November 9, 2019
Tegenaw Goshu

 The very origin of the concept of narcissism (excessive self-aggrandizement) or the mentality of “I am the most admired and important person of all” is the Greek myth of a young person called Narcissus who fell in love with the reflection of his own image in a pool of water. Although there is a serious abnormality with this kind of mentality and behavior, it should not be headache to others as long as it remains a personal behavior that does not have a disturbing impact on others.

The problem arises when it comes to the question of how this narcissist or excessive self-aggrandizing mentality and behavior unfolds itself in a social and political environment that involves various actors and what kind of role it plays. As it is obsessed with unconditional or unquestionable or uncritical self-importance and admiration, it undermines the very importance of others in the process of finding the right way of doing things and making the right decision for the common good.  It does not give room for effective and efficient team work. It rather surrounds itself with submissive and opportunist subordinates. This is a very serious challenge we are facing these days in our country both at reginal and national (country-wide) level.

On the other aspect of the story, our politics of ethno-centrism and parochialism has created its own damaging attraction for those politicians or groupings with their own narcissist political behaviors and ambitions.  As the politics of ethno-centrism and parochialism has no room for independent and rational way of thinking and acting, it does create a favorable environment for narcissist political behavior and ambition that does not entertain critically or rationally challenging support and admiration, but quite the opposite.  This is the most worrisome political reality where we are now.

The TPLF-led ethno-centric and parochial politics was self-evidently and officially (constitutionally) anti-Ethiopian national identity and interest. All its theoretical and rhetorical propaganda was designed and made operational accordingly. Its leaders’ narcissist (excessively self-aggrandizing) political and socio-economic agenda and strategy was intrinsically intertwined with this deadly ill-guided way of doing politics. It goes without saying that there was no confusion about this ill-founded and deadly ill-guided political mindset and action for the last quarter of century.  Those politicians did try from the very beginning of their control the Arat Kilo palace to pretend that they were not there to advance and fulfil their ethnic-based narcissist political agenda or ambition, but to make democratic Ethiopia a reality. But they did not take much time to obviously reveal the true nature and purpose of their political agenda by instituting dictatorship that was instrumental to get their ethnic-based narcissist political ambition unbeatably fulfilled.

The delusion and confusion was on the side of all opposition political and other relevant actors who miserably failed to make concerted efforts and force those evil-guided politicians of TPLF/EPRDF either to come to a meaningful and consequential negotiation table or face the demise of their political power.

Now, we are unfortunately facing a very confusing, delusional and above all dangerous way of doing politics that is quite contrary to peoples’ expectation and hope. Unless we want to fool ourselves, the leaders of the so called democratic reform whom we welcomed with a regrettably emotion-driven acclamation and admiration have terribly failed once again as their former mentors did fail. Their words and deeds have miserably fallen apart within a couple of months of the honeymoon of “democratic reform”.

Not only “team lemma and Abiy” but also leaders of political opposition and intellectuals were badly tested and failed from the very beginning of the glimmer of hope for change. They failed because of their self-disgraced political perception and analysis that was totally dependent on a well-articulated and manipulative rhetoric by very few politicians of EPRDF’s reform, the Prime Minister being the champion. It is difficult to comprehend how we failed to this extent after bitter political experiences of almost have a century and particularly a much more horrifying ethno-centric and parochial politics of a quarter of a century.

One and half year ago  those EPRDF politicians who joined peoples’ uprising to end the mutually destructive ethno-centric and parochial politics changed both the rhetoric and the tone of the political propaganda from anti-Ethiopian national identity and interest to pro-Ethiopia and Ethiopiawinet . They went to the extent of declaring that the very essence of Ethiopia and Ethiopiawinet is an intrinsically internalized identity of the people that no one can make it fall apart.  This has created a very exciting political and moral atmosphere within the minds and hearts of the people who have gone through a painfully destructive political system of ethno-centrism and parochialism for a quarter of a century.

Leaders of the opposition camp and the very majority of intellectuals (well-educated and experienced Ethiopians) reacted to the very glimmer of change with a highly emotion-driven manner that does not reflect the very essence of intellect and intellectuality that has to understand and judge things based on what was/is going in reality, and how the very voracious and flowery rhetoric of politicians reflect the reality on the ground. The reaction to the EPRDF’S reformists that was mainly characterized and defined by the mere defeat of the hegemonic power of TPLF was terribly clumsy and doomed to failure as far as the need to bring about a fundamental change of democratic system is concerned.

The very critical question of whether politicians of EPRDF will be courageous and patriotic enough to systematically and wisely get rid of the very oppressive and criminal political system they served for a long time, to  create a political environment in which all  genuine stake holders could come together , to conduct exhaustive  and  consequential dialogue and consultation, to  find a feasible and reliable common ground,  and above all to  let a political body of  transition born and move forward accordingly was stupidly undermined or  ignored. Instead, the majority of our intellectuals as well as political opposition leaders became victims of a very disgraceful way of political thinking that has gone to the extent of creating cult of political personality surrounding the Prime Minister.

This has sent a wrong message to the Prime Minister who already has a narcissist (excessively self-aggrandizing) political behavior and ambition which he himself alluded it to the story he was told by his mother when he was at the age of innocent kids. Needless to say, the very message “you are the most important of all” has made the Prime Minister believe that he is an indispensable political figure who holds the very fate of the country in his hands.  Was/is this not terribly disgusting? Absolutely it was/is! 

As time went on, those forces of ethno-centric and parochial politics both within and outside governmental structure were allowed to aggressively launch an open campaign against the political discourse and agenda of unity within diversity (exercising democratic and human rights under the political umbrella of Ethiopia and Ethiopiawinet). Sadly enough, these forces of ethno-centrism and parochialism, particularly the Oromo political elites and groupings were enabled by their comrades in arms who hold high ranking positions both at regional and federal level to go ahead with their evil-guided political behavior and agenda.

The Prime Minister’s ethno-centric political party (OPDO/ODP) was and is at the center of this dangerous political orchestration. Cynically enough, the Prime Minister keeps delivering the same flowery but practically empty words (rhetoric) even at the very moment at which innocent citizens were intimidated, harassed, beaten up and killed in a very inhumane manner. He added salt to injury when he cynically tried to reinterpret what he said before the rubberstamp parliament and how he was “misunderstood” by Jawar Mehmed. In other words, he sounded more worried about the “misunderstanding” between himself and Jawar Mehamed than about the innocent citizens who lost their precious lives in a manner of less than non-human animals as the result of what Jawar Mehamed did. Is this not painfully disturbing? Absolutely it is!

Needless to say that this was and is because the Prime Minister  naively or otherwise believes that his narcissist (excessively self-aggrandizing) political personality and ambition can successfully be satisfied a) by  delivering his highly voracious ,jargonized ,  emotion-driven  and flowery words (rhetoric) about Ethiopia and Ethiopiawinet  to those who cry for the actualization of this line of argument on the one hand and  b)  by being cynically  complacent with those extreme  forces of ethno-centric and parochial politics  including members of his own party (ODP) on the other hand . Doesn’t this sound terribly disingenuous, hypocritical and scandalous? There is no any other way to describe it!

This clearly shows how narcissist (excessively self-aggrandizing) political mentality and behavior of our politicians in power is dangerous in a political system of ethno-centrism and parochialism that was constitutionally instituted a quarter of a century ago and spoilt the generation ever since.  Our politicians in power have been victims of this highly toxic political system that has severely damaged the very historical, social, cultural, moral, and psychological and even spiritual fabrics (values) of the people of Ethiopia. Is this not unbearably painful? Yes, it is unless we want to remain victims of pretense and deceiving ourselves! 

In principle and as a general truth, nobody with his/her right mind argues that these politicians of EPRDF never regret and change for the better one way or another. And it is not fair to argue that nothing positive has happened during this time of period of glimmer of change and hope.

But we cannot afford to use those steps of positive happenings as excuses of defending the unfindable that sends not only wrong but seriously damaging message. The very deceptive, irrational, uncritical political discourse will definitely make things worse to the extent of being uncontrollable to manage.

So, the gist of the matte is not simply whether this or that politician has good intention and nicety of words (rhetoric) about changing for the better or not. It is rather the very matte of:  a) Having a genuinely flexible means of doing things that must not compromise the very principle and goal (destiny) of peoples’ interests of making their dream of living in a democratic system of government a reality b) Internalizing the very devotion and determination to fight for the new (the better/best) political life and against the old (the highly toxic) political mentality, behavior and system  c) Being as bold as or as transparent as possible and get ready to shoulder the burden of responsibility and accountability that may go to the extent of paying sacrifice whenever and wherever necessary d) Not allowing the evil-guided and destructive individuals and groupings (forces) of ethno-centric and parochial politics to behave and act in a manner of lawlessness or anarchism that goes to the extent of taking the lives of innocent citizens in a very horrifying manner .There is no any other evidence (testimony) for the horrifying failure of  the talk but not walk by the Premiership of Dr.Abiy Ahemd   than the very   absence of rule of law and justice . It is essentially necessary to clearly and straight-forwardly  tell and advise him that  preaching peace and shedding crocodile tears every time these evil-minded individuals and groupings instigate a highly emotion-driven youth to commit crime against humanity on their own compatriots is a total political idiocy and it has to be dealt with  a timely and an appropriate manner   e) Producing and delivering a comprehensive, feasible and reliable roadmap instead of wasting the precious time and meager resources of the country for going around and making highly dramatized and misleading political rhetoric and conducting monotonous and unproductive  meetings and conferences f) Advising the Prime Minister to try hard to  control his narcissist political mentality and behavior that makes the country look like running out of other officials and  citizens who are willing and capable of dealing  with the challenges the innocent people are  facing.  g) Advising the Prime Minister and his comrades clearly and straight-forwardly that the very narcissist political idea of “I am a democratic leader of a democratic transition; you guys just follow me” is not only wrong but a very idiotic way of doing politics as far as the very political reality of the country is concerned.

It is an ABC of politics that it is not an easy task for a politician who came from ethnic –based political back ground and practical experience and hold the highest office of the executive branch of government with the blessing of the ethno-centric and parochial political party of his own (ODP/EPRDF) to change what terribly went wrong to what is right. Any person with his/her right (rational mind) does not criticize and blame Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for not bringing about an unrealistically dramatic change or do miracle type of demand. Not at all! But it is equally not only wrong but stupidity for any person with his/her right mind not to question the honesty and credibility of the Prime Minister’s political agenda, direction and destination. In principle and in a real sense honesty,   the very argument about the need to give political leaders time and chance in their efforts to make a difference sounds fine. But when it comes to our Political leaders     who  keep delivering all kinds of jargonized and dramatized preaching and rhetoric while innocent citizens are suffering from all kinds politically motivated crimes ranging from forced displacement, psychological and physical harm, and being  killed  in a manner of less than on-human animals is not simply  wrong, but absolutely nonsensical!

Despite the vicious cycle of devastation because of the political system of ethnic identity that is badly manipulated and exploited by individuals and groupings both within the ruling party and outside, the Prime Minister (the head the executive branch of government) keeps dancing a very ugly twist dance between and among the various forces in search of a balance which may favor his narcissist political ambition.

The very characteristics of narcissist politicians is doing politics not on the basis of dealing with the reality on the ground for the sake of finding an effective and sustainable solution, but on the very basis of which political  force (group) and situation would be suitable for the fulfillment of their political power of self-aggrandizement. This behavior becomes more dangerous in a political environment (system) that is defined and characterized by the very rampant politics of ethno-centrism and parochialism. This is because this kind of political environment does not need to deal with issues rationally, thoughtfully, wisely, tolerantly, and with a real sense of common purpose that paves the way for the realization of a political system of freedom, justice, equality and shared prosperity.

It goes without saying that the Prime Minister is a very typical example of this very ugly if not dangerous political behavior and personality. It was clear from the very begging of his premiership during which he literally performed a one- man show politics as if the country was/is running out of well-educated, rational, critical, disciplined, principled, and action-oriented citizens. As he was welcomed with indescribable admiration to the extent of being called Ethiopian Moses of the 21^st century, he convinced himself that his narcissist (excessive self-aggrandizing) political ambition was wonderfully working and it would continue to do so.

It was very few rational and critical Ethiopians who seriously expressed their genuine concern about the very dangerous consequence of leaving the very sensitive and complex challenges of both domestic and foreign affairs of the country to a Prime Minister who was/is badly obsessed with narcissist political ambition.  The majority of well-educated and experienced Ethiopians either remained silent or behaved wrongly to the extent of creating a Messiah-like personality cult surrounding the Prime Minister. Was/is this not terribly disgraceful and disgusting! Absolutely it was/is!

The very ugly consequence of this type approach to a political situation that has been made deeply and seriously complex and complicated by a very backward and anti-progress ethno-centric and parochial political system is now felt extremely painful.

It is politically stupid  enough to believe that the Prime Minister who is at the very top of the structure of his own ethno-centric and parochial party (ODP)  is not one way or another  playing a dangerously dirty political game .  As a matter of fact, it is becoming difficult to distinguish ODP from groupings of extremists such as OLF and highly toxic individuals such as Jawar Mehamed.  The way the Prime Minister treats Jawar Mehamed and the like who are making the young Oromos lose their common human senses and cause severe harm  to their own compatriots, and subsequently to their own very future is absolutely disturbing and frustrating .

