EDITOR’S NOTE: It is not new for Meles to bite the hands that feed him. We have seen what he did to Eritreans after they helped him come to power. Without the money he is currently getting from the World Bank, this tin-pot dictator cannot survive one week. But it is good to see that he is attacking the World Bank — an organization that is a major source of Africa’s misery.
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Ethiopia’s tribal dictator Meles Zenawi on Tuesday denounced economic policies imposed on African countries in the 1980s by the World Bank and charged that they rather delayed the continent’s development.
“Economic liberalization policies were a failure and delayed Africa’s development. These choices neglected investments in infrastructure, education and training,” he said in the Japanese city of Yokohama during an international symposium on Africa’s development organized by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Zenawi urged African countries to conduct “more pragmatic policies” to accelerate their economic growth by investing in infrastructure to ensure their sustainable development.
“There is no sustainable economic growth without reliable and performing infrastructure. Over the past few years, African countries have been achieving economic growth, but the inadequacy of infrastructure is likely to ruin their efforts,” the Ethiopian Prime Minister said.
“Our partners are exerting pressure on us, but they do not leave us room for man oeuvre to enable us to design and work for our own development.”
Zenawi hailed Japan’s support to Africa, urging the continent to build on its economic model.
“In Ethiopia, we built on Asia’s economic experience in general,” he said before a large audience made up of African and Asian delegates who are in Japan to attend the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development.
The views of the Ethiopian dictator are shared by the other organizers of the symposium, namely the former president of Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano, the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Ronald Kaberuka, the head of state of Tanzania and current chairman of the African Union (AU), Kikwete Jakaya Mrisho, and JICA Director, Mrs Sadako Ogata.
Mrs Ogata deplored the lack of investment in the field of infrastructure, saying JICA had not sufficiently taken into account the importance of infrastructure in development policies.
The four organizers of the symposium stressed the importance of the private sect or, as it must play a major role in economic development in Africa.
“Economic growth should not be reduced to mere figures. It must be felt by the population,” the former Mozambican president added.
The President of the AfDB, Kaberuka, said African countries must clearly define their economic policy and work by order of priority.
“There is need to reform the bureaucracy to modernize it and make it more competent,” he said.
“We cannot do everything at the same time. We must move in stages,” Kaberuka said, advocating a reform of the bureaucracy to modernize it in a bid to make it mo r e competent.
(Richard Alleyne, UNICEF USA) — EAST HARARGHE, Ethiopia — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has attributed the current surge in global food prices to a host of factors, including: escalating energy prices, lack of investment in agriculture, increasing demand, trade distortions subsidies and recurrent bad weather.
In the eastern Ethiopian province of East Hararghe Zone of Oromiya Regional State—a region with over 30 million residents—the effects of the food crisis and an extended dry season threaten the tenuous gains the country has made with regard to child nutrition.
Already among the countries in the world with the highest rates of child mortality and malnutrition, just how severe the problem becomes in this part of Ethiopia depends largely on the financial soundness of a community-based intervention model known as Enhanced Outreach Strategy (EOS). Developed and implemented three years ago by UNICEF and its partners, in conjunction with the Ethiopian government, the strategy delivers low-cost, high-impact interventions such as nutrition screenings, vaccinations, deworming pills and vitamin A supplementation to children in order to avert crisis when emergencies crop up.
Subsistence farmers throughout Ethiopia rely on two rainy seasons a year: the “meher” from June to July and the “belg” from January to February. This year the “belg” rains came late.
“Because there were no “belg” rains to speak of this year, we are seeing livestock deteriorate and crops that could not be ready for harvest,” said Samson Desie, UNICEF Nutrition Specialist in Ethiopia. “But what we’re also seeing are children who are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.”
At the Bissidimo Hospital in East Hararghe, Desie explains the nutrition screening process and EOS at work:
“By conducting mid-upper arm circumference, height and weight measurements our workers at the community level are able to refer mothers with children diagnosed with moderate malnutrition to a supplemental feeding program,” said Desie. “Those diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition come here to this UNICEF supported therapeutic feeding program.”
Hospital staff members in Bissidimo prepare therapeutic milk supplied by UNICEF and known as F-75. It is administered following UNICEF feeding protocols for case management of severe acute malnutrition. In many cases mothers are also given packets of Plumpy’nut to feed their children in order to combat the effects of malnutrition. A ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), Plumpy’nut is a high protein, high energy peanut-based paste in a foil wrapper that can be administered at home rather than at feeding centers or hospitals and can be eaten without any preparation.
The number of referrals to Bissidimo and similar facilities has risen steadily since last December. One of UNICEF’s partners has been the World Food Program (WFP), which works with the government’s agency responsible for disaster prevention and preparedness in administering targeted supplemental food distribution. This distribution is meant for treatment of moderate malnutrition and prevention of severe malnutrition.
