By Yilma Bekele
It is celebration time for Ethiopians outside their homeland especially for those in the democratic West. The recession has been brutal on immigrants more so on those that are in the service sector. We have learned to be resilient. We bend but we do not break. Most of all we are emboldened when we see success. We are made to believe that with hard work, determination and a free democratic system anything is possible. And when our brethren excel in life we are filled with such pride that it becomes the talk of the town.
I am talking about our pride Alfa Demmellash. Weizero Alfa Demmellash and her husband run “the Community Business Academy, an intensive training session coupled with year-round coaching and mentorship to help individuals “really work on the hands-on management side of their business,” Weizero Alfa and her organization Rising Tide Capital were highlighted by the White Hose as an non profit program that are making a difference.
President Obama was gracious enough to single out Alfa and recognize her. The reporter wrote “Mr. Obama pointed out Demmelash to the crowd with his trademark self-deprecating humor: “We’ve got Alfa Demmellash from Rising Tide Capital … where’s Alfa … right over there. Did I pronounce your name right? Good. When your name’s Barack Obama, you’re sensitive to these things.”
Then there is Meheret Mandefro. Dr. Meheret was appointed as a White House Fellows for 2009-2010. The program was set to “give promising American leaders first hand, high-level experience with the workings of the Federal government, and to increase their sense of participation in national affairs. The Fellows also take part in an education program designed to broaden their knowledge of leadership, policy formulation, military, and current affairs.” My friend Missy Dr. Meheret’s cousin said the whole family is beyond happy and proud. We are all proud.
There is also the Ethiopian scientist Dr.Gebisa Ejeta who won the 2009 World Food Prize given by the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Gebisa is a product of Jimma Agricultural and Technical School and beautiful Alemya Agricultural College.
When you include the thousands of Graduates all over the world you can say June is a beautiful month. Our achievers shone bright in a sky full of stars. To be recognized for your best efforts is the ultimate reward. Our heroes displayed our Ethiopia in all its glory. I am so tired of the adjectives that accompany the mention of our country. It is always the poorest, the hungriest, the civil war addicted, democracy challenged or such putdown. Alfa, Dr Mehret and Dr. Gebisa are showing us what is possible when you are allowed to soar like an Eagle.
Now contrast that from what is coming out of our homeland and you know why we despair. Nothing good has come out of there for a long time. It is famine time again. The ‘US Famine Early Warning Systems Network’ (FEWS NET) is ringing the warning bell loud for all to hear. They wrote ‘Ethiopia continues to face high levels of food insecurity. A total of 7.5 million chronically food insecure people receive assistance through employment in public works under the productive safety-Net Program (PSNP. An additional 4.9 million people require emergency food assistance through June 2009.’
“The rainy season will start late particularly in the northeastern part of our country. That means the cropping season for some types of crops may not be appropriate this year.” So declared the Prime Minster from his palace. I always thought he fancied himself as an economist, I guess he is a meteorologist too. Dare I say ‘knows everything about nothing’ is an apt description.
As for the alarm regarding the food shortage Ato Meles said “We have hundreds of thousands of tons of wheat in our store houses here in Ethiopia.” Both World Food Program (WFP) and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) agree the situation is cause for alarm. They have asked the government to release 11,000 tons. The government denies the existence of the problem. The question is who is not telling the truth? Who benefits from spreading false hood? The two organizations have no reason to lie. Food is an expensive commodity and it is in short supply and they are doing their best to get a fair share for our people. They are doing the government’s job. Suffice to say if we were self-sufficient they wouldn’t be there.
Due to congestion at Djibouti Port the food they have begged on our behalf will not reach those in need. The Ethiopian Government has given priority to transport fertilizer instead of food. In his own words Ato Meles said “We have given priority to the transportation of fertilizers because we need fertilizers now. If [WFP] is facing any problem in terms of transport… go to these [strategic reserve] warehouses and take out loans to be replenished later when their food in the port is transported to the country.” So WFP borrows from Ethiopian reserves to feed Ethiopians and they will pay it back when “their” food arrives. The key word here is “their food”. The Ethiopian government takes no responsibility for its own people. On the other hand would you say it is a better choice to use military trucks to ferry needed food or ferry solders to invade a neighbor?
