Debretsion, Fetlework and the new 4 executive members of TPLF including the decline of the Director General of National (i.e., Ethiopia) Intellegence Security Service (NISS) – Getachew Assefa

On Wednesday, the TPLF Central Committee voted to elect new chairpersons and new members to the four vacant seats of the 9-seats Executive Committee.

Debretsion Gebremichael (PhD), 58(?), joined TPLF’s armed struggle in 1978, quitting his studies at Addis Ababa University. He resumed education in 1991, immediately after toppling the Derg regime.

He graduated B.Sc. and MSc in Electrical Engineering from Addis Ababa University and M.A. in Public Policy and Management from the University of London.

Debretsion Gebremichael obtained his PhD in 2011, from Capella University, with dissertation on the link between information technology and poverty alleviation in remote parts of Ethiopia.

Debretsion Gebremichael was appointed Minister of the newly established Ministry of Information Communication Technology Development in 2010. The Ministry was an agency until then, with Debretsion Gebremichael as its Director General.

Debretsion Gebremichael joined the Executive Committee in 2010 and became Dep Chairman immediately after Meles Zenawi’s passing in 2012.

He has become the fourth chairperson in TPLF history today receiving 36 of the 39 votes cast.

Photo – Debretsion Gebremichael, Fetlework Gebregziabher, Asmelash Woldeselassie, Kerya Ibrahim, Getachew Reda and Abraham Tekeste (left-to-right, clockwise)

Fetlework Gebregziabher, nom de gurre “monjorino”, 56, joined TPLF armed struggle in 1979.

Fetlework graduated in MSc in from the London School of Economics in early 2000s, securing the scholarship opportunity on her own. Her decision to go to London, against the objection of the party leadership, caused problems on her employment when she returned.

Fetelwork served as Director General of the federal Finance Intelligence Center until 2015. She was elected to the Central Committee of TPLF in 2006 and to the Executive Committee in 2015.

Fetlework was appointed as head of Public Relation of the TPLF Secretariat from 2015-2016 and Urban sector head of the EPRDF Secretariat from 2016-2017.

Fetlework was elected today as the first woman deputy Chairperson in 42 years of the organization’s history.

Additional note from Girma Kassa’s facebook on ፈትለወርቅ ገብረእግዚብሄር(መንጆሪኖ) : የስብሃት ነጋ የታላቅ ወንድም ልጅ ፈትለወርቅ ገብረእግዚብሄር(መንጆሪኖ) ምክትል ሊቀመነበር ሆናለች። ማንጀሪኒ የአባይ ጸሃዬ ሚስት የነበረች ሲሆን ልጅም ወልዳለታለች። ያ ማለት አሁንም አባይ ጸሃዬና ስብሀት ነጋ ህወሃትን የሚያሽከረክሩ ሆነው ይቀጥላሉ ማለት ነው።

Asmelash Woldeselassie, Abraham Tekeste, Getachew Reda and Kerya Ibrahim were elected today as members of the TPLF executive committee.

Asmelash Woldeselassie is a veteran of the armed struggle and Government Chip Whip in the House of Peoples Representatives since 2015. Asmelash studied his first and second degrees in law and is a PhD candidate currently.

Abraham Tekeste (PhD) is the minister of the Finance and Economic Cooperation (MoFEC) since 2016. He was State Minister at the National Planning Commission from 2015-16 and State Minister of MoFEC from 2010-2015. He obtained PhD in Economics from a university in Switzerland.

Getachew Reda, 43, a graduate of the law schools of Addis Ababa University and the University of Alabama, is the Director General of Legal Research Institute since 2016. He served as head of the federal Government Communication Affairs Office, with the rank of minister, and assistant of the Prime Minister since 2013.

Kerya Ibrahim was head of Urban Sector at the TPLF Secretariat. She served in Women Affairs Bureaus of Mekelle city and of Tigray region. Her election to the Executive Committee came as a surprise.

Abraham Tekeste, Getachew Reda and Kerya Ibrahim didn’t take part in the TPLF armed struggle. Tedros Adhanom used to be the only person without armed struggle background to have joined the TPLF executive committee. His seat was vacated last May as he left to lead the World Health Organization (WHO).

The rest of the Executive Committee members are Getachew Assefa, Director General of National Intellegence Security Service (NISS), Alem Gebrewahd, head of TPLF Secretariat, and Adisalem Balema, vice President of Tigray region.

Update:

Getachew Assefa declined nomination for the chairperson position, despite strong support from the Central Committee.

The Central Committee voted on the gimgema results of others members of the Central Committee since the weekend. Berhane Kidanemariam (aka Maret) was suspended from the Central Committee. Two other members were given reprimand.

Several members of the Central Committee escaped suspension because the two-third vote requirement for the measure was not met.

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• By ELIAS MESERET, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Thousands of Ethiopians have been attracted to Saudi Arabia by the job opportunities

Ethiopia says more than 1,300 citizens have been expelled from Saudi Arabia in “recent days” after a warning for undocumented migrants to voluntarily leave the Gulf nation expired.

The foreign ministry’s statement late Tuesday came after Saudi officials began a crackdown against undocumented migrants, including tens of thousands of Ethiopians.

“The government is working with Saudi Arabia to safely return our citizens home,” the ministry’s director general of diaspora affairs, Demeke Atinafu, told the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate.

Ethiopian officials have said more than 70,000 people have returned home since Saudi Arabia in March ordered all undocumented migrants to leave. The order was later extended until June but the majority of migrants remained. Those who don’t leave face forced deportation and a range of fines.

More than 400,000 Ethiopian migrants are estimated to live in Saudi Arabia, most working as domestic workers and farm workers.

Most Ethiopian migrant workers enter Saudi Arabia illegally through neighboring Yemen and send home money which, in many cases, is the only means for relatives to get by. Human Rights Watch has estimated that Ethiopian migrants globally sent home more than $4 billion in 2015.

“In many other countries, these Ethiopians could claim asylum and potentially be entitled to international protection,” the rights group said of the migrants in Saudi Arabia. “The problem is, Saudi has no refugee law and no asylum system.”

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Escalating rhetoric will not help resolve differences over the Renaissance Dam, writes Doaa El-Bey

Al-Ahram Weekly

​“If water is a matter of life and death for both Egypt and Ethiopia there is ample motivation for them to agree to resolve their differences over the Renaissance Dam in a way that benefits both,” said a diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity.

Former assistant to the foreign minister Mohamed Hegazi agrees.

“Yes, the dam is an important development project for Ethiopia, and the Nile is a lifeline for Egypt. The only wise course is to continue talking until a position is agreed that safeguards both countries’ interests,” he told Al-Ahram Weekly.

Recent weeks have seen an escalation in rhetoric from both sides, a phenomenon unlikely to help resolve the ongoing differences between Cairo and Addis Ababa over the Grand Renaissance Dam which is being built on the Blue Nile. Yet when the situation is calm, says Rakha Hassan, a former assistant to Egypt’s foreign minister, Ethiopia has shown time and again that it has scant respect for previous agreements.

“Egypt does not oppose building the dam,” insists Hassan. “It has helped Sudan build dams in the past. But international border agreements guarantee water rights among states.”

Earlier this week Ethiopia’s Water, Irrigation and Electricity Minister Sileshi Bekele made clear construction work on the dam would continue despite Egypt’s concerns over the impact on the volume of water flowing north. The dam is already 63 per cent complete.

“We need to view the dam as an opportunity that will benefit all three countries — Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt,” said Bekele. “We have undertaken all necessary studies on our side and they show the dam will have no significant impact on downstream countries.”

Bekele’s statements were made two days after Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Meles Alem said the dam was crucial to Ethiopia’s development. For a country that has suffered so many droughts in the past the dam is a “matter of life or death”.

His remarks echoed President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi’s insistence — during a televised speech delivered at the World Youth Forum in Sharm El-Sheikh earlier this month — that maintaining the flow of the Nile is “a matter of life or death” for Egypt. Al-Sisi repeated the same message a week later while inaugurating a major fish farm project in Kafr Al-Sheikh saying “no one can tamper with Egypt’s share of water… water is a matter of life or death.”

During his visit to Egypt’s Parliament on Monday, Ethiopia’s ambassador to Cairo Taye Atske-Selassie Amde met with members of the African Affairs Committee and discussed the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which he said would not harm Egypt’s interests, among other issues of mutual concern.

In a press statement Amde announced that the Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn will visit Cairo in mid-December, during which he will deliver a speech to Egypt’s Parliament. Amde also expressed his country’s keenness to continue negotiations with Egypt and Sudan, which have stalled due to differences over how the dam will affect Egypt’s share of Nile water as specified in a 1959 treaty.

In a related development, Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour accused Cairo of objecting to the dam because it will prevent Egypt from using Sudan’s own share of Nile water as agreed in the 1959 water treaty.

“It’s high time Egypt pays what it owes and for Sudan to receive its full share,” said the minister.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri described his Sudanese counterpart’s comments as misleading. Sudan’s capacity to use its own water share has long been inadequate, he explained, with the result that part of the surplus flows on into Egypt.

Shoukri questioned the timing of the latest round of hostile statements which were made following the failure of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to agree on the preliminary technical report submitted by the French consultants contracted to assess the likely impacts of the dam.

Egypt stated early in November that tripartite technical negotiations between Cairo, Khartoum and Addis Ababa had failed after the 17th round of talks concluded in Cairo without agreement.

Cairo has repeatedly expressed its concerns the dam will cut the supply of Nile water reaching Egypt.

Despite claiming to have conducted all necessary studies on the dam Ethiopia has refused to hand these over to the French consultants assessing the dam’s impact, says Hassan. The only plausible reason for the refusal, he says, is that the studies show the dam will restrict the flow of water to downstream countries and thus undermine the water quotas agreed in the two international agreements fixing Nile water shares signed in 1929 and 1959.

The 1929 agreement, signed by Egypt and the UK on behalf of Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania, allows Cairo to veto any project built upstream on the Nile. The 1959 agreement set Egypt’s Nile water quota at 55.5 billion cubic metres and Sudan’s at 18.5 billion cubic metres.

