The Ethiopian Government must end its escalating crackdown on human rights defenders, independent media, peaceful protestors as well as members and leaders of the political opposition through the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (ATP) says a group of civil society organisations (CSOs).

“The government’s repression of independent voices has significantly worsened as the Oromo protest movement has grown,” said Yared Hailemariam, Director of the Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE). “The international community should demand the end of this state-orchestrated clampdown and the immediate release of peaceful critics to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.”
The recent escalation in the use of the ATP to prosecute peaceful protesters, journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders, and opposition leaders and members is indicative of the Ethiopian Government’s growing intolerance of dissent. Largely peaceful protests began in November 2015 against the dispossession of land without adequate compensation in the Oromia region. In response to the protests, the Ethiopian authorities have arbitrarily arrested thousands of people and several hundred people have been summarily killed by the security services while participating in the protests.

While the bulk of those arrested since February 2016 have not been charged, several are currently being prosecuted under the ATP. These include Getachew Shiferaw (Editor-in-Chief of the online newspaper Negere Ethiopia), Yonathan Tesfaye Regassa (former head of public relations for the opposition Semayawi Party), Bekele Gerba (Deputy Chair, Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC)) and Dejene Tufa (Deputy General Secretary, OFC) and Gurmesa Ayana (secretary, OFC). Fikadu Mirkana, (news editor and a reporter with the public Oromia Radio and TV), was arrested on 19 December 2015, charged under the ATP and released five months later in April 2016.
Getachew was held in Maekelawi Detention Centre after his arrest on 25 December 2015. On 22 April 2016, upon reaching the four-month limit for investigations permissible under the ATP, the court ordered the Federal Police to close the investigation. Yet Getachew remained in police custody and on 23 May was charged under the ATP. He has since been moved to the Kilinto detention centre.

“The Ethiopian government is using laws and judicial processes that fail to meet international human rights standards to harass and stifle dissent, targeting activists, human rights defenders, opposition party leaders and journalists ” said Haben Fecadu, Campaigner at Amnesty International.

Despite repeated calls from CSOs, independent UN experts, the European Parliament, and numerous governments, including the United States, the Ethiopian authorities continue to arbitrarily detain and prosecute scores of peaceful protestors for exercising their rights, using the broad provisions of the ATP to criminalise peaceful expressions of dissent. Since the enactment of the ATP in 2009, human rights defenders, journalists, bloggers and peaceful protestors have been prosecuted and convicted under its provisions.
“The international community – including the United Nations – should unconditionally condemn the arbitrary arrest and detention of human rights defenders in Ethiopia,” said Hassan Shire, Executive Director of DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project). “The Ethiopian government’s use of counter-terrorism as a smokescreen to target the peaceful work of human rights defenders is an affront to its regional and international obligations.”

Most recently, on 10 May 2016, blogger Zelalem Workagenehu was sentenced to five years and four months in prison under the ATP. Zelalem, who works for the independent diaspora blog, De Birhan, was convicted under charges of conspiring to overthrow the government and supporting terrorism under the ATP. The activities on which these charges were based included organising a digital security training course and reporting on the peaceful protest movements in the country. Though the Federal High Court acquitted some of his co-defendants on 15 April 2016, the police re-arrested two of them only hours after they were released from Kilinto Prison on 17 April 2016 and detained them at Maekelawi Prison for a night. Yonathan Wolde and Bahiru Degu were charged with applying to participate in the same training, described by the government as “training to terrorise the country,” and of being members of Ginbot 7, a banned Ethiopian opposition party, which they deny.

Zelalem and Bahiru described for the trial court their conditions of and treatment in detention. Zelalem said he was detained in “Siberia” in the central Maekelawi Prison in Addis Ababa and was tortured by interrogators.

“Independent civil society and media is being quashed out of existence in Ethiopia,” said Tor Hodenfield, Policy and Advocacy Officer at CIVICUS. “The international community must call for more than tokenistic releases of human rights defenders and encourage the Ethiopian government to support avenues of peaceful dissent.”

Several members and leaders of opposition political parties have also been targeted under the ATP. Bekele Gerba and 21 other individuals were arrested on 23 December 2016, and charged under the ATP. They were then held for a four-month long investigation without access to their lawyer. Authorities transferred them to Kilinto Detention Centre on 22 April 2016. On 11 May 2016, the Prison Administration declined to bring the defendants to Lideta Federal High Court since all the defendants wore black suits, in expression of their mourning for the people killed during the protests. On 4 May 2016, former Spokesperson of the opposition Semayawi (Blue) Party, Yonathan Tesfaye Regassa, was charged with “incitement, planning, preparation, conspiracy and attempt” to commit a terrorism related act under the ATP.

On 25 April 2016, the Federal High Court sentenced the former Governor of Gambella Region, Okello Akway Ochalla, to nine years imprisonment under the ATP. Okello fled Ethiopia after the 2003 massacre in the region, and obtained Norwegian citizenship. He was arbitrarily arrested in South Sudan in March 2014 and handed over to Ethiopian security forces. He was originally charged under the ATP. The trial of Okello and his co-defendants was marred by violations of fair trial guarantees and including the use of witness testimonies in exchange for non-prosecution under the ATP.

The undersigned CSOs demand the competent Ethiopian authorities to take the necessary steps to bring the ATP in line with its international, regional and constitutional human rights obligations and immediately and unconditionally release all human rights defenders, journalists, bloggers and opposition party leaders and members imprisoned for peacefully exercising their rights.

Amnesty International
Article 19
Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE)
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Civil Rights Defenders
Defend Defenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Right Defenders Project)
Ethiopia Human Rights Project (EHRP)
Front Line Defenders
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

For more information please contact:
Yared Hailemariam, Executive Director, Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia on: yaredh@ahrethio.org
Haben Fecadu, Horn of Africa Campaigner, Amnesty International on haben.fecadu@amnesty.org
Hassan Shire, Executive Director, DefendDefenders on: executive@defenddefenders.org

Somalia’s al Shabaab Islamist militant group attacked a military base of Ethiopian soldiers serving with an African Union force on Thursday, with both sides saying they had inflicted a heavy toll on their opponents.

Al Shabaab said a suicide car bomb rammed the entrance to the base in the central town of Halgan and its fighters overran the site, killing 60 soldiers with the loss of 16 of its own militants.

“It was a huge blast. It destroyed the gate and parts of the base,” Al Shabaab’s military operations spokesman Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters.

The group’s fighters exchanged fire with Ethiopian soldiers and repelled a counter attack by Djibouti troops deployed from another base in the area.

Al Shabaab regularly attacks AMISOM, which is made up of about 22,000 soldiers and police from African nations supporting Somalia’s government and army in the fight against the al Qaeda-linked militants.

The group’s insurgency aims to drive out AMISOM, topple Somalia’s Western-backed government and impose its strict version of Islam on the Horn of Africa state.

Lieutenant Colonel Joe Kibet, spokesman for the African Union’s AMISOM force, dismissed al Shabaab’s toll as a “falsehood” but did not give a casualty figure.

“AMISOM forces killed 110 al Shabaab and captured a large cache of weapons,” he told Reuters by telephone.

Residents in Halgan, which lies in a region about 300 km (around 190 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu, said they heard a huge explosion and heavy exchanges of gunfire shortly before dawn. Shots rang out at least an hour after the initial blast, they said.

“AMISOM has now retaken (the town) after regrouping. But the town is mostly deserted,” resident Osman Gelle told Reuters by phone from Halgan. “I counted five civilian dead bodies. Stray bullets hit them in their houses.”

He said he had seen four helicopters land. AMISOM has said it is starting to deploy helicopters with AMISOM to provide more rapid military support, after several bases came under heavy al Shabaab attack. It also uses helicopters to ferry casualties.

Casualty figures cited by officials and al Shabaab are usually wildly different.

In January, al Shabaab said it had killed more than 100 Kenyan soldiers in El Adde, a camp in Somalia and near the border with Kenya. The Kenyan military gave no exact toll.

Washington D.C.–(Newsfile Corp. – June 8, 2016) – The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Ethiopia’s electric utility has agreed to pay nearly $6.5 million to settle charges that it violated U.S. securities laws by failing to register bonds it offered and sold to U.S residents of Ethiopian descent.

According to the SEC’s order instituting a settled administrative proceeding:
Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) conducted the unregistered bond offering to help finance the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Abay River in Ethiopia.

EEP held a series of public road shows in major cities across the U.S. and marketed the bonds on the website of the U.S. Embassy of Ethiopia as well as through radio and television advertising aimed at Ethiopians living in the U.S.
EEP raised approximately $5.8 million from more than 3,100 U.S. residents from 2011 to 2014 without ever registering the bond offering with the SEC.

“Foreign governments are welcome to raise money in the U.S. capital markets so long as they comply with the federal securities laws, including registration provisions designed to ensure that investors receive important information about prospective investments,” said
Stephen L. Cohen, Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “This settlement ensures that investors get all of their money back plus interest.”

The SEC’s order finds that EEP violated Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933. EEP admitted the registration violations and agreed to pay $5,847,804 in disgorgement and $601,050.87 in prejudgment interest. The distribution of money back to investors is subject to the SEC’s review and approval. Investors seeking more information should contact the administrator of the distribution, Gilardi & Co. LLC, at 844-851-4591.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by
Carolyn Kurr and
Daniel Rubenstein and supervised by
C. Joshua Felker. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Department of State

The Eritrean government has just issued a statement confirming the heavy fighting on the border with Ethiopia.

Fighting broke out between Ethiopian and Eritrean armies on Sunday.

The conflict is on Tsorena area, though it expanded eastwards later in the day.

Statement from Eritrea ministry of information.

TPLF Regime launches an attack
The TPLF regime has today, Sunday 12 June 2016, unleashed an attack against Eritrea on the Tsorona Central Front. The purpose and ramifications of this attack are not clear. The Government of Eritrea will issue further statements on the unfolding situation.

Ministry of Information

Asmara

Ethiopian security forces have killed more than 400 protesters and others, and arrested tens of thousands more during widespread protests in the Oromia region since November 2015, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Ethiopian government should urgently support a credible, independent investigation into the killings, arbitrary arrests, and other abuses.

The 61-page report, “‘Such a Brutal Crackdown’: Killings and Arrests in Response to Ethiopia’s Oromo Protests,” details the Ethiopian government’s use of excessive and unnecessary lethal force and mass arrests, mistreatment in detention, and restrictions on access to information to quash the protest movement. Human Rights Watch interviews in Ethiopia and abroad with more than 125 protesters, bystanders, and victims of abuse documented serious violations of the rights to free expression and peaceful assembly by security forces against protesters and others from the beginning of the protests in November 2015 through May 2016.
“Ethiopian security forces have fired on and killed hundreds of students, farmers, and other peaceful protesters with blatant disregard for human life,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The government should immediately free those wrongfully detained, support a credible, independent investigation, and hold security force members accountable for abuses.”

