26. April 2011 by Assimba.

As one of the important treasures of our country, Blue Nile has been playing a major role in our lives and that of our ancestors. A lot has been written and said about Blue Nile and i am not intending to add up on that on this article. I rather would like to focus on the current goverment’s recent action in using out this national treasure as an excuse to cheat and literally loot the nation.

Please try not to get me wrong as I am not against the idea of constructing a dam on Blue Nile. But i most of all have a problem with the timing of this plan specially after being a witness of obvious one ethnic group dominance in the TPLF’s meeting here in Frankfurt and hearing the same report from such other meetings all over Europe and North America. If only Tigrians are allowed to have a say in such a major national issue, it leaves it questionable if at all every Ethiopian would ever benefit from it or if they would go on claiming themselves as the sole beneficiaries. I have seen them being in full control of the meeting and i do not think that nothing would make them incapable of enjoying the merits of the dam leaving the rest of the nation as a spectator of the whole show.

Getting back to my problem with the timing of this plan, i believe that TPLF has made a big mistake in setting a priority to bring about real development in Ethiopia. Instead of deciding for the nation that it needs a dam before having democratic rights, TPLF should start with letting the nation set its own priority. As i have found out from many sources, nobody has been asked if it is the right time to construct this dam and to finance the project with the so called ‘Bond’. The whole thing is rather imposed on the nation which again is left with no right to say ‘No’ to this plan just like the other plans of TPLF.

Thus, i finally would like to make a wrap by saying that such a project gives no perspective to any Ethiopian in anyway as it once agian proofs to the nation that it has no say on anything but is obliged to financially support TPLF though knowing that the plan will not lead to any real development.

My call to my fellow Ethiopian diasporas – stop supporting such a government and help out your brothers and sisters in Ethiopia to say NO to dictatorship and finally make it to set an end to the 20 years of agony of our homeland.

Yonas Kebede from Frankfurt, Germany

E-mail: yonas.kebede@yahoo.com

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22. April 2011 by Assimba.

By Yilma Bekele

Being an Ethiopian has always been difficult. The bad news is, it is not going to get any easier. Two weeks ago I found out it can be taken away too. It has come to a point where names and looks plus attitude can determine who is and who is not an Ethiopian. Welcome to Kilil in America.

The Ethiopian government reps. held a town hall meeting in a city not far from where I live. There were over a hundred of us protesting outside and two hundred plus were inside listening to the marketing. It was an out of this world experience. San Jose and other cities where the salesmen went were transformed in a new and positive manner. The intervention was definitely divine. Ethiopia stretched her hands to God and it was answered.

They came with their ethnic baggage in hand; we waited for them as one. They came to divide, we ended up together. They came to saw hate and discord but they made us see how beautiful our diversity is. They are programmed to think as one while we celebrate the many voices that enrich our discussion. It was obvious we were like oil and water. Woyane and Ethiopia don’t mix. Mengistu and Ethiopia did not mesh either. Too bad we ended up where we started.

The government is perfectly aware that there was no chance of holding a fund raising or any event in any western city. None. Why do it then? Why does a snake bite? It is embedded in its DNA. Hate and violence are imbedded in Woyane’s nature. They came specifically to stir the pot of hate and ethnic division. They knew they were going to set up a single ethnic group against all others. If it serves their purpose and they did not care for the consequences. They are cold blooded.

San Jose was one such place where this tragic theatre was played. It was financed by all but directed, stared by and played by a single ethnic group. It started late, sound and video were not set up and things never got any better. When it did start the presentation made you wonder why a meeting was called for. The presenter who later on the program introduced himself as Minster of Internet just read the power point presentation word for word. That was the whole shpeel. The question and answer were a wholesale situation where nothing of significance was asked or answered. It was a depressing display of weakness.

Looking at the officials made me think how much we all contributed to this madness. I thought of my cousins starving, their children not learning, the graduates not working and the mothers and fathers watching their kids wasting their productive years. Here we have a 35 people strong delegation visiting 10 US cites to stir trouble. It is not a cheap trip. Here is a very conservative budget for building a bridge to nowhere.

