By: Metta-Alem Sinishaw, Washington, DC

Ethiopia is a multilingual, multiethnic, and multi religion country characterized by a history of intermittent political, religious and ethnic conflicts. Delayed democratization continues causing instability and poor economic and land policies made the country one of the poorest that depends on aid. After long history of authoritarian rule, the new leadership brought optimism to transitioning the country to democracy.  Despite the hope, security, stability, and ethnic conflict that lead to millions of displacements and social immobility remain major challenges.  If the federal government is unable to maintain peace and security, will the new leadership democratize the country or manipulate its vulnerabilities and the country’s geopolitical advantage to become another strongman?

Some argue that ethnic conflict is rooted in the Ethiopian state formation and expansion, but others contend. The introduction of ethno-linguistic federation in 1995 to address historical ethnic grievances resulted in the proliferation of ethno-nationalist movements with political and legal foundations. As ethnic politics become the modus operandi, ethnicity emerged as the sole organizing principle with which political actors mobilize their bases. Unclear ethnic administrative ethnic boundaries brought countless claims and counterclaims on land and water sources. Demands for statehood and fair federal representation and investments, cultural, and language policies keeps growing. Ethnic rivalries have been eroding social harmony and leading to protracted public protests that brought the new leadership to power earlier in 2018.

The new leadership of Abiy Ahmed showed genuine commitment to democratization and lifted restrictions on media, legalized outlawed political parties, invited exiled politicians, reconciled with Eritrea, promoted gender parity in cabinet, promised for free and fair elections, expanded political space, and established boundary and reconciliation commissions as well as legal reform councils and working groups to address the sources of ethnic conflicts and promote civil and political rights.

Despite promising reforms and public optimism, however, ethnic tensions and violence are on the rise at an alarming rate. The core areas of contention that brought the new leadership into power such as the constitution, equitable resource distribution and development, form of federalism, distinction between self and shared rule, land ownership, and inclusive governance remain outstanding. There are nearly 3 million internally displaced people (IDP) caused by security and political instability and there are strong signposts that the trend may continue. Human rights advocates complained about arbitrary detentions, forced displacements, and crackdown on some opposition groups who failed to lay down arms in recent conflicts. The government has allegedly hindered relief efforts and disrupted internet access to resettle the IDPs and quell unrest, respectively.

No doubt, that addressing protracted conflicts in a divided society takes time and resolving conflicts require understanding of contexts, causes, the dynamism under which the conflict persists, including triggering and mitigating circumstances.

Yet, despite the political will of the new leadership, the changes we have observed remains more of a personal ingenuity of the premier than policy oriented institutional approach. The public and pundits alike continue demanding for clarity in domestic and foreign policies. Lack of a roadmap about the political transition brought dissatisfactions and public anxiety due to increased violence. The problem with foreign policy stems from the administration’s increasing partnership with the Gulf and Horn countries with no clear direction.

Ethiopia’s stability should be evaluated within the larger framework of the Horn, Red Sea, and IGAD region where growing radicalism, porous border, transnational crime, conflicts, poverty, and delayed democratization are the key features. Ethiopia participates in AU and UN missions in Sudan, South Sudan, and Somalia and hosts nearly a million refugees, mainly from neighboring countries.

The effect of rivalries among China, Russia, and the recent partnership of Saudi Arabia and UAE versus Qatar and Turkey on the Red Sea and Yemen remains unclear although countries are leveraging on emerging dynamics to enhance their own interests. The reconciliation with Eritrea improved regional stability and interstate relationships.  However, the ongoing negotiation for comprehensive agreement is reportedly hindered by Eritrea’s agreement with UAE, the trade liberalization required to attract Ethiopian investment, and the difference in currency imbalances. Continued animosity between the ousted TPLF leaders and Eritrea undermines the pace with which relations could improve. Currently, all four routes of road transportation between the two countries are closed with no clear direction of future relationships.

Ethiopia labored to smoothen the relationships of Eritrean with Somalia and Djibouti and collectively hold multiple summits, open diplomatic offices, and agree to remove trade and economic barriers. Although the motivation behind the new integration effort remains unclear, the engagement brought hope to reverse the tension among countries and improve on their complicated relations. However, there are no clear agreements or strategies on how they will promote investment, enhance economic growth, and fight al Shabab in the Horn of Africa.

The political situation unfolding in Sudan has serious repercussion on transboundary crimes and illegal arm smuggling that could aggravate Ethiopia’s security challenges and undermine further Ethiopia’s capability to participate in peacekeeping missions.

In addition to lack of clarity about reform efforts, Ethiopia has wide ranging vulnerabilities that could be detrimental to the democratization effort. Weak institutions, fragmented opposition groups, proliferated ethnic based media outlets, increasing tendencies ethnic based regional militia, and deep entrenched authoritarian political culture poses a risk of reversal. Divided ruling coalition, fragmented opposition groups, ethnic hostility, lack of democratic culture, and weak institutions together with poor economic conditions are real challenges for Ethiopia’s journey towards democratization.

Domestically, despite the administration promise to hold democratic and acceptable election in 2020, the ruling party remains divided with a much more fractured opposition political party. One year away the election, it is unclear whether the election will be rolled out as planned and opposition groups are demanding for more time to get ready for election as their mobility is compromised due to security concern. A recent increase in publishing costs for print media only adds a pain for the opposition parties and further undermine the much-acclaimed press freedom the new administration professed.

The country continues facing major economic challenges, among others, increasing debt, limited competitiveness, foreign exchange shortages, inadequate tax collection, and underdeveloped private sector. Increasing population further depletes its aid dependent economy and worsens social welfare. High youth unemployment, if accompanied by a drought, could become a humanitarian crisis and a fertile ground for radicalism and aggravate ethnic conflicts and instability with a spillover effect to the Horn region.

In the absence of peace, deteriorating economic condition, increasing ethnic media outlets, intensifying regional special militia, and inability of the central government to maintain security, democratization could be difficult, if not impossible. Facing with these challenges, will the new prime minister resolve the ruling party’s internal contradiction and appease ethnic tension, restore security, promote stability, and bring economic prosperity? If unable, will the new prime minister not effectively manipulate the country’s vulnerabilities and take advantages the geopolitical conditions to emerge as strongman?  If the new administration is unable to democratized as promised, the question would be could Ethiopia remain a viable federation in the absence of democracy? So, what shall, or can we do to help the democratization process, individually and/or collectively?

For your comments, mettaalems@gmail.com

The post Will Abiy Ahmed democratize Ethiopia or take advantage of its vulnerability? appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

By Temesgen Aschenek Zeleke

Introduction

Africa was divided among colonial powers since the late 1800’s where the whole of the continent was partitioned like a homemade peach pie.  However, due to the major international developments, the impact of World War II (the defeat of the axis powers) and the emergence of new sense of African nationalism and resistance; almost all African nation were got independence by the end of the 1960’s. Immediately after independence the western educated first generation African leaders tried to bring transformation with gigantic sentiments. Thus, the western values and system of governance and policies were being applied and inculcated in the continent without customizing with African traditions, values and understandings. These facts further lead the continent with the cycle of constant changing of power, civil war, poverty, insecurity and ongoing conflicts [1].  These are the accounts of the heirloom of colonialism where colonial masters still established Colonial lasting client-patron association that existed and still exists in some cases between ex-colonial powers and the ruling elitist governments.  This short piece of writing tries to asses and analyzes the practice of neocolonialism as a consequence of decolonization in Africa.

Arguments on post-colonial African Situation

Though the continent of Africa get independence and much was expected, the deteriorations of Africa have been continued till today. This led the various interpretation of post-colonial Africa. In this regard three arguments dominated the academic discourse on the situations of post-colonial Africa. The first argument focus on the major problem for Africa is its colonial legacies where the political and economic relationship between post-colonial Africa and the West have the same underpinnings and meet the same objectives like the relationship of the colonial period. The exploitative and asymmetric character of this relationship has far reaching effects which weighs down the development on the continent negatively where still the colonial ruling style of oppression of the colonial administration that was imposed on African states by the new African nationalist rulers was not based on the choice, consent, will and purpose of the African people [1].  The proponents of this view argued that colonial legacies shape the current Africa. The current conflicts and economic deteriorations are the result of colonialism legacies. For example, ethnic conflict is the result of the colonial masters emphasized the distinctions between the different ethnic groups, thereby strengthening tribal differences and rivalries between these groups and preventing them from forming a united opposition against the colonizers which still become a chronic problem to Africa. The failure of the rule of law and institutions which were imposed irrespective of African culture which later become the implementing agents of colonial power policies and strategies with the disadvantage of Africa are also regarded as the accounts of colonialism.

The second argument emphasizes internal problems accounts more than external influences on the decolonized Africa.  Mentioning shortly after independence, the socio economic environments of most African countries were progressive and very favorable because there existed the spirit of self-determinism and high hopes to succeed without colonial influence. However, economic buoyancy could not stand the test of time and hence was worn out over a short period when the united forces that fought for independence and political freedom were broken, leading to the dominance of single-party rule which centralized all political and economic supremacy. The national governments failure to implement appropriate policies, negligence of the rural people and economic sectors, inability to form popular governments are the major accounts for the post-colonial Africa. Proponents argue rather than thinking and blaming western power it is good to solve major issues hampering African development like corruption, inefficiency, and protectionism.

The third view analyzes Africa in terms of the current global forces. According to this view, globalization is the major force that shape the current political economy of Africa. Blaming the colonial masters for post-colonial African situation has no weight as by no means Africa is free from the force of globalization. In this regard, the internationalizing and the globalizing of the economics of African countries continue to criminalize and degrade their peoples in the world economic relation [6].

Neocolonialism as a Consequence of Decolonization

Neo-colonialism is a concept developed immediately after the decolonization of African and Asian states to show the asymmetrical relationships observed. It basically refers to the indirect control of the Africa nations by their former colonial masters socially, politically and economically.  The concept was first developed after Africans finally “won” the fight for their liberation and a response for the economic, political and cultural exploitation of the continent actually continued [2]. The concept of neocolonialism has several theoretical and epistemological influences of which it owes much from Marxist thinking and dependency theories of the 1960s.

In the African context the term neocolonialism was first coined by Kwame Nkrumah which appeared in the 1963 preamble of the Organization of African Unity Charter, and was the title of his 1965 book “Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism (1965). In his book Nkrumah argued though African states granted independence their economic policies, strategies and finally their political system were indirectly formulated by ex-colonizers [3]. The ways of re-colonizing operated in varying ways in post-colonial Africa like in the form of foreign aid and foreign financial interest, control over government policy, influence to import the manufactured goods of the colonial powers.

In the introduction part of his book neocolonialism the last stage of imperialism, Nkurmah, clearly stated neocolonialism as

The essence of neo-colonialism is that the State which is subject to it is, in theory, independent and has all the outward trappings of international sovereignty. In reality its economic system and thus its political policy is directed from outside [3].

John Perkins, “The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man” also express how neocolonialism is being exercised in financial and policy wise influences. He claimed that if developing countries resist accepting loans that would enslave their countries in debt, the powerful nation jackals would overthrow or assassinate them [4]. Furthermore, he stated

..Money that had been budgeted for health care, education, and other social services was diverted to pay interest on the loans. In the end, the principal was never paid down; the country was shackled by debt. Then International Monetary Fund (IMF) hit men arrived and demanded that the government offer its oil or other resources to our corporations at cut-rate prices, and that the country privatize its electric, water, sewer, and other public sector institutions and sell them to the corporatocracy [4, p 28].

Neocolonialism and Africa’s uncertain future

In post-colonial Africa, neocolonialism is being manifested in political, economic, cultural and psychological aspects. In this regard the following three parameters best explains the practice of Neo-colonialism in Africa. The first aspect is Client patron relationship among and between former colonizers and colonies. In many African countries, while the ex-colonizers help in maintaining their power, in return post-colonial African governments allow their market and economy to be easily exploitable. According to Alemazung [1] the selfish and exploitative character of the master-colony relationship that reigned in the colonialism time continued in different forms even after colonialism was long gone, and continues to impact contemporary African politics. Furthermore, colonial powers succeeded for establishing the political structure which laid a basis for patron-client ruler ship after colonialism. Neo-patrimonial leadership as practiced in many African countries is an extension of the kind of autocratic and alien tyrant rule that the colonial master’s had initiated. Thus, the African petty bourgeoisie, which had received power from the exiting colonial government, has been the primary cause of neocolonialism in Africa.

The second aspect is economic means and asymmetric relationships. With the demise of socialism and expansion of capitalism coupled with globalization of economies feature the current world order to be asymmetric.  Even failed and collapsed decolonized states forced to swim in the imperialist world without any competing capacity. This leads unbalanced economic, trade and investment interactions. According to Perkins, imperialist nation invested in mass in developing countries in a way that enable them to exploited African market, cheap labor, and raw materials[4].  Colonial Powers continue influencing African states through policies that enable them to continue for exploiting their resources. For example introducing Unequal exchange, currency exchange control, giving loans and grant that result into debt burden and bring Permanente dependence and underdevelopment. Furthermore fixing price of African cash crops by keeping the prices low so that Africa remain dependent to their  aid while they make African countries a dumping place for manufactured low quality goods.

The third aspect is social and cultural means in which Controlling the minds and thinking’s of African elites and African population is another manifestation of neocolonialism in Africa. In this regard using western advanced Medias to influence the society and shape an agenda that favors western culture and life as superior than Africans, providing scholarships and educational systems which is shaped not in the way that benefit Africa, expanding western films and mechanisms of influence are some of them. In support of this, Walter Rodney, ‘How Europe underdeveloped Africa” clearly explained.

“Through influence of western films, books and education syllabus where films books and education Syllabus where by the curriculum is developed by the agent of colonialists masters that it is European based to big extent Little is about the people concern”[5]

In the social aspect of neocolonialism the general belief on the westerners is control the minds and hearts of the people so that they will surrender themselves without any doubt. Furthermore, introduction of their culture which led African culture to be destroyed and also inculcating their language which later lead the disappearance of African languages. This again further led to lack of communication and language barriers to most of African countries.

