Ethiopian Unity Diaspora Forum

(ADDIS ABABA) – African countries are marking the 50th anniversary of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) with was replaced by the African Union (AU) in 2002.

Leaders from different of African countries and others have arrived in Addis Ababa, on Friday to attend the anniversary of the continental bloc.

At the AU summit, African leaders will celebrate past achievements and will discuss how to bringing socio-economic and political transformation over the next half century.

Since the death of Prime Minister Meles, the political situation of Ethiopia has entered a phase of uncertainty with no clear momentum toward stabilization. Despite predictions of the imminent collapse of the EPRDF, either under the pressure of a popular uprising or splits within its ranks, the political situation shows no sign of heightened challenge to the regime. In fact, it remains a mystery that no political upheavals of any importance occurred following the death of Meles, who was after all the center and the driving force of the whole system. On the other hand, however, notwithstanding an orderly succession, the uncertainty has not been removed and symptoms of unresolved internal conflicts transpire occasionally. Above all, the extent to which the new prime minister is really in charge being anything but assured, the vacillation of the system lingers, given that the entire government was designed to function under the leadership of a strong and unchallenged prime minister.

(KHARTOUM) – Renowned Eritrean activist Meron Estefanos has told an international conference in Oslo that of all the atrocities taking place in the repressive Red Sea nation, the plight of its youth is the most harrowing.

In an eloquent and quietly emotive speech at the fifth annual Oslo Freedom Forum in the Norwegian capital earlier this week, Estefanos said the aspirations of an entire generation following the country’s 1991 liberation had been squashed by the dictatorial Asmara regime.

I suggest we take fresh look at the current political situation in Ethiopia. Statesmanship after all is the art of making the impossible dream of political freedom and economic development possible.

I argued repeatedly that the Ethiopian opposition leaders both in the Diaspora and back at home within Ethiopia must look at the changed circumstance with a fresh mind and not just look at this changed situation as a simple empirical extension of the Meles era.

(JUBA) – South Sudanese president Salva Kiir Mayardit says he will no longer tolerate members of his cabinet accusing the government they serve in of corruption, arbitrary arrest and human rights issues.

Those caught doing so will be dealt with accordingly, Kiir said, during a speech at an official function marking the completion and opening of a new building belonging to the ministry of parliamentary affairs on Tuesday.

“We are a new country. This is why the whole world has turned to us and [is] watching closely to see what we are doing. It is not because what is happening in this country is not happening in other countries. It is because we are [a] new nation and people want to know how we are governing ourselves. They want to know how we are managing our wealth, our resources”, Kiir told the audience, which predominantly consisted of members of his cabinet, ministers and senior civil servants