It’s Ethiopian Review’s annual tradition to choose Person of the Year at the last day of the year. Person of the Year is some one who made significant contributions to improve conditions in Ethiopia during the past 12 months. The final selection is made by the editor-in-chief after consultations with readers and advisers.
Ethiopian Review’s choice for 2011 Person of the Year is the Ethiopian journalists. In 2011, the Ethiopian journalists kept the torch of freedom burning and paid tremendous sacrifices. Currently, Woubshet Taye, Reeyot Alemu and Eskender Nega are languishing in Woyanne jail charged with terrorism. Woubshet lost hearing on one of his ears as a result of savage beatings in the hands of Meles Zenawi’s henchmen. Sisay Agena, Dawit Kebede, Abe Tokichaw, Abiy Teklemariam and others were forced into exile, but they continued to give voice to the people of Ethiopia from foreign lands.
Dictators fear free press like vampires fear sun light. That is why Meles Zenawi’s Woyanne junta intensified its attack on the media in 2011, shutting down all independent newspapers, arresting journalists, and spending tens of millions of dollars to jam radio, TV, and web sites. As a result, Ethiopians today have less access to information than most countries in the world. There is a parallel between poverty and people’s access to information. Forbes Magazine has ranked Ethiopia the 3rd saddest country in the world where literacy is only 30% and undernourishment is a staggering 40%. And yet, the Meles regime spends over $100 million to buy equipment from China that jam the media.
Despite all the challenges, Ethiopian journalists have been tirelessly working to empower the people of Ethiopia with information. When change comes to Ethiopia, it will be due in large measure to the effort of Ethiopian journalists.
Honorable Mentions
In 2011, there were other heroes as well who stood up for the cause of freedom in Ethiopia. They are too many to list, but the most prominent among them include:
* The people of Ogaden who refused to submit to the Woyanne junta’s apartheid rule.
* Abune Mekarios, Ethiopian Orthodox Church senior leader who has taken a strong stand against the Woyanne injustice and called for regime change.
* Yenesew Gebre, the teacher who burned himself to protest the injustice against himself, his students and the people of Ethiopia.
* Andualem Aragie, the young UDJ leader who is currently languishing in Woyanne jail for saying that the people of Ethiopia have the right to choose their government.
Author and journalist Tesfaye Gebreab has written a review of Woyanne propaganda chief Bereket Simon’s new book that was financed by Saudi-Ethiopia billionaire Al Amoudi. In the book review, Tesfaye points out several falsehoods and exposes the writer for what he is — a {www:charlatan}. Read the review here.
Several students have been thrown in jail after a riot broke out yesterday at Adama University, 100 km south of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, according to Ethiopian Review sources.
Today Woyanne police is still rounding up students who are suspected of participating in the riot.
We are unable to ascertain the cause of the disturbance yet, but one student told Ethiopian Review correspondent in Addis Ababa that fighting took place between students who are supporters of the regime and opponents before police arrived.
Heavily armed police are currently watching the campus from a distance while campus police are patrolling.
The December 28, 2011, video on “Ethiopian domestic workers in the Middle East” represents the ugly and inhumane face of uncaring, callous and debilitating governance in Ethiopia today. The voice of the young woman whose cries and pleas moved each one of us represents the agony of the entire society, especially girls and women. They face the brunt of brutality and degradation in the Middle East as well as in their homeland. If this video was in English, it would go viral globally and cause an outrage.
Whether we like it or not, their dehumanization and degradation is ours too. The young woman is brave and bold. She is a 21st century hero as are Yenesew Gebre and the untold number of political prisoners in the country’s dungeons. She put the often ignored question: “What happened to the Ethiopian flag? Where is it when we need it?” She shamed the highest officials in the government.
9. Let us our ethnic, religious, ideological and professional garbs and respond to the plight of Ethiopian females
The cry and plea of the young woman reveals fundamentals that we would ignore at our own peril. Whether Christian or Muslim and regardless of age and ethnic affiliation, Ethiopian domestic workers face the same problem. This is loss of honor, dignity and humanity; and a government that does not stand on their side when the need arises. When they die, they are not buried in their home country: the one last and legitimate claim of citizenship the dead can hope for. It is self-evident that Ethiopian girls and women and the rest of the poor are not the priority of the governing party.
As important, their government is unable and incapable of addressing the root causes that drive Ethiopian youth, professionals and especially females out of their country. This root cause is abject poverty that is close to destitution. It occurs while a few accumulate wealth.