Human Rights Watch found that security forces used live ammunition for crowd control repeatedly, killing one or more protesters at many of the hundreds of protests over several months. Human Rights Watch and other organizations have identified more than 300 of those killed by name and, in some cases, with photos.

The November protests were triggered by concerns about the government’s proposed expansion of the capital’s municipal boundary through the Addis Ababa Integrated Development Master Plan. Protesters feared that the Master Plan would displace Oromo farmers, as has increasingly occurred over the past decade, resulting in a negative impact on farm communities while benefiting a small elite.

As protests continued into December, the government deployed military forces for crowd-control throughout Oromia. Security forces repeatedly fired live ammunition into crowds with little or no warning or use of non-lethal crowd-control measures. Many of those killed have been students, including children under 18.

The federal police and military have also arrested tens of thousands of students, teachers, musicians, opposition politicians, health workers, and people who provided assistance or shelter to fleeing students. While many detainees have been released, an unknown number remain in detention without charge and without access to legal counsel or family members.

Witnesses described the scale of the arrests as unprecedented. Yoseph, 52, from the Wollega zone, said: “I’ve lived here for my whole life, and I’ve never seen such a brutal crackdown. There are regular arrests and killings of our people, but every family here has had at least one child arrested.”

Former detainees told Human Rights Watch that they were tortured or mistreated in detention, including in military camps, and several women alleged that they were raped or sexually assaulted. Some said they were hung by their ankles and beaten; others described having electric shocks applied to their feet, or weights tied to their testicles. Video footage shows students being beaten on university campuses.

Despite the large number of arrests, the authorities have charged few individuals with any offenses. Several dozen opposition party members and journalists have been charged under Ethiopia’s draconian anti-terrorism law, while 20 students who protested in front of the United States embassy in Addis Ababa in March were charged with various offenses under the criminal code.

Access to education – from primary school to university – has been disrupted in many locations because of the presence of security forces in and around schools, the arrest of teachers and students, and many students’ fear of attending class. Authorities temporarily closed schools for weeks in some locations to deter protests. Many students told Human Rights Watch that the military and other security forces were occupying campuses and monitoring and harassing ethnic Oromo students.

There have been some credible reports of violence by protesters, including the destruction of foreign-owned farms, looting of government buildings, and other destruction of government property. However, the Human Rights Watch investigations into 62 of the more than 500 protests since November found that most have been peaceful.

The Ethiopian government’s pervasive restrictions on independent human rights investigations and media have meant that very little information is coming from affected areas. The Ethiopian government has also increased its efforts to restrict media freedom. Since mid-March it has restricted access to Facebook and other social media. It has also restricted access to diaspora television stations.

In January, the government announced the cancellation of the Master Plan. By then, however, protester grievances had widened due to the brutality of the government response.

While the protests have largely subsided since April, the government crackdown has continued, Human Rights Watch found. Many of those arrested over the past seven months remain in detention, and hundreds have not been located and are feared to have been forcibly disappeared. The government has not conducted a credible investigation into alleged abuses. Soldiers still occupy some university campuses and tensions remain high. The protests echo similar though smaller protests in Oromia in 2014, and the government’s response could be a catalyst for future dissent, Human Rights Watch said.

Ethiopia’s brutal crackdown warrants a much stronger, united response from concerned governments and intergovernmental organizations, including the United Nations Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch said. While the European Parliament has passed a strong resolution condemning the crackdown and a resolution has been introduced in the United States Senate, these are exceptions in an otherwise severely muted international response to the crackdown in Oromia. The UN Human Rights Council should address these serious abuses, call for the release of those arbitrarily detained and support an independent investigation.

“Ethiopia’s foreign supporters have largely remained silent during the government’s bloody crackdown in Oromia,” Lefkow said. “Countries promoting Ethiopia’s development should press for progress in all areas, notably the right to free speech, and justice for victims of abuse.”

Ethiopia is contemplating full-scale war against Eritrea, an Eritrean official told the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday, as he defended his country against allegations of crimes against humanity.

Eritrean and Ethiopian troops clashed along their border on June 12. Each has accused the other of starting the hostilities.

Last week, Eritrea’s Foreign Ministry blamed the United States for playing a role, referring to “Washington’s instigation” of the attack by Ethiopian forces. Eritrea also said at least 200 Ethiopian troops were killed.

“As we speak, Ethiopia is making preparations for a bigger military offensive and contemplating a full-scale war,” Yemane Ghebreab, an Eritrean presidential advisor, told the U.N. council on Tuesday.

“Ethiopia reckons that the gross accusations against Eritrea afford it with the perfect pretext, and that it may be now or never. It reckons that those who are only too eager to blame Eritrea will as usual look the other way and fail to act as Ethiopia commits what are truly crimes against humanity against its people and unleashes another war.”

Asked what prompted Eritrea’s warning about Ethiopia’s military preparedness, he told Reuters: “They’ve been saying that for a long time, but we also see the reinforcements they are making on the ground. There are massive reinforcements coming to the border.”

He said it was a large build-up of troops and Eritrea was prepared to defend itself.

Yemane said 18 Eritreans were killed in the recent fighting, and it had lodged a formal complaint with the U.N. Security Council.

Ethiopia has said both sides suffered casualties but would not discuss specifics. It has also said does not expect the situation to escalate.

“We are capable of waging a full-scale war against Eritrea, but simply we don’t choose to. That is why we have withdrawn our forces once our objectives were achieved,” Ethiopian government spokesman Getachew Reda told a news briefing on June 14.

U.N. human rights investigators have accused Eritrea’s leaders of crimes against humanity, including torture, rape and murder, over the past 25 years and called for the case to be referred to the International Criminal Court.

They have also accused Eritrea of enslaving 300,000 to 400,000 of its own people and operating a shoot-to-kill policy on its borders to stop people from fleeing abroad.

Eritrea has rejected all the allegations, and Yemane said 200,000 people had signed a petition supporting the government. Thousands more were protesting on a square outside the U.N.

Representatives of Somalia, Djibouti and Kenya told the Council that they favored setting up a new U.N. mechanism to protect and promote human rights in Eritrea.

“There is an urgent need to ensure accountability,” said Ethiopian Ambassador Negash Kebret Botora, calling the U.N. report conclusive, robust and extensive. He did not respond to Yemane’s comments on Ethiopia’s military posture.

I post this short memo to explain why I did not sign the petition protesting against the report of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in which it is stated, among other things, that “crimes against humanity have been committed in Eritrea since 1991.” I have agonized over the issue for many days until I realized that my dilemma originates more from the wording of the petition than from the moral scruples of clearing a regime of the accusations of an influential international body.

What stroke me first is the malaise that I felt at the idea of not signing the petition. I could not dismiss the impression that the refusal to sign actually means that terrible violations of human rights do not occur in neighboring Ethiopia. Surely, knowing the complexity of the ties between Eritrea and Ethiopia and their present belligerent attitude toward each other, a report that targets Eritrea as a violator of human rights suggests that Ethiopia is the lucky exception in the Horn of Africa. Indeed, whether one likes it or not, the condemnation of Eritrea had one unmistakable implication: it suggests that, had the UN, as the moral conscious of the global community, observed horrific violations of human rights in Ethiopia, it would have denounced them too in the same irrevocable terms. Since it did not, one must infer that the Ethiopian government is free of such acts. Clearly, in singling out Eritrea, the UN is but absolving the TPLF government so that my refusal to sign turns me into a de facto accomplice of its atrocities.

I have read the indignations posted here and there over the request asking Ethiopians to participate in the signing of the petition. Some agree with the UN report about the violations of human rights in Eritrea; others remind that Eritrea’s secessionist ideology is responsible for the current problems of Ethiopia so that one should never associate in any way with a known enemy. Opposed to these are those urging us to sign, essentially for two reasons, which are: (1) In terms of human rights, what happens in Eritrea is not worse than what happens in Ethiopia; (2) the Eritrean government is an ally in that it gives full support to Ethiopian opposition forces fighting to remove the TPLF government.

I could see in the arguments of those who oppose the signature of the petition nothing but a vindictive attitude. If in singling out Eritrea, the UN Commission is in effect in complicity with the Woyanne regime, you cannot argue that it is the concern for human rights violations that motivates your refusal to sign. You perfectly know that by excluding the case of Ethiopia, the UN inquiry loses all credibility. But then, the consistent and justifiable position is to sign the petition because you expose bias or preferential treatment. Your signature is not a support for the Eritrean government: you denounce hypocrisy. It is a judgment on an international body whose major legitimacy is its assumed impartiality.

As to the arguments of those who call for our signatures, I find them to be too calculative, too inspired by the principle that the end justifies the means. We can appreciate the support that Eritrea gives to opposition groups without, however, denying the violations of human rights. In so doing, we appeal to the common interest of the two countries, which is a pragmatic attitude that falls short of implying that the UN report is based on erroneous facts. Moreover, that the two countries have a comparable record of human rights violations should in no way compel us to downplay the one at the expense of the other. The irony is that the attitude is no different from that of the UN: we condemn the one we dislike and remain silent as regards the one we like or do business with, even though similar crimes are committed by both.

I maintain that a petition denouncing the UN report is legitimate and expedient, but it must be inspired by moral outrage at the partiality and hypocrisy of the international body. It must be clearly directed at the UN while also denouncing the attempt to turn Ethiopians into an accomplice of the Woyanne regime by sponsoring a document of human rights violations that fails to mention Ethiopia. That is why I ask those Ethiopians who invited us to sign the petition to come up with a new one in which the focus is more on the UN than on Eritrea. This will enable us to display to the world the complicity of the UN and the Woyanne regime, while at the same time denouncing the unilateral attempt to destabilize Eritrea on grounds that have little to do with human rights, since the same violations are tolerated in the case of Ethiopia.

The article “Undoing the Unproductive Cultural Reforms TPLF Carried Out” explained how the ruling party scrupulously reconfigured our culture making it susceptible to its divisive and self-serving agendas. The article’s call to action was raising and supporting leaders who not only lead us undoing these unproductive cultural reforms but also play a proactive role in leading us pass through other important cultural reforms to transform our country. However, it occurred to me that transforming a culture isn’t an easy task. It entails some ‘beatings’ from the inhabitants of the culture. Culture is powerful and whoever intends to change it must first know the consequences. This article is aimed at informing our leaders, who may dare to challenge the status quo that has kept us at bay, the power of culture.

I’ve studied the dominant cultures in the world as part of my job as a leadership workshop facilitator on topics such as diversity, change management, and as I consult organizations in configuring (reconfiguring) their corporate culture and aligning their people and processes along side their corporate shared values. These chances gave me the opportunity to realize that this is a universal reality, not unique to us Ethiopians alone. Every culture (whether societal or corporate) has ‘worshippers’- status quo maintainers. The latter resist change, and may even sabotage it unless the leader gains buy-ins from resisters and also fence sitters. Remember this: Many people may not even know that the way they think, the pattern of their behaviors, the way they decide, and act are the results of their cultural orientation. These things operate at deeper (subconscious) level without much awareness from our conscious side of the brain. That makes it harder to question, let alone to attempt to reform the status quo. Many people take your positive intent to bring change personal, and therefore, they don’t let go the status quo without a fight.

