How do you justify shipping out fancy roses when people are hungry?

KKR, Blackstone, Paul Tudor Jones help drive investment as Africa makes historic shift from aid to trade
Three decades have passed since news reports of a devastating famine in Ethiopia inspired Irish singer Bob Geldof to stage the Live Aid concerts that raised millions of dollars in aid. Now he’s leading a $200 million private-equity fund into the country. Photo: Getty Images
By Simon Clark
Updated March 30, 2015 11:48 a.m. ET
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia—A generation ago, this African nation was a magnet for Western charity. Today, some of America’s richest deal makers are delivering something new: investment.
A number of high-profile investors have recently shown up here. KKR & Co., the New York-based private-equity firm, last summer bought control of a rose farm, Afriflora, for about $200 million, its first investment in Africa. Blackstone Group plans to build a $1.35 billion pipeline to bring gasoline to the capital, Addis Ababa. Hedge-fund manager Paul Tudor Jones is backing a $2 billion geothermal power project.
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• Why Private Equity Is Moving Into Ethiopia
The investors are following in the footsteps of Irish punk rock singer turned activist Bob Geldof, whose Live Aid concerts 30 years ago this summer raised about $145 million for the victims of a devastating Ethiopian famine. Mr. Geldof now chairs 8 Miles LLP, a London-based private-equity firm that invests in Ethiopia. 8 Miles raised a $200 million fund in 2012; Mr. Geldof put in a few hundred thousand dollars.
“They don’t have to die in vast numbers before we pay attention,” Mr. Geldof said in an interview. “The potential rewards in Africa are far greater than anywhere else.”
8 Miles, named after the shortest distance between Europe and Africa, made its first investments in Ethiopia in 2013, including state-owned Awash Winery. 8 Miles plans to double production at the company, add nonalcoholic drinks such as grape juice and increase exports, said partner Doug Agble. The firm also backed Ethiopian entrepreneur Eleni Gabre-Madhin in 2013 to build commodity exchanges across Africa.
From Aid to Trade
Rock star Bob Geldof and U.S. investors KKR, Blackstone Group and Paul Tudor Jones are helping to drive private-equity investment into Ethiopia as Africa makes a historic shift from aid to trade.
The private-equity firms are part of a historic shift: Global foreign direct investment has overtaken Western aid on the world’s poorest continent. Private-equity fundraising for sub-Saharan Africa hit $4 billion last year—more than triple what it was in 2013. 8 Miles plans to start raising a larger second fund next year, Mr. Agble said.
In Ethiopia, Western aid in 2013 was $3.83 billion, still far higher than the value of inbound investment at $953 million. But investors say more investment is sure to follow.
Colin Coleman,Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s top Africa banker, visited Ethiopia for the first time in January. At an investment conference, he was clutching a booklet of profiles of people to meet. Consumer-goods companies, sovereign-wealth funds and private-equity groups are showing growing interest in Ethiopia, Mr. Coleman said in an interview. Ethiopia is “relatively undeveloped and therefore with significant upside,” he said.
Bob Geldof performing on stage with The Boomtown Rats in 1977. Mr. Geldof is now the chairman of 8 Miles, a private-equity firm that invests in Ethiopia.
‘They don’t have to die in vast numbers before we pay attention.’
—8 Miles Chairman Bob Geldof
Investors in Ethiopia must strike a delicate balance between profits and pitfalls. Many of the country’s 94 million people still live in extreme poverty. Human-rights groups say the government of Hailemariam Desalegn has focused on expanding the economy at the expense of civil liberties and political freedom. Ethiopia has just one opposition member of parliament, and he doesn’t intend to stand at the general election in May.
“There is no space for free speech, for opposition,” said Yemi Hailemariam, whose partner, opposition leader Andargachew Tsege, a British citizen of Ethiopian origin, was detained in Yemen last year and is now held in an Ethiopian jail.
The Ethiopian government said in a statement that Mr. Tsege was found guilty of conspiring to overthrow the government through terrorist acts. A government spokesman declined to comment. Earlier this year, a spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that actions have been taken against certain politicians or journalists because they have tried to instigate violence.
Investors say the potential risks are offset by rapid economic growth. Brian Herlihy, chief executive of Blackstone’s African infrastructure unit, BlackRhino, said that the 550-kilometer (340 miles) pipeline he is planning in Ethiopia will make money by helping to supply the country’s energy needs, rather than sucking resources out of the continent.
For a Dollar a Day
Some of America’s biggest private equity investors such as KKR and Blackstone Group are planning to plow billions of dollars into projects in Ethiopia. How will this affect ordinary Ethiopians who earn on average $470 a year? Photo: Simon Clark/The Wall Street Journal
David Petraeus, the former general who resigned as Central Intelligence Agency chief in 2012 and who now advises on geopolitical risks at KKR, said that Ethiopia has good land and water, improving roads and very good air links, as well as stable politics.
KKR director Kayode Akinola said “a key dimension of the investment” in the rose farm is a social program that includes permanent contracts for 9,000 workers, pensions, paid maternity leave, a hospital and a school for about 5,000 children.
Afriflora was founded by Dutch farmers 10 years ago and grew 730 million flowers in 2013 for export to Europe, where there is strong demand for low-cost roses in large supermarkets. KKR plans to add almost 5,000 workers and 60% more land by 2019.
Flower packer Basha Kadir, 20 years old, said she works late into the night, often for six days a week, and hopes to earn $600 a year at the farm. The average annual income in Ethiopia is just $470, according to the World Bank.
Basha Kadir wraps flowers on a rose farm in southern Ethiopia that is owned by New York-based private equity firm KKR.

Ms. Kadir’s mother looks after the rose worker’s daughter. Her husband is a fisherman on the lake that provides water to irrigate the flowers. Other local women work carrying heavy loads of wood on their backs or laboring on other farms. Another option is leaving to work as a maid in the Persian Gulf.
“This is a better opportunity than any other job I could do locally,” Ms. Kadir said.
Still, some human-rights activists are critical.
“How do you justify shipping out fancy roses when people are hungry?” said Anuradha Mittal, executive director of the Oakland Institute, a California-based nonprofit that has investigated Ethiopian land rights. “How do you justify using Ethiopia’s land and water resources to satisfy our rose needs? What’s so sweet about it?”
A recent report by the International Finance Corp., a World Bank unit that is considering a €90 million loan to the farm, listed criticisms including too much overtime, a lack of formal process for handling workers’ complaints and inadequate places to eat or areas for working mothers to breast-feed. The IFC noted that pregnancy testing before employment will be discontinued and verification that new hires are aged 18 or older has begun.
KKR said the flower industry plays a “major part” in poverty reduction by providing jobs and that there is potential to grow both more flowers and food in the region. The private-equity firm said Afriflora is addressing the points raised by the IFC.

Source: wsj.com

ኦብነግ የኦጋዴን የተፈጥሮ ጋዝ ምርትን ወደ ውጭ መላክ የማይታሰብ ነው አለ

መጋቢት ፳፩(ሃያ አንድ) ቀን ፳፻፯ ዓ/ም ኢሳት ዜና :-የኦጋዴን ነጻ አውጭ ግንባር -ኦብነግ ባወጣው ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ ፣ የኢትዮጵያው ጠ/ሚኒስትር በበሁለት አመት ውስጥ ኦጋዴን  ያለውን የተፈጥሮ ጋዝ ለውጭ ገበያ እናቀርባለን በማለት የሰጡት መግለጫ፣  ያልተጨበጠና የማይሆን ነው ብሎአል።

መንግስት በኦጋዴን ውሰጥ ህዝቡን በጅምላ ኢላማ በማድረግ የዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀል መፈጸሙን የገለጸው መግለጫው፣ የቻይና ኩባንያ ይህን እያወቀ ለመንግስት ሰራዊትና ልዩ ሚሊሺያ እርዳታ ያደርጋል ብሎአል።

ኦብነግ ተዳክሟል እየተባለ የሚሰጠው ትንተና ትክክል አለመሆኑንም ግንባሩ ገልጿል። የሶማሌን ህዝብ መብት በመርገጥ እና ዲሞክራሲያዊ መብቱን በማፈን የክልሉን ሃብት ለመዝረፍ የሚደረገው ሙከራ በአሳዛኝ ሁኔታ ይኮላሻል ሲል አክሏል።

ግንባሩ ራሱን በደንብ የተደራጀና በጥሩ ወታደራዊ አቋም ላይ የሚገኝ መሆኑን በመግለጫው አስተዋውቋል።

source: ethsat.com

በጋምቤላ ሌላ ዙር የጎሳ ግጭት አንዣቧል ሲሉ የጋምቤላ ኒሎትስ አንድነት ንቅናቄ አደራጅ ተናገሩ

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መጋቢት ፳፩(ሃያ አንድ) ቀን ፳፻፯ ዓ/ም ኢሳት ዜና :-የንቅናቄው መስራችና አደራጅ ከኢሳት ጋር ባደረጉት ቃለምልልስ እንደገለጹት የህዝባዊ ወያን ሃርነት ትግራይ መንግስት በአካባቢው ያለውን መሬት ሙሉ በሙሉ ጠቅልሎ ለመውሰድ ባለው ፍላጎት

