By Sabrina Yohannes BEIJING, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Haile Gebrselassie seeks his third Olympic 10,000 metres gold and fellow Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele bids for his second in a row in what should be a titanic Bird’s Nest battle to finish off Sunday’s action.
“I returned to the 10,000 because I can’t run the marathon here, but I didn’t want to miss Beijing,” the 1996 and 2000 champion Gebrselassie, who joins Bekele and Athens silver medallist Sileshi Sihine on the Ethiopian team, told Reuters.
Marathon world record-holder Gebrselassie opted out of the longer event due to the expected heat, humidity and pollution of Beijing and his asthma problems.
He acknowledged competing over 10,000 after having switched years ago to the marathon would be a challenge.
“It is, but it’s possible to handle it,” he said. “I believe I will be a strong competitor.”
He qualified for the Olympics with a time of 26:51.20 in May behind Sihine. The Ethiopian trio have the three fastest times of the year, with world record holder Bekele having run 26:25.97 in June.
Bekele and Sihine dramatically slowed down mid-race at the Athens Olympics to allow an off-form Gebrselassie to catch up, but he placed fifth.
“As for these young ones, either I will end up staying on their heels or they’ll be the ones doing that,” said Gebrselassie with a smile.
FIERCELY CHALLENGED
The world 10,000 and 5,000-meter world record-holder Bekele is overwhelmingly favoured to take gold, although he was fiercely challenged by Sihine at the 2007 world championships.
Bekele, who took 10,000 gold in 2004 and silver in the 5,000, is also likely to attempt the double again in Beijing.
“My preparation has gone very well,” he said. “But I can only decide after the 10,000. The weather may also be a factor.”
His double attempt is eagerly anticipated by his younger brother Tariku, the 2006 world junior champion, who is running the 5,000 along with reigning world junior champion Abraham Cherkos, with reserve Ali Abdosh completing the team in the event Kenenisa doesn’t double.
“If he runs, I would be very happy,” said Tariku. “I believe we could achieve great results.”
Great results are expected from Bekele and his team mates Sunday, two days after their compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba took 10,000 gold in convincing fashion before continuing on her own quest for Olympic 10,000-5000 gold.
Ecstatic Ethiopian fans in the stadium cheered during her race and danced afterwards Friday night, chanting “Alle gena! Alle gena!” loosely translated from the Amharic language as “There’s more to come!”
Lately, especially after EPDRF’s realization of its defeat during the 2005 election and the rejection of its policies by the people of Ethiopia, some of its representatives and cadres have began advancing an idea, possibly concocted up at the Prime Minister’s office, that respecting the rule of law and democracy are not necessary for Ethiopia. In fact, the concocted propaganda tool that they have begun using sounds like the myth that Ato Meles has laid out in his so-called book, which I possess the first version of the blue-print. The countries that they are trying to mimic are what the World Bank called High Performance Asian Economies, HPAEs. They are: Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The propaganda arguments presented by representatives of the Zenawi regime run like this: since these countries achieved their economic miracles under one-party systems, the EPDRF would like to follow their footsteps in order to achieve high economic growth and political stability.
The purpose of this short article is to show that there are indeed quite a few economic policy lessons to be learned from the experiences of Southeast Asian countries. Second, if the last 18 years that Ethiopia has been under the EPDRF are any witness, this country is neither in a position to mimic these countries and bring about measurable economic change, nor is the political and economic phenomena of Ethiopia comparable to those countries. In the process, I refute the argument that is being presented by the EPDRF representatives on both factual and empirical basis. I do so by briefly presenting the economic, social, and political experiences of the Southeast Asian countries and by comparing and contrasting them with that of the Ethiopian economic situation and political realities. I then present a series of conjunctures on why the regime wants us to believe that democracy is unnecessary for Ethiopia.
A Brief Summary of Some of the Common Characteristics of the High Performance Asian Economies (HPAEs):
A. Shared Growth.
Sharing the wealth created through good policies and hard work is one of the remarkable accomplishments of the HPAEs. What was also remarkable is that the rise in their income levels was also accompanied by economic equality. These countries accomplished this remarkable feat with land reform, by expanding educational opportunities (by making primary and secondary education free), access to public health care systems, and a significant amount of investment in rural infrastructure such as clean water systems as well as communication and transportation systems. These policies were not designed to equalize incomes but to provide their citizens the tools they needed to raise their own income levels and to give them hope. In the process, these policies raised the purchasing power of each individual, which in turn benefited the local business owners. The rising incomes raised everyone’s hopes thereby encouraging everyone to work hard.
In contrast, Ethiopia is a vicious cycle of poverty due to the small landholdings, poor agricultural practices, a lack of potable water (with only 7% of the rural population having access to clean water, for example), and deteriorating health and environments. These circumstances have been made worse by poor governance characterized by repressive minority rule. Even though Ato Meles likes to talk about how wealthy the peasants have become, the fact of the matter is that his policies have heavily contributed to their increased misery. Income inequality in the country has been rising under the reign of the EPDRF, while at the same time a handful of former guerilla fighters have become super rich nearly overnight. The corruption scourge (with a corruption index ranking of 139th out 179 countries) is so rampant and so repugnant that it has begun changing the culture of that country.
As I will argue later with another write-up, even the highly nationalistic and educated individuals have come to the sad realization that they cannot make it in life unless they become part of the corruption scourge. Such an attitude, driven by bad governance, denies everyone the right to be an equal participant of the economy. It denies hard working citizens the opportunity to reap the benefits of their hard work and the stakes that their country may hold for them. Rampant corruption erodes the hopes of citizens, and unfortunately, this is what is taking place in Ethiopia. When competent government bureaucrats realize that they could not serve the people who paid for their education, they choose to fend for themselves by working in the private sector or for the NGOs. When this is not possible, they leave their beloved country and become political refugees in neighboring countries, most of them facing increasing hardships and terror. When educated people become refugees, Ethiopia loses in a multiple of ways: being unable to use its young and educated sons and daughters, and being unable to recoup the costs it incurred for raising and educating the same people. There are also other social costs that I would refrain from elaborating to save space. A significant portion of the refugees make it to the West, countries which enjoy a comparative advantage in human capital. But their departure from their homeland adds to the problem of the brain-drain, a loss that poor countries such as Ethiopia cannot afford. In Ethiopia today, not only we do not have leaders who understand this issue, but the same “leaders” have exacerbated the situation by threatening the intellectuals that they would be replaced by Nigerians.
B. Increased accumulation of human capital.
Investment in people, through good educational policies was one of the most important polices of the HPAEs. They focused on primary and secondary education levels whose rate of return is much higher than university level (tertiary) education. By making primary and secondary education free, these countries raised the literacy rates, thereby laying the foundation for a highly skilled work force available for both the business and government sectors.
