The Dangerous Hype behind the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange

It is our hope that many Ethiopians have watched the PBS/WNET documentary film - The Market Maker/Wide Angle - which was broadcast beginning on July 23, 2009. This documentary followed the Ethiopian economist, Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin, who is the CEO of the relatively newly established Ethiopian Commodity Exchange. Many of us were waiting for the documentary to show us how the ECX could “… transform the Ethiopian economy by becoming a global commodity market of choice,” as claimed in the ECX’s main web page. That was not to be.

We were disappointed (but not surprised) by the failure of the documentary film which failed to show us the difficulties that the ECX has and would face, let alone Dr. Eleni’s failure to explain to us how the ECX could “transform the Ethiopian economy.” The anchor of the documentary, a renowned journalist, Mr. Aaron Brown, opened the discussion by asking a question HOW the commodity exchange would lift the millions of Ethiopian poor farmers out of poverty. We were anxiously expecting Dr. Eleni to explain to us how many millions of non-literate peasants would read the coded commodity prices and use them to their advantage; how the ECX could function and survive in a country where free markets are non-existent; explain to us the mechanisms whereby the peasants would be able to obtain the necessary information about markets in a country where the independent media is slammed shut by the government authorities, a country where the limited media outlets (one of the poorest and lowest penetration rates in the world), such as the telephone, Internet, radio, TV, newspapers are totally controlled by the government. For those who don’t know the Ethiopian situation, we would like to inform them that even those who have access to the limited electronic and print media are so fed up with the government’s endless lies and false propaganda that they only pay attention to those foreign-owned and operated media outlets such as the BBC, VOA, Deutsche Welle, al-jezeera and the Eritrean TV.

Moreover, those of us of Ethiopian origin were expecting the documentary to show us the difficulties and lack of coordination between market participants. In particular, we were expecting the producers of the documentary to have gone deep into the rural areas of Ethiopia and show us the daily lives of the peasants, their unbearable poverty, the meager outputs they produce, and how they “dump”, which is true to this day, their small products to any price they could fetch during harvest times, how they would be able to know what the ECX is (let alone their lack of understanding how it works). It was not to be.

As Thomas Paul who had watched the documentary aptly put it, the documentary failed to show the criteria for success, the market inefficiencies before the implementation of the ECX, how one could measure the benefits of an efficient trading system. The same observer also noted that Dr. Eleni failed to show any raw data supporting the ripple effects of market efficiencies that she talked about, the impacts of the price variances, the challenges, and implementation strategies. Most importantly, both the documentary and Dr. Eleni failed to show us what kind of regulatory schemes exist to build trust, which is a paramount currency in a (newly formed) commodity exchange system. The initiative is a start, assuming that all the necessary ingredients are in place (which is not the case), but it is far from the success story the documentary tried to portray. The same astute observer also noted: “The benefits and theoretical advantages of making trading easy, is a function of trust which in turn is a function of independence from the hands of the government. … “[W]hat was glaringly evident was that the system has so far failed to win the trust of stakeholders, as evidenced by the government's abrupt shutdown of an efficient auction system by which coffee was traded previously. As soon as stakeholders, farmers and merchants alike, were forced to transact through the ECX, they went underground. Some were accused of ‘hoarding’ and thrown in jail…” [Taken from a message posted on Ethiopian Email Exchange Network, posted on July 23, 2009.]

Let us briefly delve into some of the characteristics of a commodity exchange system and relate those characteristics to the ECX. In this particular article (our first installment on the issue), we show that the ECX is neither a Free Market based transparency and a level-playing field, nor it is intended to be, at least from the government’s stand point.

Since its establishment, which began its operation in April of 2008, the ECX has never been a free exchange market. The description “free commodity exchange market” was and still is just a PR stunt and a pretext to hoodwink donors and unsuspecting public. We know free markets galvanize private resources by bringing those who are willing and able to buy and sell when they try to maximize their own individual utility. We also know and understand that commodity exchange mechanisms could play vital roles provided that they are set up properly and allowed to function with minimal interference by the authorities. By the same taken, the ECX could alleviate, but not transform, some of the problems that the Ethiopian economy is in, again, provided that all the necessary conditions that will make a “free” commodity exchange to function properly. But there are a number of both conceptual and practical problems with the EXC.

