Ethiopian National Transitional Council Press Release
The dictatorship in Ethiopia must be held accountable for its atrocities against Ethiopian Muslims
On Friday, July 13, Meles Zenawi’s dictatorship in Ethiopia launched a bloody crackdown against peaceful Muslim worshippers who gathered at Awolia Mosque in Addis Ababa. The security forces opened fire on the unarmed Muslims causing a large number of casualties.
The Ethiopian National Transitional Council (ENTC) considers Meles regime’s violent action against Ethiopian Muslims as a state sponsored terrorism, and calls on the international community to take urgent action to stop further violence. The Meles regime must also be held accountable for the unnecessary bloodshed that it has caused.
The ENTC calls on the people of Ethiopia to stand united and defend each other. We can stop the Meles regime’s atrocities and injustice only when we unite and fight back.
The ENTC calls on the international media to lift its news blackout on the continued atrocities in Ethiopia in the hands of Meles Zenawi’s brutal dictatorship.
The ENTC calls on international human rights organizations and the United Nations to come to the aid of the Ethiopian Muslim civilians who have been victimized by the Meles regime’s inhuman, irresponsible and excessive use of force.
Tens of thousands of Ethiopian Muslims forced Woyanne security forces to retreat after a violent confrontation broke out Friday evening. It is reported that earlier Friday, the Woyanne Federal police used teargas to try to disperse Muslims who were gathering at the Awolia Mosque, and when that failed, they opened fire directly at the crowd that broke through the police barricade. The Federal police’s action incited more anger and even though Muslim leaders pleaded with the people to take shelter from the bullets, an angry crowd of Muslims fought bare hands with the heavily armed Woyanne police and forced them to retreat from the Answar area in Merkato.
Tonight, Muslim leaders are discussing whether to call a general strike over the weekend.
In some parts of Addis Ababa, Christians have joined their Muslim brothers and sisters in fending off the blood thirsty Federal police troopers.
Following the violent clash, the Woyanne junta has cut electricity to several parts of Addis Ababa.
Today’s clash broke out as the African Union held its meeting in Addis Ababa. Several African leaders are currently in Ethiopia’s capital for the AU summit. Dictator Meles Zenawi, how is reported to be sick, has not attended the summit and his whereabouts is secret.
VIDEOS
Addis Ababa, 1:00 AM Saturday, July 14, 2012
We ask you as Ethiopians and Americans please stop supporting tyranny in Ethiopia and corruption in America by Ethiopians.
by Teddy Fikre dated: Friday, July 13th, 2012
September 11th did not occur on September 11th 2001. Rather, the day of monumental mourning and the death of thousands of Americans was decades in the making. September 11th occurred the moment America decided to coddle a supposed “freedom fighter” by the name of Osama bin Laden and armed him to the teeth with weapons and knowledge. September 11th was a blowback, a result of unexpected yet foreseen set of events that led ultimately to the Twin Towers being reduced to rubble and the Pentagon morphed into a hollowed out testament to US foreign policy. I am not a conspiracy theorist; I put all blame for September 11th on Osama bin Laden and his band of blood thirsty terrorists. However, it would be ludicrous if we as Americans do not realize that the Clinton and Bush administration—and prior administrations —do not bear the responsibility for creating a monster who would eventually murder over 3,500 innocent Americans.
It is with this reminder that I am about to take you on a journey of another blood thirsty terrorist that the current administration is coddling by the name of Meles Zenawi—the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Meles Zenawi is no different than most African dictators, he is a ruthless tyrant who has butchered and terrorized his way to power and consolidates his grip on power by endlessly silencing dissidence. He has shuttered free speech by killing hundreds of college students in the run up of the Ethiopian elections in 2005. He has silenced the press by jailing and murdering journalists like Eskinder Nega. Meles Zenawi is the African Osama bin Laden, yet here we are again replaying September 11th as the Obama administration coddles this ruthless dictator by welcoming him as a role model for Africa and inviting him to Camp David as America’s guest of honor.
