ESAT WAZANA KUMNGER BY ABEA TOKICHAWE.ETHIOPIA

ESAT: Ethiopia poltical leaders & Activists on Yenesew Gebre by Tamagn Beyene

The Obama victory versus fake change in Ethiopia - By Robel Abaya

Bravo to both rivals for the White House

I begin this piece with my sincere congratulations to President Obama on his clear victory over his rival Governor Mitt Romney. I do so despite my repeatedly expressed vehement objection to the inaction of his Administration to stop gruesome human rights violations in Ethiopia on the excuse of giving priority to the US security interest.

I would also like to express my admiration for the Governor for graciously conceding defeat in his moving speech underlining that country comes first and calling on congressional leaders to cooperate at this critical time. It is remarkable that the President spoke to the Governor and said “We may have battled fiercely, but it’s only because we love this country deeply and we care so strongly about its future”.

That was a sign of civility and responsibility at their best. The fiercely fought campaign to win the White House culminated in peace, sending a strongmessage to the whole world that democracy works as long as people freelyparticipate in very large numbers in the affairs of their country as was the case in the US Election 2012.

Above all I congratulate the American people with admiration for the stunning progress that they have made in showing for the second time to the world at large that it is only merit and competence that matter for ascending to the highest office in the land.

Before I move on to the next section, I just want to emphasize that the phrase “fair and free election” is absent in the lexicon of the corrupt TPLF regime, which is still ruling by the gun in breach of its own constitution stipulating freedom of expression and rule of law. The regime blatantly lied to the whole world in claiming 99.6% ‘victory’ in election 2010 and stole the first ever democratic election of 2005 in which it suffered convincing defeat so much so it was humiliated and angered as to send the victors to prison.

Obama victory speech; sham power transfer shame in Ethiopia

President Obama began his speech with: “Tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward.” He went to say “It moves forward because of you. It moves forward because you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and depression, the spirit that has lifted this country from the depths of despair to the great heights of hope, the belief that while each of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an American family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people.”

The Ethiopian people have crushed several external wars of aggression among which those by Italy, Turkey, and Egypt are prominent. This they did at great sacrifice in human lives and injuries not to mention colossal damage to property and enduring the scourge of famine in order to safeguard their independence. In the last 21 years however the spirit of patriotism has been weakened by the TPLF regime distorting history. The belief of which President Obama spoke for his country is dying in Ethiopia under the TPLF.

This is a time of political crises, economic decline and biting poverty in a divided Ethiopia along ethnic and religious lines deliberately pursued by the brutal TPLF/EPRDF ruling regime. I thought that both the opposition and the misruling regime can draw lesson from the following three excerpts from President Obama’s victory speech in order to rectify their serious weaknesses before it is too late to avert impending national catastrophe. Note: The highlights in the excerpts are mine meant to emphasis the points I wanted to make:

1. “We believe in a generous America, in a compassionate America, in a tolerant America, open to the dreams of an immigrant’s daughter who studies in our schools and pledges to our flag. To the young boy on the south side of Chicago who sees a life beyond the nearest street corner. To the furniture worker’s child in North Carolina who wants to become a doctor or a scientist, an engineer or an entrepreneur, a diplomat or even a president – that’s the future we hope for. That’s the vision we share. That’s where we need to go – forward. That’s where we need to go.

2. Now, we will disagree, sometimes fiercely, about how to get there. As it has for more than two centuries, progress will come in fits and starts. It’s not always a straight line. It’s not always a smooth path. By itself, the recognition that we have common hopes and dreams won’t end all the gridlock or solve all our problems or substitute for the painstaking work of building consensus and making the difficult compromises needed to move this country forward. But that common bond is where we must begin.”

My comment: The TPLF is hell-bent on breaking common bond that kept the culturally diverse Ethiopian people together; to my utter dismay, some opposition forces with hidden agenda of secession are making it easy for the brutal regime to exploit the pernicious situation.

3. “And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy. That won’t change after tonight, and it shouldn’t. These arguments we have are a mark of our liberty. We can never forget that as we speak people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their ballots like we did today.”

My comment: The highlighted statement is so true and wholly applicable to the worsening dire situation of grave violation of constitutional right of protests in Ethiopia being perpetrated by the repressive ruling regime even as the President was making his victory speech.

All the above (1,2,3) provide a classic example of a visionary leader that seeks the consent of the people to lead them where they want to go with full understanding of present difficulties and the promise of good times to come. It is in sharp contrast to the pernicious contemptuous decree of “no change” issued by the TPLF top leaders and echoed by the EPRDF Prime Minister, Haile Mariam Desalegn, stressing that the legacy of his late “Great Leader” Zenawi shall stay intact undiminished for implementation in full!

