This is how over 90 percent of Ethiopians make their living. Where is the billions of dollars the khat-chewing dictator in Ethiopia received from the U.S. Government, the World Bank, the IMF, and other donors so far? (Photo by Pervez at flickr)
[Editor’s Note: The following article do not necessarily reflect the views of Ethiopian Review.]
By Messay Kebede
I am reacting to Jawar Siraj Mohammed’s article, titled “The Failed Journey of the OLF,” in which he mercilessly dissects the inner impediments of the organization and declares it dead for all practical purposes (click here to read). The article delivers the deep disappointments of a committed member forced to admit that “the OLF has been damaged beyond repair.” It argues that the present shabby state of the organization, mainly manifested by internal divisions, originates from the lack of tangible results both in the military and political fields, which lack reflects the incompetence and irresolution of its leadership.
While Jawar’s criticisms are both surprising and refreshing, yet they are not bold and insightful enough to bring about new directions of thought. The main reason for this lack of boldness and insight is that Jawar criticizes everything except the most important issue, namely, the ideological guidance of the OLF. Nowhere does he connect the political and military failures of the organization with the ideology that it is pursuing. Still less does he suggest that the failures could result from the insolvency of the ideology whose core demand, we know, is the right to self-determination, including secession.
The lack of a bold analysis of the inadequacies of the OLF leads the author to suggest solutions that fall short of tackling the main issue. He thus wants to contain the political influence of the Oromo Diaspora; he also appeals for a renewed faith in the cause. But because he never questions the ideological goal, these suggestions are hardly up to the depth of the problem. Aware of their inefficiency, but also reluctant to challenge the ideology, the author prefers to pronounce the OLF dead in a desperate attempt to salvage the secessionist agenda by convincing himself and others that the failures originate from the leadership, not from the ideology. I contend that an approach focusing on ideology better explains the failures by showing that the incompetence and irresolution of the leadership are simply products of a crippling thinking.
The Legacy of Radicalism
To begin with, Jawar criticizes some members for weakening the organization by creating factions while he himself could be accused of doing just that. Such a criticism would be unfair, however, for the fact that he has given up the project of reforming the organization proves that the criticisms are not meant to create another faction. Since he is convinced that the organization can no longer be repaired, his intention is to awaken the Oromo to its demise.
What is definitely untenable is a critique of the leadership that stops short of challenging the ideology. Yet, in several places, Jawar comes close to the ideological issue but only to back down by diverting his attention to effects rather than causes. For instance, he assertively shows how the OLF originated from the Ethiopian student movement and inherited the undemocratic and conspiratory mindset inherent in the movement. He writes: “OLF is a foster child of the student movement that brought the revolution; as such it shares some common organizational behaviors and characteristics with all other organizations that came out that era, such as the EPRP, TPLF and EPLF.” Further, he adds: “The political forces that emerged from the student movement were led by individuals who worshiped Mao Zedong and Stalin, so they embraced such undemocratic, rigid and control freak organizational model.”
Seeing the nauseating state of Ethiopia and Eritrea under the TPLF and EPLF, it is inconsistent to expect that an organization born of the same root would disseminate anything other than hatred, war, and famine. What else could worshippers of Stalin come up with but ideas suppressing democracy and spreading national disunity? If what the TPLF and EPLF realized is wrong for Ethiopia as well as for the ethnic groups that they claim to represent, then it is naive to assume that their brother, that is, the OLF, would bring about a better result. What needs to be questioned here is the culture of hatred and disunity that Stalin veiled under the morally loaded language of self-determination up to secession.
In denouncing the undemocratic nature of the leadership, Jawar forgets that the behavior is only part and parcel of an ideological package inherited from the radicalization of the 60s. Unless the whole package is thrown away, there is no way of implanting a new democratic behavior. Since the undemocratic nature of the organization is inseparable from its ideology, the inescapable conclusion is that an ideology fomented by worshippers of Stalin cannot be good for the Oromo. If a new organization is indeed desired, changing the people without changing the ideology will get you nowhere.