The fact that Obama treats a war criminal and a man, who is at this exact moment enacting ethnic cleaning in Gonder Ethiopia, like a welcome hero is sad enough on its own; add on top of this insult that Barack Obama is a son of a Kenyan and this story morph from tragedy to an all-out heartbreak. Tens of thousands of Ethiopians registered for the first time in 2008 and voted for Barack Obama thinking that Obama would reset the Bush policy of embracing tyrants in Africa and set a course of liberating Africa. The result has been downright depressing; instead of liberating Africa from tyranny and oppression, Obama has hugged Meles Zenawi even closer and showered him with weapons and cash. This is not what Ethiopian-Americans expected, this should not be what Americans as a whole should expect.
Abetted by a feckless media in America, lawmakers in the pocket of dictators in Africa, and high priced law firms like DLA Piper—where former Congressmen and Senators like Dick Gephardt and Dick Armey are employed—Meles Zenawi is pillaging Ethiopia to the hilt with the help of billionaire Al Amoudi as he doles out millions of dollars in America to influence US foreign policy and purchase law makers and media outlets as though he was purchasing Ethiopian coffee at Starbucks. This is America, we are a land of the free and the home of the brave; we are have a long and proud history of backing the small guy and standing against tyranny wherever it exists. America is the shining city on the hill that has for decades thwarted dictators and spoke on behalf of oppressed people throughout the world.
This is why Ethiopians and countless millions of Africans, Europeans, Asians and Latin-Americans immigrate to the United States. We come here in hopes of a life unencumbered by repression and rank corruption. We expect better from America, we expect more from President Obama—we demand a foreign policy that is just and a politics that is able to speak out against torture, rape, abuse, and ethnic cleaning. Instead, what we are getting is a US government apparatus that is enabling tyrants in Africa and giving leeway to ethnic cleaning and mass killings while turning a blind eye to children dying of hopelessness and malnutrition on a minute by minute basis.
I guess we should be thankful that America spends billions a year in AID money in Ethiopia and other impoverished countries throughout the world. But we as Ethiopians do not want a hand out, we want a hand up. We don’t want a beggar Ethiopia, we want a better Ethiopia. Besides, most of the money that the United States and the Obama administration spends goes directly into the Ethiopian military and into the pockets of fat cats like Al Amoudi and Addis Alemayehu while children are left drinking from sewer systems that drip out of the mansions and posh hotels of these very same fat cats. Ethiopia does not want AID money; we simply want you to stop investing in tyrants and instead invest the money in giving us tools we can use to farm our lands. We don’t need another AK47 that will only entrench Meles Zenawi for another decade, give us tractors and plows and Ethiopia herself can feed the entire continent.
Of course, Ethiopians saying this will be ignored by the mass-media, lawmakers, policy experts and President Barack Obama. We are nobodies in the eyes of the elite in America, we are given token letters and the occasional photo op because we are not as powerful as Jewish-Americans, Gay Americans, or Latino Americans. Thus I ask the various powerful constituencies in America to please join our cause, you know how it feels to be oppressed and subjugated. Jewish-Americans know the sting of being tormented by a Pharaoh—meet our Pharaoh by the name of Meles Zenawi. Gay-Americans know full well how it feels to be subjugated by bigots who would deny you the right to exist—meet our bigots by the name of Woyanes (TPLF) who have implemented a systematic program to make all but one ethnic group in Ethiopia permanent third-class citizens as they market Apartheid by another name called “Federalism”. Latin-Americans know full well how it feels to have the home of your forefathers become an exclusive club for non-Hispanics only and being told to show your papers on a daily basis—meet our version of “papers please” as the TPLF government literally asks children for their ethnicity before giving them jobs.
But it is not enough for us to plead to do the right thing; the media and the policy elite in America only pays attention when a non-minority is damaged the same way hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians have been damaged and driven to depression. It is with that fact in mind that I am going to introduce you to a Jewish-American—a blue blood New Yorker—who has been victimized and abused to such a cruel extend that he too was driven to depression at the hands of Meles Zenawi, Lily Bertu, Addis Alemayehu, and ultimately USAID. This man is an avowed philanthropist and a humanitarian who has given to the less fortunate for half his life because he too knows how it felt to be hopeless. He gives as he is given; he has invested his personal fortune so that children in China and Ethiopia have a hope for a better life. He is a man who believes in the best of people, he has a pure heart and a successful businessman—he has the rare ability to mix enterprise with altruism. His life story leading up to Ethiopia is awe-inspiring; his life after vising Ethiopia is depressing and the essence of melancholy.