In contrast, the failed educational policies of the EPDRF have kept the county’s position in terms of education one of the lowest in Africa. For example, according to the UNDP and other sources, the net elementary school enrolment ratio is the lowest in Sub-Sahara Africa at only 35%, the drop-out rate being among the highest. The literacy rate is 34% for females and 49% for males, which averages out to be about 41%. Gross Tertiary (college level) School Enrollment is around 1%. To add insult to injury, the last 18 years of EPDRF policies have exacerbated the situation since the EPDRF has forced intellectuals to leave their country, making Ethiopia’s brain to continuously bleed and be hugely impaired due to the effects of the brain-drain. For example, I have been told that the number of doctors of Ethiopian origin who work in a single or two cities in the USA was greater than the numbers of doctors who work in the entire country of Ethiopia. Logic would tell you that doctors should be where most of the patients are located- in Ethiopia. Logic would also indicate to you that teachers should be residing in countries where they are the most needed, where the student/teacher ratio is one of the highest in the world – Ethiopia. One Ethiopian young mathematician tells me that, by his count and just in the last few years, the number of college level mathematicians who either have left their Homeland or decided never to go back home, mainly for fear of persecution is over fifty. This explains why the TPLF owned conglomerates, which were bought at throw away prices during the privatization process, are known to be operating way below capacity due to the shortages of human capital.
C. Rapid accumulation of physical capital:
The governments of HPAEs encouraged their people to raise savings rates which were used for domestic investment. These policies were accompanied by changes in demographics, which were accomplished through both low birth and death rates. Such demographic transitions allowed fewer children below the working age population while allowing a larger portion of the population to be economically productive. In addition, their policies enabled them to attract huge sums of foreign investments.
In contrast, the rampant inflation rates in Ethiopia, the IMF reporting it to be 40% for the month of June, is not only eroding the purchasing power of savers’ incomes but the real negative interest rates are wiping out their assets on a daily basis. The negative real rate of returns could only help the ruling party-owned corporations who are enjoying preferential treatments by the government-controlled financial institutions.
Regarding the demographics of the country, because of the absence of a good national population policy and/or the lack of the provision of more than basic health services, the country is flooded with high birth rates. As a result, a significant proportion of the population is young and unproductive, where children under fifteen years of age make up nearly 50 percent of the population. Add to this the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which continues to wipe out a significant portion of the working age population. In contrast to countries such as Uganda, which made reversals of the HIV/AIDS infections, thanks to their campaigns for awareness and treatments, the autocrats of Addis Ababa instead wasted the country’s meager resources in waging senseless wars with the country’s neighbors, in creating ethnic and religious conflicts and spending a huge sum of money to suppress dissent.
In addition, the Ethiopian economy faces environmental degradation due to wind and soil erosion and the absence of good policies for the country to protect its resources. Such a neglect of the environment denies the country from developing its own homegrown physical capital.
D. Rapid growth of manufactured exports.
More than anything else, the HPAEs are known to have promoted manufactured exports. As everyone knows, the gains from the export of processed and manufactured goods are far greater than those from exporting primary commodities mainly because of the higher value added. Manufactured exports create economies of scale when domestic firms produce to satisfy both the domestic and the international market demands. Exporting manufactured goods also allow both the importation and development of new technologies, learning by doing and international best practices; create incentives for R & Ds, which in turn have multiplier effects on their economies. Luckily enough, their policies were also aided by the Cold War, in which Western countries gave favorable treatments (lower tariff rates, etc.) to the goods and services exported by the HPAEs.
In contrast, the EPDRF has focused on an agricultural-based industrialization, if it can be called industrialization at all. The fact of the matter is that, Ethiopia is one of those poor countries which uses primitive ox-driven cultivation system, that no one in his/her right mind could call it agro-industrialization. One aspect of agro-industrialization is agro-processing of food products. When it comes to Ethiopia, such an industrialization has many constraints, including inconsistent and insufficient supply of raw material, seasonality of crops, harvest losses due to droughts, lack of efficient infrastructure such as good roads, nearby efficient ports, poorly trained personnel, weak and non-existent markets, absence of good managerially skilled work force, among others.
The fact of the matter is that, even though the EPDRF has been talking about agro-based industrialization for the last 18 years, nearly all of Ethiopia’s export revenues come from the agricultural (primary product) sector- the agricultural sector constituting nearly 60% of the country’s exports. Unfortunately, not only do the export prices of these primary products tend to fluctuate very highly, but their relative prices do decline over time as well. It is a well-known fact that countries that are commodity dependent or exhibit a narrow export basket, as does Ethiopia, often suffer from export instability arising from inelastic and unstable global demand. Ethiopia’s major source of exports, coffee, is still being exported unprocessed. Export diversification is one way to alleviate these particular constraints.
We hear from the government, on a constant basis, how many dollars the country earned through exports. Unfortunately, it never wants to show the employment figures created by phantom exports. Even the much-advertised export of flowers, it only accounts for a little over $100 million, a small sum for a nation of 82 million people. The flower business is also causing tremendous environmental degradation. The government never reports how much profit the country has gained by selling the flowers. It never tells us the effects being landlocked on exports, something that the TPLF and Ato Meles are proud of. Thanks to Meles’s ceding the country’s sea outlets, the foreign company running the Djibouti port, Ethiopia’s only outlet, has Ethiopia by the balls. It increases tariffs at will, as it recently did with a 25% hike. Lately, it has been reported that Ethiopia pays over $300 million every year to Djibouti for handling of the former’s imports and exports. By this count, Ethiopia had already paid billions of dollars to Djibouti and other countries over the last 18 years reign of the EPDRF, and will pay so dearly for many years to come for handling of its imports and exports.
E. Targeting Specific Industrial Policies and Avoiding Rent-Seeking
Even though some of the HPAEs were governed by single dominant parties, they completely liberalized their economies. This liberalization of the economic sector was accomplished despite the fact that these countries were surrounded by communist countries with command economic systems. While following liberalized economic systems, the policymakers, using the so-called Deliberation Councils, avoided rent-seeking behaviors (corruption). The Deliberation Councils were filled with highly-educated and competent bureaucrats who were purposely insulated from the political process. The Deliberation Councils were also in charge of targeting specific and narrow development industries. These government interventions included targeting very narrow and specific industries, directing credit, and export promotion. To accomplish their goals, they used licensing, quotas, tariffs, and export subsidies to restrict imports and promote exports. Whenever those policies failed to work, the incentives were withdrawn.
In contrast, the EPDRF cadres decided to follow the Russian model, misappropriating public funds and giving away formerly government owned institutions and sectors to the ethnically-owned firms. In Ethiopia, the EPDRF inserted its cadres, who happen to be highly paid and unproductive, into these ethnically-owned and other government institutions. In so doing, the EPDRF has stifled the productivity of competent bureaucrats. Any targeting of some sector is geared to benefit the ethnically-owned businesses. There is no press freedom which would expose the rampant corruption, nepotism and cronyism that has engulfed the country for too long.
F. Stable Macroeconomic Environments
Macroeconomic stability is manifested by the absence of high inflation and interest rates and stable financial institutions, relatively low budget and trade deficits, minimal rent-seeking behaviors (that is, low corruption), and well-defined property rights . In the HPAEs, lower inflation rates protected the public’s savings from being eroded by high inflation rates and raised confidence in the banking sector. Relatively low interest rates raised the real profits of the business sector. Low budget and trade deficits minimized the occurrence a financial crisis and dependence on foreign economic assistance, which do not come free.
In contrast, as I showed elsewhere, Ethiopia is facing rampant inflation, huge budget and trade deficits and high corruption. The lack of well-defined property rights has allowed the EPDRF owned conglomerates to grab any property they can find. As I argued elsewhere, by not making land privately owned, the EPDRF has not only denied the peasants to raise capital using their land as their collateral for potential loans, but the policy also has been used to scare the peasants and to force them to be real slaves of the ruling party. It seems that the same policy has created a perfect situation for the EPDRF to give Ethiopian land to foreigners at will, for the same policy effectively has made the EPDRF to be the owner of all the land of Ethiopia.
