By Yilma Bekele
I am sure most of you have heard or read that the leaders of Medrek are on a tour of North America. They have held town hall meetings in Seattle, San Jose, Las Vegas, Washington DC and Atlanta and are coming to Los Angles this coming weekend. The delegation consists of Ato Seye Abreha, Ato Gebru Asrat, Dr. Negasso Gidada and Ato (engineer) Gezachew Shiferaw. All four gentlemen were ex members of TPLF, OPDO or AEUP.
For those not familiar with the alphabet soup, TPLF stands for Tigrai Peoples Liberation Front and OPDO is Oromo Peoples Democratic Union. OPDO is the brainchild of TPLF. That is neither paranoia nor a figment of my imagination. Other TPLF subsidiaries include ANDM (Amhara National Democratic Movement) SEPDM (Southern Ethiopia Peoples’ Democratic Movement) and other minor parties. They call them Teletafi (ተለጣፊ) They are organized as EPDRF (Ethiopian peoples’ Democratic Revolutionary Front).
The current Ethiopian Parliament is composed of 526 members and EPDRF controls 326 seats. That is actually not a true statement. TPLF Party control extends to all the so-called political parties organized as an independent for ‘Ferenjis’ consumption. Thus in reality the Parliament is TPLF’ Party’s’ private playing field. As the Chilean dictator Pinochet said ‘”Not a leaf moves in Chile if I don’t know about it”, nothing in Ethiopian Parliament happens without the permission of the one party state.
If you will forgive me I will start our current story with the 2005 general election as a background. To a majority of Ethiopians May 2005 is day one in the hope of our people for democracy and a better future. May 2005 left the Meles regime physically naked mentally dead and spiritually void of values. The total rejection of ethnic politics and cadre rule unnerved the regime. Meles and company panicked. They communicated with the Ethiopian people with snipers on every roof and concentration camps in every Kilil. The aftermath of 2005 election ushered the quest for a new understanding of the struggle for liberation under a totalitarian state.
Kinijit leaders were forced to forge a new path based on the experience of the 2005 debacle. Kinijit the dragon slayer was an amalgamation of different organization united for the purpose of elections. The two years in Kaliti jail dealt a heavy blow on the young party. The TPLF machine used every evil means at its disposal to create mistrust, mis-information resulting in disarray. Kaliti did a favor to the movement. It differentiated the men from the boys. Ledetu was officially recognized as a subsidiary. Hailu was exposed as spoiler. Merera and Petros became inconsequential. Berhanu reloaded and Bertukan decided to re-calibrate.
Our story revolves around Bertukan Mideksa. Upon her return to Ethiopia from her North American tour, she embarked on the formation of a new political party modeled after Kinijit. If you remember Ato Meles’s court have already handed Kinijit to some obscure individual named Ayele Chamiso. Thus Weizero Bertukan labored tirelessly to form Andenet Party. Despite the many hurdles thrown on her path she was able to dot the I’s and cross the t’s and form Andenet. It was a proud accomplishment that will be told and retold for a long time. Birtukan’s Andenet is a multi national party based on equality and resting on a strong bedrock of Democracy as its foundation.
Weizero Bertukan criss crossed the country forming headquarters in every region and managed to win the trust and respect of the Ethiopian People. Her rising star was eclipsing the faint candlelight of the TPLF cadres. That did not go well with TPLF. Chairman Bertukan was re-hauled back to Kaliti on some funky charge to be kept away until the 2010 election is over.
Her imprisonment created a void in the new party. It was not long before factions were formed and an all out war was declared. The young party was left without a rudder to steer the party in the TPLF shark infested ocean. The battle tested TPLF leaders exploited the weakness of the rookie leaders to the maximum. TPLF was not interested in killing the Party. It just wanted to deliver a crippling blow. It was not long before things degenerated to the extent that Andenet was forced to appeal to the TPLF regime for protection from its own members. Shame is an understatement. It was under these strange circumstances that Andenet joined what is known as Medrek. What exactly is Medrek?
Medrek is a coalition of different parties that include UEDF (United Ethiopian Democratic Forces led by Dr. Beyene Petros and Dr. Merera Gudina) OFDM (Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement led by Ato Bulcha Demeksa) A.R.E.N.A. Tigrai led by Ato Gebru Asrat, and Andenet led by Ato Gezachew Shiferaw. Please note Andenet is the only multi national party in the group. Andenet under the leadership of Chairman Bertukan is the only party with representation in all parts of the country and support organizations in the Diaspora.
