Ethiopia

Desalegn Eyob
Desalegn Eyob has a range of expertise as a broadcaster, filmmaker and development advocate. He worked for Reuters Television and the program “Africa Journal” in his native Ethiopia. He was also the owner and managing director of the first private news agency in Ethiopia and the editor-in-chief of the magazine Akirma. In addition, he worked for the weekly tabloid Tomar and Enjoree, a bi-weekly children's newspaper. He was a tutor at the privately-run Arts and Journalism Institute. Eyob was also the founder and co-coordinator of Gender Forum and the Ethiopian Environmental Journalists’ Network. Eyob covered such stories as the Ethiopia-Eritrea war, national elections, the environment, human rights and international development.

Martha Kumsa
Martha Kumsa is an Oromo, born and raised in Ethiopia. She worked as a journalist there until being imprisoned early in 1980. She spent 10 years in jail and was released upon the intervention of PEN and Amnesty International. PEN Canada adopted her as an Honorary Member while she was in prison and helped bring her to Canada after her release. She was one of two scholars to join the new Scholars-at-Risk Program at U of T's Massey College. In the midst of a career change, Martha studied for her PhD at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. She has since accepted a tenure-track teaching position at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Tesfaye Kumsa
Songwriter, poet and journalist Tesfaye D. Kumsa was arrested on October 16, 1997, in a wave of arrests of journalists and political activists. Kumsa began his career as a high school English teacher. He also worked for Ethiopian Television as a senior program producer, and for Ethiopian Radio, as a free-lancer. In 1994, he co-founded the newspaper Urji. He worked there as a writer and editor-in-chief until his arrest, at which time the paper went out of publication. The entire staff was charged with treason. Kumsa spent three years and eight months in jail. He was released in May 2001 and fled to Kenya. Kumsa came to Canada with his wife in February 2002. Kumsa has participated in many seminars and workshops on journalism, and is currently studying at York University.

Solomon Nemera
After finishing his studies at Addis Ababa University in 1992, Solomon Nemera began to work for the newspaper Urji. He worked as a reporter and, for two years, as assistant editor-in-chief. In October 1997, Nemera was arrested and charged with treason. He was subsequently jailed for three years and eight months. The newspaper had been reporting on human rights violations in Ethiopia. He was also fined USD 2500 on five cases of press law violations. A week after his release from prison, security authorities attempted to arrest Namera again. However, he and two of his colleagues managed to flee to Kenya. He arrived in Canada in February 2002.

Garuma Wakessa
Writer and journalist Garuma B.Wakessa was arrested on October 27, 1997, as part of a wave of arrests of journalists and political activists. Bekele has published various articles and studies on Oromo culture and society. As a journalist, he used to write mainly for the Urji newspaper. He was also the general secretary of the banned Human Rights League. Wakessa was charged with treason, and remained in prison for more than three and a half years. Upon his release, he was forced to flee to Kenya. He came to Canada with his wife and children in 2002. Wakessa studied chemistry in Ethiopia, Russia and Germany.

Leenco Lata
Leenco Lata Waqayyo worked as an engineer in Ethiopia from 1970-1978. As a resister to the Ethiopian Marxist regime from 1978-1991, Lata participated in forming and running the Transitional Government of Ethiopia when the Marxist regime was overthrown in May 1991. In 1992 he left the Transitional Government, disappointed at the derailment of the plan to democratize the country, and eventually, left his own movement, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), in 1993, due to disagreements with colleagues over policy matters. He has been working ever since as a freelance writer and consultant on issues pertaining to The Horn of Africa.