Admittedly, SOME of those leaders of the HPAEs have done something no one desires and they already have admitted their mistakes and shortcomings. They are no friends of tyranny, at least not anymore, especially the most abominable one such as the one that is being practiced in Ethiopia. For example, the former president of South Korea, Kim Dae-Jung blamed the 1997/98 financial crisis on “authoritarian leaders who placed economic development ahead of democracy.” The autocrats in Addis may invoke the Chinese economic growth as their model to imitate. Again, the Chinese economic, political and cultural situations are quite different from those in Ethiopia. Even though one could be hesitant to call the Chinese economic growth as an economic development, China was able to garner such a sustained growth by allowing economic freedom, the protection of property rights and a functioning market system. None of these realities exists in Ethiopia.
Be that as it may, a good leader is not one which longs for and looks up to the misdeeds and shortcomings of previous leaders. Such a desire to continue tyranny is distasteful and not one that healthy leaders could contemplate about and impose them on their own people. God: what kind of curse have you brought to that country and poor people?!
Now that I have briefly presented the experiences of the HPAEs, I would like to conclude this part by presenting the following parable, which, in my view, sums up the point I have tried to make:
During the 1988 American vice-presidential debate which took place between the late Democratic Senator Lloyd Bentsen and the Republican vice-presidential candidate Senator Dan Quayle, and after the then senator Quayle was asked what kind of qualifications he had to be president in the event that the president was to die or be assassinated as it happened to John F. Kennedy, and after Mr. Quayle answered in the affirmative, Mr. Bentsen said: “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy: I knew Jack Kennedy; Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”
We echo the late Senator Bentsen and say to the tyrannical leader in Addis: Ato Meles, we and the rest of the world know how those countries achieved those enviable goals. We know how nationalistic the leaders of the Southeast Asian countries were (are). The world knows that they did not instigate ethnic strife. They did not commit treasonous acts by ceasing the territories of their respective countries. We know how their party members cared about the people in their entire respective countries. There was no rampant corruption as it exists in Ethiopia… We know Southeast Asia… We know the leaders of the HPAEs. Ethnocentric autocrats in Addis, you’re not like the leaders of the HPAEs, not even close. The long 18 years of EPDRF’s misrule reveals that, it is no Southeast Asian political parties which GOVERNED the HPAEs. Neither the world nor the Ethiopian people would be fooled. Nor would they be intimidated.
My readers, if you are convinced by the facts and logic as well as the contrasts that I presented above, let’s follow the late Senator Lloyd Bentsen and chant together: “we know …., you’re no….!” Well done, and thank you!
SOME CONJECTURES
So, these being the facts, why do the leaders of the EPDRF concocted such a ridiculous suggestion and comparison? Comparing the experiences of the HPAEs and that of Ethiopia is comparing apples and oranges, really. Therefore, one cannot escape the thought that Ato Meles and his group concocted such a propaganda tool in order to use it for their political consumption, and possibly out of desperation. Here are SOME conjectures. It may be that:
1. The pressure from the public is mounting against the EPDRF, and as a result, the EPDRF is confused, to the point of becoming schizophrenic. On the one hand, Meles has been lying to his foreign backers and the donor countries that democracy prevailed in Ethiopia. On the other hand, it has been difficult for the EPDRF to hide the facts: that it has ruled Ethiopia with brute force. It knows that the world now knows it has robbed the peoples’ votes on daylight. By telling the world that it wants to follow the HPAEs, Meles is effectively admitting to the world that he is an authoritarian. Such contradictory statements and admitting to rule Ethiopia with brute force is an act of desperation.
2. As one of my other friends pointed out, knowing that the leaders of the EPDRF will not stay in power (quite possibly not even in Ethiopia) for too long, they must have decided to concoct an idea, no matter how ridiculous it may sound, in order to buy time for their exit. Knowing that there are other graceful ways of exit, following this route is an act of desperation.
3. The regime is facing a crisis, both political and economic. On the political side, the regime knows that the Ethiopian people have rejected its ethnocentric policies and authoritarianism. It faces dissatisfaction and cynicism on every policy it follows, mainly because of the corruption scourge and the selfish nature of the EPDRF and its cadres. The 2005 election revealed to the EPDRF that, if allowed, the people of Ethiopia can cast their votes peacefully, no matter how much they were intimidated, arrested, or killed. Given the opportunity, the people of Ethiopia showed to the EPDRF autocrats and the rest of the world that they could show their dissatisfaction by peacefully marching in the streets of Addis Ababa, in millions, and come out and vote those they did not like out of r office. Humiliated by the outcome, the EPDRF leaders do not want to repeat the same “mistake” by going through a similar election process and talking about democracy. Therefore, they are laying the ground to do away completely with any semblance of democracy. It must be due this same humiliation that the EPDRF has received why its cadres have now begun terrorizing the general populace- threatening or firing those workers who voted for the opposition parties.
4. Ato Meles wants to engage the cadres with such a frivolous issue, in order to keep them busy and confused. For those of us who know the tricks Meles has played and how he played them in the past, a similar concoction has been adopted right after the debacle of the senseless war with Eritrea. When members of his own party, some of them founders of the TPLF rejected his ceding of the prize to win the silly war and the country’s sovereignty, he concocted the idea of fighting corruption. Well, we all know what happened to the level of corruption in the country after Meles’s concoction: It skyrocketed since then! Unfortunately, he succeeded: He threw in his opponents in jail and purged the rest of them from the party. He succeeded in his deception by deflecting the public’s attention away from himself. He managed to put the docile members of his party, and especially the ones who are the most selfish, who are summarily called in Amharic as the HODAMs, in his column. He might have done it out of desperation even then, but he succeeded and he thinks he would succeed again.
5. Ato Meles probably concocted this idea of ruling Ethiopians by hook or crook, and in the process, placate the EPDRF cadres, especially those who have stakes at the EPDRF controlled conglomerates. On the one hand, he is terrified by the news of the tariff hike that Djibouti recently announced. He is also terrified by the fact that his cadres would turn against him for making the country land-locked to begin with. Having a sea access is very essential to these corrupt conglomerates and the rest of the business sector in which the EPDRF is involved in, which according to some people, its involvement in the Ethiopian economy is so deep that it even includes small retail trade such as exporting of Ethiopian traditional bread, the injera. The fear adds to the schizophrenic nature of the EPDRF leadership thereby making them to be desperate and concoct ridiculous ideas to be used for propaganda purposes. Some even speculate that, the same desperation may be behind why Ato Meles gave away huge tracts of Ethiopian land to the president of Djibouti. They further argue that Meles decided to implement his plan to give away Ethiopian land to the Sudan so that the EPDRF owned conglomerates would have access to the Port of Sudan. If what they claim is to be true, the same desperation must have spread to the entire ruling clique and forced some of them to be schizophrenic. They ask, what else could explain this bizarre behavior of betrayal of a country, making her be land-locked, giving away the prizes that comes with a winning of a war, lying to the people that the so-called Ethio-Eritrean Commission has ruled in favor Ethiopia while the fact is to the contrary, and now the giving away a big chunk of the country’s territory to a neighboring country? In any case, the giving away of the countries territory and fertile lands is another manifestation of desperation to stay in power, even if it is a blatant betrayal of trust.
