Addis Abeba May 16/2018 – Sources with the knowledge told Addis Standard that Deep Kamara, the country manager of Dangote Cement Ethiopia, and two more Ethiopians, a driver and a secretary, were shot dead by unidentified men today. Beakal, the secretary is a mother of three, the youngest of whom is only one years old.
According to a local who spoke to Addis Standard by phone, the three individuals were killed while driving in a local place called Inchini. Dangote Cement is located in West Shewa Zone of the Oromia regional state, in Ada Berga District, Mugher Town, 85 km west of Addis Abeba.
“Our community is devastated; Oboo Gallatta was like a father to many of us,” our source who wants to remain anonymous said. “Gallatta” is the Oromo name the locals have given Mr. Kamara in September 2017 at a ceremony organized by local authorities and Dangote Cement to settle differences with the local community.
During the 2016 -2017 Oromo protests, protesters have torched trucks and machinaries belonging to Dangote Cement on various occasions. Since September 2017, however, reconciliation was held at a ceremony the plant hosted and was attended by more than 1, 500 locals, including elders from the area.
A cabinet member of the Oromia regional state who spoke to Addis Standard on conditions of anonymity said he was in the factory last week as part of continued discussions between the locals and the factory management on issues related to the working relationship between the locals and the factory. According to him, these discussions were ongoing with a “sense of understanding and mutual respect on both sides” and representatives of the regional government were taking part. Investigations have been launched by the regional and federal police, according to him.
The bodies of the three victims were transferred to Minilik Hospital this afternoon for a postmortem examination. According to a source from the factory’s management team, the families of all the three were notified of the tragic incident. AS
I just read a story about the victims especially the two Ethiopians. They have left children behind. I have been looking for a site where my wife and I can send donations to the grieving families. I don’t think there is a well established safety net for survivors of such barbarity in that country. I hope I am wrong about that and doubt that the children will be taken care of and their financial well being will not be severely affected by the loss of their bread winning parents. I hope this young PM will use everything at his disposals and bring these savages to face the fullest weight of the law. With such deeply rooted dragnet that exists throughout the country and the investigation end up cold then someone should know about it. If this was carried by some riled up youngsters on the fringe after reading some blood boiling posts on some Facebook sites, that would be doubly tragic. I was grief stricken when more than 200 young people were callously gunned down in the streets and back alleys of Addis(Finfine) in 2005 leaving that many parents without children who could have been looking after them during their advanced ages. I was crestfallen when many were thrown in jail to be beaten and tortured leaving behind crying angelic children over the years. I am also once again dejected by this senseless and barbaric murder of innocent employees who are the ones bringing the dough home. This is just sickening, downright shame. I hope the criminals will be caught and face the full weight of the law. Nobody should be proud of this. Nobody!!! There should not be any excuse for this. What I read on Addis Standard today is that the director had such a cordial relationship with the locals that they even had given him an Oromo name. He was known by an Oromo adapted name Gallatta by the locals for crying out loud! Now this is one more reason that I am going to feel the shame as an Oromo. Last time was ‘an Oromo mob stoned an American scholar to death’. Before that was scores of innocent peasants were savagely slaughtered by an ‘Oromo’ armed gangs in Hararghe and Arsi in 1992-93. What a shame!!!! How are you going to tell those angelic children that their mom is not coming home forever? How? Nobody should be proud of this heinous act!!! It is a shame on all of us.