በአኝዋኮችና በኑወር ብሄረሰቦች መካከል ግጭት ለመፍጠር እየተንቀሳቀሰ ነው። ኑወሮችን በጦር መሳሪያ ከማስታጠቅ ጀምሮ ከደቡብ ሱዳን የሚፈናቀሉ ኑዌሮች በአኝዋኮች፣ መዠንገሮችና ሌሎች ብሄረሰቦች መካከል እንዲሰፍሩ በማድረግ እስከዛሬ የነበረውን

የህዝብ አሰፋፈር በመቀየር አዲስ ግጭት ለምፍጠር ይቀሳቀል በማለት አቶ ኦኮክ ክስ አቅርበዋል።

በመጋቢት ወር 2 አኝዋኮች መገደላቸውንና 3 ደግሞ መቁሰላቸውን እንዲሁም በርካታ ሴቶች እና ህጻናት ከ ፒንዩዶ የስደቶች ካምፕ ታፍነው መወሰዳቸውን ፣ በየካቲት ወር ደግሞ 2 ህጻናት ታፍነው ሲወሰዱ፣ አንድ የአኝዋክ አርሶ አደር ደግሞ ተገድሏል። በኩትቡዲ

ፒንዩዶም እንዲሁ 4 አኝዋክ ህጻናት ታፍነው ሲወሰዱ፣ የኒዩም መንደር አዣዥ ኦጉልም እንዲሁ ተገድለዋል።

ከአሁን በፊት በተቋቋሙት ቦንጋ፣ ዲማ፣ ፒኑዩዶ እና አኩላ ወይም ኢታንግ የሰፈራ ጣቢያዎች የገቡት የደቡብ ሱዳን ስደተኞች አልበቃ ብሎ በአኝዋክ፣ መዠንገር፣ ኦፖ እና ኮሞ ጎሳዎች መሬቶች ላይ ቾላን፣ ፖኮንግ፣ ጃዊ፣ ኦቾም፣ ኮቦን፣ ካራሚ የተባሉ አዳዲስ የሰፈራ

ጣቢያዎች መቋቋማቸው ሆን ተብሎ ግጭት ለመፍጠር መሆኑንና ምልክቶችም በመታየት ላይ መሆናቸውን ገልጸዋል።

ዋናው አላማው በክልሉ የሚታየውን መሬት ለመቀራመት መሆኑን የሚገልጹት አቶ አኮክ ፣ ሁለቱ ብሄረሰቦች በሚጋጩበት ጊዜ ተጠቃሚዎቹ መሬቱን የሚዘርፉት የህወሃት ሰዎች ናቸው ብለዋል።

በቅርቡ ከ80 በላይ አኝዋኮችና 45 መዠንገሮች በማእከላዊ እስር ቤት ታስረው እንደሚገኙ፣ የቀድሞውን የክልሉን መሪ አቶ ኦኬሎ አኳይን ጨምሮ ቁጥራቸው በውል የማይታወቅ በርካታ አኝዋኮች ከደቡብ ሱዳን ጁባ ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ተላልፈው መሰጠታቸውን

ገልጸዋል። በክልሉ እየደረሰ ያለው ጭፍጨፋ በአጼ ሃይለስላሴ እና ደርግ ከነበረው ጋር ሲተያይ አስከፊ መሆኑን የገለጹት ሃላፊው፣ በዚህ ቀጠለ ለዘመናት መስዋትነት የከፈልንላትን አገራችንን እንዳናጣት ሲሉ አስጠንቅቀዋል።

የሼክ አላሙዲን ሳውዲ ስታር ሳይቀር የመከላከያ ካምፕ መሆኑም አቶ ኦኮክ ገልጸዋል። ከአቶ አኮክ ጋር የተደረገው ቃልምልልስ ሰሞኑን ይቀርባል።

Source: ethsat.com/amharic

አሳዛኝ ዜና በየመን ጦርነት 45 ኢትዮጵያዊያን ሞቱ ከ60 በላይ ቆሰሉ

ሰሞኑን ያለማቋረጥ የመን ላይ እየተወሰደ ባለው የአየር ጥቃት ምክንያት ኢትዮጵያዊያን ስደተኞች በከፍተኛ ችግርና ጭንቀት ውስጥ ነበሩ፡፡ ዛሬ በተደረገ የአየር ድብደባ ምክንያት ካምፕ ውስጥ የነበሩ 45 ኢትዮጵያዊን ሲሞቱ ከ60 በላይ ቆስለዋል፡፡ በIOM ካምፕ ላይ በስህተት የተወሰደ እርምጃ ነው በተባለው በዚህ ጥቃት ላይ ካምፕ ውስጥ የነበሩት የምስራቅ አፍሪካ ስደተኞች ናቸው የሞቱት የሚል መግለጫ IOM ቢያወጣም በዛ ካምፕ ውስጥ የሚጠቀሙት ኢትዮጵያዊን መሆናቸው ግን የታወቀ ነው፡፡ በተደጋጋሚ ሄጄ ካምፑን እንዳየሁት እኔም የማውቀው በጅቡቲ በኩል ወደ የመን የሚገቡ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ስደተኞች ብቻ እንደሚያርፉበት ነው፡፡ የሞቱትን ነፍስ ይማር!!!! የተቀሩት ኢትዮጵያዊያንስ እጣ ፋንታ ምን ይሆን?

ግሩም ተ/ሀይማኖት

Source: freedom4ethiopian.wordpress.com

The prominent oromo poltician bekele gerba has been released finishing his term (Esat reporting)

The man that inspired many is now released, the regime loyalist would surely boast about how the justice system works. However, this man lost 4 years from his life for something that he doesnt know about, his incarcerators are indebted for the years wasted. I would say justice served when his they are behind bars. For now, I am happy that his is with family

የሳምንቱ አበይት ዜናዎች * ከዴሲሶን ሬዲዮ ያዳምጡ

የጦማርያንና ጋዜጠኞቹ አቤቱታዎች ውድቅ ተደረጉ

በእነ ሶልያና ሽመልስ የክስ መዝገብ የሽብር ክስ ተመስርቶባቸው የሚገኙት የዞን ዘጠኝ ጦማርያንና ሦስቱ ተወዳጅ ጋዜጠኞች መጋቢት 15/2007 ዓ.ም  የፌደራሉ ከፍተኛው ፍርድ ቤት ልደታ ምድብ 19ኛ ወንጀል ችሎት ቀረቡ፡፡

 ተከሳሾች ባቀረቧቸው ሁለት አቤቱታዎች ላይ ፍርድ ቤቱ መርምሮ ብይን ለመስጠት ተለዋጭ ቀጠሮ ሰቶ የነበረ ሲሆን፡ በዚህም አንደኛ አቃቤ ህግ በተከሳሾች ላይ አለኝ ካለው ማስረጃ ዝርዝር ውስጥ 12 የኦዲዮ-ቪዲዮ ሲዲዎች አያይዞ ያቀረበ ቢሆንም፣ ሲዲዎቹ ለተከሳሾች እስካሁን ባለመድረሳቸው ተከሳሾች የቀረበባቸውን ማስረጃ ተመልክተው መልስ ለማዘጋጀት ሲዲዎቹ እንዲሰጧቸው ያቀረቡት አቤቱታ ሲሆን፣ ሁለተኛው ጉዳይ ደግሞ 4ኛ ተከሳሽ ማህሌት ፋንታሁን እና 9ኛ ተከሳሽ ኤዶም ካሳዬ በቃሊቲ እስር ቤት አስተዳደር ላይ ከጎብኝዎቻቸው መከልከል ጋር በተያያዘ አቅርበውት በነበረው አቤቱታ ላይ ብይን መስጠት ነበር፡፡ ፍርድ ቤቱም ሁለቱንም አቤቱታዎች ውድቅ አድርጓል፡፡

የሲዲ ማስረጃውን በተመለከተ አቃቤ ህግ ማስረጃዎችን ኢግዚቪት ብሎ ስላስመዘገበ አሁን በዚህ ደረጃ ሲዲዎቹ ለተከሳሾች የሚደርሱበት አግባብ የለም በሚል ፍርድ ቤቱ የተከሳሾችን አቤቱታ እንዳልተቀበለው ገልጹዋል፡፡ በመሆኑም ተከሳሾች ማስረጃ በመስማት ሂደት ወቅት ማስረጃዎችን እየተመለከቱ መልስ እንዲሰጡ እንጂ ቀድሞ እጃቸው የሚደርስበት አሰራር የለም ብሏል ፍርድ ቤቱ፡፡

ፍርድ ቤቱ የቃሊቲ እስር ቤት አስተዳደር ላይ በሁለቱ ሴት ተከሳሾች የቀረበውን አቤቱታም ሳይቀበለው ቀርቷል፡፡ በተከሳሾች የቀረበውን አቤቱታ እና የእስር ቤቱ አስተዳደር የሰጠውን መልስ መመልከቱን የገለጸው ፍርድ ቤቱ፣ ‹‹ለቀረበው አቤቱታ ማስረጃ ተያይዞ ያልቀረበ በመሆኑ…›› በሚል አቤቱታውን ውድቅ አድርጓል፡፡ ጦማርያኑ እና ጋዜጠኞች ላይ የአቃቤ ህግ ምስክሮች ከሰኞ መጋቢት 21/2007 ጀምሮ ለሦሰት ቀናት ይሰማሉ ተብሎ ይጠበቃል፡፡……..

