A futile debate is going on in the blogosphere and in the Ethiopian local media,as to whether the prospective release of derg officials is a move towards national reconciliation or it is constitutional or unconstitutional.
As to the constitutionality or unconstitutionality of the argument, the debate is futile because there is no constitution in woyane's Ethiopia that dictates the law. Woyane rules by whim, not by constitution!
As to whether the move will have a reconciliatory impact, for me it is just another political strategy of the Woyane thugs to appear as peace makers both locally and in the face of the international community and the diplomatic front. Other wise why bother about reconciliation while woyane is still harassing, jailing, and killing opposition politicians and their supports throughout the country. If there is a grain of real intention in the woyane camp to reconcile with the Ethiopian people, the right thing to do is sit and negotate with all opposition groups and chart the way forward for Ethiopia or just allow free and fair election.
Reconciliation happens when woyane leaves the Ethiopian people to freely organize, freely express their voice, freely do their business, when people can hold politicians accountable, when they are equal before the law, when there is justice.
How could releasing old, sick and fragile former derg officials be seen as a sign of national reconciliation? Do these officials pose any threat to woyane's power today? You reconcile with your challengers, your critics, not with those at your mercy. How is the release of a few derg officials going to be national reconciliation, while many thousands of people are suffering in woyane's prisons for their political opinion, most of them with agonizing treatment, while people are losing their jobs or opportunities for advancement and education because of their critical or independent opinion, while thousands are still fleeing the country for their safety and living in exile, when everything below the sky in Ethiopia is controlled by Tigrean minority, when a few arrogant Tigreans enjoy humilating others in all sectors of life. These gross violations have to change for a national reconciliation!!!
I have no problem if derg officials are released on an amnesty on humanitarian grounds, although I am one of millions of Ethiopians, who had been jailed and tortured by the regime, although still many may consider it unjust on legal grounds. But I am certain that their release is not a game changer for the Ethiopian people nor it is a sign of national reconciliation.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
A Flattering, Self-Serving International Community in Ethiopia Today
The condemnation from the DAG (the Development Assistance Group) in Ethiopia against the recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report regarding Woyane’s abuse of foreign aid forced me to write this article.
I have spent most of my professional life working for government (20%), local non-profit, international non-profit, multilateral organizations and as an independent consultant (80%) in Ethiopia, from 1984-2005, until I was forced to flee my country in 2005.
During that period and the periods following after, I have seen a number of internal documents and local research articles by so many International NGOs (INGOs) and Multilateral organizations (MOs) in Ethiopia (including the UN and the World Bank) that reveal abuse of power and mismanagement of donor resources by the Woyane government in Ethiopia. I have a vivid memory of internal staff level discussions in the INGOs and MOs that criticize the abuse and advocate for the redressing of these abuses. That was until 2005, when I left the country, in the aftermath of the rigged election then. There are a number of reports within the World Bank and local and INGOs that show how donor funds leak and funjibly used within the Ethiopian government structure throughout the country.
But when it comes to publicly discussing and raising these issues of abuse and mismanagement of resources, self and national interests of the staff of the INGOs and MOs take precedence. Just like the local hodams, members of the international community are also afraid of “rocking the boat” and challenging the status quo in Ethiopia.
Invariably speaking, most of the INGO and MO staff in Ethiopia today know the deceptive economic strategies of the Woyane, since its assumption of power in Ethiopia (ADLI= Agricultural Development Led Industrialization in the early 1990s, SPRSP= Sustainable Poverty Reduction Strategic Plan of the early 2000s, the PASDEP= Plan for Accelerated and Sustainable Development to End Poverty, for the period 2005-2010, and the GTP=Growth and Transformation Plan, for the period 2010-2015) that have delivered nothing except a rhetoric. Except the change in the title of the strategies, there has been no change in substance and details of these strategies.
Staffs of INGOs and MOs know how un-mercy the Woyane government is towards its critics whatsoever. They have witnessed a diplomat after diplomat, an INGO staff after an INGO staff being ordered to leave the country within 24/48 hours upon a slight slip of tongue against the government’s handling of economic and political issues in Ethiopia.
