You can sleep with the pharaoh or you can stand for the people—I will not let you do both!
by Teddy (revolutionary) Fikre dated: Monday, July 9th, 2012
It is done! A war I started a week ago has been complete and I am now standing on top of a smoldering ash that is AESA One. I warned all promoters and DJs who took blood money, who chose their wallets instead of their conscience, to walk away and to part ways with AESA One. They chose greed and wonton lust of dem genzeb, for that they are forever branded as the bandas of the highest order. They made their temporary loot but they will never be the same—they have been transformed overnight as a pariah and a virus to avoid. This is what happens when you spit on Ethiopia, when people choose greed over the people, they will forever be left alone while they do Eskista in the 8th circle of hell.
Now I have prayed seven times today to let me write this article without venom and using cuss words. I will try my best to do just that and live by the spirit of God and forgiveness. I will try but I know at least one or two times I will utterly fail in this attempt the same way that AESA One utterly failed to divide our community. So I write this article as a eulogy and a warning, anyone that does business with AESA One going forward will be branded as a banda for life and a sekaram askari who puts their belly before the belly of starving children back home. It is with that I will explain to you fully what blood money accomplished last week and show you in the end that people who sleep with blood money will be suffocated by blood….money.
You see, I know what the whole AESA One event was all about. It was a systematic effort to eliminate the voice of the Ethiopian diaspora in America. Meles Zenawi—enabled by his whore Al Amoudi—grew concerned that Ethiopians in America were using ESFNA to organize politically and unite under the auspices of Ethiopiawinet. Understand this about African pygmy DICKtators, they only hold on to power by dividing the people along ethnic and tribal lines. This is why Meles Zenawi implemented the “Federation” plan for Ethiopia. He sold federalism as self-governance and self-rule. But wise up my people, this is nothing more than Apartheid by another name. Meles’s plan is to consolidate power by making every tribe in Ethiopia a victim.
He peddles false claims that Amharas are out to get Tigrays. He blatantly spreads false propaganda that Oromos are victimized by Amarahs. He has made Amarah people the personification of evil as he paints us Amharas the “elite tribe” and in the process depicts us the essence of malevolence. What an ingenious yet nefarious plot, as he divides the people, he is at this exact moment undertaking Saytan’s work by initiating an ethnic cleansing agenda as he kicks Gondere people out of Gonder and supplants Gonder with Woyane moles. The land of my father and the birthplace of my grandfather six generations removed—Atse Teodrose—is now being pillaged and raped as TPLF goons are savaging Gonder and stealing the desta of my people.
I want Ethiopians worldwide to know one thing, I am Ethiopian first and last, I am African always. Sure I am proud to be from Gonder, but I am equally proud of the Tigray blood that flows in my veins that I inherited from my grandmother’s side. The thing of ethnic complex, it is stupid as shit—here I failed at my attempt to not use curse words—not one Ethiopian is pure blood. We are all intermixed and intertwined; there is no blue blood amongst us. Tigrays have Amhara blood in them, Oromos have Wollo blood in them, not one Ethiopian can stand and say that their blood is purely from one tribe. We are united by a common hope and a common history. Only banda Ethiopians go around espousing their tribe above their Ethiopian heritage.
But “Wedi” Meles—I refuse to call him by his last name—does not believe in Ethiopianism mish. He believes in tribal superiority, he is the next incarnation of Hitler and Woyane is next iteration of the Nazi party. What he and his TPLF goons are intent on accomplishing is a Tigray “homeland” and raising Tigray above all tribes—they are in essence trying to create a Tigray super race. Now you understand that Meles is out to accomplish the African version of Aryans. Now you understand why the bullshit yellow star on our flag is the next of kin of the Nazi swastika.
It is for this reason that I will fight until my last breath to stop this oncoming genocide of Ethiopia. Over my dead body will I see in my lifetime a “Tigray homeland”. Tigrays are just as Ethiopian as me and any other Ethiopian be they Oromo, Wollo, Anuk or any of our 88 beautiful tribes. However, I will not abide the notion that Tigray people are special and superior. Any person that believes in this notion will be buried alive by my pen and I will make it my life goal to expose anyone that believes in this bigoted agenda one by one. No one is safe who hold tight to this netela of a racist principle. If you believe that Tigray people are superior to the other 88 tribes, I will hunt you down one by one and destroy your life like I destroyed Desta Keremela (Google that name). I will rob any asshole who believes in ethic expectionalism and leave you only with a tizita of happier days.
Now you have a context of the birth of AESA One. This was nothing more than a sinister plot worthy of Pol Pot to take away our collective gebena and leave us sipping buna from dried out sewers the same way that Ethiopian children drink from dried out sewers at the Addis Sheraton. Take a step back and you will realize that Al Amoudi and his pimp Meles Zenawi are implementing a systematic plan to eviscerate the Ethiopian Diaspora. Did you know that before 1991, the overwhelming majority of Ethiopians who migrated to America were Amharas? After 1991, the overwhelming majority of Ethiopians who immigrate to America using the DV lottery are Tigray. What a sick and twisted plot, the TPLF cadre are systematically devising a nefarious system that will forever bury non-Tigrays as third-class citizens. Not even Jim Crow could have come up with a more wicked idea, even the Klu Klux Klan are shaking their heads in disbelief and telling Woyanes that they have gone too far.
