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[The Conversation Africa] After two postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic and later for logistical challenges, millions of Ethiopians go to the polls on Monday. Held in the midst of historic domestic challenges - not least a war in Tigray region and instability in Western Oromia region - this election will be significant for several reasons. Here is why.
He replaces Debretsion Gebremichael, whose immunity from prosecution was removed Thursday.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said Thursday that scores of civilians were killed in a \"massacre\" in the Tigray region, that witnesses blamed on forces backing the local ruling party.
The \"massacre\" is the first reported incident of large-scale civilian fatalities in a week-old conflict between the regional ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
\"Amnesty International can today confirm... that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the southwest of Ethiopia's Tigray Region on the night of 9 November,\" the rights group said in a report.
Amnesty said it had \"digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers.\"
The dead \"had gaping wounds that appear to have been inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes,\" Amnesty said, citing witness accounts.
Witnesses said the attack was carried out by TPLF-aligned forces after a defeat at the hands of the Ethiopian military, though Amnesty said it \"has not been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings\".
It nonetheless called on TPLF commanders and officials to \"make clear to their forces and their supporters that deliberate attacks on civilians are absolutely prohibited and constitute war crimes\".
Abiy ordered military operations in Tigray on November 4, saying they were prompted by a TPLF attack on federal military camps -- a claim the party denies.
The region has been under a communications blackout ever since, making it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground.
Abiy said Thursday his army had made major gains in western Tigray.
Thousands of Ethiopians have fled across the border into neighboring Sudan, and the UN is sounding the alarm about a humanitarian crisis in Tigray.
In January 1901, at the beginning of a new century, George H. White was ending his term as a Congressman from North Carolina’s Second Congressional District. Realizing that he was bringing to a close a thirty two year period when nearly forty Southern African Americans sat in Congress, White used the occasion of his farewell address to remind that body and the nation of the reason for his defeat and the elimination of black representation in the nation’s capital. He also predicted that African Americans would return to Congress. His prediction became a reality when in 1928, Oscar DePriest was elected to represent a Chicago congressional district. Part of White’s address appears below.
I want to enter a plea for the colored man, the colored woman, the colored boy, and the colored girl of this country. I would not thus digress from the question at issue and detain the House in a discussion of the interests of this particular people at this time but for the constant and the persistent efforts of certain gentlemen upon this floor to mold and rivet public sentiment against us as a people and to lose no opportunity to hold up the unfortunate few who commit crimes and depredations and lead lives of infamy and shame, as other races do, as fair specimens of representatives of the entire colored race... In the catalogue of members of Congress in this House perhaps none have been more persistent in their determination to bring the black man into disrepute and…show that he was unworthy of the right of citizenship than my colleague from North Carolina, Mr. Kitchin. During the first session of this Congress…he labored long and hard to show that the white race was at all times and under all circumstances superior to the Negro by inheritance if not otherwise, and…that an illiterate Negro was unfit to participate in making the laws of a sovereign state and the administration and execution of them; but an illiterate white man living by his side, with no more or perhaps not as much property, with no more exalted character, no
Fossils found in East Africa suggest that protohumans roamed the area more than 20 million years ago. Recent finds near Kenyas Lake Turkana indicate that hominids lived in the area 2.6 million years ago.
Cushitic-speaking people from northern Africa moved into the area that is now Kenya beginning around 2000 BC. Arab traders began frequenting the Kenya coast around the first century AD.
Kenyas proximity to the Arabian Peninsula invited colonization, and Arab and Persian settlements sprouted along the coast by the eighth century. During the first millennium AD, Nilotic and Bantu peoples moved into the region, and the latter now comprises three-quarters of Kenyas population.
The Swahili language, a mixture of Bantu and Arabic, developed as a lingua franca for trade between the different peoples. Arab dominance on the coast was eclipsed by the arrival in 1498 of the Portuguese, who gave way in turn to Islamic control under the Imam of Oman in the 1600s. The United Kingdom established its influence in the 19th century.
The colonial history of Kenya dates from the Berlin Conference of 1885, when the European powers first partitioned East Africa into spheres of influence. In 1895, the U.K. Government established the East African Protectorate and, soon after, opened the fertile highlands to white settlers.
The settlers were allowed a voice in government even before it was officially made a U.K. colony in 1920, but Africans were prohibited from direct political participation until 1944.
