By Alemayehu G.. Mariam

4 Billion Trees? But I asked for only for 110 million!

It is so wonderful to see one’s dream come true!

In February 2019, I shared a dream about the rise of a youth environmental movementin Ethiopia.

As an environmentalist and proud tree hugger, I have always had deep concern for environmental conservation in Ethiopia. I am proud of the fact that Ethiopia is home to many species of plants and animals that cannot be found anywhere else on Earth. But many of them are endangered. It is my dream to see the day when an Ethiopian youth environmental movement shall rise and plant 110 million trees (one for every Ethiopian) and join hands to save our endangered species!!!

In June 2019, “the day” I dreamed about arrived out of the blue; perhaps I should say out of the green.

Last week, H.E. Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed launched the National Green Development Program (NGDP) with the aim of planting 4 billion trees throughout Ethiopia.

I could not have been happier if I had won the California SuperLotto.

Ethiopia is the 27^th largest country in the world.

The tree planting campaign is expected to cover 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres).

Government nurseries are expected to raise 3 billion seedlings and the rest will come from private suppliers.

I was deeply moved watching PM Abiy scooping dirt with his bare hands and plating trees with his knees braced in the mud.

When was the last time an Ethiopian leader got his hands and knees in the dirt planting trees just like the millions of dirt-poor farmers ploughing the land?

Never!

The “leaders” before PM Abiy did not have dirt on their hands.

They had blood on their hands.

They had blood not only on their hands but also in their minds.

I remember in February 2013, when they broadcasted a fear-mongering three-part propaganda “documentary” entitled “Akeldama” (or Land/Field of Blood) in an attempt to create a bloodbath between Ethiopian Muslims and Christians.

Ramadan Mubarak, Eid Mubarak today to all of our Ethiopian Muslim brothers and sisters.

I will forgive, but forget? Never!

But what is the big deal about trees?

Trees are the “tree of life”.

It is written that a tree in the Garden of Eden produced food which gave everlasting life.

Human life would be impossible without trees.

Trees filter the air we breathe.

Trees absorb carbon dioxide and other harmful gasses to human health from the air and release oxygen. One large tree can supply a day’s supply of oxygen for four people.

Trees create homes for untold species of plants and animals, including humans who cut tree to make homes and cook their food.

Trees are our first line of defense against climate change.

Ethiopia is green today, not red. Thanks to PM Abiy.

The grass is also greener on the Ethiopian side.

But there are also many who cannot see the greenery in Ethiopia over the past year because they walk with the green-eyed monster.

PM Abiy in his twitter message lamented, “Over the past years, Ethiopia’s forest coverage has decreased in recent years and the initiative is set to mobilize national reforestation at 40 trees per head.”

Gimmie “40 trees and a shovel”

I am like a kid in candy store when it comes to tree planting.

I have been told I have a green thumb. I like growing plants.

I just can’t wait to go back and plant my share of 40 trees as a diaspora Ethiopian from America.

Maybe I will plant 40 trees for myself and 50 more for each state in the United States.

Well, I am so happy and excited about PM Abiy’s tree planting campaign, I have decided to plant 40 of my own, 50 for each U.S. state and 195 trees for every country in the world.

Now, top that!

By the way, that is my challenge to any Diaspora Ethiopian!

It is said there are between 1-3 million Ethiopians in the diaspora. We could easily plant at a minimum anywhere between 40-120 million trees.

After the American Civil War, African Americans had a favorite phrase: “40 acres and a mule” signifying their intent to reclaim the slave plantations.

I will be promoting the NGDP in the Ethiopian Diaspora with the tagline, “40 trees and a shovel” to reclaim the all of the lost tree cover in Ethiopia.

Gimmie 40 tress and a shovel and I will be alright!

Ecosystem degradation in Ethiopia

In a recent statement, USAID reported, “Ethiopia is a classic example of how severe degradation of ecosystems and productive agricultural lands and poor utilization of water resources increase poverty, food insecurity, loss of biodiversity, and even conflict.”

In other words, we are in deep environmental crises!

The data on environmental degradation and deforestation in Ethiopia is heart breaking.

Only 11.9% —or about 13,000,000 hectares—of Ethiopia is forested.

Between 1990 and 2000, Ethiopia lost an average of 140,900 hectares of forest per year, or an average annual deforestation rate of 0.93%.

Between 2000 and 2005, the rate of forest change increased by 10.4% to 1.03% per annum.

In total, between 1990 and 2005, Ethiopia lost 14.0% of its forest cover, or around 2,114,000 hectares.

Measuring the total rate of habitat conversion (defined as change in forest area plus change in woodland area minus net plantation expansion) for the 1990-2005 interval, Ethiopia lost 3.6% of its forest and woodland habitat.

Between 2001-2017, 902,000 acres lost their tree covers.

In Ethiopia, the top 5 regions were responsible for 81% of all tree cover loss between 2001 and 2017.

The major causes of deforestation in Ethiopia “are the expansion of arable land, resettlement, deliberately placed and naturally occurring forest fires, and commercial farming.”

On the other hand, when the people do not own any land, they have little motivation to plant trees on “government owned” land.

In 2002, the regime of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front TPLF enacted the “Environmental Protection Organs Establishment Proclamation No. 295/2002”.

That proclamation merely catalogues responsibilities and aspirations in 26 areas ranging from environmental impact assessments to enforcing international environmental agreements.

It is full of clichés about “sustainable development”, “efficient use of natural resources” and  “protection of the natural environment from any harm”.

But there is nothing that proclamation that can be of practical use for environmental protection or conservation.

Suffice it to say, the proclamation was drafted for window dressing and to panhandle the West for aid by individuals who are clueless about environmental legislation.

Revising that proclamation should be a top priority.

In 2011, the TPLF regime declared “the forestry sector as one of the pillars of the green economy that the country is planning to build by 2030.”

The TPLF regime “set specific targets for the forestry sector: afforestation on 2 million ha, reforestation on 1 million ha and improved management of 3 million ha of natural forests and woodlands.”

By the time the TPLF got a swift kick in the rear end, it had done to the forestry sector what it did to the country’s treasury!

By 2019, PM Abiy had to go out and shovel dirt with his bare hands to pull back Ethiopia from a total ecological disaster just like he pulled Ethiopia from a total political disaster in 2018.

And that is a fact!

Volunteerism and environmental conservation in the NGDP

To me, PM Abiy’s 4 billion tree planting campaign is much more than enhancing the tree cover of Ethiopia.

By launching the NGDP, PM Abiy has set in motion a massive volunteerism and environmental conservation program in Ethiopia.

The NGDP plants not only trees but also the seeds of a national environmental movement that is sorely needed and long overdue.

The NGDP could be the first and largest volunteerism program in Africa.

When the French political commentator Alexis de Tocqueville traveled in the U.S. in the 1830s, he was most impressed by the fact that Americans organically created voluntary civil associations with friends and neighbors to accomplish personal, social and economic  goals.

de Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America (p. 581), “Americans group together to hold fêtes, found seminaries, build inns, construct churches, distribute books, dispatch missionaries to the antipodes. They establish hospitals, prisons, schools by the same method. Finally, if they wish to highlight a truth or develop an opinion by the encouragement of a great example, they form an association.”

de Tocqueville felt the spirit of volunteerism shaped America as a democratic society with egalitarian values.

Today, American children are taught the virtue of volunteerism at home and school from an early age.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 62.6 million Americans volunteered in 2015 with a median number of 52 volunteer hours per year.

One of the oldest volunteer service activities in the U.S. is saving and planting trees.

Since 1882, Arbor Day (day of celebrating and planting trees) is celebrated in nearly every state in the U.S. in different months.

In 2004, Congress passed legislation making oak America’s National Tree.

I am hopeful Ethiopian children will also be taught at home and school the value and virtue of volunteerism and offer their services in all areas of social need.

I am hopeful next year Ethiopia will officially join the dozens of countries that celebrate Arbor Day.

I am also hopeful Ethiopia’s parliament will declare a national tree in the foreseeable future.

There is a large list of unique trees in the “The Red List of Endemic Trees & Shrubs of Ethiopia and Eritrea” from which to choose.

My life as a tree hugger goes way back

I pride myself as a committed environmentalist. A tree hugger is a committed environmentalist who would hug a tree to prevent it from being cut.

The first movement I joined when I came to the U.S. nearly fifty years ago was NOT the anti-war movement, the civil rights movement, the free speech movement or even the hippie counterculture movement. Those came later.

The first movement I joined in America was the environmental movement.

The early 1970s marked the beginning of  environmental activism in America.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was established the year I came to the U.S.

Massive dumping of toxic waste on land and in the water were highly controversial issues.

By 1980, Congress had established the Superfund program to cleanup sites highly contaminated with hazardous substances and pollutants.

There were popular movies such as the China Syndrome dramatizing the runaway meltdown of a nuclear plant and destruction of the environment.

But the reason I joined the environmental movement was not because of environmental disasters in the U.S.

The real reason was DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane).

DDT was something that was close and personal to me.

I was deeply moved by Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring”, a beautifully written book about the indiscriminate use of pesticides, and specifically DDT, and the disastrous ecological consequences for life on the planet.

In the first chapter of the book entitled, “A Fable for Tomorrow”, Carson talked about an unnamed American town, in gut-wrenching terms, where all life had been “silenced” by the effects of DDT, “the most powerful pesticide the world had ever known.”

DDT was extremely effective against malaria and other pests.

The problem was DDT not only killed birds, fish, bees and other animals by the tens of  millions, it also remained potent in the soil and surfaces for a prolonged period of time causing ecological devastation.

Carson’s message was if we continue to use such chemicals we will end with a silent world as insects, bees and food chain would collapse.

Carson’s book made environmentalism a personal issue for me.

I remember DDT as a child in Ethiopia in the mid-1960s.

The white powder of DDT was not only used to kill malaria mosquitoes in the countryside but also given widely to the population, including children, for delousing and sprayed on houses and crops.

Despite its proven toxicity one-half century ago, even today, TODAY, DDT is illegally sold on the black market in Ethiopia and bought by some unscrupulous farmers who raise khat.

In college, one of my dreams was to return to Ethiopia after completing my studies and help start an environmental movement.

(Oh, yes! The younger generation today should know back in those days no Ethiopian ever wanted to go to America or anywhere else for education and remain there. To the last man and woman, all of us wanted to go back and help our country! But as the poetic line goes, “The best laid plans of mice of men often go awry…”)

For nearly five decades, I have been a member of various environmental organizations (civic associations) including the Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, The Environmental Defense Fund, Audubon Society, The National Geographic and others.

I enjoy hitting the back-country trials in Yosemite National Park, the Grand Canyon or the Mojave Desert or the switchbacks of Southern California’s mountain ranges.

When I returned to Ethiopia in 2018 after 48 years, save a few months in 1974, I had a chance to travel to many parts of the country by plane and car.

The forests of Bale Zone were breathtaking. But even there deforestation and forest fires had taken their toll.

In many part of Ethiopia, the effects of deforestation from an aerial view was heartbreaking.

Nearly one-half century ago when I left Ethiopia, I recalled seeing  trees throughout the countryside. There were many forests (chakas).

Today, it feels like all the trees are but a memory. Gone!

But with the 4 billion tree campaign, they shall make a comeback better than before!

Fighting against crimes against nature in Ethiopia

Over the past 14 years, I have been fighting not only against crimes against humanity in Ethiopia but also crimes against nature.

In March 2009, I wrote commentary entitled, “Cry me a Lake: Crime Against Nature.”

I was crying about the plight of tens of thousands of Ethiopians who were getting sick and dying from drinking  the polluted waters of Lake Koka, once a pristine lake, located some 50km south of Addis Ababa.