Meet Victor Ozeri, a successful businessman who was a part of the first wave of American entrepreneurs who flocked to China when China was emerging from the shadows of “the Great Leap Forward”. Victor traveled to China without practically knowing a soul and unable to speak a lick of Cantonese or Mandarin, what he had was hope in his eyes and optimism in the abundant possibilities that China offered. Within a decade after his arrival, China arose from a slumber and now stands as the second biggest economy in the world. Victor opened up hand bag factories and soon enough became a millionaire while helping to lift thousands of Chinese citizens from the backwater of poverty into the main streets of prosperity. Victor’s life was transformed, he witnessed in China how capitalism and entrepreneurship—especially when combined with an altruistic spirit—can transform a country overnight from a third-world beggar into a developing shining city on a hill the same way America did 21 scores and 4 years. China is undergoing the very same transformation in one fourth the time it took the United States.
In the 21st century, any third-world country is but a microwave button away from being transformed into an oasis of prosperity. That is unless that third-world country happens to reside in Africa; only in this content will one find permanent poverty and endless cycles of violence. Some of the blame can be put squarely on African tyrants like Meles Zenawi who would rather suffocate Ethiopia with tribal warfare instead of investing in his people. In Ethiopia, more than 14% of the GDP is wasted on purchasing arms and “national defense” while less than 4% is invested in healthcare sector (in America, health care accounts for over 30% of the US GDP). As hundreds of thousands of people are dying from lack of potable water and food, Meles Zenawi kills thousands more with the very same arms he purchases from America to start wars with neighboring countries. But I don’t blame Meles as much as I blame countries like America, Great Britain, and France for ignoring this calamity while giving billions of dollars in “AID money” as that same money is laundered to purchase mansions with gold faucets and private airplanes. Do you know some of the food that is dropped from UN helicopters meant to feed starving children in Ethiopia is at this exact moment behind gated mansion and is feeding fat cats in Addis Ababa instead? You don’t have to take my word, take it from Victor, the very man who resided in Ethiopia for years as he tried in vain to transform Ethiopia from an impoverished country to a thriving nation.
With that I transition to Victor. After Victor made his millions in China, he became passionate about repeating the same outcome for other third-world countries. Upon his completion of his “China phase”, he fixed his aims on Ethiopia. He traveled to Ethiopia and adopted a girl who had less than one year to live. He brought her back to America, took a dying girl and restored her to health. From that moment on, he fell in love with Ethiopia. Victor witnessed all the misery and hopelessness in Ethiopia—especially in Addis Ababa—and trained his passion into making a… CONTINUED
[click to view and listen to full interview with Victor Ozeri and his ordeal in Ethiopia]
It is vital that you hear this whole interview. This is a life changing interview, once you hear this whole interview, your feelings for Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, and his crew of thugs and mercenaries.
CARING Circle
Whether you are Ethiopian, Asian, white, black, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, gay or straight, if you want to end the plight of Ethiopia, I beseech you to pick up your phone, send emails, send tweets, Facebook, and any other method you can to contact the following people. Email them this article and tell them about Meles Zenawi and the continued pillaging of Ethiopia as the tyrant destroys hope throughout the country and let lawmakers know (your Congressman and Senator especially) about the “Ethiopian Diaspora Business Forum” event this Saturday at George Washington University. These are but a few leads, please use your own contacts and knowledge base to contact as many journalists, opinion leaders, and policy experts and convince them with all your heart to end tyranny in Ethiopia and Africa as a whole. Do it because you care, do it because you are American, do it because you have children in your lives. Most importantly, pressure these people so that another child won’t die in Ethiopia and another Victor won’t have his will to believe in charity sapped out by those who feed on the charity of others to line their pockets. God bless you and God bless America!