To conclude, it is clear that African Countries are decolonized from the conventional way of colonialism. The traditional concepts of sovereignty and territorial integrity were granted to Africa particularly in 1960s. However, the decolonization of Africa is followed with the more elastic but invisible way of colonialism which is termed as neocolonialism. In conventional colonialism, African countries were under subjugation with physical presence, military control, and direct interventions where as in the decolonized Africa capital mobility, dumping of manufactured goods, introducing western style of governance, shaping policies, debt burden, cultural influence and establishing asymmetric relationships have been exercised as a new form of colonialism in the continent. The influence of neocolonialism by ex-colonizers plus the inescapable development of globalization makes the continents’ future uncertain.

References

[1] Joy A.  Alemazung, Post-Colonial Colonialism: An Analysis of International Factors and Actors Marring African Socio-Economic and Political Development: The Journal of Pan African Studies, vol.3, no.10, Bremen, Germany, (2010)

[2] Mwaura, Ndirangu, Kenya today: Breaking the yoke of colonialism in Africa. USA: Algora Publishing (2005)

[3] Kwame Nkrumah. Neocolonialism, the last stage of Imperialism: New York: International Publishers (1966)

[4] J. Perkins. The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: Oacland, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc,(2016)

[5]  Walter Rodney, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications, (1972)

[6] Eze R.c & Nkwede J, The Effect Of Globalization On African Countries: An Over View Of Nigeria, International Journal of Asian Social Science, 2012, vol. 2, issue 4, 394-401

By Temesgen Aschenek Zeleke

Contact: taschenek@gmail.com

The post “Scheming African minds”: Neocolonialism and Africa’s uncertain future appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Staged conferences and interviews are diversion and detraction to sustain the status qua, not to promote democracy

Teshome Debalke

April 29, 2019

They say there are two sides for every story. Unfortunately, the untold story of the blindfolded and gauged people Ethiopia remained captive by nonother than the elites and their sponsors more so by the self-ordained political representatives’ quest to sustain a grab for illegitimate power and resources of the people

The recent conspicuously staged conference sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy titled “Ethiopia’s Democratic Opening One Year Later: Looking Back and Looking Ahead”  is a good illustration of selective amnesia of what democracy means and how contemporary elites and sponsors are willfully ignorant to circle around the symptoms of dictatorship bot to address the causes

As they say, charity begins at home. NED that was established with a stated mission of ‘promoting democracy abroad’ not only miserably failed when it comes to transparency of its operation and grant making but, making recipient organizations and their leaders transparent and accountable at the expenses of the democratic rights of the people of Ethiopia and American taxpayers.

The participating organizations’ leaders pose as independent when the record show otherwise wasn’t by accident either. Their indifference on institutional transparency and accountability on themselves and each other speaks for themselves.

After all, unlike we are led to believe; dictatorship at every level is nothing more than lack of institutional transparency and accountability to the public. Unfortunately, the indifference persisted to the benefit of dictatorship and at the expenses of the people.

Moreover, ethnic apartheid system complicated matters further — creating mini dictatorships within dictatorship and made it more difficult for institutional transparency and accountability to take root and for democratic reform to have any traction.

The NED conference began with the host expressing his concerns on the ongoing ethnic conflicts and displacement and the opportunity for “an opening – a breakthrough for the end of dictatorship and the possibility for democracy” but, came short of “looking back” where and how the 27-years-old ethnic apartheid ‘dictatorship’ and mini dictatorship within nor who was responsible for it. ‘Looking back’ also didn’t include successive US Administrations’ officials’, including the Former Senior National Security Adviser Susan Rise and the Former USAID Administrator Gale Smith of the Obama Administration that made EPDRF ‘dictatorship’ possible since the Clinton Administration in mid-90s. Unfortunately, NED’s ‘looking back’ also ignored President Obama’s unfaithful endorsement of the ruling ‘ethnic dictatorship’ as ‘democratically elected government of Ethiopia’ for winning the May 2015 election by 100% of the votes.

Therefore, NED’s staged conference not only failed to ascertain the cause of Ethiopian ‘dictatorship’ at the expenses of the one-year old reformist PM but, left the big elephant in the ‘conference’ room (USAID that finance the dictatorship for decades) represented by unidentified women unaccountable from answering questions as panelist instead of asking as audience. It spoke loud on NED’s indifference on institutional transparency and individual accountability.

The two-dozen grant recipients organizations on NED official website listed, including the two panelists’ run organizations for fiscal year 2018 (the latest and only year available) with undisclosed officers is a testimony.  The long-time established ‘Peace and Development Center’ is among the pitiful organizations NED funds in a no-peace-no-development-no democracy nation of Ethiopia.

Among the four panelists at the conference were the President of The Confederacy of Ethiopian Trade Unions Kassahun Follo Amanu with $278, 775 grants for fiscal year 2018 despite of not disclosing the Officers and Board of Directors of the organization on its official  Facebook page (no official website is found)  and in spite of “being controlled by the government” not to mention Amare Alemayehu is the President of the organization according Wikipedia. And, The Executive Director of African Civic Leadership Program Ltd. Seife Ayalew with grant of $60, 590 for the fiscal year 2018 despite of not disclosing its officers and any worthy information on its activities on its  official website since it was established in 2016.

The third panelist is Yoseph Badwaza (known on twitter as Yoseph Mulugeta) representing Freedom House was not completely forthcoming introducing himself either.  His profile at the Freedom House indicate; he is “Senior Program Officer for Ethiopia at Freedom House.  Prior to joining Freedom House, he was Secretary General of Ethiopian Human Right Council (EHRCO, now HRCO)” according to Freedom House. Four articles from April of 2015 to Sept of 2018 is provided under his profile at the Freedom House.

The Ethiopian Human Right Council (HRCO) was hijacked by the regime and renamed HRCO.

The 2010 Human Rights Watch’s Alison Des Forges Award recipient assumed ‘EHRCO leadership in July of 2007’ and, “fearing for his, life, Mulugeta applied for and was granted asylum in the United States”, according to Human Rights Watch.

It is clear for one-and-all by now, emancipating the people of Ethiopia from ‘dictatorship’ is NOT what motivate many contemporary elites and their sponsors by their own actions-and-inactions as they continue to defy accountability to any one and pivot the reality with impunity.

But, way before the ‘opening – breakthrough for end of dictatorship and the possibility for democracy’, ‘looking back’, where and how the dictatorship started and constructed should have come first before ‘is discussed but, that wasn’t meant to be, thanks to contemporary elites’ and their sponsors’ the cart before the horse’ engagement.

As the result, Ethiopia become a nation of victims by, to, for the elites and their sponsors’ privilege for power and resources. Thus, conscience among self-serving elites became a substitute for consent of the governed — making a mockery of democratic reform.

In the era sound bit and diversion propaganda mostly by pseudo journalists and scholars, no research we can think of put spotlight and summarized the sources and methods of EPDRF ‘ethnic dictatorship’ of the last 27 years led by the self-professed ethnic minority ruling member party of the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) before the new ‘reformist’ PM took over last year than Professor Berhanu Abgaz of College of William & Mary’s in a working paper titled Political Parties in Business published in April of 2011.

The paper makes compelling findings on the inner working of EPRDF Developmental State Dictatorship unlike anything known in convictional political economy.

In ‘concluding observation’ the author remarked;

“The phenomena of party owned for-profit business (Parbus) is ultimately about “the power to create more power” that arise from total capture, by a vanguard party, of key state and societal institutions.”

If that is the case as the whole world agreed and confirmed, the public obliviousness arises either from TPLF operatives and sponsors’ detraction and diversion disguised as non-actors to sustain the vanguard party from the necessary reform of freeing “key state and societal institutions” captured  or interest group no matter who the vanguard party may be;  their interest comes first than the public interest.

With all the noises coming from all direction, one sure thing  for one-and-all Ethiopian are the self-ordained representatives of Ethiopians in the ethnic apartheid Tigray Region under the politburo central committee of the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) that declared they won’t relinquish “key state and societal institutions’ of Ethiopia captured; not only to accumulate more political and economic power but, to use the blindfolded and gauged Ethiopians they held hostage in the Region as a shield to maintain their hegemony.

The competing self-appointed ethnic counterparts in half-a-dozen ethnic Regions are not far behind in their quest to recapture “key state and societal institutions’ – causing havoc to achieve it by throwing the people of Ethiopia under the bus as collateral damage to achieve it.

To make matter worse, those organizations pose as ‘independent’ arbitral that supposed to make them accountable  on behalf of the people of Ethiopia are captives themselves or missing in action — circling the symptom wagon (conflicts, displacements, insecurity…) to avoid tackling the cause (lack of transparency and accountability of those responsible for captured ‘state and societal institutions’.

NED’s staged conference and the panelists representing their respective organizations like many staged conferences continue to miss ‘the forest for the tree’ not by accident but by design.

The small US government agency NED and affiliates are not alone. USAID, VOA, African Foundation… and their equals in donor countries as well as non-governmental and multilateral organizations and foundations like UNDP, IMF, ECA, the Gates Foundation and affiliates are major offenders when it comes to their indifference on institutional transparency and accountability of their leaders.

More importantly, ‘Media’ establishments that are responsible for insuring leaders of government agencies, nongovernmental organizations and ‘private’ entities are transparent and accountable in the public interest not only missing-in-action but, for the most part are captives themselves.

Journalism profession that ‘provide something unique to a culture: independent, reliable, accurate and comprehensive information that citizen requires to be free’ is nowhere to be found—making it impossible to find out who-is-who undermining reform.

Some consequential ‘journalists’ of local Medias standout than others in violating the essence of journalism. For instance, the ruling member TPLF party captured Walta and Fana Broadcasting as well as the ruling collation party EPRDF captured Federal Broadcasting Agencies’, including the Federal Ethnic Regions’ Broadcasting Agencies’ journalists continue to do more harm than good to the public undermining reform.

Likewise, political pundits masquerading as Free Press journalists pandering for the usual suspects are even worse than the obvious party-captured Media establishments. Ebs (Ethiopian Broadcasting Service) established by clandestine TPLF operatives out of the State of Maryland and the various online PR outlets comes in mind.

When it comes to foreign Medias journalists, nothing comes close violating the public trust than the US government funded Voice of America (VOA) Amharic, Afan Oromo and Tigrinya programs’.

Established during the Cold War to broadcast outside the US to counter the communist block propaganda was forbidden by law not to broadcast for American audience even though often violated by Ethiopian-American journalists broadcasting for the diaspora in the native languages since TPLF led ethnic apartheid regime came to power in 1991. Now VOA can officially broadcast in the United States under the newly enacted National Defense Authorization Act of 2017 passed by Republican majority Congress and signed by President Obama without notice.

Therefore, ever since and for the first time in the history of the Republic, US government operated VOA broadcasts in the United States since 2017.

Incidentally, besides broadcasting in three Ethiopian languages, VOA broadcasts only in Swahili (spoken in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania) and Somali (spoken in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia) as well as Shona, Kirundi and Ndebele (bantu languages spoken in Zimbabwe), Kinyarwanda (Urufumbira language spoken in Rwanda, Uganda and DRC) and Hausa language of Chad in the entire continent of Africa.

Regardless, government run Media and ruling party affiliated Media ‘journalists’ violating journalism code is given and expected around the world. But, posing as Ethiopian national journalists and using U.S.  government Media like VOA to collude with foreign diplomat not only is a violation of journalism code but, U.S. Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) as well as sworn  obligation of citizens to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States from domestic and foreign foes – rampant among Ethiopian American VOA journalists.

The recent staged interview conducted by Solomon Abate of Voice of America Amharic program with the newly appointed Ethiopian Ambassador to US Fesume Arega illustrates; violation of journalism code and the law is business as the usual.

It is not clear why Solomon Abate failed to do due diligence on the background of the new Ethiopian Ambassador not to inform the public accurately. The Former Addis Ababa Investment and Ethiopian Investment Commissioner responsible for who can or not invest in Ethiopia for the last two decades, not to mention he worked for various key government agencies prior and until PM Abiy took over the premiership of the ruling party.

Arega that briefly served as Spokesperson/Chief-of-Stuff of the new PM Abiy has a long unholy relationship with the ruling party EPRDF member TPLF in the last two decades before he was appointed to Washington as Ambassador.

The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) better documented the new  Ambassador profile than his own public profile, the Office of the Prime Minster that appointed him and local as well as foreign Medias like VOA and The Washington Post that escorted him since he came to the US.

For instance, in a recent high profile Press Freedom Forum sponsored by The Washington Post in the Nation capital, the new Ambassador’s background was completely ignored by the Washington Post host that invited him as a panelist with the Sweden Ambassador to the U.S.  and by all participating mainstream journalists, NGOs’ representatives and foreign diplomats present.   

Moreover, under  the Former Investment Commissioner Fesume Arega watch, the US Department of Commerce —  2018 Export.org Report titled Ethiopia — Market Challenges that stipulated; “state owned eneteprises and ruling political party-owned entities dominate the economy landscape” and the 2012 World Bank Report titled Diagonalizing Corruption in Ethiopia: Precipitation, reality and the way forward for key sectors that stipulated; party-owned enterprises’ dominance and corruption and the Ethiopian Times’ 2012 Report titled Ethiopia is Looted by EFFORT and TPLF business Empire“, Solomon Abate of VOA nor The Washington Post host to skip all his background and ‘accomplishments’ to present him as an innocent reformist Ambassador speaks volumes on the indifference or conspiracy of ‘prominent’ Media journalists and civic organizations leaders as well as foreign government agencies.

A year out, the new PM appears either not to understand or appreciate yet; citizens require ‘independent, reliable, accurate and comprehensive information’.  The indifference of the proponent of his reform when it comes to transparency and accountability of public information on ‘key state-party captured institutions’ that undermine the very reform he embarked is astonishing to say the least.

The Ethiopian Embassy in the most consequential Nation in the world where the PM called for diasporas engagement and contribution to help poor compatriots at home to appoint the most elusive cadre as an Ambassador is not a good sign to build confidence in the diaspora on the reform effort either.

