Dwarf puddle frog actually lives in trees, zoologists from NYU Abu Dhabi report from pond on the remote plateau

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Messay Kebede

Thanks to a friend, I recently read an article written by Andreas Eshete and Samuel Assefa for a conference held in Addis Ababa and titled “Reflections on Expanding Ethiopia’s Democratic Space” (http://fes-ethiopia.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Printing-Version.pdf). The article takes note of Ethiopia’s turn toward a more open and democratic path and applauds it as a timely and relevant correction to the glaring mistakes of the past. It also gives a cogent analysis of the challenges and dangers that the turn is already facing and is bound to face with increasing intensity as the date of the national elections approaches. My focus in this write-up is on the article’s conceptualization of the main danger threatening the country and the remedy that it proposes.

According to the article, among the challenges that Ethiopia is facing, the proliferation and exasperation of “nationalist populisms” hold by far the highest rank. Nationalist populism is the highest danger because it can break up and weaken the only nationally viable governing alliance, namely, the EPRDF, the obvious consequence of which would be the disintegration of Ethiopia. The article attributes, albeit in a veiled manner, this ominous possible outcome to the reckless breakup of the new leadership, both in the name of reform and for the purpose of gaining popular support, with the guiding ideology of the EPRDF. Otherwise known as the “developmental state,” this guiding principle had enabled the EPRDF to unite the various nationalisms around a shared common goal while countering by its very developmental project the proliferation of populisms.

In rejecting the developmental ideology, the new leadership underestimates its “great potential in restraining nationalist passions and in building national cohesion.” Instead, the new leadership wants to mitigate ethnonationalism by championing “a form of pan-Ethiopian nationalism.” In so doing, it forgets that the popular unrests that made possible a change in leadership were driven by nationalist and populist demands, be they in the Oromo or Amhara regions, to name the most important ones. The attempt to unite such nationalist movements by a pan-Ethiopian ideology and economic liberalism has little chance to succeed, as shown by the fact that even those who champion the ideology are increasingly forced to support ethnonationalist claims under pain of losing their constituents to rival ethnic parties. It stands to reason that the integration of nationalist and populist demands is the only way by which the various parties composing the EPRDF can compete against their rival regional parties and maintain their political relevance. With national elections fast approaching, the tendency to identify with the nationalist and populist base can only increase, thereby putting a severe strain on the ability of the new leadership to keep the EPRDF united.

Most striking about Andreas and Samuel’s article is the discrepancy between the lucidity of the analysis of the challenges facing the country and the solution it suggests to offset those challenges. Indeed, the plea for a resumption of the ideology of developmental state to counter nationalist populisms and consolidate the unity of the EPRDF seems hardly appropriate. Moreover, what else does the plea disclose but a long overdue refusal to engage in a serious critical analysis of the ideological orientation and practices of the previous TPLF-dominated EPRDF? After all, who can deny that the proliferation and intensification of nationalist populisms are the direct results of the TPLF’s rule, not to mention the fact that the TPLF is currently pouring fuel on these movements in an attempt to destabilize the new leadership? Not only does the proposed solution want to change the disease into a remedy, but it also refuses to admit that the theory of developmental state cannot work where national unity and cohesion are undermined by ethnonationalist movements, especially when one ethnic group has a hegemonic position, as was the case with the TPLF. In other words, a serious attempt to implement the theory of developmental state would require, from the start, a Pan-Ethiopian ideology, not the institution of ethnonationalist borders.

As stated above, the article questions the viability of a pan-Ethiopian ideology on the ground that identification with ethnic and populist demands determines, whether one likes it or not, political legitimacy in today’s Ethiopia. So that, the likelihood of preserving the unity of the EPRDF in the framework of a pan-Ethiopian ideology is little sustainable, especially in the context of free and fair national elections. But is it true that only a return to the ideology of developmental state can guarantee the unity of the country? As I have already suggested many times, the feasible way to harmonize the unity of the country with the ethnic units is to institute a nationally elected presidential figure with substantial executive power. However, I admit that this solution is hard to implement, since it demands nothing short of a change in the Constitution, a move that both ethnicized elites and nationalist populist movements would certainly oppose.

Admittedly, then, no other alternative is left to preserve the unity of the country than a resurgence of some form of authoritarian government. It seems to me that this is exactly where Andreas and Samuel’s article is heading when it advises the resumption of the ideology of the developmental state minus the corruptions and human rights abuses of the previous government. To be sure, it would have been the only way out were it not for the availability of a form of authoritarianism that is transitory in addition to not being inimical to the progression of democracy and the free market economy. The truth is that the concept of developmental state is unworkable in an ethnically divided country. It is equally true that only democracy granting an extensive self-rule prerogative can satisfy ethnonationalist demands and that this requirement is incompatible with the interventionist and authoritarian methods of the developmental state.

We owe to Max Weber the conceptualization of a transitory type of authoritarianism with the potential to pave the way for democratic changes. I have in mind the phenomenon of charisma (the usual term being “great man”): unlike traditional authority, charismatic authority is transformative and, unlike revolutionary authority, it has a great potential to avoid dictatorship on condition that it is progressively institutionalized. Charisma provides a form of leadership whose legitimacy emanates neither from the sanctity of tradition nor from the fear that a dictatorial authority often inspires. Instead, its authority derives from the perceived uncommon qualities of the leader, whatever be the origin assigned to those qualities. The perception creates a special bond between the leader and the people as a result of which the latter readily respond to the directives of the leader, often outside or against their traditional or partisan references.

The main question should then be whether Prime Minister Abiye shows the signs of being a charismatic leader. Recall that it is right after his election to premiership that observers, seeing the electrifying impact that he has on people, started to speak of “Abiymania.” In an article I wrote in September, I myself cautioned against the rush to see Abiye as a God-sent messiah because such a qualification visibly carries the danger of deviation toward dictatorship. However, I saw, since then, some signs, which, although unable to dismiss my fear, are reassuring enough. Abiye seems to be using his charisma as much to galvanize people as to building institutions, as shown by his sustained dialogue with the opposition so as to ensure fair and free elections and his effort to protect the independence of the judiciary. If this trend continues, there is no doubt that Abiye’s lofty vision for Ethiopia, the concrete steps he is taking to materialize it, and his obvious humanitarian penchant tick all the boxes of a charismatic leader.

Assuming that this analysis is correct, the next question is to know in what way the emergence of a charismatic leader from the EPRDF can deflect the danger posed by nationalist populism. The answer is not hard to find: since charisma is a galvanizing power that overflows localities and regions, it is well suited to promote a Pan-Ethiopian vision. What the various parties composing the EPRDF must to do to prevail over the nationalist populist movements in a fair and free election is to add to their program the factor Abiye. They can do this in various ways, but the principal message must be that their victory means nothing less than the continuation of Abiye as Prime Minister. Notably, they must inculcate in the mind of their regional voters that their electoral loss entails the loss of Abiye’s leadership with all the uncertainties and dangers that such an outcome is bound to cause. In other words, to marginalize their opponents, they must compete with their own positive agenda but also as supporters and electors of Abiye.

This is to say that charisma provides a concrete link between pan-Ethiopianism and regional identities. If it achieves electoral success through the reelection of Abiye as Prime Minister and the sidelining of nationalist populist movements, the remaining urgent task would be to institutionalize it. It is urgent because if charisma continues to operate as a personal magnetism it will deteriorate, as sated earlier, into a personal dictatorship. Institutionalization makes it accountable to the people while also allowing a legal transfer of power to whomever wins in the next presidential elections. Be it noted that the electoral success of the EPRDF as a guarantor of Abiye’s premiership is a de facto approval of a presidential system by the majority of Ethiopians. This popular sanction nicely prepares the ground for the legalization and implementation of a presidential power by means of democratic universal suffrage occurring in conjunction with ethnic based regional elections. In this way, identity politics will have its representation in the parliament while it is at the same time transcended by a presidential power incarnating pan-Ethiopianism.

Messay Kebede

University of Dayton

https://udayton.academia.edu/MessayKebede

The post Charisma: Is it a Path for Ethiopia? appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

By Faisal Roble

With the coming of Dr. Abiy Ahmed to power in April 2018, the political scene of Ethiopia has changed, or so it seemed at first glance. Overthrowing TPLF bloodlessly itself is a miracle. However much one celebrates Dr. Abiy’s promise to have brought Ethiopia back from the brink, his ability to divorce that country from the ghost of TPLF is less certain. At least, the TPLF ghost has reincarnated in the Somali region. If Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus Christ, Jigjiga is the closest place to qualify for the reincarnation of the ghost of TPLF.

Using his preacher’s skills, Dr. Abiy has instantly earned the admiration and support of millions of Ethiopians for his ecumenical promises to engender a complete revolution. Alas, the Abiy revolution has stagnated in some areas, and certainly has failed in the Somali region for the simple reason that the local administration looks like more of a TPLF apparatus than a new system of governance.

In general, non-substantive changes in Sub-Sahara Africa are often welcomed, simply because people are desperate for a live-altering change. In the case of Ethiopia, the threshold to evaluate change is so low that often both so-called revolutions and their leaders are often uncritically accepted by the masses. Then follows suit extreme power abuse.

Dr. Abiy has exploited that low threshold. With no substantive change in the body politic of the country, the society gave him a seal of approval, mainly for ending the curfew, releasing political prisoners, making peace with Eritrea, and declaring ceasefire with multiple rebel groups. But these steps are nothing more than a step in the right direction. Despite the Ogaden National Liberation Front disarming itself, and ceding all its fighters to the government, as the regional president said in a recent ceremony in Jigjiga, the seal of approval for Dr. Abiy’s revolution in the Somali region is already showing cracks, as the case has been with previous promising changes in the past. Whether things will further deteriorate is a thing in the future.

Promises Broken and Healthy Skepticism

I was an idealistic high school kid when Mengistu Haile Mariam took power in 1974. People did not know what to make of him. But they all agreed he was a

charismatic leader. Coming from the rank and file of the Harar and Jigjiga stationed powerful mechanized 3rd Division, he had less inhibitions about royalty and more down-trodden guts to dare the powerful. It was that low-class quality that earned him the respect of many youngster in the center.

More and more people admired him initially for his “great speech” at Chan Meda, now Red Square, or Qayi Masqal. Chan Meda was the first place where people saw the maverick and hitherto reclusive junior captain from Jigjiga and Harar. In his speech he decidedly accommodated ideas for which the progressives fought.

The words of “Ethiopia Tiqdam iska Maqaabir dhiras,” or “Ethiopia first even if we have to go to grave for it” reverberated well with the young and the change-seekers. Followed by his “land to the tillers, rural campaign (Zamacha), and nationalization of the productive sectors of the economy appealed to the youth and the idealist. But that positive impression did not last long.

What followed was one of the worst purges in history. Thousands of high school kids, university revolutionaries and trade union members have perished. A good account of the mayhem Mengistu committed was methodically narrated by Dan Connell in an article he wrote for the Horn of Africa Journal in 1978. Mr. Connell gives a gore account of the type of purges and underground live by students and members of EPRP, and the architecture of the infamous red terror that spanned between 1977 and 1978.

The killings of about 60 Prisoners right after Mengistu and his Dergi junta clutched in power is still fresh in my memory. I still vividly recall what I was doing on that fateful day of November 23, 1974. I went to my regular restaurant for breakfast that often consisted of lamb liver, French bread, and sweet Somali tea. Upon entering Abdulahi Taganghn’s restaurant (Abdullahi Taganghn, or the Abdullahi who was found was a Walayta convert to Islam who became through time a Somali whose business and life thrived in his adopted land), I was hit in the face by the marching military music broadcasted over the radio.