At the time, a prominent scientist from the University of Durham, U.K., had analyzed water samples from Lake Koka and found “high concentrations of the microcystis bacteria”, which he said are among “some of the most toxic molecules known to man.”

Other studies have sounded the alarm on the health effects of pollutants and destruction of the Lake Koka ecosystem and called for immediate action, to no avail.

The nightmare of Carson’s “Silent Spring” came back to me.

As I researched the issue of environmental degradation, the scope of the ecological disaster of the “developmental state” of the TPLF became clear to me. It was far more than pollution of one river. I argued:

The Lake Koka environmental disaster is only the tip of the iceberg.

Ethiopia is facing an ecological catastrophe: deforestation, desertification, soil erosion, overgrazing and population explosion. The Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute says Ethiopia loses up to 200,000 hectares of forest every year. Between 1990 and 2005, Ethiopia lost 14.0% of its forest cover (2,114,000 hectares) and 3.6% of its forest and woodland habitat. If the trend continues, it is expected that Ethiopia could lose all of its forest resources in 11 years, by the year 2020.

In December 2009, I wrote a commentary (updated in 2011) entitled, “The Toxic Ecology of African Dictatorships”.

In that commentary, I argued dictatorship and ecological disaster in Africa go hand in hand:

The inconvenient truth about Africa today is that dictatorship presents a far more perilous threat to the survival of Africans than climate change. The devastation African dictators have wreaked upon the social fabric and ecosystem of African societies is incalculable…. Africans face extreme privation and mass starvation not because of climate change but because of the rapacity of power-hungry dictators.

In my December 2009 commentary, “The Mouse That Roared in Copenhagen”, I criticized the “delegation of African negotiators” who went to Copenhagen to load up tens of billions of dollars in carbon blood money from the West.

In March 2012, I defended the environmental rights of Ethiopians living in the Omo River Basin in Southwestern Ethiopia who were facing an existential threat from habitat destruction in my commentary, “The Dam and the Damned: Gibe III Ethiopia”.

In that commentary, I exposed the lies of the TPLF’s Environmental Protection Authority which had issued a bogus Gibe III Environmental Social Impact Assessment approving the project.

That report was a shameless whitewash which unabashedly concluded there will be little adverse environmental impact and that the reservoir area for Gibe III is unfit for human habitation because it is infested by deadly mosquitoes and tsetse flies (which cause “sleeping sickness”).

I have followed with interest allegations of environmental pollution by the MIDROC Gold Mine company Lega Dembi, Oromia Regional State.

On April 27, 2019, it was announced the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum will issue a report on the MIDROC allegations.

I have not been able to find that report online.

But it is a new day in Ethiopia.

With a revised environmental protection proclamation, massive youth volunteer engagement in environmental conservation and especially tree planting, I expect in 10 years Ethiopia will be a model for environmentalism for the rest of Africa.

I remember: Meles Zenawi’s weaponization of environmentalism and population displacement

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Therefore, I must remember.

In April 2012, I challenged the late capo di tutti capi (boss of all bosses) of the TPLF Meles Zenawi in my commentary, “Green Justice or Ethnic Injustice?”

Meles Zenawi weaponized environmentalism and made it a tool of population  displacement.

Meles Zenawi’s decision as the highest authority in the land to remove those he called “some 30,000 sefaris (squatters) from North Gojam [who] had settled in Benji Maji (BM) zone [in Southern Ethiopia]” caused me a great deal of grief and anguish.

Meles Zenawi declared, the “North Gojam sefaris” must be forcibly removed because the

squatters settled individually and haphazardly and in an environmentally destructive way.The squatters want land that can be easily developed and cultivated. They don’t care if it is a forest or not. They cut the forest and used the wood to make charcoal to aid in their settlement. As a result, massive environmental destruction has occurred…. Settlers cannot move into the area and destroy the forest for settlement. It is illegal and must stop.

But Meles Zenawi was silent (as Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring) when his friends, comrades, supporters, liberation front members and cronies ravaged the Gambella and Omo regions and wreaked ecological havoc.

Meles Zenawi gave an Indian “investor” land in Gambella region “2,500 sq km (1,000 sq miles) of virgin, fertile land – an area the size of Dorset, England – for 50 years, plus generous tax breaks 150 pounds a week displacing tens of thousands and devastating the ecology.

In the end Meles Zenawi and his TPLF “realized the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Including environmental justice!

A call to “Generation Abiy”

In April 2007, I issued a call to “Diaspora Ethiopian Firefighters” in a commentaryentitled, “The Hummingbird and the Forest Fire: A Diaspora Morality Tale.”

That commentary was based on an allegory about a forest fire and the animals that were beset by it.

In the story, there were big animals wind bagging about how they can easily put out the forest fire.

But it was the tiny hummingbird that was carrying droplets of water from the river trying to put out the fire.

In 2007, I made a “call for Ethiopian Diaspora Fire Brigades” to rise up and save their homeland that has been set on fire by the TPLF.

In my call, I urged them “not fight fire with fire” but to “spray hope and optimism over the despair and misery inflicted upon our brothers and sisters in Ethiopia”.

In 2007, I reminded Diaspora Ethiopian youth to never have doubts that though they

may  inherit a society devastated by decades of political repression and human rights abuse,” they will one day help “build a City Upon a Hill — a just, humane and pious society — where no man or woman will fear his or her government, where government will dutifully respect the rights and liberties of its citizens, where every person can stand tall and freely speak his or her mind, and where no man, woman or child will ever lose life, liberty of property without due process of just laws.

Today, I remind “Generation Abiy” that “one day”, I prophesied about in 2007 has arrived.

We will need tens of billions of trees to build that City Upon the Hill.

In 2007, I urged young diaspora Ethiopians to “plant the seeds of freedom and libertyon a land charred and ravaged by political violence, corruption, savagery and lawlessness.” I concluded:

Young Firefighters, Lead the Fire Brigades… My favorite people in the world are young people, young Ethiopians and Ethiopian Americans. They are the most courageous, audacious, tenacious and passionate Ethiopians I know. God bless them all! They are the only ones who can fight this fire and put it out. The rest of us are water carriers.

In 2019, I am issuing a call to action to “Generation Abiy”.

I say to “Generation Abiy”, you have put out the fire that consumed your country for the last 27 years.

You did not fight fire with fire. You fought fire with life giving water, with resolute defiance, peaceful protest and resistance.

You have saved your country from a bloody civil war.

You now have a big job ahead of you.

You must now save the ecosystem of Ethiopia.

You must plant trees and to replace the trees burned in the forest fire that lasted for 27 years.

You must save the trees. You must plant new trees.

In 2019, I call upon “Generation Abiy” to launch environmental civic associations just like those in America.

In 2019, I call upon “Generation Abiy” to lobby and mobilize to have Arbor Day celebrated in Ethiopia.

In 2019, I call upon “Generation Abiy” to educate themselves about environmental conservation and teach the people.

In 2019, I call on “Generation Abiy” to take the lead in planting 4 billion trees.

In 2019, I tell “Generation Abiy”, “Hold on, I’m coming!”

With “40 trees and a shovel” in hand!

In 2007, I told the TPLF that they have troubled the Ethiopia House and they shall inherit the wind.

In 2019, I shall prophesy that We, the meek and salt of the earth have inherited the land and We “shall delight ourselves in the abundance of peace.”

The post Generation Abiy and the Greening of Ethiopia appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

BBC

Ethiopian church groups have called on the government to block a planned visit to the country by a US-based company that organises tours for gay people.

The groups were particularly angry that the itinerary published by the Toto Tours company includes religious sites.

Many Ethiopians are deeply religious and disapprove of homosexuality, which is also prohibited under the law.

The owner of Toto Tours told the BBC the company had received threats and hate messages on social media.

“We are humble and loving people, we come with no harm in mind, nothing we do is going to harm anybody, and yet we are being threatened with harm,” Dan Ware told the BBC Amharic service.

Mr Ware said he was afraid, and urged the Ethiopian tourism ministry “to be careful”.

“The eyes of the world will be on us when we come and whatever is done to us will reflect tremendously on the Ethiopian culture and its tourism industry.”

The Toto Tours website says it is planning a trip to Ethiopia in October this year. The itinerary includes Bahir Dar, a centre of Christian mysticism, as well as Lalibela, famed for its ancient churches carved out of rock.

Both destinations are in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia.

Not designed ‘to spread out beliefs’

The president of Selestu Me’et, a coalition of Ethiopian Orthodox church associations, told BBC Amharic that the government “should ban this group from entering the country and visiting the sacred sites”.

“They should not be allowed to leave their mark,” Dereje Negash said. “Our religion condemns this act, and it’s disgraceful.”

He emphasised that homosexuality was illegal in Ethiopia, and said the tour company should not be allowed to “violate the law of the land”.

Mr Negash is also a deacon of the Ethiopian Orthodox church, and has been lobbying against homosexuality in the country.

Image copyrightBBC/GEORGE WAFULA

The call for the government to ban the tour was reportedly echoed by the Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia, which includes Christian and Islamic denominations.

“Tour programmes and dating programmes that try to use our historical sites and heritage should be immediately stopped by the Ethiopian government,” Tagay Tadele, a Council official, told AFP news agency.

Consensual homosexual acts can be punished by up to 15 years in jail under Article 629 of the Ethiopian Criminal Code. It is unclear if Toto Tours would be violating Ethiopian law by merely visiting the country.

Bahiru Sheway, the co-founder of House of Guramayle, a London-based organisation that advocates for the recognition of LGBT rights in Ethiopia, told the BBC that homophobia had deep roots in the country.

Most gay Ethiopians did not reveal their sexuality, he said, for fear of physical harm and ostracism.

He added that the row over Toto Tours had triggered a social-media storm, with many Ethiopians expressing outrage at the prospect of gay tourists visiting the country – and even calling for attacks against them and their straight allies.

Mr Ware told the BBC that Toto Tours was not designed to spread “our beliefs or our way of life”.

“We are designed simply to allow people with similar affinities to travel together and to enjoy the wonders of the world and to appreciate them.”

He said the outcry over the planned Ethiopia trip was unprecedented in the company’s history. Toto Tours describes itself on its website as having served the LGBT community since 1990.

According to the website, the company has also organised tours to Uganda and Tanzania – both African countries that criminalise homosexual activity.

The post Ethiopia religious anger over US gay tour plan appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Teshome Debalke

June 5, 2019

When the Founder of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) of Ghana Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom asked Ghanaians to wage war on “the twin evils of corruption and tribalism” he was referring to the political elites that made tribal victimhood and nepotism and  corruption as a means to self-preservation at the expenses of the people’s democratic rights. 

Unfortunately, the phenomena is rampant in many authoritarian ruled nations with some degree of variation particularly in nations like Ethiopia where tribalism is an official political, social and economic regime.

Therefore, contrary to the definition of insanity i.e. ‘doing the same thing over-and-over again and expecting different result’, as far as contemporary tribal political elites are concerned; ‘the twin evils of corruption and tribalism’ are rational course to take with tangible political, social and economic benefits.

Thus, unlike the rule of law and representative democracy the people’s liberties depend on, searching for more victims and simultaneously crying for peace and stability is where triable political class depends on for self-preservation.

In the wake of the 28^th anniversary of the success of tribalism instigated by TPLF, EPLF, OLF and ONLF as-a-means-to the end that put the people in quagmire – segregations, divisions, displacements, conflicts, poverty… while crying for peace-and-stability simultaneously became a permanent fixture in the political discourse to remain relevant.

Notably, the ruling TPLF ethnic elites led victimhood that brought the only Apartheid governance in the world to Ethiopia produced one of the largest refugees and internally displaced people in the world to the benefit of nonother than the ruling tribal elites and, illustrates; doing the same thing over-and-over again is not insanity but a rational decision for self -preservation with tangible benefits to the ruling Tigran elites.

