A five-star hotel being built on Jijiga's main road in Somali Region. Credit: William Lloyd-George/IPS

By William Lloyd-George
JIJIGA, Ethiopia, Apr 3 2013 (IPS)

For over two decades Somali Region, in eastern Ethiopia, has been devastated by a grueling insurgency. Trapped in a time warp, it has been forgotten and underdeveloped. But in the last few years, thanks to the increased security here, a five-star hotel, eco-tourism ventures and even a large abattoir are being built by the former diaspora community.

This comes after the regional government encouraged people to return and support development in this Horn of Africa nation through global campaigns conducted in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom.

“For years, I just thought it was too dangerous to return,” Zara Wale Abas, who had settled in Denmark, told IPS. “When the region’s vice president came and showed us the development going on, I was really surprised and wanted to return and check it out for myself.”

For many who remember Jijiga as a forgotten, war-torn region, photos of new hospitals, roads, schools and bridges – though still very few in number – have inspired many to take what they felt to be a brave step: to return home to see the development for themselves. In the last two years, over 300 people have returned, part- and full-time, to work on various projects.

In 2011, Abas came to Jijiga and ended up building an eco-tourist hotel, which she hopes will attract the diaspora and tourists. “It might still be just a few people who have returned but considering the insecurity the region endured for so long, this is a huge step for our people.”

According to Axmed Maxamad Shugri, head of the government’s Regional Diaspora Office, which assists those returning, the main reason for so many staying away from the region for so long is the misinformation spread by the Ogaden National Liberation Front or ONLF.

“The ONLF tell the diaspora that Somali Region is a war zone,” he told IPS. “For years no one even thought about coming back, so it really is significant that people are starting to. It is just the beginning and we need everyone to come back to help the region develop.”

“For a while I did not think I could even come here myself, but ... I discovered there was a chance to do something and I have been very encouraged by our progress so far,” surgeon Dr. Mahad Musse, who grew up and studied in Finland.
The ONLF is largely made up of Ogaden people, a Somali clan that has fought for an independent state here since the 1991 fall from power of Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. The ONLF is now in peace talks with the Ethiopian government. But after it took up arms, what followed was nearly two decades of a bloody insurgency, with civilians often being targeted by both sides.

As a result, various aid agencies were restricted from working in the region, where the residents endured several devastating droughts. Many of the five million people who inhabit the region live simple pastoralist lives, and the lack of peace and water severely disrupted their fragile existence.

But a regional police force or state militia, the Liyu Police, which is made up of soldiers from the local communities, has managed to severely decrease the ONLF’s strength in recent years, according to the regional government. In the face of criticism by activists for human rights abuses, Liyu leaders told IPS they are making efforts to reform the force.

Ahmed Haybe Mohamoud, a businessman who lived in Frankfurt, Germany for the last 30 years and moved back recently, told IPS: “For years the insurgency was too strong (for me) to even consider coming back and living in peace. But now the major cities are protected and I feel it is the right time to invest in the region and help my people.”

Mohamoud has pooled together investment from his extended family, who have sought asylum across the world, and is building Jijiga’s first five-star hotel.

The same sentiment was shared by another recently-returned investor, Jamal Arab. He and his family sought asylum in the state of Minnesota in the United States, where he worked in a manufacturing company until recently.

In Fafan, a village 30 kilometres away from Jijiga, Arab and four other investors are building a huge abattoir.

“This will bring a decent income to many people in the region,” Arab told IPS. “As well as increasing the amount of meat being bought and exported from the region, we will also be hiring a huge number of staff.”

Arab added that nothing would have been possible without the new road which runs through the village, connecting it with Jijiga and major cities close to Ethiopia’s capital.

Through the centre of Jijiga runs a wide modern highway, fitted with tall efficient streetlights. Building projects are dotted all the way along it, through the length of the city. Shopping centres, five-star hotels, and new restaurants are being planned, with construction having started on many.

The city now has a new hospital and a university, and regional government officials say it is a new beginning for the region.

