ElPunto
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Posts posted by ElPunto
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Two comments. This idea that changing your name allows one to leave behind the baggage of ethnicity/race and will be less subjected to prejudice and stereotype is crap. Just look at the African-American experience. Two - this idea that converts change their names because of reliance on mistaken Shiekh Google is itself a stereotype as if converts are unable to research properly. A convert may wish to change their name for a myriad of reasons. One easy one is that having entered Islam a convert may want a new start to his/her life and as such a new name.
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^Next time - stick to your betters from the get go.
Well written Safferz.
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^Not to mention it is 600,000 people some of whom have been there for more than 2 decades. The civil war and ensuing chaos in Somalia has been a cash cow for the Kenyan government. Not to mention all the Somali money in Nairobi. If they press on with this - and I don't see how - it will only cost them and their economy.
There is no wall nor can they build one. These are the same guys who took four days to enter Westgate Mall. What is most crappy is the so called Somali politicians Ducale, Amina etc who are towing the same line. Somalis stink wherever they are at protecting their own group interests.
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I wonder what response our esteemed executive in Xamar will give to this. Headless chickens.
It always amazes me how Somalis keep visiting/investing in this country.
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Kenya orders UN to move massive Somali refugee camp
Nairobi has given UN three months to move the camp over the border into Somalia.
Kenya has urged the United Nations to remove a camp housing more than half a million Somali refugees within three months, as part of a response to the recent killing of 148 people by Somali gunmen at a Kenyan university.
Kenya has in the past accused fighters of hiding out in Dadaab camp which it now wants the UN refugee agency UNHCR to move across the border to inside Somalia.
"We have asked the UNHCR to relocate the refugees in three months, failure to which we shall relocate them ourselves," Deputy President William Ruto said in a statement on Saturday.
"The way America changed after 9/11 is the way Kenya will change after Garissa," he said, referring to the university that was attacked on April 2.
Al Jazeera's Mohamed Adow, reporting from Garissa in Kenya, said that Ruto warned that if the UN fails to remove the camp, the government would do so itself.
He also quoted Ruto as saying that the move was necessary to secure its border with Somalia, which Kenya has failed to do so because of the camp's impediments.
The complex of camps hosts more than 600,000 Somali refugees, according to Ruto, in a remote, dry corner in northeast Kenya, about an hour's drive from Garissa town.
'Tall order'
The camp was first established in 1991 when civil war broke out in neighbouring Somalia, and over subsequent years has received waves of refugees fleeing conflict and drought.
The United Nations puts the number of registered refugees in the chronically overcrowded settlements of permanent structures, mud shanties and tents, at around 335,000. The camp houses schools, clinics and community centres.
Macharia Munene, professor of international relations at USIU-Africa, said the logistics of moving hundreds of thousands of refugees across the border would be "a tall order".
But he said there were now safe areas within Somalia from where al Shabaab armed group had been chased out by African Union forces in recent years.
"Kenya is in an emergency situation... Each country has an obligation to look after its people first," he told Reuters.
Funerals of the students killed in the campus attack were taking place across the country. Pictures of their grieving families dominated the media, reminding Kenyans of the attack.
Border wall
Ruto said Kenya had started building a 700-km (440-mile) wall along the entire length of the border with Somalia to keep out members of al-Shabab.
"We must secure this country at whatever cost, even if we lose business with Somalia, so be it," he said.
On Tuesday, Kenya closed 13 informal money remittance firms, hawalas, to cut off funding to suspected fighters. Ruto said any business that collaborated with al-Shabab would be shut down.
Al-Shabab has killed more than 400 people on Kenyan soil in the last two years, including 67 during a siege at Nairobi's Westgate mall in 2013, damaging tourism and inward investment.
On Monday, the Kenyan air force launched air strikes against al Shabab targets in Somalia, a country where it has been militarily engaged against the armed group for several years.
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^There is no personal responsibility here involved. Walter Scott was stopped - there was police scuffle and attempt to taser. Then he got shot in the back while running away. It isn't the smartest thing to run away from police but then not everyone is smart all the time. The onus to act responsibly and intelligently is on the police officer whose job it is to ensure public safety. Not to murder people and then plant evidence.