Far from focusing on the ideological issue, Jawar dismisses it by stressing the unity of purpose within the OLF. Speaking of the faction that argues for the democratization of Ethiopia rather than secession, he notes that said ideological difference “was never really big enough to split the organization,” as the support for “independent Oromia” was “a more popular position.” Why is secession more popular than democratization? The question makes sense because what appears obvious is actually derived from a Stalinist analysis that the author should have denounced.
Armed Struggle and Secession
The truth is that the lack of democracy is closely linked with the secessionist agenda. The latter leads to the choice of armed struggle as the only feasible method, with the consequence that the subsequent militarization of the struggle becomes incompatible with the maintenance of democracy. Military priorities and leaders take the upper hand over democratic concerns. Contrary to a peaceful form of struggle, the condition of military successes becomes the sacrifices of democracy so that it is inconsistent to want military gains and democracy at the same time. Witness: it is the emphasis on military efficiency that progressively divested the EPLF and TPLF of their original democratic intent.
The secessionist goal is inconsistent with the complaint about the lack of democracy for another reason. When an organization that claims to represent the largest ethnic group opts for secession, clearly it is empowering extremists to the detriment of moderates. So that, militarization and ideological extremism combine to make democratic practices anything but relevant to the ongoing struggle.
Worst yet, the military option induced by the ideology of secession brought the movement under the tutelage of the Eritrean regime. Jawar speaks of the OLF as a “hostage” and attributes many of its faults to the intervention of the Eritrean regime. Put otherwise, the OLF has lost its independence and has become a pawn in the Eritrean pursuit of regional hegemony. The sad thing, Jawar admits, is that the subordination has no appreciable military gains, since Eritrea does not neighbor Oromia and so cannot provide sanctuaries for Oromo fighters.
The subordination to a regime that has regional ambition is fraught with deep adverse consequences. A good example is the TPLF: its support for the Eritrean struggle for independence, in the name of military necessity, empowered a pro-Eritrean and anti-Ethiopian leadership. As a result, not only the original goal of the movement was diverted, but also the empowered anti-Ethiopian clique is working hard to set Tigreans against Ethiopians through favored treatments whose outcome can only be the spread of suspicion and animosity. The price for military victory through an abnormal alliance was thus the empowerment of a clique that does not even represent Tigray, given that the best and long term interest of Tigray is its full integration into a prosperous Ethiopia.
The drive for secession through military means actually intensifies internal divisions, since together with the demise of democratic practices it raises the question of knowing which faction will become the dominant force in independent Oromia. The more the Oromo elite aspires to create a monoethnic state, the more its internal divisions, especially the religious ones, will stand out. One of the positive qualities of large multiethnic countries is the propensity to diffuse differences by displaying diversity as a normal feature of social life. By contrast, in monoethnic countries differences are perceived as abnormal and quickly generate battling factions, as shown by the example of Lebanon and Somalia.
Jawar knows that the absence of environmental conditions appropriate for guerrilla warfare, such as mountainous areas and helpful neighboring countries, contributes to the dearth of military success. In the face of this formidable obstacle one would expect that the OLF is actively seeking an alternative strategy compensating the inappropriateness of the environment by vast alliances with other ethnic groups, some of whom even possess the required geographical conditions. Unfortunately, the policy of dispersing the TPLF military machine by multiplying centers of military resistance cannot be considered as it comes up against the secessionist agenda.
Let us go further: what prevents the OLF from seeing that military struggle is not the only way to get rid of the regime is the secessionist goal. If unity of purpose could join the Oromo with other ethnic groups, especially the Amhara, then peaceful means of struggle would be enough to topple the Woyanne regime. I do not see how a clique with such a narrow base could suppress for long an overwhelming majority using the strategy of noncooperation. Let us not forget that what brought down the imperial regime was unity, and not military means. In a word, in undermining unity, the secessionist agenda greatly reduces the power of peaceful struggle and, by the same token, remove a much greater prospect of generating a democratic government.
