In the last two years you have been calling me all sorts of names and deeds including the embezzling of Kinijit fund. All that you said did not bother me as it was far from the truth and the character you are talking about in no way “is me” nor “resembles me.” To all the allegations, insults and what nots, I have deferred taking actions as of now but would do so in terms and manner that befits the situation at a later date.
What forced me to write you now is your October 3, 2007 article “Solomon Bekele quits…” where you stated, “Shaleqa Yoseph has let it be known that if he goes down, Hailu Shawel will also go down over the corruption issue. If a thorough investigation is conducted, Ato Hailu himself MAY BE implicated in Kinijit’s missing funds, according to ER sources.”
Engineer Hailu Shawel, Chairman of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party-Kinijit is a noble and patriotic Ethiopian of the highest integrity. He is beyond financial blemish and blackmail. He does not need Kinijit money for he has his own. In fact, he applied his vision and poured his own money into the grass roots work of democratization and development of the All Ethiopian Unity Party (AEUP). Furthermore, dedicated to strengthening of the opposition, he led the merger of the four parties into one Kinijit; the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD/Kinijit). Engineer Hailu has proven himself as the Kinijit Leader that stood firm with the Ethiopian People that elected him and made the necessary sacrifices and continues to do so. Anyone who respects and loves his country does not denigrate the name of such a leader unless he is an “Enemy of the Ethiopian People.”
I will attest that Shaleka Yoseph Yazew, a courageous soldier who loves his country, and who has dedicated his service to it can stand his ground and does not need to drag anybody to defend/shield him. Shaleka as the man and the soldier will stand and protect his leader Engineer Hailu Shawel, the person he has extremely high respect and regard.
The Kinijit leadership while still in Kality replaced KIL and created KIC. Dr. Taye Wolde Semayat was one of the 11 individuals the Kinijit leaders recommended to be a member of the KIC. The newly formed KIC unanimously elected Dr. Taye Wolde Semayat as its Chairman. Dr. Taye who resigned his chairmanship post from Ethiopian Teachers Association (ETA) to join KIC.He is an individual with the track record that has won the respect and admiration of our people and a hero to a good majority of Ethiopians. This hero is now being smeared with malicious innuendos r to detract him from the services he is providing his country. Be assured, Dr. Taye is a veteran in the struggle and no innuendos or smear campaign will detract him from serving his country.
By your own lame retraction, and Ato Solomon Bekele’s written response on www.kinijit.org “It is totally a fabrication of some individual or individuals trying to stir division and animosity within the Kinijit family.” This affirms the reckless level that your reporting has descended to. Even in the sleaziest reporting, there should be an element of truth, conscience and integrity.
Mogus Brook
____________________ Response From ER Publisher
Ato Mogus,
Thank you for finally responding directly to me. I consider this a positive step on your part. If you have nothing to hide, why do you hide yourself and Ato Hailu Shawel from the media? I urge you, in fact I challenge you to hold a press conference with me and my associates at Ethiopian Review where you make yourself available for interview without any precondition. Also allow yourself to be audited by a credible accounting firm hired by the Kinijit executive committee. If the auditing shows that you are innocent, I will kneel down and apologize to you in a public square. I hope you will take me up on my challenge.
The Sept. 21 issue of The Hill newspaper falsely reported that Kinijit delegates Gizachew Shiferraw and Brook Kebede do not support H.R. 2003, while Hailu Shawel does. (see the report here)
It was a blatantly false report. Just a few days earlier, Ato Gizachew Shiferraw was standing next to Congressman Mike Honda at a pro-HR 2003 rally in front of the U.S. Congress as he made a speech urging Congress to pass the bill. Again, one week earlier, all the delegates had been at Congressman Donald Payne’s office to personally lobby on behalf of the bill. Yet, the EPRP web sites and radio programs used the false report to pound on the delegates as working against the bill.
Yesterday, another false report appeared. This time it was in the Washington Post which reported that Ato Hailu Shawel and Ato Mesfin Mekonnen were at the Congress when the vote H.R. 2003 took place [read here]. The fact is that Ato Hailu was and still is in Minneapolis getting medical treatment. Ato Mesfin was also not there on Tuesday.
Asked to correct the report, Nora Boustany, the Washington Post correspondent who wrote the report, responded:
“… they were both sitting in the gallery and I reached them by cell phone while the session was going on. You can probably find out by contacting the office of Rep. Smith. You can check this out independently. So, I hope you can have this faulty editor’s note corrected. Otherwise, thank you for your interest.”