Travesty against Ethiopian girls and women; and the burning of a church are appalling and ghastly enough to worry, Christians, Muslims, young and old alike. Just think again of what leads females to the Middle East. Then imagine what stolen billions could have done and could do to create employment opportunities within the country; and avert continued exodus.
Let me underscore a gentle reminder. Between 2000 and 2009, Ethiopian society lost a well-documented US$11.7 billion. Interestingly, there is some form of correlation between the governing party’s claims of substantial growth on the one hand; and illicit (read stolen) foreign exchange and other resources transfers on the other, the country lost US$3.26 billion in 2009 alone. This is not the place to assess the sources and ultimate destinies of these billions.
In short, I suggest that these billions of dollars that have been taken out of the country illegally or gained through various schemes: human trafficking, contracting, foreign deposits in exchange for Birr, underpricing of goods, ten thousand tons of coffee lost; and so on could have built numerous factories and improved agricultural output substantially.
These billions would have improved access to quality of education, health, sanitation and safe drinking water. They could have been deployed to improve smallholder farming through the provision of better seeds, fertilizers, credits and tools. Instead, the stolen billions enrich a few but severely degrade public confidence in government; and undermine capability and capacity. It is Ethiopian society that loses big time.
Do not expect a broken and corrupt system to fix itself. Do not expect the Ethiopian Anti-Corruption Commission to go after crooks; as you do not expect the Ethiopian Election Board to advance free and fair elections. Those who benefit from a broken system are least likely to protect; let alone advance the interests of Ethiopian females and the rest.
It is therefore hard for me to understand why those who reject a failed system cannot discuss their differences. I suggest that they can and should do this civilly and urgently; if they wish to respond to the cries of Ethiopian domestic workers in the Middle East, the hundreds of thousands who have to buy leftover foods; and the 21 percent who are unemployed. This is why cooperation is no longer an option. Combing forces is not as easy as it sounds. It takes a sense of common purpose and the determination to achieve it regardless of the cost.
Fortunately for us, there are groups and individuals within the country who are sacrificing their lives despite formidable odds. It is these social forces that should motivate each and all to close ranks and march toward the same goal of transforming the system peacefully but systematically. For this to happen, we need to believe in the just cause of the Ethiopian people: the females we saw in the video and others, all of them who are left out of the country’s growth.
This is why Mandela’s enduring wisdom is so critical for each and all to embrace and let go of the politics of, friction, division, animosity and hatred. These traits we get from the governing party. Mandela said, “I never lost hope that this great transformation (the end of Apartheid) would occur. Not only because of the great heroes I have already cited, but because of the courage of ordinary men and women of my country…. No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite (hate). Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.”
The governing party divides us on the basis of nationality and religion and serves its narrow interests. What is tragic is that some of us seem to fall into its trap by accepting and propagating the ideology of bitterness and hate among ourselves. These values which some of us in the Diaspora seem to echo should not be ours. They are the governing party’s. We need to do exactly the opposite. Doing the opposite is within our control. If “man’s goodness is a flame” that Apartheid was incapable of extinguishing, ethnic and religious bitterness and division in Ethiopia are concepts and values that we can and should reject and echo across the globe.
To me, this is the plea I heard from the young woman and those who gave her thunderous applause. In another society, her cry would have resulted in an uprising. Ethiopian Christiana and Muslims have a proud history of living and working with one another. They will strengthen these bonds if they experience fair access to opportunities; just, inclusive and democratic governance. They will reject extremist forces and their external backers. The possibilities are endless.
Endemic corruption diverts scarce resources; and will lead to more lost decades. I contend that the Ethiopian people do not deserve more lost decades that emanate from cruel, discriminatory, repressive and oppressive governance any longer. Most of us agree that what the Ethiopian people wish to see is massive transformation toward a just, fair, inclusive and democratic society. How do we do to help them achieve this this in practical terms?
10. Let us do everything to sway the young generation of Ethiopians away from the avalanche of corruption that envelopes the society
Corruption is decimating Ethiopian society to the core and is injecting a potentially catastrophic culture of greed, intense and unhealthy rivalry for economic and political resources and power among youth. If this trend continues, greed, dishonesty, theft, self-centeredness, nepotism, illicit outflow of funds and so on will persist for generations to come. Ethiopia will remain poor. Income inequality and uneven development will be more pronounced than before. Generations of Ethiopians will be forced to flee their country in search of opportunities abroad. The assault on Ethiopian females in the Middle East and elsewhere will not stop. Only the richest and most powerful few and their successors will thrive and govern the country by any means necessary. What then is the alternative? The simple answer is to work diligently and collaboratively for the sovereignty of the Ethiopian people. But there is more than we need to do.