You see, Meles and Al Amoudi rightly recognized that the ESFNA was a voice for the voiceless. Once a year, Ethiopians of all stripes congregate to various cities to take part in soccer and reunite with other Ethiopians who they have not seen in years. Once a year, ESFNA gives people a chance to disconnect from Facebook and Twitter and actually make real friends instead of making friends through social networks. For 29 years, ESFNA has been the one entity that gave Ethiopians like me who have been away from Ethiopia for decades a chance to reconnect to our roots. ESFNA was and is Ethiopia for all of us.
But Meles and Al Amoudi saw in ESFNA a clear and present danger to their continued existence. While some used ESFNA to reconnect to friends and estranged family members, the political opposition saw in ESFNA a platform to unite and come together under the umbrella of ANDINET. Meles recognized that ESFNA was becoming a powerful political weapon for those who chose to organize once a year. Clearly ESFNA is apolitical, but that did not prevent intelligent Ethiopians from traveling to ESFNA events to connect with likeminded Ethiopians. Thus ESFNA became a convention for soccer lovers and revolutionaries alike. ESFNA became Adwa, for those that chose to be enlightened; ESFNA became our version of Tahrir Square.
Meles and Al Amoudi saw this train coming and when ESFNA decided to invite Burtikan in 2010, they saw an implicit threat turn into an explicit danger. Thus, under the guise of Burtikan’s invitation, Al Amoudi pulled his funding from ESFNA and enticed half of the ESFNA board to jump ship by offering these banda assholes—I just failed not to curse aydel—blood money to become traitors of Ethiopia. And these jackasses from Abinet Gebremeskel on down wagged their tails like the bitches they are and promptly formed ESFNA One. These duplicitous trolls had the nerve to use ESFNA in their names until a judge laughed them out of the court room and banned them from using ESFNA in their newly formed Lucifer’s federation.
Thus ESFNA One became AESA One, these Addis whores promptly began to prostitute Washington DC with their blood money. I could not turn around without seeing a bus or a metro station splashed with blood money posters. The thing that drove me to the brink of war was that these whores used the clean Ethiopian flag to promote AESA One in Washington DC while their pimp back home Al Amoudi uses the Ethiopian flag with the Saytan’s yellow star on at his Addis Sheraton. For months two brothers who I once considered friends befriended me and set upon a psychological war to convince me to drop my war on AESA One. These two mercenaries were paid $20,000 by AESA One to get me to.. CONTINUED..
“Bertu, tenesu, tesebsebu, be Hebret ashenefu” ~ An Ethiopian Jegna
HAPPENIN Cirlce
Adwa Spring 2012
[click to join Adwa Spring 2012]
This is your chance to be with Woyane bandas or be with the people of Ethiopia. This Adwa Spring will be of the people by the people, Tigray, Oromo, Wollo, Amhara, all 88 tribes of Ethiopia who believe in a FREE ETHIOPIA are welcome to join this movement. Those those are not a part of the movement and decide to stick with Meles and his TPLF Junta. Those who stay with Meles will disappear into the trash bin of history. Soon, not another child of Ethiopia or Africa will die from hopelessness and hunger::
HEBRET Circle
Ethiopian Heritage Society
[click to visit Ethiopian Heritage Society]
If you want to know what our heritage and society is all about, please visit the Ethiopian Heritage Society and make sure you support them when they come to DC on July 27th – July 29th. Leave the “Ethiopian Diaspora Business Forum”, a Woyane infested death panel, and support the Ethiopian Heritage Society instead. The Ethiopian Heritage Society supported ESFNA while the “Ethiopian Diaspora Business Forum threw their lot in with Meles and AESA One. The choice is simple, choose wisely and choose Ethiopian Heritage Society. Enamesegenalen::
“Bondage” is the state of being bound by or subjected to some external power or control. When people are bound by debt, they are in “debt bondage”. When they are held in involuntary servitude, they are in “bondage slavery”. Before much of Africa became “independent” in the 1960s, Africans were held under the yoke of “colonial bondage”. “International aid” addiction has transformed Africa’s colonial bondage into neo-colonial bondaid. Could it be reasonably argued that Africans are sinking deeper and deeper into a quicksand of “bondaid” (to coin a new word) in the second decade of 21st Century?
