By Prof. Seid Hassan

In addition to the senseless killings of protesters by the ruling party against the Oromos, the latest video clips and news reports also indicate that the same protests in Oromia region have led to the burning/destruction of properties, foundations, etc. There is an ongoing and raging debate among Ethiopians, residing both in and outside of the country, in regards to this debacle.  Some members of the diaspora link (and rightly so in this regard) the burnings/destructions to the innumerable atrocities and endemic corruption committed by the ruling party. Their condoning seem to emanate from the fact that a good portion of the destroyed properties are owned by corrupt elites and foreign companies (individuals). The owners of these properties and structures are reaping what they have sown, they argue. Folks who echo these sentiments seem to consider riots as antidotes to unending pillaging and a necessary evil. There are others, particularly those who consider themselves as soldiers of the peaceful struggle, which includes those who participated in and organizing of the protests, who argue against the burning and destruction of properties. The observed destructions and burnings, they say, were perpetrated by saboteurs of peaceful struggle and repercussions of the ruling party’s uncalled for brutalities on peaceful protestors. The burnings and destructions also seem to have put a large portion of Ethiopians in a quandary and deep dilemma. They are really seem to be between a rock and hard place (that is, unable to either condemn or condone the destructions).Introduction

As a soldier of non-violent resistance, I also do not condone the observed burnings/destructions. But contrary to our wishes, I acknowledge and fret the fact that burnings and destructions of greater magnitude may be inevitable. In fact, I saw this debacle coming, long ago.  And I have raised this possibility, on several occasions, with friends, such as Professors Minga Negash, Messay Kebede and Berhanu Mengistu, every time we discussed the cunning nature of Ethiopian corruption. As we discussed the magnitude of Ethiopian corruption, it seemed as though our heads have become dizzy and our voices trebled, for the unfathomable destructions could reach epic proportions. Why do Ethiopians consider the government supported investment structures and properties as not belonging to them but instead as “foreign” assets and even vehicles of exploitation and oppression?

Now, if you want to understand why the protesters failed to understand that foreign direct investment (FDI) creates wealth (which it does), but they instead consider even the “domestically” (political-party and elite-owned) “investments” as alien/foreign owned, why foreign direct investment is considered as a “fancy word for stealing” and as highly exploitative and accessory to evil, etc. and why they even venture for their destructions, I urge you to read on. If you want to understand the nature of Ethiopian corruption, its ramifications- how it has been and continues to irreparably damage the social and institutional fabrics of the country, and most importantly, if you really want to be thinking of designing strategies for combating it and forestall potentially devastating destructions, please allow me to elaborate.

This commentary is designed to implore you (the reader) understand the intractable nature of Ethiopian corruption and then think about potential “solutions.”  This is because designing strategies and finding “solutions” require a good grasp of the type of corruption found in a specific country- in this case, Ethiopia.

State Capture – a Form of Garand Corruption as the Root Cause of the Problem

As I have shown on several occasions before, what we have been witnessing in Ethiopia is the most pernicious and intractable form of corruption known as State Capture. This form of corruption needs to be distinguished from what is known in the corruption literature as Administrative (Bureaucratic) Corruption.  It is the type of corruption defined and observed in the traditional manner, almost all countries, save post-communist (transition) countries.  In particular, Administrative (Bureaucratic) Corruption deals with the extent in which the bribe payer uses the existing laws, rules, and regulations to tip the balance in his favor. In general, administrative (bureaucratic) corruption is known to take place at the implementation level of the bureaucracy while the political (grand) corruption of it takes place at the highest level of political authority. Examples of variants of administrative corruption may include: impeding the implementation of justice; getting involved in the forgery and/or destruction of documents; delaying and/or procrastinating on executing high level official (assigned) duties; using official hours for personal gains; misrepresenting one’s authority; getting involved in partisan favors (nepotism); misusing public property; engaging in absenteeism; getting involved in kickbacks from developmental programs; pay-offs for legislative support, diversion of public resources for private use; overlooking illegal activities; common theft/embezzlement; overpricing, establishing non-existing projects and tax collection and tax assessment frauds, etc.

Even though it may be difficult to completely eradicate it, fortunately, nations could minimize the damage done by Administrative (Bureaucratic) Corruption by ensuring transparency, accountability and openness in governmental activities. This is done, for example, by (a) Establishing power centers outside the bureaucracy; (b) Establishing independent electoral boards and developing and allowing competitive party politics; (c) Using the independent media, which in turn enables interest groups, members of civic society, NGOs, etc.; (d) Using the investigative powers of the parliament; (e) Setting up of independent anti-corruption boards and commissions; and (f) Using the independent judiciary system.

However, what we have been witnessing in Ethiopia is a different kind of corruption known as State Capture, which is known to have manifested itself in transition (formerly socialist) countries. It is a phenomenon in which powerful groups exert their corrupt and undue influence in order to shape the institutions and policies, laws and regulations of the state for their own benefit rather than for the public good. State capture could arise and be practiced in several ways: it could result from powerful individuals, groups or firms using both non-transparent provisions as well as legitimate and transparent channels to deny competing groups have access to state officials and resources. It could also arise from the exploitation of the “unclear boundaries between the political and business interests of state officials” by specific groups and state officials for their mutual benefits at the expense of the society in question (Hellman: 1998:3). According to Broadman and Recanatini (2001), state capture is harmful corruption that subverts the entire political process designed to ensure that policies and regulations favorable to specific groups and business interests are implemented.

State Capture may differ from country to country. In some countries, state capture could clearly be seen as a variant of a corruptive practice known as crony capitalism in which powerful groups, individuals and oligarchs shape and manipulate the formation of new policies- “rules of the game”- to their own advantages.  The phenomenon could be observed whenever state officials pass decrees and/or legislative votes favoring the organized business groups, oligarchs or powerful individuals.  It could also be observed by huge “concentration of economic and political power” and economic inequality arising from self-interested actors gaining and controlling over the state and its resources. The State Capture phenomenon could also be observed by the collusive activities of powerful leaders (regional or national), ministers, and legislative and judiciary executives, corporate executives of state institutions/agencies and party-owned companies. In some cases, state capture is a result of weakened legal and political institutions. In some other instances, captors purposely weaken the country’s legal and political institutions so that they would be susceptible to capture and exploitation. It is also manifested by the failure of economic reforms and the stripping of public assets by some powerful individuals or organized groups using the “privatization” process. In some instances, state capture could be observed when organized groups clandestinely create a state within a state (“parallel state”) in order to influence the state structures, including the judiciary, the security apparatus, the military, and even the media.  In some countries where state capture has occurred, the line between what is private and what is public, what is official and non-official, what is state and what is market are totally blurred.  As you can observe from the above descriptions, under state capture, a country’s laws, regulations, legalities, and ultimately its institutions are part of corrupt transactions. Such corruption features are quite different from the Administrative/Bureaucratic Corruption described above.

In some countries such as Ethiopia (Hassan, 2013) (and to a limited extent, countries such as Uganda and Rwanda), the entire political, economic, legal and military structures are under the control of powerful cliques or ethnically organized groups. Corruption of this type is pernicious because these same organized groups, in collaboration with owners of powerful firms and/or oligarchs, happen to dominate the vital sectors of all institutions (economic, social, legal and military).  In some cases, as manifested in countries such as Russia in the 1990s and in some countries in Africa, Ethiopia included, the practice of capture is highly organized and predatory. The captors are known to use, among other things, violence and intimidation. They are known to have created their own monopolies (oligarchies) and cartels in order to monopolize the vital sectors of the economic system while at the same time disabling the ongoing market reforms. In short, this kind of corruption resembles a modern version of organized crime.

Country Specific Characteristics of Captors

The corruptive activities of the captors are largely similar but they may differ by country or origin and type of captors. In post-communist countries, Hellman et al (2000:3) make distinctions between private “captor firms (i.e. firms that make private payments to public officials to affect the rules of the game) and influential firms (i.e. firms that have influence on those rules without recourse to private payments to public officials).” The captors in general are the nomenklatura – a group of former managers and bureaucrats of state-owned enterprises under the old Soviet system and other Eastern Bloc (estimated to be about 1.5 percent of the population) who were “engaged in ceaseless political maneuvering among themselves while maintaining total power, as a privileged class, over all the others.”  They could also be public officials who “may use their positions to capture enterprises,” or a group of actors such as the members of parliament, the executive, ministers and  judiciary acting in unison (the ruling party leaders acting prosecutor, judge, and jury).While largely similar, state capture in developing countries such as Ethiopia, differ from those in post-communist countries in some important ways: For one, unlike their Russian and East European counter parts, the Ethiopian captors do not exclusively belong to the nomenklatura (higher officials of the communist parties), since a large portion of them were rag tag guerrilla fighters who had marched all the way out from the bushes to seize power and enrich themselves. Secondly, in countries such as Ethiopia, the state capture phenomenon is highly parochial (and quasi-feudal and ethnic-based) in nature. Unfortunately, patronage infested Ethiopian corruption has a strong tendency for both envy and tolerance – such a tolerance for vice emanating from those whose ethnic affiliation with the ruling clique. This tendency known to have permeated the Kenyan society (Michela Wrong, 2009: “It is Our Turn to Eat.”)

One also observes a very strong patron- clientelistic and neo-patrimonialistic nature of corruption in these countries (Ethiopia, in particular).  Thirdly, unlike in some post-communist countries such as Eastern Europe, in which some oligarchs were forced out of political power, the Ethiopian captors continue to hold both political and economic power. The Russian oligarchs made their fortunes through wheeling and dealing and by committing all kinds of economic crimes including buying Russian assets at throw away prices (so did their Ethiopian counter-parts). Mr. Putin did not like the political meddling of some of them and hence used his scorched earth tactics to put some of them behind bars and sending some of the others into exile while at the same time stripping of their assets (while leaving alone those who did not venture to politically challenge him).  The captors in Eastern and Central Europe gradually lost their political clout partly due to the desires and efforts of those countries to join the European Union and fulfill the EU’s conditions and the latter’s assistance in fighting and eradicating state capture. Fourthly, state capture in countries such as Ethiopia is unparalleled in that it is a stronger form than one finds elsewhere in that it encompasses the seizure of the political apparatus and the commanding heights of the national economy –the seizure extending to the military, security, foreign policy and judicial system and even the media. In Ethiopia, the predatory oligarchs’ appetite for controlling the commanding heights of the country’s economy, misappropriating its resources and accumulating wealth using a network of political power continues unabatedly, thereby exacerbating the gaps between the haves and the have-nots.  The elite predation has led to a virtual criminalization of the state to the extent that mafia type of criminal activities pop up occasionally. Another peculiar characteristic of State Capture in Ethiopia is its high level ethnocentric nature. As a result, the lines between what is official and what is private are totally blurred, and the party and the state have become almost indistinguishable. It is for this reason that many are tempted to label the Ethiopian corruptive system as highly kleptocratic. As a result, they say, this captured economy is trapped in a vicious cycle in which any policy reforms designed to improve governance are doomed to fail due to the constant collusions between the powerful groups operating from outside and within the government.

What Has Transpired in Ethiopia?

What is being witnessed in Ethiopia is the establishment of shell companies in contravention of the country’s commercial codes, such as establishing “share companies with only 2-5 “shareholders”, most of these “shareholders” being party leaders. As Gennet Mersha explains, parallel existence of political party-owned businesses has led to “leakage of resources in the form of capital flight, the granting and manipulation of licenses, (c) use of inside information pertaining to privatization, competition for state contracts and bids and awards of project contracts such as road and building and other construction works, (d) lack of competition, and, (e) systematic discrimination of businesses and professionals.”

What we have observed is “favouritism and clique building [which] flourished around the privatization boards (Minga Negash). What the Ethiopian people witnessed were improper handling of the restructuring and privatization process (Mersha: 2010), Young (1998), Vestal (2009), and Negash (2010). What Ethiopians have witnessed is large-scale systemic state capture through the rise of suffocating political-party owned companies (“endowments”), such as EFFORT and the numerous companies subsumed under it. What we know is the refusal of the members of the ruling clique to return the country’s assets that they looted when they were guerrilla fighters. What we know is party hacks presiding “over top-level boards of party-owned businesses and major government enterprises including banks” and their funneling of easy bank loans to regional party-owned companies.  What has transpired is the disfranchisement “other” Ethiopians and the stifling of completion through the awarding of contracts to those connected with the ruling party, such high level nepotism being very high  in the construction sector (see, World Bank’s Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia, Chapter 6, for example.) What we have witnessed on the daily basis, twenty five years and counting, is the currying of favor to these same conglomerates and cadre-owned and favored companies resulting in the distortions of competition and lack of competitive marketplace. What we have witnessed, much like countries which were under the influence of the Soviet Union, is the seizure and control of the financial sector by a specific group. What we are witnessing is suffocation through the use of the so-called new press and anti-terrorism laws. What we observe in Ethiopia is, the passage and adoptions of new laws such as the one prohibiting of opposition parties from receiving funds from abroad, while at the same time the ruling party benefiting immensely from it. What has developed is a culture of zero-sum mentality, a powerful leadership with deaf ears that is “too rigid, arrogant and disconnected” with high level of patronage. What Ethiopians have witnessed is the constant attack and dismantling of opposition political parties, the weakening of the country’s institutions – be they the dismantlement of independent civic organizations, the watering down of the quality of education, constant violation of the rule of law, etc. What is being observed is the creation of toothless anti-corruption commission to hoodwink donors and the hijacking of anti-corruption efforts-to the extent of using it to attack and imprison political opponents. Just like in Russia and elsewhere, the ruling party of Ethiopia has captured the legislature, the executive, the judiciary and practically all regulatory agencies- all distinguishing caricatures of State Capture- the highest form of corruption that is “directed toward extracting rents.

These are just a few.

The Repercussions

State Capture and (mafia type) criminal oligarchy, accompanied with an unbelievable arrogance and repression has resulted in deep disillusionment, cynicism and polarization in the country. It has resulted in once upon a time rag-tag guerrilla fighters and poor taxi drivers, not known for their ingenuity or something else that is good, becoming extremely wealthy, almost overnight. It has led to the setting ablaze of property, in which local businesses happen to bear the brunt of the destructions. Riots do not take place in a vacuum. The causes are the nauseating greed on the part of the ruling party, the eviction of tens of thousands of people from their ancestral lands and the transfer of these same lands, with little or no compensations, to the ruling party owned companies, elites and foreigners. The causes of the riots are, no doubt, outright nepotism and organized crime committed by the ruling elites. Corruption riddled land transfers have resulted in a transfer of resources from the people into the hands of the very few. Those whose lands have forcedly been taken away and displaced and those who have been oppressed seem not to be taking the abuse any more. As an economist, I see the ruling clique’s overreach (of forced displacements, arrogance, insatiable greed and suffocating corruption) having lasting collateral damages. Thanks to the overreaches of the government and criminal activities of party elites, foreign direct investment is now considered a fancy word for deceit and exploitation. Indeed, people-centered and properly compensated urban development projects would have been win-wins for all those involved. Thanks to the land-related rampant corruption, the ruling clique’s dirty tricks have undermined future legitimate development projects.  No doubt these overreaches will be big time setbacks to future development.