Republican Presumptive Nominee Romney: Phone: 857-288-3500 Address: PO Box 149756, Boston, MA 02114-9756 email: LINK twitter: @mittromney
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah: Phone: 202-712-4810 Fax: 202-216-3524 Address: Ronald Reagan Building 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. email: LINK twitter: @RajShah
Contact your lawmaker: Congress – LINK Senate: LINK
Mr. Vincent C. Gray Mayor of the District of Columbia 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 316, Washington, DC 20004 Phone: (202) 727-6300 Fax: (202) 727-0505 TTY: 711 Email:[email protected]
DLA Piper: Phone: (202) 799-4000 Address:500 8th Street Northwest Washington, DC 20004 email: [email protected] twitter: @DLA_Piper
Media: washingtonpost.com, newyorktimes.com, CNN.com, MSNBC.com and as many other media outlets as you can come up with
Thomas Debass: Virginia Tech with a master’s degree in Applied Economics and a bachelor’s in Economics Executive Certificate in International Business Management from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. Senior Advisor for Remittances & Diaspora and, USAID, State Department-Thomas Debass serves as a Director for Global Partnerships in the Global Partnership Initiative, responsible for economic growth, global finance, and entrepreneurship; as well as leading the Department’s Diaspora engagement efforts
Dr. Liesl A. Riddle: BA and MA in Middle Eastern Studies, an MBA in Marketing/International Business, and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Riddle has written extensively on the topics of international entrepreneurship, trade and investment promotion, and diaspora roles in homeland economic development Associate Professor of International Business and International Affairs Co-Director, GW Diaspora Program Funger 401T 2201 G Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20052 Phone: (202) 994-1217 E-mail: [email protected]
Gorge Washington University Elliott School of School of International Business and International Affairs Michael E. Brown Dean and Professor of International Affairs and Political Science Office: 1957 E Street, NW Suite 401 Phone: (202) 994-6241 Fax: (202) 994-0335 E-mail: [email protected]
Points of Contact within Ethiopia Diaspora Business Forum
Addis Alemayehou: Former Chief of Party for the VEGA African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) + project, a USAID program.
-Board member of Connect Ethiopia an Irish biz charity
-Board of SBI international private equity group
– Ethiopia (ICT-ET) Information and Communications Technology Association
Paconet Media PLV, Managing Director Addis Ababa first English-language radio station of Ethiopia, AFRO FM, covering African business news.
Yohannes Assefa: Practice law as member of the NY Bar association. -Ethiopian American Manger Ethiopian America Vergina based company The Diaspora Investment forum organizer sponsor 2012 Ethiopian Diaspora investment Forum
Henok Assefa: Ethiopia Investor www.ethiopiainvestor.com the online promotion website published by Precise Consult International he is a managing partner. Board Member at Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations, Board Member at American Chamber of Commerce in Ethiopia, Country Representative
Manny Amare: An illusive man with little background information on him until he came out to join the rest of the sharks as Modern Ethiopia. ModernETH President and Founder New York Addis Ababa and President, of Altour, NY and AA Owner Ethio market www.ethiomarket.com Ethiopian Investment Commission from 91-2010 www.ethiomarket.com/eic. and the new website www.ethioinvest.org as Modern Ethiopia
And the rest of the government websites below
Ethiopian Ministry of Revenue >>> www.ethiomarket.com/mor
Quality and Standard Authority of Ethiopia >>> www.ethiomarket.com/qsae
Federal Inland Revenue Authority >>> www.ethiomarket.com/fira
Abi Woldemeskel: He shows up on a few international conferences and exhibitions in the last two years but work behind the seen with his operatives. Director General of Ethiopian investment Agency Ethiopian Investment Agency (EIA) (ethioinvest.org)
Eliab Tarkghen: George Washington University Language Lab software consultant developed asset management software to track media inventory Ethio-Biometrics™, Ethiopic Editor, and Ethiopic Palm PDA address book. ChamersNET project Eliab Consulting, “Founder and CEO ModernETH partner
Ermyas Amelga: From Boston area belive to finish in Smith college. Member of the New York Wall Street Diaspora the former highland bottle company owner CEO of Access Capital. Founder and Board Chairman of Zemen Bank S.C. http://www.zemenbank.com/ Access Real Estate Share Company
Zemedeneh Negatu: Educated in the Howard University, Washington, D.C. and is a Certified Public Accountant and worked as CPA E&Y New York Eastern Africa Ernst & Young LLP Managing Partner of Ernst & Young Ethiopia & Head of Transaction Advisory Services (Corporate Finance) based in Addis Ababa on Mega building (TPLF)