The Embassy official website that doesn’t provide any worthy information to begin with remained under the same old regime’s operatives doing the same old propaganda one year since the reform began under the new PM. Ironically, since the new Ambassador arrived, he is everywhere but not on the official website of the Embassy he is appointed to as of the end of April 2019 beside the staged interview conducted by Solomon Abate of VOA where the Ambassador mumbling incoherently about peace and stability, the economy, gender equality and the Diasporas Trust Fund.

Unfortunately, The Diaspora Trust Fund that rely on the new Ambassador leadership to succeed is further faltered with the incoherent message coming from him and the conflicting information coming from the government to bring abroad the silent majority.

For instance, in July 10, 2018 after the Trust Fund was established, a South African based African News report titled Commercial  Bank of  Ethiopia woos Diaspora with Mortgage Loans, About 10 month later on April 4, 2019 the same African News report titled Inside Ethiopia PM’s  Economic Reforms claimed;  “a diaspora fund was also opened to ask Ethiopians living abroad to contribute towards easing the foreign exchange crises”– contradicting with Diaspora Trust Fund mission of helping poor compatriots with the diasporas’ fund deposited in the same Bank in ‘separate account as well as  the Chairman of  the Trust Fund Prof Al Mariam official statement.

The Chairman, in his recent article titled the Chicken Little Prophets of Doom and Gloom: Ethiopia is a Rising State and Nation! rightly highlighted the impressive accomplishments of PM Abiy reform so far and his commitment to defend it but, lost the forest for the tree by pointing at the ‘Chickens Little Prophets’ instead of what feeds them.

Prof Al must not be familiar with the African proverb; ‘Maize cannot get justice in a chicken court’ to make a long rant about Chicken Little Prophets … (the symptoms) than the cause (lack of institutional transparency and individual accountability from all). After all, the goal of the reform he put his reputation online regardless of the leader is institutional transparency and individual accountability to free the people of Ethiopia from dictatorship.

Quite frankly, Prof Al putting ‘the cart before the horse’ to engage his contemporary counterparts is not helping the reform he bravely put his reputation online to defend. In fact, he isn’t any different than the ‘Chicken little Prophets’ of blind faith and fortune followers –reinforcing; Ethiopia became a nation of victims by, to, for the elites’ entitlement to decide the fate of our people without their consent.

With all sincerity, for a person of Al Mariam academic credential in Constitutional law and Political Science and as educator to throw it under the bus is disheartening to watch.

In his ‘the means justify the end rant’ in defense of the PM reform, the world presses suddenly become the same old BBC, Financial Times, The Washington Post and CNN and the same World Bank data as evidence to charge “the dotard prophets of doom and gloom” and ‘pushing 70s’ a crime punishable.

No one knows how western press became the world press and what ‘collective guilty by old age association’ has to do with due process of law and individual accountability. Nor, no one understand what has happened to the free speech crusader Prof Al that apply for the notorious warlord Melse Zenawi no longer available for ‘the dotard prophets’ ?

The unnamed individuals that triggered Prof Al rant about failed state also put the reader in a required course to educate us the meaning of ‘failed state’. At the end of the course; he rightly confirmed; “Ethiopia was state captured by the TPLF and as a captive state failed miserably!”.

Unfortunately, the whole rant was about Ethiopia ‘was’ or is a failed state to the satisfaction of the Judge-Professor where the overwhelming evidence he presented against the unnamed individuals he referred ‘Chicken little Prophets of doom and gloom’ to find them guilty as charged in his kangaroo court of. Opinion was the government of Ethiopia — defying not only the very due process of law and free speech of the reformist PM Abiy Al claim to defends but, presenting evidence unverifiable by independent party.

Notwithstanding, the ruling EPDRF member party TPLF led by the same notorious warlords that ‘captured’ the state still operating with impunity at least in ‘Tigray Region’ and, granted, evidence gathering in captured state in transition is hard to come by, for Judge –Prof Al to present most if not all of the evidence from one source  the government of Ethiopia speaks; ‘Trust Us’ is the elites surrounding the PM is the new cycle Ethiopians should expect to go through.

“I care about the fact which I have laid out above. DEAL WITH IT” wrote at the end.

Splitting the meaning of ‘fact’ as Prof did with ‘failed state’ and source of evidence is not necessary here.  But, Professor of law Al would be better off to stick with the law he knows best that stipulates ‘trust me’ nor unverifiable evidence by independent party is not acceptable in court of law, nor in the economy, not even in the class room.

A person is judged by what he does not by what he says. PM Abiy did what he said will do in some and failed another and will take responsibility for it.  As the Chairman of the Diaspora Trust Fund Prof Al did what he said will do in some and failed another and will take responsibility for it. That is called accountably. Two wrong don’t make it right. DEAL WITH IT!.

After all, acknowledging PM Abiy’s accomplishments based on verifiable evidence is one thing, cheering for unverifiable shining object that won’t do an iota of difference for the PM or his reform nor, the people of Ethiopia is all noise.

If the PM’s reform can’t free key state and societal institutions captured by TPLF led offenders; what good would it do for the people of Ethiopia?  After all, reform is about the right, liberty and consent of the people not for the ruling party in transition, not the elites (diaspora or not), not for investor (domestic or foreign).

If civic organizations can’t be forthcoming in disclosing their officers and their conflict of interest to the public, what good can they do for the reform but, for themselves?  After all, as the saying goes; ‘one hour in the execution of justice is worth seventy-years of prayer’.

If journalists can’t provide ‘independent, reliable, accurate and comprehensive information’ that citizen requires to be free’ what good could they do for the people but, interest groups? After all, “journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations” as Orwell alluded.

As PM Minster Abiy reform is underway so more conferences of known and unknown institutions’ and interviews by Medias journalists with known and unknown ‘experts will be held to promote or undermine the reform.  Each should be judged by their track records and transparency to the public independently verified.

For many Ethiopian elites, silence is a preferred choice not to speak up on things that matter most better described by; “Your life begins to end the moment you start being silent about the things that matter” Dr. Martin Luther King, JR. For the citizens of convenience elites, as the renowned Astrophysicist’ Dr Nail DeGrasse Tyson put it; “the only thing worse than a blind follower is a seeing denier”. And, for the blind follower elites, no one describes them better than s the American fantasy and science fiction writer of Seth Dickinson who wrote “Trust, like money needed a grantee to back it”

The relatively few elites left to carry the burden on their shoulders for Ethiopians’ rights to know their affairs are scrambling to be heard overwhelmed and outspent by the loudest noises the usual suspects.

Is that note, no matter how anyone slice-and-dice it, the most important thing that matter to the blindfolded people of Ethiopia by the usual suspects is the Right to Know their Affairs. Everything else is a whitewash to nowhere.

The era of what is good for the elites and their sponsors is good for the blindfolded people of Ethiopia should and must end now or never. PM Abiy reform’s very survival depends on it

Ethiopians should not accept anything less than complete transparency and accountability from all domestic or foreign parties involved to insure; the aspiration for liberty, freedom and democracy of the people won’t be hijacked again.

The article is dedicated to all Ethiopians that refused to be bought-and-sold as modern slaves at the expenses of their people.

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UNESCO Press Release N°2019-34

Abiy Ahmed Ali, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia laureate of the 2019 edition of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny – UNESCO Peace Prize

Paris, 2 May – Abiy Ahmed Ali, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is named as laureate of the 2019 edition of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize for his actions in the region and, in particular, for having been the instigator of a peace agreement between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The jury also recognizes the laureate’s worthiness for the reforms undertaken to consolidate democracy and social cohesion. Finally, the jury considers this distinction as an encouragement to pursue his commitment to the promotion of a culture of peace in the region and across the African continent.

The Jury met on 29 April at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris to designate the laureate of the 2019 edition of the prize, which will mark the 30th anniversary of its inception.

The jury was composed of Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Former President of Liberia and Nobel Peace Laureate (2011), Mr François Hollande, Former President of France, Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan of Jordan – UNESCO Special Envoy for science for peace, Mr Michel Camdessus (France) – Former Director General of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Professor Muhammad Yunus (Bangladesh), founder of Grameen Bank – Nobel Peace Laureate (2006) and Mr. Forest Whitaker (United States of America), founder of the Peace and Development Initiative.

In 1989, in order to pay tribute to President Félix Houphouet-Boigny’s action for peace in the world, 120 countries sponsored a resolution unanimously adopted by UNESCO’s Member States to establish the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Prize – UNESCO Peace Prize. The Prize is intended to honor living individuals and active public or private institutions or bodies that have made a significant contribution to promoting, seeking, safeguarding or maintaining peace in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitution of UNESCO.

Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on an official visit to Ethiopia on 2 and 3 May on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, will meet with the Prime Minister and convey her warm congratulations.

****

Contact: Laetitia Kaci, UNESCO Press Service; l.kaci@unesco.org – + 33 (0) 1 45 68 17 72

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A giant rose farm, a soda works, and thousands of local farmers pay nothing for the water they take so freely from Ethiopia’s rivers and lakes, which are now drying up at terrifying speed.

By Christelle Gérand

Around Ethiopia’s Lake Abijatta the ground crunches beneath you, and it becomes impossible to approach the lake’s pink flamingos without the risk of it cracking completely. More than half of the lake has disappeared in the past 30 years, leaving a vast expanse of salt flats. Satellite images collected by researcher Debelle Jebessa Wako reveal that from 1973 to 2006, its surface area shrank from 76 to 34 square miles. Its depth dropped from 43 to 23 feet between 1970 and 1989, and fish have disappeared because of the remaining water’s increased salinity. The other lakes in the central part of the Great Rift Valley (Ziway, Shalla, and Langano) face the same threat.

The core problem is Ethiopian-style development, the downside of the economic miracle vaunted by prominent economists. The World Bank praised Ethiopia’s double-digit growth from 2005 to 2015, mostly due to expanding agriculture, construction, and services. Ethiopia, a landlocked state, is doing all it can to attract foreign investors, with water and electricity almost free and rents at 10 percent of market rate, especially in the textile sector. The rural population and the environment are the biggest losers.

The town of Ziway near Lake Abijatta and about 125 miles south of the capital, Addis Ababa, is thriving, thanks to dynamic primary industries. France’s Castel Group, the second-largest producer of beer and soft drinks in Africa, has established vineyards, and the Dutch multinational Afriflora Sher has set up the world’s largest rose farm, employing 1,500 workers who earn $83 a month. These companies pay nothing for water from the Bulbula river, which flows into Lake Abijatta. Local farmers have installed an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 illegal pumps that consume even more water.

Since 1970, when Abijatta-Shalla National Park was created, the water table has officially been protected. The 342-square-mile park, once all acacia forest, includes both lakes and the 70,000 people who live there and graze their cattle within the protected area. Some boost their income by selling charcoal made from felled trees, which can lead to a five-year prison sentence, though checks are rare; the park wardens have only two vehicles, so patrols are minimal. Thieves remove truckloads of sand from the park to sell to the construction industry. Park director Banki Budamo said, “Two years ago, a warden was killed trying to stop these thieves. Seven others have been seriously injured.” Antelopes and Ethiopian wolves have gone from the park, and so have migratory birds.

‘WE’RE TRYING TO BE DIPLOMATIC’

Budamo’s 63 wardens are trying new tactics. Warden Amane Gemachu, in her military fatigues, plays with village children and converses with the elders. “We’re trying to be diplomatic and sensitize people,” she said. When she was hired five years ago, the lake was more than half a mile wider, she said. She blames the Abijatta-Shalla Soda Ash Share Company (ASSASC), which makes bicarbonate of soda and uses water from Lake Abijatta. She insisted the company, 45 percent owned by the Ethiopian state, is also responsible for the disappearance of fish because of chemical discharges. Berhane Amedie, ASSASC’s director, assured me that it does not use any chemicals.

At the company’s headquarters in Addis Ababa, he introduced me to Worku Shirefaw, the engineer responsible for the construction of a factory that will use water from Lake Shalla. “The Abijatta factory is a pilot project. The plan was always to build another, bigger one. Lake Shalla is much deeper and so less prone to evaporation,” Amedie said. The company aims to increase production from the current 3,000 tons a year to 200,000 tons, possibly even 1 million. “We’re expecting to make $150 million a year.” Bicarbonate of soda is used in the manufacture of glass bottles, for cleaning products, and by local tanneries. The size of the new factory will enable it to export, mainly to Asia, which will generate foreign currency.

Ethiopia imports five times as much as it exports—$15.59 billion compared with $3.23 billion in 2017—and it needs foreign currency. Dollar-based loans can take up to a year to be approved, during which time businesses are unable to import materials or equipment. So the government encourages export-oriented investment. That is why Shirefaw is unfazed by a government report that concluded that the new factory was “not recommended on environmental grounds.” He said construction will begin within a year and production within four to five years.

Five-year development and transformation plans encourage horticulture, although it, too, is heavily water dependent. Ethiopia’s first rose farm was established in 2000, and the country quickly became Africa’s second-largest rose exporter, after Kenya. Michel van den Bogaard, Afriflora Sher’s finance director, said, “In 2005 the government sought us out in Kenya. We had a good reputation.” The company’s appeal was mainly due to its charitable projects. In Ziway it has funded a hospital and schools and pays the wage bills. “When we arrived, we pumped water from Lake Ziway, but we’ve reduced our consumption by half since then by using computer-controlled drip irrigation, water recycling, and rainwater collection. It rains as much in Ethiopia as it does in Holland, but here it all falls in three months.”

‘WATER IS BEING PUMPED 46 KILOMETERS’
Two million people depend on Lake Ziway, the region’s only freshwater lake, but its level is falling relentlessly. Biologist Kathleen Reaugh Flower is worried that the lake may stop flowing into the Bulbula river, which feeds Lake Abijatta. Near Harar, more than 300 miles east of the capital, commercial khat growing (its leaves, chewed as a stimulant, are exported throughout the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula), the Harar Brewery, and overgrazing contributed to the drying out of Lake Alemaya in 2011; cactus now grows where there used to be a lake with a 10-mile circumference. Lake Ziway’s water quality is deteriorating, driving treatment costs up. Amdemichael Mulugeta of the NGO Wetlands International said, “At this rate, the water won’t be drinkable in a decade, and the lake will be gone in 50 to 70 years. The town of Ziway used to use lake water, which needed minimal treatment. Now purification would be too complex to be done locally and, above all, too costly. So water is being pumped to the town from 46 kilometers [29 miles] away.”