Allow me to elaborate the fraud infested and predatory land grabs which sparked several unrests, a little more. Just like North Korea and China, land belongs to the Ethiopian government, which in turn created a space for a frenzy of uncompensated land grabbing, rent-seeing and nepotism. Using several endless land proclamations as their tools, Ethiopian officials and land grabbers might have copied Chinese practices of forcefully expropriating land.  It appears that land grabbers in Ethiopia have failed to understand the problems associated with such a practice. For one, forced evictions have resulted not only in human rights abuses and the violations of the international covenant forced evictions that China has ratified, but the scheme has contributed to a growing income inequality. Ethiopian authoritarian rulers should have known that growing inequalities have consequences. Secondly, a large portion of the eviction in China was largely done by local officials and against the wishes of the central government. In Ethiopia, both the re-zoning and demolition plans and executions are done by the directives and order of central government authorities, contributing to the rising resentments. Thirdly, both the central and local governments of China were able to create factory jobs which absorbed a significant portion of the evicted peasants, resulting in indirect compensations to the lost properties for those who have been displaced. In Ethiopia, local communities hardly get any benefits from the “investments” despite promises of creating jobs.  Fourthly, contrary to what is largely observed in Ethiopia, it appears that Chinese local authorities and developers compensated evictees even though the compensations were nowhere equal to the market value of the properties. Fifthly, in the Ethiopian case, those who benefit from land –related corruption (which includes forced evictions and demolitions) happen to be the top echelons of the ruling party. Sixthly, unlike the Chinese case, the Ethiopian population is highly divided along ethnic lines, such divisions exacerbated by the policies of the regime itself. Last but not least, unlike the Ethiopian land grabbers, the Chinese authorities never use live ammunitions against protesters whose lands have been seized illegally. That must be why other ethnic groups, the Oromos, in particular, consider the so-called federal police (repeatedly observed brutally beating students) and the military only belonging to and used as a killing paramilitary squad of the TPLF. The Ethiopian people have repeatedly witnessed that the ruling party have never been accountable to the atrocities it committed. Witness the tortures, disappearances, mass arrests and massacres the regime committed in 1995, 2005/6, 2014, and now 2015/16, the genocide committed against the Anuak people in 2003, the killing of university students in 2001, just to name a few. The Ethiopian people have been traumatized by the endless atrocities. It is these and numerous other atrocities that have forced the Ethiopian people to think that this is not their government. It the lootings and the extreme corruptive activities which have led the Ethiopian people to think the properties and investment as not belonging to them but to a parasitic group who are not one of them. Consequently, it is not hard to imagine corruption that is committed by “others,” – and in a lot of cases, orchestrated by those who claim to be representing one ethnic group – to be viewed with great envy and anger thereby escalating the polarization. No wonder it results in extreme discontents and riots.

State Capture, together with oppression, arrogance and brutality is leading the country to experience an accelerating socio-politico-economic breakdown and to potentially ethnic/sectarian conflicts- all contributing to the unravelling and possible disintegration of the rotting system. Unfortunately, the collapsing system will have collateral and innocent victims.

“Solutions”: Where do we go from here?  

As I indicated above, State Capture is anathema to reforms. In the Ethiopia of today, there is no independent judiciary that can uphold the rule of law since the rule of law gets subverted by top level officials on a constant basis. There are no checks and balances. All we have is a rubber-stamping “parliament. All we have is a toothless anti-corruption agency which is saddled by the lack of resources and incompetence. Nearly all independent and privately owned newspapers have been forcefully shuttered and many of the journalists sent to jail or exiled. These brutal measures have deprived the country (and the ruling clique itself) from using an independent media to expose the rampant corruption. Civil society organizations have been either decimated or captured. What we have is an executive body which fires auditor generals when they expose corruption. In today’s Ethiopia, every regulatory agency is captured, to the extent that Mr. Sibant Nega, the founder, architect and now revered figurehead of the TPLF, boldly and unashamedly admitting the obvious: that corruption in Ethiopia is so bad that it has permeated even the religious institutions.  The Ethiopian oligarchy lacks a Vladimir Putin (that is, Meles Zenawi) who could have served as an anti-corruption czar and his unparalleled power and Machiavellian tactics to trap and quell his distractors and possibly extend the political life of the oligarchy. The paranoia riddled and heavy handed measures taken against the Oromos by the ruling clique clearly indicate not only the ruling party has become headless but it also indicates a lack of command and control.

What we are left with is three relatively powerful groups, who could potentially allay the pains inflicted upon the Ethiopian people by rampant corruption – their measure having the potential to extend the political life of the kleptocratic regime. Even though these groups may be able to extend the political life of the regime, they would not save it from eventual collapse since corruption of this magnitude cannot be saved from within. What I am thinking about are (a) Multinational institutions, such as the IMF, World Bank and others; (b) Donor nations, particularly the United State and the EU; and (c) Pressure from stakeholders who are a part of and closer to the regime, that is, ‘custodians of the status quo’ (Berhanu Mnegistu, 2016-“Mediating Political Space…”).  The first two are holders of strong arms – capable of putting immense pressure on the clique. For one, these institutions and donors know how aid dependent the regime is- so aid dependent just “[like] a patient addicted to pain killers,” The United States and members of the EU, the U.K. in particular, along with the aid institutions, know the “aid” they provide is the source of corruption, be it via illicit financial outflows, used to recruit and pay millions of cadres, used to fund forced villagization or other means. As I have shown elsewhere, donor nations know that part of the seeds of capital for party-owned conglomerates are the “aid” they provided. Should the wish to do so, donor nations can bring the TPLF leaders to their knees by suing them for their misuse of foreign aid and money laundering. As to the third group, according to Professor Berhanu Mengistu (2016), the effectiveness of the ‘custodians of the status quo’ depends not only on their ability to “convince the narrow stakeholders” that change is in their best interests but also their ability to direct those changes.  One may legitimately ask: Would the custodians of the status quo be able to control their own greed and selfishness when in fact the entire ruling party, top-to-bottom, being so repugnantly corrupt? Well, if they failed to do so, then they will lose all that they have amassed!

So, why did Oromo protesters burned down properties and investment structures located within their own neighborhoods? Well, it is because of the resentments which have been running deep against overbearing party elites who scoop up lands that don’t belong to them – the grabbed lands making them to become very wealthy almost overnight. All that the people see is wealth following senseless corruption, party affiliation, bloodlines, but not hard work or original access to one’s ancestral land.  The protesters are not only pushed out of their ancestral land but they also do not have jobs, money or even prospects. As the rioters’ selective attack targets indicate, the burnings/destructions and boycotting seem to be directed at those owned by the TPLF and its supporters. Unfortunately, resentments of this kind are harbored by other ethnic groups.  Such practices may indeed be repeated in other regions, even though Ethiopia does not really have lots of resources to burn and destroy.

Unfortunately, the Ethiopian people continue to be traumatized by TPLF’s economic gangsterism and government-led violence. Traumatism leads to hopelessness, extreme anger and frustration, to the extent of being self-destructive. The burnings of properties, therefore, are byproducts of the traumas that the Oromos have suffered. I have my deep fears that someday such destructiveness may repeat themselves in the other regions of the country and possibly in a large scale. Let’s pray and hope that appropriate measures, capable of forestalling the looming dangers, would be taken.

ESAT Radio Fri 12 Feb 2016.mp3

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African Funny Dance – See this

12.02.2016

A source at the Syrian Armed Forces said that more than 20 Turkish tanks, more than 20 self-propelled guns and 30 field artillery guns of various calibers appeared near the border on Syria during February 7-10.

Turkey secretly deploys military hardware on the territory of Turkish military facilities. Turkey has also been taking efforts to increase the presence of its troops on the border with Syria. Up to 5,000 Turkish military personnel have been deployed in the region in the first two weeks of February. To quarter them along the border, Turkey creates army camps masked as refugee townships.

For example, in the area of Bab-es-Salam, up to 2,000 military men were quartered in a tent township immediately behind the border line. A field hospital was also erected in the location.  According to experts, Turkey will be ready for an attack on Syria by the end of February.

Saudi Arabia awaits US permission to start ground operation

Noteworthy, Advisor to the Defence Minister of Saudi Arabia, Ahmad Asiri, stated that Saudi Arabia would launch a ground operation in Syria as soon as the US-led international coalition makes such a decision.

Earlier, the head of the Saudi Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Adel Al-Jubeir, announced a possibility to send Saudi special forces to Syria as part of the US-led coalition to fight the Islamic State terrorist group.

According to Politonline, even though November 24 became the day, when the relations between Russia and Turkey were ruined, they could hardly be referred to as friendly relations during five years of the Syrian conflict.

Russia became a potential enemy when the country joined the Syrian conflict on the side of Damascus and President Assad. Having blocked the possibility to deliver any cargo through its airspace and waters in the beginning of the civil war in Syria, Turkey, in fact, forced Russia to start an operation called the “Syrian Express” in 2012.

It was Russia that supported Damascus in most critical moments of the civil war. The Syrian government has thus been able to retain control of important cities and push militants out from the territories near the Syrian capital.

What was Turkey’s role in the conflict? Turkish citizens have been taking part in the Syrian conflict since the very beginning of the Syrian civil war. Turkey itself has been showing significant influence on the conflict in the Arab Republic. Therefore, one may conclude that Turkey has committed acts of foreign intervention into internal affairs of Syria. In Turkey, Islamist terrorists could receive medical aid and Internet access (via private Turkish providers) to upload their propagandist videos on extremist sites.

One may also recollect Turkey’s participation in the attack on the town of Kessab (province of Latakia) in the spring of 2014. Several thousands of Jabhat en-Nusra militants and terrorists from other groups had been sent to the region via the Turkish territory with the support of Turkish secret services and the military.

Turkey also tries to weaken the forces of the Kurdish militia.

Of course, after November 24, 2015, the relations between Russia and Turkey started worsening very quickly. Ankara has never apologized for shooting down the Russian fighter jet, and no one was punished for the criminal act, in which two Russian military men were killed. Such a serious crisis has not occurred in the Russian-Turkish relations since, perhaps, 1920.

The rhetoric of the Turkish authorities has changed dramatically too. A few days ago, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking at a meeting of the parliamentary faction of the ruling Justice and Development Party, said all of a sudden that Ankara wanted to defend the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Russia suspects Turkey plotting invasion of Syria

“We will return our historic debt. At one time, our brothers from Aleppo defended our cities of Sanliurfa, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, now we will defend the heroic Aleppo. All of Turkey stands behind its defenders,” Davutoglu said.

Davutoglu made the statement after the Syrian military cut off terrorists’ major supplies channels in northern Aleppo province from from Turkey.

Russian officials also expressed concerns about Turkey’s possible attack on Syria. “We have serious reasons to believe that Turkey has been taking efforts to prepare a military invasion of the territory of a sovereign state – the Syrian Arab Republic. We have seen many signs of the hidden preparations of the Turkish armed forces for military actions in Syria,” an official spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, Major-General Igor Konashenkov said.

Russian Foreign Minister also spoke about the possibility of a large-scale war in the region with the participation of neighboring countries.

“If the Geneva talks do not bring any results, they will opt for a military solution. The leaders of several countries have already made such point blank statements. As I can understand, they share almost personal hatred to Bashar Assad. I do not think that the coalition led by the United States, in which Turkey is included, will let such reckless plans materialize,” said Sergey Lavrov.

Pravda.Ru

Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

www.pravdareport.com

By Don

There are at least nine UNESCO World Heritage sites in Ethiopia that complement Africa’s ancient creations.  They include;

• Simien National Park
• Lower Valley of the Awash
• Lower Valley of the Omo
• Aksum
• Lalibela
• Tiya
• Fasil Ghebbi
• Harar Jugol, the Fortified Historic Town
• Konso Cultural Landscape

Simien National Park

Located in Amhara Region is Simien Mountains National Park, one of the first sites to be included in the list of World Heritage Sites in 1978. The park has spectacular landscape and it also plays host to some extremely rare animals that are endemic to Ethiopia such as the Gelada baboon, the Simien fox and the Walia ibex.

Lower Valley of the Awash

The Lower Valley of Awash is found in Afar Regional State. Tremendous findings are registered in the area in search for human origin and evolution. The most spectacular discovery of Lucy paved the way for more achievements in the study of human origin. The Lower Valley of Awash was included in the list of World heritage sites in Ethiopia in 1980.

Aksum

Aksum is the legendary birthplace of the Queen of Sheba, which allegedly houses the Ark of Covenant. The place was also once the permanent capital city of Ethiopia until the 18^th Century. It was listed as a UNESCO Heritage Site since it covers the remains of an influential city of ancient Ethiopia. The ruins include stelae, tombs, castles and obelisks.

Lower Valley of the Omo

The discovery of many fossils in Omo valley, especially Homo gracilis, has been of fundamental importance in the study of human evolution. The Omo Lower Valley was inscribed to a list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1980.

Lalibela

Lalibela Town is situated north of Addis Ababa. The town is surrounded by 11 remarkable rock-hewn monolithic churches, believed to have been built by KingLalibela in the 13^th Century. The magnificent rock hewn Lalibela churches act as a pilgrimage for worshipers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. These churches were declared world heritage sites in Ethiopia in 1978.

Tiya

South of Addis Ababa, 160 archaeological sites were discovered in Tiya at Soddo Town. It also has monuments and carved stelae showing unique symbols. The place holds undetermined age of mystery and ancient Ethiopian culture registered as world heritage. The enigmatic configuration and script of up to 5 metres sculptured stelae, represents the expression of the Ethiopian ancient settlers.

Fasil Ghebbi

Another heritage site in Ethiopia is the Fasil Ghebbi located in the Amhara State, inNorth Gondar. It consists of the remains of a fortress-city that was the residence of the Ethiopian emperor Fasilides and his successors. Fasil Ghebbi was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979.

Harar Jugol, the Fortified Historic Town

Harar is a fortified historic town situated in the eastern part of Ethiopia. The town is characterised by deep gorges surrounded by desert and savannah vegetation. Harar has a distinct architectural character with a prominent wall surrounding the city. The presence of 99 mosques made Harar be considered the Fourth Holiest City in Islam next to Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. It was registered by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2006

Konso Cultural Landscape

Konso Cultural Landscape was declared a World Heritage Site in 2011. Its declaration was because of its unique cultural significance of terracing agricultural practice. There are also several carved wooden statues used to mark the grave of a famous Konso tribal member.