Having worked within that sector in Ethiopia, I know the kind of financial freedom, respect and authority they enjoy in that poor county of mine, with very little to no accountability to the Ethiopian people, that they never imagined they would have in their own countries of origin.
As my favorite author, Graham Hancock, described in his famous book’ “Lords of Poverty”, staff of the “development industry’ will continue to pay lip service to causes of poverty and continue to amass their own wealth. They will even go as far as defending the dictatorial Woyane government of Ethiopia against the genuine reports of HRW regarding the mismanagement of donor funds to stifle opposition in Ethiopia.
My fellow citizens, don’t count on this international technocrats to deliver us from Woyane’s yolk of repression. Right now, they are defending Woyane and commending it for its performance in reducing poverty and advancing democracy. What a shame!!!
Count on your own sons and daughters and contribute your share towards the struggle for freedom.
I have spent most of my professional life working for government (20%), local non-profit, international non-profit, multilateral organizations and as an independent consultant (80%) in Ethiopia, from 1984-2005, until I was forced to flee my country in 2005.
During that period and the periods following after, I have seen a number of internal documents and local research articles by so many International NGOs (INGOs) and Multilateral organizations (MOs) in Ethiopia (including the UN and the World Bank) that reveal abuse of power and mismanagement of donor resources by the Woyane government in Ethiopia. I have a vivid memory of internal staff level discussions in the INGOs and MOs that criticize the abuse and advocate for the redressing of these abuses. That was until 2005, when I left the country, in the aftermath of the rigged election then. There are a number of reports within the World Bank and local and INGOs that show how donor funds leak and funjibly used within the Ethiopian government structure throughout the country.
But when it comes to publicly discussing and raising these issues of abuse and mismanagement of resources, self and national interests of the staff of the INGOs and MOs take precedence. Just like the local hodams, members of the international community are also afraid of “rocking the boat” and challenging the status quo in Ethiopia.
Invariably speaking, most of the INGO and MO staff in Ethiopia today know the deceptive economic strategies of the Woyane, since its assumption of power in Ethiopia (ADLI= Agricultural Development Led Industrialization in the early 1990s, SPRSP= Sustainable Poverty Reduction Strategic Plan of the early 2000s, the PASDEP= Plan for Accelerated and Sustainable Development to End Poverty, for the period 2005-2010, and the GTP=Growth and Transformation Plan, for the period 2010-2015) that have delivered nothing except a rhetoric. Except the change in the title of the strategies, there has been no change in substance and details of these strategies.
Staffs of INGOs and MOs know how un-mercy the Woyane government is towards its critics whatsoever. They have witnessed a diplomat after diplomat, an INGO staff after an INGO staff being ordered to leave the country within 24/48 hours upon a slight slip of tongue against the government’s handling of economic and political issues in Ethiopia.
Having worked within that sector in Ethiopia, I know the kind of financial freedom, respect and authority they enjoy in that poor county of mine, with very little to no accountability to the Ethiopian people, that they never imagined they would have in their own countries of origin.
As my favorite author, Graham Hancock, described in his famous book’ “Lords of Poverty”, staff of the “development industry’ will continue to pay lip service to causes of poverty and continue to amass their own wealth. They will even go as far as defending the dictatorial Woyane government of Ethiopia against the genuine reports of HRW regarding the mismanagement of donor funds to stifle opposition in Ethiopia.
My fellow citizens, don’t count on this international technocrats to deliver us from Woyane’s yolk of repression. Right now, they are defending Woyane and commending it for its performance in reducing poverty and advancing democracy. What a shame!!!
Count on your own sons and daughters and contribute your share towards the struggle for freedom.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Bullies and Dictators Rarely Stand Up To Any Heat
By now, we all know that when the dictator of Ethiopia steals an election or his blatant lies are exposed, he invariably resorts to ad hominem attacks. The Honorable Ana Gomes who witnessed the daylight robbery of the 2005 election, the US State Department and the august international rights group (Human Rights Watch) have all earned the ire of the vicious and delusional dictator. And now, the highly respected Bloomberg journalist Jason McLure has been added to the list in the latest Meles.
http://www.jimmatimes.com/article/Latest_News/Latest_News/Ethiopias_PM_Zenawi_attacks_Bloomberg_News_journalist/33571
If, it were Tekeda Alemu, the underling or Patrick Gilkes, the handsomely paid mercenary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who wrote this nonsense, the least these imbecils could do is spell their boogey man’s last name correctly (McLure and not McClure)
In the years that Jason McLure of Bloomberg News has been reporting from Addis he has written well researched, well-documented articles about the political environment in Ethiopia. He could have just kicked back in the sun and practiced yellow journalism like most of the foreign journalists in Ethiopia.