This is the work of Ato Mesfin Mekonnen, an EPRP operative in Washington DC who is recruited by Taye to join the now defunct KIC (keysi).
But why? The misinformation can easily be discovered and disproved? Unless the objective is to create confusion even if temporarily.
Ato Mesfin Mekonnen could have been trying to earn credit for himself and Hailu Shawel for some thing they did not do, but that comes with a terribly high price — misinforming the American media the way he did acting as a representative of a major Ethiopian opposition party can have a negative impact on the whole Ethiopian community.
Mathematics can apply every were, but it demands your ability and talent to manipulate those numbers, at the same time you have to apply according to the rule of mathematics.
You must be aware of the consequences of manipulating numbers or mathematical models. But make no mistake about it; you can’t manipulate people in politics and get away with it unscathed.
Enjoy, this one is simple but interesting.
9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888
Brilliant, isn’t it?
And look at this symmetry:
1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321
Now, take a look at this…
101%
From a strictly mathematical viewpoint: What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?
Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?
We have all been in situations where someone wants you to GIVE OVER 100%.
How about ACHIEVING 101%?
What equals 100% in life?
Here’s a little mathematical formula that might help answer these questions:
If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
John F. Kennedy once said, “The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.” What then can we say about the Ethiopian-American by nature?
American politics does not seem to be on the frontline for many Ethiopians living in the United States. That is relatively understandable since after all America is not our country, so why should we get involved? Or is it? To many 1st generation Ethiopians, America is our home just as Ethiopia is, allowing us the freedom to be not only Ethiopian, or American, rather Ethiopian American. Why then don’t we see a higher participation from the Ethiopian-American community in American politics? And how important is it that the Ethiopian American community be active in American politics?
Growing up in a new country, a new land, a new life style, a new generation of Ethiopian Americans, have endured similar obstacles. They have been caught somewhere in between the paranoid, overprotective pessimistic parents and the world of their free, liberal, optimistic American peers, a chemistry that creates the unique character of the Ethiopian American identity. Ethiopian Americans such as Mike Endale, or Million Fikre, or simply the general Diaspora who are in the spotlight, because they choose to represent who they are and who can decipher their lifestyles. They choose to become part of something big, or even start something small that makes a difference… continue reading here
By Barney Jopson in Nairobi and Daniel Dombey in Washington
The Financial Times
The U.S. House of Representatives has set itself at loggerheads with the Bush administration by backing a bill that would force Ethiopia, a US military ally, to improve its record on democracy and human rights or risk losing substantial aid.
The bill, passed on Tuesday, underscores unease among lawmakers over the US’s close ties with Ethiopia, which have grown since a violent crackdown on opposition supporters followed a disputed election in 2005.
But the Bush administration is unhappy about the bill, which it sees as an encroachment on the administration’s powers and misguided in some of its policies, and the legislation’s fate in the US Senate – which would also need to give its approval – is uncertain.
At the end of last year, the US gave implicit backing to Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia, which Washington feared had become a haven for Islamist militants.
In testimony this week to the House subcommittee on Africa, Jendayi Frazer, the state department’s top official on African affairs, hailed what she called “unprecedented” agreements between the Ethiopian opposition and government, which she said were “a monumental advancement in the political environment”.
Examples she gave included reform of the National Electoral Board and a new code of conduct for the press. But she added that the US had raised “strong concerns” about human rights violations in the Ogaden region.
Known as the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act, the bill would ban “non essential US assistance” if Ethiopia obstructed US efforts to further human rights, democracy, independence of the judiciary and freedom of the press. It would restrict security assistance and impose travel restrictions on Ethiopian officials accused of human rights violations unless Ethiopia met the conditions – although the legislation would give the president a waiver to prevent such measures from taking force.
The US will provide around $300m of aid to Ethiopia this year but it is unclear how much would be affected by the bill, which also exempts humanitarian, healthcare and emergency food assistance.
The text also exempts counter-terrorism, peacekeeping operations and international military training from any funding restrictions, a reflection of Ethiopia’s military capabilities and its perceived role as a source of stability in thevolatile Horn of Africa.
Samuel Assefa, Ethiopia’s ambassador to the US, described the bill as “unconscionable and irresponsible”.