ድምፃችን ይሰማ 2ኛውን የሰላማዊ ተቃውሞ ይፋ አደረገ

ከ መጋቢት 18/2007 ጀምሮ ሳንቲም በመሰብሰብና በማጠራቀም ራስ ላይ የመቆጠብ እቀባ በማድረግ ለመንግስት የተቃውሞ መልእክት ወደማስተላለፍ እንቅስቃሴ እንገባለን ያሉት ድም ችን ይሰማ ፡፡መንግስት በገዛ ህዝቦቹ ላይ በሃይማኖታችን ምክንያት እያደረሰብን የሚገኘው ከፍተኛ በደል  ከእኛው በሚሰበሰብ ግብር መሆኑ ግልጽ ነው ያሉ ሲሆን፡፡ ህዝቡን እየደበደቡ እና እየገደሉ ያሉት የመንግስት ኃይሎች ደሞዛቸው የሚከፈለውም ከህዝቡ ኪስ በሚወጣ ገንዘብ ነው፡፡ በመሆኑም እንደዜጋ ገንዘባችንን በራሳችን ላይ ኢንቨስት ያለማድረግ የዜግነት መብታችንን በመጠቀም የሳንቲም ዝውውሩ ላይ እጥረት ስንፈጥር በእርግጥም ከእኛ ኪስ የሚገኘው ገንዘብ ላይ እኛም እንደህዝብ የተወሰነ ስልጣን እንዳለን ለመንግስት ግልጽ እናደርጋለን። ጥያቄዎቻችንን ባለመመለሱም የተቃውሞ መልእክታችንን እናስተላልፋለን ብለዋል አክለውም

እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን ሙስሊሞች በሃይማኖታችን ምክንያት በመንግስት ከፍተኛ በደል እየደረሰብን ያለን ሰላማዊ ዜጎች ብንሆንም መንግስት ከበደሉ ሊቆጠብ ፈቃደኛ ባለመሆኑ ለዓመታት ሰላማዊ ትግል ስናደርግ ቆይተናል፡፡ ሰላማዊነታችንን ለመግለጽ ነጭ ጨርቅ እያውለበለብን በአደባባይ በተገኘን ቁጥር መንግስት አስፈራርቶናል፤  ደብድቦናል፤ ዘርፎናል፤ አስሮናል፤ ገድሎናል፡፡ እኛ ነጭ ሶፍት ይዘን ሰላማዊነታችንን በአደባባይ ስንዘምር መንግስት ደግሞ ዝናሩን ታጥቆ በጥይት እሩምታ ተቀብሎናል፡፡ የማይጠፋ ጠባሳ የጣለ ጥቁር ሽብር ፈጽሞብናል፤ ፈርመን የላክናቸውን ወኪሎቻችንን በግፍ እስር እና በከፍተኛ ቶርቸር አሰቃይቶብናል፡፡ እስካሁንም ነጻነታቸውን ነፍጎ የምርጫ ቅስቀሳ መጠቀሚያ እያደረጋቸው ይገኛል። ስለዚህ አሁን ላይ መንግስት ጥይት ሊተኩስበት በማይችለው ሜዳ ሰላማዊ ተቃውሟችንን ከመቀጠል ውጭ ሌላ ምርጫ ያለን አይመስልም፡በማለት 2ኛውን የሰላማዊ ተቃውሞ ይፋ አድርገዋል

ይፋ ያደረጉት  የትብብር መንፈግ ተቃውሞ ዋነኛ ዓላማም እንደገለፁት መንግስት ጥይት የሚተኩስበት ዒላማ የማያገኝበትን የትግል ድባብ በመፍጠር መብታችንን የማጎናጸፍ ግዴታውን እንዲወጣ የተቃውሞ መልእክት ማስተላለፍ ነው፡፡ ብለዋል ወደፊትም አንድ ብርና ከዛም በላይ ያሉ የብር ኖቶችንም ከመሰብሰብ ጀምሮ ሌሎች በአተገባበራቸውም ሆነ በእንድምታቸው ጠንክረው እያደጉ የሚሄዱ የትብብር መንፈግ እና የቦይኮት ስልቶችን ቀስ በቀስ በመለማመድ ሰላማዊ ትግላችንን እስከድል ደጃፎች እንቀጥላለን ብለዋል፡፡

የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ የቅስቀሳ መልዕክት ለ8ኛ ጊዜ ተመለሰ

የኢትዮጵያ ብሮድካስቲንግ ኮርፖሬሽን እና የአዲስ አበባ አስተዳደር መገናኛ ኤጀንሲ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲን የምርጫ ቅስቀሳ መልዕክት ‹‹አናስተላልፍም›› ብለው መመለሳቸውን ድርጅቶቹ ለፓርቲው በላኳቸው ደብዳቤዎች ገለጹ፡፡ ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ መጋቢት 16/2007 ዓ.ም በኢትዮጵያ ብሮድካስቲንግ ኮርፖሬሽን የብሔራዊ ራዲዮ በአማርኛ ስርጭት የሚተላለፍ ‹‹መንግስታዊ አወቃቀር›› የሚል የቅስቀሳ መልዕክት ልኮ የነበር ሲሆን ባለፉት 24 አመታት ተግባራዊ የሆነው የጎሳ ፌደራሊዝም ለግጭት መንስኤ መሆኑን በመረጃ ዘርዝሮ ማቅረቡን የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ የህዝብ ግንኙነት ኃላፊ አቶ ዮናታን ተስፋዬ  የገለፁ ሲሆን፡፡

ይሁንና ኢብኮ ይህን የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ የቅስቀሳ መልዕክት ‹‹በተለያዩ ጊዜያት በብሔር ብሔረሰቦች መካከል ተከሰቱ ያሉትን ግጭቶች በመዘርዘር በህዝቦች መካከል ሌላ ግጭት እንዲቀሰቀስና እንዲባባስ የሚያደርጉና ግጭት የሚያራግቡ፣ አንዱን ብሔር ከሌላ ብሔር የሚያገጩ ናቸው፡፡›› በሚል እንደማያስተላልፍ ገልጾአል፡፡ ከዚህም ባሻገር በመልዕክቶቹ ውስጥ ‹የህወሓት/ኢህአዴግ መንግስት›፣ እንዲሁም ‹የህወሓት/ኢህአዴግ ስርዓት› የሚለው አገላለጽ የፓርቲውን ህጋዊ መጠሪያ የማይወክል በመሆኑ›› በሚል እንደማያስተላልፍ ገልጾአል፡ ብለዋል፡፡

በሌላ በኩል እነዚህ ግጭቶች በአሁኑ ወቅትም የቀጠሉና የጎሳ ፌደራሊዝሙ እስካለ ድረስ ብዙ ዋጋ የሚያስከፍሉ መሆናቸውን የገለጸው የፓርቲውየህዝብ ግንኙነት ኃላፊ አቶ ዮናታን ተስፋዬ መልዕክቶቹ ከፓርቲው ማንፌስቶ የወጡ፣ ኢብኮ እንዳለው ለግጭት ሳይሆን ከግጭቶቹ መማር እንዲቻልና አሁን ያለው የጎሳ ፌደራሊዝም ከተስተካከለ ችግሮቹ እልባት እንደሚያገኙ በሚያሳይ መልኩ የተላለፈ መልዕክት ነው ብሎአል፡፡ ‹‹እኛ ያቀረብነው አማራጫችን ነው፡፡ አማራጫችን ስናቀርብ ደግሞ የጎሳ ፌደራሊዝም የፈጠረውም ቀውስም በማሳያነት ማቅረብ አለብን፡፡ ይህን እውነታ የአገር ውስጥና የውጭ ተቋማት ዘግበውታል፡፡ አብዛኛዎቹ መንግስትም ያመነባቸው ናቸው፡፡ ነገር ግን ስርዓቱ የሰራቸው ጥፋቶች ይፋ አውጥተን እንዳናቀርብ ስለተፈለገ መልዕክቱን መልሰውታል፡፡ በግልጽ አማራጫችን እንዳናቀርብ ተከልክለናል›› ሲል  ገልጾአል፡፡

በተመሳሳይ ዜና የአዲስ አበባ አስተዳደር መገናኛ ኤጀንሲ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲን የቅስቀሳ መልዕክት ‹‹ከሀገሪቱ ሰንደቅ አላማ ጋር የሚጻረር፣ ብሔር ብሄረሰቦችን ወደ አላስፈላጊ ግጭት እንዲያመሩ የሚገፋፋ፣ የሌላ ፖለቲካ ፓርቲን ስም የሚያጎድፍ ይዘት የተካተተባቸው›› ናቸው በሚል መልሷል፡፡ ይህ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ የምርጫ ቅስቀሳ መልዕክት ሲመለስ ለ8ኛ ጊዜ መሆኑ ታውቃል፡፡

በወያኔ ፈላጭ ቆራጭ ባለስልጣን ላይ ህዝባዊ እርምጃ ተወሰደ!!