Source -http://blog.jovago.com/amazing-world-heritage-sites-in-ethiopia-3861

by Teshome Borago

I am writing this article after listening to the recent magnificent speech by the Addis Ababa mayor-elect and PATRIOTIC GInbot 7 party leader Dr. Berhanu Nega in Silver Spring, Maryland and reading the recent article by Prof Messay Kebede

Eight years have passed since I met Dr. Berhanu Nega in New York city, but he is as eloquent in his speech today as he was back then in 2007. He reminded us why tens of millions of Ethiopians rose up to vote for his CUD party during their 2005 national election victory.

Dr. Berhanu’s speech was historic and hopeful. [1] Berhanu described TPLF as a “wounded animal” but he said removing this animal will not be an easy task. He warned Ethiopians not to be bystanders and instead actively contribute to the cause of democracy and freedom that is led by his PATRIOTIC GINBOT 7 organization. Berhanu showed his statesmanship during his emotional show of solidarity and sorrow for the dozens of young Oromos massacred by TPLF recently. He said we should put humanity before politics and grieve for the death of fellow Oromo Ethiopians. Despite disapproving what he called “identity politics” influencing Oromos, Dr. Berhanu said that the way forward is not ignoring the legitimate concerns of oppressed Oromos. Berhanu said we should respect and recognize ethnic politics & identities like Oromo. But he said the best long-term solution for Ethiopia is ultimately land reforms and embracing democracy, not tribalism.

The most important point was that Dr. Berhanu did NOT say Amharas should “join” the Oromo protests. He said “all Ethiopians” should support their fellow Ethiopian Oromos against TPLF. After listening to Dr. Berhanu, I read another article by Prof. Messay Kebede. I have a lot of respect for Prof. Messay and his scholarly contribution to our democratic struggle. But the professor’s last articles urging just Amharas to join Oromos is wrong and inappropriate. Prof. Messay is unintentionally using the same divisive language and tone used by TPLF against pro-democracy Ethiopians. I urge Prof. Messay to listen to Dr. Berhanu’s message.

Prof. Messay is not alone because some tribal organizations also wrongly label us “Amharas.” I wonder… are all the diaspora who have supported CUD/Ginbot 7/UDJ “Amharas”? What about our leaders now and then? Are Birtukan Mideksa and Berhanu Nega “Amhara?” Are our diaspora leaders like Obang Metho and Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam “Amhara” just because they preach unity? Even historical military leaders for a “unitary nation” (ex. Menelik, Gobena, Mekonnen, Abebe Aregai etc.) are they “Amhara?”…. None of them are.

I think Prof. Messay should recognize that when he writes articles on Ethiopian media/websites, he is speaking to all Ethiopians, not just Amharas.

If Prof. Messay thinks that all pro-unity and pro-democracy Ethiopians are only Amhara, he is very wrong.

I am concerned because most of the new generation youth inside Ethiopia are already victims of the TPLF tribal propaganda that imposed wrong ethnic labels on our population. The TPLF has been lying to our people, by saying that all pro-unity Ethiopians are only Amharas. We in the diaspora have a responsibility to reverse this 20 years of lies. We should not be victims too.

In 1992, TPLF hired OLF hardliners to destroy the Ethiopian educational system. Meles Zenawi personally picked the Oromo extremist Mr. Ibsa Gutema for Ministry of Education job in the 1990s. Mr. Ibsa changed all Ethiopian historical textbooks to make new generation Oromos, Amharas and others hate each other. So when we hear about young Oromos cursing at our proud history, why are we surprised? When we hear about young Amharas in Bahir Dar stadium insult Oromo athletes, why are we surprised? They are all products of Mr. Ibsa and TPLF/OPDO/OLF propaganda. In 1990s, the OLF Education Minister of Ethiopia Mr. Ibsa Gutema adopted and imposed the foreign Latin script for Oromo alphabet instead of the local Geez. So we must remember who has divided our country for two decades. After TPLF used OLF like condom in 1992, ironically Meles sent Mr. Ibsa on a plane aboard first-class flight out of Ethiopia, while innocent OLF foot soldiers were massacred coldblooded.

Then in 2005, when hundreds of pro-CUD young Ethiopians and women were massacred by TPLF in Addis Ababa Streets; these OLF Oromos blamed the victims as “neo-neftegna.” In 2005, the OLF diaspora Oromos said these young Ethiopian boys and girls shot and killed by TPLF were “the greater of two evils.”[2]

So this is proof that, the OLF diaspora does NOT have the moral authority to accuse us Ethiopians of not joining the Oromo protests today.

But more importantly, we should not downplay the Ethiopian democratic movement as a mere “Amhara” only movement. We should not let TPLF define us by imposing wrong ethnic tags on our forehead. We have the right to self-identify ourselves as Ethiopians.

If some Oromos and others want to isolate themselves with identity politics, like Dr. Berhanu said, we may persuade them otherwise but we must respect their decision since everyone has a human right for self-determination. We must recognize that all of us are Ethiopian natives from the country we call Ethiopia but inside Ethiopia, different groups of people have chosen to identify themselves differently. For example, below are the 3 biggest groups inside Ethiopia (which has over eighty other tribes.)

1. Amhara

Amhara is one of the largest linguistic groups in Ethiopia. While some natives living around Gondar/wollo have used the label Amhara before, it is still a new ethnic label recently imposed by TPLF on diverse people from Gondar, Gojjam, Shewa, Wollo etc. (despite not sharing common custom) but just because they speak Amharic. While between 2 to 3 million Amharas were not counted in the last 2007 census, the fact is millions more non-Amharas are wrongly labeled Amhara just because they speak Amharic, this includes in the urban and assimilated minorities like the Agew, Qemant etc. The “Amhara” label currently exists as maintained by the TPLF’s puppet ANDM party.

2. Oromo

Oromo is another large ethnic group. Just like Amhara, the label “Oromo” is a recent creation of OLF and TPLF/OPDO, used to unify a diverse (previously separate) groups of clans, gibes and regions based on language. And historians credit the Oromo custom of Gudifecha used on neighboring tribes, which exponentially expanded Oromo language among non-Oromos in the south. Just like Amharic speakers, Oromos also assimilated the Sidama, Damot and others; while the Karayu, Guji etc. adopted Afan Oromo to become Oromo. Now they say they are all “Oromo First.” This is their new preference that we must respect.

3. Ethiopians

Ethiopian (Ethiopiawi) is another identity inside the country Ethiopia for millions of multi-ethnic people who are mixed and for all others who reject the TPLF tribal identification. For centuries, we called ourselves “Ethiopian first.” When we call ourselves Ethiopian, it does not mean we abandon our linguistic diversity. We embrace all our ancestral identities but choose to be called Ethiopians.

All these 3 above big identities are under the country we call Ethiopia.

In my opinion, we lose the battle against TPLF & OLF the moment we allow TPLF & OLF to define our identity. This is why I disagreed with Prof. Messay’s article and wording. If we allow woyane to impose the label “Amhara” on all of us, we already lost the battle! For example, Dr. Berhanu has some Gurage background but he chose to be “Ethiopian first” because that is in his psych, his sociological, political, historical being and sense of national identity. I myself have Welayta and Oromo ancestors but I am Ethiopian first and forever. Dr. Berhanu’s ancestors and my ancestors probably spoke different languages but Ethiopiawinet has transformed our identity and made us one people. Both of us share a common regional culture which is multicultural, common language which is multilingualism; and we have a shared group history with a shared polity and common homeland. This is what it means to be “Ethiopian ethnicity” as opposed to Oromo, Amhara, Tigray etc. ethnicity.

Last year, I wrote an article saying that “ethnic Ethiopians” are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia; bigger than Oromo and bigger than Amhara. Some people asked me how is that possible?

But I replied back– How is it possible that the CUD won 99% of the 2005 election in Addis Ababa if “Amharas” are only 40% of the city population? The TPLF said CUD is only Amhara. But the CUD easily won the 2005 election inside Addis Ababa with 99% of the vote. In fact, the CUD won the election everywhere nationwide, including in many parts of Oromia.

CONCLUSION

Like Dr. Berhanu said, the best way forward for Ethiopia is via democracy; while recognizing past injustices and respecting the various ethnic nationalists who seek ‘group rights.’ But we are not going to become just a collection of or a united states of 80 tribes. The next step in our progress is for us to recognize that not all Ethiopians are hyphenated identities like Oromo-Ethiopian, Amhara-Ethiopians etc. because some of us are just simply Ethiopians! This is the real reason why ethnic-federalism has failed in Ethiopia. Ethnic-federalism failed to recognize not only the millions of mixed Ethiopians but also the millions of others who simply prefer to label themselves as Ethiopians only. So We must recognize that one of the largest ethnic groups inside our country are ethnic Ethiopians – an identity that transcends all other identities in Ethiopia, and an identity formed as a by-product of the shared history of all. Only then can we craft a new democratic and practical federalism system that will be viable on the ground at the local and federal level.

From Da’amat to EPRDF- Emperor Menlik II – SBS Amharic

Fifteen million Ethiopians are suffering Biblical famine right NOW!

The Thugtatorship of the Tigrean Peoples Liberation Front (T-TPLF) is chasing after “resort developers” from the Middle East.

What about the fifteen million facing the Biblical Black Horseman?

The T-TPLF says, “Let them eat cake!”

It is said that Marie-Antoinette, the Queen consort of Louis XVI, asked why  impoverished French peasants dying from starvation were not eating cake.

I am asking why the T-TPLF is going after “resort developers” when 15 million Ethiopians are starving to death?

Last week, the Gulf Times Business reported, “Ezdan Holding Group plans to build a luxury tourist resort in Addis Ababa… The proposed iconic project is to be set up in an area of 150,000sq m in a key location in the heart of the Ethiopian capital city…”

There goes the T-TPLF again!

How many tens of thousands of Ethiopians must be evicted and made homeless to make way for Qatari resorts?

The T-TPLF has been in overdrive trying to snag the Qatari resort deal for some time now.

Back in 2010, the T-TPLF handed over 100 thousand hectares to land-grabber Karuturi Global. Last month, the Karuturi deal imploded. Karuturi vowed to use the “power of India” to kick T-TPLF’s rear end.

In 2014, the malaria-researcher-turned-instant-T-TPLF-foreign-minister Tedros Adhanom met with Qatari businessmen and told them to “participate in Ethiopia’s efforts to make itself a nucleus of medical tourism in Africa.”

Yes, “medical tourism”!!!

Ha ha ha ha!!!

Did Mack Adhanom misspeak or had a slip of the tongue? Perhaps he had a fleeting senior moment and regressed to his medical research on mosquitoes?

If not, Mack Adhanom certainly must have meant “medical tourism” in the sense Marvin Gaye sang about the medicinal value of “sexual healing”?

Did Mack Adhanom confuse “medical tourism” with “sexual tourism”?

Resort? Brothel? What is the difference?

The whole thing is just crazy. Nuts!

Medical tourism to my understanding refers to people who travel mostly from poor countries to more developed countries for a variety of reasons including better treatment, obtain treatment unavailable in their countries, seek less costly treatment, avoid long delays in getting medical care, etc. Top medical tourism destinations include the U.S., Mexico, India, Brazil, Singapore and others. In all of these countries, there are highly trained medical professionals with cutting edge technology at their disposal.

The T-TPLF wants to make Ethiopia a magnet for medical tourism based on what?!

Ethiopia has 1,936 physicians (1 per 40,000 population); 15,544 nurses and midwives (1 per  5,000  population); 1343 pharmaceutical personnel (1 for 60,000 population); 2703 laboratory workers (1 for 30,000 population); hospital beds per 10,000 population is 2 and the percent of births attended by skilled personnel is 6 percent. Total health expenditure as a percentage of GDP is 4.9 percent. These data come from the “Strictly Confidential” (p. 24) Investment Fund for Health in Africa Report. Ethiopia has 93 dentists, that is 1 per 800,000.

The World Health Organization Health Profile statistical fact sheet for 2014 reports that psychiatrists working in the mental health sector in Ethiopia per 100,000 population is 0.04.  Total density per 100,000 population for certain services and vital medical equipment is as follows:  specialized hospitals 0.03; computed tomography (CT scanner) 0.03;  total density for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) per millionpopulation is 0.04 percent; radiotherapy units 0.02 and nuclear medicine (cancer detection) 0.01.

So much for Adhanom’s “medical tourism” business in Ethiopia!

The dismal health care situation in Ethiopia is not likely to get better anytime soon.

According to Public Radio International, “at Ethiopia’s 13 new medical schools there is also a shortage of professors, so recent graduates are often asked to teach. One foreign doctor, who has worked in Ethiopia for more than 20 years, but asked not to be identified, said these new schools are producing a generation of doctors who don’t know what they’re doing, and they could do more harm than good.”

If Ethiopia has woefully inadequate health care services for its own citizens, how in the world can she become a mecca for “medical tourism”?

Is the T-TPLF trying to fool everyone with their “medical tourism” crap or are they just being slick?

Could the “medical tourism” hogwash be one of the T-TPLF’s classic scams? Bait and switch? Medical tourism for sex tourism?

When Adhanom talks about the Qataris building a resort  “medical tourism”, who is he kidding?

Nice try trying to pull the wool over our eyes, T-TPLF!

I have come to learn quite a bit about “tourism” and “resorts” and human trafficking and other such things in poor countries. My long time readers may recall my several commentaries on “adoption tourism” in Ethiopia. I have also strongly supported all of California’s human trafficking laws and particularly Proposition 35 (the “Californians Against Sexual Exploitation Act” Initiative) which passed by 81 percent of the voters in 2012.

What often happens in establishments claiming to be “resorts” in poor Third World countries is the practice of the dehumanizing and despicable institutions of prostitution, human trafficking and child sexual exploitation.

The Dominican Republic is said to be the “largest Caribbean resort destination in the world”. Well, a good part of that “tourism” is “adult entertainment” and “sex tourism”. Sex tourism is also a thriving business in Kenya where children as young as 12 are forced by poverty and economic circumstances to sell their bodies. The Kenyan authorities turn a blind eye because of the supposed economic boost “sex tourism” brings to that country.

Thailand is on the top of the “sex tourism” list and Bangkok’s red light district is the stuff of the movies. Human trafficking is the principal source of sex workers in Thailand. It is the same story in the Philippines where a whopping 40-60% of tourists who visit the country are estimated to have traveled there for sex tourism alone. Brazil is no different where sex tourism and sex trafficking are rampant. The Brazilian government is said to be taking additional measures to deal with the problem during the 2016 Olympics.

Most currency strapped regimes like the T-TPLF are increasingly turning to “sex tourism” to generate revenue. Ethiopia under the T-TPLF has become Africa’s center of prostitution. I did not say that. The U.S. State Department’s 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report” did:

Ethiopia is a source and, to a lesser extent, destination and transit country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Girls from Ethiopia’s rural areas are exploited in domestic servitude and, less frequently, prostitution within the country…  The central market in Addis Ababa is home to the largest collection of brothels in Africa, with girls as young as 8-years-old in prostitution in these establishments. Ethiopian girls are forced into domestic servitude and prostitution outside of Ethiopia, primarily in Djibouti, South Sudan, and in the Middle East. (Emphasis added.)