Because of the increase in global food prices, WFP has had to close down a number of supplementary feeding centers. Those in Oromiya region—where there were 118 sites—have now been reduced to 28; and in Haraghe zone where 21 sites were in operation, now only six remain open.
The head of WFP has called the current food crisis a “silent tsunami” which threatens to affect the over 70 million people globally.
“We know the system we have in place works, and we are beginning to notice behavioral change at the community level. Families are beginning to understand what to do to keep their children well nourished,” said Desie. “But if we’re unable to keep the system well oiled with resources and financing, we could end up slipping backward.”
Ethiopian Television Network interviews Ethiopian Review publisher Elias Kifle. This is Part I of a 4-part video. The rest of the interview is available at ETN.
By Peter Clottey, VOA — Zimbabwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says the country would not be a haven for criminals under its leadership. This comes after President Robert Mugabe’s government reportedly said former Ethiopian leader Mengistu Haile Mariam will be protected in Zimbabwe despite being sentenced to death by an Ethiopian High Court. Mengistu, has lived in exile in Zimbabwe since he was overthrown in 1991, is unlikely extradited to Ethiopia to face punishment unless Mugabe loses next month’s election run-off. The Ethiopian government has however, not formally requested Mengistu to be extradited. From Harare, MDC international affairs secretary Eliphas Mukonoweshuro tells reporter Peter Clottey that the imminent MDC government would review the case of the former Ethiopian leader before taking any action.
“The position of the MDC is that it will accept people running away from other countries seeking refuge in Zimbabwe. If they are not needed by any country for crimes committed, then they would be free to stay in Zimbabwe. But Zimbabwe can never be a haven of criminals under an MDC government. If Mengistu has not committed any crime anywhere to the satisfaction of the incoming MDC government, then he has nothing to fear at all,” Mukonoweshuro pointed out.
He said the opposition party would review the case against the former Ethiopian leader to determine its next line of action.
“When the MDC comes to power, the MDC government will study the case pertaining to Mr. Mengistu. If it is satisfied that Mr. Mengistu has not committed any crime anywhere, of course, his refugee status would stand. But if Mr. Mengistu has committed crimes anywhere in any part of the world of course the MDC government would take that into consideration in deciding whether Mr. Mengistu has to remain as a guest in Zimbabwe or not,” he said.
Mukonoweshuro said it was important for the party to ascertain the full scope of the case against the former Ethiopian leader.
“We cannot prejudge the situation, and as a movement and a political party, at the present moment we do not have the facts pertaining to Mr. Mengistu’s case. But what we are saying is that the MDC government through the ministry of justice would have to study the papers, would have to convince ourselves whether or not there is a genuine case against Mr. Mengistu. And if there are no genuine cases he could stay, but if there is a genuine case, then of course the MDC government would not allow the country to become a haven for criminals who are wanted elsewhere for serious crimes,” Mukonoweshuro pointed out.
He described as ludicrous accusations by the government that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is a sellout.
“It’s very unfortunate because these are allegations, which are made without any substantiation at all. Mr. Museka’s statement did not chronicle where the MDC in particular and where the MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai has sold out to anybody. We have never been a government of this country and therefore there is no record to sustain those allegations,” he said.
Mukonoweshuro said the government is using the tactics of division to divert attention from the suffering of the masses.
“This is the tragedy in Zimbabwe. Instead of focusing on the issues that can resolve the crisis, people resort to mudslinging. It’s time that Zimbabweans, it’s time that SADC (Southern African Development Community) and Africa realize that no amount of mudslinging could ever even begin to punt in place the ingredients to resolve the crisis that has engulfed this country for the past 10 years,” Mukonoweshuro noted.
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Mengistu Death Sentence Kindles Expectations for His Extradition
By Howard Lesser, VOA — Ethiopia’s supreme court is awaiting confirmation from President Girma Woldegiorgis of this week’s death sentence against former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. The court overturned a previous life sentence on genocide charges for the Marxist lieutenant colonel and 17 of his associates, who were first punished last year after a decade-long trial. Donald Levine is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Chicago and the author of two widely cited books on Ethiopia, “Wax and Gold” and “Greater Ethiopia”. He says that Ethiopians believe the current government has a strong political stake in the new sentence.
“The current regime believes that it needs to be seen as very strong. They believe that the demonstration against them in June, 2005, following the election called for brutal, extreme, repressive measures and ever since, they felt they needed to be seen as very tough. The prosecution appealed only in July the sentence that had been handed down in January of the previous year. I’m really surprised and bothered that it took so long to bring this trial to conclusion,” he noted.
Mengistu overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974 and assumed absolute control after a bloody coup in 1977. In 1991, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe offered him refuge in Zimbabwe, where he has lived ever since. With the 84-year-old Mugabe seriously challenged with political changes in Zimbabwe after next month’s (June 27) presidential election run-off, Donald Levine sees a possible new opening for Ethiopians hoping to achieve Mengistu’s extradition.
