A group of businessmen in Ethiopia have raised over 20 million birr this month for the ruling junta Woyanne’s fake election campaign. Chief among the contributors is Ethiopian billionaire Ato Al Amoudi. Other businessmen include Tsegaye Abebe, president of the Ethiopian Horticultural Producer-Exporter Association, and Getu Gelete, owner GetAs International and Getu Commercial Center.

This week’s issue of Awramba Times has a feature article on the Ethiopian Diaspora’s role on politics in Ethiopia. Click here to read (, PDF, Amharic, starts on page 9).

By Mentesnot Mengesha

Recently I have attended a music and drama show presented by household names in London Ethiopian Artists’ community including Behailu Nekatebebe and Yagersew Yayehyirad in collaboration with St Mary Debre Tsion Orthodox church. The show was not the usual concert one would expect. It was a church musical and drama show organized by musicians and dramatists residing in London and its environs. The purpose was to raise funds for the final coffer in settling the purchase of the church building.

After the audience have fully taken their seats, a number of video and still cameras were in position to roll and record the event. The light men were busy in adjusting the right intensity of light to illuminate the stage where the performance was held. The sound men were plugging in and plugging out their connection cables to sound equipment and make the sound arrangement in the right order.

The usher of the day Liqe-Deacon Dawit Wolde-Yohaness appeared on the stage and announced the start of the show and introduced the programme of the whole afternoon. Following the blessing from the church leader Qomos Aba Girma Kebede, then Behailu Nekeatebe, one of the coordinators of the event, came to the podium and delivered a short speech about the background and purpose of the event. Then a Sunday school choir named after the late and much loved Bishop of London Abune Yohaness, dressed in colorful costumes opened the event with their songs. The songs and their movements were well orchestrated and loved by the audience. I saw the added value of having such a group in delivering their performance in Amharic where many children are deprived from speaking and reading in its unique scripts.

After the children left the stage with a round applause the musician and dancers took their positions to perform the most extraordinary performance that have performed in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church setting for the first time ever. Those known women vocalists including Marta Hailu, Hirut Bekele, Yezina Negash, Melat G/Michael, Genet Assefa and Tsion Assefa took the stage one after the other with their graceful performance. The men vocalist including Girma Tefera Kassa, Kesintu Dejenie, Dagi G/Egziabheir, Belay Melese and Temesgen Zeleke together with traditional music instrument players Yared Afework, Temesgen Melese, Girum Begashaw and Fekret Getnet brought the quality of the event to the higher standard.

The other part of the show that made the event colourful was the drama written and directed by Behailu Nekatebeb. The act was staged by three characters that reflect different generation of the Diaspora who lost their hope and future due to uprooted circumstance from their supporting society.

The message of the drama was to confirm that there is a light at the end of the tunnel when people rest their hope on God. Obviously, one can not expect a less quality show from Behailu Nekatebeb a graduate in Theatre Arts and one of the main character in the Big Battalion Film that was on British screens in 1990’s. His commanding voice echoing the hall like a thunderstorm. The multi-talented Genet Kebede and the young and upcoming actor Tewodros Bezuneh have shown the high level of their respective talents.

Generally, what makes the event interesting as well as different is not the name of these artists whom we knew them for many years on public stages and night clubs. This performance was unique at least in three areas. Firstly, all the performers have been dressed with traditional church attire to reflect the purpose of the day. Secondly, the dance movement was meticulously choreographed to fit with the gracefulness, calmness and cultural values of the church. Thirdly, the lyrics and songs were kept their purpose and messages without losing their artistic appeal to the audience.

I think, this is an extraordinary attempt by a group of artists to keep their artistic license and the church rule, culture and guidance intact and yet make it more entertaining and appealing to all across age and gender divide. The coordinators have to be praised together with their close technical advisers about the Church’s traditions. The concerted efforts of all the people involved produced the best show that everybody has positively talked about. I think this was the beauty of the day that proves partnership work is the answer to success in community works. The event has proven that when artistic talents and creativities are pulled together for a purpose they could produce a miracle. On the other hand there are many untapped talents among the Diaspora community that require continuity to flourish further. There is no doubt that the pool of these talents could be transformed into a significant force if the gathering of such a group constituted to be an organised group with a purpose to serve their communities and benefits from it as well. Without being optimist, I would argue that there are potential talents currently much under-used within the Diaspora Ethiopian community. There is much to be done. One can clearly see that such a talented personalities together with all those actively participated on such an event could come up with other creative endeavours in the future. Well done.

(The writer can be reached at [email protected])

MEKELE, Ethiopia (Reuters) – An explosion at a cafe in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray killed five people Saturday and wounded 20 others, officials said, blaming the attack on neighboring Eritrea.

“This is an attack by the Eritrean government to deliberately disrupt the upcoming elections,” said Micheal Abraha, Tigray’s administrator.

Ethiopia’s [ruling junta] is scheduled to hold national elections on May 23.

The explosion on a market day in the town of Adi-Daero came only a day after two Eritrean rebel groups said they had killed 11 government soldiers in coordinated attacks on military camps in southern Eritrea.