I don't fault average citizens if they get nervous/worried when confronted by law enforcement. I get like that when crossing the US/Canada border or landing at airports. I can't imagine how I would react if a police officer pulled a gun or taser on me.
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Happens all the time - just lucky it was captured on camera. What happens to the other cops on the scene who backed up the story of the killer cop? Any consequences for the coverup?
Odd that this story makes it on to SOL and not the 148 people killed in Garissa.
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^Ok sweetheart. Whatever floats your boat.
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<cite>said:</cite>ElPunto, don't group my comment with DK's comment. That is deceitful.1. Markus' first (out of context) comment you provided here for proof of an "Attack on Somalis" is a defensive explanation of his rationale for that FB comment section's commenters, and Safferz in particular.2. Markus' second (out of context) comment you provided here for proof of an "Attack on Somalis" is Markus' unprofessional emotional comeback directed at that intended FB audience, and Safferz in particular.ElContextomy, stop quoting people out of context, especially in a mudslinging FB thread.Noobs!! Do you know the meaning of the word deceitful? Clearly not.
Nothing is out of context. The posts and responses are all there for anyone seeking further details.
1- That is no defensive explanation. If he stopped at - I haven't seen any Somali scholars then that would have been fine. When he says you don't have the capability to produce scholars - that is crossing the line.
2- You can call it unprofessional and minimize it in any way but the gist of it was another insult/attack.
Get it over it boys. Not sure why you're getting so worked up over someone else's passions.
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<cite>said:</cite>I don't see him making anything personal. On the contrary he is being very objective.When he says - 'Safferz is angry that a White Man “dared” to write about Somali history without first consulting her permission.' - he is referring to her emotional state which he cannot know and which is irrelevant to her argument if he is being 'objective'. These sorts of statements are making it personal.
No they are not. Indeed these comments are by far the most serious challenge to this ridiculous and unwarranted campaign against a man who has done absolutely nothing wrong.These statements made by Markus could not be closer to the truth. Indeed he knows a thing or two about us.The vast majority of any national group would take it as an insult when someone says you have no scholars because you are unable to do what is needed to be a scholar. And it's untrue. But if this plays up to the self-loathing you have as a Somali - then you are welcome to revel in his remarks.
I said it before and will say it again. This journal is like any other private business and therefore it is upto its owners to decide the make up of its staff.I will say it again here - it's none of your damn business if Safferz or anyone else wants to engage in a discussion or showdown with a private journal. Move it along.
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^Relax - not sure why you are making things so personal.
<cite>@Namrood said:</cite>Markus didn’t attack Somalis collectively, he defended himself against your disingenuous, and schemeful attempt to discredit him academically.Now that doesn’t mean I agree with the journal’s existence (which I find dubious). In fact, Markus isn’t that sharp and I’m astonished that you and your counterparts couldn’t intellectually karbash him and instead resort to victim-hood sensationalism.Exactly.I’m very surprised that Safferz couldn’t formulate a worthy response to this Markus character! She is an academic who studies at Harvard and I’m sure she has the resources in front of her to create a proper academic response.But no, she decided to look at the color of his skin and she tried a political witch-hunt against this man, while complaining about “White Privilege”I wonder if Safferz would have had the same response if a Nigerian foreigner decided to post some academic studies about Somalia. Would she have the same response? What if it was a Kenyan who posted this study instead?Or is this treatment only reserved for white men?These comments are crap.
1- Markus did attack Somalis as a whole when he says - "I did NOT come accross [sic] many younger Somalis who would qualify as serious SCHOLARS – not because they lack access to sources, but because they seem not to value scholarship as such." and when he says - "Fine. I will go. You and your friends can talk about a stupid white man who is colonizing you, but I think that when you are finished talking about colonialism, you will go back to your Somali tribalism."
2- The point of this campaign is not that white scholars are studying Somalia and its history. It is/was a discussion on the lack of effort at including Somali voices. This discussion was mishandled by Markus who responded in an intemperate manner. That gave life to what would have otherwise been a discussion for only a few passionate activists.
End of story.
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First Somali Federal MP soon. Whatever faults you may think he has.
