Ethiopian runners Daniel Aschenik and Shewarge Amare won the 33rd edition of the Mexico City International Marathon which brought together more than 30,000 competitors on Sunday.

Daniel ran 42 kilometers 195 meters (26.22 miles) in two hours, 19 minutes and 23 seconds, claiming Ethiopia’s first win in the race after 25 years when countryman Tesfaye Taffa won in 1989.

In the woman’s category, Shewarge Amare won for a third time after her victories in 2014 and 2012. This year she registered a time of two hours, 41 minutes and ten seconds.

Daniel and his countryman Debebe Tolosa, who came in second place with a time of two hours, 19 minutes and 48 seconds, made up part of the group that quickly became the leaders.

The men were accompanied by Kenyans Elisha Korir Hhumo, who finished in third place with a time of two hours, 20 minutes and 23 seconds, and also Juliius Kipyego, Rodgers Ondato Gesabwa, Hillary Kimaiyo and Peter Lemayian Nkaya, among others.

In the woman’s race, Shewaye led the group and alternated the position with fellow Ethiopian Misker Mekonnen Demissie, who in the end came in second place with a time of two hours, 41 minutes and 15 seconds while Abrah Serkalen, another Ethiopian athlete, was third with a time of two hours, 42 minutes and 51 seconds.

The fastest Mexican in Sunday’s race was Tomas Luna. He put up a good fight against the Africans for over 30 kilometers (18 miles) but in the end he was unable to keep up with the pace and lagged behind.

The winners went away with 28,000 U.S. dollars each. This figure could have been doubled if the winners had broken the record of two hours and 12 minutes.

The route began at the Benito Juarez Hemicycle in Mexico Ciy’s central area with an “impressive human river” which flooded the Alameda area (the central park)

The 33rd edition of the marathon was a “party” for the competitors and spectators who were located near to the musical groups in the Olympic Stadium. Among the musical entertainment was the military band from the Jose Maria Morelos School Center, mariachis and Vazquez Sounds.

Source: Xinhua

CAROLINE KALOMBE, Lusaka
POLICE in Serenje have intercepted a truck carrying 100 prohibited immigrants of Ethiopian origin, who were hidden behind bags of dry lake sardines locally known as kapenta.
The truck, which was seized at Kanona police check point on Great North Road in Central Province, was, from Nakonde to an unknown destination within Zambia.
Police suspect the Ethiopians entered the country through Nakonde border and were assisted by Zambians who were paid to commit the illegality.
“I can confirm that we intercepted a truck carrying 100 prohibited immigrants from Ethiopia. The prohibited immigrants have been screened for Ebola, and the Immigration Department, who are working with us, have continued to screen them for other issues,” Central Province commissioner of police Lombe Kamukoshi said.
Ms Kamukoshi said in an interview yesterday that three Zambians, who allegedly aided the movement of the prohibited immigrants, have been arrested.
She said the containerised truck was intercepted after a tip-off from the public and that the 100 people aged between 10 and 50 were found in the truck’s container. Most of them are juveniles.
Ms Kamukoshi said the three Zambians have been identified as Richard Mwanza, 26, driver of the truck, Michael Malasha, 37, co- driver, and Mwenya Mutale, 23, a lorry-mate, all from Tinde Township in Nakonde district.
She said the Ethiopians are detained at Mukobeko Maximum Security Prison in Kabwe.
Police and the Immigration Department are yet to establish the intended final destination of the truck.

Source- www.daily-mail.co.zm

Ethiopia has been in darkness. We had light before most but that is history. We can recite our ancient history; write beautiful poetry extolling our virtues and fill a library with our traditional lore unfortunately it is not something we can take to the bank. It is not all lost. Ethiopia and her wellness has been woven into our soul. Thus today where ever we go we survive and thrive. Don’t take the fact you walk with your head high for granted my friend, that pride in you is cultivated and nurtured.

The Ottoman Turks, the Egyptians, the British, the French, the Italians have all tried to force their ways on us. It just did not work. Outsiders have learnt their lesson and have stopped trying force to make us serve their interest. It is the homegrown variety that has become a challenge.  It could be a (seyawkush yinkush ሲያውቁሽ ይንቁሽ) situation where naturally one disarms in the presence of family and friends. Sooner or later one member goes rogue. It never fails. Throughout our history we have encountered such situations where kings, warlords or madmen have fought for power and glory. TPLF is our child gone rogue.

TPLF is the worst internal enemy faced by our county. There isn’t any aspect of our culture and history they have not tried to contaminate with negativity and hate. For over thirty years they have systematically worked on destroying the unity and strength that has taken hundreds of years to build. It is due to the solid foundation that our dear country has been built on that they are unable to even cause a little crack let alone a fissure. We are grateful to all those that sacrificed and painstakingly built this formidable home we call Ethiopia.

The current struggle being waged by TPLF on one side and Democratic forces on the other is about the kind of Ethiopia we want to build on the foundations already laid by our ancestors. Instead of building on that and adding value we have been busy subtracting, dividing and undermining our precious asset.

On this side we have the current Ethiopian government led by Tigrai Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) that has been in power for the last twenty two years uninterrupted. The TPLF Party with its clueless and unwritten guiding dogma it calls ‘Revolutionary Democracy is based on the following principles:

• The Ethiopian people are not ready for Democracy.
• The vanguard TPLF will oversee the development of Democracy.

Despite what the regime and its international supporters claim this arrangement has not worked well for the average Ethiopian. There is no need to try to convince an Ethiopian how bad the Tigrai People’s party has been to our country. All one has to do is look around one’s own family and ask ‘how are you doing?’ If you do not know of a family member in distress you my friend is an exceptional Ethiopian. We all salute you but that unfortunately is not the norm.

That is why there are many that have decided to sacrifice life and family and stood against the tyranny of the Tigrai Peoples Liberation Front. We Ethiopians are such a lucky people to have been able to produce such dynamic and selfless leaders that would rather suffer than accept injustice.

Kinijit is the grandfather of all independent movements in Woyane era politics. Kinijit beyond a shadow of doubt showed how hollow and wild Woyane’s are. Before Kinijit we used to view Woyane as being benign with no harmful effect. Thanks to Kinijit Woyane was forced to show what a malignant tumor it is.

Ever since then many have tried to work within the system Woyane created. We are finding out even that is not possible. The brave leaders and members of Semayawi Party are a living testimonial that conversation with Woyane is not possible.

That in a nutshell is Ethiopian history the last twenty two years. We produce selfless individuals that have entered the fray knowing full well what savage Woyanes are capable of. Common sense shows that carrot (staying quiet) alone has not worked in Ethiopia. A stick is an absolute requirement to balance the equation. Do you follow me? After twenty three years of abuse we Ethiopians should be the last to be bewildered by this situation.

