Tamagne enters the political scene in Addis

The Diaspora comedian’s VCD (Video CD) has been one of the most talked about products in Addis recently. Reportedly, the contents of the VCD have angered many at the EPRDF camp and we are now hearing stories of people being arrested for possessing it and distributing it. I recently saw the video myself and I can see why the EPRDF is feeling angry. There is a segment where he literally accuses the EPRDF of falsifying the facts on no important an event in Ethiopian history as the battle of Adowa. He says that EPRDF was going so far as to say that Adowa was a Tigrean victory…and that had it not been for Tigreans, Minelik was about to flee. Some people have voiced their opinions in local papers saying that Tamagne’s video was racist. In any case, the VCD is spreading across the country like wild fire. I dare say it is the most talked about piece of work next to Teddy Afro’s Yasteseriyal. It appears to me that these two artists have shown that the old maxim about how controversy sells also holds water in Ethiopia.

I must say that I found Tamagne’s ‘interviews’ with Mengistu and Meles very entertaining.

Paper shortage hits Ethiopia

The word around town is that the unprecedented rise in newspaper publication has resulted in a shortage of paper. It is reported that some of the publishing houses are now putting a cap on the number of copies they are willing to entertain per newspaper. The weekly business ‘Fortune’ reported a dramatic rise of copies for the small and struggling private papers …some rising from about 3,000 a few months ago to over 50,000. It said that the need for information from Addis Ababans was so strong that the regions are being suffocated. Paper vendors on the streets say they are now making upto 60 birr in profit per day when they normally made about 20 birr a day.

It is important to note that many people at first thought that this supposed shortage of paper was artificially caused by the government in order to stifle the private press. I don’t think this is the case judging from the way the private press itself, which has not been shy to report on the government, has been reporting on the issue (Minelik paper apologized on its front page about the limitation of copies available due to shortage of paper).

It is also reported that the demand for radio sets in Addis has gone so far as to increase the price of radio sets. It seems to me that the government’s handling of the public media, which is causing the public to shun it altogether, is encouraging this trend. My recent experience in a restaurant shows things are continuing down this path. Half the people in the restaurant asked for the TV to be shutdown at the news hour while the other half said ‘it is good to hear what they have to say’. It is interesting that almost none of these people wanted to hear the news because it represented what was happening.



The future of Addis’ low cost condominiums in question

If a story on Sunday’s Reporter holds, it appears the Addis Ababa provisional administration is continuing down the path of not making things easy for the next administration. It is reported that land set aside for the construction of low-cost condominiums, for which the city had allocated more than 1.5 billion birr, is now to be sold on lease to investors. I feel there may be more acts to come along this line.

Federali head speaks about the killings in Addis

On Friday, the head of the Federal Police, commissioner Workineh Gebeyehu, said that the killings on Black Monday took place because untrained police who were not experienced on dealing with rioters. ‘Reporter’ pointed out that the commissioner’s statements contradicted that of PM Meles’ statement, which said that the acts taken then were valid last week. The commissioner said that there will be an investigation.

I must point out that Commissioner Workineh, during the election, has been associated with election-related violence in his district in Shashemene, where at least one person was allegedly killed by local police.

Gondar University…

Apparently students at Gondar University have decided not to continue school until things calm down. They have agreed to go to their respective homes and be with family…as they feared that more violence will breakout when the final results are announced on July 8. It was reported that last week fire destroyed four dormitories.

I must also mention a story I read last week which said that in Gondar town, an opposition MP-elect was stabbed by local police. His life was saved as the public intervened. The reports I hear from Gondar is that the town has been seeing massive military presence since the unrests began.

Prospect for further Agreements not so good

The weekly business ‘fortune’ has a story about disagreements between EPRDF and the oppositions on a 10 point deal negotiated by the E.U ambassador, Timothy Clarke. It is stated that EPRDF didn’t agree with some of the points saying that it saw them as issues of competency with the government and not the party. Of course, Dr. Merara of the UEDF accused the gov’t of wearing 2 hats, choosing whichever one suited them in different circumstances.

One issue of contention is the media. The oppositions suggest that the public media should be controlled by an independent body comprised of the parties, civil society, legal and media practitioners and people of eminence. The ruling party doesn’t even agree on principle on this topic and says it is non-negotiable. Apparently, the CUD is saying it is an issue it cannot compromise upon.
Related to this as well, the decision of the Complaints Review Board that came out over the weekend it likely to be another bone of contention between the parties. None of the papers carry official responses to these decisions so far but it seems the UEDF got the worst call losing 135 constituencies in which it had complained being dismissed. The CUD has 80 out of the 185 (43%) recommended for investigation with 29 needing further evidence (and 68 rejected). It appears EPRDF has 17 constituencies approved for investigation out of the claimed 20. One of these constituencies happens to be the one in which Ato Bereket Simon (comical Ali to Medrekyans) appears to have lost. All in all, about 150 constituencies are recommended for investigation out of the total 299 in which complaints were lodged.

OPDO’s decision to move Oromia’s capital to Finfine

This topic continued to be hot in Addis this week. There is looong interview on Reporter with OPDO official (Ato De Bula, Oromia state vice president) and Fortune’s ‘view from Arada’ commentary touches on it also. The weekly business ‘capital’ also has an article in which it claims that about half a billion birr was invested in the decision to move Oromia’s capital to Adama/Nazareth. The CUD continued to say that Addis Ababa is big enough for all of us stating that the move will add to the economic development of Addis through the creation of jobs.

The OPDO official said that the move was not as sudden as everyone is saying and that it is planned as a counter to the loss of Addis Ababa to the CUD. The official said that the decision was based on a study commissioned by the state over the past few years. He said that there were some benefits Oromia state needed to gain from Addis Ababa. He hopes that the current parliament will approve this move as soon as possible.

CUD leaders accused of giving interview to EriTV

The state media accused leaders of the CUD, Ato Lidetu Ayalew, and Engineer Gizachew "", of giving interview to Eritrean TV. On their part, the CUD leaders said that they had given interview to a British based news agency named ‘sky news’ who apparently passed the contents to EriTV. They said they were not surprised by the accusation as the EPRDF’s campaign to discredit the CUD has gone as far as comparing them to Interhamwe.
_______

It appears also that the Addis Ababa City Administration is going ahead with the cancellation of 508 taxi licenses in connection with the strike. – Sunday’s reporter

Email: ethio1@yahoo.com

City: Addis ababa

thanks for the news. keep it up. let be united in our struggle.

did you write this stories? if not, what's your source?

Wolege,

Don't you think it would be fair if you to tell who the source was? I hope so.

http://www.ethioindex.com/medrek2/viewtopic.php?t=11416

Daniel

Kane and daniel,

Do you want the sources to be killed or what?