Instantly Hashi, a chubby waiter of about 24, approached my table. “What are all these commotions” I asked.

“Did you not hear it?” he asked in a bewilderment placing my usual order in a sequence of tea first, followed by the liver dish, and French bread at last.

“No, I did not,” I replied still eying hungrily my food steaming right in front of me.

“The crazy guy passed a national proclamation and passed a verdict over the execution of 60 imprisoned officers who were held at Karchle prison.”

Before he proceeded, a second round of announcement came on the radio. I attentively listened and the names of the prisoners were read one by one! they were the “who is who” of Ethiopia’s ministers, generals, members of the elite. Sixty of them! It was one of a kind, never heard before or thereafter (the 60 included 2 Prime Ministers, more than 20 generals, more than 15 with honorary titles like Dejazmach, and several colonels).

One General stood up for me and that was Lt. General Yilma Shibashi, who was my Grand uncle’s friend.

My Grand uncle, Ahmed Yasin Heban loved Lt. General Yilma Shibashi as his mentor. With the help of General Yilma, Mr. Heban rose in the ranks of national police force and served as the senior police commander in Dambidola and Nekemti, located in Welega. Mr. Heban in his retirement lost faith in the system and often retort the words of “Inquan Yilma Shibasim gadalaju,” or “you even killed Yilma Shibashi” to emphasize the cruelty of the Dergi, and the “end of Ethiopia face that he knew well.

That morning was the eeriest moment that I would ever see since. In one scoop, the government of Ethiopia murdered 60 of the best and the brightest without habeas corpus. Thus, came my undying skepticism about African revolutions. I simply don’t trust change so easily.

Then came the TPLF “revolution,” in 1991. All but only some unionists welcomed it without reservations. I was from the get-go one of those rare Somali skeptics from the peripheries and approached TPLF rhetoric with a healthy dose of reservation.

Right away, Meles became a turnoff to me when he mistreated Somalis. I lost faith in him when I saw in him an element of Mengistu early one, especially after I listened to one of his earliest interviews; he gave an unsettling interview to Sayyid Khalifa of Sudan right after the first parliament was put together. A veteran journalist, Sayyid Khalif inquired about the small share of four seats given to the Somalis who fought Mengistu more than any other group.

Meles’ answer was that Somalis cannot administer for they are nomads (I wrote an article then in 1991). How this experience with Meles compares to Abiy’s utter disregard of Somalis when he put together both the boundary and reconciliation commissions to the exclusion of Somalis, except one member in each commission of 41 members, is a subject of immense interest to Somalis.

However, Meles used Somalis as a token “model minority” to benefit from a phantom “Article 39” more than other ethnic groups; he did so without ever ceding or availing any form of real political and economic muscle to them. Nonetheless, he marveled all Somalis no matter where they are from; I still wonder why did they buy his empty rhetoric? He did all this while stealing their wealth and their political representation within the federal scheme, plus humiliating them.

As history later would show, more Somali civilians in the Ogaden regions of Wardheer, Qorahay, and Jarar have been leveled to the ground. He also destroyed Mogadishu by serving America’s “war on terror” as their stooge in the Horn of Africa.

As a contributing editor of the Ethiopian Review (1992-1998), I wrote critical essays, which often earned me the scorn of multiple feeble governments in Jigjiga. In my last two trips to Ethiopia (2006 and 2014), I had to only go as far as Addis Ababa and never ventured to go down to Jigjiga. As a punishment, thought, the now-imprisoned former local henchman, Abdi Mahomed Omar (CMC), confiscated my family’s property illegally. Without any crime, I was deprived of the simple pleasure to visit my late father’s grave or spend time with two of my siblings who are still there.

As much as Haile Marian Desalaign was, in the words of Terrence Lyons, “not a token but a transitional leader,” he did not capture any traction with Ethiopians. But he shared one common trait with Meles – Somalis have been massacred during his administration and he kept silent. Despite that delay is death, he nonetheless finally apologized and asked for forgiveness for the Somalis killed in Oromia during his tenure. It is never late to contrite and apologize. Reconciliation begins with contrite and a sincere apology; so, the former PM did it with class.

Reincarnation of TPLF Ghost in Jigjiga

The coming of Dr. Abiy Ahmed, in April 2018, was significantly different. Unlike his predecessors, he instantly captured the admiration and appreciations of almost

Ethiopia’s 105 million residents. He was successful in articulating a concept called “medemer,” or add-up, implying that we have to be one large family – an idea akin to America’s unity-based motto of “E Pluribus Unum.” As usual, Somalis uncritically jumped the bandwagon and even sung for the new Nugus louder than any other group.

In getting his point across, Dr. Abiy preaches like a Black American priest – Most of what he says is not relevant or practical public policies but ecumenical messages that soothes the aching hearts of millions of indigents; some even consider him as the coming of the second messiah, simply because he speaks to their pain.

In Ethiopia, when one side heals, another side must hurt; if one group wins, there shall be a losing and hurting counterpart. But, Dr. Abiy like a “messiah” promised that in his coming everybody will win. He promised to this country of 105 million-person ancient empire that TPLF was dead. In so many media outlets, the TPLF carcass and what is pejoratively called the “day-time-hyena,” (ya qan Jiib) was crucified.

However, skeptics like I found irresistibly repeating the Amharic phrase of “zor ale injii alshasham,” that it camouflaged itself but did not go away. If the names and personalities associated with TPLF have disappeared, its political machinations and intrigues are well and alive, at least in the Somali region.

For the unsuspecting Ethiopian eye in the center, the removal of the former regional henchman, Abdi Mohamoud Omar, was done in total contravention of the existing constitutional framework. The pretext was a childish one and remains so -that he was a threat to the non-Somali residents of Jigjiga. But there lies the machination and intrigues Abiy and his revolutionaries learned from TPLF – utter fabrication of fake facts to promote an illegal political act. On the contrary, Abdi Mohamoud Omar was their “house nigger,” if any, and wanted to be liked so much by the neftegna in Jigjiga he empowered them. He reportedly allocated about 600,000 bir annually for the church in Jigjiga. With that in the background, the ploy to accuse Abdi Mohamoud Omar as someone out there to destroy the Christian community in Jigjiga is to say that the Bueutaleza of apartheid South Africa conspired against his apartheid white settlers. Such a childish ploy is a verse from the book of TPLF.

As if the was not enough of an insult to our intelligence, the Oromo elite, who became the new Nugus of the country, handpicked the current administrator of the region in a hasty decision. Mustafa Omar is by far more nuanced than Abdi Mohamed Omar; that is given. But he was chosen not because of his political

blueprint or executive [managerial] skills, or even his revolutionary credentials. Simply put, Jawer Mohamed and his inner circle parachuted him into the office. They did so not that they loved him more but that they loved CMC less – akin to Brutus’ murdering of Caesar, then declaring that “not that I loved Cesar less but that I loved Rome more.”

As far as we now, Mustafa has no political philosophy or executive experience in government administration. What most Somalis admire about him, though, is his tenacious attitude to have waged a fearless war of words, even if it was vitriolic, with the former President; he did so over his Facebook page (his younger brother was allegedly murdered by the former regional President). For that, he earned a lot of sympathy. Most of what they accused CMC were facts; but they also fabricated their own facts to satisfy the Jawer clique. It is those fabricated facts that are haunting him now, where propaganda to help achieve power does not match facts on the ground.

However, most Somalis openly now grumble about him being a weak and disheveled client regional administrator with his credibility waning by the day for two reasons:

1. As a viceroy handpicked by OPDO (now ODP), he has no agenda of his own when it comes to administering the region. Nor has he shown the discipline to follow governmental procedures thus plunging the region into an ever-widening crisis with no end in sight. Reports from Jigjiga are indicating that he is firing parliamentarians and civil servants without any due process and replacing them with inexperienced wonders from lands from afar. And that is creating unnecessary anarchy and making transition more difficult in this otherwise fragile region.

2. He remained silent on the incisive and non-stop killings of Somalis along Oromo-Somali boundary areas. To date, he kept silent over the death of innocent civilians in Tuliguuleed, Moyale, Babili, Sitti, and elsewhere. Neither did he produce a blueprint to arrest the crisis. As I draft this op-ed, there is an overnight bitter war between an invading Oromo militia and civilians in Tuliguuleed, which is only 20 KM to the north of his office. Thus far, he has hung on to what he calls “freedom of speech,” which is largely a relieve whose bell is ringing in the entire country.

To their delight, he and his ministers derive around this small and decrepit town expansive V8 SUVs in the dusty streets of Jigjiga and are thus far oblivious to their neighborhood. Alas, the late Saado Ali sung of the same situation where undeserving undereducated government officials vainly derive Land Cruiser SUVs in the face of starving indigents and the sound of bullets being heard inside his office. If they walked, they could have seen what is happening in their surrounding and in the way would have picked up healthy habits. After all, the city consists of only few blocks.

To the chagrin of many, President Mustafa’s blanket silence in the face of constant killings of hundreds of Somalis and the accompanying displacement of thousands is unsettling. The conflicts on the outskirts of Jigjiga, Babili, Sitti, and Moyale, a jaw-dropping and harrowing experience for thousands of Somalis, have also inadvertently made him irrelevant in the region’s safety and public welfare.

It is fitting to mention that while the former Prime Minister, Haile Mariam, has shown contrite and apologized for the killing of about less than one hundred Somalis in Oromia area during his tenure, President Mustafa has brushed aside the cause of hundreds being killed since he came to office. Instead, he is busy to perfect the following TPLF tools:

1. Making the regional government a viceroy to ODP and the military generals in the region, as CMC was to TPLF and Tigre generals. In the case of President Mustafa, they toy with him as they on-and-off give him mixed messages. Nonetheless, he remains in a servitude to ODP.

2. Arresting, intimidating, and harassing dissent voices at will is back. There is no month that passes by without mass arrests of one group or another. On 2/11/2019, for example, about 64 young adults have been arrested without any warrant or explanation. Prior to that, several young adults and elders were arrested. Even, women in the middle of their maternity have been sent to jail. A similar of such an arrest happened under Meles Zenawi in 2010 when a mother who gave birth only few days before was arrested because of an unfounded suspicion that her husband joined ONLF.

3. The worst TPLF tools President Mustafa has reinstituted is his proclivity and obsession to play one Somali clan against another. Reliable information coming from Jigjiga testifies that he encourages inter clan conflicts, when

necessary, and has perfected the art of “robbing Peter to pay Paul” in giving political positions and government contracts.

If the Getachaws of TPLF are dead in Addis Ababa, their ghost has reincarnated with venom in Jigjiga. Revolutions happen for a reason, often when oppression is no longer sustainable. However, revolutionaries could also be susceptible to corruption. The Abiy revolution is on the verge of being corrupted. The proof is in the pudding, and Jigjiga is in more than one way the center for the reincarnation of the ghost of TPLF.

By FaisalAbdi Roble
Email: faisalroble19@gmail.com
———–
Faisal Roble, a writer, political analyst and a former Editor-in-Chief of WardheerNews, is mainly interested in the Horn of Africa region. He is currently the Principal Planner for the City of Los Angeles in charge of Master Planning, Economic Development and Project Implementation Division.

The post THE GHOST OF TPLF: REVOLUTION’S PROMISES VS. SUBSTANCE appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

“Ethnic tensions are the biggest problem for Ethiopia right now,” Tewodrose Tirfe, chair of the Amhara Association of America, a US-based advocacy group that played a significant role in lobbying the US government to censor the former regime. “You’ve got millions of people displaced – it’s a humanitarian crisis, and it could get out of control.”