Patriotic Ginbot7 is our stick. There have been others, what makes this one any different is a good question. That is the reason I raised our recent history earlier. Woyane has held five or more election the last twenty two years, which one is memorable? May 2005 is when we divorced Woyane. The 2005 was led by Kinijit with Berhanu Nega as a central figure. Dr. Berhanu and friends whipped Woyane. Dr. Berhanu is the first popularly elected leader to a high office in our entire history. His election to be Lord Mayor of Addis Abeba was a landslide. The people of Addis Abeba loved him. No need to say more.

The formation of Ginbot7 Movement for Unity and Democracy was the result of lessons learnt from the 2005 attempt to seize power through peaceful and legal means. By all scale of measurement G7 has exceeded all expectations. It has shown what it means to be an organization focused on one thing and one thing alone. To leave no stone unturned to find a way to grow Freedom and Democracy in Ethiopia.

To this end the last five years the Organization has painstakingly built the network necessary to do the work. What is there not to admire more than the fact despite the mighty power of a Nation State’s attempt to kill, undermine, destroy, wreck from inside, jail exile so many times in the name of fighting terrorism but to protect single ethnic rule, G7 has managed to blossom to an organization that in the eyes of many Ethiopians managed to bring that old feeling of pride that has quietly been sitting inside all of us. Elel Belu!

How do you fight one of your own has been our dilemma. Believe me if Woyane was an outsider no matter what; we all would fight back and there would not be discussion like what we are having now. Unfortunately it is not so. At the moment Patriotic G7 is in the forefront of the struggle to get rid of this disease that is infecting our homeland.

It is said ‘leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality’ that is what we have in Dr. Berhanu Nega. In every turn of our movement he has been there crafting winning strategy to get us closer to our goal of building a better Ethiopia where her children invest time and energy in making it a place we are proud to call home. His simple manners, generous smile and focus His style has been pay any price, walk the extra mile so we Ethiopians can drink from the fountain of freedom.

The TPLF regime has done all it could to discourage our leader. A mere mortal would have thrown his hands in the air and walked away. Dr. Berhanu stayed the course and showed little Woyane there are some Ethiopians that are determined and resolute. Such character is not a trait Woyane understands.

In Arbegnoch G7 we Ethiopians at last have achieved a winning formula to bring national salvation to our homeland. In Berhanu Nega and his team we have found leaders with a record and a winning formula. Kinijit paved the way and Arbegnoch G7 is poised to finish the job. We say it with confidence because the experience the last ten years have shown us that an organization built on democratic principles, staffed by able leaders and carrying the torch of freedom and equality cannot fail. Especially when the enemy is a group led by gangsters and shameless characters that have not achieved much in life using legal and transparent means it does not need much for the house of cards they built to come crashing down.

All patriotic Ethiopians are fighters in this war of salvation. The question we should ask ourselves is what can I contribute to hasten the day of freedom. Today this joke of I am not into politics, I am neutral has no place. It is like standing back and watching while your house is on fire. Ethiopia is burning and her children are dying in droves. This is not the time to be a spectator or a shameless supporter of the ethnic regime. It is past time for verbal condenations. We have done that, we have been there.

The current activity to support and celebrate our Freedom fighters is a breath of fresh air. It is nice to stand up rather than always be a victim. We used to cry for Ethiopia. Today we cry for Woyane that is already feeling the wrath of the people. All over the world Ethiopians are giving what they could without being compelled. Five dollars or a thousand, five minutes or a lifetime, whatever is offered, it is sure to bring satisfaction to the heart, pride to the family and debt paid top our mother. Here in Oakland, California we are preparing to give the mother of all fundraising events since Kinijit. The enthusiasm of the members, the reception of our people and the smile painted on our face is an indication the sun is shining on our motherland. Find out where Arbegnoch G7 activity is held in a location near you and be part of this tsunami of support for our liberators. Tell everybody that the Sun is shining brighter than ever over Ethiopia.

Haakon Gaarder_Larsen, General Manager of Hilton Addis Abeba

Police had arrested the General Manager of Addis Abeba Hilton Hotel earlier today, following a business dispute with a private firm, Entoto Travel. Mr. Haakon Gaarder-Larsen, a Norwegian national, had been having lunch in the hotel when a plain clothe and uniformed officers produced a court warrant.

In a developing story, Fortune just learnt that Mr. Haakon Gaarder-Larsen, the General Manager of ADDIS ABEBA Hilton has been released late afternoon today, after briefly being detained at Kirkos District police station.

Source – Addis Fortune

(Survival International) — The U.K. government tried to suppress evidence of gross human rights abuses in Ethiopia to appease the government there, a new investigation by Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, has revealed.

The key aid donors to Ethiopia, including the U.K.’s DFID, USAID and the European Union, sent two missions to the Lower Omo Valley in the south of the country in August 2014, to investigate whether tribes there were being forced off their land to make way for commercial plantations.

The U.K. authorities refused to release the missions’ reports under the Freedom of Information Act, saying their disclosure would significantly prejudice international relations. But Survival then appealed to the European Commission, which has released them.

The reports reveal:

– That the Ethiopian government has not obtained the consent of tribes of the Lower Omo to their resettlement;

– It has pressured and threatened them into leaving their lands – in some cases in fear for their lives;

– One tribal group told the donors, “before you come back next year, the government will come to kill and finish us”;

– That land grabs associated with large scale plantations deny the tribes access to ancestral grazing and farming lands on which they depend for survival, and to the river banks they need for cultivation;

– On the conditions in one resettlement site the report states, “Their situation during our visit was deplorable; the absence of sanitation means the villagers are suffering from diseases such as bloody diarrhoea, malaria and unspecified headaches … Despite the dire circumstances in [name redacted], residents say the Government does not allow this impoverished and vulnerable group to move
out”;

– Donor guidelines designed to ensure that resettlement complies with international law have been routinely ignored.

Survival International has been urging the international donors to freeze further aid to the Lower Omo Valley until the human rights abuses are stopped, but virtually no action has been taken. The U.K.’s 2014-15 aid budget to Ethiopia exceeds £360 million.

Survival’s Africa campaigner Elizabeth Hunter said today, “It took DFID almost two years to investigate allegations of serious human rights violations in the Lower Omo. The reports it desperately tried to prevent the British public from reading show just how far it will go to cover up gross human rights abuses carried out by a regime which receives hundreds of millions of pounds of UK taxpayers’ money. While entire tribes are subjected to violence, the destruction of their homes and livelihoods, and the theft of their land on a staggering scale, the UK government turns a blind eye in the name of political and economic expediency.”

Background:

Around 200,000 tribal people live in the Lower Omo. Many have suffered from brutal repression, forced relocation, and prejudice from a government that views them as “backward” and in need of “modernization.” One expert has warned that the loss of their land and resources will lead to a “humanitarian catastrophe,” and one of the mission reports warns that the influx of more than 500,000 workers into the area is “likely to significantly increase the risk of conflict.”

