተኛ አስደርጎበጠራራፀሐይ የሚታሰሩበትናበግፍየሚገደሉበትጊዜነው።ይህንንአድርገሃልተብሎሳይሆንይህንንሳታስብአትቀርምተብሎያለምንምህጋዊናበቂምክንያትወጣቶች፣ አረጋውያንያለጊዜያቸው፣ያለዕድሜያቸውበከንቱአልቀዋል።በቅርቡም ደግሞ በአማራው ተናጋሪ የተጀመረው ዘርን የማጥፋት ዘመቻ አንዱ ነው። ስለዚህ እስከ መቼ ነው ለራሳችን ነጻነት ሌላ አካል ነጻ እስኪያወጣን የምንጠብቀው? ከዚህ በላይ ምን ስቃይ አለ? ሀገር የጠፋች እለት ምን ሊውጠን ይችላል።

እማማ ኢትዮጵያ ለልጆቿ ህልውናዋን ከመፍረስ አደጋ እንዲጠብቋት፣ ከወያኔ የዘርና ዘረኝነት አደጋ እንዲታደጓት ስትማጸን፤ ልጆቿ ደግሞ አንዳች ሃይል መጥቶ ነጻነታቸውን ያጎናጽፋቸው ዘንድ የኢትዮጵያ አምላክ እያሉ ሲጠባበቁ እስከ መቼ? ስለዚህ ወጣት ጎልማሳ አዛውንት ሽማግሌ ዘር ጾታ ሳይለይ የዛሬ የነጻነትህ ትግል ጅማሮ እጅህ ላይ ነው። ሀገራችንየዛሬውንየወያኔን ጨለማሸኝታ የነገውንየነጻነት ብርሃንእየጠበቀችብቻሳይሆንእየናፈቀችአለች።ያንንድቅድቅጨለማሰንጥቆየሚወጣ የወጣት ጀግኖች ልጆቿንብርኃንትናፍቃለች።እናም እያንዳንዱ ኢትዮጵያዊ የብርሃኑመታያችቦ ሆኖ ታሪክ ይሰራ ዘንድ ለነጻነቱ የሚታገልበትና ትግሉን የሚቀላቀልበት ሰአት እየፈጠነ፣ እየቆጠረ፣ እየቀረበ ነውና ተነስ ባለህበት ያለህን አንሳና ወርውር፣ አቀብል።

ቋንቋችን አንድ ነው ለነጻነትህ ታገል! በማንነትህ በብሄር ምክንያት በተወለድክበት ሀገር፣ ቀዪ አትሰደድ! በሀገርህ ምድር እንደ ሁለተኛ ዜጋ የመኖሪያ ፈቃድ ጠያቂ አትሁን! ወንድምህ፣ እህትህ፣ አባትህ እናትህ ባልሰሩት ወንጀል ወደ እስር ቤት ሲታጎሩ፣ ሲገደሉ ዝም ብለህ አትይ! በሀገርህ ስብእና ክብርህ ተዋርዶ አትመልከት! ተነስና መብራቱን አብራ! ጀግኖች መከታ ሊሆኑህ ከጎንህ ተሰልፈዋል።

በአሁኑወቅትአያሌኢትዮጵያዉያንወያኔንለመታገልመሳሪያካነሱከነጻነት ታጋዮችጋርበየቀኑእየተቀላቀሉቢሆንም፤ ሀገር ውስጥ ያላችሁ እለታዊ ኑሮን ለማሸነፍ ስትሉ በየፋብሪካው በመንግስት ሴክተሩ እና ሌሎች ተቋማት የምትገኙ ሁሉ በድጋሜ ግንቦት 7 እንደሁሌው ሁሉ የውስጥ አርበኛ ሆናችሁ የነጻነት ትግሉን መቀላቀል፣ ራሳችሁንና ሀገራችሁ ከወያኔ የዘረኛ ማዳፍ እጅ ነጻ ትወጣ ዘንድ ደከመኝ ሰለቸኝ ሳትሉ ትግሉን ቀጥሉበት። ፍርሃታችሁን በጥሳችሁ በመደራጀትና መረጃ በማስተላለፍ ግዴታችሁን ተወጡ። ለሀገራችሁ ቅርብ ሁኑ! ለነጻነት ትግሉ፤ የትግልስልትናየተለየየትግልቦታሳትመርጡወያኔንያስወግዳልበምትሉትስልትናይመቸናልበሚሉትቦታሁሉእስከመጨረሻው ትታገሉ ዘንድ አደራችን ነው።

ግንቦት 7 የፍትህ፣ የነጻነትና ዴሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ ዛሬም ቢሆን የህዝባችን ሰበአዊ መብትና ነጻነትንገፈውሕግንያፈረሱ ህገ አራዊት የሆኑትን ወያኔዎች ከሀገራችን ምድር ላንዴና ለመጨረሻ ግዜ በማስወገድ ሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊ ዜጋ በእኩልነትና በነጻነት የሚኖርባትን ሀገር ለመመስረት የሚያደርገውን የትግል ጉዞ ይቀጥላል።

ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ!!

Boston bomber friend Robel Phillipos released on bail

(AFP) BOSTON, Massachusetts — A 19-year-old friend of accused Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was ordered free on $100,000 bail Monday as he awaits trial for allegedly lying to investigators probing the attack.

Derege B. Demissie, lawyer for Robel Phillipos leaves the John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse May 1, 2013 (Getty Images/AFP/File, Darren Mccollester)

Robel Phillipos, whose family emigrated from Ethiopia, was placed under house arrest, where he will be under the custody of his mother. He must also wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.
He was charged last week with lying to the authorities by denying that he had joined two Kazakh friends in Tsarnaev’s college dorm room when Tsarnaev was on the run from police after the April 15 bombing of the Boston Marathon.
The three young men are accused of going to the missing Tsarnaev’s room, where the Kazakhs — Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev — allegedly took his backpack and laptop computer.
The teen came to his hearing Monday in an orange jail uniform, his feet shackled. Under the terms of his house arrest, he will not be allowed out except to meet with his lawyer or for medical visits, Judge Marianne Bowler said.
Phillipos, who knew Tsarnaev from their studies at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth, faces up to eight years in prison if convicted. His next hearing is scheduled for May 17.