During the first half of 2018, Ethiopia’s rate of 1.4 million new internally displaced people exceeded Syria’s. By the end of last year, the IDP population had mushroomed to nearly 2.4 million.

Tigrayans comprise just six percent of Ethiopia’s population of 100 million people but are perceived as a powerful minority because of their ethnic affinity with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. The TPLF wielded almost unlimited power for more than two decades until reforms within the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front last year.

Since coming to power in April 2018, Prime Minister Abiy – from the Oromo ethnic group, Ethiopia’s largest – has brought major changes to the politics of the country, including an unprecedented redistribution of power within the EPRDF and away from the TPLF.

he politics of ethnic tensions

Despite the conflicting interests and disagreements between ethnic groups, the Ethiopian government has managed to keep the peace on a national scale. But that juggling act has shown signs of strain in recent years.

In 2017, an escalation in ethnic clashes in the Oromia and the Somali regions led to a spike in IDPs. This continued into 2018, when clashes between the Oromo and Gedeo ethnic groups displaced approximately 970,000 people in the West Guji and Gedeo zones of neighbouring Oromia and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region.

“The pace and scale of the change happening in Ethiopia is quite unbelievable,” said Ahmed Soliman, a research fellow with the Africa Programme at the London-based think tank Chatham House.

“The impact of inter-communal tensions and ethnic violence presents a serious challenge for the new leadership – in Tigray and elsewhere. Abiy’s aggressive reform agenda has won praise, but shaking up Ethiopia’s government risks exacerbating several long-simmering ethnic rivalries.”

Although clashes are sometimes fuelled by other disagreements, such as land or resources, people affected often claim that politicians across the spectrum use ethnic tensions as a means of divide and rule, or to consolidate their position as a perceived bulwark against further trouble.

“Sadly [around Ethiopia] ethnic bias and violence is affecting many people at the local level,” said a foreign humanitarian worker with an international organisation helping Ethiopian IDPs, who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue. This includes fuelling the displacement crisis and worsening the humanitarian situation.

“The main humanitarian concern is that new displacements are occurring by the day, that due to the wide geographic scope, coordination and response in all locations is practically impossible,” the aid worker said.

“I would like to see more transparency as to what actions the government is taking to hold regional and zonal governments responsible for addressing conflict, for supporting reconciliation, and supporting humanitarian response.”

Tigray fears

Although Tigrayans constitute a relatively small part of overall IDP numbers so far, some Tigrayans fear the power shift in Addis Ababa away from the TPLF leaves them more vulnerable and exposed.

Already simmering anti-Tigrayan sentiments have led to violence, people told IRIN, from barricading roads and forcibly stopping traffic to looting and attacks on Tigrayan homes and businesses in the Amhara and Oromia regions.

In the Tigray region’s capital of Mekelle, more than 750 kilometers north of the political changes taking place in Addis Ababa, many Tigrayans feel increasingly isolated from fellow Ethiopians.

“The rest of the country hates us,” Weyanay Gebremedhn, 25, told IRIN. Despite the reforms, Tigrayans say what hasn’t changed is the narrative that they are responsible by association for the ills of the TPLF.

Although he now struggles to find work, 35-year-old Huey Berhe, who does mostly odd jobs to pay the bills, said he felt safer living among his own community in Mekelle.

Huey said he had been a student at Jimma University in western Ethiopia, until growing ethnic tensions sparked fights on campus and led to Tigrayans being targeted. “I left my studies at Jimma after the trouble there,” he said. “It was bad – it’s not something I like to discuss.”

‘A better evil’

“There is a lot of [lies] and propaganda, and the TPLF has been made the scapegoat for all vice,” said Gebre Weleslase, a Tigrayan law professor at Mekelle University. He criticised Abiy for not condemning ethnic attacks, which he said had contributed to tens of thousands of Tigrayans leaving Amhara for Tigray in recent years.

But Amhara Association of America’s Tewodrose said the feeling of “hate” that Ethiopians have toward the TPLF “doesn’t extend to Tigrayans”.

“There is resentment toward them when other Ethiopians hear of rallies in Tigray supporting the TPLF, because that seems like they aren’t supporting reform efforts,” he said. “But that doesn’t lead to them being targeted, otherwise there would have been more displacements.”

☰ Read more: The complex Tigray evolution

Tigrayans, however, aren’t as reassured. Despite the vast majority enduring years of poverty and struggle under the TPLF, which should give them as many reasons as most Ethiopians to feel betrayed, even those Tigrayans who dislike the TPLF now say that turning to its patronage may be their only means of seeking protection.

“The TPLF political machinery extended everywhere in the country – into the judiciary, the universities… it became like something out of George Orwell’s ‘1984’,” Huey said. “But the fact is now the TPLF may represent a better evil as we are being made to feel so unsafe – they seem our only ally as we are threatened by the rest of the country.”

Others note that Abiy has a delicate balance to strike, especially for the sake of Tigrayans.

“The prime minister needs to be careful not to allow his targeting of anti-reform elements within the TPLF, to become an attack on the people of Tigray,” said Soliman.

“The region has a history of resolute peoples and will have to be included with all other regions, in order for Abiy to accomplish his goals of reconciliation, socio-political integration and regional development, as well as long-term peace with Eritrea.”

Although the government has a big role to play, some Ethiopians told IRIN it is essential for the general population to also face up to the inherent prejudices and problems that lie at the core of their society.

“It’s about the people being willing and taking individual responsibility – the government can’t do everything,” Weyanay said. “People need to read more and challenge their assumptions and get new perspectives.”

jj/si/ag

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Zekarias Ezra

Something is seriously wrong with our brothers, the self-appointed Oromo elites, activists and politicians.

Of course, it has been wrong for many years now, but we just thought, with the ascendency of one of their own vowing to do differently than his evil predecessor, they have changed. Alas! They have not a bit. They in fact have ratcheted up a notch.

The thorny case of Addis Ababa

This has always been a hot issue among the self-appointed Oromo elites, activists and politicians. But I doubt the gallant youths of Oromo have died for a mere name change; from Addis Ababa to Finfine. They were pro-democracy and anti-EPRDF and have died for democracy and freedom.

They have succeeded, aided by their brothers and sisters, the Fanos and others, at least in giving TPLF a run for its money and hiding in Mekelle abdicating power to their former comrades from OPDO.

Ethiopia is now run by ODP-EPRDF; and not TPLF-EPRDF. Yet, day in and day out the self-appointed Oromo elites, activists and politicians keep crying foul every time they show up on TV or any public gathering. What really is up with them?

Dr Abiy had appointed, illegally I might add, Eng. Takele as Mayor of Addis Ababa. It is widely reported this Mayor has been busy doing many questionable actions since taking office and his deputy W/O Dagmawit was removed. Even then the cries of the self-appointed Oromo elites, activists and politicians has continued unabated.

Just this past week, Ato Jawar has made his intentions known. By hook or crook, he and his Queero will make sure Addis Ababa will be a ‘Finfine of their dream. The special privileges and rights guaranteed by the Woyane legislation will be implemented. No one has yet told us what those privileges and rights are. As for who is Mayor, Jawar has advised us we can bring from China or planet Mars, for all he cares. If one reads between the lines, he is basically saying ‘it does not matter, one way or another we will execute our, (jawar’s and his team) plan. By the way, all this is taking place in Addis Ababa, the seat of the government.

When we were still processing what has transpired, another  self-appointed Oromo politician, Ato Lencho Bati, showed up on LTV, with Bethlehem Tafesse, and rehashed the same old-fake story with a twist.

After letting us in with a little secret that he and his group were in-the-know of the activities of the ‘Team Lemma’ group as far back as 2012, he declared that they have effectively changed things in the ground. He gave an example. In the past to find an Oromo speaking resident in Addis was difficult, now, according to Lencho, 3 out of 5 speak Affan Oromo. Anyone who has lived in Addis Ababa for any length of time would know this is utter lie. Shame on this politician! Our Oromo brothers and sisters had been an integral part of Addis Ababa for generations. For Lencho to imply Addis Ababa was closed for Oromos until Dr Abiy ascended to power is an absurd statement that has no equivalence.

You wish he has stopped on this absurdity, but he did not. He added another two for us to process. The legislation to grant Oromia Regional State special privileges in Addis Ababa should be construed, according to the self-appointed legal expert Ato Lencho Bati, to mean ‘Oromia just want equal rights and privileges, not any special one’.  Does he think we are gullible fools? Let along for those of us trained in law, even for a non-lawyer person, the intent of the provision of the legislation is clear. We are just waiting to see the regulations that implements or outlines what those special interest are.

Ato Lencho and W/t Bethlehem Tafesse also defined for us who are not the true heroes of the struggle. Getting imprisoned, so they argued, does not make one a hero even if that person suffered repeated imprisonment on account of his political views while he/she could easily avoid such suffering by fleeing from the country as Lencho, Jawar and others have done. They made it clear that Eskinder is no hero because he said, ‘the Addis Ababa electorate will punish Mayor Takele in the upcoming election’. Ato Lencho also echoed Jawar and advised us to hire a Mayor from any other country in the world. Translation: “The Oromo plan for Addis Ababa will be executed.”

The rest of us shall wait and see what plan they have in store for us!

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By Assegid Habtewold[1]

The theme of my speech at a community empowerment event organized by Jantilla on Saturday, February 2^nd, 2019 in Silver Spring, MD at DoubleTree by Hilton hotel was “Leadership in the 21st C”. Last week, I wrote a follow-up article concerning one of the reasons why we Ethiopians don’t have as many leaders as we need. If you have missed the article, check it out from this link: “What is the primary reason that prevents many Ethiopians from becoming leaders?”

In that article, I shared how the way leadership is defined discourages many from taking lead in the area of their passion. In this sequel article, let me share with you another reason that prevents many Ethiopians from becoming leaders, from playing their fair share in transforming our country. In my book I quoted in the previous article- “Redefining Leadership”, which was published in 2011, I pointed out four major barriers that keep many at bay from claiming their birthright of leadership. One of the four reasons is culture. During the Q&A session, we explained how our culture doesn’t incentivize outward looking individuals and how this, in turn, discourages many from going out to take leadership initiatives to advance the cause they care about. Rather than recounting what I said at the Jantilla event concerning the impacts of culture, I thought to share with you an excerpt from the above-mentioned book to show you how many people are victims of their own culture:

“Culture is simply the collection of beliefs and values a given society or organization reflects collectively. These shared viewpoints, principles, rules, and behaviors bind stakeholders together as they live, work, and fellowship together. Culture is an environment that nurtures and shapes the various personalities of those who dwell in it. As a person with a medical background, let me give you a metaphor using culturing microorganisms in a laboratory to explain how a nurturing culture is. First of all, each microorganism requires a certain dose of feeding substances and composition of some chemical compounds. Using media such as plates, cultures are built in the lab to harvest some useful microorganisms. The final nature of a given organism is dependent upon the content of the culture it was fed.

Likewise, we are the products of those cultures (s) that fed and nurtured us. For that matter, the progress and competitiveness of organizations and nations depend upon their cultural elements. For example, Harrison & Huntington compared the economic data of Ghana and South Korea in the 1960s and found out that these two countries were having similar GNP and almost on an equal footing. However, after some decades later, South Korea became an industrial country with lots of economic success. The authors attributed this contrasting difference to South Koreans cultural values, which embraced ideals such as working hard, educating their citizens, investing, and promoting discipline, and the likes.

Whether it was the hunting-culture or today’s cyber-culture, culture shapes the personality of the individual as what he eats and drinks shapes his physical appearances. Culture plays a significant role in cultivating the individual who would have gone nowhere without the collective knowledge, identity, and guidance he has got as he grows from nobody to somebody. Throughout the years, we are fed and cultivated to become who we are today. Our thinking patterns, decision-making processes, and the way we behave and act deal with time, relate with others, interact with nature, view the future, perceive the invisible world, etc. are highly influenced by our respective cultures.