The two independent individuals Ato Seye Abraha and Dr. Negasso Gidada joined the weak and wounded Andenet at this critical time. The void felt in the party due to the expulsion of some founding members created a fertile ground for the two ex-officials to assume positions of leadership upon arrival.
Thus, this is the Medrek that is currently touring North America. Some of my esteemed friends have used such expressions as ‘the rebirth of Ethiopia’ and ‘a new political culture in Ethiopia’ to explain the tour. Is this really a Hallelujah or Alhamdulillah moment? It is possible that both declarations are heavy on the cheerleading side but lacking in the friendly but critical assessment option.
The American expression ‘friends don’t allow friends drive drunk’ comes to mind, especially when one is a passenger in the vehicle. We are all passengers in this ship called Ethiopia. The action of the pilot affects the welfare of the passengers. The current tour leaves many questions unanswered and the timing is a puzzle to all well-wishers. The question of raising money is out of the question. The Diaspora is fighting a life and death battle to retain jobs, pay mortgages and raise expensive children. The Diaspora does not vote. Is it possible the expenditure of thousands of hard earned dollars in transporting, lodging and feeding the delegation is not a smart investment?
What exactly is Medrek trying to accomplish in the current election? The short answer is of course win. The next question will be is that possible? The simple answer is a resounding no. That leads us back to the first question, why participate in an impossible, rigged game where the outcome is pre determined? That the TPLF started the preparations for this election way back in May of 2005 is obvious to all. Meles and company vowed not to be caught with their pants down again. Thus the vibrant independent media was destroyed, capable leaders were killed, exiled or jailed, the Constitution was amended to include curbs on NGO activities, a law defining any opposition as terrorism and a new code of conduct was put in place.
In Election Ethiopian style the opposition cannot hold unauthorized meeting, cannot hold a rally, and cannot raise money from outside sources including the Diaspora. It is enough for you to say what a cockamamie idea? Wait there is more; according to the PM candidates cannot criticize the regime under threat of being charged with incitement or sedation. In emerging democratic Ethiopia the opposition cannot campaign except in a few large cities like Addis Abeba and Bahir Dar. Being a candidate or supporter of the opposition is a hazardous duty in most of the Kilils. The only exception seems to be Tigrai where the ex TPLF members can campaign in a limited areas.
Medrek has sacrificed plenty of candidates in this election. Human right activists, foreign correspondents such as VOA, Bloomberg and many others, have recorded party members being prosecuted, hounded in their villages, denied government controlled necessities and even murdered. Ethiopian politics is not for the fain hearted.
The 2005 election was proof that the minority-based regime is a paper tiger. It was resoundingly defeated where the ballot boxes were opened under the watchful eyes of the people and international observers. Thus the lesson learnt was it is not about the campaign but it is all about the counting of the ballots. What we see today is that the regime still controls the election board, recruited trained and is ready to deploy its own cadre observers and have drawn up a strict code of conduct for the Ferenji observers. It is like meet the new situation same as the old situation.
The simple question to Medrek is why do you exactly expect a different outcome when nothing has changed? The truth of the matter is actually things have change in a negative way as far as the opposition is concerned. With its star leader behind bars and its candidates and supporters terrorized by government goons how is it possible to contemplate winning when even trying has become a crime?
Why is Medrek giving legitimacy to a dictatorial regime by its involvement in a rigged game? Some will say half a loaf is better than no loaf, is that Medrek’s philosophy too? Is the idea to win a hundred or so seats in Parliament? Is that considered good whereas the regime with its majority control will continue the abuse of the few opposition members seated for show?
These are the questions Medrek have not addressed both at home and abroad. It was only last October that Ato Gezachew declared ‘The release of Birtukan Mideksa and all Political Prisoners is the main agenda for joining the 2010 Election’. What ever happened to that bravado? How come the political prisoner population of Kaliti and the Kilils has gone up let alone secure the release of our leader?
The lessons of 2005 should not be forgotten. Repeating the same mistake is definitely not a winning strategy. The Ethiopian people have paid a heavy price for an inferior and ugly outcome. We worry that what was done to us five years ago is in the process of being repeated. We ask Medrek to consider the ramifications of kowtowing to a totalitarian state that is hell bent in winning at all cost. We urge Medrek to listen to its constituents that wish it well and include their concerns in its deliberations. We have a very sick regime that considers politics as a game where winning is the only acceptable outcome. They have shown that they will kill to secure their ill-gotten power and wealth.