In its eagerness for foreign investment, the government is selling off local farmers’ land. From 2016 to 2018, huge protests against this led to the resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. International delight at economic growth has led to indulgent treatment of Ethiopia’s authoritarian regime. Human-rights infringements and poor welfare indicators have been overlooked, especially the poverty rate, which is very high and constantly underestimated. The government’s statistics agency sets the threshold for extreme poverty at 19.7 birr a day ($0.70), significantly below the World Bank’s $1.90.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in office since April 2018, symbolically called a halt to the previous government’s system of favoritism. He canceled a number of public contracts awarded to the Metals and Engineering Corporation, a military-run conglomerate of 98 companies, 26 of whose leaders are being prosecuted for corruption.

For the lakes in the Ziway area, a slow change has started. Mulugeta said, “We used to be permitted to visit enterprises only rarely, especially horticultural ones. Their directors would always tell us they knew so-and-so. Now they have to get round the negotiating table.” International Wetlands is supervising a study to determine how much water can be taken from the Bulbula river without adversely affecting the level of Lake Abijatta. Once that is known, the NGO plans to allocate amounts to users in the area and charge them for what they use. It is also helping small farmers of very limited means improve agricultural techniques in order to avoid penalizing them. The Dutch foreign ministry is funding this nearly 500-acre pilot project as compensation for the damage done by big agricultural enterprises. Afriflora Sher is reducing its reliance on pesticide by using insects imported from Europe to prey on red spider mites that attack rose bushes.

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March for Our Lives takes place in many cities of Amhara Region

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by Mike Mamo

It is just over a year since the uprising of 2014 – 2018 help topple TPLF’s predatory state. The eventual transition of the uprising into a nationwide resistance and its ability to inspire a team of internal dissenters within the ruling EPRDF were the pivotal moments.
The dissenters skillfully and decisively demolished the brutal state and neutralized its security and military apparatus. Since then Ethiopia’s liberalization has proceeded at breakneck speed.

That a small band of aspirational leaders will so swiftly dismantle the fearsome Woyanne state in such a breathtaking speed was beyond anyone’s imagination.
Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed and his team of collaborators pulled off a stunning reversal of the Ethiopian brutal state, stormed the iron gates to Ethiopia’s notorious prisons, and liberated the political landscape in a sweep unseen in the country’s long history.
During the same year perhaps unexpectedly, and while the liberalization of Ethiopia is still underway, the political climate started to sour, especially among Ethiopia’s traditional political class.

Their ecstasy on the demise of TPLF turned into revulsion and insanity.
A newly mutated brand of delusional mob leaders and reckless elites is gripping the national political landscape and the capital Addis Ababa in particular.
Since the purging of the Woyanne predators, the reception to the redeemers by the elites has plunged from initial euphoria (the mass celebrations at Masqel square –pictured above- and the tens of thousands of Ethiopian Diasporas who came to greet Abiy and Lemma in Washington and Minneapolis) to malice and ferocious campaigns against Dr. Abiy’s government.

The Ethiopian political class has now posed a serious political threat to the survival of Dr. Abiy’s government and most importantly to the survival of Ethiopia herself. It is a multi-pronged threat that is dangerously pushing the country to an outcome none of the reformers nor the gallant youth who paid the ultimate price have wished for.
We are witnessing alarming developments in the country’s private media networks, in particular in the growing camaraderie between ESAT and Tigrai Online, as well as in the various political circles that have begun to mushroom since the liberalization of the political space one year ago.

Among the most upsetting developments, we have also witnessed the birth of Addis Ababa’s first official warlords at the Balderas council. Exploiting the newfound freedom, they erected a parallel city administration; they instigate interethnic war by manufacturing a non-existent Oromo threat over the capital.

Social Media’s constant call to arms and the labeling of Abiy Ahmed as ‘Gragn Ahmed’, the constant condemnation of Dr. Abiy’s leadership and the call for his removal from office by the now brothers-in-arms at Tigrai Online and ESAT have added more uncertainty and tension to the political climate.

Who would have thought a mere one year ago that ESAT, a network established to hasten the demise of TPLF, and TPLF’s own mouthpiece will find themselves in solidarity and work towards the shared goal of removing Dr. Abiy from office? Many people may have to demand a full reimbursement of their gifts to ESAT in money, time, energy, and most importantly in their lives.

Dr. Abiy must have done things right. Two sworn enemies that vied for each other’s destruction suddenly find a common goal. Their mutual hostility in the past must have been just a farce.

If the ESAT-Tigrai Online pact is unpredictable, it is impossible to fathom the absurdity and the recklessness in branding Abiy’s Ethiopia as a failed state by none other than the masters of genocide from the Derg era.
The henchmen of the Derg, roaming through the newly freed Ethiopia, are sharing with us their ‘acumen’ on how to save Ethiopia from the hands of Dr. Abiy.
It must be one of the cruelest ironies of our time.
People who have successfully steered Ethiopia into perpetual civil war and death are now rising as our nation’s saviors.
Drawing on their own ‘wisdom’ at government, they call for the abolition of the constitution, dissolution of parliament, and bypassing parliamentary scrutiny and rule by decree. They demand the resignation of Dr. Abiy and insist on a transitional administration under the auspices of the AU.
Their moral and historical blindness to the atrocities of their own past is simply stunning.
The Ethiopia of today does not answer dissent by carpet-bombing rebellion. The state police has no standing orders to shoot and kill. There are no state executioners; there are no torture chambers in Dr. Abiy’s Ethiopia. The Gestapos of Ethiopia, Derg’s Dehininet and the Woyanne secret police, are no longer in positon of power to terrorize, pre-empt, and destroy dissent.
Ethiopia no longer suppresses voices and ideas; the good, the evil, or sheer idiocy are brought to the table.
The spectacular degeneration of the elitist support to Dr. Abiy is easy to explain.
To begin with, the two key leaders of the transition Abiy and Lemma were themselves members of the same ruling regime that they actually toppled. That two relatively junior members of the ruling EPRDF were indeed sincere enough to tear down the government that they themselves helped sustain is by itself an improbable accomplishment.
Once it was clear that Abiy and Lemma meant business, the elites realized late in the game that Abiy and Lemma are not quite among their own pedigree.
When the issue at hand is the resuscitation of the Ethiopiawinet project, emasculated by 27 years of Woyanne rule, Abiy and Lemma’s ethnic roots and their motives inevitably come into play.
The elites have accused Abiy and Lemma of supplanting the Woyanne rule by their own vision of greater Oromia. When it is clear that Abiy and Lemma have no such ulterior motive, the Ethiopian political class invented one for them.
The suspicion and toxic resistance against Dr. Abiy’s leadership is nowhere more visible than in the anger and juvenile madness involving the Addis Ababa question. A century-old ethnocentrism and bellicose patriotism underlie the anger and table pounding at the Balderas, ESAT, and NaMA forums.
By erecting a parallel city government, the Balderas warlords and their allies have staged an illegal seizure of power; by choosing to faceoff with the people of Oromo over the future of Addis Ababa, they insinuated an interethnic war.
The tables seem to have turned on our bellicose nationalists who historically used to deploy their state power to squash secessionism. They now find themselves with the bigoted job of barricading Addis Ababa with the intent to secede the city from the surrounding Oromos, whose historic and geographic attachment to the city no one should dispute.
Our flag-waving nationalists are now peddling the parochial idea of blockading Addis Ababa from its historic and natural neighbors. It is dishonorable in one sense; it automatically depicts the Oromos as invaders rather than as the most significant pillars of the Ethiopian identity.
Historically, the Ethiopian elites have never fully embraced the role of the Oromo in matters Ethiopian. Prominent Ethiopian historians depicted the Oromos as the antithesis to the Ethiopia identity. This depiction of the Oromo as antagonistic to Ethiopiawinet, if slanderous, also describes the mindset of the Ethiopian political class today.
Over the past half century, popular movements in Eritrea, Tigray, and more recently in Oromo and Somali territories have led to a diminished hope for resurrecting the pan Ethiopian concept. Pan Ethiopianism is seriously impaired, if not fatally, by 27 years of the Woyanne counter movement.
That the reincarnation of the Ethiopia project from its ruins would fall in the hands of two Oromo trailblazers is an unpalatable proposition in the body politic of the Ethiopian political class.
Dr. Abiy is orchestrating one of history’s boldest experiments at democratizing a country with a difficult, bloody past. Determined to install a multiethnic democracy in the unlikeliest of places, he is navigating a dangerously polarized political landscape decisively and methodically.
Extraordinary in its scope, Dr. Abiy’s liberalization has galvanized the quest for equality, democracy, and justice. Consequently, the unprecedented freedom is taking its toll.
Ethiopia’s freedom came with an unavoidable price in human life, erosion of peaceful coexistence, and loss of treasure. Ethiopia finds itself in the middle of interethnic and societal crisis.
Within just one turbulent year, the Ethiopian social and political fabric ruptured.
Regrettably, among the fallouts of the newly liberated political space is the rise of belligerent nationalists and political daredevils who continue to ravage the country with zero accountability.
Until the arrival to the scene of Dr. Abiy, grievances and demands for justice were dealt with violence. The arrival of Dr. Abiy’s brand of futurist leaders ushered in a new era, an era that released centuries of grievances and political discontent to the open.
What the country needs today is not a return to the repressive state. Ethiopia needs a national consensus aimed at balancing autonomy and self government with strong federalism.
The country is blessed at the moment with an astute, charismatic leader but it is also in dire need of strong federal political institutions. It is encouraging to see that the consensus among moderate Ethiopians seems to be advancing in that direction.
The reckless elites are petitioning for complete stripping of the existing federal structure and banning the constitution. Foolish answers such as these came with a heavier price, as our history sternly warns us.
The last time the country forcefully dissolved a federal structure was in 1962, with the dissolution of the Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea. That dissolution and the subsequent replacement of the official Eritrean languages precipitated one of the bloodiest chapters in the country’s history.
Mike Mamo can be reached at mikesmamo@gmail.com

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Euro Cable Private Limited Company, a joint venture between Ethiopian and Turkish, today inaugurates a new factory that triples its existing electric cable production capacity.

The facility, located in Gelan, Oromia Regional State, has a covered area of 10,500 meter square in a compound of 20,000 meter square. Euro Cable PLC, a joint Ethio-Turkish venture, was the first private enterprise to start manufacturing electrical cables in Ethiopia, the company said in its press statement.

The venture began with a starting capital of 55 million Birr (then approximately $5.5 million), and this latest major expansion will bring the estimated market value of its investments to over 1.2 billion Birr ($40 million). Over the years, taxes paid have amounted to about 1.4 billion Birr (US$47 million). Employees currently number nearly 200, and more than 1000 people directly and indirectly benefit from these jobs.

The company stated that customers have long recognized Euro Cable PLC for its uncompromisingly high and consistent product quality, and excellent partner relations. It said this has enabled it to maintain national market leadership in its economic sector. With sufficient raw material availability, we plan to maximize production capacity with more diversified product lines and later break through to exporting, the company said.

Elsewedy Cables Ethiopia of Egypt and Euro Cable are among the few cable manufacturing companies in Ethiopia. The country still imports huge amount of electric cable. Following the growth of construction sector, the demand for electric cable has been growing over the past years.

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Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Wednesday (May 1) lauded the efforts of Ethiopian Muslims in ensuring national unity stressing the need for all and sundry to do more to guard the current peace.

Abiy was addressing a national gathering of Muslim leaders in the capital Addis Ababa as part of an ongoing conference that started last week.

In attendance was the national Muslim leadership and Ethiopia’s Minister of Peace Muferiat Kamil. The PM’s office said: “PM Abiy Ahmed emphasized that a strong Muslim community is the foundation for Ethiopia’s unity.”

Appealing to the community that small breakages need not facilitate disunity, he called upon all to distance themselves from hate and through the dialogue platform, create a structure and process that will strengthen harmony within the community, his office added.

Office of the Prime Minister – Ethiopia

@PMEthiopia

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Solomon Hailemariam,

Solomon Hailemariam, author and founder of PEN Ethiopia, had to leave his homeland Ethiopia in 2015, after repeated attacks on himself and the organization. He now lives in exile in Canada, and serves as chairman of PENEthiopia. In an open letter to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed he expresses his hopes concerning the development of freedom of the press and of expression in his native country, and points out some of the challenges the coming years will hold.

May 3 2019 Text: Solomon Hailemariam

Dear Dr. Abiy,
I am writing this open letter because I am concerned about the fate of our country. I am writing this open letter because I have a responsibility and duty as a citizen to state to write what I feel is right and appropriate to our country’s future. I am writing this open letter because I choose to participate rather than to gossip as a bystander.

To begin with, I would like to congratulate you again and again on your success in every aspect of your endeavors, most of all, for releasing thousands of political prisoners and journalists and dismissing charges against diaspora-based media outlets and unblocking 264 websites, some of them considered terrorist websites. You are allowing free media to flourish in Ethiopia, showing your confidence and farsightedness. The entire world is impressed with us knowing the sacrifice you and your team have made to make this happen.

Ethiopia ranked 150th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2018 World Press Freedom Index. In 2019, because of your direct action, Ethiopia ranked 110th! What is more, for the first time in years, there are no jailed journalists in Ethiopia. It is a clear paradigm shift on the part of the government. We are all proud of your achievements and for the first time in decades, we are now optimistic about the destiny of our country.

Needless to say, leading a country with a huge disadvantaged and uneducated population is a daunting task. But your rare vision and positive energy radiates hope for all people in the country in all walks of life.

One of the major challenges we are facing in Ethiopia right now with regard to freedom of speech is the mixing of journalism and activism. Media house owners and journalists are actively involved in politics and social mobilization.