ከሳምንት በፊት ጎንደር ከተማ አንድ የወያኔ ፈላጭ ቆራጭ ባለስልጣን በነጻነት ታጋዮች መገደሉን ተከትሎ በሰሜናዊ ያገሪታ ክፍል ዉጥረት የነገሰ ሲሆን ይኸዉ ብሶት የወለደዉ ጸረ ወያኔ እርምጃ… ወደ መሀል ያገራችን ክፍል ተዛምቶ  ባሳለፍነው ሳምንት ከምሽቱ 2 ሰአት ላይ በኦሮሚያ ክልል አምቦ አከባቢ አንድ ከፍተኛ የወያኔ ወታደራዊ ባለስልጣን መገደሉ ታወቀ፥፥ በዚህም ምክንያት አምቦ በከፍተኛ የጸጥታ ቁጥጥር ስር የወደቀች ሲሆን፥፥ በቀበሌ 2 በተባለ አከባቢ ሲያልፍ የነበረውን የወያኔ ከፍተኛ ወታደራዊ ባለስልጣን የገደለው ማንነቱ ያልታወቀ ሲሆን አምቦ በከፍተኛ የደህንነት ቁጥጥር ስር ነች ያሉት ነዋሪዎቹ በጊዜው ጉዳዩን ያልተረዱና ከፍተኛ መደናገጥ እንደደረሰባቸው የተናገሩ ሲሆን ፖሊሶች እና ማንነታቸው የማይታወቁ የጸጥታ ሃይሎች ነዋሪዎችን እያስቆሙ እና እየፈተሹ እንደነበር ታውቋል፥፥ተመሳሳይ ጸረ ወያኔ እርምጃዎች በስርዓቱ ተላላኪዎችና የህዝብ እምባ አፍሳሶች ላይ በሀገሪቱ አራት ማዕዘን ተጠናክሮም መቀጠሉን ለማወቅ ተችላል።

ሩሲያን ከእንግሊዝ የሚያገናኝ እና 20 ሺህ ኪሎ ሜትር የሚረዝም የፍጥነት መንገድን ለመገንባት ሃሳብ ቀረበ።

የምድራችንን ግማሽ ርቀት የሚሸፍነው እና የመተግበሩ ጉዳይ አጠያያቂ ነው የተባለው ይህ ፕሮጀክት  ከምዕራብ ሩሲያ በመነሳት ምስራቃዊ እንግሊዝን ጨምሮ አላስካ ድረስ የሚዘልቅ ነው።
የፍጥነት መንገዱ ከተገነባ አውሮፓን ከእስያ እና አሜሪካ በማገናኘት በትልቅነቱ የአለማችን የመጀመሪያው የፍጥነት መንገድ የሚሰኝ ይሆናል።
የሩሲያ የሳይንስ አካዳሚ ሃላፊ ቭላድሚር ፎርቶቭ “ትራንስ ዩሬዥያ ቤልት ዲቬሎፐመንት” የተሰኘውን እና በቅርቡ የመንገድ ግንባታውን እውን የሚያደርግ የፕሮጀክት ሃሳብ ለፕሬዚዳነት ቭላድሚር ፑቲን አቅርበዋል ነው የተባለው።
ሜይል ኦንላይን ዘ ሰርቢያን ታይምስን ጠቅሶ እንደዘገበው ሃላፊው ይህ ፕሮጀክት ጉጉት አዘል እና እጅግ ውድ  ቢሆንም በርካታ አህጉራትን በማገናኘት ብዙ ችግሮችን እንደሚፈታ ያላቸውን እምነት ገልፀዋል።
እስካሁን የምድራችን ትልቁ የደረቅ ምድር የፍጥነት መንገድ 14 ሺህ 500 ኪሎ ሜትር የሚረዝመው እና የአውስትራሊያ ግዛቶችን እርስ በእርስ የሚያገኛኘው የፍጥነት መንገድ ነው።

በፈንሳይ አልፕስ ተራራ ላይ ተከስክሶ የ150 ሰዎችን ህይወት የቀጠፈው አደጋ፤ በረዳት አብራሪው አማካኝነት የተፈፀመ አንደሆነ የፈረንሳይ ባለስልጣናት አስታወቁ

ከስፔን ወደ ጀርመን ሲበር የነበረውና በፈንሳይ አልፕስ ተራራ ላይ ተከስክሶ የ150 ሰዎችን ህይወት የቀጠፈው አደጋ፤ የአጋጣሚ አደጋ ሳይሆን ሆን ተብሎ በረዳት አብራሪው አማካኝነት የተፈፀመ አንደሆነ የፈረንሳይ ባለስልጣናት አስታውቀዋል። ባለስልጣኑ አንዳሉት አውሮፕላኑ ውስጥ ከምትገጠመዋ ጥቁር ሳጥን (black box) ላይ የተገኙ የድምፅ መቅጃዎች ላይ ዋና አብራሪው ረዳት እብራሪውን ሁሉን ነገር ተቆጣጠር ብሎት ከማብረሪያ ክፍሉ ውስጥ ሲወጣና በሩ ሲቆለፍ ድምፅ መሰማቱን ተናግረዋል። ከዛም አውሮፕላቱ በፍጥነት ወደመሬት መወርወር ጀመረ። ሲሉ ለቢቢሲ ተናግረዋል።
የ28 ዓመቱ ወጣት ረዳት አብራሪ ለምን እንደዚህ እንዳደረገ ምንም የታወቀ ነገር የለም።

source:freedom4ethiopian.wordpress.com

sou

On the Question of Nationalities in Ethiopia

This article was written by Walleligne Mekonnen and published in the magazine called STRUGGLE; it’s probably the most famous article in Ethiopian politics. It was written while Walleligne Mekonnen was a fourth year political science (Arts IV) student at the then Haile-Selassie I University (HSIU) in 1969. The article is reprinted here for academic discussion purpose.