“Now you can see we are booming, the region is safe, it is time for everyone to come back, invest in their home, and help their people,” Abdullahi Yusuf Werar, the region’s vice president, told IPS.

It’s not only investors who are moving back. A number of people have returned to begin setting up NGOs, or to bring other skills to the region, which they acquired abroad.

Dr. Mahad Musse, who grew up and studied surgery in Finland, has come back to set up a surgery clinic in Jijiga.

“This, and one other hospital in Addis, will be the only two places offering this quality of surgery,” Musse told IPS. “For a while I did not think I could even come here myself, but after speaking to many people who had recently come back, I discovered there was a chance to do something and I have been very encouraged by our progress so far.”

The region, however, remains impoverished. Drought is expected again this year, which would have lasting effects for people in the region. While most of the recent developments might benefit those in the cities, the vast majority of the five million people who populate the region still live far from water sources, and have no electricity.

The rebels may have been pushed out of the cities and now operate in smaller numbers, but they remain present throughout the region. The momentum of development will depend on the dedication of the regional government, the skills of the diaspora, and the willingness of the ONLF and the Ethiopian government to find peace before the region can really develop in a way that will benefit all.

One local professor, who did not wish to be named, told IPS: “There is still a long way to go, but just to have the diaspora coming back is a huge boost for the region’s residents who have long felt forgotten.”

M23 rebels near Sake, Eastern DR Congo. The rebel group withdrew from Goma on Saturday, Dec. 1. Credit: William Lloyd-George/IPS

By William Lloyd-George
GOMA, DR Congo, Dec 1 2012 (IPS)

Lined up along a dirt path that meanders its way up into the lush war-torn mountains surrounding the small town of Sake, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, hundreds of young rebel soldiers sat on the road banks in the baking sun.

As villagers causally walked past, the battle-hardened rebels clutched their weapons. Some held machine-guns, others grenade launchers, a few even had spears, symbolic of their warrior like reputation. Their tired faces and faded fatigues served as evidence of the gruelling seven-month insurgency they had waged against the Congolese government since April this year.

The sound of car engines in the distant brought all the men abruptly to their feet. A four-car convoy zoomed past, each vehicle packed with heavily armed rebels. General Mekenga, the leader of M23, stood out. “We are going to withdraw within the next 48 hours,” he announced. “We will leave Goma at 10am on Saturday.” Goma, 25 kilometres away, is the second-largest city in the DRC, and since Nov. 20 has been held by the rebels.

Despite the rebel leader’s assurances of a swift departure, which was agreed with regional leaders in Kampala, Uganda, many are concerned the withdrawal will not go as smoothly as hoped. 

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC, MONUSCO, has a store at the airport full of weapons and ammunition left by the FARDC, the acronym for the Congolese army, which the U.N. agency plans to return to them. This has infuriated the M23 leadership, who want to take the arsenal with them.

Government police arrive on a boat at the Goma port in eastern DRC as U.N. peacekeepers watch on. Credit: William Lloyd-George/IPS

However just before 11am on Saturday Dec. 1, trucks packed with M23 rebels drove out of Goma.

Military hardware has been seen being transported to their headquarters in Runshura north of Goma. Five trucks packed with countless weapons were parked outside one of the M23 headquarters in Goma, the former FARDC headquarters. On Friday, hundreds of government police were allowed to arrive at the city’s port and enter to the city to provide security during the handover period.

The withdrawal marked the end of over a weeklong occupancy of Goma. The M23, named after a peace agreement in Mar. 23, 2009 between leaders of a former rebel group, the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), started their recent insurgency in April this year. The rebel leaders said the government did not stick to the agreements made and claim to fight against the corruption and bad governance of the Congolese government.

The M23’s claims have been met with scepticism by many. Residents of Goma told IPS that they believed the main driving force behind the recent rebellion was Rwanda. The same allegations have been made by the U.N., which said that the government in Kigali is supporting them financially, logistically and with weapons. There have been unconfirmed sightings of Rwanda Defence Forces assisting M23 units on the ground. Rwanda has long desired the resource-rich state of Kivu, which is home to countless gold and coltan mines.