We feel the pain of the opposition candidates that have sacrificed trying to get involved in the affairs of their nation. We are horrified to witness the death of Ato Aregawi Gebre Yohanes, Ato Beyanza Deba and many other nameless Ethiopians whose crime was wanting to be free. We hope Medrek will take its role seriously and observe the Hippocratic oath like doctors that states ‘do no harm’. Our hope is that they contemplate if their actions bring good or harm on our people.
It is a good possibility the regime will orchestrate an election worthy of an African standard. It is also true that the US and the Europeans will declare ‘a few irregularities’ but ‘an essential first step’. Just like what happened five years ago Ato Meles and company will continue the rape and pillage of our country and sell what is left of it to the highest bidder. We hope Medrek will not be one of those parties that will sit silently in the kangaroo parliament and preach the gospel of ‘working together’ and such crap while dining with killers, psychos and future guests of the International Criminal Court.
Anteneh Roba, M.D.
October of 2003 was only my second time to visit Ethiopia in 25 years. It was an eye opening experience that would change my life completely. I left Ethiopia to pursue higher education and eventually became a practicing physician in the USA. I returned to find out about the health care system in my country of birth. In 2003, I joined a team of doctors who were traveling to Ethiopia for a couple of weeks to perform surgery. The plan was for me to assist the surgeons, which turned out not to be necessary. Instead, I ended up visiting various hospitals in the capital city of Addis Ababa. I was introduced to Dr. Tesfaye Bayleyegn, a local anesthesiologist, who graciously took time out of his busy schedule to accompany me.
We first visited the emergency room at the Black Lion Hospital. What immediately caught my attention was how the babies were bundled up and laying on makeshift dilapidated beds; six to seven of them in a row. One child was sicker than the next with serious communicable diseases that in the United States would have required them to be put in isolation rooms. Some were gasping for air; some were listless and lifeless. Most had their parents hovering over them, anxious and scared with their sacs of clothing and food on the floor at the foot of their babies’ beds. At the other hospitals we visited, the same scenario was repeated endlessly, revealing a health care system with totally inadequate infrastructure, equipment and supplies.
During our visits to the Zweditu and Menelik medical facilities, we met inspiring and dedicated doctors and health care professionals in all areas of medicine that were doing an outstanding, even heroic, job under very difficult circumstances. Their descriptions of the agonies they see every day and the ordeals of the patients were very chilling. The stories of the pediatricians about the children they had to struggle to keep alive were especially heartbreaking and kept me awake at night long after I left Ethiopia.
On a visit to the pediatric ward at Zweditu Hospital, accompanied by the pediatric section head, I noticed a nurse remove the oxygen tube from a baby. Seconds later the baby became agitated. Realizing what was happening, I myself became somewhat agitated and inquired why the nurse was removing the oxygen that the baby clearly needed so much. I was told that there was another baby with an even greater need for the oxygen; but, as the babies agitation got worse and my increasing distress over the situation was becoming evident to the doctor, he ordered the nurse to reattach the nasal oxygen to the baby, who immediately settled down.
During the next few days, I visited many other pediatric wards at the several hospitals and saw too much more of the same: babies with complications of HIV waiting to die because of lack of retroviral medications for infants; babies with extreme forms of rickets (vitamin D deficiency), their bones bent like pretzels because their mothers had deprived them of sunlight for years; children with kwashiorkor (severe swelling of the body due to severe protein deficiency) with minimal intravenous access to correct the deficiency; babies with huge hernias and other surgical problems that could not be operated because they would not survive. These are only some of the terrible problems I witnessed.
The endless suffering at these hospitals made me realize that, as an Ethiopia born physician residing in the USA and lucky enough to have the means and knowledge to make a difference, I had to get involved, and that no matter how small my contributions might be, I would find a way to make a difference.
After three years of consideration and investigation to find a way to help my fellow countrymen/ women, I and my cousin, Seble Nebiyeloul, co-founded the International Fund for Africa (IFA) in 2006, formerly called The Amsale Gessesse Memorial Foundation. Realizing the overwhelming needs of the health care system in Ethiopia alone, it was decided to narrow our focus to the improvement and modernization of neonatal and rural medical care. Although there is a great deal of anecdotal evidence of the huge health care problem in Ethiopia, there is also a good deal of evidenced-based statistical information available to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the magnitude of the health care problems facing this East African country.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines “neonatal mortality” (NM) as the “death of a live born during the period which starts at birth and ends 28 completed days after birth”. Two-thirds of neonatal deaths take place in the first week of life (perinatal period). Of deaths occurring in the first week of life, two-thirds occur in the first 24 hours of life. Of all neonatal deaths in the world, 99% occur in developing countries like Ethiopia. Newborn health indicators are not recorded by global agencies although they form a great proportion of child mortality. The highest rates of neonatal mortality occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. Estimates indicate that one in every five women risks experiencing a neonatal death. The high rate of neonatal death in developing countries suggests that there is a relationship between socio-economic status and mortality.
