The Ethiopia’s tyrannical government demolished more than 7 thousand houses in Addis Ababa in the districts named Bole and Nifas Silk, and left more than 30 thousand poor people without a roof over their heads. In addition to the houses, a mosque and a school were demolished, and the security officials involved also kicked and beat the residents who tried to refuse. The demolition was taking place without notice to the inhabitants and compensation.
After this noxious demolition, the government officials repeatedly claimed in different state owned and government-loyal private medias that the houses had been built on illegally occupied land and had no certificate. According to them all such kinds of illegal settlements and buildings should not be supported by any means. However, many of the evacuated families said that although they had no certificate of ownership, they had been paying land-tax. According to victims, as a result of this sudden demolition of houses many families are broken up and children have dropped out of school and forced to live on the streets. Old enough people and pregnant women are also forced to live in open, and the dynamic weather of the city is causing them to different health problems.
Mr. Hailu, 55, lives with his wife and 5 children. Since he became physically disable because of a nerve problem, he has managed only domestic income generating activities like poultry production and sheep fattening to subsidise the family. When I met him last week, he was crying looking at an inclined wall which had been escaped from the bulldozers which turned the rest part of the house in to dust. He had built the house at a cost of 20,000 ETB or 1,111$ three years ago.
“I built the house having received a financial support from my daughter working as a housemaid in a middle east country”, Mr. Hailu said while wiping away his tear. “The house was everything for me. Besides being home for my family, it was my ‘business’ as well.” Mr. Hailu is now living in temporary huts on the same place where his demolished house lays. “Where can I go?”, he said. “I can’t afford the price of a renting room; I don’t have a person who can host me.”
Many argue that the houses have been demolished just because the government can make more money by leasing the land to investors. “Land has become the main source of income for the regime”, Markose Woldue, a dwelling of Addis Ababa, said. “It earns a huge amount of money from this busness. This is why it is taking back the land owned by the poor by the name of legality.”
Etaferahu, 45, is a mother of 2. She raises her children without a father. She had bought the land from a farmer and built the house 6 years ago. She is now living in temporary huts on the same place where her demolished house lays. “Throwing citizens into the street is not expected from a government”, Etaferahu said. “The government have the responsibility of protecting its citizens. At least the government had to give us compensation with temporary sheltering.”
Human right activists say that what the Ethiopia’s government done is illegal and unconstitutional, and is against all international conventions and agreements to which Ethiopia is a party. They say that all of the legal conditions and requirements for the forceful evictions of these families have not been met.
The Ethiopian Human Right Council claims that the absence of legal certificate of ownership is not a right criteria to say a house “illegal”. “Otherwise”, it says, “this leads to the conclusion that all houses belonging to Ethiopian farmers are illegal.” “The individuals evicted from their homes are the legal owners of the land they bought from farmers. Thus, the demolishing action is illegal and the owners have the constitutional right to receive compensation.”
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights (ICESCR) states that everyone has a right to an existence worthy of human dignity for himself and his family including adequate food, clothing and shelter. The Covenant also states governments have an obligation to ensure this basic right. The FDRE constitution also provides “every Ethiopian has the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence…” Article 40 of the Constitution on the other hand state that every Ethiopian has the full right to the immovable property he builds and the government may expropriate private property for public purposes upon payment in advance of compensation commensurate to the value of the property.
According to the data obtained from the Addis Ababa City Administration, there are more than 50,000 houses identified to have been illegal by the Administration across the city. And the city Administration has a plan to demolish all these houses. This is likely to affect hundered thousands of other families. Here, many advice the government that instead of demolishing the houses it should concentrate on legalizing them, and use them as part of the solution to the housing problem of the city. Studies under the City Administration show that there is a deficit of almost 700,000 houses in the city. Otherwise, according to these people, the housing problem of the city would be aggravated. Mr. Worku Tesfa, an economist and a residence of Addis Abeba, also says that the outcome of the demolition would not be only housing problem to the city but also more complicated socio-economic problems that could be challenging for the government to overcome.
Lutheran church in Ethiopia severs relationship with ELCA
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
February 7, 2013
CHICAGO (ELCA) — The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus is severing its relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Church of Sweden and “those churches who have openly accepted same-sex marriage.”