The two Horn of Africa neighbors have had long running hostilities and tensions simmer along their common border due to a dispute over the frontier.

Relations have been at an impasse since they fought a 1998-2000 war in which at least 70,000 people were killed.

Tigray’s regional president, Tsegay Berhe, said Eritrean agents sneaked into the country and were responsible for the attack.

… history offers a clear verdict: Governments that respect the will of their own people, that govern by consent and not coercion, are more prosperous, they are more stable, and more successful than governments that do not. … In the 21st century, capable, reliable, and transparent institutions are the key to success — strong parliaments; honest police forces; independent judges; an independent press; a vibrant private sector; a civil society. Those are the things that give life to democracy, because that is what matters in people’s everyday lives. – President Barack Obama’s Speech in Ghana, July 11, 2009.

The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) party will surely declare a landslide victory in the upcoming May 2010 local elections. The victory will come about because since the 2005 national elections, the party has moved aggressively to manipulate local elections, pass repressive legislations, and to ban free media in order to consolidate its power base throughout Ethiopia.

The U.S. Department of State 2009 Human Rights Reports/Ethiopia, and Human Rights Watch on Ethiopia/March 2010 issued reports critical of the human rights and political conditions in the country. The reports illuminate how the EPRDF uses foreign aid to suppress dissent and intimidate citizens into political submission. Given this revelation, the Obama administration can take two immediate steps to end the misappropriation of U.S. aid by the Ethiopian ruling party: 1). It can order all non-military U.S. aid to reach target audiences directly; 2) It can reject the outcome of the May 2010 elections in protest of the pre-election undemocratic environment.

Why are we, Ethiopian Americans Council calling for the Obama administration to take the two important steps?

EPRDF manipulated the 2008 local elections to control 99.9 percent of the kebele (Kebele means local government) council seats, as well as the Woreda (Woreda means Districts) council seats. Those seats combined, represent close to 85 percent of rural Ethiopia. The kebele administrative structure has four major organs: Kebele council, Kebele Chief Executive, Kebele Standing Committee and Kebele Social Court. Several services are rendered at Kebele level, including development activities, housing, employment, issuance of ID, etc. The Kebele officials use these organs to coerce citizens, including the civil servants, students, farmers and business owners, to become cardholding members of the EPRDF party or face exclusion.

In a country like Ethiopia that depends on foreign aid for one-third of its expenditures, the vast majority of citizens could hardly risk the consequences of opposing the regime that controls all access to their basic amenities. After all, the ruling party uses donor food aid as a political tool to reward or punish individuals and families in the countryside. Allegiance to the ruling party is a matter of life or death decision in the country.

Draconian Legislative

After consolidating its power base in the 2008 local elections, the ruling party turned its attention on restraining civil society. In 2009, it used its rubber-stamp parliament to pass two draconian legislation: the Civil Society Law and the Ant-Terrorism Proclamation.

* The Civil Society Law was passed by the parliament on January 6, 2009, to restrict the activities and funding for civil society organizations (CSOs). The law, “Proclamation for the Registration and Regulation of Charities and Societies”, forbids civil society organizations from engaging in building democratic and human rights culture. In addition, it requires CSOs, which receive more than 10 percent of their budget from outside, to register as “foreign agents.” The objective is to restrict CSOs to mere service providers and to muzzle local human rights groups.

* The Anti-Terrorism Law, which was passed in July 2009, gives the state sweeping powers to arrest individuals it deemed threatening. The law is designed to end peaceful demonstrations, and to persecute and penalize political dissidents.

Through the 2008 local elections and punitive legislative in 2009, the EPRDF regime has effectively instituted a police state. In this repressive political climate, there is no way a fair and free election can take place. Thus, it is absolutely justifiable for the Obama administration to consider our modest recommendations.

Human Rights Watch rightful points out that the Obama administration is yet to reverse the Bush’s policies toward Ethiopia. It is clear that the appeasement policy of the Bush administration toward the Ethiopian regime had left the country on the brink of political and economic disaster. The potential calamity should compel the Obama administration to seriously examine the current policies toward Ethiopia. After all, EPRDF is unpopular not only in Ethiopia, but also in the surrounding countries. It has caused political instability in the Horn of Africa because of its misguided policies and military adventurism. If the current trajectory continues, the Horn of Africa will sink into further political chaos, which is a nightmare scenario for the United States.

Ethiopia is a very influential country in the Horn of Africa. It is also an important country to the United States because of the two nations’ historical ties and Ethiopia’s strategic location. A democratic Ethiopia can be a stabilizing force not only for the Horn of Africa, but for the entire continent.

As Human Rights Watch/March 2010 correctly put it, the United States is “Ethiopia’s largest donor and most important political ally on the world stage.” The United States government should not continue to give credence to a notoriously repressive regime that is growingly become a threat to millions of Ethiopians and to regional stability.

A strong and democratic Ethiopia will prove to be a reliable and durable ally to the United States both in the short-term and long-term.

The Ethiopian Americans Council
PO Box 28597 San Jose, CA 95159
e-mail: [email protected]
www.eacouncil.org