That is why this tremendous task of reforming a culture requires bold and courageous leaders since they definitely face so many hurdles including persecution from some corners. The reason being the majority in a given culture defends the status quo including those counterproductive traditions, myths, taboos, and sayings in their culture without questioning and knowing why they were installed in the first place. Many inhabitants of a given culture are blind loyal and don’t think twice to revert to violence (at least verbally) when the ‘norms’ are challenged. Here is a popular psychological experiment carried out by Harry Harlow to illustrate the formation and maintenance of a culture.

The experiment was conducted in a lab, which was configured to spray cold ice water throughout the room when the ladder in the middle is touched. There were five monkeys in this experiment, and bananas on top of the ladder. The starved monkeys ran toward the ladder to reach the bananas as soon as they entered the lab. When they touched the ladder, all of them were sprayed with brutal cold ice water. The water was so cold that they immediately descended without grabbing the bananas. After a couple of trials with the same brutal cold ice water spray on all of the monkeys, they developed ‘group thinking’ and stopped trying so as to avoid the cruel cold-water spray. Soon after, the spray was discontinued. The monkeys would have enjoyed the bananas without being sprayed if they changed their mind and attempted to climb the ladder again. They didn’t. After awhile, one of the original monkeys was substituted with a new monkey. The latter didn’t have any clue about what was going on. When this newcomer ran toward the ladder to grab a banana, the four original monkeys attacked it thinking that the water spray treatment was still in place. The beating continued even if all of the original monkeys, which witnessed the cold-water spray firsthand, were substituted- one by one- with new ones. What these monkeys that defended the bananas knew was that they had been beaten the first time when they tried to do the same even if they didn’t know why. Afterward, they also watched other new comers were beaten. Soon after, they joined the ‘group thinking’ and started to defend the bananas from newcomers even if they didn’t have any clue why this beating started in the first place.

I’m sharing this story not to scare you, if you’re a change agent genuinely attempting to bring lasting change in our country. However, you should know that you couldn’t succeed in employing a lasting and impactful transformation without conducting a cultural transformation. Whatsoever great and positive name you may give your change agendas, and whatever extraordinary outcomes you may promise to our people, the majority’s default response is an emphatic NO! Your innocent, genuine, and passionate drive to change things around for good may be taken as disrespect to their ‘god’- their culture, and as a result, you spend your precious time and resources in fighting resistances. The moral of this story is that people are blind loyal to their culture and they put up a fight to prevent change including those counterproductive cultural values that they were unaware why they were put in the first place. Unfortunately, many of our leaders are also victims. Most of them may not join the act and ‘beat’ others but they are afraid to be beaten, and therefore, they refrain from challenging the status quo.

One of the things that used to frustrate me when I was active in the opposition camp from 2002 to 2006 was that some key leaders of opposition parties thought that they could just remove the ruling party armed to the teeth with weapons, and loads of money by just giving media interviews and agitating people by telling how bad the ruling party was. TPLF used the weakness. Rather than presenting an alternative transformational plan that outlines how they intended to transform our country better than TPLF, they invested the majority of their time and resources ‘opposing’ TPLF’s plan. The bylaws and programs of some of the parties that I got a chance to read including my own party were copy and pastes from somewhere. Even today, I still marvel whether we have opposition parties that have more than promises. Do they have, let’s say, 10 or 20 years developmental transformational plan that outlines on how they deliver their promises? Even if there’re some, I still wonder whether these transformational plans are bold enough to demonstrate on how to transform our culture by challenging those cultural values that have prevented us from defeating dictatorship, poverty, and backwardness…

But having a transformational plan isn’t enough. I’m familiar with the ruling party’s transformational development plan, and the model they opted to ‘transform’ the country. TPLF announced that it chose the developmental state model after the success of the Asian Tigers, the newly industrialized nations. Yes, in the late 20th C, some East Asian countries adopted state-led macroeconomics to transform their countries. What we have in today’s Ethiopia, however, isn’t a state-owned macroeconomic system. What we’ve is, rather, a few elite politicians, mainly from one ethnic group, controlling every aspect of life in Ethiopia- the economy, security, military, diplomacy, and so on. The macroeconomic system in Ethiopia has been rigged and cannot respond to the miracles the Asian Tigers experienced. While having such a gross favoritism in place, it’s hard to create a shared national vision. People would have tolerated the temporary state-owned command economy, and lack of affluent democratic institutions if they’d shared the national vision. While there is an apparent favoritism (not even based on political ideologies, but rather, based on ethnic affiliation), there is no way that TPLF could lead the country out of poverty and beat backwardness in their lifetime, let alone in 5 – 10 years.

I’ve already shared with you, in one of my previous articles, the transformation of one of the four Asian Tigers, South Korea. Without shared vision, the leadership of South Korean couldn’t have mobilized the populace and transformed their country. As I clearly showed in that article, South Korean leaders reconfigured their culture. They trimmed those values that were counterproductive and added some values that in turn empowered them to advance their transformational plan. What is fun is that, TPLF’s leadership is busy doing many things (on top of favoritism) that sabotage national transformation, and some how, they hope to duplicate the success of Asian Tigers :-) Here is just one additional reason why they couldn’t transform the country, state-sponsored corruption. In the presence of massive corruption, no government in history ever succeeded in transforming its country.

Then, you may ask, what is the alternative? Our community leaders should begin the transformation, first in their personal lives, and then within their own organizations (groups, parties, businesses, churches, etc.) It’s possible. Other countries attained cultural reform and transformed their countries from poverty to prosperity, from dictatorship to democracy, from backwardness to civilization, from lawlessness to a just society, and so on. We too, we can! Yes, since the ruling party doesn’t support the kind of transformation we’re talking about here, the road to achieve such a transformation is going to take longer. Regardless, change agents should begin the journey small scale and wherever you are. You shouldn’t wait until you take governing power. As a change agent, you don’t need to convince the whole country about your change schemes. If you could sway enough people to carryout the cultural reform by increasing the self-awareness of your people (first, your followers and fans), the change agendas you put in place may get implemented with relative ease. Make sure not to appear dismissive. Recognize those golden cultural aspects of our country and demonstrate your commitment to uphold and respect them. All cultures including ours have many golden attributes. Our culture has great attributes we must maintain by all means. You should identify those cultural attributes that have been hindering us from progressing in the right direction. There’re also some values in our culture that are missing that could have empowered us to become a prosperous, harmonious, and stable nation. What is more? You can’t just implement large-scale cultural change without having a plan, and also adopting appropriate models, and approaches that worked somewhere. You shouldn’t copy and paste. You could modify and customize them to fit our situation. By all means, don’t reinvent the wheel.

In conclusion, every culture has some rooms to be reformed, and our culture is not exceptional. Civilization comes through continuous cultural reforms and we should go for Cultural Revolution if our desire is to transform our country and overcome those centuries old challenges that prevented us from advancing. Many of the socio-economic and political issues that we want to address cannot be fixed without the necessary corresponding cultural reforms. That is why, so far, one government replaces another but the conditions we desperately want to change are not changing. The sensational singer Teddy Afro in his classic song entitled “Yasteseryal” beautifully portrayed the paradox: “Gulecha Bilewawet, Wet Ayatafetm”. He said in that song, among other things, what we have been experiencing is “The reign of a new king without any meaningful change.” This trend must change now. ‘If not now, when?’ This generation must reverse this trend. If not this generation which one? This task shouldn’t be left for our leaders alone. You should also play your role too. ‘If not you, who?’ In my upcoming articles, I’ll select a few cultural attributes we need to change, just to initiate conversation and put forward some pointers you may consider in your effort to play your share in transforming our communi

I have just listened to an interview given by Mekonnen Yelewem-Wessen Weldegebriel on SBS radio based in Australia saying that Welkait was not part of Gondar. Also, he told to the interviewer that he is of Amhara ethnicity, and since Welkait is part of Tigray, the people have nothing to do with the Amhara Kilil, it has to do with Tigray Kilil. The journalist, from SBS radio asked him a pivotal question, if he could prove that Welkait was historically part of Tigray. Mekonnen tried to prevaricate when the journalist asked him pointed questions. He repeatedly said with an insolent voice, “I am speaking right now about Qimant, Welkait is in the Tigray region, and Welkait has no connection with the Amhara region.” And “scientifically and politically,” Welkait belongs to Tigray, and Amhara has no “mandate” to speak about Welkait.

Of course, ‘ዉሻ እበላበት ይጮሃል!’ it was expected from such an obtuse individual who has luck of historical knowledge which he could not even aver that Welkait was not part of Gondar. This traitorous human being is an imbecile who tries to ostracize the people of Welkait Tsegede from the Amhara society to please the TPLF which is impossible. As a matter of fact, I was not surprised by this TPLF’s surrogate frivolous talk. I would be surprised if he seemed reluctant to answer all the questions asked by the journalist.

Thus, this cold-blooded renegade Amhara tried to prove that he is real a servitor of TPLF by distorting the history of Welkait. I am not sure if Mekonnen is really an Amhara, but it does not matter whether he is an Amhara or not; there are many “Hodam” Amharas that killed Amharas. Sadly enough, this is the guy who calls himself an Amhara and he represents the Amharas whereas the TPLF cadres kill and incarcerate innumerate Amharas.

I assumed, this individual is one of the members of the Amhara National Democratic Movement(ANDM) who justifies the TPLF’s atrocities on the people of Welkait. It is not a secret, that this person and his likes were purposely hired to suppress the movement of the Amhara people in order to achieve the TPLF’s goals. It is true that TPLF has been remunerated those they believe are loyal to Woyanne and to carry out the TPLF’s unlawful acts and instructions without hesitation. TPLF-Woyanne respect and rewards people who do their dirty jobs to fulfill their wishes and interests. So, Mekonnen Yelewem-Wessen Weldegebriel is one of the hired killers who executes dirty jobs for TPLF-Woyanne.

Let me jot down some facts for the younger generation on how TPLF created the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM). Before the Derg was deposed, Woyane had controlled the whole Tigray and then, the TPLF found out that there was no way to communicate with the outside world, and Tigray as a nation could not get recognition by other countries. Not only that, Tigray by itself, would not survive without the rest of Ethiopia. Then, they decided to discuss with their ally namely Shabia how to control the whole country, and started hatching an anti-Amhara individuals like: Tamrat Layne, Addisu Legesse, Bereket Simon, Tefera Walewa, and Helawi Yoseph who led the EPDM which was created as the puppet of Woyane, and latter the Ethiopian people’s National Democratic Movement(EPDM) was renamed to Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) which was purposely created to demonize the Amhara. These idiots and perfidious people were not even an Amhara.

Then, after the seizure of Menilik palace, the TPLF made Tamrat Layne, a nominal prime minister, in order to consolidate their power. Sadly enough, Tamrat Layne was prime minister during the time many Amharas were slaughtered in Arbagugu and in Bedno, and these horrendous crimes were justified by Tamrat Layne.

