Addis Fortune looks deeper to find some telling bits of information about the May 23, 2010, elections in Ethiopia:
An unassuming voter in Polling Station of One, of Ambo Town, Western Shewo Zone of the Oromia Regional State, marked his vote alongside the candidate by the name of Metiku Tesso (PhD), fielded by the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). A president of Ambo University very much liked by residents of the town, Metiku ran against five other candidates fielded by parties such as Medrek, the All Ethiopian Unity Party (AEUP), Oromo National Congress (ONC), and Oromo Liberation Unity Front (OLUF). The unassuming voter, one of the 807 residents who voted that day out of the 883 registered at that polling station, made a statement in the box alongside Woldeyes Mengesha, an MP for this constituency, who ran under the Medrek platform. Written in Amharic, this voter exercised his freedom of expression with the phrase “F . . . you!” However, he did not do much good for the candidate he or she wanted to support. This particular vote was disqualified, joining 84 other votes deemed invalid for various reasons. There was of course another similar exercise in the freedom of expression where a voter felt compelled to send a message, writing, “No one knows; God bless Ethiopia!” This too was cast in favor of the candidate from the incumbent. … click here to continue reading.
6 thoughts on “How do the numbers add up to a 99.6% victory for Meles?”
Hey Elias when are u gonna stop barking about the election ended 3 weeks a go? can u get over it and move on or wait another 5 years? MANNNNN u are so annoying u dont make no sense u still ECO the same thing again and again please get a life!!!! we have so much important things to talk about .
ELIAS KIFLE, Please take time to learn something new rather than keeping on hiting a brick wall time and time again with no result. Come to Agew the land of wisdom. We will teach you a thing or two about what country means.
To cocerne people
Development assistance is a complex and difficult task. In a recent article, “Cruel Ethiopia” [NYR, May 13], Helen Epstein highlights some of the challenges. However, I think that Ms. Epstein’s argument conflates two closely linked, but separable, topics.
Fundamentally, development assistance aims to promote national development for the country and the reduction of poverty for its people. In this regard, Ethiopia has an impressive performance, with economic growth accelerating sharply on a sustained basis since about 2003, despite the global economic crisis. Since 2000, Ethiopia has recorded the second-fastest improvement in human development in the world, according to the UNDP Human Development Report 2009. This measure relates to more Ethiopians living a longer and healthier life, being better educated, and having a decent quality of life.
With regard to the globally agreed Millennium Development Goals, Ethiopia is making significant progress in all areas. The country is on track to meet goals relating to extreme poverty and hunger, universal primary education, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, and developing a global partnership for development. Good progress is also being made in reducing child mortality and ensuring environmental sustainability. Despite having already achieved gender parity in primary schools, Ethiopia is likely to fall short, as of 2015, on the targeted improvements for promoting gender equality and empowering women and improving maternal health.
These achievements in national growth and poverty reduction are important measures by which donors assess the effectiveness of their support to Ethiopia. They show that donor funding to the country and peoples of Ethiopia has yielded substantial results that have had a significant impact on improving the lives of the poorest families. They are also testimony to the government’s strong commitment to improving basic services and building a backbone of infrastructure (i.e., roads and electricity) that can facilitate economic growth. Such government commitment is central to sustained progress in the development process.
As important as they are, the results sketched out above are not enough, for ultimately the goal of development in every country is the freedom for every individual to realize his or her full potential. There are concerns about the overall governance of the country, efficiency and fairness of resource use, the risk of dependence on aid, and protection of basic human rights, as Ms. Epstein points out. We recognize these concerns, and development partners in Ethiopia take them seriously.
We start, however, with a belief that in every country people want to be self-reliant and prosperous, and to develop a transparent, accountable, effective, and efficient governance system. Ethiopia is no exception. Our task, as an external development partner, is to support that innate tendency.
However, building institutions, public and private, that assure every citizen’s right to and effective delivery of public services takes a long time; indeed, it never ends, as we can see even in the most industrialized countries. Changes are incremental, and at times they may suffer serious setbacks. It is, therefore, crucial that development partners work with the long-term process of change, always in support of it, not in control of it (which is impossible in any case).
Of course, this does not mean that we ignore the negative impact that our assistance may bring. That is why we monitor the effects of our assistance closely and maintain continual dialogue with the host government on issues that hinder a robust and sustainable development process. And this is precisely the approach we follow in our efforts to assist Ethiopia.
Ken Ohashi
Country Director for Ethiopia and Sudan
World Bank
Washington, D.C.
You guys there is nothing wrong with Elias it rather some thing is wrong with you. Are you embarrassed by your master’s claim ? Get used to it.
hey guys if u have things to do …why u still be here reading the truth …i know he makes u mad when he tells u the truth ….one day u will understand what ethiopian ppl means …..u seems stay in power forever but dont even think about it ….just try to learn from history…oh my my and abebaw u piece of jerk get off from here and try to stay on ur abugida ETV news ok. it is irritating you to read the truth….and u play with blood of innocent ethiopian ppl.
We as Ethiopian people have to instead of fighting with one another about who’s in power. and why did they stay so long. We have unite and remember at the end of the day this bastard named Meles and his party aren’t the true face of Ethiopia but rather the puppets to the west and slaves to their own materialistic way of thinking. We are and we must unite to bring Ethiopia to her glory and help our people the best we can. We must start now,not later.