6. Knowing that it has lost the backing of the general public, the EPDRF concocted this idea in order to send a terrorizing message to both the opposition parties and the general public by sending the message that, whether they like it or not, the EPDRF is here to rule them for many years to come. In reality, it is a desperate move taken by a desperate party.
7. Create an excuse for those foreign powers and supporters that their governments were behind the rulers of the same Southeast Asian governments and they ought to do the same for the EPDRF. Second, the EPDRF is trying to suggest to them that, if a one-party system was good for those countries mentioned above, it has to be good for Ethiopia as well. Some of those foreign governments and/or their unsuspecting representatives probably like such an excuse. Such blackmailing, however, would not last.
In addition to their contempt for the people they rule, the EPDRF leaders have, in a stealth manner, instigated ethnic and religious conflicts – the latter a phenomena rarely seen in Ethiopia prior to their rule. It is quite possible for them to try to do it on a massive scale, especially when the going becomes a little too hard. Fortunately, those who were pushed for an ethnic-based strife had come to their senses, and in most cases, the spirit of Ethiopianism has triumphed over sectarianism and disintegration. As a disciple of Isayas Afewerqi, Meles undermined the unity of Ethiopia for nearly two decades. Fortunately, so far, people have refused to go along with his plans and instigations. Such refusals had frustrated the leaders of the EPDRF. That may be why they have become as desperate as to concoct such a myth.
8. By comparing the incomparable situations that Ethiopia is in with those of Southeast Asia, the TPLF (EPDRF) is trying to fool the general public and the unsuspecting cadres that Ethiopia is in par with those countries and placate them in the process –by feeding them with empty words, as the Prime minister has been doing it to the peasants – telling the world that they have gotten richer under his rule, while in fact they are starving. At the same time, by advancing such issues, Meles is trying to scare the west that Ethiopia would ally itself with such undemocratic countries such as China and Russia if they fail to accept the status quo ante. I happen to believe that the days of such deceptive tactics are about to be over.
9. Meles has come to the realization that the days for him to play the game as an ally of the west and one who stands against Islamic terrorism is about to be over. It could be that Meles is terrified with the fact that it is his government which has instigated religious-based conflicts. He may be terrified that the West would come to realize that Islamic fundamentalism has not roots in Ethiopia. As you all know, the EPDRF has tried to foment not only ethnic conflicts, but also religious ones. Their calculation is that, once such religious hostilities begin, Meles would attempt to convince the Western world that terrorism indeed exists in Ethiopia. Perhaps, the EPDRF leadership has come to the realization that they cannot dupe the world for so long and they would be denied of the financial assistance that they have been generously getting. Perhaps, the same autocrats are now terrified that the West would know that even his invasion of Somalia has nothing to do with Islamic terrorism. Instead, it has more to do with Meles’s jailing of protesters, journalists, human rights workers and opposition leaders, to satisfy his insatiable appetite for hard currency using false pretexts- which ultimately will be used to buy weapons, which in turn could be used against the people they rule. Meles is terrified that he himself is an agent of terror for his brutality and oppression helps breed terrorism.
The Evidence is In: Democracy has Triumphed over Tyranny
Many researchers have come to conclude that authoritarianism helps economic development is a myth. If anything, there is only a spurious correlation between autocracy and growth. Good governance begets development, not the other way round. Empirical evidence shows that democracies enjoy higher economic development compared to non-free ones. Most importantly, evidence shows that those countries which adopted democratic principles have outperformed those which followed the path of tyranny on a range of development indicators, such as life expectancy at birth, access to clean water and air, literacy rates, and infant mortality rates. They did this in part by doing away with special interest groups and rampant corruption. The citizens of democracies stayed within their own countries, to raise their children within their homeland, to be with their own loved ones, instead of becoming “super maids” as Ethiopians have become. By allowing their citizens to be part of the decision-making process, leaders who respected the rule of law have enabled their citizens to have their own stakes, thereby motivating them to work hard. Democratic countries were (are) able to enjoy peace, which has been a scarce commodity for Ethiopians for decades. As the 1998 Economics Nobel Prize Winner points out to all of us, hunger and starvation do not take place in countries which adopted democratic principles. In the age of globalization, good governance and democracy is the precondition for economic development. So, the evidence is in: democracy and the respect of the rule of law bring more prosperity to a country than authoritarianism. In fact, research shows that both the well-being and the survival of poor countries depend on people controlling their own destiny more than others. In fact, both empirical evidence and logic indicate that resource-scarce countries need better governance and policies than those endowed with relatively abundant resources.
For those of you who do not know Meles and the EPDRF, it may be quite puzzling to both hear and see why “leaders” of a political party that has been in power for 18 years continue to behave like mad dogs against their own people. One would expect such leaders, who have amassed enormous wealth, a good portion of it at the expense of the poor peasants, to be humbled by the Grace of God who allowed them to be in such a position, while at the same time, the people they rule are homeless and starving. One would expect the so-called “leaders” to work hard to deliver what their subjects yearn dearly, which is the respect of the rule of law and democracy. Instead of being proud of satisfying the demands of the people, Meles and his gang opted to frighten and terrorize them, in a crude and repugnant manner at that. Instead of being confident for delivering the goods and services that their subjects so desperately needed, they seem to tell the world that the peasants are rich and not starving. Instead of lifting up the moral and spirits of the people, they continue to intimidate them, putting them in concentration camps in drones, just because they exercised their rights and voted their conscience. Instead of being proud by protecting the territorial integrity of the country, which is one of the cardinal obligations of a government, they chose to willingly give away portions of the country’s territory to its traditional enemies. Instead of taking advantage of the modern telecommunication technology created elsewhere and try to catch up with the rapidly advancing world, they chose to suppress its usage and even use it to suppress the people they have ruled for too long. Such an act is not something to be proud of, unless the so-called leaders are so paranoid to the extent that they even fear their own shadows knowing the crimes they have committed against the poor people of Ethiopia.
WE HAVE NEWS FOR THE AUTOCRATS
There is news for such paranoid, angry, prejudiced and desperate “leaders”- bad news for them, good news for everyone else: with the demise of communism, respecting the rule of law and freedom has triumphed over dictatorship. People refuse to be intimidated. They will continue demanding for the respect of the rule of law, freedom, human rights, and democracy. Despotic leader leave their victims with no choice. Despotic leader leave their victims with no choice. Even though they suppress the independent media with their new draconian press law, even though they intimidate opposition party leaders by arresting them with familiar tramped-up charges, even though you have made the existence and function of opposition parties practically useless, we will not rest until we gain our freedoms. We know such ridiculous propaganda and intimidation is an act of desperation. We know the world has changed and we will go along with the rest of the world that respects and practices democracy. Just like those people who have found their freedom, who have found the path of democracy, who found ways to discard authoritarianism, the Ethiopian people will find ours and do the same. We know, sooner or later, the entire world will be with them. We say, “No” to tyranny, intimidation, ethnocentric policies; “No” to nepotism; “No” to government instigated ethnic and religious strife; “No” to mass arrests and state terror. “Yes” to checks and balances, to the respect of the rule of law, to accountability, to equality, and to freedom!