Though at times we may have counter-cultural stands and refuse to get molded all the time, the sum total of who we are at present is the product of those cultures we have been exposed. We should be grateful for the opportunity we were given to find ourselves embraced within those environments that finally helped us on our way up. We started naked, alone, and empty, and look at where we are now. We read the books, observed the arts crafted, used the system built in a given culture, and so on. Therefore, we owe our cultures. Yet, culture plays some negative roles against individual uniqueness and leadership.

If you don’t wrongly mistake me, almost every culture has some elements that discourage individual uniqueness. Some cultures, especially those individualistic, produce many unique individuals while others discourage individual uniqueness altogether. I call the latter communal cultures that are common in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and South America. In these cultures, individuals are ‘forced’ to group thinking. Very few break through and become leaders of their unique destiny while the majority is led into lifetime obscurity in the name of showing loyalty for group identity and destiny.

Though communal cultures discourage individual uniqueness and leadership the most, almost all other cultures within the individualistic culture have some cultural elements that undermine individual uniqueness and leadership. There are cultural myths, taboos, and sayings that discourage people from taking leadership. Let’s look at some sayings from representative cultures.

In my country, there is a saying: “Silence is gold”. There is a similar saying in Spain: “A closed mouth catches no flies”. Without talking, there is no way one becomes unique and takes leadership initiative to share with others his message and vision. These kinds of mottos are disincentives for individuals to go out and pursue their uniqueness through leadership. There are similar myths in western cultures too such as “Don’t blow your own horn”. In the Far East, “The nail that sticks up will get pounded down”. In the Middle East, “Woe to leadership, for it buries those who possess it”.

Surrounded by the noises such as the above and many similar discouraging myths, since childhood, it is very hard for many to venture and go out to pursue their uniqueness by leading their own destiny towards fulfillment. As leading is considered making noise, self-promoting, troublemaking, we can imagine how many individuals find no incentive to claim their uniqueness, communicate that to their respective peers and communities, and stride forward to bear the fruits of leadership.

What is tricky about culture is that many of us may not even know that the way we think, the pattern of our behavior, the way we decide, and act is the result of our cultural orientation. We may not question those things that don’t promote individual uniqueness and allow us to claim our birthright of leadership and lead a distinct path towards fulfillment. These things operate at a deeper level without much awareness and control from our conscious side of the brain. That makes it a very dangerous barrier against leading an original life and pursuing a distinct path.

The frustrating thing is that the majority in a given culture defends the above discussed and similar counterproductive myths, taboos, and sayings without questioning and knowing why they were installed in the first place. This reminded me of the most popular psychological experiment of Harry Harlow’s. This experiment involved a couple of monkeys, a banana, a stair, and cold ice water spray. The banana was hung on the ceiling and the stair put under it. When one of these monkeys stepped on the stair to reach the banana, all of the monkeys were sprayed with cold ice water. After a couple of trials with the same brutal cold ice water sprays on all the monkeys, the monkeys developed group-thinking and stopped trying. Not only that, they attacked newcomers who tried to step on the stair even when there was no more cold water spray. This continued even if all the monkeys who witnessed the cold-water spray firsthand were substituted with new ones.

The insight from this experiment was that even if the initial monkeys substituted with new ones, which hadn’t been there when cold ice water was sprayed, continued to attack newcomers who tried to get the banana. What these monkeys knew was that they were beaten the first time they tried even if they didn’t know why. They also watched while other newcomers were beaten. Soon after, they joined the group-thinking and started to defend the banana from newcomers even if they didn’t have any clue why this beating started in the first place. The same with culture; people zealously defend unproductive cultural myths without knowing why they were installed in the first place. I have been beaten and watched others beaten because of similar group-thinking without fully understanding why these group-thinking were put in the first place. What I am saying here in this section is that ‘there is no more cold ice water spray in place that we should stop beating one another but rather let’s enjoy the banana’…”

Knowing how many people are blindly loyal to their respective culture, I don’t expect a lot of people to immediately break through cultural barriers to taking leadership initiatives just because they read this article. This is my hope, however, that this article sparked curiosity in you if in case you’re one of the victims of your own culture; if in case, your culture discouraged you from venturing out to take lead in the area of your passion.

Don’t misunderstand me. Yes, communal cultures like ours have so many great cultural attributes we need to keep and promote. However, our culture needs to be reformed if our desire is to come out of poverty and enjoy sustainable development, which cannot happen without raising enough leaders at all levels. Please understand that I’m not suggesting copying and pasting a foreign culture from somewhere. That doesn’t work. I’m talking about indigenous reform- reforming the existing culture by keeping what has been productive and substituting those cultural attributes that have been counterproductive without losing our Ethiopiawinet.

Countries like Ethiopia must pass through a deep change to enjoy prosperity, stability, peace, and harmony. Unfortunately, deep change is impossible without cultural reform. The culture we have had brought us this far. If we would like to go somewhere better than where we have been so far, we don’t have any other choice but to reform our culture so that it empowers us to have the right mindset, attitude, discipline, principles, and standards, which in turn enable us to transform Ethiopia once and for all and in one generation.

Remember the metaphor I shared above. A given organism is a product of the culture that fed it. Using one and the same bacteria but two different cultures, you can harvest two totally different bacteria colonies: A very deadly bacteria that can be used as a deadly biological weapon, and another benign bacteria that can be used for vaccination. The difference between the two is the culture that nurtured them.

Culture- whether individual, corporate, or societal, matters. It’s one of the most important competitive advantages. You cannot experience true and lasting transformation without reforming your culture. Period. Deep change that doesn’t entail reforming the existing culture doesn’t lead to somewhere better.

Let’s reform the culture that predisposed us to the troubles that inflicted us for decades, if not for centuries. Let’s create a culture that nurtures our people and enable us to defeat poverty, despise corruption, incentivize cleanliness, promote hard work, embrace discipline, and encourages excellence and quality. Let’s have a culture that allows our people to identify their uniqueness and venture out to take lead to serve their respective community with leadership excellence in the area of their passion.

Ethiopia cannot compete regionally, continentally, and globally successfully without tapping into the full potential of her people. Sadly, no one can release his/her potential without knowing who they truly are, their unique lane and passion, and without developing some key leadership attributes. What is more? Ethiopia cannot unleash her greatness without unleashing the greatness within each citizen. Let’s create a culture that adequately produces great citizens that can transform Ethiopia into her greatness and enable her to play her unique leadership roles regionally, continentally, and beyond.

[1] Dr. Assegid Habtewold is a coach, speaker, and workshop facilitator at Success Pathways, LLC. He is also the Founder of PRO Leadership Global, Inc. He has written five books that are available on Amazon. He is a leadership speaker and workshop facilitator for some government agencies and major corporations. Assegid can be reached at ahabtewold@yahoo.com

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Voice of Amara Radio – 16 Feb 2019

Voice of Amara Radio – 16 Feb 2019

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Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera upstaged compatriot Yomif Kejelcha to break the long-standing world indoor 1500m record at the IAAF World Indoor Tour meeting in Birmingham, UK on Saturday.

Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera (L) competes to break the indoor world record and win the men’s 1500m final ahead of Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha at the Indoor athletics Grand Prix at Arena Birmingham in Birmingham on February 16, 2019. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP) Kejelcha, who last week came within 0.01 of the world indoor mile record, had announced his intentions to break the 1500m mark ahead of his race in Birmingham.

According to a report by the IAAF website, the pacemakers hit their required target times, taking Kejelcha through 800m in 1:52.70 and 2:49.28 at 1200m. READ ALSO: Fabrice Zango: Lesson for Nigeria athletics But Tefera, the world indoor champion at the distance, was tucked right behind Kejelcha and looked ominously comfortable with the pace. The clock ticked through 3:03 as the bell sounded for the final lap and Tefera made his move, kicking past Kejelcha to take the lead.

Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera poses with his world record time after competing win the men’s 1500m final at the Indoor athletics Grand Prix at Arena Birmingham in Birmingham on February 16, 2019. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP)

Tefera charged towards the line and stopped the clock at 3:31.04, taking 0.14 off the previous record set by Hicham El Guerrouj in 1997. This will now await the usual ratification procedures by the IAAF. Kejelcha finished second in an outright personal best of 3:31.58.(NAN

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 By Medhane Tadesse

Time has come to say the following.

Since the changing of the guard in early 2018 the new leadership has stepped up its commitment to alter the significance of the EPRDF using various internal and external intervention instruments gathered under the banner of change(for whatever it is worth?) and the nomenclature of Medemer. These instruments are designed to decrease the functional and normative assets of the ruling party. However, intentions aside, the broader range of actions are prescriptive than normative and structural.

The damage to the TPLF is essentially tactical partly because at least in the short and medium term almost all structural and strategic issues will continue to reflect the norms, principles and values, some would say sidekicks, of the Front. Besides, the restructuring of the Ethiopian state along ethnic lines and the attempt to anchor it in a developmental state model might endure for a long time to come. Moreover, coalition politics mainly among identity groups has become the norm in Ethiopia. It will become the most critical tool of political contestation. Nonetheless, due to the recent actions coalition politics, at least at the level of the EPRDF, has lost its fundamental values, organizing principles or standardized procedures. Although these are fundamental in regulating and normalizing identity politics coalition building they are being tempered in the absence of alternative instruments with terrible costs. Thus the time has come to say the following: the harm is more on the EPRDF than the TPLF. As a consequence the EPRDF is flat-shifted, if not crushed.

From futility to callousness: First, any change within the EPRDF will not fundamentally change the nature and direction of political alliances. The TPLFs loss of influence within the ruling party could not halt identity politics or interest-based alliances around it. Organized politics has come a long and tortuous way in the last quarter of a century, so long a way that makes the other currents critically compromised and less relevant to resolving the problems confronting the country today. That is why philandering around the only workable architecture makes it all the more risky.

Second, continually demonizing the group that left the helm of power through intra-party elections (obviously in the face of widespread protests and a looming danger to the country) will not bode well for a peaceful transfer of power in the future; a phenomenon largely overlooked by many. It might serve as a startling warning to new dominant circles that leaving power without fighting till the end, including by violent means, invites a painful price. The very fact that it will not be rewarded is enough to generate a great deal of trepidation. If a domestic force is required to pay a heavy price for losing power and influence, this cannot be described as political transition.

Another otherwise-fatal occurrence is the perpetual delegtimization and criminalization of security institutions as a weapon of political contestation. Started in 2001, fueled during the protest years and the sprinting changes in recent months it has the potential to make the security sector, particularly the defense force feel lonely and abandoned. This will weaken their resolve and operational effectiveness; not to mention its impact on the long-held Weberian status of the Ethiopian state. Deep faultiness such as religion (about which I wrote sequentially since 1998) will find themselves violently agitated to offer a challenge. Jihadists in the region such as al-Shabaab will come closer to threaten us, once a distant prospect, further complicating the conduct of normal politics. This will undoubtedly facilitate political thuggery prominent among which the drop in the importance of an organizing principle will only expedite the potential axis between criminality and ethnicity.

I hope this attempt to problematic emerging trends will provide some signposts for what needs to be done.