The action for “all Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus departments and institutions (at every level) to implement this decision” was ratified at the denomination’s general assembly, which met Jan. 27-Feb. 2 in Addis Ababa. The denomination’s church council took action at its July 2012 meeting to initially sever these relationships.
“The ELCA is very saddened by this decision,” said the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director for ELCA Global Mission. “The ELCA and its predecessor church bodies have been walking with the people of Ethiopia for more than 50 years, and our sister church, the Church of Sweden, for more than 150 years. In this journey, we have learned from one another, we have deepened and extended the bonds of fellowship and partnership in the gospel.” Malpica Padilla was in Addis Ababa for meetings with program and ministry partners of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus.
To ensure that the decisions by the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus are implemented, members of the denomination “will not receive Holy Communion from the leadership and pastors of the (ELCA and the Church of Sweden). The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus will not distribute communion to these churches,” as stated in the minutes of the denomination’s July 2012 council meeting.
“Representatives of these churches at national level or leaders at every level would not be invited to preach or speak at the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus congregations or other gatherings. They should not be invited for any spiritual ministries of this church,” stated the minutes, which also reflects that leaders and pastors of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus “at every level will not visit the synods, dioceses, congregations and national offices of churches that have accepted this practice without proper permission from the head office of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus.”
While the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus is “closing the door to this partnership,” Malpica Padilla said that the ELCA and the Church of Sweden “are not locking the doors from our side. It is open for when you decide it is time to resume this journey together. It is my hope that in the near future, we will again walk together in Christian love. We will do this not because of doctrinal agreements or consensus, but because the gospel compels us to do so.”
The ELCA has consistently kept its Lutheran companion churches informed about the ELCA’s process that led to the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly decisions, which included the adoption of a social statement on human sexuality, said Malpica Padilla.
“We shared the study documents and invited their input,” he said. “When decisions were made, we wrote to (leaders of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus) expressing our commitment to not impose our actions and to respect the policy and practice of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus in the assignment of mission personnel,” he said.
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, said the actions of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus are “deeply troubling.”
“Our own statement on human sexuality acknowledges that the position held by the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus is also held by members of the ELCA. We are not of one mind, but we are one in Christ, in faith and in baptism,” said Hanson, adding that the relationships between Lutherans in North America and in Ethiopia “has been sustained through periods of oppression, divisions within the Ethiopian church and in times of turmoil among Lutherans in North America. The action of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus church diminishes our capacity together to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, to serve our neighbors and to care for the creation.
“As the ELCA, we are always standing ready to open the door of conversation for the sake of reconciliation and our shared commitment to proclamation and service,” Hanson said. “Reconciliation is not an option. It is given in Christ, and we stand ready to engage with the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus on what this gift of reconciliation might mean for us now.”
– – – About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with more than 4 million members in nearly 10,000 congregations across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of “God’s work. Our hands,” the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA’s roots are in the writings of the German church reformer, Martin Luther.
Violence and the Ethiopians. By Yilma Bekele
We always think of our people to be so loving that welcome a stranger into their homes and share what little they have. Our language is full of sayings about being a good host, a great neighbor and a kind human. Sharing what you have, helping those in need and putting others ahead play a central theme in all our folklores. At least that is what we try to believe and that is what we tell ourselves and each other every opportunity we get. What a kind and loving people we are is a common mantra.
Do you think that is a true picture of our country? I don’t know about you but I knew such Ethiopia in my life time. Here we go again, I did not say we were a perfect paradise but definitely we were not the Wild West either. But I know for sure we used to care for each other and we were a once proud nation.
Then where did all this violent act and talk of perpetual violence came from is a good question? It is a timely question too. Today violence both the act and the talk is permeating our society. The specter of violence is everywhere. Our country has become one big cesspool of violence and you can’t even escape it from any point on earth.
According to the World Health organization (WHO) violence is defined ‘as the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against a person, or group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation.’
The dergue started the ball rolling with the class warfare crap. The TPLF took over with ethnic cleansing mantra. It looks like the last forty years have been a time of violence, threat of violence and absence of peace era. The Mengistu and Meles generation has been schooled in the exercise of violence as a normal day to day activity.
What got me look at these phenomena is the current behavior of our masters in Addis Abeba and their children here in the US. The Berket/Debretsion government is going out of its way to bully our Muslim citizens, intimidate our journalists and frighten our people. They are using the monopoly they exercise on our communication media to produce second rate movies, badly written essays and moronic broadcasts to confuse their captive audience.