It goes without saying that every time something unbearably horrifying happens because of the very mutually destructive politics of ethno-centrism and parochialism, the Prime Minister keeps preaching about the importance of peace and love, and the ugliness of war and hatred as if people are ignorant enough to know what is good or bad for the country in general and for each citizen in particular. He never mention those destructive individuals and groupings  including some members of his own government and party who in one way or another were parts  of the politically motivated devastation of last month .

The way the Prime Minister responded to an incredibly painful and inhumane killings and treatment of innocent citizens as the result of a deadly stupid person (Jawar Mehamed) who called a highly emotion-driven youth (qerro) for urgent help as if  his life was in danger is painfully outrageous .

What did the Prime Minister do?

• The people of Ethiopia hoped that necessary steps would be taken by the Prime Minister and his government when they heard him declaring in his speech he delivered to the good for nothing parliamentarians that those who hold foreign passports and run media organizations should be alerted. It was painfully heart-breaking to hear when he dishonestly twisted his words of mouth he said publicly before the very rubber stamp and disgraceful parliament by saying that Jawar Mehamed misunderstood him. This is painfully disgraceful and disgusting! Alas, what a terribly outrageous and sickening political personality!
• As he did it before, he was watching the very horrifying killings of innocent citizens from Moscow, Russia. He knew very well that this incredibly inhumane act of intimidation, harassment and above all taking the very lives of many innocent citizens was instigated and ignited by Jawar Mehamed who has an evil-minded political behavior or personality. There is no doubt that if  individuals and groupings who are playing unbelievably disastrous political game are not dealt with legitimate, appropriate, effective, determined and long-lasting strategy and plan of action, they     will continue to cause more chaos and mutual destruction. The Prime Minister’s narcissist and hypocritical political behavior is going from bad to worse each and every day. The more the people of Ethiopia knew his disingenuous and deceitful way of doing politics, the more cynical/crooked he becomes. It is incredibly unbelievable how the head of the executive branch of government who repeatedly had similar experiences could stay a couple days overseas watching when innocent citizens were killed in a very inhumane manner.  Absolutely ridiculous and disheartening political behavior (personality)!
• Needless to say, the people were disappointed by his lack of sensitivity of not returning from his working visit as immediately as possible and express his condolences to the victim families and the Ethiopian people, and take necessary steps of investigation. The next expectation was that he would show his outrage about what happened and express his condolences and give brief remark about what his government is going to do as soon as he arrived back. Sadly enough, he took his time as if what happened was not unbearably shocking. After taking his time, he sent his written statement via the media his government controls to be broadcast instead of delivering it visually and verbally as a head of government who is responsible and accountable for the very security of the people. Is this not totally absurd, to say the least? Absolutely it is!
• Ridiculously enough, he traveled from one town to another not to meet victims’ families and give them comfort and tell what he is going to do; but to meet politicians who defended and stood on Jawar Mehamed’s side as well as Aba Gedas not to discuss about innocent victims but how the Oromo politicians and groupings make a much more unifying political situation between and among themselves. It is painfully heartbreaking to hear the Prime Minister asking the Aba Gedas to approach and ask those who are disappointed (yakorefu) that includes of course Jawar Mehamed who “misunderstood” his speech he delivered to the good for nothing parliament. What a terribly syndical political personality!
• He disingenuously tried to characterize the horrible deaths of innocent citizens as the consequence of a conflict between two sides. It is an open secret that no one provoked the killers let alone attacking them. It was the killers who received Jawar Mehamed’s message of alarm and lost their common human sense and started the senseless killing. Yes, there may be innocent citizens who were killed while instinctively or otherwise trying to defend themselves which is quite legitimate both morally and legally. If the Prime Minister is trying to convince us that this is a typical case of conflict, it would be an insult to those who lost their precious lives.

We have a very vivid experience how TPLF looked like a relatively better than the previous military dictatorship in the very beginning of its political power control. The very narcissist political behavior of its leaders were trying to manipulate public option whereas at the same time were prepared to institute a kind of politics that was quite instrumental to the fulfillment of their unchecked and irresponsible way of doing politics. And that instrument was to make the politics of ethno-centrism and parochialism constitutional.

As a consequence of the very failure of the people to produce and nurture democratic political forces that could effectively change the very balance of power in favor of the  transition to a genuinely democratic system at the very end of TPLF’S hegemony, we are where we are now. The very painful experience of repeating the same if not much worse mistake happened from the very the end of TPLF’s hegemony and the very beginning of the hegemony of OPDO/ODP/OLF and other extremists of ethnic-centric and parochial politics. .

The way we perceived, received and admired those politicians of EPRDF who “smartly” selected and appointed Dr.Abiy Ahmed who remarkably “outsmarts” them in terms of delivering very articulated but highly misleading and deceitful rhetoric was  the ABC of our political stupidity that brought us where ewe are now.  What makes worse  not only  our passivity  but sadly our foolishly  inflated admiration  to the extent of calling the Prime Minister Messiah-like leader of this century was miserably regrettable . It was and is painfully disgraceful to lose real sense of our critical way of thinking which requires adequate time to get some sense of truth and facts by asking the very questions of what? Why?   How? When? Where? Who?

What we are witnessing nowadays is the politics of begging the very deceitful politicians who failed the people repeatedly and miserably to do what is right for peoples’ sake. Agree or disagree, if there is no any dramatic and viable movement that should efficiently challenge and defeat those elements of extremist individuals and groupings, there is no doubt that   they will declare their victory of brutal way of doing politics over peaceful and genuine democratic transition .

God created us (human beings) with a very sophisticated engine of thinking (the brain) and a very wonderful biological and physical structures and functions to use them for the very purpose He created this planet earth as a unique place of all kinds of lives. As the universe in general and this planet earth in particular is not created without countless and serious challenges, God gave us a special ability and capacity to deal with them accordingly and let life continue not only as usual but with a much more advanced and efficient wisdom, spirituality (the power of the inner soul), knowledge and technology of any sort.  He gave us the power house of thinking (brain and mind) that enables us to know what is wrong and what is right and firmly stand for what is right.  He blessed us with the right (freedom) of choice between what is good and what is bad for us not because we belong to this or that ethnic group and language or followers of this of that religious belief, but first and foremost we are human beings and then we are the people of one country (Ethiopia) that has survived all kinds extremely challenging situations thanks to patriots of generations who paid huge sacrifices including their precious lives.

Let’s not keep missing golden opportunities of making things not just okay but best by defeating the very ugly political culture of repeating the same mistakes over and over again!

The post The Danger of Narcissist Political Behavior and the Politics of Ethno-Centrism   appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

Satenaw
November 11, 2019

The agreement was signed by Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, and Takele Uma mayor of Addis Ababa. The two cities have agreed to work together on economic, health, cultural exchange and green development.

Agree to exchange information and participate in joint development activities.

Cooperation has also been included in the agreement on the level of urban administration and business sector associations where local business ideas can grow.

Collaboration on various creative ideas and technological advancements;

The health sector has signed an agreement to work together on health prevention work, starting with health policies that contribute to the growth of the sector.

The agreement is to share and support the cultural values ​​of the residents of the two cities. Exchanges of experience on green projects operating in the two cities, exchanging and supporting ideas on the transportation and construction sector are part of the signing of the renewal of the sister cities agreement between Addis Ababa and Washington, DC.

According to information from the Mayor’s Office, a committee to monitor the implementation of the agreement will be formed on both sides.

The post Addis Ababa and Washington, DC have signed an agreement to renegotiate the sister cities appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam

Author’s Note: The information war (InfoWars) on Ethiopia today is in full swing.

Lies, fake news and disinformation intended to bamboozle, hoodwink and confuse Ethiopians are spreading on social and legacy media like the bubonic plague.

The vectors of this social pandemic are social media rodents, online mind-sucking ticks and cyber tsetse flies that spread anxiety, sleeplessness, confusion, demoralization, anger, misery, despair and a malaise of doom and gloom on a vulnerable population.

Last week, I got dozens of inquiries by phone, email and text about a tweet allegedly sent out by President Donald Trump (screenshot below). I would have ignored and dismissed the whole episode as a childish prank but for the fact that the people contacting me, often cheerfully, were well-known members of the Ethiopian diaspora establishment including respected academicians, businesspersons, religious leaders and retired public officials.

I was stunned how a patently and manifestly fake Trump tweet could fool so many people who are judicious, cautious and even shrewd in their professional  lives. I wondered how such a simple piece of photoshopped disinformation could reverberate throughout social media land and confuse, mislead, deceive and fool others who lack sophistication, discernment and tech savvy.

There is an organized and concerted effort to bury the people of Ethiopia under a social media avalanche of evil propaganda, disinformation and fake news  24/7/365. The aim of this effort is to perpetrate psychological terrorism on naive, gullible and unsuspecting people undergoing emotional turmoil about the political and social situation in Ethiopia.

The strategic aim of the digital psycho-terrorists is 1) to use fake news, disinformation,  conspiracy theories and psychological warfare to delegitimize, destabilize and discredit the current leadership and changes taking place in Ethiopia after 27 years of ethnic apartheid rule, and 2) to create total chaos and anarchy in the country and create an opportunity for the those who were kicked out of power and and their Johnny–come–lately lackeys (ye dil tor arbegnoch) to return to power as savior white knights in shining armor.

Their tactic is a simple one. “Repeat as many lies, disinformation and conspiracy theories often enough and they become truth”. Or as Mao Zedong said, “A lie told a hundred times becomes the truth.”

I call this information/psychological warfare “digital psycho-terrorism”.

I shall argue in this commentary that it is necessary to organize and implement a digital psychological counter-terrorism program to fight lies, disinformation and conspiracy theories on social media and online.

I tender the old maxim paraphrased, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of lies, disinformation and conspiracy on social media and online is for good men and women to remain dupes and do nothing.”

It is the moral obligation of all people of good will, good mind, good heart and good faith to fight digital psycho-terrorists on and offline day and night for evil never sleeps.

I have been warning on the coming of digital psycho-terrorist troll infowars on Ethiopia(ns) for years

I have been warning my readers and followers of the looming digital psycho-terrorist infowars for some time now.

In my September 5, 2016 commentary, I discussed the lies and disinformation campaigns of the previous ethnic apartheid regime. I explained how the Tigrean Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) waged a 25-year-long disinformation campaign to keep itself in power. I identified 10 elements of the TPLF’s coordinated disinformation campaigns.

In my September 16, 2016 commentary, I warned we should never let the TPLF con men scam and flim-flam us with their targeted disinformation campaigns.

In my September 25, 2016 commentary, I examined the TPLF’s massive disinformation campaign to discredit the widespread popular uprising (which ultimately occasioned its demise) against its oppressive rule in Ethiopia and challenged the cry wolf TPLF boys who were creating alarm and fear by announcing imminent genocide.

In my March 2017 commentary, I wrote about the “Lords of Living Lies” and their “infernal life of complete mendacity on Planet Denial-istan Ethiopia.” I deconstructed 10 boldfaced and shameless TPLF lies in the TPLF fictional narrative by simply fake (fact) checking them.

In my August 12, 2018, commentary I explained how the Forces of Darkness have weaponized, tribalized and vulgarized social media in their infowars to polarize Ethiopians and derail the peaceful revolution in Ethiopia. I called on all Ethiopian social media warriors to come to the aid of their country to fight fake news, disinformation and conspiracy theories.

In a joint opinion piece dated August 17, 2018, we expressed concern over the  lies and rumors spread on social media to create instability, violence, death and destruction in Ethiopia. We condemned the rumor mill operated by a well-organized group of digital thugs to delegitimize Prime Minster Abiy and his government and rob public confidence in the peaceful change that is taking place in Ethiopia.

In my March 2019 commentary I demonstrated how the “Chicken Littles of Ethiopia” were in full hysteria mode clucking, “The sky is falling on Ethiopia.” I examined the relentless psychological war of attrition aimed at manipulating minds, crushing hearts, fraying nerves and breaking down the spirit of the Ethiopian people.

Back in my May 2011 commentary, I demonstrated how TPLF Uber Boss Meles Zenawi had been making hyperbolic claims of economic growth in Ethiopia by cooking statistics and massaging GDP (gross domestic product) numbers to claim Ethiopia is in a state of runaway economic development. I demonstrated beyond a shadow of doubt that Zenawi’s voodoo economics was built on lies, damned lies and statislies (statistical lies).

But it was in my August 2007 commentary that I made the TPLF an offer they can’t refuse: “If they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them.”

But lies, of course, course in the blood stream of the TPLF. After all the “LF” in TPLF stands for Lie Factory.

The TPLF leaders are pathological liars and they can’t help it. They are congenital mythomaniacs afflicted by “pseudologia fantastica”. Simply stated, they are born liars!

The truth about the fake Donald Trump Tweet

President Donald Trump allegedly tweeted about Ethiopia on October 29, 2019.

On that date, the real President Donald Trump who resides at 1600 Pennsylvania posted 7 tweets in which he: 1) claimed Nancy Pelosi is hellbent on destroying the Republican Party, 2) criticized the Federal Reserve as “clueless”, 3) praised  the rise in consumer confidence and housing sales in the U.S. 4) commended a book entitled, “Plot Against the President”, 4) attacked democrats and demanded to know the identity of whistleblowers”, 5) announced the bagging of the terrorist mastermind Al-Baghdadi, 6) claimed a 95 percent approval rating for the Republican Party and 7) attacking the “corrupt media”.