Related links…..On populism and activism:
It is more than mere happenstance that populists and activists are weak at governing partly because they devour a jumbled understanding of intricate issues. They both thrive on the sentiment of ordinary people than on informed decisions about complex policy issues. They are not only anti-establishment but also, very often, glued to anti-intellectualism. They frequently reside in a serious if misguided historical scholarship. They adore easy slogans and easy solutions. But they have tremendous power to move people and-in our case- they command a disproportionate level of influence. The danger in Ethiopia is that populism is compounded by ethnic ‘firsts’: Oromo First, Amhara First and what have you. This remains the biggest challenge to democracy and inclusive society.

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by Mekuria Gize 

Medhane Tadesse wrote an interesting  piece on Satenaw  highlighting the flat-shift of EPRDF   and tactical defeat of TPLF in the Ethiopian political landscape.  In this article he ascribed the greater loss to EPRDF than to TPLF because the cause TPLF fought for remains to be there for years to come. I say the TPLF is decisively defeated and retreated to its enclave. True, the TPLF was not circled from its place in Arat Kilo and surrendered,  but it sensed the developments in the country and gave a belated response of retreating back to Tigray. This did not happen out of the blue or for favouring  the Ethiopian people. The much coordinated insurrection in Oromia and the stiff Amara resistance in Gonder have made TPLF sleepless. It has acquired loss in many places in  many ways: the economy of the country was collapsing; foreign capital was down; foreign exchange was near zero; sister organization like OPDO and ANDM were in discontent over the continued killing of their people; Lawlessness was spreading, a clear sign the society was not normal.  Had the TPLF continued the force measure to stay in power, the economy would have collapsed flat to the point unable to pay civil servants and the  military personnel.

Here is the fundamental equation  Medhane Tadesse overlooked. Can the EPRDF continue to get loyalty from the military and civil servants without being able to pay their wages? The answer is a big no. No civil servant is going to fold its arms and serve the TPLF while they go empty stomach. The same thing will happen for the military. The end of this quagmire would be complete encirclement of the TPLF warlords and get pulled in the streets of Addis Ababa. The TPLF were smart to retreat to Tigray without losing anything of their own. They get their budget from the federal system, their businesses all over the country are running smooth. Their factories continue to get raw materials from the rest of Ethiopia.  It is a win-win solution for them.

I cannot  understand why Medhane Tadesse  is crying for people who overused they power to commit crimes against humanity beyond imagination.  The atrocities inflicted on Amara and Oromo youth  by the TPLF security is not something to say bygone is bygone. How would you spare Getachew Assefa and Kinfe Dagnew? The former is directly responsible for all deaths and sufferings in Ethiopia. The latter used the Ethiopian resources as his personal account. As a scholar, Medhane Tadesse should have been the first  to request  for  justice to prevail. PM Abiy did not do anything painful to the political leadership of TPLF. Rather the TPLF political leadership is creating unrest in every corner of the country.   Medhane Tadesse  seems to be nostalgia of the days  TPLF had a leading role in the Ethiopian Politics. To us when he says the significance of EPRDF has gone down, it  means he is weary of the  fact that TPLF role is diminished.

Medhane Tadesse thinks medemer and change being advanced by the new PM are key instruments to decrease the significance of EPRDF. By EPRDF significance,  Medhane meant to say  the role TPLF played in EPRDF is curtained. But what EPRDF we Ethiopians are grieving for? TPLF’s falling from its grace when the majority of the people are second class citizens?  Ethiopians do not really care if an EPRDF that deprived them of their basic rights is gone to its grave yard at this time in their political history.

Medhane Tadesse is right when he says the value and principles  of TPLF will remain  implanted in the Ethiopian politics  for years to come. Not only that, Today’s alliance will likely change in many ways while this basic TPLF political values remain the same. Medhane Tadesse continues, “due to the recent actions coalition politics, at least at the level of the EPRDF, has lost its fundamental values, organizing principles or standardized procedures.” Medhane Tadesse’s analysis here is skin depth at best on this issue. Ethiopia had never had coalition governing party. It was a gathering of pseudo political parties with an internal relationship of Ashiker ena geta. It was only one giant armed party, the TPLF that was the maker of everything in Ethiopia: the constitution, boundary demarcation, laws enacting, military and security leadership, etc). The real coalition politics is going to manifest itself from now on  if democratic principles are to be the governing principles from here on.  I would not be surprised to see two major coalitions, if ethnic politics is the playing field.  If Oromo nationalists gain power through the ballot box the future alliance will likely be Tigray-Oromia on one front and Amara-south Ethiopia-Afar on another front.  Tegaru elites and TPLF will remain against the interest of Amaras for unforeseeable future  because their thesis of Ethiopianism  is solely based on annihilation of the Amara.

Medhane Tadesse regrets  the perpetual delegtimization and criminalization of security institutions as a weapon of political contestation. It is undeniable fact the Ethiopian military and security worked in tandem to suffocate the opposition, kill and imprison Ethiopians who demanded their rights. There is no tears we can shade now for these idiots. They have committed crime against humanity as an organised institution. The Ethiopian people are generous  for not demanding military leaders to face justice except pointing fingers to selected few. Medhane should know better the sole guiding principle for a military should be keeping law and order and not imprisoning political opponents

Medhane Tadesse’s undermining of the much adored  leader of Ethiopia is an insult to our intelligence. Medhane Tadesse portrayed  PM Abiy an unknowledgeable and  inexperienced leader  when he says  “populists and activists are weak at governing partly because they devour a jumbled understanding of intricate issues.”   Medhane is  articulating this hasty generalization simply  because his cousins at Mekelle are not allowed anymore to have heavy hands in Ethiopian politics the way they acted during Hailemariam Desalegn. Our worry about PM Abiy’s  leadership is he is doing too little to curb TPLF’s wild lawlessness Tegaru elites are grieving now that TPLF lost power because it did not fight tooth and nail siding injustice. Amara elites have been grieving against the 1960s Amara student activists indicating they were  the Trojan horses for northerners  and Oromo fundamentalists so much so creating conditions  for the current misery of Amara people. Where does the truth rest on?

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February 18, 2019

Open letter:

My humble appeal to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, the Parlama of Ethiopia, all Ethiopian activists, all media outlets, all regional governments, and all citizens:

I am writing this appeal to all Ethiopian people, to do my part to defuse the underline peril of civil war facing the people of Ethiopia. For this writing, I have chosen to be as neutral as possible in addressing the concerns that I have, and I pray for your understanding and support in every step of the way until Ethiopia is at peace with itself.

On one hand, it is a matter of fact that all Ethiopians have different ideas on which direction Ethiopian politics should go. Our differences vary from what kind of flag, to the kind of constitution we should have…, how the election should be handled…, who should go to jail and who should stay free…, what statues to erect, who was the great king or who was the best leader, which region owns what territory, and so on….

On the other hand, I understand there are things that tie us all together as people. Some of them are history, the love for our country, the hunger for peace, the will to eliminate poverty, the passion for freedom, our love for our country, the love for God, and more……

It is what ties us as one that should make us strive to solve our differences in a respectable way!  It is the only way. It is urgent to calm the rhetoric of hate and promote tolerance amongst all regions and ethnic groups. We must respect the law of the land and allow due process to take its course before we prosecute people on Social Media and other outlets. We also must refrain from spreading hate in any form. Politicians must use politically correct language in order to avoid offending people. Social Media activists must STOP insulting tribes or groups such as Amara, Tigre, Oromo, Somalia, Islam, Christian and so on.

If we care, we really must stop promoting hate and destabilize Ethiopia! News outlets should refrain from broadcasting inflammatory news and should stay focused on just the facts without being biased.

The Government of Ethiopia must create a law to fight this dangerous behavior of hate based politics.
I am sorry to say, but a country that has existed over thousands of years should NOT be standing to survive the ills of our behavior, instead we should work in concert to pull Ethiopia out of the madness of hate and mistrust…we must, all of us, do our part.

In doing our part, we must compromise and we must not allow our pride to stand in the way of Ethiopia’s journey to “swim out of the troubled waters.”  We must see the bigger picture.  We MUST stop …”Hate Preaching!”

I decided to write because as Martin Luther King once said, “The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.”  I can’t remain silent when I know Ethiopia must change for the good of the people and advance its peoples plight for peace and prosperity.

On the spirit of tolerance, we should all help to create a condition for all Ethiopians the following:

We need to voice our concerns until all Ethiopian citizens from all tribe and religious backgrounds are free to move, at will, within all Ethiopian territories without fear.
-All Ethiopians should express their views any way they wish without fear of prosecution whatsoever.
-Ethiopian business owners should be able to travel to any part of Ethiopian territory to conduct legal business with confidence, safe and without fear of harassment from anyone or any group.
-Not even a single Ethiopian should be evicted from his/her home and made to be homeless for any reason.
-All Ethiopian citizens should be able to own, sell and trade property(s), own a business (or more than one business), and have full rights in all Ethiopian territories without discrimination.
-The Government should protect all people from all criminal activities such as vigilantes….no one should take the law into their own hands.
-All citizens should be careful not to encourage crime and criminal behavior of any sort.

We all must be responsible citizens by cooperating and abiding by the rules. We must mind our behaviors and not take the law into our own hands.

I am calling on all Ethiopians to cool down, compose themselves, and tolerate each other’s faults and ask what is needed to bring us together as people.  Finger pointing does no good.

Another quote from Martin Luther King…. “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

No one will win through violence. We must NOT promote “lawlessness.”  We should know better!! War has gotten us to nowhere.  And, again as Dr. Martin Luther King said, “I was not afraid of the words of the violent, but the silence of the honest.”

So I ask the influential people to step up to the plate and do the right thing.  Do not choose silence!!!

Where are the principled Ethiopians?  You must speak on behalf of the peace loving majority. The very few haters must be stopped from overtaking the peoples dream and immerse us in a messy civil war.

We must do our VERY best to bring Ethiopia to the top of the list of countries doing well, both free and prosperous.

God bless Ethiopia and its entire people.

I challenge you all to do your part!!

I pledge:
For the sake of Ethiopia I promise to do my part to STOP HATE…And Promote Peace…as follows:

Because Ethiopia cannot afford to ignore the Hate being promoted, I promise to promote peace and unity without compromising on freedom of speech!!

May God protect Ethiopia and its People!

Note: Although I am not against freedom of speech, I ask that you refrain from promoting culturally unacceptable messages that are offensive, and I am strongly against religion, tribe, and ethnic based Hate messages. It is also immoral and in some cases illegal. It could cost you your freedom. Beware!!
Join us at our Facebook address! By typing:-
War Free Ethiopia

Berhane Alemayoh.

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By – Berhane Tadese – Engineer

February 18, 2019

At 1:30 PM, On Sunday, February 17, 2019 Ethiopian community in metropolitan NYC area – gathered to honor and pay tribute “The Addis Ababa massacre” by Italian Fascist armies. The Addis Ababa Massacre took place on Yekatit 12, 1929 (Ethiopian calendar). They also paid tribute to the Ethiopians heroes who sacrificed their lives for the sovereignty of Ethiopia. It is annually remembered events that held at home and abroad and brought Ethiopians together and raise awareness of our history.  Knowledge of history is one of the ingredients that shape our identity and restore the national pride.

The Remembrance Day was organized by Ethiopian Community Mutual Assistances Association with partnering with Global Alliance for Justice -for Ethiopia cause. The program started with minutes of silence prayer to tribute to those massacred and who lost their lives fighting for our country, followed by several inspired feature Speakers. Speakers Include: Dr. Teshale Tibebu is  a professor in the History Department at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.  Dr. Shimelis Bonsea is a Professor in the History Department at Stony Brook University. New York. Dr. Girma Abebe a former United Nation diplomat a graduate of New York University, in New York, New York. Dr. Zergabachew Asfaw is founding member and president of Hakim Workineh and Melaku Beyan society of physicians in North America, graduated from Addis Ababa University Faculty of Medicine  and M r. Nicola Antonio DeMarco, JD a Human Rights activist in New York.  Mr. DeMarco graduated in law  from The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York, New York.

