Addis Ababa: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has called on the second-generation foreigners of Ethiopian origin to come home.
The premier made the call while inaugurating the Chebera Churchura Elephant Paw Lodge today.
Abiy invited the second generation of Ethiopian Diaspora to come to in three-rounds from 30th December 2023 to the end of September 2024.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, he said the first-round homecoming under the motto “Connect to Your Culture” begins from 30 December 2023 to 29 January 2024.
The diaspora members who come home during that period will celebrate various festivals, including Christmas.
And the second round homecoming dubbed “Connect to Your History” will be during the African Union annual summit in Addis Ababa, the premier said.
Abiy said the third round will be from the upcoming rainy season to 30 September 2024 under the motto “Leave Your Legacy.”
Members of the diaspora who come during this period will participate in planting seedlings and other activities, he stated.
M
embers of the diaspora who come to their country will get special discounts by the Ethiopian Airlines and Ethiopian hotels.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency
The rising number of fatal accidents in the country has been partly caused by corrupt and inept traffic police officers who take bribes and allow overloaded and un-roadworthy passenger service vehicles (PSV) to operate on roads.
Angry Kenyans say police are wholly responsible for some of the fatal accidents that have occurred on the roads in recent days.
Mr. Collins Onyango narrates a bizarre story of the act of some police officers before a very bad accident happened along the Migori – Kisii road a week ago
He says at a spot along the Migori-Kisii highway in Migori County, he witnessed a group of smartly uniformed traffic police officers flagging down a visibly overloaded matatu whose conductor bribed them to continue with a journey that ended fatally a few kilometres away.
The vehicle was allowed to go on with its journey immediately the conductor offered one policeman money but ended up killing three people after it burst one of its tires minutes after being given a clean bill drive off.
I was sadden
ed to see lives lost after the officers waved on the matatu to continue with its journey, with no regard to its un-road worthiness condition besides that it was visibly overloaded,’ explained Mr. Onyango.
Another resident of Awendo town Helida Akeyo also condemned the habit of traffic police officers of harassing motorists for as low as Sh.100 to bribe them on the road.
Not even the motorcycle taxi operators commonly referred to as bodabodas are spared in this daylight madness of the police officers who collect bribes on our roads every day at the expense of Kenyans’ lives.
The boda boda operators are forced to part with at least Sh50 for real and trumped-up traffic offenses brought against them by the officers.
Economists estimate that the unscrupulous officers romp into their pockets an amount close to Sh. 1 million every month on the Migori – Kissi route alone.
The traffic unit is a section of the police force that is claimed to have partly contributed to the general rot in the entire force, and which
has painted the uniformed men and women as the most corrupt lot in the country.
‘The traffic police are our friends. Sometimes they bother us much. But, generally, a Sh50 or Sh100 notes clears things, instead of waiting to be arraigned before the courts’ judges and magistrates who impose huge fines on us for the traffic offences we make,’ said a matatu driver Pitalis Makori.
The ever-increasing fatal accidents on the country’s roads and highways are partly blamed on the run-away corruption involving officers in the traffic section.
Kenyans have also accused the National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA) of raising further corruption stakes on the highways amid a sharp increase in fatal road accidents in December alone this year.
‘What these officers are doing on the roads is worse than corruption. It defies beliefs when you watch the officers ask for bribes, flags off a matatu or a bus that drives a few kilometres, and kills a large number of passengers in an accident which could have been avoided if the
officers were keen on doing their work,’ says Pastor William Okoth.
‘It would be better for the Government to find a different category of Kenyans to help bring back sanity on our roads since the force we pretend to give responsibility is unclassifiable,’ he added during an interview with KNA recently.
Matatu owners and crews claim that the traffic police unit was a major stumbling block to their business since they force them to part with huge amounts of money every day to bribe their way out of real and imaginary traffic offenses.
In some spots along the same highway, they are forced to buy their freedoms twice within a distance of two kilometers. ‘You will first have to grease the hands of the traffic police and then drive a few kilometres away to treat roadblock officers who will use all manner of inspections of the vehicle to get something from you,’ said matatu conductor Peter Otieno.
Mr. Obungu Misoda, a teacher in Rongo, claimed that the traffic police had turned itself into a syndicate that is ti
ghtly run by senior police officers to immorally gain wealth in the country.
He said the time had come for the masses to condemn and help put a stop to the vice to save lives on the many country’s roads.
However, senior police officials in Migori and Kenya in general have in many cases played down the accusations against the traffic officers, saying they are’ subjective’ and not backed up by research on the ground.
Nevertheless, the police service is on record to have pledged to take action to remedy the situation.
Migori County police say they are taking drastic steps, especially during Christmas and New Year festivities, to tame corruption on roads and end the impunity which encourages this phenomenon.’
Source: Kenya News Agency