A. Transparency: For more than a year, we have been looking for the identity of the officers and regulators of the ECX. As everyone knows, such a disclosure of the identity, background and financial interest of the individuals and the businesses involved in the exchange is paramount to the well-functioning and transparency of any commodity and financial exchange institution. We are happy to see, after more than a year of not doing so, the ECX putting out the identity of the officers, the regulators and trading members on the official website, but a detailed public record of those individuals and companies is necessary.

B. Market Information (lack of): The ECX on its only official website claims information being delivered all over the country through Radio, Television, and SMS. But it failed to inform us that there is no privately owned media infrastructure in the country. It failed to honestly inform the reader and the observer that not only the government owned and operated media outlets are biased but their usefulness to market participants is almost non-existent (for example, the internet penetration rates as compared to the rest of the world is only 0.02%!) The claim that market information is transmitted all over the country is, therefore, misleading and false.

C. Credit: Transparency of financing is a critical component of commodity trade. However, in addition to the listing of some of the ‘private’ banks, it is important to fully disclose the role of the government and the involvement of the ruling party owned credit establishments, particularly their relations to the private banks.

D. Storage: As a government agency, the ECX owns and operates the largest storage facilities. In so doing, it enjoys complete dominance in the storage of commodities throughout the country, thereby making this same government agency the price-maker. Everyone involved knows that impartiality to the private traders does not exist and the government is crowding out private storage operators. Moreover, another government agency, the Ethiopian Grain Trade Enterprise (EGTE), which is the largest grain purchaser in the country, is a member-trader of the exchange, owns major storage, transportation facilities throughout the country and directly competes against private traders. It has been recently disclosed that the EGTE destabilized the commodity market, due to its market dominance and the preference it gets from the government, and yet, no mention of this fact is made by the CEO of the ECX.

E. Transportation: As mentioned earlier, the dominance of the Ethiopian Grain Trade Enterprise and the ruling party owned transportation operators are equally mentioned as private operators but they actually dominate its control. Such unequal relationship and favoritism is not only contrary to the normal operations of a market but the lack of disclosure their dominance, favoritism party owned parastatals, and their unfettered access to government regulators exacerbates the lack of trust on the part of the ECX.

F. Regulation: The government officials who are listed as regulators, including the Prime Minister’s involvement in the ECX’s affairs are the major causes of market destabilization and the failure of the exchange as a market institution. In addition, the ruling party affiliated traders, financers, transporters, and exporters should have been banned from the exchange. The Prime Minster as the leader of his party must disclosed his party owned enterprises and their financial interests to the public before they are permitted in the exchange. Moreover, the ECX should have disclosed the names of the donor countries and international institutions that are financing the establishment of the exchange, including their financial interests and how they would be accountable for any improprieties that either their agents or those whom they support could commit. They should have demanded the disclosure of the financial interests of the officers as well. Unfortunately, none of the above disclosures are made so far, thereby creating an appearance of conflict of interest.

We conclude, therefore, based on the problems we listed above and other issues, there is a lack of market information, lack of contract enforcement, and a lack of trust on the ECX. In particular, the asymmetric information (those who are close to the government possessing all the information and outright favoritism) has been damaging to the ECX and will continue to be so.

Furthermore, let it be known that no commodity exchange will work (let alone function and assist the 82 million Ethiopians) without transparency and accountability. Let it be known that there are no commodity exchange markets that have flourished under repressive, parasitic, nepotistic and oligarchic regimes as it exists in Ethiopia. Let it be known that there is no “free commodity exchange” where repression is the order of the day, where the Ethiopian people are so petrified by the repression of Meles Zenawi’s regime that they are leaving their country in drones. We believe there are better ways to feed starving Ethiopians, currently over ten million of them being dependent international food aid.
An Ethiopian mom waits for aid with her malnourished children

Let it be known that a commodity exchange, no matter how glittery it may seem, will not work in a malaise economy and with people under increasingly grinding poverty.