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The first op-ed on Sahan is not exactly a ringing example of a scholarly attempt at debunking this journal and/or advisory board. Here is a quote:
I know without a doubt that Markus Hoehne’s mediocre understanding of Somali and offensive tribal motivated racial remarks will continue to show up in his subpar scholarship with Somalis themselves continuing to clap back at these foolish and pitiful fumbles of our history and experiences.But overall it is good to get the debate going.
EDIT: I read the response of Markus on Sahan and it was a thoughtful and serious one that showed he understood where his comments were wrong, ill-advised or plain insulting. Hopefully - this experience has a meaningful and positive impact on the makeup and inclusiveness of the SJAS advisory board.
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Great article but the one commodity cited as key to success is in short supply in Somalia at least at the political and governance level - trust. It is an odd dichotomy.
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^Rather an optimistic claim on the gas. Do the federal states have revenue sharing or will any money all go to Addis? Iley can use this opportunity to do something for the Somali region if he has foresight.
Dhagaxtuur - a poor Ethiopian farmer who has seen no benefits from the government must also be told that he can't do/say anything. That might be too much but I see what your point is. It would be interesting to get fact based metrics on this boom. Literacy rate, life expectancy, infant mortality, access to clean water etc. That would really tell us if life has actually improved for the average citizen.
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^I don't agree walaal. Ultimately - for our own sakes - Somalis have to know the intellectuals and academics we have that are qualified and able to write our own history. This canard of - no qualified Somali academics - will come back again and again unless factually disproven.
<cite>said:</cite>The quote is from a post he made on my Facebook page, which doesn't give the full context. It was actually his FIRST comment on the issue at all and happened hours before any of us took to Twitter. So it was the other way around, walaal -- he entered the very suggestion of a conversation about this journal in a defensive and condescending manner, which in turn angered many people, and rightfully so. He didn't back down either, and he is still posting on other Facebook threads (not mine though, I blocked him after he said we will go back to "qabyaalad Soomaaliyeed" when we are done criticizing him).Wow. That is pretty amazing. Talk about arrogant and foolish. How is that for engaging the very audience who you claim to study and depict dispassionately??!!
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Haha at the pic. The terminal is not that important. It is better to invest in proper trained staff who can follow proper procedure and display professionalism in handling passengers. When I was there last year - it was typical Somali chaos.
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I think it would be an interesting exercise to list a dozen or so Somali scholars that have the necessary background/education/research to act in this capacity. To actually prove this guy wrong - we do actually have to come up with specific people.
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^Quite the campaign you waged on twitter there. I think ultimately that individual got into a defensive mode and is unable or unwilling to see what you and others are getting at. Perhaps the campaign's confrontational style itself had something to do with his ill thought reaction.
For SOL members - here is the controversial thing this particular academic said:
Markus Hoehne of the Universität Leipzig, who is on the advisory board of the journal. In one section, Markus wrote that he didn’t come across “many younger Somalis who would qualify as serious scholars – not because they lack access to sources, but because they seem not to value scholarship as such.”He went on: “Sorry to say, but to become a successful political scientist, social anthropologist, sociologist or human geographer, you study many years without an economically promising end in sight. You have to work hard before you get out one piece of text and even then, you often get more criticism than praise. You certainly do not become rich quickly as a social scientist, at least if you have to pay your bills in Europe or North America. Now, where are all the ‘marginalized’ Somalis who do not get their share in academia? I guess you would have to first find all the young Somalis who are willing to sit on their butt for 8 hours a day and read and write for months to get one piece of text out.” -
^Come on. Somalis demand some dhadhac since the term Somali is used. No need to rain on the parade
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So there is a boom in building and construction funded by investment and taxes. But what about other private sector job creation? Since most Ethiopians are farmers - investing in agriculture would seem to be the obvious starting point.
As long as there are streams of Ethiopians coming into Somalia - there is something not quite right about the current boom.
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Clearly the boom doesn't seem to be playing out much beyond the capital Addis Ababa. Or maybe whatever level of boom - it won't make much of a dent given the population of 90 million.
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Ethiopian migrants in Somalia
By Hamza Mohamed
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Bossaso, Somalia - Ankles deep in brown canal water, freshly plucked green weeds in both muddy hands, Abdi Muse Kalon cannot stop grinning. He says life here has given him a second chance - a better chance.