The President concluded his speech by articulating the bonds or attributes that made America exceptional – holding together “the most diverse nation on earth”. These are belief in shared destiny; acceptance of “certain obligations to one another and to future generations; “the freedom which so many Americans have fought for and died for come with responsibilities as well as rights. The President said that “And among those are love and charity and duty and patriotism.”

I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We’re not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America.

And together with your help and God’s grace we will continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on Earth.

Thank you, America. God bless you. God bless the United States”.

President Obama positively mentioned God thrice in his speech in sharp contrast to the Christian Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalegn in his acceptance speech of his assignment at the rubber stamp Parliament; he extolled his late “Great Leader” to the level of deity in that speech most probably prepared by the atheist secretary of the party – the avowed foe of religion hailing from Sirte where Orthodox Tewahido Orthodox Christians are victims of mockery and witch hunt in full view of the government. It is saddening that the Prime Minister overlooked the age-old tradition of mentioning God in his closing speech or therein elsewhere – for that matter in a country where 96% of the people are pious Christians or Muslims

 Those in glass houses

Comparing two epochs before and after 1974: Ethiopia was going through rapid economic growth before the 1974 Revolution as acclaimed by the international community. Agriculture was burgeoning and farm produce was being exported. Agro-industry was mushrooming. Ethiopia was creditworthy. This growth phenomenon inspired pundits that the country was on take-off stage to land on the first rung of the economic ladder according to the then available criteria. The principle of self-reliance was taking center-stage; entrepreneurs were migrating from cities to the country side to undertake agricultural development with a view to becoming the breadbasket of the Middle East. Educated Ethiopians at tertiary institution abroad rushed home and zealously participated in the development of their country.

Master plans were made for the development of cities during the Imperial regime. These included modernization of Addis Ababa, Awassa and Bar Dar among others. Emperor Haile Selassie was pondering taking the political capital to Awassa.

Alas, the drought of 1973/74 that hit two provinces in the north dashed progress; it became reason for the outbreak of the 1974 Revolution – from which peaceful change ensued at first until it was hijacked by the notorious military junta spearheaded by Mengistu Hailemariam.

Emperor Haile Selassie was dethroned in the aftermath of the Revolution. Somalia’s renegade tyrant Ziade Barre soon invaded Ethiopia by taking advantage of internal strife in the country and forgetting that Ethiopia fought at the United Nations for the independence of Somalia.

The period of TPLF misrule (1991 to date) stands accused, inter alia, for: leaving Ethiopia landlocked; its unprecedented sellout of vital national interests and gross violation of basic human rights documented by the international community; unaccounted capital flight to the tune of US$ 25 billion; nauseating corruption in; unprecedented level of exodus of political and economic refugees often victims of death and arrests on their journey; forced repatriation to face danger at home; sponsored migration of manpower in search of greener pasture.

So as the old adage goes those in glass houses should not throw stones. The crimes and treason of the TPLF regime by far exceed those of the Derg regime. In other words, the brutal hypocrite TPLF/EPRDF leaders lack moral authority to shift blame on what they call remnants of previous regimes for criticizing thier drastic failures.

In conclusion

I fully subscribe to this famous quotation by Thomas Jefferson “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”.

And, based on the immortal words of Jefferson:-

·         I justify my argument that the TPLF regime did not derive its power from the consent of the Ethiopian people. Therefore all political prisoners Andualem, Eskinder, Reeyot et al must be released unconditionally without delay; that all restrictions on freedom of expression be lifted; political parties including MEDREK, AEUP et al are regarded as partners rather than enemies publicly declared as such by the late tyrant Zenawi; and

·         I sense in President Obama’s speech that he will revisit the policy of his Administration on Ethiopia. His slated visit to Burma reinforces my hope.

LONG LIVE ETHIOPIA!!!

rababya@gmail.com

Ethnicity and Ethnic Politics in Ethiopia

By Seble Teweldebirhan, (Ezega.com) 

Nowadays, when someone tries to be less sensitive about ethnicity, he/she is considered unsympathetic to the rights of marginalized groups and their rightful issues. At times there are accusations and arguments that, those who do not identify themselves based on ethnicity, they are promoting homogeneity (in favor of dominant groups) and denying the existence of several other ethnic groups in the country.

Ethnicity is also the main ground for prejudice against people in Ethiopia. Often, in our society the actions, opinions and political standsof individuals are evaluated and judged based on ethnic background rather than on content or results. People are often categorized automatically as supportive of a certain political group or opponents just because they belong to this or that ethnic group. With diverse history of each ethnic group which at times is based on misconstruction, and the contemporary ethnic-based federalism, it is inevitable that we get such growing attitude towards ethnicity.

