Family Seeks Answers in Police Shooting of Young Ethiopian Man in Los Angeles

by DAMOLA DUROSOMO, okayafrica

Last Wednesday, 28-year-old Ethiopian engineer, Zelalem Eshetu Ewnetu was shot and killed by police in Los Angeles, California.

The details of his death are conveniently murky. According to the LAPD, officers were responding to a burglary when they found Ewnetu sitting in his car. Officers approached him after smelling marijuana coming from his vehicle. He reportedly refused to exit his car when asked. Authorities say that when they tried to remove him from the car, Ewnetu brandished a gun and aimed it at the officers.

The deputies then fired at Ewentu, shooting him in the torso and killing him on-site.

A statement from the victim’s family, says that the initial account of the incident varied from what’s been reported by authorities. Following the shooting, the detective on the case, mentioned that they gun was found in the back seat, says the press statement. A photo of the vehicle, published in the LA Times, shows what appears to be two bullet holes in the back windshield.

Cases like this are, sadly, all too familiar and the varying accounts of what took place, certainly raise suspicion. Ewentu’s family is currently seeking answer and have started a Gofundme to help with funeral and attorney costs.

Ewnetu came to the United States eight years ago on a scholarship to the University of Idaho, and worked as an engineer for the California Public Utilities Commission.

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By Tesfaye Getnet – April 24, 2017, Capital Ethiopia
Five bars and lounges near Bole area were closed for selling Shisha at night under the auspices of violating trade regulations. Jubilee in Haya Hulet, DC Lounge, Sunses, VIP and Robio were allegedly using illegal receipts to bill people for smoking Shisha.
According to the Bole Wereda 3 Trade Office, they were caught by one of their officers and warned to stop but to no avail. Customers were being charged between 300 to 500 birr for smoking the flavored tobacco.
According to trade regulations selling Shisha in shops or renting houses to smoke it, is strictly forbidden.
Tamrate Kindae head of Wereda 3 Trade Office told Capital that people ranging from teenagers to professors were smoking Shisha in the businesses.
“It is a sad story because bars and restaurants received the licenses to sell food and beverages but in the small rooms they let people smoke Shisha which we do not want occurring anywhere.”
“We care about our generation, if we do not oppose this kind of behavior, bars will do the same thing and harm people’s health. As a result, we will close these bars for one month and allow them to reopen if they pay a fine but if they repeat the action they will lose their license,” he said.
He added that 20 bars and 35 residential houses were also cited for the same type of violations in the past three months and over 1,000 Shisha pipes were also confiscated.
The bars were closed after the residents complained that one high end club had become a nuisance and a security threat to their neighborhood.
“The residents told us that their once quiet neighborhood has been turned into a double parking lot, and commercial sex workers now share their driveway. We have a duty to close the bars and the businesses when illegal activity disrupts people’s lives.”
“Businesses must be responsible, selling Shisha may be an easy way to earn money but it kills the work ethic of the people and causes the younger generation to become addicted which makes them unproductive,” he addedg

Capital Ethiopia

Ethio-American Hospital takes its next step

A ground breaking ceremony was held for the Ethio-American Hospital’s first phase of the Medical City Center which is expected to begin operating by December 2019. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn attended the event and laid a corner stone to establish the hospital which is developed by the Ethio-American Doctors Medical City Plc.
“Our doors remain open for consultations and discussion with Ethio – American Doctors groups who brought this grand idea of building a state of the art medical center. We need a hospital we can refer patients to that need high quality treatment. This center will save the outflow of about 120 million USD a year that Ethiopians spend for medical care abroad,” said the Prime Minister during the ceremony.
The Medical City Center is said to include a hospital that will have 300 beds with a full diagnostic center, eight operating rooms, two labs, an outpatient medical office building with 80 consultation rooms, and a cancer treatment center.
It was further noted that Ethio-American Hospital will provide a full complement of services with a clinical focus on Cardiovascular, Neurological and Oncology services with a full range of invasive procedures that will be a first for the entire region.
“This was an idea that was conceived by 12 doctors, and now that number has risen much more; we now have members from Europe as well as Africa. The main objective of this project is to create a health center that averts people from wandering abroad searching for a better treatment,” said Board Chairman of Ethio- American Doctors Group, Inc. Dr. Girma Tefera.
The project secured 150,000 square meter of land in Ayat, from the Addis Ababa City government based on a preferred lease basis on April 15, 2016, almost exactly a year ago. During the past year, it was pointed out that international and local architectural and engineering firms were engaged, partnerships were established and the necessary effort to secure financial commitments was obtained to finally arrive at the start construction.
It was also stated that the hospital will have permanent staff of specialized and internationally accredited physicians recruited from Ethio-American Doctors Group, Inc. members, the healthcare community within Ethiopia and others internationally to provide internationally accepted quality of health care. It is expected to create 2,000 jobs when it is fully operationalg