The research done by certain concerned groups shows that more than 100 billion US dollars was hauled away from Africa thru illicit means in a span of a decade. 30% out of that laundered money came out of the old country Ethiopia. That is about 30 billion in US dollars(mind you this is not in the unstable Ethiopian currency). With the ‘booming’ economy, fortune came for those in the power that be and their connected cabals but that fortune did the opposite to the tens of millions who eke out a grinding livelihood and living in utter destitute. For them fortune has come ‘against’ them. Eviction and the constant nightmare from the fear of being evicted from homes they lived for so long has become the norm. And when they went to the streets they were met with the best sharp shooters the goons had trained for such an occasion. And no supporter or operative of the regime who roam around among us should be proud of this. The country which is legendary in the culture of sharing, it boggles my mind wondering where such heartless creatures came from. Now when I hear that this young PM has brought the ‘crime’ to the fore and had the courage to talk about it that has given me a glimmer of hope that at least it is going to be looked after and be dealt with. But a struggling country like Ethiopia will need the cooperation and assistance of certain European and Asian nations along with Good Ole USA in tracking down this illegally hauled away money and bring as much as it is located back to the country. He will need new recruits to go after this massive illicit money. I call upon all patriotic old countrymen and women who are financial experts who now reside outside the country to lend hands to such sacred mission in all possible ways. If they happen to catch one, that will potentially lead to many others. He/she will talk and tell on others who did the same. Such con artists usually work in groups sharing expertise in the ‘profession’ but their only ‘sweat heart’ is money. Every major financial transaction processed in a name of any established business should be laid out on the table without disrupting the economy. They can also consult countries such as Taiwan to see how and what they have doing in the effort. That island has a very ‘rich’ history in the ‘profession’ and it is said to have the most workable regulation in stemming illicit money. I can see how it would be almost impossible to expurgate such evil act in the modern global economic environment but the more the smugglers are apprehensive about the regulation the less illegal hauling. In our old country, the ‘habit’ has its origin from the ‘good old’ days in the bushes. Then all anti Derg groups were forced to work in complete secrecy in all of their activities including finance. So when the boogie men of EPRDF rolled into Addis(Finfine) they had come in with a long rap sheet of money laundering. They had no choice then during the civil war. Even one supporter of such rebel groups had robbed banks here in the West. Those of you who were here in the 1970’s might heard the news about the ‘freedom fighter’ robber who supported Al-Toweel Isaias rebel group. I heard he was deported to Eritrea a few years ago and good riddance for that!!! But on that fateful day in 1991 the national coffer including land came under their complete ownership. The goons did not have to hold up the bank. It was their bank. Mankind romance with money is legendary and in our case when you infuse that with ethnic politics it had grown into utter intoxication. I have heard it all from my own merchant relatives. They have seen it all. ‘Whose property is this multi storey building that seems to be trying to reach out for the heavens? Well it belongs to this and that ‘general, colonel, corporal…’. And then come the ‘grabbers on steroids’, various relief organizations established in the names of several noble ethnic groups. I have been asking those operatives of the regime who raise ‘hell’ whenever I write anything accusing their bosses of wrong doing to show me where I can find the financials of ‘charity’ groups such as the behemoth EFFORT and similar others set up in the name of my own Oromos and other ethnic groups, the response was insults and other filthy denigration. Ladies and gentlemen! Millions in the old country including angelic children are going to bed with agonizing hunger. It is estimated that more than 5 million children are malnourished. What does ‘malnourished’ mean? It means you haven’t had lunch today and you are going to bed still hungry with no dinner in sight. Just think about that. Now when I write this comment I don’t intend to indict those who made fortunes the old fashioned way, old honest the god hard and honest work. Such individuals would be happy to show and tell you every about the history of their businesses just because there will be nothing incriminating or derogatory about them. They have nothing incriminating to hide. Such businesses should be protected and awarded to be national examples and as the nation’s treasure.
Think about what could be done with 30 billion US dollars for the good of the people of that country. You can build almost 5 dams as big as the current massive dam being built on the Blue Nile which is expected to churn out close to 6500MW of electric power. That would be about 30,000MW of electricity. The sky would be the limit to the industrial potentials of that country. Also imagine how many human lives could have been saved from killer diseases and malnutrition if that money was put to use for the good of the citizens of the country. This is not just another common crime but rather a crime against humanity. It makes me sick to my stomach. Nobody should be proud of this. Nobody!!!