War is waged on our Muslim brothers and sisters thru out the country. Their leaders have been incarcerated, their worship places have been desecrated and their religion has been equated with terror. The TPLF is trying to do to the Muslims what they have been doing to the Orthodox Christians the last twenty years. They were able to divide and set the Christians against each other. Bishops and priests have been beaten, exiled and insulted in broad day light. Due to lack of spine by the Christian followers the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia today has lost all its moral compass and made into a leaderless association no different than those ‘teletafis’ clustered around the mighty TPLF.
Not content on terrorizing our people at home it looks like TPLF has branched out to reach into the Diaspora community and practice its form of violence. For some of us it is not a new revelation. We have been pointing out the presence of TPLF agents amongst us for quite a while. Their activates in the various opposition party support groups we have been forming was visible and hard to miss. Their sabotage of our houses of worship is legendary. Their presence in our football organization took a valiant effort by some to unmask. No one escapes the sinister act of Woyane spies and saboteurs in any outfit that dares to organize as an Ethiopian entity. I don’t think I need to prove any of my assertions. I beg the reader to look around him/her in any city USA. I dare you to find a peaceful association untouched by Woyane virus wherever you reside.
Now their underground activity is made visible by no other than our dragon slayer, dictator buster, honor restorer and champion of freedom, my friend Abebe Gelaw. No need to elaborate more but our country and people are always grateful for the epic grand stand that was made in Washington DC on behalf of mother Ethiopia. Her children rejoiced while her enemies wept. It looks like they did not learn a lesson. They reverted back to form.
They are trying to do here in the US what they do to our people back home. They are trying to intimidate, bully and scare us from exercising our free will. A few months back an individual registered by the name of Guesh Abera on Facebook was investigated by the FBI for threatening Ato Abebe. His normal TPLF animal behavior was taken as a subject of concern by the FBI that sent agents to his work place to interview the individual and put him on alert. I am sure they felt it was better to nip this ugly idea in its bud rather than wait. Whether in jest or for real the issue is Goush threatened and the FBI investigated.
A few of our Woyane friends tried to make fun of the situation and ridicule the assertion. They went to the extent of accusing ESAT and our independent Web sites of misinformation. They tried to turn the story on its head and attempted to make the victim the aggressor. Awramba Times unmasked itself as nothing but a shameless Woyane sympathizer while some in the venerable Voice of America tried a clumsy investigative journalism that missed its mark.
Some organizations and a few people are so dense they are unable to see what is in front of them and change to avoid calamity. TPLF and its operatives are one such outfit. Despite the unmasking and public humiliation of Guesh Abera, guess who shows up to accept the medal of stupidity? None other than another ethnic hero by the name of Mulugeta Kahsay, a proud immigrant residing in Britain. This individual doing his job as assigned by TPLF was caught red handed attempting to intimidate and frighten Ato Abebe. He made repeated cals threatening not only Ato Abebe but his whole family both in the US and back in Ethiopia.
According to Wiki ‘A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or groups of people. These threats are usually designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behavior, thus a death threat is a form of coercion.’ Here in the US death threat is considered a criminal act. Mulugeta Khassay’s action is deplorable and will land him in jail if it was made in the US.
Why do you think these two individuals felt such behavior is both acceptable and something to be proud of? The simple answer is where they came from it is considered lawful and practiced with abandon. The TPLF Woyane regime uses violence and the threat of violence to silence its opponents and anybody it feels stands on its way. The late TPLF chieftain Meles Zenawi used to threaten cutting hands of the citizen routinely. Like father like son is the situation here. What is not surprising is the fact that so many Woyanes and their admirers cheered such behavior and they are not ashamed to check out the ‘Like’ button on Facebook. So much for peaceful coexistence, wouldn’t you say?
In a civilized setting such behavior back fires and results in exactly the opposite of what is intended. We are all appalled by such naked brutal attempt by the two individuals and their organization or are we all? This is a difficult question to answer. When we see how we Ethiopians relate to each other and how we try to resolve differences, the behavior of Goush and Mulugeta are not that much of an anomaly. The system set up by Woyane encourages such criminal mind set and illegal activity. In today’s Ethiopia breaking the law, getting ahead at the expense of fellow citizens is a celebrated act. Lying, cheating, bribing is not frowned upon and expected practice to finalize any and all transaction. It is so routine that it has become second nature to some of us.