Likewise, the ruling EPLF elites’ victimhood as-a-means-to an end not only created the new nation of Eritrea by a whopping 99.9% reported referendum votes but brought a one-party authoritarian rule that produced more refugees than any single nation in the world with tangible benefit for the ruling elites’ and, illustrates; doing the same thing over-and-over again is not insanity but a rational decision for self -preservation with tangible benefits to the ruling Eritrean elites.

These are the tip of the icebergs of the untold political, social and economic chaos tribal victimhood as a-means-to- an-end brought on the people of many nations to the benefit of the ruling elites.

Therefore, whether the newly created ethnic apartheid dictatorship of Ethiopia and the newly created authoritarian nation of Eritrea or any nation/people, the ruling elites’ victimhood as a-means-to-the-end didn’t bring about the rule of law and representative democracy for the benefit of the peoples as visible for necked eyes.

The distinguished Professor Calestous Juma at Harvard School of Government on his November 2012 viewpoint titled ‘How tribalism stunt African democracy’ reinforces that reality. He wrote;

“The challenge for democracy is not the prevalence of ethnic diversity, but the use of identity politics to promote narrow tribal interest. It is tribalism.”

He went on;

“… But tribal leaders are clever and calculating.

They are quick to dress in the latest fashion and co-opt emerging trend to preserve their identities.

They buy influence and create convenient alliance, shopping international support in power centers such as London, Paris and Washington DC.

There sole mission is self-preservation, with side effect of subverting democratic evolution.”

Nothing seems to deter contemporary African tribal political elites to play victimhood and cry peace and stability simultaneously as-a-means to the end as they search for more victims to remain relevant.

Such state of mind often referred by psychologist as cognitive dissonance — a mental stress or discomfort by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs and values and what Orwell refers as doublethink – ‘the power of holding two contradictory beliefs and accepting both of them simultaneously’ — a common phenomenon among contemporary political elites in general.

Take the recent Al Jazeera Inside Story “Who should pay for the world’s peacekeepers?” that presented two tribal elites and, a third person posed as journalist of UN Dispatch as ‘experts’ on UN peacekeeping mission without reviling their nationality, background and nor their role in corruption and tribalism that necessitated UN Peacekeeping force in the first place.

The first person was the infamous Tigre tribal elite and operative of the Ethiopian ruling member party of Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) Mehari Taddle Maru with multiple role in the ethnic apartheid regime presented as the Former African Union Commission Official in Addis Ababa and the present Fellow at European University Institute in Florence, Italy. The second person was the infamous Oromo tribal elite Awol Allo presented as a Former Fellow in Human Rights at London School of Economics and the present Senior Lecturer in Law at Keele University of London, UK. The third person was the little-known Mark Goldberg presented as Journalist/Editor of UN Dispatch — a UN and Global Affairs Website and podcast based in Denver, Colorado.

The fact the two are not identified as Ethiopian expat that simultaneously milked tribalism and peace and security and human rights as-a-means to their desired ends is one thing on Al Jazeera part and their selective amnesia to pivot reality is another in their part.

Meanwhile, Mark Goldberg, in his own account worked at The American Prospect, a political and public policy Magazine for two years (2004-2006) as a writer and as Editor of UN Dispatch, “a blog offering news and information on Global health and international development” from 2006 to present  before he graduated in 2010 from Gorge Town University in International Relation. A year later (2011) joined PSI Health Lives, another “blog offering news and information on Global health and international development”.

Obviously, from all experts in the world on UN peacekeeping mission Al Jazeera presenting the three least qualified individuals without reviling the backgrounds of Maru and Awol and their role in tribalism in their birth nation of Ethiopia and Mark Goldberg with no relevant background in journalism  nor peacekeeping says more about Al Jazeera editors than ‘the three beneficiaries of the aftermath of tribalism in Africa.

The fact Maru and Awol are proponents of ethnic Tigre and Oromo victimhood respectively as-a-means to their political ends while simultaneously crying for peace and security and human right not only reviles their selective amnesia but, what they do in their respective roles is to make sure tribalism remains a permanent fixture in the nation of their birthplace Ethiopia.

For instance, the fact Al Jazeera report reviled Ethiopia contributes 7500 troops for UN Peacekeeping mission (more than India) at a cost of $1400/month per troop instigated by TPLF party under Mahari Taddle Maru direction and under Awol allo watch speaks volume about the two tribal elites’ selective amnesia on their role as well as Al Jazeera editors’ substandard report to cover up their roles.

Meanwhile, Mark Goldberg’s January 19, 2019 report titled “Yemen Receives more Migrant in 2018 than Europe” claiming “the vast majority migrant are from Ethiopia” — a country with the largest UN peacekeeping troops contributor with the help of Maru reviles, Goldberg and his accomplices were invited by Al Jazeera to campaign for more funding for peacekeeping troops in no-peace-no-war business of tribalism and migration in Africa for their own political, social and economic benefits.

Therefore, Maru, the instrument of TPLF’s mercenary-for-hire enterprise for two decades turned consultant for African Union on migration, security and terrorism to end up as a Fellow at European University Institute is no surprise.  After all, he was everywhere needed to promote tribalism, fighting terrorism and peace and security at the same time before he became expert on everything that maximize TPLF’s corruption. From NATO War College fellow to expert in Addis Ababa University Reform and security studies; not to mention a member of the Board of Director of the Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Church as well as a lawyer for child adoption services to western nation and a contributor on regional ‘peace and security’ issue for the Horn Affairs – an online Media that promote tribalism in line with the ruling party with his latest piece titled “The Great Game in the Horn of Africa” say more how a clandestine tribal operative collude with Al Jazeera editors to be presented as impartial expert on peacekeeping, terrorism and migration than anything else.

But, closely listening to Maru’s rant on his bread-and-butter issue in line with  mercenary-for-hire enterprise of TPLF with substantial income it generates posed as peace, security human right expert and Awol’s selective amnesia not to know the reality of Maru’s operation speaks volume how tribal operatives evolved playing both sides of the geopolitical and economic game for self-preservation.

The fact both ignored the 7500 Ethiopian peacekeeping troops at $1400 each ($126 million/year) while paid less than an equivalent of $100 each in local currency says; corruption and tribalism and the aftermath – displacement and migration are big and expanding business for the Merchants of Death.

Wen that is not enough, Awol’s appearance on Al Jazeera Inside Story as expert on Sudan politics and the military refusal to hand power for civilian administration without mentioning its relationship with TPLF intelligence apparatus further indicate; there is more to Awol than what he and Al Jazeera editors want the public to know.

Meanwhile, the UN Dispatch journalists Mark Goldberg failing to uncover where exactly the $126 millions spent on 7500 UN peacekeeping troops from Ethiopia every year for decades is going speaks volume where his journalism profession ends and, his business interest begins.

Contemporary political elites playing victimhood as the means to their end is not new in world politics.  But, in autocratic ruled nation of the world, it is an open season on the people not to mention a big business for the corrupt elites with no tangible benefit for the rights and liberty of the people.

For instance, the old Marxist political elites’ victimhood as means to their end would have brought liberty for the ‘masses’ of Ethiopia. Instead, the people were abandoned by the same political elites that came up with yet another victimhood as-a-means to remain relevant.

Likewise, liberation political elites’ victimhood as means to their end would have brought freedom and liberty for the people of Eritrea.  Instead, the people are abandoned by the same political elites that came up with yet another victimhood as-a-means to remain relevant.

The same way, the ethnic apartheid political elites’ victimhood as means to their end would have brought the people of Ethiopia freedom to exercise liberty in their respective ethnic apartheid Regions created. Instead, the people are abandoned by the same ethnic political elites that used and abuse them as pawns for corruption and tribalism.

Therefore, since democracy is a dangerous proposition for tribal elites’ self-preservation as Professor Juma alluded, create more victimhood as-a-means-to-an-end is invaitable and a natural progression to circumvent democratic reform. In that regard, the tribal political elites’ latest ploy to put the last nail in the coffin of democratic reform is gender and age.

Take a May 21, 2010 article titled “Ethiopia: the Challenge to TPLF …from Tigray’s own grassroots’  by tribal elite with pseudo name Getachew Gebrekiros Temare,

Ironically, the article starts with; “local youth protest over land will continue to grow if TPLF acts as an occupying force rather than a responsible government.”

The self-described “lawyer, a graduate student of conflict resolution and activist on the right of disabled people” couldn’t prove better a typical contemporary tribal elite milking victimhood to the max as-a-means-to his desire end.

Mind you, his claim TPLF has always been ‘responsible government’ in Tigray until ‘local youth protest over land’ that is making it ‘act’ like an occupying force alone tells the story of victimhood is a lucrative business for tribal elites’ self-perseveration.

After 27 years of TPLF crimes including land grab, occupation and atrocities against the people of Ethiopia, the selective amnesia of Getachew is reduced; if only TPLF not act as occupying force of Tigray than responsible government everything will be ok  not only defies the self-described  lawyer selective amnesia but, insults ‘local youth protest is over land’ instead of TPLF tribal warlords’ crimes of tribalism, corruption and atrocities that made a mess out of their nation.

If Getachew Gebrekiros Temare is not a ‘clever and calculating’ tribal elite’s self-preservation we don’t know for what it could be.

Ever since Prime Minster Abiy reform declared the ethnic political elites’ victimhood as-a-means-to-an-end is a backward and corrupt political philosophy everything broke loss.  Those that benefited the most quickly declared war to sustain ‘the two evil of corruption and tribalism’ their very existence depended on as Getachew Gebrekiros Temare selective amnesia to rehabilitate tribalism reviled.

The fact the same infamous tribal Tigray warlords (Deberthion Woldemechel and Getachew Reda) are doing the only thing they know best in Tigray Region they hide should have awakened the self-described lawyer and student of conflict resolution Getachew Gebrekiros Temare — there is no ‘Tigray Government’ let alone responsible one but a Mafia. Sadly, when an elite drink the cooled of tribalism no one knows whether he is practicing law in the jungle of tribalism or in the Courts of Justices.

Quite frankly, Tadele Maru, Awol Allo and pseudo name Getachew Gebrekiros or many tribal elites’ selective amnesia only proves; ‘the twin evils of corruption and tribalism will remain as driving forces in Ethiopian politics as the new reformist PM that freed many Ethiopians from physical prison as he navigates to breakout out of tribal prison his party’s old guard put him in.

Ironically, the Free Press is not doing enough to vet tribal elites that show up on public forums to talk on both sides of their mouth. For that reason alone, the democratic reform is paying high price.

Unfortunately, PM Abiy Ahmed operates under  the official rule of ethnic apartheid Ethiopia instigated by the retreating tribal warlords of his own party crying victimhood of his reform while their operatives play hide-and-seek on the world stage to sustain tribalism in a cover of peace and stability and development is not helping.

Take for instance the infamous Professor Ephraim Issac led Peace and Development Center of Ethiopia. His latest mission as described in April 2018 article on Ethiopian Observer titled Ephraim Issac in Mission to find traditional cure for modern crises captures how tribal elites are back playing hide-and-seek to sustain tribalism in a cover of ‘traditional cure for modern crises’ – reinforcing; doing the same thing over-and-over again and expecting different result is not insanity but a rational and deliberate decision for “self-preservation, with side effect of subverting democratic evolution” as Professor Juma put it.

