Ethiopian Army Brigadier General Kemal Gelchi and tens of other army commanders together with hundreds of soldiers have defected to Asmera yesterday, according to the Voice of Eritrea.
It is reported that the commanders and their troops “arrived in Eritrea at dawn on August 9 along with their full logistics, communication equipments and military hardware,” VOE reported.
“Hundreds of Ethiopian soldiers and tens of their commanders are also joining opposition groups in eastern and western Ethiopia,” VOE’s report added.
With the latest defection of General Kemal Gelchi and the other senior commanders, the instability of the Meles regime is reaching at a crisis level, according to observers.
Sources close to EEPF have said that General Kemal and the troops who have defected with him have shown an interest to join the patriotic front.
Shocked by General Kemal’s defection, the Meles regime propaganda outlets have unleashed a smear campaign against him.
“My argument is that the neo-liberal paradigm is a dead end, is incapable of bringing about the African renaissance, and that a fundamental shift in paradigm is required to bring about the African renaissance…” – a quote from Meles Zenawi’s recent paper on African development.
Meles, who presides over the worst economy in the world, tries to present himself as an expert in development. His parasitic dictatorship is an obstacle to the growth of Ethiopian economy. For Africa to prosper, it must cleanse itself of corrupt dictatorships like that of the Meles regime.
There will be a live teleconference interview with former Kinijit Vice President Lidetu Ayalew this coming Saturday, August 12, at 9 PM EST.
Ato Lidetu Ayalew is a historical figure who has a lot to say about the on going Ethiopian politics. He is one of the few individuals who created the May 2005 Ethiopian political tsunami. After the May 15 elections, and particularly after the four parties that made up the Coalition for Unity and Democracy merged to form a unitary party, Ato Lidetu and some of his allies engaged in a bitter intraparty battle that led to his suspension and later withdrawal from the coalition.
Ethiopian Review has been highly critical of Ato Lidetu’s conducts during the infighting, because the main points of contentions were technical in nature and could have been solved through negotiations. If Ato Lidetu and friends thought that they were treated unfairly by the other officials of CUD, their grievances could have been addressed at a later time. As a young politician, he should have stepped back. Because he didn’t do that, he became a tool for the Meles regime.
ER rejects the accusations by some that Ato Lidetu is a Woyanne. It is unfortunate that Woyanne took advantage of his falling out with the other Kinijit leaders, and after he quit Kinijit, Woyanne continued to use him for its sinister propaganda.
As a politician who had a major role in forming Kinijit and mobilize the people of Ethiopia against the Meles dictatorship, it is ER’s hope that Ato Lidetu will reconcile his differences with Kinijit leaders and come back home where he belongs.
Please send your questions or comments to Ato Lidetu Ayalew.
The live teleconference interview is available for ER sponsors only. But the audio file will be posted on Sunday. To attend the teleconference, please send email to [email protected]
The Office of Kinijit International Leadership has reported that Ato Hailu Shawel, Chairman of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit), has been admitted to a hospital today around 9:00 AM local time. He has been taken to the Police Hospital from Kality prison.
Ato Hailu had been denied visits by U.S. Congressman Donald Payne yesterday, as well as the Foreign Minister of Ireland and EU’s Commissioner for Development in the past, according to Kinijit’s press release today.
Other Kinijit leaders also suffer from various illnesses. The latest victim is Dr Berhanu Nega, whose condition was reported by Amnesty International. Wz. Bertukan Mideksa, Ato Muluneh Eyoel, and Dr Hailu Araya are also suffering from illnesses caused by unsanitary prison conditions.
For the Meles regime punishing and killing political prisoners by exposing them to diseases is not a new method of eliminating opponents. Professor Asrat Woldeyes and Ato Kebede Desta are among the prominent victims of such cruelty. Kinijit leaders are facing the same fate.
Ethiopian Review Editorial
Amnesty International has reported that Addis Ababa mayor Dr Berhanu Nega’s health is deteriorating as a result of unsanitary prison conditions. The high court last month ruled that he should be transferred to a clean prison cell, but the Meles regime, as expected, has ignored the court’s ruling.
Kinijit’s Secretary General Muluneh Eyoel, council member Andualem Aragie and other younger leaders are exposed to the same or worse prison conditions. Those who are physically strong are kept in solitary confinement to wear them down.
