what is Despotism?

Despotism form of government by a single authority, either an individual or tightly knit group, which rules with absolute political power. In its classical form, a despotism is a state where a single individual (the Despot) wields all the power and authority embodying the state, and everyone else is a subsidiary person. This form of despotism was common in the first forms of statehood and civilization; the Pharaoh of Egypt is exemplary of the classical Despot.

The term now implies tyrannical rule. Despotism can mean absolutism (dominance through threat of punishment and violence) or dictatorship (a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator, not restricted by a constitution, laws or opposition, etc).

However, in enlightened absolutism (also known as benevolent or enlightened despotism), which came to prominence in 18th century Europe, absolute monarchs used their authority to institute a number of reforms in the political systems and societies of their countries. This movement was quite probably triggered by the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment.

Although the word has a pejorative meaning nowadays, it was once a legitimate title of office in the Byzantine Empire. Just as the word "Byzantine" is often used in a pejorative way, the word "Despot" had equally negative connotations. In fact, "Despot" was an Imperial title, first used under Manuel I Komnenos (1143–1180) who created it for his appointed heir Alexius-Béla. According to Gyula Moravcsik, this title was a simple translation of Béla's Hungarian title "úr", but other historians believe it comes from the ancient Greek despotes (literally, "the master"). In the Orthodox Liturgy, if celebrated in Greek, the priest is addressed by the deacon as "despot" even today.

It was typically bestowed on sons-in-law and later sons of the Emperor and, beginning in the 13th century, it was bestowed to foreign princes. The Despot wore elaborate costumes similar to the Emperor's and had many privileges. Despots ruled over parts of the empire called Despotates.

The British government is cited to have reduced the American people under absolute despotism in the United States Declaration of Independence: "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security".

The British government is cited to have reduced the American people under absolute despotism in the United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal: "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security".

taken from

Ethiopia Zare (ሰኞ መጋቢት 21 ቀን 2001 ዓ.ም. March 30, 2009)፦ ፕ/ር መስፍን ወልደማርያም በስዊድንና በአካባቢው ከሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን ጋር ቅዳሜ መጋቢት 19 ቀን 2001 ዓ.ም. በስቶክሆልም ከተማ በኢትዮጵያ ወቅታዊና ታሪካዊ ጉዳዮች ላይ ሰፋ ያለ ውይይት አድርገዋል። ውይይቱ የተለያዩ ሃሳቦች የተንሸራሸሩበት፣ ትምህርታዊ፣ አዝናኝና ታሪካዊ ነበር።

ውይይቱ በኢትዮጵያዊ ባህል መሰረት እንደተለመደው አንድ ሰዓት ዘግይቶ የተጀመረ ሲሆን፣ የመጀመሪያው ተናጋሪ የነበሩት በስዊድን የአንድነት ለዲሞክራሲና ለፍትህ የድጋፍ ሰጪ ማኅበር ሊቀመንበር የሆኑት አቶ ራስወርቅ መንገሻ ነበሩ። አቶ ራስወርቅ፣ ፕ/ር መስፍንን ጨምሮ ለስብሰባው ተሳታፊዎች የእንኳን ደህና መጣችሁ ንግግር በማድረግ ነበር ስብሰባውን በንግግር የከፈቱት።

የውይይቱንና የዕርዳታ ማሰባሰቢያውን ዓላማ ሲያስረዱ የአንድነት ፓርቲ ሊቀመንበር ወ/ት ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳ በአምባገነኑ መለስ ዜናዊ ታጣቂዎች ከመንገድ ላይ ታፍና ተወስዳ ወህኒ የወረደችበትን ሦስተኛ ወር በኀዘን ለማስታወስ ነው ብለዋል።

በዚህ የከፋ አገዛዝ ዘመን የተወለዱት ልጆች ዛሬ የ18 ዓመት ጎልማሶች መሆናቸውን የገለጹት አቶ የራስወርቅ፤ “ይህ ትውልድ ወያኔ ባጠመደው የባርነት ወጥመድ ተተብትቦ ህልውናውን እንዳይሸጥና ኢትዮጵያዊነት ማለት ለነፃነቱ፣ ለክብሩና ለአንድነቱ ቅደሚያ የሚሰጥ የኩሩ ህዝብ መለያ መሆኑን አውቀው እንዲያድጉ ለማድረግ ተችሏል። ለዚህም ማስረጃው የ1997ቱን ምርጫ ዋቢ ማድረግ ይቻላል።” ብለዋል።

ከአቶ የራስወርቅ በመቀጠል “ወለላዬ” በሚል የብዕር ስም የሚታወቀው ገጣሚ ማትያስ ከተማ “እህ ዛዲያማ!” በሚል ርዕስ ግጥም ያሰማ ሲሆን፣ ከዚያ በመቀጠል ፕ/ር መስፍን አንድ ሰዓት የፈጀ ሰፋ ያለ ትምህርታዊ ንግግር አድርገዋል። ፕ/ር መስፍን ሠላምታና ምስጋና ካቀረቡ በኋላ፣ በዚህ ህዝባዊ ውይይት ላይ የተገኙት ፓርቲያቸውን (አንድነት ለዲሞክራሲና ለፍትህን) በመወከል ሳይሆን፤ በግላቸው መሆኑን በመግለጽ ነበር ንግግራቸውን የጀመሩት።


ፕ/ር መስፍን በዚህ ትምህርታዊና ታሪክ ቀመስ ንግግራቸው፤ “... ባህላችን ለባርነት እንድንመቻች አድርጎናል። ‘ነፃነት’ ማለት ምን ማለት እንደሆነ መረዳት አለብን። ማወቅ አለብን። አባት፣ እናቶቻችን እኛ የደረስንበት የሀብት ደረጃ ላይ አልደረሱም፣ ደሃዎች ነበሩ። ነገር ግን ኩሩዎች ነበሩ። ክብራቸውን ይጠብቁ ነበር። ክብራቸውና ኩራታቸው በምንም ነገር አይለውጡም ነበር። ...” በማለት የቀድሞው ጊዜ ምን ይመስል እንደነበር ከገለጹ በኋላ፤ እኛ ግን በራሳችንና በወላጆቻችን ሀብት ክብራችንን ሸጠን እየኖር ነው ብለዋል

“... ነፃነት በቀላሉ የሚገኝ ሀብት አይደለም። አንድ ሰው ነፃነት ለማግኘት፣ ራሱን “ሰው ነኝ” ብሎ ማሳመንና ማመን አለበት። ሰው ነኝ የሚል እምነት ካለው፣ ከዚያ በኋላ ነፃነቱን ማንም ሊነፍገው አይችልም። መሬቱ፣ ገንዘቡ፣ ሹመቱ፣ ... ይቀራል እንጂ፤ ሰው ሆኖ ነፃ ሆኖ ይኖራል። የሰውነት የመጨረሻው ሀብቱ፣ ነፃ መሆኑ ነው። እንደፈለገው ሃሳቡን ለመግለጽ፣ ከሰዎች ጋር ለመገናኘት፣ ... ይሄ ነፃነት ነው በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ የሌለው። ...” በማለት ፕሮፌሠር መስፍን ኢትዮጵያና ኢትዮጵያዊነት በአሁኑ ወቅት ያሉበትን ሁኔታ አስረድተዋል።



በኢትዮጵያ ያሉ የኃይማኖት ተቋማትንና የኃይማኖት አባቶችን አስመልክቶ ፕ/ር መስፍን የሰላ ሂስ ሰንዝረዋል። በኢትዮጵያ ያሉት የኃይማኖት ተቋሞችና አባቶች፤ “ሰዎች በግፍ ሲገደሉ፣ ሲታሰሩ፣ ... አላይም! በእግዚአብሔር/በአላህ ፊት ይሄ ልክ አይደለም!” የሚሉ አለመሆናቸውን ገልጸው፤ “ውድቀታችን እዚያ ደርሷል” ብለዋል። በአንፃራዊነት ኬንያን፣ ኡጋንዳን፣ ደቡብ አፍሪካንና ሌሎች ሀገራት የሚገኙ የኃይማኖት አባቶች ፖለቲከኞችንም ሆነ መንግሥትን ሳይፈሩ የሰላ ሂስ እንደሚሰነዝሩ፣ የዜግነትና የኃይማኖት አባትነታቸውን ኃላፊነታቸውን የሚወጡ መሆናቸውን ገልጸዋል።