It is not enough to condemn these two gangsters. What is needed is to see how low we have sunk as a people that such action was carried out amongst us. It is not enough to sneer at the workings of Woyane but to reflect on our society that has allowed such evil doers to prosper and grow. When we allow a few to disturb our associations, when we turn a blind eye to those that disrespect our religious leaders and create chaos in our church, when we let an insult and rogue behavior go unchallenged we end up reaping what we planted. As long as we allow ethnic based organization such as the TPLF set the agenda in our country these kind of abhorrent behavior and criminal acts will continue to be the norm. The fight against injustice starts with each one of us. We are grateful to those that have risen to get rid of the body cancer called TPLF from our land. Helping them is a duty to our mother land and to one self.
See Mulugeta Kahsay tie himself in knots:
http://addisvoice.com/2013/02/mulugeta-kahsay-the-failed-tplf-terrorist-video/
Thousands of Ethiopians are being relocated or have already fled as their land is sold off to foreign investors without their consent
By John Vidal | The Guradian
Farm workers remove weeds from young plants at the palm oil plantation owned by Karuturi Global, near the town of Bako, in Ethiopia
February 6, 2013
Ethiopia‘s leasing of 600,000 hectares (1.5 acres) of prime farmland to Indian companies has led to intimidation, repression, detentions, rapes, beatings, environmental destruction, and the imprisonment of journalists and political objectors, according to a new report.
Research by the US-based Oakland Institute suggests many thousands of Ethiopians are in the process of being relocated or have fled to neighbouring countries after their traditional land has been handed to foreign investors without their consent. The situation is likely to deteriorate further as companies start to gear up their operations and the government persues plans to lease as much as 15% of the land in some regions, says Oakland.
In a flurry of new reports about global “landgrabbing” this week, Oxfam said on Thursday that investors were deliberately targeting the weakest-governed countries to buy cheap land. The 23 least-developed countries of the world account for more than half the thousands of recorded deals completed between 2000 and 2011, it said. Deals involving approximately 200m ha of land are believed to have been negotiated, mostly to the advantage of speculators and often to the detriment of communities, in the last few years.
In what is thought to be one of the first “south-south” demonstrations of concern over land deals, this week Ethiopian activists came to Delhi to urge Indian investors and corporations to stop buying land and to actively prevent human rights abuses being committed by the Ethiopian authorities.
“The Indian government and corporations cannot hide behind the Ethiopian government, which is clearly in violation of human rights laws,” said Anuradha Mittal, director of the Oakland Institute. “Foreign investors must conduct impact assessments to avoid the adverse impacts of their activities.”
Ethiopian activists based in UK and Canada warned Indian investors that their money was at risk. “Foreign investors cannot close their eyes. When people are pushed to the edge they will fight back. No group knows this better than the Indians”, said Obang Metho, head of grassroots social justice movement Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE), which claims 130,000 supporters in Ethiopia and elsewhere.
Speaking in Delhi, Metho said: “Working with African dictators who are stealing from the people is risky, unsustainable and wrong. We welcome Indian investment but not [this] daylight robbery. These companies should be accountable under Indian law.”
Nyikaw Ochalla, director of the London-based Anywaa Survival Organisation, said: “People are being turned into day labourers doing backbreaking work while living in extreme poverty. The government’s plans … depend on tactics of displacement, increased food insecurity, destitution and destruction of the environment.”
Ochall, who said he was in daily direct contact with communities affected by “landgrabbing” across Ethiopia, said that the relocations would only add to hunger and conflict.
“Communities that have survived by fishing and moving to higher ground to grow maize are being relocated and say they are now becoming dependent on government for food aid. They are saying they will never leave and that the government will have to kill them. I call on the Indian authorities and the public to stop this pillage.”
Karuturi Global, the Indian farm conglomerate and one of the world’s largest rose growers, which has leased 350,000 ha in Gambella province to grow palm oil, cereals maize and biofuel crops for under $1.10 per hectare a year, declined to comment. A spokesman said: “This has nothing to do with us.”
Ethiopia has leased an area the size of France to foreign investors since 2008. Of this, 600,000 ha has been handed on 99-year leases to 10 large Indian companoes. Many smaller companies are believed to have also taken long leases. Indian companies are said to be investing about $5bn in Ethiopian farmland, but little is expected to benefit Ethiopia directly. According to Oakland, the companies have been handed generous tax breaks and incentives as well as some of the cheapest land in the world.