With all due regard for arguments and legitimate questions of historically marginalized ethnic groups, under this article, I would like to forward some points on the difficulty of drawing a clear line between ethnic groups in contemporary (or even not too distant) Ethiopia. Ethnicity is by definition about ancestral language, culture, tradition and beliefs. It is a sense of shared history and lifestyle. Many argue that ethnicity is not inherent but rather learned from one’s environment.

If ethnicity is all about where our ancestors come from and the lifestyle they chose and followed, there is another legitimate claim in Ethiopian context that the generations before us, despite all the disparitybetween them, got so mixed with one another and shared their culture, lifestyle and even the language.

The reason I raised this complex issue is because I wanted to share the following short and very inspiring true story from one of my favorite autobiography of Jagama Kello, written by the renowned author Fekremarkos Desta. Jagama Kello, also known as Yebegaw Mebrek (The summer lightening) was one of the incredible freedom fighters of Ethiopia against Italy during the 1935 invasion. Only 15 at the time, the young superman from Oromia have destroyed and led multiple successful military missions against Italian troops.

In the book, the uncle of Jagama Kello, Aba Doyo, exhibits the impracticality of trying to separate one ethnic group from the other in Ethiopian context. The story goes like this.

Italians, during their invasion of five years, were challenged by Ethiopian freedom fighters beyond their expectation. The Ethiopian fighters, including the courageous young hero Jagama Kello, made the life of the Italians in Ethiopia a living hell. Therefore, they tried to learn from other colonial powers on how to rule a nation that was so diverse as Ethiopia. Of course the lesson they were looking for was not far.

The British had a success story in the divide and rule mechanism. The Italians thought that is the best way to rule Ethiopia, since there was and is so much diversity to use as a ground against one another. Of all the possibilities, the Italians chose ethnicity and tried to use it as a tool to pound the Ethiopians. They started telling the Oromo’s to wipe out the Amhara in their area by dictating that Amhara as rulers of the nation for centuries were never kind for other ethnic groups including Oromo’s. They told the same story for other ethnic groups so that they will rise against the Amhara’s. At the same time, they told the Amhara’s that other ethnic groups are conspiring to destroy them and they better prepare to defend themselves.

This method nearly worked. Aba Doyo, the uncle of Jagama Kello, was the most respected elder in Oromia Metcha area. Therefore, when the Italians told the people in Metcha to rise up against the Amhara’s, the elders decided first to consult with Aba Doyo. They told the Italians that, since Aba Doyo is the wisest of all, first they needed to confirm if their action was right. Aba Doyo had heard about this thing before the elders came to his house to seek advice from him.

Therefore, on the day of their arrival, he prepared a mixed Teff, called Keyet Teff. Keyet Teff has black, white and brown colors. He put the Keyet Teff on his door step and when the elders came, he asked them to take a small amount in their hand before entering the house. Though confused by his unusual request, they respected him so much as to question him so they took a small amount of Keyet Teff and entered the house. After that, Aba Doyo, instead of asking them why they came, he asked them to separate the white from the brown and the black. Of course, since Teff is too small, it was impractical, so they told him that they couldn’t do it.

It was after that Aba Doyo asked them why they came. They told him it was because the Italians are asking them to take actions against the Amhara’s in their area and they wanted to know his opinion on that. They also told him that in other areas of Oromia, people are rising against the Amhara’s. When they finished, Aba Doyo went to his inside room and brought a gun. He also brought his wife from the kitchen and gave the gun to one of the elders. Confused by this action, the elder asked what he should do with the gun. Aba Doyo said “I gave you the gun so that you can shoot my wife. She is from Amhara which also makes my children half Amhara”. The elders were shocked and started praying for the awful thing they just heard.

Finally Aba Doyo explained to the visitors that he was trying to demonstrate how difficult it is to separate Ethiopians based on ethnicity. “I asked you to separate the white from the black in the Keyet Teff and you have seen the difficulty. It is the same thing in our ethnic makeup. We are mixed beyond separation. We married women from all ethnic groups and we gave our daughters to husbands from different cultures and language. As Oromo’s we have a proud tradition of adopting children from all over and we are raising many children who belong to other ethnic groups. They are our family members, our sons and daughters. This is our proud history and a unique and generous lifestyle. Can we just abandon this just because Italians are telling us so?” he asked. The elders were convinced and, in Metcha Oromia, the Italian scam to create ethnic-based violence failed. (Jagama Kello (Yebegaw Mebrek), The Summer Lightning, Biography, page 15-19).