The mecca of medical tourism in Africa today is South Africa where they have many private, world-class medical institutions with highly skilled doctors and cutting edge technology provide world-class treatment. I am told by very reliable sources that South Africa is the preferred destination for T-TPLF medical tourists.

Affluent patients from the Middle East visit Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and India for treatment.

Let’s face it. Who can afford the Qatari “resorts” once they are built?

What would be the attraction for those coming to use the resorts? The smoggy air of Addis Ababa?

Perhaps an urban safari for young women…

Does Ethiopia really need resorts for the relaxation and entertainment of the corruptly rich and foreign sex fiends?

Now, you may be able to appreciate why I am deeply suspicious and freaked out by any “resort” idea in Addis Ababa!

Let me also say that I get no pleasure raining on the T-TPLF parade, but when they try to pull an obvious fast one that insults our intelligence, I get pissed off.

Here is the bottom line: Does Ethiopia really need resorts for relaxation and entertainment of the corruptly rich and foreign sex fiends when over 80 percent of the population lives in tattered thatched-roof tukuls?

Here is the question that completely boggles my mind.

How could any regime even dream about building “resorts” when 15 million of its people are facing starvation and famine and dying by the hundreds every single day?

Is it not immoral and purely evil for a regime to go out looking for “resort developers” when children are dying off like flies?

The Biblical plague of famine has already arrived in Ethiopia. Of course, I have been announcing the return of the Black Horseman of the Apocalypse since I caught a glimpse of him three years ago.

This past October, I asked the simple question: “Can the T-TPLF Stop the Famine in Ethiopia?”

It seems the T-TPLF has welcomed the Black Horseman with open arms and let him ride free and do their dirty work.

According to UNICEF:

… An estimated 435,000 children are in need of treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM), and more than 1.7 million children, pregnant women and lactating women are in need of supplementary feeding.  More than 5.8 million people are in need of emergency water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services.  Water shortages have given rise to hygiene issues, leading to water-related public health concerns, including scabies. The drought has also affected school attendance, with more than 2 million children on the verge of dropping out and over 3,000 schools at risk of closure.  This has significantly increased children’s vulnerability to protection concerns, including violence, exploitation, early marriage, trafficking and abuse…  (Emphasis added.)

The T-TPLF says, the crisis is caused entirely by El Nino, a climatic event which allegedly creates extreme condition of drought and floods in different parts of the globe. In other words, the T-TPLF says no rain, comes drought, follows starvation. The fact that the T-TPLF has been chasing resort developers instead of advanced planning to deal with the famine has nothing to do with it.

Graham Peebles in a recent article in Counterpunch reveals that poor governance, “government duplicity and deceit” play an important role in the catastrophic food crises.  According to Peebles:

Consumed with vain ideals of regional status, economic development (although there has been some growth the country ranks as the third poorest in the world) and a distorted national image, the ruling party – a brutal dictatorship, despite democratic pretensions – lacks the political will and compassionate honesty to deal with the current situation openly. They have stopped people in Addis Ababa and elsewhere collecting funds for famine victims, and, consistent with past denials, Deputy Prime Minister, Demeke Mekonen, commenting on a BBC programme about the crisis, is reported to have told a local journalist that “there is no such thing as famine in Ethiopia these days…”

So, who is to blame for the deaths of tens of thousands of Ethiopians? El Nino or El T-TPLF?

The Famine Early Warning system (FEWS), the “leading provider of early warning and analysis on food insecurity created by USAID”, has been “reporting the figure of 15 million Ethiopians facing dire food shortages since early December 2015.”

FEWS described Ethiopia as “the country with the largest acutely food insecure population in the world”.

FEWS concluded: “Already, significant populations in northern Somali region and southern Afar are in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) [Integrated Food Security Phase Classification], meaning that they are unable to access adequate food for survival and face an increased risk of malnutrition and mortality.”

15 million Ethiopians today are in IPC 4 (“Humanitarian Emergency”). The next and final stage (p. 4) is the end stage, IPC 5 (Famine/Humanitarian Catastrophe). To see the latest  FEWS “drought” map, click here.

In February 2014, it was reported that “Ethiopia finds itself in critical need of donors’ assistance, in order to feed 2.7 million people.”  That was for early 2014. U.S. tax payers shelled out $218 million.

In 2013, Ethiopia received nearly $700m in humanitarian aid to feed over 4 million people. U.S. tax payers shelled out $236 million.

In September 2012, “The Ethiopian government announced 3.7 million of its citizens will require humanitarian assistance between August and December of this year, up from 3.2 million in January.” U.S. taxpayers shelled out $307 million.

In 2011, international humanitarian food aid to Ethiopia amounted to nearly $500 million. U.S taxpayers shelled out $313 million.

In August 2010, UN FAO reported, “An estimated 5.2 million [Ethiopians] still depend on emergency food assistance and agencies agree on a severe situation of high hunger in the long term.”

In a 2010 Report, Human Rights Watch documented the cynical and deadly games the T-TPLF has played using donor-financed fertilizer, seeds, food aid and jobs to build an extensive network of local officials, militias and spies to control who gets what, when and how. The T-TPLF snagged $588 million in international humanitarian aid.

Martin Plaut in a recent article in News Statesman argued, “Ethiopia’s “biblical” famines of 1973 – 74 and 1984 – 85 left hundreds of thousands dead, probably around 200,000 and 400,000 respectively. The first resulted in the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie; the second contributed to the end of the Marxist regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam.”

So the only question is whether history will be kind enough to repeat itself one more time.

I would say history always repeats itself for those who do not learn and unlearn from history.

UNICEF says, “An estimated 435,000 children are in need of treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM), and more than 1.7 million children, pregnant women and lactating women are in need of supplementary feeding.”

A hungry child is an angry child!

The T-TPLF continues to clamp down on all famine reporting in Ethiopia today. If people across the world could see Ethiopian children starving to death they may stretch out a helping hand, a hand up.

No matter the hands of man! “Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.”

T-TPLF! Tear down your stonewall of silence, deceit, pretense, intrigue and skullduggery so that the eyes of the world could see and be horrified by the victims of YOUR famine.

Let the international media go into the famine-ravaged areas and report to the world YOUR crimes against humanity!

It is said that “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”

It is also true that the “truth shall set you free”.

But when the long hidden truth about the 2015-16 famine comes out in the court of justice one day, it may not free the T-TPLF!

After being subjected to daily killings for peacefully demanding their rights for the last 3 months, the Oromo people are within their legitimate right to hit back against ruthless Agazi soldiers. Last month elders from all provinces of Oromia traveled to Finfinne demanding to speak with appropriate authorities. But no one wanted to talk to them.The federal government refused to see them. The regional authorities were also prevented from meeting with them. Hence they left recorded and written message which included demanding immediate withdrawals of the military from villages and towns. The elders explained with evidence how soldiers have been abusing women, attacking youth for no reason, robbing businessmen and obstructing farmers. This demand was echoed by OPDO central committee which demanded withdrawal of federal forces from the region. Yet the military does not only remain in Oromia but also more reinforcement is being sent to several districts.

By Assegid Habtewold

Based on Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie’s Global TED Talk, which was filmed in 2009, I recently wrote a blog. The talk was very powerful- over 9 million people have watched it. In that blog, I complained concerning the unfair treatment of the media at world stage against our country. Notwithstanding of Ethiopia being one of the two countries in Africa that never been colonized, irrespective of our coffee- one of Starbucks’ signature brands, regardless of our long distance runners who hold multiple world records, the media is obsessed in painting our nation with a single story of famine on a consistent basis. It is true, as you read this article, millions of Ethiopians are starving, thanks to the maladministration and faulty policies of TPLF. But, we have so many other great stories that should have been shared to the world. At the end of the blog, I put forward some suggestions on how to tackle distorted single stories, brand oneself and one’s business. If you are interested, you may check it out from here:http://www.successpws.com/?p=1338

The blog was shared on my social media pages, and one of my followers, who happened to be someone I know very well, had read the commentary and raised the subject when we met to discuss another business matter. We took time to exchange ideas regarding some of the points addressed in the blog. We covered lots of grounds. We recognized the importance of overcoming stereotyping by sharing more stories. The common understanding we reached in the end was that we should not be silenced, and allow others to mischaracterize us- this is our individual responsibility to take charge in defining who we really are using our authentic stories. I like Harvey Fierstein’s powerful advice, “Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.” My friend didn’t have any problem with that. His concern was branding, rather, the lack of branding in our community. He pointed out that many of Ethiopian organizations are plagued by lack of branding more than other communities.

Even if we attempt to brand ourselves with great stories, my friend figured it out that some people might still disregard those and create for us single stories that make us look bad or even vulnerable. Of course, the architect storyteller- TPLF, which has been fabricating perverted single stories against some ethnic groups for its sinister agenda- divide and conquer, was also in our radar. In this article, I’d like to share with you the main discussion points, and a little more. Since we are talking about story telling, I tried my best to share with you first hand and true stories as much as possible.

Ethiopian businesses and organizations are plagued by lack of branding
It was bothersome for us to acknowledge the fact that the majority of Ethiopian organizations are unable to pick a brand and create a story in alignment with their mission. We see duplication everywhere and in every industry. For example, someone opens a restaurant in one corner. Behold, someone starts a restaurant the next door with a different name and begins serving the same menu. You struggle to choose, especially if you aren’t from the area. They made it hard for their customers. You have to go and eat at each place before you understand their unique offers.

The same with Ethiopian churches we both know in the DC metro area. We attempted to figure out their brands. We couldn’t. They have the same mission with different wordings. You can’t see any major brand difference. Most of them tell you the same stories with different spicing. When you ask some churchgoers why they frequent in that particular church, they reason out that they are attending there because it has childcare or free parking or it’s very close to where they live or because they know the preacher.

I plan to send this article to some Diaspora Ethiopian websites, and I may find myself in trouble but I should disclose that we also talked about them too. Of course, we agreed that the editors of many of the websites that we know of put extraordinary efforts, sacrifices, and dedications to serve our community. We enumerated the challenges they face including from the ruling party that blocks their contents from reaching millions back home. There is no denial that these websites have broken the online media monopoly of TPLF’s mouthpieces. They’ve been providing alternative news to our community for years. Yet, as much as we admired and appreciated what they do, except those few who took the extra mile to brand themselves, we concluded that the majority of these websites are duplicates- unable to provide unique service to their respective audience.

Think about Fox News and MSNBC for a moment. These media outlets branded themselves so much so that they made the lives of their audience easy. It is unlikely that a conservative constantly watches MSNBC. Likewise, a liberal doesn’t sit there and watches Fox News the whole day except in those instances where she might have pressed the channel’s number by accident. Even then, she doesn’t stay there, she switches channel quickly.

Successful individuals and businesses understood the importance of creating a clear brand. Not only they know why they exist, but also artfully crafted a distinctive brand that differentiates them from the crowd. Geoffrey Zakarian asserted, “Determine who you are and what your brand is, and what you’re not. The rest of it is just a lot of noise.” If you know your true self, why you exist, your unique offer (s), and if you communicate that skillfully to the right target audience; your success is inevitable, if not now, at the end of the day.

Please note that we were not complaining regarding the great services our restaurants, churches, websites, associations, and organizations have been delivering to our people, and their extra ordinary commitment and dedications. We need as many services and organizations as possible as far as they pick their own single lane. The problem is that many of them haven’t come up with a single unique story true to who they are and what they stand for. They thread on a single path crowding the field and stumbling one another in the process. Rather than finding their uniqueness that differentiates them from the rest, and creating a story that reflects this uniqueness, they appear replicas. Bruce Lee advised, “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it”.

This is another long story by itself so let me stop it here. But, before I do so, let me leave you with this question: Have you crafted a brand for yourself and/or your organization? If you have, you must be one of a kind. If you haven’t, you are permitting others to create one for you, and you may not like it.

Are you happy with the single story people are using to define you?
In our conversation, we came to realize that even if you created your own brand, people may deliberately or inadvertently disregard it and create one for you that doesn’t fully reflect who you are and your cause. To make a point, my friend asked me, “Are you happy with the single story other people are using to define you?” I confessed, “No. Regardless of my efforts to have a brand that could have painted me in a positive light, I sometimes hear stories that make me crazy.” My friend sympathized and added, “I relate to that. It’s frustrating when people prefer to pick stories of ours (accurate or not) that misrepresent us.” While nodding my head in agreement, I noted, “From my experience, many of these stories are distorted and far from the truth.”

One of the decisions I recently made was to be as open as possible. And therefore, I decided to give my friend a real example on how people disregard many of your great stories and pick one (even alter it) in an effort to discredit, blackmail, or hurt you for whatever reason they may have in doing such a filthy job. Until that point, I never shared the following story to anyone. Nonetheless, I decided to be vulnerable and share it with my friend and now to you concerning a single story that was once used to misrepresent me.

Disclaimer
I’ve a disclaimer though. I’m not here pausing myself as a big shot. What is a big deal if my little image gets distorted, you may ask? You’re right. It’s not a big deal; I’m fine with that. Nonetheless, I always believe that writers should share some intimate stories close to home once in awhile to connect with readers- to show that they too are humans like everyone else with some frustrations. Of course, I understand the risk of doing so. In our culture, those individuals who talk about themselves are considered egotistical. Well, this is one of the admission fees we writers must be willing to pay 

Confronted by a man who heard an inaccurate single story
Here is how I began the story, “I’ve a friend that I respect and admire; that is why he is still my friend. The way we began our friendship, however, was awkward”. My friend leaned forward to hear what I had to say. It seemed I drew his at most attention. I cleared my throat and continued, “A couple of years ago, I facilitated a workshop in Virginia, and at the end of the session, I stayed behind to chat with some members of my audience. While I was chatting with a group of participants who had questions, comments, and suggestions for future improvements, someone tapped me on my shoulder. When I turned my head, here you go a middle aged man who looked a little agitated. He demanded, ‘Doc, can I talk to you for a second?’”

My friend interjected and asked, “Shouldn’t he wait until you finish?” He was right- he should have waited. My guess was that he must have been in hurry to leave, and thus couldn’t wait until I was done with the group. Any ways, I apologized and kindly asked him to wait for me till I’m done with the group.

Even if I was chatting with the group, in the back of my mind, I was thinking about this gentleman. I asked myself inaudibly, “Why he didn’t join the conversation?” I even complained in my head silently, “The topic is leadership and whatever he intends to discuss, why he doesn’t share it within the group setting?” Since I was eager to know why this fellow wants to talk to me in private, I rushed the discussion, apologized the group, and walked to the place where he sat at a corner of the conference hall.