Let it be known that there is no true commodity exchange in a country where group of people who claim to represent a minority ethnic group, who have illegally transferred the means of production to themselves and the parastatals they fully control. Let it be known that the ECX adventure has been an exercise in futility, in part because the circumstances for a true commodity exchange system to function do not exist and in part because, as it became evident by Meles Zenawi’s “cutting of the hands” of the Ethiopian coffee exporters, the entire exercise is designed to have full control of the commanding heights of the Ethiopian economy.

It is also about time for those renowned journalists to speak on behalf of their colleagues, members of the Ethiopian independent media whose businesses have been closed, who have languished in the prisons of Meles Zenawi with concocted up charges and who have been forced into exile. There is no and cannot be a free commodity exchange market under such repressive circumstances.

It is about time to recognize that millions of Ethiopians get hurt with such gimmickry and uncalled for hypes. … Let it be known that the ECX is another well orchestrated gimmick, one of those government set up mega projects which are designed to control both the outputs and prices of the Ethiopian farmers, particularly the commodities which are the source of foreign exchange. Let be known that, as the saying goes: “all that glitters is not really gold!”

Let there be no more hypes, no more deceptions. Most importantly, it is time for those enablers of Meles’s greedy and kleptocratic regime that the creation of hypes real consequences. As a gimmickry mega project, the ECX has been and will be used to both squander the meager resources of the country and as means of controlling the outputs of the Ethiopian peasants. Let it be known that those who are a part of this process, including those at the helm of the ECX will be accountable for what they have done to Ethiopia and its people.

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The author and his collaborators could be reached at Seid.hassan@murraystate.edu

Ethiopia: Politics & Faith

By Yohannes Y
"Do Ethiopian politician believe in God?"

That is the most fundamental of all questions: God.

The spirit of humanity, both in society and the individual, is found in how we respond to that question. If we believe in God, it will make a difference in how we live and learn. It should be asked on a daily basis as we contemplate a decision, face a crisis, undergo a temptation. Our answer forces us to trust God and to give way to his way of life. And best of all, God confirms our hearts that he is, indeed, in control.

However denying his omnipotent power makes our lives miserable and defenseless; the people who see us see nothing more than mere human beings who are fighting the omnipotent power and spiritually fragile who could not understand simple facts that God indeed in control.

What is missing in Ethiopian politician’s life is that they could not be able to persuade people around them all what they do is just fight each other and they prolong the suffering of the Ethiopian people. Most of the time peoples supported them because we think anything is better than the present government. Did they prove to us that they are better?

However since politicians are essentially competing with God – to control the fate of the people and decide their future and take care of their need then I can comfortably say that God is indeed the master of politician but the politicians defies the master’s decision. But the master literally rejected them because they have no selfless motives to help the people in need. Even the most dictatorial regime gets a favor of God, because they did a lot of work that contribute for the well being of the people of Ethiopia.

So what is missing in Ethiopian politicians life styles? (Luke 10:41)

You are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed… what is needed right now is, to sit and listen to the master, and the Ethiopian politicians unable to listen to each other, let alone to listen for their master who control their life.

But reject him on his face because their life style is self-centered which is rejected by God. Because there is no blessing, they will fight each other and they will never change anything for the poor people of Ethiopia. How can we trust these people?

End Tyranny Now

End Tyranny Now!

Now is the Time to End Tyranny! - Alemayehu G. Mariam
“No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery.
That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end.” Thus spoke President Barack Obama last week to Africa’s tin-pot dictators using the Ghanaian parliament as a sounding board.
During the presidential campaign and over the past seven months, many Ethiopians had expressed uncertainty and apprehension about the future direction of U.S. foreign policy in Ethiopia. Some thought President Obama would continue the knee-jerk terror-centric policies of George Bush; other believed it would be the dawn of a new day in U.S. policy. We offered analyses which foretold the orientation of U.S. foreign policy in Ethiopia and Africa under an Obama administration.