The programs include a special film clip about war crimes during 1935 Italian invasion, an inspiring patriotic poem from Poet Laureate Tsegaye Gebre Medhin poem collection, and power point slideshow commemorative hero photographs of the time. The organizers made all possible efforts to make sure we honor our victims and the patriots by making this event the best it can be 2019 Remembrance Day.

What is the significance of Remembrance Day? It is a national event to pay tribute for the infamous Addis Ababa Massacre of Yekatit 12, 1929, and to ensure that our brave forefathers who have sacrificed themselves to protect the sovereignty of our country are not forgotten. It is a special day to express our patriotic feeling aganist the Italian Fascist aggression. Also, it gives us the sense of belonging to our motherland, to reflect more deeply on the history of Ethiopia and to pass important heroic stories to the next generation of Ethiopians. It is also a day to say “Thank You very much” for setting us free from yoke of the Italians invaders.

Why and how did it all happen?  Several books/articles are written why and how did it all happen by many historians and expatriate scholars. However, to make a quick reference for the wider community Wikipedia page provides this. “ The Abyssinia Crisis was a crisis in 1935 originating in what was called the Walwal incident in the then-ongoing conflict between the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Ethiopia(then commonly known as “Abyssinia” in Europe). The League of Nations ruled against Italy and voted for economic sanctions, but they were not fully applied. Italy ignored the sanctions, quit the League, made special deals with Britain and France and ultimately established control of Ethiopia. The crisis discredited the League and moved Fascist Italy closer to an alliance with Nazi Germany.”

The cause of the aggression is not only the Walwal “crisis”. It was avenged of defeat of Italians known as Battle of Adwa in March 1, 1896. The Italians had military supremacy in airplanes, poison gas and tanks. They used the WalWal crisis as pretext to invade Ethiopia.  The Fascist Italian occupied Ethiopia for five years, and during their occupation, they did brutal agression by village burning, torturing, detaining, killing etc.  to terrorize the population, and to defeat armed resistance that waged by patriotic Ethiopians. Yekatit 12 is the bloodiest killing unleashed against at the ordinary citizens in Addis Ababa.  They intensified and expanded the colonial cruel repression all over the country. They attempted to exploit religious and ethnic rivalry. . Although the Italian occupation was brief, but they planted the seed of ethnic division. They employed the strategy of divide and rule along ethno-linguistic lines in this multicultural Ethiopia.

Fast forward to the present situation, the reconfiguration of the nine regions along ethno-linguistic line imposed by EPDRF ruling elites is similar to colonial dividing  tactics. The EPRDF administrative divisions along ethnic lines has caused ethnics clashes, and thousands dislocated from their homes and killed. It is threatening the existence of Ethiopia as state. In light of this experience, the current Prime Minister need to take some actions to reconfigure administrative divisions to minimize and possibly avoid ethnic conflicts.

Remembrance Day is a springboard for an African victory against European colonial power in many part of African countries in 1960. It gives us a sense of pride and gives us opportunity to open dialogue other communities to ensure that history does not repeat itself.

Long live Ethiopia!!

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‘Yuvi’s Candy Tree,’ written in English, took 10 years of efforts from author and heroine to be translated for Hebrew-speaking kids

It required perseverance to get “Yuvi’s Candy Tree,” a children’s tale of Ethiopian pluck and heroism, translated into Hebrew. But that was simply part of the journey for the book’s protagonist.

The illustrated book, originally written in English, was written by Canadian writer Lesley Simpson and inspired by the story of 5-year-old Yuvi Tashome who outwitted robbers during her family’s exodus from Ethiopia to a Sudanese refugee camp.

In 2009, Tashome was visiting North America to raise awareness and funds for Friends by Nature, her nonprofit organization that creates communities of Ethiopian immigrants across Israel. She was interviewed by Simpson and shared her story.

The tale, of a journey taken with her grandmother on a mule across the desert, captured Simpson’s imagination.

“It’s a story about agency and a really savvy girl and her grandmother and a vision that was kept alive,” said Simpson. “It’s a story about radical hope.”

Lesley Simpson (left) and Yuvi Tashome (right) worked together to bring Tashome’s journey to the printed page (Courtesy Lesley Simpson)

Simpson, a journalist and children’s book writer, felt she had been given a profound gift, since Tashoma had a “phenomenal sensory memory” for facts and details about the journey made so many years before.

“I wanted to tell her story.”

Tashome was game but made it clear that she did not want it to be a pitiful sob story about the Ethiopian exodus.

“When we met way back when, our two dreams met,” said Tashome. “When I would read to my kids, there were no books with  images of black-skinned people, strong people. I didn’t want a book that would make people say, ‘Oh, those poor people.’ I wanted people to say ‘Yo! What cool amazing people!’ That was our deal between us.”

The cover of ‘Yuvi’s Candy Tree,’ published in 2011 by Kar-Ben Publishing (Courtesy Kar-Ben Publishing)

The book, published in 2011 by American Jewish children’s book publisher Kar-Ben, won  the Canadian Jewish Book Award for youth in 2012, and was chosen by PJ Library in 2017 for children aged 8 and up in April as a contemporary Exodus story.

Simpson’s dream was to have this story of Ethiopian pluck and daring published in Hebrew.

“I think it’s a remarkable chapter of Israeli history,” said Simpson. “The community deserves to have a chapter of their history, as a way of honoring them and their history.”

Working from Toronto, Simpson said she “knocked on many doors,” approaching anyone who published kids’ picture books in Hebrew, and received a host of rejections.

In January 2017, Agam, the children’s division of Prague Publishing, contacted Tashome about publishing the book.

But the process was slow, said Tashome. She and her husband, Nir Katz, launched a Headstart campaign to help fund the book’s translation to Hebrew and its initial printing, offering free copies of the book, signed copies and gift cards as incentives.

Others helped as well, including a philanthropist in Herzliya who committed to buying 700 copies and giving them to Israeli kindergartens, and President Reuven Rivlin, who gave the book a shoutout on his Facebook page.

Once the book was translated and enough money raised to print it,  Agam Publishing bought the rights to the translated book and the art.

That all took place a full ten years after the book project was started, said Simpson.

“It’s possible that ten years later was the right time,” she said.

Now that it’s translated, Tashome often reads “Yuvi’s Candy Tree” to kids throughout Israel. It’s sometimes part of her organization’s school program that introduces students to Ethiopian traditions, from foods and Amharic names to tours of Ethiopian neighborhoods in various Israeli cities.

“We show them some of Ethiopian life — like how to eat together in the Ethiopian tradition, when you need to pace yourself according to how much everyone else is eating from the communal dish,” said Tashome.

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Following the failure of Amhara region’s security forces to stabilize the conflicts in western and central Gondar, the Ethiopian Army and Federal Police has taken over the security matters of the two zones.

The army and federal police, which as of today is in in control of the two zones, said it will take serious measures against armed individuals or groups, who have been causing problem in the area, according to the state broadcaster – ETV.

It is now forbidden for anyone to carry weapon between the territories from Metema to Gondar  and from Gondar to Humera, except the military and the security forces, according to Amhara Region Police Commissioner Zelalem Lijalem, who told reporters that the army is ordered to take measures  against those who violate the law.

The army is invited by the Amhara Regional state, which couldn’t be able to stabilize the area, according to the Amhara Police Commission. So far 45,000 people are displaced in the area because of the conflicts.

Reports show that following several months long conflict in the area some armed individuals and gangs have been acting as peacekeepers and asking the people to give them money for their services.

Initially began by group of people who claimed to represent the people of Kimant in Gondar, the conflict has led to the death of many people and displacement of thousands.

Reports show that the conflict has been affecting the tourist flow to Gondar, which is known for its historic sites such as, World Heritages like, Palaces and Castles of Fasiledes and Siemen Mountains, among others.

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H.E. Professor Dr. Anton Caragea, President of European Council on Tourism and Trade has publicly signed the official decision naming ADDIS ABABA as WORLD CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND TOURISM on January 19, 2019, in the presence of the diplomatic corps accredited to the global tourism institutions: European Council on Tourism and Trade and European Tourism Academy.

The event coincided with the conclusion of the First Academic and Mayors Forum for Culture and Tourism – ‘WORLD CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND TOURISM: protecting heritage and promoting tourism’.,

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You can read more about tourism and development on:

LETTER ADDRESSED TO WORLD LEADERS OF TOURISM FOR CAMBODIA

LETTER ADDRESSED TO WORLD LEADERS OF TOURISM FOR ETHIOPIA

GLOBAL AMBASSADOR FOR TOURISM: ACADEMICIAN HUN SEN

PHNOM PENH-WORLD CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND TOURISM

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Addis Ababa was announced as the new WORLD CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND TOURISM as the city is preparing for a string of celebrations during 2019 and 2020 marking 550 years as a political center and 130 years since in 1889 the Emperor Menelik II announced the city as the capital of his Ethiopian empire.

The decision of the global tourism institution-European Council on Tourism and Trade to register Addis Ababa on the coveted list of WORLD`S CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND TOURISM comes in recognition of the city administration lead by the new city mayor Mr. Takele Uma Benti ambitious plans to place tourism at the root of the city development and in appreciation of the cooperation that Presidency of F.D.R. of Ethiopia extended to the Addis Ababa City Government.

European Council on Tourism and Trade President Dr. Anton Caragea (center photo) surrounded by Acad. Ion Iliescu-President of Romania(left photo) and Acad. Emil Constantinescu (right) President of Romania (1996-2000) announces the election of Addis Ababa as WORLD CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND TOURISM.

Among the reasons for crowning the city as a world cultural and touristic hub the European Council on Tourism and Tradeenumerated the existence of a vast array of historically and religiously monuments like the former imperial palace hosting today the Ethnographic Museum, the Entoto enclose of Emperor Menelik II and Empress Taytu , the cathedrals of Saint George, Holy Trinity, Medhame Alem –the largest cathedral in Ethiopia and the second in Africa etc.

By this recognition of Addis Ababa as WORLD CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND TOURISM, the capital city of Ethiopia is added on the world`s list of cities leading humanity into development and using culture and tourism as fundamentals for a better life.

The global tourism institution ECTTremarked in the official statement that: Addis Ababa is blending his position, in one of the most beautiful regions in the world, with an extraordinary potential of culture and history patrimony, becoming a true world treasure and without a doubt, one of the most impressive areas of Africa.

Addis Ababa can capitalize on the city status as World Capital of Culture and Tourism creating special tourism offers and touristic routes in the city and his adjacent territory (like the Blue Nile Falls, Lake Tana etc.) in order to retain a growing number of tourists in the city.

Addis-Ababa-Djibouti railway station built by French Architects and connecting today two WORLD`S CAPITALS OF CULTURE AND TOURISM.

With Ethiopian Airlines growth and more than 10 million travelers expected to pass through Addis Ababa an important part of these tourists could be attracted to spend at least one or two nights in the city bringing a substantial revenue into the city.

The decision of European Council on Tourism and Trade marks the end of a negative period in Ethiopian tourism and restarts the process to promote Ethiopia as a safe, tourist-oriented and perfect destination for the culture and adventure loving tourists.