These bogus individuals had played a key role in convincing the young Amharas to become the Woyane’s foot-soldiers, and to fight persistently against the Derg to bring Woyane to power. At the same time, these pseudo Amharas were disseminating lies through propaganda in Amharic on the radio to the Amharas to make them believe that EPRDF is a democratic government which will return the land and the properties to the people which were confiscated by the Derg.

Leaving the lies aside, the TPLF/ ANDM, whether you believe it or not, Welkait is part of Gondar and its people are an Amharas; no document or lore states that Welkait was part of Tigray. The TPLF-Woyanne regime has to think twice before making an irrevocable mistake between the people of Amhara and Tigre. To change someone’s identity by mass killing, kidnapping, raping and looting innocent civilians is not a long lasting victory, but a transient one which will have grave consequences to the TPLF and its cronies.

As it is known since TPLF came to power, thousands of people in Welkait have been savagely tortured and killed for no reason asking their legitimate rights. The TPLF regime is indiscriminately killing, arresting, beating, and severely torturing the innocent people in Welkait which is a systematic genocide. To refute my claim, anyone can check the interview by the journalist Muluqen Tesfaw. He disclosed how the Amharas are the downtrodden people in Ethiopia.

Despite all the excruciating pain the TPLF-Woyanne inflicts upon the people of Welkait, the people are determined to fight for their fundamental identities, and for their ancestral land where the TPLF confiscated by force. Recently, the people of Dabat showed their power against the Woyanne’s cadres who came to loot their properties which was a very courageous phenomenon.

The TPLF brags that they are the only brave ones and know how to pull the trigger, and other people are not brave as they are. This is pure stupidity and a decadence ideas of the TPLF regime tries to intimidate the armless people to stay in power in order to exploit and accumulate a colossal wealth. The funny thing is that the TPLF cannot discern that true power comes from the people which was proven in Libya and Tunisia where perhaps the Woyanne regime needs to learn from. As already witnessed in Gondar and in the Oromo region, the people’s uprising has begun where the minority regime seems unable to control it. Therefore, the TPLF’s bragging is an empty echo.

When it comes to Mekonnen Yelewem-Wessen Weldegebriel’s rhetoric, as I mentioned above, he unequivocally said in public that the identity of the Welkait people is an identity of the Tigre. By saying this, he receives the accolade from his bosses. Do the Amharas have to remind Mekonnen Weldegebriel of the unspeakable atrocities committed against the Welkait people by him and his likes ? It is clear that the TPLF is an archenemy of the Amhara, but at this point the most dangerous enemy of the Amharas is the TPLF servitors like Mekonnen in which all the Amharas should be vigilant.

Mekonnen’s utterance is preposterous and has no a substance regarding the people of Welkait identity. I boldly want to tell to Mekonnen Weldegebriel that killing and detaining the people of Gondar to fulfill the interest of the TPLF, cannot mute the struggles of the people of Gondar; it can more intensify them rather than. It is unlikely, Mekonnen can live life happy till TPLF is alive, but Mekonnen cannot wear-down the identity of Welkait by attrition.

I read with great attention and interest a recently posted article [see http://www.ethiomedia.com/1012pieces/ethiopia_political_challenges_and_proposed_solutions.pdf] in which Lt. General Tsadkan Gebre Tensay analyzes with a sharp critical eye the ruling government and party of present-day Ethiopia and gives us a blueprint of the various scenarios awaiting the country. Let me begin by admitting my surprise and admiration to see a top member of the leadership of the ruling party and a former Chief of Staff of the Ethiopian Armed Forces undertake such a critical review of a regime that he had served for a long time. One cannot but wonder how deep the level of the deterioration of the political edifice has become for a top veteran and servant of the regime to feel the need to speak up openly in so alarming terms. Be that as it may, my review has two parts: in the first one, I present the undeniable virtues of the article and, in the second part, I proceed to some critical remarks, the objective of which is to encourage Gen. Tsadkan to go further in the critical assessment so as to get to the root of the problem bogging down the TPLF itself.

Without doubt, the article gives a candid, almost thorough and straight criticism of the regime. Almost nothing of what is detestable and faulty is left out: the absolute control of all the branches of government, the calamitous identification of the government with the ruling party, the heavy-handed involvement of government in the economy, the proliferation of corruption and clientelism, etc., are severely denounced. Gen. Tsadkan is not even nice to his former colleagues: he is highly disparaging of the involvement of army generals in the running of key sectors of the economy instead of focusing on their true job, which is to protect the integrity and sovereignty of the country. In a word, the entire regime is put on trial and condemned without any reservation. One admires the courage and honesty of Gen. Tsadkan, given that his position will certainly ostracize him, perhaps even arouse the animosity of the leaders of the ruling party.

This much is undeniable: Gen. Tsadkan wants genuine solutions for the numerous and serious problems besieging Ethiopia. For him, the stake is none other than the survival of Ethiopia so that the solutions must be far-reaching enough to stop the dangerous trends toward which the country is moving. His proposal is clear and simple: the implementation of democracy and the rise of a political system based on the verdict of the people are the only means to tackle the deep problems of the country. The use of force repeats the mistakes of previous regimes and can only yield the same outcomes, but this time in a context that is much more explosive. Clearly, the author is genuinely concerned about the fate of Ethiopia. True, he does not hide his high concern for the people of Tigray and the TPLF, but one of the virtues of the article is that it understands that the fate of the TPLF is tied up with good things happening in Ethiopia.

According to Gen. Tsadkan, the regime has come to the point of recognizing the seriousness of the problems facing Ethiopia and is looking for a solution. Unfortunately, says Gen. Tsadkan, it is looking for easy and self-serving solutions, which are all doomed to failure because they all miss, deliberately or not, the core of the problem, which is the restriction of democracy and democratic rights. The restriction is all the more inexcusable as it violates the constitution, the very constitution that the TPLF and all its allies have sworn to respect and serve. All the problems of Ethiopia have one, and only one, source, namely, illegality, transgression of the constitution.

One admires the author for admitting that the case of Kinijit was not well handled in the 2005 election disputes. A similar mistake was committed earlier when a conflict broke out with the OLF. In both cases, force was used to settle disputes instead of the democratic means made available by the constitution. Similarly, I commend the author for spelling out the true interest of the Tigrean people, which is to work in concert with other people of Ethiopia to protect and advance democracy, as opposed to some leaders who orchestrate the scenario of Tigray versus the rest of Ethiopia. Last but not least, I applaud Gen. Tsadkan for being the first top member of the TPLF (to my knowledge) to acknowledge that the Ethiopians who fought under the leadership of the Derg lost, not because they were coward and Tigreans distinctly brave, but because their leaders betrayed the cause for which they were fighting and used them for a totalitarian and self-serving purpose.

Granted this positive side of the article, there remains the question of knowing whether Gen. Tsadkan’s explanation of the causes of the derailment of the regime away from the democratic path are equally pertinent. The analyses of the paper rest on one major premise, namely, the contention that the TPLF had a solid, deeply-engrained tradition of democratic methods prior to the seizure of state power, a tradition that was also free of secessionist agenda and the pursuit of ethnic hegemony. This is so true that Gen. Tsadkan ascribes the alleged derailment of the TPLF to the war against Eritrea whose major consequence was a deep split within the party and the rise of a non-democratic clique led by Meles who, by the way, is mentioned only once.

Without denying the importance of the split, one fails to understand how a party based on such solid and embedded democratic commitment and practices would go suddenly so off course as to empower Meles and his openly undemocratic clique. Is it not fair to say that the split and the outcome prove that democracy was just a façade, a hidden device of manipulation, something similar to the “democracy” that existed in the Soviet camp or, for that matter, in Ethiopia under the Derg? I can easily explain the rise of Meles to dictatorial power if I see it as a consolidation of a trend already existing in the party. By contrast, his rise becomes a complete mystery if I base my analysis on the assumption that the TPLF had a long tradition of democratic workings.

In vain does one look for the numerous blunders committed by the TPLF from the very start. For instance, the paper does not mention the momentous decision to land-lock Ethiopia. Nor does it denounce the ill-founded justification to disband the Ethiopian army––which resulted in many soldiers becoming beggars––as though it were a mercenary army, all the more so as Gen. Tsadkan, as already mentioned, recognizes that the army as a whole was not against any people. Gen. Tsadkan never questions the prevailing assumption of the ruling circle according to which the foundation of the Ethiopian state is sound and that many good things have been accomplished, even though he does not mention them. In so thinking, he turns the problems into an implementation issue, and so fail to see them as the step-by-step unfolding of a design that was originally very flawed.

As a matter of policy, Gen. Tsadkan opts for the developmental state as opposed to neo-liberal policy. The paper does not present strong arguments in favor of developmental state; nor does it indicate why the developmental state is expected to achieve better results in Ethiopia than liberal policy. Still less does the paper pose the problem of knowing whether the ideological and political setups of ethnic federalism go hand in hand with the requirements of the developmental state. Moreover, as stated previously, Gen. Tsadkan strongly favors democracy in the precise sense of multipartism, respect of human rights, including the rights of free assembly and free speech. Yet, this type of democracy does not square with the notion of developmental state, which precisely advocates the postponement of democratic rights to bring about faster economic growth. Equally noticeable is that the paper does not see that the dismal condition of education in Ethiopia, mostly due to politicization and the preference of quantity over quality, goes against a major requirement of the developmental state, namely, the production of a highly trained and nationalist technocratic and bureaucratic elite.

One key issue is that the author expects the appropriate solutions to come from and be implemented by the ruling party, since one need not look further than the already approved constitution to find the right answers. In Gen. Tsadkan’s view, the remedy lies in the restoration of the suppressed rights and in the development of a mindset approaching opposition parties with a spirit of dialogue and common interests. Not only does such an expectation look utterly utopian, but it is also contradictory. After having made this severe criticism, how does Gen. Tsadkan expect reforms and a change of attitude from such a rotten party? Is it not too late? Is not the party beyond redemption?

The danger of calling for an extremely unlikely change of attitude is that it lends itself to the interpretation that the paper is nothing but an attempt to prolong the life of the TPLF by reviving an already rejected hope. What is more, since the author admits that the difficulties are serious enough to rise to the level of structural impediments, is it not obvious that they require nothing less than structural changes? Evidently, change under the leadership of the ruling party will significantly fall short of being structural. In short, what is necessary in the face of failures of such magnitude is regime change.

As already noted, a leitmotif in the paper is the belief that the constitution provides the appropriate solutions to all the problems of the country. We just have to restore its democratic provisions and respect them. As a matter of fact, the paper criticizes everything, except the constitution and the ideological and democratic credentials of the TPLF prior to the capture of state power. Because of the reluctance of the author to critically examine the constitution, no attempt is made to connect some of the problems to its shortcomings.