He stood and introduced his name, “My name is Mamo (not his real name) and I’m new to the US.” And he did let me know that he would like to be straight with me. I gestured my two hands downward and invited him to sit, and myself took the next seat. I didn’t dive into the main issue; I struck up small talks first. Maybe, at subconscious level, I wasn’t prepared to confront the issue right away. I asked him questions like when he arrived here, how he found the US, and the likes. Finally, I got the guts and redirected our conversation toward the main thing, I smiled profusely and asked: “What was the issue you would like to be straight with me?”

Mamo kept quite for a while, and appeared hesitant. I wish I knew what he was thinking right there. Was he reconsidering his plan to confront me? Was he struggling to decide from where he should begin? I wasn’t sure. Nodding my head, I encouraged him to speak. In the meantime, my eyes locked with his. It looked like my eyes were scanning his to figure out what he was thinking. I couldn’t tell what was running in his mind at that moment but my eyes’ reading communicated a signal that read something like this: This person is a genuine, truthful, and caring person. Looking back retrospectively, my assessment was right. There is a saying, “When you look into someone’s eyes you can see their soul.”

Finally, cautiously, Mamo spoke up, “I must be honest with you.” He is a man of few words. “I understand, go ahead,” I allowed him to continue. He explained, “A friend of mine gave me a ride and on the way I asked him to join the training. Unfortunately, he feels that you disrespect us, and thus, he didn’t want to participate.” I was confused and instantly became defensive. Don’t be surprised or alarmed. Some of my colleagues have already told me so many times that I’m too defensive. Unlike being defensive, this is the first time I was accused of disrespecting others. I thought I’ve grown to the point where I treat each person with dignity regardless of my disagreement with his or her ideas and positions. With a cynical tone, I demanded, “Who are you and how did I disrespect you?”

Initially, I never thought for a second that this man was going to open my eyes, and provide me a feedback I’d remain thankful in the rest of my life. There was a brief silence that felt eternity. I didn’t know what to expect. I was eager to know whom I disrespected unintentionally. The next statement he uttered staggered me though. Mamo professed, “You disrespect people from Wollo.”

I was bewildered and asked, “What do you mean?” Mamo continued, “My friend told me that you singled out and criticized individuals from Wollo in your book.” To buy time and refresh my memory, I threw a question at him, “Did you read the book?” He smiled and admitted that he didn’t. But he trusted his friend who told him this single story. It’s hard for me to think why someone intentionally tells inaccurate story to his friend. Who knows, he might be a victim himself where he heard the story from a third party. In any case, it’s true. In my first book, I criticized some individuals who happened to be from one region.

Creating a distorted single story by taking things out of context
The title of the book Mamo was talking about is “Redefining Leadership: Navigating the Path from Birthrights to Fulfillment in Life” It was published in 2011. The book has five parts. The first part argued that leadership is the birthright of all. Leadership should be adopted as a life pattern was discussed in the second part. Part three enlisted the true measures (fruits) of leadership. The barriers that deny billions of people from becoming leaders were discussed in part four. The last part provided the most important leadership attributes individuals need to develop in order to claim their birthright of leadership, adopt it as a life pattern, bear the fruits of true leadership, and breakthrough the barriers that kept them at bay from enjoying the full benefits (fruits) that come from becoming a leader.

Since the book was partly autobiographical, in part two, I shared the different leadership initiatives that I took, the people I interacted, where we disagreed, the challenges I faced, and the lessons I learned. My innocent intention was to demonstrate the need to adopt leadership as a lifestyle, not as a career left for a few. The goal was to inspire each and every one of us to become the leader of our destiny, and take leadership initiatives wherever we find ourselves. The book argued that it doesn’t matter where we are right now and whether we have the formal leadership authority or not. Wherever we may find ourselves, we should, at least, lead ourselves to get fulfilled in life and also successfully accomplish our job descriptions.

The main thesis of the book is that leadership is not just for few who are orators and charismatic. It begins by leading self first. Let me modify this familiar saying- “Charity begins at home,” and say, “Leadership begins with self.” Once we lead ourselves successfully, we begin to influence and finally lead others effectively. The purpose of part two was to signify the importance of not waiting until we are given leadership authority to take leadership initiatives. This part of the book was dedicated to show how the author tried his best to pursue leadership as a lifestyle- nothing more, nothing less.

Coming back to my encounter with Mamo, I immediately understood the damage I’d done inadvertently. I was crashed, felt bad, and even stupid. God is my only witness. Why would I intentionally target people from Wollo? While writing the book, it never occurred to me that most of the individuals I disagreed with were from the same region. I never bothered to find out their hometown. Of course, I wouldn’t have changed what I wrote nor refrained from speaking my mind publicly regarding the officials, even if I had known their hometown back then. Nonetheless, one thing I would have done was coining some disclaimers to deter some people from twisting my intention.

It wasn’t neither about the individuals I mentioned in the book nor myself. Helping my readers understand a principle by providing some of my own stories as examples was my preoccupation. Unless I first test something and see whether it works, I never write about it, teach, or advocate it. I wrote my first leadership book after two decades of practicing leadership as youth, student, political, and business leader.

I explained to Mamo that it was coincidental. It happened that the majority of the officials that I interacted as a student leader of AAU Students’ Union in 1997/98 were from one region. As the president of the union, I was required to negotiate with the president of AAU, Professor Mogessie Ashenafi, on so many issues that affected students. When there was a stalemate between the union and the university administration, at the end of my term, we invited the then Minister of Education Genet Zewdie to intervene and break the deadlock.

Yes, I was naïve- to say the least, to request the then Speaker of the House Dawit Yohannes to allow graduating classes of AAU Students attend the parliament when ministers present their annual reports. The idea was that when, for instance, the minister of industry reports in the parliament, graduating students from engineering and other relevant fields of studies attend the report and ask questions. As you might have already guessed, the request was denied. Of course, later, I heard that they allowed high school students to attend such reports. Knowing TPLF’s animosity toward university students, I should have known better. Any ways, in my book, I shared my encounters, conversations, and my disappointments with these officials.

Even if Genet were my sister or mother or wife, I wanted Mamo to know, I’d have criticized her the same way I did to the then minister of Education. Even if Mogessie were my brother or father or brother-in-law, I’d have shared in the book my frustrations toward him. When I interacted with these officials or when I was writing the book, I made it clear to Mamo, their hometown never came to my mind nor swayed me of my opinions. For that matter, I sent the manuscript to some of my colleagues for feedback, and no one alarmed me. I guess they too were unaware of the unintended blender I was making. In short, I didn’t see it was coming.

Becoming friends without checking our ethnic backgrounds are gone?
Maybe I am old school. I still don’t care about the ethnic origin and hometown of my friends and colleagues. Some of them have names that are self explanatory of their ethnic background; some don’t. Some introduce themselves and reveal their hometown starting from day one, some don’t.

Once, I was chatting with my long time friend. We first met during my early stay in the US, in 2005, if my memory serves me correctly. After more than 8 years, she spoke some Oromigna phrases during one of our usual hangouts. I was surprised and asked, “Do you speak Oromigna? I didn’t know.” From her face, I could read her disappointment. She looked surprised because she thought I had befriended with her knowing her ethnic background.

When I told her I didn’t know her ethnic origin, she told me that I must be naïve not to pay attention to people’s ethnic background these days. As a friend who cares for me, she educated me. “Assegid, even if you don’t care, others care about your background. Don’t be delusional. Things have changed since TPLF came to power. Don’t think for a second that people become your friend without first knowing your ethnic background.”

Right there, I argued with her but promised to give her the benefit of the doubt. Subsequently, I began paying a little attention and found out that my friend was somewhat right. Once, I socialized with a lady on face-book. We began talking over the phone after chatting online for a while. One day, she stunned me when she suddenly asked whether I am a Tigrian. I was uncomfortable and unable to answer the question right away; shame on me  “Why do you want to know?” I answered her question with another question. It was just for her information, she insisted, and I told her, “I’m not.”

To make the story short, the friendship cut short. Later, I asked myself so many questions. When she first reached out, was she thinking that I was a Tirgian because of my last name (Habtewold)? And now I’m not, the friendship is over? In the end, I accepted defeat, and buried my hope to be her friend. Nonetheless, I didn’t judge her. I rather sympathized and concluded that my former friend might be a victim of a single story about non-Tigrians. Rather than staying to hear more stories, she ran away when she found out that I was not a Tigrian. The danger of a single story in action!

Should we ask what kind of blood runs in our friends’ veins?
Coming back to my book, I talked a little bit longer regarding Leditu. I shared in the book that I joined EDP in 2002, and had been a Central Committee Member and Vice Chairman of Research Department up until I came to the US. Of course, before joining the party, I conducted a mini research, and found out that, back then, EDP was the only multiparty. Other parties were ethnic based. I also held discussions with some known figures in Ethiopian politics. I had also a couple of back and forth discussions with my AAU Students’ Union colleague Andwalem Aragie, who is now in jail. He was part of the leadership of EDP and I had so many questions, which I wanted to get answers first hand from one of the leaders. He answered my questions and finally convinced me to join the party, and introduced me to Leditu.

Let me say a few words here. I never asked Andwalem what kind of blood runs in his veins. We were friends, ate together, and spent time drinking coffee and discussing politics. We cared about our country. What brought us together was the love of our country and its great people. The story I still play and replay in my mind, again and again, is his courage and commitment to freedom- nothing else.

For the sake of justice, democracy, and the rule of law, he sacrificed his wife and kids. This great respect and honor I have for him doesn’t change even if I come to know his bloodline in the future. That additional information doesn’t increase a bit or decrease my respect toward my colleague. I know the majority of Ethiopians think like I do, and that is why I don’t lose hope when I come across a few who think different.

Differentiating the person from his ideas and positions
Unlike Andwalem, I knew Leditu’s hometown- Wollo. Regardless, I had been one of his close colleagues in the party until after the 2005 election when he decided to split from Kinijit and join Parliament. Prior to the 2005 election, I had supported him unconditionally. Behind the scene, such as during the 2005 Televised discussions, I provided him materials and introduced him to some of my friends who were experts as he prepared for some of the debates.

Where Leditu was born never altered my perception of him as a person, I still consider him as an articulate smart politician. I’m a believer who insists that we should differentiate the person from his ideas and stands. For me, each and every individual that I meet is the image of God. I honor the individual whether rich or poor, educated or uneducated, famous or obscure, whether I agree with him or not, it doesn’t matter. It also doesn’t matter a person’s racial/ethnic background and religious affiliation for me to respect the person.

While I was part of the leadership of EDP, my loyalty was to the ideals of our party and its values, not to an individual. When we parted ways, myself and other more senior leaders like Drs. Admasu Gebeyehu and Hailu Araya, it was because of his wrong and untimely decision that we thought did hurt the national interest of our country and its people. Yes, I disagree with many of his stands and what he still does that harms the opposition camp but I never thought of him less than I used to as a person.

I’m from Harar. Even if Leditu were from Harar, I’d have the same opinion of him. For that matter, many politicians from Wollo hate him more than others. By the way, when I tell my friends I’m from Harar for the first time, they couldn’t believe me. I see on their face disbelief. Why? Because I don’t fit 100 % to the single story they have heard concerning people from that part of the country. You know what I mean  Fortunately, the single story many Ethiopians heard about people from Harar isn’t harmful. They say that Hararians are carefree, free spirited, sociable, and frank. But, we know that not all people from Harar are like that.

Of course, there were some politician friends who were angry the fact that I mentioned Leditu’s name in my book. They accused me of trying to resuscitate him into Ethiopian politics. I wasn’t attempting to resurrect nor demonize him. I was just sharing my thoughts without any hidden agenda.

After explaining everything, I gave Mamo my book to read it and provide me his feedback. After that encounter, we met a couple of times and reviewed some of the points I discussed in the book. Since he was willing to checkout himself the single story he heard concerning me, and I was open to provide him more stories, he understood from where I came from when I wrote the book. Since he had done this amazing thing, I remained respectful to this friend of mine the more. While the person who told him the distorted single story bought into that one faulty story of mine, he sought explanation. And therefore, gave me a chance to tell more stories.

Silence only benefits TPLF
I don’t blame the person who came up with that disingenuous single story. The ruling party has been using state resources to create division among people, even people within the same ethnic group. They create dissention among the different regions of Amhara (Gojam, Wollo, North Shewa, Gonder), Oromo (Harar, Wellega, Arsi, Shewa, etc.), and other ethnic groups. They’ve succeeded to some extent. Many of us bought into the biased single story they created for each region. It’s common to hear some people from one region saying, for instance, “What do you expect from her, she is so and so because she is from that region.” While we throw slings of dirty name-callings against one another, TPLF remains in power by exploiting our weaknesses.

While TPLF and its cronies, by taping into some groups’ esprit de corps, wage war at many fronts based on deceits, the majority of us buried our head in the sand, and preferred to remain silent. We think that it’s unlike Ethiopian to talk about it. We remained in denial regarding the damage TPLF has done while we shied away from openly chat about it. This silent strategy is not helping the alternative democratic forces, which are trying their best to create unity in diversity.

Believe me, it was killing me as I was trying to convince Mamo that I wasn’t biased by the identity of the individuals I mentioned in my book. It took courage for me to share this story online and in public. I’m aware that it may be a little bit uncomfortable to some of my readers, and also I don’t know how my sharing of this story turns out. I took risk, and believed that I’d be treated fairly if in case my discourse in this commentary crossed the line.

In my humble opinion, I’m persuaded that we cannot just ignore addressing such a sensitive issue just because we think we are above it. We’ve to open up and discuss about it publicly. Let’s deny TPLF its deadly weapon of divide and conquer. Let’s dialogue! Let’s listen! Let’s know each other! Let’s break the silence! Let’s dispel the inaccurate stories the spying machine of TPLF disseminates. We can only achieve that if and only if we are bold, frank, and vulnerable.

It’s time to come out in the open and say no to single stories of individuals and groups. Time to share as many great stories as possible. In this case, the proverbial- ‘Silence is golden’- hasn’t benefited us. Only TPLF’s menacing agendas continued flourishing. We should say enough is enough, break the silence, and dissipate TPLF made distorted single stories that divide, create suspicion, resentment, and lack of a united front in the fight against dictatorship.

For us to mend the relationship damages TPLF inflicted on our society, create reconciliation, bring harmony among ourselves, and solidify our unity, we need to engage in conversations among ourselves. Like Mamo, let’s confront one another when we hear single stories that further separate us. In short, silence only benefits the ruling party that employs divide and conquer policy through single stories.