Inability of pregnant women to recognize complications soon enough, followed by delay in seeking and getting appropriate help are among the major causes of neonatal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that 72% of neonatal deaths can be prevented through the implementation of simple and proven interventions such as good maternal hygiene and nutrition.
Although most hospitals in Addis Ababa have pediatric wards, all of them are ill equipped to handle sick babies. As of June 2009, none of the hospitals had pediatric or neonatal intensive care units. While most of the doctors are well trained and do a remarkable job under the circumstances, the lack of specialists is glaring. Currently, there are only a few neonatologists in the whole country. Issues that contribute to neonatal death are poor health of the mothers during pregnancy due to poor maternal nutrition causing such conditions as anemia, severe and serious infections caused by endemic diseases like Malaria, and untreated hypertension during pregnancy. Inaccessibility to health facilities, poor quality of care or non-existent care at health facilities, poor management of health facilities, misguided and harmful local beliefs and cultural practices such as early marriages and early child bearing, frequent pregnancies, and unsafe sex, also contribute to both maternal and neonatal mortality.
According to recent reports of the U.N, Ethiopia’s neonatal mortality rate is 39 per 1000 live births with neonatal deaths totaling 119,500 annually. Infections are the most common causes of death, followed by low birth weight due to poor nutrition, asphyxia, congenital problems and other causes. A neonate with a surgical emergency presents formidable challenges in patient care, particularly in the resource poor environment of most hospitals in the capital city. This stems in great measure from unavailable or inaccessible prenatal and obstetric care for the majority of the poor, minimal community support services for neonatal care, and inefficient and weak referral systems. To minimize the deaths of newborn babies, easy access to neonatal services must be available at the time of greatest risk, which is at birth and during the first few days of life. Having experienced the very difficult conditions in the pediatric wings of the hospitals in Addis Ababa,and the immense need for neonatal care, the International Fund for Africa, entered into a relationship with Yekatit 12 Hospital (one of the many government run health facilities in Addis Ababa) to develop, establish, and eventually upgrade neonatal services. Yekatit 12 Hospital was chosen because it already had a small unit established by a very determined neonatologist, Dr. Mulualem Gessesse. With only two rooms, a few beds, and limited and inadequate medical equipment and supplies to provide basic care, this determined neonatologist and her staff struggled to save the lives of babies. IFA first visited the Yekatit 12 hospital neonatal unit in 2007 to assess its needs. In order for this unit to have a viable capacity to save lives, Dr. Mulualem and her staff would require support on many levels. We decided to help build a self-sufficient state-of-the-art neonatal unit at Yekatit 12 Hospital.
In the first year of the project, IFA provided a sizeable donation of equipment and medical supplies including incubators, phototherapy machines, neonatal beds, oxygen concentrators, suction machines, pulse oximeters, ECG machine, cardiac monitor and IV cannulas. As a result, the unit was able to upgrade and expand to one of the more comprehensive neonatal units in the country. On four subsequent visits, IFA has provided basic supplies such as uniforms, stethoscopes, etc., and equipment including computers, slide projectors, etc. to assist the staff in its ongoing educational programs.
In June of 2009, IFA donated additional equipment and supplies necessary to create a functioning neonatal ICU, including three pediatric / neonatal ventilators donated by the New York Mt. Sinai Medical School Department of Neonatology through the good offices of Dr Ian R. Holzman, Professor of Pediatric Medicine and Chief of the Division of Newborn Medicine. Cardiopulmonary monitors, a blood gas, blood count and chemistry analyzer machine, portable x-ray machine with fluoroscopy capabilities, defibrillator, condensers, otoscopes/opthalmoscopes and accessories for respiratory care like laryngoscopes were also obtained. In addition, through the efforts of Dr Mulualem and the unwavering support of the hospital administration, the unit has been expanded to seven rooms with over 30 beds and a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
These efforts have lead to very encouraging results. The neonatal service has admitted 1,084 patients and discharged 956 (88.1%) with the total number of deaths being 128 or (11.8%) as ofJune 2009. As of December 2009 neonatal mortality was down to 4.8%. Of 605 newborn admissions, 522 (86%) were discharged in improved condition, whereas 8 (1.3%) cases with congenital malformation and surgically correctable problems were referred to the neonatology unit of the Black Lion Hospital. 75 (12 .5%) newborns died, the major causes being Asphyxia (33.4%), Hyaline Membrane Disease (24%) and Sepsis (21.3%).