Seble Teweldebirhan is Addis Ababa based Reporter for Ezega.com

Brutal Killings Inside Mosques Will Not Deter The Resolve Of The Ethiopian Muslim Community

Ginbot 7 Press Release

In the twenty one years of the TPLF rule, the Ethiopian people and the world at large have witnessed mass killings, targeted killings, and indiscriminate killings of the young, old, women and children as young as 8 years old. In 2005, the mass killing in Ethiopia reached its climax when special security forces under the direct order from the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi savagely killed over 200 people as the world watched quietly. When Deputy PM Haile Mariam Desalegn took the oath of office and promised to walk on the same path as his predecessor, many Ethiopians lowered their expectation of witnessing a free, just and democratic Ethiopia in their life time.

 In just a little over a month in office, PM Haile Mariam Desalegn has kept his promise of staying the course of his predecessor in gunning down peaceful demonstrators on the streets of Ethiopian cities. On Sunday, October 21, 2012, Haile Mariam Desalgen mercilessly took the lives of his first four victims in a standoff that started inside a Holy Mosque in the Amhara zone. Two of his young victims were frog marched by security forces and shot execution style at the nearby police station while the other two were shot and killed inside the Mosque compound. According to reliable local sources, there are many people who are seriously wounded and the death toll may increase by two fold.

Ginbot 7, Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy categorically denounces the barbaric killing of innocent civilians and holds Haile Mariam Desalegn and his associates accountable for the lives lost. Ginbot 7 acknowledges that the Muslim community in Ethiopia has been waging a legitimate struggle in Ethiopia for the past 11 months. The demands are simple and crystal clear – they have asked the regime for freedom of worship and for the right to elect their religious leaders in their own way and place of their own choosing. These rights are protected by the Ethiopian constitution which the regime is obligated to respect.

Ginbot 7 urges Ethiopians inside and outside of Ethiopia to stand together with our Muslim brothers and sisters in this difficult time. Ethiopians of Muslim and Christian faith must stand together as a community to continue the struggle for freedom, justice, democracy and equality understanding and believing that we live in the context of each other, and acknowledging that the source of our freedom is our collective struggle.

We ask that donor nations and international organizations get their act together and start holding the brutal regime in Ethiopia accountable for its heinous crimes and its wanton disregard for the sanctity of life. All civilized nations should strongly condemn this act of terror against the Muslim community in their place of worship.

In Solidarity!

ESAT Yehud weg 04 November 2012

አላማችን ላይ ሊያደርሱን ያልቻሉ ማጣመሮች

ጌዲዮን ደሳለኝ (ኖርዌይ)

ወደድንም ጠላንም የኢትዮጵያ ሁኔታ ወደአንድ አቅጣጫ እያመራ እንደሆነ እየተከናወነ ያለው እውነታ ይመሰክራል ነገሮች በፍጥነት እየተለወጡ ነው ያለው፣ ትላንት የሰማነውን አዲስ ነገር አጣጥመን ሳንጨርስ ሌላ አዲስ ነገር ይፈጠራል ይህ ደግሞ በአገራችን እየተከናወነ ያለ የለት እለት ክስተት ሆኗል።

የዚህ ጽሁፍ መነሻ የሆነኝ ዋናው ምክንያት እኛ ስንጣመር፤ ስንቀናጅና ስንተባበር ትግሉን በዚህ ብቻ በመጨረስ። የተግባር መግቢያው ወቅት እያለፈን እንዳለ ስለተገነዘብኩ ነው። አንዳንዴ እንደውም እኛ ተቃዋሚ የምንባለው የወያኔ ስርአት ተወደቀ የምንጎዳ ይመስል ወደትግል ከመግባትና ከማስገባት፣ ከመታገልና ከማታገል ይልቅ ስንተባበር፣ ስንቀናጅና ስንጣመር ዘመናትን ያስቆጠርን ይመስላል በዚህም ወሳኝ የሆኑ የለውጥ ወቅቶች እያለፉን ይገኛሉ።

ጀግናው የተወደደ አበበ ገላው አቶ መለስ ላይ የኢትዮጵያውያንን ቁጣ ካወረደባቸው በኻላ በደረሰባቸው ታላቅ መቅሰፍት ይኽው ከመድረክ ከጠፉ ሁለት ወራቶች ተቆጠሩ በጀግናው አበበ ገላው የተለኮሰው እሳት ከሳቸው መጥፋት ጋር ተዳምሮ በኢትዮጵያውያን ዘንድ ተስፋ የሚሰጥ እንቅስቃሴዎች ተጀምረው ነበር አገሬውም ውጭ ያለውም ብሩህ ዘመንን እያየ ለለውጥ ሲነጋገር፣ ሲሰራና ቢንቀሳቀስም ማንም ከጎኑ ቆሞ የሚረዳውና ትግሉን የሚመራለት አካል አላገኘም።