As a professional media expert, no theory or practice supports such action. Journalism has clear and simple duty: to inform, educate and entertain the public without bias and impartially in an objective, balanced and independent manner. Media houses are expected to provide the public with the information they need to make decisions about their lives, their communities, their county and their government. If journalists make decision and mobilize their community, then they are no longer journalists, I presume.

Thanks to you and your team, any one in Ethiopia can now organize a political party and run for office without fear or intimidation, hence, instead of wearing two caps, it is better to leave journalism and become a politician. This is particularly the case in country like Ethiopia where media personalities influence the innocent and disoriented on an unprecedented scale. The differences between journalism and activism should be defined and clearly stipulated. The freedom of speech earned by the blood and sweat of thousand of young people in the country shouldn’t be tarnished by a handful of powerful individuals who are mixing journalism with activism and who are playing double standards.

Dear Dr. Abiy, your government has a serious responsibility to make sure activism and journalism do not tamper with democracy and put the country back in to chaos. I call up on your government to introduce new law curtailing the mixing of political activism (mobilizing the public) and journalism in the short term and introduce programs of media and information literacy in the long term.

I thank you,
Solomon Hailemariam,
President. PEN Ethiopia,

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by Dagmawi Gudu Kassa
Addis Ababa, ma74085@gmail.com

Wherever it happens, almost always history repeats itself. That is what we are observing in Ethiopia. The Rwandan history of some 25 years back is going to take place in this historical country. Whoever the architects of this upcoming massacre are, if things go like this, like the way they are purposely pushed by the incumbent government and its cronies such as Jawar Mohammed, the demise of this nation is inevitable. But one thing must be clear; any damage or destruction is multidirectional.

Jawar Mohammed is acting like a king maker. He is the Aboy Sibhat Nega of OPDO who is leading perhaps many Oromo organizations behind; we can jokingly say that he is the Ayatollah of the Oromo elites who are inebriated with an imaginative alcohol of tribalism, a psychological drink that maddens with the love of political power and changes people to do anything under the sun to achieve it. The myopic Oromo elites such as Ato Tsegaye Aransa and his likes are currently fattening the conflicts through media access one of which is led by their fiendish friend Jawar Mohammed. OMN, the media Jawar is directing is preaching war especially on the Amharas, breaching the nominal laws of the nation. He is above the law; no one in the country has the right to take him accountable for what he and his media outlet do. Not only this, any Oromo opposition such as OLF can rob the country’s banks and yet none of them are questioned.  OLF, OPDO, ODP, any O… that stands for Oromo “Liberation”  is above the law nowadays. Leaders of some Oromo organizations have become the Mullahs of the nation. They do whatever they wish; no caprice of them remains restrained, thanks to the seizure of the federal portfolios in the hands of OPDO/ODP. Within a year, every Ethiopian has become ‘Oromian’. Almost all decisive positions of the federal structure have been transferred from TPLFite scoundrels to Oromo ruffians. This is also a proof that history repeats itself. Yea, Ethiopia is running backwards in a light year speed.

The Oromo Medias, especially OMN, is by now busy of propagating holocaust on the Amharas. The “journalists” of this media are running here and there to get pictures of massacres from the internet files to use them in a photo-shopped manner. As a matter of chance, they are getting many videos and pictures from the Rwandan holocaust and they are using them as if they are recently perpetrated by the Amharas upon the Gumuz people in Benshangul. When the time comes for the Amharas to defend their right of survival, alas!! What these evils, the children of Satan, are doing is the extension of TPLF. They want to demonize the Amharas; of course, it is adding an insult to injury to blame the victim of both OPDO and TPLF. It is a crime to blame a people who has historically been doomed to be the target of Woyane’s bullets, ODP’s systemic conspiracy of political and physical elimination, and Gumuz’s spears.

I hereby would like to reaffirm that no wrong doing remains unpunished. Be it intentionally or unintentionally, for the sake of filling the elastic belly (ADP) or for any insincere bond(Genet Zewdie), be it from within (the Amharas themselves) or without, all who have been engaged in the demise of this innocent people, the Amhara, who is by no means the menace of any other tribe or ethnic group, will face what they deserve most probably in the near future. History will repeat itself and, hence, the divided will become united; the sick will become cured; the weak will become strong; the unintelligent will become intelligent; the dormant will become active; the careless will become sensitive; the deceived will become conscious of deception;  … add on some more from what you have.  Look the following ‘fatwa’ from HE Jawar Mohammed. … BTW, this crazy Ethiopian situation will pass at any cost and peace will prevail.

Source: satenaw.com

Romans 13:8-10

8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Source: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+13%3A8-10&version=NIV

ህዝባችን ከተቆርቃሪ መሳይ ቤንዚን አርከፍካፊዎች ፌክ ዜና እራሱን ይጠብቅ- ከንጹሃን እልቂት ለማትረፍ መፍጨርጨር እጅግ ያሳፍራል ያስጠይቃልም

The post Oromo Media Network (OMN), the Ethiopian Version of “Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM)” appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

The committee assigned by the Ethiopian Parliament said 600 people are so far detained for fueling conflicts and displacing millions of people in in the country over the last one year.

The study presented to the parliamentarians today by the Muferiat Kamil, Minister of Peace indicated that the court proceedings of 400 of the suspects in underway. She also mentioned that some regional authorities are refusing to handover individuals suspected of fueling conflicts and causing internal displacement. While some regions are using the displaced people as hostage to demanding various things from the federal government.

Currently 2.5 million people in Ethiopia are displaced. The committee has visited 27 temporary shelters. The committee has made the study in Tigray, Amhara, Oromia and Southern regions of Ethiopia. Out of the total 2.5 million internally displaced people 1,477,720 are found in Oromia while 873,272 are in Southern region.

The 25 pages report, which failed to cover the status of internaly displaced people in other regions, regions shows that currently Tigray Region is hosting 111,464 internally displaced people followed by Amhara region with 107,097 people. The report stated that some 700,000 internally displaced people have so far returned to their previous places and rehabilitated.

NBE

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Who is Blue and White MK Pnina Tamano-Shata and what makes her tick?

BY TALIA LEVIN

We sat down to get the skinny on MK Pnina Tamano-Shata – a lawyer, journalist, politician and proud member of the Ethiopian community – becoming the first Ethiopian-born woman MK in 2013 as part of Yesh Atid.

Journey to Israel

“My earliest memory is from when I was just three years old, during the long journey my family embarked on from Ethiopia to Israel via Sudan in 1984. I remember so clearly the bowl of porridge we received in the refugee camp in Sudan, probably since it was one of the few times we had something real to eat during our journey, which many people didn’t survive.

“I also recall the night that was most critical for my family. Thousands of Jews were gathered at a specific meeting place in the middle of the desert, and there were trucks waiting to take us from the refugee camp to an Israeli airplane, which would fly us to Israel as part of Operation Moses. This was the first time I came into contact with IDF soldiers – they handed us bags with water, food and candy inside of them.

“My next memory, from when we were already in Israel, is one of overwhelming sadness that my mother and two sisters had remained back in the refugee camp in Ethiopia, since the truck they’d been riding in had broken down on the way to the plane. After surviving another year in the refugee camp, they were finally able to join us in Israel, and we were once again reunited. In my mind, my mother and sisters are my true heroes, and I am so proud of the way they supported one another through that difficult time.”

Absorption center

“The absorption center in Pardess Hanna was like a warm protective glove for us. It was there that we were exposed to all the beauty and warmth of Israeli society. People really took care of us.

“When I was in second grade, however, we moved to a community near Petah Tikva, and I was forced to deal with the tough reality of life on our own. All of a sudden, we had to fend for ourselves, without the help of counselors helping my parents to adjust to their new life in Israel. They didn’t speak any Hebrew, and had barely had time to begin adjusting to living in a Western country.

“And so at this young age, my siblings and I became the representatives of our family when dealing with the authorities: health fund, school, the welfare agencies, etc. I began to see how much my parents gave up by following their dream of moving to Israel, the land of our ancestors. Their faith in Judaism was so strong, and they’d yearned all their lives to finally reach the Promised Land.”

My childhood

“From a very young age I took charge so that I could achieve what I wanted, even before I went away to live in a dormitory for school. I knew that if I wanted to join the class trip, I’d have to ask for a scholarship on my own. And if I wanted to join an afternoon activity, I had to figure out a way to find the funding by myself.

“We lived on an extremely tight budget – my parents worked as cleaners – and they did everything in their ability to make us feel happy. When I was 11, I began cleaning in hospitals and old age homes – without my parents even knowing – and I encountered plenty of employers who took advantage of my age and didn’t pay me for my work. These experiences served as an impetus for me to strive for bigger things.”

Dormitory life

“When I was a kid, I felt like I had a great life. Only looking back as an adult do I realize how challenging it really was.
“When I was 12, I was sent to live in a dormitory for school, just like my older sisters had been. This was very common in the Ethiopian community. I was happy to go, but the transition was not without its challenges and bouts of homesickness. But I quickly got used to my new life, and I think living in the dorm played an important role in forming my personality and my outlook on Israeli society.”

THE YOUNG Pnina (right, with her little sister) began cleaning in hospitals and old-age homes at age 11. (Credit: Courtesy)

Music and IDF service
“From a very young age, I’ve loved to sing, and I admit I think that I have a pretty nice voice. I have many memories of my parents planting me in the middle of the living room when I was a little girl and telling me to sing the songs about Jerusalem. I was always picked to sing in the school ceremonies, and I was the Israel representative in Europe for the 50th anniversary celebration, which was attended by the chancellor of Germany.
“To this very day, music still plays an important role in my life. Singing energizes me, makes me feel centered and motivates me to remain active.”

College and social activism
“After completing my IDF service, I began engaging in community activism and also studying for a law degree. This subject interested me greatly, since I had always been busy investigating my rights. I also worked as a counselor with at-risk teens, so that they, too, might have a chance to get an academic degree and succeed in life. I also initiated a group of women activists in Petah Tikva.

“The more I became involved with other people, the more I realized that my experiences growing up as an Ethiopian in Israel had prepared me well to help others, too. I felt like I had a responsibility toward Israeli society to make things better. I began fighting against the racism that I’d experienced all my life. Soon enough, I found myself establishing the headquarters for the struggle for equal rights for Ethiopian Israelis.”

The post ISRAEL’S FIRST ETHIOPIAN-BORN WOMAN KNESSET MEMBER DESCRIBES HER JOURNEY appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Passengers escape after plane skids off runway into river in Jacksonville, Florida

Boeing 737 was landing at a naval airport when it ended up in the St Johns river but 143 passengers and crew survive

All 143 passengers and crew have escaped after a Boeing 737 plane skidded off a runway and landed in a river during a “terrifying” attempted landing at an airport in Jacksonville, Florida.

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The military-chartered Miami Air international plane was trying to land in a thunderstorm at the naval air station in Jacksonville en route from Guántanamo Bay in Cuba at around 9.40pm local time when it slid off the runway into the St Johns river, a statement from the navy airport said.

Officials said the 136 passengers and seven crew were alive and accounted for after the plane ditched in shallow water.

Twenty-one adults were transported to local hospitals for minor injuries but were in good condition.

Officials did not immediately say what caused the plane to leave the runway. A Boeing spokesman said that the company was aware of the incident and was gathering information.

View image on Twitter

The mayor of Jacksonville said on Twitter that everyone on board the flight was “alive and accounted for” but that crews were working to control jet fuel on the water.

“The plane was not submerged. Every person is alive and accounted for,” the Jacksonville sheriff’s office said on Twitter.

A passenger on board the plane, lawyer Cheryl Bormann, told CNN in an interview that the flight, which had been four hours late in departing, made a “really hard landing” in Jacksonville amid thunder and lightning.

“We came down, the plane literally hit the ground and bounced, it was clear the pilot did not have total control of the plane, it bounced again,” she said, adding that the experience was “terrifying”.

Bormann said she hit her head on a plastic tray on the seat in front of her as the plane veered sideways and off the runway. “We were in the water, we couldn’t tell where we were, whether it was a river or an ocean.”

Bormann described emerging from the plane onto the wing as oxygen masks deployed and smelling the jet fuel that she said was leaking into the water.

Bormann, from Chicago, said that most of the passengers were connected to the military and helped each other out of their seats and onto a wing, where they were assisted after some time into a raft.

The Jacksonville fire and rescue department posted on Twitter that about 90 personnel responded to the scene, adding that the department’s special operations team had trained with marine units for a similar incident earlier Friday.

Later, Capt Michael Connor, the commanding officer of NAS Jacksonville, said during a news conference that passengers were a mix of civilian and military personnel. Some were staying in the area, while others were set to fly on to other parts of the country.

Connor acknowledged that it could have been much worse. “I think it is a miracle,” Connor said. “We could be talking about a different story.”

It wasn’t known how long it would take to remove the plane from the river, but Connor said the landing gear appeared to be resting on the river bed, making it unlikely for the aircraft to float away. He said crews began working to contain any jet fuel leaks almost immediately after securing the passengers’ safety.

Jax Sheriff’s Office

@JSOPIO

#JSO Marine Unit was called to assist @NASJax_ in reference to a commercial airplane in shallow water. The plane was not submerged. Every person is alive and accounted for

Miami Air international is a charter airline operating a fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Representatives for the airline could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters on Friday evening.

The charter company is contracted by the military for its twice-weekly “rotator” roundtrip service between the US and Guántanamo, said Bill Dougherty, a spokesman for the Jacksonville base.

It flies every Tuesday and Friday from the naval station Norfolk in Virginia to the Jacksonville air station and on to Cuba. It then flies back to Virginia with a stop again at Jacksonville, he said.

The rotator service typically flies military personnel, family members, contractors and other civilians traveling from the United States to Guántanamo Bay. But officials said the mix of civilians and military personnel on the plane that crash-landed was not immediately known.

Reuters and Associated Press also contributed to this report.