Here is where Prof Issac selective amnesia for self-preservation take precedent in a cover of ‘traditional cure for modern crises.’ According to the article, “as board chairman of Peace and Development Center (PDC), a non-governmental and non-profit organization that evolved from “Ad-Hoc Peace Committee”, Ephriam has enlisted the support of council of elders that include Dr Ahmed Moen, former Ethiopian Director General in Minster of Health and Professor of public health at Howard University, Dr Haile Selasssie Belay, former President of Ethiopian Agriculture College and Former Governor of Tigray, Dr Mulugeta  Eteffa, former professor and Dean of Student at Haile Selassie I University. Dr Tilahun Beyne, former President of Eritrean Teachers Association and Dean at the University of Maryland and other respected doctors and lawyers and spiritual leaders.”

The report claims, “they have so far talked to government officials such as Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mokonnen, senior member of the government and Director of the International Institute for Peace and Development Sebhat Nega, President of the Oromia Region Lema Megersa, opposition figures Oromo Federalist Congress  leader Merra Gudina, the Ethiopian Federal Democratic Forum (Medrek)’s Beyene Petros. The plan is to reach other relatively moderate exiled politician such as Lencho Letta and Dimma Negaewo.”

No one knows whether Ethiopian Observer is in a mission of observing or conflating the reality. But the fact its report presented the grand tribal arsonists Sebhat Nega as firefighters alone speaks volume how modern tribal elites are stuck with tribalism for self-preservation with no-way-out short of a surrendering for democratic rule and accountability.

If the notorious Tigray warlord Sebhat Nega presented by Ethiopian Observer ‘as senior member of the government and Director of the International Institute for Peace and Development’ alone is not enough for Ethiopians to know  “ the twin evils of corruption and tribalism” to undermine democracy, we do not know what it could be.

If people think, International Institute for Peace and Development (EIIPD) led by Sebhat Nega and Peace and Development Center of Ethiopia led by Professor Ephraim Issac is going to bring about peace and development to Ethiopia; they haven’t learned how contemporary tribal elites operate to undermine democratic reform and why. Going to official website of PDC to find out who they are and funds them and why may help revile; the failed  colonial tribalism in Ethiopia is well and alive thanks for contemporary tribal political elites.

But the irony Ethiopian Observer led by unidentified Editor nor  Peace and Development Center led Ephraim Issac did not even know EIIPD led by Sebhat Nega changed its name in 2015 by regulation #347/2015 as Ethiopian Foreign Relations Strategic Studies Institute to put out half-baked report of ‘Ephraim Issac in Mission to find traditional cure for modern crises’ alone says more; no matter what and how; self-preservation takes priority for tribal elites oer the democratic rights and liberty of the people of Ethiopia.

At this late stage of contemporary tribal elites’ failure to understand and snap out of tribalism “it is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men” as the renowned 18^th century African American Abolitionist Movement leader Frederick Douglass put it.

May be reading Frederick Douglas’ second book titled “My Bondage and My Freedom” published in 1855 can help contemporary tribal elites of Ethiopia to free themselves from the self-imposed bondage of tribalism in the 21^st century no PhD title would help free. Regardless, Ethiopians shouldn’t allow their bondage in tribalism undermine the democratic right and liberty of the people of Ethiopia.

As PM Abiy reform stumble to sort out who-is-who undermining democratic reform, the Free Press and civic organizations can help identify the offenders by knocking doors and asking hard questions.

Mark Twain wrote; “a newspaper is not just reporting the news as it is, but to make people mad enough to do something about it.”

In that note, how many Medias and civic organizations are there to make Ethiopians mad enough about ‘the two evils of corruption and tribalism’ to do something about it is a question seldom asked.

Ethiopian Observer would be advised to observe than conflate the reality of tribal political elites.

This article is dedicated for the few Medias that make Ethiopians mad enough to do something about corruption and tribalsim.   

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June 8, 2019

P R E S S   R E L E A S E

Subject: Appointment of Mr. (Ato) Tewodros Abebe as Executive Director

The Board of Directors of the Global Alliance for Justice – The Ethiopian Cause  is happy to announce the appointment of Mr. (Ato) Tewodros Abebe as the Executive Director of the Alliance with effect from June 8, 2019.

The Board is happy to acknowledge the contribution of the current Director, Mr. (Ato) Kidane Alemayehu, who served the organization with relentless effort and dedication for several years; and is being replaced by Mr. Tewodros Abebe equally well known for his scholarly contribution, for his humility and his dedication in serving Ethiopia and his community. Mr. Tewodros Abebe is now teaching at Howard University.

The Board expresses its best wishes for Mr. (Ato) Tewodros’ fullest success in his important leadership role as well as calling on all supporters of the Ethiopian cause throughout the world to continue with their positive collaboration and contributions.

The Board also hereby states that Mr. (Ato) Kidane Alemayehu would continue with his service to the cause of justice as a member of the Board of Directors.

With the Board’s compliments and best wishes for success in the achievement of the justice required by our beloved Ethiopia;

“Ethiopia Raises Its Hands Unto God” (Psalm 68/31)

Prince Ermias Sahle Selassie

Chairman

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Dozens of people have died after Sudan’s military cracked down on a protest camp earlier in the week.

An opposition politician has been detained in Sudan after meeting Ethiopia’s prime minister, his party has said.

Mohammad Esmat was part of a delegation holding talks with Abiy Ahmed, who flew in from Addis Ababa on Friday.

No further details were given about his arrest.

His visit follows the deaths of dozens of people when troops stormed a protest camp on Monday following long demonstrations against military rule.

Mr Ababa held discussions with both the Transitional Military Council (TMC), and the opposition Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF) alliance.

As he tried to mediate, Mr Ahmed urged both sides to exercise “bravery” in resolving their standoff.

He arrived in Sudan the day after the African Union – based in Ethiopia – suspended Sudan, backing the opposition’s demand for civilian rule.

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COMPILED FROM WIRE SERVICES

Sudanese security forces have arrested two prominent rebels and an opposition leader, a day after they met the Ethiopian premier during his reconciliation mission to Khartoum, their aides said Saturday.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has emerged as a key regional leader, met representatives of both sides on Friday in a bid to revive talks between Sudan’s ruling generals and protest leaders after a deadly crackdown left dozens of people dead in the capital this week.

Among the protest movement delegates he met were opposition politician Mohamed Esmat and a leader of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), Ismail Jalab.

Sudanese security forces later arrested both men without giving any reason, their aides told AFP on Saturday. Esmat was arrested on Friday soon after his meeting with Abiy. Jalab was arrested from his residence early on Saturday.

“A group of armed men came in vehicles at 3:00 am (1:00 GMT) and took away Ismail Jalab… without giving any reason,” Jalab aide Rashid Anwar told AFP, adding that SPLM-N spokesman Mubarak Ardol was also detained.

Source- www.dailysabah.com

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Ethiopia’s church-led initiative builds trust among religions and community members

(LWI) – Faith leaders are becoming agents of peaceful religious co-existence and stemming potential sectarian conflicts in Ethiopia, thanks to a peace project of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) focusing on three of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Dr Ojot Miru Ojulu, LWF’s LWF Assistant General Secretary for International Affairs and Human Rights, who accompanies the project, noted it “has galvanized the voice of religious leaders to stand for peace and defend the human rights of every citizen as the country endeavors to transition towards democracy and rule of law.”

He said Ethiopia had embarked on political transformations towards democracy and peace, but significant challenges remain. “The LWF works with its member church, the EECMY, in collaboration with the Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia to empower religious leaders to contribute their part toward reconciliation and peaceful coexistence,” he added.

Building trust to promote peace

Funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and implemented by the EECMY Peace Commission Office, the initiative which “started with strong approval from the community” has “built trust among various stakeholders to work together on promoting peace,” a May 2019 progress report states.

The two-year project supports the church’s ongoing diaconal work to promote interreligious tolerance through dialogue (SDG 16), incorporates gender equality as a cross-cutting issue (SDG 5) and promotes multi-stakeholder partnerships (SDG 17).  It was launched in June 2018 in Begi district in the Oromia Regional State, during a workshop attended by 41 faith representatives, traditional leaders and government officials.

“This foundation helped the project to continue to work in this area under extreme security difficulties because all relevant stakeholders know about it and they know it is the right thing to do for the wellbeing of their respective communities,” the report notes.

A training of trainers (ToT) workshop for religious leaders on Peaceful Conflict Resolution and Management was held in October 2018 followed by a conference co-organized by the Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia (IRCE) and EECMY in the capital Addis Ababa in December. The televised peace conference gave 200 religious leaders, academics and civil society members an opportunity to bring a message of peace to the nation of 105 million people. According to the latest national census, Christians make up 62.8 percent of Ethiopia’s population, Muslims represent 33.9 percent, and the remaining practice traditional religions or other faiths.

Women’s role in peace building

While there are not many female leaders in most of Ethiopia’s religious institutions, the project affirms the role of women in peacebuilding and the intention to include them in the training sessions and peace conference. “Religious institutions that do not give leadership positions to women were challenged by their peers to rethink their positions,” the report notes.

And, during the May 2019 biannual EECMY women’s forum that brings together over 200 women from all over the country, a special session was held on the role of women in peacebuilding. The peace project will support translation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security into local languages.

Concrete action by religious leaders

Overall, the report notes it is too early to measure the long-term effects of the peace initiative. However, it acknowledges that training religious leaders has helped avert potential inter-religious violence in the troubled western districts of Begi and Kondala, which have experienced violence between Christians and Muslims in recent years.

The report mentions an incident in October 2018, whereby some members of the community had mobilized to attack their neighbors. However, one participant in the Addis Ababa ToT returned to his home in Begi and convinced those planning the violence that there was a platform to resolve issues peacefully.

“I told them that dialogue is the only way to bring peace in our society. I intervened in this meeting and convinced them not to go ahead with their plans of violence,” said Almeladi*, from Begi.

“I told them that dialogue is the only way to bring peace in our society. I intervened in this meeting and convinced them not to go ahead with their plans of violence,” said Almeladi*, from Begi.

I told them that dialogue is the only way to bring peace in our society. I intervened in this meeting and convinced them not to go ahead with their plans of violence.

In Begi district, Rev. Alemayeu* is cited as having called on the area’s evangelical pastors to preach about religious tolerance. At the national level, the Ethiopian Evangelical Churches Fellowship, of which the EECMY was a founding member, has begun a program on peacebuilding.

“This is another example of religious leaders taking concrete steps after the training to spread the word of peace and build bridges with other faith communities,” the report states.

The report notes that despite continued security challenges, there have been significant moves toward reconciliation in Ethiopia under the new Prime Minister Dr Abyi Ahamed.

The LWF-EECMY peace project has adapted to this new reality at the national level, empowering religious leaders to “play their part in the national healing and reconciliation process.” According to the report, this move has helped build the capacity of both the EECMY and IRCE to sustain the peace initiative.

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A LGBT tour operator is facing death threats and hate messages from the Ethiopian Orthodox community over plans to visit Ethiopian religious sites.

Chicago-based Toto Tours sparked anger after posting on social media about trips to an ancient pilgrimage site, Lalibela.

The site is known for its distinctive rock-cut churches, and the post included a play on words, “We will rock you,” in reference to the song by Queen. Toto Tours President Dan Ware believes this was misinterpreted.

He told VOA News: “[It was] just trying to be clever. Just to have a saying. It didn’t mean anything other than this experience of seeing this incredible place will change your life. We’re not going to do any kind of activism.”

Toto Tours’s post was spotted by Ethiopian blogger Seyoum Teshoum, and religious groups are now holding protests and calling for the government to ban the tour operator, warning that gay travellers could face violence.

“It’s been spiralling out of control,” Ware said.

At a press conference on June 3, Dereje Negash, vice chairman of Sileste Mihret United Association, an Ethiopian Orthodox Church organisation, condemned the tour operator.