TPLF uses single stories for its own advantage
For its evil intention, the ruling party crafted single stories for the dominant ethnic groups in the country. For instance, TPLF created for the Amhara ethnic group a single story of a cruel master. To frighten people from other ethnic groups, TPLF’s cadres and politicians constantly paint Amharas as power mongers, prideful, and egotistical. To help it create a damning image, TPLF picked some tragic incidents from the past ignoring so many great things people from this ethnic group have done to the country- the sacrifices and services they rendered. As Chimamanda Adichie said it well, “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”

Once I had an uncomfortable conversation with someone who knew me while I was at AAU. We met at an event in downtown DC. During the lunch break, he greeted me and told me when and where we met. Before he got frustrated, he had tried to remind me the occasion. I couldn’t remember the encounter for the life of me. That had happened to me so many times, and he was gracious. We decided to eat lunch together. We used the opportunity to talk about the event in progress. At one point in our conversation, we engaged in hot discussion concerning one of the positions of the speaker. He was a funny guy so you couldn’t tell whether he was joking or serious. “You know what Assegid? I know you very well. You’re a typical Amahara!!!” He thought I was a pure Amhara, and that was why I wasn’t yielding. He didn’t know my bloodline is a mix of Amharas (from Gonder and Northern Shewa, and maybe, from other regions since I’m still instigating and the list may continue), and Oromos. I asked him, while smiling to conceal my discomfort, why he reached that conclusion. He said, “Look at you, you’re arrogant and prideful”. He must have heard a single story regarding Amharas. I confessed that he has a point. I’d heard that too many times in the past. Yes, I may appear over confident, and sometimes argumentative.

What that fellow didn’t understand was that my confidence exudes not because of the blood that runs in my veins. Arrogance for me is when someone inflates himself, and says things he doesn’t have any clue. I’m self-aware and recognize both my strengths and shortcomings. I never thought for a second that I know everything. Rather, I go to school, study seriously, read tones of books, hangout with people smarter than I’m, research, think and reflect to grow on a consistent basis. Humility doesn’t mean disowning who you are, refraining from sharing what you know, and renouncing what you have. Doing these things is called hypocrisy. Pride comes when who you’re, what you have and know prevents you from learning from others and relating with people whom you think beneath you.

For your information, I’m aware of the delicate line that lies between being prideful and self-reliant. I may sometimes cross the line but, especially these days, I quickly recognize my stumbling and quickly get back inline. I also make sure not to open my mouth before I do my homework. I heed to the advice of one of my favorite motivational speakers Les Brown who frequently says, “Once you open your mouth you tell the world who you are.” One thing I vowed longtime ago, however, was that I don’t want to fake my appearance and style, and muzzle myself just so that I may appear humble. No one can able to tell someone’s humility by looking at the way that person speaks, dresses, and carries him/herself. It takes reading someone’s heart, and the last time I checked, no one has the ability to do so.

My preoccupation in life is serving others with my talent, and sharing what I know to others. I rather consider not fulfilling these obligations as a crime. Knowing that there’re lots of people who need your service, knowledge, insights, and refraining from coming out in the open to serve is selfish and cowardice. Only cowards mask their unique and true identity to fit in. Only spineless people abstain from speaking their mind and sharing what they know for fear of making mistakes and then from being criticized. These kinds of people are the ones I call prideful, and you find such people in every ethnic group. They don’t want their ego is brushed and therefore they hide in a close set in the name of humility, saying and doing nothing. I’m sharing these principles with you not to brag. Our people should be encouraged to seek their uniqueness, share what they know, and serve our community using their talent and gifting. Of course, while serving, we should remain life long learners, and if possible, get mentoring. There are out there people better and experienced than we are, let’s strive to learn from the best while serving.

At any rate, my poor companion was brainwashed to reduce all Amharas into one single story. Okay, let’s say that he was right- I’m not humble but rather arrogant, and overconfident. Is this a true story for millions of Amharas? NO! There are numerous humble Amaharas that I know of. I also know lots of prideful individuals from other ethnic groups.

Likewise, I heard and read single stories regarding Oromos. Among other things, they say, Oromos are secessionists. Really? Let’s ignore our past. I personally have great Oromo friends who believe in unity. The problem here is that some of us who are pro unity are acting over zealous. We bought into a single story. We rush to conclude that any one who shows a little concern or question whether the unity we’re envisioning may squash his/her dream of equality, is a separatist. In true democracy, why anyone seeks independence? If we’re now fighting to bring true democracy, we shouldn’t lose sleep over who is going to stay, and who leaves the future democratic union built on win-win relationship.

Like the rest of the ethnic groups in Ethiopia, I presume, the majority Oromos knows deep in their heart that unity is strength and power. They are the majority. It doesn’t give any sense for them to seek separation from their brothers and sisters, as far as there is true democracy and mutual respect. Thus, let’s stop this prejudice for once and for all.

I also heard many single stories about Tigrians. It’s common to label Tigrians as racists, for lack of a better word. It’s true that TPLF is hiding behind Tigrians. It won the hearts of many individuals from this ethnic group. By using fear, so many tricks, bribes, appeasements, forces, and manipulations, TPLF alienated Tigrians from the rest of Ethiopians. They succeeded to brainwash many to believe that they’ll be wiped out from the face of Ethiopia if TPLF loses power. Nonetheless, there are many patriotic Tigrians who strongly detest TPLF and its cheap propagandas against other ethnic groups. These fellow Ethiopians didn’t buy into the single stories TPLF repetitively tells to negatively paint and demonize other ethnic groups.

What I am saying is that we too- the alternative democratic forces from different camps shouldn’t just buy into one single story of all Tigrians. Let’s stop stereotyping. This only benefits TPLF. The more we ignore their multiple stories and misrepresent those Tigrians who are not part of the TPLF mafia minority circle, we are denying ourselves true Ethiopian partners. We need as many Tigrians, both elites and rank and file TPLF members, to join the struggle in freeing our motherland from a few Tigrian elites who are architects of the ethnic Apartheid state in Ethiopia.

In conclusion, using a single story is dangerous. It leads to stereotyping. It denies us unity of purpose. We cannot create synergy in the fight against dictatorship if we fall into distorted single stories about individuals, ethnic groups, and religions. It only contributes toward keeping the tyrants in power for many years to come. The more we tumble to single distorted stories, the more we delay our chance to enjoy freedom, democracy, justice, and the rule of law.

Enough talking. What can we do to change the situation in our favor? We can do so many things but let me take the initiative and put forward some suggestions, and look forward to hear your additions.

What can we do about it? Let’s:

1. Stop labeling. Labeling had been there in our culture before the advent of TPLF except that it has been institutionalized, funded by the state, and in turn its magnitude has skyrocketed in the past more than 2 decades. This syndrome should be expelled from our culture if our desire is to live together in harmony and mutual respect. Soren Kierkegaard was quoted as saying, “Once you label me, you negate me.” There is nothing we benefit as a nation from labeling one another except those who are now in power, whose job seems keep playing the negating game  It’s easier for our brain to put every one in a group into one basket, attach on it a label based on a single story. It’s simpler to say all Oromos are like that; all Amharas are like that; all Gojames are like that; All Gonderes are like that; All Hararians are like that; all Eritreans are like that; all Tigrians are like that; all Muslims are like that; all Somalis are like that, and so on. Let’s treat each member of an ethnic group individually based on their unique stories. Let’s stop labeling.

2. Promote diversity and inclusion. Ethiopia is beautiful not because of her landscapes. The Military regime- Derge cheated us as if there is no place on earth closer to our sceneries. Many of us finally learned the truth. The world is filled with magnificent beautiful places, even more attractive than some of ours. Ethiopia is beautiful mainly because of its diverse people and its history. That is her uniqueness and competitive advantage. Unfortunately, since TPLF took power and adopted a faulty policy of divide and conquer, many Ethiopians have fallen to this trick and constructed impenetrable walls to keep out people who aren’t like them. More than ever in our history, we have reached to the point of forming community organizations, associations, and churches based on ethnic affiliations (even worst, based on regions/hometowns). I’m not blaming and belittling any one. Many fought TPLF’s policies and avoided creating divisive walls for so long but finally they too gave up. They justified forming their own monotone groups to survive attacks and exclusions from other groups. Our diversity is our beauty and strength. We should be willing to embrace diversity, become inclusive. We should take the extra mile to listen multiple stories of diverse brothers and sisters, embrace, and own them as if they’re ours.

3. Unlearn the tricks we inherited from the master manipulator- TPLF. I wish all community organizations, clubs, and political parties are true multinationals. It is a reality- I gave up. Now, more than ever, there are ethnic and hometown/region based organizations. That is fine as far as they don’t endeavor to cover it up. What should be unacceptable is deceiving others. Unfortunately, some ‘Ethiopian’ organizations learned the trick of the master manipulator TPLF. We all know EPRD is a mask. The real power is in the hands of a few family members within TPLF. Some give their organization an Ethiopian name but, at the core, it is led and operated by a group from the same ethnic group or worst region. These organizations should unlearn this trick, and begin to be true to their names. Otherwise, sooner or later, people will find out. When that happens they lose their credibility, and no one trust and work with them any longer. Trust is key to build enduring relationships among our people and organizations. Without this foundation, nothing meaningful could be achieved. Management expert Stephen Covey emphasized, “Trust is the glue of life. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” Therefore, those organizations hiding behind the name of Ethiopia while promoting tribalism should either give their organization its localized identity or live up to their Ethiopian name. Either way, they could play their genuine roles in creating a unified front based on our common interests. We can still embrace one another regardless of our differences. We can co-exist with our multiple distinctive stories as Ethiopians, and of course, if we stop manipulations, tricks, and fake identities that erode trust, which in turn destroys our relationships and the hope to create a unified front.

4. Use community organizations’ platforms in the fight against stereotyping. The aforementioned suggestions can only become realities if community organizations embrace, nurture, and promote them. They should play a proactive role by proactively using their platforms to fight labeling and stereotyping. Our community organizations (community centers, mosques, churches, clubs, associations, etc.) should educate and empower our people to embrace diversity, and become inclusive.

5. Use art in the fight against distorted single stories. We have great artists. A few artists have been doing great so far toward bringing people together and promoting unity. We need more artists. They should produce more songs, poems, most importantly narrate stories that could bring us together than those that separate us.

6. Engage in public discussions. Our diaspora media such as TV and Radio Stations, and Discussion Forums should identify counterproductive single stories that have created disunion among our people, and produce programs by inviting diverse discussants to mitigate the impact of such destructive stories. There are some signs, these days, where some media outlets inviting people from diverse political parties and ethnic groups for discussion in the fight against tyranny, especially since the start of Oromo Protests. This should be taken to the next level. There should be forums and discussions among members of diverse ethnic groups (and hometowns/regions) about stereotyping. We need to talk heart-to-heart concerning the distorted single stories disseminated to discredit and demonize some ethnic groups openly and publicly. Silence only profits TPLF. Let’s strategize on how we can dispel negative stories and build our country on strong foundation formed out of our beautiful, authentic, and positive multiple stories.

7. Continue to write about it. Bloggers, authors, and journalists should write commentaries, narrate stories, and share them on Diaspora websites. It is true that latest and burning news should be given priority to keep our people informed. Nonetheless, we should spare a fraction of that time and dedicate it to educate ourselves, learn one another’s stories, and so on.

8. Individually take responsibility. If you have never done something individually to resist and defile labeling and stereotyping, wake up! If you haven’t taken any action so far to contribute your share in the fight against tyranny, oppression, discrimination, divide and conquer, and so on, this is time. Do you want to see harmony, peace, cooperation, and unity among our diverse people? If so, then, take responsibility. Wishing isn’t enough. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change that you would like to see in the world.” Don’t wait until things change. The fight mustn’t be left to a few. We all should be in it.

Please note that I’m not saying that the aforementioned suggestions alone could bring the holistic and lasting change we all desire. There’re many other actions that should be at the center stage to defeat TPLF. The abovementioned and similar other tasks are ground works to weaken TPLF’s propagandas that are aimed at dividing and defeating us. These duties, nonetheless, are very important in the long run, beyond changing the current regime. We cannot have that great post TPLF new Ethiopia we all dream unless we make the necessary changes beginning right now. Whomever we’re going to choose as leaders of the new Ethiopia, what so ever glamorous development programs and policies we may adopt, regardless of establishing flawless democratic institutions, the transformation we aspire can only be achieved if and only if we the people from diverse ethnic groups have the right values. The latter are the ones that dictate the mindset, attitude, discipline, and commitment of our people, without which lasting and enduring change is unthinkable.

Bringing out our country from the misery she is in right now, and ushering us to a new era of freedom, peace, harmony, unity, and prosperity, requires societal level transformation, which takes years, if not decades. The good news is that, the ground works such as developing our people’s awareness, capacity, reconfiguring our culture (by trimming those values that sabotage our advancement and by adopting those that accelerate our progress), and so on can begin now. We should enter into a sense of urgency. We shouldn’t wait until the government in power changes. And in these article, I’ve suggested some of the efforts we should make to contribute our individual and collective responsibilities toward that end. I’m sure. There’re other great and better ideas out there that could complement or even improve mine. These are just my two cents.

This question revolves around many folks due to their aspiration for change, common among men and women who participated in the student movement since 1960’s and 1970’s. That generation having been emotionally affected regrets very much as the revolution was hijacked by the military junta/Dergue/ and Weyane/EPRDF/ in a row. After so much material and human sacrifices, the very peoples that were supposed to benefit from changes have rather been negatively affected by dictators that galloped behind their backs. Since the large number of people did not benefit from political developments, a common person typically in reminiscent of the continuous ups and downs is worried about what worse will happen as a new year unfolds anticipating no better days to come. Why? Is it really despairing?

There are two main causes of this loss of optimism:

The first source of fear is created by the ruling regime. The regime intentionally puts the people in danger and simultaneously pretends to play a role of problem solver or pacifier. For example, it was well known that Weyane was behind the Arba Gugu, Bedano, Qelem, Jimma, Asebot, Harar, Ogaden, Gambella, etc. mass killings; it was behind the Amhara eviction from Bale, Gura Farda, Jimma, Beni Shangul, etc.  However, after satisfying its interest, it pretended to be neutral and mediator on the issues as if it did not know how they originated at all. It took the blame to other parties in order to calumniate them. It orchestrated the enrichment of its affiliates through different forms of corruption; however, when it found individuals on its way, it simply attacked the personalities that participated in the corruption by using the records in hand at the same time taking advantage to buy popularity from the naive people. Examples are many of its x-ministers.