To move beyond the current impasse Hassan says political pressure will have to be applied. He also recommends Egypt act now to head off any future water crisis by exploring alternative sources such as desalination of sea water and instigating more efficient irrigation methods.

Hegazi believes there is still a possibility that progress will be made by pursuing diplomatic efforts and other high-level contacts though he concedes “a third-party role is probably required to ease the deadlock.”

The $4 billion Renaissance Dam is being constructed on the Blue Nile close to Ethiopia’s border with Sudan. It is expected to generate up to 6,000 megawatts of electricity and create a reservoir of 74 billion cubic metres of water.

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan signed a Declaration of Principles over the dam in March 2015 which states the dam should not harm the interests of downstream states.

The three countries also signed the Khartoum Agreement in December 2015 which stipulates work on filling the reservoir can only begin after technical and impact studies are complete. Yet despite the absence of the required studies Ethiopia is expected to begin filling the reservoir and partially operating the dam by the middle of next year.

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November 24, 2017

The following is a response to an article written by Ato Berhane Kahsay that appeared on Tigrai online on November 21,2017 entitled “Woyane Tigrai: 60,000 reasons for an immediate and Comprehensive overhaul”

Ato Berhane says that “TPLF has finally come to its senses” and by  stating his view  this way, admits what we already know i.e., that TPLF is not only senseless but this state of mind drives its opportunistic and parochial politics and policy. Ato Berhane’s suggestion for the TPLF to “upgrade” itself does not make sense because , ever since the TPLF came to power, its party’s ideological and political line has been that Ethiopia’s            “primary problem/contradiction is the nationality question” and the way forward is through “revolutionary democracy”. TPLF’s 26 year party line and practice is coming apart at its seams and spectacularly floundering . What is there to “upgrade” about this failure?! Ato Berhane says the party has become “purposeless” and by TPLF’s own admission “rotten to the core and corrupt”. TPLF is on its death bed, or to use Ato Berhane’s words “fighting for its survival at this juncture”.                The time for TPLF to reckon with its ideological and political bankruptcy is

here. The Ethiopian people demand that the TPLF dictatorship end and the country move forward to a new democratic beginning.

It is not only TPLF’s “poor performance in relation to governance or the economic development” that contributed to its present day predicament as Ato Berhane claims; the fundamental problem is the absence of democracy and the TPLF never governed democratically. The TPLF has been an exclusive, narrow-minded, tribal, dictatorial organization and today, in Ato Berhane words “bogged down by infighting”. Today’s hallmark of TPLF governance is the absolute denial of rights and the continued terrorization of the people by its military and security forces.

Ato Berhane seems to miss Meles when he says “since his(Meles’) demise, the EPRDF has never been the same for lack of a strong and charismatic supremo capable of unifying and leading the various members of the front”. If that is Ato Berhane’s way of admitting that the remaining top senior TPLF cadres are a collection of bankrupt morons devoid of any leadership qualities, then he is only accepting what has been known among Ethiopians for awhile. I would like to paraphrase what one respected Ethiopian observer and historian assessing EPRDF’s governance said after Meles’ passing. He said Meles died without leaving the ‘password’ for TPLF/EPRDF leaders implying the party’s governance has     been in disarray ever since . I say Meles’ bankrupt ideological and political line has failed and its negative impact on the nation’s polity is coming into fruition as demonstrated by the continued and escalating crisis in Ethiopia. The EPRDF state continues to be at war with the Ethiopian people.

Ato Berhane writes that TPLF senior cadres (some who have been members of the party since the early ‘70s) compromised their “political line” and must be replaced by young “Turks and the intelligentsia”. The reality is the “political convictions” to use Ato Berhane’s words of the Tigrean youth or “young Turks” is not fundamentally different from the convictions of the old TPLF leaders. The young Tigrean “Turks” have developed a sense of entitlement, and are also adept at deception , thievery and corruption. The “Turks” have  absorbed all the decadence that came with their new class status. The corrupt old TPLF cadres definitely influence these “Turks” and this has created new opportunists skillful at disseminating TPLF’s tribal propaganda. None of them have shown interest in

joining the Arena party nor have they shown any solidarity supporting the democratic demands of the rebelling youth in Ethiopia.

Ato Berhane seems upset that ANDM and OPDO have now “a strong say within the EPRDF” and “steer the organization in the direction of their choices” . Ato Berhane should know that this is a sign of power struggle , but he seems ill at ease that these parties are not jumping to TPLF’s dictates as they usually do; it is too bad Ato Berhane doesn’t recognize ANDM’s or OPDO’s decision making as a healthy development.  Furthermore,  Ato Berhane doesn’t seem to appreciate also that  OPDO showed better leadership than TPLF on the 2017 Irreecha celebration in Bishouftu and other regions, ensuring that these events took place peacefully. Recently OPDO also took the initiative and led members from a diverse sector of the Oromo community to Bahr Dar in a celebration of togetherness with the Amhara bretheren. I believe this kind of act is what enhances understanding among ethnic/nationality groups. The TPLF followed this OPDO act , but a sizable military presence and show boating of TPLF cadres in the audience was less convincing and certainly uneventful compared to the oratorical unity and oneness speech of Ato Lemma Megersa during the OPDO and ANDM meeting in Bahr Dar.

Ato Berhane says “EPRDF owes its existence to the thousands of valiant Tigreans who perished during the 17 years long armed struggle..”       Ato Berhane should ease off with this stultifying narrow minded propaganda. Ato Berhane must know the 17 years fratricidal wars killed over hundreds of thousands people of all nationalities in Ethiopia (i.e. Eritreans, Tigres, Amharas, Oromos, Guraghes, Somali, etc.). It is puzzling as to why their sacrifice is less and that his heart bleeds only for the loss of lives of the Tigrean tegadaley.

Ato Berhane echoes TPLF’s propaganda by stating “Recent turbulences in Oromia and Amhara regions, is led by chauvinists and narrow nationalists”. The “turbulences” he calls are spontaneous mass uprisings of Oromos and Amharas and strikingly, these uprisings had no leaders. What Ato Berhane claims is not factual because the Amhara rebellion was instigated by TPLF’s land grab of Welkait Tsegede that angered the people and the Oromo youth rebellion was instigated by their opposition to TPLF’s master plan for expanding Addis Abeba. The Oromo and Amhara expressed solidarity when the Amhara movement first demanded TPLF stop the blood letting of Oromos followed by the Oromo movement demanding the blood letting of Amharas to stop. Has Ato Berhane

forgotten the horror of the TPLF bullets raining on the 2016 peaceful Irreecha celebrating  crowd and the melee that killed an estimated 58 to a few hundred people? The world got a glimpse of TPLF’s horror unleashed that day.         TPLF has continued its murderous policy on these movements through its security apparatus.

The people demand the freeing of political prisoners and the chant “down down Woyane” is heard across the country. This was not chauvinist or narrow nationalist issues as Ato Berhane claims. It is a spreading national democratic movement. TPLF/EPRDF lacks not only “competence” that needs upgrading as Ato Berhane asserts but it is time for new democratic leadership. TPLF/EPRDF’s continued violence on the people of Ethiopia to remain in power to use Ato Berhane’s words, is “plunging (the country) into an intractable civil war”.

By:Tentag Tegley Email:Tentagtegley@gmail.com

The post A response to an article written by Ato Berhane Kahsay that appeared on Tigrai online (Tentag Tegley) appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News|Breaking News: Your right to know!.

(0TPLF leaders are planning to transfer EFFORT to their individual ownership in the name of make it IPO, document reveals. Remember they claim EFFORT was established by money they got from Western donors due to the 1980s drought and meant to rehabilitate war affected people of Tigray. In reality most of the seed money was acquired from the banks they robbed on their way to power. Then they drove out competitive businesses and enabled EFFORT to monopolize the market.

Today it is the largest cooperation with over 60 companies under it. Since maintaining such a large company in the name of one ethnic group has become indefensible, they are now planning to ‘privatize’  it as IPO.  The attached files are survey’s they had commissioned towards this end.

Why privatize it?  Because they now realize they are likely to loose political power and the new power holders whoever they might be will be tempted to nationalize the EFFORT conglomerate. So privatizing it before hand is a preemptive measure. They assume no new regime will be brave enough to nationalize private company. Note that although privatized the company will continue to fulfill its founding objective…allow Tigrean elites dominate the economy. They new ‘private’ owners will be party leaders, relatives and loyalists who will own it on behalf of the oligarchy.

That is what they are planning. But although established in the name of people of Tigray EFFORT grew by explaining the national economy hence it belongs to the whole of the country. Hence it must be nationalized and then privatized with proceeds going to the whole country through the national treasury.

*** By Jawar Mohammed 

1) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vUEIg40G2pQSaWBnCECVtm5Y8qsBxy4q/view?usp=sharing

2) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IdijodtWZuIc_eaYYpHKdGCsZ-NlWvQf/view?usp=sharing 

3) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qc77kXqW-UAtylDPQeF9YtvLogQq2nZj/view?usp=sharing

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Justice in Italy Kidane Alemayehu SBS Amharic

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Birhanemeskel Abebe Segni

By Birhanemeskel Abebe Segni

It is rare to see political parties commit suicide. The TPLF just did that. The regimes that came before the TPLF died trying to save themselves. The Derg Regime declared mixed economic policy on the verge of its collapse. The Regime of Emperor Haile Selassie established new cabinet to deal with the grievances of the people. Both failed to implement their initiatives or their measures were too little too late and couldn’t prevent their ultimate collapse.

The TPLF is not even trying. The abysmal and disastrous failure of the TPLF to come up with no new policy, transformative idea or even a new face at the helm of its leadership positions to meet the challenges of a country at crossroad after three months of marathon meeting proved that the TPLF is the 1960s organization with no vision and purpose to exist in 21st century Ethiopia. In fact, the TPLF before this meeting was way better than the TPLF that come out after this disastrous meeting mortally wounded.

The only purpose the TPLF served in this meeting is unifying all the political forces in Ethiopia against itself. By this meeting, the TPLF ended any glimpse of hope and expectation that one may have that the TPLF might be part of the solution to the problem it created over the last 26 years. It proved that TPLF has no vision and mission that serves the national interests of the Ethiopian people except its failing attempt to hold onto political power through repression, violence and divide and rule.