Secession and Self-Mutilation
For Jawar, independent Oromia “shall play the leading role in democratizing, stabilizing and developing the entire East Africa.” This thought overlooks that the secession of an ethnic group that claims to be the largest group both in terms of territory and population is a much more complicated process than the secession of Eritrea and that it is fraught with unpredictable consequences. The secession of Oromia is not a mere amputation; it is a major dismemberment that adversely affects all ethnic groups in Ethiopia as well as neighboring countries. Who can stay that the secession will result in a peaceful outcome? In light of the recent horrible carnage caused by the border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea, one can confidently states that the secession will create such a chaotic and highly explosive situation that the whole region will turn into a battlefield.
In addition to nurturing a reckless thought, the secessionist goal induces a self-mutilating culture. When the largest ethnic group decides to split, it is behaving as a minority group. In so doing, it degrades itself and loses sight of what it can be. What cripples the OLF is thus the secessionist goal: the latter limits its horizon, the means at its disposal and, therefore, its will. Jawar begins his article by asking the Oromo to “think big”; secession, however, is to think small, and hence to be small. Organizations grow and become efficient when they espouse challenging goals, not when they fail to be what they can be. One should seriously reflect on the possibility that the political and military failures of the OLF may be connected with the self-demeaning image enshrined in the secessionist ideology.
Oromo leaders claim to uplift the Oromo people by defending secession. They are actually doing the opposite, given that the Oromo could become the force that democratizes and consolidates Ethiopia instead of dismembering it. The distorting impact of the secessionist ideology is such that Oromo elites do not even recognize greatness. Take the case of Ras Gobena: though in alliance with Menelik he created a formidable empire that even colonial powers feared, he is seen as a sellout and secessionists as authentic Oromo.
To say that a large ethnic group curtails itself when it stoops to the level of a minority group by opting for secession means that the discrepancy between the great potential of the Oromo people and the narrow goal of its elite explains the failures of the OLF. Since the leadership is not up to the potential of the people it claims to represent, like a big load led into a narrow path, the movement naturally goes nowhere. I thus say to the Oromo elite: think big indeed, that is, become what you can be, builder and not wrecker.
(Prof. Messay Kebede can be reached at [email protected])
One may wonder if Meles Zenawi will ever wish the people of Ethiopia happiness, freedom from his endless tyrannical rule and a future of hope. At a time when Ethiopians have been preoccupied with efforts to receive the new Ethiopian year with a sense of hope and jubilation, not because of any tangible change but for the sake of at least their unique calendar and the end of the dreary rainy season, Meles Zenawi had a different game plan. When he convened a meeting of his loyalists, it was predictable that he had no plan of any good wishes for the poor nation he has been ravaging with his misrule.
After all Meles is a classic tyrant whose cruelty is undisputed. According to Wikipedia, the word “tyrant” carries connotations of a harsh and cruel ruler who places his or her own interests or the interests of a small oligarchy over the best interests of the general population, which the tyrant governs or controls.
Despite his best effort to try to fool the people, the majority is too wise to be cheated. But there were at least some gullible folks who took the absolute monarch’s pranks seriously and thought that he would abdicate his absolutist throne and deliver a great resignation message on the New Year. “He will go. It is a done deal!” they argued. But it turned out that Zenawi’s plan was nothing more than an unsophisticated cruel April fool’s day hoax in September [Meskerem], the first month in the Ethiopian calendar.
Stopping an insurrection
Before its melodramatic end, Meles Zenawi’s resignation gamesmanship has a long history. It started in the aftermath of the 2005 national elections. After stealing the elections and smashing the popular demand for democracy and freedom, Meles appeared on BBC’s HARDtalk with Stephen Sacker. The interview was not as easy as the monologue he scripts for ETV and Walta. Meles was palpitating and visibly stressed.
Zenawi’s agony was quite understandable as the questions were forthright and there was little space to evade the uncompromising BBC interrogator who even managed to extract a confession that he ordered his security forces to open fire on unarmed protesters.
“What order did you give the security forces?” asked Mr Sacker.
“Stop the insurrection!” declared Meles.
“As simple as that!”
“Yeah!” said the dictator triumphantly as if he ordered the killing of some flies.