By Walleligne Mekonnen
Arts IV, HSIU – Nov. 17, 1969
The main purpose of this article is to provoke discussions on the “sacred”, yet very important issue of this country-the Question of Nationalities. The article as it was prepared for a special occasion (where detailed analysis was due time and other inconveniences impossible) suffers from generalizations and inadequate analysis. But I still feel it is not mediocre for a beginning. I expect my readers to avoid the temptation of snatching phrases out of their context and capitalizing on them. Instead every point raised here should be examined in the light of the whole analysis.
We have reached a new stage in the development of the student movement, a level where Socialism as a student ideology has been taken for granted, and reaction with all its window dressing is on the defensive. The contradictory forces are no more revolution versus reform, but correct scientific Socialism versus perversion and fadism.
The Socialist forces in the student movement till now have found it very risky and inconvenient to bring into the open certain fundamental questions because of their fear of being misunderstood. One of the delicate issues which has not yet been resolved up to now is the Question of Nationalities-some people call it ridiculously tribalism-but I prefer to call it nationalism. Panel discussions, articles in STRUGGLE and occasional speakers, clandestine leaflets and even tete-a-tete groups have not really delved into it seriously. Of course there was indeed the fear that it may alienate certain segments of the student population and as well the fear that the government may take advantage of an honest discussion to discredit the revolutionary student movement.
Starting from last year, a small minority began to discuss this delicate issue for the most part in secluded places. Discussions, even private, leak out and because they were not brought into the open they normally led to backbiting, misunderstanding and grossly exaggerated rumours. I think students are mature enough to face reality even if they are very sensitive. And the only solution to this degeneration, as witnessed from some perverted leaflets running amock [amok] these two weeks, is open discussion.
What are the Ethiopian peoples composed of? I stress on the word peoples because sociologically speaking, at this stage, Ethiopia is not really one nation. It is made up of a dozen nationalities with their own languages, ways of dressing, history, social organization and territorial entity. And what else is a nation? It is not made of a people with a particular tongue, particular ways of dressing, particular history, particular social and economic organization? Then, may I conclude that, in Ethiopia, there is the Oromo Nation, the Tigrai Nation, the Amhara Nation, the Gurage Nation, the Sidama Nation, the Wellamo [Wolayta] Nation, the Adere [Harari] Nation, and however much you may not like it, the Somali Nation.
This is the true picture of Ethiopia. There is, of course, the fake Ethiopian Nationalism advanced by the ruling class, and unwillingly accepted and even propagated by innocent fellow travelers.
What is this fake Nationalism? Is it not simply Amhara and to a certain extent Amhara-Tigre supremacy? Ask anybody what Ethiopian culture is? Ask anybody what Ethiopian language is? Ask anybody what Ethiopian music is? Ask anybody what the “national dress” is? It is either Amhara or Amhara-Tigre!!
To be a “genuine Ethiopian” one has to speak Amharic, to listen to Amharic music, to accept the Amhara-Tigre religion, Orthodox Christianity and to wear the Amhara-Tigre Shamma in international conferences. In some cases to be an “Ethiopian”, you will even have to change your name. In short to be an Ethiopian, you will have to wear an Amhara mask (to use Fanon’s expression). Start asserting your national identity and you are automatically a tribalist, that is if you are not blessed to be born an Amhara. According to the constitution you will need Amharic to go to school, to get a job, to read books (however few) and even to listen to the news on Radio “Ethiopia” unless you are a Somali or an Eritrean in Asmara for obvious reasons.
To anybody who has got a nodding acquaintenance with Marxism, culture is nothing more than the super-structure of an economic basis. So cultural domination always presupposes economic subjugation. A clear example of economic subjugation would be the Amhara and to a certain extent Tigrai Neftegna system in the South and the Amhara-Tigre Coalition in the urban areas. The usual pseudo-refutation of this analysis is the reference to the large Amhara andd Tigrai masses wallowing in poverty in the countryside. For that matter during the heydays of British imperialism a large mass of British Workers had to live under inhuman conditions.
Another popular counter argument is that there are two or three ministers of non-amhara-Tigre Nationality in the Cabinet, one or two generals in the army, one or two governors and a dozen balabats in the countryside. But out and out imperialists like the British used to rule their colonies mainly by enlisting the support of tribal chiefs, who were much more rich than the average citizen of the British Metropolis. The fact that (Houphet) Boigne and Senghor were members of the French National Assembly and the fact that they were even ministers did not reduce an iota of Senegalese and Ivory Coast [Ivoirians] loss of political independence.
Of course the economic and cultural subjugation by the Amharas and their junior partners the Tigres is a historical accident. Amharas are not dominant because of inherent imperialist tendencies. The Oromos could have done it, the Wellamos [Wolaytas] could have done it and history proves they tried to do so. But that is not an excuse for the perpetuation of this situation. The immediate question is we must declare a stop to it. And we must build a genuine national- state.
And what is this genuine national-state? It is a state in which all nationalities participate equally in state affairs, it is a state where every nationality is given equal opportunity to preserve and develop its language, its music and its history. It is a state where Amharas, Tigres, Oromos, Aderes [Harari], Somalis, Wollamos [Wolaytas], Gurages, etc. are treated equally. It is a state where no nation dominates another nation be it economically or culturally.
And how do we achieve this genuine democratic and egalitarian state?
Can we do it through military? No!! A military coup is nothing more but a change of personalities. It may be a bit more liberal than the existing regime but it can never resolve the contradiction between either classes or nationalities. The Neway brothers and Tadesse Birus could not have done it. Talking about Mengistu and Tadesse, one cannot fail to remember the reaction that the Mengistus coup though a family one and at that by a sector of Shoa Amharas (with few exceptions, of course among the Workeneh) was very popular just because it was staged by “Ethiopians”-Amharas. With Tadesse, it was automatically a tribalist uprising. Why? Tadesse an Oromo cannot stage a nationalist coup but Oromo Supremacist.
I am not equivocal in condemning coups, but the Tadesse coup had at least one significant quality and a very important one too. It gave our Oromo Brothers and Sisters self-respect. And self-respect is an important pre-requisite for any mass-based revolution. Even the so-called revolutionaries who scoffed at the coup just like the mass of the student body, could not comprehend this quality. You can clearly see in this instance the power of the Amhara-Tigre supremacist [supremacist] feelings. They clearly proved that they were nothing more than the products of government propaganda on this question.
Can the Eritrean Liberation Front and the Bale armed struggle achieve our goal? Not with their present aims and set-up.
Both these movements are exclusive in character, led by the local Bourgeoisie in the first instance and the local feudal lords in the second. They do not have international outlook, which is essential for our goal. They are perfectly right in declaring that there is national oppression. We do not quarrel with them on this score. But their intention is to stop there. They do not try to expand their struggles to the other nationalities. They do not attempt to make a broad-based assault on the foundations of the existing regime. They deliberately try to forget the connection of their local ruling classes with the national oppression. In short these movements are not led by peasants and workers. Therefore, they are not Socialists; it would only be a change of masters for the masses. But for the Socialists the welfare of the masses comes first.
The same can be said for the Gojjam uprising. But I would like to take this opportunity once again to show how much Amhara supremacism [supremacism] is taken for granted in this Campus.
To applaud the ELF is a sin. If anything favorable is written out, it is automatically refuted by both USUAA and NUEUS. But the Gojjam affair was different. Support for it was practically a show of identity to the so-called revolutionaries.
Mind you, I am just saying that these movements are not lasting solutions for our goal-the set-up of a genuine Nationalist Socialist State. I am all for them, the ELF, the Bale movements, the Gojjam uprising, to the extent that they have challenged and weakened the existing regime, and have created areas of discontent to be harnessed later on by a genuine Socialist revolution.
One thing again is certain. I do not oppose these movements just because they are secessionists. There is nothing wrong with secessionism as such. For that matter secession is much better than nationally oppressive government. I quote Lenin, “…People resort to secession only when national oppression and national antagonisms make joint life absolutely intolerable and hinder any and all economic intercourse. In that case the interests of the freedom of the class struggle will be best served by Secession. I would also like to quote the resolution on the question of nationalities from the London International Socialist Congress of 1896 attended, supported and adopted by the Bolsheviks who brought about the October revolution, “This Congress declares that it stands for the full right of all nations to self-determination and expresses its sympathy for the workers and peasants of every country now suffering under the yoke of military, national or other absolutism.”
As long as secession is led by the peasants and workers and believes in its internationalist obligation, it is not only to be supported but also militarily assisted. It is pure backwardness and selfishness to ask a people to be partners in being exploited till you can catch up. We should never dwell on the subject of secession, but whether it is progressive or reactionary. A Socialist Eritrea and Bale would give a great impetus to the revolution in the country and could form an egalitarian and democratic basis for re-unification.
To come back to our central question: How can we form a genuine egalitarian national-state? It is clear that we can achieve this goal only through violence, through revolutionary armed struggle. But we must always guard ourselves against the pseudo-nationalist propaganda of the regime. The revolution can start anywhere. It can even be secessionist to begin with, as long as led by the progressive forces-the peasants and the workers, and has the final aim the liberation of the Ethiopian Mass with due consideration to the economic and cultural independence of all the nationalities. It is the duty of every revolutionary to question whether a movement is Socialist or reactionary not whether a movement is secessionist or not. In the long run Socialism is internationalism and a Socialist movement will never remain secessionist for good.
To quote Lenin again, “From their daily experience the masses know perfectly well the value of geographical and economic ties and the advantages of a big market and a big state.” From this point of view of the struggle as well, a regime like ours harassed from corners is bound to collapse in a relatively short period of time. But when the degree of consciousness of the various nationalities is at different levels, it is not only the right but the duty of the most conscious nationality to first liberate itself and then assist others in the struggle for total liberation. Is that not true of Korea? We do support this movement, don’t we? Then, what is this talk of tribalism, secessionism, etc…..?
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Wallelign Mekonnen Kassa was born on March 22, 1945 in Debresina Woreda, Wollo, Ethiopia.
In 1965, he joined the Haile-Selassie I University and studied political science. He was one of the devoted university students who struggled to emancipate the Ethiopian workers and peasants from tyranny. Wallelign and his comrades were imprisoned by the Ethiopian government and released after five months. Wallelign was suspended from university by the administration.
The articles he wrote include, “The Question of Nationalities in Ethiopia”, which states the national repression and the solution for this problem, “Le Awaju Awaj”, an article in response to the emperor’s address on the radio regarding the university students, “Ye Aziaraw Eseregan” (Prisoner’s Azinara ) and “Message to Professor Afework Gebereyesus”.
Walelign acquired the love for his country from an early age, and he dedicated his life to Ethiopia until the moment he was assassinated, December 9, 1972.

Donor Dollars aiding political repression in Ethiopia

By Graham Peebles

An ideological poison is polluting all life within Ethiopia, flowing into every area of civil society. Local governance, urban and rural neighbourhoods, farming, education and the judiciary all are washed in Revolutionary Democracy’, the doctrine of the ruling party. Human Rights Watch (HRW) in their detailed report ‘Development without Freedom’ (DWF) quote Ethiopia’s Prime Minister for the last twenty years Meles Zenawi explaining that “when Revolutionary Democracy permeates the entire society, individuals will start to think alike and all persons will cease having their own independent outlook. In this order, individual thinking becomes simply part of collective thinking because the individual will not be in a position to reflect on concepts that have not been prescribed by Revolutionary Democracy.” A society of automatons is the EPRDF vision, The Borg Collective in the Horn of Africa, men women and children of the seventy or so tribal groups of Ethiopia all dancing to one repressive tune sung by the ruling EPRDF.

Dollars and nonsense

Ethiopia receives around $3 billion dollars in long-term development aid each year (second only to Indonesia); this is more than a third of the country’s total annual budget. Funds and resources donated to support the needy, in the hands of the Zenawi regime are being employed as a means of manipulating the Ethiopian people along partisan ideological lines. HRW states in DWF, “the Ethiopian government is using development aid as a tool of political repression by conditioning access to essential government services on support for the ruling party.”