Statistics alone do not tell the whole story of this miraculous decline in deaths, of newborn babies, and if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must surely be worth a thousand statistics. View the heroic life-saving accomplishments of Dr Mulualem and her staff combined with the efforts of the International Fund for Africa at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PILrNY8ujX4.
Although the results have been very encouraging, the continuing challenges for Yekatit 12 Hospital are many. It stands as a stark example of the problems that most hospitals face in Ethiopia. Essential to a well-run health care system are increased and continued financial support from the government, allocation of budget for maintaining and upgrading health care facilities, and equipment donated by other organizations. Creating a management team at each health care facility that is knowledgeable, committed, and effective is a necessity. Field-based training of health care providers is also important.
Having had discussions with health care officers from nurse assistance all the way up to the minister of health has lead us to believe that the challenges that need to be addressed to improve both maternal and neonatal mortality are to build women’s clinics to provide ob/gyn and neonatology services and to also have ob/gyn and neonatal services in as many hospitals as possible, and where they do exist, to improve the quality of care by training and expanding the knowledge base of physicians and nurses in obstetrics and neonatology. Streamlining the continuity of care from pregnancy through delivery to the postnatal period, and from home to primary health care facilities and to hospitals is another important goal. Combating the growing number of HIV/AIDS victims that will eventually over-burden the system is also of paramount importance.
Our goals are lofty, but hopefully, with perseverance and hard work, they will be achieved. It will take the participation of Ethiopians in the Diaspora and the friends of Ethiopia all over the world as well as the commitment of the Ethiopian government, medical community and citizenry to turn the tide of death, hunger, despair and pain. We recognize the urge for some to politicize their grievances and to take a confrontational position on many of the issues that plague Ethiopia. In this case, an alternative approach is necessary. Everyday all over Ethiopia babies will die avoidable deaths, a children will go to bed hungry or become homeless because of the loss of one or both of their parents to AIDS. We can stop these and other atrocities by utilizing our time, effort, energy, and money in a cooperative effort by supporting organizations like ours that take an apolitical approach, and who deliver aid directly to those in need in our motherland.
IFA has plans to help establish new neonatal and pediatric services in city and rural hospitals, improve existing programs, and to establish an ongoing volunteer program for visiting U.S. doctors to participate in the delivery of health care and training of medical professionals to advance care of the newborn. In line with this goal, IFA has donated life saving equipment including 5 incubators, 3 phototherapy machines, 5 suction machines, and two oxygen concentrators to Ghandi Memorial Hospital (the oldest maternity hospital in the city) in Addis Ababa on April 14, 2010.
You can make a difference and your contribution now to the International Fund for Africa is a matter of life and death for these babies. A sick and dying baby is every mother’s nightmare. With your donation, you help change that nightmare into a dream come true for a happy, healthy child for that mother. Your support will make possible the further critical acquisition of needed medical equipment and supplies, and help equip and create a new state-of-the-art pediatric unit with an entire floor dedicated to neonatal care now under construction at Yekatit 12 Hospital.
To donate, and for more information about the International Fund for Africa, please visit www.ifundafrica.org.
(Anteneh Roba, MD, is President of International Fund for Africa)
By Magn Nyang
Three weeks ago I got a call from a friend of mine whom I grew up with. The reason for his call was to talk to me about two things. He said to me “have you gotten a call from your cousin?” I asked, which one? He told me the name of my cousin he was talking about. I asked, what about him? He said “I lobbied the Gambella government to lobby the Ethiopian government to send at least one Gambellian to Washington, DC. to work as a diplomat. What that got to do with me? I asked. Your own cousin was chosen and he is coming to Washington, DC. to work as Ethiopian diplomat, he said. I congratulated him on his lobbying skills and said to him that my cousin knows where I am and knows how to contact me and he will contact me if he wishes to.