The game of the president
The usually cunning despot was caught red-handed lying a few times. He even tried to convince the BBC sharp man that the person who formed the electoral board was not him but the “president” of the country. This was to make Sacker and BBC viewers believe that he was in power only for two terms.
“The National Election Board, the current board, was appointed over a decade ago, during the transitional period, and at that period, at that time, the president submitted the names to the parliament. Now if we were to appoint new election board members, it would be the prime minister, which would put the names to the parliament.”
Bemused with his answer, Stephen asked the self-anointed Prime Minister: “Where were you at that particular time?”
“I was the president of the Transitional Government,” Meles answered blinking his eyes helplessly. So finally, it was discovered that the “president” was no one other than Zenawi himself. The street smart despot never surrenders.
“You were the president?” asked Mr Sacker as if he was surprised.
“Yes!”
“So you still put forward the names?”
“Yes, I did.”
“And you now expect the opposition to believe this Board would be entirely impartial? Then Meles resorted to comparing his anomalous empire to a normal country. “Well, I suppose the opposition parties in France expect their Minister of Interior to be impartial in elections and I suppose it is very similar in your country?”
“But I suppose in most countries it would be unusual for one man to be in power for so long, and would control all the appointments for so long?”
“This is my second term and I…” said Meles again trying to pull the wool over Mr Sacker’s eyes.
“You just told me you were the president of the interim transitional authority before?”
“Yeah, the transitional period.”
“So in essence, you have been in power for 14 years.”
“Is that unheard of in Europe?” asks the tyrant to make an escape route.
In the middle of the dramatic interview in which Meles was cornered, the issue of resignation was raised. Meles’ answer was simple, “That is up to my party to decide!” He went on to say: “I want the office to serve my country and I will only serve if I feel…I have value to add. Likewise, if my party feels I don’t add value, they can change the prime minister any time.”
Since that bad encounter with Mr Sacker, who further revealed the mind of a typical power monger in front of the whole world, Mr Zenawi insisted that it would be his last term and he would submit his resignation to his party, as if the “party” composed of his “yes-men” will ever have a power to decide on his fate.
Had had enough
On December 14, 2006, Stephanie McCrummen of the Washington Post published another interesting interview with Zenawi in which he boldly declared that he was deeply convinced that “we either democratize and have a good chance of surviving, or if we fail to do so, we disintegrate.” At the end of the interview McCrummen asked, “Do you have any plans to try a third term?” He tried to evade the question again by diverting it to his party.
“My party? My party will try not only for a third term but for a tenth term.”
“And you personally?” fired back McCrummen knowing what he was up to.
“And me personally, I think I have had enough,” Zenawi said. Here again anyone can notice his self-doubt and caprice. The sentence was not fully affirmative as he opened the sentence with “I think….” If he had had enough, why did he say I think? Just a fool’s game of self-deception.
He continued to sing the resignation song and his blind supporters continued to dance to the tune tirelessly. And yet he kept on giving conflicting signals until many of the respected global news outlets echoed his propaganda. They declared that Zenawi was likely to set an example not only in Ethiopia but also in Africa by relinquishing power in a civilized manner.
Got bored with resignation
In June 24 of this year, Meles told reporters another interesting story. In a news dispatch under the headline Meles bored with resignation talk, the global newswire service Reuters reported that the tyrant was bored with the expectation and talks of his departure.
According to Reuters, asked when he would go at a news conference, “Meles, who has been hinting at an exit for several years, replied: “I am bored with that question. Even if you are not bored, I am.”
But Tsegaye Tadesse and Barry Malone got it wrong again by quoting another gullible but unnamed analysts. “Analysts believe Meles is most likely to leave after the 2010 election, with the ruling party probably winning again and the prime minister’s post then passing to a senior minister,” they reported. Misreading the signals, a Barry Malone of Reuters even distributed a list of possible successors: Seyoum Mesfin, Girma Biru and Tedros Adhanom added with a list of opposition figure most of whom were victims
Setting a new example
Though Meles declared his boredom over talks of his resignation in front of reporters, he told William Wallis, FT Africa Editor, a few days earlier that in Addis Ababa June 17th that he was going to set a new example.