Negash said gay travellers with Toto Tours “will be damaged, they could even die” if they visit Ethiopia, and “Toto Tours are wrong to plan to conduct tours in our religious and historical places.”

Toto Tours responded in an email to AFP, as reported by the Guardian, saying that the company had been “terribly misunderstood” and calling for protection from the US State Department and the Ethiopian tourism ministry.

“We come with only the greatest respect and humility,” Ware said. “Our company is not aimed at spreading values contrary to local cultures when we travel around the world. We are simply an organisation where like-minded people can travel comfortably together to experience the world’s most precious wonders.

“This is terrible discrimination, and when the word of this spreads internationally, as it is most likely to do, it will have a negative impact on the important tourism industry in Ethiopia.”

Homosexual acts are criminalised in Ethiopia and are punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

But Ware pointed out it is not illegal to be gay in the country, only to act on it, adding that he believes Ethiopia should come to terms with the fact that gay tourists are here to stay.

Toto Tours has been organising sightseeing holidays around the world for its mainly LGBT clientele since the 1990s. They are currently waiting to hear from the Ethiopian government whether they will be allowed in the country.

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ESAT Special program Shaleka Dawit w/Giyorgis on Ethiopia Wedet Event

June 2019

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By Belayneh Abate

One of the talking points last week was Merera Gudina’s unmarried life. Let us use this opportunity to learn about the relationship between marriage and other factors with the well-being or happiness of a nation.

Despite its up and down paths, marriage is considered as one of the pillars of happiness in any society. It is understandable if the victims of the Ethiopian Feminist Movement (EFM) refute this claim with an astounding “NO”.  In fact, married Ethiopian couples should sing the “God Have Mercy” song since the former spy and the current pastor ruler installed the builder of the misguided EFM as the chief of Supreme Court Injustice. This injustice system, infamous for destroying the lives of thousands of families, has turned deaf ears when millions were displaced, thousands killed, and two dozen banks were robbed.  Happiness completely vanishes from the horizons of a nation when citizens work for this kind of failed government, and their homes are ignited with EFM induced fire and burn like Hell.

Scientific studies have found marriage as one of the major factors of happiness. After reviewing hundreds of researches and books, the former Harvard president, Derek Bok, identified six pillars of well-being or happiness in societies. These six pillars are marriage, social relationships, employment, health, religion and democratic-just government. [1]

As we know, the bible teaches about the importance of marriage and warns about the dangers of unmarried life.  For example, Genesis 2:24 instructs, “therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall join to his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Similarly, 1 Corinthians 7:2, teaches, “Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.”

For readers who had taken classes of chemistry or physics, unmarried man is like the outer most electron of an atom. Like the negatively charged outermost electron, unmarried man is unstable and gets attracted by strongly positively charged particles. This unstable man may experience temporary happiness by attaching his negatively charged part to a strongly positive particle, but he will never harvest long-term happiness.

The association of long term happiness with marriage has been studied for centuries, and it now well established and incorporated in different types of social programs. In fact, the concept of happiness is getting popular and some governments are using Gross National Happiness (GNH) as a measure of national growth in addition to the Gross National Product (GDP). [1]

The dean of American Scholars, Ed Diener defined happiness as experiences in life satisfaction, frequent joy, and infrequent sadness and anger. [2] Similarly, after reviewing the works of Western and Eastern thinkers, philosopher Will Buckingham divided happiness as short-term (pleasure) and long-term (flourishing) happiness.  According to Buckingham, pleasure is a type of happiness which is subjective, immediate, emotional and not necessarily related to moral, ethics or political questions. On the other hand, flourishing happiness is a type of happiness, which is objective, long-lasting, evaluative and clearly concerned with moral and ethical questions. [3]

For me, what Buckingham called pleasure is the type of instinct happiness that humans share with other animals such as pigs and cattle. For example, the short term happiness that humans experience from having good meal and sexual encounter are similar to the short term happiness the pigs and hyenas experience when they have good meals and sexual encounters. On the other hand, the flourishing happiness differentiates humans from other animals. Although some anthropologists may disagree, only humans are capable of harvesting life- long happiness from ethical and moralistic deeds.

Marriage provides both pleasure and flourishing happiness. The unmarried Merera Gudina might have experienced his short term pleasure outside of marriage, but he definitely have failed to harvest the fruits of flourishing happiness from the institution of marriage. It does not mean, though, Merera lacks life- long happiness. In fact, he could be one of the very few relatively straightforward politicians who is enjoying flourishing happiness because he tried to live ethical and moralistic life scarifying his time, work and comfort to establish a better government, which is another pillar of societal happiness.

Marriage has special place in the biblical teachings of the Holy Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church. According to the Tewahido teachings, anyone but monks should lead a married life. Monks are not supposed to lead a married life because they are considered as “walking dead bodies.” In other words, for a man to become a monk, first he has to kill his physical body. To kill his physical body, the candidate monk passes through the series paths of fasting and prayers. Once the physical body is dead, it is buried form toe to neck to symbolize the death of the flesh and to complete the process of ordination. As anyone could expect, this kind of dead flesh does not seek short term happiness or pleasure: It craves only for flourishing pleasure such as salvation, truth and love.

In order to facilitate their achievement of flourishing pleasure, the Tewahido church instructs the monks to live only in solitude and come out to the public rarely when God orders them to announce something crucial to his children. Unfortunately, these biblical church rules and laws have been completely broken for the last 28 years. As a result, unqualified cadres and even criminals are becoming monks and  you see them watching  topless model girls with bikini in New York, Los Angeles, London, Addis Ababa and other big cities. When monks watch these kinds of earthly adventures, their dead bodies sneak out of the grave like rats and salivate to enjoy pleasure at the expense of flourishing happiness.

It is palpable that the unqualified monks, bishops, and patriarchies that crave for short-term pleasure are weakening the strength of the more than two thousand old church. Similarly, it is well know that unqualified politicians that crave for short term pleasure such money, power, fame, pictures, cars, houses, and sex are demolishing the strength and dignity of the more than four thousand years old Ethiopia. Ethiopia and its Tewahido church will rise again only when God places them in the hands of citizens that crave for flourishing happiness defying the short-lasting pleasures.  Ethiopia will never gain its former dignity while she is swallowed by chameleons that change colors to achieve short-term pleasures.

Similar to the real monks that live in solitudes, never married politicians do not fully understand the hardships of establishing families and raising children. One can argue that robber married politicians, who spend millions for jewelries and raise their kids luxuriously with public funds will never understand the hardships of establishing families and raising children as well.

At any rate, because unmarried or robber politicians do not understand the hardships of establishing families, they could encounter difficulties in solving the problems of societies. Therefore, married and long-term happiness craving citizens should be elected for public offices. From what we have seen so far, Merera Gudina seems a flourishing happiness craving man, but he has to tie the knot to be stable and to do his job as a public servant. In this era of enhancement, Merera is not too late to find his better-half from one of the ribs of his chest.

Hurry up Merrera Gudina! Are you listening or still hiding in the liberation of congress?

End notes:

1. Derek Bok, the Politics of Happiness, What Government Can Learn From the New Research on Well-Being, 2011 Edition
2. ED Diener, The Remarkable Changes in the Science of Subjective Well-Being https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1745691613507583
3. Will Buckingham, Happiness, a practical guide, 2012 edition

The writer can be reached at abatebelai@yahoo.com

June10, 2019 European

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By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam

The phrase “first responder” refers to a person, often with specialized training, who is the first to arrive and aid at the scene of an emergency or a disaster.

On June 3, 2019, there was more than an emergency in the Sudan. There was a disaster.

Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces under the command and control of the ruling Sudanese junta indiscriminately fired into crowds of unarmed prodemocracy street demonstrators, killing 118, wounding over 500 and arresting scores more.

The African Union condemned the junta’s use of indiscriminate deadly force and took preliminary steps in preparation for serious sanctions against the Sudanese military regime. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres also strongly condemned the junta’s excessive use of force against protesters.

On June 7, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was the first responder to show up at the scene of the crime in Karthoum.

He went to Karthoum as opposition leaders mulled over the necessity of declaring a parallel civilian government and seeking international recognition.

The Sudanese opposition accepted PM Abiy as mediator and held meetings with him as did the leaders of the junta self-styled as the Transitional Military Council (TMC).

It was reported that three opposition leaders had been detained by Sudan’s junta following discussion with PM Abiy but were released a few days later.

On June 11, 2019, it was announced PM Abiy had brokered a deal between the opposition and the TMC which could help transition Sudan to democracy.

Accordingly, “Sudan’s opposition plans to nominate eight members of a transitional council and name a prominent economist to head a government.”

In an amazing turn of events, PM Abiy also successfully negotiated the release of dozens of Ethiopian prisoners held in Sudanese jails and brought back a whole bunch of them on his plane.

The released prisoners were effusive in their praise and gratitude for PM Abiy.

Sudan is not the first instance in which PM Abiy served as a first responder.

Within weeks after taking office, PM Abiy became a first responder and resolved the two-decades long deadlock between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

For nearly two decades, the  U.N., the AU and other diplomatic efforts had failed to bring peace between the two countries.

I was a witness and present in Zalambessa and Bure when the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea was opened on September 11, 2018.

PM Abiy was the first responder in resolving the decades of animosity between Somalia and Eritrea helping the two countries establish diplomatic ties.

PM Abiy was the first responder in the easing of tensions between Eritrea and Djibouti.

PM Abiy was the first responder in mediating a maritime border issue on the Indian Ocean between Kenya and Somalia.

PM Abiy was the first responder mediating peaceful conflict resolution between the warring faction leaders in South Sudan.

Abiy Ahmed broke the African mold

There is no question PM Abiy broke the African leadership mold that has been in use since African “independence” in the early 1960s.

I have spent many decades studying African “leaders”.

For the past seven decades, the vast majority of African leaders have been dictators, autocrats, authoritarians, tyrants, oligarchs and despots.

I even coined a set of descriptive labels for a particularly virulent breed of African dictators.

Thugtators. Thugtatorships. Thugogracies. Thugmocracies.

In May 2011, I posted a commentary in the Huffington Post entitled, “ Thugtatorship: The Highest Stage of African Dictatorship.”

I wrote:

If democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people, a thugocracy is a government of thieves, for thieves, by thieves. Simply stated, a thugtatorship is rule by a gang of thieves and robbers (thugs) in designer suits. It is becoming crystal clear that much of Africa today is a thugocracy privately managed and operated for the exclusive benefit of bloodthirsty thugtators…

African thugtators cling to power to operate sophisticated criminal business enterprises to loot their national treasuries and resources. These African “leaders” are actually “godfathers” or heads of criminal families. Just like any organized criminal enterprise, African thugtators use their party apparatuses, bureaucracies, military and police forces to maintain and perpetuate their corrupt financial empires.

In my June 2015 commentary entitled, “Ethiopian Thugmocracy”, following the elektion in which the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front claimed to have won 100 percent of the seats in parliament, I wrote:

When thugs are “elected” to political office, they become thugmocrats. A thugmocracy is a form of “government” in which the facade of representative electoral democracy is used to maintain and perpetuate the iron rule of a bunch of bush thugs who use state power to line their pockets and their cronies’ pockets.

Figuring out Abiy Ahmed

Ethiopians are trying to figure out Abiy Ahmed.

Indeed, the world is trying to figure out Abiy Ahmed and how he does what he does.

The Financial Times opined Abiy Ahmed “may be the most popular politician in Africa” and called him “Ethiopia’s Mandela”.

The New York Times asserted Abiy Ahmed is the “most closely watched leader in Africa.”

CNN has tried to explain “Why Ethiopians believe their new prime minister is a prophet.”

The Economist tried to figure out why “Ethiopians are going wild for Abiy Ahmed.”