Another theory is that Kigali increased attempts to arrest ICC indited CNDP leader Bosco “Terminator” Ntaganda which led him to desert the Congolese army. While M23 leaders have vehemently denied any involvement with Ntaganda, it is believed that he was the catalyst for the desertion of leaders from the CNDP, and for the M23 subsequently being formed.

Since the M23 took power in Goma, many residents reported feeling an increase in security around town. “Although it was a war zone in the beginning, it definitely felt safer than before M23 began to rule,” Robert Minuni, 32, a local engineer, told IPS. “No one knows what the M23 would have started to do, but just for a few days there was no kidnapping, no looting, no killings.”

Before the M23 took over the city, the rebels and the FARDC were playing dirty tricks, impersonating the other to ruin the other’s public image. A bomb in a market; a grenade thrown into hairdresser; and the kidnapping of a famous musician were a few of the horrors inflicted on the city while the two sides vied for public support, or, to simply discredit the other.

As a result many are fearful of the M23’s departure. Standing on a mountain in Karuba near the frontline, a group of villagers told IPS they did not want M23 to leave.

“I am not sure which group is better but I can say one thing, for the first time in a long time nothing has been stolen from us,” said Nelson, who goes by one name. “We really do not want the M23 to leave.”

All the villagers gathered around nodded their heads in agreement. “We do not want the FARDC here, they only cause problems and rob from the people,” said another villager wishing to remain anonymous.

Not everyone, though, is so supportive of the M23 including soldiers currently in their ranks. Speaking to IPS in Goma, one young soldier who had been working for M23 for a  couple of months said he was not sure they would do much better. “All armed groups are the same in Congo,” he said. “It is just for money; which ever side wins I’ll join, most the groups are like this.”

Local human rights groups have accused the M23 of executions, rapes and harassment for anyone seen to be an enemy of the group. The possibility of a power vacuum has further increased fears. And for the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons who have been forced out of their homes by the conflict and forced to languish in terrible conditions the M23 are seen as a root of the problems, not a solution.

“We do not want the rebels, they only cause more problems and grief for us,” said one young man who shared a tiny straw shelter with five children and his wife. “Like everyone here, we just want peace.”

Lukmanu Whumbi, a farmer in Northern Ghana, points to fields of rice grown using the right inputs and techniques. A concern repeatedly voiced by AU parliamentarians is the issue of the continent’s over-dependence on food aid and imports.Credit: Isaiah Esipisu/IPS

By William Lloyd-George
JOHANNESBURG, Nov 30 2012 (IPS)

For decades food security and self-sufficiency in Africa have been seen as a distant dream. The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, however, hopes to make it a reality, and while it may have begun with a slow start, its coordinators are confident it will produce more positive results in the coming years.

The programme is implemented through the African Union’s (AU) Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture (DREA), which was set up to improve food security, achieve sustainable development and improve livelihoods on the continent.

While nearly 80 percent of people in Africa live in rural areas and depend on farming for their food and income, a concern repeatedly voiced by AU parliamentarians is the issue of the continent’s over-dependence on food aid and imports.

Egyptian MP Moussa Hozen Elsayed said his country imported 70 percent of their food products and voiced his concern about the lack of regional cooperation between African countries regarding food trade.

“By importing so much food we are really decreasing the region’s food security,” Elsayed told IPS, explaining that he hoped CAADP would be strengthened in the coming years to solve the problem.

“We really need to make sure that countries in the region are looking for products from each other before importing from outside the continent.”

Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture’s director Dr. Abebe Haile Gabriel told IPS that this was one of CAADP’s main goals.

“We want to improve food security by increasing regional cooperation – there is no need to import food products from Europe or Latin America when your next door neighbour has products which need buying,” he said.

Although the first African country only signed the CAADP Compact in 2009, the programme has advanced greatly in the last three years. Now 30 AU member states have signed the compacts, which require them to devote at least 10 percent of their budgets to agriculture.