There is more. Instead of dealing with famine, high inflation, drying up of capital and dwindling remittance the fearless regime wastes its precious time in drafting draconian laws to muzzle the right of its citizens. They have what is called ‘draft counter terrorism law’ ready to be rubber-stamped by the kangaroo parliament. The terrorist regime is concerned about terrorism. The mighty TPLF with all its Generals, Internal Security, Federal Police, Agazi special Force, and paid informer around every corner is afraid of terrorism. Meles has created a perfect catch-22.
Catch-22 is a satirical novel by Joseph Heller. It has entered everyday usage to mean a ‘no-win’ situation. It is like you are damned if you do and you are damned if you don’t. In Heller’s book the main protagonist named Yossarian an Air Force pilot is trying to get discharged by claiming insanity. Unfortunate for him he there is a little rule called Catch-22. Yossarian, by claiming he is insane, he is proving that he is sane. Catch-22 specifies that a concern for one’s safety is the work of a rational mind. Catch-22 has come to mean ‘any paradoxical, circular reasoning that catches its victim in its illogic and serves those who have made the law.’ That is Ethiopian law in a nutshell.
Ato Meles’s currently proposed so-called ‘counter terrorism law’ is a perfect example of catch-22. It is heads Meles wins and tails Ethiopia loses. No matter how the coin lands the outcome is the same for Meles and company. On one hand the ‘Constitution’ gives the citizen the right to peaceful assembly, peaceful protest and peaceful gathering (Article 30) on the other hand the new law criminalizes public gatherings or public protest as ‘disruption or interference of a public service’ to be a terrorist act. A peaceful protest that will ‘hinder the normal flow of traffic’ can be defined as a terrorist act by the authorities. The TPLF state will be the prosecutor, the jury and the judge all at the same time.
It is time we empower ourselves. Up to now we have been acting as enablers. Victim forever is not cool. Alfa, Dr Mehret and Dr. Gebisa have empowered themselves. They are showing us by example that hard work, dedication, resolve and empathy for fellow human does wonders. True empowerment is developing confidence in ones own capacity. It is not whether the US government will withhold support from the apartheid government or not, it is not whether Ato Meles will retire or not. It is about what you do to empower yourself. For a change it is all about you. Step forward and take responsibility.
Ato Meles is caught in his own catch-22. He can’t leave nor can he stay. He has created his own paradox. All this bravado regarding two more years, pointing out future heirs, and dumping it on phantom EPDRF is nothing but the last gasps of an expiring model. It did not work for Shah of Iran, Ferdinand Marcos, Mobutu sese Seko, Nicolae Ceausescu, Augusto Pinochet or Alberto Fujimori. There is no reason to think it is going to work in 2009. There are several ways to get out of a predicament or self-inflicted wound. But it is not by passing useless laws that can be overturned before the ink dries or by imprisoning and exiling opponents. That is a dead end street.
Judge Bertukan Mideksa has been in TPLF prison for one hundred eighty five days. She is in a dark cold room because we are silent here. We are a well-informed people thanks to our free websites. They are doing an excellent job of exposing the illegal acts of our UN elected leaders. Knowledge should be translated into action. Alfa, Dr Mehret and Dr. Gebisa did not acquire all that knowledge for heck of it. They are using their knowledge to make a difference. Shouldn’t we follow the example of these Ethiopian giants and double our efforts to liberate our country? Please do not lament about yesterday’s inaction. Today is what matters. What we do today lays the foundation for a better tomorrow. We can do it!
By Yilma Bekele
I am sure you have all heard that Ato Sebhat Nega aka Aboy Sebhat, the Prime Minster’s mentor and a very high official of the ruling TPLF party was a guest on Voice of America. I was very glad. We are always happy when TPLF officials submit to unrehearsed interviews. It seems that it is the only way we get to know them close and personal. I fondly remember Ato Meles’s appearance on Hard Talk with Stephen Sakur in 2005 and Zenib Badawi in 2009. Ato Sebat’s interview is another gem to be savored.
Ato Sebhat was interviewed by Ato Addisu Abebe of VOA Amharic program. Ato Addisu is a consummate professional. He did his job very well. He was not there to prove Ato Sebhat right or wrong. He knows it is up to the listener to make that determination. Like a language surgeon he is, with his soothing voice he lulled his subject into an incredible comfort zone. Then it was a matter of pealing the public fake persona TPLF have constructed for him. Ato Addisu was able to draw Aboy Sebhat out of his skin and reveal the inner self. It was not a pleasant sight. The Sebhat Nega we saw is a very embarrassing figure. Full of hatred, suffering from an inferiority complex, very angry and a pathological liar are the descriptions that come to mind.