So, bad boys, what are you going to do when those freedom loving people stand in unison and try to liberate themselves from your yolk of tyranny? Bad boys, what are you going to do when Ethiopians come after you, demanding their freedom? Bad boys, what are you going to do once the people begin chronicling how you expropriated the peoples’ resources by selling the previously government owned corporations to yourselves? Bad boys…, Bad boys, what are you going to do when…?
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The writer, Seid Hassan, PhD, can be reached at [email protected]
REFERENCES (in brief)
* Exposing a 50-Year-Old Myth
Gerber, James, 2002. International Economics, Addison Wesley, Boston, MA.
* World Bank, 1993. The East Asian Miracle: Economic Growth and Public Policy, Oxford University press, New York, NY.
* Harvey, James Jr. July 2007. “Time Under Authoritarian Rule and Economic Growth” CORI Working Paper No. 2007-02, to be found at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1010748.
* CIA World Fact Book
* Mulat Demeke, Fantu Guta, Tadele Ferede – (Professors in the Department of Economics, Addis Ababa University): “Growth, Employment, Poverty and Policies in Ethiopia: An empirical investigation”, Discussion Paper 12, 2003. [pdf]
People tell me that the movement for freedom and justice in Ethiopia has died because we do not have the leaders who can give us a vision for a new Ethiopia and who can demonstrate it by their actions. I may have agreed with this statement before, but no longer do so because I have discovered that we have some of the best leaders among us that we could ever ask for—qualified, capable and full of personal integrity and character.
These new leaders are emerging and older leaders are changing their views as together they catch the vision of a different Ethiopia where truth, freedom, justice, equality and civility replace the lies, human rights abuses, injustice, cronyism and hate that now prevails. I wish I could name all of them, but there are too many to be named. Many of these leaders may not be known, especially outside their groups, but they are already working among us.
Our present crisis may be the catalyst that is drawing in new people—people who may have never joined the struggle otherwise. They are people who are bridging the gap between previously divided factions by building new relationships. As a result, I now can identify Ethiopians from all over the country who possess the humility, expertise, talents, commitment and vision to bring about a New Ethiopia.
They have not emerged as leaders in the past for a variety of reasons—because those in power closed the door to them for not “fitting” certain requirements or equally because these quality people did not feel the need or urgency to become involved and were instead leading private lives filled with family, education, career and other personal pursuits. They are the kind of individuals who would have been happy to simply pursue their own lives, but difficult times have drawn out these new people of strength, commitment and character to rise to the challenge of the day.
Others may have devoted years to politics in hopes of bringing about change for their own groups, but may be newly convinced that reaching out to others in unity around principles of truth, freedom, justice, equality and civility are the guideposts to follow to revive a dying country. These leaders are the true “new breed” of African leaders, not the false “new breed” like Meles who Tony Blair and Bill Clinton praised. Instead, these new genuine, life-valuing leaders are the ones at the forefront of breaking down the invisible fences built on years of prejudices, alienation, suspicion, factionalism, abuse and misunderstanding.
However, do not expect division and conflict to disappear because these two opposing worldviews between the “true new leaders” and the “false old leaders” will clash and collide, causing new divisions. If the push for unity gains momentum—and I believe it will—those resistant to change or to shifts in power may attempt to sabotage its progress and this will probably reach to the inner sanctums of most every organization.
Within these organizations, it will be important to create room for dialogue so that what is best is strengthened and what is enabling destruction, is confronted. As this happens, many organizations will feel the brunt of the growing pains necessary in the birthing of a New Ethiopia. Just like a mother who struggles in labor during the birth of her child, so must we struggle and labor for the birth of a country that will sustain life, not take it.
We must understand that there are powerful forces—people, government, institutions and outside entities like unethical multi-corporations with corrupt and exploitive business practices—like the Chinese Oil Company that was trying drill in Gambella region during the massacre and now in the Ogaden region, that will fight against a free Ethiopia, but we must persevere in a civil manner until we accomplish our goals with the help of our Creator. Unless what has been destroying us is confronted by what will free us, we will stay stuck in the same downward cycle that will ultimately destroy Ethiopia.
Look at the example of the Oromos
This is the second year I have been invited to speak at the yearly meeting of the Oromo American Citizens’ Council in Minneapolis. I wondered if anything would be different this year. I can enthusiastically say, “Absolutely!”
The 2008 Oromo American Citizens Council, the OLF and the Oromo Community all showed a significant shift of paradigms since last year, with much greater visible openness to engaging with other Ethiopians than was seen only a year ago. Last year at the rally and the meetings, I witnessed an almost total focus on Oromia with exclusion of everything “Ethiopian.” This year, despite some wariness, there was a very different mood apparent. The Oromo were not the only ones a year ago to be suspicious, so were some Ethiopians from the highland and north who advised me not to go. This year, no one made such a suggestion and instead, it seems to have been perceived as a good thing by all.
When I sat and ate breakfast and lunch with our Oromo brothers and sisters, we talked together as family and as human beings. The Oromo extended their hand of friendship through leaders like Mr. Degage Kumera; the Chairman of the Oromo American Citizens Council and Mr. Robsan Itana; the founder and director of Oromo American Citizens Council and other executive members of Oromo American Citizens Council. The caring and the warmth that extended from these leaders made us all feel welcome. These are people who care about the country. It was all apparent from the way they set up and conducted their meeting. These are the kind of leaders that will have a place in a better Ethiopia where solidarity could exist like we have never seen before.
They understand very well the role the Oromo must have in shaping a future Ethiopia that embraces—rather than dominates—all of its citizens, something they may be able to better understand because of their own painful experience of being severely repressed and marginalized during the last several regimes. Because of being the largest ethnic group in the country, Oromo have historically been seen as a threat to any minority regime; however, any Ethiopia that does not embrace Oromo along with the smallest of ethnic groups, will not be a society that is free, just and harmonious.
These new leaders recognize that to survive as a people, they must engage with others to create a society conducive to the survival of all people. As the largest of groups, they have even a greater responsibility to include all and they are moving in the right direction. It was apparent in the way they reached out to include new people as presenters. As one Oromo organizer said, “Never before have we had such a diverse panel of guests.”
In the past, Ethiopian society and Oromo society, when not in embroiled in conflict, co-existed without almost ever intersecting—that is, except in inter-marriage—creating a surreal world of experience because of the close proximity, but disconnectedness of the two. However, something is beginning to change this pattern of alienation from each other as increasingly more Oromo are reaching out to embrace new people and groups within Ethiopian society and those groups are reaching back. It is time for the disconnected world of Ethiopians to come together. Judging from what happened during the last week, the effort of these Oromo leaders to build a new bridge among Ethiopians was successful. I was thrilled to be part of it.
We do not have to wait for well-seasoned politicians to take action
The Ethiopian Diaspora media took notice too and when they did, it made the top news on most websites—a feat in its own right! When was the last time you saw an Oromo organizational posting of an upcoming meeting hit the front page of a non-Oromo website, let alone appear on most all of them—Abbay Media, Ethiomedia, Abugida, Ethiopian Review and many others?
What does this mean?” I think it means that we do not have to wait for well-seasoned politicians to take such action, but instead, that it can begin at the ground level and be led by leaders of our civic organizations. They are in touch with the people.