ኢትዮጵያውያን ካህናት በወርቅ ተሸልመው፣ የወርቅ መስቀል በአንገታቸው አጥልቀው፣ ደረታቸው ላይ የሚያደርጉት መስቀል ከጌጥነት እንደማያልፍ የገለጹት ፕ/ር መስፍን፤ ታላቅ ክብር ለሚሰጡትና እንዲሰጠው ለሚፈልጉት መስቀል መስዋዕትነት የማይከፍሉ ናቸው ሲሉ በተለይም በኢትዮጵያ ያሉትን የክርስትና ኃይማኖት አባቶች ተችተዋል።



በዚህ ህዝባዊ ውይይት ላይ በሦስት ዙር ለፕ/ር መስፍን ከተሰብሳቢዎች በርካታና የተለያዩ ጥያቄዎች ቀርበውላቸው ምላሽ ሰጥተውባቸዋል። ጥያቄዎቹና ውይይቱ ልዩ ትኩረት ሰጥተው የነበሩት በኢትዮጵያ ኢኮኖሚ፣ ፖለቲካ፣ ባህል፣ የትምህርት ፖሊሲ፣ በዳያስፖራው፣ ... ላይ የነበረ ሲሆን፤ በተያያዥነትም የአፍሪካ፣ የአውሮፓ፣ የአሜሪካና የዓለም ጉዳዮች ተዳሰዋል።

በውይይቱ ላይ ከስዊድን ሶሻል ዲሞክራቲክ ፓርቲ የዓለም አቀፍ ምክትል ፀሐፊ የሆኑት ክላስ ኑርድማርክ ተገኝተው በኢትዮጵያ ወቅታዊ ጉዳይ ላይ፣ በተለይም የወ/ት ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳን እስር አስመልክቶ በግላቸውም ሆነ ፓርቲያቸው ጉዳዩን ልዩ ትኩረት ሰጥቶ እንደሚመለከተው ገልጸዋል። ፀሐፊው ለፕ/ር መስፍን ያላቸውን አድናቆትና ክብር አጋጣሚውን በመጠቀም ገልጸዋል።

(ከግራ ወደ ቀኝ) አቶ መላኩ፣ ፕ/ር መስፍን፣ አቶ ራስወርቅ እና አቶ ማትያስ ከተማ
በአቶ ማትያስ ከተማና በአቶ ራስወርቅ መንገሻ በየመሀሉ የተለያዩ ግጥሞች የተነበቡ ሲሆን፣ በተለይም አቶ ማትያስ “የፈና ጅራ፣ የፈና ጅርቱ” በሚል ርዕስ ያቀረበውና የኢትዮጵያን ወቅታዊ ኢኮኖሚ ምን እንደሚመስል ያሳየበት ግጥም ብዙዎችን ያስፈገገ፣ ያሳዘነና ያዝናና ነበር።

በዝግጅቱ ላይ ወደ አንድ መቶ የሚጠጉ ኢትዮጵያውያን የተገኙ ሲሆን፣ ለወ/ት ብርቱካን ቤተሰቦች (እናትና ልጅ) መርጃ ተሰብሳቢው ከ5 ሺህ የስዊድን ክሮነር በላይ አዋጥቷል። ከዚህም ሌላ የወ/ት ብርቱካን ምስል ያለበትና ከእስር እንድትለቀቅ የሚጠይቅ ቲሸርት ሲሸጥ ነበር። ውይይቱን አስመልክቶ ሰፋ ያለ ሪፖርት በድምጽ ወይንም በጽሑፍ ለማቅረብ እንሞክራለን። ከዚህም ሌላ ባለፈው ማርች 26 ቀን በስቶክሆልም ከተማ ፕ/ር መስፍን ወ/ማርያም ተገኝተው ጥናታዊ ጽሑፍ ያቀረቡበትንና ያስተማሩበትን በአፍሪካ ቀንድ ዙሪያ የተደረገውን ሴሚናር በቪዲዮ ለማቅረብ ጥረት እናደርጋ

Martin Luther on Religion and Politics

How far are Christians to obey the law of the land? How much should religion and politics meet? Paul mentions in Romans how Christians should obey the earthly authorities and governments placed over them.

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. (Rom 13:1-6)

Is this always the case. What about when governments interfere with civil liberties and so on? How much should a Christian be involved informing/changing/overthrowing that government?
In February 1522, the ruler of Albertine Saxony, Duke George, banned the sale of Martin Luther’s German translation of the Bible (I think this was the first one which had been translated directly from the Greek and Hebrew, avoiding the Latin Vulgate). This led him to write a treatise on earthly law: ‘Temporal Authority: To what Extent should it be Obeyed?’ In it, he proposed that there were two ways in which God rules the world: the Kingdom of Christ made up of those who follow Christ - these people (theoretically) obey the civil law gladly from the heart; and the kingdom of the world, consisting of everyone else. These people need compulsion to obey the law of the land, hence the threat of punishment.
The gospel (kingdom of Christ) advises Christians to turn the other cheek, forgive repeatedly, to be self-givingly generous and so on. As this is an impossible way of running a worldly government, the Christian operates in both spheres. In public roles, when acting on behalf of others, they are bound by the laws of the land (giving out punishment where necessary etc.) , but in private interactions, offences must be met with values in keeping with God’s kingdom, and not those in keeping with the law of the land.
So Luther seemed to see some sort of dualism in the way Christians act in public life - a clear separation of matters of national governance and matters of faith. Luther’s application was that as the Duke George had interfered in a matter of faith by banning the sale of the German Bible, therefore Christians were free to disobey the ban.
I agree with this to a certain extent - there are definitely two kingdoms. Jesus said “My kingdom is not of this world” - therefore it seems logical that kingdoms of this world (such s governments) can never be entirely ‘Christian’. However, I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with such a separation in the way Christians interact with politics (i.e. the kingdom of this world). Our lives are a continual flow of interactions, decisions, and networks which in the public and private sphere. Faith is to be lived out publicly as well as privately nurtured. It is important to say that Luther’s context sheds a lot of light on what he was saying. He was reacting to the ban of the german Bible as well as writing in the midst of the Peasants Revolt in Germany in 1525-6 - when (some) priests were rallying people to get involved in violent uprisings against the rulers of the day. He was exhorting people that they could disobey the laws of the land on some things, but shouldn’t on others, whilst also saying that the church should not be in the business of gaining wealth, governing countries, going to war etc.

“Luther wanted to insist that it was the task of rulers to rule and clergy to preach. Both are agents of God’s rule, both are demonstrations on God’s care for his world - but the two must not get confused” (Graham Tomlin in Luther and his World).
However, In 1930s-40s Germany, many churchgoers were using exactly this belief in this separation, but taking it out of the context of Luther’s situation. On the whole, churches completely failed to stand up to Hitler because of their belief that they shouldn’t get involved in secular government. On the whole, this separation is unhealthy.
So what should we make of Christians in politics? That’s fine so long as the church is not doing the governing, making the policies, or owning the parties, as inevitably this will require compromise from the values of God’s kingdom. Creating heaven on earth is not possible until Jesus comes back. However, Christians are called to ake political stands, such as Martin Luther King on segregation - done peacefully and effectively. It seems clear that just voting for the *right* candidate isn’t enough - unjust policies need to be opposed. But I think Luther is right is saying the church as a whole are not there to govern.
However, I’m not sure if I’ve entirely understood his position.

What the cancelled Economist business roundtable conference reveals about Meles Zenawi, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia

March 22, 2009
Conference Dates: Monday-Tuesday, March 23-24, 2009

By Dagamwi

It was to be held at the Sheraton Hotel in Addis Ababa. Realising potential in one of Sub-Saharan Africa's biggest markets was the theme. It was the first time the Economist Magazine had organized a business roundtable conference for Ethiopia, although such conferences have been common in other countries for many years now.

Here is how the economist describes its conferences:

"Economist Conferences, a division of the Economist Intelligence Unit, is the leading provider of international forums for senior executives seeking new insights into strategic issues. These meetings include industry conferences, management events and government roundtables held around the world. As part of The Economist Group, the publisher of The Economist newspaper, we are a highly respected brand with a 162-year history and an unrivalled reputation for excellence and independence."

"Each meeting organised by Economist Conferences delivers objective and informed analysis. Our meetings provide unusually high-level forums where senior executives can gain insights, exchange views and compare strategies."

- Economist Conferences - Executive Meetings

The Addis Ababa conference was to have been attended by Meles Zenawi and other top government officials, executives of many important businesses in Ethiopia, such as the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, executives of international firms investing in Ethiopia, such as the general manager of Golden Rose Agro Farm, the Vice President of Sainak Potash, (an Indian mining firm active in the Dallol area), and many others.

Click on the link to read the preliminary conference program: First Business Roundtable with the Government of Ethiopia

It can safely be assumed that the Economist invested considerable sums in arranging and publicizing the conference. On their part conference participants paid fees, and arranged travel and lodging to Addis Ababa.
Independent, Objective, Informed

Several key words in the Economist Magazine's description of its conferences should be highlighted further:

INDEPENDENT

OBJECTIVE

INFORMED

These words are TOXIC to Meles Zenawi and the TPLF. Is there any part of the Ethiopian administration that is INDEPENDENT of Meles Zenawi's control? Let alone administration, Meles has expanded the government's control into vast areas of human life that other citizens of the world enjoy freely.

Is there any type of OBJECTIVE analysis found in the state media? Is it possible to make any type of OBJECTIVE comment or criticism of the Ethiopia government? Ask the former auditor general Lemma Argaw, fired by Meles in 2006 for presenting an OBJECTIVE report to parliament. Ask the acting auditor general Assefa Desta, who was publicly insulted by Meles, again, for trying to be OBJECTIVE.

The Ethiopian public is today one of the least INFORMED group of humans on the planet concerning public issues of importance to them. This is by design. The media is tightly controlled. Websites are blocked. External radio transmissions are jammed. State media consists of junk propaganda outlets that are detested even by supporters of Meles.

Given the above, the prospects for an independent, objective, and informed public conference with senior Ethiopian government leaders would have been expected to be dim.
Ethiopian Government Says it Won't Participate: Friday, March 20, 2009

On Saturday, March 21, the Reporter Newspaper in Addis Ababa reported the following:

The Economist canceled Friday what would have been its first business conference with the government of Ethiopia scheduled to run under the theme 'Realizing potential in one of sub-Saharan Africas biggest market' on March 23 and 24, it was learnt.

The cancellation of the conference came suddenly amidst high expectations and hopes that the event will serve as a best and ideal platform to sell Ethiopia to foreign investors and high profile business executives, according to knowledgeable sources.

The Economist Conference canceled the event after it failed to reach an agreement concerning an article which was supposed to be included in the conference material, according to the event organizers.

"The government of Ethiopia has decided that it will no longer participate in the business roundtable," the Economist Conference emailed to The Reporter. "The decision was made today [Friday] by the Ethiopian government after they had reviewed the Economist article we planned to include in the conference material. We have therefore decided to cancel the round table."

- The Economist cancels conference with govt - The Reporter, 21 March 2009

Two things are surprising about the cancellation of the conference. First, as mentioned above, the Economist is very experienced with organizing these types of conferences in countries all over the world. Thus it is surprising that they would find themselves forced to cancel a conference at such a late date - only two days before it was to occur.

Second, the reason given is surprising (at least at first glance). How could an article be the cause of conflict? The Economist is an independent magazine that does not accept censorship. They have described themselves as independent and objective. They have a 162-year reputation to protect.

However, upon reflection, for Ethiopians this should not be a surprise. This is standard Meles operating behavior. There must have been agreement between Meles and the Economist on the ground rules for the conference. It is safe to assume that the Economist made it clear to Meles that they would only hold the conference if the Ethiopian government promised not to censor the conference materials. It is safe to assume that Meles agreed, probably boasting that Ethiopia had the freest press in all Africa, and that he had never censored any article, and that the problems of the press in Ethiopia were entirely due to violations of the law.

Perhaps the Economist thought that Meles was an honorable person, with generally accepted personal ethics and principles. But that is not the Meles Ethiopians know. A good example of Meles' character was the 2005 election and its aftermath. Meles employed a tactic of brinksmanship. WIth the country in a dangerous state, he would negotiate with the opposition, seemingly reach agreement, and then at the last minute add new demands. Over and over he repeated this, even through the pardon process.

And it worked for him. This style has worked for Meles for his whole life beginning with the early TPLF days.

But on March 20, 2009, it didn't work with the Economist Magazine. Meles probably expected the magazine to panic. Many foreign conference participants had probably already travelled to Ethiopia. The Economist would probably be liable for these airfares and lodging expenses. The Sheraton conference fee would not be refundable at this stage. Many other staff time and advertising expenses would be wasted. Moreover it is bad publicity for the Economist. So Meles felt confident about issuing an ultimatum to the Economist about the content of the article.

But the Economist is not at the mercy of Meles. He can't imprison the reporters and editors of that magazine. He can't send security agents to the homes of the Economist publishers to beat, threaten and kill them. Unlike Ethiopians living under Meles, the Economist can write off the loss and move on.

Meles will tell his followers that he defended Ethiopia's sovereignty by canceling the conference. He will try to make this into a racial or ethnic issue, the same way he tried to mobilize support in 2005 by ethnicizing the entire election.
Conclusion

Meles is a petty, childish, spiteful little man. Many Ethiopians have borne the brunt of his nastiness. Birtukan Mideksa continues to suffer because of his personal spite. His highly negative character has had a profoundly negative influence on the tone and substance of Ethiopian political discourse.

The only good outcome of this incident is that the substandard personal character of Meles - his willingness to sacrifice Ethiopia's interests out of spite, his complete untrustworthiness, and his unethical negotiating style - will now be widely publicized internationally.

Why Does British Foreign Aid Prefer Poor Governments Over Poor People?

Just Asking that Aid Benefit the Poor
Why Does British Foreign Aid Prefer Poor Governments Over Poor People?
By William Easterly and Laura Freschi

European donors are moving towards increasing direct budget support to governments of aid-receiving countries. Leading the charge is the UK, which gives the largest percentage of direct budget support of any bilateral or multilateral donor (although the World Bank, the European Commission, the US and France also give substantial budget support).
Giving cash directly to host country governments for use in the general budget for public spending has a number of advantages. The donors say it gives recipient governments more predictability, and more control over the aid resources being funneled in. Rather than serving a plethora of masters in the international donor community, funds given as budget support can be corralled by the host government and spent coherently according to host government priorities, while building government capacity to do what everyone wants governments to do for themselves in the long run: competently manage their own affairs. The aid jargon for this is “country ownership.”
So how is this working out in practice? In 2007, the UK gave 20 percent of their total bilateral ODA in the form of budget support to 13 countries: Tanzania, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Ghana, Uganda, Mozambique, Vietnam, Malawi, Zambia, India, Sierra Leone, Nepal, and Nicaragua. (Source)

Of this list, only Ghana and India were classified as “free” by the annual Freedom House ratings on democracy (according to either the 2007 or 2008 rating). For the 11 other countries that did get British budget support, how much is there “country ownership” when the government is not democratically accountable to the “country”?
Moreover, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused some of these governments of serious human rights violations.