The absolute dead giveaway the  tweet was bogus is evident in the  fact that the text is boldfaced. Donald Trump has never, never tweeted in boldfaced text.

What is truly mind boggling is the fact that the dozens of diaspora Ethiopia’s crème de la crème who called me about the fake Trump tweet were so happy they were blinded to the tale-tale signs of fakery.

On its face, the “tweet” does not pass the smell test. Take one quick whiff and you can tell it is a fake, a sham, a hoax.

The bogus tweet was manifestly written by one or more arrant ignoramuses,  virtual illiterates. Perhaps it was the work of a group of clever digital manipulators who wanted to demonstrate Ethiopians can be made suckers even with a manifestly ridiculous tweet.

In the tweet, White House is written as “whitehouse”. Ethiopian is written as “Etiopian”. Extremist is written as “extremist”. Groups is written as “gruops“. Intolerant of is phrased “intolerant to”. Immediate actions against is written as “immediate actions to”. Who hold is written as “who holds”. U.S. passport is written as “USA Passport”.

There is no way President Trump would write such a tweet, but so many people bought the bogus tweet hook, line and sinker.

What a lowdown crying shame for so many “intelligent”, “highly educated” and “well-informed” Ethiopians to fall for such a dumb hoax.

Shame on us for being such dupes and suckers!

Digital psycho-terrorists and the necessity for a digital counter-terrorism strategy

Terrorism has been defined as “the premeditated use or threat to use violence by individuals or sub-national groups to obtain a political or social objective through the intimidation of a large audience beyond that of the immediate victims.”

The hallmark of conventional terrorism is the use of violence to cause carnage and destruction and as a consequence spread fear, anxiety, alarm, hate and loathing in the wider population.

Conventional terrorists inflict physical violence with the general aim of destroying the  social capital of a nation, e.g., its unity, norms, values, good will, fellowship, cooperation, etc.

Digital terrorists inflict psychic (mental) violence with the targeted aim of destroying a nation’s social capital, e.g., its unity, norms, values, good will, fellowship, cooperation, etc.

Digital terrorism is a form of psychological warfare (psywar). It is different from cyber terrorism which is a politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs, and data.

The self-styled social media warriors spreading lies, fake news, disinformation and conspiracy theories in Ethiopia are the archetypal digital terrorists. Their aim is to demoralize the general population, crush their self-confidence and confidence in the future and cripple their will and break their resolve to fight or resist.

Their tactic is to brainwash the population, by an unending stream of lies, disinformation and conspiracy theories, into believing their lives are miserable and will remain so. They have no hope for the future because another group is oppressing them. They must defend themselves by preemptive unprovoked attacks against their neighbors.

Their aim is to foster and spread a belief in victimology and nurture a mental state of victimhood. They want people to believe they are victims of the wrongs of their families, neighbors, townsfolks, faith, ethnic brethren and even history.

The dogs of infowars offer no verifiable evidence to support their bogus claims. Yet they  have managed to wreak havoc in the minds and emotion of many unsuspecting Ethiopians.

There are all types of digital psycho-terrorists who use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other online media to incite violence and spread fear, anxiety, alarm, hate and loathing.

Some of them are well-organized and funded by political groups and call  themselves “digital this or that”. These digital psycho-terrorists are version 2.0 of bush terrorist (listed in the Global Terrorism Data Base) that menaced Ethiopia in the 1980s and created an ethnic apartheid system in over the past 27 years.  They are the O.T.’s (original terrorists) who have passed on the legacy of terrorism to their children who now wage it in cyberspace.

Just as the bush terrorists decades ago used direct physical violence and destruction on local populations to get their way, their children today hide in the digital cyber-bush to inflict psychological terrorism to destroy the hearts and minds of the Ethiopia people.

One  such psycho-digital terrorist group describes itself in its Manifesto as an “invisible digital force without structure” and  “a digital defensive line for the people of Tigray.” It claims to operate on the principle of “one for all and all for one.” It boasts of using “state of the art information technology to wage a digital struggle.”

These are the cyber ghosts of the dethroned kings of ethnic apartheid in Ethiopia hellbent on seeking revenge and digitally plotting to return to power.

Other psycho-digital terrorists are less organized and operate more or less independently guided by communalism, sectarianism and ethnonationalism.

There are many lone wolf psycho-digital terrorist who operate as social media information scavengers (hyenas). They scour social media and the internet for carrion in the form of lies, disinformation and conspiracy theories for redistribution.

The psychological impact of digital psycho-terrorism

In November 2018, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared, “’fake news is fueling the Somali regional crisis.”

He advised Ethiopians “not to buy and spread fake news. Let’s not spread fake news because a lot of people are hurt by it. We need to carefully consider the reliability of their sources of information. I ask everyone to be attentive to the spread of fake news.” 

In war, especially in infowars and psychological warfare, truth is the first and last casualty.

The digital psycho-terrorists have weaponized, polarized, tribalized and vulgarized social media to crush truth to earth.

What is fascinating to me is the psychological impact of reality mangled by lies, fake news and propaganda and the invention of alternate reality, an Orwellian  social media parallel universe made up of lies-truth.

In talking to so many Ethiopians from different walks of life, I have made anecdotal observations that nearly all of them suffer from what I call “fear and anxiety induced stress syndrome (FAISS)”, a form of low level post-traumatic stress syndrome that results from constant bombardment by fake news and disinformation on social media.

FAISS victims suffer from shattered self-confidence, feelings of disempowerment, irrational, absurd and foolish thought patterns. Many of them are so desensitized to facts, they are willing to accept whatever nonsense comes their way. They cast critical thinking out the window. They are easily duped and easy to confuse.

Whenever they talk to me about “what’s going on in Ethiopia”, they present panic reactions, mental confusion, grief, anxiety and elevated suspiciousness.

Some are emotionally numbed and express deep grief, emptiness and hopelessness about the fate of Ethiopia.

Some common doom and gloom statements I have heard include:

“Look at all the killing and displacement. Ethiopia has no hope.”

“’They’ are taking over. We are finished.”

“We had so much hope but were tricked and duped.”

“Only God can save Ethiopia now. We are doomed.”

“I could not sleep last night worried about what’s going to happen.”

“He has to do something. If he does not do something, the country will implode in civil war.”

It’s all about defeatism, fatalism and apocalypticism.

Digital psycho-terrorism has denied diaspora Ethiopians peace of mind and induced a state of general malaise among them.

I shall argue the infowar campaigns of the digital psycho-terrorists must be fought with a digital counter-terrorism campaign of truth and facts.

My prescription: “The only way to fight the infowars of fake news, disinformation and conspiracy theories is by simply exposing them and educating people with the truth and facts. We must cut off the lying sacks at the Facebook and other social media passes.

As they race to the bottom with their lies, we must race to the top with our facts.

When they go low like snakes in the grass, we must go high with the truth and soar like eagles.

I am putting out a call once again to all Ethiopian social media warriors of good will and good faith to come to the aid of their country in fighting the fake news, disinformation and conspiracy theories of digital psycho-terrorists.

“Battle plans” for social media and other online infowars

Those who underestimate the lies, disinformation and conspiracy theories of digital psycho-terrorists are doomed to regret their silence and inaction.

These digital psycho-terrorists are like infectious viruses that live and replicate in the body politic of Ethiopia.

Digital psycho-terrorists are deadly social media pathogen that work by attacking Ethiopia’s political immune system.

Like the HIV virus (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), they are difficult to completely eliminate.

It is necessary to develop multiple anti-retroviral drugs that act on different viral targets of digital psycho-terrorism.

That is precisely what the strategies (cocktail of antiretroviral treatment for digital psycho-terrorism) recommended below are intended to achieve.

Strategy #1: Beat the digital psycho-terrorists at their own game. Convert their fake news/disinformation infowars into a battle of ideas for the truth

“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”  We must fight the digital psycho-terrorists by exposing their lies, their whole lies and nothing but their lies to the whole world. Our choice of weapon  must be the TRUTH. Digital psycho-terrorists cannot handle the TRUTH. We must fight them by telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about their lies, bare faced lies and damned lies.

Strategy #2: Always use the smell test scavenging for information carrion on social media

Always a simple smell test for any information obtained on social or other media. Factcheck information on Fakebook, Twit-er and YouBoob.

Be skeptical because what walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and swims like a duck on social media is very likely not a duck. It is likely a daylight hyena in  duck feathers. Ethiopians using social media should always take a sniff and determine if they smell a troll rat, or more appropriately a daylight hyena, in what they read and hear.

Strategy #3: Fight herd mentality and group think

Herd mentality can best be described as sheep blindly following the flock no matter where they go just because that’s what the herd is doing.  People act based on emotion instead of logical and rational thinking. They don’t ask questions; they just follow the crowd. Group think can best be described as a process in which individuals hold an opinion in a group believing the group is right.  They agree on an opinion without much questioning, critical reasoning or scrutiny of the evidence. Ignorant people are the easiest to control and manipulate not only because they lack substantive knowledge, but most importantly, because they lack critical thinking skills and do not know how to ask the right questions to get the right answers. So many Ethiopian elites fell for the bogus Trump tweet because they followed the herd; they let the group do the thinking for them.

Strategy #4: Educate people of good will and good faith

Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Use social media to teach and to empower ordinary people. Use social media to learn and to collaborate for good deeds.

Strategy #5: Overwhelm the negative messages of the digital psycho-terrorists with positive messages

Someone once said, “In every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1,440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact.” When we are on Fakebook, Twit-er and the rest for 10 minutes or one hour, let’s make a positive impact on those who read and interact with us.

Strategy #6: Don’t feed the digital trolls

Do not waste time and energy feeding digital trolls. They feed on our anger, sorrow, fear and anxiety. Avoid tit for tat. But try to show them the way of truth and love.

Strategy #7: Develop emotional intelligence

We must develop the ability to identify and manage our own emotions and the emotions of those around us. We must not be Chicken Littles who get all hysterical simply because someone wrote something silly or stupid on social media or put out a YouBoob video. We must develop heightened awareness that we are constant targets of emotional manipulation by digital psycho-terrorists.

Strategy #8: Evil never sleeps and the price of peace of mind from the attacks of digital psycho-terrorists is eternal vigilance

The price of defeating the digital psycho-terrorists is constant awareness and eternal  vigilance. That means we must be relentless, ferocious, implacable, unflinching and single-minded in our struggle against digital terrorists. I have proven the value of defiant tenacity against evil over the past 14 years!

Strategy #9: Never wrestle with digital psycho-terrorists in the social media sewer

Never engage in mudslinging and pissing contests with digital psycho-terrorists.  The old saying about pigs applies equally to digital psycho-terrorists. “Never wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.”

Strategy #10: Never fall victim to click-bait YouTube channels

There are a bunch of trashy YouTube (Boob) channels that try to make money by putting provocative titles on their covers. Their aim is to get you to click on their garbage YouTube channels. They make money every time you click and you get heartache and bellyache.

Strategy #11: Practice the old adage: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” 

We should never allow digital psycho-terrorists play tricks on us time and again. Let’s not allow them to make us suckers over and over. We should practice the wisdom of the old saying. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.”

Strategy #12: Practice my policy of mind over matter.

To me, social media cretins are a source of laughter and entertainment. I visit social media from time to time to observe how the dregs of humanity think or don’t. It is a matter of mind over matter for me. I don’t mind social media cretins and creeps and they don’t matter.  

A call to “white hat” social media warriors

For the last 14 years, I have fought the Forces of Darkness and social media psycho-terrorists in my weekly commentaries. I fought their lies, fake news, disinformation, conspiracy theories every week (sometimes several times a week) without missing a single week.

Today, the Forces of Darkness have reinvented themselves as digital psycho-terrorists propagating their message of hate, division, chaos and confusion.

I am calling on all “white hat” Ethiopian social media warriors to join me in fighting digital psycho-terrorists and cyber-thugs on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and in blogosphere and everywhere in cyberspace.

We must fight digital psycho-terrorists in the schools, in the colleges and universities, in the internet cafes, in the conference rooms, in the streets, in the urban and rural areas, in places of worship and public gatherings, and in every hamlet, village, town and city.

Let’s join forces and fight the Forces of Darkness and digital terrorists propagating fake news, disinformation and conspiracy theories against Ethiopia!

Fool us once, shame on digital psycho-terrorists. Fool us twice, shame on us!

Ad Victoriam!

The post DIGITAL PSYCHO-TERRORISTS’ INFOWARS ON ETHIOPIA: Fool Me Once, Shame on You. Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me! appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

By Tibebe. Birihan

The constant sermon like parlance by the PM doesn’t seem to be holding the same resonance it once had. People are becoming increasingly circumspect of what is orated by their Nobel Prize winning PM and looking for answers to the monumental problems the country is facing elsewhere. The pain felt and the trauma caused by the recent debacle in the Oromia Region, the massacre in Jigjiga and the wanton destructions and persecutions in Sidama Zone are glaring dissensions that exacerbate the already paranoid national sentiment. The lullaby of the PM is now having difficulty to calm the nation.

The center of gravity for all the havoc seem to once again circle around the way the Federation is structured and the manner in which “Oromo Question” is framed and tried to be resolved. Notwithstanding the involvement of ethnic entrepreneurs who are bent on manufacturing and fueling of crisis for their group and individual gains, we need to dig beneath the facade to shed light on the true aspirations of the Oromo people as political and cultural entity. As such, we need to distill the noise from the legitimate quest of the people and properly manage to get to a solution that is a win-win for the Oromo people and the country at large.