Al Jazeera wondered if Abiy Ahmed is the real thing: “Are Ethiopians blinded by Abiymania?”

The Italian Institute for International Political Studies declared, “Abiy Ahmed is the Leader to Watch in 2019” and added “he is the bravest and most innovative leader in Africa today.”

In August 2018, Black Star News declared, “Dr. Abiy Ahmed is a legitimate Nobel Peace Prize candidate.” Herman Cohen, former U.S. Assistant Secretary for African Affairs agrees.

The Peace Research Institute Oslo regarded as the world’s “oldest and most prominent peace research center” ranked PM Abiy as the top candidate for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.

Everybody’s head is spinning trying to figure him out. All of this for a man 43 years of age and in office 14 months!

Are we witnessing an African Spring?

In 2011, we witnessed the “Winter of Arab” discontent made glorious by an “Arab Spring” followed by an increasingly hot “Arab Summer” and deeply troubled “Arab Fall”.

In my January 2012 commentary “An ‘African Spring’ in 2012?”, I asked whether an “Ethiopian Tsedey” (Spring) was in he air.

In August 2012, it became clear Spring had sprung in Ethiopia.

Ethiopians heaved a sigh of relief.

To paraphrase Shakespeare, the “21 year winter of our discontent would soon turn to glorious summer, and all the clouds that lour’d upon our house, In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.”

But it took until April 2018 for the flowers of the Ethiopian Spring to bloom.

In 2019, the political seasons are changing all over Africa.

The people are becoming more assertive and demanding good governance.

The days of Africa’s “Big Men” and kleptocratic dictators are numbered.

The numbers do not favor the old dictators. They will soon be consigned to the trash bin of history.

“About 41% of the people in the continent are below 15 years old while another 19% are youth between 15 and 24 years old.”

The choice is clear.

Africa’s youth will be innovators and wealth and income generators and on the frontlines in the war against poverty, disease and illiteracy or they will be the slow burning fuse on the African powder keg.

I believe Ethiopia is the sign of the times for the rest of Africa.

Young people in Africa fed up with dictators who jail, torture and muzzle them shall rise in defiance and resistance.

They may follow the example of Ethiopia’s youth who fought with nothing more than civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance to bring down one of the cruelest, barbarous and bloodthirsty dictatorships in modern African history.

The real question is how to bring about good governance and political accountability without the usual violence and destruction.

Medemer as good governance in motion

PM Abiy has spoken about his idea of Medemer over the past year.

I have expounded on the concept of “Medemer” on various occasions.

“Medemer” is not a theory but simply the practice of the principle of inclusiveness, good governance and political accountability.

As I explained in my March 2019 commentary, “The Praxis of Medemer in the Horn of Africa”, the only choice facing African is the one eloquently contained in Dr. Martin Luther King’s maxim, “We must all learn to live together as brothers or we will all perish together as fools.”

To borrow from Plato’s “Republic”, African leaders can strive to create a ship of state and create peace and prosperity for their people or suffer the wrath of the people and perish as a ship of fools.

For decades, the Horn countries (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, South Sudan and Uganda) have chosen the path of perishing as fools.

Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a needless war in the name of “national pride” and “territorial integrity”  between 1998-2000, which resulted in the deaths of as many as 100,000 people, displacement of up to one million and diversion of much needed resources to buy bullets instead of butter.

Since the creation of South Sudan in 2011, ethnic rivalry between factional leaders has resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent people.

No African nation can live as an island separated from its neighbors.

African countries are tied together in a single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.

PM Abiy says the spillover effect of the conflict and instability in the Sudan directly affects Ethiopia.

What happens in each Horn country affects the others. War in one country threatens the peace in the other. Peace and democracy in one country become examples for the continent.

The fact of the matter is the Horn of Africa today faces myriad issues ranging from grinding poverty, disease and ignorance to large scale population displacements and population explosion and endless strings of deadly conflicts.

PM Abiy’s application of Medemer aims to solve these problems in the Horn through the creation of  an “economic bloc (with Eritrea, Djibouti, the Somalias, and Sudan) fueled by the competition between Gulf and Chinese money, or to re-engineer the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.”

The formula for peace and prosperity in the Horn or in Africa in general is not complicated. As Mandela said, “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”

We need a nation/continent of  first responders  

There are some benighted individuals mouthing off about how PM Abiy is spending so much time trying to bring peace in Africa and the Middle East while there is so much conflict among groups, factions, organizations and parties in Ethiopia.

They point an accusatory finger at PM Abiy and carp, “Why doesn’t he rove around Ethiopia brokering peace in every beer (tej/tella) hall, neighborhood, town and college. The country is going to hell in a hand basket.”

What these benighted fail to see in their narrow lenses is that as they point an accusatory finger at PM Abiy, three fingers are pointing squarely at them.

They never stop to ask, “What is my personal responsibility to broker peace in my neighborhood?”

I pity these myopic twits.

Ethiopia cannot be at peace when Ethiopia’s neighbor’s are at war.

War, conflict, refugees, famine, etc., know no borders.

In 2019, some 400,000 refugees from South Sudan settled in the Gambela region of Ethiopia. “Ethiopia has been praised for its open door policy to refugees feeling war-torn South Sudan.”

How many more millions of refugees can  Ethiopia accommodate?

When Sudan is at war, Ethiopia takes care of their refugees.

Naysayers and nitwits aside, PM Abiy must not be the only first responder in Ethiopia or in Africa.

PM Abiy must not be the only one who shows up at the scene of a crime and work to prevent things from getting out of hand.

Every Ethiopian man, woman and child can and must be a first responder in their own right in their neighborhoods, hamlets, towns, cities, regions, schools, universities, churches, mosques, etc,.

It does not require special training as a first responder to stand up and speak up when Ethiopians are displaced, denied justice, mistreated and their human rights violated.

Last week, a student at Aksum University was killed in what is reported to be a bias-based crime. A week earlier a similar incident occurred at Debremarkos University.

Where were the university responders then?

Perhaps they were expecting PM Abiy to come to campus and do first responding for them?

When Ethiopians were displaced in West Guji and Gedeo, Benishangul Gumuz, where were the first responders?

I don’t know but I saw a lot of first finger pointers unaware three fingers are pointing at them.

PM Abiy cannot be at all places at the same time. He does not have a magic wand to wave and make everything alright.

But 110 million Ethiopians can wave their hands and make everything alright.

When 110 million Ethiopians put their hands together, they form an unbreakable bond called “Medemer”.

That is the only viable principle to save Ethiopia and Africa. In Ethiopia and Africa, Medemer means united we stand, divided we fall and perish like fools.

Just like the fingers on the hand, “Medemer” means all for one and one for all.

Medemer means all of Africa is bound in a single garment of destiny.

When we practice “Medemer” as first responders, we will have achieved the ultimate in human solidarity.

In the spirit of Dr. King, as first responders in Medemer, we will walk together, work together, go to jail together, celebrate together, cry together, laugh together, pray together, sing together, and live together in peace until that day when all God’s children – Amhara, Oromo, Tigray, Somali, Gurage, Wolayita, Sidama, Afar and the other 75 or more groups of the Ethiopian family — will rejoice in one common band of humanity.

It is folly to think only one mortal man has the responsibility and ability to deal with the ills of Ethiopia and bring solutions.

Ethiopia belongs to all its people. With ownership comes responsibility and a commitment to tireless diligence.

To paraphrase Shakespeare:

All Ethiopia’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances…

Or as PM Abiy says Ethiopians have a choice of leaving their fingerprints in the work they do for coming generations or kick up dust in the face of this generation and become dust and are forgotten.

Therefore, ask not what Abiy Ahmed can do for Ethiopia as a first responder, ask what you can do to respond first before Abiy Ahmed and make Ethiopia a fair, just and peaceful society.

Be an Ethiopian First Responder. Be an African First Responder.

The post Abiy Ahmed, “Africa’s First Responder?” appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Total deliveries fell to 30 planes, compared with 68 in 2018. Net orders for the first five months remained in negative territory, with a total of minus 125 net orders.

The post Boeing May Deliveries Fall 56% as 737 MAX Grounding Continues to Weigh appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

By Getaneh Yismaw

1. The Genesis: TPLF’s Anti-Amhara Ideology and Its Consequences

The Stalinist ideology of nations and nationalities that was espoused by the Ethiopian students’ movement of the 1960’s and 70’s, served as the foundation that led to the rise of secessionist, anti-Ethiopian forces, such as the EPLF, TPLF and OLF. The toxic alien ideology, which was induced from abroad on a junket, including the 1936 book by Roman Prochazka (Abyssinia: The Powder Barrel), asserted the existence of one privileged ethnic group, the Amhara, that exclusively ruled over the rest. The sentiment was further cemented in Eritrea, thanks to the 60-year colonial rule by Italy and Britain. — Read More —-

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Hayalnesh Gezahegn

Addis Abeba, June 13/2019 – The House of People’s Representatives (HoPR) have today approved the appointment of four new board members of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE).

The Parliament received list of the nominees forward by PM Abiy Ahmed for approval and approved the four names: Bizuwork Ketete (W/ro), Dr. Getahun Kassa, Abera Degefu and Wubshet Ayele, with 17 objections. The later, Wubshet Ayele, will be the deputy chairperson of NEBE, which is currently led by Birtukan Mideksa, a former judge and opposition party leader. Birtukan will remain in her position as Chairperson of the board. Wubshet is a judge at the federal high court and is chairman of political parties consultative forum.

The other three board members came from various career backgrounds. Accordingly, Bizuwork Ketete (W/ro) is head of good governance department at Ireland embassy in Addis Abeba; Dr. Getahun Kassa, legal expert and advisor at the legal advisory council currently advising at the office of the federal attorney general’s office on judiciary reform; and Abera Degefu, a lecturer in various universities.

However, MPs who objected the approval raised concerns that the nomination process conducted by PM lacked clarity and did not consult EPRDF’s ally parties, an accusation dismissed by the government representatives who responded that only about 20 political parties reacted to the PM’s call for consultations.

The number of board members was reduced from nine in the past to five currently following ongoing reforms being undertaken by NEBE. Accordingly, in April this year, PM Abiy Ahmed established a committee to shortlist list of nominees. On May 21, the committee completed its preparations and announced the opening for submission of names of nominees. According to Dr. Meshesha Shewarega, chairman of the committee, by the end of the deadline on May 30, some 200 names nominees were forwarded from members of the public. Out of the 200, eight nominees and one reserve nominee were shortlisted and sent to the PM Abiy for shortlisting. The four members approved by the parliament today were therefore the finalists nominated by PM Abiy Ahmed.

New federal judges

During the same session this morning, Parliament has approved the appointment three judges to fill the president and deputy president positions of the Federal High Court, as well as three judges to fill the president and deputy president positions of the federal fist instance court. The Parliament has also approved the appointment 16 judges for various courts and benches at federal high courts. Details on the nomination of the judges was released by the communication bureau of the federal supreme court.

AS

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Two different groups of people suspected of involvement in the attempted coups had been arrested, the Transitional Military Council’s spokesman said. One group consisted of five individuals while the other had more than 12 members, he said.

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Jake Bright@JakeRBright

Days after Ethiopian ICT officials made public pledges to improve net access, the government began playing on-again, off-again with the internet — shutting it down (almost completely) to coincide with the country’s national exams.

Data provided to TechCrunch from Oracle’s Internet Intelligence confirmed intermittent net blackouts from June 11 to 14, with connectivity returning for brief periods during that time-span.

Sources on the ground, including in the country’s tech community, confirmed to TechCrunch internet stoppage over the period.

Mobile and IP connectivity in Ethiopia is managed by state-owned Ethio Telecom, though the government — led by newly elected Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Sahle-Work Zewde — has committed to break up the telecom and privatize it.