In 1989, Graham Hancock wrote the “Lords of Poverty” scrutinizing the international aid “industry” including U.N. agencies, USAID, the World Bank and the IMF. His withering criticism infuriated many in the “international aid bureaucracies”. But his incisive analysis could not be easily dismissed. His basic argument is that international aid “has financed the creation of monstrous projects that, at vast expense, have devastated the environment and ruined lives; it has supported and legitimised brutal tyrannies; it has facilitated the emergence of fantastical and Byzantine bureaucracies staffed by legions of self-serving hypocrites…” It is a “a waste of time and money” and harmful to poor recipient countries ($60 billion in 1989). “Aid is not bad because it is sometimes misused, corrupt, or crass; rather, it is inherently bad, bad to the bone, and utterly beyond reform…. It is possibly the most formidable obstacle to the productive endeavors of the poor. It is also a denial of their potential, and a patronising insult to their unique, unrecognised abilities.”
Hancock views “international aid” as an elaborate “game” in which “public money levied in taxes from the poor of the rich countries is transferred in the form of ‘foreign aid’ to the rich in the poor countries; the rich in the poor countries then hand it back for safe-keeping to the rich in the rich countries.” He debunks the myth that “international aid works” and “must not be stopped because the poor could not survive without it.” He argues that “if the statement that ‘aid works’ is true, then presumably the poor should be in a much better shape than they were before they first began to receive it half a century ago. If so, then aid’s job should by now be nearly over and it ought to be possible to begin a gradual withdrawal without hurting anyone.”
The message of Hancok’s analysis is that the lords of poverty make up an invisible army of faceless, nameless, heartless, thoughtless, merciless, gutless, clueless, conscienceless and feckless “international civil servants, development experts, consultants and assorted freeloaders” unleashed on Africa to perpetuate and sustain a culture of poverty and beggary. Hancock points out
… the ugly reality is that most poor people in most poor countries most of the time never receive or even make contact with aid in any tangible shape or form: whether is it present or absent, increased or decreased, are thus issues that are simply irrelevant to the ways in which they conduct their daily lives. After the multi-billion-dollar ‘financial flows’ involved have been shaken through the sieve of over-priced and irrelevant goods that must be bought in the donor countries, filtered again in the deep pockets of hundreds of thousands of foreign experts and aid agency staff, skimmed off by dishonest commission agents, and stolen by corrupt Ministers and Presidents, there is really very little left to go around. This little, furthermore, is then used thoughtlessly, or maliciously, or irresponsibly by those in power — who have no mandate from the poor, who do not consult with them and who are utterly indifferent to their fate. Small wonder, then, that the effects of aid are so often vicious and destructive for the most vulnerable members of human society.
A decade later in 2009, Dambissa Moyo, echoed similar views: “Aid is an unmitigated political, economic and humanitarian disaster…. Over the past 60 years at least $1 trillion of development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. Yet real per-capita income today is lower than it was in the 1970s, and more than 50% of the population — over 350 million people — live on less than a dollar a day, a figure that has nearly doubled in two decades…”
Hancock indicts the international aid industry as unaccountable, smug, detached, self-aggrandizing and paternalistic:
… At every level in the structure of almost all our most important aid-giving organisations, we have installed a tribe of highly paid men and women who are irredeemably out of touch with the day-to-day realities of the … underdevelopment which they are supposed to be working to alleviate. The over-compensated aid bureaucrats demand — and get — a standard of living often far better than that which they could aspire to if they were working, for example, in industry or commerce in the home countries. At the same time, however, their achievements and performance are in no way subjected to the same exacting and competitive processes of evaluation that are considered normal in business. Precisely because their professional field is ‘humanitarianism’ rather than, say, ‘sales’, or ‘production’ or ‘engineering’, they are rarely required to demonstrate and validate their worth in quantitative, measurable ways. Surrounding themselves with the mystifying jargon of their trade, these lords of poverty are the druids of the modern era wielding enormous power that is accountable to no one…
BondAid: “Legitimizing Brutal Tyranny in Ethiopia”?
My reference to Hancock’s book above is not merely academic. I have been following reports on therecently announced $1.54 billion USAID assistance program in Ethiopia and studying other USAID reports on Ethiopia in light of Hancock’s arguments or hypotheses on the role of “international aid” in “legitimizing brutal tyrannies in Africa”. Is there an unhealthy bonding between dictators and donors?
Thomas Staal, the USAID Mission Director in Ethiopia, said the $1.5 billion assistance program “will transform our relationship with Ethiopia from one of assistance to one of economic and social cooperation, trade and investment.” In 2011-2012, “USAID assistance grants to Ethiopia will total USD 675 million” and support four specific priority objectives, including “education, health, agriculture and good governance”.
The fourth objective of “strengthen[ing] good governance practices for improved social accountability and conflict mitigation in programs in every sector” is the focal issue here. Could the $1.54 billion in USAID assistance serve to legitimize the brutal tyranny of Meles Zenawi and undermine the establishment of “good governance” in Ethiopia?
