Ethiopian peacekeepers stage six hour demo to demand pay

ADDIS ABABA, July 3 (AFP) — More than 100 Ethiopian peacekeepers on Sunday blocked traffic for more than six hours at a major highway north of the capital Addis Ababa demanding to be paid their peacekeeping benefits, officials and witnesses said.

The peacekeepers, who arrived in the country last week from a mission in Liberia, caused a major traffic snarl-up on the main road linking the capital to the northern town of Gojjam.

“About 150 army men carrying guns blocked us from going to Addis Ababa or from Addis Ababa up north for hours at Fitch,” said Derje Belay a truck driver, referring to the northern town some 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the capital.

“They were not aggressive and did not say anything to us,” Dereje said. “They simply asked us to stop and turn off our engines.”

General Alemu Ayle, an official with Ethiopia’s defence ministry, confirmed the soldiers’ demo, but said the soldiers went back to their camps after the salary stand-off was resolved.

“Some 150 soldiers who served in peacekeeping in Liberia tried to block a road in the north of Addis Ababa in a misunderstanding in the modality of the payment of their benefits,” Alemu said.

“We agreed with them that their bonuses for their service in peacekeeping mission will be paid in cash for those who want to do so and into bank accounts by cheques for those who prefer that,” he added.

Ethiopia’s Information Minister Bereket Simon also confirmed the incident, but denied it had anything to with the country’s current election dispute.

“It has nothing to do with current political activity in the country,” Bereket said. “It is purely a management problem with a group of people in collecting their benefits from their peacekeeping service.”

“They have the right to demand their benefits because they deserve it and definitely they will get it in the modality they wish, it was just a matter of misunderstanding,” he added.