Weyane monitors churches and mosques through its agents to make sure that these institutions preach the people an “achievement of peace” so that they  can accept the present deplorable circumstances of life, not only in fear of the past but also of the future as if dooms day would come in the absence of its rule. Since it does not have any national interest, it uses all means and resources to stay on power. It does not have any trust on the people and has recruited millions of party members with no projects other than manipulating better means of spying domestically and overseas. Although it is known that the “Amhara supremacy” is a concept of the past and that “Naftegna” is far from being functional or is obsolete today, while it calls its murderous squad “Agazi” – “liberator”, and the Amhara folks generally are in a dire state of poverty today, Weyane keeps on preaching on the ugly image of  Naftagna and the Amara people since 25 years ago not only to isolate them but as a strategy of keeping dissent among the Ethiopian peoples. They used OLF when they needed it and later used a surrogate Oromo People’s Democratic Organization /OPDO/ just like the Amhara National Democratic Movement /ANDM/ to counter All Amhara People’s Organization, and the Southern Ethiopian Peoples’ Democratic Movement to counter the genuine Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Coalition. More proxy political organizations were created by the machinations of the ruling regime and its agents to infiltrate into any organizations in the country in order to stifle genuine political organizations and defuse the trust of the people and eventually paralyze the political organizations that challenge its tyranny. It allows registration of political organizations only when the ruling regime feels that they are mild and remain only in name; it does not register political organizations that challenge its oppressive authority.

Since Weyane knows that it does not have any basis of support of the people, it consistently opts to create division and conflicts in the society; for example between Anuak and Neur in Gambella, Qimant and the rest of Gondare-ans, Wolaiyta and Kambata, Somali  and Oromo, Silti and the rest of Guragae people, Christians against Muslims and even Christians against Christians and Muslims against Muslims by burrowing through small holes and manipulating things in order to widen sects among the same people to make sure that there is cleavage of suspicion and conflict that gives it secure disunity among them at any time. The government neither resolved nor revealed the conflict between the Girri  and Borana pastoralists.  The 1994 Killings in Qabridahar, Qalaafe, Dhaqax-Madow, Gunagado, Dhagaxbuur were results of ethnic politics. In order to control any notorious contenders from within, it “honorably” retires and allows them enough booties to make sure that they do not stand against it. Such retirees also know that they got what they did not deserve and would prefer the continuation of the status-quo in order to keep their fortunes; good examples are x-generals of the regime.

The second problem that arrested the progress of the country is a significant rift that developed through time and expanded into even wider schism – the controversy on the definition of historical oppression of the Ethiopian peoples. Before the eve of the 1974 Ethiopian revolution, a group of political proponents in the formerly known Haile Selassie I University held that the basic cause of poverty or backwardness originated from the oppressive regimes of the past that created exploiting classes of a few over the great majority of exploited classes.  The other group held that exploitation of classes of people by other few exploiting classes was not the basic problem, but oppression of the Amhara nation over other nations/nationalities was the basic problem. Although some elements of the proclaimed causes were evident from both sides, being unable to compromise on these issues and come to terms on common national objectives by projecting the fate of the whole people in the long run, both sides kept on widening dissidence and ironically created opportune situations for the military dictatorship that ruled for 17 years up to 1991 and since then for the present power monger Weyane in turn.

The pre-1974 student movement had a pivotal role in the revolutionary change  since the student body of that time had a common unwavering stand on the abolition of the monarchy, the question of “land to the tiller”, and basic democratic ideals. Although Eritrean separatists gradually infiltrated into the student body domestically, and internationally,  especially since the Ethiopian Student Association leadership election that took place in Los Angeles in 1971, when the group that would establish EPRP (Berhane Meskel Reda, Dr. Tesfaye Debesay) raced against the looser of the election that would establish MEISON (Dr. Haile Fida, Dr. Senai Likae, Dr Negede Gobeze), the student movement at that time coherently taking the leadership exposed the reppressive nature of the monarchy and pointed out the need for democratic change by its movements that covered all parts of the country and even internationally. The people succeeded in toppling the monarchy in the 1974 revolution since their unity on common issues was at a higher level even in the absence of organized political parties. However, this political difference benefited first the military junta that sided with MEISON that in turn fought against EPRP and eventually paralyzed both after over a hundred thousand casualties. The contention between the two antagonizing concepts that persisted for over forty years rather became suitable stepping ground for Weyane to make division based on ethnic differences and deepened the abyss of dissidence. Weyane took advantage of this schism; it orchestrated intensification of the division and escalated conflicts among the people to keep its existence for so long. The issue of self-determination of nations and up to cessation added salt to the divide-and-rule policy of Weyane by using it as a catalyst to stir disunity among the people.

On the other side, whereas people expected parties that ran in their names to advance democracy to a higher level, they could not see any fruit out of the organizations. People were able to see manifestiations of concerted efforts of political organizaions in the 2005 election that was turned down by the brutal Weyane regime. Although some political parties widened minor differences and intensified conflicts, the 2005 glimpse of unity manifeted that if all the opposing groups could stand together, the regime could have been powerless and lifeless. Failure to reconcile the two antagonizing concepts mentioned in the previous paragraphs dwindled the solidarityof the people as more political pragmatism culminated into creating more too many political organizations without any solid common strategy and goal.

National liberation is a humble term in the sense of human rights and self-determination of nations is a democratic right. No human rights advocate can deny that nations should be free from all types of oppression, be it foreign or local. According to the preambles of the United Nations Organization, the concept of National Liberation was to free a nation that was colonized by another powerful nation. For example, Africa as whole except Ethiopia and Liberia was colonized. In this way, many Asian, Latin American, and African countries made separate and unified struggles to liberate themselves from colonialism. Djibouti (France), Eritrea (Italy), Somaliland (Great Britain), Somalia (Italy), Cyprus, Bahrain, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Albania, Aden, Palestine, Oman, Qatar, Iraq, Rwanda, Morocco, and many others. The same concept was to liberate colonies from colonial rules. Literally self-determination also refers to all colonies to decide on their destinies through referendum – whether they want to be independent or join former mother nations. The purpose of the UN is maintenance of international peace and security and “to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples…” (Chapter 1, Article 1). The UN is clear on this. It does not support secession. Its priority interest is non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign nations; respect of sovereignty of people expressed in deciding their fate without intimidation or any use of force. Chapter XI, paragraph 6 states, “Any attempt aimed at the unity and territorial integrity of a country is incompatible with the principles of the charter of the United Nations.”

There was a big debate on the definition of nations and nationalities, the question of self-determination of nations and secession in 1968 in the University. This concept was more pronounced by leftist radicals that followed Marxism-Leninism behind which Eritrean separatists played their role. The important related fact was that the Marxist concept did not accept secession bluntly. It accepted nations to secede from feudal, semi-feudal or capitalist rules as a strategy of advancing proletarian internationalism. Secession was not an end in itself; it’s Marxist-Leninist

objective was to create solidarity among the working class throughout the world and eventually re-unite under socialist democracy as a step towards building communism in the World, where it was believed that there would not be annexation of states, federation of republics, or separation of a state from another state since the theory held that there would not be any state or democratic rule at all in communism. We now know this theory remained Utopian just like the ancient Plato’s ideal state.

Therefore, the concept of secession has been obsolete since the theory that brought it up has been obsolete and its purpose has faded away with history.

However, power monger nationalists like Weyane do not want to take this out of their principles; because they want to take advantage of it. Weyane does not follow any ethics of state government, but uses unprincipled Machiavellian style of dictatorship; it uses much of the communist style of totalitarian rule. It uses centralism where a few polit-bureau members being on top of a central committee steer the wheel of Weyane leadership and the nominally elected rubber stamp “peoples’ assembly” under it. “Land to the tiller” was not implemented but land remained nationalized as Weyane applies the 1974 rural and urban land proclamations that made all land property of the state and in reality turned peasants into serfs of the state. As a totalitarian state in the symbolism of the pre-1989 USSR, Weyane today arbitrarily makes national borders wherever the polit-bureau seeks; it leases, sells or donates land to anybody including foreigners, and uses Stalinist “self-determination” concept to keep dividing the country into ethnic entities to exploit the division eighty hears after the Stannist principle failed in Georgia by the inventor of the principle himself.

This “divide-and-rule” tactic is manifested by the fact that people in one part of the country today see a problem in isolation of a national problem in another part of the country. People could not see violation of basic human rights that could resonate in any part of the society. When Weyane annexed land from Wollo and Godar, the rest of the people were preached to dismember Amhara and any rights associated with it. When many hundreds of Amhara peoples were brutally murdered in Mezenger Zone,  when women were sterilized to reduce the Amhara generation, a great sector of the people did not pay any attention since some political organizations ignored such things that are part of a national issue and did not rally their followers against the repressive actions. We need to ask ourselves as to who stood with Wolqayt-Tsegede, Tselemt, and Armachiho people’s struggle for justice. Who felt the pain of the Ogaden massacre in September 2014? On the other side, standing monuments of hate, like the one at Anole, were erected to intensify conflicts. It worked since common people like Oromo folks accepted what politicians told them in their language.

Narrow nationalists suffer from identity crisis while in developed countries societies concentrate on how to use technology for the social and economic progress of the people; and candidates of state leaderships race with programs of development and good governance. They accept racial identity and faith as individual affairs and language as a medium of communication. The USA uses its former colonizer’s language Western countries are developed since they are done with nation building hundreds of years ago. One can read classical military unification histories of different kingdoms that made developed countries in the world – Portugal (1249), Spain (1492), Iran (1501), Burma (1613), United Kingdom (1707), United States of America (1776), Brazil (1852), Italy (1861), Canada (1867), Germany (1871), Saudi Arabia (1932), and many more other countries. Similarly among many Ethiopian leaders, Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al Ghazi (Ahmed Gragn), Emperor Tewodros, and Emperor Yohannes tried to reunify Ethiopia in their own ways. And 1889 was the last one of many reunification eras of Ethiopia. Whoever made it, Ethiopia remains our common country. And we are collectively responsible for carrying different dictatorships throughout time and retarding our common progress by at least 150 to 200 hundred years back conducting tribal conflicts.

Even some of our professors are preventing social progress by confusing between primitive and civilized thoughts, because formal education alone could not radically change them from the backwardness they had been brought up. Progress cannot take place as long as progressive ideas cannot prevail. A few of our professionals show individual or group efforts to advance the awareness of the people. However, it is time for change where all sons and daughters of Ethiopia need to work together. Many writers and journalists are trying to raise the awareness of our people and calling for unity. However, furthering their steps, they could at least organize civic and professional associations like CPA, Health Professional Associations, bar associations, trade unions, environmental conservation associations, and other independent social organizations that can influence ethical disciplines and public accountability. We cannot blame Weyane while we fail to unite under a civil community in the Diaspora. We have collective responsibility in trying to mediate among folks and try to prevent families from breaking, and children from growing wild, that is devoid of their traditions and historical backgrounds. It is when we use the traditions that kept the bond of our society in different traditional social organizations and pass over to the next generation that we can be proud of belonging to Ethiopia. Starting with “Respect and care for yourself and others individually…”, one of our writers, Tadesse Negatu put it as “simple rules” from bottom to top in tolerating differences – treating everyone equally, standing for justice, and recognizing the destiny of a single person is tied to the whole, community, and the nation (Ethiopia).  It is all such added values that contribute to our common cultural development that can be wombs of state leaders.

We should listen to educators like Professor Fikre Tolosa, a proud Ethiopian of Oromo origin, who tells us about our historical unity rather than others who preach and justify disintegration. One can read Nobles of Oromo Descent Who ruled Ethiopia in contrast to the old Stalinist politics of ethnicity and nationality theory that was tested on Poland and failed on Georgia before 80 years ago. We cannot progress while our educated personalities preach on past evils since we cannot live in the past. What is the use of deafening rhetoric on racial discrimination until we do not stand together for our common freedom and basic human rights and stop discrimination? Two wrongs cannot make any right. We need to leave evil deeds for history and adjust our minds to stand for corrections – from discriminatory to non-discriminatory, from prejudice to moderation, from injustice to justice, from inequality to equality, etc. We should recognize and respect our diversity in our unity; we should also realize that social progress takes place when economic and cultural development takes place freely through free social integration and interaction.  The key factor to raise the standard of the people is economic and cultural advancement among which economic development is the base. Whereas religious and racial identity should have been private affairs and nation building a common affair, racial controversies and conflicts took the toll of our energy that could have otherwise built the basis of our progress.

No society can develop without the active participation of citizens at least in civic matters, and no party can enshrine a lasting success to the people by running separately with a theory of separation. Therefore, we should stand for one multinational state of Ethiopia disregarding borders made on tribal lines that our enemies devised for our disunity. Language needs free access, but no borders, as free commercial developments. We should focus on economic development, civic issues, democracy, and how to better make progress.

Many folks have reiterated about the need of unity and how to get out of the represstion and retardation. However, social, political, and economic developments remain to progress very far behind the other world that is moving in comparative acceleration until our unity is achieved, which in turn cannot be realized by ambitions alone. What is expected on the ground is to change our attitudes and compromise on other issues and stand together on Common national issues. These are what we should be worried about. Such national issues are what make us a strong bond. We should think of our societies in 50 years and a hunderd years from now. It is such farsightedness that can take us to the status of developed nations. Whether one believes it or not Weyane lives on our division; if we could firmly stand together, we could have replaced it with genuine peoples’ government and real federation. So, we need to stop playing primitive games and join hands in all civic affairs to let our country be a true democratic federation of a “United States Ethiopia”.

Tefera Dinberu

Starting from the day when guns erupted from 11:15 am in February 04, 2016 here in Gambella town many people were surprised for un expected event that was not thought to happen due to because most of the people were living in peace and harmony with one another either Anywaa , Nuer or anyone who is in Gambella region.  This problem come from the work of certain people that thinks their need could be achieved when people kills each other’s.  I beg your indulgent both Anywaa and Nuer to forgive each other’s instead of killing one another.

This conflict did not happen in vein, but through the plan of individual s or people that think killing each other is the solution for their grievance. The cause was the case of land, since 2001 Anywaa and Nuer fought in Gambella for owning the land of Itang special woreda as they both claim it; the immediate cause of that conflict in the last decade was the language that was totally solved by both Federal and regional government. In this ten years starting from 2006 up to 2016 theses two ethnics group were living in peace with one another’s, by the time when Engineer Olare who is Anywaa took the position of vice president the Anywaa begin to talk about why Nuer that live in kebel 01 were taken to kebele 03 that Anywaa belong too, due to this case Anywaa got jealousy for that, while is the government of Gambella which give the land of Nuer in kebele 01 to Gambella University and take the Nuer to kebele 03.

Therefore, due to this reason  two men got in to argument on land one who is the driver of Gambella vice president a Anyuak and other is deputy dean of Gambella Health and Teacher Training College (GHTTC) who is Nuer both did not lease the land from government municipality ; for certain period of time the Anywaa one call Nuer to discuss the case of land when the Nuer guy arrive the Anywaa one starting insulting the Nuer and pull out his pistol and shot Nuer , unfortunately Nuer guy was not shot and again he took off his pistol and shot the Anywaa one in arm with pistol and  went with his car; the question is where did the vice president driver got the pistol from?.