The central findings of the donor missions were covered up in a letter to the Ethiopian government, published in February 2015. The letter sanitised the reports’ conclusions to the extent that the Ethiopian press was able to claim that the donor missions had “found no evidence of people being forced to move for either resettlement for agricultural development projects in the areas they visited,” and that it “found none of the problems claimed by Survival International or Human Rights Watch and others …”

In March 2015, Survival received disturbing reports that many of the small Kwegu tribe are starving as a result of the destruction of their forest and the death of their river following the construction of the Gibe III dam and associated irrigation schemes.

Source: http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/10894

Through the Ethiopia Speed School initiative, over 45,000 mothers across the country are keeping their kids in school, saving money and starting businesses.

***

Huffington Post

Despite a vast history–it’s home to the world’s oldest human remains, it’s Africa’s oldest independent country and it’s even the birthplace of coffee–Ethiopia is most often portrayed through the prism of its struggle. It’s a struggle so often caricatured in the media as lacking and needing, and so often represented by figures of pity such as Starvin’ Marvin, that it can be difficult to see the country beyond the images and stories that have been embedded through repetition into our consciousness.

That is, until something like Ethiopia Speed School comes along.

Starting in September 2011, the Ethiopia Speed School Initiative, supported primarily by over $5.2 million from the Legatum Foundation, was a strategic response to two dire systemic statistics: a 2010 UNESCO report (pdf here) indicating that Ethiopia was one of ten countries in the world with over 10 million illiterate adults (there were 27 million total), and 2011 World Bank data showing that the country had an estimated 3 million out-of-school children of primary school age. Through an intensive 10-month curriculum, the initiative catches out-of-school children back up to their grade-level and then provides a variety of resources to make the transition back into government school as seamless as possible and, ultimately, permanent.

A scientific evaluation by the University of Sussex found that 95% of Speed School graduates in these first three years successfully transferred to the local primary school upon graduating from Speed School. However, educational success post-transition is fraught with uncertainty. The average class size at government schools is over 70, which leads kids to feel like numbers, teachers to feel overwhelmed and even the physical institution itself to break down (crumbling architecture as well as broken and unsanitary toilets are major problems). Those same researchers at the University of Sussex found that teacher absenteeism is a major problem in government primary schools.

Still, the success of this initiative cannot be denied. This program, by granting thousands of the country’s most at-risk children a second chance, has essentially built a bridge over an impassable moat.

However, with the 2007-2010 West Africa Speed School Initiative as model, Legatum and program manager Geneva Global realized an important component was missing: it wasn’t adequately empowering mothers. To address this they enrolled the mothers of Speed School students into self-help savings groups (SHSGs). This component taught the mothers how to save and generate funds to support their child’s continued education, and is now a much-needed complement to the Speed School.

“Empowering even one mother, making her feel the potential of the positive difference she’s capable of making, creates a ripple effect that spreads throughout the entire community,” says Abebaw Abetei, Geneva Global’s Speed School program assistant.

“I’ve watched mothers who once felt helpless go on to start businesses and I’ve watched mothers who never had an education go on to become education activists in their village.”

The addition and eventual implementation of the self-help savings groups served as the stone splashing into the pond. So began the ripple effect. In the first year 2,289 mothers participated in the SHSG. By the end of 2013 there were 12,378 and by the end of 2014 there were 31,065.

Rallying around the central idea that they want their children to succeed in school–and that their own empowerment helps to make this happen–the mothers meet each week to learn about everything from financial literacy and English-language skills to malaria prevention and how to create sustainable, scalable business models. In the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia, for example, mothers involved in the SHSG improved their monthly savings from $0.15 to $0.50–a significant amount especially when considering Ethiopia’s average per capita income is $1,200.

Then there are the stories like that of Alemash Gebresilassie, a mother here in Tigray. Her son, Haftu Kidanu, is enrolled in the Speed School program, and since enrolling in SHSG she’s been able to save $1.50 each month. Alemash has since created her own trading business and has a dream of becoming, “a successful business woman and a good advocate of children’s education in my village.”

And there are countless stories about the potential fate of particular girls had it not been for an opportunity to attend the Speed School–an early marriage, a life of child labor and/or the potential of being trafficked for sex to Addis Merkato, the open-air market in Addis Ababa referred to as the “largest collection of brothels in Africa” in the U.S. Department of State’s 2014 Trafficking-in-Persons report.

During my first day visiting a Speed School site here in the Samre District of Tigray, a mother said to me:

“I feared education because I didn’t have one and didn’t see the benefits of what it would do for my children. I’ve taught my children how to work the land and now they are teaching me how to read. I hope we continue exchanging our knowledge for the rest of our lives. There is no age limit on learning.”

May the wisdom of her words be carried by the wind to every part of this beautiful country, may they help to create the new prism through which her country will be portrayed.

Part of this story was first covered in the Stanford Social Innovation Review

Helena Smith

Athens

Wednesday 2 Sep. 2015

The full horror of the human tragedy unfolding on the shores of Europe was brought home on Wednesday as images of the lifeless body of a young boy – one of at least 12 Syrians who drowned attempting to reach the Greek island of Kos – encapsulated the extraordinary risks refugees are taking to reach the west.The picture, taken on Wednesday morning, depicted the dark-haired toddler, wearing a bright-red T-shirt and shorts, washed up on a beach, lying face down in the surf not far from Turkey’s fashionable resort town of Bodrum.A second image portrays a grim-faced policeman carrying the tiny body away. Within hours it had gone viral becoming the top trending picture on Twitter under the hashtag #KiyiyaVuranInsanlik (humanity washed ashore).Turkish media identified the boy as three-year-old Aylan Kurdi and reported that his five-year-old brother had also met a similar death. Both had reportedly hailed from the northern Syrian town of Kobani, the site of fierce fighting between Islamic state insurgents and Kurdish forces earlier this year.

Justin Forsyth, CEO of Save the Children, said: “This tragic image of a little boy who’s lost his life fleeing Syria is shocking and is a reminder of the dangers children and families are taking in search of a better life. This child’s plight should concentrate minds and force the EU to come together and agree to a plan to tackle the refugee crisis.”

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Greek authorities, coping with what has become the biggest migration crisis in living memory, said the boy was among a group of refugees escaping Islamic State in Syria.

Turkish officials, corroborating the reports, said 12 people died after two boats carrying a total of 23 people, capsized after setting off separately from the Akyarlar area of the Bodrum peninsula. Among the dead were five children and a woman. Seven others were rescued and two reached the shore in lifejackets but hopes were fading of saving the two people still missing.