From October 1952 to December 1959, Kenya was under a state of emergency arising from the Mau Mau rebellion against British colonial rule.
During this period, African participation in the political process increased rapidly.
The first direct elections for Africans to the Legislative Council took place in 1957. Kenya became independent on December 12, 1963, and the next year joined the Commonwealth. Jomo Kenyatta, a member of the large Kikuyu ethnic group and head of the Kenya African National Union (KANU), became Kenyas first
The U.N. humanitarian chief warned Thursday that the grave humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region is deteriorating, with no sign of Eritrean troops withdrawing and alarmingly widespread reports of systematic rape and other sexual violence mainly by men in uniform.
[Namibian] HUMAN rights activist Nicodemus 'Mama Africa' Aoxamub says a political party for sex workers and LGBTQI communities in the country is on the cards.
MDC-T has appealed to the Supreme Court challenging Monday's High Court decision to block it from replacing four legislators it recently recalled until their court application contesting the party's right to recall them has been determined.
Through its lawyer, Professor Lovemore Madhuku, the Thokozani Khupe-led MDC-T filed a notice of appeal at the Supreme Court the same day the injunction against the party was issued.
Justice Mafusire took the view that MDC-A is a political party, which tallies with that taken by Justice Priscilla Manongwe in the dispute over party funds pitting Nelson Chamisa-led MDC-Alliance and the Khupe-led MDC-T.
Last week Justice Tawanda Chitapi ruled in the High Court that while the MDC-A was recognised as a political party, it lacks the legal capacity to sue and being sued, being in effect an electoral coalition.
Justice Mafusire found it undesirable that there should be conflicting decisions by judges from the same court over the same issue.
Having been a bad sensation for authorities in his home country over his constant criticism, Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin'ono has now become an internet sensation. But this time for a song about corruption in Zimbabwe.
He calls out Trump and others for inciting the events.
The U.N. humanitarian chief warned Thursday that the grave humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia's embattled Tigray region is deteriorating, with no sign of Eritrean troops withdrawing and alarmingly widespread reports of systematic rape and other sexual violence mainly by men in uniform.
The post UN: Tigray's Humanitarian Crisis Worsens, No Eritrean Exit appeared first on Los Angeles Sentinel.
Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu and her department have denied prohibiting non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from distributing to food.
This comes a day after a commissioner of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said the department had violated the Constitution by preventing the provision of food.
Zulu told the Portfolio Committee on Social Development on Thursday that she \"takes exception\" to allegations that they are preventing the distribution of food.
On Monday, the DA lodged a complaint with the SAHRC against the department, following a \"supposed instruction\" prohibiting NGOs from distributing cooked food during the lockdown.
ALSO READ | 'Mistreatment of vulnerable people' owing to social grants glitch - SAHRC
Mchunu further told the committee that, as the lockdown continues, the department will continue to provide counselling and psycho-social support.
[African Arguments] We're told the war is not with ordinary Tigrayans. Yet as thousands suffer and our compatriots remain silent, that's how it feels.
The period of Reconstruction took place in the southern United States from the end of the Civil War in 1865 until 1877. The era was marked by intense controversies, which included the impeachment of a president, outbreaks of racial violence, and the passage of Constitutional amendments.
Even the end of Reconstruction was controversial, as it was marked by a presidential election which many, to the present day, contend was stolen.
The main issue of Reconstruction was how to bring the nation back together after the rebellion of the slave states had been ended. And, at the end of the Civil War fundamental issues facing the nation included what role former Confederates might play in the US government, and what role freed slaves would play in American society.
And beyond the political and social issues was the matter of physical destruction. Much of the Civil War had been waged in the South, and cities, towns, and even farmlands, were in runs. The infrastructure of the South also had to be rebuilt.
The issue of how to bring the rebellious states back into the Union consumed much of the think of President Abraham Lincoln as the Civil War came to an end. In his second inaugural address he spoke of reconciliation. But when he was assassinated in April 1865 much changed.
The new president, Andrew Johnson, declared that he would follow Lincolns intended policies toward Reconstruction.
But the ruling party in Congress, the Radical Republicans, believed Johnson was being far too lenient and was allowing former rebels too much of a role in the new governments of the South.
The Radical Republican plans for Reconstruction were more severe. And continual conflicts between the Congress and the president led to the impeachment trial of President Johnson in 1868.