Despite its botched implementation, the federalization of the country as it stands now somehow crudely seemed to address the pillars of not only the of Oromo question but also of those ethnicities which have perceived to have been disadvantaged throughout the long existence of the Ethiopian state. The constitution as crafted by the few ethnic lords at the outset and its selective application subsequently has created problems that now are complicating the already sensitive issues. When TPLF aided by EPLF as victors against the Dergu Marxist junta came to control Menilik Palace, it took the shortest path of rewarding itself substantially at the expense of the country. It legalized its bounty through unacceptable constitutional means as possibly as it could and went on to be the “godfather” to the rest of the country for close to three decades. Further narrowing the political field at the inception, TPLF kicked out OLF and sidelined other political forces which were thought to be the genuine representatives of their respective constituencies and established its hegemony that further solidified the marginalization of true representations.

At the backdrop of all these, what slowly evolved is the increasing ethnic polarization of the various groups and widespread feelings of insecurity and hopelessness by significant portion of the country. These conditions necessitated a great desire by the people to free them from the colonial style of TPLF discriminatory ethnic oligarchy regime and finally brought the system to the brink. The TPLF dominated reign with its insatiable greed and one-sided overly self-aggrandizing propensity relegated others to the level of serfdom. The inhuman way they treated their opponents and the gruesome torchers they constantly inflicted on their victims, further created the fertile ground for the rest of the country to face this alien entity head on and be done away with it at any cost.

On the cusps of these, there came some relief with the coming to the helm by the PM Abiy and his reformist colleagues. Despite the fact that the PM is also a member of the umbrella party EPRDF, the larger section of the society was very ecstatic and supportive of the transfer of power to the new PM. Unexpected by the larger public, the glorifying of the country by the PM in his acceptance speech on his inauguration day and his pontification that “We are Ethiopian when we live and we will be Ethiopia when we die” brought resurgence of hope to unite the severely divided country.

What made the Extremist Oromo ethnic politicians to stand suspicious of the PM who hailed from Oromia is a question that we all need to ponder on. By every practical measure, the current government is fast replicating the one it chased out by planting en-mass ethnic Oromos in place of Tigreans. The previous semblance of balancing federal government position appointments is now given its way to anchoring Oromos as fast as practically possible.  Despite all of these measures by the Abiy administration, the ever elastic demands of these extremist Oromo parties are nowhere to be nearly satisfied. They have now started to openly articulate their determination to see a confederated Ethiopia and the complete ownership of the Capital City of Addis; they seem to be heading in a direction to contravene against the spirit of the constitution they espouse as untouchable. These extreme ethnic parties continuously seem to move the goal post by creating demands that are contrary to what they accentuate as official party positions thereby deliberately clouding their true intentions. They try to frame the debate as if between unionists’ vs federalists and creating a murky understanding around their true intentions while knowing fully well that there is no any movement that is standing to support the phantom unionist camp.

If we are to argue from the notion that the seemingly ambiguous discourse between ODP and the Oromo extreme ethnic adherents is about federalism vs Unionist, we are missing the very critical ingredient about the very grotesque motives of the so called Federalists spearheaded by TPLF. Their oblivion about the cost of their nativist ambitions and the danger it causes for the country to stand as one polity is a glaring testament about their nefarious plots. Such reckless ambitions and their ever dynamic ploy together with the bold move they are making to realize their dream are now greatly contributing in diminishing the wherewithal of the society that has been built through centuries of co-existence. The open campaign of hate in sync by these parties against a particular group of the society for their shared reckless desires is now shrinking the ground for meaningful compromise. The constant inability or willful negligence of the government to bring about law and order and worse yet, camouflaging such inabilities as cost of nurturing democracy is further eroding the thread holding the nation together.  Cooperation is replaced by unhealthy competition, mutual respect has now been replaced by mutual suspicion, and working together has given its way to working against each other, common country vision is ransacked by narrow ethic nightmare. The constant unimaginable savageries of the mobs in attacking innocent civilians are further indications that our social wherewithal is fast dwindling and giving way for breaking the country apart.

As witnessed recently the practical abdication of their duty by the Oromia security establishment in protecting the lives and properties of citizens in the face of widespread brutality and ethnic cleansing targeting minorities in the Region is nothing but a cue for something larger and sinister. What seems to have been construed as tacit encouragement of the rowdy provocateurs by the same security establishment further cements the suspicions that the establishments has been percolated by ethnic extremists. This aberration, whether perceived or imagined, sets perfect precondition for people who firsthand witnessed the inaction by the authorities to arm themselves and protect their family and properties. Such conditions feed off of each other and potentially could end up leading us to a complete breakdown of law and order thereby precipitating a widespread unrest and bloody civil war.

The lateness by the PM in addressing the deadly ethnic targeted killings and, the characterization of the mayhem as simple clashes has now casted its heavy shadow if indeed the PM is equally a leader to all citizens of the country. The immediate action taken by the PM and his top officials of trying to preserve the unity of their base as opposed to consoling the victims and assuring the nervous country by bringing those perpetrators to face the law is now compounding the confusion felt by the wider public in this despondent nation. The continuous malarkey given by the officials is further emboldening zealots and fast eating away the confidence the super majority of the country have on their government. Such timidity of the administration is also further emboldening the perpetrators to continue their brazen demands and perpetuate their cruel actions as justifiable means towards their targeted end.  Unless such trends are corrected swiftly and law and order are restored, the once seemed infallible PM and his reformist mantra are doomed to fail and biblical proportion gloom to befallen on the country.

The writer could be reached at tbirihan@yahoo.com

The post The elasticated demands of ethnic extremists and the malarkey given by the government appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

Two Ethiopian pastors have been beheaded in Sebeta, near the capital Addis Ababa, in an outburst of violence against Christians at the end of October, reported a Barnabas Fund contact.

The contact said that the situation on the ground has become “quite challenging for Christians” and many churches have been burnt this year. There is also an unverified report that a group of Christians has been forced out of the majority-Muslim town of Ginir, located 303 miles south-east of the capital.

The army was called in to restore order after 67 people were killed and 213 wounded in Addis Ababa and the Oromia region during several days of unrest.

Muslim activist and high profile media mogul, Jawar Mohammed, is thought to have provoked the unrest when he announced to his supporters that the government had removed his personal security protection. Subsequent street protests against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed erupted in violence.

Since September 2018, violent ethnic clashes have led to some two million Ethiopians becoming internally displaced.

From Barnabas Fund contacts

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Fight in Walta studio over ethnicity & nationality

The post Fight in Walta studio over ethnicity & nationality – WATCH appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

In a bid to increase car ownership in Ethiopia and build a viable automotive industry, the Ethiopian government is opening its doors to international car makers and offering tax breaks to encourage them to set up shop in the country.

At the moment, the ratio of cars to people in Ethiopia is 2 cars to 1,000 people – one of the lowest rates of car ownership in the world.
There are only 600,000 registered cars in Ethiopia and 84% are taxis.
Most of the cars on the road are secondhand, imported from Gulf states and heavily taxed on import by the government.

The post Increasing car ownership in Ethiopia appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Hard-line regionalism and interethnic violence will likely surge in the run-up to Ethiopia’s May 2020 elections as competing groups increasingly clash for power.
• Should Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed fail to unite his unpopular ruling coalition, it will weaken his government’s ability to defeat opposition parties that could temporarily derail his liberalization efforts.
• The potential for escalating political violence in the coming months, however, could ultimately force Abiy’s administration to scrap the 2020 vote altogether, further hurting its legitimacy.

Since rising to power in April 2018, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has already overseen several impressive victories — the opening of Ethiopia’s media and political environments being hailed as one of his biggest. His efforts to “achieve peace and international cooperation,” including opening Ethiopia’s relations with long-time enemy Eritrea, even earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in recent weeks. But unfortunately for Ethiopia’s new leader, no amount of accolades will protect him from the bitter campaign his regional rivals are gearing up for ahead of elections slated for May 2020.

The Big Picture

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s ongoing efforts to open Ethiopia to the world have captured the imaginations of foreign governments and investors alike. But recent increases in ethnic violence have ratcheted up fears that the country is being torn apart at the seams. Whether Addis Ababa can hold the country together before elections in May 2020 will serve as a litmus test for its ambitious economic and political liberalization push.

The Violent Price of Progress

On a continent where authoritarian leaders still abound, Abiy has given rise to hopes that Ethiopia might soon become Africa’s next big success story. As part of this push, the prime minister confirmed in October that the country will, as promised, hold free and fair elections in May 2020. But there are concerns that Ethiopia’s budding democracy may be crumbling beneath the weight of escalating political violence.

Interethnic violence in Ethiopia soared to sky-high levels under Abiy’s predecessor, forcing millions of citizens to flee their homes. But recent efforts to improve the situation have lagged amid the increasingly virulent rhetoric of the country’s ethnic and religious hard-liners. At the heart of this dispute is a brewing battle over what political system Ethiopia should have: one based on greater centralization, or one based on more decentralized ethnic federalism. When it comes to the former, years of authoritarian leadership have bred deep mistrust of centralized rule, particularly among the country’s youth and several prominent ethnic groups.

As a result of local frustrations, key parties in the country’s longtime ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), are now wildly unpopular in their local constituencies. Abiy’s Oromo Democratic Party (ODP) and the Amhara Democratic Party, in particular, are both viewed by their respective regional populations in Oromo and Amhara as subservient to a largely unresponsive and corrupt political machine in Addis Ababa. Indeed, if elections were held today, these EPRDF parties would likely lose to regional opposition groups, thus threatening the prime minister and his allies’ control over the country.

A Hail Mary Rebrand

To avoid such a catastrophe, Abiy is now scrambling to unify the EPRDF’s coalition parties — which also include the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of the Tigray region and the Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement of the Southern region — into a single party called the Ethiopian Prosperity Party (EPP). The strategy behind this bold move is threefold:

• It rebrands the EPRDF’s unpopular coalition parties by shedding his government’s association with the former regime.
• It steers power away from regional governments and toward a more centrally governed Ethiopia.
• It provides Abiy with his own national platform to run on instead of relying on his shaky regional support in Oromia.

However, getting all of these coalition parties on board won’t be easy. The TPLF, for one, had been the dominant military and political force in Ethiopia for 25 years before protests in Oromo and Amhara eventually paved the way for Abiy’s rise. And since then, Abiy’s administration has largely undermined Ethiopia’s formerly Tigray-dominant system, which has naturally created a lot of enemies for the prime minister in the region. The TPLF has thus held out on joining Abiy’s EPP, likely in an attempt to extract a better deal. But even Abiy’s own party, the ODP, has resisted signing on to the rebrand, probably out of fear that unification would only increase the Oromo population’s mistrust of the party.

Such concerns are warranted, as Abiy’s EPP proposal is high-risk and doesn’t necessarily guarantee his political survival. Should the prime minister beat the odds and eventually succeed in unifying the ruling party, he will probably win votes in the large cities such as Addis Ababa, Hawassa, Bahir Dar, Dire Dawa and Harar, as well as among small ethnic groups that feel threatened by the shift of power toward Oromos. But whether that will be enough to drown out the hard-line ethnocentrism being peddled by rising opposition parties is far from certain. On the flip side, failure to unify could result in an even weaker and more fragmented ruling coalition that could collapse, further slimming the chances that EPRDF could muster enough votes to pull off a victory in May.

Pressing Pause on Liberalization

Should his party lose the 2020 vote, Abiy has promised that his administration would peacefully hand over the reins. Such a scenario would initially open the floodgates to a raft new parties all vying for control in Addis Ababa — throwing the country’s ongoing economic and political liberalization process into question. But while this shift may spook investors at first, Ethiopia’s lawmakers will likely return to finish Abiy’s job.

From the country’s stubbornly high inflation rates and ongoing foreign exchange shortages (among other systemic distortions), the country has arguably outgrown its developmental state model. Whatever power players end up rising to the top will eventually find that liberalization is the only way to jump-start Ethiopia’s private sector and create more jobs for their desperate constituents. This reality will thus likely compel the new leaders (save for those from the Tigray-dominated system) to continue building out the private sector as the new engine of growth, while cutting the enormous amount of red tape suffocating the country’s economy.

But as Abiy fights for his political survival ahead of the 2020 polls, there are signs that his economic reforms and liberalization efforts have already taken a backseat to the country’s angst-ridden political climate and surging violence. Abiy’s attempted EPRDF merger and other eleventh-hour efforts to secure reelection are increasingly sucking up the time of Ethiopia’s policymakers. While not overtly stated, the political games occupying Addis Ababa’s attention were almost certainly behind its decision to forgo attending several recent high-level affairs, most notably including the recent Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg.

This focus on politics over investment promotion will likely continue until after Ethiopia holds its election. Moreover, should the polls yield any ensuing instability (such as a lack of clarity over who controls the government), it could further derail liberalization efforts for the foreseeable future — possibly causing Ethiopia to miss out on capitalizing on a notable uptick in foreign investment interest in the country and the broader Horn of Africa region.

Preparing for Battle

Serious questions exist over whether Ethiopia can even pull off free and fair elections in 2020 given the country’s dire security outlook. The violence has recently become so acute that Ethiopia now tops the list of countries with the most internally displaced persons in the world. But perhaps even more worrying is how renewed clashes often thwart government efforts to resettle the millions of Ethiopians seeking shelter from the chaos.