For instance, there is no any reconsideration of the infamous article 39 affirming the “unconditional right to self-determination, including the right to secession,” a provision that an organization like MEDREK has rightly questioned as it carries the threat of the fragmentation of the country. Likewise, no prospect is envisaged for the privatization of land ownership through the removal of the stipulation that “ownership of rural and urban land, as well as of all natural resources, is exclusively vested in the State and in the peoples of Ethiopia,” even though the dictatorial tendency of the regime can be traced back to the exclusive control of land by the state.

To be fair, Gen. Tsadkan does not reject the right to alter the constitution provided that it emanates from the democratic decision of the peoples of Ethiopia. The trouble, however, is that the respect of the constitution is presented as a sine qua non of all dialogue with opposition forces. A repeated injunction is that everybody must work under the provisions stipulated by the constitution. The condition excludes by definition any structural change to the system. Unless the opposition is given the right to organize and mobilize the people with the official intent of changing the constitution, I do not see how the stated condition does not amount to a serious restriction of democratic rights.

I cannot push aside the impression I have of a certain naivety on the part of Gen. Tsadkan. Indeed, for him all the problems of Ethiopia originate from a defective implementation of the constitution. The foundation and the principles of government are good, but they have not been properly implemented. May I remind that dictatorial regimes tend to write constitutions that are perfect? Their problem is in the application, not because they fail to apply them properly, but because they do not intend to apply them in the first place. They are written for two purposes: firstly, for external consumption to fool donor countries, and secondly, to manipulate their own people. Their constitutions are just ideological tools for make-believe, for the purpose of misleading by giving an ideal picture of their regime. What defines them is not the failure of implementation; it is the deliberate gap between stated principles and actual practice. One thing is sure: the leaders of the TPLF who drafted the constitution perfectly knew that the democratic provisions were not meant to be applied.

This is to say that failure in practice does not explain a regime like the one established by the TPLF. Instead, the real intent of the TPLF, as opposed to the fake one, must be given primacy. All what we know about the TPLF points to one overriding intent, to wit, the absolute control of state power to empower a furiously ethnicized elite by excluding other elites or by turning them into clients. Only some such approach makes everything clear: the rampant corruption, the dictatorial methods, the policy of divide and rule, the absolute control of all the branches of government are all means to empower a regional elite and sustain that empowerment through the complete ascendancy over the economic, political, and ideological apparatuses of the country. To paraphrase a famous sentence, in the analysis of Gen. Tsadkan, the TPLF “is standing on its head. It must be inverted, in order to discover the rational kernel within the mystical shell.”

The chairman of the Blue party, Mr. Yilkal Getnet, has concluded his three weeks-long tour in Canada and travelled to the US last week. During his stay in Canada, Mr. Getnet met several party supporters and held fruitful and inspiring discussions. In addition, he reached out to several members of the Ethiopian Diaspora during and in the aftermath of the 33rd tournament of Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America (ESFNA).

During a dinner hosted in his honour, Mr. Getnet briefed Ethiopians and stated that the current situation in the country needed the participation of all Ethiopians and the struggle to democratize Ethiopia should not be left to the political parties alone. Further, he stressed the need to have a wider dialogue among the citizens to build a political consensus as well as strong activism for the respect of human and democratic rights. As the country itself is at critical juncture, the participation of all is greatly needed to bring about sustainable democratic change. It is only a country capable of accommodating the fundamental needs of its citizens that could have the potential to survive the current political, economic and social resentments from its diverse peoples.

Mr. Getnet met with senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Canada in Ottawa on July 13, 2016 where he discussed the political situation in Ethiopia including the ongoing turmoil in Gondar. Mr. Getnet indicated to the officials that Canada should use its leverage to influence political change in Ethiopia. On separate occasions, he met two Members of Parliament and held very candid and encouraging discussions regarding the current political situation in Ethiopia and its implications to the Horn of Africa and beyond. Mr. Getnet extensively informed Canadian officials regarding the current political and economic situation, the challenge of peaceful struggle and the growing tendencies of the government of Ethiopia to introduce new laws that criminalize blogging and online political activism. For example, he mentioned the newly drafted cyber law put undue pressure on online blogging which might be misinterpreted as an act of terrorism.

At a farewell meeting he had with the organizers of his trip, Mr. Getnet mentioned that the outcome of his meeting with senior officials was very productive and achieved its intended results. He further explained “the officials of the government of Canada expressed their grave concerns over Ethiopia’s handling of human rights, restrictions of freedom of expression and their interference in free speeches and publications, and the use of draconian legislations to stifle dissent which is jeopardizing the opportunity to democratic transformation of the nation.”

Mr. Yilkal shared his understanding that from the discussion he had with the officials, the major donor countries have long realized that the Ethiopian government is using the anti-terrorism law to arrest and persecute those who oppose it. As a partner in development, they also want to see their aid have positive changes in the areas of basic democratic and human rights. At a different level, Canadian officials have raised their concern to Ethiopian authorities. Although progress is slow they underlined that the influence of donors could have a positive impact in the future and stated their commitment to continue such influence through the monitoring of aid effectiveness and through other bilateral forums whenever possible.

While in Toronto Mr. Yilkal Getnet has also established the Canadian branch of Semayawi Party Support Committee (SPSC – Canada) that works as a focal point to expand the advocacy and support of the Blue Party in Canada. The committee, which is composed of five individuals, will work in collaboration with other registered non-profit organizations engaged in work encompassing human rights and democracy in Canada. He thanked Ethiopians who attended the event and solemnly confirmed to them that the Blue party and its members are determined to continue to fight for their beliefs and the struggle of their people despite harsh treatments until a political system that genuinely represents the interest of all Ethiopians is established.

Mr. Getnet stated that each and every move towards democracy in a dictatorial regime has taxed high prices and reiterated that the party has been paying dearly for those sacrifices. Several young Ethiopians and members of the Blue Party are currently suffering in jail for no crimes committed other than speaking and writing about the truth. Yonatan Tefaye and Getachew Shifreaw, are two prominent examples. He concluded the briefing by saying “until we hold collectively the government to be accountable to the people these arbitrary detentions, torture and extrajudicial killings will continue”. Therefore, he proposed in order to “end Government impunity all should stand together and work in unison to see a democratic Ethiopia.”

One of the organizers of Mr. Getnet’s visit to Canada, Mr. Tekelemichael Abebe, a lawyer and human rights activist in Toronto, accompanied the Chairman to his meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa and the Member of Parliament for Beaches East York, Mr. Nathaniel Erskine-Smith. Furthermore, Mr. Negussie Adamu, an activist and resident of Barrie, a suburb of Toronto has accompanied Mr. Getnet in his meeting with the Member of Parliament for Barrie, Mr. Alex Nuttall. Correspondingly, the Unity for Democracy and Human Rights (UHRD), a Toronto based charity working on human rights has sponsored his visit.

Subsequently, Mr. Esayas Teshome, the General Secretary of Unity for Democracy and Human Rights and Teklemichael Abebe have expressed their satisfaction regarding the outcome of the visit and the work done in terms of human rights and democracy. Teklemichael said “such kinds of visits are important for several reasons; they are useful to create opportunity to meet the Ethiopian Diaspora and raise awareness in Canada about the human rights violations in Ethiopia.” For example, because Canada recognizes the worsening human rights condition, it has made a policy change that exempts Ethiopian refugees from the one year bar to apply for Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA). Normally, individuals whose applications for refugee protections are rejected, abandoned or withdrawn, may not apply for a PRRA unless at least 12 months have passed. Since refugees are removed from Canada before the 12 months period expires, they would not have the chance to apply for PRRA in the past. However, understanding the ever-growing gross human rights violations in Ethiopia, Canada has this week changed that policy for Ethiopian refugees whose applications were rejected over the last one year and those Ethiopians are now exempted from the 12 months waiting period to apply for PRRA. That is a major victory for refugee and human rights lawyers, Teklemichael said.

Mr. Getnet held two successful fundraisings and public meetings in Ottawa as well as in Buffalo, New York. Mr. Getnet left Canada for the US last week. He was affectionately seen off by party enthusiasts. He proceeds to the United States to meet senior US officials as per his schedule set by the Semayawi Party International Support Committee in the United States. He will also have a major public meeting on the weekend of August 6/7, 2016 in Washington, DC alongside fellow party leader, Professor Merera Gudina of Medrek.
E. Akele, Toronto, Canada, July 29, 2016

In my recent article entitled “The Power of Culture: Why we couldn’t make lasting transformations”, I argued that reforming our culture is critical to experience lasting and sustainable change but, at the same time, very challenging. As promised, in the coming couple of articles, I’d like to propose just a few of the cultural attributes we may consider reforming. Let me begin this journey by suggesting a change that may not draw serious controversies since, compared to my upcoming reform suggestions, it may not be a blind spot of many of us. It’s something that may not touch many people’s nerve. My first article in this series ‘The Necessity of Cultural Reform’, therefore, is about the need to work with time, not against it, to accelerate the transformation process. You may already know these but let me be clear upfront and recount our longstanding ‘sour’ relationship with time :-) We Ethiopians work against time unapologetically thinking that we’ve all the time in the world. We defile the very essence of time and think that we have got away with it. We seem ignoring why time was instituted in the first place. Time was introduced to make us accountable to the incredible opportunity we’re given to live in this amazing universe (space) for which we haven’t been asked to pay rent. It was also given to us so as we track our progress. Time isn’t here to be wasted and abused! Thus, let me quickly share with you the very nature of time, many of which you may already be well aware.

Time is a great equalizer in the world. Whether rich or poor, young or old, popular or obscure, short or tall, whether one lives in the west or south, like everybody else, each and every one of us has 24 hours per day. What is more? ‘Time is the scarcest of resources,’ as the father of modern management Peter Drucker said. He is right. As the saying goes, “Time and tide waits no one.” If we lose a fraction of our time, it is gone forever. We can’t recover it once it’s gone. It’s perishable. We cannot store, buy, sell, or borrow it. Time comes and goes fast. That is why Benjamin Franklin, one of the wisest men who ever lived on earth said, “Lost time is never found again.” If we lose other resources, we may have a chance to recover them back, not time. “Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone forever,” Samuel Smiles underscored.

One thing should be emphasized here. With the passing of each second unused properly, we lose the attached opportunities to advance individually and collectively. Beware, it doesn’t mean we’ve to work all the time. We need to balance our time to live a fulfilling life not only by working all the time but also by taking sometime to relate, relax, rejuvenate, sleep, grow, and so on. For that matter, if we fail to balance our time between work and life, we pay dire prices. We burn out, ruin our relationships, get sick, and remain miserable. In the time management workshops that we facilitate, we provide participants some techniques and tools to strategize and prioritize. We also empower then to use latest technologies and approaches to plan, schedule, and monitor their scarcest resource. By the way, we don’t need these all if the goal is just to manage time efficiently. In the latter case, you just keep yourself busy doing things whether they contribute in meeting your major goals or not. When you attempt to be efficient with time, you’re trying your best to use the limited 24 hours you have today without preparing ahead and maximizing it by using some aids. Here I’m talking about managing time EFFECTIVELY, which requires to think, strategize, prioritize, plan, and to employ latest techniques, approaches, and tools to prepare ahead. There are great tools to engage with that are used by world-class organizations around the world. We shouldn’t be left behind while the world advances by wisely and effectively managing time. However, discussing this further is beyond the scope of this article. If you need help in this regard, you may contact me offline.