I do hope that Aboy Sebhat took some lessons from his experience with VOA. Although his party controls all media outlets and does not allow the airing of ideas different than the ruling party’s here in America it is the responsibility of the press to present different views and let the public be the judge. It has served them very well for over two hundred years. We hope Aboy Sebhat’s outfit Ethiopian Radio and TV will invite leaders of the real opposition and have them explain their vision for their country. The opposition is more than happy to comply.
This was a two-part interview. In this short piece I will concentrate on a few of the ill conceived ideas he was trying to disseminate. I knew it was going to be interesting when I heard his title in the introduction. He is a member of the Ethiopian Parliament, I guess from Tigrai (one never knows since Ato Berket represents Wollo) and President of International Center for Peace and Development. There is no one opposed to peace and development, but this one in Addis it is nothing but. The truth is it is Orwellian double speak at its best. The Center is one of those TPLF created outfits to swindle cash from European Union and Western aid agencies. Ato Sebhat and his organization have never known peace nor developed any enterprise using legal means. As for being elected, I am sure he garnered 99.9 percent of the vote and he did not even have to campaign for it.
He started the interview with a bold lie. There was no need to lie. He can’t help it. His quick motor response is to lie at a drop of a hat. There was no stopping him after that. Blinded by his hatred, emboldened by his false sense of self worth Sebhat Nega was swimming in a cesspool of lies, falsehood and ignorance. We wouldn’t give a damn what he have to say if it wasn’t for his influence and advice to that other powerful person sitting in Arat Kilo with a loaded gun in his hands aimed at our country.
To start him off Ato Addisu thanked his guest for accepting the invitation and out of curiosity asked him regarding TPLF’s policy of not granting interview to VOA’s Amharic programming. That they do not is an established fact. The question was simply what the reason is for such a policy. His response was outright denial of the existence of such a decision.
Could this be true? There is one Nation wide radio station in Ethiopia, Radio TPLF. By all accounts VOA and Deutche Welle are the two most listened to independent news services favored by the population. The minority based government views unfiltered news as a threat. Thus on numerous occasions it has officially complained to both the US and German government regarding the radio stations. The TPLF regime has invested millions of dollars in purchasing radio signal jamming devices from Chinese and East Europeans to silence independent voices.
Is Ato Sebhat’s claim of the Politburo not discussing VOA and formulating different policies credible? To top if off he said he personally does not listen to VOA! When you consider that the Prime Minter himself anonymously participates in Radio call in shows isn’t this assertion a little difficult to swallow? So he claims that he personally does not listen to VOA and since he came to the US he has been told that ‘VOA lacks objectivity, that it is not balanced and it is in the camp of the opposition’. The word he choose to translate the word ‘camp’ into Amharic is very revealing. He said ‘yetequamiwoch Beret’. As far as I know ‘Beret’ is where we keep animals. Enclosed so they do not escape, watched by guards and dogs so wild animals do not harm them. Is that how he views his fellow Ethiopians. Which of these two are we? The domesticated animals fattened for labor or dinner? Or the stupid and gullible sheep and cows and have to be watched by TPLF cadres from undue influence? A curious choice of words but it speaks a lot about the mindset of the individual and his friends.
The crazy part of this farce is that he is telling all this to Ato Addisu Abebe, a VOA correspondent and victim of TPLF injustice. You see Ato Sebhat’s government charged Ato Addisu and twenty-one Ethiopian journalists with ‘involvement in an attempt to overthrow the government’ in the aftermath of the famous 2005 elections. Ato Addisu is lucky. He has the US government behind him. The Ethiopian journalists suffered a lot. They all lost their livelihood. Some are still in prison. Some were jailed for over two years and their license revoked. A few were hounded out of the country. Many were scared for life. Our country lost its brave and brightest sons and daughters. Ato Sebhat as member of the Politburo is personally responsible and will be asked to account for his actions. Whether this will happen or not is not relevant. He is responsible in the eyes of the Ethiopian people.