When Ulysses S. Grant became president following the election of 1868, Reconstruction policies continued in the South. But it was often plagued by racial problems and the Grant administration often found itself trying to protect the civil rights of former slaves.
The
Ethiopian forces blocked people from the country's embattled Tigray region from crossing into Sudan on Thursday at the busiest crossing point for refugees, Sudanese forces said.
Their account follows allegations by refugees in previous days of Ethiopian forces stopping people from fleeing the month-old deadly conflict in Tigray.
The Sudanese forces, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the events, said people tried to cross from Ethiopia around 6 a.m. to Hamdayet in Sudan but were stopped, and refugees waiting on the Sudan side became upset and began throwing rocks.
The Sudanese forces then cleared the area, and on Thursday evening they confirmed that the border crossing remained closed.
Tensions have been rising at the border in recent days as the flow of Ethiopians crossing has slowed to hundreds per day from several thousands.
A senior Ethiopian government official who has served as spokesman during the conflict did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
End fighting
The European Union's crisis management commissioner Thursday urged the Ethiopian government to restore communications in its northern Tigray region and called on both sides to cease hostilities.
\"I urge... the Ethiopian authorities to lift the communication blockade,\" Janez Lenarcic said at Um Raquba camp in neighboring Sudan, where he spoke with Ethiopian refugees who had fled their homeland over the last month.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last month ordered military operations against the northern Ethiopian region's ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), in response to what he said were attacks on Ethiopian federal army camps.
Tens of thousands of refugees have since poured into eastern Sudan, with many complaining that they have not been able to re-establish contact with those left behind or lost on the scramble to leave due to a communications blackout.
\"I spoke with a number of refugees in this camp today and what is perhaps most painful to hear is that they have zero information... about their relatives and friends who stayed behind,\" Lenarcic said.
Abiy on Saturday claimed the conflict was over after federal troops took control of the Tigrayan capital, Mekele, but the TPLF threatened a full-scale counter-offensive on Wednesday.
Lenarcic also urged Ethiopia's government to provide access for humanitarian workers and goods, while calling on both sides to \"cease the hostilities\".
Ethiopia has formally granted the United Nations access to deliver aid to Tigray.
AFP
Prime Minister Buthelezi addressed the media in Durban, saying he fully supports Prince Misuzulu Zulu as the successor to the throne.
In a vote of 57-43, the Senate voted to acquit Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The Senate needed 67 votes for a guilty verdict. Only seven Republicans voted guilty in Trump's second impeachment trial. After his acquittal, Trump released a statement accusing the democrats of … Continued
The post Spineless. The Senate Votes to Acquit Donald Trump. appeared first on Chicago Defender.
Dear Editor,
The State regardless of the political party in power, has as one of its attributes “perpetual succession.”
The article Use the budget 2021 debates to conclude Rodney’s assassination redress appeared first on Stabroek News.
Just one day after putting out a dire emergency warning, Ethiopia's federal government has agreed to allow the United Nations "unimpeded" humanitarian access to parts of the northern Tigray region, according to a UN spokesperson.
By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY and ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press Election officials in key battleground states pushed back on claims by the Trump campaign that Republican poll watchers were being improperly denied access to observe the counting of ballots, saying Thursday that rules were being followed and they were committed to transparency. Tasked this year with monitoring a record number of mail ballots, partisan poll watchers are designated by a political party or campaign to report any concerns they may have. With a few reports of overly aggressive poll watchers, election officials said they were carefully balancing access with the need […]
The post Poll watchers emerge as a flashpoint in battle over ballots appeared first on Black News Channel.
June 10: Speaker Keria replaced
\tEthiopia’s upper parliamentary chamber, the House of Federation (HoF), on Wednesday elected a new speaker following the resignation of Keria Ibrahim.
June 8: Speaker of Ethiopia’s upper parliament quits over postponed polls
\tKeria Ibrahim, speaker of Ethiopia’s upper parliamentary chamber, the House of federation, has quit her position citing a looming constitutional blank with postponed elections.
Privately-owned Addis Standard said Keria’s resignation was on the outcome of a Council of Constitutional Inquiry on deferred elections.
The former speaker belongs to the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, TPLF, a former coalition partner of the now defunct Ethiopia Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front, EPRDF; which brought Abiy to power in 2018.
TPLF is currently the ruling party in the northern Tigray region but technically in opposition with the federal government.