“Is there a danger though that your liberation movement could go the way of some others on the continent which have over time lose their original ideals and are prey to cronyism and the pursuit of power for its own sake rather for the sake of the people?” Wallis asked.
“Absolutely! There is no guarantee. Every movement will have to renew itself everyday or risk degenerating.”
“Including changing leadership?” Wallis wondered.
“Absolutely!” Zenawi said.
“You have said before you are willing to stand down? What developments are there on this front?
He argued at length that his party will change the old leadership and “renew” itself with a new kind of leadership.
Another serious question followed: “Are you saying that you won’t be standing in the elections next year?”
“All I am saying is that my personal position is that I have had enough. I am not a lone gunman…. So I am arguing my case and the others are also arguing their case.… I would like to keep my party membership even after I resign from my government position. My hope is we will come up with some understanding. I don’t think the differences are all that big.”
“When might that take place? Is there a party congress coming up?”
“Yes there is a congress in September,” Meles declared making it appear that there is a real party with real members with unsold souls with rights to debate with him.
“Who would you like to succeed you?”
“I would like the party to make that decision.”
“Why is it that Ethiopians don’t really believe you could go?” Wallis queried with interest.
“Because it has not been done in the past in Ethiopia.”
“But this is a precedent you would like to set?”
“This is a precedent that I would almost kill to set.” From what he was saying, it seemed he can’t wait to go and leave alone the country he has been messing up for lover three decades.
A bad hoax
“And what will you do when you eventually step down? I gather you haven’t had a holiday for 34 years.”
The tyrant answered: “I think my preference would be to read, perhaps write, but again that will be a decision for the party. One thing that I will not do, one thing that the party should not consider is be involved in any government work.”
“You will withdraw?”
“That is a necessary condition and without that there is no change of leadership. But once we have done that the party will have its decision as to whether I will be allow [sic] to sit back read and write, or give me other party (role).”
“Like party chairman?”
“I don’t think so because the prime minister has to be the party chairman. That is not a position for a retired leadership,” Meles answered knowing full well that he was just playing a game that he has perfected: a game of self-deceptions. After all tyrants like Meles are narcissist creatures who are too predictable to cheat anyone but themselves.
As predicted again, the resignation game came full circle. Meles convened his “party”. When the two-day “conference” was over we were told that EPRDF accepted Meles Zenawi’s resignation. “The council has passed decision the senior leaders of the front and management would hand over its leadership in the coming five years. The council has examined the resignation request of EPRDF Chairperson, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and decided to put in to effect as per the procedure of the Front after five years,” the TPLF-controlled Ethiopian News Agency reported. That was not the end of the story.
“We have made a decision about all our frontline leaders, not just Prime Minister Meles Zenawi,” Muktar Kedir, chief of headquarters for the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), told Reuters on Wednesday.
“They will all resign within five years. We will consider his request again then,” he said after the EPRDF’s annual congress this week. Muktar must be kidding. The election is over EPRDF is going to enjoy another landslide victory because it is just a periodic exercise to impress donors. Meles has been begged to stay in power and he is going to be his own predecessor, the one he was promising all these years to transfer power to. What an impressive trick!
Meles Zenawi seems to be like a man who has been trying to build a fortress of ice in the middle of the Tropics. Unfortunately, his efforts are vain and his games too silly. The reason why Zenawi will cling to power for ever is the fact that he has not built a country for himself and his children. There is so much at stake. After all, the nation is a milk cow for him and the ethnic oligarchy he created.
The truth of the matter is that the wicked dictator has little choices. Very few tyrants like himself will take him as a guest of honor. Zimbabwe is already occupied by his predecessor. His long time mentor Isaias Afewerki will need his head on a platter if he flees to his mother’s country, Eritrea, a country he liberated from Ethiopian colonialism. The Sudanese tyrant Al Bashir may take him but the trouble is he is being hunted by the International Criminal Court, which is also compiling files against Zenawi. Where can he flee to escape justice? China, Burma may be Libya? For tyrants like Zenawi, the options are quite limited in the real world as he will be forced to confront the mountain of truth and the grips of justice.