By this meeting, the TPLF proved that it has no respect for the Ethiopian people. All the people it nominated and appointed to its leadership positions are the same people who created the mess and the disastrous policies and structural problems the Ethiopian people are fighting to change.  It is also important to mention the elevation of Mr. Getachew Reda, the man who called the Oromo people devils and vowed to turn the relationship between the Oromo and Amhara people into that of hay and fire. It is highly irresponsible for the TPLF to elect this man to the Executive Committee of the TPLF. It shows the disrespect TPLF has for the Amhara and Oromo people.

Right now the political spaces in Ethiopia are dominated by three political forces. The TPLF by failing to heed to any of the three groups unified each and every one of them against itself.   The first and the most important political actor and political force that presently occupied the top tier of the political movement in Ethiopia are the Ethiopian people.  The Ethiopian people, led by the Oromo Protests, are mobilized to restore back political power into the hands of the Ethiopian people from groups like TPLF and individual dictatorship based politics of the 20th century. The Ethiopian people want to own and lead their country by exercising full and unhindered political power by eliminating group and individual dictatorship.

The end goal and objectives of the current political movement of the Ethiopian people are to establish the government of the people by the people from the people under the rule of law where justice, equality, and fairness are the rule, not the exception. The TPLF is the primary enemy of this agenda of the Ethiopian people to restore political power back into the hands of the Ethiopian people. TPLF is struggling to continue its agenda of a group and individual dictatorship to control the Ethiopian political, economic and security space by its members and few strong personality against the will of the Ethiopian people.

The outcome of the TPLF meeting will put the TPLF in a direct collision course with the Ethiopian people’s agenda and unify all the Ethiopian people against the TPLF. There is no ifs and buts here. TPLF is the obvious loser of this political war between the TPLF and the Ethiopian people. The recent meeting of the TPLF and its decision to keep the status quo simply delimits the political battle lines between the TPLF and the Ethiopian as black and white with no ambiguity.

The second political forces that presently occupied the Ethiopian political space is the political struggle by member parties of the EPRDF to liberate themselves from the TPLF dictatorship. All member parties of the EPRDF are struggling to liberate themselves from the slave and master like relationship between the TPLF and the other three groups: namely the OPDO, the ANDM and the SEPDM. TPLF has no friends here except opportunists. All three of these parties want some form of liberation from the TPLF repressive, violent and divide and rule policies. All these parties want the EPRDF either to be democratized where TPLF will become the junior partner of all the three but the EPRDF survives. Absent this change, it is very likely that the OPDO, the ANDM, and the SEPDM will form a unified front and vote the TPLF out of office or end up dismantling the EPRDF where each group will go its own way for self-preservation. None of the options will keep the TPLF in dominant positions.

In the last 26 years, with less than 6% population base, the TPLF controlled full political, economic and security power with undisputed and uncontested veto power on everything and anything over these satellite parties, who don’t want to remain satellites anymore, who theoretically represents the rest of the Ethiopian people.  None of the EPRDF members want that status quo to continue. The OPDO and the ANDM are already at the forefront of this power struggle, with the SEPDM not that far behind. With the fierce and popular wave of resistance behind them, it is more than likely that the three members of the EPRDF will liberate themselves and their members from TPLF medieval and most brute rule or end up dismantling the EPRDF.

All the TPLF is left to do is to try to buy some members of these political parties with money and false political positions, a method the TPLF used well in the past but now completely unthinkable in the face of the fierce popular opposition and resistance against such parasitic and scavenger members which will cost them their life.

The third political force that the TPLF unified against itself is the Ethiopian political opposition of all shreds.  Thanks to the TPLF repression, machination, and sabotage, the Ethiopian political oppositions are poorly organized with no clearly defined political vision for the country. Yet, even here, the TPLF has little allies with whom it could make backdoor deals.  Even if the TPLF attempts to deal with some urban-based political opposition groups for face-saving as the failed so-called “opposition groups meeting of over the last one year”, they have no popular support to wield to the save the TPLF. That will lead even the weakest and opportunist Ethiopian oppositions to be unified and resist the TPLF.

The TPLF may attempt to use the following six self-defeating strategies to outmaneuver all of the three political forces it lined up against itself.  

1. Using the Ethiopian military, the national security and the law enforcement.  Over the last 26 years, the TPLF used and abused these three government institutions against the Ethiopian people, the EPRDF members who resented its rule and the Ethiopian oppositions.  It may try to use these three entities again. But, the time has changed. Ethiopian people have said enough is enough. Any further attempt to use the Ethiopian military, the Ethiopian intelligence and law enforcement institutions including courts for further killing, torture, and repression will completely dismantle these institutions. The reason is simple. Every other Ethiopian working in these institutions will pull back and side with the Ethiopian people.  The division within the EPRDF will not take any time to manifest in the division within the military, the national intelligence, and the law enforcement institutions. The TPLF dominated chain of command in these institutions have no power to prevent this from happening. The signs are abundant already that Oromo and Amhara military, security and law enforcement officers are resisting TPLF commanders and officials. If the TPLF intends to continue this deadly routes of using these three institutions to hold onto power and repress others, it is more than likely that these institutions will be dismantled in a very short time.
2. Rebuilding TPLF and EPLF alliance to counter Oromo-Amhara Rapprochement.   This tactical strategy to counter the Oromo-Amhara rapprochement by building what the TPLF calls the “Union of the Agazians” if the EPLF fails for it, could potentially help the TPLF in one of the following ways. 1) It will help the TPLF by easing the tension with the EPLF at a time when most Ethiopians may not aid the TPLF if a conflict arises between the two groups.  2) The TPLF might try to package this tribal alliance between two Tigrigna speaking groups for dubious purpose as a peace effort and the effort to normalize relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia by implementing the Algiers agreement to win the support of the West.  3) It may also help Eritrea in getting the territories it lost in war, including Bademe, if the EPLF subscribes to the TPLF political power gamble in Ethiopia. 4)  Last but not least the strategy may also help the TPLF to mobilize its security and intelligence resources to Oromia and Amhara to attack and cause more harm than it is causing now. Unfortunately, this strategy is self-defeating for at least couple of reasons. One, the TPLF strategy to find alliance with Eritreans to attack other Ethiopians will not find national support in Ethiopia. Second, Eritreans will not be played again by the TPLF after the bitter 1998-2000 war and the strategic blunder and lose it sustained at the end of the country’s civil war in 1991 which lead to the emergence of the TPLF as a dominant force in the region. Third, the chance of TPLF staying in power in Ethiopia is hugely diminished after the Oromo protests and Amhara resistance making any deal the Eritrean side might reach with the TPLF unsustainable and with no future. Fourth, any territorial transfer to Eritrea in the name of implementing the Algiers agreement will cause popular fury and fire that will consolidate the popular movement against the TPLF and ultimately deposing it from power.
3. Consolidating the Somali Janjaweed Militias attack on the Oromo and creating more Janjaweed style Militias everywhere else.  This is one of the most disastrous policy the TPLF chose in order to maintain its divide and rule policy to stay in power in Addis Ababa. Here, the TPLF is assuming that the TPLF will always be the ultimate power broker while everybody else is a weapon of war in the hand of the TPLF waiting to be used anytime the TPLF wants to use it. Over the last two to three years, the Somali Janjaweed Militia served the interests of the TPLF very well.  The criminal militia that now stands at over 68,000 thousand according to multiple internal sources, displaced over 600,000 Oromo civilians inside Oromia and evicted over 70,000 Oromo civilians from the Somali Region using TPLF adopted ethnic cleansing models copied for Darfur.  Still, the Somali Janjaweed Militia continued to attack the Oromo people at the direction and pleasure of the TPLF commanders in order to divert the people’s attention from the TPLF crimes at the center. This policy appears to have run its course now. Poor Oromo and Somali militias will not continue to kill each other to serve the interests of the TPLF over the land and territory each group knows will be restored back in the hand of the Oromo people once the TPLF is removed from power. Instead, it is very likely that both the Oromo and the Somali groups will soon return back to attacking the economic and security interests of the TPLF which will effectively end any meaningful presence of the TPLF either in Oromia, Somali or other Regions of Ethiopia where such strategies will be attempted. This self-defeating strategy of the TPLF to incite violence among various ethnic groups everywhere else will soon fire back by producing nationwide hatred and attack on anyone affiliated with the TPLF including attacks on the economic interests of the TPLF, the Ethiopian military, the federal police and intelligence officers who are being used by malicious TPLF commanders and political leaders. It is also very unlikely that the West will continue to finance and support such criminal enterprise.  If the TPLF continue this avenue, it is likely that the Ethiopian military will collapse and the federal government is likely to disintegrate within a very short period of time.
4. Increasing the Urban-Rural Divide: This is one of the strategies of the TPLF is using to contain the ongoing popular movement to take power from the TPFL and restore back into the hands of the Ethiopian people. Except for few cities in Oromia and Amhara regions, most cities in Ethiopia were passive over the last three years of the Oromo protests and the Amhara resistance. The TPLF want the situation to continue that way. It believes it is the dividend and the pay off of the TPLF silo economy dominated by TPLF affiliated local and international benefactors in urban areas by transferring land and natural resources of the Ethiopian people to these TPLF affiliated groups. The Addis Ababa Masterplan and the recently tabled National Urban Planning Proclamation (the Addis Ababa Masterplan in a different name) is meant to play the urban-rural divide to contain the popular movement. This is another self-defeating strategy for a number of reasons. One, noticing the so-called Urban and rural divide as a divide between the TPLF affiliated economic monopolies in the cities and the surrounding Ethiopian poor is very easy. The TPLF silo economy only benefited very few urban dwellers at the expense of the impoverished millions. Every interest group in the urban area including small businesses, civil servants, the youth and the political class will soon turn up the heat on the TPLF. Second, every urban dweller has relatives in the rural Ethiopia and shares the suffering of the rest of the Ethiopian people. Third, as the resistance in the rural areas mounts, the life in the urban areas will collapse and the urban dwellers will join the Ethiopian people to preserve themselves.  Fourth, the division within the EPRDF will soon trickle down to the ranks and files of the EPRDF which will soon transfer itself to urban movement.  Fifth, the large student population in urban areas will soon build bridges with the urban dwellers to join the popular movement.
5. Faking Individual liberties narratives at the expense of group rights narratives: The TPLF ruled through fake group rights narratives for the last 26 years. It used the Oromo and Southern elites in the name of group rights narratives against the urban-based Amharic speaking elites who mostly were against group rights narratives.  After the Oromo and Amhara people started asserting their group rights through the Oromo protests and the Amhara resistance, the TPLF now changed tactic by buying into the urban Amharic speaking elite’s narratives of individual rights and liberties narratives. It might even establish fake individual rights based political party.   Theoretically, there is no difference between individual rights and groups rights. These are not mutually exclusive rights. They are mutual complementary rights. One does not exist without the other.  But, the TPLF might attempt to venture into this route to buy time and continue its policy of divide and rule if it finds shortsighted urban Amharic speaking elites who will fail for this.  Unfortunately, the Ethiopian people are not demanding for the selective implementation of this right or that right. The people are demanding for the transfer of political power into the hands of the people to establish a government of the people by the people for the people where equality, justice and fairness reigns. No group or individual rights will be respected and protected unless the political power is restored back in the hand of the Ethiopian people. Even the dullest of political groups in the country are taking note of this fact and understanding the essence of the Ethiopian peoples’ demand. That leaves no room for the TPLF to manipulate and maneuver.
6. Expanding the EPRDF to dilute the resistance of EPRDF members against the TPLF. The TPLF might attempt to expand the membership in the EPRDF if the resistance from the OPDO, the ANDM, and SEPDM increases. At face value, this might seem a plausible option. One might think TPLF can add the Somali Janjaweed Militia and other groups as EPRDF members to dilute the power balance in its favor within the EPRDF. There are many reasons why this strategy will not work. One, if the TPLF touches the current structure of EPRDF, it is very likely that all the three members of the EPRDF(the OPDO, the ANDM, and the SEPDM) will demand population size based representation within the EPRDF the same way it is in the parliament. If that scenario happens, there is no option out there that will save the TPLF from its minority position.  More than 85% of the political power will be in the orbit of other members of the EPRDF. Furthermore, it is very unlikely any ethnic minority group will choose to ally itself with the TPLF against any Amhara and Oromo groups which will hurt them down the line when the TPLF will be removed from power.