The current system will do all in its power to replace itself with successors that emulate it. Opponents need to counter this by identifying, training, mentoring, guiding, enabling and empowering a new generation of leaders in all sectors of national life and within the Diaspora. This new generation must reflect the country’s diversity: nationality, geography, religious, ideology, culture and gender.
In famine-stricken Ethiopia, a Saudi company leases land to grow and export rice
By Public Radio International
Famine has swept through much of Ethiopia in the past year, but a new project will see a Saudi Arabian country convert one of the most fertile areas to produce rice for export. The idea is it’s better to have people employed and making money.
Gambella in western Ethiopia is one of the most fertile places in the mostly drought- and famine-stricken Eastern Africa country, with thick forests, scorching heat and abundant rains.
But now Gambella, home to five rivers and a National Park, is also home to large-scale agricultural investments. A Saudi billionaire has leased 25,000 acres from the Ethiopian government to grow rice and this summer planted its first commercial crop. The company, Saudi Star, plans to expand that to nearly 500,000 acres within 10 years.
Saudi Star plans to add hundreds of miles of irrigation canals and pipes to bring water from the Alwero Dam to its thirsty rice crop. Ethiopians don’t typically grow or eat rice, so most of the crop will be exported to the Middle East. But Muhammad Manzoor Khan, a Pakistani consultant for Saudi Star, said the rice will still help Ethiopia feed its people.
“This kind of project can really bring a revolution in food production as well as uplifting the social conditions of the people around,” Khan said, standing in front of rice paddies.
Ethiopia is a fast-developing nation, but it’s struggling with severe drought and skyrocketing food prices. The Ethiopian government estimates 4.5 million people in the country need emergency food aid.
In the past few years, Ethiopia has developed a comprehensive agricultural plan that relies on foreign investment, and much-needed foreign currency to move forward.
Saudi Star predicts its massive rice project will generate $1 billion in revenue for Ethiopia and create tens of thousands of jobs. The Ministry of Agriculture’s Esayas Kebede said that means increased food security for Ethiopians – if people have jobs they can buy food, even if there is a drought.
“If you increase the purchasing power of the people, the people can easily get their own food by their own cash,” Kebede said.
But many of the local Anuak tribe say the rice farm is not providing jobs for their people. They worry the rice will dry up the water they rely on for their own farming and fishing. And they say, after years of hostility from the government, they are now being forced off their land to make way for investors.
One local woman from the Anuak tribe said the government told them they’re moving them to a better place where they can get government assistance.
“There are no farms here and no food. Now we’re living like refugees in our own country,” she said.
The Ethiopian government admits it moved people from rural settlements to villages, but not because of the Saudi Star project, they say. Kebede said it was to provide them with better services and aid. According to Human Rights Watch, however, many of Anuak are being relocated to parts of Gambella that already have insufficient food for the local population.
“This large scale investment program has nothing to do with food security concerns in the country,” said Desalegn Rahmeto, a senior research fellow at the Forum for Social Studies in Addis Ababa. “If you export all the food items and earn foreign currency, but people in the communities don’t have access to food, that is counter productive. And this is happening, this is not hypothetical situation, this is actually happening.”
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The last few months I have been inflicted with a Herman Cain (HC) moment. You remember his interview with a newspaper publisher and when asked his opinion regarding President Obama’s policy on the uprising in Libya? My good old friend was completely stumped. After crossing his legs, shifting in his seat, clapping his hands and squirming in his chair all he could come up was ‘I got all this stuff twirling in my head.’ and display a near meltdown situation. I found it to be very interesting. Let us just say it was ‘a revealing moment.’
It just so happened that things have been twirling in my head. It is not a good idea to have so many things twirling in your head. Lack of clarity is not a good state of mind to be unless one of course wants a certain amount of fogginess or blurred vision. It is possible we do that to avoid making hard decisions, shift responsibility or distance ourselves from our actions or choose to be comfortably numb to justify inaction.
It was the convergence of three unrelated happenings that yanked me out from that dark, wet, suffocating ‘Idiot Woyane’ state of mind. My friend Kirubeal’s constant nagging, Abebe’s timely revelations (I am still not over ‘Mamo kilo in Arat Kilo’), Professors Al’s relentless tickle of my discarded conscience, my dear hero’s ECADF’s energetic enthusiasm and Ethiopian Review’s smart ‘Policy Research’ papers was what kept me from going into deep freeze. Some folks don’t take no for an answer.
The four items that made me realize that all is not lost are the first Anniversary of ‘Arab Spring’, the death of Vaclav Havel of ‘Prague Spring’ and the passage of Kim Jung-il owner of ‘perpetual winter’ and a not so likeable human being and the sacrifice of Yenesew Gebre of Ethiopia.