The next discussion was about EFFORT (endowments fund for the rehabilitation of Tigrai). The eight hundred-pound gorilla. Ato Sebhat’s claim is that it is the premier corporation in Ethiopia both in asset and reach. After confirming that it is audited both internally and by external government agencies he feigned memory loss when asked to disclose the capital of the multi national in numbers. What he said was ‘it is not important’. It was very curious answer for a person who has been the CEO and President of the company. A company without a balance sheet and net worth unknown to the CEO can only happen in TPLF fairyland.
What was absolutely laughable is the claim that TPLF brought the capital from outside to establish the company in Ethiopia. That is insulting the intelligence of eighty million people. For the life of me I do not remember our Tigrai cousins being known for their special skills in being traders and merchants in our Ethiopia. Here we are in 2009 and the most visible conglomerate is EFFORT and the richest and smartest merchants are our Tigrai cousins. Wonder never ceases. Keep talking Aboy Sebhat.
The next line of questioning has two threads and it is full of the most bewildering mish mash of ideas put together in a very haphazard manner. The first one consists of TPLF’s philosophy of what he refers to as ‘bourgeois revolution’, followed by the party’s view of our country Ethiopia.
Ato Sebhat’s attempt to describe the theory of ‘bourgeois democracy’, ‘revolutionary democracy’, ‘emerging democracy’ or ‘developmental state’ (depending on the mood) the society his party is trying to build in Ethiopia completely went over my head. His claim is that TPLF masquerading as EPDRF is accelerating the growth of capitalism in Ethiopia and will wither away on its own is a very lame interpretation of the Marxist idea of the ‘withering away of the state’ as the final stage of capitalist development. Suffice to say that it is proven to be a fairy tale. So, at a certain point in time EPDRF will hand power to the new classes and disappear. That is what he said and he is sticking by it. He did not elaborate when this is projected to happen or who these new classes are. Why there still are classes upon the withering away of the state is left open. May be the theory is in a developmental state. Let us just say it is not well thought of.
The second thread is where Abboy Sebhat’s version of Ethiopia is defined. When he started the journey to liberate Ethiopia this is where he began. His assertions are very troubling. In computer speak there is something they call GIGO. It stands for garbage in garbage out. A ‘computer will unquestioningly process the most nonsensical of input data and produce nonsensical output.’ The same with leaders saddled with faulty, incomplete, or imprecise and utterly wrong data they come up with wrong and imperfect solutions that cause harm and agony to their people.
His claim that we stayed enclosed in our own regions isolated from each other is utterly false. His assertion that we have been fighting each other for hundred years and lived with our hands in each other’s throat is both ugly and abhorrent. His very violent statement that we do not know each other uttered in such forceful manner is very alarming. He repeated ‘Anetwawekem! Antewawekem!’ twice. It made me very sad. It is far from the truth. It is not the Ethiopia I know and I am a typical Ethiopian.
How he is able to hold two contradictory thoughts at the same time is bewildering. He said that he embarked on the struggle to get rid of national oppression. Well and good. But the solution he came up with is very strange to describe it mildly. In order to foster equality they decided to divide the country into Kilils. Everybody was ordered to get an identity card with his/her ethnicity registered by the authorities and was encouraged and forced to go settle in his own enclave. Those with mixed ethnic identity were forced to pick one. I am sure this did not pose a problem in Adwa, but in the rest of Ethiopia many people were put in absolute quandary. How being strangers to each other was going to foster one people one country is not clear. This was a sad moment in our history
So the theory goes the TPLF as an advanced and vanguard party under the tutelage of Meles Zenawi, Sebhat Nega, Azeb Mesfin, Seyoum Mesfin, Arkebe Uqbai and their immediate families will preside on this lofty Nation building endeavor. The Military and security forces with Woyane Generals and high-ranking officers will work in bringing the Oromos, Amharas, Sidamos, Wolamos, Anuaks and other assorted Nationalities to a newer level of preparedness to build the new emerging Ethiopia.
One can see the common thread in this new philosophy of Nation building process. Our Tigrai masters seem to be the center of the Ethiopian universe with wealth and power emanating out until it engulfs the whole society. Le Ras Sekorsu Ayasnasu comes to mind. What do I think? I think Komatan Komata kalalut Gebeche Lefetfit Yelal is most approperate. I believe for so long no one have bothered to tell Aboy Sebat ‘with all due respect sir, you are full of crap!’ I know it is not grown up, but it serves the purpose. I could put it delicately in a more civilized way. But what is the point?