Therefore, the TPLF suicidal decision not to reform let alone to transform and adopt new policies, structures and strategies to meet and address the demands of the Ethiopian people will strengthen the popular movement and resistance of the Ethiopian people to take political power and permanently end group and individual dictatorship in Ethiopia.

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PETER ALLEN In Paris

Zenash Gezmu’s body was found by police called to her flat in Neuilly-sur-Marne early yesterday after neighbours heard screaming.

Officers arrested a 28-year-old Eritrean man who admitted murdering Ms Gezmu, 27. She was 4ft 9in and weighed less than six stone.

Police are now attempting to contact her next-of-kin, who include a brother said to have settled in London.

They are also trying to establish Ms Gezmu’s links to the suspect, with one friend telling Le Parisian newspaper she was thought to have been single. He said: “She always told me that if she started a relationship, it would be to start a family, and I have never been aware of anyone.” The suspect provided no details of the attack to police, apart from admitting through an interpreter that he carried out the murder.

Ms Gezmu trained every morning and evening but also took hotel cleaning jobs, earning less than £200 a week.

Her body was found surrounded by her trophies and medals, including one for the 16th annual marathon in nearby Senart, which Ms Gezmu won for the second time in May.

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Social policy formulations, in general, involves multiple dilemmas. These dilemmas are often difficult to fully harmonize and more so in resource poor countries. Some of these dilemmas are pertinent to Ethiopian education policy throughout its history. These dilemmas underpin crises that led to regime change in the country before and they are the forerunner of the tsunami in the making now. The following three, I guess are the major ones.

1) Concept vs. Problem – whether the policy should be informed by concepts/principles or by practical contextual problems in the country that the graduates aim to tackle through their education. The current government of Ethiopia has embarked on problem oriented education policy where the graduate are expected to work hard to reduce ignorance and poverty. This would have been a nice approach and choice if the education system is not something based on a westernized concept, theories and educational materials. Now the heart of all the challenges is using western theories and concepts, west trained teachers and western educational materials throughout higher education system and expecting the graduates to understand and solve local (contextual) problem over night. They at least need farther time and thinking to contextualize their the western theories into their non-western environment.

2) Quality vs. Quantity – whether the focus of education policy should be the number of the graduates or the quality of the graduates in their field of study. This was among the most debated issue in Ethiopian education system over the last 2 decades. Again the government showed a conviction to focus on the number of graduates with basic knowledge in their subject. The assumption here is that the large number of graduates will get the awareness on the need of education and also create awareness among their families and through this peed up social change in the country. The challenge however is that the government clearly failed to create an enabling environment for graduates to play this role. The introduction of strict quality measures, like COC and Exit-exam is (1) teaching students something very basic and trying to evaluate them on something else, (2) diverting attention from the governments failure to follow its own policy and creating enabling environment for graduates to play their quantity oriented roles and (3) trying to create sense of failure among the graduates. This stands against the education policy principles, values and practices and kills the future generation as it can demoralize them.

3) Whole vs. Part – whether the education outcome should be evaluated at education program, graduates (agency) level or whether the evaluation should target the impact of education in society. This is also another dilemma. With its focus on competitiveness of the graduates, the Ethiopian government again seems has decided to make part (program/agency) its target. Therefore, the graduate should compete and make their own living in this sense. However, given their choice in 1 & 2, they expect the graduates to play role in changing society, ending poverty, reducing ignorance etc. Targeting part (graduate) with policy and targeting whole (impact in society) with evaluation is another problem.

In summary, education quality is an important element in education system. Every graduate should aim for quality education because that pays even at individual level. But seen at societal level quality is not the only thing needed. For instance, having few medical doctors trained for 7 years is not always a wise choice seen from heath coverage perspective. Creating awareness in society and adopting preventive health care system could work better in certain contexts. Barefooted Chinese doctors is one best example in line with this. Therefore,

1. teaching students western theories and concepts and expecting them to immediately solve local problem is next to impossible, 
2. aiming to produce large numbers of graduates with basic knowledge on their subject matter in policy and looking for the highest quality of graduates in evaluation is simply unfair and impractical and
3. teaching students to be competitive at agency level and measuring their impact on societal structure is trying to harvest apple from a tomato plant. 

The challenge of Ethiopian education system anyway goes beyond the quality mantra. The challenge has been historically consistent despite the ideology, principles and values that inform education policy under different regimes. The demand and supply issue is at the core of the education crises in Ethiopia. Additionally, the lacking consistency between ideology, policy principles and values, implementation and evaluation aggravates the crises. I will try to deliver an elaborated explanation on this issue over the coming days.

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                                                                                                                        November 29, 2017

The Honorable Governor Nicola Zingaretti

Regione Lzio

Via C. Colombo, 212

00145 Roma

Italy & H.E. Ms. Carla Nespolo President

ANPI

Via degli Scipioni 271

00192 Roma

Italy.

Re: The Justice Needed Concerning the Removal of the Graziani Mausoleum

The Global Alliance for Justice – The Ethiopian Cause presents its compliments to the Honorable Mr. Nicola Zingaretti, Governor of Lazio Region, Italy as well as to H.E. Ms. Carla Nespolo, President of ANPI, Italy and wishes to express its deepest appreciation and thanks for the action taken that resulted in the verdict by the Italian court which sentenced the mayor of Affile and two councilors to imprisonment and financial penalty.

Your Excellencies are aware that the mayor of Affile, Mr. Viri, has been reported to have the intention of appealing against the court’s verdict. We, therefore, request you to kindly take the appropriate action in order to ensure that the court’s verdict is maintained and put into a full effect as well as the removal of the Graziani mausoleum at Affile.

We are sure that Your Excellencis are aware that the Fascist criminal, Rodolfo Graziani, was responsible for the horrendous war crimes committed in Ethiopia including the massacre of 30,000 Ethiopians in Addis Ababa within only three days i.e. February 19-21, 1937 as well as the murder of over 2,000 monks, clergy and parishioners at the Debre Libanos Monastery. Furthermore, it is a historic fact that as a result of the Fascist Italian occupation of Ethiopia during 1935-41, grave losses were perpetrated including the massacre of one million people, the destruction of 2,000 churches, 525,000 homes and 14 million animals as well as the looting of vast quantities of Ethiopian properties.

Our Alliance, therefore, hopes that your just support of the cause of justice would continue to be forthcoming.

With the assurances of our highest respect and looking forward to the achievement of the required justice and the resistance against the resurgence of Fascism in Italy,

Yours faithfully,

Kidane Alemayehu

Executive Director

CC: H.E. Mr. Antonio Guterres

Secretary General

United Nations

CC: H.E. Mr. Moussa Faki

Chairperson

African Union

CC: H.E. Mr. Antonio Tajani

President

European Union Parliament

CC: H.E. Mr. Hailemariam Dessalegn

Prime Minister

Ethiopia

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The official confirmed in the the recent private meeting that agency planned and caught him at the right time ,place and date.Furthermore, the agency stated that Merara will pay the cost for his information submitted to US State Department.

1. (S) SUMMARY A series of explosions were reported in Addis Ababa on September 16, killing three individuals. The GoE announced that the bombs went off while being assembled, and that the three dead were terrorists from the outlawed Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) with links to the Oromo National Congress (ONC). An embassy source, as well as clandestine reporting, suggests that the bombing may have in fact been the work of GoE security forces. END SUMMARY

2. (U) On September 16, three bomb explosions were reported in the Kara Kore area of Addis Ababa. The explosions were heard at 4:45 a.m., 7:00 a.m., and 10:00 a.m. The National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), together with the Federal Police Anti-terror Task Force later reported that the bombs were “part of a coordinated terror attack by the OLF and Sha’abiya (Eritrea) aimed at disrupting democratic development.” The NISS said that the intended terror plot had failed and the bombs had mistakenly gone off while the suspects were preparing them while hiding out at an illegally built house. Two of the suspects died immediately, while another died on the way to the hospital. One other is in critical condition.