The Meles regime keeps these political prisoners under inhumane condition not only to punish them, but to also physically disable them so that even if they are out of jail, they will not be well enough to lead the struggle. That is why every day these Kinijit leaders are in jail must be spent by the whole Kinijit organization fighting for their release.
One of the top priorities of any political organization should be to protect the well being of its leaders, because 1) it is difficult to replace skillful leaders, particularly leaders like those of Kinijit who were able to rally the nation around common goals, and 2) the enemy’s first target is the leadership, because it knows that without strong, competent leaders, an organization will not survive, let alone be successful.
Unfortunately, the Kinijit leadership and rank and file members abroad have practically abandoned the jailed leaders. The Kinijit structure abroad that took over the leadership responsibility is weaker and more fractious than the government of Somalia. The Kinijit leadership abroad and many of the rank and file members are busy alienating supporters and creating enemies than building alliances. Kinijit’s civilized/advanced (yeseletene) politics has been replaced with the current leadership’s bankrupt politics. Kinijit’s culture of brotherliness, love, peace, and tolerance, has been replaced by a culture of corruption, greed, intolerance, and hate.
One cannot feel any thing but bitterness after learning about the condition of the political prisoners, and observing the indifference of those who claim to be their supporters. The indifference to the plight of the Kinijit leaders by their own party is so much so that even latest information by Amnesty International and others about their health status is not posted in Kinijit’s official web site
COMMENT
(AFP) ADDIS ABABA – AT least 129 people were killed overnight in flash floods in eastern Ethiopia after an intense, sudden downpour pounded the region, sweeping away many in their sleep, police said yesterday.
“So far 129 people are confirmed dead. We are still looking for more on the outskirts of the city and all along the river from the north to south,” Inspector Beniam Fikru, a top police official in Dire Dawa region, said.
The region lies about 500 kilometres east of the capital Addis Ababa.
Ethiopian security forces, aid workers and residents, who scoured for survivors and bodies, said several thousand civilians were displaced and others reported missing in the Addis Ketema, Genfele, Coca Cola and Aftessa areas, which lie adjacent to the township.
“We have between 2 000 and 3 000 people displaced,” Kasahun Debelie, a local Red Cross official, said.
“With the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) and other government organisations we are trying to facilitate shelters and other support as the search for more bodies and survivors goes on,” he said.
Residents said the casualties of the floods, which are as a result of the June-to-September rainy season, were mainly women and children, many of whom were swept away while asleep in poorly constructed shacks along the river bank in the poverty-ravaged region.
“Most of the people in the village known as the ‘Coca Cola’ area were in bed when the floods hit the area. The search for more bodies is going on with the help of the army and local people,” a witness said.
Survivors, who said whole families might have been drowned, hoped the missing people might have escaped to higher ground when the floods hit.
“We are waiting and hoping that some people might have fled from the area (to higher ground) in the middle of the night. Otherwise, it would be a disaster to many families and friends,” one survivor, Adugna Lema, said.
The heavy downpour pummelled the area for more than an hour and a half, causing the River Dire Dawa that passes through the town to burst its banks and flood in the region in the early morning hours, according to a witness, Belete Ayalew.
“My home is situated a bit far from the river, I was in bed when I heard people shouting. I opened the door, the water burst in, forcing me to escape to the rooftop from where police rescued me, but my house and property were destroyed,” another witness, 45-year-old Abaye Baheru, said.
“While on the rooftop, I saw men, women and children being washed away while crying for help,” Abaye explained.
Witnesses said the floods destroyed more than 100 homes, markets and shops, and swept away livestock and vehicles. The full extent of the damage remained to be assessed.
State media reported that the floods swept the main road linking Dire Wara, the neighbouring Harar township and the capital Addis Ababa.
Last year, at least 200 people were killed and more than 260 000 displaced when heavy rains pounded the same region, which lies close to Ethiopia’s Somali state.
In those floods, swarms of crocodiles devoured villagers, while others clung on to trees in a desperate attempt to avoid being eaten.
Over the last couple of years, flooding has affected large areas of eastern and southern Ethiopia, displacing tens of thousands of people and causing millions of dollars of damage, particulary in the subsistence agricultural sector, which offers livelihood to many impoverished people.
The floods follow a devastating drought that hit the north-east African region, threatening the lives of about 15 million people.