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The casualties were among thousands of people, mostly Syrians, fleeing war and the brutal occupation by Islamic fundamentalists in their homeland.Kos, facing Turkey’s Aegean coast, has become a magnet for people determined to reach Europe. An estimated 2,500 refugees, also believed to be from Syria, landed on Lesbos on Wednesday in what local officials described as more than 60 dinghies and other “unseaworthy” vessels.Some 15,000 refugees are in Lesbos awaiting passage by cruise ship to Athens’ port of Piraeus before continuing their journey northwards to Macedonia and up through Serbia to Hungary and Germany.“The situation on the islands is dramatic in terms of the sheer numbers flowing in, lack of shelter and ever worsening hygiene conditions,” Ketty Kehayioy, the UNHCR’s spokeswoman in Athens told the Guardian. “The absence of staff to conduct registrations is creating enormous bottlenecks on Lesvos and Kos which is further exacerbating substandard conditions, conditions themselves worsened by very limited facilities.”

Local NGO’s and volunteers, working around-the-clock to support insufficient state services now stretched to breaking point, described the situation as “utterly overwhelming.”

Wednesday’s dead were part of a grim toll of some 2,500 people who have died this summer attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

Athens’ caretaker government, in power until elections are held on 20 September, announced emergency measures to facilitate the flow after meeting in urgent session under the prime minister,Vassiliki Thanou.

The migration minister, Yiannis Mouzalas, said the measures would aim to improve conditions both for refugees and residents on islands such as Kos and Lesbos.

Conditions on islands have become increasingly chaotic with local officials voicing fears over the outbreak of disease amid rising levels of squalor.

“The problem is very big,” said Mouzalas, a doctor who is also a member of the Doctors of the World aid organisation. “If the European Union doesn’t intervene quickly to absorb the populations … if the issue isn’t internationalised on a UN level, every so often we will be discussing how to avoid the crisis,” he told reporters, insisting that the thousands risking their lives to flee conflict were refugees. “There is no migration issue, remove that – it is a refugee issue,” he said.

The UNHCR calculates that some 205,000 Europe-bound refugees have enteredGreece, mostly via its outlying Aegean isles, this year alone. The vast majority (69%) are Syrians, Afghans (18 %), Iraqis and Somalis fleeing conflict in their countries.

In Hungary’s capital, meanwhile, where the authorities reversed their position and moved to stop migrants travelling to Germany and other western EU ­countries, hundreds continued to protest at Keleti ­station. Tensions rose throughout the day as the number of mainly young men swelled to over 2,000.

With police blocking their path into Budapest’s main international train station, the crowds chanted, “No police! No police!” and “Germany! Germany!”

Passions also flared on Hungary’s border with Serbia as rightwing nationalist protesters marched to the location where migrants use a train track to walk into the country. Police formed protective circles around frightened migrants as the demonstrators screamed abuse at them.

“We have to reinstate law and order at the borders of the European Union, including the border with Serbia,” Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said. “Without re-establishing law and order, it will be impossible to handle the influx of migrants.”

He said Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, would take a “clear and obvious message” to a meeting in Brussels on Thursday with EU chiefs about the migration crisis.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/02/shocking-image-of-drowned-syrian-boy-shows-tragic-plight-of-refugees

The Horn Times opinion box 05 Sept 2015

(By Getahune Bekele-South Africa)

“Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of the day.” -TJ

Behold, he is daring, he is a rebel and the fearsome black lion is roaring.

“Endyaw zerafewa endeyaw zerafewa,

   Ye Gondern meret ye humeran meda,

   Tedanegbet enji mech dagnebet bada.

   Wede temari bet temeleshi kine,

  Wendoch kewalubet ewelalhu ene.”

Millions of his fans often say Shambel Belayneh is the undisputed successor to the late legendary entertainer Assefa Abate of “Yematibela Wef” fame. But some go a bit further and compared this larger- than- life character to US patriotic songs and country music icon Lee Greenwood, the man who sang the timeless and the most recognizable  “God bless the USA”.

Back home in Ethiopia where his songs are totally banned, even the most unpatriotic snobs will agree that Shambel Belayneh’s latest patriotic hit titled “BEKA” with its lively melody and widespread appeal, is as rabble rousing as the 1865 hit “Marching through Georgia” by Henry Clay work.

Rebel artist Shambel Belayneh is no Demimondaine. Patriotism is his peculiarity. His natural milieu is that of patriotic artists. As we Ethiopians begin to see a whiff of freedom in the air, only Shamble’s miscellaneous hits are going to unshackle the minds of millions of undemonstrative citizens and propel them towards freedom, liberty and fraternity.

This courageous crowed puller and Masinko genius, Shambel Belayneh, always gets enthusiastic support from his passionate fans hungry for mesmerising and delightful folk music feast. Homesick Ethiopian exiles and refugees, who complain of weariness from labour, love the manner in which he renders his music to them, with great majesty and amazing fluency. Cheering them up by the soothing dreamlike sweet melody.

As the godfather of traditional patriotic songs of Ethiopia, Shambel’s ambient music is easy to connect with. It has the power to uplift the soul, awakening in us the spirit of compassion and love, independence, rebellion and even anger. It also vanishes our blues or conjures up memories of our great past in anti-colonial struggle. Shambel’s song awakens the hero in us to surmount all obstacles and Marches us off to war. – To a just war of liberation.

One die-hard fan who danced to “Tekebresh Yenorshew” hit later described the experience by stating “the brooding melancholy that had settled over my mind was charmed away by the power of Shambel Belayneh’s Masinko and when my adrenaline peaked, my torment was lifted after which i saw my beloved Ethiopia in flesh.”

Selam Haile, 29, an Ethiopian student in Pretoria-South Africa, calls Shambel Belayneh a singing Nightingale who pours out a thrilling melody that leaves a lasting joy in the heart.

Although some “Azmaries” inadvertently get the credit, Shambel Belayneh is the only patriotic singer who never tried to wheedle Ethiopians in to accepting brutal repression and slavery in the past 24 years.

A born revolutionary and selfless patriot, Shambel is not a tiresome pedagogue, singing about yester year Ethiopia and yester year greats only. He fearlessly magnifies our current magnificent sons and daughters, immortalises those who watered the trees of freedom with their precious blood.

We all know that music powerfully touches our lives.  It moves, enchants energizes and heals us. But it can also jar and twist us, filling the heart and the mind with gloomy thoughts, distracting us and saturating our thinking with undesirable propaganda. I remember how a certain singer we Ethiopians have unutterable love for, recently gave us an immoral song called “Gomen Betena”. The unforgettable trash was a direct call on ordinary Ethiopians to just eat cabbage in peace rather than fight the ruling elite to get some nutritious luxuries. As cadre singer, the man was clearly trying to press upon our consciousness that the regime currently ruling Ethiopia is undefeatable. He further advocated through his song that we should not rebel against the system but settle into depressed complacency.