On the reason for the outage, the government of Ethiopia has not issued a statement and a government official in charge of ICT policy did not respond to a TechCrunch inquiry.

Press reports, and a source speaking to TechCrunch on background, said Ethiopia’s internet stoppage was done to stop students from cheating on national exams, which took place this week.

Earlier this week I attended Ethiopia’s ICT Expo and first Startup Ethiopia event, moderating and sitting on panels with Ethiopian government representatives to discuss the country’s startup community and internet landscape. Several officials, such as State Minister of Innovation and Technology Jemal Beker, named specific commitments to improve the country’s internet quality, access and choice within the next year.

Ethiopia took policy steps in that direction, announcing steps this week to issue individual telco licences by the end of 2019.

The East African nation of 100 million with the continent’s seventh largest economy is bidding to become Africa’s next startup hub.

Ethiopia has a budding tech scene, but lags the continent’s tech standouts — like Nigeria, Kenya  and South Africa — that have become focal points for startup formation, exits and VC.

Still, startups such as local ride-hail ventures Ride and ZayRide have started to gain traction (Uber has not yet entered Ethiopia). This week’s Startup Ethiopia event also showcased high-potential early-stage ventures, such as payment company YenaPay and agtech e-commerce startup Deamat.

One thing discussed at Startup Ethiopia was the need for startups — most of which operate on mobile platforms — to have consistent, affordable and accessible internet to drive forward business models.

Ethiopia is taking steps and making statements in that direction, but this week’s net stoppage shows there are still hurdles and disconnects.

One of those is the country’s government pursuing an internet shutdown just days after attempting to convince investors, angel networks and a global tech audience it’s serious about making Ethiopia an African startup hub.

The post Days after pledging to expand internet, Ethiopia’s government shuts it off appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Tanja Müller Friday, June 14, 2019

ASMARA, Eritrea—The streets of Eritrea’s capital in the runup to this year’s Independence Day celebrations on May 24 were unusually quiet. But cafes and restaurants were full of many Eritreans from the diaspora who had traveled back to mark 28 years of national independence. “I come every year on this occasion,” an Eritrean living in Germany told me, “to celebrate my country.”

Most of the people I know who put up with life in Eritrea the whole year, however, do not feel like celebrating. For them, the holiday is a day off work that they will spend at home, in part because security tightens, with soldiers or police on every street corner. In the past few months, arbitrary arrests have apparently increased, so everyone is cautious and seems to avoid the center of the city. It is impossible to verify these stories, or other rumors of splits within the ruling party and increasing forms of dissent, given how opaque politics are in Eritrea. The only visible sign I encountered last month was anti-government graffiti inside a building, profanely calling out the ruling party, the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice. Photos of other anti-government graffiti have recently circulated on Eritrean social media.

The government seemed nervous enough to block social media sites like Facebook and its messaging app in the weeks before Independence Day. The internet itself was also much slower than usual. “They cut down the allowance of everybody during the celebrations,” one internet provider in Asmara admitted to me.

What exactly were the authorities afraid of? Shouldn’t this year’s Independence Day, the first after the end of the “no peace, no war” stalemate with neighboring Ethiopia, have been a celebration?

“Nothing has changed,” one friend told me. “For some time, at least we had some material benefit,” referring to the influx of Ethiopian goods when the long-closed border was finally open for a few months last year, as part of the peace deal struck last September after the sudden and surprising rapprochement. I had witnessed some of these dynamics from the Ethiopian side then, including excited Eritreans who took trips to the city of Mekelle, in northern Ethiopia, and further afield to stock up on goods that had been hard to get in Eritrea for over a decade. But for now, the border is closed again, officially to finalize proper trade relations and policies about the movement of people as part of the two countries’ political normalization. The general expectation was that in his Independence Day speech, President Isaias Afwerki would outline these future relations and indicate a date when the border will be opened again.

Most people acknowledge that when the border was fully open without any checks, Ethiopian businesspeople took full advantage, so this unregulated flow of goods could not go on; similar complaints of Eritreans could be heard from the Ethiopian side as well. At the same time, whether Ethiopian businesses made undue profit or not, everybody had welcomed the sharp decreases in the price of many goods that followed the original border opening last fall. Prices have now crept up again, unsurprisingly, even if not to the old levels during the long stalemate.

But for now, the Ethiopian cars and trucks that briefly clogged Eritrean streets have disappeared. On a trip to the southern border, one passes the remains of a big “Mekelle market” on the outskirts of Asmara, where people used to fill their car trunks with Ethiopian products. A few pickup trucks and the remains of some temporary stalls are all that are left. The Red Sea port of Massawa is sleepy again, too; the only traffic is the loading of metals from the Bisha mine onto ships bound for China. In the town of Senafe, near the Zalembassa border crossing that was the first to open last year, just a trickle of goods arrives from Ethiopia on public buses, only occasionally checked by local police.

For now, the Ethiopian cars and trucks that briefly clogged Eritrean streets have disappeared.

While they weren’t in the mood to celebrate on Independence Day, most of my Eritrean friends and acquaintances still waited in anticipation for the president’s speech. Most of them were deeply disappointed. Afwerki made no mention of the peace process with Ethiopia, only vaguely referencing how Eritrea had to “overcome political subterfuges.” There had been rumors, even among circles in Eritrea’s ruling party, that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed would attend the speech and celebrations at Asmara’s main soccer stadium. But in the end, he wasn’t even mentioned by name. Afwerki said nothing about Eritrea’s future relationship with Ethiopia, or when the border might be reopened. He only offered a wooly call for a “patient appraisal of the unfolding reality,” whatever that reality may be in the government’s interpretation.

Eritreans are used to making the best of bad situations and adapting. Some got more hope by listening to Ethiopian radio and watching Ethiopian TV, which provided some more information about when the border might reopen—but of course only with Eritrea’s consent. Some Eritreans who visited Ethiopia during what many already are calling “the golden weeks of an open border” are now sitting on packed suitcases back in Asmara, planning to leave for good next time. Having seen how easily even any small opening can be reversed, they will not make the same mistake of “thinking something will really change,” as one of my acquaintances put it.

The frustration of the situation is how little is really known. The lack of information around the border, supposedly key to the peace process, reflects a dynamic that has characterized Eritrea’s politics for almost 20 years now: the feeling among ordinary Eritreans of being left in limbo by the authorities. “We give 100 percent to our country,” as a friend in Asmara said, “but they do not even talk to us.”

Other dynamics are equally hopeless. The system of mandatory national service is supposed to be ending, according to an official proclamation, but the real change is that people are now being paid a salary—not that they are no longer forced into national service. “We still cannot leave and build our own future,” one recruit working in a civilian role told me. “It is not about money but freedom.”

For the many Eritreans abroad—the ones who didn’t come back to Asmara to celebrate this year—there is more visible debate about the political future and what role they may have in it, if rapprochement with Ethiopia means the authorities in Eritrea might loosen their grip on political life.

Finally, there is the situation next door in Sudan, which Eritreans are acutely aware of, as well as the still-rumbling political unrest in parts of Ethiopia. “We do not want a situation like that here,” is a common phrase among critics of the Eritrean regime. The official reaction of the Eritrean authorities to events in Sudan is hardly encouraging. While Ethiopia’s prime minister has tried to mediate between the Sudanese military and protesters, even if with limited success, the message from the Eritrean government is clear. It strongly opposed Sudan’s suspension from the African Union after last week’s massacre of protesters in Khartoum, slamming the African Union for its “posturing” and what it called “external intervention” in Sudan.

These are not hopeful signs that better ties with Ethiopia could lead to a political opening of any kind in Eritrea, or a shift in how the government does business.

Tanja R. Müller is reader in Development Studies at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, U.K. She first traveled to Eritrea as a journalist in the mid-1990s and has subsequently taught at the University of Asmara. She has conducted research in and on Eritrea for more than 20 years, and published widely on aspirations and political space, as well as Eritrean foreign policy, in key academic journals.

The post Despite Historic Rapprochement With Ethiopia, ‘Nothing Has Changed’ in Eritrea appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News & Breaking News: Your right to know!.

CHICAGO (RNS) — Dan Ware hoped to visit Ethiopia this fall with a group of fellow travelers, touring the country’s famed churches and meeting with leaders of one of the oldest Christian traditions in the world.

Now that trip is in jeopardy.

All because Ware and many of his traveling companions are gay.

“You can’t come to Ethiopia for tours. You’re not human beings. You are less than animals,” reads one email Ware received this week as president of Toto Travel, which organizes trips for gay and lesbian travelers, as well as their close friends and family.

That’s typical of the hundreds of messages he said he has gotten since an Ethiopian blogger first criticized Toto’s “Treasures of Ethiopia” tour, set for late October.

Now the tour may be canceled due to the backlash primarily from religious groups in the African country, where most people belong to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and consensual same-sex relations are criminalized.

“It just is incredible for a religion that preaches the teachings of Jesus Christ — which are all about love and tolerance, treating people with love and equanimity — that they would treat us this way. It just boggles the mind,” said Ware, who was raised as a Pentecostal Christian before converting to the Baha’i faith.

He now simply believes in what he calls “the power of love.”

Ware founded Toto Tours nearly 30 years ago when he left his job working at the Baha’i National Center in the Chicago area after co-workers learned he was gay.

In that time, he said, Toto’s gay and lesbian customers have had good experiences. The travelers have learned something new, as do the people they meet during the trips.

“What happens when you go in a group to another culture is you learn, you’re changed, your perspectives are altered. And, you know, the same happens with the people you visit. They go, ‘Wow, we’ve never met gay people before,’” he said.

“It’s like we’re ambassadors, and always it has been a positive thing.”

Toto’s planned 16-day tour of Ethiopia, still shown on its website, includes visits to holy sites such as the ancient rock-hewn churches in Lalibela and the Debre Berhan Selassie church in Gondar.

The website describes “two exciting days” exploring Lalibela and the opportunity to meet with clergy there to discuss the history of the churches. It also describes the country as the “ancestral home to all of mankind,” noting its “fascinating history stretching back more than 3,000 years to the fabled reign of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon.”

“This expedition takes you on a historical and cultural journey to some of the most remote areas of Ethiopia for the adventure of a lifetime,” the site reads.

Ware said he particularly was looking forward to seeing the churches in Lalibela he has heard so much about and getting to know and interact with the people of Ethiopia, which he called a “beautiful country.”

Then he started getting threats.

Many of the messages, which started in late May, included what Ware described as “colorful descriptions of how we’re going to be killed if we get off a plane in Addis Ababa — a menu of colorful deaths including beheading, burning at the stake, buried alive, shot, stoned.”

The tour — particularly its visits to holy sites — had caught the attention of Ethiopian blogger Seyoum Teshome, who criticized it in a Facebook post as shocking, unwanted and shameful.

Soon, religious groups started demanding the government stop the trip.

“We are asking the government to stop the travelers with the gay company from visiting our historical places. We are warning those Ethiopians who are cooperating with this evil thing,” Tiguhan Kesis Tagay Tadele, the secretary general of the Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia, said at a June 3 news conference.

The council unites seven religious groups, including Christian and Muslim institutions.

In Ethiopia, homosexuality often is treated as a taboo subject and condemned on the basis of tradition, religion and law. Sexual activity by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people is punishable with jail time, and 97% of Ethiopians think homosexuality should not be accepted by society, according to Pew Research Center data.

Dereje Negash, a vice chairperson of the Sileste Mihret United Association, an Ethiopian Orthodox Church organization, at the same news conference issued a warning.

“They can’t come to Ethiopia and visit Lalibela and other historical places because homosexuality is a crime. If they (come) here, they will be damaged (attacked),” Negash said.