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More about WORLD LEADERS OF TOURISM AND DEVELOPMENT can be observed here:

PRESIDENT ISMAIL OMAR GUELLEH NAMED WORLD LEADER IN DEVELOPMENT

LETTER FOR WORLD LEADERS OF TOURISM AND DEVELOPMENT 

PRIME MINISTER OF CAMBODIA NAMED WORLD LEADER FOR DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM

GLOBAL TOURISM INSTITUTION APPOINTS WORLD LEADERS FOR DEVELOPMENT

PRIME MINISTER OF ETHIOPIA RECEIVES THE LETTER FOR WORLD LEADERS

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In January 2019 Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed revamped the Ethiopian Tourism Organization and selected a new leadership of the organization and H.E. Academician SAHLE-WORK ZEWDE, President of F.D.R of Ethiopia expressed the nation full commitment to support tourism development and carving a safe destination for tourism and investment in the heart of Africa.

We must note that in 2015 Ethiopia was selected as World`s Best Tourist Destination by the European Council on Tourism and Trade leading to a historic surge in the numbers of tourists in the country and of tourism-related revenues.

Ethiopia has led African tourism in 2015 with a whopping 1 billion USD in revenues from tourism, well ahead of other regional tourism destinations.

CELEBRATIONS MARKING ADDIS ABABA ROLE AS WORLD CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND TOURISM

ADDIS ABABA-THE WORLD CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND TOURISM

CEREMONIES FOR ADDIS ABABA-THE WORLD CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND TOURISM

EUROPEAN TOURISM ACADEMY CONFERENCE FOR ADDIS ABABA

WORLD TOURISM DAY HOST ADDIS ABABA

NEW ACADEMY MEMBER PRESENTATION: H.E. PRESIDENT SAHLE WORK ZEWDE

NEW ACADEMY MEMBER PRESENTATION: ADDIS ABABA GOVERNMENT HEAD TAKLE BENTI UMA

Source-  WORLD`S CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND TOURISM

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The Global Alliance for Justice – The Ethiopian Cause hereby expresses its utmost appreciation and thanks to the Ethiopian Community Association in Atlanta for its successful effort in commemorating the Adwa Victory and the Yekatit 12 Martyrs Day events in Atlanta.

The post Adwa Victory and Yekatit 12 Martyrs Day Commemorated in Atlanta appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

by Mekuria Gize

Smart politics is the art of  rallying people and getting one’s party political program accomplished. That program can be beneficial or harmful to a nation. Drafting the path of political strategies and tactics leading to victory requires careful understanding of the surrounding, and the people politicians come from.  At this time in our political history there are three parties that can shape the future of Ethiopia in a better direction (skipping the TPLF, the architect of wicked politics that landlocked Ethiopia and devastated its people): ODP, Abn (NAMA) and Ginbot 7. It is very crucial at this time to foster friendly cooperation among these three political groups.

The political reality for ODP is that it is going to meet stiff resistance from regional parties in Oromiya. Therefore the political programs ODP devises springs from its base in Oromia. Keeping the current federal system is a significant election manifesto in Oromia. The recent release by ODP is fundamentally a reflection of this reality, and ODP seems to understand this very well. Ethiopian politicians, and amateurish activists should be cognisant of these facts.  ODP is not going to dismantle the current federal system because pan Ethiopian parties or politicians wanted it. The fact that Lemma Megerssa and PM Abiy stressed about Ethiopianism does not mean they will change the federal system. They wanted strong Ethiopia with the federal system maintained (it is different from TPLF which is Tigray first). At no time they promised that. Pan-Ethiopianists, you have to win an election and earn it. Your  only demand should be a levelled playing field.

Since election 2005 (the last relatively more open election), the political environment in Ethiopia has been obliterated. With the passing away of aged citizens, an increase in the number of politically agitated literate youth, increasing repression by EPRDF (since 2005, based on ethnicity, particularly in the last 4 years, when Hailemariam Desalegn was in charge – due to his willingness to do the dirty job for TPLF) has profoundly changed the political equation in Ethiopia.  In simple terms, Ethiopians political understanding of their country has been to a large extent radicalized. The Oromo youth are more inclined to believing in the necessity of exclusive self rule; their last four years’ continued struggle has shaped that approach, added with the day to day bombardment of fundamentalists on social media.

Pan Ethiopian politicians, largely consisting of elites with higher level of education, and activists that rally around them were very energetic pre 2005 (1997 E.C.)  These groups come from every walks of ethnicity and their guiding principle is in the model of western civilization and in the foot prints of western democracy  where citizens should equally be treated  across every spectrum of the nation. According to these groups, party programs, ability and love for one’s country, public legitimacy by voting were considered to be the mechanism to assume political power. Following the devastating defeat of the EPRDF in the 2005 election, this group have seriously been weekend by killings, imprisonment, migration (due to persecution) due to the repressive government of the late Meles Zenawi and Haile Mariam Desalegn.  Exiled political activity nevertheless continued unabated which became energy for the protesting youth; eventually the TPLF fell to its knee and has lost its  political leadership in Ethiopia since April 2018. This group still enjoys strong support among the educated and those living in bigger cities in Ethiopia, and the Diaspora. However, support from the youth in rural villages  and towns seemed to have been eroded seriously since the days of the  CUD, a pan Ethiopian party that either was in par or defeated the Oromo National Congress, the South Peoples parties in their own political turf. That level of influential acceptance now seems to have dipped.

The  Amara known for their pan Ethiopian thinking have recently started to feel the pain inflicted upon them by the ethnically federated Ethiopia. The fact that there was practically no development in their region, becoming  at the bottom of the ladder  by development index relative to other ethnic groups has brought serious dilemma to the Amara way of political thinking. Today, the Amara are the most impoverished people who largely depend on agrarian economy. Electric power, road networks, school system, health stations, industrialization are all at the very low level. For instance when Tigray regional state built 7 top-level universities for 6 million people, the Amara for 30 million people has far less and most inferior. Meeting basic needs in Amara region is a struggle. For this reason there was a strong resentment against the then Amara party, ANDM ( a coalition to the ruling party,  TPLF). The  cruel treatment of Amara by the TPLF created grievance and day to day resentment. Moreover the Amaras were scapegoats for all perceived maladministration of past governments. Like the Oromos,  the Amara youth started to resist TPLF oppression, mostly armed insurrection, and practically coordinated their rebellion with the Oromo youth without communication in person. The resistance in Gonder by an Amara ex-military and the support he was given from the Gonder youth was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. This was the first sign of  the loss of TPLF invincibility and legitimacy. It exposed TPLF was a mere paper tiger. Both the Oromo and Amara youth sensed that TPLF was for sure to fall. This was the final turning point for the Oromo youth. Their protest came in waves; ultimately TPLF’s economy came down to its knee.

Well educated Amara youth who had no peace of mind in the continued death and imprisonment of their people gathered informally and formed Abin shortly before PM Abiy came to Power. PM Abiy brought profound reforms;  a wave of Diaspora politicians came to Ethiopia including the strongest and well organized Ginbot 7.  Abin and Ginbot 7 are now in a  competing mode for votes in Amara region. This situation is not useful in any way to advance Ethiopian political landscape. My humble advise for both parties is they should quickly assemble and sort out the way forward. For instance a couple  days ago Ginbot 7 held a massive rally in Debre Markos. For sure if Abn comes to Debre Markos, there will be another massive rally as well. None is  a winner from this except the radical groups. For instance the G7 chairman’s speech that highlighted Gojam’s resistance for freedom may be well deserved in terms of highlighting Gojam’s contribution in the past. But this kind of narration is not useful for Amara people now. It is this kind of politics that marginalized Amaras and empowered ethno centrists in Ethiopia. Our people should not be fooled by this kind of politics. On the other hand, Abn (NAMA) and its supporters should run seasoned political campaigns, and in no way come on the way of Ginbot 7’s activity in Amara region. There are numerous arguments Abin can have upper hand in Amara region simply using season politics.  If at the end of the day you lose,  accept the will of the people. But you have numerous talking points to have the upper hand except you have to prepare for it from this time on.  In all its efforts, one thing Abin should not follow is to give legitimacy to ethnic politics. In no way Abin should pronounce that organizing by ethnicity is right. All you have to mention is the  pain our people underwent, the reality on the ground,  and that Amara people should handle their affairs for a better deal as well as for current obstacle Amaras are facing. In the end Abin’s destination is pan-Ethiopianism.

My advice for Ginbot 7: It is useful for Ginbot 7 to work together with Abin. Amara parties always have pan Ethiopian mentality. Ginbot 7 can be more effective in Addis Ababa and the South. The South is the only region that has strong pan Ethiopian thinking next to the Amara. Considering many members from South Ethiopia, and Addis Abebans love for Ginbot 7, I am optimistic Ginbot 7 will get swiping votes in Addis Ababa and the South. Ginbot 7 should not waste much energy in Amara. So it is high time now a memorandum of understanding be signed between Abn and Ginbot 7 for a coalition either for a seat in parliament, or governance provided they get the winning votes, or for a possible coordination with ODP for working together. This coalition avenue by the three parties (ODP, Ginbot 7 and Abn) in my opinion is the road for a strong and peaceful Ethiopia. My other humble advise for Ginbot 7 and its leaders is to minimize the lobbying work at Arat Kilo, and get  fully engaged in  party and organizational tasks in Addis and south of Addis. Up to now you have not opened an office or visited single electoral regions south of Addis Ababa.

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Mahlet Fasil/ AS

Addis Abeba, February 20/2019 – The Legetafo Legedadi city administration, located in Oromia Regional State Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne, under the Oromia region, began demolishing more than 3000 houses as of yesterday that the city Mayor, Habiba Siraj, said were “illegally built” and were marked for demolition this week.

However, home owners who have lost their houses say they have been living in the areas after having bought their properties mostly in 2008 and onward. They dispute the city mayor’s argument and say they have all legal documents including land deeds, contracts with utility facilities such as electric power, telephone and water.

“I first bought the plot in 2009 and I have moved here in 2011 when I finished building my house. I have all the corresponding documents related to this house and non of them are illegal,” Yeshi Alemseged, a resident in Ekaadallee Kebele 03 of the two and one of the home owners who has her house demolished yesterday, told Addis Standard.

Other residents who spoke to the BBC Amharic say they were there long before the town got its administrative status. Anwar Ahmed is one such resident who said he moved to the area in 1990s (Ethiopian calendar), around 1997/98. He told the news portal that when he first bought the plot from a farmer there were no infrastructure an the area was more or less a farmland.

After demolishing 48 houses yesterday, the town’s bulldozers have continued demolishing more houses today. Some 12, 000 houses are marked for demolition from the same area, according to the Mayor.

Some 12, 000 houses are marked for demolition from the same area, according to the Mayor
The mayor insists some of the houses were illegally built in places marked for green areas, contravening the city’s ten year structural plan. In an interview with OMN, she also said some of the houses were built on areas the city administration has already acquired for various building projects such as schools and health posts, as well as houses built on buffer zones near rivers. OMN quoted the Mayor as saying that discussions took place between the two’s administration and homeowners for the last six months. In the same interview with OMN, however, land development and management deputy head of the town Mesfin Kebede admitted that there has been “gaps in the past” within administration officials who have been following the issue.

The boarder separating the city of Addis Abeba and marking the start of Legetafo Legedadi town in Oromia Regional State Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne
Legetafo Legedadi is one of the eight towns surrounding Addis Abeba which were established by the Oromia Regional State as a new Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne in 2008. the move by Oromia regional state followed a fast growing unregulated expansion of the city of Addis Abeba into cities and towns within Oromia region surrounding the city. The eight towns have then came under a single administration known as the Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne. AS

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                                                                                                   February 14, 2018

Your Holiness,

The Global Alliance for Justice – The Ethiopian Cause presents its compliments, in our most humble and respectful manner, to Your Holiness and submits this petition for a formal Vatican apology to the Ethiopian people for its complicity with Fascist Italy in the war crimes perpetrated in Ethiopia by the Italian regime then led by Benito Mussolini during 1935-41.