Zenawi rebuilt Ethiopia on a quicksand, on a foundation of divide and rule. When the wall comes crushing on him, it will wipe out the whole criminal enterprise. Expecting Meles to go on his own volition is waiting for a miracle to happen. After all, he is a man who has been sowing the chaff of hatred and division across the fields and over the mountains and telling the people to collect the harvest of peace and democracy.
What is sad this time round is not the cruel game but the fact that the despot chose to play his moronic April fool’s day hoax on a New Year, a time of hope, change and expectation. In spite of the fact that Meles also plays such a game for the consumption of some naïve funders who sponsor his tyranny, knowingly or unknowingly, the joke is cruel beyond the pale. Whether Zenawi likes it or not, change is inevitable and freedom and democracy will come eventually, not out of kindness of ruthless tyrants like him but out of the human march toward the unyielding path of freedom. Sooner or later, Meles will take his guaranteed place in the dustbin of history along with Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mobutu, Id Amin, Pol Pot…and all the known evil men who have caused a great deal of destruction and horror.
We wish fellow Ethiopians in and outside of the country a year of hope, courage, change and unity. Let us forget the dictator’s cruel hoax and enjoy the New Year festivities. On such an occasion, it is also important to think of heroes and heroines who have fallen and made great sacrifices in jails and torture chambers for freedom’s sake. We need to pay tribune to our future leaders, those true Ethiopians like Birtukan Mideksa who have offered themselves as sacrificial lambs so that Ethiopians will one live in abundant freedom and dignity. Their sacrifice and suffering is not in vain. We should always remember that resistance against tyrants is obedience to God, as Thomas Jefferson said. Intensifying the resistance in unison against tyranny setting aside the petty bickering cannot be postponed.
(The above articles is released by Forum for Rights and Equality in Ethiopia (FREE), a new advocacy group under formation that aims to campaign for freedom, democracy and justice founded on basic rights and equality for all. Using the power of new media, we aim to speak vocally, raise awareness, network and mobilize freedom loving Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia across the world. For enquiries, comments or to get involved, please contact us at [email protected] or email the project co-ordinator Abebe Gellaw at [email protected])
Victims of the Wonji and Metahara sugar factories in Ethiopia have launched a new web site.
A brief History of the Wonji victims
Dr. Ashagere Germow
In 1950’s, HVA International NV started to pioneer the sugar industry in Ethiopia. Wonji, Wonji/Shoa and Metahara sugar factories were established in 1954, 1960 and 1968. Wonji,Wonji/Shoa and Metehara Sugar Estates are located 110 km from Addis Ababa the capital city of Ethiopia. Wonji, Wonji/Shoa and Metehara are close to the Rift Valley where there are excess fluoride hot springs/volcanic rocks. Except HVA International administration and it’s Dutch employees the rest (Ethiopian) employees of the three sugar factories and their families had no knowledge of the existence of excess fluoride in their drinking water.
HVA International violated the trust of it’s employees and their families by withholding information of excess fluoride existence in the drinking water for 17 years. Sadly, HVA was providing safe drinking water to protect only it’s own citizens only, the Dutch. Secretly two treated water were planted inside their secluded fence where they lived called: ” Shibo Gibi” which means fenced area.
“The existence of ‘fluoride’ problem’ in the state was first recognized in 1957 when the children of the Dutch families had dental examination while on holiday in Holland. In 1962, two de-fluoridated plants were installed in the two factory villages where the Dutch families lived. In 1972 the existence of skeletal fluorosis in the estate was discovered. Between 1974 and 1976, de-fluoridated water was made available to all villages of the estate” (historical data were obtained in 1997 from records & files of WSSF.A review done by Genene Shifera,MD and Redda Tekle-Haimanot,MD FRCP(C),PhD 2)
Thousands of children and adults were and still are at risk almost four generations are affected from dental and skeletal fluorosis which is a bone disease caused by excessive consumption of fluoride. These three communities were exposed also to toxins emitted from the factory. Dust, gases and smoke had affected many people’s lungs and circulation. And the houses’ roofs were built from asbestos.To this day HVA International continues to be reluctant to admit violating the human rights of those poor voiceless Wonji/ Wonji/Shoa and Metehara residents.