The Ethiopian government defended its policies. “Ethiopia needs to develop to fight poverty, increase food supplies and improve livelihoods and is doing so in a sustainable way,” said a spokeswoman for the government in london. She pointed out that 45% of Ethiopia’s 1.14m sq miles of land is arable and only 15% is in use.
The phenomenon of Indian companies “grabbing” land in Africa is an extension of what has happened in the last 30 years in India itself, said Ashish Kothari, author of a new book on the growing reach of Indian businesses.
“In recent years the country has seen a massive transfer of land and natural resources from the rural poor to the wealthy. Around 60m people have been displaced in India by large scale industrial developments. Around 40% of the people affected have been indigenous peoples“, he said.
These include dams, mines, tourist developments, ports, steel plants and massive irrigation schemes.
According to Oakland, the Ethiopian “land rush” is part of a global phenomenon that has seen around 200m ha of land leased or sold to foreign investors in the last three years.
The sales in Africa, Latin America and Asia have been led by farm conglomerates, but are backed by western hedge and pension funds, speculators and universities. Many Middle Eastern governments have backed them with loans and guarantees.
Barbara Stocking, the chief executive of Oxfam, which is holding a day of action against landgrabs on Thursday, called on the World Bank to temporarily freeze all land investments in large scale agriculture to ensure its policies did not encourage landgrabs.
“Poor governance allows investors to secure land quickly and cheaply for profit. Investors seem to be cherry-picking countries with weak rules and regulations because they are easy targets. This can spell disaster for communities if these deals result in their homes and livelihoods being grabbed.”
Oxfam will be placing huge “Sold” signs on the Sydney harbour bridge, the Lincoln memorial in Washington and the Colosseum in Rome to mark its action day.
Statement by Mr. Obang Metho, Executive Director of the SMNE
Understanding Land Investment in East Africa
Seminar Hall II, India International Centre, Max Muller Marg, New Delhi
A Day Light Robbery in Ethiopia: “Doing Business” With African dictators “
Organized by
Centre For Social Development (CSD) in association with Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF), New Delhi; Kalpavriksh, Pune; Popular Education and Action Centre (PEACE), New Delhi and The Oakland Institute, Oakland, USA
February 5, 2013
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Africa has emerged as the premiere frontier market in the world for vast agricultural land acquisitions, often called “land grabs” due to widespread evidence that the land being acquired is not “free and clear” of inhabitants. Instead, repressive African governments, like in Ethiopia, are forcing some of the poorest people in the world from their homes and land without consultation or compensation, leaving most of them more destitute than before. Those who resist have faced arbitrary arrests, beatings, rape, torture, and death.
In Ethiopia, huge swathes of fertile, well-watered agricultural land are being leased for up to 99 years and for negligible amounts to foreign countries, foreign multinational companies and private investors. At the forefront of these mostly secretive deals are investors from India, China and Saudi Arabia.
Africa has a history of being abused, whether through the trafficking of human beings during slavery, during the centuries of colonialism or through the more modern-day exploitation of its diamonds, oil, gold or some other natural resource; however, the expropriation of land in a country where nearly 80% of the people depend on subsistence farming may threaten African life at its roots.
Mr. Obang Metho, the Executive Director of the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE), a grassroots social justice movement advocating for the rights and freedom of the Ethiopian people, will be speaking at the Understanding Land Investment in East Africa.
The SMNE partnered with the Oakland Institute in completing an in-depth study on “Understanding Land Investment Deals in Africa.” Mr. Metho originates from Gambella, Ethiopia, said to be at the epicenter of land-grabs on the continent and the location of the largest Indian agricultural enterprise in the country—a potentially 300,000 hectare farm being leased to Karuturi—as well as the location of many other Indian business ventures.
Mr. Metho will voice concerns regarding the lack of transparency and accountability surrounding these land acquisitions in a country known for its authoritarian, one-party, ethnic-based government, which has been in power for 21 years. Elections have not met international standards with the current regime “winning” the election in 2010 with a purported 99.6% victory. Only 1 out of 547 members of the Ethiopian parliament is a member of the opposition. The government controls all the media. Journalists and dissidents are charged as terrorists under vague anti-terrorism laws.