መተባበር፤ መቀናጀትና መጣመር ለትግን ጠቃሚ መሳሪያ እንደሆነ ማንም አይዘነጋውም ነገር ግን ከዚህ በማያያዝም እንደሚባለው መሬት የረገጠ ትግል ስናደርግ ነው እንድምታ፣ ጥቅምና ውጤት የሚኖራው እንጂ ትርጉም የሌለው መተባበር፤ መቀናጀትና መጣመር ወያኔን ግዜ እንዲገዛ ከማድረግና ለሱ እስትንፋስ ከመስጠት በስተቀር የሚፈይደው ፋይዳ የለም።

ስለለውጥ የሚሰብኩና የሚዘምሩ ተቃዋሚዎችና ህብረቶች የሚፈተኑበት ሰአት አሁን ነው። ህዝብ ምሩን፣ አታግሉን፣ ለድል አብቁን፣ ቀንበሩን ከላያችን ላይ አንከባሉልን፣ ከግፍ ከእስራትና ከእንግልት አድኑን እያለ በሚጣራና በሚጮህ ሰአት ተቃቃሚዎች ትላንት ስንጣመር፣ ዛሬም ስንተባበር፣ ነገም ስንቀናጅ በእጃችን ላይ ያሉ ያለቀላቸው የድል ወቅቶች እያመለጡን ይገኛሉ።

መች ጠባችን ከመተባበር፤ ከመቀናጀትና ከመጣመር ጋር ሆነና፣ ጠባችን ከዛወዲያ የት አላችሁ? ከሚለው ጋር ነው እንጂ። ተገናኙ፤ ተነጋገሩ፤ ተጨባበጡ ስንባል እሰይ እልል እንደምንል ሁሉ ከዛ በኻላ ድምጻችሁ ሲጠፋ የደረሳችሁበት ሳናውቅ ስንቀር ወቅቱ እንዳያመልጠን ስለምንሰጋ እንጨነቃለን። ለለውጥ ከዚህ የበለጠና የተመቸ ጊዜ መቼም ሊመጣ እንደማይችል ለመገመት ጠበብት መሆን አያስፈልግም፤ በዚያች አገር የሆነ ነገር ሊወለድ እንዳለ ምልክቶች እየታዩ ነው ግን ጥያቄው አዋላጅ ከየት ይምጣ ነው? ከሌለ ደግሞ የሚወለደው ሊጨነግፍ ይችላል።

ለህብረት፣ ለመጣመር እና ለመቀንቅጀት እንደምንሯሯጥ ሁሉ ትግሉን ከግብ ለማድረስ ምነው ሰነፍን ጎበዝ ይህ ወቅትም እየሮጠ እንደሆነ መገንዘብ አለብን ወያኔ የተንገዳገደውንና የተሰነጠጠቀውን ያህል ተባብረን በአፋጣኝ ግዜ ሳንሰጥ ገፍተን ካልጣልነው በሚያገኘው ትንሽም ግዜና ትንፋሽም ቢሆን ነፍስ ዘርቶና አንሰራርቶ ጭንቅላታችን ላይ ሊቆም ስለሚችል ልንፈጥንና ወደስራ ልንገባና ልናስገባ ያለው ሁኔታ የግድ ይላል።

በመሆኑም ወቅቱ የስራ መሆኑን ተገንዝበን የተባበራችሁ አካላት ሁሉ ለውጥ ፈላጊውን ማህበረሰብ በማስተባበርና በማቀናጀት መሬት ወደረገጠው ትግል ግዜ ሳንወስድ እንድንገባና የወያኔ አገዛዝን እድሜ እንድናሳጠር ወቅታዊውን የህዝብ ጥያቄ ታደምጡ ዘንድ ታሪክና ወቅቱ ያስገድዳል።

ስለዚህ ለተከበራችሁ፣ የተባበራችሁ፣ የተቀናጃችሁ እንዲሁም የተጣመራችሁ አካላት በሙሉ ይህ ጥሪያችን አክብራችሁ ትግሉ በሚጠይቀው በአሁኒቷ ወሳኝ ሰአት እኛን በማስተባበር በመምራት ለድል ታበቁን ዘንድ ጥሪያችንን እናቀርባለን።

ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ!