Part I

Click here for part II

By Yilma Bekele

Some things are said to be unthinkable. They are beyond the norms of any behavior. They fall into the territory of No and Never. Unfortunately in today’s Ethiopia nothing is off the table. The regime is open to any and all bizarre, strange and odd happenings. What was reported by the French paper Lemonade is one such story that you would think the reporter was making it up. You actually wish it could be proven to be untrue. Alas, we are dealing with the Ethiopian government where the gulf between fact and fiction is a very razor thin line.

A report by Alain Lallemand of LeMonde claims that the Ethiopian Army and Ugandan ‘Peace Keeping’ force are the major merchants of arms to the resistance forces in Somalia. Yes you read it correct. Our government and the Ugandan Army are supplying arms to the people they are supposedly fighting against. If this is not strange enough for you the so-called Somali government Army is also part of this unholy alliance. They are gunrunners in their own right. They resale the arms seized during raids.

(You can read the English translation here.)

According to LeMonde ‘This arms bazaar has taken such a looming twist in the last six months that it has developed not one but seven markets — six in Mogadishu and one in Afgoi.’ It does not make sense does it? You send your troops to fight and win, but turn around and supply arms to the other side. Thus the Somali resistance militia is using weapons furnished by Ethiopia to kill Ethiopians. How many Ethiopians god only knows

Our government does not consider the people are entitled to such information. We have no idea how many Ethiopians perished in Badme. Somalia is another front where the death and maiming of our people is of no consequences to our enlightened leaders.

The only way one can reconcile this bizarre situation is by understanding the nature of the ‘cadre’ government lording it over our country. A little background information is called for. Before the history book was revised concerning the victory of TPLF over the Mengistu regime the real facts were a little different. Telling and retelling of the fiction by the regime have sort of convinced the liars of their own make believe world. We all know they were invited by Herman Cohen and US intelligence to take the mantle of power. The butcher Mengistu was escorted out of Addis with all the loot he can fit in the specially furnished Boeing plane.

The rag tag militia entering Addis was more of a shock to themselves than the residents by the turn of events. If you remember they were mostly young kids completely disoriented and lost in this Metropolis of millions of people. What they found was a city with no leader but willing and hopeful people to start a new era of peace and justice. They welcomed the militia as one of their own. They showered them with flowers and love. There was no single organized resistance to the new ‘liberators’.

It was a most confusing moment to the cadre leaders. Their very being requires the presence of contradictions and animosity. They are used to asserting themselves by using force and terror. Love and acceptance is not part of their programming. They were forced to create phantom enemies. Thus burning the ‘weapons’ depot and random shooting through out the night was their way of making themselves at home.

They proceeded to dismantle and destroy anything and everything that was not in accord with their psudeo Marxist outlook. Where there was unity they created division, where there was love they replaced it with hate, tolerance gave way to intolerance, hope was gone and hopelessness took its place. The Flag was changed without consultation, the Constitution was approved without due process and the country was divided among ethnic lines. This in a nutshell is the basis of our current situation. The Somali invasion is just another chapter in this grand scheme of staying in power by any means.

We invaded Somalia to curry favors with the Bush administration in general and the Pentagon in particular. Ger ger le leba yemechal, it was another situation which the regime took advantage of. The underlying philosophy was no problem for TPLF. Its chameleon nature has already been recognized. Power is its only central theme. All others serve the need for power. It started as a Marxist Leninist Party, replaced it with Enver Hoxa when the Derg allied with the Soviet Union, replaced that with liberal democracy when the Soviet Union and the Derg withered and now replaced that with ‘soldiers for hire’ in the name of fighting terrorism.

The gun running in Somalia is part of the pattern of lawlessness the regime encourages in the country. Respect for the law is the pillar of democracy. In the absence of that the ‘law of the jungle’ takes over. Those who have the power dictate to those who don’t. In today’s Ethiopia the power is in the hands of a few TPLF cadres. Everything is up for grabs. Thus it is no surprise that military commanders dabble in as weapon merchants as a payment for hazardous duty. Their civilian counterparts are amassing a big fortune selling anything and everything of value in the country. Yesterday’s cadres who entered Addis Ababa with nothing but an AK 47 are today’s millionaires and highly respected entrepreneurs. They are the same geniuses who build five story with water only going to the second floor, beautiful imported chandeliers but no electricity, rows of condominiums but no road and no waste disposal system, commodity exchange but no commodity. The cadres are all form and no essence.

Myopia is a Greek term for short sightedness. For the myopic distant things appear blurred. Our leaders suffer from thought myopia. They do not seem to see what happened a short time back. Wealth amassed using questionable means does not seem to have a lasting value. It usually ends up returned to its rightful owners. In today’s small world it does not travel far. It is traceable. It does not matter where. Geneva is no different from Indonesia, Cayman Islands is the same as Luxemburg. They all cooperate for a fee and legitimacy.