Once the background work is done, let me be honest here. While the whole world is baffled by time, we Ethiopians appear to have infinite time on our hands. Whereas many find time elusive, we act as if we don’t care at all. We seem not getting it: Those who abused time judged by history while those who honored it got rewarded mightily. The latter used time prudently, and therefore, they- individually became wise, enjoyed healthy and happy lifestyle; and collectively advanced their civilization. On the other hand, we Ethiopians have paid so many prices as individuals and a society for mistreating time, and failing to live with a sense of urgency. Our culture is heavily leans on our past. Do you need a simple proof that we’ve a past oriented culture? How about the term we use worryingly- ‘Dero Kere’. Note that I’m not suggesting for us to disown and disrespect our past. I’m humbly proposing for us to stop talking and worshipping the past to the extent it costs our present moment, and most importantly, ours and the future of next generations. We don’t need to completely forget our past. We should learn from it but move forward to tap into the opportunity we’ve today and tomorrow. The proposal is asking us to place time at the center of our culture. It asks us to manage the scarce resources we have around time. This requires changing our old habits and also adopting new ways of handling time.

Of course, we Ethiopians aren’t the only ones who keep sinning against time. Like us, there are other similar cultures in Asia, South America, and other African countries that don’t treat time with the honor it deserves. What is interesting is that those countries from these regions that changed the way they had treated time, transformed their countries once they began managing time effectively. They decided to work with time, not against it. They trained their people to be prompt, and accountable. They improved their processes, and eliminated unproductive bureaucracies. Those practices that used to take years, reduced to months; those that took months, began taking only a few days; and those that used to require days, hours. By making their people, processes, and procedures prompt, they turned around the destiny of their country and people. We too can do it. It doesn’t take huge capital or lots of efforts. It just takes a change in mindset.

This change, however, should begin with our leaders. This is especially important when it comes to our politicians and community leaders that attempt to transform our community. So far, those organizations that should lead our people by example are also victims when it comes to managing time effectively. I can give you many examples but let me just share with you two- one from politics and another from a community organization. It was, if my memory serves me correctly, beginning of 2004- just over one year prior to the infamous national election that was conducted in 2005. Back then; I was the CC member of an affluent political party. When the Executive Committee called for a meeting, I thought discussing the upcoming election would be one of the agendas, and thus, I prepared myself and came up with a 4-page concept paper that laid out the approaches our party should adopt to win the upcoming election. When I figured that talking about the election wasn’t one of the talking points, I requested it to be included. Members of the Executive Committee on the stage were stunned. They thought it was too early. My request was denied and we were unable to talk about it. You may not know this. Opposition parties wait to plan until they get some campaign finance from the Electoral Board, which is the unofficial arm of TPLF. Deliberately, the ruling party rations the limited fund very close to the election so that opposition parties won’t have enough time to strategize, plan, and effectively use their time to win elections.

If you ask me, we shouldn’t have totally depended on the ruling party’s finance to fund our campaigns, and most importantly, we shouldn’t wait that close to prepare and win elections. We should have prepared for years to win a national election. My little proposal just a year earlier shouldn’t have been considered anomaly. Unfortunately, since strategizing and projecting into the future isn’t part of our culture, my proposal was rejected. Another example. Last year, I was a member of a think tank group. Since the organization was in its infant stage, I began suggesting coming up with both short and long term strategic plans, and also asking the team to discuss about where we see the organization in 5, 10, 20 years. My request did fall on deaf ears. The group preferred to talk about things that are urgent (even if they aren’t important in the long run), and focused on the now. Nothing is wrong with this approach but for a think tank whose aim is to bring a lasting change at national level, failing to project into the future, strategize, and plan is a setup to fail as the saying goes “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

Please note that I’m not here bragging and appearing smarter or better than these great minds. It wasn’t my intellect that led me to develop this personality that works with time. Situations forced (allowed) me to make changes earlier in my life. Being the president of the largest students’ union in our country in the late 90’s while studying a very tough field at AAU, which required me to take more than 20 credit hours per semester, strained me to befriend with time for the sake of survival. Upon graduation in 2000, I joined a multinational research institute. Again, I got lucky to work with scientists from other cultures that embraced time, and that too contributed toward my being pro time. Otherwise, many of the leaders on that stage back home, and members of the think tank group are my heroes. I don’t want you to assume that I’m here to judge them and think that I’m wiser than them just because I’ve incorporated effective time management into my personal culture. I’m citing these instances to make a point about how some (or maybe many more that I don’t know about yet) of our best too are plagued by lack of time management. My goal is to encourage our leaders to embrace time and use many available techniques, tools, and technologies as they lead us into our future Canaan. Our leaders should be reminded that those who recognized the central role time management plays for individual, organizational, and societal level transformations succeeded while the rest are struggling to change their dreadful circumstances regardless of having excessive other resources such as human resources, land, finance, and so on at their disposal. Being rich in other resources alone without the capability to manage them around time is useless. That is why Drucker emphasized, “If time is not managed, nothing else is managed.”

Of course, I’m not naïve to think that this little article from me could bring this reform we need desperately right away. Other larger than life personalities attempted to challenge us, and they couldn’t succeed so far. Our own the legendary Tilahun Gessesse made a strong case for using time prudently. He once sang a powerful song about time entitled “Ketero Yikeber”. In that song, he lamented why we keep failing to use time wisely while we’ve a mind that thinks. He pointed out that one of the signs of civilization is respecting time, and how neglecting the importance of time denied us from becoming civilized, and therefore, to remain behind the rest of the world. Unfortunately, time caught our hero before he could be able to see the fruits of his appeal (time will catch all of us sooner or later :-) He passed away but his work remains alive continuing to petition us to treat time intelligently. This is my hope, as a society, we may wake up from our sleep, drop the culture of tardy and lethargy, and embrace time and use it in our advantage to overcome the myriads of challenges we face.

Certainly, leading such a change nationally at the moment requires the political will of the ruling party. Nonetheless, I doubt whether such a change interests them; even if they do, not sure whether this is their priority right now. Thus, let’s take out our people back home from the question for now. Those of us who live in the Diaspora, we adopted and treat time with respect in the workplace. We arrive on time and meet deadlines or else we risk losing our jobs. Why then we fail to apply the same rule as we work among ourselves to transform our country? How can we change our destiny without incorporating one of the key factors in bringing lasting change? There is no way a culture reaches it’s potential and attain civilization without working with time. And those of us in the Diaspora have the obligation to embrace time and be exemplary.

Lastly, if our desire is to come out of the messes we’re in and advance in the 21st C, there may be many things we should do and steps we should take. Reforming our culture so that time becomes the essence is one of them. As a community, we should become prompt, punctual, and industrious to maximize the time we get each day in our advantage and in turn to transform our personal and societal destinies. If you’re trying your best to tap into your scarcest resource and using it wisely, keep on doing what you do. Remember, however, what I said earlier, there is a huge difference between using time efficiently and effectively. Capitalize on one of the scarcest resources you have by using latest technologies, tools, processes, and methods and manage your time EFFECTIVELY. If you haven’t begun this journey yet, start small scale by planning for each week. The first step is to identify your major goals for that week. Make your goals SMART (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time bound), enlist the tasks that enable you to meet your goals in order of priority, schedule them on your calendar, and then begin executing your plan one task at a time. Take a few minutes and evaluate your progress on a daily basis and make adjustments, if necessary. Once you achieve some successes, start planning for a month, then for one year, 5 years, a decade, and so on. Use also your influence to win more people in your side. If enough Ethiopians join this movement, slowly but surely, we will have the critical mass to transform our culture, and win time in our side, and in turn transform our community.

Tens of thousands of protesters have flooded the streets of Gonder in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia on Sunday demanding a change of government due to the unfair distribution of wealth in the country.

The protest, reported to have been staged in defiance of a government order, is also in solidarity with the Oromia protests held between November last year to March 2016 in opposition to a government development plan in the region which could affect poor farmers.

Images posted by protesters and other eye witnesses on social media show hundreds of thousands of people carrying Ethiopian flags and placards singing and chanting against the government’s regime.

Some placards demanded the release of arrested activists during the Oromia protests while other protesters made the Crossed Arms Resistance gesture which was common during the Oromia protests.

The EPRDF has come under heavy criticism for its handling of the Oromia protests and also its intolerance towards the media and civil society.

Thousands of students, social media activists, and opposition party leaders and supporters were arrested and dozens were charged under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (ATP) while hundreds remained in custody without charges.

Human Rights Watch released a report in June estimating that over 400 Oromo protesters were killed in November 2015, and thousands others arrested by Ethiopian security forces during the protests.

The government however disputed the figures and earlier in March, the Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn blamed the death and destruction on “violent” protesters. He however apologized before parliament for “not listening to the concerns of the people”.

The Oromia and Amhara are two of the nine ethnically based regional states of Ethiopia which are considered the poorest compared to the others.

The protest is expected to build up in the coming days.

Below is my response to Gen. Tsadkan’s reply to my review of his article. The reply is posted at: http://www.ethiomedia.com/1012pieces/5863.html

Dear Lt. General Tsadkan Gebre Tensay:

I thank you for sending me your reactions to my review of your article on the political difficulties of Ethiopia and of the solution you suggest to overcome them. Your response constitutes a very welcome clarification, not only for me, but also for the many more readers who have questions about your article. I have received many emails from various circles. Some of them agree with my assessment of your article; others reflect the opinion that my review was unnecessarily harsh and missed the core of your argument, which is the necessity of taking the constitution as a framework of a broad agreement to avoid chaos and conflicts. Still others consider your article as a misleading attempt to prolong the life of the existing ruling clique.

Let me affirm from the outset and in the most categorical terms that I do not share the view of those who maintain that your article is an exercise of deception. Your article reflects a genuine concern for the future of Ethiopia and suggests solutions that appeared to you most realistic and feasible. As to the view of those who accuse me of missing the main point of your argumentation, my reply is that I did not miss it. On the contrary, as I will try to show, my criticism was setting the conditions for the constitution to become a framework for all parties concerned to work together.

Your clarification begins by stating the basic agreement that I share with you, namely, that Ethiopia is going through a deep crisis that threatens its very existence and that the only way to counter the danger is by implementing democracy. There is no other solution than the democratic one, given that the use of force will only aggravate the crisis to the point of making it unsolvable through peaceful means. Where we disagree is that the implementation of democracy means for you the unrestricted application of the constitution.

Here I need to specify what I mean by “disagreement.” For me, the problem pertains not so much to the core features of the constitution as the people who are supposed to implement it. If the present ruling clique is the implementer, 25 years of experience tell me that it is not going to happen. Those who are ruling the country went to the extent of claiming a parliamentary electoral score of 100 percent even as deep frustration was looming everywhere and flared up in Oromia after only a few months. I have used the term “naivety” to express this reality. Yes, our solution must be realistic, but equally realistic must be the possibility of implementing it.