To come up with such preposterous idea it is possible Ato Sebhat’s Adwa was different. That must be the glass he is using to see Ethiopia. But he lived in Addis while going to Haile Sellasie I University. Did he not see how the others lived together? Wasn’t the cry ‘land to the tiller’ by the privileged University students of the time? Surely the students were not fighting for a plot of land. How about during the fight against the Derg? We are told that the TPLF army was composed of all Ethiopians. Weren’t Addisu, Kuma, Tefera, Aba Dula in the TPLF military or did they have their own regiment? Did they fight for the freedom of all Ethiopians or freedom for their ethnic group?
During the process of Nation building animosity does arise between people. Solving such problems and emerging stronger is a difficult task. Some countries are blessed by visionary leaders that harness the positive power of their people and lay a strong and unshakeable foundation. Some are cursed by the likes of the Rwandan Hutu leaders, Milosevic of Yugoslavia and Stalin in Armenia. They bring war and destruction on their people. They go away but they leave animosity and mistrust behind. It takes a long time to undo the damage they cause. In the mean time the rest of humanity marches forward. Evil has to be stopped at its inception before it takes roots. Silent people allow evil to flourish.
Lots of things were said by Aboy Sebhat. The assertion that there were no national Organizations that fought the Derg is not correct. Without going far both EDU and EPRP were National based and stood for the unity of our country. Both were violently attacked by TPLF. Both were expelled out of Tigrai by TPLF. The EDU leader His Excellency Prince Ras Mengesha Seyoum was warned regarding an official trip to his beloved Tigrai. His presence in Tigrai was a threat to the mighty TPLF. The existence of EPRP was denied. When he said that TPLF was ‘overjoyed’ when they found the existence of Ato Kifle Wodgajo’s party in the USA it was nothing short of wonder about the capacity of Aboy Sebhat’s brain to have woven such a tapestry with imaginary yarn of silk. Listen to it and you be the judge my friends in the Diaspora. You can go to VOA website and listen to it from the archives. Unfortunately our people in Ethiopia cannot do that. There is no electricity; when Internet service is available it is a slow crawling modem with all the independent Ethiopian websites blocked. That in a nutshell is the Ethiopia TPLF is building deaf, blind and ignorant.
Resources used in this article:
http://www.ifex.org/ethiopia/2005/12/22/journalists_face_antistate_charges/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/4649373.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/7991478.stm
http://www.cpj.org./
Sebhat Nega blabbers – Interview with VOA
By Yilma Bekele
So the saying used to go ‘the sun never sets on the British empire’ that was yesterday. It should be replaced by ‘the sun always shines on Serkalem.’ The Global Forum of Freedom of Expression has honored Serkalem again. (see the video below)
What a deserving recognition of a brave lady in the relentless service of her people for freedom and democracy. We thank the Forum for directing the beam of light on Serkalem to expose the nature of the ethnic junta in power. Serkalem is the symbol of eighty million Ethiopians languishing under the apartheid rule of the minority ethnic based mafia.
Serkalem was jailed because the opposition won the 2005 election. Serkalem and her husband Eskinder used to publish two independent newspapers, Menelik and Satenaw before the general election. Their crime is doing their job ethically and professionally. They wronged the mafia clique because they told the truth. So Meles and our Tigrean cosa nostra group thought they can silence the press by jailing the publishers. Old and tired solution debunked a long time ago. But our peasant warriors are stuck on chapter one. They can not differenciate between their illegal deeds and the story being told. The rational action will be to refrain from illegal act. Unfortunately they would rather punish the messanger hoping the message will not see the light of day.
When will they learn? Unfortunately they are perfectly aware of their actions. They kill, torture, exile and insult because that is what they know best. They are not capable of change. They figure why change something that has worked for forty years. Ato Meles has been practicing his craft since the early 70’s. In his book ‘Democratization and Unity’ one of the founders of TPLF Kahsey Berhe, tells of an incident perfectly revealing the mind-set of Ato Meles and his group. The group suspected one of their friend to be an agent of the Derge whereby without an iota of evidence they went ahead to ‘beat him up and burn him with hot sickles’ till he was dead. The rank and file did not view this act favorably. The new leadership composed of Sebhat Nega, Meles Zenawi, and Abbay Tesehaye solved this dilemma by forming their own secretive security team within the organization. This arrangement of creation of a militia personally responsible to a few in the leadership has become the trademark of Ato Meles and company.