What is the second thing you wanted to talk to me about? I asked. He said “on April 17, 2010, at 2:00pm, a delegation from Ethiopian Government is coming to town for a big meeting with the Diasporas, I want you to come.” On April 17th, I put on my suit and showed up at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Bloomington, MN, where the meeting was being held. At the entrance, there were four men with a list of names. They said to me “are you registered? Is your name on the list?” I said, no. They told me “you are not invited.” Not invited? Why?
I was born in a village located in the far corner of Gambella region in the 1970s. And by virtue of that birth, I became an Ethiopian. Therefore, I see it as my birthright to go to any meeting that is meant for Ethiopians. I take my Ethiopian citizenship very seriously. I allow no one to temper with. On April 17th, 2010, the Meles led Ethiopian government and its supporters tempered with my Ethiopian citizenship by stopping me from entering a meeting that was supposedly meant for Ethiopians. And that did not go well with me. I have never seen or heard about a government that calls a meeting for the people that it clams to represent and then turn around and picks and chooses who should be at the meeting. This is what happened last Saturday. The Meles led Ethiopians’ government handpicked and chose which Ethiopian was allowed to be at the meeting.
There are two kinds of opposition groups among Ethiopian in Diasporas. Some opposition groups do not attend any meeting called by current government of Ethiopia. Some do. I belong to those who attend meetings whenever possible. Though I do not see the merits of not attending and confronting the delegates sent by government that one opposes, I do not judge those who refrain themselves from attending. My Anyuak upbringing had taught me to confront those I oppose face to face. My people always say “if you have something to say to someone go and say it to him/her face to face. Do not spread rumors about others.” Therefore, it is in my nature to confront and challenge all those I oppose and tell them my mind. I fear no one. On April 17th, after being refused entrance, I stood there and started to contemplate my next move. However, a friend of mine who was allowed to enter right in front of me, went and enlisted the assistance of an Anyuak man (a supporter of the government and one of the organizers of the meeting) who came out to the entrance and told the four stooges to allow me in.
I got inside and the meeting had already started. The delegate representing the foreign ministry of Ethiopia was talking about investment when I got in. He was inviting Ethiopians to come home and invest in their motherland. He invited Ph.Ds to come and teach in any of the twenty- two Universities. An Ethiopian man who have tried to invest in Oromiya region since 2004 and was let down, asked the delegates to explain why he was given the run around for the past six years if they seriously want Ethiopians to invest in their mother land. In response to his question, the vice president of Oromiya region (he was among the delegates) praised the man’s effort and promised to look into this let down when he goes back to Ethiopia. Another Ethiopian asked what happened of the money that some Ethiopians raised from all over the United States after they were told by the government to come home and invest in building condominiums. He said “why do you come here and invite people to come home to invest when those who previously tried to invest were let down by the same government you are representing?” The delegates looked unprepared and did not give an explanation to this question.
A Ph.D holder sitting next to me asked the delegates to tell him what the Ethiopians’ government has so far done to recruit and retain Ethiopian scholars in Diaspora. The delegate representing the foreign ministry answered this question by saying “so far, we have not done anything.” This is a government who has built more than 20 universities (with poor educational quality, of course) in the past eight years and is now preparing to built 10 more universities in the next three years and has not yet done anything to recruit Ethiopian scholars in Diaspora? It is embarrassing.
My turn to ask arrived and I wanted to know why my ancestral land is being given away to foreign investors. I asked: why the Gambellians’ land is being given to foreigners? What is the benefit for the natives? Who will be the consumers of the produce from these big farms? The answers to my questions came from the Oromiya region vice president. He was rather rude when answering my questions. He challenged me to produce a data that shows the displacement of native farmers. He said “the land we gave to investors were lands that natives do not use for farming. These pieces of lands were idly sitting there and there seems to be confusion among the Diasporas about these lands. For the first time in Ethiopia’s history, we managed to lease these idle lands to investors to be developed for the benefit of the natives and the Federal Government, and instead of getting praises for job well done from you, the Diasporas, so far what you people did is blame us.” This man wants us, the Diasporas, to cheer them up and to give high-five to the government for given away lands to foreigners. I thought he was out of his mind if that was what he really expected from us.
This article was written to show to Ethiopians in Diaspora and as well as to those in Ethiopia what kind of incompetent government is in power in Ethiopia. The delegates’ answers to the questions were not forthcoming. And by picking and choosing who should come to the meeting, the current Ethiopians’ government showed that it represents only those Ethiopians who support its policies. It showed that this government is not inclusive. It does not represents all Ethiopians.
(Dr Magn Nyang can be contacted at [email protected])