Ethiopia’s autocratic government, which is inexplicably the largest recipient of UK budget support inW of war crimes in the Somali region of Ethiopia. Nor is this brand new -- neither arm Africa, won 99% of the vote in the last “election.” The government army is accused by HRy officers nor civilian officials have been “held accountable for crimes against humanity that ENDF (Ethiopian National Defense Force) forces carried out against ethnic Anuak communities during a counterinsurgency campaign in Gambella region in late 2003 and 2004.” HRW also notes that today: “Credible reports indicate that vital food aid to the drought-affected [Somali] region has been diverted and misused as a weapon to starve out rebel-held areas.” Ironically, Ethiopia’s autocratic ruler, Meles Zenawi, was the Africa representative at the recent G-20 meeting campaigning for more aid to Africa during the current crisis, because, among other reasons, Meles said “people who were getting some food would cease to get it and … would die” (from an article in Wednesday's Financial Times.)

As for Vietnam, HRW reports: “In March 2008 police arrested Bui Kim Thanh, an activist who defended victims of land confiscation and involuntarily committed her to a mental hospital for the second time in two years. … In October a Hanoi court sentenced reporters Nguyen Viet Chien of Young People (Thanh Nien) newspaper to two years in prison and Nguyen Van Hai from Youth (Tuoi Tre) to two years’ “re-education” for having exposed a major corruption scandal in 2005…..”
Oh yes, and let’s consider corruption, which may affect whether aid to governments translates into aid to poor people. Another country on the UK budget support list, Malawi, had received $148 million in budget support from its donors from 2000 to 2004. It ended those four years with poorer government capacity and greater fiscal instability than it began them, according to one evaluation. Also during those four years, the Malawian president was accused of awarding fraudulent contracts, and government officials achieved new lows when they sold off all 160,000 tons of the country’s grain reserves for personal profit. In the ensuing famine, provoked by drought and floods but made worse by the loss of the grain reserves, the government had to borrow an additional $28 million to feed its starving people. Yet Malawi continues to receive British budget support today.

Elsewhere on the corruption front, British aid continues to give direct transfers to the Sierra Leonean government even though its own 2006 report found that previous support to the “Anti-Corruption Commission” had “made no progress on the overall goal of reducing corruption, had made no impact on reducing real or perceived levels of corruption, had suffered a fall in institutional capacity since the previous year.” (Quote from a 2008 Transparency International report). Sierra Leone is ranked the 158th worst country in the world on corruption (where the worst ranking is 180th).

Of course, low income countries have lower ratings on democracy, human rights, and corruption than richer countries, so poverty-alleviation aid has to face the tricky tradeoff of directing aid to the poorest countries while trying to avoid the most corrupt and autocratic ones. Unfortunately, a recent article found that the UK was one of the best (least bad) official aid agencies in doing this, so most of the others are apparently even worse.

This study did not consider the issue of direct budget support. There is nothing that says you have to give aid meant for the poorest peoples directly to their governments, if the latter are tyrannical and corrupt. With the examples above, which side are UK aid officials on, on the side of poor people or on the side of the governments that oppress them?

The Magic number did not match!

by Fekade Shewakena
Meles Zenawi’s economic statistics and the platitude with which he presents it remind me of the statistician who puts your head in the oven and your legs in the ice and conveniently tells you that you are fine on the average. At a time when noble prize winning and top notch economists around the world are unable to tell what the world’s economy would look like in two months, Meles Zenawi boldly declared that the Ethiopian economy will grow by a fantastic 11.2% next year. This is only slightly less than the phantom number given to us for the past year. Even the IMF, that often recycles Ethiopian official statistics, slashed this prediction by nearly half to 6%. Given its history of shameful collaboration with the data concoctions and the use of it by the regime for political purposes, one would think that the IMF must still be trying to be generous in its current estimates too.

While there is no doubt that there has been growth in the GDP of the country over the last several years, thanks mainly to the country becoming one of the largest destinations of foreign aid, large remittance from Ethiopians abroad and Gods generousness with the rains, the super inflated growth numbers we have been given are hard to relate to realities on the ground. In fact, Meles Zenawi’s growth statistics and the duration it covered are almost the same as the one that transformed many South Asian countries in a short order. Why are we then still nearer to Somalia than any of the countries that have witnessed similar growth rates? Where is your Taiwan now? How does it happen that one in six Ethiopians, nearly 15% of the population, has turned out to be food aid dependent if the country has been growing at the rates Meles dishes out all these years? How is it that the number of the absolute poor quadrupled after all these successive fabulous numbers are issued? Why is it that in many development indexes, particularly those associated with modernization such as the IT, are we still trailing the world at the bottom, in some cases far lower than no-government Somalia. Why is it that the failure of a single seasonal rain becomes a reason for a crushing hunger and famine if the country grows at these amazing rates? Why have we even failed to keep our subsistence agriculture at subsistence levels? As one parliamentarian, Mr. Bulcha Demeksa once asked Meles Zenawi in parliament to no answer, where are these regions in Ethiopia that are flourishing? The search for answers to these questions leaves you no room except to think that Meles is pulling these numbers from the hat.

These shameless lies have serious objectives as far as Meles and his cronies are concerned. It is political, and is one of the cruelest politics of using a terrifying and obscene poverty for political purposes. Its aim is to give the Ethiopian people a delusion of extraordinary growth, bamboozle them into making them believe that only Meles and Bereket have the magic key to the grain stores in Ethiopia. It is used to tell us that their so called Revolutionary Democracy is doing fantastic, and Meles’s back door communism named the “developmantalist state” is the savior of Ethiopia. Once you create this delusion, any suggestion of democracy as an alternative to fighting poverty, or any demand that Meles stop the widespread human rights abuse will be something that you do at the risk of stopping this fantastic growth. It also serves as an excuse and a political tool used to crush critics and opponents. Look at the press responses the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues to recurrent accusations of human rights abuses by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other institutions. They invariably contain some form of self congratulation and reference to this illusive “booming economy”. The Ethiopian people who are condemned to one of the world’s obscenest poverties by the actions of their government, are expected to put off any demand for democracy, human dignity and basic rights in exchange for the promised rain of bread from the sky. And any economic growth achieved, even that which results from the regime doing things for a living, is to be considered the outcome of the genius of Meles Zenawi and Bereket Simon. Talk to Some EPRDF members or a beneficiary of the system and raise the issue of human rights violation by the government and the increasingly narrowing political space in the country. They will immediately shift gears and tell you, “but the country is growing, Addis Ababa is looking good with nice asphalt roads and high rise buildings”. These goons know the phantom growth statistics by heart and will tell you that even the World Bank and IMF agrees, but if you ask them other economic numbers such as the rate and number of unemployment, the poverty rate, and the numbers of people that live on foreign food handouts and other indicators of development, they will look like the monkey fresh from the jungle.

A few months back, Meles and his government were so furious at humanitarian agencies who estimated over four million more people needing food handouts from the international community beyond the government’s estimate. Meles’s and his government went to an all out war over this difference against the very people who wanted to help beg the world to feed his destitute. Now, a few months later, reality seems to have sunk in and Meles is forced to quietly accept the numbers. It is now official that we have a record 12 million people living on the edge of the abyss. The question to both the Ethiopian authorities, the IMF and the World Bank, the lords of our poverty, now is how did it happen that after six consecutive years of fantastic near double and double digit growth have we moved nearer to the precipice? They may try to baffle you with their jargons but will not answer this little everyday-man question directly.

Some of these so called growth statistics is an obvious play with numbers and a make believe manipulation and some are pure smock and mirror gimmick. You can, for example, do it by sampling regions with low base year data to deflate the denominator. It is easy to do. You can sample and compare a drought hit woreda with small production as your base year and compare it to its production to a predicted rainy season. If you add some of these to even the real numbers they are bound to give you inflated numbers.