In the past 24 years, we have seen a plethora of Ethiopian artists, who wholeheartedly fought tyranny through their music giving up and surrendering to the rulers. They flew home after striking dodgy deals with feared TPLF agents. However, shortly after landing in Addis, they were deplorably used as well- oiled ethnocentric propaganda machinery which guerrilla- markets hatred and ethnic disharmony in the Ethiopian society. –A deserved job for being led by their avarice and betraying their principles.

No wonder some so-called “traitor-artists” incurred the wrath of this sunshine patriot Shambel Belayneh. During his recent fundraising concert in the US, Shambel mocked and belittled singer-turned cadre, Solomon Tekalign, calling him the dog of TPLF shadow propaganda minister Bereket Simeon; – “ Solomon Tekalign ye Bereket wusha.”

As much as he is meek, convivial or as those close to him say, an Angel with temperance and humility virtues, no one stands before Shambel Belayneh when he is pissed off. Once this writer was at the receiving end of his red-hot rage for not delivering the Masinko to his hotel room on time. The next day he accepted my sincere apology with mischievous smile but kept drivelling on about it for hours. “Respect the folk music magnate and he will respect you back” am told by his producer, Daniel.

Nonetheless, given how he has been treated by the Diaspora for the past two decades, the hardship he had to endure in the name of Ethiopiawenet, at times struggling to keep the wolf from the door, the man who seems betrothed to his beloved Ethiopia for eternity, doesn’t rage at the injustice of life in exile. Even when i pressed him to say more, he was outwardly calm and betrayed no sign of discomposure; an unparalleled hero in almost every aspect with unmatched resilience and courage.

When below-average, mammon worshiping singers got their reward for praising tyranny and ethnic apartheid, Shambel Belayneh, the rock, refused to sell his soul and chose to suffer for the sake of Ethiopia. He rejected the millions dangled before him to join the club of immoral millionaires with the contempt it deserved.

Hence life in the US hasn’t been rags to riches for Shambel Belayneh as in the writings of novelist Horatio Alger Jr. Instead, it was a transition from relative obscurity to an instant fame as symbol of resistance, with his star shining hundred times brighter than any other artist of our time.

We Ethiopians fondly remember how Shambel Belayneh burst onto the scene several moons ago, straight from the mountain- top Eden of northern highlands. Who will forget how his folk music masterpiece titled “ye Zenaye” came cascading down like the mighty waters of Geon from the majestic mountains of Abyssinia. In that memorable song of two melodies of one tapestry, the young shepherd likened a certain drop-dead gorgeous girl (probably his boyhood sweetheart) to the sweet-smelling tropical plant called Demakese, a natural remedy for cold and frostbite.

“Ende Demakese medhanit neberch”…was a jewel among Shambel’s other lilting and rhythmic songs that would never fade away from our memory. What a blessing was that he picked Masinko rather than the flute, normally associated with the romantic names of Abyssinian shepherds.

However, currently, Ethiopians are imploring him for more patriotic songs as the struggle for freedom moves to another level.

“Tekebresh yenorshew babatochachin dem,

Enat Ethiopia yedefereh yewdem.”-

is on everyone’s lips from New York and Johannesburg all the way to the Eritrean desert, our new home. We have got our war and the freedom train is in motion. We are heading north to join PG-7 and our commander-in-chief, his Excellency Prof Berhanu Nega, whom we affectionately call the “desert fox”.

We salute you Shambel Belayneh and kings to you. We shall never forget you and the battle cry is reverberating……

“Ere fano fano, ere fano fano,

 Fano des yelegnal sitatek maleda,

Yemiabela meslo yemeshegn engida.

Ende kola wef-ende grissa….

Yarefew libe degmo tenessa.

Ke guawedenoghu mata yeteleye

Ende atbya kokeb sinega taye

Ere fano fano…ere fano fano.”

infohorntimes@gmail.com

Dr Minasse Haile’s, Ethiopian Foreign Minister (1971-73) emotionally responding to the Libyan Foreign Minister’s offensive remarks regarding Addis Ababa’s status as the seat of the OAU.

His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I Press Interview

Recorded in the USA in the 1960’s, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I gives a rare and open interview to the American press. Hear The Lion of Judah speak in his own words, his points of view and opinions

You do not have to hide dark spots on your face with heavy makeup or subject your delicate skin to harsh chemical peels or laser treatments to remove annoying marks. Whether they are age-related “liver spots” or stubborn acne and insect bite scars, there are natural ways that are effective options for removing most dark spots from your face.

Brown spots generally appear on exposed skin areas like the face, back, neck, chest, shoulders and hands. Some of the main causes of brown spots are sun exposure, aging, and genetics. Factors like stress, pregnancy, vitamin deficiencies, and weak liver functioning may also contribute to this problem.

Age spots, sun spots, acne spots, spots from chicken pox, whatever the cause, no one wants to have spots littered all over their skin. Fortunately, there are also many ways to get rid of them once and for all, and the best part is that you can do it naturally and from the comfort of your own home.

Lemons

Lemon juice and its natural acidity have long been used as an organic bleaching agent to lighten dark spots. All you have to do is squeeze the juice out of one lemon, dip a cotton ball in the juice and apply it directly to your dark spots twice a day. Just be sure you use fresh lemon juice and not the kind you buy in a bottle from the grocery store, unless you buy organic.

Aloe Vera

Aloe vera has healing properties and aids skin regeneration. So, it is excellent for getting rid of brown spots, especially when caused by sun exposure.

• Gently rub fresh aloe vera gel on the spots. Leave it on for about 30 minutes before washing the area with cold water. Repeat twice daily and within a month you should notice improvement.
• If fresh aloe vera gel is not available, you can opt for aloe vera juice that you can readily buy from the market.

Sandalwood

Sandalwood is an anti-aging agent and an antiseptic that can helps reduce hyperpigmentation and get rid of brown spots. You can make homemade pack with two tablespoons of sandalwood powder, two teaspoons of rose water, and one teaspoon each of glycerin and lemon juice. Apply this pack on the spots and allow it to dry naturally. Use cold water to wash it off. Repeat a few times a week until your brown spots disappear.

Another option is to add one tablespoon of orange juice, one teaspoon of lemon juice and the contents of two vitamin E capsules to two tablespoons of sandalwood powder. Mix it well and then apply it on the face. Leave it on for about half an hour before washing it off. Do this a few times a week until you see improvement.

Also, massage the affected area with a few drops of sandalwood oil mixed in one tablespoon of olive oil or almond oil, daily before going to bed and leave it on overnight.

Horseradish

If you find lemon juice just isn’t cutting it, try switching it up and testing out a combination ofhorseradish mixed with apple cider vinegar and pure raw honey.