Matt Davis: Worked with the U.S. Federal CIO, FEMA CHCO, NOAA’s CIO and Assistant Administrator, USAID directors, and many Ministers and Members of Parliament across Africa. Founder & CEO of Renew Strategies Incorporation: Established in 2007 as a Delaware limited liability company Location: Washington, D.C., and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia http://www.renewstrategies.com/ RENEW LLC – USA 2020 Pennsylvania Ave. NW #388 Washington, D.C. 20006 RENEW – Ethiopia T.K Building No. 2, 3rd floor P.O. Box 101585 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Voice: +1 (703) 261 9021 – U.S. +251 (0) 91 261 4746 – Ethiopia E-mail: [email protected] Also Chief Executive Officer of Orange Symphony Consulting firm that specializes in establishing multinational companies in countries throughout Africa http://orangesymphony.com/about/
Bob Rabatsky: Works in Ethiopia’s Agribusiness sector. Fintrac- Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations http://www.fintrac.com Agricultural development contractor that won the New food security initiative
EXAMPLE OF BLOOD MONEY
[click to see source of money and tell Selamawit that Teddisho says “Tadias” ena “Dena Dere”]
Dictator Meles Zenawi has not been seen for over three weeks or so. We know he is not in good health after we saw his picture with the Chinese Prime Minister in Mexico. Some are claiming we did Photoshop on his picture to make him look sicker than what he was. As with everything with clueless Woyane, it would have been easier to present the subject and show us with all his glory instead of blaming us for his haggard look. But that is Woyanne for you: if you can’t find the answer find a scapegoat to blame.
As is the situation when information is not readily available people make up all sorts of explanations to fill the void. Regarding Meles’s health the speculation has gone viral and right now it is difficult to keep count of the possible scenarios. One thing we know for certain Meles is holed up somewhere due to illness, vacation or even death. We just don’t know. His handlers are telling us he is in perfect health but are no forthcoming on why he is hiding from ‘his’ people. It is perfectly sane to assume there is something gone wrong in Arat Kilo.
What made the situation more alarming is his absence during the 24th. Tigray Martyr’s Day Celebration. That does not reflect well on the organizers when giving a party and the guest of honor is unable to attend. Normally when main guests do not show up due to conflict of scheduling or other problems they usually send a video greeting to start the ceremony. Ato Meles did not do that. It could be considered further proof our Woyane warrior is incapacitated and cannot even be propped up, applied make up and send his message. I will not dwell on that because the discussion is fruitless. What I want to discuss is this idea of holding a Tigray Martyr’s celebration in our capital city.
I don’t know where to start because the whole idea is loaded with so many ramifications to our country, people and our future as a Nation. Let us start from the beginning being careful not to bore my readers I am afraid including myself. As we all know the Military opposition that morphed to be the Derg and overthrew Haile Selassie is day one of our current tribulations. Different groups rose up to oppose the Derg as it became clear the trend was dictatorship not liberation of our country. EPRP was the most famous and organized force that confronted the Derg head on. The entire Nation became a war zone. There was no exception.
Human beings were dragged and killed on the streets of Addis Abeba, Gondar, Mekele, Wollamo Sodo, Dire Dawa, Debre Markos, Assela, Nazret (Adama), Lekempt, Asmara, Hawasa and many more localities. No one escaped from this nightmare. The urban area centered tactics followed by EPRP was not able to complement the goal of getting rid of the dictatorship. Due to proximity to the Sudan boarder and possibility of creating an alliance with the Eritrean fronts EPRP was forced to move its forces to Tigrai and Gondar regions.
It was at this juncture in time Meles Zenawi and his Tigrean friends formed what today is known as TPLF virus. In their opinion the task at hand was the liberation of Tigrai not the entity called Ethiopia. True to their word they waged an ugly relentless struggle against the multi national force of EPRP and succeeded in expelling it from their beloved Tigrai. It is also true as they continued their war against the Derg they were able to recruit other Ethiopians who fought along side with them. We are told such persons as Berket Semon, Addisu Leggese, Abadulla Gemeda, Kuma Demeksa, Junedene Sado among many others fought along side Woyane solders. As far as the Ethiopian people are concerned the Derg was an equal opportunity killing machine that did not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity or religion.