Risking his life, Kalon walked for more than four months from Ethiopia to get to Bossaso, a port city nestled next to the Red Sea in Somalia's northeast.
Kalon is one of at least 10,000 Ethiopian migrants who have crossed over from neighbouring Ethiopia and settled on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden in the past five years, according to local authorities.
"It was not easy to get here, not everyone makes it. People die of starvation and thirst on the way here. And even wild animals can kill you. I'm very lucky," Kalon told Al Jazeera.
He first tried his luck to come to Bossaso in 2009. With wages low and jobs hard to come by back home, Kalon saved enough money and boarded a boat in search of greener pastures. Oman was his final destination, but soon he was picked up by authorities in the Arab sultanate and sent back.
Unhappy with what life in Ethiopia offered him and his family, he decided Somalia was his next destination.
A cold welcome
Kalon and thousands of his countrymen are leaving one of the fastest growing economies on the African continent for a country that until recently was considered a "failed state". This part of the Horn of Africa country has been spared the worst of the two decades-long civil war, and has had relative peace for the last 10 years.
But with seven out of 10 of Somali youth unemployed, the presence of these mainly economic migrants has caused tension. Residents want them out, by force if necessary.
The local government is leading the efforts to send the Ethiopians back. New strict laws have been put in place to curb the influx of migrants.
Any driver caught bringing in foreigners risks a fine of $300 and, or, a jail term.
Every vehicle coming into this city of more than half-a-million residents is thoroughly checked by armed soldiers. Anyone caught without valid paperwork is hauled off to an overcrowded prison before being deported back to their country of origin.
Landlords have been given firm orders not to rent their homes to the unwelcome guests, forcing Ethiopians into the harsh camps for internally displaced people on the city's outskirts.
At these camps, they are at the mercy of raids by security forces and forceful deportations.
"We cannot cope with these numbers of undocumented migrants," the town's mayor, Hassan Abdalle Hassan, told Al Jazeera.
"Many times before we sent them back, but they don't want to go back to Ethiopia. Now they come by foot because we told drivers not to bring them here."
The mayor estimated that hundreds of new arrivals reach Bossaso every week. Some board rickety boats and later head to Gulf countries, but most remain in Bossaso.
"Depending on the time of the year we see between 200 and 300 migrants every week. That is way too many for us to accommodate," Hassan said.
Working hard and thriving
But the government's loud threats are falling on deaf ears. The migrants have taken over a whole neighbourhood of the city that until recently used to be exclusively inhabited by Somalis.
Restaurants, laundry shops and taxi services run by the new arrivals have not only opened but are thriving.
Every evening the streets of this part of Bossaso are filled with mainly young men from Ethiopia - Africa's second most populous country - gathering around tea stalls. The evening ocean breeze blowing in from the sea is filled with the aroma of spicy Ethiopian food and music.
Less than a kilometre from the farm where Kalon works, a dirt road snakes through a large refugee camp.
Ahmed Abdi Muse sits in the passenger seat of a beaten-up car. He has been living in Bossaso for more than a decade and is fluent in Somali. He speaks the local dialect, making everyone second-guess his nationality. For the past five years, he has been working as a driving instructor.
"There are not that many choices for us but to stay here and do our best to provide for those close to us. Ethiopia is not an option for me, and going to Arab countries is very risky. We come here and work hard. We don't harm anyone. We are here only to support our families," Muse said.
The migrants are trying their best to be part of the wider community and have formed community organisations.
Mohamed Abadir is the chairman of the Ethiopian community in the Puntland region of Somalia - a semi-autonomous state in the northeast part of the country. A resident of Bossaso for the past 20 years, he now owns a farm outside the city and employs 10 Ethiopians.
"Relations between the Somali people and our people are good, but not perfect. We live side by side in peace," Abadir told Al Jazeera.
But life here as migrants comes with its own challenges.
"Because no one wants to rent houses to us, every Ethiopian family here is housing three other families. Housing is an issue. Apart from that we have a good understanding with our hosts," Abadir said.
Despite the migrants best attempts to be a part of the local community, locals can't wait to see them leave - for good.