In an interview Stall gave before his reassignment to Bagdad, Iraq last week, he made the stunning admission that “with respect to political participation, we have not done a good job. Specifically, with respect to the election that took place two years ago, we have not done much to promote democracy. Customarily, USAID in various countries engages in election education with non-governmental organizations. It works to empower all political parties without preference. We support the local media to analyze elections and give information to the voters. But all these things are prohibited in [Ethiopia]. This is a hard situation that causes us to despair. We will try to talk to the government authorities…” (Frankly, one could get the “government authorities” to listen good and hard by practicing the old saying, “money talks and… walks.”)
In March 2012, USAID Ethiopia published a 72-page Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) (2011-2015) report entitled“Accelerating the Transformation Toward Prosperity”. The following excerpts from the CDCS report are offered below to the reader to undertake a preliminary evaluation of Hancock’s hypothesis on the relationship between “international aid” and the legitimization of tyranny, particularly in Ethiopia.
… After the shock of the relatively free elections in 2005, in which the EPRDF drastically overestimated its popularity, much democratic ground has been lost. Subsequently, the opposition groups were divided and crushed, and the size and control of the ruling party was increased immensely. Legislation was introduced to limit and control the space for civil society and media, and wide powers of arrest were included in the “anti-terrorist” legislation. In 2010 the ruling party “won” 99.6% of the Parliamentary seats… (p. 8.) Limited political space, crushed opposition, 99.6 per cent win of parliamentary seats in 2010, wide powers of arrest and still pouring in $1.5 billion in aid? $3.8 billion in total development assistance in 2009?
… In the areas of democracy, governance, and conflict resolution, USAID is already working well with the Ministry of Federal Affairs (MoFA) on conflict management, mitigation and reconciliation issues,… Now that the May 2010 elections are over, there is an apparent relaxation of political harassment, and a major opposition detainee has been released… (pp. 11-12.) Apparent relaxation of political harassment? A major opposition detainee released? Forgot the thousands of political prisoners, hundreds of journalists, dissidents and opposition leaders rotting in Zenawi’s dungeons? …
The strong donor consultation and coordination on the critical issues of democracy and governance has not always resulted in a willingness to take a strong, united stance against clear abuses of constitutional commitments, legislation, or democratic processes. The DAG [Development Assistance Group] includes the World Bank, UNDP, DFID, CIDA, UNICEF, EU, SIDA, Ireland and Germany among others… (p. 13.) No willingness to take strong, united stance against clear abuses of constitutional commitments because…?? Say what!?!
(In October 2010, I wrote a weekly commentary entitled, “Feed Them and Bleed Them” and observed, “Huddled together in DAG-istan, the poverty pimps have collectively resolved to continue to do their usual aid business in Ethiopia because “broad economic progress outweighs individual political freedoms”.)
… Largely as a result of USAID support, first state and local governments and finally national level institutions (particularly the Ministry of Federal Affairs) are abandoning inclinations to respond to local conflict primarily through security forces, and are increasingly developing and applying capacities to assist conflicted communities with local government support to negotiate and consolidate local peace agreements and ensure that their own administrative actions at a minimum “do no harm.” …On the practical side, the GOE is making progress through the gradual rolling out of its “good governance” trainings around the country…” (p. 55.) Excuse me, but is “good governance training” for brutish dictators the same as obedience training for vicious dogs?
… The donor community is torn between the competing objectives of engaging with and assisting Ethiopia as a high profile example of poverty and vulnerability to famine, and addressing the major challenges and constraints to democratic space, human rights abuses, and severe restrictions on civil society and constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of speech, association and access to information. The GOE does not make this any easier, waveringbetween seductive and sophisticated rhetoric on development and economic topics on the one hand, and political repression, state dominance over the economy, and outright downplaying of humanitarian emergencies on the other hand. Added to this double-edged sword is the GOE‟s extreme sensitivity to any direct or even implied criticism, and its willingness to actively punish the criticizer, including members of the international community… (p. 53.) Ah! Beware the seductive and sophisticated rhetoric of the silver- tongued devil with an angelic voice, as Shakespeare might have cautioned.
… In the absence of competitive elections and other democratic processes, governance that is responsive to the aspirations and needs of its citizens and the knowledge and perspectives of stakeholders provides an important alternative release mechanism for political frustrations that have no other constructive outlet… Ethiopia’s new five year GTP [Growth and Transformation Plan] contains explicit commitments and targets to improve governance. However, traditions, capacities and resources to conceptualize and implement bottom-up accountability are lacking in a country where good governance was not a high priority during the imperial and communist periods and is only becoming a priority but constrained within the ideology of Revolutionary Democracy… (p. 58.) After 21 years of Zenawi’s iron-fisted rule, still blaming H.I.M. Haile Selassie and the Derg for the withering of democracy in Ethiopia? Give me a break!