What does “realistic” mean? No more no less than the imperative necessity of cleansing the ruling clique of all those elements opposing the implementation of democratic principles. Without this prior measure, no rapprochement between the government and the opposition is thinkable. In particular, your call for a “structure where all political forces and the populace at large through various forms of organization, shall participate and reach consensus on the way forward including revising some of the laws and reorganize some of the institutions, especially those related to elections,” cannot see the light of day unless the TPLF undertakes the purge of die-hard ethnicists and anti-democratic forces from its ranks. In addition to an internal reshuffling, measures to build up confidence must be taken, like the unconditional release of all political prisoners, the lifting of the ban on demonstrations, free speech, etc., as well as the unambiguous abrogation of the infamous anti-terrorist law.

My understanding is that the cleansing of the EPRDF can be undertaken legally if enough members wish to do so. Be that as it may and whatever means are used, there is no possibility to organize fair elections so long as the present ruling clique remains in power. Better yet, things would move decidedly in the right direction if a transitional government of national reconciliation in which all parties, community leaders, and important civic organizations would participate, is established. This would dismiss the present parliament, a move that simply acknowledges that the total electoral victory of the EPRDF was illegal because it was obtained by undemocratic means.

At this stage, I would like to deal with your major argument, which is the necessity of taking the constitution as a basic framework if the country is to change peacefully. I have already acknowledged that you do not reject the alteration of the constitution provided that it is supported by the majority of the Ethiopian people. I agree with you on both accounts. However, given the undemocratic nature of the EPRDF government since it came to power, it is untenable to state that the constitution was approved by the Ethiopian people. It is not an exaggeration to say that the constitution was fundamentally the work of the TPLF and OLF. This is so true that many groups were deliberately excluded and, most of all, there was no open, public debates on the spirit and content of the constitution. Without open debates, there is no democracy. Rather than being democratically established, the constitution was an imposition by the victors on the vanquished.

How can this breach be corrected? The agreement to take the constitution as a framework, a point of departure must be accompanied by the understanding that one of the major tasks of the transitional government or the forum, as you suggest, is to organize official and public discussions on the constitution and gather suggestions and amendments, be they structural or functional. The second step is to put the suggestions and amendments to the test of popular verdict. If a majority of the Ethiopian people decides that the major provisions of the constitution as they are now are acceptable, then this ends the debate once and for all. However, if the majority decides to include amendments, the amended constitution will be the final one.

A crucially important note is that the main condition for this kind of open debate and democratic procedure is the removal of article 39. The threat of secession will polarize and radicalize various groups, thereby preventing any move toward mutual concessions. For pro-unity forces, article 39 amounts to negotiating with a gun to one’s head. By contrast, my belief is that a clear majority will support the principle of decentralization and self-rule if the threat of secession is removed. The deletion of the article will also open the possibility of changing the structure of the government so that any hegemony of one ethnic group over other groups is definitively excluded. Moreover, alongside the fortification of self-rule, measures that integrate all ethnic groups into a national unity could be designed and given the necessary political tools.

These amendments should facilitate mutual concessions and the formation of a representative government. If both national unity and self-rule are protected, only extremists on both sides will find a reason to oppose the proposal. In a democratic system, one cannot eliminate by force extremist positions, but precisely the effectiveness of a true democracy is to isolate them and turn them into a negligible minority.

I hear you when you argue that perfect democracy cannot be established given the conditions of our country. I also admit that the TPLF’s option of armed struggle against the Derg was not conducive for the development of democratic culture and methods of work. My issue is not TPLF’s inability to establish a perfect democracy, but its abysmal failure to put democracy, however limited it may have been, on the path of growth and expansion. Worse yet, it rolled back on its declared democratic intent by effectively moving toward a dictatorial system of government.

The failure and the betrayal are no accidents. You recognize it, the TPLF has followed Leninist principles from its inception. Allow me to add that it never got rid of those principles. Leninism is an anti-democracy ideology based on the goal of establishing a hegemonic party in all political, ideological, and economic spheres of social life. A party cannot be governed by Leninist principles and be as the same time democratic, any more than a square can be a circle at the same time. I really have trouble agreeing with you when, after admitting that the TPLF was a Leninist party, you write: “This is why I say the TPLF was democratic and revolutionary. But it was not without defects and challenges.” The essence of Leninism is not to limit democracy; it is to exclude it by the practice of “democratic centralism,” the addition of “democratic” being nothing more than a deceptive adjustment. The truth is that the TPLF must be demystified for Ethiopia to advance in light of the fact that it rejected the content of Leninism but retained its spirit. My criticism was a call for self-criticism, which is the primary condition for renewal. Needless to say, renewal is also highly dependent on a complete critical assessment of Meles’s rise, methods of government, and actual outcomes.

I welcome your clarification about the issue of developmental state versus liberalism. You bring out the “dilemma” between restricting freedom and leaving the whole economy to the forces of the free market. I applaud that you reject the use of coercive methods while not turning a blind eye to the danger inherent in the principles of the free market when they are applied to an undeveloped economy. Agreed, the debate is raging and the final truth on the question of knowing which one is best for developing countries is not yet in sight. However, it is clear that Ethiopia under Meles has taken the path of the developmental state. The intention of my criticism was not to take side for or against developmental state: I was merely pointing out that Meles used the ideology partially, that is, to justify authoritarian methods while ruling out and neglecting the other conditions, without which the model of development cannot work. Hence my suspicion that he did not choose the path to accelerate development, but to justify authoritarianism. In the end, Ethiopia ended up with nothing, that is, with neither development nor freedom.

Wishing you success in your endeavors
Yours truly
Messay Kebede

“When you write from your gut and let the stuff stay flawed and don’t let anybody tell you to make it better, it can end up looking like nothing else.” Louis C.K.

Dear Lt. General Tsadkan Gebre Tensay, I hope this article would find you safe and sound.
I read your alarming article titled የሃገራችን ፖለቲካዊ ሁኔታና የመፍትሔ ሃሳቦች which is about the problems Ethiopians are facing due to all branches of the government, the economy and the media being controlled by the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (the TPLF/the EPRDF) – an ethnic minority political party which is led by a few Tigrayan elites who champion their personal interest and agenda in the name of their ethnic group.

The solutions you provided are to segregate the government’s – the TPLF’s – power by checks and balances system and to develop a culture of peacefully transferring power in the next election which is about four years from today by a free, fair and transparent election that is monitored by a would be Ethiopian independent election commission, including credible international election monitors.

To vanguard the process of reorganizing the government’s functions (restraining the TPLF), to make the next election free, fair and transparent, to facilitate an orderly transfer of power from the TPLF (the dictator) to a democratically elected party, the TPLF (the hatemonger) would remain in charge of the government, including the military, the security, the economy and the media. At the end of the process, if the TPLF (the tyrant) faces an election defeat, it would peacefully surrender its power to the democratically elected party.

I liked your tone in your article because you were distressed, critical, naive and persuasive. I think you made your case pointblank by rehashing what other Ethiopians have been persistently explaining about the alarming danger of the TPLF’s ethnic political ideology to the world for more than twenty years. As I read your article, while being aware about the ongoing unrest across Ethiopia, I thought you put gasoline on the fire to hasten overthrowing the TPLF, the oppressor and the looter. For that cause, I think you contributed your fair share.

I believe you wrote your article from your gut. To explain, I loved your articulation about the Tigrayan people feeling concerning their national identity that “የትግራይ ህዝብ በታሪኩ ራሱን ኢትዮጵያ ለምትባለው ሃገር መመስረትና በታርኳ ውስጥ በተለያዩ ውድቀቶችም ይሁን ድሎች ዋና ተዋናይ አድርጎ ነው የሚያስበው። ከዚህ ውጭ በሌላ መንገድ አያስብም። አሁንም ችግሮችን ስናነሳና መፍትሔ ስንፈልግ በዚህ በታሪክ ሲወርድ ሲዋረድ የመጣው አስተሳስብ ውስጥ ሁነን ነው።” I absolutely agree with your opinion because I also think Tigrayan are a key part of Ethiopia’s history. Most importantly, history proves your verbalization is accurate.
I also think you articulated and substantiated your opinions well with some notable exceptions. For example:

1.You falsely claimed that the Ethiopian constitution was approved by the people; For example, you said that “በከፍተኛ የህዝቦች መስዋዕትነትና ተሳትፎ የፀደቀውን ህገ መግስታችንን”. (I noted your attempt to qualify your assertion about the constitution in other sections of your article.)

2.You belittled Ethiopians by asserting that they weren’t ready to knowledgably elect their leaders although you proudly stated the TPLF was a democratic party when it was in the mountains waging guerrilla warfare against the murderous dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam’s regime.

3.You think your party, the TPLF, can be reformed while I think it can’t be reformed because its Ethnic political ideologies failed it to obtain support, and it’s too corrupt. To illustrate, the current unrest in various parts of Ethiopia about a year and half after the TPLF shamelessly claimed that it democratically won 100 percent of the parliamentary seats is a prime example.
After accepting your article at face value, you appeared to me that you are a decent Ethiopian soldier who had the sudden courage and urge to ring the alarm bell to get attention from anyone to share your grave concerns and to find solutions before our country reaches a point of no return resulting a civil war that would be caused by an ethnic conflict which the infamous TPLF activated.

You also sounded to me that you are biased in favor of the TPLF’s leadership (I guessed some of them are your dear friends) because I noted that you avoided discussing major political, economical and social predicaments the notorious TPLF’s hatemonger leadership unleashed on Ethiopians; for example:

1.You didn’t share your view about ethnic politics, the TPLF’s trademark, and by extension yours.

2.You said that the TPLF has never been only a collection of just democrat, but you fall short of telling who are the antidemocrats and who are the democrats.

3.You were silent about why Meles retired you from your top military post while he let other top military leaders of your age with little or no education maintain their position. You also didn’t say a word about your current association with the TPLF.

4.You said that the TPLF’s worst personalities were uncovered when it made Meles its unbridled tyrant. And you supported your opinion by three historical facts namely: How the TPLF handled the departure of the OLF from the coalition; how the TPLF resolved its top leadership split, and how it dealt with Kinijit’s decision not to join the parliament after it won one third of the parliamentary seats in the 2005 election. However, you remained silent about your stand concerning the circumstances that molded the behavior of the brutal TPLF, and by extension the butcher Meles.

In my view, you were in a position to be an eyewitness of his worst personalities that unfolded over a period of more than three decades. I think if you had shared a flash of insight in your article by including your opinion about who was right and who was wrong regarding the reveling moments of the TPLF’s hidden personalities you would have given your readers a chance to know your stances about those tragic historical events instead of deferring the judgment to history by saying “የትኛው ወገን ትክክለኛ፣ የትኛውስ ስህተት ነበር የሚለው አሁንም ለታሪክ እተወዋለሁ”

To summarize, I liked your article’s theme and tone. I think you made great points, but I believe some of your points are a lie, unrealistic or belittling. For example, your claim that “በከፍተኛ የህዝቦች መስዋዕትነትና ተሳትፎ የፀደቀውን ህገ መግስታችንን” is nothing but a lie and is malicious misinformation. Your expectation that the hatemonger and the blood trusty monster TPLF would respect the universal human rights as stated in its constitution; it would facilitate the means for a free, fair and transparent election while it is in power, and it eventually would surrender its power for a democratically elected party is extremely naive.