As the election edges closer, however, the highest risk of violence will be during the campaign season. Deadly attacks and clashes have already occurred, and there are signs the situation will worsen. Ethiopian authorities have noted serious upticks in the number of weapons flowing into the capital of Addis Ababa, even as they step up efforts to halt the illicit arms trade. But this problem is also no doubt brewing elsewhere as rival ethnic groups start battening down the hatches ahead of the election. Thousands of weapons have so far been seized in the country’s east and west. And there are reports that the increasingly militarized population in the Amhara region is acquiring firearms from nearby Sudan.

Ethiopia’s eager young leader has found himself lodged between a rock and a hard place — the rock being his democratic desires, and the place being the reality of Ethiopian politics.

This increasingly dangerous security climate would make it all but impossible to hold truly “free and fair” elections in May. And there are few signs that the government will be able to effectively stabilize the situation before then. But despite these risks, Abiy will still be wary of scrapping the elections altogether, as the ballot box is the only place where his administration can obtain the popular mandate it needs to legitimize its rule. Then again, such a mandate will only be viewed as legitimate if it is born of an equally legitimate election — that is, one not held against the backdrop of intimation campaigns, polling booth attacks and bloody political clashes that could ensue should Ethiopia succumb to a preelection melee.

Suffice it to say that Ethiopia’s eager young leader has found himself lodged between a rock and a hard place — the rock being his democratic desires, and the place being the reality of Ethiopian politics. But in his brief time in power, Abiy has already opened Ethiopians’ eyes to the potential of a liberalized future. And by planting that seed, his successors will be hard-pressed to go back to the way things were.

The post A Make-or-Break Moment Nears for Ethiopia’s Political Transformation appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

By wondemagne ejigu

The Norwegian Nobel Committee have announced that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2019. The motive is that he has concluded an historic peace agreement with neighbouring country Eritrea. In fact, Abiy is fully in line with Eritrean President Isayas Afwerki. They have a plan together and it is not rosy. The peacemaker Abiy has made peace with the devil himself on the Horn of Africa.

The Eritrean state was founded in 1993 after over 30 years of civil war against the sitting government in Addis Ababa. Isayas Afwerki became part of the guerrilla in the late 60´s. He founded the EPLF which came to smash the previously dominant guerrilla ELF. He sought total control over guerrilla operations and therefor he had to get rid of the ELF guerrilla to achieve this goal. In the background, Afwerki had good contacts with the Ethiopian regime, all the way back to Haile Selassie’s time in power. Afwerki’s idea was to work to destabilize the forces that could really establish a strong and free Eritrea. His goal was not to do any good to the Eritreans in accordance with the original endeavours of liberty. He wanted to reunite Ethiopia and Eritrea where he himself would be a leader. He knew then that it was necessary to quell the guerrilla operations from the inside.

The cruelty of his efforts is hard to take in. Only the consummate psychopath can systematically and purposefully betray his own country and plague his own population. Thoughts on Stalin’s methods are close at hand. He is the only person to hold the presidential post in Eritrea since 1993. He has fought against former Ethiopian leaders, leading to the death of at least 100,000 soldiers. The war has been staged with the pretext of saving the country, but it has really been about that former Ethiopian leaders did not follow Afwerki in his world of ideas. With Abiy Ahmed, he has found an ally with whom it was possible to make peace with, and in a long term fulfil the disastrous plan to dissolve his own country.

Abiy took office in 2018. During his short tenure, the country has approached complete disintegration. The autonomy of the regions is threatened by the ongoing centralist politics and dissatisfaction has reached the boiling point. The media man Jawar Mohamed is a leader of an originally popular protests on the part of the Oromo people. Oromo is the largest province in terms of population in the country. These protests have evolved against increasing extremism and violence. Clashes with government forces led to at least 67 deaths this week, most of which were activists. Serious acts of violence occur from both sides. Originally, Jawar and Abiy were allies and Jawar helped Abiy to power. Now they stand on each side and fight each other. Clearly, ethnonationalist trends exist in Jawar’s politics. This challenges Abiy, who is also from the Oromo people. Abiy wants continued control over the Oromo province and its population without interference from aggressive jumper Jawar Mohamed. But Abiy’s plan is to cater to the interests of both large groups of people, the other being Amhara. A kind of triangulation game with the goal of putting as much power as possible in his own office.

An important symbolic act was to raise a statue of the fallen Emperor Haile Selassie in Addis Ababa. Selassie’s totalitarian rule is the basis of the popular dissatisfaction that has led to today’s autonomy in the regions and a formally free Eritrea. Now the pendulum has started to swing back. In addition, he acts as a political entity with Afwerki, which is more than ominous. Eritrea’s status as an independent state is urgently threatened in the devastated country. The goal is a reunification of the two countries, which in practice means that the Eritrean people will fall into submission.

Abiy is a small tile in a big game where the US and Saudi Arabia play important roles in strengthening control over the Horn of Africa. The idea of the noble peacemaker who introduced social reforms is an advanced game for the gallery that has duped an entire world. Swedish media has swallowed the bait fully. No one has made an effort to bring to light the dark truth of this power play. It is a too nice story to be revealed simply.

Nevertheless, this Abiy has now been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It is time to realize that the price has now been devalued to zero and that it should be put down for a period to be able to resurrect after a few years, with a new transparent Nobel Committee with integrity.

Lars-Eric Gustafson

Operation Enough

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Ethiopia – ESAT Amharic News November 15, 2019

The post Ethiopia – ESAT Amharic News November 15, 2019 appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

Ethiopia’s continued efforts to dam the Nile could end in war with Egypt. Here’s how to stop that from happening.

In October, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in starting peace negotiations with Eritrea. But his country is still in the middle of another major dispute that threatens regional stability. This one is over the waters of the Nile River, specifically, Ethiopia’s plans to build the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the river’s Blue Nile tributary. Egypt considers the dam to be a looming threat to its very survival. Ethiopia, on the other hand, sees the undertaking as essential for its development and has vowed to continue the project no matter the ramifications.

Ethiopia and Egypt are two of Africa’s most populous and powerful countries; any ongoing showdown between them is a major threat to peace, which is why the international community should press for an equitable settlement.

Both countries have expressed their preference for a negotiated long-term settlement for the dispute, but the road there has not been smooth. A round of negotiations in early October—following many others over the last few years—failed to reach a compromise. Egypt accuses Ethiopia of dismissing concerns its officials have raised about the threat to its water security. Ethiopia insists that pending issues will be resolved before the completion of the dam.

Meanwhile, two other countries—Russia and the United States—have been looking for ways to mediate the dispute. Abiy and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi held a meeting on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia, in late October, during which they merely agreed to allow a technical committee to continue its work. Their host, Russian President Vladimir Putin, pledged to help them reach an accommodation.

The United States has invited Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan, which is also affected by the dispute, for discussions in Washington. The three settled on a trilateral meeting on Nov. 6, which was also attended by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and World Bank President David Malpass. The three countries’ foreign ministers agreed on holding four technical meetings on the dam. They’ve noted that they hope to reach agreement by Jan. 15, but, failing that, the countries’ water ministers will refer the issue to their heads of state to seek further outside mediation. It is hard to know if Washington’s intervention will help reach an agreement before the new deadline, making genuine U.S. assistance pivotal in the endeavor.

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The Nile River is arguably the most important natural resource for at least 10 countries abutting its White and Blue tributaries: Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. But the current dispute involves only Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan, and it revolves around Ethiopia’s use of the Blue Nile, the larger tributary, which originates in Ethiopia’s Lake Tana, crosses into Sudan, and joins the White Nile in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, on its trek north across Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.

Two agreements, from 1929 and 1959, have guided the use of the Nile River north of Ethiopia thus far. The 1929 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty was signed by the United Kingdom, the colonial power in much of East Africa at the time, and monarchical Egypt—which was under British occupation—to allocate water rights along the basin. According to this treaty, Egypt and Sudan were guaranteed an annual supply of 48 billion and 4 billion cubic meters, respectively, out of an estimated yearly yield of 84 billion cubic meters of Nile water. Another agreement in 1959 between the United Kingdom and independent Egypt increased Egypt’s share to 55.5 billion cubic meters and Sudan’s to 18.5 billion cubic meters, with the rest shared by the other countries along the river. The new treaty also reaffirmed an essential provision from the 1929 agreement: Egypt had the right to veto any construction projects that could impede the flow of water into the Nile.

That the two agreements planted the seeds of today’s dispute is a foregone conclusion. Those negotiating them should have surmised that Ethiopia—indeed, all states along the river other than Egypt and Sudan—would have trouble abiding by the terms and also sustaining their populations. Indeed recent Nile Basin Initiative demographic projections for 2050 put Egypt’s and Sudan’s populations well below those in some of the eight other countries in the initiative, making the old water agreements appear less fair every day.

And so, it should have come as no surprise when, in 2011, Ethiopia announced plans to build a large, $5 billion hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile near the Ethiopia-Sudan border. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s reservoir will hold up to 67 billion cubic meters of water and will take at least seven years to fill, which will decrease the river’s flow for at least that period by 25 percent. For Ethiopia, the dam is an utmost necessity for its water needs and economic development, as it is set to supply the country with more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity, essential for the country’s agricultural and industrial development. But it would be devastating for Egypt, which relies on the river for irrigation, fishing, and transport.

Egypt has proposed in the latest negotiations that it be guaranteed at least 40 billion cubic meters of water annually and that Ethiopia take a longer time to fill its reservoir. But Cairo’s leverage is limited, and so Ethiopia has offered just 31 billion cubic meters, which is only slightly more than half the quantity the 1959 agreement had guaranteed. Such an offer does not even begin to address Egypt’s needs, let alone satisfy its national pride as one of the African continent’s most historically consequential states. (Sudan, for its part, is less worried about its share because of its own supply of rainwater.)

Troubled Waters

Egypt and Ethiopia are at loggerheads over a plan to dam the Nile River.

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The chasm between the two countries’ positions raises serious questions about the possibility of Egyptian military action to address what Egypt’s strategists consider the country’s most pressing national security threat. After all, the Nile has been the country’s lifeblood for time immemorial, and Egypt’s economy is currently woefully underperforming.

For some, military action seems even to be a preferred option to diplomacy if for no other reason than to show Egyptians that their armed forces are looking out for the people’s interests.

For some in Egypt’s government-affiliated media, military action seems even to be a preferred option to diplomacy if for no other reason than to show Egyptians that their armed forces are looking out for the people’s interests. Abiy himself has surmised as much and alluded to the possibility on Oct. 22, when he said that his country is ready to field millions of troops to protect the dam should a war erupt over it.

But military action would be folly. Besides being a logistical and operational nightmare, it is unlikely to produce the results that Egypt may desire in the absence of a permanent occupation of the area of the dam—an untenable proposition with dire international repercussions. Without it, though, Ethiopia would still control the river’s water and could devise innumerable schemes to divert it.

That’s why de-escalation and international mediation are essential. The international community—using technical expertise from the United Nations, the World Bank, and other multilateral organizations—could devise a middle-of-the-road plan that addresses immediate concerns without fully meeting the competing demands. Such a plan can include convincing Ethiopia to meet Egypt’s request for 40 billion cubic meters annually, helping the latter develop alternative modern irrigation schemes to decrease water usage, and assisting it in building water desalination plants. In exchange for slowing down Ethiopia’s filling of the dam, international donors could temporarily help meet the country’s need for electricity by funding floating power plants in the Red Sea, whose energy could be transported across Eritrea, Somalia, and Kenya.

Such an effort would do well to include influential friends of both countries, such as the United States and Russia, to apply the right pressure and offer incentives. Any compromise also needs to involve the Nile basin countries, because the required agreement is likely to affect all of them. In fact, the compromise should look to codify a regional entente that can be based on exchanging water rights and privileges for electricity and agricultural and industrial commodities, and vice versa, that can be used by all the countries of East Africa.

The post River of the Dammed appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

Paul Njoroge wanted the burial site of his wife, mother-in-law and three children to be a memorial for both himself and the world to remember them by.

Instead, he was abruptly notified two days before his family was to be interred in a country more than 11,000 kilometres away, and was not able to attend.

“That means that they really did not care about the feelings of all the families of the victims and that is inexcusable,” Njoroge said.

“That leaves us so, so much appalled, and you know, it’s something that is beyond what you would expect a human being to do to the other person.”

READ MORE: After fatal crashes, Boeing says it must ‘re-earn’ public’s trust

Njoroge wasn’t alone in this predicament.

Family members of only two of the 157 victims were present for their loved ones’ burial this Thursday at the crash site of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, according to a statement from a firm representing the victim’s families.

An email from Ethiopian Airlines, which has been obtained by Global News, was sent to Njoroge and the other family members of crash victims on Tuesday, notifying them that the burial would take place two days from the time it was sent.

2:19Boeing CEO criticized at Senate hearings on 737 MAX jets

Boeing CEO criticized at Senate hearings on 737 MAX jets

“So we were given a one-day notice,” said Njoroge. “To me, that is one day because of the time difference.”

Taking into account the the time difference and a 13-hour flight, it would take 21 hours to fly to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, from Njoroge’s home in Toronto.

With a vast majority unable to attend, relatives have since said they were upset and even felt “robbed” of the closure they needed by being unable to take part in the ceremony.

Ethiopian Airlines did not respond to a request for comment from Global News as to why family members were not told further in advance. Boeing, too, did not respond for a request for comment.