In today’s Ethiopia there is a government within a government. The TPLF clique has its own security force, its own private jail, its own private army and its own private law. Ato Meles is the ‘capo di tutti’ (boss of bosses) of this infamous criminal enterprise masquerading as a party. Why some think that they can reform the mafia is very bewildering. The fact that a few think a bully will relent due to some moral constraint is a wishful thinking that has become very costly to individuals and our country.
The narrow ethnic group in power is relentless in its pursuit of its perceived enemies. It is compounding the problem hourly and daily. It knows no shame. It thinks it is reinventing itself by doing the same thing again and again. So now they drafted a new so called ‘terrorist law’ by the Council of Ministers and submitted it to the ‘House of Representatives’. I know both are oxymoron. One-man rule and a fake council or parliament and unelected representative are contradiction at its best. The word terrorism is so passé no one bothered to inform the cadres. My dear Meles you have traded that currency, it is over. The new key word today is ‘Democracy and transparency’ please make a note.
The new law being drafted is an attempt to codify what the regime has been doing for the last eighteen years. Why they bother to even draft such a law is very strange? They have been killing with impunity, jailing without due process torturing at will so what is the idea of such a law in present day Ethiopia? Guess who is brought out to discuss and explain the nature of the new law. It is no other than our good old friend Shimelis kemal, the mentally challenged and borderline schizophrenic prosecutor of Kinijit.
As a reward for being humiliated in the eyes of the Ethiopian people the junior cadre has been promoted to the mis-communication outfit run by the mentally unstable Berket Semeone. Ato Shimelis and a brand new sidekick named Ermias Legesse are being mentored by Ato Bereket. Lord have mercy! According to duo as reported by the Daily nation ‘most of the core provisions of the draft anti-terrorism law have been drawn from the anti-terror laws of the UK, Canada, Australia, the US, Uganda and South Africa.’ There you have it. They dig deep into the Constitution of these developed countries and all they could come up with is a lesson to fight ‘terrorism’. My dear Shimelis and Ermias next time could you please pay special attention to the Magna Carta and Bill of Rights in those important documents.
There is more. I told you our mafia have no shame. They have a bill pending in their Parliament regarding retirement benefits for the ruling class. Yes retirement benefit, that is what I said. So they own all land, own all property, own all industry and the national bank and they still want lifetime pay from poor Ethiopia. To sweeten the deal they also included the so-called parliament members and ministers too. See what I mean, they are relentless. The word enough is not in TPLF’s vocabulary. The word shame is alien to them. By the way this retirement document is also based on US laws for former head of state. No need to comment on this farce.
So what is with the table through out this article? These are the names of a few of our fellow Ethiopians massacred by Ato Meles’s army on June 8, 2005 in Addis Abeba. Our dear friend Serkalem Facil and opposition leaders, fellow journalists, civic organization leaders and ordinary Ethiopians were jailed by the regime in the aftermath of this government sanctioned killing of its own citizens. Thanks to Judge Wolde Michael Meshesha we have the report of the inquiry commission intact to remind us of the ultimate sacrifice paid by some so the rest of us can continue the struggle for freedom. Ato Meles has been vainly trying to shift responsibility for the massacre on to others. Our leader Judge Bertukan Mideksa is in jail (one hundred sixty two days, nineteen hours, fifty two minutes, as of this writing) because Ato Meles still thinks he can find a scapegoat for his crimes. Ato Meles declared ‘state of emergency’, Ato Meles took control of the military, and Ato Meles gave the order to use bullets on fellow citizens so he can stay in power illegally. No amount of backtracking will change that.
The only thing that can change this state of affairs is the resolve of all Ethiopians to honor the sacrifice paid by our fellow citizens. They have done what they have to do. It is now our turn to do what is right and honorable. It is the responsibility of each one of us to do what is within our power to oppose tyranny, ethnic politics and to say no to TPLF bullies. Freedom is earned. Freedom cannot be outsourced. The U.S, President Obama, the European Union or any other party is not going to bring freedom and democracy to our land. Foreigners can only complement our struggle. It is up to us to show the world that a few cannot defeat the many. It is up to us to stop this dysfunctional behavior of tearing each other down and build on the positive aspect of our glorious history. It is up to us to support those who are working hard to stand up to the ethnic mafias so we can all live free in our own homeland. There are a lot of Ethiopians doing just that. The question is what have you done to contribute positively to enhance the struggle and bring those that killed our people to face up for their crimes?