Wonji, Wonji/Shoa and Metehara fluoride victims situation now is all more alarming as they are the most archaic human beings. The number of people leading “a painful and crippled life” from fluorosis has risen. Being disfigured and disabled, physiological and mental particularities had pernicious consequences such as suicide in some cases. Children were forced to abandon schooling because their deformed limbs could no longer take them to the secondary school.
Negative tendencies are traced out in finding a job, friendship and also a marriage because of the appearances of Wonji young adults. The only chance the youth has is to marry within their community that have the similarity to stained teeth and find a job in their community-in the three sugar factories.
Sugarcane cutters (unskilled laborers) wage average was US$0.40 cents a day (Revolutionary Ethiopia page 111,By Edmond J. Keller). Right now Wonji retirement wage ranges from 48-300 Birr a month (US $5.50–$34 dollars) Wonji victims have to support with that small amount of money their children and family members who are living with them.
As a result, timely and comprehensive, and especially prophylactic, medical services appear to be in urgent need of social, economic and medical assistance.
Please see the photo album of the victims, WSMPPA members,the administration staff of Wonji sugar factory and Almaz Mequanint and her husband Elias Gizaw who flew from USA to attend the wheelchairs distribution event in December 2007.
Click here to visit their web site.
Ethiopian Review wishes the new year will bring Ethiopia’s tensae. Happy Ethiopian New Year. Enjoy this video.
By Barry Malone
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – A coalition of opposition parties accused the Ethiopian authorities the Woyanne tribal junta on Thursday of arresting some of its members on trumped up charges to stop them running in an election scheduled for next May.
Eight parties have allied under the banner of the Forum for Democratic Dialogue in Ethiopia (FDDE) to contest the 2010 polls, which analysts say the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) Tigrean People Liberation Front (Woyanne) is likely to win.
Opposition figures say they have been hamstrung by a campaign of arrests and intimidation. The EPRDF Woyanne denies it.
“Ruling party cadres throughout the country are jailing our potential candidates on false charges,” Bulcha Demeksa, leader of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement, one of the parties in the opposition coalition, told reporters in Addis Ababa.
“We want to negotiate with the government and ask them to stop arresting and jailing our potential candidates.”
The parties that make up the alliance hold just 80 of parliament’s 547 seats, but still represent the most significant opposition to a government that is a close ally of Washington.
Bereket Simon, the Ethiopian government’s head of information, told Reuters that since none of the parties had yet named their candidates, the opposition’s claims were baseless. “Nobody is being jailed for being a politician,” he said.
TALKS WALK-OUT
Ethiopia’s last elections in 2005 were hailed as the country’s first fully democratic polls, but they ended in bloodshed after the government declared victory and the opposition said the result had been rigged. Police and soldiers killed about 200 people who took to the streets in protest.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi accused the demonstrators of trying to topple his government, and more than 100 opposition leaders, journalists and aid workers were later jailed.
Those detainees were pardoned and freed in 2007, but rights groups say the government is cracking down on dissent again. One opposition party leader is in jail and a group of former military officers have been convicted of plotting to oust Meles.
Meles has set up talks with the opposition about drawing up a code of conduct for next year. But the FDDE said on Thursday that its members had walked out of discussions.
“The code of conduct assumes a context where there will be independent administration of elections, freedom of movement, freedom of expression, no intervention by security forces,” said Seye Abraha, a former defence minister who is now in the FDDE.
“We want these issues discussed alongside the code of conduct, not assumed.”
Bereket dismissed FDDE claims the code was undemocratic: “This code of conduct is being drawn up by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, not the Ethiopian government … To walk away from it is disastrous and is to walk away from democracy.”
(Editing by Daniel Wallis)