Relatives of those who died in the crash have been asking to receive remains over the last eight months, but the force of the impact was so severe that no complete bodies were recovered.

“They might have got a body part back, they might have got confirmation, but it took months to do so,” said Bob Clifford, lead counsel for the family member’s case against Boeing.

1:33Ethiopian Airlines victims’ families hold emotional vigil six months on

Ethiopian Airlines victims’ families hold emotional vigil six months on

“We’re talking now eight months, post-crash, and that prolongs the agony, and the angst, and the grief and the suffering in unimaginable and unspeakable ways, and you know, it just seems that Ethiopian Airlines has been oblivious to this.”

In October, some families travelled to Addis Ababa to pick up some remains following DNA tests. At the time, recent flooding in Ethiopia had also both uncovered and deteriorated the remains of victims which were strewn across the exposed crash site, something Njoroge said horrified the families.

1:37Ex- Ethiopian Airlines engineer says airline breached Boeing 737 maintenance records

Ex- Ethiopian Airlines engineer says airline breached Boeing 737 maintenance records

“We kept on asking them to make sure that they have recovered all the remains, all the possible effects of our loved ones,” said Njoroge.

“That did not happen. They did not do a very good job, because once the rains started pouring, there were instances where human remains would be uncovered because the erosion, because of the soil being moved away.”

Bound for Nairobi, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 plummeted into a rural countryside area just minutes after taking off on March 10, 2019.

A malfunction aboard the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft had forced the plane’s nose to pitch downward as pilots tried to regain altitude.

0:31Canadian family of Ethiopian Airlines crash victim calls on FAA, Boeing to investigate 737 MAX

Canadian family of Ethiopian Airlines crash victim calls on FAA, Boeing to investigate 737 MAX

The nosedive of a Lion Air 737 MAX in Indonesia a year ago resulted in the deaths of all 189 people on board. An investigation initially uncovered that the malfunction of plane’s MCAS anti-stall system was the reason for the plane’s downward descent.

It’s also speculated that a similar malfunction befell the Ethiopian Airlines flight prior to the crash.

The 737 MAX model has since been grounded by aviation authorities worldwide as Boeing works on a fix.

According to Njoroge, representatives of both Ethiopian Airlines and Boeing were present at the burial. Some embassy employees from the victims’ respective countries were there as well.

A family member of one of the victims, Adrian Toole, says he’s considering legal action against Ethiopian Airlines in order to “secure a leading role in planning for a future memorial.”

1:23Toronto man who lost family in Ethiopian Airlines crash to testify in front of U.S. congress

Toronto man who lost family in Ethiopian Airlines crash to testify in front of U.S. congress

Boeing agreed to a payout of US$100M in July, with half of it going to families and half going to fund projects in local communities. Family members have since created foundations they say will be used to create a memorial.

“We have every day of our lives, we have seen in our sleep, we have had nightmares where we have seen that crater … we have seen the crash site every day, and we’ve lived knowing that the flesh of our loved ones were left there,” said Njoroge.

— with files from Reuters

The post Burial of Ethiopian Airlines crash victims held without enough notice to attend, families say appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

Addis Ababa (AFP) – Jawar Mohammed, a former ally turned foe of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, told AFP on Saturday he would join the race for a 2020 election to ensure that it is “free and fair”.

Jawar, a media mogul and activist who was at the centre of last month’s deadly protests in Addis Ababa, is credited with helping to sweep Abiy to power but has recently criticised some of the premier’s policies.

Jawar told an audience in the US state of Minnesota that he would run in next year’s vote, a decision he confirmed to AFP by phone.

“I’ve not decided which position or which party. What I’ve decided is to run,” he said.

“The purpose is to help to ensure the election is free and fair. I want to add my voice and my influence to ensure the election is free and fair. And I want to make sure the federalist voices are given enough space in the debate.”

Both Abiy, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Jawar are from the Oromo ethnic group, Ethiopia’s largest, and their feud highlights divisions within the Oromo support base that could complicate the prime minister’s bid for a five-year term.

Ethiopian-born Jawar said he would have to give up his current US citizenship and reclaim Ethiopian citizenship to be able to enter the contest, in which he said he could run for the Oromia regional parliament or the national assembly.

Jawar, who has 1.7 million followers on Facebook, said he would return to Ethiopia within 10 days to start the paperwork needed for his candidacy.

Ethiopia’s general election is scheduled for May 2020, but many observers expect the vote to be delayed as preparations are already running behind schedule.

The post Mired in controversy, Jawar Mohammed says he is running for office appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

by Science X Network

The Blue Nile is a renegade river, according to Sudanese farmer Osman Idris, its unpredictable flooding swallows crops and houses as it crashes through Sudan from Ethiopia on its way to Egypt.

“Tonight, the level of water will be low,” said Idris, a resident of Juref Gharb, a small village on the bank of the Blue Nile outside Khartoum.

“Tomorrow, it will swallow all the houses… It’s a renegade river, it rises so fast,” said the 60-year-old, dressed in a traditional Sudanese robe.

For Idris, Ethiopa’s construction of a controversial dam on the Blue Nile is a dream come true, as it promises to regulate the floods that inundate Sudan every rainy season.

This year alone, flash flooding has killed more than 60 and injured dozens in Sudan.

The Blue Nile joins the White Nile in Khartoum and supplies the overwhelming majority of the Nile’s water, which runs through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.

Construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam began in 2012, but since then Egypt has sounded the alarm that the project would severely reduce its water supplies.

Egypt depends on the Nile for about 90 percent of its irrigation and drinking water, and says it has “historic rights” to the river guaranteed by treaties from 1929 and 1959.

It sees the project as an existential threat, fearing Ethiopia’s rapid construction of the dam might lead to water and food scarcity for millions of Egyptians.

More cash crops

After several rounds of talks failed to resolve the issue, a new dialogue between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan was mediated by the United States in Washington earlier this month.

The three delegations agreed to resolve the dispute by January 15, with ministerial-level talks being held this week in Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia insists the $4 billion hydro-electric barrage is essential for its economic growth given that most of its population still lives without electricity.

And in Sudan, farmers hope the dam will provide predictable flow.

Over the years, farmers like Idris who own farms along the Nile have been forced to change their crops due to flood devastation and tonnes of deposited silt.

Brickmakers fire blocks of mud in riverside kilns, producing smoke harmful to crops.

“I had to shift from cultivating fruits and vegetables to animal feed,” Idris told AFP.

Being reliant on flooding for irrigation means only one harvest per year and limits the kind of crops that can be grown.

If the river’s flow were regulated, more intensive agriculture could be practised, Idris said.

“We can plant crops through the year. It will be better for the environment and for marketing our products, which means more income for us,” Idris said.

Ekram Dagash, a professor at Khartoum’s Al-Zaiem Al-Azhari University, agreed that Sudan stands to gain from the dam, which will maintain water levels and block unwanted silt.

“Ethiopia is building the dam for one reason only, to produce electricity and export it, not only to neighbouring countries but to the whole African continent,” she told AFP.

Worried brickmakers

But one group of Sudanese are concerned about the dam: brickmakers, who depend on the silt for their livelihood.

Dozens of small kilns line the river, providing an income for hundreds of brickmakers like Yakoub Noreen.

“If the dam is built, this won’t arrive,” the 40-year-old said of the silt he was standing in, as he pressed wet clay into a mould.

Nearby, workers stacked bricks into a kiln belching thick smoke. Later they will be sold for 1,500 Sudanese pounds ($32) per 1,000 bricks, Noreen said.

Professor Dagash said workers can be compensated and provided alternative livelihoods if brickworks close, adding that benefits from the dam outweighed such losses.

Vast areas of land would open up for agriculture as well as industrial projects, she said.

“The dam will provide Sudan with low cost electricity… and low cost electricity means more growth,” she said.

The post Sudanese hope Ethiopian dam ends Blue Nile floods appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

SEATTLE – Hundreds of people are protesting controversial figure Jawar Mohammed outside of the Filipino Community Center in South Seattle Sunday.

Tensions are rising outside of the center, with some people describing Mohammed as an “extremist.”

Mohammad is inside the center speaking. KOMO News was told he was born in Ethiopia but lives in Minnesota.
The Seattle Police says no arrests have been made and one is injured.
This is a developing story and will be updated when more information becomes available.

The post Hundreds protest controversial figure outside South Seattle center appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam

… Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation is the only generation that could rescue Ethiopia from the steel claws of T-TPLF tyranny and dictatorship. It is the only generation that can deliver Ethiopia from the venomous fangs of a benighted dictatorship and sweep away a decaying and decomposing garrison state built on a foundation of lies and corruption into the dustbin of history. Alemayehu G. Mariam, “2013: Year of the Cheetah Generation”.

… Above all, I regard you as the leader of Ethiopia’s youth. That said, know that I am in your corner and got your back. Alemayehu G. Mariam, expressing full support for Abiy Ahmed after he was appointed prime minister on April 2, 2018.

Author’s Note: Every time there is some disturbance in Ethiopia, a parade of pseudo-patriots, pseudo-intellectuals, pseudo-activists, pseudo-political leaders and ye dil atbiya arbegnoch (heroes who show up on the eve of victory and take credit for the battle won), wannabe revolutionaries and warriors take to social media, YouTube and the blogosphere to lecture, hector and pontificate to the younger generation of leaders in Ethiopia.

I wonder why they do that.

Could it be that they think the disturbances will turn into civil war giving them an opportunity to sneak into power? Could it be that they want to be recognized as prophets of a coming Apocalypse in Ethiopia so that they can proclaim, “I told you so!”? Could it be that they believe if they show up as wolves in sheep’s clothing no one will recognize they are has-been wolves toothless, witless and hopeless today? Could it be that they believe no one can recognize a hyena in daylight? Could it be that they want to justify their miserably failed lives by belittling and denigrating Ethiopia’s young leaders? Could it be that they are engaged in self-delusion that anyone will listen to what they have to say knowing who they really are? Maybe they enjoy shouting fire where there is no fire just to see people crushed in a stampede.

Perhaps all of the foregoing questions could be answered in the affirmative.

When old men with checkered pasts take to the pulpit to preach the gospel of human rights, rule of law, justice, good governance and leadership integrity, I laugh at them.

I laugh at them because there is no fool like an old fool.

It has been said, “Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test.”

These old men had absolute power and absolute power corrupted them.

Now they show up to bear holy witness.

These old men remind me of Antonio’s admonition in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice”:

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart.
O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!”

“Ok, Hippos”, spare us the sermons, homilies, tirades and tongue-lashing.

Ethiopia’s youth are Ethiopia’s last great hope!

Last week, Chlöe Swarbrick, the 25-year-old Green Party New Zealand lawmaker during floor debate zapped and swatted her quinquagenarian (those between 50-59 years old) colleagues with two words that have now become the shibboleth of millennials everywhere. Swarbrick discoursed on the betrayal of her generation:

Mr. Speaker, how many world leaders, for how many decades have seen and known what is coming but have decided that it is more politically expedient to keep it behind closed doors. My generation and the generations after me do not have that luxury. In the year 2050, I will be 56 years old. Yet, right now, the average age of this 52nd Parliament is 49 years old.

When one of her colleagues heckled her because he did not like the generational indictment, she nonchalantly launched the lexical equivalent of a Javelin anti-tank missile, “Ok, boomer” and shut him up cold, and kept on talking unfazed.

“Boomer” refers to the “baby boomer” generation of Americans born after between 1946 and 1964.

Swarbrick’s repartee targeted baby boomers’ self-centeredness, self-righteousness, greed, arrogance, ignorance, cowardice and lack of vision and foresight.

I call Ethiopia’s “baby boomers” (born between 1943-1970), the Hippo Generation.

Of course, there are younger, elderly, senior and downright comatose Hippos.

Anyone under 40 in Ethiopia is a member of the Cheetah Generation in my book.

The metaphor of “Cheetahs and Hippos” (Abo Shemanes and Gumarees) was first introduced by George Ayittey, the distinguished Ghanaian economist and human rights advocate.

Ayittey argued African “Hippos are of the 1960s-era mentality — stodgy, pudgy, and wedded to the old ‘colonialism-imperialism’ paradigm with an abiding faith in the potency of the state.

He described Africa’s “Cheetah Generation” as “Africa’s new hope”. They are “a new and angry generation of young African graduates and professionals, who look at African issues and problems from a totally different and unique perspective. They brook no nonsense about corruption, inefficiency, ineptitude, incompetence, or buffoonery.”

Ethiopia’s Hippos Generation has a big problem with Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation currently transforming and uplifting the country from the miry pit of 27-years of dictatorship and ethnic apartheid to multiparty democracy and national unity.

For the past nearly 14 years, I have been talking of Ethiopia’s youth, Cheetah Generation, as the only salvation of Ethiopia.

I am proud to say that I have been the foremost champion of Ethiopian youth since I joined the Ethiopian human rights movement in 2005.

I have defended them, advocated for them and stood up for them when they were being massacred by the ethnic apartheid TPLF regime.

In 2006, following the Meles Massacres of 2005, I gave prudent advice to Ethiopia’s young people and told Ethiopia’s older generation to help “prepare the youth for leadership and chart the course of Ethiopia’s destiny.”

In April 2007, I declared Ethiopia’s young people are the only ones who could save Ethiopia from the forest fire started by the Tigrean Peoples Liberation Front:

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.