“Not right now, but if President Mugabe is replaced, then his successor may well extradite him if requested to. If the evidence is reviewed, I think if a new government comes to be in Zimbabwe, that they would be wanting to abide by the standards of international law and would consider that he should be extradited,” said Levine.
For a new generation of Ethiopians, many of whom were born after the fall of Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam’s regime, the process of coming to terms with the return and execution of an internationally recognized brutal war criminal could epitomize a momentous national experience. Professor Levine says that even though young Ethiopians lack direct personal contact with the troubled past, they have without doubt incorporated the tragedy into their sense of national consciousness.
“Those who were not born at the time, I’m sure have learned from their families about what happened during those years and I don’t know a single Ethiopian at home or abroad who doesn’t regard his (Mengistu’s) regime as absolutely horrible. Probably, almost everyone, even if generally they don’t believe in the death penalty, would say, well in this case, it’s deserved,” he pointed out.
The test of whether Africans living outside of Ethiopia, especially in Zimbabwe, will pass up seizing an opportunity for international justice or pursue it may rest in the hands of Zimbabwe voters and the Mugabe government. University of Chicago sociologist Donald Levine concludes there is no question that the crimes of the Mengistu era should not be overlooked by Zimbabweans.
“No way. The reason they’ve given him a home there is that he helped Zimbabwe during their liberation struggle. But on the merits of his own case and the horrible crimes of which he was guilty, I see that they would certainly have no reason to protect him any further,” he said.
As for Ethiopians’ stake in the Zimbabwe crisis, Professor Levine says he thinks Ethiopians would like to see Zimbabweans overcome President Mugabe’s resistance of the democratic process, much as many of them would like to see greater reform in their own country. In addition to wanting President Mugabe ousted for that reason, he says, they are also interested in seeing Mengistu Haile Mariam extradited back to Ethiopia to face justice.
Any report of famine from below the Sub-Saharan Africa has long ceased to be shocking news to the world. Consequently, those to whom it’s incumbent upon to ensure food security to their people have even lost any sense of shame and guilt in the face of massive starvation and plague that wipes an entire society. To one who is familiar with Ethiopian history, for instance, this is the pattern he sees clearly. During the “Great Ethiopian famine” in 1888-1892 known as “KIFU KEN” in local parlance, meaning evil days, Emperor Menilek took measures to avert or alleviate the disaster, albeit inadequate. Starting from ordering national prayer for divine intercession to doling out food to those who made it to the palace, he tried everything at his disposal. By contrast, Emperor Haileselassie hid the 1973 famine that consumed the lives of 200,000 Ethiopians from Wollo and Tigray.In fact, when one of his officials was informed of the influx of people from Wollo to the capital; he reportedly replied “It’s in the nature of Wollo to migrate.” One can see elsewhere in Africa that shirking of ones official duty cruelly like this is still endemic by recalling a news conference addressed by two cabinet ministers of the Ugandan government, Mr. Musa Ecweru and Mr. Aston Kajara (see Daily Monitor, 21 May 2008). After having defended recent deaths in Karamoja as caused largely by poor hygiene and not famine, they added that the Karimojong eat rats and herbs not because they are famished but because the rodents “may be a delicacy.”
The worst cruelty, though, is the holding of starving people as hostages for political ends. During the military regime, Derg used to divert aid meant for victims of drought to its own militias whereas the present regime of Zenawi blocks aid heading for the same victims/see “Ethiopia thwarting food aid to rebel regions in East” by Jeffrey Gettleman, July 22, 2007 The New York Times/.Ironically, the so-called international community, namely the west which blew the cruelty of Mengistu Hailemariam out of proportion became timid to face the callousness of Meles Zenawi even when he suppressed news of impending disaster by expelling journalists and staffs from humanitarian organizations such as Red Cross, Save the children, Norwegian NGO’s etc. Also, tycoons from the Netherlands whose nation achieved a landmark success by becoming the first to eliminate famine in Europe in the early 17th century, are hindering Ethiopia’s chance to do the same by colluding with the present rulers of Ethiopia in a water-thirsty and land hungry flower production business which causes the shrinkage of arable land.
To summarize, as has been said ad nauseam by various scholars, no functioning democracy has suffered famine. Ethiopians too proving themselves as capable of voting in a civilized manner elected those candidates in 2005 that exuded confidence by promising “to do away with famine, if not to step down assuming full responsibility and by apologizing to the Ethiopian people.”Unfortunately, that election was rigged brutally; hence we’re still stuck with tyranny that spread famine inter alia unabashedly with a host of misguided policies.
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The writer, an Ethiopian Refugee in Uganda, can be reached at [email protected]
This is a 20-page article by Berhanu Tessema on the sacrifices made by Ethiopian patriots during fascist Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia. There is a lot to learn by our generation from those patriots? Click here to read [pdf, Amharic]