The EPRDF has complete control of funds donated to Ethiopia by the Development Assistance Group (DAG), a consortium of the main donors, including the World Bank, USA, the European Commission and Britain. The government holds the purse strings of every dollar and cent allocated for the four major areas of development work: Protection of Basic Services (PBS), the Productive Safety Net Programme, Public Sector Capacity Building and the General Education Quality Improvement.

The largest single donor is the USA, which in 2011 according to US state department figures “provided $847 million in assistance, including more than $323 million in food aid.” The European Commission gives 400 million and Britain, via the Department Foreign Investment and Development (DFID) has committed £331million ($516million) per year until 2015. The British taxpayers’ pounds according to DFID “will meet the needs of the very poorest and support proven results-driven programmes that will bring healthcare, education and water to millions of people.” Well intentioned perhaps, however in attempting to ‘meet the needs of the very poorest’, as DFID claim, HRW research found that all international development aid, “flows through, and directly supports, a virtual one-party state with a deplorable human rights record, [whose] practices include jailing and silencing critics and media, enacting laws to undermine human rights activity, and hobbling the political opposition.” Facts well known to donors, who are content it seems to allow, indeed support the politicization of aid, a catalogue of human rights violations and the widespread suppression of the people,forced to live in an ideological straight jacket fastened tight by agents of the Zenawi government, at national, regional and community level.

Conditional support

The EPRDF government controls all areas of government and civil society in Ethiopia, from the judiciary to the classroom, the media to the farm, telecommunication and the banks.

The EPRDF controls all areas of government and civil society in Ethiopia, from the judiciary to the classroom, the media to the farm, telecommunication and the banks. Its reach into urban neighborhoods and rural communities was greatly increased before the 2008 elections, when the number of seats in the woreda and kebele were expanded from 15 to 300. Only the EPRDF was able to field candidates in all councils and with opposition parties largely boycotting the unfair elections, the EPRDF ‘won’ over 99.9% of the seats, meaning as HRW state “the ruling party had total control of the rural majority of the Ethiopian population.”

Through the regional offices of the woreda and kebele the government exercises its ability to control ordinary rural and urban Ethiopians; it is here that the administration of daily life takes place. Local offices approve or reject, applications from farmers for seeds and fertilizer, decide on micro credit support, distribute food to the needy (10 – 20 million rely on food aid), allocate education and employment opportunities, issue business permits and ID cards. The result, as HRW state is “state/party officials have significant influence over the livelihoods of citizens.” An understatement, in fact they govern all aspects of life, within the city or the village, for the teacher or the judge, the women seeking to start a small business, or the Mother desperate to feed her family. All are at the mercy of government officials.

Emergency food relief is given as part of the PBS program, a highly expensive complex development scheme, which assigns around $1 billion a year reports HRW, in a “block grant to the federal government,” they disperse the funds through their kebele’s and woreda offices. Distribution is based not on need, but on political association, support the opposition groups in Ethiopia and find your name scratched from the food aid list and go hungry, HRW found “the partisan allocation of food aid, [is] a problem that has been anecdotally reported in many areas and over many years in Ethiopia, especially in recent years in Somali region.” Such political discrimination of food aid distribution is not only immoral; it is in violation of international law. Farmers who Express dissent towards the government have the agricultural seeds and fertilizer needed to grow crops for their family and community withheld, voice concern over local governance as a teacher and find your career destroyed and your job taken away. HRW found “the EPRDF controls every woreda in the country, and can discriminate against any household or kebele within these administrative areas.” Given such repressive illegal actions it is inexplicable that the DFID in its Plan For Ethiopia (PFE) state the government shows “a strong commitment to fight corruption.” What the EPRDF shows is a strong commitment to suppress dissent, silence all critical voices and control the people utterly.

Big Ethiopian brother

Ethiopia is a one party state, with no freedom of speech, or assembly nor freedom of the media and where opposition forces critical of the government are silenced in the most brutal fashion. It is puzzling then, that the DFID (PFE) states, “Ethiopia has also made some progress toward establishing a functioning democracy,” It is certainly not an image of democracy recognizable to anyone who holds human rights and freedom of expression central to such an ideal and is contradicted by USAID’s statement in its Strategy Plan for Ethiopia where they acknowledge the“$13 million+ that USAID/Ethiopia invested between 2006 and 2010 specifically to promote democratic transition produced little in the way of tangible results, and specific programs have been the subject of stalling and even outright hostility.” The DFID however, go on to compound the misrepresentation asserting, “Ethiopia has achieved a strong degree of political stability through decentralized regional government.” If by ‘stability’ the DFID mean lack of popular resistance to imposed governance, through the fearful subjugation of the people, then yes this the EPRDF has succeeded in doing.

Opposition to the government is not tolerated nor is there decentralized governance, as Thomas Staal, USAID Mission Director to Ethiopia recently stated, and “the [Ethiopian] government wants to be able to control political space very carefully The kebele, woreda and sub kebele’s are extensions of central government, carrying out the divisive partisan policies of the EPRDF, the sole expression of democratic principles in Ethiopia are those found within constitutional articles, that sit neatly filed upon ministerial shelves, collecting dust, as HRW make clear “democracy [is] a hollow concept in a country steered by a powerful party-driven government in which the distinction between party and state is almost impossible to define.” And In their report “One Hundred Ways of Putting Pressure Violations of Freedom of Expression and Association in Ethiopia“ HRW echo USAID’s comment, observing that “despite the lip service given to democracy and human rights, respect for core civil and political rights such as freedom of expression and association in Ethiopia is deteriorating.” DFID officials it seems have been duped by a plethora of conformist federal laws and signatures to multiple international treatises, into accepting the word of a government that terrifies its people and tramples on international human rights law.

Partisan monitoring

Not only are all key development programs implemented by the EPRDF, but also monitoring is also undertaken in partnership with government agencies. Objective accurate monitoring is essential in determining the effectiveness of development programs; it is difficult to see how unbiased data can be collected under such highly restrictive circumstances.  HRW makes the point that “donors should recognize that Ethiopia’s own accountability systems are moribund, and that the principal barrier to detecting distortion is the Ethiopian government.” Their view that independent monitoring “is needed (without the participation of the Ethiopian Government)” is clearly correct and the bare minimum donors should insist on.

In its wisdom however, the DFID – a key donor, whilst recognizing the importance of monitoring appears happy to rely on the Ethiopian government, in which they naively invest such trust. They plan to “continue to monitor progress using national data drawn from administrative and survey sources,” i.e. the Ethiopian government. This demonstration of neglect by the DFID is an abdication of duty not only to British taxpayers, but also to the people of Ethiopia, who the EPRDF, with the help of international donors, continue to suppress and intimidate. They cannot and should not be trusted, HRW Deputy Director Jan England’s Open Letter to DFID Secretary of State Andrew Mitchell makes this plain, “the Ethiopian government is extremely resistant to scrutiny the British government and other donors to Ethiopia should not allow the Ethiopian government to dictate the terms on which British public money is monitored, and every effort should be made to prevent British development aid from strengthening authoritarian rule and repression.”

Ideological imposition

At the core of the EPRDF’s suppression and disregard for human rights is an ideological obsession. Revolutionary Democracy. Evangelical party political indoctrination takes place in within schools, teacher training institutions, the civil service and the judiciary. All contrary to international law, the Ethiopian constitution and federal laws, composed to conform to universal legal standards, conveniently cited by politician and diplomats, ignored and unenforced they mean nothing to the people.

School children above grade 10 (aged 15/16 years) are required to attend training sessions in the party ideology, policies on economic development, land sales and education. Admission to university, although not legally the case is implicitly dependent upon membership of the party, HRW found “students were under the impression that they needed party membership cards to gain admission to university.” The EPRDF stamp is also required to secure government jobs after graduation. All teachers, civil servants and judges are under pressure to tow the party line, to join the EPRDF and follow its doctrine, failure to do so impacts on employment and career prospects. Ethiopia’s largest donor, the USA, in the State Department human rights country report for 2011 notes, “Students in schools and universities were indoctrinated in the core precepts of the ruling EPDRF party’s concept of “revolutionary democracy…. the ruling party “stacks” student enrolment at Addis Ababa University… Authorities did not permit teachers at any level to deviate from official lesson plans and actively prohibited partisan political activity and association of any kind.”

Educational brainwashing of course contravenes the Ethiopian constitution, which clearly states in Article 90/2 “Education shall be provided in a manner that is free from any religious influence, political partisanship or cultural prejudice.” Words, righteous and legally binding are of no concern to Zenawi, his ministers, foreign diplomats and the cadres or spies who patrol the city neighbourhoods, university campus and civil service offices, infiltrate villages and towns of rural Ethiopia intimidating and blackmailing the people. International donors however, should be deeply concerned and take urgent actions to stop such violations of national and international law and the politicisation of aid distribution including emergency food relief.

Mixed Motives distorted action

Western governments reasons for providing development aid to Ethiopia are both humanitarian and strategic, USAID in its country plan, calls Ethiopia “the most strategically important partner in the region,” and the DFID states, “Ethiopia matters to the UK for a range of development, foreign policy and security reasons.”