Unlike other ferenji journalists, who can be bribed, wined and dined in Al-Amoudi’s harem to swallow Meles’ lies, hook, line and sinker, and regurgitate the crappy talking points from Bereket Simon’s office when the sun rises, the late Tony Mitchell, Jeffrey Gettleman and Jason McLure never fell into that trap.
It was easy for these serious journalists, who have immense pride in their profession
to determine soon enough that Ethiopia is ruled by a pompous dictator and habitual liar with a coterie of underlings who mix fact with fiction to hide the truth about the political and socio-economic crisis in the country. They became anathema to a dangerous dictator who has effectively decapitated the Ethiopian press to hide his crimes. And there was no way he would allow the trio of these impeccable journalists to bear witness and report his egregious offenses. They had to be declared public enemy # I and maligned, threatened with deportation and even imprisonment for doing their job.
Fortunately, through their hard work and the work of Human RightsWatch, the world has come to learn that Meles is nothing but a criminal thug whose heinous crimes have been well documented. And, in the not too distant future, he will no doubt find himself at The Hague to stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
As the late Tony Mitchell, Jeffrey Gettleman and Jason McLure will remain heroes among Ethiopians who appreciate their intelligence, compassion and diligence in exposing Meles for what he really is- a corrupt, egomaniac coward who will stoop to the lowest crevices of the cesspool.
Isn’t it really time for the Obama Administration to shut off the spigot to the pig’s trough? Surely, jamming the Voice of America and roughing up American citizens is an egregious offense and a disrespect no U.S. President should tolerate.
http://www.jimmatimes.com/article/Latest_News/Latest_News/Ethiopias_PM_Zenawi_attacks_Bloomberg_News_journalist/33571
If, it were Tekeda Alemu, the underling or Patrick Gilkes, the handsomely paid mercenary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who wrote this nonsense, the least these imbecils could do is spell their boogey man’s last name correctly (McLure and not McClure)
In the years that Jason McLure of Bloomberg News has been reporting from Addis he has written well researched, well-documented articles about the political environment in Ethiopia. He could have just kicked back in the sun and practiced yellow journalism like most of the foreign journalists in Ethiopia.
Unlike other ferenji journalists, who can be bribed, wined and dined in Al-Amoudi’s harem to swallow Meles’ lies, hook, line and sinker, and regurgitate the crappy talking points from Bereket Simon’s office when the sun rises, the late Tony Mitchell, Jeffrey Gettleman and Jason McLure never fell into that trap.
It was easy for these serious journalists, who have immense pride in their profession
to determine soon enough that Ethiopia is ruled by a pompous dictator and habitual liar with a coterie of underlings who mix fact with fiction to hide the truth about the political and socio-economic crisis in the country. They became anathema to a dangerous dictator who has effectively decapitated the Ethiopian press to hide his crimes. And there was no way he would allow the trio of these impeccable journalists to bear witness and report his egregious offenses. They had to be declared public enemy # I and maligned, threatened with deportation and even imprisonment for doing their job.
Fortunately, through their hard work and the work of Human RightsWatch, the world has come to learn that Meles is nothing but a criminal thug whose heinous crimes have been well documented. And, in the not too distant future, he will no doubt find himself at The Hague to stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
As the late Tony Mitchell, Jeffrey Gettleman and Jason McLure will remain heroes among Ethiopians who appreciate their intelligence, compassion and diligence in exposing Meles for what he really is- a corrupt, egomaniac coward who will stoop to the lowest crevices of the cesspool.
Isn’t it really time for the Obama Administration to shut off the spigot to the pig’s trough? Surely, jamming the Voice of America and roughing up American citizens is an egregious offense and a disrespect no U.S. President should tolerate.
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