We take this opportunity to express our joy and sincere appreciation of Your Holiness’ formal apology to the people of Latin America on Thursday, July 9, 2015 at Santa Cruz during your official visit to Bolivia. According to the New York Times issue of the same date, Your Holiness had apologized “for the complicity of the Roman Catholic Church in the oppression of Latin America”. It was also reported that Your Holiness had stated:

“I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offences of the church herself but also for crimes    committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America.”

We also recall the Catholic Church’s recent apology to the people of Rwanda.

We fervently submit that a similar apology is owed to the Ethiopian people for the Roman Catholic Church’s (The Vatican’s) complicity in the war crimes committed by Fascist Italy.

Fascist War Crimes Committed in Ethiopia

It is well known that the war crimes committed by Fascist Italy with the Vatican’s blessing had the following devastating consequences:

• One million Ethiopians were massacred including 30,000 people who were killed within only three days in Addis Ababa. 3,000 monks and parishioners were murdered at the Debre Libanos monastery. Bishops Abune Petros and Abune Mikael as well as numerous patriots, women and children were also massacred.

• 2,000 churches and 525,000 homes were destroyed as well as the devastation of 14 million animals and the perpetration of an expansive environmental pollution;
• The extensive use of the internationally forbidden poison gas through numerous airplanes;
• The looting of vast quantities of Ethiopian properties including over 500 manuscripts still in the possession of the Vatican.

EVIDENCE OF VATICAN’S COMPLICITY WITH FASCIST ITALY

There is an abundant and overwhelming evidence proving beyond any reasonable doubt as to the Vatican’s complicity with Fascist Italy in the war crimes committed in Ethiopia. The following are mere examples:

1. The Lateran Treaty between the Vatican and the Italian Government led by Benito Mussolini was signed in 1929 resulting in the Italian Government’s recognition of the Vatican’s sovereignty as well as its provision of Lire 1,500,000,000 to the Vatican;
2. On February 13, 1929, Pope Pius XI proclaimed to the world that Mussolini was a man sent by Providence (Avro Manhattan);
3. “After the conquest of Abyssinia, the Pope expressed his joy in his speech of May 12, 1936 by stating: “……the triumphant joy of an entire, great and good people over a peace which, it is hoped and intended, will be an effective contribution and prelude to the true peace in Europe and the world.”(Avro Manhattan)
4. The Archbishop of Tarano declared: “The war against Ethiopia should be considered as a holy war, a crusade” because the Italian victory would “open Ethiopia, a country of infidels and schismatics, to the expansion of the Catholic faith.”(Avro Manhattan);
5. Pope Pius XI blessed the Italian king, Victor Emmanuel, as the “King of Italy and Emperor of Ethiopia” (New York Times item of February 13, 1937);
6. “Practically without exception the whole world condemned Mussolini, all except the Pope (Pius XI).”(Teeling);
7. Italian Cardinals, 29 Archbishops, and 61 bishops gave immediate support to the aggression (against Ethiopia).(Slavembini);
8. In his address to archbishops, bishops and priests, Mussolini admired: “the efficient cooperation given by the clergy during the war against the Abyssinians…remembering with particular sympathy the example of patriotism shown by Italian bishops, who brought their gold to the local office of the Fascist Party…”(Corriere della Sera, January 10, 1938);
9. “Pope Pius XI is credited with much admiration for Mussolini.That the Italian clergy as a whole are pro-Fascist is easy to understand, seeing that Fascism is antinationalist, authoritarian, anti-liberal, and anti-Socialist force.”(Manchester Guardian, February 12, 1929);

10. Martindale, the Jesuit scholar representing the Pope, confirmed that the secretary of state at the Vatican, Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII), offered Haile Selassie 1 million (Sterling Pounds) on behalf of Italy in return for his abdication.”(Alberto Sbacchi);
11. Sbacchi stated: “Bishop Andre Marie Elie Jarosseau, Haile Selassie’s former tutor and a man who had influence over him, also invited the exiled ruler to recognize Italian sovereignty over Ethiopia. By submitting to Italy he could rule with Italian consent.” P. 124 (Sbacchi’s sources: “Times (London), 29 April 1938; Le Petit Parisien, 22 August 1939; La Garonne, 22 August 1939; Bernoville, Monseigneur Jarosseau et la Mission des Gallas, p. 360” p. 127);
12. Statement by an eye-witness, Dr. Syoum Gebregziabher, author of “Symphony of my Life”, 2012: “From my book you can note, how one of the Catholic priests took the personal responsibility to entice me to be a priest! How we the seminarians marched outside Harar in a heavily Moslem region protected by Fascist military to attend church every week! This was a clear policy of the Catholic Church in support of Fascism. The establishment of “Collegio Ethiopico” within the Vatican compound was to train and indoctrinate Ethiopian seminarians. We were then told that if we become good potential priests, we will be eligible to go to Rome for further education (indoctrination)! There was a definite crusade to propagate Catholicism in Ethiopia with the help of fascism based on apartheid policy I had faced on my way to priesthood!”

In addition, Dr. Syoum Gebregziabher stated in his letter to me dated July 19, 2012:

“…In 1948 my uncle Gebremeskel Habtemariam (Dejasmach) mentioned in the book; not only protested the Vatican collaboration with Mussolini; but officially dropped his Catholicism and joined and embraced the Ethiopian Orthodox Church!”

13. Contrary to the abundance of evidence proving Pope Pius XI’s complicity with Mussolini and the Fascists, there are some who claim that the Pope, in his speech to

graduating nurses, expressed, as an aside to his formal speech a statement to the effect      that he objected to Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia. However, in addition to the evidence provided above, Rev Dr. Mikre-Sellassie G/Ammanuel quotes Gaetano Salvemini, in his book: “Church and Missions in Ethiopia During the Italian Occupation”:

“To anyone reading without close attention, Pius XI’s address to the nurses gives an impression of condemning not only war but also this particular war as an abominable crime. In actual fact it does not condemn the imminent war. It condones it as a war of self-defense. In addition it puts in a plea for indulgence and leniency should Mussolini, in the exercise of his rights of self-defense, exceed the limits of moderation.”

14. Dr. Mikre-Sellassie G/Amanuel stated further in the above book:

“…the Pope very clearly expressed his love and wholehearted support to Italy and the Fascist Government.”

15. Another eyewitness account by the 97-year old, General Lema Gabremariam, a participant in the war at Maichew in 1936 states, in his open letter to Pope Francis I:

“ … the battle of Maichew, 1936… was my first experience of war.  I witnessed the deadly poison gas, yperite raining from aircrafts, which was a routine of the Fascist warfare.  As a result of the acidic-rain, my eyes were affected and I was nearly blinded and made unconscious.

…When I regained my consciousness, I found myself in the middle of heaps of dead bodies of humans and pack animals…..

There are proofs that some (Vatican) Cardinals and clergy rallied behind fascism, among them the Cardinal of Milan, Alfredo Ildefons Schucter. In addition to his anti Ethiopia campaign, the Cardinal was photographed with war generals next to tanks, machineguns, and the army, which were on their way to invade Ethiopia.

As Your Holiness is aware, His Holiness Pope Bendict XVI had apologized to the Jewish people in the year 2000 for failing to take action in challenging the Nazi, though the Vatican had not collaborated with Hitler.  What would God say when the Vatican confessed to the Jews, but not to Ethiopians?

I have learned about your reputation through the mass media that you are a man of many firsts.  I hope and pray that you will add more to your great achievement by apologizing to the Ethiopian people and peace loving people at large.”

16. Karlheinz Deschner, “God and the Fascists”, 2013, :

“Even Catholic papers flatly admitted that Pisus XI had permitted colonial war. The conscience of the world condemned Italy’s vigorous approach.” Gert Buchheit also wrote in 1938: “What did the Papacy do? ….The Church demanded that the bishops hand in their gold crosses and chains…..Yes, the Pope even gave the Duce (Mussolini) the frozen assets in Germany so that Italy could purchase the necessary raw materials…”

17. David I Kertzer, “The Pope and Mussolini”, 2014:

“The Vatican (Pope Pius XI) played a central role both in making the Fascist regime possible and in keeping it in power…..The central player in the effort to keep Pope Pius XI (in check) was Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli – later Pope Pius XII.

18. Jeff Pearce, “Prevail”, 2014:

“…By mid-September (1935), Eugenio Pacelli, Cardinal Secretary of State (and later Pius XII) sent word to Musolini that the Pope (Pius XI) would not stand in the way of an invasion (of Ethiopia). As Professor Christopher Duggan noted in Fascist Voices, “The Church provided overwhelming backing for the war, with seven cardinals, twenty-nine archbishops, and seventy-five bishops offering public endorsements to the press.”

JUSTICE FOR ETHIOPIA

Despite the clear prevalence of the abundant evidence for the Fascist war crimes in Ethiopia and the Vatican’s complicity, justice has not prevailed for the country. None of the Fascist criminals were brought to justice. The Vatican has not yet expressed its apology. No adequate reparations have been undertaken by the Italian Government although the Italian President, H.E. Mr. Luigi Scalfaro, did express his apology during a visit to Ethiopia in 1997.

It is important to note that the Vatican has apologized to the Jewish people for having been silent during the Nazi holocaust.

Therefore, our Alliance is undertaking a global struggle for justice including the payment of adequate reparations by the Italian Government, a Vatican apology to the Ethiopian people, restitution of Ethiopian properties currently in the possession of the Vatican and the Italian Government, UN recognition of the Fascist war crimes in Ethiopia; and the removal of the Graziani mausoleum at Affile.

It should be noted here that over 5,800 people from some 30 countries have signed the petition presented on our website (www.globalallianceforethiopia.net) appealing to the Vatican to apologize to the Ethiopian people.

In conclusion, we appeal to Your Holiness to continue with your exemplary Christian service to humanity by offering the Vatican’s formal and public apology to the Ethiopian people thereby finally bringing justice that has been owed for over three quarters of a century.

With the assurances of our highest respect,

Yours faithfully,

Kidane Alemayehu

Executive Director

The post OPEN LETTER OF APPEAL TO POPE FRANCIS I REGARDING JUSTICE FOR ETHIOPIA appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

VOA News

WASHINGTON / MOGADISHU – The al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility for the assassination of Somalia’s deputy attorney general on Wednesday in Mogadishu.

Authorities say the attack took place in the Hodan district as Mohamed Abdirahman Mursal left home for work.

Witnesses told VOA Somali that two men on a motorcycle blocked his way, ordered him to exit the car and shot him dead. The reason for the attack was not known, although al-Shabab has in the past assassinated government officials, civil servants, soldiers and elders.

The men, who were armed with pistols, fled the scene in the car. Police later found the vehicle abandoned.

Somali officials condemned the attack on Mursal and described him as a rising attorney who studied Islamic law in Saudi Arabia. One official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Mursal was planning to go to Qatar later this year to take courses for an advanced law degree.

In September 2017, al-Shabab gunmen assassinated Mursal’s mother, Anab Abdullahi Hashi, who was secretary general of a Somali women’s organization.

​Explosions

Meanwhile, two civilians were killed and seven wounded in two roadside explosions in Bardhere, one of the biggest towns in Somalia’s Jubaland regional administration.

The deputy leader of the administration, Mohamud Sayid Aden, told VOA Somali that the explosions targeted Ethiopian soldiers and that two were among the wounded. Ethiopian soldiers serve in the African Union peacekeeping mission known as AMISOM to help the Somali government defeat al-Shabab.

The post Al-Shabab Claims Killing of Somali Deputy Attorney General appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.