In some cases you may have to dig a little deeper to see what you find inside the numbers. Consider, for example, the number of government universities in the country that the TPLF officials and cadres often mention as one great achievement and success story. According to official statistics the number of universities has grown to more than 1000%, a fabulous number on its face. In fact, I personally considered it worthy of praise until I talked to professional educators from Addis Ababa University several months ago. One of the professors I met summed it up for me. He told me that the growth figures issued by the government are right if they are telling you about the number of establishments. He said that the buildings, built mostly by foreign aid, are good landmarks, but if you want to know the actual number of universities in the country that fulfill basic definitions, there is only half a university in the whole country now and that too is in a free fall. He said the only half a university in Ethiopia now is the old Addis Ababa University and told me stories of destruction some of which border on the criminal and people like Endrias Eshete are doing a wonderful job of it. “Of course, some of the better faculties such as the School of Medicine are busy producing doctors for the United States”, my old friend quipped. But none of us laughed. Cruel facts like our destitute people suffering from treatable diseases paying to educate doctors for the richest country in the world is no laughing matter. So, don’t let these numbers fool you. Your 1000% growth may come down this cheap.

Oftentimes lie making is such a modus operandi that Meles and his institutions live by that, in some cases, they even lie about things that should not be lied about. Why is it hard, for example, to tell us the number of soldiers who died in the two year war in Somalia? Why is it that we don’t honor the poor soldiers in public? We still don’t know the number lost during that 18th century type Ethio-Eritran war. The Eritrean side to its credit has given the number of its dead. After all these soldiers have given the ultimate price for what they believe is their country’s cause. A few of us who have seen their bodies being dragged on the streets of Somalia on YouTube videos have cried for them. Ok, Meles and Bereket can keep the lie that “we have fulfilled our mission in Somalia” in their pockets. What is wrong with telling the people, even the rubber stamp parliament, how many of our citizens have paid the ultimate price for their country?

These kind of lying with numbers are, of course, techniques as old as dictatorship itself. We often cut dictators a lot of slack for lying on a myriad of items. But the lie about matters of life and death, such as these economic numbers, which have become too common in Ethiopia, is like spitting on the face of the millions of starving and physically emaciated children who even lack the energy to chase the flies on their beautiful faces.

You may ask why lying by governments has become such a fair game in Ethiopia even as it costs lives. The answer is simple. People like Meles and Mengistu Hailemariam are blessed with a complete absence of accountability and a general public that traditionally defer much to authority. As long as you can command the gun, as long as you are not afraid of losing the next election or you have no religion and a God to answer to, who do you have to fear? You can mow down peaceful demonstrators and call them hooligans, as Bereket Simon once said or label some terrorists if they try to do exactly the same thing Meles did against Mengistu. They kill other people’s poor children and raise their children in luxury without any moral qualms. The absence of any accountability and morality emboldens them and blocks their head and helps them do more of the same. How do you think Bereket Simon copes to live his lying life as an Amhara and as a representative of Amharas without losing a single sleep or a slight moral dilemma when he is very well aware that the entire world around him knows that he was born from two Eritrean parents?

There is one scary thing about the lie business by dictators we all have to be wary about. These people believe their own lies as true at some point during the life of the lie. I remember once, some eight years ago, when Meles said that the closure of the port of Assab and the fact that the country is landlocked “will not do us five cents worth of harm” (wodebu bemezegatu amist santim anigodam). I watched his demeanor as he was telling this bull. He seemed to believe it and nobody has since asked him to check this statement against the backbreaking cost the poor country has to bear for the government of Djibouti.

With the world economic crisis hitting hard and the smoke screen unraveling, Meles Zenawi seems to lose his lie making rhythms these days. Sometime in October of 2008 he told us that Ethiopia’s economy will not be affected by the global financial meltdown. A few weeks ago he rang a panic alarm and told African leaders the continent is going to jump off the cliff. Some weeks letter he gave us the double digit growth numbers. He is telling the G20 in London this same thing as I write this.

Inside the country he is issuing one draconian law after another to stamp out any opposition and alternative to his dictatorship. The number of draconian decrees being issued and others sitting in the pipeline are terrorizing. Hard currency reserve is drying up. Some factories are closing as a result. International beggary is becoming increasingly difficult: the competition is tough when everyone is asking for a bailout. God knows who will cover Meles’s projected budget. A country pledging to export electricity is now rationing power to its city residents. Many Ethiopians who are asked to buy bonds with hard currency from the Ethiopian Electric power Authority are telling the agents to look for some fools. People are suffering. Families are feeding their children in shifts. Mr. Bush is no more here. As the avenue to peaceful change is closing more and more Ethiopians are being convinced that they have to pick guns and fight for their freedom. The military could run out of toys.

I have no reason to suspect that Meles doesn’t want his exaggerated growth figures to be real. I can only prove my belief if he shows us that he realizes the only shot the country has at getting out of poverty is only by the use of the tools of democracy and some unclenching of his fist. Progress in Ethiopia is unthinkable without resolving the simmering conflicts in the country and unleashing the potential of all the children of the country. I just heard Meles asking the IMF in London to sell some of its gold reserves to help Africa weather the current crisis. The fact of the matter is that even the entire gold reserve of the IMF cannot do the trick. Only free people who can unleash their innovative and creative ability, their altruism and love of country can progress a nation. You can’t kill and oppress your way to development even if you own all the gold in the world. Nobody did it before.

Meles Zenawi and his cronies may be forced to account one day one way or the other for any danger they plunge the country into and the suffering they caused. Those of us who watch this looming disaster with folded hands and complacency will also be fooling ourselves if we think we can stay unaccountable and can give excuses for scapegoat. We need to do everything we can, come together, have reason dictate our goals than egomania, make some sacrifice and fight and change our country.
Fekadeshewakena@yahoo.com

"Behold Your God!"

In Isaiah's day the spiritual understanding of mankind was dark through misapprehension of God. Long had Satan sought to lead men to look upon their Creator as the author of sin and suffering and death. Those whom he had thus deceived, imagined that God was hard and exacting. They regarded Him as watching to denounce and condemn, unwilling to receive the sinner so long as there was a legal excuse for not helping him.

The law of love by which heaven is ruled had been misrepresented by the arch deceiver as a restriction upon men's happiness, a burdensome yoke from which they should be glad to escape. He declared that its precepts could not be obeyed and that the penalties of transgression were bestowed arbitrarily.
In losing sight of the true character of Jehovah, the Israelites were without excuse. Often had God revealed Himself to them as one "full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth." Psalm 86:15. "When Israel was a child," He testified, "then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt." Hosea 11:1.

Tenderly had the Lord dealt with Israel in their deliverance from Egyptian bondage and in their journey to the Promised Land. "In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old. Isaiah 63:9.
"My presence shall go with thee," was the promise given during the journey through the wilderness. Exodus 33:14. This assurance was accompanied by a marvelous revelation of Jehovah's character, which enabled Moses to proclaim to all Israel the goodness of God, and to instruct them fully concerning the attributes of their invisible King. "The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty." Exodus 34:6, 7.

It was upon his knowledge of the long-sufferance of Jehovah and of His infinite love and mercy, that Moses based his wonderful plea for the life of Israel when, on the borders of the Promised Land, they refused to advance in obedience to the command of God. At the height of their rebellion the Lord had declared, "I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them;" and He had proposed to make of the descendants of Moses "a greater nation and mightier than they." Numbers 14:12. But the prophet pleaded the marvelous providences and promises of God in behalf of the chosen nation. And then, as the strongest of all pleas, he urged the love of God for fallen man. See verses 17-19.

Graciously the Lord responded, "I have pardoned according to thy word." And then He imparted to Moses, in the form of a prophecy, a knowledge of His purpose concerning the final triumph of Israel. "As truly as I live," He declared, "all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." Verses 20, 21. God's glory, His character, His merciful kindness and tender love--that which Moses had pleaded in behalf of Israel--were to be revealed to all mankind. And this promise of Jehovah was made doubly sure; it was confirmed by an oath. As surely as God lives and reigns, His glory should be declared "among the heathen, His wonders among all people." Psalm 96:3.