…Understanding that faith in the efficiency and impartiality of the justice system is a key factor in the risk calculations that govern investment decisions by the private sector, individuals and donors,… Another concern is that politically favored businesses or sectors are able to leapfrog over methodical and inclusive planning processes and legally required contracting procedures. Expectations are more modest here, recognizing that the system itself is thoroughly under the control of the ruling party. The Mission will develop programs that promote the rule of law for sustainable development practices… (p. 59.) Modest expectations for justice and democracy because the system itself is thoroughly under the control of the ruling party! Heard that!
… USAID/Ethiopia recognizes that there is no policy space to conduct programs focused on competitive elections. Instead, the Mission will focus primarily on tackling the deeper issues of governance by aligning its focus with the achievement of the OE’s GTP sustainable development goals and commitments to improve accountable governance and conflict reduction… (p. 61.) So reward dictatorship with more money, mo’ money and mo’ money?
…With the increasing ‘land giveaways’ to private, foreign agricultural investors, policy efforts will be undertaken… to support land use planning and natural resource management thatavoids displacement of existing communities and helps ensure balanced development… (p. 19.) Increasing ‘land giveaways’ to private, foreign agricultural investors! Heard that!
Back to 2004: The Good Old Days of Telling It Like It Is!
… Ethiopia does not stand at this precipice of food insecurity and instability alone. And, it did not get there by itself. Ethiopia, its neighbors and its development partners have collectively failed to break the downward spiral of hunger, poverty and recurring food crises, which is a critical first step in improving the health and economic conditions of present and future generations of Ethiopians…. [S]uccessfully addressing this challenge will require Ethiopian leadership, commitment and the will to change.Evidence on Ethiopia’s performance is compelling and clear. The country has performed badly over the years, even relative to most other African countries, and to East Africa specifically. Gross per capita incomes are a fifth of the African average, declining about 40% between 1990 and 2000 ($160–$100), relative to a smaller decline of 13% for sub Saharan Africa. The poor performance of the economy is not due to drought, but results from the weak economic policies of the country over a sustained period—characterized by low rates of investment in economic growth and agriculture by both government and the commercial private sector, low levels of capacity, and low rates of agricultural and nonagricultural growth. In turn poor economic performance has led to worsening social standards, and created an increasingly fragile state that lacks the resiliency to manage through shocks (environmental, economic, political) that induce crises… (p. 5.)
In May 2012, Rajiv Shah, the current USAID Administrator moderated the G8 Food Security Summit in Washington, D.C. In his ingratiating introductory remarks to Zenawi, (grandiosely stroking Zenawi’s ego) and using the usual “mystifying jargon” of the international aid industry, Shah inquired:
… So many people have associated a mental image of hunger with Ethiopia and at the same time because of actions in the public sector maintaining strong public investment in agriculture you were able to protect millions of Ethiopians during the recent drought from needing food aid and food assistance. Could you speak to, even as we are launching a new food alliance, to engage the private sector, could you speak to some of the comments you have shared with us privately how important it is we live to our commitments to invest in public investment, in public institutions?
Ethiopia has been the recipient of all kinds of aid from the U.S. over the decades. She has received “economic aid”, “development aid”, “military aid”, “technical aid”, “emergency aid”, “relief aid”, “humanitarian aid” and aid against AIDS. She has also received “BandAid” and “LiveAid” from others. Today, Ethiopians are afraid. They ask, “Is Ethiopia permanently trapped in “bondaid!?!” They pray for deliverance from the twin Lords of Tyranny and Poverty!
Postscript
In all of Africa, USAID arguably has the largest aid program in Ethiopia. There are some who are skeptical about USAID’s claims of program effectiveness in Ethiopia. One can fairly judge the efficacy of USAID programs and the credibility of its asserted achievements in Ethiopia when the facts and data are made available for critical analysis and evaluation by intra-institutional authorities and other concerned communities. Unfortunately, facts and data appear to be the Achilles Heel of USAID/Ethiopia. This issue was made clear to USAID mission director Staal in 2010 by the Regional Inspector of the U.S. State Department Office of the Inspector General in his “Audit of USAID/Ethiopia’s Agricultural Sector Productivity Activities (Audit Report No. 4-6663-10-003-P (March 30, 2010)”. In that Report, the regional inspector informed Staal:
…The audit found the program is contributing to the achievement of market-led economic growth and the improved resilience of farmers, pastoralists, and other beneficiaries in Ethiopia. However, it is not possible to determine the extent of that contribution because of weaknesses in the mission’s performance management and reporting system. Specifically, while the mission used performance indicators and targets to track progress in several areas…, the results reported for the majority of those indicators were not comparable with the targets. Moreover, the audit was unable to determine whether the results reported in USAID/Ethiopia’s Performance Plan and Report were valid because mission staff could neither explain how the results were derived nor provide support for those reported results. In fact,when the audit team attempted to validate the reported results, it was unable to do so at either the mission or its implementing partners (pages 6-12)…
While some may rely on intuitive analysis and inferences from anecdotes to draw conclusions about USAID/Ethiopia, I much prefer evidence-based policy analysis. Hopefully, that body of evidence will be made readily available not only to dispel doubts, discredit rumors and enlighten critics of USAID/Ethiopia, but most importantly, to enhance and reinforce “the growing emphasis within USAID on transparency, accountability, and results.”
