The Reflection of the Legacy of Zenawi in London

Dear Sir/Madam 

Re: The Reflection of the Legacy of Zenawi in London

The recent information disseminated by Aiga forum (TPLF controlled Web Site in Ethiopia) as statements of the attendees of the so called “Reflection of the Legacy of Zenawi in London” is irresponsible and outrageous. Such declaration for a renowned mass murderer and notorious Ethnic based junta will create confusion and negatively affect credible testimonies and information flows in this golden era. This biased and distorted information will agonise millions of Ethiopians who have lost their loved ones and suffered unbelievable tortures by Zenawi and his criminal group.

Meles Zenawi

Who should give testimonies about Zenawi? The people of Ethiopia, the Media, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have been reporting the gross Human Rights Violations for the last 21 years. In 2005 Ethiopians voted against the regime and it is in power through force and intimidation. Zenawi does not deserve respect and represents neither Ethiopia nor Africa. Ethiopians will not allow this notorious mass murder to be remembered as a hero in their name. He has been accused of genocide and his file is still active in the International Criminal Court (ICC). Honouring Zenawi is an insult for those innocent Ethiopians who had perished by his direct order.

It will be ridiculous to talk about development when millions are starving and tens of thousands are displaced from their farmlands. Zenawi and his ethnic group have looted 11.7 Billion Dollars only between 2000 and 2009. This fact has been reported by Global Financial Integrity (GIF) in 2011 and as usual the incumbent continued to beg money from donors to date.

The Ethiopia in the heart of the Amhara!

by Menyelek

I declare, “A house can stand divided!”  the concern should be how long can the pillars hold, before the foundation cracks? The division in Ethiopia today is evident thought out political norms, social structures, individual rights, ethnic representation, personal development and freedom as a member of the state. In the state of anger following the current revelation of the continued and expanded Amhara cleansing “eviction”, anger may be the first reaction… so what comes after the anger?… Silence? Fear? Ignorance? We must not fall in their trap to the ethnic federalist schema of the totalitarian governance manifesto, for they loathe not the Amhara, but the “Ethiopiawinet” with in the Amhara.  This government has rewritten history, manipulated significant moments, changed proven facts to discredit the people, culture and identity of Amhara, for they always have stood defense of the true identity of Ethiopia.  This defense has been a hurdle for this regime.

They cannot claim to govern with legitimacy in a federation of ethnic equality, if one of the groups within the state inherently refuses to identify it’s self ethnically, but rather with equality of the national state. Much has been said and asked of the reasons to why, this regimes actions towards Amhara people, and the hate they continuously display towards this ethnicity. There are two elements I will pinpoint, the first an ideological manifest, at the heart of this government from its inception and the other practical domination discernible of this government. First the hate of the Amhara/Ethiopiawinet and second the need to hold onto power at all cost.

Abraham Lincoln anticipating the direction of the cliff his nation was heading he stated,“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free”. In Ethiopia we have 1% slave owner, 99% slaves, kept in silence, ignorance and constant fear through the barrel of a gun. Yet, the pillars of the Nation are holding strong, collapse is imminent if we do not realize the damages and act with urgency. National identity is a column of incessant strength of a free state, internally and externally. This pillar is and has been held together by the instinctive believe and love of the nation of Ethiopia by the Amahara people. In opposition to all that has been done for the last two decades, it is in the Amhara DNA, to say, “I am Ethiopian first, Amhara second”, where other ethnicities have been manipulated into thinking the opposite.

BBC’s George Alagiah Show at African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa

by Tedla Asfaw

GMT BBC World News of this morning, May 20, 2013, from 7am to 8am ET devoted 15 minutes of its time on George Alagiah or George, one of its correspondents on mission to cover the 50th anniversary of OAU/AU in Addis Ababa. The Headlines News on BBC tells its listeners that Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing economy in the world. The small shoe factory, the coffee bean exporter who promised to bring British financed machinery to export the finished coffee product to the world market was the success story to support the claim.