The police task force reported having others in custody related to the plot and that evidence shows the terrorists had ties to Oromo groups – the Mecha and Tulema Association (MTA) and the ONC. They also said that the bombs used contained parts sourced from Eritrea and were consistent with bombs used in previous terrorist attacks. 3. (S) On September 20, Dr. Merera Gudina (strictly protect), the former leader of the ONC (and a typically reliable information source), contacted Post to report that the deceased had not died not while constructing a bomb, but rather at the hands of GoE cadres. Dr. Merera said that the men had been picked up by police a week prior, kept in detention and tortured. He said police then left the men in a house and detonated explosives nearby, killing 3 of them. He did not indicate whether the men were ONC or OLF affiliated. 4. (S) Clandestine reporting indicates that the bombs did not explode inside the structure, but rather appear to have been placed outside and detonated.  HUDDLESTON   

https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/06ADDISABABA2708_a.html

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ESAT Latest Ethiopian News December 1, 2017

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(OPride) — The Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) on Thursday, Nov. 29, elected Debretsion Gebremichael after 35 days of marathon meetings and self-appraisals known as gimgema.

Part I of our analysis argued that by elevating Debretsion, a hardliner, TPLF dashed hopes of reform and that the former deputy spy chief’s election is a victory for the intelligence faction. Part II looks at Debretsion’s rise from a low level rebel radio communications technician to the top of the dominant TPLF hierarchy.

Since former Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi’s death in 2012, Debretsion has emerged as the most powerful member of TPLF at the federal level. Publicly he has carefully cultivated an image of a hard-working and “tech-savvy technocrat with doctoral studies in technology.” However, a recently leaked cache of internal documents reviewed by OPride paints a portrait of a calculating Machiavellian feared by subordinates but one who is largely idle and who often appears distant, offering only terse and uninspired feedback on detailed technical reports. His online interactions with Ethiopian colleagues is usually cordial but brief. He appears more engaged and personable when conversing with foreigners. Still, dozens of emails viewed by OPride show a lacking ability to engage in nuanced conversations in English and a preference for informal face-to-face meetings.

A testament to his commanding and fearsome persona, nearly all subordinates, particularly those of non-Tigrayan ethnicity, often greet him as “your excellency” and sign off with “with great respect.” He rarely addresses his Ethiopian subjects by name but when he does, he usually writes “selam X” and signs off simply as “Debre.” By contrast, his Tigrayan associates usually refer to him as “Debre or Debretsi.”

In 2012, shortly after his elevation as Deputy Prime Minister, according to one document seen by OPride, Debretsion casually told a UN official, “I already had big responsibilities but after Meles, we felt we need to restructure the cabinet so that there will be a team to take full charge of the nation.”

It is not clear who the “team” included and why the newly installed prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, could not “take full charge of the nation” as did his predecessor.

While the plan was for former rebels to be gradually phased out, he vowed not to step back from the added responsibilities. “As you know I’m one of those fighters who gave their everything to the good of our people and nation, so I can’t step back. In any case, I’ll try my best to serve more.”

Moreover, it was clear that he had his sights set higher. Although he was tasked with overseeing the economic sector as Deputy Prime Minister, internal documents viewed by OPride reveal that he was receiving periodic briefs and progress reports from across the government and his footprints are all over the place. His newly appointed deputy, Fetlework Gebregziabher, formerly head of the Financial Intelligence Center and previously an enforcer in the Addis Ababa municipal party office, has the same reputation of inflexibility and dogmatic adherence to party ideology and little concern for the wellbeing of the public.

It is this vehemently hardline leadership that Tigrayan spin masters are trying to present as reformers.  The party’s propaganda machine is suggesting that the contest has always been between the reform-minded new leadership and those who were intent on “maintaining the status quo and doing business as usual.” To bolster their argument about a dynamic new team at the helm of TPLF, they are touting the academic credentials of the new leadership: Fetlework GebreEgziabher (educated at the London School of Economics), Debretsion (Capella University), Abraham Tekeste (Switzerland), Getachew Reda (University of Alabama).

It is to be remembered that Ethiopia’s current lame-duck prime minister did the same last year when unveiling his PhD-heavy cabinet, which have come to witness the lowest point in the ruling party’s quarter of a century hold on power — unable to manage minor crises, for example, restraining the outlaw behavior of the Somali Regional President, whose military adventures have since spiraled out of control of the federal government.

A foreign degree is never a measure of a leader’s acumen. For instance, Debretsion, who was reportedly rejected from various Ph.D. programs before settling on the Minnesota-based Capella University, was at best a mediocre student. He allegedly relied on the support of a team of hired researchers and writing coaches for his thesis. According to a source familiar with the party’s grueling appraisal process, he’s in fact censured for lack of imagination and inability to produce anything of substance. Rather known as the bullet points guy, Debretsion is rated low for his inability to connect with audiences but also to produce serious policy papers.

Not only does the new leadership lack any reformist credentials, Debretsion is too close to the country’s powerful military-industrial complex, which has been accused widely of exacerbating an already volatile situation. Several high ranking army generals are accused of being involved in contraband and illicit trade and being outside of the normal chain of command. Although his stubbornness is legendary and his reputation for inflexibility is long established, not to mention his impatience and quick temper, it is not clear whether Debretsion can and is willing to reign in the military given his cozy relationship with Ethiopia’s military-industrial complex. In fact, Debretsion directly controls the country’s largest military contractor, the Metals and Engineering Corporation (METC), which is awarded huge government contracts without undergoing the usual bidding process. METC has lately eclipsed the influence of the plethora of companies housed under EFFORT–also overseen by the organization Debretsion leads.  By sidelining the mercurial widow of the former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Debretsion has consolidated key levers of power in his sole hands. METC and EFFORT together control the commanding heights of the country’s economy.

Consequently, it is no wonder that the new TPLF chairman is widely seen as the power behind Hailemariam, who is dismissed as a figurehead and a placeholder exercising nominal control over key security and power ministries. Hailemariam once publicly lamented not receiving intelligence briefs and being reduced to making decisions on hearsay. Debretsion appears to be the person who in fact supplies the prime minister with his talking points, including on the recent security directive, which opponents call a new state of emergency, announced through the National Security Council, a body that lacks the legal and constitutional basis to do so.

Despite the bleak prognosis, Debretsion and the new TPLF leaders face a unique opportunity to embrace reform and save the country from a catastrophic civil war and even state collapse. OPDO has already set in motion an ambitious plan to realize the promises of the country’s constitution. Unfortunately, so far, all indications are that Debretsion’s TPLF is likely to seek a combination of purges and subversion to undermine OPDO’s efforts. That would be a historic mistake which will set the country back for decades to come.

Debretsion’s abridged resume:

• Minister, Information and Technology, 2010-present
• Deputy Prime Minister, 2013-2015
• Director of the Information Comm Technology Dev Agency from 2005-2010.
• Trade and industry bureau head of the Tigray region and a zonal administrator from 2001-2005
• Deputy of Head of Intelligence, directly under the late Kinfe Gebremedhin, from the early 1990s until the 2001 TPLF split.

In addition to his senior party position as a member of the Executive Committee of TPLF, and now its chairman, Debretsion holds key board positions:

• Board Chairman, Ethiopian Electric Power
• Board Chairman, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

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Belayneh Abate

In theory, the truth set you free although the truth may lock you in jail as it does in the betrayed and  land locked current Ethiopia. For absolute truth, there is God and for relative truths, there are evidences. However, not all evidences are created equal. Some evidences can be touched,  seen, heard, smelt and tasted like orange and lemon fruits. Other evidences  are untraceable like  delusions and hallucinations. These untraceable evidences are costing us millions of lives in political, economical, religious and cultural rhetoric and ethnic conflicts because we lack understanding of the spectrum of evidences. Therefore, I would like to  request historians, philosophers, sociologists, lawyers, anthropologists, archeologists and other social scientist to provide us with the hierarchies of evidences in social sciences.

Lack of understanding of the spectrum of evidences  has contributed to the flourishing of fabricated histories that led to the fragmentation of our country. Our harmony and peace has been disrupted because of manufactured histories from the raw materials of  colonizers’ treaties, western spies’ reports,  missionaries’ teachings, travelers’ memos and remote grandparents’ tales. We encounter politicians, cadres, “historians” and “theologians” citing these fabricated  histories and propagating  their own version of stories, tales, and explanations.  Because of these baseless propagandas, people have been massacred on the streets, thrown alive into cliffs, burnt with fire  in their houses and chopped off their necks by their neighbors.

Before we started spreading  these propagandas,  the Ethiopian people had been living in peace and harmony despite the occasional conflicts between their greed regional rulers. The Ethiopian people peace and harmony started to wobble after their children attended modern schools and get baptized  by the western pastors and politicians to preach western religions, communism and capitalism.

The sage Socrates used to say “know thyself!” mimicking the motto inscribed at the Temple of Delphi.[1] Similarly, according to his disciples, the late Abune Tewoflos used to say “do not go abroad with empty skulls and absorb the lees of their beers”. Socrates and Abune Tewoflos were right because when people try to know others  before they know themselves, they fall deep in a canyon of moral crisis and lack of self-stems.  Moral crisis and lack of self-stems  pushes towards  developing fabricated stories as mechanisms of defenses.

Fabricated histories have ruined our glorious history and sold the sovereignty of our country. Phony tales threatened the integrity of the church and the morality of the people even the Greek historian Herodotus and Prophet Mohammed highly preached about. These fabricated histories and phony tales have been produced and propagated by immoral- educated people. The flooding of  immoral- educated people in our country remind me the history of epidemics of immorality in Europe. Europe was covered with Epidemics of immorality when educated people inundated the continent in the  17th and 18^th centuries. Observing this epidemics of immorality,  Rousseau [1] wrote in his famous essay: “Since learned men had appeared, honest men were nowhere to be found”.  The legendary writer continued “a learned man is a depraved animal; education does not make a man good, it only makes him clever-usually for mischief.”