The President’s speech in Accra was both a diagnosis of what ails Africa, particularly Ethiopia, and a set of remedial prescriptions. President Obama spoke disapprovingly of the divisive and outdated politics of tribalism and ethnicity which continues to poison the African body politics. He urged Africans to reconcile around their common humanity and Africanity. He spoke of the corrosive effects of corruption on the soul of Africa and urged good governance to restore hope in the spirit of the African people. He declared Africa’s future is up to Africans, but challenged Africa’s youth to mold and shape it.
The Poison of Tribalism and Ethnic Politics

President Obama blasted identity politics as a canker in the African body politics:
We all have many identities - of tribe and ethnicity; of religion and nationality. But defining oneself in opposition to someone who belongs to a different tribe, or who worships a different prophet, has no place in the 21st century…. In my father’s life, it was partly tribalism and patronage in an independent Kenya that for a long stretch derailed his career, and we know that this kind of corruption is a daily fact of life for far too many….

Few countries in Africa today are more afflicted and conflicted by the artificially engineered ethno-tribal virus than Ethiopia. Using a completely phony theory of “ethnic (tribal) federalism”, the dictators in Ethiopia have created what amounts to apartheid-style Bantustans or tribal homelands. They have segregated the Ethiopian people by ethno-tribal classification in grotesque regional political units called “kilils”. This sinister perversion of the concept of federalism has enabled a few cunning dictators to oppress, divide and rule some 80 million people for nearly two decades.

We have called them out on their divide-and-rule politics. We have repeatedly called upon them to tear down of the walls of tribalism and ethnicity. Our humanity, we asserted, is more important than our ethnicity, nationality, sovereignty or Africanity! We are not prisoners to be kept behind tribal walls, but free men and women who are captains of our future in one unwalled Ethiopia that belongs to all of us equally. We echo President Obama, and President Reagan from another era, when we call upon those who built the tribal walls to tear them down once again: “Zenawi, tear down the kilil tribal walls behind which you have kept our people locked up! Let them go before you go!”

The Fundamental Truth: Development Depends on Good Governance
President Obama said,

We must first recognize a fundamental truth that you have given life to in Ghana: development depends upon good governance. That is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long…

The dictators in Ethiopia have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are clueless about good governance; and their idea of development is ripping off the people to enrich their relatives and friends. “Concentrat[ion] of wealth in the hands of the few [that] leaves people too vulnerable to downturns” is not development.

Good governance is based on a set of objective measures. We subscribe to the 8 benchmark parameters of good governance set by the U.N.: Participation (men and women participate equally in political and civil society institutions); rule of law (an independent judiciary and impartial law enforcement agencies administer the justice system with strict adherence to the law of the land); transparency (public decisions are made and implemented according to established rules and regulations); responsiveness (public needs are met in a timely manner); consensus-building (the different interests of groups in society are harmonized in formulating policy); equity and inclusiveness (individuals and groups feel they have a stake in society and do not feel excluded); effectiveness and efficiency (scarce resources are used for maximum public benefit and service); accountability (leaders and institutions are accountable to the public and under law). In sum, good governance is to development as water is to a bountiful harvest. No water, no harvest!

Good Governance is Sustained by Respect for Human Rights
Just as development is based good governance, we believe respect for human rights is the sustaining force for good governance. Human rights principles provide a set of values to anchor and guide leaders, institutions and processes in serving the common good. Political action and reforms guided by principles enumerated in international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and conventions dealing with the rights of the child, elimination of discrimination based on gender and religion, and protection of economic, social and cultural rights and others, are central to the development of a fair and just society in Ethiopia.
The New Pillar of American Foreign Policy in Africa

President Obama announced that his administration’s policy in Africa will be guided by a simple principle: The U.S will provide support for the establishment of strong democratic governments, enhanced protections for human rights and assistance to victims of human rights violations, and efforts aimed at rooting out corruption in Africa. He said the U.S. will “sanction and stop those who” violate human rights:
First, we must support strong and sustainable democratic governments. Governments that respect the will of their own people are more prosperous, more stable and more successful than governments that do not. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves… In the 21st century, capable, reliable and transparent institutions are the key to success - strong parliaments and honest police forces; independent judges and journalists; a vibrant private sector and civil society. Those are the things that give life to democracy, because that is what matters in peoples’ lives….