The post Boeing 737 Charter Plane Skids Off Jacksonville, Florida Runway Into Shallow Water appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

By Belayneh Abate

It is with a deep grief that I watched the body of a toddler slaughtered with a spear that penetrated his belly and passed out through his lower back in Metekel. This tragedy tests our humanity, brotherhood, sisterhood and parenthood.  We are becoming parents, sisters and brothers who cannot protect our children, sisters and brothers. Even birds and chickens do whatever it takes to protect their chicks from predators. The Amara people must protect its community from predators that bite  more bizarrely than the rabid beasts.

As we know,  the Amaras have been massacred and displaced in every corner of Ethiopia for the last 42 years. The massacre and  the displacement of Amaras has continued in greater magnitude,  but many including some impotent Amara elites blame ethnic politics and the newly established defendant Amara groups  for these atrocities. Because ethnic politics and the victimized Amaras are always blamed for these atrocities,  no one is held accountable for the tens of thousands of lives perished, and the millions of innocents tortured, sterilized and  displaced for 42 years.

I do not think anyone can adequately defend the feasibility of Ethnic politics in any society. However,  preaching about the harmful effects of Ethnic politics  has never halted the massacre, torture and displacement of Amaras for the last 42 years.

Christianity has been preached for more than 2000 years, but only a few (if any) strictly follow the routes of the faith. Similarly, we have been preaching about the catastrophic  effects of ethnic politics for decades. Despite our preaching,  the cyclones of ethnic politics covered the Ethiopian sky and fractured the land and the people in ethnic lines. Recovering from the cyclones of ethnic politics cannot be achieved within decades even when there is a firm determination to ban ethnic politics.

Banning ethnic politics today may have significant impact after decades, but it has little immediate effect to protect Amaras who have been the prime targets of  Ethnic politics for decades. Thinking  that ethnic  politics will fade like summer fog if it is banned today is a gullible thinking that  lacks the knowledge and the understanding  of how cultural and behavioral changes come into effect. It took us more than 123 years to immerse our bodies into the quagmire of ethnic politics: It will take us decades, if not centuries, to come out of it.

After the glorious victory of Adwa, the Europeans designed Ethnic politics for us because our forefathers decisively defeated and embarressed them in their first attempt of colonization.  The wounded and humiliated colonizers drew the maps of Ethnic administrations and attempted to put them in place during their second invasion in late 1920’s. This futile attempt was defied by our  gladiators, but  it was unfortunately materialized  in the mid 1980’s by the bandas they baptized.

In other words, ethnic politics started to walk on its foot in 1980’s after it was borne from the wombs of bandas that delightfully received  the European sperms of ethnic politics 123 years earlier. The sperms these bandas received had anti-Amara codes in their  DNA chains.  Slicing these anti-Amara  genomes is not an easy task as it has been shown for the last 60 years. It would take decades of unwavering effort to take out this cursed genes and reverse  the  course of ethnic politics.

Dictated by the anti-Amara genome, the affected groups preached anti-Amara ethnic politics to the non-Amara segments of the Ethiopian people for many decades. As a result of this unholy  preaching, a cursed fig trees of anti-Amara ethnic politics were planted in the minds of the non-Amara youth. These cursed fig trees have grown long roots and numerous braches  in the minds of the non-Amara youth. It needs strong effort and the help of God to  uproot these cursed trees from their minds. These cursed trees cannot be removed just by performing radical mastectomy on sculpture of “Annolle” or below knee amputation on the  monument of “martyrs”.

Similarly, this cursed tree cannot be destroyed immediately by cursing ethnic politics non-stop or placing a beautiful Jano on the shoulders of the addicted “Lemma Team” or praising and bowing below the knees of the spy and the criminal “messiah”.

Some shallow thinkers believe that ethnics politics will vanish if the former servants of the Tigre People Libration Front(TPLF) declare that ethnic politics is banned. They relentlessly beg the unborn again spy pastor to ban ethnic politics that he was baptized with. They think  Ethnic politics can be treated like addiction of tobacco , opiates  or street drugs in 3-9 months. However, treating  addiction of Ethnic politics requires extraordinary effort and decades of rehabilitation treatment.

The addiction of ethnic politics has been endemic in certain  families since the time of the colonization era. This endemic ethnic politics became epidemic when a mafia group sponsored by the West and Arabs replaced the unitary central government. This mafia group shared its Anti-Amara manifesto to other proponents of ethnic politics.

Eradication of ethnic politics require rehabilitation programs for the promoters of anti-Amara ethnic politics, who are dictated by anti-Amara gene codes, and convincing the West that encoded the genes in these promoters  in the first place.  It takes decade(if not centuries) to complete the rehabilitation treatments and to  convince the West that Amara is not a threat for their interests. Lately, understanding these facts, the Amaras started to come together and defend themselves from the habitual promoters of anti-Amara politics.

As we  know, the Amara people was predisposed to ethnic cleansing because it refrained from organizing itself  in ethnic line unlike others. It refrained organizing itself in ethnic line  because it understood the culprits of ethnic politics. On the other hand, the promoters of anti-Amara ethnic politics strengthen their ethnic organizations established within the last 60 years.

Although these 40-60 years old organizations continued to massacre and displace the Amaras in direct or indirect way, many including the  traitor Amaras are blaming the newly formed  defendant Amara groups. It is upsetting to see opportunists and traitors that always sing for the  powerful  blame the newly formed defendant Amara groups for the current massacre  and displacement of Amaras.

Would these opportunists  blame the newly formed Amara organizations for the  atrocities committed on Amaras for the last 42 years as well? Would the traitors blame the newly formed defendant Amaras for the massacre and displacement of Amaras in wolkait and Raya for the last 42 years? Would these opportunists  blame this newly formed defendant Amara groups for the Amaras thrown in the deep canyons of Bedeno*? Would these unjust people blame these newly formed defendant Amara groups for the lives slaughtered in Arba Gugu, Arsi Negele, and Wolega decades ago**? Would these opportunists blame these newly formed defendant Amara groups for the thousands of Amaras displaced by Legesse Zenawi and Shiferaw Shigute years ago***?

Blaming the victim and empowering the  victimizer is not only unjust but also  an encouragement to perpetuate and promote horror. The Amara people has been the prime victim of the victimizers  for at least 42 years. As facts on the ground demonstrate, the Amara people has been marginalized from political, social and economical participation for almost three decades. It has been systematically excluded from educational opportunities and accesses to  healthcare.

This 42-years  ethnic cleansing of Amara has to stop! This ethnic cleansing can be halted only by the Amaras  supported by the power of God who  condemns penetrating the belly of a toddler by a long and sharp spear. The Amara Ethnic cleansing can be halted only by Amara People supported by the power of God that reproaches throwing innocents in to the grand canyons, shooting children with ammunition, amputating genitalia with knives, and displacing infants and pregnant mothers from their homes.

Those of you who relentlessly blame defendant Amaras, please unwind and revise the massacre and displacement of innocents for the last 42 years. Ask yourself about what the Amara people should do when it continues to experience massacre and displacement although it waited with patience for three decades defying ethnic politics? Ask yourself what the Amara resistance groups  should do when they see their kin get killed with spears, ammunition and menchas  like wild animals everywhere?

It is saddening to see many websites, radios, news papers, magazines and  televisions ( the one time ardent critics of EPRDF), now giving deaf ears to the massacre  and displacement of Amaras in every corner of the country. Websites, news papers, radios, televisions, magazines, individuals,  please  use your voices to halt the misery of the victims and to seek justice instead  of throwing the guilt to  the victims’ defendants. Please be conscientious and stop blaming the defending Amaras and predisposing the Amaras to continue perishing in every cities and rural areas. Thank you.

End note

*Amara Genocide in Bedeno Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcZJIfUkx9M

**Amara Masscre in Arba gugu video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3v9jcDAmDI

***Amaras displaced from everywhere ESAT Radio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMw4dzDFRvU

The writer can be reached at abatebelai@yahoo.com

The post Please Stop Predisposing Amaras to  Continue Perishing in Cities and Rural Areas! appeared first on Satenaw Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

By Andualem Sisay Gessesse – In one of the panels during this week’s World Press Freedom Day event hosted in Addis Ababa, an Ethiopian journalist working for an international media indicated that he can’t travel to two regions in Ethiopia. This is because some gangs are not happy about the issues he covers and labeled him as enemies of certain group people, which they claim to represent.

In another media reform meeting in Addis Ababa I attended a few weeks ago, another blogger who is also a panelist mentioned the same fear and the warnings he received not to cross the Abay bridge to travel to Amhara Region.

And on another television talk show on a private tv station a few days ago, a model and film actor indicated that she can’t travel to Hawassa City, where she was born and still have parents. This is because she is also warned by certain group of people. She said that the safety of her parents is a major concern because some people have created a social media page with her name and are spreading hate speech against a certain ethnic group.

Likewise, yesterday the committee that presented its findings about the status of internally displaced people told the members of the parliament that the people engaged in deliberately causing conflicts among different communities and causing displacements have protection of some regional governments.

The report also indicated that the millions of internally displaced people in Ethiopia in different parts of the region are being hold hostage by regional governments. These regional governments are demanding the federal government many things in order to release the displaced to go back to their originally displaced places and resettle.

What do all these tell about the reform in Ethiopia? In my opinion, when once adds up all these incidents and others, which I can finish listing in this piece like the on the street public murder of an individual in Shashemene several months ago, she or he may wonder if the reform in Ethiopia is a transition from government dictatorship and killings to gangster rule.

The funny thing is that in many cases these incidents are orchestrated and well designed by the people within the reformist regime, the ruling party in general and their secrete associates. Some of these associates in my opinion are wearing the mask of activists and opposition groups who are also running their own media outlets, which are dedicated to serve only one agenda or one ethnic group.

By the way in some of the discussions I have attended at the Word Press Freedom Day events in Addis this week, the spread of hate speech against other groups of people by the growing number of one ethnic group centered or one region focused media outlets was mentioned as a major threat not only the freedom of expression but also the nation – Ethiopia in general.

How?
Experiences such as the 1994 Rwanda genocide fueled by one radio station, and the continuous ethnic related killings and displacement of over 2.5 million people in Ethiopia, who are currently in temporary shelters, show how easily such media outlets can turn human beings into savage wild animals.

How it all work is simple. whenever such media outlets propagate hate against the other region, they are indirectly telling their people to develop hate against their immediate neighbors from other ethnic group with whom they are married to and have been drinking bunna (coffee) every day.

Then those paid and ready launch mass displacements can instigate a simple fight between two individuals from different ethnic groups. Then they know how they can turn this simple clash into ethnic clash like we have seen in Benishangul Gumz and Amhara regions recently.

Talking of press freedom, now that the government is no longer a threat at least for now. The immediate threat to professional journalism in Ethiopia in my opinion is we the journalists. If we don’t manage our ego and become free from our personal biases such as, ethnic, religious and political biases, we are not going to bring any positive change in the lives of the people of Ethiopia.

We will be rather used as weapon of the ruling party owned media and one ethnic group centered media outlets for their one-sided propaganda, which is obvious devastating to the nation. We have to always remember that we have the responsibility to bring all sides of the story including conflicting views within the society, so that the people can make informed decisions in their daily lives.

Let’s not forget to be cautious in our daily duties. These media houses can be our employers, but we are not there to serve our employers. Journalism is about serving the public not one group, including the owners of the media.

Otherwise, I am going to train online 10,000 journalism passionate individual from across the country and inject into the industry turning them into ethical and professional journalists. That means you are going to lose your jobs. or sustain my legacy…Don’t worry, I am just kidding; I am only training a few thousands. Hahaha..

This is just an advice to my fellow Ethiopian journalists. Now let me get back to my focus and conclude my Saturday opinion.

What am I advising to the genuine reformers?
I am saying once again the genuine reformists to separate themselves from those who are working in organized manner to hijack the reform and tun the nation into divided gangsters’ rule.

I also suggest to set clear guidelines for regional media outlets, which are supposed to provide relevant information to their poor people on how they can change their lives and build on their culture and language, instead of disseminating hate speech and propaganda about the other region or the people from another ethnic group.

It is simple, as someone said recently, a religious preacher who is not well prepared on the subject, spends his time talking bad things about the other religions.

These media outlets should be told by the federal government not to talk evils things about the other regions. Let them focus on their own economic, social and political affairs without portraying other region or people from other regions as enemies. Good luck to the genuine reformists!

NBE

The post Is Ethiopia’s Reform From Government Dictatorship To Gangsters’ Rule? appeared first on Satenaw: Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

As journalists welcome efforts to support press freedom in Ethiopia, draft law against hate speech causes concerns.

by Elias Gebreselassie

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Elias Meseret, an Ethiopian journalist with more than 11 years’ experience, is feeling optimistic as he marks World Press Freedom Day on Friday.

Little more than a year ago, Ethiopia was known as one of the world’s worst persecutors of journalistswith the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front’s (EPRDF) tight grip leading to dozens of journalists being exiled, as others were imprisoned.

However, since reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took over the chairmanship of EPRDF and the premiership in April 2018, Ethiopia has moved to unblock hundreds of dissident websites, welcome back exiled journalists and media outlets, as well as ease the work environment for journalists.

Meseret has taken advantage of the more relaxed atmosphere, launching a social-media news service to fight fake news and hate speech, which have grown recently. 

The new order is being abused, he said, because once-repressed voices have been given the chance to be aired publicly.

“I see that the opening of the media space has presented Ethiopians with new opportunities to express their views freely and with it also the dangers of hate speech,” said Meseret.

Journalists visiting the Eastern Industrial Zone shoe manufacturing park in Addis Ababa. The visit was organised by Oxfam International’s Africa-China Dialogue (ACDP) and Wits Africa-China Reporting Project as part the Media Workshop on Reporting Africa-China Engagements [File: Sharon Tshipa/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images]

The Ethiopian government says it is aware of this and is preparing legislation that would impose up to three years in prison for those found to be disseminating hate speech and fake news. 

Billene Seyoum, a spokeswoman at the prime minister’s office, says Ethiopia is trying to ensure accountability comes with renewed press freedom by drafting anti-hate speech legislation.