Ethiopia has been suffering from epidemics of immorality since pseudo intellectuals started to walk on its streets. This epidemics of immorality is more devastating than epidemics of Ebola.  Epidemics of immorality has paralyzed the academia, the palace, the court, the mass media, the church, the mosque, the synagogue, the Idir, the Equb, the shimiglina, and other social frame works of the society,  especially for the last a quarter century. Therefore,  it is imperative that we  mitigate  epidemics of immorality and fabricated histories that escalates the demise of human lives. One mitigating means of  fabricated  stories is teaching the youth about the validity and hierarchy of evidences  in social sciences as we teach  the validity and hierarchies of evidences in health sciences.  The hirarchies of  evidences in health sciences include -taken from reference 2. [sorry for the scientific jargons].

Level I. Evidence from a systematic review or meta-analysis of all relevant RCTs (randomized controlled trial) or evidence-based clinical practice guidelines based on systematic reviews of RCTs or three or more RCTs of good quality that have similar results.

Level II. Evidence obtained from at least one well-designed RCT (e.g. large multi-site RCT).

Level III. Evidence obtained from well-designed controlled trials without randomization (i.e. quasi-experimental).

Level IV. Evidence from well-designed case-control or cohort studies.

Level V. Evidence from systematic reviews of descriptive and qualitative studies (meta-synthesis).

1. Evidence from a single descriptive or qualitative study.

VII. Evidence from the opinion of authorities and/or reports of expert committees.

To learn about hierarchies of evidences in social sciences, I contacted several historians, archeologists, anthropologists and other social scientists. Unfortunately, none of them provided satisfactory answers. Hence, I pose this question to  historians, philosophers, sociologists, lawyers, anthropologists, archeologists and other social scientists: Are there hierarchies  of evidences in Social Sciences? If there are hierarchies of evidences, please vaccinate us with evidence weighing vaccines so that we can develop immunity against fabricated histories and abstain from getting into endless crises that could escalate our demises. Thank you.

References:

1. Philosophy and philosophers: Greek Philosophy, https://www.the-philosophy.com/socrates-know-yourself(last accessed December, 2017)
2. From Rousseau to Kant: Page 197, Will Durant, the story of philosophy, 1953 edition
3. Ackley, B. J., Swan, B. A., Ladwig, G., & Tucker, S. (2008). Evidence-based nursing care guidelines: Medical-surgical interventions. (p. 7). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier

The writer can be reached at abatebelai@yahoo.com

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Hopes and Concerns፡ What is to be done SBS Amharic with Ato Gebru Asrat

The post Hopes and Concerns፡ What is to be done SBS Amharic with Ato Gebru Asrat appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News|Breaking News: Your right to know!.

The international community ignored Ethiopians who opposed the election of Tedros Adhanom as director general of the World Health Organisation (WHO). They ignored the human rights abuses by his Tigrayan Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) regime in Ethiopia.

But the Western media were shocked when Tedros chose a fellow African autocrat as WHO goodwill ambassador — Robert Mugabe.

With Zimbabwe replacing its old dictator, we should be reminded of the Ethiopian regime’s cosy relations with African tyrants.

Tedros, a former Ethiopian finance minister, was infamous for covering up epidemics that killed many Ethiopians in the rural areas. South Africa outlawed racial apartheid in 1991, but the TPLF imposed ethnic apartheid in Ethopia that same year. Tens of thousands of Ethiopians have since died under TPLF rule, including hundreds in the past few months. Instead of establishing nontribal democratic institutions that respect individual rights and the multicultural heritages of all Ethiopians, the TPLF preys on their differences with a system of “ethnic federalism”.

By politicising identities, the TPLF has turned Ethiopians against each other, despite most of them being of mixed ethnic heritage.

Meanwhile, assimilated communities such as the Welaita and Hadiya, whose lands were annexed by ancient Oromo warriors and later by the Abyssinian kingdom, face renewed disenfranchisement by recently invented ethnic borders.

In Addis Ababa, the TPLF has used an Oromo puppet clique to label the majority residents as “foreigners” or “Finfinne”. To weaken Ethiopian nationalism among the urban population, the TPLF also promoted a separate “Amhara” identity. By amplifying tribal awareness and perceived ethnic differences, it has instigated mass killings in the north between the Amharas and the Tigres, and between the Oromos and Somalis in the east. But these peoples’ ancestors were one family.

Like an arsonist playing firefighter, the ruling party often stages conflict-resolution conferences. For example, soon after instigating massacres, the TPLF recently sent its top stooge, Lemma Megersa, to dramatise a fake “Oromo and Amhara unity” forum, a ploy designed to raise his profile and the nonexistent “Amhara people’s” ethnic nationalism.

Despite the daily growing death toll in Ethiopia, the West has continued to support the TPLF. History shows that appeasing such cunning tyrants has no benefits; instead, it emboldens them.

Lemma recently announced a disturbing ethnic school segregation policy, in effect banning Somalis from “Oromia” colleges. Ten Ethiopian protesters in Ambo, some as young as 13, were shot by the TPLF’s special “Agazi” force, according to the local hospital. The savagery of the executions was documented in a BBC video, in which the TPLF commandos are heard telling each other: “Finish him off!”

This horrific video should be seen by all Western officials who still believe the regime in Ethiopia is a dependable ally.

Without any hope of accountability, there is no end in sight for the recurring ethnic bloodbath. The TPLF is expected to rig its sixth election in a row in 2020, even as it sends cooked-up economic growth statistics to the International Monetary Fund.

One thing is certain: when political change happens in a future Ethiopia, it will be much more bloody than in present-day Zimbabwe, thanks to the proliferation of tribalism over the past two decades.

But Western policymakers can regain credibility in African eyes by holding all dictators to the same standard to which they held Mugabe. — Teshome M Borago

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Addis Ababa – The Ethiopian national U-17 women team(Young Lucy) was held to a 1-1 draw by the Nigerian Flamingoes in the first leg match of their Uruguay 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifier.

The visitors took the lead after 18 minutes through Joy Jerryand the Ethiopiansresponded with equalizer by Tarikua Debiso in the 63rd minute.

The return leg will take place at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City on December 16 with the winner on aggregate to proceed to the final round of qualifiers scheduled for February 2018.

The Flamingoes drew a bye into the second round, while Ethiopia profited from the withdrawal of first-round opponents Kenya.

The Flamingoes had represented Africa at the World Cup  finals in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016.

Source- Ethiopia Sport

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By Alemayehu G. Mariam

Author’s Note: In the past few days, it has been widely reported that the fix is in to axe Rex Tillerson from the State Department and replace him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo by January 2018. There has been much talk about a “Rexit” since the summer when it was disclosed that Tillerson had described President Trump as a “moron”. Trump offered to compare his IQ scores with Tillerson disputing the allegation. The relationship between Trump and Secretary Tillerson’s over the past year has been tense and rocky. They don’t seem to see eye to eye on a number of issues including the Iran nuclear deal, the confrontation with North Korea and the Middle East. Trump has undercut Tillerson’s efforts at every turn calling Tillerson’s efforts to diplomatically address North Korea’s provocations as a waste of time.

Tillerson last week dismissed the latest rumors of his imminent departure “laughable”. Trump also dismissed it as “fake news”. He told reporters, “He’s here. Rex is here.” On December 1, Trump tweeted, “The media has been speculating that I fired Rex Tillerson or that he would be leaving soon – FAKE NEWS! He’s not leaving and while we disagree on certain subjects, (I call the final shots) we work well together and America is highly respected again!”

Perhaps it’s like the lyrics to that old Ray Conniff song: “That’s life, that’s life/ You take the joy, you take the sorrow. That’s life, that’s life/ You’re here today and gone tomorrow./ Tillerson is here in December, but will he still be here in January? That’s life in Trumpolitics.

Perhaps it does not matter who heads the State Department. Trump has repeatedly  saidon questions of foreign policy the buck stops with him. “I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I’ve said a lot of things. I know what I’m doing and I listen to a lot of people, I talk to a lot of people and at the appropriate time I’ll tell you who the people are. But my primary consultant is myself and I have a good instinct for this stuff.”

I believe Tillerson’s departure from State will be a monumental loss for American diplomacy at this moment in global history. His departure will accelerate the dizzying entropy in America’s current global “diplo-twitterplomacy”. Tillerson may be the last sane man with principle and integrity standing between guilty-pleading perjurers and conjurers of fake news and our imperiled “pale blue dot” of a planet, to borrow Carl Sagan’s phrase.

My readers will recall that I have been supportive of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s since he took office. As I have said on a number of previous occasions, I was convinced Trump and Tillerson will march lockstep in Barack Obama’s footsteps in Africa. I was so convinced that Trump and Tillerson will be mirror images of Obama and Hillary Clinton on Africa, in December 2016, I boldly declared that I will eat the proverbial crow if Trump and Tillerson took Africa off the U.S. taxpayer dole and ended the culture of panhandling on the continent. Suffice it to say that I have been snacking on morsels of “vegan crow” for the past few months.

I must note that some have expressed surprise and others dismay over my support of the Secretary Tillerson. “How could you support Trump’s Secretary of State?”

My support of Tillerson is principled, not blind or ideological. I wish to underscore that my views and support of Tillerson are based on his vision and actions on U.S. human rights, particularly in Africa. I do not aim to address his global foreign policy goals and objectives.

To my satisfaction, Tillerson says what he means and means what he says on the issue of human rights. On November 22, Tillerson did not mince his words when he said, “After careful and thorough analysis of the facts, it is clear that the situation in northern Rakhine State constitutes ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya.”

In September 2004, Colin Powell was in a quandary about Darfur as he minced his words to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “There is the matter of whether or not what is happening in Darfur is genocide.” Of course, the whole world knew genocide was taking place in Darfur beginning in 2003.

Tillerson unabashedly declared, “We express America’s values from the State Department — our commitment to freedom, our commitment to equal treatment of people the world over. And that message has never changed.” When asked about Trump’s remarks about the “many sides” that share blame for the violence in Charlottesville, Tillerson curtly replied, “The president speaks for himself.”

In August, Tillerson put his money where his mouth is when he told Egypt that the U.S. will withhold $95.7 million in military and economic aid, and would only release $195 million in additional military aid after it makes progress in its human rights record.”