In Moscow, I spoke of the need for an international system where the universal rights of human beings are respected, and violations of those rights are opposed. That must include a commitment to support those who resolve conflicts peacefully, to sanction and stop those who don’t, and to help those who have suffered.
The President made it clear that democracy is about outcomes such as “strong parliaments and honest police forces; independent judges and journalists; a vibrant private sector and civil society.” He disagrees with those who claim that “democracy is about process, it’s not about outcome… If the process is clean and you get zero, tough luck.”

“Brutality and bribery” are the engines of tyranny, the President asserted. Economic chaos packaged as a litany of “ten percent annual growth” is not development; and American taxpayers will not provide aid to support such “development”. In short, American support to African regimes will be contingent on the implementation of “concrete solutions to corruption like forensic accounting, automating services, strengthening hot lines and protecting whistle-blowers to advance transparency and accountability, peaceful transfers of power, ending brutal repression, growth of civil society institutions, expansion of political space for civic participation and youth involvement.”

Africa’s Salvation Will Come Through Its Youth
President Obama knows that talking to African tin pot dictators is like pouring water on a slab of granite. There will be no penetration. The dictators will probably sit around in their echo chambers and lament the fact that the President is naïve about African politics and its complexities. The fact is that he is not only well informed on Africa, he is also fully prepared to deal with African dictators. After all, he cut his teeth on Chicago politics. In his eloquent and artful way, the President told the African dictators that they are not only decidedly on the wrong side of history, but also that they are inconsequential in the grand scheme of things:

Make no mistake: history is on the side of these brave Africans and not with those who use coups or change Constitutions to stay in power. Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions….

We have learned that it will not be giants like Nkrumah and Kenyatta who will determine Africa’s future. Instead, it will be you - the men and women in Ghana’s Parliament, and the people you represent. Above all, it will be the young people - brimming with talent and energy and hope…

And I am particularly speaking to the young people. In places like Ghana, you make up over half of the population. Here is what you must know: the world will be what you make of it. You have the power to hold your leaders accountable and to build institutions that serve the people. You can serve in your communities and harness your energy and education to create new wealth and build new connections to the world. You can conquer disease, end conflicts and make change from the bottom up. You can do that. Yes you can.”

The role of youth in Ethiopia’s future deserves special attention. It is manifest that the dictators today have little interest in developing Ethiopia’s youth to “hold leaders accountable and build institutions that serve the people.” The dictators aim to mobilize, ideologize and “harness the energy of Ethiopian youth” to create armies of androids that will serve them obsequiously. They understand Hitler’s maxim: “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.” For this reason, it is instructive to watch the video of the recently stage-managed youth conference of the dictators available on ethiotube.net.

While the dictators abuse the youth, the opposition and the older generation has largely ignored them. Truth be told, we have done a poor job of preparing Ethiopian youth for their historic role in rebuilding and reorganizing the new Ethiopian society. We have become less than inspiring role models by our inability to set good examples of tolerance, harmony and collaboration. We have done little to teach the youth of our mistakes so that they will not repeat them. We have offered them little clarity to remove their confusion and uncertainties. We have failed to empower them in defending human rights. The dictators hold “conferences” to steal the souls of Ethiopian youth. What have we done to harness their idealism to serve their country and people? What have we done to inspire their minds, free their spirits and fortify their hearts in the historic task of reconstructing a new Ethiopia unburdened by tribalism, sectarianism, sexism and corruption?

The president is absolutely right. Africa’s, and Ethiopia’s, future will be shaped by its youth. The sooner we, who profess our faith in freedom, democracy and human rights, realize and own up to this irrefutable fact and begin helping them, the sooner will come Africa’s salvation. Young Ethiopians need good role models. Let each one of us strive to be one, for in the end the future belongs to them.

We should not expect quick results from the President’s speech. We must understand that the Obama administration does not have all of its Africa hands on deck; and the President is preoccupied with many domestic issues. Suffice it to say to African dictators that Barack Obama is not George Bush.