Under the programme, countries draw up comprehensive investment plans that include the four CAADP pillars: sustainable land and water management; improved market access and integration; increased food supplies and reduced hunger; and research, technology generation and dissemination.

One of the key beliefs behind CAADP’s framework is that regional integration and trade between countries will improve food security. As a result, substantial efforts have been made to improve regional infrastructure for trade and more are expected in coming years.

During a meeting that ended on Nov. 21 in Johannesburg, Gabriel had told AU parliamentarians that over 45 billion dollars were spent by African countries importing food, which drains much of the continent’s foreign currency. He argued that this showed that Africa had not taken advantage of its comparative advantage, which is food production.

“We are working towards making sure inter-African trade is really boosted, and therefore Africa takes advantage of the growing demand by increasing African production and productivity to meet it,” said Gabriel.

Some countries have responded better than others to CAADP’s proposed framework. Rwanda, Ethiopia and Mozambique have been heralded for their progress and efforts to alleviate hunger and food insecurity.

Mozambique, although it only became an active CAADP member in 2011, has begun a system of distributing part of its budget to every district for agriculturally-led development.

“It is important to underline that CAADP was launched in Maputo, Mozambique in 2003, so it is in the spirit of all Mozambicans,” Franciso Ussene Mucanheia, director of the Rural and Agriculture Committee in Mozambique, told IPS.

“All the pillars and visions of CAADP are key to the policies the Mozambican government has put in place to capitalise agricultural developments and we are already starting to see the benefits.”

It appears other member states are increasingly taking CAADP seriously. Twenty-three countries have developed detailed national agriculture and food security investment plans and 11 of these countries have received additional funds from the Global Food and Agriculture Security Program created to support food security programmes in line with CAADP.

Seven of the member states are also “first wave” countries under the Grow Africa initiative, which is designed to bring international private sector investment to their agricultural supply chain.

In collaboration with the World Economic Forum, the idea is to encourage governments to partner with businesses with support from international organisations to invest in their own country, and their own agricultural system. So far over 30 billion dollars has been raised, which has allowed for financial models for specific value chains.

While many African countries have a lot to catch up with in order to be in line with CAADP’s goals, it is clear that many of the member states are waking up to the importance of the programme. It might already have been 10 years next year since CAADP was initiated but it appears the story might have just begun.

“For us the dividends of aligning national policies and strategies along the principles of CAADP are yet to come,” said Gabriel. “We are very much looking forward to seeing more pronounced development in the future as the investments which are just starting now begin to yield results.”

Many were hoping that recent peace talks between the Ethiopian government and Ogaden rebels would signal an end to the gruelling 18-year-old conflict. The latest round of talks, however, dashed all dreams of peace between the two sides.

Things have taken a turn for the worse. Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) founder and foreign secretary Abdirahman Mahdi told IPS that he currently cannot see a way for the talks to continue.

Ogaden is a territory in the southeast of the Somali Region in Ethiopia. And ONLF intellectuals have fought for an independent state there since the 1991 fall from power of Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam.

However, peace talks between the ONLF and the Ethiopian government abruptly ended in a stalemate during the Oct. 15 to 17 discussions. Addis Ababa’s negotiating team asked the ONLF to accept Ethiopia’s constitution before the talks could continue. The ONLF refused, arguing that this was a breach of modalities agreed to in the first talks. As usual, each side blames the other. 

“We need to begin by creating a dialogue – it is as if they had made a premeditated decision to abort the talks,” Mahdi said. “There is no use beginning by demanding we agree to the constitution; this has always been our major point of contention.”

While talks have been going on since March, the first official round took place from Sept. 6 to 7. It was also the first high-level negotiation involving Ethiopia’s Defence Minister Siraj Fegessa and Mahdi. It was mediated by Kenyan Defence Minister Yusef Huji.

After the talks optimism was seemingly high on both sides. Government spokesman Dina Mufti said: “It is a positive first step.”

And Mahdi said: “This could be the beginning of a useful process.”