Yes it is true the Derg punished Tigrai more harshly than other regions and it has nothing to do about their ethnicity. It is because they were organized and fought as a force and it is natural the military will concentrate its might on those that challenged it more effectively. The Derg did the same when it came to Eritrea. It does not mean the Derg spared the rest of the nation any less. As a matter of fact so many of our young were forcefully recruited to fight a war they did not believe or understand. That is what war is about. You kill your opponent before he kills you. The Derg run out options, its enablers the Soviet Union and Cuba were on retreat and Mengistu saw the writing on the wall. The TPLF branded itself EPDRF and marched into Addis without firing one shot. It should also be noted that the people of Addis with the rest of Ethiopians were happy to see Mengistu go and were willing to give the new conquerors time to adapt and feel comfortable.
It is sad we have to rehash this story after twenty years. We are forced to do that because the new people in power have this nasty habit of revising history and distorting it to fit their version. That is what they were doing on July 24 in our Capital city. If they are celebrating their Martyr’s why aren’t they doing it in their own enclave rather than our City is a valid question? That is where the connection with the unforeseen illness of warlord number one comes into the equation.
There are two possibilities for such insane and idiotic action. Number one is pure panic. The real possibility of the demise of their one and only leader since inception threw them out of balance. Their house was built on a shaky ground around an individual. Meles Zenawi was the head, the body and soul of TPLF. His absence opens a gulf as wide as our famous Rift Valley. They decided the only way they could show their existence was by a show of force against a population that was not even aware if such theatrics was necessary. I mean we all know TPLF is in every house, every village, every work place and every association including Eder. The only place TPLF is absent is from our heart. To show the rest of us how strong he is their mini warlord President Abbay Woldu showed up with three hundred heavily armed Agazi solders and dispatched two army helicopters to circle Addis. The people of Addis took note. They saw it with total amusement and went on their business.
The second possibility is struggle for power among the TPLF cadres. Abbay Woldu is showing his muscle. The absence of Berhane GebreKristos, Tedros Adhanome and Samora Yunus is a telltale sign all is not well in the camp of Woyane. It is not said if Azeb attended but most proably her non-Tigrean status is enough to sideline her. If it means anything old horse Sebhat was not present either, draw your own conclusion.
What I find very revealing is after twenty years of absolute power TPLF is not sure of itself. It has to go thru this kind of useless exercise to validate its existence. It shows lack of self-esteem and obvious weakness. Sure sign of impotence if you ask me. If the illness of their boss is to make them unravel like this what would his death do is a good question? This is how Aiga saw the meeting ‘Organized by Tigray Martyrs Self-Help Association, the ceremony was attended by leaders and former fighters of Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) and natives of Tigray drawn from Sub Cities in Addis Ababa’ Poor Woyane they still think in provincial terms. You would think as leaders of a multi-national empire they will try to meld in but not Woyane, they are stuck in that frame of mind. You can take the Woyane out of Tigrai but not Tigrai out of the Woyane. Remember it is only when faced with the rest of us they preach Tigrai unity when alone they go back to their village mentality of Adwa versus Axum, Tembien versus Agame or what ever ancestral village they came from. The learned folks of Aiga residing in the Silicon Valley of America where diversity is celebrated cannot help themselves but be drawn to their exclusive meeting and write about it. What is shameful is they wear it with pride.
We have variety of independent Web sites that celebrate our diversity. None are ethnic centered nor would they allow anyone to insult demean or put down any of our people based on ethnic identification. We have Ethiopian Review, Addis Voice, Ethiomedia, ECAD Forum, EMF, Nazret, Abugida, Ethio Lion, Quatero, Ethio Sun, Ethiopia Zare, Tadias, Ethiopia and plenty others including our ESAT the heart beat of Ethiopia. None are based on ethnic identification and serve all the children of Ethiopia equally. What do they got? Aiga Forum that insistently chews the same old chauvinistic policy geared to divide us, put us down and set us against each other. They have Tigrai on line dedicated to the beautiful people alone and here is a sample from its recent posting regarding our past history:
‘Menelike is adored and highly regarded by the Amahras but intensely detested by the rest of the Ethiopian people especially the Oromos. While Emperor Yohannes of Ethiopia was fighting foreign enemies in the North, Menelik was expanding his areas of influence south and eastwards. He treated the subjugated people in the most barbaric and harshest way possible; in Wollaita alone 120,000 people were massacred when they refused to submit to his rule. In their own land, the conquered were considered as second-class citizens and were forced to work as serfs for the Shoan nobility who controlled large swathes of fertile arable lands.