I wish I could name all of them but to name a few of them. Mr. Robsan Itana, is by his actions, words, how he treats others. Like Mr. Guled Kassim, very bright youngman from the Oganden region, by his noble words of encouragement to us all. By his words of remind us to care for each other and be active in social justices. Like Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam; by his brilliant writing and soul healing words toward his beloved people and country. Like Dr. Golto, specialist in surgery and he is a man whose conscience has directed him to put so much time into this. Not into power or leadership but wants to help because he is Ethiopian.
Like Mr. Ibrhim Yousuf from the Benishangul Human Rights Foundation who challenged Ethiopian Muslims to advocates for Human Rights in Ethiopia. Mr. Ibrhim Yousuf himself is an Ethiopian Muslim who is ready to work together with other Ethiopian to create a unique environment in new Ethiopia where Muslims, Christians and Jews can live together in harmony like they have been for centuries.
Like Ms. Abeba Fekade, from International Ethiopian Women’s Organization, who said we have no other choices but to find a way to work together for a health society.
Like Mr. Abraha Belai, the Chief Editor of Ethiomedia, who courageously stood up for the truth and for what was right even though it meant alienating some within his own ethnic group. Mr. Abraha is a Tigrayan who publicly and jointly come forward as Ethiopian, separating himself from the policy of ethnic hatred that Meles and his TPLF. The list can go on.
These are true leaders who display humility, caring and strength of character in the way they can sit together, discuss issues and respect each other despite sometimes disagreeing. These people have what it takes and we should rally behind them. None of these want a dynasty for themselves or for their tribe, but are bridge builders who can take us from the confines of tribal thinking to the values and attitudes of what is important in a well-functioning multi-cultural society.
We have been watching those driving the political machinery of Ethiopia to discover who can help us accomplish goals to benefit the country. Some of these doing a great job, came into the struggle following the pain surrounding the election of 2005 when the dreams for a genuine democracy were hijacked and instead backfired in the death of 197 peaceful protestors.
These are people like those who run the websites where we can keep up with what is going on. Some got involved because of pictures on those websites of the dead youth and crying mothers. Others have been brought into the struggle by the suffering of their families, friends and communities. I was brought to the struggle through the death of Anuak and have continued as I see other suffering Ethiopians.
Many have been outraged by other things and will not rest until what triggered them is resolved—like me who will not stop speaking up until justice comes. These people have what it takes and if we combine each of these unique people with their unique talents, the light of the full moon will break through the darkness. These people, if brought together, can accomplish in solidarity what could never be accomplished alone.
We have had a culture that avoided politics, regardless of the suffering
We have had a culture that avoided politics, regardless of the suffering, but the suffering has just gotten too great to run the other way. Meles has led us where we do not want to go, but these leaders on the ground are picking up the slack for those who have been unwilling or unable to change our downward direction.
The spine of Ethiopia has been broken, but the spirit of reconciliation seen in these new leaders will provide healing. These leaders are the seeds for the future. They are ready and if we plant, water and nourish them, they might rise up and bear wonderful fruit for not only Ethiopia, but for the whole continent.
I have seen these Ethiopian people of differing background, gender, educational level and religion. I have met them in airports, hotels, restaurants and at meetings. They keep saying, “We don’t have the leaders who put the people first or who speak the truth, instead they mislead us in their lies.”
I have talked with these Ethiopians who were working hard cleaning public restrooms in Minnesota, making beds in Munich, driving a taxi in Washington D.C. or driving a bus in Seattle. Some are dishwashers, servers in a restaurant or parking attendants and are here because they had no hope or future in Ethiopia. Others are very well educated and working in hospitals, universities and clinics in the West.
Many, if not most would go back to contribute in any way they could. An Ethiopian woman in a Geneva hotel who was making a bed told me, “I would like to go back to Ethiopia to train my people to be the best professional bed-makers possible and teach the people to make sure everything in rooms such as these were clean.
Like Dr. Golto Ailo, a well-respected spinal surgeon, who has told me how he I would love to go back to perform surgeries in Ethiopia. He is extremely conscientious with every patient and does his best to help in addition to all he has done for this struggle. He is a real leader with great wisdom. Professor Alemariam could help restore justice and the rule of law. I could list thousands of great Ethiopians like these, but there is not enough room.
Our problem is that now, in Ethiopia, we now have these greedy leaders who have no love for the people. They do not realize they are in this world for a short time and that thirst for money and power can blind them from seeing anything. Meles and others will not change it for us without pressure.
We are that pressure and we cannot do it if we are broken up into warring factions that worsen as we become numb to our moral conscience. It is then that people slide into becoming subhuman, enabling them to commit acts like what happened in Rwanda, in Yugoslavia and like has been done to some of us during Haile Selassie, the Derg or now under the EPRDF.
To avoid a future that replicates the past, we cannot rely on leaders with the same kind of thinking. In actuality, as we intermarry outside our groups, we will be the same ones we are fighting like the wonderful man by the name Brahan, in Minnesota who told me that “1/8 of me is Amhara, 1/8 is Oromo, 1/3 is Gurage and I don’t know what the rest is.”
One man from Winnipeg told me that he did not want to go to Ethiopia with his eight years old twin boys because people tease them for their tribal background when it differed from others.
A hotel worker at the Radisson in Washington DC is Oromo and told me she does not want to bring her children with her when she goes to Ethiopia because she does not want to expose her children to the tribal thinking.
Another man I met has a daughter who is Gurage who married a man who is half Tigrayan and half Amhara and he told me that this was infecting their marriage. Another man I recently met told me his ethnicity was divided into five parts.
In an ethnically divided society this creates “ethnic identity confusion,” but in a multi-cultural society, he fits in perfectly and becomes more identified with being “Ethiopian,” or simply, a human being!”
A man from Rochester, New York told me that because of the way he had been treated by the TPLF that we should show them.” I asked him what he meant by “showing them.” He said, “.By killing.” I never ignore these kinds of comments and challenge those holding these views. I then asked, “Do you want your children to have to live in this kind of environment, with someone else wanting to kill them in the future because of your actions now?”
Usually the person had not thought about how their own actions created a hateful, violent and dangerous society for their own children. What if their child married someone “from that other ethnic group and had children that were partly from that other ethnic group?” This is one of the most mixed societies ever, but Meles has destroyed our society and it will take years to heal, but we now have leaders who are challenging this barbaric and ungodly thinking.
“There is no future without forgiveness”
As Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, “There is no future without forgiveness.” However, it will take lots of work. Imagine a society where the people are taught hatred, golden tribe ideology and shame instead of the truth that God loves each person and that what He desires is a humble, loving servant-heart towards others.
There is something wrong in our society and it should not be ignored. It is the responsibility of every living Tigrayan to speak up against this evil, apartheid system of the TPLF that has been put in place in their name and which is sustained by some among the elite who exploit others without mercy.
It is something people have to talk about in order to replace nihilism with life. Can you imagine what would happen if Ethiopians fell into violent chaos against their brothers, sisters, neighbors and fellow human beings?
Ethiopians are already shamed because they cannot take care of themselves and are at the bottom of most every index scale, but can you imagine if Ethiopia fell into worse violence than Rwanda or Yugoslavia, becoming the country known as one of the worst moral failures in the universe?