Squeezing some lemon juice onto a cotton ball and use it as you would any toner, by swiping it all over your face. After that, spot treat any hyperpigmented areas with your horseradish mixture and allow it to soak in for around 20 minutes. Then just simply wash your face and apply SPF if you plan on going outside, as these ingredients can make your skin sensitive to UV rays.

Onion

While it may sound like a smelly solution, red onion is actually rich in acidic properties and can help fade dark spots almost effortlessly. Just cut up a red onion and juice it, or blend it if you don’t have a juicer. Once you have your red onion juice ready to go, grab a Q-tip, dip it in your juice and apply it directly to each spot or area you wish to lighten. Allow it to remain on your skin for 10-15 minutes before rinsing off with warm water. No matter which method you choose, if you commit to staying dedicated and consistent in your application, you should start to notice your dark spots fading.

The Horn Times Newsletter
by Getahune Bekele | South Africa

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Malcolm X

“Mothers and fathers who survived the Arbagugu genocide are dying off in apparent grief after 24 years of agonizing wait for justice” Mulualem Habte, survivor.

“The lord approves and readily accepts my harmonious worship and service, so long will the power of my enemies be overwhelmed and dispersed, and the blessings of my peace, of favourable weather and abundant crops, and all that is to my benefit, will be freely bestowed upon me.”… So preaches and prays ordained protestant pastor, former organ-eating warlord Tamrat Layne of Ethiopia, much to the disgust of thousands of his victims who suffered unimaginable loses and endured terrible hardships during his reign of terror in the early 90s.

Obsessed with self-damaging dominance and sickening ethnocentric madness, the docile-horse of the dead tyrant Meles Zenawi, once nick-named “the under taker” for sending thousands of Ethiopians to early deaths, the unparalleled evil is today claiming sainthood in a fake spiritual estate he curved out for himself while doing time in TPLF prison for stealing millions from the poorest of the poor.

Recently, the Horn Times picked up pure bible vandalism in one his sermons that what comes out of his mouth is an artful lie mixed with hypocritical invention of knavish tricks to evade justice and to hide in the ranks of Christendom, pretending to be a reformed pastor, as pious as the archimandrites and monks. However, his victims from Gonder, Arbagugu, Guna, Harer and Bedeno areas of Ethiopia know that the sinister fascist is an unrepentant war criminal and a convicted thief with no sense of shame.

Even some in his own congregation repeatedly said pastor Tamrat Layne’s nauseating gibberish wont assuage the pain of Ethiopians, only justice will.

According to a TPLF insider who spoke to the Horn Times on condition of anonymity, out of his well publicised conscientious stupidity, warlord-cum-evangelist Tamrat Layne still identifies himself with Tigre People’s Liberation Front/TPLF, the ruling party in Ethiopia since May 1991. He actively supports the existing apartheid style power structure that favours the minority ethnic Tigres over millions of non-Tigre Ethiopians who remain virtual slaves in their own country.

Speaking by phone from Addis Ababa, our well-placed source said the rag tag murderer Tamrat Layne, never distanced himself from the TPLF coterie that discarded and jailed him a decade ago.

“Look, pastor Tamrat was convicted of larceny and corruption but kept his illegally acquired massive farm land situated near the lakeside city of Zeway in Southern Ethiopia. TPLF warlords didn’t trace or attempted to recover the millions Tamrat allegedly stashed in off-shore accounts. The revved up thief is still a very wealthy man, with good business connections in the TPLF under world. So why would he leave Tigre People’s Liberation Front?” our source added.

Furthermore, the TPLF insider who described himself as a “mere layman” in one of the fragmented, TPLF aligned protestant churches alleged that the malcontent murderer Tamrat Layne is currently an anointed puppet after being re-consecrated by PM Hailemariam Desalegn to serve the minority junta as cadre evangelist under the watchful eyes of Tigray Republic’s ecclesiastical tribunal boss and die-hard Meles Zenawi loyalist pastor Daniel Gebreselassie; an allegation that would shake the very foundation of TPLF driven and Roman Tesfaye sponsored evangelism in Woyane-Ethiopia.

“We always tremble with indignation seeing a church turning into bedlam whenever widows and orphans confronted and lampooned the motor-mouth preacher Tamrat Layne on the pulpit. He still persists in the most barefaced lies about the horrific acts of violence he perpetrated on behalf of his beloved Fuhrer, the late totalitarian blood- sucker Meles Zenawi.” Alemnesh Gurmesa, 49, a member of the protestant Meserete Kirstos church told the Horn Times from Istanbul- Turkey.

“What you see today in our protestant churches is part of the tottering Junta’s perniciously wicked plan of completely controlling it, the same way it controls the Islamic faith and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido church. The current bitter reality is that every church and every Mosque in our country has a cadre clergy, very much unfit to serve the creator. Look at how a cadre sheikdom led by Tigray grand mufti, sheik Elias, runs the Islamic faith against the will of millions. Look at how true leaders are convicted on phony charges of terrorism and jailed…. There is no freedom of worship in Woyane Ethiopia. Religion has been hijacked and politicised by the ruling minority junta…” the angry business executive uttered, sobbing silently.

“The war and terror this man unleashed, the tragedy of it touched almost every household in our land, yet he roams free showing of his ill-gotten wealth and torments his victims in the name of God. Where is justice? Where is justice?

The man who made us blanch with fright for a decade is free..Unbelievable. The international criminal court must step in.” Embet H.Micael poured her heart out to the Horn Times.

Moreover, Mulualem Habte, 39, a cub driver who grew up in the town of forty rivers, Arbagugu, appeared inconsolable when contacted by the Horn Times reporter in Piazza, Addis Ababa.

“The utter barbarity of this extremely belligerent warlord named Tamrat Layne is well documented. I and five friends endured every affliction between 1991-1993 in Arbagugu and Guna areas of Arsi province; and caught a glimpse of the horror Tamrat Layne’s private militia had perpetrated. If given chance, we will give a coherent account of the Arbagugu and Guna pogroms. We live in the hope of one day testifying before a war crimes tribunal.

Our siblings are asleep in the dust of the earth but the man who exterminated them is enjoying his life. We want Tamrat Lyne thrown into the abyss and forced to ponder all the unbearable pains and tragedies he caused us. We are crying for justice. Where is justice? Believe me, Mothers and fathers who survived the Arbagugu genocide are dying off in apparent grief after 24 years of agonizing wait for that elusive justice. We need some sort of closure soon.

“The macabre story, the eerie story of untold human suffering in TPLF concentration camps around Arbagugu in 1991 should not be remaining buried with Meles Zenawi. For us survivors, it is very difficult to comprehend as to why the Arbagugu bloodbath didn’t get the attention of the international community just like the Srebrenica massacre which took place at the same time in two different continents. Am teary-eyed here, brother. Every day we rage and fume about watching Tamrat Layne talking mercy. Mercy in our expense. Oh our Ethiopia.”