The current U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, Michael Raynor, selected by Tillerson, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in July 2017 stated, “If confirmed, I will advocate for full respect of the rights guaranteed under Ethiopia’s constitution, as well as for reforms that strengthen democratic institutions.” Less than two months into the job, Ambassador Raynor made good on his word  when he issued an unprecedented Statement, “We encourage all Ethiopians to continue to express their views peacefully, and encourage Ethiopian authorities to permit peaceful expression of views.”

Nothing of this sort occurred during the tenure of Hillary Clinton or the Obama presidency. Obama and Clinton talked and talked about standing “on the right side of history”, but they never walked the talk, not even a single step, on the right side of history! But Tillerson refused to walk in the footsteps of Clinton and Obama and walked straight over to the right side of human rights history.

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The Sky is Falling on “Fake Diplomacy” at the State Department and the Chicken Littles & Co. are Running Their Op-Eds and Telling Tales

One day as Chicken Little was walking in the woods, an acorn fell from a tree and hit her little head. “My, oh, my, the sky is falling. I must run and tell the lion about it” said a panicked Chicken Little as she ran off.  Along the way she met Henny Penny and told her the sky is falling and she is running to the lion to tell him about it. “How do you know it?”, asked Henny Penny. “It hit me on the head, so I know it must be so”, said Chicken Little.

The two joined up running until they met Ducky Lucky. “The sky is falling” said Henny Penny. “We are going to the lion to tell him about it.” Ducky Lucky asked, “How do you know that?” Henny Penny replied, “It hit Chicken Little on the head.” Ducky Lucky joined the run until they met Foxey Loxey who asked, “Where are you all going?” Ducky Lucky said, “The sky is falling and we are going to tell the lion all about it.” Foxey Loxey asked, “Do you know where the lion lives?” None of them knew. “I do. Come with me and I can show you the way”, said Foxey Loxey and walked them right into his den. They all went in but they never, never come out again.

The Chicken Littles of the State Department are running around like a chicken with the head cut off (pun intended) shouting out on the op-ed pages that the sky is falling on the State Department. “My, oh, my, the sky is falling. We must run op-eds and tell the whole world all about it.” Standing at their side are scaremongering foreign policy experts, professionals, consultants, has-been diplomats, aid-panhandlers and others whose meal tickets are at grave risk from an end to business as usual and a genuine transformation of the State Department into a powerhouse of U.S. diplomacy in the 21^st century.

Just in the past weeks, there have been a string of op-ed pieces from former State Department employees, diplomats and others announcing the sky is falling on the State Department.

The litany is the same. Secretary Tillerson is damaging U.S. diplomacy and America’s international leadership by failing to fill critical positions in the State Department, eliminating critical positions, slashing the department’s budget, creating a state department within the State Department and committing a parade of other horribles.

In a November 27 op-ed piece in the N.Y. Times, Nicholas Burns, former undersecretary to NATO and Ryan Cricker, former ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan, slammed Tillerson for “draconian budget cuts for the State Department and his dismissive attitude toward our diplomats and diplomacy.” They claimed Tillerson and the administration are hellbent on “dismantle[ing] a great foreign service just when we need it most.”

In a November 24 op-ed piece, N.Y. Times reporter Gardiner Harris castigated Tillerson for seeking to “reshape the department by staff reduction” and for “decimating the State Department’s senior ranks by dismissals, early retirements and push outs of career foreign service officers.”

In a letter dated November 16, 2017, the usual suspects of cry-wolf ranking democrats in the House expressed “deep concern [over] the exodus of more than 100 senior Foreign Service Officers from the State Department” and lamented the reduction of “minister counselors by 15 percent, career ministers by 42 percent and career ambassadors by an astounding 60 percent.” They warned, “The amount of talent leaving the State Department endangers the institutions and undermines American leadership, security and interests around the world.”

In the December 2017 edition of The Foreign Service Journal, American Foreign Service Association President and former Ambassador Barbara Stephenson President issued the ultimate Chicken Little pronouncement bewailing the “dismantling government as we know it.” She wrote. “There is no denying that our leadership ranks are being depleted at a dizzying speed, due in part to the decision to slash promotion numbers by more than half. The Foreign Service officer corps at State has lost 60 percent of its Career Ambassadors since January. Ranks of Career Ministers, our three-star equivalents, are down from 33 to 19. The ranks of our two-star Minister Counselors have fallen from 431 right after Labor Day to 369 today—and are still falling.”

Is it really the end of government as we know it at the State Department? “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

Reports of the death of the State Department have been greatly exaggerated, to paraphrase Mark Twain. According to a 2001 Brooking study, “Funding for the [State] department has been cut 50 percent in real terms since 1985. State’s fading influence is in turn fueling the exodus of many of its most talented young people, who are leaving for careers in the private sector in which pay is plentiful, promotions promising, and power prevalent.” Did government end as we knew it in the 1980s?

In an October 4 op-ed piece in Politico, Nik Steinberg, the former counselor and speechwriter to former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. announced, “Tillerson is running the State Department  to the ground”. He warned, “The U.S. government is quietly losing its next generation of foreign policy leaders—an exodus that could undermine our institutions and interests for decades to come.”

In October 2017, Vanity Fair announced “Tillerson’s Job is on death watch as Moron-Gate explodes.” It added, “With few allies on Capitol Hill and fewer friends within the State Department, which he has been working to downsize, there aren’t many people in Washington left to speak on Tillerson’s behalf.”

In July 2017, Foreign Policy announced, “Morale has hit rock bottom at Foggy Bottom, as American foreign service officers languish and Rex Tillerson builds a mini-empire.” Tillerson is accused of creating a hermetically sealed “parallel department” (a state department within the State Department) in which “the rank and file are cut off from a detached leader, and morale has plunged to historic lows.”

In February 2017, the N.Y. Post hyperbolically declared, “It’s a bloodbath at the State Department.”

Hammering Secretaries of State

Hammering Secretaries of State is nothing new. Hillary Clinton was pummeled in the media for subordinating the Department’s need to her own presidential political ambitions. In a scathing 2016 report, the Inspector General lambasted Hillary for maintaining a private email server to transact State Department business.

In 2015, major questions were raised about Hillary’s role in the Russian uranium deal which involved major contributors to the Clinton Foundation. In 2012, Clinton was embroiled in a controversy in the Bengahazi attacks. She allegedly avoided responsibility by trying to spin the terrorist attacks as spontaneous when she knew they were planned.

In February 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell went to the U.N and declared, “My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we’re giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence.” He said, Iraq is making a “concerted effort to hide or destroy evidence of weapons of mass destruction.” That proved to be a colossal lie. That lie cost some 4,500American lives by 2014 and plunged American taxpayers in the hole for more than 2 trillion dollars.

In 1973, Henry Kissinger held the dual positions of National Security Advisor and Secretary of State. Kissinger brought many of his NSC crew to the State Department creating an island of power inner circle (a state department within the State Department) on the sea of the State Department. Kissinger was the principal architect of Operation Menu which authorized the use of long-range B-52 heavy bombers to carpet bomb Cambodia. He orchestrated the overthrow of Salvador Allende, a democratically elected president of Chile in Chile in 1974. He encouraged President Richard Nixon to wiretap his political opponents. Kissinger was one of the principal operators in the intrigue, behind-the-scenes machinations, and paranoia which ultimately led to the Watergate and brought down the Nixon presidency. Did government as we know it end after Watergate?

Tillerson’s critics portray him as a Johnny-come-lately to the foreign policy field swinging a machete willy-nilly in the halls of the State Department. But Tillerson oversaw some 75,000 employees at Exxon-Mobile operating in a number of countries. At Exxon-Mobile, Tillerson maintained an International Government Relations Group, staffed with foreign-policy experts and former State Department officials. So, he is not as wet behind the ears as his critics make him out to be.

Tillerson’s alleged leadership problems are not as unique as his critics wish to make them. According to a 2001 Brookings study, “The State Department has a long history of leadership problems. Poor leadership is one culprit. James Baker had close ties to the president, but he chose to ignore rather than lead the department, relying instead on a few trusted and loyal aides. Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright had neither a clear strategic vision for American foreign policy nor a plan for getting the most out of the department’s many talented people. Even more important, neither had the unquestioned confidence of the president. As a result, their advice was often disregarded and their lack of clout painfully apparent.” The same can be said of Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry.

Obama’s fake U.S. human rights policy/diplomacy in Africa and Tillerson’s American-values-first-based human rights policy

In May 2017, Secretary Tillerson communicated a special message to State Department employees that was refreshing, unambiguous and encouraging. He unabashedly declared U.S. foreign policy will be driven by “our fundamental values around freedom, human dignity, and the way people are treated. Guiding all of our foreign policy actions are our fundamental values: our values around freedom, human dignity, the way people are treated. These are our values… not our policies…   Policies change… our values never change.”

The Obama administration also talked about “American values.” In his book “The Audacity of Hope”, Obama wrote, “We hang on to our values, even if they seem at times tarnished and worn; even if, as a nation and in our own lives, we have betrayed them more often that we care to remember. What else is there to guide us?…” In July 2009, Obama went to Accra, Ghana and lectured, Africans, “history is on the side of these brave Africans, and not with those who use coups or change Constitutions to stay in power. Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.” In August 2014, Obama was not “hanging on to American values”, he was hanging out and fist bumping with the African “strongmen” who used coups, stolen elections and subverted their constitutions to cling to power. By 2015, Obama shamelessly scorned American values when he declared a dictatorial regime in Africa that claimed to have won 100 percent of the seats in parliament, “democratically elected”.

The problem of human rights hypocrisy permeated the top leadership of Obama’s State Department and his National Security Council (NSC). Susan Rice, Obama’s NSC advisor and putative nominee for Secretary of State in 2012, whose nomination I opposed vehemently, laughed uncontrollably when she said with a straight face that the regime in Ethiopia which claimed to have won 100 percent of the seats in the 2015 election was “democratically elected.”