But since then Mahdi has told Ethiopia’s negotiating team that the constitution should be chosen by the people and should not depend on one political party.

“Governments cannot just force the people to accept a constitution, they must hold a referendum,” he said.

It was the constitution that set off the conflict between the ONLF and the present government in 1994. While the ONLF had joined forces with many of the Ethiopian government’s current leaders to defeat Mariam, things quickly turned sour.

Finally seeing an opportunity for self-determination, the ONLF called for a referendum to be held for succession. The Ethiopian government refused. Once again the ONFL took up arms.

The ONLF claims to fight for self-determination for the people who occupy what is now called Somali Region due to its large population of ethnic Somalis. It is one of nine ethnically-based administrative regions in the country and has long suffered from poor development and the ONLF alleges that the government has committed countless human rights abuses there.

“At the moment we are being marginalised, denied our basic rights. They are insulting our people by forcing an administration on us, which we did not elect. A lot of things are happening, our people are being killed, there is no press freedom, a humanitarian embargo is in place,” said Mahdi.

The talks between the ONLF and the government were initiated by the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi (1995-2012), who was keen to find an end to the conflict, and approached former South African President Thabo Mbeki (1999-2008) before starting the peace talks.

Analysts say the main reasons for the recent breakdown of the talks include a lack of clear leadership, and divisions over what to do.

According to Ethiopian political analyst Jawar Mohammed, the Ethiopian government is divided over how they wish to deal with the ONLF. One group wants to wipe them out with military force, while another group, which is more exposed to the international community, is keen to find a peaceful solution.

But while analysts are pointing fingers at divisions in the ruling political coaltition, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, the Ethiopian government appears to be blaming the failure of the talks on divisions in the ONLF.

“The peace talks failed after the ONLF group refused to accept and respect the constitution of Ethiopia and work within the constitutional framework,” read a government statement.

Mahdi dismissed these accusations. “This is just baseless propaganda; the main problem is they cannot come to a united decision on how to proceed with the talks,” said Mahdi.

Officials say the Kenyan government is frustrated with the latest developments. Holding the talks outside of Ethiopia, in Nairobi, was heralded as a big step forward. The Kenyan government has its own vested interests in the success of the talks.

“Al-Shabaab (al-Qaeda’s Somalia-based terrorist cell) has constantly been a concern for Kenya’s security; (the Kenyan government) will be keen to sever the ONLF’s links with al-Shabaab,” Abel Abate, a researcher at a state-funded think-tank, the Ethiopian International Institute for Peace and Development, told IPS.

Ogaden expert Tobias Hagmann, an associate professor at Roskilde University in Denmark, told IPS that despite Kenya’s desire to find a solution, the country has little leverage over Ethiopia, which could explain the recent breakdown. “It is like a little brother trying to influence the big brother,” he said.

Analysts are divided over whether the talks will resume. Abate believes that the ONLF is desperate to find a solution and will end up accepting the constitution. He argues that the group has been severely weakened militarily in recent years and has lost international support and funding.

But Mahdi dismissed these claims, arguing that “the ONLF is the strongest it has ever been.”

Emilio Manfredi, Ethiopia analyst at the International Crisis Group, said there is little chance of the talks achieving anything.

“Interests are too divided and the Ethiopian government is yet to really know who is in charge,” he told IPS. “At the same time the ONLF needs to work out how close it can get to accepting the 1994 constitution without losing all legitimacy.”

With the talks looking to be a complete failure, many are concerned about increased fighting and human rights abuses in the region.

“We may see a surge of violence as the ONLF needs to remain politically relevant in the eyes of Ethiopia and the international community. In response, the Ethiopian government is also expected to launch a major military offensive,” another expert on Ogaden, associate professor Kjetil Tronvoll at the University of Oslo, told IPS.

An international humanitarian aid worker operating in the region told IPS on condition of anonymity that ultimately the losers in the failed negations would be the local people.

“As usual it is the local populations who will suffer. Both armed groups are likely to increase human rights abuses, and the government will continue to prevent aid from reaching the region.”