The wanton murderer Tamrat Layne’s career of violence started way back in the mid 70s in the back wood of civilization, in Tigray Republic. He was member of the feared group of brutal warlords then known as “the wicked quartet”, namely, TPLF prodigy the late Leggese Zenawi later known as Meles Zenawi, TPLF military commander and terror guru the late Haylom Araya and TPLF intelligence boss, lower ranking warlord Aboy Bisrat Amare, who is currently living in hiding in the United States of America.

The so- called wicked quartet’s role in the extremely rigid and homogenous TPLF wasn’t limited to just giving bellicose orders during the years of armed confrontation with Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party/EPRP in and around the mountain fastness of Asimba. After a decision was taken to stop “Amhara encroachment” into the red-Tigray by the TPLF leadership of the time, young intellectual EPRP members who fled Mengistu’s red terror campaign were hunted down and wiped out in cold blood by Tamrat Layne and his partners in crime.

However, as the calls for justice continue to reverberate across the harshly ruled East African nation, millions want Tamrat Lyne to stand trial apart from the Arbagugu pogroms, for the 1993 Asabot monastery onslaught to which he was directly responsible and for well documented anti-Amhara hate speeches he delivered during his time as PM of Ethiopia.

To balance our story, we have tried to contact the ex- warlord turned Pastor, Tamrat Lyne, for almost two weeks but he failed to reply to our emails and text massages.

For how long is this nasty individual who tears the nation apart with his poisonous tongue and fixated on bringing the Rwanda type genocide to Ethiopia walking around freely? Will the grief stricken and the disconsolate ever get justice?

infohorntimes@gmail.com

A survey of prices of international grade hotels in selected major African cities, produced by hospitality research firm STR Global, ahead of the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF), taking place at the end of September, has revealed that Addis Ababa is the most expensive place for a good night’s sleep.

The average rate in US$ (constant currency) for a hotel room in the first six months of this year in Addis Ababa was $231.78/ night.  This compares with $215.75 for a room in Lagos, $144.76 in Nairobi, $122.30 in Cape Town, $105.73 in Casablanca, $103.54 in Cairo, $72.90 in Johannesburg and $70.70 in Sharm El Sheikh.

When one notes that the price of a hotel room in Nairobi is almost double that in Jo’berg and the room rate in Addis is 60% more expensive than Nairobi, one is tempted to ask how prices can be so different.

Thomas Emanuel, Director of Business Development, STR Global, says: “A great deal of the reason for the difference in rates across major African cities is simply supply and demand.”  Addis Ababa has a shortage of top quality hotels.

However, with the Ethiopian economy growing at a rapid rate of more than 10% per annum for the whole of the last decade, with more conferences coming to the city by virtue of its status as the seat of the African Union and with Ethiopian Airlines on a similar growth trajectory to the country, thanks to new routes and increased passenger numbers, there is a high demand for premium hotel rooms.

By comparison, Johannesburg is a long-established, sophisticated international city, with a large number of 5* hotels and a competitive market for accommodation.

Looking at how hotel prices have changed over the past year (year to date June ’14-’15), there have been substantial rate rises in Sharm El Sheikh, up 42.5%, Addis Ababa, up 14.9%, Johannesburg, up 11.0% Cape Town, up 10.8% and Cairo, up 10.6%.  Whereas, there has been a recovery in Lagos up 5.8% whilst Nairobi is broadly the same and Casablanca has suffered a 4.0% decline.

The increases in Sharm El Sheikh and Cairo can be explained as a recovery in tourism to Egypt, following several years of political unrest.  Cape Town’s improvement is due predominantly to increased demand and no recent increases in supply since the 2010 World Cup.  In the face of the recent terrorism incidents in Kenya, Nairobi’s hoteliers have chosen to maintain rates but they have suffered with lower occupancy.  The rise in room rates in Lagos cannot be explained simply by supply and demand because there has been a combination of factors that would normally be expected to exert a downward pressure on price.  First, there is a hotel development boom in Lagos with 3,611 new hotel rooms in the pipeline, according to W Hospitality Group, second, there has been a collapse in the oil price, which is damaging Nigeria’s heavily oil-dependent economy and third, occupancy has fallen below 50%.  The rate decline in Casablanca is due in part to economic weakness in France, its major source market and in part to currency fluctuations.

At AHIF, Thomas will be reporting on year-on-year hotel performance in some of Africa’s key markets and adding further interpretation and analysis of the main trends.  Matthew Weihs, Managing Director, Bench Events, which organises AHIF, which attracts all the major international hotel investors in Africa, where this information will be discussed in detail, concluded: “The wide disparity in room rates with exceptional prices being achieved in places where there is a shortage of supply, make it clear that there are parts of Africa that offer very attractive prospects for hotel investors. The best way to gain a deeper understanding of this industry is to come to Addis and meet the people who are driving it forward.”

AHIF is the preeminent gathering of international investors in hotels in Africa.  It takes place in Addis Ababa on Sept 30 – Oct 1.  For more information, go towww.Africa-Conference.com.

In another move that seems more reminiscent of Selma, Alabama in 1962 and many Third World countries today than it does a Western democracy, Israel’s Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein announced he is closing the case against the white policeman who beat Ethiopian Jewish IDF soldier Damas Pakada, apparently without provocation, in late April in Holon. The reason? “Lack of public interest.”

Many Ethiopians welcomed the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) when it ousted the military junta led by Mengistu Hailemariam and assumed power in 1991 hoping that the new regime would bring democracy, rule of law and more importantly much needed peace that was evidently not present during much of the Derg era. The military dictatorship run a country that was ruined by civil war resulting in a weak economy and a fragile state in which people where fed up with the ongoing war with separatist movements of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) and the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in the northern part of the country while tens of thousands of Ethiopians were massacred in major cities all over the country when the Derg unleashed a reign of terror against the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party(EPRP) members calling it “Red Terror”.

Young Ethiopians from all walks of life were forced to join the military to fight in the never ending bitter war with secessionists in the north. The nation was in desperate need for peace and stability above all else after seventeen years of iron rule characterized by war and terror. The EPRP, the major opposition to the Derg at the time, was weakened by the regime’s ruthless actions and infighting leaving the rebels the only organized and armed alternative Ethiopians have to overthrow the Mengistu regime. Consequently, the TPLF and EPLF enjoyed massive support from the people as well as western aid as they struggled to advance and control the country. The two rebel groups that started as guerrilla movements seventeen and thirty years ago respectively, emerged as the victors eventually and the EPLF took over Eritrea while the TPLF controlled the rest of the country. In 1993, Eritrea was separated from Ethiopia and became an independent state under the EPLF led by Isaias Afewerki.

