Michael's Blog

Michael Chebud ADDIS ABABA, Dec 13 (IPS) - Tola Melka was planning to throw a traditional party at his shanty home in rural central Ethiopia, anticipating bumper harvest. He was grief-stricken in late October when unexpected rains totally destroyed his almost ripened teff, a native staple crop used to make spongy bread. "I expected the harvest this year would be different," said Melka, frustration evident on his face. "I wonder what I'll be feeding my children in the months to come." Last year, Melka and his wife, Shashe Dima -- then pregnant with their sixth child -- endured overwhelming hunger due to lack of rain. This year too much rain -- three consecutive weeks fell at precisely the wrong time -- could make it even worse. "Nature seems to be at odds with us," says Dima, seated on a hide, breast-feeding her last-born. Melka is just one of the many farmers whose tiny plots of will fail to sustain them through the year.  Some farmers wil...

Michael Chebud ADDIS ABABA, Nov 20 2008 (IPS)  - She fought alongside men in the Ethiopian liberation struggle. She fought for a free and fair society. But today, Yewubmar Asfaw feels that Ethiopia's revolution has failed to deliver a fair share of political power to women. Asfaw is determined that her new political party will not repeat previous mistakes. Credit: Michael Chebsi/IPS In her book, published this year in Amharic, Asfaw, 52, describes how the liberation groups marginalised women fighters during the struggle and after the fall of the military regime in 1991. A third of the fighters were women. Yet few of them rose to top positions in the ruling party, the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which pools the four rebel groups. Among the 547 members of Parliament, only 116 are women, or 22 per cent – although in 2005 the EPRDF said it would reserve 30 per cent of its lists for women. The Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), to wh...

Michael Chebud ADDIS ABABA, Oct 29 2008 (IPS)  - Frozen in disbelief on the steps of the courthouse where she presided as a federal judge, Birtukan Mideksa watched as a man she had just ordered released on bail was detained by plain-clothes police with no warrant and no apparent regard for the law. Mideksa -- "The values that guide me are truth and fairness" Credit: Michael Chebsi/IPS That was in 2001. She next saw that man when she became a fellow inmate at Kaliti Federal Prison in 2004, charged with crimes serious enough to have her imprisoned for life: treason, outrage against the constitution, inciting, organising or leading armed rebellion, obstruction of the exercise of constitutional powers, impairing the defensive power of the state and attempted genocide. She claims her only true transgression was dissent. “I couldn’t stand the lack of human dignity,” said Mideksa, seated behind her desk at her poorly furnished office in central Addis Ababa. Mideks...

Federal Authorities are disappointed with the hype surrounding the current drought that has hit parts of Oromia, Somali and the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State. They are locked in an argument with the international media, claiming that the latter have exaggerated the number of children acutely malnourished due to the drought.  Michael Chebud, Fortune Staff Writer,  sat down with Country Representative of the UNICEF, Bjorn Ljungqvist, to hear his views on the situation. Fortune: Following the failure of the  Belg  rains in Ethiopia, some parts of the country have been affected by drought. Authorities claim that the current situation is not a ‘famine’. What are your views on this? Bjorn Ljungqvist: They are absolutely right that it is not a famine, judging from what has happened up to now. But at the same time, there is an elevated level of food insecurity because of the drought in the Southern part, and at least partial failure of t...

Michael Chebud (Addis Fortune) — The coronation of the new Mayor, Kuma Demeksa, 50, as Addis Ababa’s 35th mayor will be the main political event this week. A father of seven, a person rather known for his composure, Kuma will be taking over the reins of a city with so many woes. Michael Chebud, Fortune Staff Writer, has researched on the background of the man who will be stepping into the mayoral boots, replacing Berhane Deressa. This week will certainly be a busy one for Addis Ababa; senior officials of the Caretaker Administration, as well as their lieutenants at district and kebele levels, will relinquish their offices leaving behind the cumbersome responsibility of meeting the abundant needs of residents of the capital in the hands of a new administration, which will be led by Kuma Demeksa. Kuma will be at the helm of political power in the diplomatic and political capital of Africa, where Revolutionary Democrats have promised to throw the whole weight of their party machin...