Amharic translations of recent commentaries by the author may be found at:
Ethiopia’s khat-addicted dictator Meles Zenawi has been diagnosed with blood cancer and is receiving treatment at a Belgium hospital, according to Ethiopian Review Intelligence Unit sources. Berhane Gebrekiristos and Teodros Adhanom, both close confidants of Meles Zenawi and senior members of the ruling party Woyanne, are currently functioning as acting prime-ministers.
ESAT has reported that Meles Zenawi’s appearance in the parliament has been pushed by one week, adding credibility to the report about the dictator’s declining health.
When Meles appeared at the G-20 meeting in Mexico last month he looked terribly sick and seemed to have lost a lot of weight.
Ethiopian culture and music icon Mahamoud Ahmed and another Ethiopian music legend Tsehaye Yohannes were among some of the many artistes who participated in the Ethiopian Sports Federation North America’s (ESFNA) Ethiopian Day program Friday night in Dallas. The video below shows Mahamoud Ahmed playing “Ethiopia Hagerachin” (Ethiopia our country) to the mostly young crowd.
Ethiopia, Ato Meles and his health. By Yilma Bekele
Ato Meles Zenawi, Chairman of Tigrai People Liberation Front (TPLF) and Prime Minster of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is not in good health. I became aware of that fact after watching the video of a news clip made during his meeting with the President of China at the G8 meeting in Mexico. The last time we saw Ato Meles was during President Obama’s food conference and he was in perfect health. In fact he looked jovial with a new haircut and was dressed in his customary five to ten thousand dollars Italian or English suit. That was until Ato Abebe Gelaw of Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) gave him the scare of his life and he was forced to flee the continent. Things have not been the same ever since.
When he surfaced in Mexico it was obvious he had some medical issues in the interim period. His expensive clothes did not fit him right, his face was ashen and hollow and it was clear he has lost plenty of weight. I was forced to conclude we got a problem. Normally the fate of one individual should not be such a source of drama or wild speculations. But Ato Meles is not just another Ethiopian. He is the Country, Nation and people all rolled in one. The state of his health and well-being is not just idle speculation. His friends, Party or those close to him are not forthcoming with the cause of his illness. We are left to speculate, guess or are being forced to search for a fortuneteller and reduced to read the remains of his coffee cup or consult a palm reader.
We do that because whatever happens to him affects all of us in one-way or another. In the Western countries the health of the leader is an official record. If the leader dies or is incapacitated there are rules and systems set in place to assure smooth transition. Most African countries including ours lack that. In our case there has not been a natural and predictable manner of passing the mantle of leadership. In fact the last four instances have been a source of agony for the unfortunate leader in power and our poor Nation. That is why Ato Meles’s health is an issue we should all fret and worry about. We definitely do not want a surprise.
I am sure his family is worried. His friends are concerned. His Party is alarmed. The Ethiopian people are watching this drama with keen interest. No one wishes him ill but I doubt any body in Ethiopia is praying for his recovery either. It is fair to say the whole Nation is trying to figure out what his untimely demise will bring to our poor old country. What ever ails him is not a simple disease. That is why he is being cared for in Europe with top-notch specialists in an expensive private hospital. No amount of money will be spared to keep the green reaper at arms length.
Sooner or later we all die. We just do all we can to make it later than sooner. Our state of health and longevity is affected by all kinds of factors including a few we have no control on. Genetics, style of life and pure luck plays a big role. We try to eat right, exercise and avoid stress to increase our odds of a long happy life. There are a few things we know about the ‘Leaders’ life style to be able to make an educated guess on what is ailing him.
We know that he smokes, that is cigarettes. We are told that he enjoys chewing Kat with his buddies. His politburo friends are known to enjoy expensive liquor thus we can safely assume that he probably joins them in this past time. All three habits are considered forms of substance abuse and have ramifications on vital organs such as lung, heart and liver. It is fair to say that the last few years, palace living has resulted in weight gain resulting in added girth.
Most leaders keep a busy schedule and have no time for exercise. We know that Ato Meles is studying for his PhD in addition to his duties as the Prime Minster and that leaves him with no time for the gym. We have heard antidotes about his tennis matches but judging from the way he came down the airplane steps during his trip to Philadelphia to one of his meetings one can tell he is not in good shape. He was laboring to walk down while his agile wife descended swiftly even in her high heels.
There is no proof that Ato Meles is suffering from a terminal illness. On the other hand there is no information to say that he just caught the common cold either. As I said due to the nature of the totalitarian system that values secrecy we are left to speculate. We worry and stress because history teaches us that the demise of a dictator, which Ato Meles is, brings all sorts of unforeseen complications on the Nation they leave behind.