What can you do? A lot my friend. You have the choice to contribute labor and money to the organization that best fit your philosophy. You can publicize the plight of your people in the many different forums, peaceful marches, candle light vigils held all over the world. You can get involved in letter writing campaigns to your representatives and international organization working on Human Right issues. You can starve the ethnic based regime of foreign currency by boycotting a trip back home. You can refuse to invest in Ethiopia until the mafia clique is removed from power and authority. You can urge the IMF and World Bank not to grant loan to the illegal regime. There are ways.
We congratulate our dear sister Serkalem for a well-deserved recognition by her peers. She makes all of us proud to be an Ethiopian. We remember the victims of June 8, 2005. We will continue the struggle they gave their lives for. Quitting is never an option.
(The writer can be reached at [email protected])
By Bruck Shewareged, The Reporter
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA – In a move that came as a surprise to many watchers, Prime Minister dictator Meles Zenawi announced the dissolution of the Ministry of Information and made a reshuffle in his cabinet. The dissolution of the ministry was announced on Thursday by the PM while addressing parliament.
Meles did not give any specific reason for dissolving the ministry but said in general that it is not due to a particular reason.
The dissolution of the ministry, some legal experts say, raises some questions as regards who would assume the mandates that the ministry used to have such as licensing newspapers and regulating the media.
So far, nothing has been said as to the fate of the different government media outlets and the Broadcasting Agency, which were accountable to the ministry.
It is not clear so far to which government institution the Ethiopian Television and Radio Enterprise and the state-owned newspapers will be accountable in the future.
While the Ministry of Information was dissolved, a new Ministry of Science and Technology came into existence. Parliament voted to accept the establishment of the ministry less than a month ago.
PM Meles also reshuffled his cabinet and appointed new ministers and reassigned some of the ministers to other ministries.
Junedin Sado, who was the Minister of Transport and Communications, now has become the first minister of Science and Technology.
Tefera Deribew takes over the ministerial portfolio for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development from Deputy Prime Minister Addisu Legesse, who was heading the ministry.
Diriba Kuma replaces Junedin Sado as Minister of Transport and Communications while Muferihat Kamil, the only female amongst the newly appointed ministers, takes the place of Hirut Dilebo as Minister of Women’s Affairs.
The Ministry of Defense, which was without a minister for over five months, has now Siraj Fegessa as its new minister. The position has been vacant since the former minister, Kuma Demeksa, left to become the mayor of the Addis Ababa City Administration nearly five months ago.
Dr. Shiferaw Teklemariam now heads the Minister of Federal Affairs in place of Siraj Fegessa, who is now the defense minister.
The Ministry of Education too has a new minister, Demeke Mekonnen, in place of Dr. Sintayehu Woldemichael. The former information minister, Berhan Hailu, was appointed as the new Minister of Justice ousting Assefa Kesito.
The government’s whip in parliament, Shiferaw Jarso, was also removed from his position and replaced by the former president of the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State Hailemariam Desalegn.
In response to EDUP-Medhin party chairman Lidetu Ayalew’s inquiry as to why the government decided to reshuffle his cabinet, Meles said that in some ministries like the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, a full-timer minister was needed as the deputy prime minister also headed that ministry. He said that due to lack of time. the deputy prime minister could not give his full attention to the ministry.
Meles also said that the Ministry of Defense needed a new minister as the former minister left his position to become mayor of Addis Ababa.
Parliament approved the minister’s nominated by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi by a majority vote of 309 to 14 while 50 MPs abstained.
Ethiopians in Washington DC will hold a rally in Washington DC at the State Department on Oct. 24, 2008, to protest the atrocities and war crimes that are being committed against the people of Ethiopia by the regime of Tigrean People Liberation Front.
The protest will particularly focus on the genocide in Ogaden and the atrocities in the Oromiya region.
As reported by international human rights groups and media, the Meles regime is systematically eliminating Ogadenis by burning their villages, terrorizing the population, and starvation (read more about war crimes in Ogaden here here).
Place: U.S. Department of State
Time/Date: Friday, Oct. 24, 2008, at 9:00 AM