There was also U.S. Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman excused the human rights abuses of the T-TPLF by declaring it a “young democracy”. The Washington Post condemned Sherman in an editorial arguing, “Wendy Sherman, declared during a visit to Addis Ababa on April 16 that ‘Ethiopia is a democracy that is moving forward in an election that we expect to be free, fair and credible….’ Ms. Sherman’s lavish praise was particularly unjustified given Ethiopia’s record on press freedom…” The editorial provided specific instances of flagrant violations of human rights and evidence of unfair electoral tactics used by the ruling regime in Ethiopia.

I also vehemently opposed and mobilized to block Gayle E. Smith from being confirmed as the Administrator for USAID. AS I argued in my May 12 commentary in The Hill, Smith’s “long and chummy relationship with Africa’s strongmen will make her a weak advocate of human rights, the rule of law and good governance on the continent.”

Free and fair elections and human rights in Ethiopia were a laughing matter for Rice. A lying matter for Obama. A semantic game for Gail Smith and Wendy Sherman.

Why I support Rex Tillerson’s House Cleaning at the State Department

Proposals for reorganization and retooling of the State Department are nothing new. For instance, in 2001, the Report of an Independent Task Force Cosponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, chaired by Frank C. Carlucci, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, made a number of recommendations. That report advised of the need for a State Department that commands “mastery over new international realities or else pay enormous costs and face quite serious dangers.” The report further noted, “A good portion of the apparatus, especially the Department of State, simply falls short in mission, organization, and skills relative to what is needed to navigate sensibly through the new international universe.”

I believe what Tillerson is trying to do in 2017 is consistent with the long overdue need of structural reform to create a lean, mean and nimble State Department for the 21^stcentury. The State Department needs to find new ways of looking at American global moral leadership in human rights and incorporate it as a core element of the American global interest, not merely feel-good rhetoric. To accomplish this, new blood is needed and existing employees should be encouraged to question the old way of doing things and get on with the new program.

State Department of the future: The State Department, the first federal agency to be created under the new Constitution, was created in 1789. The Secretary of State is 4th in the line of succession to the presidency. Thomas Jefferson was the first fully appointed Secretary of State. Jefferson believed that one of the State Department’s essential mission was to uphold human rights for all mankind. He held the view that America was “a form of civilization higher than the polished societies of Europe, with their artificial distinctions between social classes, their oppressive restrictions on human freedom, and their crushing burden of debt and taxes.” His “legacy in foreign policy has always been identified with a distinctive conception of the role that external affairs ought to play in the American scheme of things” and the “purposes and objectives of foreign policy may be properly understood only as a means to the end of protecting and promoting individual freedom and well-being. No end of foreign policy can be morally autonomous, self-justifying, an end in itself. Instead, all the ends of foreign policy must be seen as means to the ends of society, which are in turn ultimately the ends of individuals.”

I believe the 21^st century U.S. State Department should follow Jefferson’s vision of an America which stands for the human rights of all mankind. In his Letter to the Citizens of Washington, D.C. in 1809, Jefferson wrote eloquently about America as a beacon of human rights in the world:

Trusted with the destinies of this solitary republic of the world, the only monument of human rights, & the sole depository of the sacred fire of freedom & self-government from hence it is to be lighted up in other regions, of the earth, if other regions of the earth shall ever become susceptible of it’s benign influence. all mankind ought then, with us, to rejoice in it’s prosperous, & sympathize in it’s adverse fortunes, as involving every thing dear to man. (Emphasis added.)

In September, Tillerson told U.S. embassy employees in London, “The most important thing I can do is to enable this organization to be more effective, more efficient. Because if I accomplish that, that will go on forever and you will create the State Department of the future.”

I hope Tillerson’s “state department of the future” will look a lot like Jefferson’s 18^thcentury State Department in which America sought to be seen as the “only monument of human rights, & the sole depository of the sacred fire of freedom & self-government” for the world.

State Department needs a change of bureaucratic culture– The 2001 “Carlucci Report” documented many of the problems presently ascribed to Tillerson by his critics. But one of the main finding of this report was that the “department’s professional culture is predisposed against public outreach and engagement, thus undercutting its effectiveness at public diplomacy and undermining its coordination not only with Congress, but also with other agencies of the U.S. government.” That problem persists in 2017 and perhaps it is a terminally cynical culture. But to revitalize the State Department, there must be a massive effort at cultural change by cultivating an acute awareness of American taxpayers first, American values first and American interests first. I don’t know even the alleged bulldozing by Tillerson

State Department that is lean and mean, not bloated and inflated: Tillerson is apparently the architect in the State Department’s budget cutback from about $55 billion to about $39 billion (30 percent cut). Tillerson told a Senate committee in June that he aimed to cut about 1,300 jobs — 327 foreign service officers and about 1,000 civil service employees. State has about 13,000 foreign service employees and 11,000 civil service employees. USAID’s budget is slated to be cut by 32 percent.

Are these cuts so unusual? A 2001 Brookings study  reported, “Funding for the department has been cut 50 percent in real terms since 1985. State’s fading influence is in turn fueling the exodus of many of its most talented young people, who are leaving for careers in the private sector in which pay is plentiful, promotions promising, and power prevalent.”

The fact of the matter is that at the State Department “real spending has more than tripled the past 16 years—from $9.5 billion in 2000 to $30.9 billion in 2016.”

But is the American taxpayer getting the best bang for his/her buck? Will Tillerson’s 30 percent budget cut “end government as we know it”?

It is well-known that the State Department is afflicted by bloat. “Many in the State Department openly acknowledge that the department is bloated, that it is at times inefficient and redundant.” Is a 30 percent cut, in historical perspective, so unreasonable?

I am hopeful that Tillerson’s reorganization of the State Department will end USAID’s corrupt and doomed philosophy of ending “extreme poverty” by maintaining a large welfare program of food assistance, balance of payment and general budget support and rural income support programs in Africa on the American taxpayer’s dime.

State Department needs new blood and the deadwood gotta go– In a letter  dated November 16, 2017, the usual suspects of cry-wolf ranking democrats in the House expressed “deep concern [over[ the exodus of more than 100 senior Foreign Service Officers from the State Department” and lamented the reduction of “minister counselors by 15 percent, career ministers by 42 percent and career ambassadors by an astounding 60 percent.” They warned, “The amount of talent leaving the State Department endangers the institutions and undermines American leadership, security and interests around the world.” “The department will not collapse,” the second official said. “Everyone has good deputies. It’s a huge institutional loss, but the department has excellent subordinates and the career people will step up. They will take up the responsibility.”

Tillerson is not sloganeering about draining the swamp. He is trying to make real changes at the State Department.

The so-called senior foreign service officers, career ministers and other careerists at the State Department in my view are deadwood that Tillerson needed to clear out. The question for me is a simple one: Can these old Cold Warriors-cum-terrorist-hunters effectively carry on with the foreign policy needed in the 21^st century? Reminds me of Sam Cooke’s lyrics, “…I go downtown/  Somebody keep tellin’ me don’t hang around/ It’s been a long, a long time coming/ But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will./ Chin up and move on careerists!

USAID requires greater accountability – In January 2017, the Trump transition team sought clear answers from the State Department to a set of probing questions: 1) “With so much corruption in Africa, how much of our funding is stolen?” 2) “We’ve been fighting al-Shabaab for a decade, why haven’t we won?” 3)  “How does U.S. business compete with other nations in Africa? Are we losing out to the Chinese?” 4) “Why should the U.S. continue the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which provides massive support to corrupt African regimes?”

These questions have yet to be answered adequately. USAID has legal obligation to answer at least the first question, but it has not.

The November 15, 2017 Office of the Inspector General’s audit of USAID’s principal financial statements for fiscal years 2017 and 2016 shows material weaknesses and  deficiencies relating to USAID’s process for reconciling its Fund Balance With Treasury account with the Department of the Treasury related to  deficiencies with respect to (1) reconciling intragovernmental transactions, (2) complying with Federal accounting standards for reimbursable agreements, and (3) maintaining adequate records of property, plant, and equipment.

USAID is the State Department’s problem child and needs substantial discipline. My long-standing critical views on USAID are well-known. I have written extensively about USAID in Ethiopia. In the recent past, I have written about “USAID and the Hunger Games in Ethiopia”. I have challenged USAID Administrator Gayle Smith on “U.S. aid and hunger in Ethiopia”. In March 2017, in an op-ed piece in The Hill that Trump’s suspicion of foreign aid to Africa is right on the money.

There are some interesting proposals for Tillerson to consider including “A New Foreign Aid Architecture Fit for Purpose”.

My view is that USAID needs a dedicated watchdog to make sure it does not allow the rape of the American taxpayer in Africa and elsewhere. Perhaps I will share my personal views on how to reorganize USAID with Secretary Tillerson.

Foggy Bottom (State Department) needs to lift up the fog and get a clear vision– Trump has talked about an “America First” foreign policy. The White House’s sketchy description of that policy is short on details.

In his May 2 speech, Tillerson talked about “how [we] [can] translate ‘America first’ into our foreign policy.” The preliminary evidence based is encouraging. Tillerson told Egypt, “no human rights improvements, no U.S. aid.” Writ large for Africa, “America First” in Africa should translate into “Human rights first in Africa.” What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Tillerson needs to elaborate on what “America first” foreign policy means. In his May 2 speech, he said  U.S. foreign policy will be propelled by “our fundamental values: our values around freedom, human dignity, and the way people are treated.” In a speech of 6511 words, Tillerson devoted a stunning 1,057 words talking about American values and their role in the future of American foreign policy.

I agree with Tillerson. For instance, in my conception of an America-first human rights policy, I see the increased use of U.S. targeted sanctions to promote human rights, democracy and peace in Africa.

At his confirmation hearing, Tillerson said, “Our approach to human rights begins by acknowledging that American leadership requires moral clarity. We do not face an “either or” choice on defending global human rights. Our values are our interests when it comes to human rights and humanitarian assistance.”

I trust Tillerson will remain faithful to his promises of moral clarity and leadership in global human rights. So far, I have no reasons to doubt him. I cannot get over the irony that Barack Obama should talk about the right side of history for eight years and Donald Trump walk the talk of the right side of history in eight months!

It is true the sky is falling on the State Department, but only on the dead wood Chicken Littles.

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