The TPLF had to find a way that appeals to the vast majority of Ethiopians besides its Tigrayan origin, which accounts for only six percent of the total population. Therefore, in 1989 a coalition consisting of the TPLF and the Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (EPDM) – that later was forced by the TPLF to change its name to Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) was formed under the name the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). Although EPDM was founded by former EPRP members that came from various ethnics groups in the country, it was not in harmony with the identity politics the TPLF was so adamant about thus it was forced to become an ethnic party claiming to represent the Amhara. As the coalition forces advanced towards Addis Ababa, one other ethnic based political party was created namely the Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organization (OPDO), which consisted of captured Derg officers, just before the rebels controlled the nation’s capital. Finally, the Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM) was incorporated into the coalition after the EPRDF controlled Addis Ababa. These are puppet organizations that have no meaningful power and are used by the TPLF to run the country in the direction it desires as well as a deception tactic to convey the message that each ethnicity in the country is administered by representatives that belong to that specific ethnic group and that each political organization in the EPRDF has an equal status in the governance of the country. This, of course, is far away from the reality on the ground as the TPLF has an absolute control over all government and even some non-government institutions in the country including the army, security apparatus, police, court system, election board and even religious institutions in order to extend its rule.

The first few years under the new regime led a considerable number of Ethiopians to believe a positive change is taking place in their country although some well informed people were skeptical if not utterly opposed the front because its views and understanding of the Ethiopian state, that was anti-Ethiopian in nature, were propagated in its radio programs during the struggle against the Derg. Nonetheless, the EPRDF took some radical steps to change how the country was governed. For instance, it declared free market economy, allowed a relatively free press and introduced a new constitution that gave the people the power to elect its chosen leaders in a national election that will be held every five years.

The TPLF/EPRDF organized a transitional government while it controlled all government institutions already revealing that the transitional government is just a formality to gain international support until it solidifies its grip on power. Political oppositions, concerned individuals and groups, intellectuals and religious leaders did not have a say in the process. It was all a well orchestrated drama. The ruling party claimed to have won two consecutive national elections that were held after the transitional government period was over in 1995 and 2000 respectively. Ordinary Ethiopians were not interested in politics as much therefore the regime was able stay in power without any serious threat of public anger over rigged elections.

Then, the historic 2005 national election came. The ruling party underestimated the opposition and opened up the political space in a way that has never been attempted before. It allowed live televised debates, political opponents were relatively free to organize themselves and communicate their objectives to the public, journalists and bloggers were able to express their views without fear. All these contributed in increasing the political awareness of ordinary Ethiopians especially the youth. The major opposition at the time was the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) or Kinijit as it is popularly known in Amharic. Its leaders were highly educated, experienced and above all patriotic individuals who were able to win the hearts and minds of millions of Ethiopians. They clearly out-smarted their opponents at the televised debates using their in-depth knowledge and articulation on key issues such as national security, democracy, economic development, foreign policy, urban and rural development and so on. Ethiopians believed that the right leaders the country has been waiting for years have finally arrived. This was evident when millions of Kinjit supporters gathered at Meskel Square in support of the party just before Election Day. As a result, Kinijit convincingly and decisively won the 2005 national election in a landslide.

However, as expected, the ruling ethnic junta was not willing to accept the will of the Ethiopian people and step down. Instead, it rigged the election and declared itself as the victor using state-owned media. This in turn angered millions of Kinjit supporters and forced them to go out on the streets all over the country and protest the result. Meles Zenawi, ordered the army to use live ammunition over the protesters and over two hundred peaceful demonstrators were killed by security forces. This has been confirmed by a committee that was organized by the late PM himself to carry out an investigation over the use of excessive force by security forces during the public demonstration. Tens of thousands of Kinjit supporters were hunted down and jailed in which inhumane treatment and torture awaited them. The regime also rounded up all of the top leadership of Kinijit to kill the momentum for change. The hope of peaceful transition of power and instituting democracy was dashed and instead fear, terror and uncertainty reigned in the country. Even though Kinijit was not able to achieve its final objective which was to take over power and democratize the country in time, it was successful in showing the international community the brutal nature of the TPLF/EPRDF and revealing that there is no democracy in the country but only what political scientists call pseudo-democracy in which the ruling party calls itself democratic without allowing any meaningful opposition activity and free and fair election.

The next two general elections held in 2010 and 2015 were just a formality mainly to sustain western diplomatic and financial support. The ruling party won 99.6% in the former and it went on to improve its result to a 100% in the latter one. The idea of a 100% election victory was so absurd that even Susan Rice, US National Security Advisor to Obama, burst out laughing at a press conference when a journalist asked her if the president thinks it was a democratic election. Since the 2005 general election, the ruling party has intensified its repression over political parties especially on those that advocate Ethiopian nationalism, journalists, bloggers and practically anyone considered to be a threat to its power. The dictatorial regime introduced Ethiopia’s Anti-Terrorism Proclamation in August 2009 that is used as a tool to silence any political dissent against the ruling party in the name of fighting terrorism. A number of rights groups have condemned this law saying that it is utilized to stifle opposition voice including journalists, bloggers and activists instead of its stated purpose. The Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ) and the All Ethiopian Unity Party (AEUP) were both dismantled by the Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), which is another institution to attack opposition parties, in January 2015 saying that the leadership of both parties was illegal. However, it is clear that these parties were dismantled because they were advocating Ethiopian nationalism which the TPLF/EPRDF is determined to eliminate from its inception, actively engaging the public, well organized with strong and effective leadership and had massive support from Ethiopians which painted a target at their back eventually leading to their demise.

This in a nutshell was the political landscape of Ethiopia since the ruling ethnic junta took over the country from the military dictatorship in 1991. It seems that the peaceful struggle at home has reached a dead end with several members of various opposition parties that follow a non violent form of struggle joining armed groups. The root cause of all the problems in Ethiopia is the TPLF/EPRDF’s complete inability to allow any meaningful democratic change in the country and this emanates from the ruling party’s politics of ethnic identity that views any opposition directed at the regime as enemy. The ethnic division in the country purposely instigated by the ruling ethnic junta for the past twenty fours has seriously threatened the unity and territorial integrity of the country. Rising cost of living that is going from bad to worse every year is making the lives of ordinary Ethiopians harder by the day. The rampant corruption is destroying the country causing an unimaginable difference in wealth between the rich and the poor. All these are factors that can lead to a public uprising leading to unintended consequences.

The key to avert imminent danger in the country is still in the hands of the ruling party. All what is needed is a genuine will to organize a national reconciliation process that includes all stakeholders to find a common ground and arrange to hold a free and fair election. This is the ideal alternative to solve the extremely complicated problem our country is facing. However, if the regime decides to keep the status quo, there will be, without a doubt, a third revolution in our country’s history. Therefore, the question that will shape Ethiopia’s political future is that will the TPLF/EPRDF choose fire or water? This will be answered in the actions of the ruling party in the near future.

Abel A. Asfaw, Toronto, September, 2015