Do you think the investment is worth the return? Or should the question be what exactly was the regime expecting from such an investment. I believe it was meant to deflect attention away from the current peoples uprisings in North Africa. It is also to cover up the ongoing economic melt down. As far as the regime is concerned both are very troubling issues currently eating up scarce resources to safeguard the status quo. The whole country is employee of the Ethiopian government. There is no branch of activity the government either directly or thru its proxies such as EFFORT is not involved in. Land, Communication, banking, insurance, import export, are all under the control of the TPLF party. It requires a lot of resources to run an illegal enterprise.

It requires constant injection of new capital. The economic downturn in the west and the Middle East is having a negative impact on the regime. The remittance cash is drying up. Expenses are going up. As usual the government is throwing up all kinds of solutions hoping one works. We have seen this before. You remember when growing for bio-fuels was the salvation or was it flowers? How does that compare to railway line to Port Sudan or was it to Mombassa? I believe even Hargessa was in the running. I do not think it was as dramatic as fiber optics wiring for good old Ethiopia and that was five years ago. A few weeks ago the PM was speculating about streetcars for Addis, hope he was dreaming of solar powered, you don’t want all those trolleys stuck in the middle of the road for lack of electricity do you? Menged be fereka.

The new scam to expropriate cash from the citizen is the millennium dam on the mighty Nile. The idea is so beautiful it takes your breath away. It is a very bold proposition that stirs the soul. Imagine a big dam holding our water just for us. As usual as far as TPLF is concerned the dam is done. The computer-generated design is awe-inspiring. You can almost touch it. That is all it is, pie in the sky. They will collect a few dollars and let it die a natural death. Just like the railway line to Kenya, the great highway to Sudan, broadband Internet all over Ethiopia the Millennium Dam will be allowed to evaporate. But, what a warm feeling it created in all of us. Thank you for the wonderful trip Woyane.

While the regime is in such a generous mood to modernize Ethiopia we have a few suggestions if we are allowed. It does not require a single penny from the government. Let us start with education. It is the key. Knowledge is what makes the world go round. Knowledge is what is needed in Ethiopia. Can we allow the privatization of the communication sector and unleash the power of the Internet to spread knowledge free of charge? The rewards are beyond our dreams. It will create thousands of jobs (service providers, web designers, programmers, sales and advertising) not to mention a smarter generation.

Let us also allow the private press to flourish. Private television, radio, newspaper and magazines inform and nurture our people. The government will collect revenues from all this enterprises while the citizen creates jobs and wealth. The San Jose participants were freely given beautifully printed brochures full of pictures, graphs and marketing all done by government-confiscated presses. How sad due to the artificial price of paper, ink and Communications department sanctioned use of violence, threat and other illegal acts the free press in Ethiopia is withering away as we watch. Today our country is the last in Africa in newspaper distribution, variety and freedom scale. Darkness is the friend of the totalitarian system. Knowledge and freedom go hand in hand.

The Ethiopian government means to keep the population in ignorance. Our country is the worst wired and the least digitized on the planet. The government is afraid of the citizen getting unbiased opinion. Independent Web sites are blocked, our satellite TV transmission is jammed (www.esat.com) even VOA and Deutsche Welle are victims of TPLF madness. How could such a government be trusted to do anything good? Why would such a system that degrades human beings be allowed to exist?

It exists because we allow it. It exists because we feed it. It exists because some of us have decided our personal interest is bigger than our love for country and fellow human being. It exists because we have knowingly decided to turn our face away. There are no two sides to dying of hunger. There is nothing to be said about being exiled from your homeland and finding yourself wondering in the deserts of Libya, the Jungles of Malawi, the ghettos of Rome or Frankfort the projects of America. But our silence makes all this happen. If not for us telling the world the trials and tribulations of our people who else?

Since the uprisings in the Moslem world the Ethiopian government has been experimenting with various responses to hold this tsunami of freedom at bay. I believe we are on response #5. It is good to notice that there has never been this flurry of activity in past crisis situations. This one is different. It seems to have a life of its own. No one has found the right combination of response. The one that has come close is Ben Ali of Tunisia. He left early, he left clean. The others, like patients on AID medicine are trying different combinations.

Ato Meles is trying hard. There is no margin for error here. If history is any indication his neck is on line. To his credit he sent Berket, gave a press conference, used the speech at the kangaroo Parliament, sent his delegates to Europe and America and created the Millennium Dam fiction. That is five different responses in two months time. For a person whose contract specifies eight hours a day this uprising business is creating over time situation. It is lonely at the top. He does not have any good will left with anybody. His old friends are more than happy to be called as witnesses for the prosecution, his Kilil servants will even the score at a drop of a hat, his foreign benefactors will send Ambassadors to meet the new guys in town and the reliability of family and close friends is not certain. This is not a happy Easter.