A new Chocolate factory is expected to launch operations by November later this year in a facility constructed at Tatek Special Industrial Zone in West Shewa, Oromia Regional State.

The chocolate factory is owned by Haredo LLC, which was a small data processing and preparation company based in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. After incorporating new Investors from Europe, the US and Ethiopia the company has now decided to produce chocolate in partnership with local investor Sunshine Investment Group, the leading investor in the factory.

Selamawit Samuel, Chairwoman and major shareholder of Sunshine Business Plc
Selamawit Samuel, Chairwoman and major shareholder of Sunshine Business Plc told Capital in an emailed interview that the factory will start operation soon. “The factory has been constructed. We are now in the process of ordering and waiting for the machines to produce the chocolate from Europe. Operation and production will commence November 7th”.

The factory has an annual capacity to produce3,000 tons of chocolate but will begin making them at an annual rate of 1,000 tons in the first year according to a statement from Haredo LLC. ‘In the first year, approximately 35 percent is planned for export’ reads the statement.

Selamawit further noted that the shareholders of the factory have abundant experience and the quality of the product will be high end. “The European Shareholders have a combined 40+ years of experience in the bean to bar production in all facets of sales and marketing of confectionary products ranging from mass -market to niche, through all types of distribution from the modern to the traditional trade, export sales in emerging and developing countries across all geographies and global duty free”.

She further said that they gained their experience working with and for multinationals such as Nestle, Kraft Foods and Perfetti Van Melle.

The vast majority of chocolate producers nowadays buy generic chocolate from a few big chocolate mass manufacturers and then develop and produce their particular product using additives. In sharp contrast, Haredo plans to manufacture their own chocolate mass and utilize only natural ingredients, according to the company’s statement.

Haredoalso plans to introduce a line of products that utilize locally-grown teff, white honey and Ethiopian coffee beans, products that no other chocolatier has on the market.

“We will import Cocoa Beans from East Africa (neighboring countries) but the remaining raw materials such as for example sugar will be outsourced locally. Teff, which is considered a Super Grain by western media will be an additional ingredient, which we will offer to insure a Gluten free/healthy option of our chocolate offerings” Selamawit said.

The factory is estimated to cost 110 million birr and said to be Ethiopia’s first bean-to-bar chocolatier.

To encourage the participation of girls in tech entrepreneurship, a technology and innovation competition for girls was launched in Addis Ababa by Technovation, an organization that offers opportunities to girls so they can acquire the right skills to get into the fields of technology.
“Technovation was established to address the dearth of women in technology through offering young women the opportunity to become high-tech Entrepreneurs early in their careers. Since 2010, more than 10,000 girls from 78 countries have participated in Technovation and this year our country Ethiopia will be on the map,” stated Temechegn Engida (PhD), Program Officer of ICT Use and STEM Education, UNESCO.
Though this competition, girls aged 10 to 18 learn to identify a problem in their community and create a mobile app solution to address that problem, and then learn how to communicate these ideas and translate them into a fully launched business.
“The Technovation program takes students through 4 stages of launching a mobile app startup, inspired by the principles of design thinking: ideation; identify a problem in the community, technology; develop a mobile app solution, entrepreneurship; build a business plan to launch the app and pitch; take the business to market all in 3 months,” stated Sara Tabit, Regional Ambassador for Technovation.
Through this competition, the girls are expected to develop skills and competences including critical thinking, creativity, grit, collaboration, initiative, problem solving, communication, curiosity, persistency and adaptability.
“This year, Technovation partnered with Google and UN Women will center the 2017 challenge around the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals of: poverty, environment, peace, equality, education, and health. UNESCO-IICBA is committed to supporting this initiative which aims to empower young women with technology and entrepreneurship,” said Temechegn.
The National Pitch Event winning team will receive 50,000 ETB and will qualify for the global quarterfinals. If the team qualifies to the global semifinal, the team will travel to Los Angeles, USA, all costs covered, to participate in the global competition. According to the organizers, the global Technovation winning team will receive USD 15,000 followed by USD 10,000 for finalist teams and USD 5,000 for runner up teams.

By Kebour Ghenna

Translate ‘Addis Ababa’ to a foreigner and her eyes glaze over at the thought of miles of beautiful parks, boulevards and streets lined up with ornamental prune trees, and pedestrian-friendly clean neighborhoods. Alas, the reality could not be further from the truth. Addis Ababa is today a dense, brutal, and crowded city, with serious deficiencies in housing, drinking water, power, sewerage, solid waste disposal, and other services. Everywhere we look, we see evidence of unthinkable inequality, deprivation and filth.
Fifty years ago, my father likened to say ‘There is no garden in Addis Ababa… Addis is in a garden.’ I suppose with the speed of growth Addis witnessed in the past few decades, and the scarcity of means with which it could respond to it, things must have gone out of control. Yes, cities are messy, complex places to administer. But what cities can be, is smarter about how they approach the issue. Today, Addis Ababa has the exclusive opportunity to reinvent its city centre. It can not only rejuvenate itself, but also give a preview of how an African City of the 21st Century could look like and function.
These last ten years, as large amount of area is freed up right in the heart of the city, the chance to plan a completely new activity centre for the city has arisen. Unfortunately, the redevelopment so far seems to be utterly sterile. Look at Arat Kilo (my home quarter), where there was once a vibrant community, busy alleys, family owned businesses, artisan workshops, small soccer fields and more, is today being replaced by new residents, soulless new assemblage of buildings with absolutely zero character or taste. And yet, poor Arat Kilo could have been one of the tourist attraction of the city, had it been allowed to keep its mixed-use habitats, and high-density neighborhoods and was provided with sewage systems, water, electricity, roads, Wi-Fis and other state of the art amenities, regardless of how slummy or messy it looked.
Go further to AYAT and beyond, a featureless new quarter. Over the past decade and a half, the nation’s developers and government officials have replicated discredited urban planning templates, importing ideas that were tested, failed and long since abandoned in places like Europe and the US.
But the most amusing development of all is the attempt by the city to create a so called financial centre between Mexico Square and the National Bank of Ethiopia – which meant for the authorities replicating the plans for the Loop in Chicago or Canary Wharf in London, or Wall Street in New York. Here the containers are mistaken for the contents. But no one goes to Mexico Square to see the buildings
That’s not all, now check out the development around the UNECA, where monotonous hotel buildings and bunch of apartments completely masked one of the magnificent UN campuses in the world. Today that complex is almost out of sight. A repeat around the AU Commission campus may be developing.
In the whole, the wrong sort of architecture and urban planning has been favored – an approach that favors, horizontal grouping of buildings (of any kind) instead of, say, business. And what’s frightening is the lack of citizens’ engagement in policymaking and the design of public services. So, to any Addis Ababian willing to listen – before it’s too late – it’s time to claim back the essence of the new flower or the image of Addis Ababa.
Here are six modest ideas:
First, let’s decide on the kind of city we, the citizens, want to have and then start rebuilding our city the way we want it. Ideally government should provide the land and the infrastructure, but beyond that, we should be free to build what we need, neighborhood by neighborhood, each with its own main street, shops, banks, schools, hospitals, entertainment centers etc . Each complex becoming a small town, and their numbers would make up this sprawling capital. Indeed, this was how Addis was founded at the start of the 20th century, with the then aristocrats and army commanders setting up their own camps i.e. Ras Mulugeta Sefer, Dejazmach Zewedu Abba Koran, Dejach Wube are some among others.
Today, many misunderstand Addis Ababa as informal and illogical because of the dualist notion of the city as divided into polar opposites: Urban and rural, rich and poor, formal and informal, order and mess. But Ethiopian culture accepts that mess and order are inseparable: this is why Ethiopians are so tolerant of urban forms that the West would see as “irrational” or “messy” — neighborhoods develop and slowly integrate with the larger urban system on their own terms. Addis was built with no zoning rules to become a fantastically integrated mixed-use city. With some imagination, involvement, and incremental development we can still build what would be a prosperous city where the inhabitants would preserve their customs and social organization. In other words, a city with character.
Second, let’s make (not talk) Addis the greenest city of Africa, a city that builds electric light train, but also provides a new way of thinking about urban living. A city moving from a consumer society to a collaborative society; a city that has high acceptance of public transit, bicycle pathways, and pedestrian walkways; a city that can encourage and support residents to grow their own food. Utopia? Not at all! It is in fact within our ability to change, say, within a time span of twenty years. Encouraging, say, small plot or integrated farming, known as permaculture, is an initiative everyone can be involved in, and make a small difference in their community and surrounding environment, it can even create employment, lots of it, for young people. As you might imagine, for a green future in Addis Ababa, multiple actions need to be taken: from localized high-level policy frameworks, to harnessing residents’ love for nature.
Third, let’s rethink our deference to car travel (a copy paste of another value and culture) and stop crafting our landscape around automotive transport. Look at New York city, note the compactness of its development, the fertile mix of commercial and residential uses, and the availability of public transportation. All that has made automobile ownership all but unnecessary in most of New York city. So why not adopt the same vision for Addis, and promote biking, buses and modern traffic systems, as well as the building of pleasant sidewalks.
Fourth, let’s stop pushing out lower wage residents and service workers out to the far-off peripheries, where opportunities are fewest, where they can barely afford to live, and where their economic conditions continues to sink. Aren’t they part of the fabric of Addis Ababa? The future of our city should not be a city of dull, boring, rich people only.
Fifth, let’s build an inclusive Addis Ababa with strong community bonds, incorporating resilience, innovations and technologies in areas such as infrastructure, governance and security. For this is a necessary first step to get political, business and civic leaders to agree on a shared vision and common agenda for joint action on the city’s economic growth and inclusion. Of course collaboration does not happen naturally, particularly in view of past experiences and the way our Kebeles work, where politics and the ruling party members dominate the discourse. Still, I think residents can come together and make Addis a hotbed of high tech and the leading startup cities in Africa. Let’s catch up Nairobi and Kigali.
Which leads me to my sincerest piece of advice: If we have any ambition for creating inclusive, resilient, green, healthy, just, smart or livable Addis Ababa, then we should, above all, effectively tackle corruption.
Enough said!

When Gelila Mesfin first saw that her portrait of Michelle Obama had been made into a mural on Chicago’s south side, she was flattered.  “I thought it was pretty cool. I didn’t know anyone had taken credit for it.

I figured someone was just inspired and put it up there,” Mesfin, a New York art student from Ethiopia, told As It Happens host Carol Off.  “It was kinda cool to see your art work displayed in such a huge manner.”

The mural of Obama decked out as an Egyptian queen was unveiled Friday two blocks from the former first lady’s childhood home.

It bears a striking resemblance to a digital portrait that Mesfin made and shared on her own Instagram account in October 2016, based on a photograph by the New York Times’ Collier Schorr, whom Mesfin credits in her post.  “I just wanted to portray her as a queen,” Mesfin said. “She was just such a class act and she inspired a lot of black women, black girls, and women in general to be strong, be educated and to stand their ground, and you know, to fight for what they love.”

But her feelings of flattery quickly wore off when she read an article about the mural on the website DNA Info, in which the man who painted it appears to take credit for the concept.

“I wanted to present her as what I think she is, so she’s clothed as an Egyptian queen. I thought that was appropriate,” Chris Devins, a city planner known for his Chicago portrait-style murals, told DNA Info on Friday.  What’s more, she learned Devins had crowdfunded more than $11,700 US to make the mural, and offered up signed prints to donors.

“I realized that, ‘Wait a minute, this person is not giving me credit,'” Mesfin said. “I was very disheartened and I just felt like it was disrespectful.”  So Mesfin went back on Instagram to call Devins out. “How can you just steal someone’s artwork,” she wrote in a post that has since been liked more than 5,000 times.

In an emailed statement to As It Happens, Devins said he found the image on Pinterest, but was unable to track down the orginal artist. He says he credited Mesfin as soon as he learned the work was hers.  “The final project was completed in April 2017, and was made possible by Mesfin’s artistry and my urban planning skills.

I had no idea who the image belonged to and like many of us who take an image and post it on a blog, or on our social media pages, I was unaware of the implications of my act.  I will slow down and be more careful next time,” Devins said.   “Most importantly, I was unaware of the creator and so did not know that Ms. Mesfin was a woman. I want to avoid unintentionally perpetuating misogyny or male domination of any kind. For me, this is a time for learning and self-reflection, not justification.”​  He is now working with Mesfin’s lawyer to hammer out a licensing fee.

On GoFundMe, Devins wrote that controversy around the mural has given Mesfin “$100,000’s in free publicity.”  But Mesfin says it’s not about that.   “I don’t know how he would think that I’m making money in this situation. Did I get followers? Did I get people reaching out to me because of this whole situation? Of course I did. Like, that’s pretty obvious, and all this media attention, of course, in a way I was promoted,” she said.  “But it wasn’t because I was trying to get promoted, it was because I was shedding light on an injustice that was done to me as an artist.”

cbc.ca/radio

ADDIS ABABA – US fast-food giant Yum Brands Inc has signed a deal with Ethiopia’s Belayab Foods and Franchise PLC to open 10 Pizza Hut restaurants in the Horn of Africa country as part of an expansion on the continent.

Pizza Hut will be the first major restaurant franchise to open an outlet in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most-populous nation, which has become one of its fastest-growing economies.

“We will start off with three outlets first in six months’ time and open 10 stores within the next three years,” Michael Ghebru, a shareholder of the project, told Reuters.

Kentucky-based Yum, which is also the parent of the KFC and Taco Bell chains, is no stranger to emerging markets with more than 1,000 restaurants in Africa.

Its Pizza Hut franchise has 188 branches across the continent. “Let’s be prudent because in Africa there may be some levels of instability and also when you are opening some routes that take time,” Ewan Davenport, General Manager of Pizza Hut Africa, said.

“But the sky is the limit. At the moment, we are looking at (opening) at least 50 stores a year.” Western retailers are increasingly targeting Africa, which is home to rising consumer spending and some of the world’s fastest growing economies, albeit off a low base.

NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) –

They’ve had life changing surgery and gained months of memories here in North Texas, but today Ethiopian twin brothers are heading back home. CBS 11 News has been following the journey of Markos and Tamirat Bogale since December.

The teenagers came here to undergo life-changing surgery to correct severe cases of scoliosis. Now after surgery, recovery and four months of “Texas experiences” the boys are starting the more than 8,000-mile journey back to Africa.

North Texas surgeon Ted Belanger was in Ethiopia on a mission trip when he saw the twins and knew he could help with their scoliosis. When Belanger returned home he made it a priority to find a way to get the boys to Texas.

Through a partnership with the Texas Back Institute and Medical Center of Plano the boys received the surgery to correct their back problems at no cost. Tamirat arrived with a spine curvature of 125-degrees – his curvature is now 59 degrees. CBS 11 has covered their journey from surgery, to enrolling in high school, to taking the field and playing soccer with FC Dallas players.

We caught up with the boy’s host family earlier this week for their send off party. Cheryl Zapata, the chief development officer at the Texas Back Institute, took the boys into her home and into her heart. She says while the twin’s journey is coming to end in North Texas they leave with a lifetime of memories.

“It is a sad occasion because, um, ya know we’ve grown real close to them and loved them — but their home is not here.” Now that the boys have recovered from their surgeries they said that they both feel good “because they are straight.” While today is bittersweet for the boys it’s also a joyous occasion. Markos Bogale said, “I’m feeling good, but I’m sad because I’ll miss Cheryl and Joe.”

When asked if he’s excited to go home he said, “Yes, because of my father.” The twins have a long journey home, first flying from DFW to Los Angeles, then to Dublin, Ireland and them to Ethiopia.

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