A press conference is scheduled for tomorrow by Prof. Ephraim Isaac and other members of the elders committee regarding the release of Birtukan Mideksa, a {www:political prisoner} and chairperson of the opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ) of Ethiopia.
Sources in Addis Ababa have confirmed to Ethiopian Review that Birtukan’s family have picked up her belongings from Kality prison today. The family is also preparing a welcoming ceremony. A lot of people are seen today going in and out of her family {www:residence} .
Hailemariam Dessalegn, Abadula Gemeda and other puppets were summoned to Ethiopia’s fake parliament yesterday to officially “elect” their {www:puppet-master} Meles Zenawi as prime minister for another five years. VOA reports the daytime realty show as follows:
(VOA) — Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has been sworn in to another five year term at the opening of a new session of parliament. Mr. Meles is expected to begin his term with a government {www:reshuffle} .
“Honorable [Ato] Khat-addicted {www:despot} Meles Zenawi has been been appointed as prime minister of the unDemocratic Republic of Ethiopia.”
With those words spoken by Speaker of Parliament Abadulah Gemeda, Mr. Meles officially began his fourth term in office. By the time this five year term is over, the former Marxist guerrilla leader will have been in power nearly a quarter of a century.
His deputy chairman puppet at the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, Hailemariam Dessalegn, hailed the prime minister as an international {www:statesman} and leader of the revolution that overthrew the pro-Soviet dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. He spoke in Amharic through a translator. “Our country Ethiopia is changing at a very fast rate and in international forums the man has played a critical role to make sure the rights of Africa are ensured,” he said.
[Solomon Tekalign could not make it to the parliament in time to sing “qindibu.”]
Among Mr. Meles’s first acts is expected to be a fundamental reorganization of his government, possibly as early as Tuesday. Deputy EPRDF chairman Hailemariam is said to be in line for a senior post, but there has been little {www:speculation} in the local press about who may be named to which prominent positions.
{www:Lawmaker}s Monday said even government insiders were only informed of the list at the last moment.
The EPRDF Tigray People Liberation Front and its allies control 545 of the 547 seats in this parliament, in sharp contrast to the last parliament, where there were more than 150 opposition members. Of the remaining two seats, one is held by an independent, the other by Girma Seifu, the lone winner from main opposition Medrek front.
When asked what he hoped to accomplish in his role as voice of the opposition, his answer was blunt. “Nothing. If things continue like this, you can do nothing,” he said.
The opening of the new session has given rise to strong speculation about the {www:imminent} release of opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa. Birtukan was among dozens of opposition activists sentenced to life in prison after the disputed 2005 elections, but she is the only one still behind bars.
She has been named a prisoner of conscience by rights groups, and was listed as a {www:political prisoner} in the most recent US State Department human rights report.
Mr. Meles hinted at the possibility of Birtukan’s release last month at a public forum in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
A {www:clergyman} who has been allowed to see Birtukan in prison said Monday he was aware of negotiations for her release. When asked if he knew when it might happen, he said, “call me tomorrow.”
The Washington DC-based Addis Dimts Radio is holding its annual event this coming Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010, at the Washington DC Marriott Hotel.
The event includes cultural music, discussion of current issues related to Ethiopia, and various other activities.
Addis Dimts is serving as one of the pillars of the Ethiopian community in the Washington DC Metro Area by providing news and information about Ethiopia and communities of Ethiopians around the world.
Mark you calender on Sunday to attend the event and support Addis Dimts, as well as enjoy the discussions and cultural programs with your family and friends.
For more information or to buy tickets, click here.
Ethiopians who oppose Meles Zenawi’s ethnic {www:apartheid} tyranny persistently ask the U.S. and European governments to stop financing the regime, while forgetting that we in the Diaspora send over a billion dollars in hard currency to Ethiopia per year in a form of {www:remittance}. This amount is greater than what the Woyanne junta receives from its Western backers. In 2008, Dr Alemayehu G. Mariam wrote:
It was an eye-opening revelation to learn that Ethiopian Americans contributed a cool $1.2 billion to the Ethiopian economy this past year. That is “only second to the amount generated by Ethiopia’s exports.” Last week Elias Loha, Manager of Reserve Management and Foreign Exchange Market of Ethiopian National Bank, fretting over “a cut in vital remittances from Ethiopians in the United States” told Reuters: “We are concerned and worried that as a result of the financial crisis… some of the Ethiopians may loose their jobs and as a result they may stop sending money to help their families back home.” Could that be a backhanded way of giving us teeny-weeny credit for the much vaunted {www:stratospheric} “10 percent a year economic growth” Zenawi gasbags about? [full text]
Isn’t about time that we ask ourselves what we can do instead of begging the US and EU to help us?
In a recently published book, World Bank economist Dr Aklog Birara explains that Ethiopia’s largest export has become educated citizens. Ethiopia’s highly educated people are leaving the country in staggering numbers, depriving the country the social capital that is required for development.
The estimated annual income of Ethiopians in the Diaspora has reached $20 billion and they remit over a billion dollars in hard currency. The ruling junta in Ethiopia is happy with that since the hard currency is its life blood. Dr Aklog writes:
Officials of the ruling-party find Ethiopia’s largest export defensible. Remittances exceed foreign aid and FDI combined. The government is happy as long as immigrants send money and stay out of the political process. Ironically, the donor community continues to identify institutional and technical capacity constraints as bottlenecks in advancing the national economy. The cadres of people who have left the country are among the most experienced and integrative. The ruling-party has been deliberate in uprooting the country’s integrative and nationally-oriented elites on which the donor community is silent. Instead, it has instituted an educational system that puts a premium on quantity, mediocrity and loyalty.
Dr Aklog’s 512-page book titled Ethiopia’s Endemic Poverty that Globalization Will not Tackle, but Ethiopians can is rich with hard facts and analysis about the current economic, social and political conditions facing Ethiopia. It also offers a wealth of ideas and solutions on how to develop Ethiopia. To obtain a copy of the book, write to [email protected].
Unable to freely live and work in their own country, Ethiopians are migrating to Kenya in unprecedented numbers. In exile their dreams of better life turn into more nightmares as they fall prey to corrupt authorities and human traffickers. What are these Ethiopians running away from? The “remarkable economic growth” that the Meles regime and its supporters claim? The “popular” ruling party that “won” 99.6% election victory? Many of these Ethiopians were living in some of the most fertile areas of Ethiopia. Their land is now being taken away and sold/leased to foreign corporations (as reported here) at bargain prices. The following video is a special report by Kenyan NTV (Sep 2010).