We must help those hurt and angry in our society to regain their senses by respectfully confronting these attitudes and beliefs wherever they are found. However, it is these new leaders that are rising up all over who must take charge because these new leaders must do it because an unhealthy society cannot find solutions to its problems from the same kind of people who have led them into the pit of inhumanity and death.
Opportunistic societies, filled with greed and heartlessness, cannot be changed by opportunistic, greedy and heartless people. They are too much into power rather than submitting, serving or sharing. We need new thinking from new leaders and we thankfully, we have them, leaders like— Golto Aila; Degage Kumera; Alemayehu G. Mariam; Guled Kassim, Teddy Fikre; Achame Shana, Meron Ahadu, Kifle Teka; Abebe Gelaw, Emebet Bekele, Mesfin Berhanu, Lemlem Tsegaw; Abebe Belew; Alebachew Kassie; Fekade Mariam; Berhan Tsehai; Agonafer Shiferaw,Genet Abraha;Yassin Kassim; Sioum Gebeyehou; Leoul Mekonen; Abebe Gebre-Tsadik; Enndelbu Worku; Zenebe Tamirat; Negussie Ali; Terefe Masresha; Pelle Danabo; Lulit Mesfin; Mikael Deribe; Judge Wolde Michael Meshesha, Ibrahim Mohammed, Eyob Tadesse Nigussie; Abeba Fekade; Hagos Berhe; Robele Ababya; Tedla Asfaw; Abraha Belai; Elsabeth Girma, Mekonnen Alemayehu; Mamo Muchie; Orion Mengistu; Aden Yunis; Robsan Itana; Melaku Terefe; Girma Kassa; Adam Zerihun; Abebe Bogale; Wondimu Mekonnen; Yilama Bekele; Girma Aweke, Sebsebie Abera; Kinfu Assefa; Ghidey Zeratsion; Genet Mersha; Teodros Kiros; Abiy Ashenafi; Melegudi Agita; Ferecha Tulu; Meron Agonafer, Mulugeta Mindaye; Elias Wondimu, Mengistu Yemane, Takele Argaw, Melaku Mekonen; Yami Getachew; Fisseha Abebe, Elfneh Sileshi, Bekele Molla; Yoseph Tafari; Dagnea Teshome; Gabe Hamda; Berhanu Kebede; Mistre Haile Selassie; Samuel Berhanu, Teklemichael Abebe Sahlemariam; Lischan Gizaw; Yonatan Degagu; Bedilu Tekle; Kifle Mulat; Melkie Demissie, Seid Hassan; Selam Beyene, Aster Meshete; Wudineh Zenebe; Elizabeth Demissie; Martha Admassu; Muluneh Yohannes; Eshete Hailu; Mareshet Meshesha, Mimi Tamrat; Ahmed Ali; Merid Bekele; Endashaw Worku, Kale Negash; Tewodros Asfaw and many, many more. I wish I can name all of them.
I am inspired by these leaders and thousands more whom I have met— by their courage, their determination, their love, their care— by you name it! I have met with so many remarkable Ethiopians from many different ethnic groups that I’m overwhelmed with the beauty and variety of our fellow-Ethiopians. All of them have touched me and taught me so much more about our shared humanity. These friendships have broken down many of the negative stereotypes that have been promoted and exaggerated in the past. With God’s help, we can find healing, reconciliation and restoration.
In closing, I want to share this Ogadeni tale with you that I just recently received from one of those leaders we need who can see the truth. It speaks to the heart of what is at risk in our country, the suspicion, lack of care and humanity towards our fellow Ethiopians as not be of value.
An Ogadeni Tale: The Lion and the Three Oxen
We Ethiopians are like the three oxen in the story I am about to tell.
In an Ogaden tale, there used to be three strong oxen in the bush; one red, one white and one black. One day a lion came upon them and wondered to himself about how he might eat the three oxen. The lion realized that he could not attack all the three oxen at the same time because of their combined power. He made a plan to divide them and to eat one at a time.
The lion came to the red and to the white oxen and told them that the black ox was spoiling the valley and the bush where they lived. He suggested that the black ox should be killed in order to save their environment. Unknowingly the two oxen thought that the lion was right and allowed him to kill and eat the black ox.
After few days, the lion again came to the red ox and told him that the white ox was arrogant and was intending to kill him (the red ox). The lion suggested that he, the lion, should protect the life of the red ox by killing the white ox. The red ox agreed to the lion’s plan and the white ox was killed.
After few days the lion came to the helpless red ox and said, “It is now your time to die.”
The red ox now understood the long planned trick of the lion, but was now helpless against him by himself. The red ox said to the lion, “You killed me when you killed the black ox.”
The friend who sent this tale to me added these words at the end.
“So dear Ethiopians now Meles is killing Ogadenis because they are supposedly Muslim terrorists, at the same time he is killing Anuak and Oromo because they supposedly want to disintegrate Ethiopia and others will follow for some other justification. In the end, the Tigrai people will be in the Meles slaughter house because now they can no longer help themselves. When will we wake up? Maybe after, when we all die in the hands of Meles”… and the TPLF policies that teach hatred, division and destruction until the life and soul of Ethiopia has died.
For the revival of the soul of Ethiopia, come to the Symposium in Washington D.C. regarding “Where do we go from here?” on August 30, 2008. It will be the next step in the formation of the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia. You will have opportunity to hear directly from some of the new leaders I have mentioned.
May God breathe life back into this neglected, abandoned, forgotten, bleeding, wounded and dying nation.
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For more information please contact me by email at: [email protected]
EDITOR’S NOTE: Finally CNN decides to report about Woyanne atrocities in Somalia. But sadly it continues to refer to the occupying troops as “Ethiopian forces.” Those are not Ethiopian forces. They are dictator Meles Zenawi’s private gang mercenary killers who are being financed by the U.S. State Department and World Bank in the name of helping poor people in Ethiopia.
(CNN) — Ethiopian Woyanne forces in Somalia have killed at least 46 civilians after a roadside bomb ripped through their military convoy, residents said.
The violence happened Friday on the road linking Mogadishu to the agriculturally rich town of Afgooye, residents said.
The civilians were riding in two minibuses traveling on the same road, they said.
“There was huge explosion, which blew one of the del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne military vehicles off the road,” said Omar Nur Abdirahman, who lives in Arbiska, scene of the incident. “Afterward, del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers started shooting people in the two minibuses wildly.”
The del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopians Woyannes are backing Somalia’s transitional government.
Omar said he and others fled to the nearby forest as the del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne forces began shooting everywhere.
Another witness — Anab Abdi Dirshe, who had been trapped in the area since the shooting — said she and other residents have counted at least 46 dead civilians, mostly women.
Some of the dead were recovered from the forest on the side of the road, indicating some passengers tried to escape the shooting, she said.
“My children and I were hiding somewhere near our house because the del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne forces didn’t leave the area quickly, even after the massacre of the civilians on the buses, so we were so afraid that they would see us and shoot us,” said Dirshe, who was packing her belongings and attempting to move her family from the area.
Dirshe said many victims may have lain dying for hours, adding the road was closed until Saturday morning.
“We were hearing screams in the evening, and those screams stopped later,” she said.
The presence of del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne troops trying to help defend the transitional government’s hold on Mogadishu has united Islamic militant groups seeking to gain control of the city.
In a separate attack inside Mogadishu, five people — including a father and a son — were killed after a roadside bomb exploded on a road as Somalian and del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne forces were deployed ahead of a presidential motorcade.