I found your remark that Ethiopians are now more ready to knowledgably elect their leaders democratically than they were before, is highly offensive because it is the TPLF’s coward leadership that never had the courage to face the people’s verdict in the ballot box because it knows it would be defeated; Ethiopians would vote overwhelmingly against it.

In passing, before reading your article, I was vaguely familiar with a face as being one of the TPLF’s top echelons. I don’t remember reading good or bad press about you. Maybe I didn’t take time to learn about you because: I thought perhaps you were inconsequential in the bloodthirsty monster Meles’ leadership. And/or I may never saw you as a loyal soldier of Ethiopia but as Meles’ hired gun.
Anyway, I wish I wrote my critique of your article in Amharic because it would make the communication efficient, and I might be able to articulate my points more easily. Moreover, it would definitely help my article to get more readers. I wrote it in English because I lost my Amharic typing skills. I am sorry about that.
Finally, for sharing your concerns about our beloved country, I salute you!

The writer, LJDemissie, can be reached at LJDemissie@yahoo.com

“When you write from your gut and let the stuff stay flawed and don’t let anybody tell you to make it better, it can end up looking like nothing else.” Louis C.K.

Dear Lt. General Tsadkan Gebre Tensay, I hope this article would find you safe and sound.
I read your alarming article titled የሃገራችን ፖለቲካዊ ሁኔታና የመፍትሔ ሃሳቦች which is about the problems Ethiopians are facing due to all branches of the government, the economy and the media being controlled by the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (the TPLF/the EPRDF) – an ethnic minority political party which is led by a few Tigrayan elites who champion their personal interest and agenda in the name of their ethnic group.

The solutions you provided are to segregate the government’s – the TPLF’s – power by checks and balances system and to develop a culture of peacefully transferring power in the next election which is about four years from today by a free, fair and transparent election that is monitored by a would be Ethiopian independent election commission, including credible international election monitors.

To vanguard the process of reorganizing the government’s functions (restraining the TPLF), to make the next election free, fair and transparent, to facilitate an orderly transfer of power from the TPLF (the dictator) to a democratically elected party, the TPLF (the hatemonger) would remain in charge of the government, including the military, the security, the economy and the media. At the end of the process, if the TPLF (the tyrant) faces an election defeat, it would peacefully surrender its power to the democratically elected party.

I liked your tone in your article because you were distressed, critical, naive and persuasive. I think you made your case pointblank by rehashing what other Ethiopians have been persistently explaining about the alarming danger of the TPLF’s ethnic political ideology to the world for more than twenty years. As I read your article, while being aware about the ongoing unrest across Ethiopia, I thought you put gasoline on the fire to hasten overthrowing the TPLF, the oppressor and the looter. For that cause, I think you contributed your fair share.

I believe you wrote your article from your gut. To explain, I loved your articulation about the Tigrayan people feeling concerning their national identity that “የትግራይ ህዝብ በታሪኩ ራሱን ኢትዮጵያ ለምትባለው ሃገር መመስረትና በታርኳ ውስጥ በተለያዩ ውድቀቶችም ይሁን ድሎች ዋና ተዋናይ አድርጎ ነው የሚያስበው። ከዚህ ውጭ በሌላ መንገድ አያስብም። አሁንም ችግሮችን ስናነሳና መፍትሔ ስንፈልግ በዚህ በታሪክ ሲወርድ ሲዋረድ የመጣው አስተሳስብ ውስጥ ሁነን ነው።” I absolutely agree with your opinion because I also think Tigrayan are a key part of Ethiopia’s history. Most importantly, history proves your verbalization is accurate.

I also think you articulated and substantiated your opinions well with some notable exceptions. For example:
1. You falsely claimed that the Ethiopian constitution was approved by the people; For example, you said that “በከፍተኛ የህዝቦች መስዋዕትነትና ተሳትፎ የፀደቀውን ህገ መግስታችንን”. (I noted your attempt to qualify your assertion about the constitution in other sections of your article.)

2. You belittled Ethiopians by asserting that they weren’t ready to knowledgably elect their leaders although you proudly stated the TPLF was a democratic party when it was in the mountains waging guerrilla warfare against the murderous dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam’s regime.

3. You think your party, the TPLF, can be reformed while I think it can’t be reformed because its Ethnic political ideologies failed it to obtain support, and it’s too corrupt. To illustrate, the current unrest in various parts of Ethiopia about a year and half after the TPLF shamelessly claimed that it democratically won 100 percent of the parliamentary seats is a prime example.
After accepting your article at face value, you appeared to me that you are a decent Ethiopian soldier who had the sudden courage and urge to ring the alarm bell to get attention from anyone to share your grave concerns and to find solutions before our country reaches a point of no return resulting a civil war that would be caused by an ethnic conflict which the infamous TPLF activated.
You also sounded to me that you are biased in favor of the TPLF’s leadership (I guessed some of them are your dear friends) because I noted that you avoided discussing major political, economical and social predicaments the notorious TPLF’s hatemonger leadership unleashed on Ethiopians; for example:

1. You didn’t share your view about ethnic politics, the TPLF’s trademark, and by extension yours.

2. You said that the TPLF has never been only a collection of just democrat, but you fall short of telling who are the antidemocrats and who are the democrats.

3. You were silent about why Meles retired you from your top military post while he let other top military leaders of your age with little or no education maintain their position. You also didn’t say a word about your current association with the TPLF.

4. You said that the TPLF’s worst personalities were uncovered when it made Meles its unbridled tyrant. And you supported your opinion by three historical facts namely: How the TPLF handled the departure of the OLF from the coalition; how the TPLF resolved its top leadership split, and how it dealt with Kinijit’s decision not to join the parliament after it won one third of the parliamentary seats in the 2005 election. However, you remained silent about your stand concerning the circumstances that molded the behavior of the brutal TPLF, and by extension the butcher Meles.

In my view, you were in a position to be an eyewitness of his worst personalities that unfolded over a period of more than three decades. I think if you had shared a flash of insight in your article by including your opinion about who was right and who was wrong regarding the reveling moments of the TPLF’s hidden personalities you would have given your readers a chance to know your stances about those tragic historical events instead of deferring the judgment to history by saying “የትኛው ወገን ትክክለኛ፣ የትኛውስ ስህተት ነበር የሚለው አሁንም ለታሪክ እተወዋለሁ”

To summarize, I liked your article’s theme and tone. I think you made great points, but I believe some of your points are a lie, unrealistic or belittling. For example, your claim that “በከፍተኛ የህዝቦች መስዋዕትነትና ተሳትፎ የፀደቀውን ህገ መግስታችንን” is nothing but a lie and is malicious misinformation. Your expectation that the hatemonger and the blood trusty monster TPLF would respect the universal human rights as stated in its constitution; it would facilitate the means for a free, fair and transparent election while it is in power, and it eventually would surrender its power for a democratically elected party is extremely naive.

I found your remark that Ethiopians are now more ready to knowledgably elect their leaders democratically than they were before, is highly offensive because it is the TPLF’s coward leadership that never had the courage to face the people’s verdict in the ballot box because it knows it would be defeated; Ethiopians would vote overwhelmingly against it.

In passing, before reading your article, I was vaguely familiar with a face as being one of the TPLF’s top echelons. I don’t remember reading good or bad press about you. Maybe I didn’t take time to learn about you because: I thought perhaps you were inconsequential in the bloodthirsty monster Meles’ leadership. And/or I may never saw you as a loyal soldier of Ethiopia but as Meles’ hired gun.
Anyway, I wish I wrote my critique of your article in Amharic because it would make the communication efficient, and I might be able to articulate my points more easily. Moreover, it would definitely help my article to get more readers. I wrote it in English because I lost my Amharic typing skills. I am sorry about that.
Finally, for sharing your concerns about our beloved country, I salute you!

The writer, LJDemissie, can be reached at LJDemissie@yahoo.com

The minority regime in Ethiopia, led by the TPLF has already started responding violently to the peaceful demands of Amharas who demanded the “Wolekite Committee” leaders who have been abducted two weeks before to be released immediately and their identity as Amhara to be recognized according to the constitution.

Following today’s spontaneous support rally at the court where Colonel Demeke Zewdu, one of the Committee members who successfully thwarted his abduction by the TPLF, appeared was violently dispersed by security forces. Two persons identified by their first name as Solomon and Sintayehu were shot dead and many more sustained wounds from bullets, reliable resources indicate.

TPLF since its creation is a narrow ethno-nationalist party that struggles to secede part of Tigray from Ethiopia. In an effort to establish the Tigrian Republic the party in its manifesto of 1967 E.C has declared parts of the current Amhara, Eritrea and Afar regions to be annexed to give the new republic an international border and fertile land to sustain itself. These are the real motives to annex the Wolkite and Tslemt areas of the Amhara people.

Before 1991 TPLF, with the aim to change the demographic composition of these regions, has carried out several untold atrocities against the Amharas who inhabited the areas. In addition to the extrajudicial killing and disappearance and arranged forced marriages of Amhara women with Tigrians, a recent study by human rights activist in the region has exposed the crime that the regime used modern medicines to cause infertility among the Amhara women to reduce demography of the Wolkite natives and the Amhara people in general.

They have also resettled more than a million ex-combatants who are fully armed to control the area under their hegemony. These has created a strong resentments among the Amharas who lost their properties and becomes a second citizen in the land of their ancestors. They are forced to denounce their identity in order to get services provided by the regional government of Tigray. Such gross violation of Human and Democratic rights have inspired the Wolkite people to demand their identity as Amhara should be recognized and be reunited with the Amhara region.They have the mandate from the people to signed a petition to the House of Federation to look in to the matter.

The people of Amhara have staged massive protest to request the Government to peacefully Settle the issue. Despite several attempts to follow all legal means by involving the parliament and House of federations, an institution deals with identity and inter regional border issues, the regime considered the questions raised by the Wolkite Committee as an attempt to destabilize the federation. Such horrendous labeling of protesters as a terrorist act inspired by Eritrea is the regime’s old tactic for externalizing domestic problems. The Wolkite Committee members are a well known and highly respected members of the society that are tasked to present the people’s grievances to the government.

The regime which is fractured by gargantuan corruption and popular discontent and pressures from various ethnic groups have increasingly depended on security and military forces. Such isolation and loss of legitimacy have created a persistent fear in the minority that eventually may lead to civil war.

EPRDF, a coalition of four regional parties is dominated by the TPLF who have created its three surrogates after its own like. The three parties, according to complies from the other coalition members, are run by individuals assigned from TPLF.

By E. M. Akele, August 5, 2016