Menelik was not only brutal to his subjects, but he was also a traitor who connived with the Mahdists, the Egyptians and the Italians to bring about the defeat of Emperor Yohannes in order to crown himself as the king of Ethiopia. For his troubles, he received large quantities of weapons from the enemies of the country which he later used during the battle of Adwa.’ Written by a Berhane Kahsay.
This is the mindset we are fighting against. Yes there are people that think like this and actually put their disturbing thought on paper for all to see. How is brother Berhane brain wired, and why would anybody be consumed by such hate after over hundred years is something to ponder. What does it prove to come up with such ugly interpretation of history to build a new and prosperous Ethiopia? Is he telling us we are condemned by the actions of our ancestors assuming his interpretation is correct? It is disturbing to think Ato Berhane residing in the US working with all kinds of people is not capable of formulating a correct response to past injustice. Rewiring his brain is a valuable course of action.
My humble advice to mini warlord Abbay Woldu and friends, the road you are traveling is not a healthy one. Sooner or later the rubber hits the asphalt and there is no telling what it will entail. I assure you single ethnic supremacy has never worked. It shows promise for a while but in the end it explodes and explode in a very nasty way. A few of you that are benefiting from this arrangement will definitely take a whole bunch of your own people into this abyss where all our country and people will suffer for no reason. We are also aware that you think you are doing the right thing and no amount of reasoning will sway you away from your destination. But we just want to tell you fighting back did not start with you nor would it end with you. See what happened in Libya. Witness Syria that reflects your situation better. Do you think the minority Alawit with all their special forces, with all their guns are a match to the Syrian people? Now that does not require a degree in nuclear physics to figure does it? I hate to say I told you so but I have a feeling you are going to force me. Good Luck my peasant revolutionary.
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA — Next time I travel to Ethiopia, I may be arrested as a terrorist. Why? Because I have published articles about Ethiopian politics.
I wrote a policy report on Ethiopia’s difficulties with federalism. I gave a talk in which I questioned Ethiopia’s May 2010 elections, in which the ruling EPRDF party (Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front) won 545 out of 547 seats in the Parliament. As part of my ongoing research on mass violence in the Somali territories, I interviewed members of the Ogaden National Liberation Front, a separatist rebel group in eastern Ethiopia that the government has designated as a terrorist organization.
In the eyes of the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, my work is tantamount to subversion. Not only do his officials have zero tolerance for criticism, they consider people who either talk to or write about the opposition as abetting terrorists.
In recent years the government has effectively silenced opposition parties, human rights organizations, journalists and researchers. On June 27 a federal court convicted the journalist Eskinder Nega and 23 opposition politicians for “participation in a terrorist organization.” More than 10 other journalists have been charged under an anti-terrorism law introduced in 2009. Among them are two Swedes, Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson, who are serving an 11-year prison sentence in Ethiopia. Hundreds of opposition supporters languish in prisons for exercising the very democratic rights that the Ethiopian Constitution nominally protects.
Most people outside Ethiopia associate the country with famine and poverty. They know little about the country’s history and politics — for example that Ethiopia was never colonized, or that it has Africa’s second biggest population. Nor are they aware that Ethiopia is a darling of the donor community, receiving more aid than any other African country. Over the past year alone, the U.S. Agency for International Development has given Ethiopia $675 million in aid. The United States closely collaborates with Ethiopia in covert missions against radical Islamists in neighboring Somalia.
Much of this support comes from the portrayal of Ethiopia as a strong and stable government in a region riddled with political upheaval. The problem, however, is that Ethiopia is plagued by too much state control.
When EPRDF came to power in 1991, it promised to democratize the country. Two decades later the party has a tight grip on all public institutions, from the capital to remote villages. Formally a federal democracy, Ethiopia is a highly centralized one-party state. No independent media, judiciary, opposition parties or civil society to speak of exist in today’s Ethiopia. Many of the country’s businesses are affiliated with the ruling party. Most Ethiopians do not dare to discuss politics for fear of harassment by local officials.
As I found out in dozens of interviews with Ethiopian Somalis, security forces indiscriminately kill, imprison and torture civilians whom they suspect of aiding Ogaden rebels.
How have donors who fund about one third of Ethiopia’s budget and many humanitarian programs reacted to this? They haven’t. They not only continue to support the Ethiopian government but in recent years have increased their aid. The West, most prominently the United States and the European Union, have concluded a strange pact with Meles Zenawi: So long as his government produces statistics that evince economic growth, they are willing to fund his regime — whatever its human rights abuses.