"We are not happy with their presence," said Abdi Noor Galayr, a vocal anti-migrant campaigner in the city.
"They have brought many problems in terms of health. We don't know what health issues they may have. They brought criminals to this town like people smugglers. They are also putting pressure on the job market."
Galayr and those like-minded might not want the Ethiopians in their city, but Kalon said he is going nowhere.
"Somalia is not home, but for now it is home. I hope to bring my wife and children when I have saved enough money. Life is better here," Kalon said.
http://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2015/Feb/98384/the_plight_of_ethiopian_migrants_in_somalia.aspx
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Ethiopia, Long Mired in Poverty, Rides an Economic Boom
By ISMA’IL KUSHKUSH
MARCH 3, 2015
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — The bulldozers, tractors and cranes are busy day and night, paving new roads, building tall glass buildings and constructing a new light rail system to stitch together the city’s ends.
In less than five years, the city’s skyline has changed drastically. Above the dust, in a seven-story building overlooking Meskel Square, sits Abiy Gebeyehu, a real estate development manager at the Sunshine Construction Company. He is going through files and figures, looking down at the spot where Ethiopia’s former communist dictator, Mengistu Haile Mariam, once smashed to the ground three bottles of what was supposedly blood as a warning to his opponents.
“The government changed its policy,” Mr. Gebeyehu said, explaining how his company became part of Ethiopia’s economic growth. “They are engaging private business.”
Once the epitome of poverty and hunger, Ethiopia is changing. Three decades after a famine that prompted America’s top singers to respond with “We Are the World,” Ethiopia has had an average economic growth rate of 10 percent for over a decade and has met or is coming close to meeting several important Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations, according to the World Bank.
Some economists have called Ethiopia an “African lion,” mimicking the success stories of Asia’s economic tigers, and the government here has an ambitious plan to make Ethiopia a middle-income country by 2025.
It sometimes seems that everything here in the capital is under construction. Head out on one road in the morning and you might find it blocked off for a development project by evening. The thumping of jackhammers, the sight of men in orange vests, and the comments of Ethiopians who are at once infuriated by the inconvenience and impressed with their country’s transformation are constant.
But critics of Ethiopia’s economic growth story point to human rights abuses (some carried out in the name of economic development) and the lack of genuine democracy, and they question the sustainability of the nation’s economic path.
“When a society is not free, development is not as sustainable,” said Obang Metho, executive director of the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia, an advocacy group. “It is not investment in building the human capacity of the people, but only in infrastructure and opportunities that mostly benefit the narrow interests of regime cronies.”
By no means has Addis Ababa eliminated the problems found in many developing capitals. Tin houses in shanty neighborhoods can still be seen around town, electricity cuts are common, the Internet is frustratingly slow and telecommunications are largely not reliable.
“The overall performance,” however, said Guang Z. Chen, the World Bank’s country director here, “remains impressive.”
There are many reasons for the boom, but analysts attribute part of the growth to the idea of “the developmental state,” championed by former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in his writings, as the framework in which the current economy functions.
Continue reading the main story
“The idea is a state with a sense of mission,” said Dereje Feyissa Dori, Africa research director at the International Law and Policy Institute, who is based in Addis Ababa. “It is building capitalism from above.”
Following the examples of countries like South Korea and China, he said, the government is heavily involved in the economy, directing the private sector. It has expanded in the areas of services, public investment, infrastructure, education and health by borrowing heavily from state-owned banks and effectively managing foreign development aid from the United States, Britain and other parts of Europe.
An economy that once depended on coffee as a main source of income now sees its national carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, as the main generator of foreign exchange. The country is also constructing Africa’s largest hydropower plant, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Ethiopian officials proudly claim will be built with the nation’s own financial might, not foreign assistance.
“Our struggle is to fight poverty,” said Haji Gendo, a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. “We are targeting specific sectors.”
Remittances from the large Ethiopian diaspora and private investment from countries like China, India, Turkey, Sweden and Britain — attracted to the country’s low-cost labor market and proximity to Europe — have also contributed to the growing economy, especially in the textile and leather industries.