But our young people in Ethiopia are in the fire, and on the firing line every day. They are shot down like rabid dogs if they protest. They are jailed if they speak their minds. They are harassed if they are considered disloyal. They disappear if they are considered subversive.

On August 20, 2012, the day Meles Zenawi’s death was announced, I published a commentary declaring, “It is now time for Ethiopia’s cheetahs to take a leading role in the national dialogue to transition Ethiopia from dictatorship to democracy.” I explained without mincing words:

Why MUST Ethiopia’s cheetahs lead the national dialogue for a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy? First, if the cheetahs do not initiate the dialogue, who will? Who can? The hippos have been dialoguing for decades using the language of finger pointing, mudslinging, hatemongering and grudge holding. Second, the future belongs to the cheetahs (an estimated 67 percent of Ethiopia’s population is said to be under the age of 35) and not the hippos who continue to wallow in the muddy politics of ethnicity and sectarianism.

In my January 2013 commentary, I declared:

Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation is the only generation that could rescue Ethiopia from the steel claws of T-TPLF tyranny and dictatorship. It is the only generation that can deliver Ethiopia from the venomous fangs of a benighted dictatorship and sweep away a decaying and decomposing garrison state built on a foundation of lies and corruption into the dustbin of history.

I issued an “injunction”:

Ethiopia’s Hippo Generation must move over and make way for the Cheetahs. Ethiopia’s Hippo Generation is not only astigmatic with distorted vision, it is also myopic and narrow- minded preoccupied with mindless self-aggrandizement. The Hippos in power are stuck in the quicksand of divisive ethnic politics and the bog of revenge politics. Ethiopia’s intellectual Hippos by and large have chosen to stand on the sidelines with arms folded, ears plugged, mouths  sealed shut and eyes blindfolded. They have broken faith with the youth.

In my December 2013 commentary, Mandela’s Message to Ethiopia’s Youth: Never give up…!”, I said Mandela’s message to Ethiopia’s youth would be to “dare to be great, change yourself before you change society, be virtuous, patriotic, courageous, optimistic, dream big, educate the people, do good, forgive and reconcile.”

In my January 2014 commentary, I called for a Chee-Hippo (half Cheetah, half Hippo) Generation to rise up. I urged

“formal and informal conversation between Cheetahs and Hippos across all forums–  from the dinner table to the halls of academia, from churches and mosques to civic associations. We need to have dialogues to question old ideas, keep the good ones and discard the rest, to change old, narrow-minded and counterproductive patterns of thinking, generate fresh new ideas about politics, government and society and brainstorm and generate innovative and creative solutions to persistent socio-political problems.

In September 2016, I gave an interview explaining my supreme confidence in Ethiopia’s youth despite contentions little can be expected from them.

In my February 2016 commentary, “A Special ‘Message in a Bottle, to Ethiopian Cheetahs” I issued a “challenge to every Ethiopian Cheetah to become an ‘Ethiopian Imagineer’ — an architect, a designer, an inventor, a surveyor, a builder and entrepreneur of a free Ethiopian society whose citizens are more concerned about each other’s humanity than their own ethnicity; an Ethiopia of equal opportunity; an Ethiopia free of corruption, oppression and thugtatorship.”

In my August 2016 commentary, I declared, “Ethiopia’s youth united can never be defeated. The yearning of youth for freedom and change is self-evident. The only question is whether the country’s youth will seek change through increased militancy or by other peaceful means.”

Ethiopia’s youth won in 2018!

People who live in houses with no walls and no roofs should not throw stones

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been following the misadventures of some incorrigible Ethiopian Hippos online with amusement and dismay.

They seem to have crawled out of the woodwork to wage a vilification campaign against H.E. Prime Minster Dr. Abiy Ahmed.

It appears they came out swinging believing PM Abiy’s days were numbered following some disturbances in the country.

They thought they could position themselves for a power grab when all hell broke loose in Ethiopia.

The accusations and denunciations of these Hippos are vile and hateful, full of jealousy and spite.

I could best describe their campaign of fear and smear against PM Abiy in the words of Shakespeare’s Pisanio:

No, ’tis slander,
Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue
Outvenoms all the worms of Nile, whose breath
Rides on the posting winds and doth belie
All corners of the world…

The self-declared “13^th apostle” strikes back!

One of the individuals spitting venom on PM Abiy and the peaceful change in Ethiopia is a man who claimed to have met God in prison literally (but did not shake his hand), declared himself virtually the “13^th apostle” and publicly renounced politics.

This man who is hectoring and dictating to PM Abiy and Ethiopia Cheetah Generation is none other than the man who forced a schism (a deep division) in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church).

In January 2009, this man admitted to American diplomatic officials that he personally “signed the official order that removed the original patriarch” and split the Church in two creating great pain, anguish and destruction.

It was Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who finally brought a healing to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in July 2018.  

The same individual was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 18 years after he was found guilty of “stashing a state fund worth $16 million in his personal Swiss bank account”.

This money was acquired in a  shakedown of the “richest man in Ethiopia” under the pretext of paying the debt of the Ethiopian government.

At the time of the corruption charges, the same man admitted in parliament he had been repeatedly advised not to engage in corrupt practices but simply ignored the advice and  continued to ply his trade in corruption.

There is no question same man opened three bank accounts in Switzerland to stash the $16 million.

In October 1998, Switzerland handed over some details of bank accounts to Ethiopia during the  corruption prosecution of this man.

In March 2000, BBC reported, Swiss authorities returned $8m of the illicit deposit to Ethiopia.

In a 2003 report, the BBC reported, “The Swiss Justice Ministry said that the amounts deposited in the bank accounts in Geneva ‘relate exclusively to a part of the embezzled loan (and) there is no link between the sequestered assets and the other crimes … committed by [defendant] and his co-offenders.”

This same man goes around claiming he was convicted for political reasons.

But since he has been free and living in America for over a decade, he has never challenged the credibility of the evidence used to convict him of stashing millions of dollars in his personal bank accounts.

Never has this man said a single word of criticism about Meles Zenawi, the man who “unjustly” jailed him for 12 years.

This man said he would write a book about the injustices inflicted upon him by his former comrades-turned jailors. 

But he chose to remain silent against those who humiliated and dehumanized him.

Now he wags his tongue against the man who showed him great respect and appreciation when he returned to Ethiopia in 2018.   

In 1991, the same individual was in power and turned a blind eye “during the time many Amharas were slaughtered in Arbagugu and in Bedno.”

When this man was prime minister, he went to Somali region and told the people, “You are now free. Teach the neftegnas in your midst who call you ‘camel followers’ what you can do.”

The president of the region chastised him, “We have lived with our neighbors for a long time. We know how to relate with each other.” This was evidence related to me by an eyewitness.

After this man was released from prison in 2008, he made the rounds of televangelism networks and in so many words declared he was the 13^th apostle (move over St. Matthias).

This man said when he was released from prison his days of politics are behind him and he will dedicate the remained of his to the service of God:

… It was in the fifth year that God appeared to me in a prison cell. He looks like he [is] made of light. The whole thing of him was light. It was not in dreams or visions, mind you. He just appeared in front of me and said, “Follow me. I am Jesus. Believe in me and follow me.”

Today, instead of following Jesus, the 13^th apostle is persecuting the very individuals who are doing Jesus’ work of love, forgiveness and reconciliation.

Jesus speaking about hypocrites said, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Mark 7:6.

What does it profit a man to point an accusatory finger at another when three fingers are pointing at him?

Or as Jesus taught, “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? Matthew 7:3.

Boy who keeps crying wolf

There is an Ethiopian proverb, “A wolf monk prays amidst a flock of sheep.”

There is a story about the  “Boy Who Cried Wolf” in Aesop’s Fables.

The shepherd boy would cry “wolf” when the there is no wolf and scare out the villagers only to laugh at them.

Just like the proverbial boy who cried wolf, there are some Ethiopian Hippos who have been crying “Civil War” and “Failed State” for years.

This past April, I wrote about Ethiopia’s Chicken Littles, Prophets of Doom and Gloom and Masters of Fear and Smear.

I will not repeat myself here.

But I wonder.

Just like the boy who cried wolf, do these wolves in sheep’s clothing really want to see civil war and state failure in Ethiopia?

Do they think a military coup will bring democracy or a transition to democracy in  Ethiopia as they have often advocated?

What is amusing to me is that they keep turning up like a bad penny.

I don’t know what motivates these dinosaur hippos to become prophets of doom and gloom.

Are they desperately trying to remain relevant?

The fact of the matter is that when they were in power, they perpetrated evil on an epic scale with their military confederates.

They were part of the core leadership of the regime that unleashed the Red Terror massacres in Ethiopia in 1976-77.

Then they went through acts of contrition and expiation for the sins they have committed.

Then they shed tears, “Red Tears”.

But what we saw were “Crocodile Tears” rolling down their cheeks.

I am sick and tired of Ethiopia’s Hippo Generation crying out, “The sky is falling” and spinning tales of cynicism and defeatism.

I am sick and tired of Ethiopia’s Hippo Generation bitching about all the things PM Abiy is not doing.

I am sick and tired of Ethiopia’s Hippo Generation slithering out of their underground lairs to preach their gospel of pessimism, cynicism, defeatism and negativism.

Why don’t they come up with their proposals and solutions to solve Ethiopia’s political, economic and social problems?

PM Abiy came up with his solution by proposing a philosophy of “Medemer”?

They did not even have the guts and intellect to read his book and challenge him on his ideas. But they have time to moan and groan.

What is their philosophy? “Philosophy of Moaning, Groaning and Victimology”?

I don’t want to be misunderstood. No political leader is above criticism.

I would not mind if they criticize PM Abiy by coming up with their plan to solve any of the myriad problems faced by Ethiopians.

I would cheer them on and stand on their side if they were to deliver a comprehensive  plan of action to compete with PM Abiy’s.

I would cheer them on and stand on their side if they presented a comprehensive plan for constitutional revision.

I would cheer them on and stand on their side if they came up with a plan to deal with youth unemployment, shortage in hard currency, attracting foreign direct investment, dealing with the dire food shortage throughout the country.

But these deceitful windbags are incapable of putting their ideas to paper.

But they are quick to pontificate and blow hot air over the achievements and any proposals made by PM Abiy.

I know why the Hippos groan and grunt

I will tell it like it is.

After all, I am the guy who proclaims “Speaking Truth to Power” as masthead on his website.

There are two things that scare the hell out of tired old Ethiopian Hippos.

First, they are scared to death PM Abiy will succeed and bring a measure of peace, reconciliation and hope to Ethiopia.

Second, they believe if PM Abiy succeeds, they are doomed to fail. Their ambition for power, fame, fortune and glory goes up in smoke.

The Ethiopian Hippos, Chicken Littles, Doomsdayers and prophets of doom and gloom love to hate PM Abiy because they

desperately want to establish a gerontocracy (government by old geezers).

believe the only system that works in Ethiopia is a kraterocracy/stratocracy (rule by the strong/military).

are criminal and corrupt thugs who are scared to death they will be held accountable for their crimes and corruption.

are hungry and thirsty for power and want other people to do the heavy lifting and dying for them to get into power.

are wannabe leaders who can only mislead and lead innocent citizens to the graveyard.

expected a position and a job in PM Abiy’s administration but did not get it because they have nothing of value to offer.

seek access to manipulate PM Abiy and put him in their pocket but are unable to do so.

suffer from a debilitating inferiority complex.

feel PM Abiy has ignored them or not given them enough attention.

wanted PM Abiy to “take action” by ordering mass arrests, mass incarcerations, mass persecutions and massacres so that his hand, like theirs, is soaked in the blood of innocents.

jealous of his meteoric rise and is the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

are members of the coma generation (brain dead).

festoon their names with acronyms of higher education but have not done a damn thing to help or stand up for their people.

are windbags who spend their time gossiping.

don’t know what time it is. (It’s time for change.)

are intimidated by PM Abiy’s prodigious intellect and forensic powers.

are losers in life, in their professions and in their political ambitions.

are villains pretending to be heroes.

Why I have supported Abiy Ahmed from Day #1

Let me say that I understand why the Hippos are going after PM Abiy.

I understand their coordinated strategy to scandalize, delegitimize and dehumanize PM Abiy regardless of what he does or does not do.

I get it.

But they will not get away with it without a a stiff rejoinder.

BTW, by providing this rejoinder, I am not violating my standard operating policy: “It is a matter of mind over matter. I don’t mind and they don’t matter.”

I just like to speak truth to wolves in sheep skin, daylight hyenas and comatose hippos.

As far as I know, I am the first person to publicly and unreservedly endorse Abiy Ahmed when he was appointed prime minister on April 2, 2018.

On April 8, 2018, I wrote a commentary and gave PM Abiy my full support.

On April 16, 2018, I gave an interview on Voice of America- Amharic and gave PM Abiy my full and explained my principled support for him (translation form Amharic):

…  My view is very simple. I stand for the young people, especially Ethiopian young people. It is now over 10 years since I’ve been defending and advocating for them. I have been saying the young people need to be given a chance. Those of us in the older generation, people like myself, should get out of the game and give the young people a chance. That is because only the young people can take charge of Ethiopia’s destiny. Therefore, that the cries of the young people be heard. The young people are suffering. They have no jobs they are educated but they have no place. Pele cobblestones all day. What I’m saying is let’s Embrace these young people and March forward. My hope is, I see PM Abiy as a member of the youth generation. I believe he resonates the ideas and hopes of the youth. He has good outlook. He believes in Ethiopiawinet and unity. It brings people together. He wants to eliminate hate and bring reconciliation to the people. These are things  in my heart and which I preached for the past 13 years. I believe the  change will be good. That is why I gave PM Abiy my full support without reservations…

For the past 19 months, PM Abiy has been man of his word, a man of action, a man for all seasons.