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10. April 2011 by Assimba.

By Hama Tuma

The Western machine of demonization and disinformation is huge, very, very huge. The absolute control of the media and its unhealthy impact on the world has been documented by the likes of Chomsky and Michael Moore and I have little to add to all that. You run a murderous regime but if the West likes you, definitely you will be enjoying much slack and tolerance. And even praise from the World Bank, the IMF and the Western ambassadors. The West hates you, then you become a demon and the huge machinery rolls over you. Check out many of America’s allies that have been demonized when their luck changed.

The disinformation also knows no bounds. Saudi Arabia crushed a demonstration in its own land with brutality and not much was said about it. Bahrain has done the same and the invasion by the Saudis is glossed over. Yemen’s Saleh has burnt himself and is now being abandoned as Washington becomes the kingmaker aggressively saying this or that ruler has to go and must be replaced in this or that way. When Khadafy’s turn came Libyans under his rule were almost being presented as the most destitute in that part of Africa! No one cared to explain why thousands of foreign workers flocked there. Where did the Obama promise to treat others with respect and not to arrogantly strut and ride roughshod over their sovereignty go to? The American president is telling every Saleh and Gbagbo to leave. Who gave him that right especially when he cuddles pro American tyrants from Ethiopia to Equatorial Guinea to Saudi Arabia and beyond?

Khadafy is Jewish said the Western media fearing no ridicule whatsoever. We are being told also that some of his sons are plotting against him and all of them are at one another’s throats. The man called The Guide is now being called a tyrant as if the West discovered his nature just last February. On the other side of the ideological divide, Hugo Chavez ridiculed himself recently calling Basher Al Assad a humanitarian, a good doctor trained in London! Goebbels was Dr. Goebbels, no? What has being a doctor trained in London got to do with it? Basher, son of Assad, presides over a military-security junta of sorts described by polite Syrians as dictatorial. In other words, by declaring Basher a humanitarian Chavez has exposed the sad truth of the deficiency and warped state of his concept of humanitarianism.

The tin pot dictators allied to the West have learnt from all the disinformation and the double standard. Have oil and reign supreme is the underlying motto and for those that got the oil it is working just fine. Gabon, Congo Brazza, Eaquatorial Guinea, Saudi Arabia and more are examples. Those without oil can sell and peddle themselves to the West and serve as canon fodder and mercenary. The Meles, Museveni, Ben Ali, Saleh and Mubarak regimes come to mind. In any case, they all try their own pathetic disinformation aided and abetted by the West. Take an example: American ambassador to Ethiopia, Donald Booth, has expectedly joined his predecessors in praising the butcher of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi and his regime which benefit annually more than a billion dollar of aid from Washington.

““Ethiopia is an island of stability in a very troubled region,” Booth said explaining that the US is keen to continue working with Ethiopia to promote regional peace and stability. “We look to Ethiopia to help resolve regional conflicts, to contribute peacekeeping forces where those are needed in Africa, and for cooperation in countering terrorism and violent extremism,” the ambassador elaborated.

Do not be mistaken—Booth does know what is going on. He knows the regime he is endorsing directly and otherwise is a repressive and violent regime that has massacred thousands and is far from being stable. The Meles regime is actually the problem par excellence in the search for the region’s stability. A war mongering regime like many, the Meles regime praised by Booth has remained alien to peace. But all this does not matter. The dictator is on the right side of the alignment, taking orders from Washington, proving itself the obedient baby of the West, corrupt and malleable to boot. Aren’t Meles, his wife and many officials keeping millions of stolen money in America, Britain and other Western countries?

Meles Zenawi has in the past committed one the most heinous acts of national betrayal in Ethiopian history by forfeiting strategic land. The ceding of Ethiopian land to the Sudan and the ongoing land grab by foreigners constitute more treasonous acts of high perfidy. The damage that foreign companies engaged in the land grab have brought to the land and the environment is known by the world at large and even criticized by the UN itself. And yet, the regime has the chutzpah to “wash its eyes with salt”, as we say in Ethiopia, and to formally and openly declare the following:

“ Land deals in Ethiopia bring food self-sufficiency, and prosperity
Foreign investments help Ethiopia to develop, and provide knowledge, skills and taxes. The Ethiopian government’s absolute prime concern is ensuring food self-sufficiency at both national and household level. The first has already been attained and we are now working towards the second”.