A single spark starts a prairie fire was just another saying. Our hero Mohamed Bouazizi of Tunisia lit a single match to say ‘enough’, Beka! and set the world on fire. Gaddafi is poster boy for the ‘inferno’ Mohamed started. It engulfed the planet and still shows no sign of slowing down. The 99% are asking a fair share of the pie. Tunis, Cairo, Tripoli, Sanna, Bahrin, Damascus, New York, Moscow, Wukan (China) have become battlefields. What happens the next year is bound to realign the balance of forces in society. There is no doubt the playing field will be leveled a little better in favor of the many. How each system works out the conflict depends on how it was designed to self- correct.
You drive south from Tunis, capital of Tunisia on Hwy 37 follow P3 South, take P13 and you are in Sid Bouzid. A little dusty town in the middle of nowhere. Nothing of consequence has ever happened in Sid Bouzid. Exactly a year ago Mohamed Bouazizi was selling produce when he was slapped by a Policewoman in front of everyone for not having a license for his vegetable cart. What he did next, for some reason, touched humanity. What he did was he went in front of Sid Bouzid City Hall, doused his cloth with petrol and set himself on fire. He said Tunisia is not fit to live for a person of dignity. It is a very unique, dramatic and loud response to injustice. He made his point and it echoed.
The question became how does a government deal with its population’s legitimate demands? Gaddafi’s way is definitely proven unacceptable, Mubarak’s blindness have him in the slammer, Ben Ali is in virtual prison, Assad is squirming, Saleh is finished, damaged and grasping, Putin is at a loss… the carrot or the stick is the dilemma and as a confirmed Marxist he can’t even pray to God for guidance. The Chinese Central Committee is mulling over on how to respond regarding Wukan, Gunadong Province, and Obama is watching, observing, waiting to see if ‘occupy’ is a real or virtual force. May all the Gods welcome Mohamed Bouazizi’s soul with drums and trumpets fit for a hero. I am sure those in authority have slapped many before him but the fact is Mr. Bouazizi said enough in a unique way in the age of Social Media and did it ever spread like a prairie fire!
The death of Vaclav Havel was another defining moment. He was the product of Prague Spring of 1968. Prague Spring was the forefather to Arab Spring. Things were different in 1968, the time of ‘Prague Spring’. Europe was divided between the Socialist East under Soviet influence and the Capitalist West under the US umbrella. Czechoslovakia was one of those unfortunates stringing along without due consent. The Soviet Union used Czechoslovakia as buffer. In 1968 Alexander Dubcek was elected as First Secretary of the Communist Party and set in motion reform polices granting the citizen certain Rights. The Soviet Union did not take such transgression lightly and used its Warsaw Pact forces to invade Czechoslovakia and end freedom.
The little open space granted by Dubcek inspired people like Vaclav Havel. His work was banned due to his opposition to the invasion. He was declared UN desirable person in his own homeland. He never wavered. His plays and poetry were published elsewhere and smuggled in. They were read on short wave radios. He was imprisoned. He persisted. In 1979 Havel and his comrades published Charter 77 Manifesto, a plea to the Communist Party and Government to abide by various International conventions including its own Constitution and open the space for political dialogue.
The Soviet puppet regime reacted angrily. The Charter was deemed ‘anti–state, anti-socialist and those who signed the document were branded ‘traitors and agents of imperialists’. The official press described the Manifesto as “an anti-state, anti-socialist, and demagogic abusive piece of writing,” and individual signatories were variously described as “traitors and renegades,” “a loyal servant and agent of imperialism,” “bankrupt politicians”. The regime also organized their own ‘anti-charter’ movement and used famous musicians and artists to denounce ‘the traitors.’
The problem percolated for twenty years and gave birth to what came to b e known as ‘The Velvet Revolution.’ On 19th of November, 1989 the fire was lit by student demonstrators in Prague and on November 28, 1989 the Communist Party withered away. In June 1990 the Czechoslovakian people have their first democratic election since 1946. Vaclav Havel was elected the first President and ushered in an era of peace and democracy to his beloved country. He did not use his newfound power to hound his enemies, settle score with his abusers or use his position to enrich family and friends. Vaclav Havel the playwright, the poet, the dissident and the first democratically elected President of Czechoslovakia died last week. He died in body but left such a beautiful legacy behind his people will talk about him for a long time to come. He was a beautiful human being.
My third wake up call was rung by no other than Comrade Kim Jung-il of North Korea. His life was shrouded in secrecy and he died mysteriously. In fact no one knows how and when he died. What he left behind is a life full of garbage that cannot be recycled because of its toxicity and a history that will be buried deep and denied by his people. North Korea has been ruled by the Kim family since its founding. The Kim family in consort with the Military and a few Hodams control the economy thus the nation. What Stalin envisioned, Mao attempted has been realized by the Kim family.
North Korea is where we see how fragile we humans are. The Kim family has been able to reduce twenty four million Koreans into walking zombies. Using denial of all outside input like Television and Radio using censoring and blocking, starvation, physical degradation like imprisonment, torture, televised confessions and bullying, the Kim family has proven to the world that they are worthy successors to Stalin. The little dictator fancied himself as an intellectual and his newspapers and propaganda outlets referred to ham as ‘The Dear Leader, The Fearless Leader, The General’ and other outrageous titles to bully his population. He left behind a legacy of fear, poverty and a people that were never allowed to enjoy the fruits of their existence. We Ethiopians familiar with that.
We say ‘good riddance to bad rubbish’ regarding Kim while we fondly remember Mohamed Bouazizi and Vaclav Havel. Their stories fill us with hope and love they have bestowed on us. Are they special or just like us? But they made their presence felt. They rose a little higher. Where did they find that inner strength to keep going when all seemed hopeless? Vaclav Havel had that quality. He was imprisoned. His work was banned. He was hounded by the security force. But he kept focus on his dignity and freedom. By fighting for his rights he stood for all of us. He named one of his essays ‘power of the powerless.’ Mohamed Bouazizi did not have an army. Not even an association. He was just trying to eek out living selling vegetables. A common man like the rest of us. He challenged us by his act. He was willing to end it all so we see what has been done to us. The people of Tunisia heard him. The world eavesdropped.
You probably don’t know what happened on Friday, November 11, 2009. A young Ethiopian named Yenesew Gebre, set himself on fire in Dawro, Waka Southern region of Ethiopia. It did not revebrate like Mohamed Bouazizi’s. It was not heard around the world. We Ethiopians the message was sent to heard it clear. In my opinion, Yenesew spoke to us very loud. It requires much courage and untold amount of rage to compel a young man to sacrifice himself. Death on behalf of others is the ultimate sacrifice.
If it mattered at all Yenesew was a very educated person. But that is not the issue here. He was a human being working hard to reach his potential and help himself and his family. He has done his part. By becoming a teacher he has acquired a skill that is in very short supply in Ethiopia. A job and a decent living is what come with such achievement. But Yenesew has that other quality that is also in short supply in repressive societies. Yenesew has conscience. Moral compass. Call it what you want, simply put, he cared about you and I. That made him very unhappy. That also made the authorities very unhappy. Yenesew can see and that is a crime in the village of the blind.
Like Vaclav Havel Yenesew dissented. He was fired from his job, his family hounded and his associates bullied. That is the way of ‘Revolutionary Democracy’ in Ethiopia. Like Vaclav Havel Yenesew was jailed, shunned and black listed. The more they bullied him the better he saw them. When they spoke he saw the lie they live, when they shouted he saw the fear that is wrecking their soul, when they stole and consumed to excess he saw the full but always hungry belly they carried, when they bullied he saw the insecurity lurking behind them. What he saw was not what he wanted for his homeland and his people.
Mohamed Bouazizi and Yenesew Gebre have become the conscience of humanity. The two felt the indignity they suffered in their country and home at the hands of those in authority made then realize life is meaningless without free will. If it is not worth living then why live. Thus they decided to make their death count. To their people they said ‘the pain is too much to bear’ for the rest of us they said ‘dignified death at your choosing is better than physical and mental slavery.’ They said the two countries Tunisia and Ethiopia were not conducive to human dignity. One of the seeds has sprouted and the other will too. No reason to think otherwise. The Prague Spring gave rise to the Velvet Revolution that begat The Orange Revolution that begat the Rose Revolution that led to Arab Spring – there is no end to human thirst for freedom and equality.
Yenesew saw beyond himself. He felt the pain and sorrow of his neighbor. What he was about to do goes against his religion, his value system and his culture but the importance and timeliness of the message must have outweighed all other considerations. It was not an easy decision. He was at a physical location where he was beaten down but mentally he knew there is more to life and as a teacher he should do his duty and teach. He went every legal way open to no avail. It was never about the law. Thus My dear little brother decided to use the planet as his wall board and write his message to humanity in general and his people in particular. This Human said Beka! Enough! Rest in peace my friend. Your people heard you.
Today Woyanne police is still rounding up students who are suspected of participating in the riot.