Ethiopia - TPLF Plc. – Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely

By Azmera Tesfaye

This is a glimpse into the inner workings of the TPLF Plc. - how the machinery has increasingly evolved into a business empire in Ethiopia, corrupted by the convenience of power; lubricated by the decadent slogan that this is our historic moment to prosper and the reckless greed that breeds more insatiable and bottomless want. What is sad is that the TPLF Plc. Is engaged in entrenching itself as the next class of Ethiopian capitalist at the catastrophic expense of the poor Ethiopian people in a manner only a colonial conqueror sabotages its subject’s wellbeing and wealth.

Aside from the addictive nature of corruption, the bottom-line for TPLF’s brazen exploitation emanates from two mistaken beliefs: firstly, now that the Amhara system had been dismantled now is our time and we shall make use of this opportune historic moment to lay the economic and political foundations that would transform us as Ethiopia’s future POWER brokers. The other self-serving excuse is that “We have been working hard to fight and come to power and what makes exploiting a country that has been (3000) years poor such a big deal.

To show how the TPLF Plc’s embezzlement is so pervasive, aggressive, and heartless, we would delve into an ongoing corrupt incident that perpetrated by Meles Zenawi, Azeb Mesfin and Tedros Adhanom and other major TPLF Plc players.

The incident occurred in the Ministry of Health, which is, supposedly, the keeper of the sick, the poor, and the disabled. The Ministry under Minister Tedros Adhanom is a place where the TPLF Plc’s money machine works with its savage teeth. As the ministry is the receiver and coordinator of a large (confounding) amount of money in foreign aid and assistance, the money involved is of high interest to TPLF Plc’s Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s strongman.

For instance, the aid money supplied by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was $48 million for FY 2004, $83.7 million for FY2005, $123 million for FY2006, $241.8 million for FY2007and $354.5 million for FY2008. This smooth flow of money is just the tip of the iceberg, compared to what Ethiopia gets in aid money from other programs such as the ones sponsored by Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria ($1,107,164,389) and another millions of dollars from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDC.

So when the funds and pharmaceutical and health equipment from these sources became even greater by the year, the TPLF Plc. was not short of ideas on how to exploit these funds that are beyond scrutiny. As these funds were mostly related to health related issues, when the money that was being supplied by Global Fund, PEPFAR and CDC (and a host of other donors) became unmanageably huge, the first step to do was to create an agency as an offshoot of the TPLF Plc business empire that would be awarded unsupervised contracts to advance the business interests of TPLF Plc. Hence, what came to the scene was PLCU Plc. (Private Laboratory Consortium Unit), which is a key part of the business empire run by the TPLF plc’s Dejena/EFFORT conglomerate.

Hence, what was surprising was not that the company was formed under the TPLF Plc, but the owners (board members) were none other than the wife of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, the wife of Minister of Health Tedros Adhanom, the wife of the Head of the Drug Administration and Control Agency (DACA) Hailesilasse Bihone and Mr. Markos Teklu, CEO of PLCU Plc. This company, just like the hundreds of other Dejena/EFFORT companies run by TPLF Plc, are favored with slingshot outsourcing/awarding (without bidding) of government projects and contracts with no transparent competition by citizens. (Aside from this corrupt exercise of political clout by the TPLF Plc, the companies are favored in terms of using the broader political and administrative machinery for garnering credits from government banks, easy access to customs’ clearance and shady and covert tax and account holding away from the public scrutiny.)