Regional stability and the ‘fight against terrorism’ is cited as justification for continuing to support the EPRDF, in spite of extensive human rights abuses, the partisan distribution of aid and state terrorism. In fact, far from bringing stability to the area, the Zenawi regime is a cause of instability, this Anna Gomez makes plain “the Al-Shabab militia [Islamist group in Somalia] have only grown stronger [emphasis mine] and survival has been made more difficult since Ethiopian troops invaded in 2006, at the behest of George W. Bush.”

With conflicting interests, some might say corrupt and corrupting, donor countries find themselves funding a deeply repressive violent regime, enabling a coordinated policy of ideological indoctrination to take place, as HRW found “the government has used donor-supported programs, salaries, and training opportunities as political weapons to control the population, punish dissent, and undermine political opponents” Western donors silence and complicity in the face of such violations of international law is as Anna Gomez rightly says in the Bureau of Investigative Journalism 4^th August 2011 “letting down all those who fight for justice and democracy and increasing the potential for conflict in Ethiopia and in Africa.”

The politicization and manipulation of aid distribution by the EPRDF violates international law and all standards of moral decency. Those providing aid must take urgent action to ensure this illegal practice comes to an end. Donors are well aware of the human rights abuses taking place, but have turned a blind eye to the repression of civil and political rights and a deaf ear to the cries of the many for justice and freedom. Western governments silence amounts to collusion; it is a gross misuse of taxpayer’s money and a betrayal, of international human rights laws and the Ethiopian people. 

Graham is Director of The Create Trust, a UK registered charity, supporting fundamental social change and the human rights of individuals in acute need.

Source: mwcnews.net

ማርች 8’ትን ስናስታውስ – በላይ ገሠሠ

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በሕብረተሰባዊ የዕድገት ታሪክ ውስጥ ሴቶች ለነፃነት፣ እኩልነት፣ ለሰብኣዊ መብትና ፍትሕ መረጋገጥ የከፈሉትን መስዋእትነት ትልቅ ስፍራ ይዞ ይገኛል:: ይህ በመሆኑም ዘንድሮም እንደ ተለመደው በዓለም አቀፍ ደረጃም ሆነ በሀገራችን መከበሩ የሚያሳየን የማርች 8 በዓል ታላቅነት ነው:: በሀገራችን የትግል ታሪክም በተመሳሳይ መልኩ ሴቶች ያልተሳተፉበት የነፃነት ትግል አልነበረም ቢባል የተጋነነ አይደለም:: የባዕዳን ሐይሎች ሀገራችንን በወረሩበት ጊዜም እቴጌ ጣይቱን ጨምሮ ቁጥራቸው ቀላል ያልሆኑ ሴቶች ዘማችና አዝማች በመሆንና ከወንዶች እኩል በመሰለፍ ለኢትዮያችን ህልውና ኩቡር መስዋእትነትን ከፈለው አልፏል:: በዘመናችንም የስርዓት ለውጥ ለማምጣት የተካሄደው ሁለ ገብ መራራ ትግልም የሴቶች ተሳትፎ ወሳኝ ሚና ተጫውቷል:: በዚሁ መራራ ትግልም እነ ማርታን ጨምሮ በሽዎች የሚቆጠሩ ጀግኖች ሴቶች አኩሪ መስዋእትነትን ከፍለው አልፏል:: —[ሙሉውን መግለጫ ለማንበብ እዚህ ይጫኑ]—

source: zehabesha.com

በመስሊሙ ማህበረሰብ ላይ ህወሃት የዘረጋውን የጥላቻና የበቀል ዘመቻ ለመከላከል የወጣ የአቋም መግለጫ

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ኢትዮጵያዊያን ሙስሊሞች የተጣሰውን ህገመንግስታዊ መብት በህግ ለማስከበር የጀመሩት ሰላማዊ ትግል ድፍን ሶስት ዓመታትን አስቆጥሯል፡፡ ይህ ትግል በመላው አለም ሰላማዊ ትግልን መታገል ለሚሹ አርአያ ከመሆኑም ባሻገር በተለያዩ አለም አቀፍ ተቋማት እውቅናን ያገኘም ነው፡፡ በነዚህ መራራ ሶስት የትግል አመታት ህዝቡ በፊርማው የመረጣቸው የመፍትሄ አፈላላጊ ኮሚቴዎች የእስር ብቻ ሳይሆን የድብደባ፣ የግርፋት፣ የማዋረድ፣ የሰብዓዊ መብትም መገፈፍ ሰለባ ሆነዋል፤ በሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ሲታሰሩ፣ ሲገረፉ፣ ቁጥራቸው በውል የማይታወቅ ደግሞ ለመሰደድ በቅተዋል፡፡ሰላማዊ ዜጎች በግፍ ጥይት እየተደበደቡ ለሞት መዳረጋቸው ሊካድ የማይችል የአደባባይ ሚስጥር ነው፡፡

source:.zehabesha.com

እሥረኞቹ የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች የቀድሞ መሪዎች የእምነት ክሕደት ቃል ሰጡ

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በነዘላለም ወርቅአገኘሁ የክሥ ዶሴ በሽብርተኝነት የተከሰሱት የተቃዋሚ ፓርቲ መሪዎች የእምነት ክህደት ቃላቸውን እንዲሰጡ በዳኞች ሲታዘዙ “አሸባሪዎች እኛ ሳንሆን አሸባሪው ሕወሃት-ኢህአዴግ ነው” አሉ።

የፌዴራሉ ከፍተኛ ፍርድ ቤት አሥራ ዘጠነኛ ወንጀል ችሎት ዛሬ በዋለው ችሎት ለሁሉም ተከሣሾች “ድርጊቱን አልፈፀምንም” በሚል ቃላቸውን እንደመዘገበ ገልጿል።

ፍርድ ቤቱ የአቃቤ ሕግ ምሥክሮች የሚቀርቡበትንም ቀን ቀጠሮ ሰጥቷል።

ለተጨማሪ የተያያዘውን የድምፅ ፋይል ያዳምጡ፡፡

source:amharic.voanews.com

ለብአዴን አባላት ……ከሰማችሁ …….ከሞግዚት አስተዳደር ተፋቱ! – አንበርብር ከአማራ ሳይንት

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አፄ ዮሃንስ ንጉስ ተከለ ጊዮርጊስን ድል ነስተዉ ጎጃም ሲገቡ ራስ አዳል አልተደሰቱባቸዉም ነበርና ራስ አዳል ሸሽተዉ በርሃ ገቡ፡፡ አፄዉ ለራስ ደስታ ተድላ ዘመዳቸዉን ድረዉ በጎጃም ላይ ይሾሟቸዋል፡፡ ሆኖም ግን አፄ ዮሃንስ በራስ ደስታ ተድላ ላይ ሙሉ እምነት አልነበራቸዉምና በስራቸዉ ሐጎስ የሚባል አስተዳዳሪ ሾመዋል፡፡ ራስ አዳል ግብር በዛብን ያለዉን ህዝብ አስተባብረዉ የአፄ ዮሃንስ ሰራዊት ሲያጠቁ በዉጊያዉ አፄዉ የሾሟቸዉ ራስ ደስታ እና ሞግዚቱ ሐጎስ ይገደላሉ፡፡

የሟቾችን አስክሬን ወደቀብር ሲወጣ የራስ ደስታን በእንጨት አልጋ፤ የሐጎስን በአጎበር በተከለለ አልጋ ሲወሰዱ ባለቅኔዉ የጎጃም ህዝብ

“እኔስ ምን ቸገረኝ ካንተ አልዋጋ
እስራኤሉን በእንጨት ወታደሩን ባልጋ”

እያለ ሲቀኝ እንደነበር እና የሞግዚት አስተዳደር መጨረሻዉ ዉርድት እንደሆነ ታሪክ ይነግረናል፡፡(ምንጭ፡- የንግስና ሥርዓት እና የነገስታት የዘር ሃረግ፤በጥላሁን ብርሃነ ስላሴ)

የሞግዚትነት አስተዳደር ሙሉ አስተዳደር አይደለም፡፡ የይስሙላ አስተዳደር ነዉ፡፡ ሲፈለግ የሚፀና ሳይፈለግ የሚነሳ፣ ያልፀና እና መልካም ፈቃድን ያልተከተለ አሰራር ነዉ፡፡ የሞግዚትነት አስተዳደር ህዝብን ካለማመን የሚነሳ ቢሆንም ዋና ዓላማዉ የራስን የበላይነት ጠብቆ ማቆያ ነዉ፡፡

አፄ ዮሃንስ ጎጃሜዉንና ሆነ ራስ ደስታን ስላላመኗቸዉ፣ የሐጎስ ሞግዚትነት አስፈልጓቸዋል፡፡ የሞግዚት አስተዳዳሪነት ህዝብን ካለማመን እና ከመጠራጠር መጥቶ በመጨረሻዉ ሰዓት ክብር የሚሰጠዉ ለሞግዚቱ ነዉ፡፡