“Both citizens and government have responsibility to ensure the fabric of Ethiopian society isn’t broken,” she said.

Meseret, however, is concerned that newfound media freedom could be curtailed with the anti-hate speech draft legislation.

“Generally I’m against the involvement of the government in enacting any kind of laws,” he said. “As we’ve seen, the government can infringe on the rights of individuals using laws such as the 2009 Anti-terrorism proclamation.”

At state news outlets, there is a slightly different story. 

Pawlos Belete, chief news editor at Walta Information Center, a pro-government TV station, said while his station has started inviting formerly outlawed individuals and groups for interviews, the channel is grappling with old habits.

“I’m afraid the momentum for greater editorial independence at Walta won’t continue, with the old habits of secrecy, increased editorial control by management and the tendency to block alternative opinions returning back,” said Belete.

“The media should be given a relatively free environment to operate, to expose faults to help the government take corrective measures and ensure public accountability. If the media reverts to its old self of blocking information on urgent matters, it could put the country and the people in danger again.”

For Asmeret Haileselassie, lecturer at Addis Ababa University School of Journalism and Communications, the ethnic divides in the booming media scene should concern everybody.

“Nowadays people are organising themselves and their media outlets along ethnic lines, opening up even more potential to deepen ethnic differences,” said Haileselassie, citing the dangers of biased media in a country grappling with around three million internally displaced people, partly as a result of ethnic conflicts.

Polarisation can also have dire consequences on the safety of reporters, as evidenced byrecent assaults on journalists by civilian mobs.

The Ethiopian government should prioritise providing digital literacy, she said. 

“If the national elections in 2020 goes as planned, the public needs to make informed decisions, to avoid a repeat of the post-2005 national elections violence when some media outlets were accused of fanning divisions, contributing to the bloodshed” said Haileselassie.

A man makes a speech in front of the Ethiopian press during the Gada system ceremony in Borana tribe, Oromia, Yabelo on March 7, 2017 [Eric Lafforgue/Art In All Of Us/Corbis via Getty Images]

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

The post Journalists cautiously celebrate press freedom in Ethiopia appeared first on Satenaw: Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam

Abiy Ahmed is doing a great job for Ethiopia. Ethiopia is really having free press for the first time in its history. I have been in journalism since 1951. I have never experienced such freedom of expression in Ethiopia. Even government media are talking freely, which is a great thing for Ethiopia.” Yacob Wolde-Mariam, 90-year old Ethiopian journalist and editor (April 29, 2019).

If we do not temper press freedom with a little practical wisdom, I do not doubt that we will soon convert press freedom into a suicide pact in Ethiopia. Alemayehu G. Mariam

Author’s Note: This commentary has dual purpose: 1) to share my pride and joy over the extraordinary expansion of press freedom in Ethiopia over the past year and express heartfelt gratitude to all who have long fought to make press freedom possible, and 2) to plead for responsible journalism and caution about the probable consequences of abuse of press freedom.

Press Freedom Unbound in Ethiopia

For decades, Ethiopia was known for its crackdown, shutdown, clampdown, and closedown on press freedom.

For decades, Ethiopian journalists were told to let up, shape up, cover up, shut up, give up or you will be locked up.

In 2007, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), sometimes referred to as “”Journalism’s Red Cross”, in a letter asked U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to look into critical “concerns regarding press freedom conditions” in Ethiopia and the “sustained record of contempt for independent media, which manifests itself in a variety of legal and administrative restraints”.

There was no respite in the “sustained record of contempt for independent media”, and in fact the regime of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) continued to flagrantly violate press freedoms until it was ousted in 2018.

In its 2014 report, CPJ concluded, “A sharp increase in the number of Ethiopian journalists fleeing into exile has been recorded by the Committee to Protect Journalists in the past 12 months. More than 30–twice the number of exiles CPJ documented in 2012 and 2013 combined–were forced to leave after the government began a campaign of arrests.”

In 2015, Ethiopia was ranked the “4^th most censored country in the world”.

In 2016, CPJ declared Ethiopia “to be among the top five worst jailers of journalists worldwide.”

In 2017, CPJ reported, “Ethiopian authorities are desperate to lock journalists away.”

In June 2018, CPJ wrote, “Allowing Ethiopians to access these news outlets is a positive sign that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is committed to delivering his promise to end Ethiopia’s censorship of the independent press.”

In April 2019, at the Washington Post-Reporters Without Borders’ open forum, Ethiopia was described as the “brightest light in the world for press freedom after Tunisia.”

The Washington Post tweeted, “Ethiopia jumped 40 spots on this year’s Index, an accomplishment that is credited to the work of the newly elected prime minister…”

On April 4, 2019, Reporters Without Borders concluded, “In the past year, Ethiopia has gone from being one of Africa’s biggest jailer of journalists,  to being a country where journalists can now fulfil their role as a fourth estate and criticize the government without immediately being imprisoned…”

On April 29, 2019, CPJ wrote:

Ethiopia, which was one of the most-censored countries in the world and one of the worst jailers of journalists in sub-Saharan Africa, has gone through dramatic reforms under the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who took office last April. In 2018–for the first time in 14 years–CPJ recorded no journalists behind bars in its annual census. And the country ended its block of over 260 websites and ban on media outlets forced to work in exile.

Then came the icing on the cake: The main celebration of the prestigious UNESCO World Press Freedom Day 2019 was held in Ethiopia on May 1-3. One hundred smaller events were held throughout the world.

Now you know why I take so much pride and joy from the fact that in one year Ethiopia has risen from the bottomless miry pit of the netherworld of press freedom pariahs to the majestic heights of press freedom.

My deepest gratitude and appreciation to all who made press freedom possible in Ethiopia

I enjoy publicly thanking people who do good for the community and humanity. To me, gratitude is the pinnacle of positive attitude.

As I think of thanking all the individuals and organizations who have made press possible, I just don’t know where to start.

But I must start with the person who made press freedom in Ethiopia real – touchable, palpable and an ordinary fact of life.

It took one extraordinary leaders and a global village of concerned individuals, groups and organizations to bring press freedom in Ethiopia.

I thank H.E. Prime Minister Dr.  Abiy Ahmed for single-handedly delivering press freedom in Ethiopia. Within weeks in office, he emptied the country’s prisons of all political prisoners including journalists and busted wide open the political space.

P.M. Abiy has earned the respect, admiration and appreciation of a grateful nation for his extraordinary achievements.

I want to publicly thank so many other individuals, groups and organizations who have fought long and hard to make press freedom possible in Ethiopia. I wish I could list them all, but space will not allow me to do that. Apologies.

I thank Eskinder Nega and his wife Serkalem Fasil for their relentless struggle for press freedom in Ethiopia. Few have paid a greater price than Eskinder and Serkalem for press freedom in Ethiopia.

I thank Reeyot Alemu for her extraordinary courage and determination in standing up for press freedom and refusing to stand down and kneel before the TPLF ethno-apartheid masters.

I thank so many others who stood up for press freedom: Woubshet Taye, Temesgen Desalegn and Zone Nine bloggers, Solomon Kebede, Yesuf Getachew, Woubshet Taye, Saleh Edris, Tesfalidet Kidane and so many others.

I thank exiled Ethiopian journalists. They chose exile than to live a life of lies under the TPLF regime. Sadly, some did not live long enough to see this bright day of press freedom in Ethiopia.

I thank all of the journalists who were persecuted and unlawfully  over the past decades for their extraordinary sacrifices.

I thank all of the international press freedom and human rights organizations. The work of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, Amnesty International and so many others have been instrumental in the press freedom we enjoy in Ethiopia today.

I thank U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Michael Raynor for his unambiguous  declaration, “Supporting professional journalism in Ethiopia is a top priority for the United States.”

I wish to tell Ambassador Raynor this: The one quintessential thing Ethiopian press freedom needs today is capacity building. Without professional journalism, freedom of press in Ethiopia cannot be guaranteed.

My struggle for press freedom in Ethiopia

I am proud to say that I am second to none in fiercely, relentlessly and defiantly advocating for press freedom since 2006 when I first joined the Ethiopian human rights movement.

In October 2006, I organized a group of Ethiopian lawyers to issue a statement condemning, among other things,

the regime of Meles Zenawi [which] continues to harass, persecute and prosecute publishers, editors and journalists for publishing allegedly fabricated information and for other trumped up violations of the press law in violation of Art. 29 of the Ethiopian Constitution.

When Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) was first established in April 2010,  I served as the chairperson of the Advisory Committee.

I wrote ESAT’s  Declaration of Principles, which was a robust and vigorous defense of universal press freedom:

ESAT is founded on the simple conviction that a free press is essential to an informed and enlightened citizenry, government transparency and accountability and equitable socio-economic development. We believe that a threat to press freedom is a threat to democracy, human rights and the rule of law. We reject the belief that by controlling what people read, hear and think, it is possible to control their hearts and minds…

Over the years, I have defended and advocated for the release of Eskinder Nega, whom I called “my personal hero”, and his wife Serkalem Fasil.

I have defended and advocated for the release of Reeyot Alemu whom I called “Reeyot Invictus”.

I have defended and advocated for the release of Woubshet Taye.

I have defended and advocated for the release of the Zone Nine bloggers.

I defended and demanded the release of Swedish journalists Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson who were sentenced to 11 years in prison on trumped up charges of “rendering support to terrorism.”

I even defended Dawit Kebede who claimed to go into exile on the pretext of government persecution only to return to the  TPLF fold.

In September 2010, I vigorously defended the right of the late TPLF Capo Meles Zenawi to express himself and use the American press to disseminate his lies, damned lies and statislies (statistical lies).

When the TPLF abused state media to wage its campaign of fear, smear and demonization of Ethiopian Muslims as “terrorists”, I stood up and shredded that TPLF docutrash(documentary trash) called “Akeldama”.

I also shredded the other docutrash called “Jihadawi Harakat” when the TPLF tried to use state media to stoke the fires of Islamophobia by spreading fear and loathing between Christians and Muslims.

I stood with the Christian and Muslim faith leaders who fought back against the late capo di tutti capi (boss of all bosses) Meles Zenawi’s fear and smear campaigns using state media and urged them to show, “Unity in Divinity”.  I praised Muslim and Christian religious leaders for reaching out to build bridges of unity in the struggle against the TPLF (D)EVIL.

The need for professionalism in the exercise of press freedom in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has many individuals who think they are journalists but lack the skills, ethics and professionalism of journalism.

They confuse “citizen journalism” with professional journalism.

In the internet age, there are those who think themselves to be “citizen journalists” because they can  disseminate unverified, inaccurate and often misleading information using web sites, blogs, and social media.

Posting GiGo (garbage in, garbage out) information online does not make one a journalist.

Running around town and the countryside with a handheld video camera talking to passers-by also does not make one a professional journalist.

What Ethiopia needs today is “accountable journalism”.

That accountability comes from strict adherence to universal journalistic ethical standards.

Professional journalists always aim for truth and accuracy in reporting. It is important for them to get the facts right.

Professional journalists are independent and do not serve as handmaidens of social or political interests or advance their own agenda using their professional status.

Professional journalists are fair and impartial and present a balanced perspective.

Professional journalists, above all else, do not cause harm, which means they do not use their medium to bring strife and conflict in their communities. They hold themselves accountable to ethical standards, to their audience, to society and the law.

Today, what passes off as journalism in Ethiopia is a bunch of mischievous and unruly children playing with matchsticks in a thatched-roof hut.

Today, what passes off as journalism in Ethiopia is tabloid journalism filled with fake news, half-truths, gossip and  sensational stories fanning extreme political views.

Today, what passes off as journalism in Ethiopia is yellow journalism which contains very little well-researched and documented stories but trying to attract readers with eye-catching headlines with exaggerations of news, scandals, etc.

Today, what passes off as journalism in Ethiopia is clickbait journalism which seeks to get viewers to click on a link online by providing just enough information to make readers curious. When a link is clicked, the website operators make a few cents in advertising.

Today, what passes off as journalism in Ethiopia is fake news journalism on social media intended to mislead and disinform with the aim of spreading fabricated, malicious and hateful information for political and partisan purposes.

Freedom is hard to gain but easy to lose: Beware how you handle press freedom

Those who abuse press freedom today should beware that the press freedom that is hard fought and won is very easy to lose.

Behold and learn from what has happened and is happening in the most democratic Western countries.

On May 2, 2019, Facebook permanently banned a  number of controversial figures with large followings  including Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, Infowars host Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos and Laura Loomer. Social media companies are under legal threat and are weeding out propagators of “hate speech”.

On April 3, 2019, “Australia passed sweeping legislation Thursday that threatens huge fines for social media companies and jail for their executives if they fail to rapidly remove “abhorrent violent material” from their platforms.

On April 7, 2019, the British government “proposed sweeping new government powers to regulate the internet to combat the spread of violent and extremist content, false information and harmful material aimed at children.”

In November 2018, the French parliament “passed a controversial new law that would allow judges to order the immediate removal of online articles they deem to be fake news.”

In 2017, Germany has adopted a tough new law “NteDZ” which imposes fines of up to €50m if social media companies do not remove obviously illegal hate speech and other postings within 24 hours of receiving a notification.”

India has forced social media companies to adhere to “Voluntary Code of Ethics” and fight fake news for elections or face consequences.

China has built a “Great Firewall, the world’s most sophisticated system for controlling and surveilling the web.”

The U.S. Congress is grilling social media executives on their lack of control on their media.

There is a pending case in the U.S. supreme Court today that could have profound effect on internet liability for platform operators. There is concern that the Court may rule requiring social media and other platforms to curate content and give the government power to dictate content moderation rules and  regulate what platforms can and can’t publish.

There is one unavoidable fact we must all face in the global regulatory response to press freedom.

Authoritarian and democratic governments are taking the hard line that they can pass their own laws to regulate what happens on the internet in order to protect their citizens. 

This is the sign of the times!

The number of countries censoring the internet and clamping down on the press are increasing every day.

Press freedom, social media and the  2020 parliamentary election

In May 2020,  Ethiopia will have its national parliamentary election.