The critical action that shades light on how, at the immoral cost of the Ethiopian people, Meles and the TPLF Plc milk aid money for the narrow interests of the Dejena/EFFORT conglomerate is the manner of how the regime uses its absolute power to corrupt public funds absolutely. After the usual drama of aid being given and ferenjis shacking hands with high officials who cutting ribbons, the real job would be schemed in the offices of the TPLF Plc. For instance, in 2006, after the CDC gave health, pharmaceutical, laboratory and medical and technology equipment in aid, the PLCU Plc. run amok to swindle these materials. This was what happened. On this occasion it is the officials named above who give the PLCU the green light to control and/or sell those aid materials. Hence, PLCU Plc, of course was awarded the contract to handle the materials. Over a course of some period, the CDC materials that PLCU was supposed to bring for the Ministry of Health and the regional/Kilil Health Bureaus vanish. Yes, vanish into thin air. Imagine - these are millions of DOLLARS worth of state-of-the-art pharmaceutical, laboratory, medical and technological equipment. These equipment were reportedly sold in Ethiopia and throughout East Africa - that is, after PLCU Plc was equipped with these embezzled wealth and transformed into the only pharmaceutical and laboratory giant. Now the PLCU Plc. is one of the major components of the Dejena/EFFORT conglomerate.

After these public wealth was embezzled and siphoned by TPLF Plc’s top officials by way of one of its companies –the PLCU Plc - a scapegoat had to be fabricated. What comes next is everybody’s guess. If you have absolute power and control all components of the three branches of government both at the federal and in all the state levels (absolute power), you are not short of ways and means. Hence, the federal police apparently opened a file to “investigate” a huge fictional “robbery” of the warehouse of the Ministry of Health, to cover up for the embezzlement. In a country that is administered by a strongman and not by independent strong institutions, you can definitely get your way out - whatever crime you commit – as there is no accountability and transparency.

What struck us most was when, at one point, the sell of these equipment created a buzz in the country and a TPLF Plc. official inside the Ministry of Health sought to put a temporary hold to the swindling, it was Prime Minister Meles himself who gave orders that they should be left alone with their scheme of enriching TPLF’s conglomerate.

By the same token, most also agree that the “independent” HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office, which was run by a national secretariat was pushed into the Ministry of Health as the money was better handled under ministry run by Tedros Adhanom. Similar issues of corruption are also occurring in DACA and PHRAMID that has become a hallmark of the TPLF Plc.

This instance of how TPLF companies get their capital and how aggressively they work for swindling and siphoning money shades light on the creation of, in Sebhat Nega’s admission, the biggest and the richest business empire in the history of Ethiopia - Dejena/EFFORT conglomerate.

This exposition is the tip of the iceberg and the purpose is to let the public know what is being done with the aid money that is being received in its name. Even if we the writers are classic “beneficiaries” of the present system, we have found it essential to expose this as a moral calling as well as with the firm belief that any system that is built on a rusting foundation is doomed to end when people come to know more about its hidden activities. This exposition also makes clear the reason behind the shrilling and insistent noise behind the demand for aid and the tact of not outlining sensible land and economic policies that would significantly improve the lives of Ethiopians. It also answers the reason for weakening the NGO realm and to condition aid money to flow through the government instead of directly to the people or through NGO’s.

The corruption and tyranny President Obama talked about are these kinds of reckless and greedy acts of the strongmen of our country. Our people have the right to know the truth and advance their thoughts based on these facts in order to fasten the solutions.

Readers Emails

I read an article, There is no EPRDF in reality; there is only a Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF). if that is true? why then Tigrian become an independent country? why not? what is the Plan for Meles government?

Tibebu, Portland Oregon

Someone asked this questions, if the author asked me about this issue, the answer is I have no idea, I don't know why? but based on the infos I have they are not going to do that because the tigerians peoples believe that they are Ethiopians, if anyone can answer I will be more than happy to post it on this web page.. you can write me directly at prayethiopia1@gmail.com, I will post it for you

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You can argue with me all day long but this is it, actually EPRDF is trying their best to be the most progressive party we ever had, yes they were but their nature take them up where they are, they cannot go one inch further than that, if they do, it is kind of suicidal for them, they cannot offer Ethiopians full Pledge democracy because that is not their nature now they stuck between real democracy and tyranny, or making history by giving Ethiopians to decide their destiny or forced to leave their office one way or the other? I hope they will chose the first one to give a chance to Ethiopians to elect their leader, that way history will remember them kindly otherwise their effort to block the Ethiopians democratic forces will take them few years then destruction will follow because the world is watching their next move.
Kokeb
Paris France