Whether they commit suicide like Hitler, are hanged like Mussolini, die in their sleep like Stalin, face a firing squad like Ceausescu and wife, hunted down, sodomized, pistol whipped and shot like Gadaffi or face the International court of justice like Charles Taylor dictators all leave a trail of destruction behind them. That is why Ato Meles’s illness becomes our concern and worry. We think about it to try to figure out how to avoid chaos due to a power vacuum.
This sort of power vacuum attracts all kinds of good and bad characters that would want to capitalize on the empty space created and might be tempted to fill it with something other than people’s power. We do not want that. So what are the forces arrayed to replace the one man, one party rule currently dis-functioning in the land of the Abeshas?
The TPLF party is the premier center of power. Ato Meles and his associates control the Military, security service, the mass media and the economy. What is there left is a good and valid question. Technically Ato Meles is the de-facto head of all these powerful organizations. He is a hand on manager. The different entities are foreign to each other but all report to him. That is how one-man dictatorship works. Some countries like China practice group dictatorship. The Central committee of the ruling Communist Party functions as a group. While others like North Korea or Ethiopia rely on the benevolence of a single individual. The question arise is the TPLF Party capable of functioning as a single entity without the head? Or would the different departments that were designed to look at each other with suspicion coalesce to form a united front? It is highly doubtful.
There are various centers of power within the organization. Queen Azeb the wife is in charge of the economic section. Due to her high visibility and negative press any one group is willing to sacrifice her to save their skin. The internal security is a force to recon with. Would the Generals trust this hi tech mercenaries is a question to consider. The original TPLF functionaries like Sebhat or Abbay are rendered toothless but still operate behind the scene. Why any self respecting Woyane will ally with these old fashioned kitchen conspirators is something to think about. The new upstarts like Tewodros Adhanom or launderer Gebre Kristos have their feet on both camps always ready to abandon ship if the situation heats up. No one trusts the duo. The likes of Seyoum will not come back for all the tea in China.
The military is the most logical center of power that is capable of using force to usurp power. In the current situation of Ethiopia that scenario is a little complicated. Due to the nature of the use of ethnic affiliation used by Ato Meles the military is not a cohesive force. All the top leaders and commanders are from one ethnic group while the rank and file is a reflection of the country. It is fair to say both OLF and G7 are present and functioning creating further uncertainty. Uncertainty is not good for conspiracy. The role played by the top Generals in the economy has isolated them from the average solder. Is it a professional army or peasants in uniform is a valid question. Does one fight to attain power or save his investment creates split personality.
I don’t mean to forget those organized as EPRDF. There are plenty but the Amhara and Oromo stand out at least on paper as the most likely group that will refuse to die quietly. Their puppet leaders are faced with a real dilemma. Divorced from their people they have no base to appeal to. Rendered powerless by design they have no army or security to fall back on. The TPLF mafia that is running them now does not harbor any respect towards their outfit or intends to include them in the deliberations. They are left between a rock and a hard place. For all practical purposes it is easier to ignore and discard them.
Where does the opposition fit in this picture is a good question. The major opposition, the nightmare of the ruling group is of course Ginbot7. G7 is the enemy they know is around but are unable to touch and feel. It is the cause of their blind fury. I will take their word for it G7 is everywhere. Of course G7 could be the figment of their imagination, the result of their paranoia then again why would they allocate so much resource to hunt down a ghost? In my humble opinion G7 is EPRP and Kinijit on testosterone! We all know what those two groups are capable of.
There is also the on and off legal opposition. That is a tricky animal to deal with. At the moment Andenet is the only one with any amount of dignity and respect. The Ledetus and the Chammisos are rendered useless and will most probably hide out the chaotic period and pray for dear life since all opposition groups will be hunting them down for the stray dogs they have become. That leaves us with the Beyenes the Meraras and the Hailus, the darlings of the civilized West. Those are the people our benefactors will try to parade out and use. They will become pictures of civil society. Believe me they will play their choreographed part to the hilt. They cooperated and served Ato Meles, no reason to think they will be allergic to the West for a promise of visibility and fist full of dollars.
The West led by the US is the wild card in this scenario. They very much like stability and the status quo under their guidance. Their interest at the moment is having a strong foothold in the Horn of Africa to prepare for the coming war for resources. Governments like the TPLF mafia are their preferred arrangement. A weak and divided country is their choice. I do not think they go out of their way to create those conditions but on the other hand they do not discourage such reality. Our neighborhood is a fertile ground for contention by the big powers. Except for Kenya and Tanzania we are surrounded by weak, divided and civil war prone countries that exist from day to day with no guarantee of tomorrow. The US, the Europeans or the Chinese are not about to discover their moral compass and save us from our selves. Expecting them to do so is the height of foolishness or a result of extreme poverty of self-esteem.