I expect controversy involving the press and social media in the runup to the 2020 election. (I shall elaborate my concerns in a later commentary.)

For the limited purpose of this commentary, I merely wish to point out the general contours of my concerns.

I have reason to believe that the dregs of the TPLF regime currently in hideout in Mekele will undertake a major effort to disrupt, discredit, put in disarray and undermine the 2020 election using conventional and social media.

I expect the TPLF to

fully deploy its army of paid social media troll-troops to thwart, obstruct and prevent an orderly election process throughout the country;

saturate social media with fake news, fabricated stories, doctored photos and disinformation about the issues, individuals, groups and parties participating in the election;

use social media to fuel social and political conflict by spreading fake news with the aim of pitting one ethnic group against another and spreading fear and loathing in the election.

undertake a systematic campaign of distorting public statements, speeches and declarations of political leaders and parties, use them out of context and doctor them to incite communal, ethnic and sectarian violence and strife;

use social media to promote ethnonationalism, disunity and division in the country through the use of fake news and disinformation and

use YouTube videos extensively to spread fake news to create fear and alarm among the ordinary citizens and prevent them from voting and election participation.

I shall wager the Ethiopian Election Commission will need to undertake closer monitoring of social media platforms in anticipation of a massive TPLF onslaught to discredit and undermine the 2020 election.

Such monitoring is fast becoming a trend internationally.

In the 2019 parliamentary election (currently underway), the Indian government has required “Facebook and Twitter to impose a ‘silence period’ on political advertisements 48 hours before the polls and the Indian government is expected to  closely monitor mobile phone communication. Google and other social media giants have also agreed not to allow their platforms to subvert the election.”

It will likely be necessary for the Ethiopian Election Commission to proactively address the foregoing issues with the various social media platforms.

Freedom of press should not be a matchstick in the hands of mischievous and unruly  children

Children, and adults, who play with fire often get burned.

In Ethiopia, there are many children pretending to be journalists disseminating fake news, sensationalized stories and dangerous disinformation and hate speech masquerading as news, reporting and analysis.

But they should be very careful.

The tide is decidedly turning against press and media freedom in the world.

I lack the words to express my pride when I say Ethiopia, under the leadership of P.M. Abiy, is one of the few isolated islands where press freedom is exercised at maximum level in the world.

I am very proud that Ethiopia is at the very top of the list of countries in the world where press and internet freedom are uncensored, unobstructed and downright tolerated.

But I am afraid that the children playing with fire by abusing press freedom and social media will muck it up for the tens of millions of Ethiopians who seek to be informed and educated through the free and independent press.

I would like to be optimistic but children will always be children, be they children playing journalists or something else.

Oftentimes, the only time children learn about fire is after they get burned.

So, to those make-believe journalists in Ethiopia, I say, “Keep playing with social media matchsticks inflaming passions and inciting violence and you will not only set yourself on fire but also come under fire.”

I say, open your eyes!

Look at the sun setting on press freedom throughout the world.

Ethiopia is one of the very few bright lights of press freedom in the world.

Don’t muck it up! Don’t muck it up!

Those who seek to be real journalists should know that journalism is a profession just like law, medicine and engineering with required skill sets and standards.

You need to learn the techniques of journalism and perform journalistic duties with professionalism and ethical standards.

Before PM Abiy came, we all used to say, “Journalism is not a crime.”

After PM Abiy came, I am saying, “Journalism is not a game” of playing with tribal, communal and sectarian matchsticks!

On a personal note: Freedom of speech and press are not a suicide pact nor should make-believe journalists play Russian roulette

I believe in press and media that are defiantly independent, meticulously accurate and fiercely bold enough to investigate and criticize the government. Such robust media are absolutely essential for a functioning and thriving democracy.

But when newspapers, magazines, social media and other online outlets publish lies, gossip, fake news and disinformation that incites violence, hate, communalism, racism and sectarianism, I draw the line.

As a constitutional lawyer and teacher in America, I have spent more than three decades teaching, defending and advocating American civil liberties and nearly one-half of that Ethiopian and African human rights.

I have robustly  and publicly defended the rights of those holding extreme views in America in their in their peaceful expression of their opinions, which I loath and despise.

I have robustly  and publicly defended press freedom rights in Ethiopia and Africa.

I have learned a lot over the past nearly one-half century about the theory and practice of civil liberties in the classroom, the courtroom, the pressroom and the boardroom; and in the statehouse, the jailhouse and even the White House.

I do not believe the choice in Ethiopia is between press freedom and freedom of press without responsibility.

I share fully in the view of one of the greatest U.S. Supreme Court Justices, Robert H. Jackson, who argued that reasonable restraints on civil liberties are not impairments of the liberty of the citizen:

The choice is not between order and liberty. It is between liberty with order and anarchy without either. There is danger that, if the Court does not temper its doctrinaire logic with a little practical wisdom, it will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact.

If we do not temper press freedom with a little practical wisdom, I do not doubt that we will soon convert press freedom into a suicide pact in Ethiopia.

Hear! Hear!

Those who abuse press freedom every day by propagating inflammatory and incendiary lies, fake news and disinformation to incite violence and strife in the conventional and social media should know they are playing a dangerous game of Russian roulette.

Let’s exercise responsible press freedom.

Let’s keep Ethiopia a shining beacon of press freedom to the world!

The post Behold Press Freedom Shining Bright in Ethiopia! appeared first on Satenaw: Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

By James Jeffrey

GAMBELLA, Ethiopia, May 6 2019 (IPS) – Right up against the border with South Sudan, the western Gambella region of Ethiopia has become a watchword for trouble and no-go areas as its neighbour’s troubles have spilled over. But now there may be reason for optimism on either side of the border.

The brown waters of the Baro River meandering through the Ethiopian city of Gambella—from which the surrounding region takes its name—coupled with an atmosphere of tropical languor creates an almost cliched archetype of the Western idea of an African river port. Except for the fact that there is not a single boat on the river. The 2013 outbreak of civil war in South Sudan, whose border lies 50 kilometres from the city, put an end to the thriving trade that once plied this waterway between Gambella and Juba, the South Sudanese capital. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

It is hard to visit Gambella and not be struck by the height of many locals, some with horizontal scarification lines across their foreheads. The Nuer are one of five ethnic groups populating the region. Close ties and tensions between the Nuer and Anuwak, the two largest ethnic groups, representing about 45 percent and 26 percent of the population, respectively, date back centuries. The modern border between the two nations does not delineate where either group lives nor is movement across the South Sudan-Ethiopia border a new phenomenon. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

When war broke out in 2013 in South Sudan, refugees poured into neighbouring Gambella. Today, 485,000 South Sudanese refugees lived in the Gambella region, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN refugee organisation. Some displaced Nuer brought arms across the border, destabilising an already tense region. “The fact that the Nuer and Anuwak exist on both sides of the border makes it easy for people of both communities to pass backwards and forwards, taking with them their conflicts both between the two tribes but also at the national level,” says John Ashworth, who has been working in South Sudan and the surrounding region for the last 30 years. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

This is the closest you will come to finding a boat in Gambella nowadays. “The river used to be full of boats and trade before 2013 and the war broke out,” one Gambella local says of the Baro River and its tributaries flowing across the border. Nowadays the most urgent traffic around the city comes from the plethora of white SUVs, plastered with the logos of almost every NGO to be found in Ethiopia. Some locals are employed by NGOs as drivers and translators, but the vast majority of locals struggling to get by see little of the money generated by Ethiopia’s refugee industry. In 2018 the budget required for Ethiopia’s total refugee population—around 900,000 people—was estimated at 618 million dollars. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

Gambella city has an intriguing modern history, in which the Baro River plays a crucial part. In the late 19th century, Britain came knocking, seeing the Baro’s navigable reach to Khartoum as an excellent highway for exporting coffee and other produce to Sudan and Egypt. The Ethiopian emperor granted Britain the use of land for a port and Gambella was established in 1907. Only a few hundred hectares in size, this tiny British territory became a prosperous trade centre as ships from Khartoum sailed regularly during the rainy season when the water was high. The Italians captured Gambella in 1936 but it was back with the British after a bloody battle in 1941. Gambella became part of Sudan in 1951, but was reincorporated into Ethiopia five years later. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

Here a woman sells fish in a small market. Everyday life appears slow and peaceful. But the Gambella region has gained a reputation as a no-go area among foreigners and Ethiopians alike. Back in 1962, the first of several civil wars broke out next door in Sudan at the start of a 50-year quest for South Sudanese independence, and from which Gambella could not remain immune. The stigma attached to the region hasn’t been helped by the Ethiopian government’ tendency to take a dismissive view of the region, underscored by a prejudice—one that extends throughout Ethiopian society—that the blacker one is the less Ethiopia you are, says Dereje Feyissa, a senior advisor at the Addis Ababa-based International Law and Policy Institute. “The Ethiopian centre has always related to its periphery in a predatory way,” Dereje says. “This is not only because of the geographic distance but also the historical, social and cultural differences which the discourse on skin colour signifies.” Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

Local men carrying wrapped-up dried fish on their heads walk through an Anuwak village. The Gambella region is something of an anomaly in Ethiopia, displaying stronger historical, ethnic and climatic links to neighbouring South Sudan. “This was not the Ethiopia of cool highlands and white flowing traditional dress, but Nilotic Africa, in the blazing southwestern lowlands near the Sudanese border,” recalls Steve Buff, a former Peace Corps Volunteer. “This was much closer to our childhood National Geographic images of Africa than any place we’d seen before in Ethiopia.” Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

Since the latest peace agreement between South Sudan’s warring factions late last year, the indications seem more promising than with previous peace agreements that fell apart. By December 2018, the security situation in South Sudan had significantly improved, stated Jean-Pierre Lacroix, head of United Nations Peacekeeping. And by February this year, David Shearer, head of the UN Mission in South Sudan, told reporters in New York that political violence has “dropped dramatically.” Shearer added that the success of the peace agreement will be partly measured by the extent to which people return to home towns and villages. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

This year the UNHCR has reported spontaneous movements of South Sudanese refugees from various Gambella-based camps heading toward South Sudan, an estimated 5,000 since mid-December. Perhaps a good sign of what Shearer discussed? Interviews with the refugees, however, indicated they were returning to South Sudan for fear of retaliatory action following clan-based conflicts in camps, while some said they were going to visit their families, and would eventually return to the camps in Gambella. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

“This time it is different, as the international community is involved,” a South Sudanese refugee in Gambella remarked while reading Facebook posts on his smartphone about the latest peace deal. At the same time, the time it has taken to overcome the animosity of the past and get to the current stage of the peace process suggests there will be South Sudanese refugees in Gambella for some time yet. Meanwhile, the Baro River will flow on undisturbed by river traffic through a land of limbo caught up in the surrounding troubles, its seemingly placid surface deceiving to the eye. “There are plenty of crocodiles, though you won’t see them as the water is high,” a local man says. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

The post The Ethiopian City Lost in the Shadow of South Sudan’s War appeared first on Satenaw: Ethioopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

A man who police say fled to his native Ethi­o­pia more than two years ago after the killing of a young couple in Northern Virginia has been arrested and charged in their deaths.

Fairfax County police allege that Yohannes Nessibu left the Washington region after killing Henok Yohannes and Kedest Simeneh, both 22 and from Fairfax, on Dec. 22, 2016.

Authorities have long said they were confident that Nessibu committed the slayings. A Fairfax County grand jury indicted him in March 2017 on murder and weapons charges in the killings, but the case had been stalled because Ethi­o­pia bars the extradition of its citizens.

On Monday, officials said Nessibu, 24, was brought back to the United States and transported to Fairfax police headquarters. Police said he had been taken into custody by Ethio­pian authorities in February and was detained before a 14-hour flight Friday to Dulles International Airport.

“After two years and nearly six months, justice day has arrived,” Fairfax police Maj. Ed O’Carroll said at a news conference.

Nessibu traveled to Ethi­o­pia shortly after the bodies were found, officials said. O’Carroll said detectives were quick to connect the man to the killings, but by the time they linked him to the case, he had left the country.

Yohannes Nessibu was arrested and charged in the 2016 slayings in Fairfax County. (Fairfax County police)

County prosecutor Raymond F. Morrogh described the extradition as a “cumbersome and complex process” that involved several agencies, including the State and Justice departments and the FBI.

[After a young couple was killed, the alleged gunman fled to Ethi­o­pia. He may never face trial.]

On Monday, Yohannes’s father declined to comment on Nessibu’s arrest. Attempts to reach Simeneh’s family were unsuccessful.

At the time of her death, Simeneh was working in health care and had attended Northern Virginia Community College, according to her family.

Yohannes, her boyfriend, had been a soccer star at West Springfield High School and earned a sports scholarship to the University of Mary Washington in 2012. He left to attend Northern Virginia Community College, also taking jobs with a moving company and at a restaurant, while having aspirations of opening his own business, his family said after his death.

Henok Yohannes. (Family photo)

On the night she was killed, Simeneh left her home with acquaintances and went to Yohannes’s home about two miles away on Blarney Stone Court in the Springfield area, relatives and police said. Some people stayed in the car, while others went inside the house.

According to Fairfax police records, Yohannes had a history of dealing drugs, particularly marijuana. Some family members said detectives had told them that a meeting was set up so Nessibu could buy drugs from Yohannes.

But something went wrong.

Yohannes was shot in the neck and head inside the home, police said. The next day, Simeneh was found fatally shot in the backyard of a home about two miles away on Cordwood Court in Burke.

Detectives had told Simeneh’s family that Nessibu paid about $3,000 in cash for a one-way plane ticket from Dulles to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The plane departed the same day Simeneh’s body was found.

The crimes shocked the community, authorities said Monday in announcing that Nessibu had been charged with two counts of homicide and two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Officials didn’t provide a motive in the case, other than to say Nessibu knew the victims.

Morrogh said Nessibu’s extradition involved a “long series of negotiations and legal wranglings.” He said his office extended “heartfelt sympathies” to the victims’ loved ones and thanked them for their patience.

“I am confident justice will be served,” he said.

Justin Jouvenal and Justin Wm. Moyer contributed to this report.

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