It was concerning the future fulfillment of this prophecy that Isaiah had heard the shining seraphim singing before the throne, "The whole earth is full of His glory." Isaiah 6:3. The prophet, confident of the certainty of these words, himself afterward boldly declared of those who were bowing down to the images of wood and stone, "They shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God." Isaiah 35:2.

Today this prophecy is meeting rapid fulfillment. The missionary activities of the church of God on earth are bearing rich fruitage, and soon the gospel message will have been proclaimed to all nations. "To the praise of the glory of His grace," men and women from every kindred, tongue, and people are being made "accepted in the Beloved," "that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." Ephesians 1:6; 2:7. "Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be His glorious name forever: and let the whole earth be filled with His glory." Psalm 72:18, 19.

In the vision that came to Isaiah in the temple court, he was given a clear view of the character of the God of Israel. "The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy," had appeared before him in great majesty; yet the prophet was made to understand the compassionate nature of his Lord. He who dwells "in the high and holy place" dwells "with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." Isaiah 57:15.

The angel commissioned to touch Isaiah's lips had brought to him the message, "Thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." Isaiah 6:7.
In beholding his God, the prophet, like Saul of Tarsus at the gate of Damascus, had not only been given a view of his own unworthiness; there had come to his humbled heart the assurance of forgiveness, full and free; and he had arisen a changed man. He had seen his Lord. He had caught a glimpse of the loveliness of the divine character. He could testify of the transformation wrought through beholding Infinite Love. Henceforth he was inspired with longing desire to see erring Israel set free from the burden and penalty of sin. "Why should ye be stricken any more?" the prophet inquired. "Come now, and let us reason together!

Prophets and Kings page 311

Looking back and moving forward

By Alemayehu G. Mariam
In the winter of our discontent, we complained about the wasted years of antagonism, discord and strife among pro-democracy elements of the Ethiopian Diaspora. We deplored the years of infighting and useless bickering which had given much delight and merriment to the ruthless dictators.

We expressed collective regret over our shortsightedness and inability to see the big picture, and to work collaboratively for the great cause of freedom, democracy and human rights in the motherland. We chafed about lost opportunities to become effective instruments for the protection of human rights in Ethiopia. We found ourselves gripped by a pervasive sense of powerlessness and political paralysis. Then we had our “Aha!” moment, that moment ringing with the “fierce urgency of now”. Then we declared, “We must learn from past mistakes, overcome our differences and march forward together to the exhilarating drumbeat of freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia.”

We are now in our Spring of hope and renewal. Our hope comes from a new sense of unbridled optimism guided by the principle that Ethiopians united can never be defeated. Our renewal comes in the form of a new consciousness: 1) that we can do things much better than before and differently, and by harnessing our resources worldwide, we can effectively promote the cause of freedom, human rights and democracy in Ethiopia; 2) by remaining divided and fragmented, we would be effectively aiding and abetting in the continuing criminal enterprise of the ruthless dictators.

This Spring, for many pro-democracy Ethiopians throughout the world, is a time for a new commitment to the cause of freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia. The seeds of goodwill planted in dialogue and consultation in the Winter are now sprouting as seedlings of collaborative action, cooperation and worldwide consolidation in the struggle for the protection of human rights in Ethiopia. This Spring, pro-democracy Ethiopians can be heard all over the world saying, “Enough talk. Shake hands. Let’s get busy!”
Fired Up and Ready to Rumble!

We are fired up and ready to rumble! Everywhere we turn, we find an overwhelming consensus among pro-democracy Ethiopians that building respect for human rights and the rule of law will help ensure the dignity to which every Ethiopian is entitled, and stem the arbitrary powers of dictators, reduce intolerance and political violence. Validation of this truth comes from all sectors. The refugees who fled the persecution of the ruling dictators in Ethiopia testify to it. Former political prisoners, dissidents, exiled journalists, human rights advocates and all who believe in democracy, freedom and the rule of law say in a single voice that it is time to act. The victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity call upon us in exile to champion their cause and alleviate their suffering.

Spring Into Action
Ethiopians in exile are excited about the prospect of working together to help alleviate human rights violations in Ethiopia. There is unquestionably massive consensus among pro-democracy Ethiopian exiles to forge a common human rights agenda. But there are issues that bear directly upon the practical formulation and implementation of such an agenda. We are wrestling with two such issues now: 1) determining the most effective method to bring together divergent elements in the worldwide Ethiopian exile community to work and act together in common cause, and 2) identifying a set of actions and outcomes that can be taken to produce tangible and quantifiable results in improving the human rights situation in Ethiopia. These two questions require careful and thoughtful consideration.

Bringing together groups and individuals that have often been at odds with each other, or have not worked together much in the past is not an easy task. Harmonizing different organizational styles and practices requires careful balancing. But we believe we have made significant strides in seating diverse Ethiopian pro-democracy elements at the grand table of human rights dialogue and consultations. We are making good progress in our coalition-building efforts and in beginning to develop a comprehensive strategy to achieve the multiple purposes of advocacy, education, mobilization and action in support of Ethiopian human rights issues. We are going through a natural period of “acclimatization” learning about each other and our unique organizational styles and methods. But we do our best to practice what we preach. Our dialogues are open, civil and intellectually engaging. Our communications are transparent, and all input from participants are integrated in our deliberations. We build upon each other’s strengths.

Identifying a set of advocacy issues and developing an action plan for implementation of a human rights agenda presents its own challenges. We have a sense of our unique assets and resources which can be used to achieve our purposes. We are acutely aware that our issues can be paired with some extraordinary opportunities that were not available to us in the past. For instance, in the U.S. context, the change in administration offers fresh opportunities to revisit the issue of human rights in Ethiopia. We believe the blank check given to the dictators during the Bush era is likely to be a thing of the past. We also believe the continuing, sustained and flagrant human rights violations will figure prominently on the Congressional radar screen. We hope to harness our energies and resources and employ different strategies to advance the cause of human rights in Ethiopia.
There is no question pro-democracy Ethiopians in exile are fired up and ready to act on improving human rights in Ethiopia. The action items are self evident: 1) Human Rights Monitoring: We must work to ensure the regime conforms its conduct to the standards of international human rights conventions which are part of the constitutional law of the regime. Such efforts span a wide variety of activities ranging from factual investigation to documentation and reporting. 2) Advocacy: We must develop a multi-pronged approach to advocacy. There is consensus that advocacy at the highest levels of international policymaking should be a priority. We are also aware of the importance of utilizing resources at the local levels in seeking policy changes at the national level. 3) Release of All Ethiopian Political Prisoners: Recent official reports indicate that a large number of political prisoners continue to languish in the ruling regime’s prisons. Impressive public demonstrations have been held recently to call international attention to the plight of political prisoners in Ethiopia. Additional steps can certainly be taken to champion the cause of Ethiopian political prisoners. 4) Accountability: There is substantial evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ethiopia. In the past year alone, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have published reports documenting such violations of international law. There is also evidence in the form of a certified list of criminal suspects in the post-election massacres in 2005.

There are other related issues which are integral to the success of the foregoing tasks. There is a critical need for human rights education and awareness in the Ethiopian exile community worldwide. One of the reasons why international human rights advocates speak on our behalf has to do with our lack of knowledge and expertise to speak for ourselves on important human rights issues. There is also a need to engage “silently concerned” exiled Ethiopians in the global human rights effort. This requires developing a clear and convincing message and creating practical ways of participation and engagement by such individuals. Increased awareness and access to accurate information on human rights is one of the best methods of mobilizing those who remain marginalized.