This policy is wrong, shortsighted and counterproductive. It is wrong because billions in Western tax money are spent to support an authoritarian regime. It is shortsighted because it ignores the fact that the absence of basic rights and freedoms is one of the reasons Ethiopians are so poor. It is counterproductive because many Ethiopians resent the unconditional aid and recognition given to their rulers. In Ethiopia — and also in Rwanda and Uganda — the West is once again making the mistake of rewarding stability and growth while closing its eyes to repression.
({www:Tobias Hagmann specializes in East African politics. He is a visiting scholar at the Department of Political Science at the University of California at Berkeley}.)
The health and whereabouts of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi have become a subject of much speculation. The situation appears to border on panic, especially among regime loyalists. Addis Fortune, an otherwise compliant pro-government business publication chimes in with its own concerns.
Addis Fortune, July 8, 2012
Not surprisingly, and for obvious reasons, the health and well-being of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi have been the subject of intense discussion among members of the public. This came following photos released recently while he was in Mexico, where he was attending a summit by leaders of the group of 20 major economies (G20), and subsequent TV footage showing him receiving Sharif Sheikh Ahmed of Somalia’s transitional government.
In both images that the public was exposed to, it was clear that the Prime Minister had lost weight and visibly. With speculations wide and persistent, the source of his weight loss was thought by many to be due to failing health.
Such a public perception was only fed by his absence from the public’s view over the past two weeks and was intensified because Parliament has still not gone on recess for the summer, even although the country’s official fiscal year came to an end on Saturday, July 8, 2012. What Parliament was, rather, scheduled to discuss on this day was issues such as approving the minutes from its 43rd session, ratifying a bill on national IDs, and giving recognition to a team of surgeons who successfully conducted an unusual surgery on a child.
MPs have yet to accomplish two of the most important tasks in the year. Listening to the Prime Minister’s address to Parliament on the state of the federation during the just-concluded fiscal year and voting on his report as well as ratifying the federal budget’s bill for the fiscal year that just began, which was approved by the Council of Ministers four weeks ago. Gossip sees that neither of these can take place in the absence of the Prime Minister, indeed, unless, of course, there is a situation that dictates otherwise.
At the heart of all of this lies the issue of whether there is a health challenge that Meles is facing that prohibits him from conducting his official duties. The administration, through its spokesperson, Shimelis Kemal, state minister for the Government Communications Affairs Office, vehemently denied rumours that the Prime Minister has been ill. Some close to the Prime Minister have similar views and attribute his recent loss of weight to a diet that he might have started lately.
Coincidentally, it was at a time of such uncertainty that senior officials at the Ministry of Finance & Economic Development (MoFED) instructed, last week, a recall of letters copied to various federal offices in relation to settling medical bills paid on behalf of the Prime Minister, gossip claims. Meles was in London last year for an official visit, where he had a routine check-up, claims gossip.
The way that such bills get settled through the bureaucratic paper trail is for the Prime Minister’s Office to write a letter of request to the MoFED, upon which the latter transfers the funds to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), which actually undertakes the payment, according to gossip. Such was what the Prime Minister’s Office did to see that the medical bills for the London check-up were settled almost a year after, gossip claims. Accordingly, the guys at the MoFED have already transferred the money to the foreign office, disclosed gossip.
Nonetheless, for reasons not explained, the paper trails circulating within the various federal agencies in order to process the request have been recalled, claims gossip. A couple of days last week were spent on such an effort, fueling a new cycle of speculations on the well-being of the Prime Minister, according to gossip.
It looks like there is a lot more that the administration’s spin-doctors need to do on the public relations front to reassure an otherwise alarmed bureaucracy and public, before the grapevine spins things out of control, those at the gossip corridors agree.
No doubt that he has been outside of the country much of last week; whether that was for recovery due to exhaustion – and for skipping a couple of checkups last year – or something else, gossip disclosed. Nonetheless, some at the diplomatic corridor claim that he is now in a very good health, expected to have been back to Addis Abeba on Saturday night.
If, indeed, the Prime Minister was sick and is now recovering, there should be no reason to keep the public in the dark about the health of their leader, many at the gossip corridor agree.