Thus if this business of gun running is to make profit, profit will be made. The unfortunate part is for the poor foot soldier that is thrown into this situation so others can stay in power. The US has made it clear to all who can hear. ‘We fight them over there before they come over here”. The Ethiopian regime benefits by being a recipient of spare weapons and a few good words by the West to IMF, World Bank etc. for loans and grants. The looser in this equation is the poor peasant regarded as a sacrificial lamb so others can live and thrive temporarily. So you think you have seen it all. Patience my friend, TPLF wills mange to come up with more.

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The writer can be reached at [email protected]

By Argaw Ashine, The Monitor

Ethiopian officials say a border demarcation with neighboring Sudan is underway although an agreement has not yet been reached.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday that the demarcation process was being executed with mutual respect and based on historical evidences.

This border demarcation activity is based on the agreements signed with Sudan and former colonial master Britain.

Both countries, which have shared a common border committee since 1972 have been trying to re-demarcate the border since 2001.

The African Affairs Director in the ministry, Mr Wahde Belay, said there was no disagreement between Sudan and Ethiopia to solve the issue without the intervention of third party adding that the demarcation of 1600km border might take a longer time to finalise.

Ethiopia and Sudan first signed the border agreement in 1903 and 1909 and agreed to re-demarcate the border in 1972.

By AARON O. PATRICK, Wall Street Journal

London – A small design firm here was recently hired by an unusual client with an unconventional request: The Ethiopian government commissioned Brandhouse to come up with a logo that will make consumers feel like they are drinking a luxury when they have Ethiopian coffee.

Brandhouse

Ethiopia hopes its new ‘e’ logo will help elevate its coffee.

This month, the Ethiopian government is releasing the logos for three varieties of Ethiopian coffee beans that it hopes will eventually appear from the burlap sacks that are used to transport coffee beans to coffee cups in cafes. It is the first time the country has introduced a brand for its major export.

The Ethiopian government hired Brandhouse after deciding that branding could establish Ethiopia’s reputation for high-quality coffee around the world, like French wine, Russian caviar, or Cuban cigars. Drinkers would likely pay more for Ethiopian coffee, increasing wholesale prices and helping farmers, the government figured.

“People associate Ethiopia with drought and famine and that colors the perception of Ethiopian coffee,” says Berhanu Kebede, Ethiopia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom who was part of the coffee-industry committee overseeing the project. “Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, but surveys show only 2% of people know that.”

The logos are the culmination of years of sometimes-bitter wrangling between Ethiopia, British charity Oxfam, Starbucks and the National Coffee Association, a trade association for U.S. coffee importers, wholesalers, retailers and roasters. The Ethiopian government has argued that companies such as Starbucks should sign licensing agreements for its coffee. Oxfam supported its cause and last year, the Seattle coffee chain reached a deal with Ethiopia to license, market and promote Harar, Yirgacheffe, and Sidamo coffee.

While the Starbucks deal was seen as a breakthrough, it is unclear how it will work in practice. The world’s biggest coffee chain hasn’t decided how or if it will use the new logos, said Dub Hay, Starbucks’ senior vice president for coffee and procurement.

While other coffees have been marketed into brands based on their origin, such as Colombian coffee with a logo of fictitious farmer Juan Valdez, a logo on its own may have a hard time commanding higher prices. Some 83 companies in nine countries have signed up to licensing agreements, which require them to use the logos, says Crispin Reed, managing director of Brandhouse. That said, Mr. Reed hopes coffee retailers will voluntarily use the logos.

Some marketing experts say Ethiopia needs to create a compelling case that its coffee is special. “There is a story behind every country which makes coffee,” says Mark Cotter, chief executive of WPP Group’s Food Group, a marketing agency that works on coffee brands owned by Kraft Foods, including Maxwell House. “They need to put marketing spending behind it.”

Mr. Kebede says there are plans for “some form of marketing” but he doesn’t know the budget.

Ethiopia’s coffee logo, created by Brandhouse, consists of a letter “e” in the shape of a bean over the name of coffee varieties Harar, Yirgacheffe or Sidamo, and the slogan “Ethiopian Fine Coffee.”

Oxfam estimates the branding could help deliver more than $75 million a year in additional revenue to Ethiopia, on top of the current $350 million a year. Some 15 million Ethiopians depend on the coffee industry, Mr. Kebede says.

Brandhouse was paid by the Ethiopian government for its work, but did not charge full price, Mr. Reed says. The agency doesn’t specialize in charity work and is known in the English ad industry for designing food packaging, including bottles and cans for popular Tango line of sodas.