We Can Move Mountains!
From our efforts in supporting H.R. 2003 and predecessor bills, we have learned that a well coordinated advocacy campaign can produce significant results in terms of generating wide support for human rights in Ethiopia. The power of advocacy, we believe, lies in the simplicity and purity of the advocacy mission, the passion and commitment of the advocates and supporters and the clarity of vision about the task ahead. We believe in empowering every Ethiopian to become a human rights advocate, and to feel emboldened to take action even when confronted with seemingly impossible obstacles.
We expect bumps in the road. Despite good intentions, grassroots advocacy campaigns will hit snags from time to time. Sometimes efforts may be disjointed and progress may not be visible in linear fashion. But such is the nature of grassroots advocacy. The alternative is to hire the fat cat lobbyists of “K” Street in Washington, D.C. and feed them a princely sum of $50,000 per month. As we have seen, even fat cat lobbyists can be defeated and routed from the legislative battlefield by a disciplined and tenacious army of fleas. We are fired up and ready to rumble! We can move mountains!

Endless Struggle

By Yohannes Y
We Ethiopian tried everything to resolve our political issues, there was a struggle over 30 years, a lot of life lost, a lot of Ethiopian wealth destroyed and mother lost her children, children lost their parents above all while we were fighting each other, disease like AIDS killed a lot of peoples, hunger destroyed a lot of families and yet Still the so called “struggle” continue so far no body win. But the Ethiopian people are the one who are paying the price.

The government does not want to listen to its own peoples and ignored the intellectuals and fail to read Ethiopian people heart beat. They think they have power and everything is under control, how do they fail to learn from previous Ethiopian governments? How do they fail to learn from the western nations?

In old Ethiopians history the older folks makes peace and help to resolve any conflicts, but our old folks these days swallowed by the new so called progressive new generations, the new generation shamefully disrespectful and does not want to listen to their fathers and mothers. So it is not surprising if our country is a curse for its own peoples. We reap what we sow!

Is there anybody out there please listen? But still we have hope but Hope does not mean much when we are comfortable, satisfied, safe, warm, and fed. In fact, we are often likely to feel there is no need for hope. Hope was, after all, made for times of disaster and difficulty. I am hoping the next Ethiopian generation will listen to their creator.

As the prophet Isaiah longed for God's presence to shake up a faithless nation. The New Ethiopian generation is too far asleep and living as though ignorant of their responsibility before God. We Ethiopians tried everything why don’t we try God? God is the God of order, if you know God and you know the order that is why American said on their currency “we trust in GOD” not only that we live and relax in this country because this nation foundation was based on GOD.

Because there is no fear of God, the government and all the Ethiopian politicians playing game on Ethiopian people blood. The politicians did not want to wrestle with the issues of how being God's people might interfere with their plans, dreams, and ambitions. God wanted them to re-establish after his interests. They were more concerned with their own interests. Which one is better? God’s will or entertaining stupid politicians ambitions

I am not going to sit here in judgment and say who is right and who is wrong. I would just like to say that I think we should all hope and pray for better days.

And that maybe the lives lost will not be in vain, that in their memory those in power have to agree to a permanent conclusion which will allow a dictatorship free Ethiopia and establish free democratic Ethiopia. That is my prayer and Please Pray Ethiopia.

Economic Growth and Income Inequality in Ethiopia

By Lakech A
March 13th, 2009

Since 2003, Ethiopia’s economy has been registering high rates of growth ranging from 7 to 10% per year (depending upon different sources of information).

High government officials have never missed an opportunity in telling the world that the party’s agriculture-led industrial development program has brought about an expansion of the productive capacity of the country’s economy to such an extent that it could join the rank of mid- income countries in a few years. In fact, the current president of the World Bank, Zoelleck, in his recent visit to the country had lauded the excellent performance of the government for its poverty reduction program. Of course, one has to temper such wild thoughts and diplomatic platitudes with a sober analysis of basic economic realities of average per capita incomes both in real gross domestic product and purchasing power parity terms and the attendant problem of high inflation rate for every major commodity and service that matters most. Ground realities on critical socio-economic indicators clearly dispel any hallucination on the part of those who generate such politically-motivated and grossly exaggerated claims.
Indeed, the high rate of economic growth over the past five or so years has manifested itself in a construction boom in the capital city and a significant expansion in the road infrastructure of the country. Likewise, a narrow class of business people, political cadres, and bureaucrats has struck it rich through a wide range of entitlements that its positions have garnered for it in the new political economy of the country. The gap between this tiny fraction of Ethiopia’s population and the overwhelmingly poor people is growing with astounding scale and intensity. This is a critical economic and political problem that needs to be systematically addressed by the government, civil society institutions and the international development partners that provide much of the foreign exchange support to the country.
Income inequality or more broadly opportunity inequality is a concomitant of economic growth and development of nations. Whether it expresses itself in income inequalities between persons, regions, social classes or ethnic identities is a matter of specific cultural contexts and stages of development. Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world both in terms of GDP/capita income or PPP/capita. World Bank and other international sources of economic and social information suggest that close to 80% of Ethiopia’s population lives in extreme poverty (less than $1/person/day). If the 2$/person/day benchmark is taken, more than 90% of the country’s population could be legitimately categorized as living in absolute poverty. In such condition of income homogeneity, it may sound absurd to talk about inequality as a major concern in this initial phase of development. However, income inequality becomes a retardant factor in the dynamics of economic growth and development largely due to the fact that market forces are weakly developed and cannot serve as effective resource allocation mechanisms. When coupled with poor governance structures and inadequate manpower capacity, the problem becomes detrimental to sound socio-economic growth and broad-based national development.
Thus the issue of income and opportunity inequality in the economy becomes a critical one not only from the practical purchasing power differential that it creates but also its actual and potential impact on the expansion of the productive capacity of the economy. The lack of systematic income related studies on a national level makes it difficult to draw objective conclusions. This condition cannot however, preclude meaningful discourse on the subject matter. The daily realities of life for the vast majority of Ethiopians seem to suggest that the major beneficiaries of the fast pace of economic growth are the politicians, well-connected business people and bureaucrats. The massive housing program in the capital city has definitely benefitted a narrow group of bureaucrats and party affiliated individuals who may not fit into the category of the rich. The employment generation impact of the significant construction activity in the housing and transport sectors cannot be underestimated either. Elsewhere, in the economy, the political propaganda about “millionaire” peasants is undoubtedly either a product of lack of sound socio-economic imagination of scale or an overzealous political posturing by ill-informed and poorly-educated cadres of the governing party. In a country where 12 million people or 15%t of the estimated 80 million people face food insecurity bordering on famine, such simplistic assertions about the prosperity of the Ethiopian peasant cannot be anything but entertaining. Undoubtedly, many peasants could have improved their lots through the application of production increasing technologies and the politically manipulated local market system for grains and agricultural produce in general
The urban scene is where the contrast between the newly rich and the absurdly poor is most stark and disconcerting. Addis Ababa, the capital city, has definitely registered commendable and significant quantitative and qualitative growth in its housing amenities and basic infrastructures and services. It is also here where massive unemployment and underemployment, beggary, prostitution, vagrancy and a host of other social problems manifest themselves with vexing scale and tenacity. The gap between the well-heeled and wheeled ‘nouveau riche’ and the vast majority of the urban population expresses itself in absurdities of conspicuous consumerism with all the trappings of western gated- communities on one hand and the gut-wrenching poverty of the unemployed, the street children, orphans, the aged and the homeless. Gas guzzling hammers and other four wheel drive vehicles have become the signs of success as has the mindless mimicry of western dresses, fashions and gadgets. Multi-million birr homes with swimming pools and all the outlandish design concepts of American middle class and upper class homes are vying for space amid the hundreds of thousands of substandard mud and wood hovels that house the majority of urban dwellers and have earned the capital city the ignonym of the “slum capital of Africa”. The new elite leaves no stone unturned in displaying its wealth through a cacophony of gross and crass displays of wealth and other ‘signifiers’ of social worth. The moral bankruptcy of those who cherish this obscene exhibitionism of wealth is quite obvious and does not bode well with the rather austere and subdued living styles of most Ethiopians. With the mindless aping of western consumption patterns, we may soon celebrate ‘Thanksgiving Day”, “Valentine’s Day”, “Halloween” and even “Columbus Day”. That is what happens when a nation loses its moral compass.
The growing inequality of wealth, income and opportunity is particularly more pernicious when it is tinged with ethnic and party affiliation. It is widely alleged that ethnic identity and party affiliation have become significant factors in determining access to employment, business and decision-making power. If true, it not only creates resentment among the poor and the broad segment of other identities but also insecurity among the rich who use all forms of subterfuges to transfer their wealth to foreign banks and countries. The positive incentive effect that income inequality is often credited with can only bear system-wide results when it motivates people to work harder, produce more, generate employment and make innovations. Unfortunately, such creative dimensions of inequality do not seem to operate with any degree of efficacy in Ethiopia where government is basically suspended in political thin air and markets are not strong enough to reward effort and innovation. Thus the inequality in Ethiopia is what some scholars call destructive in that it bestows privileges to the already well-off without increasing the possibility of lesser rich and poor people to contribute to growth and development. This form of inequality leads to broader societal moral lapse into systemic and widespread corruption at the work place, the market and even the spiritual institutions of society such as churches, mosques and civil society organizations. Poor public policy and failure of government programs are results that emanate from a condition in which the rich and their close associates face no systematic checks and balances. Selfish interests in society know no physical and moral bounds for their behavior. What Ethiopia is facing today is a very difficult type of economic growth in which benefits are inordinately concentrated in a thin layer of well-connected political, business and bureaucratic groups and their hangers-on. Economic growth and development that does little to uplift the millions of poor people who recurrently suffer from food insecurity, poor level of consumption of basic goods and services can neither be sustainable in its process nor politically and socially uniting and elevating in its purpose. It has all the ingredients that make discord and corruption norms of social behavior and civic moral standard. The role of government should be to create opportunities to the widest possible horizon so that economic growth and development can become both wealth generating and socially uplifting. High rates of economic growth are definitely indicators of a positive trend in any society’s production and consumption functions. However, they can have significant negative externalities if the benefits are concentrated in the hands of the few who have entitled themselves to the booty through unfair political, business and ethnic affiliations and machinations. That is why the struggle for democracy and social accountability holds ever more urgency and public resolve in present day Ethiopia than ever before. It is a time when every Ethiopian has a moral and patriotic obligation to pose the higher question of the direction that the country is currently going in the economic, political and cultural spheres of national life. Economic growth is necessary and supportable to the extent that it promotes the reproduction of wealth for the benefit of all Ethiopians. Economic Growth that accumulates wealth for a tiny minority of internal and external speculators and rent-seekers and mercilessly exploits the labor and natural resources of the country cannot be anything but destructive and unsustainable.