 By the time When the Anywaa student from college hear that the deputy dean of college shot vice president driver who is Anywaa in arm , one Anyuak student start to box one Nuer student and finally all students stone each other’s in college , but was control in that time by the government of Gambella police force. In the same day in night time certain Anywaa young men attack Nuer women that rent house in front GHTTcollege with knife and spear that one was killed and another one injured, but the Nuer keep silent when the government convince them and where by the head of Gambella Bureau of Security said that we will find the negligent but fail too because the guy was Anywaa ; even the Nuer again still silent.

Lastly the Nuer were sleeping and forgetting all the cases that happen because they believe the security in the region, one Anywaa  young man was told to throw hand grenade bomb near to Nuer student in college when he arrived near to them grenade bomb start to pull off and cut his arm and legs before reaching the Nuer students in GHTT college; the question is where did this Anywaa guy got the grenade bomb from?, he got the grenade bomb from one of Anywaa that is Gambella police special force (GPSF)  and from the border of pochalla, Jor and Buma from south Sudan  because this border were open to Salva Kiir by the local authority of Anywaa in those areas to supplies  them with guns.

Therefore, When the Nuer in Gambella town heard that the Nuer student were bombed they start to demonstrate and told the government to take out our children from college, when the student came out they start to stone each other both Anywaa and Nuer student, when one Anywaa police special force start to fire gun he shot one Nuer in his head and finally fighting start to erupted.  When the clashes happen deputy head of Gambella Bureau of Road and Transport went to Abobo woreda in early morning time for work, by his return to Gambella the Anyuak police men in Abobo woreda kill even in the mid of the town, and at the same time 5 Nuer Gambella special police force and one Nuer women were kills in Jor woreda of Anywaa zone by their Anywaa colleague who are police together with them.

In the second day when the Nuer prisoners in Gambella town prison hear that deputy Bureau of Road and 6 Gambella special police force who is Nuer were kills, they directly fight with physical hand fight with the Anywaa prisoners and kills 7 of them. At the same time when Anywaa in Abobo woreda heard that the Anywaa who are prisoners in Gambella prison were kills, the Anywaa police in Abobo woreda started to kills 14 Nuer prisoners in Abobo prison who are refugees that came from south Sudan.

Conclusion

The ethnics tension that ours here in Gambella was upset to all peoples of Gambella despite who you are. The tension was high due to the following things:

• The shot of deputy bureau head of Road and Transport that is Gatdet by the Anywaa police is Abobo was one of the tension
• The killing of Anywaa prisoners by the Nuer prisoners with physical hand fight in Gambella town prison
• The killing of Nuer Gambella special police force in Jor Woreda by their Anywaa colleague who are Gambella special police force in Jor.

Another, case was killing of Nuer who are refugees that are under Federal government is questioned by ARRA and UNHCR, because Anywaa kills them as they are supporter of SPLM-IO leaders who is Nuer, the hard question is the Anywaa in Ethiopia join Salva Kiir government indirectly that is why they kills Nuer who are refugees?, I think this is a big shame we Gambella peoples as well as Ethiopian.

Recommendation

• First we needs to avoid revenge by killings one who even do not like this senseless war, and lets leave all cases to the government
• Avoid tribalism among each other and think as one people
• Call for both federal and Gambella regional government to close the border of Buma, Jor and Pochalla of Anywaa zone that let the free flows of guns from south Sudan to arm the Anywaa militia in Ethiopia with grenade bomb, PKM, and RPG to bomb and kills their brother Nuers.
• Let federal and regional government of Gambella take serious action on those individuals Anywaa in abroad and in Gambella that spoiling Gambella, while their objective is to open Gambella as war zone to Ginbot 7 party, and Anywaa Liberation Movement in Eritrea to fight with this current government of Ethiopia
• Finally let us think brotherly, by forgiving each other’s because even though we need something from each other’s the best way was not to fought, but to talk and forgive each other’s.

I barely remember a long time ago, Professor Messay had given a speech at Columbia University and I was there to listen his speech, and his speech was not inspiring to me at all. I can not even recollect the topic of his speech, just that he was speaking about the Amhara ruling class but he did not mention the name of Amhara. I could infer this from his speech.

Professor Messay Kebede has subsequently written articles on the current Oromos students uprising in which he urges that the Amharas should join the Oromos’ students protests against the Addis Ababa master plan. Of course, it is everybody’s desire that Oromo and Amhara should be united to end the cruel TPLF tyranny regime.  Indeed, Oromos can not win alone against the TPLF; Amhara’s participation is very crucial and effective to bring down the TPLF government. It is true that as J.K. Rowling stated, “we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.”

 However, I assiduously read his last rebuttal titled  “Then and Now: A Rejoinder to my Critics.”  Professor Messay seemed disenchanted with Amharas because they did not join the Oromos’ students uprising in Ethiopia.  He further said,  “ነገ በኔ ነው”

I just would like to remind Professor Messay that, since TPLF came to power, the Amharas have been isolated and targeted for the last 25 years, and certainly, Messay is very aware of what Woyanne did and is still doing to Amharas. I wish the Professor had written similar article criticizing the TPLF/OLF regards to the 1992  mass slaughters of pregnant women and children in Arbagugu and in Bedno where the worst crimes ever committed on the Amharas since Mussolini’s aggression in 1935. Not even long ago in Gura Ferda and in Benishangul, the Amharas were expelled by TPLF surrogates and the Professor did not write any article denouncing  these horrendous crimes. I am dumbfounded that the Professor jumps to accusing Amharas not being participated in the Oromos students protest against the master plan.

Let me briefly attempt to elucidate to Professor two main reasons why the Amharas lack of participating with Oromos’ students protesting against the Addis Ababa master plan. Firstly, Woyane and Shabia sagaciously and systematically designed the ethnic lines of federalism in order to control the country by perpetuating the punitive policies that emphasizing the anti-Amhara ethnic group. This restrain is  inimical to the Amharas. Such cunning strategies that enable TPLF to remain in power by creating an envy between ethnic groups, particularly, among Oromo and Amhara. Hypocritically, Woyane tells to Amhara that if Oromo comes to power, your life will be at risk. The same thing, Woyanne tells to Oromo that if Neftegna comes to power again all your properties would be confiscated. So, we are the one who freed you from chauvinist Amhara, and if you try to resist us, you will go back to the system that you had before. Basically, they just made Amhara and Oromo not trust each other.

The second reason is that Woyanne quietly annexed large chunks of land from part of Gondar and Wollo to create greater Tigray. After they confiscated the fertile land (especially from Gondar), the TPLF day one, disarmed the people of Gondar, and started eliminating the original inhabitants of Welkait Tsegede, Humera to replace the Tigraians peasants. Since then, the Tigraians peasants became armed to protect the land in the areas where it was ferociously taken from Welkait Tsegede farmers. The indigenous who resisted the TPLF’s demonic action, were cruelly executed by Woyanne cadres.

Beside this, the whole Amhara regions run by the so called the Amhara National Democratic Movement (as vanguard Amhara party), which purposely created to demonize the Amharas. Realistically speaking, in Oromia region, the people of Oromos are represented by Muktar Kedir and Almaz Mamo who are belonged to Oromo ethnicity, but when it comes to Amhara regions, imagine, the Amharas people are represented by Bereket Simon, Kassa Tekile Berhan, Tsehaye (Tadese Tinqishu), and Helawi Yoseph who are of Tigre ethnicity. These fake Amharas individuals play a big role for Woyanne by quashing the Amhara voices. So, since the Amharas are heavily under controlled and its voices muffled by the ethnic apartheid regime, I don’t see this as an optimal time for Amhara to join the Oromo’s protesting at this point. Professor Messay was supposed to look at the other side of the problem: what Amharas endured under the TPLF rule the last 25 years. These are the main reasons halting the Amhara to join the Oromos’ students protests against the master plan.

In spite of that, I want the viewers to know that I am not trying to instigate the matter for either to reprisal the Amhara on Oromo at this point, I am just trying to acquaint to Professor Messay’s views on why Amharas have not instantly joined the Oromo’s student protests  against the master plan.

Having said that, the Professor’s last article insinuates that if the Amhara does not the join the Oromo’s students uprising, there will not be unity in the country because unity is the Amhara’s strong faith and assumedly if the there is no unity, the Amhara’s existence in Ethiopia will be at risk.  In other words, as if the only beneficiary out of unity is Amhara.  As the matter of fact, he is not the only speaking about these issues. There are quite a few secessionists and anti-Amhara who rant on the same ideas. I’d like to reiterate that the article written by Messay is one sided, threatened, and divisive. The professor knows well that the Amharas have been victimized since the TPLF climbed to power. In his single articles, I have never seen any criticizing or condemnation for the Woyanne’s diabolical crimes against the Amhara ethnic group, and the articles are unbalanced when it comes to the Amharas issues. It is true that the unity of the two large ethnic groups is paramount at this crucial time to bring down the TPLF brutal regime.

To the end, the professor’s article does not entice the vast majority of Amharas at all. Actually, the article reflects, as if the Amhara ethnic group is uninterested on Oromo causes which aggravates the rift between the two ethnicities instead of bringing a reconciliation where these two ethnicities are able live in harmoniously. It will take time to repair the damage done by TPLF. TPLF’s “divide and rule” strategies worked out well for the last 25 years by abetting the extremist to do heinous crimes to innocent Amharas. At the end of the day, Woyanne whatever systems are used to stay in power, it is an inevitable that all ethnicities will ever become united again.

Two prominent opposition figures in Ethiopia have been released from prison in the capital, Addis Ababa, after months of detention over terrorism charges.

Habtamu Ayalew and Abraham Solomon have been behind bars since July 2014, despite a federal high court acquitting them off the charges last year.

Mr Habtamu, a vocal opposition leader, and Mr Abraham, who is a teacher and activist, were charged under the country’s controversial anti-terrorism law.

They were acquitted mid last year but remained under police custody as the prosecution wanted to appeal.

This process is continuing, despite their release today.

They were accused of belonging to the banned Ginbot 7 group, which the Ethiopian government has designated as a terror movement.

Human rights groups have constantly accused the government of using the anti-terror law to crackdown on the opposition and stifle press freedom.

Felix Horne from US-based Human Rights Watch welcomed the news, saying it was “a positive development that they were finally released, but it’s hardly a victory for justice… They should never have been arrested in the first place”.

AFP

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Save the Children has warned that time is running out for the international community to save thousands of people from starvation in Ethiopia, as the Horn of Africa nation suffers its worst drought since the 1960s.

The two-year-long drought, worsened by the El-Nino weather pattern, has destroyed crops and livestock in Ethiopia and Somalia. Rights activist, Joachim Rahmann, of Save the Children describes the situation as “already at a magnitude where ten million people are directly dependent on food aid.

“It is not only in Ethiopia, a similar situation is unfolding in the northern regions of Somalia. Right now, we face one of the largest food insecurity crises that the region has experienced for over 50 years. What we observe is that the situation will likely get worse over the next half a year.

“Some regions have already been without rain for over two years. And until the next major rainfalls are expected in summer, the number of people directly dependent on food aid will actually increase and we are at ten million right now already.

Deutsche Welle asked Mr Rahmann about the most vulnerable of the victims, to which he responded: “Children are absolutely the most vulnerable and it is not just the situation of food aid that makes the situation for children so bad. Children are already suffering from what we call severe acute malnutrition. 400,000 children are affected by that. But the situation also bears further risks for child protection. People are leaving their regions where there used to be pasture, children are not being sent to school anymore because of the severe malnutrition – they simply cannot focus.

“Some schools have already closed. We expect that 2.5 million children will drop out of school. This is a crisis of food insecurity that is also a much larger humanitarian crisis for children.

“Compared to the famines in the past, this is a famine of huge magnitude. It is probably the biggest in the past 50 years simply when we look at the environmental dimension of the famine. But when we look now, the political systems are in place, this is a different situation than we have experienced in the past.

“Over the last decade, Ethiopia has made huge economic gains. Child mortality has been reduced by two thirds. There were systems in place and there still are systems in place from the Ethiopian side to tackle food insecurity. There are regularly around eight million people in cash for work programs to address people’s food insecurity needs during the lean season. But the situation is so huge that the Ethiopian government cannot cope with it by itself. The Ethiopian government has already committed around 370 million dollars (330 million euros) to the crisis.

“The country is living up to the expectations. But the crisis is so large that the international community has to step in and it would be unforgivable in a situation where the magnitude is large and where the government itself is already living up to it, where the systems are in place, where people can be reached, to not get assistance from the international community.

“From the situation where we are right now, we can say that organizations like Save the Children are already present on the ground, they are supplying direct food aid, and they are addressing children’s child protection needs. But the international appeal of which Save the Children is part of goes up to 1.4 billion. This is the scale of the crisis we are talking about.

“And if we compare it internationally, Save the Children only labels two crises right now as category one which is the Syria crisis and the Ethiopia crisis. But for the Ethiopia crisis only half of the funds needed to address the most immediate needs have been committed. And we only have a time window of three weeks to commit these funds to not risk people dying.

“If the time window is not met, the food supply chain cannot be maintained. It takes time to procure food in the magnitude that is needed to supply to people, when ten million people are already food insecure. It is the size of the population of some European countries! And that is in direct need of food aid. That takes time. The next rains are only expected in summer. So the next three weeks are crucial to live up to these expectations.”

Source: African Voice

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Genzebe Dibaba is so beautiful! Congratulations to her for setting a new World Record!

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mogachoch part 59

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Daniel Pipes | Feb 18, 2016

Oil is the Middle East’s glamor product, sought after by the entire world and bringing the region wealth beyond the dream of avarice. But water is the mundane resource that matters even more to locals for, without it, they face the horrible choice of leaving their homes or perishing within them.

That choice may sound hyperbolic, butthe threat is real. Egypt stands out as having the largest population at risk and being the country, other than Iraq andYemen, with the most existential hydrologic problem.

As every schoolchild learns, Egypt is the gift of the Nile and the Nile is by far the globe’s longest river. Less well known is that most of the Nile’s volume, 90 percent, comes from the highlands of Ethiopia and that the river passes through 11 countries. For uncounted eons, its water flowed to Egypt in uncounted quantities.

In 1929, the British government, representing Egypt, signed an agreement with the independent government of Ethiopia guaranteeing an annual flow of 55.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of water to Egypt. Counting a minimum of 1,000 cubic meters per capita per annum (the average worldwide is 7,230 cubic meters), that amount more than sufficed for the 15 million Egyptians of the day.

The succeeding 87 years saw Egypt’s population increase six times until today it numbers 90 million. Adding to the river’s 55.5 bcm, Egypt gets about 5 bcm from non-renewable underground sources and 1.3 bcm from rain, leaving it with about 62 bcm a year, or one-third less than the country’s minimal needs. In addition, Egyptians recycle about 10 bcm of agricultural runoff water, whose highly polluted nature (fertilizer and insecticide residues) eventually kill the land by salinizing it. Exacerbating this shortage, Egypt’s high temperatures leads to higher rates of evapotranspiration, requiring more water for agriculture than in places with cooler climates.

townhall

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