PM Abiy has done more in 19 months than all others have done in 50 years.

Let the facts speak for themselves!

OK, Hippos! Move over. Leave the Cheetahs alone!

I have a simple message for Hippos, Wolves (in sheepskin), (daylight) Hyenas, Skunks, Snakes, Creepers and Predators prowling the political landscape in Ethiopia:

LEAVE ETHIOPIAN CHEETAHS THE HELL ALONE!

The post “OK, Hippos!”, Growled Ethiopia’s (Abo Shemanes) Cheetahs appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

Mathewos Filipos, M.D.

This is a follow-up of my first article entitled ‘Ethiopia at Risk: Radical Islam Harbored in Ethnic Extremism’  In that article I showed how the radical Islamist Jawar Mohammed undermined  Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his democratization process and put Ethiopia at risk.  Jawar and his team members carefully orchestrated a plan to implement the demise of Ethiopia.  It was in 2016 Jawar and his team gathered and declared in what they called “Oromia National Charter” that Oromia is colonized by Ethiopia. The atrocities we see now in Ethiopia did not start now, it is carefully planned.

The piece ‘Toxic Propaganda Targeted at Ethiopia and Ethiopian Unity: the Divisive Strategies’  written in 2017 clearly shows these strategies employed to destabilize Ethiopia and establish Islamic State in Ethiopia under the cover of ethnic Oromo state.  According to the article and as it has become evident through time, the following are some of the strategies Jawar and his team executing:

1. Creating a political movement on the basis of Islam and ethnic lines;
2. Fighting Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity;
3. Attacking Ethiopian unity, Ethiopian history, and everything that symbolizes Ethiopia;
4. Using pseudo-academic discourse and misinforming and misleading the regular people; and
5. Opposing any movement that leads to unity among Ethiopians of various backgrounds.

Since the article was written which of these strategies were not implemented?  None.

In the previous article, I tried to show how Jawar, OMN, and his team harbored their goal of establishing a radical Islamic state in Oromia and the enormous devastation they caused in Ethiopia.

Despite his rhetoric to safeguard Ethiopian unity, Prime Minister Abiy could not honor his words.  As John P. Kotter put it, “Communication comes in both words and deeds, and the latter are often the most powerful form.  Nothing undermines change more than behavior by important individuals that is inconsistent with their words.”

Prime Minister Abiy’s timidity and inaction regarding Jawar’s crimes was the major reason for his supporters to lose confidence in his leadership.  Jawar created division within the Oromo Democratic Party (ODP) itself.   Can the Prime Minister restore the public trust after the merger of the EPRDF fronts?  Time will tell.

Until Jawar felt that he significantly alienated the Prime Minister from his pro-Ethiopian- unity ardent supporters, Jawar was stating that he did not have ambition for political power.  Now he did not only prove that many Ethiopians lost faith in Prime Minister Abiy’s leadership, but also he tested that he can move his clandestinely organized Quero ( Oromo youth group) any time  and block roads, mayhem innocent people  and burn churches, behead clergies, pastors, and women; dismember fathers, burn down businesses and houses.  To polarize Ethiopia’s politics further and to cause further bloodshed, Jawar announced he would give up his US citizenship and run in the 2020 election.

Jawar, at different times, on his OMN, announced to his rampaging Quero to get ready and wait for his call to take any action.  He publicly stated he could order Quero and overthrow the Abiy’s government in two days if he wanted.  Now he called for action of violence and caused the murder of 86 people in two days.

His Oromia Media Network (OMN) which is established as a not-for-profit organization in Saint Paul, MN,  is now seen in Ethiopia as Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) of Rwanda that fanned the genocide in Rwanda.  Oct 22, the Prime Minister had warned against media owners fomenting unrest.  Jawar immediately replied on his Facebook that he had gotten ready for it.  (እኛም አዉቀናል ጉድጓድ ምሰናል።) Then Jawar sent messages to his Quro and supporters stating that his security detail would be removed and his life would be endangered.  An hour later, hundreds of rioting young people surrounded his home in Addis Ababa.  Roads including major highways were blocked by Quero in many areas in Oromia and including the outskirts of Addis Ababa.

Following jawar’s call, the Prime Minister reported, in about two days, 86 people were killed.   From these 76 of them were heinously murdered with machete and stone by terrorizing youth.   The barbaric Quero carried out what cannot be imagined with a normal mind. Many of the atrocities are too graphic to mention them here.  They killed and dismembered a father, killed clergies, burned churches, beheaded pastors.  Then Jawar sent a message in public to Quero to open roads and they somewhat complied with his order. Doing so he was proving to the public what he said earlier “In Ethiopia, there are two governments– one is that of Quero and the other that of Abiy Ahmed.”  All this murder happened less than two weeks after Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Following the killing of two university students at Woldya University, which should be condemned unequivocally, Jawar’s team members, Dr. Ezekiel Gebissa of Kettering University in Michigan and Dr. Etana Habte appeared on what they recently established Kush Media Network instigated ethnic violence.  They had seemingly scholarly discussion but incited further violence.  The pompous Dr. Ezekiel Gebissa repeatedly lies on the media and fabricate numbers. He is the shame of his students and the employer.   He stated 50% of Ethiopia’s population is Oromo.  Cannot Dr. Gabissa research simple facts that Oromo is 34.4% of Ethiopia’s population.  Please prove me wrong if you have alternative facts.  This is unethical and deliberate misinformation to deepen ethnic conflicts in Ethiopia.   This is what he gives back to Ethiopia his country of origin, one of the poorest nations in the world – inciting ethnic strife.  They called for action of violence against non-Oromos and Orthodox churches.  Ethiopians are deeply religious societies when Christians including university students persecuted they sought shelter in Churches.  Dr.  Gabissa labeled the Orthodox church as a hiding place for criminals and encouraged Quero to attack Orthodox Christians and those who shelter there.  Then the Quero murdered a helpless nursing mother in front of her newborn infant, burned Churches and university students singled by their ethnicity and killed.  One university student is thrown out from a dormitory through the window.  Many more people killed in the last few weeks.  These instigators and criminals like Dr. Ezekiel Gebissa,  Dr. Habte, Tsegaye Ararssa, and Jawar Mohammed have been given shelter and live comfortably in the US, Australia, and Europe. This group has also launched campaign working with foreign radical Islamists to wage war against ethnic Amhara and Ethiopian Orthodox Christians.  A case in point is their network with Farah Maalim, who used to serve as  Deputy Speaker of Kenya National Assembly.

Many Ethiopians were shocked thus far that Prime Minister Abiy and his government did not take any legal action on Jawar and these other masterminds.   Can Jawar get away with his crimes both in Ethiopia and the US?  What is terrorism if encouraging people to behead Christians is not? What is the number of the death toll that qualifies a person to be a terrorist?  In his speech which is available on YouTube, Jawar identified Ethiopian Oromos with Islam and encouraged Oromo Muslims to behead Christians and control political power. His Quero lynched young man.  His gruesome atrocities continued day after day. The Ethiopian patriarch was shedding his tears in public that became hapless and the Abiy’s government was not helping.  Ethiopia is at risk of becoming another Rwanda. The world community should take action.

According to the US law, ‘Renouncing U.S. citizenship does not allow persons to avoid possible prosecution for crimes which they may have committed or may commit in the future which violate United States law, or escape the repayment of financial obligations including child support payments, previously incurred in the United States or incurred as United States citizens abroad.”

Jawar Mohammed and Dr. Ezekiel Gebissa are enjoying a safe haven in the US while their actions and OMN are causing hundreds of deaths.  Should not the US government investigate and try Jawar Mohammed for the crimes he committed?   This is what peace-loving Ethiopians around the world demand.

The post Ethiopia at Risk: Radical Islam Harbored in Ethnic Extremism – Part II appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

Radisson Hotel Group has signed Radisson Hotel Bahir Dar, located in the northeast of Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia.

It will be the first Radisson branded hotel and the group’s fourth hotel in the country.

This deal brings the group’s portfolio to almost 100 hotels in operation and underdevelopment in Africa.

The Radisson Hotel Bahir Dar will be located on the shores of Lake Tana, Ethiopia’s largest lake which has been nominated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, just eight kilometres from the international airport.

The city is home to some of the world’s oldest monasteries and churches, and the hotel will sit just 25 kilometers from Tis Abbai Falls, one of Ethiopia’s best-known tourist attractions.

Bahir Dar serves as the capital of the Amhara region in Ethiopia and is a well-known, memorable city to the north of the country.

Elie Younes, chief development officer, Radisson Hotel Group, said: “Africa remains the most exciting continent for growth and evolution.

“According to WTTC, Ethiopia experienced the ‘highest tourism growth in the world’ in recent years, with over 45 percent increase.

“Such growth justifies more hotel developments in the country, and we are pleased to introduce our fourth hotel in the market.”

The fully renovated converted 125-room hotel will comprise of a variety of room types, from standard to king rooms and presidential suites.

The post Radisson Hotel Bahir Dar to open in Ethiopia appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

By Harmeet Kaur, CNN

Her story

Gebre was born to a farming family in a remote village in Ethiopia’s Kembata region. She was one of 14 children, most of whom died in childhood.

When she was about 12 years old, Gebre underwent the practice of female genital mutilation that she would eventually spend her life fighting to end, her organization said on its website.

Bogaletch Gebre receives an award in Brussels for “confronting culturally entrenched taboo subjects” in her home country of Ethiopia on May 22, 2013.

She started attending school in secret, going against what was typically expected of Ethiopian girls at the time. She went to classes in the morning under the guise of fetching water for her family. With allies like her uncle, who helped her complete her chores, she soon learned to read, KMG says.

Gebre won a scholarship to go to school in Addis Ababa, and then went on to study microbiology in Israel, The Independent reported. From there, she went to the University of Massachusetts Amherst for her masters degree on a Fulbright scholarship. Eventually, she enrolled in a PhD program at the University of California, Los Angeles.

But as she was working on her PhD, she felt a greater calling. She knew she could have stayed in the US and lived a comfortable life. But she felt that her people needed her.

“Yes, I could have had a better house and gone jogging on the beach or gone to a spa every weekend. But is that what life is all about?” Gebre told The Independent in 2010. “Could I have stayed there knowing my sisters were being cut and abducted and turned into servants? Einstein said you start living when you give yourself out. I feel I’m living now.”

So in 1997, Gebre returned to Ethiopia with ambitions of transforming the lives of women and girls where she grew up.

Along with her sister Fikirte Gebre, she founded KMG Ethiopia, a non-profit organization dedicated to justice and equality for women and girls.

Her impact

Through KMG, Gebre set out to make changes big and small in the lives of Ethiopian women.

Gebre’s charity is credited with virtually eliminating the practice of female genital mutilation in the region where she grew up. In areas where KMG Ethiopia operated, the rates of the practice decreased from nearly 100% in 1999 to less than 3% in 2008.

Bogaletch Gebre and Bob Geldof are awarded the North-South Prize at the Portuguese Parliament in Lisbon on November 21, 2005.

The organization also built roads and bridges, making daily life easier for people by cutting down on the time it took to go to the market or fetch firewood, according to its website. They took on environmental rehabilitation projects that made it easier for women to find firewood closer to home. They set up a mother and child health care center in the region, as well as a school. And they facilitated conversations in the community on taboo subjects like HIV/AIDS.

Most recently, KMG Ethiopia noted, Gebre received a “Women of the Decade in Community Leadership” Award at the Women Economic Forum in New Delhi for her “empowering leadership and stellar contributions.”

“Thanks to Boge’s vision, commitment and tenacity, millions of Ethiopian women are walking with their heads held high, demanding and receiving justice, being appointed and elected to public positions, and establishing their own militias to protect their rights and those of their daughters,” KMG Ethiopia said.

The post Bogaletch Gebre, the Ethiopian women’s rights activist who fought to end female genital mutilation, has died appeared first on Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News:.

Ahead of tomorrow’s referendum on a separate state for Ethiopia’s Sidama ethnic group, Amnesty International called on the Ethiopian authorities to take all steps to ensure there is no repeat of the deadly violence that broke out when the referendum was postponed in July.

The Ethiopian authorities must take all appropriate measures to ensure a peaceful vote, including preventing excessive use of force by the security forces.

“The Ethiopian authorities must take all appropriate measures to ensure a peaceful vote, including preventing excessive use of force by the security forces. They must guarantee freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and ensure that the rights of members of minority ethnic groups in Sidama are fully protected,” said Seif Magango, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.

“The referendum comes at an especially tense time when violence based on ethnic differences is breaking out all over the country and people are being killed simply for expressing their opinions.”

They must guarantee freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and ensure that the rights of members of minority ethnic groups in Sidama are fully protected.

No official death toll has been published from the clashes in July when protests broke out following the postponement of the plebiscite, but Sidama activist groups put the figure at almost 170.

Campaigners are calling for a separate state for the Sidama ethnic group, which is currently part of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region. The Ethiopian constitution requires the government to organize a referendum for any ethnic group that requests a separate state.

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