Mother Ethiopia By YohannesY

Your children have neglected you, not because you did not offer them anything good but because they loved themselves more than anything else.

Your political leaders were supposed to renounce all riches, personal gain and honor in order to serve you better, instead they sink into dire corruptions, and they supposed to serve you as if they serve the almighty God. Instead, they follow the wrong directions, they choose to serve their appetite, and some wants to divide you or sell you for a higher bidder.

Your priests, pastors and evangelist forget their mission and involve in unthinkable Sin. They have been caught in ungodly behavior, they love themselves so much that they forget their creator, and they failed to be a good example to the rest of the peoples. They are all worried about their personal happiness and life.

Your youngsters totally forget you, they are entangled with western culture and life, and they forget their father and mother’s religion and their way of life became ungodly and unfriendly. Your daughters become prostitutes in foreign country to have a better life because they could not be able to make a living in their own country.

Million of your children starved to death, mother crying because she does not have anything to feed her children, father gazing every day on the sky for rain, and after you gave us all, we make you, the most primeval country in the world

Your educated children, looking for comfort rather than helping you, a better salary and better home.. etc, they kick you to the curve and looking for their happiness..

Your political leaders trying to find a solutions in the wrong places, begging to wealthier and stronger foreign nations for help. But…your children instead of return to God humbly, they are fighting each other just to get the rank, they just want to get a chance to make empty your treasures.

But God did not give up on you ETHIOPIA, Ethiopia needs God, God waiting Ethiopian children to return to him and he will give the solutions for your trouble, but we the children become so slow to return to GOD…

Peace and prosperity is a hallmark in the economy of God. A prosperous nations is one who honors God, the source of the nation prosperity is keeps God’s commandments; it is someone whose mind has been renewed and transformed by the Word of God, because the real treasure of the soul of the prosperous is walking in God’s truth.

the author can be reached: yohannesy@live.com

Ethiopia Ruined By Damn Selfish Leaders

By Yohannes Y
May be you can call me naïve but I don’t understand myself, why we Ethiopian cannot resolve our own problem? We have such a great culture but one American young woman helped me to ponder why we cannot work together to solve our own problems?
About a year ago in my church, young American woman approached me asking me question about Ethiopia, I asked her why she wants to know? She is planning to travel to Ethiopia soon.

Amazingly she collected a lot of information about Ethiopia and she is fascinating about our culture and history and also she understood the problem of Ethiopia, she said that based on her study there are a lot of problem in Ethiopia and you have a large Ethiopian community in the USA, why Ethiopians cannot solve their problem?

The first questions I ask myself were what is the cause of Ethiopian problems? As far as I am concerned, it is not a rocket science to analyze or you do not need to be a political scientist to understand the cause of Ethiopian problem. Politicians are good to point finger on each other. But here is the fact.

Ethiopian problem 1
The root cause of the Ethiopian problem is Selfishness, the only thing that change Ethiopian heaven into hell was Selfishness, The Ethiopian politician way of thinking had been my way or high way, you heard such and such political parties become one and then after a few month that unification gone. You can figure it out yourself the main reason, no doubt in my mind, because of Selfishness, everybody wants their way. They never learn to find a common ground, I checked all the previous Ethiopian leadership history, I found out one common characteristic, they are all damn selfish.
Maybe you heard all the good things about Haile Selassie, what was Haile Selassie problem, he wanted to be kings of king but he was such a selfish man after his old age, he did not want to leave his office or he did not want to give his power to the next generation, and instead he stole the Ethiopians people’s wealth and he die with it. Swiss bank made profit out of his investment.

Haile Sellassie trained and educated a lot of well to do professionals but most of them bowed for him as king of kings, whatever he said it was like God’s word. And they acted like their leader and exploited the poor and the helpless people of Ethiopia.
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Mengisu was the same thing, he was a lower rank soldier but God put him in power, he supposed to be humbled by God’s grace but he never appreciated the mercy of God instead he killed Ethiopian Brain, hope and the Ethiopian power house(the unselfish young generation) killed by this ruthless dictator why because he was Selfish.
He wants to be the next Lenin of Ethiopia, but that never work. But He loves himself more than anything else, when the Woaynes approached Addis Ababa in 1991, he ran away like a rabid dog, after he exposed the Ethiopian people for great danger. He arranged his own safety; he did not care about the Ethiopian people at all.



Meles is a mixture of Megistu and Haile Selessie, the main difference between with those two other leaders, he is more disciplined and opportunist than any other leaders in Ethiopian history, Meles is an expert wagging his tale and he inclined to listen foreign leaders more than the peoples he rules, and he is such a cruel dictator, on purpose and knowingly ignoring the fabric of Ethiopian culture and Ethiopianism. he will sell you or anything you have for the higher bidder, he improves a little bit now but the first three years of his arrival his arrogance was boundaryless.
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If he knows that you are after him, he will do anything to eliminate you; even he did not back for his own comrade in arms. Because he wants to rule the country with unlimited terms, he divided the country by tribe in order to control the country. He is very dishonest person and you cannot win honestly in Ethiopian Election as long as he is the leader

But when you checked it out closely he is the same old leader and he knows only the language of FORCE, he is on power only by FORCE. He is just like his previous leaders and he knows how to eliminate his opponent tactfully. Because he is damn selfish.