The explosion triggered a barrage of gunfire, resulting in the five deaths.
Somali government spokesman Abdi Hagi Gobdon confirmed that security was deployed to Maka Al Mukarama Road as the country’s president, prime minister and parliament speaker were flying from the city.
More bodies have been discovered in Somalia, near the scene of an attack on two minibuses outside Mogadishu.
Local people returning to their farms after the attack said they had found a further 16 bodies, bringing to nearly 60 the number of civilians killed.
The del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne forces started shooting after their military convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, witnesses said.
The transitional government backed by del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne troops threw out Islamists in 2006, but unrest is continuing.
Islamist insurgents have beeng carrying out frequent raids in the Mogadishu area.
After the latest attack on minibuses, witness Sahra Nor Osma told the Associated Press news agency: “Ethiopian convoys opened fire into different areas where thousands of displaced people were living; they killed everyone on the road.”
Another witness Fadumo Kheyre told AP: “Blood was pouring out of the buses.”
Tens of thousands of displaced Somalis line the road between Mogadishu and Afgoye.
In a separate incident on Friday, insurgents attacked the convoy of President Abdullahi Yusuf as it was leaving for Ethiopia for talks over the country’s fragile ceasefire.
Following that attack, del datetime=”2008-08-16T16:44:42+00:00″>Ethiopian Woyanne-backed government troops responded by opening fire, killing five civilians.
President Abdullahi Yusuf has gone to Djibouti for talks with his estranged Prime Minister Hussein Nur Adde.
The discussions are aimed at resolving a power struggle between the two men which could in turn affect a ceasefire agreement signed with the opposition in June.
Ethiopian-born Elvan Abeylegesse made double Turkish history on Friday by becoming the first-ever Turk to win an Olympic silver medal in athletics.
This medal in the women’s 10,000-meter final also made her the first ever Turkish woman to win an Olympic medal in this discipline.
Elvan, who had led for much of the latter part of the race, ran home in second with a time of 29:56.34 minutes. American Shalane Flanagan took bronze in 30:22.22. Ethiopia’s world champion Tirunesh Dibaba won the gold in 29:54.66 — an Olympic record.
During a fast race Elvan and Dibaba were neck and neck going into the final six laps. But at the sound of the bell, Dibaba kicked out and held on to win.
Dibaba and Elvan now become only the second and third women to run under 30 minutes in the 10,000 after Chinese world record holder Wang Junxia, who set her mark in Beijing in 1993.
It is worthy to note that Eşref Apak, the bronze medalist in the men’s hammer throw in the 2004 Athens Games, was the first Turk to win an Olympic medal.
Watch below the elegant Tirunesh Dibaba at the Beijing Olympic Women’s 10,000 meter run, Aug. 15, 2008. For more videos on ‘Ethiopia at the Olympics’ click here.
A long-distance legacy stays in the Ethiopian family
BEIJING: With her trademark blistering kick, Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia ran the second-fastest time by a woman in the 10,000 meters on Friday night to take the gold medal in the opening track race of the Beijing Games.
After a punishing 60-second final lap, Dibaba crossed the line in 29 minutes 54.66 seconds, a time surpassed only by the 29:31.78 run by Wang Junxia of China in 1993. Dibaba’s victory, on a relatively cool and dry night, served as an early counterpoint to fears that smog and heat would disrupt distance performances at these Olympics.
On the bell lap of the 25-lap race, Dibaba blew past the eventual silver medalist Elvan Abeylegesse, a native of Ethiopia who competes for Turkey and who delivered a time of 29:56.34, the third-fastest ever. The two ran alone for the final five laps.
Shalane Flanagan of the United States took third in 30:22.22 with a surge over the final two laps, despite intestinal problems earlier in the week and confusion about her placing as the lead runners began to lap stragglers.
“I had no idea what place it was,” Flanagan said. “My coach told me just to remain as calm as possible. With two laps to go, I turned on the competitive juices and let it go.”
Flanagan’s finish further established the American women as a resurgent force in international distance running, following a bronze in the marathon by Deena Kastor at the 2004 Athens Games and a third-place finish by Kara Goucher in the 10,000 at the 2007 world championships.
“I hate the word fluke,” said Goucher, who finished 10th on Friday in 30:55.16. “It’s been said about me. I think Shalane proved tonight U.S. running is at the world level.”
But it has yet to match the pre-eminence of the East Africans.
The 10,000 has come to represent the sporting ascendance of women from sub-Saharan Africa and of Ethiopia’s dominance over its fierce rival, Kenya, at major international championships. Ethiopian women have won five Olympic gold medals in distance running, while Kenyan women have yet to win their first.
Ethiopia has taken first place in three of the last five women’s 10,000 meters at the Olympics. And it has kept it in the family.
Derartu Tulu, a cousin of Dibaba’s, became the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal by taking first in the 10,000 at the 1992 Barcelona Games. She won the event again at the 2000 Sydney Games, and has come to represent the possibility of women escaping a life of forced subservience.
“From Tulu, we are accustomed to the 10,000,” Dibaba said after Friday’s victory. “It goes without saying that we have to do well. The footsteps of Tulu have to repeat themselves.”
Dibaba and Tulu come from the same high-altitude village, Bekoji, in Ethiopia’s southern highlands. So does Dibaba’s sister Ejegayehu, who finished 14th on Friday after taking the silver medal at the 2004 Olympics. Also from this famed running center are Fatuma Roba, the 1996 women’s Olympic marathon champion, and Kenenisa Bekele, the 2004 Olympic champion in the men’s 10,000 meters and silver medalist in the 5,000.
Bekoji is located on a verdant plateau, at about 10,000 feet, and is as bountiful at producing runners as it is producing wheat and teff, a millet that is rich in calcium, protein and iron. Running is the favored and necessary mode of transportation for many young children in their trips to and from school and in their performance of such chores as hauling water and firewood.
The Dibabas grew up in a conical mud hut that did not have electricity. Their parents, who are subsistence farmers, and the rest of the family had to go to a local hotel to watch Tulu win the 10,000 at the Barcelona Games.
Tirunesh Dibaba’s elite running career got an inadvertent start.
In 2001, as a 16-year-old, Tirunesh Dibaba traveled to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa to join Ejegayehu and another relative who is variously described as a sister and a cousin. Tirunesh Dibaba said in an interview last year that she entered a cross-country race, finished fifth and was signed to run for the nation’s prison police, a common practice in Ethiopia and Kenya.
Two years later, Tirunesh Dibaba became the youngest track athlete to win a world title, crossing the line first in the 5,000 meters at the world track and field championships in Paris. Her style of running emulates that of Miruts Yifter, who was known as Yifter the Shifter for a last-lap kick that propelled him to gold medals in the 5,000 and 10,000 at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Tirunesh Dibaba could become the first woman to win both events in the same Olympics if she runs the 5,000, an event at which she holds the world record of 14:11.15. At this point, she is uncertain about competing in two events. But there was never any doubt that Tirunesh Dibaba would prevail with her searing kick in the 10,000 final.
“My expectation was to get gold,” she said, “beautiful, everlasting gold.”
Ethiopian-born Elvan Abeylegesse made double Turkish history on Friday by becoming the first-ever Turk to win an Olympic silver medal in athletics.