In an industrial zone on the outskirts of the capital, one of many throughout the country, Pittards, a British leather company, is manufacturing and exporting “Made in Ethiopia” gloves that include work gloves sold at Costco retailers in the United States and fashion gloves worn in Paris and Tokyo.
“Ethiopia was a natural choice,” said Reg Hankey, Pittards’s chief executive, citing the availability of raw materials, labor and proximity to global markets.
Back in the lobby of Sunshine Construction, where a banner displays the company’s slogan, “Seeing Is Believing,” models of apartment complexes, villas, and new buildings and photographs of road construction adorn the place. Many of these buildings house government offices or are bought by Ethiopians returning from abroad.
But the development projects that are part of a government master plan to expand the capital into areas outside the city have bred anger and clashes, as well.
Last year, protests led to the deaths of at least nine students. And in other parts of the country, the displacement and relocations of populations for dam and big agriculture projects have also stirred discontent.
“While Ethiopia needs development, the government’s approach to development leaves no room for dissent or opposition to government policies,” said Felix Horne, a researcher for Human Rights Watch. “Throughout the country, citizens are routinely displaced for development projects, and there is little consultation or compensation given for the loss of their lands.”
The World Bank itself has come under fire for aiding the government despite such abuses. In the Gambella region, residents complained that they were forced off their ancestral lands by the government under the pretext of improving basic services.
But in a sleight of hand, residents said, they were moved to places with infertile ground, no schools and no clinics, while their own lands were leased off to investors.
“We draw important lessons from this case to better anticipate ways to protect the poor,” the president of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, said in a statement late last month.
Ethiopia’s economic growth comes as its strategic, geopolitical role remains critical.
An ally in the American fight against radical Islam in the region, Ethiopia hosts an American military base; is an island of relative stability in a tough neighborhood that includes Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia; and has largely been spared the type of terrorist attacks that have struck Kenya. The country has been able to turn its relative stability into diplomatic capital, hosting international peace talks for neighboring countries.
“We no longer have war,” said a cabdriver as he zigzagged his blue Soviet-made Lada through a traffic jam, explaining the roots of the economic boom as he passed a construction site.
Still, critics say the government is dominated by members of the Tigre ethnic group, does not tolerate dissent and manages a surveillance program to keep dissidents in check.
Elections are scheduled for this year, and Parliament is dominated by the governing Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front. Only one seat belongs to a member of the opposition.
“We have elections every five years, it is a multiparty state, but the practice is authoritarian,” Mr. Dori said. “And the opposition is in shackles.”
Last year, six bloggers and three journalists critical of government policies were arrested and charged with terrorism and connections to an outlawed United States-based opposition group that the government said was plotting attacks to overthrow it.
“I am not happy about the human rights situation in Ethiopia today,” said a lawyer for the bloggers, Ameha Mekonnen. “It is not uncommon to hear from detainees that torture is undergoing in many detentions centers.”
Some economists question how long Ethiopia’s model of state-driven capitalism can be sustained.
“This kind of economic model has worked very well for Ethiopia,” said Mr. Chen of the World Bank. “The question is, can you continue this model unchanged over the next 10 years? Our argument is no.”
Beyond that, many here debate whether development and democracy are necessarily interlinked.
“If people are hungry, they will not think of democracy or anything; they need bread,” said Mr. Gendo, the ministry spokesman.
Mr. Mekonnen, the lawyer, thought differently.
“If there is confidence between the government and the people, that would be better for development,” he said. “I don’t think there is that kind of trust, I am afraid.”
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Kenyan government begins construction of security wall along Somalia border. Somalis claim the wall is inside Somali territory.
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I don't know where DK gets the 97% Somali people stat in that region. Garissa university college is a mostly Christian institution as attested to by numerous new articles. The police are mostly non-Somali as are most of the teachers and other professionals. Remember the quarry workers killed in Mandera sometime ago - they were all Kenyans from other regions? Apparently Mandera is so rich - the Somalis there need not debase themselves by working in a quarry - is the place Kuwait or something? IF you have abandoned all the key middle class jobs to Kenyans from other regions - what does your majority in the region get you anyway?
The NFD Somalis are still asleep at the switch. They get a few high profile MPs and they think they actually matter. Time to actually build NFD, educate your kids and have them come back to the region and work there.