ሕወሓት-ኢህአዴግ በየቦታዉ ከሚሾማቸዉ አስተዳደሪዎች ጀርባ አንድ ሞግዚት እንደሚያስቀምጥ ትንሽ እልፍ ወይም ገባ ብሎ ለመመረመረ ከነደስታ ጀርባ ሺህ ሐጎሶችን መመልከት ይችላል፡፡ በሞግዚት አስተዳደር ስር መዉደቅ ሁለት ጊዜ መሞት ነዉ፡፡ አንድ ጊዜ ተንቆ እየተደገፉ መኖር እና ነፃነትን ማጣት ሲሆን ሁለተኛዉ በህዝቡም ሆነ በገዥወቻችሁ ፊት ታማኝነት ማጣት እና በስተመጨረሻ የራስ ደስታን ዕጣ መጋራት ነዉ፡፡

የብአዴን ሰዎች እኔ ከማዉቃችሁ ሰዎች ጨምሮ ኑሯችሁ የቀንድ አዉጣ፣ አስተዳደራችሁ የሞግዚት አስተዳደር እና ከሁለት ያጣ ወገን የሆናችሁ ናችሁ፡፡ በቅርብ እየሰማነዉ እንዳለሁ ጀርባችሁ ሲፋቅ ግንቦት 7 እየተባላችሁ፣ ታማኝነታችሁን አጥታችኋል፡፡ በእነ ሓዱሽ እየገፋችሁት ያለዉ የሞግዚት አስተዳደራችሁ ወደ ሞት የሚወስዳችሁ ከመሆኑ በላይ እናንተን በእንጨት ሞግዚታችሁን በወርቅ ሲጭኗችሁ ሁለተኘዉ ሞት ነዉ፡፡

ጊዜዉ ወደ ወገን የመጠቅለያ ነዉ፡፡ ያረጁትን የብአዴን መሪዎቻችሁን እርሷቸዉ እና ከአዲሱ የአማራዉ ክልል ትዉልድ ጋር ስለህዝባችሁ ተነጋሩ፡፡ በመንግስት ላይ አሻጥር እየሰሩ ስልጣን የያዘዉን አካል ማንኮታኮት እና ማዉረድ ከእናንተ ይጠበቃል፡፡ እኔ የማምናቸዉ ብአዴን ዉስጥ ሰርገዉ የገቡ የቅርብ ሰዎች አሉኝ፡፡ ድርጅቱን በብዙ ነገር እየበከሉት ቀፎዉን ሲያስቀሩትእያየሁ ብዙ ጊዜ አብረን የድርጅቱን መፍረሻ ቀን ቆጥረናል፡፡ አሁንም አስተሳሰብ ለዉጥ ላይ እያተኮርን በየመስሪያ ቤቱ ብአዴን በሚያካሂደዉ አደረጃጀት እና ስብሰባ እየገባን ሌሎችን በአስተሳሰብ ነፃ እያወጣን ጎድጓዱን አርቀን መቆፈር እንችላለን፡፡

እንደ መዉጫ የሞግዚት አስተዳደርነት መነሻዉ ህዝብን መናቅ እና አለማመን ስለሆነ እንደ ራስ ደስታ ሁለተኛ ሞት ሳንሞት ራሳችን ከሞግዚትና ከአሳዳሪዎቻችን ነፃ እናድርግ፡፡ የብአዴን አባሎች ሕወሓት በተደጋጋሚ ጀርባቸዉን ሲፍቀዉ ግንቦት 7 ናቸዉ እያላችሁ ሳትታመኑ አብራችሁ ልትኖሩ አይገባም፡፡ ከድርጅቱ በአስተሳሰብ በልጣችሁ ሄዳችሁም አልሄዳችሁም ከመጠርጠር እና ካለመታመን ስለማትድኑ ዛሬዉን ከሞግዚት አስተዳደር ራሳችሁን አላቃችሁ ተከተሉን፡፡

source: zehabesha.com

Is violent change inevitable in Ethiopia?

By Graham Peebles

As the Ethiopian government intensifies its violent suppression of the populace in the lead up to the illusion of national elections in May, there are many within the country and in the diaspora who believe a popular armed uprising is the only way to bring about change in the country.

The people’s frustration and anger towards the government is understandable as is their bewilderment at the neglect and complicity of Ethiopia’s major donors. America, the European Union and Britain collectively give almost half of Ethiopia’s federal budget in various aid packages and are well aware of the regime’s brutal form of governance but shamefully do and say nothing.

Old habits

The ruling regime, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), came to power in 1992 when they overthrew the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE). The ideologically-driven group of freedom fighters led by Meles Zenawi ousted the military dictatorship and drew up a new liberal constitution based on democratic principles of freedom and human rights. Once enthroned in Addis Ababa, however, they swiftly followed in their predecessor’s repressive footsteps and all democratic ideals where neatly filed away, to be forgotten about.

The government has imprisoned almost all major opposition leaders, as well as large numbers of troublesome journalists. An array of repressive laws has been passed to suffocate dissent and virtually criminalise freedom of expression and assembly – all contrary to their own constitution and in violation of a plethora of international conventions which they have dutifully signed up to.

With the major opposition party leaders behind bars and the regime maintaining total control of the electoral process, the result of the forthcoming May election is a forgone conclusion. It is a hollow piece of democratic theatre, which the EU has refused to legitimise with a team of observers, a mistake in my view, but understandable given the distorted result of the past two elections which the EU observed but did not validate.

Unite and act

Given the repressive picture in the country and the regime’s total intransigence, the frustration of huge numbers of people inside and outside the country is unsurprising.

But is an armed uprising the way forward? Would it be successful in ousting the ruling regime, or would there be a tightening of repressive legislation: the “rebel group” branded as terrorists, large numbers of deaths and arrests, and perhaps a long-drawn-out civil war igniting conflicts between one ethnic group and another? Is violence and hate ever the way to counter violence and hate? Not according to Martin Luther King, who presided over a largely peaceful civil rights movement in America, against an extremely violent, not to say ignorant, adversary. “Darkness,” he said, “cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

That other giant of non-violence, Mohandas Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement, undermined the British, united the population and was crucial in bringing about independence in India. As the United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon,  has said, his His legacy is vital “in today’s world where the rights of too many people are still violated”. So is his means of achieving his goal.

As with all repressive regimes, the EPRDF follows a systematic methodology of divide and rule, so the answer to such crude means of control is unity.

We are living in unprecedented times, times of tremendous opportunity and potential change. The days are numbered for regimes like the EPRDF – it is a question of when they collapse, not if.

The people of Ethiopia, and those who make up the diaspora in Europe, America and elsewhere, need to come together, and overcome their apathy and fear, organise themselves and take responsibility for their own destiny, be creative, be heartened and learn from movements in Tunisia, Hong Kong, Egypt, Turkey, Brazil and elsewhere. They need to be inspired by the strategicactions successfully employed in the non-violent struggle led by Gandhi, and find the courage to act peacefully, to unite against what is a brutal group of men who are despised by the people and have no legitimacy to govern Ethiopia, and act with love not hate, to bring lasting change to their country.

source: mwcnews.net

A case study from the 2014 Human Rights and Democracy Report.

We were concerned about continuing restrictions on press freedoms and freedom of expression in Ethiopia in 2014, including through use of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (ATP). Those detained under the ATP include members of opposition groups, journalists, peaceful protesters, and others seeking to exercise freedom of assembly or expression.

In July, seven bloggers from the “Zone 9” group and three journalists were charged under the ATP. The case is ongoing. In October, the prominent journalist and editor, Temesgen Dessalegn, was sentenced to three years in prison. He is appealing his conviction whilst in detention. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 17 journalists were held in detention in 2014 – up from seven in 2013, and the fourth highest number in the world. CPJ also believes that more than 30 journalists fled Ethiopia in 2014. The Ethiopian government stated that the journalists may return, and that it has no intention of charging them.

In June, up to twenty journalists from the Oromia Radio and Television Organisation were dismissed, allegedly in relation to their critical views on student protests in the region. In August, five magazines and one newspaper ceased publication following the government’s decision to charge them under the Criminal Code in August. Studies by the Open Net Initiative and Freedom House have shown that access to electronic media is restricted. Dozens of websites, including international news sites, which feature critical content or cover sensitive political issues, have been either intermittently or permanently blocked. Other factors that work against a free media environment include challenges for private sector publishers to access affordable and reliable printing presses, and a lack of professional training for journalists. We have raised concerns about restrictions on media freedoms at the highest levels of the Ethiopian government. In September, at the UN HRC’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) we recommended that Ethiopia take concrete steps to ensure that the 2015 elections are more representative and participative than those in 2010, including by encouraging open debate among political parties. Ethiopia accepted this recommendation and we are waiting to see what action they will take.

The UK also raised these issues regularly at the most senior levels of the Ethiopian government. We continue to attend trials which have implications for press freedom, in order to assess whether they meet international fair trial standards. In May and July, the EU issued joint statements reiterating the importance of political space and freedom of expression. The EU called for due process and respect for human rights regarding the detention of the “Zone 9” bloggers, journalists, and opposition figures.

Freedom of expression is a core characteristic of any democracy. The UK believes that a more open environment, in which press freedoms are protected, will strengthen democratic accountability and contribute to Ethiopia’s long-term stability.

Source: www.gov.uk