Restrictive laws on civil society have essentially closed down all independent institutions, replacing them with government-controlled look-alike organizations. These are the facts about Ethiopia and so if any think that these land acquisitions have the input, let alone support of the people, they are mistaken. Even though it is required under the law, no one can anyone assume that this has been followed.
Even though India may be struggling with its own land issues, Ethiopia and India are very different countries. In India, there may be a debate between peasant groups, landowners, developers and the government; however, in Ethiopia, such a debate would be outlawed. In India, the media can discuss the issues and write about it in newspapers, but in Ethiopia, those involved may end up in jail if they oppose the government position. When normal avenues for public discussion or legal action are blocked, conflict, including violent conflict, will sometimes erupt, particularly where government security forces have abused the people.
When Ethiopia promotes land investments to prospective foreign partners, they emphasize the immense opportunity, while minimizing the rising risk of insecurity that will be inevitable as more and more people are evicted from their homes and land, as they become hungry, no longer being able to feed themselves or as water is diverted from local use to instead irrigate new farms.
In 2012, one farm was attacked by insurgents resulting in the deaths of a number of employees as some believe the only way to deter land leasing is to attack investors. What the government has not explained is how they are pitting the people against the investors rather than helping to create mutually-beneficial partnerships between investors and the local people. It can be done, but not in this way.
Currently, there are legal processes underway in the UK and the US to deal with the very repressive program of moving smallholder farmers and pastoralists into concentrated villages, devoid of services, fertile land and water, in order to free up the land for foreign investors. Human rights organizations have exposed the widespread human rights abuses associated with this resettlement process. It may be that those who support and collude with such programs will be found complicit.
Foreign investors cannot close their eyes to these risks. Nor can anyone count on the current government for protection as this regime has always looked after its own self-interests first, which may be self-preservation as it suffers internal power struggles that could unpredictably change its direction or cause it to implode, a greater risk now that the mastermind dictator, the former prime minister, Meles Zenawi, has died after ruling the country for twenty-one years.
Foreign investors should instead align with the interests of the people against what has become not just a “land grab” but a “life grab” because the land which has sustained them is no longer there. Their voices have been silenced by their own government. If this is wrong in India it should be wrong in Ethiopia.
When people are pushed to the edge, the people will fight back. No group knows this better than the Indian. When it happened in India, Ghandi led the people as they fought for justice. The same thing will happen in Ethiopia or in other parts of Africa.
Working with African dictators who are stealing from the people for their own benefit is not only risky, unsustainable and wrong, it is unconscionable. When decisions are made without morality, honesty and integrity, the consequences to human life are devastating and long-lasting. An example of this is the Berlin Conference in the late 1800’s when Africa was divvied up among colonialist powers without an African being included at the table.That decision is still affecting Africa, enflaming conflict on the continent that has enveloped others throughout the world.
The same thing could happen with land grabs that now threaten food security and water resources on the continent. This time, the decision may not be made at the table in Berlin, but it could be in Addis Ababa or in New Delhi. The one thing of which you can be sure is that there are no indigenous people at this table. Instead some Ethiopian officials are making these decisions with Indian investors without considering the impact on the people or the country in the long term. Ethiopia and Africa need investment and welcome Indian investment but what we stand against is the daylight robbery of the people. If it is not allowed in New Delhi or other parts of India, it should never be allowed in Gambella, the Omo Valley or anywhere else in Ethiopia.
Let us follow our consciences, respecting the value of the human life of others rather than exploitive investment that breaks all the values Ghandi revered to the point of losing his life. Those who have experienced colonialism should not trade places with the colonialists either at home or in a foreign land.
Only when we see the God-given value in our global brothers and sisters, putting our shared humanity before our ethnicity, nationality, or other identity distinctions will we truly be free. Only then will we be building a more peaceful, respectful and harmonious global society. Let our conscience give us the guidance we need at such a time as this.
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For media enquiries, including interview requests, contact Mr. Obang Metho, Executive Director of the SMNE. Phone 202 725-1616 or Email: [email protected]
The SMNE is a non-violent, non-political, grassroots social justice movement of diverse Ethiopians; committed to bringing truth, justice, freedom, equality, reconciliation, accountability and respect for human and civil rights to the people of Ethiopia and beyond. The SMNE has branches in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom and chapters in various cities and countries throughout the world, including within Ethiopia.