As I write this Ato Meles is in Europe being healed and the factions he left behind are shell shocked and in a daze. A few will have some reliable information but the vast majority will be operating in the dark trying to figure out this brand new reality in the midst of dis information, mis information and foggy information. Plenty will be sending their family to far away places and moving vast amount of money out of the country. Some will lock their doors and hunker down until the storm settles while a few will search for new alignments and future partners. The kilils will take the opportunity to assert their newfound power and create further complications to the beleaguered party. It is possible organized criminal elements will take advantage of the uncertainty and intensify such activities as bank robbery and hijackings. The Amharic saying ‘ye wedke zaf mesar yebezabetal.’ Is being played live in our country. It is highly possible the different factions will begin to duke it out prematurely. It is conceivable they will end up doing the dirty part of the job for the rest of us. As I see it not matter what this down ward spiral will continue for the forcible future.
UPDATE (6 July 2012, 04:00 PM EST): Today was promoted to be the biggest day in the week-long AESAONE festival in Washington DC that is funded by the beggar Woyanne junta in Ethiopia. As the video below shows, the very few people who went to the 45,000-seat RFK Stadium, were hiding themselves in shame as they made their entry. Out of the 300,000 Ethiopians who reside in the Washington DC area, less than 500 showed up.
… more video and updates later
UPDATE (5 July 2012, 01:34 PM EST): Patriotic Ethiopians in the Washington DC area are organizing another big demonstration against the Al Amoudi Woyanne festival at the RFK Stadium Friday starting at 3 PM. The purpose of the demonstration is simple: To derail the festival that is being funded by money stolen from the people of Ethiopia.
* * *
UPDATE (4 July 2012, 06:45 PM EST): As expected, no more than 100 Ethiopians showed up at the Al Amoudi festival on Wednesday in the RFK Stadium that has 45,000 seats. Desperate for attendees, the organizers were handing out free and discounted tickets to Americans in DC to watch famous American rappers. Some of the rappers did not even show up after finding out who is behind the concert. On Friday, they have a concert by several Ethiopian musicians who are flown from Addis Ababa for the occasion. Patriotic Ethiopians in the Washington DC area are mobilizing to confront them outside the RFK Stadium. The protest start at 3 PM. Be there and give voice to the voiceless Ethiopians back home.
* * *
Al Amoudi and his thugs will face another disaster today when no body shows up to participate in their Woyanne festival in Washington DC’s RFK Stadium. They spent close to a million dollars to pay well-known American rappers to sing this evening (July 4). We have received information that some of the rappers, such as T.I. canceled their appearance after learning that the money they are being paid was stolen from the people of Ethiopia. Among the Ethiopian singers, Kuri was fired by her Ethiopian employers after they found out that she is planning to sing for Woyanne… stay tuned for more update
It is done! A war I started a week ago has been complete and I am now standing on top of a smoldering ash that is AESA One. I warned all promoters and DJs who took blood money, who chose their wallets instead of their conscience, to walk away and to part ways with AESA One. They chose greed and wonton lust of dem genzeb, for that they are forever branded as the bandas of the highest order. They made their temporary loot but they will never be the same—they have been transformed overnight as a pariah and a virus to avoid. This is what happens when you spit on Ethiopia, when people choose greed over the people, they will forever be left alone while they do Eskista in the 8th circle of hell.
But “Wedi” Meles—I refuse to call him by his last name—does not believe in Ethiopianism mish. He believes in tribal superiority, he is the next incarnation of Hitler and Woyane is next iteration of the Nazi party. What he and his TPLF goons are intent on accomplishing is a Tigray “homeland” and raising Tigray above all tribes—they are in essence trying to create a Tigray super race. Now you understand that Meles is out to accomplish the African version of Aryans. Now you understand why the bullshit yellow star on our flag is the next of kin of the Nazi swastika.
But Meles and Al Amoudi saw in ESFNA a clear and present danger to their continued existence. While some used ESFNA to reconnect to friends and estranged family members, the political opposition saw in ESFNA a platform to unite and come together under the umbrella of ANDINET. Meles recognized that ESFNA was becoming a powerful political weapon for those who chose to organize once a year. Clearly ESFNA is apolitical, but that did not prevent intelligent Ethiopians from traveling to ESFNA events to connect with likeminded Ethiopians. Thus ESFNA became a convention for soccer lovers and revolutionaries alike. ESFNA became Adwa, for those that chose to be enlightened; ESFNA became our version of Tahrir Square.
[CLICK PIC TO WATCH “YE DEM GENZEB MEN GEZA]
My reference to Hancock’s book above is not merely academic. I have been following reports on the
Ethiopia’s khat-addicted dictator Meles Zenawi has been diagnosed with blood cancer and is receiving treatment at a Belgium hospital, according to Ethiopian Review Intelligence Unit sources. Berhane Gebrekiristos and Teodros Adhanom, both close confidants of Meles Zenawi and senior members of the ruling party Woyanne, are currently functioning as acting prime-ministers.