Khadafi is Jewish? Fantastic! How come then he is not treated as such? We never saw Israel being bombed for bombing Gaza or the Palestinians. And no less than 10 million Ethiopians under the Meles regime are not surviving through food aid but are self sufficient in food at the national level. As we say in Ethiopia “beje! Ewinet? lelas?—what else is there to say? Fiction of the fantasy genre. Disinformation to be effective must base itself on a portion (however tiny) of the truth. It must appear believable enough to dupe the victims. Disinformation does not mean spinning wild tales and macabre stories so much so that the listeners and readers break into a frenzy of laughter or disgust. Still, Khadafy being Jewish is more believable than arguing land grab brought self sufficiency and that now Ethiopians are nationally self sufficient in food. Mind you nationally but not individually which must mean the country is awash with food and the citizens are as hungry as ever. Oh yes, and to declare boldly, as Booth did, that Ethiopia is an island of stability in the troubled region and a bulwark of peace falls within the realm of Newspeak. To add insult to injury, Meles says Ethiopia will by itself fund a US $ 4.7 billion dam project which is, among other factors, very close to the Sudanese border and thus security wise very stupid. Who will pay? Not Meles and his cronies from their stolen millions, no. The very, very poor people are going to be forced to buy bonds, to hand over a month’s salary and to give up their provident funds and savings.

Teret Teret is all this talk of national food self sufficiency as the land of Ethiopia gets auctioned for cheap and millions survive on food aid. The days of the Meles regime are numbered and it is not disinformation at all. Khadafy is not Jewish but he did tell the world Meles Zenawi is an Arab from Yemen. This can be believed as it was Meles himself who told him that Ethiopians are Arabs from Yemen, Ethiopia would join the Arab League, and that even his father’s name Zenawi is a Yemenite name. Now, this is an interesting and amusing statement which can be made to fly every which way you can.

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9. April 2011 by Assimba.

 By Yilma Bekele

The regime has devised a two‐pronged attack to postpone the inevitable uprising. At home the Junta leader is busy wagging his fingers and huffing and puffing to scare and bully. The last two weeks he has put on a performance with the local cadre press to assure his followers that their job is safe due to the phenomenal economic growth that the chances of upheaval is deemed to be non‐existent. No one believed him. Looks like it was not enough. He decided to use his podium in the kangaroo Parliament to vent some more. There is a video posted on his web site. It is as usual two a part series. I listened to part two. Is it possible that all tyrants attend the same school? Castro used to speak for four hours, Mengistu used to speak for hours, Gaddafi was given a fifteen‐minute slot to speak at the UN but rambled for an hour and half and our own orator spoke for an hour and twelve minutes in part one and an hour and thirty‐four minutes in part two. He must love his voice. Of course it was a captive audience. He knows no one will dare leave his lecture. I am sure most of the cadre parliamentarians have no idea what he is talking about and the fact is he was not actually addressing them. They are just a prop.

Today we have government cadres in our cities promoting the so‐called Growth and Transformation Plan. It sounds like something DLA Piper will come up with to give it a positive and friendly spin. What ever it is you can be sure that the Ethiopian people do not have any input in this plan. Their representatives are government cadres chosen for loyalty not ability. They are not capable of understanding the issue and they do not have expert staff to help them. The plan is the brainchild of Meles and company in consultation with IMF and World Bank. Eighty million people are beholden to a handful of cadres that are in power because they have big guns. What they want from the Diaspora is more cash to be invested in enterprises they choose. Buying land, building a house, establishing bar and nightclub is encouraged. It is not allowed to start an Internet provider company, private television transmission, private radio station, independent newspaper and magazine or a printing press. The TPLF regime is allergic to knowledge‐based investment.

A few months back here in the US the state of Arizona passed a draconian bill to control the so‐called illegal immigration problem. Some people felt it was an attempt to increase the power and intrusiveness of the State and should not be tolerated. Labor organizations, liberal groups and Human Rights advocates went on the offensive and organized boycotts of all business associated with Arizona. They used their economic muscle as a leverage to advocate change.

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5. April 2011 by Assimba.

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