Mater card in addis ababa

Dashen Bank has won a membership license from MasterCard, will be distributing MasterCard and branded payment cards to its clients shortly. It is to be recalled that Dashen bank had launched Visa card service 18 months ago. “We can not specify the exact day when this new service (MasterCard) will start,” Ibrahim Dawd, Payment Card Manager at Dashen Bank told Capital.MasterCard is based in the USA and has more than one hundred million clients world wide. It has forty years of experience in banking and 30 per cent market share in the world. MasterCard is one of the major credit cards used regularly by people in the United States, second only in name recognition and worldwide billings to Visa, according to information from MasterCard website. By marketing itself to ordinary men and women, in contrast to Visa’s efforts to capture an upper-income clientele, MasterCard is slowly chipping away at Visa’s market share in both the United States and other areas around the globe. In related news, Dashen bank is to apply for a license from the National Bank of Ethiopia to provide a debit card service for clients who travel abroad. According to Ibrahim, the bank is completing preparations to provide the service. “We are awaiting the acceptance of our application from the National Bank to start this service. At present we give Visa Card service only domestically.” Ato Ibrahim said, “We will start a credit card service to our customers that enables them to borrow money from their bank’s deposit with financial and time limits.” Currently Dashen bank gives debit service only on Visa card; on this service clients can get up to 3,000 birr in cash and can buy goods and services of up to 5,000 birr a day. The bank has 13 thousand visa card users in the country. Dashen bank gives ATM service only at 10 Addis Ababa branches and one in Awassa. Currently the bank is making preparations to distribute ten Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) to its branches and is in the process of importing other 20 machines. According to Dashen Bank’s annual report, in the last fiscal year the bank earned 188 million birr (21 million USD) in net profits.

ኣደ የማነ ባርያ: ኣደይ ኣዜብ - " ድሕሪ ትሽዓተ ዓመት ምንባዕን ምሕዛንን ሎሚ ኣብ 10 ዓመቱ ተደቢሰ

መበል 10 ዓመት ዝኽሪ ህቡብን ሓርበኛን የማነ ገብረሚካኤል ብዓቢ ድምቀት ተዘኪሩ::
ከተማ ፍራንክፈርት ብዕለት 3/11/2007 ብትሕዝትኡን ኣቀራርብኡን ኣዝዩ ፍሉይን ድሙቕን ናይ ዝኽሪ ምሸት የኣንጊዳ ኣምስያ::ካብ ኩሉ ኩርናዓት ዓለም ዝመጹ ህቡባት ድምጻውያን ብፍላይ ከኣ ናይቲ ምሸት ክብርቲ ጋሻ ኮይነን ዘምሰያ ኣዲኡ ንየማነ ባርያ ኣዲና ኣደይ ኣዜብ ነቲ ዝኽሪ ብኣካል ክሳተፍኦ ምኽኣለን ተወሳኺ ጦብላሕታ ፈጠረ::
እዚ ኣብ ሞካምቦ ዝበሃል ቦታ ዝተገብረ ናይ ዝኽሪ ምሸት ልዕሊ 600 ሰባት ኣብ ዝተረኽብሉን ብመንገዲ ኢንተርነት (ፓልቶክ) ኣቢሉ ኸኣ ብቐጥታ ናብ መላእ ዓለም ክተሓላለፍ ምኽኣሉ ንብዙሓት ኣፍቀርቲ የማነ ነቲ መደብ ክከታተልዎ ኣኽኢልዎም እዩ: ነቶም ነዚ መደብ ንምዕዋት ኩሉ ዓይነት ተራ ዝተጻወቱ ኸኣ ምስጋና ይብጻሓዮም:: ኣብነትኩም ከኣ ነቶም ስም የማነ እንዳጸውዑ ብቃላት ጥራሕ ዝዝክርዎ ዓቢ መሃሪ ተመክሮ ክኸውን ተስፋ ንገብር::
ኣብ መኽፈቲ እቲ መደብ ናይ የማነ ባርያ ደርፊ ዝኾነት ”ዘመን” ብመልክዕ መዝሙር ክትዝመር ከላ ተሳተፍቲ ናይ የማነ ስእልን ”ወትሩ ህያው’ዩ” ዝብል ጽሑፍ ዝሓዘ ካናቴራ ተኸዲኖም ብሓባር ዘሚሮማ::
ሓጺር ታሪኽ ሂወት የማነ ንሰማዒኡ ሓድሽ እካ እንተዘይነበረ ብኣቃራርባ ሓው ንጉሰ ሃይለ (መንሰዓይ) ታሪኽ የማነ መሊሱ ተኾሊዑ ኣብ ልቢ ነፍሲወከፍና ልዑል ቦታ ሒዙ ኣሎ:: ከምእውን ሓው ይትባረኽ ገብረትንሳኤ ዝገጠማን ህቡብ ድምጻዊ ዑስማን ዓብደልሪሕም ዜማ ዝገበረላን ደርፊ ነቲ ዝኽሪ ካልእ ናይ ድምቀት ምኽንያት’ያ ኔይራ:: ልዕሊ ኹሉ ግን ወላዲት የማነ ባርያ ኣዴና ኣደይ ኣዜብ ዝተዛረብኦ ረዚን መልእኽቲ ዘለዎ ዘረባ ንሕልና ነፍስወከፍ ተሳታፋይን ነቲ ካብ ኩሉ ዓለም ዝከታተሉ ዝነበሩን ደገፍቲ ንሕልንኦም ከይካሕኩሐ ኣይተረፈን:
” ሞት የማነ ወደይ ንልዕሊ 9 ዓመት ንብዓተይ እንዳነጠበ ብሓዘን እየ ሓሊፈዮ ሎሚ ኣብ መበል 10 ዓመቱ ግን ተደቢሰ” ክብላ ንኹላትና መልእኽቲ ሓዘል ቃለን ኣስሚዐን::

Eritrea Denies Expelling Missionaries

Eritrea on Monday denied reports claiming that it had expelled 13 Roman Catholic missionaries, instead saying that their residence permits simply have not been renewed.
Related
“It is purely a routine immigration issue,” Yemane Gebremeskel, the director of Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki’s office, told Agence France-Presse.
“These are people who do not have valid resident permits anymore. If you live somewhere and your residence permit has expired, and it is not renewed, then it is not renewed,” he said.
Catholic news agencies last week accused the Eritrean government of forcing priests, nuns, and lay missionaries to leave the country within a two week deadline.
The missionaries, including one Kenyan, were given 14 days to leave the country starting on Nov. 6, “reliable sources” confirmed with Catholic Information Service for Africa (CISA).
CISA sources claimed that the expulsion was part of a larger plot to destroy the Catholic Church in the country. Roman Catholicism has been present in Eritrea for more than a century, and according to estimates makes up nearly five percent of the population.
More than 90 percent of Eritrea’s 4.6 million people belong to one of four religions officially recognized by the government – Islam, Orthodox Christianity, Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism.
According to human rights groups, the government closed all churches in 2002 except those belonging to the four recognized religious denominations.
The government is highly suspicious of newer Christian movements such as the Evangelical and Pentecostal churches and frequently harasses their followers.
Yet an estimated 2,000 Eritrean are members of unregistered “illegal” evangelical church groups that the Eritrean government has increasingly cracked down upon in recent years.
Recently, Eritrea has even cracked down on the Orthodox Church, which it previously had a close relationship with.
The head of the Eritrean Orthodox Church – former Patriarch Abune Antonios, 80 – was illegally dismissed from his position in January 2006 after criticizing the government for interfering in church activities and for its persecution of evangelical churches, according to human rights group Amnesty International. For nearly two years he has been under stringent house arrest with little news heard about his condition in the past few months.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in May had again recommended that Eritrea be re-designated by the U.S. State Department as one of the 11 “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) for 2007. The State Department for three straight years has designated Eritrea as a CPC – the worst label for religious freedom violators.

Activists fight ending Ethiopian aliya

Ethiopian community leaders and social action groups will step up their fight this week against a government decision to wind down Ethiopian aliya in the coming months, as arguments for bringing thousands more Falash Mura immigrants currently unrecognized by Israel are presented to the Knesset's State Control Committee on Wednesday morning.
According to representatives from the newly-formed Public Council for Ethiopian Jews, which includes such public figures as former Supreme Court Judge Meir Shamgar, Prof. Irwin Kotler, Ethiopian Chief Rabbi Yosef Adaneh, Geulah Cohen, Naomi Hazan and Hanan Porat, the government is reneging on its original promise to bring in all remaining Falash Mura - Ethiopian Jews whose ancestors converted to Christianity under duress a century ago.
They claim that sources inside the Interior Ministry have indicated that the process of checking eligibility of those still in Ethiopia will be stopped by the end of this year. This past summer, Jewish Agency for Israel officials based in Addis Ababa told The Jerusalem Post that aliya from the African nation would be over by the end of 2008, a sentiment reiterated by the Interior Ministry.
"We are not stopping our activities in Ethiopia; we are simply winding down an operation that has reached a natural conclusion," Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabene Hadad said Tuesday. She confirmed that Interior Ministry operations in Gondar, where most of the Falash Mura are currently waiting to be processed for aliya, would be over sometime in the near future.
"What is important to highlight here is that the government is going back on its original commitment and is refusing entry to roughly 8,000 people who are eligible to make aliya according to criteria outlined in the past," Avraham Neguise, director of Ethiopian advocacy group South Wing to Zion, told the Post. He was referring to a government decision from February 2003 permitting those Falash Mura willing to undergo an Orthodox Jewish conversion process to come to Israel under the Law of Entry.
"The government's original decision did not talk about stopping the aliya on a certain date or at a certain point, but said rather that all those with a maternal link to Judaism were eligible to immigrate," continued Neguise, adding that many of those who either were denied entry to Israel or had not yet been checked for eligibility had close family members already living here.
One such family is that of 24-year-old Telahun Tzegah, who made aliya with his mother seven years ago but left behind family members in Gondar, including half-siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles.
"Their bags are packed and they are ready to come, but they [the Interior Ministry] refuse to process them," he said Tuesday, adding, "They were originally told that they could make aliya, so they left their villages and moved to Gondar. Now they are stuck there with no help. They can't go back to their villages, and they aren't allowed to move here."
Tzegah said that he was regularly forced to send the family a portion of the meager salary he earns as a security guard, "just so they can afford to eat."
The Interior Ministry explained previously that it was simply working in compliance with the specifications of the 1999 Efrati census, which lists those Falash Mura with familial ties to Jews and hence eligible to come here.
However, Neguise pointed out that the Efrati list originally included three volumes - Falash Mura in Addis Ababa, in Gondar and in the outlying villages.
"The ministry has decided to ignore those people from the villages," he said. "How can the government make the decision to split up families like this?"
Rabbi Menahem Waldman, director of the Shvut Am Institute and an expert on the Falash Mura conversion process, has joined forces with Neguise and also sits on the Public Council for Ethiopian Jews.
"These people are recognized as Jews according to Halacha and the State of Israel," said Waldman, who helped to compile the Efrati census. "It is our responsibility as a Zionist state to bring these people here and welcome them with an open heart."
He said that along with the hearing in the Knesset on Wednesday, the forum was also supporting a legal petition to force the government to honor its original commitment, and added that it would not give up until those 8,000 people were brought to Israel

Ethiopia denies reports of Ogaden helicopter attacks

Ethiopia denies reports of Ogaden helicopter attacks

Ethiopia on Tuesday denied allegations it had used helicopter gun ships to attack civilians in its southeastern Ogaden region, where the military is fighting separatist rebels.
The government also said it had started delivering emergency food aid to the ethnically Somali region following United Nations reports that 953,000 people needed assistance.
The desolate region, mainly inhabited by wandering herders, hit the spotlight in April when Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels attacked a Chinese-run oil exploration field and killed 74 people.
The ONLF has accused the government of human rights abuses in its military crackdown on insurgents, alleging this week that government helicopters attacked a number of remote villages in recent days, killing civilians.
"The so-called air and helicopter attacks in the Somali region never happened," Information Ministry spokesman Zemedkun Tekele said.
Ethiopian officials say tales of massive rights violations by its soldiers are a smokescreen to hide atrocities by the rebels against local people.
Sissaye Tadesse, spokesman for a government relief agency, said Ethiopia had sent some 260 trucks to move 7,358 tonnes of emergency assistance.
He added that 30 trucks of food a day would travel to Ogaden over the next two months until the estimated 17,407 tonnes of food aid needed was delivered.
The announcement came ahead of a two-day visit by U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs John Holmes to the region bordering Somalia later this month.
A UN statement on Tuesday said Holmes would meet local authorities and clan elders in the Ogaden, but made no mention of any contact with the ONLF.
Holmes is also due to meet Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, African Union officials and representatives of the U.N. Mission to Eritrea and Ethiopia.
The neighbours are involved in a border row that many diplomats worry may spark another war

Hamer wedding like climbing a mountain

We mortals have the impression that we know perfectly well what things will make us contented in our lives. Men and women presume to chart their professional and social course as if destiny is a menu one can choose to pick and take. In reality though, few of us can find that inner peace and contentment without the intervention of the forces of random chance and circumstantial opportunity. This is more true for matters of the heart as true love does manage to join a most unlikely couple – separated not only by physical distance but also civilizations which are polar opposites.

Capital’s Addisu Mulugeta, touring South Omo met and interviewed Halloween Sheriman. Excerpts follow:
Capital: Tell us about yourself. Halloween Sheriman: I was born in Holland in 1951. I have been here and there in southern Africa since 1984 and many years in Kenya operating a tourist lodge in Lake Turkana area. I traveled across the Omo River for the first time in 1994 after the EPRDF regime came to power. I have been around pastoralist communities for the last 25 years, so I am quite familiar with the pastoralist way of life, which I greatly love.

Capital: How did you meet your Hamer wife?Halloween: I first saw Kuna at the Turmmy market in Hamer three and half years ago and fell in love. We talked about her going to school and she seemed very excited to pursue an education though her family has very traditional views about education. The issue of going to school was then forgotten for quite some time and I abandoned the idea. I met her again last year in the bull jumping ceremony and we started talking again. Bull jumping is a Hamer custom and a male rite of passage. We both came to the conclusion of marriage after the ceremony.
Capital: What was the reaction of Kuna’s family when she accepted to marry a white man?Halloween: Marrying a Hamer girl is a complex undertaking. The first condition was that I must join the Hamer tribe so I adopted a Hamer father named Kommaya from an area called Kangatte. A ceremony was performed and my new father then declared, “You are my son, born from my loins.”
Capital: Was your marriage fully conducted in the traditional way?Halloween: When we decided to get married, her family prepared the ceremony and all necessary pre-marriage requirements had to be fulfilled. I even passed the bull jumping ritual! However, Hamer weddings are a long process so I have not ‘finished’ getting married to Kuna until now, eventhough we are living together

. Capital: How do you think her life has changed since marrying you? Halloween: Well, she has a lot of freedom now. She goes to school and she has the right to travel everywhere. I think her life has changed for the better without adversely affecting her roots, and we have a contented life.

Capital: How many years does it take to get married to a Hamer woman?Halloween: In the traditional way, it takes about 10 years because the requirements are very complex as indicated. There is a bull jumping ceremony every year and judgment is given about your performance. You are also required to give a dowry of not less than 30 cattle and 100 goats for the bride’s family.

Capital: Have you traveled with Kuna outside the Hamer village?Halloween: She has a passport to travel anywhere and everywhere she wants. We have visited Addis Ababa and Kenya so far.

Capital: Is Kuna still a traditional girl or does she have modern ways?Halloween: I would say she has one foot in the traditional and the other in the modern world, because she feels that she must participate in all the traditions of Hamer. If one of her family gets married, she would present herself for the customary whipping. She is not abandoning Hamer culture at all.

Capital: What do think about this traditional whipping of the bride’s female relatives?

Halloween: Personally, the beating is very difficult to accept but it is a free choice; the women are not necessarily obliged to participate. It is part of the culture during marriage though it seems horrible and primitive to the eyes of outsiders. Of course, not all tribes feel that the ritual of whipping is important. Only the Bashada, Dana, Karo and Hamer down in the Omo valley are good enough cattle jumpers in order to beat women.

Capital: What do you call her now, your wife or fiancé?Halloween: She is not yet my wife by tribal law but is more like a fiancé to me.

Capital: Where will you be settling for good? Halloween: It will be in Hamer because I like it here very much. My life has also become a pastoralist’s one since I have spent half of my life in this place. This is now my true home.

Capital: Have you been married before?Halloween: Yes, I have a daughter and a son from a Dutch mother.

Capital: What do you do by profession? Halloween: I am a tour operator with 25 workers in Ethiopia. I have a tourism business in Omo and Geleb areas bordering on Kenya. My company provides helicopters to clients in Kenya and from elsewhere in the world.

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Eritrea fails to renew permits for Catholic missionaries

ASMARA (AFP) — Eritrea on Monday said it had not renewed the residence permits of 13 Roman Catholic missionaries but denied allegations they were being expelled.
Catholic news websites last week claimed that the group, which includes priests, nuns and teachers from several countries including Italy, Mexico, Kenya and the Philippines, were given a two-week deadline to leave.
Yemane Gebremeskel, the director of Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki's office, told AFP: "It is purely a routine immigration issue.
"These are people who do not have valid residence permits anymore. If you live somewhere and your residence permit has expired, and it is not renewed, then it is not renewed."
Roman Catholicism has been present in Eritrea for more than a century, and believers are estimated to make up nearly five per cent of the population.
On Friday, the Vatican's new ambassador to Asmara presented his credentials to the Eritrean president.
Religion is a particularly sensitive topic in Eritrea, where the government wants national unity among its 4.2 million population, officially split equally between Islam and Christianity.
The government officially recognizes four religious denominations: Islam, Orthodox Coptic Christianity, Roman Catholicism and the Eritrean Evangelical Church.
Under a decree issued in May 2002, other groups are permitted to worship but must first register with authorities in Asmara.
Human rights groups regularly accuse the Eritrean authorities of religious persecution, particularly against unregistered evangelical Christian congregations.
Asmara denies the reports, but says it will not tolerate outside influences on religious matters, accusing groups recently established in the country of having "other political agendas".