Church administrators at the Lalibela churches have written to the government’s Ministry of Tourism, saying they would not receive the Toto travelers.

According to news reports, the government has said that while it welcomes the tour and encourages everyone to visit the country, it recommends respect for Ethiopian culture. The website Ethiopia24 quoted the government as warning travelers to “be careful not to deviate from the norm of the local people.”

At least 68 countries in the world still have laws making consensual same-sex relations illegal, according to Human Rights Watch. Of those countries, 33 are in Africa.

While Ethiopia is religiously diverse, the overlap between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Ethiopian culture is strong, according to Felix Horne, senior researcher on Ethiopia and Eritrea for Human Rights Watch. Horne said even many “young liberally minded Ethiopians still have quite conservative views on homosexuality that often dovetail with the Orthodox Church.”

Still, the researcher said, that’s starting to change. More young LGBTQ activists — particularly in the Ethiopian diaspora — are beginning to speak out online.

And Horne said he has never seen anything like the “ferocity” of the pushback and public outcry to Toto Tours’ planned trip to Ethiopia. Press conferences by religious groups denouncing a tour company are “unheard of in Ethiopia,” he said.

“I was quite surprised by it. I think part of it is the growing power of social media in Ethiopia,” he said.

Toto Tours has visited other countries where same-sex relationships are illegal, according to Ware.

“We fly under the radar,” he said.

But, Ware said, he doesn’t think the threats he’s received have to do with the fact that many Toto travelers are gay or lesbian. Ethiopia recently welcomed Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who is openly gay, Ware pointed out.

Rumors circulating online claim the travelers are planning to “desecrate” the country’s holy sites, he said.

“We weren’t there to promote homosexuality. We weren’t there to beat the drum for the rights of the gay people of Ethiopia. We weren’t going to raise the (pride) flag at the churches, the holy places, like they think that we are,” he said.

“We’re not involved in any of that. We’re merely tourists who travel together as for a sense of solidarity and comfort.”

Ware said he is waiting to hear from the Ethiopian government before announcing whether he will cancel Toto’s “Treasures of Ethiopia” tour for the safety of its travelers.

He has been in touch with officials at the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia, who, he said, told him they couldn’t guarantee the group’s safety amid the backlash. He also has reached out to the FBI after some YouTube creators began sharing his home address.

Meantime, Ware said, he is buoyed by the news Monday (June 10) that Botswana has overturned its law criminalizing homosexuality. It joins 21 other African countries — such as Burkina Faso, Congo and Mali‚ where homosexuality has never been against the law.

Earlier this month, Angola also lifted its ban on homosexuality.

And Ware received a message Tuesday from someone who self-identified as an “Ethiopian national.”

“I would like to apologize on behalf of peaceful, hospitable Ethiopian people for the thuggish-style death threats your team received over the past few weeks. I would like you to know that not everyone is against your visit to our nation.”

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“The 346 lives that were sacrificed on the two doomed Boeing MAX flights will never return home, and they didn’t have a chance to survive despite pilots’ brave efforts,” said Mike Andrews of Beasley Allen. “They deserve justice by holding Boeing accountable.”

The family of a passenger killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash earlier this year, represented by the Beasley Allen Law Firm of Atlanta and Montgomery, Alabama, filed a lawsuit against the Boeing Co. Thursday alleging negligence over its 737 MAX aircraft.

“This action arises from the horrific crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight302 (“Flight 302”) on March 10, 2019 in which 157 people lost their lives,” said the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division on behalf of Sara Yakob, the widow of Getnet Alemayehu, a passenger killed on that flight.

“The aircraft involved in Flight 302 was a Boeing 737 MAX 8,” the complaint said. “This crash came less than five months after Lion Air Flight JT 610—another Boeing 737 MAX 8—crashed into the Java Sea on October 29, 2018, killing all 189 on board.”

The complaint noted that investigation of both crashes continues. The 737 MAX has been grounded since the second crash.

“Boeing extends our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the families and loved ones of those on board Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302,” corporate spokesman Peter Pedraza said Friday. “As the investigation continues, Boeing is cooperating fully with the investigating authorities.”

“We won’t comment on this lawsuit directly,” Pedraza added.

“The similarities in the aircraft and the investigative findings for the crashes thus far point to a common cause,” the complaint said. “Shortly after taking off and while attempting to climb, pilots for both aircraft reported flight control issues as the planes pitched up and down erratically throughout the sky.”

The complaint said flight paths and data released thus far for both aircraft show that the “pilots were engaged in a terrifying tug-of-war with the plane’s automated systems as the pilots manually tried to climb while the computer system repeatedly caused the plane to dive with increasing nose-down trim against the pilot inputs.”

The complaint said pilots of both planes “lost their fight with Boeing’s flight computer, and hundreds of passengers and crew lost their lives due to Boeing’s flight computer driving the airplanes into the ground.”

The family is represented by Beasley Allen’s Mike Andrews, who focuses much of his practice on complex aviation litigation, along with Adam Ramji of the Ramji Law Group in Houston.

In preparing the lawsuit, members of the family’s legal team traveled to Ethiopia, then rode several hours to the scene of the crash. Andrews described it as a 45-foot crater—large enough to hold a three-story building—in Tulu Fara village near Bishoftu, Ethiopia. He said only fragments of the plane remain, along with personal belongings of the passengers. He said the aircraft “throttled into the ground at nearly 600 miles per hour.” He said an armed guard escorted him to the site. He collected some of the aircraft’s fragments for later inspection.

“Visiting the site of a crash was surreal,” Andrews said. “Seeing the personal items that had been carefully packed away for travel just weeks earlier lay strewn on the ground and mangled together with pieces from the aircraft was overwhelming — especially when we know this crash did not have to happen.”

The lawsuit alleged the company knew about the glitch and failed to fix it.

“The 346 lives that were sacrificed on the two doomed Boeing MAX flights will never return home, and they didn’t have a chance to survive despite pilots’ brave efforts,” Andrews said. “But Boeing had numerous chances to make the aircraft safer, and time and again it chose to protect its bottom line rather than the air travelers who trusted the company. They deserve justice by holding Boeing accountable.”

Beasley Allen is a plaintiffs firm with 80 attorneys and 200 support staff with reported verdicts and settlements in excess of $26 billion. The firm has handled litigation over defective General Motors ignition switches, Takata’s exploding airbags, Gulf Coast states devastated by the BP oil spill, drugs and medical devices, Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder, predatory lending and VW emissions software.

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By SAMY MAGDY/ AP4

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi who was ousted by the military in 2013 after a year in office, collapsed in court while on trial Monday and died, state TV and his family said.

The 67-year-old Morsi had just addressed the court, speaking from the glass cage he is kept in during sessions and warning that he had “many secrets” he could reveal, a judicial official said. A few minutes afterward, he collapsed in the cage, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

In his final comments, he continued to insist he was Egypt’s legitimate president, demanding a special tribunal, one of his defense lawyers, Kamel Madour told the Associated Press. State TV said Morsi died before he could be taken to the hospital.

Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood accused the government of “assassinating” him through years of poor prison conditions. In a statement, the group demanded an international investigation into Morsi’s death and called on Egyptians to protest outside Egypt’s embassy across the world.

Morsi, who was known to have diabetes, had been imprisoned since his 2013 ouster, often in solitary confinement and barred from visitors — his family was allowed to visit only three times during that time.

Egypt’s chief prosecutor said Morsi’s body would be examined to determine the cause of his death. State TV, citing an unnamed medical source, said he died after suffering a heart attack.

It was a dramatic end for a figure who was central in the twists and turns taken by Egypt since its “revolution” — from the pro-democracy uprising that in 2011 ousted the country’s longtime authoritarian leader, Hosni Mubarak, through controversial Islamist rule and now back to a tight grip under the domination of military men.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s most powerful Islamist group, won the elections held after Mubarak’s fall, considered the first free votes the country had seen. First, they gained a majority in parliament, then Morsi squeaked to victory in presidential elections held in 2012, becoming the first civilian to hold the office.

Critics accused the Brotherhood of using violence against opponents and seeking to monopolize power and Islamize the state. Massive protests grew against their rule, until the military — led by then-Defense Minister, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi — ousted Morsi in July 2013, dissolved parliament and eventually banned the Brotherhood as a “terrorist group.”

El-Sissi was elected president and re-elected in 2018 in votes human rights groups sharply criticized as undemocratic. He has waged a ferocious crackdown that crushed the Brotherhood but also almost all other dissent, arresting tens of thousands, banning protests and silencing most criticism in the media.

Since his ouster, Morsi and other Brotherhood leaders have been put on multiple and lengthy trials. Morsi was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of ordering Brotherhood members to break up a protest against him, resulting in deaths. Multiple cases are still pending. Monday’s session was part of a retrial, held next to Cairo’s Tora Prison, on charges of espionage with the Palestinian Hamas militant group.

Morsi was held in a special wing in Tora nicknamed Scorpion Prison. Rights groups say its conditions fall far below Egyptian and international standards.

In contrast, Mubarak was allowed to stay in a military hospital during trials on various charges related to killing the protesters in 2011 uprising — of which he was eventually cleared.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director with the Human Rights Watch, said in a tweet that Morsi’s death was “terrible but entirely predictable” given the government “failure to allow him adequate medical care, much less family visits.”

Mohammed Sudan, leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood in London, said Morsi was banned from receiving medicine or visits and there was little information about his health condition.

“This is premeditated murder. This is slow death,” he said.

Freedom and Justice, the Brotherhood’s political arm, said in a statement on its Facebook page that prison conditions led to Morsi’s death in what amounted to “assassination.”

The judicial official said Morsi had asked to speak to the court during Monday’s session. The judge permitted it, and Morsi gave a speech saying he had “many secrets” that, if he told them, he would be released, but he added that he wasn’t telling them because it would harm Egypt’s national security.

Madour, the defense lawyer, said Morsi spoke for around five minutes, “very calm and organized,” before collapsing inside the cage.

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry did not answer calls seeking comment.

Morsi, an engineer who studied at the University of Southern California, was an unlikely figure to be thrust into Egypt’s central stage. He was never considered a major thinker in the Brotherhood and instead rose through its ranks as an efficient, if lackluster, loyalist. The group only put him forward as its presidential candidate in 2012 after a more prominent and powerful figure, Khairat al-Shater, was declared ineligible to run.

The election victories were the crowning point for the Brotherhood, which had been banned under Mubarak but even underground had been the most organized opposition force. Initially, Morsi made gestures toward the secular pro-democracy activists who led the 2011 Arab Spring uprising. But over the course of the year, opponents accused his Brotherhood of hijacking the revolution and trying to entrench Islamist rule.

Major protests erupted, particularly over the process of writing a new constitution in which critics said the Brotherhood was allowing Islamists to write a charter largely on their terms. Brotherhood supporters cracked down violently on some protests.

As protests grew, the military stepped in. Critics called the move a coup, but el-Sissi’s supporters call it a popularly backed move.

The subsequent crackdown has all but completely dismantled the Brotherhood, with hundreds killed and thousands imprisoned, with most other active figures fleeing abroad. At the same time, secular pro-democracy activists were also crushed.

Throughout his trials, Morsi insisted he remained Egypt’s legitimate president. In early court sessions he gave angry speeches until judges ordered him kept in a glass cage during sessions where they could turn off his audio.

In audio leaked from a 2017 session of one of his trials, Morsi complained that he was “completely isolated” from the court, unable to see or hear his defense team, his eyes pained by lighting inside the cage.

“I don’t know where I am,” he is heard saying in the audio. “It’s steel behind steel and glass behind glass. The reflection of my image makes me dizzy.”

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