George Alagiah/BBC’s PHOTO

George was honored by ringing the bell on the floor of Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, the first of its kind in Africa according to BBC. These “economic miracles” and similar “owned” by the very few minority ethnicity are what the BBC Headlines declared the fastest growing economy of Ethiopia. Prime Minster Hailemariam Desalegn who was interviewed on the program was boasting of converting Ethiopia to manufacturing or industrialized country in the coming decade. However, China will not be happy mentioning Taiwan as one of the models for Ethiopia. Hailemariam is not as sharp as the late Meles Zenawi. Is Ethiopia doing business with both Taiwan and China?

George’s AU Show in the coming day or days will cover the roads and buildings in Addis Ababa to support the march to industrialization. If he travels to the outskirts of Addis Ababa flower farms which is bringing in hard currency for the ruling mafia are replacing food producing farm lands. If he goes far he will see the mechanized farm of Sheik Al Amoudi and similar huge tracts of land under the control of the foreign landlords and the government. All these “growth” are at the expense of small farmers and indigenous people. The British development agency and USAID are financing the land grab. Europe has its flower and America has its security, period!

George invited two students from university, two street dancers and one female architect to his show at AU Studio this morning. The street was very quiet looked like the Green Zone of America in Baghdad. We did not see the security forces but I can assure you that George Show was well protected not from ” terrorists” but from the wider public. If George wants to talk to the young people he could have gone to schools and colleges, why did he ask the school and college to come to him ? He went to Ethiopian Commodity Exchange floor why not go to the universities ? The truth is this. He is in total control by his hosts, the government cadres, because Ethiopia is run by armed group of minority clique which bans free assembly and speech throughout the country. Speech and Assembly are only allowed under the eye of security thugs or government picked paid agents.

The women Architect who informed us that she wants to stay in Ethiopia because construction is booming. If George goes around freely which he might not will find hundreds if not thousands of doctors leaving hospitals not because of lack of job but because of lack of basic freedom in Ethiopia. I challenge George to take his show to the people not bringing selected people to his studio at AU and feeding us tons of propaganda which the Ethiopian people are tired of.

The one minute talk about human rights with Hailemariam Desalegn is very shameful. For BBC what matters is “Food growth” not “Freedom”. I want to give tip to George before he finished his AU Show most likely at the end of this week to Visit the Anwar Mosque and Kaliti Jail in Addis. If you are Muslim you can pray if not wait and follow the prayer. Talk to the young female and male and ask them what “growth” means to them. The journalists and political leaders locked up at Kaliti will not be allowed to talk, some were shipped out not to spoil the AU Show, but why not try to talk to family members, mothers,fathers, wives,husbands and children, who are coming daily for year or years to see their loved ones

Last but not least I want George to cover the peaceful rally of May 25 organized by the newly formed Blue Party/Semayawi of Ethiopia (Blue). They will try to come out right where George is , BBC AU studio. I do not want to give you their Web address because it is blocked. One thing George should not forget to report in few days he enjoys life in Addis is the “growth” in Internet blocking. Ethiopia is the worst abuser of all but BBC does not matter much because its correspondents are blocking themselves. Go Blue Go!

CPJ’s Letter to John Kerry

At AU summit, Kerry should speak out for a free press

May 16, 2013
Honorable John Kerry
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Mr. Secretary:
We are writing to bring to your attention the deteriorating state of press freedom in Ethiopia, where you will attend this year’s African Union Summit. A vibrant press and civil society is fundamental to hold governments accountable and to ensure long-term development and stability. As we mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Organization of African Unity, we ask that you include the issue of press freedom in your discussion of the challenges that Africa will face in the next half-century.
Ethiopia, in particular, has been in the spotlight for its crackdown on press freedom in recent years. Your visit to Addis Ababa comes two years after authorities launched a massive crackdown against critics and opponents as popular uprisings spread in North Africa and the Middle East. According to the 2012 U.S. State Department Human Rights Report, “the most significant human rights problems included restrictions on freedom of expression and association through politically motivated trials and convictions of opposition political figures, activists, journalists, and bloggers, as well as increased restrictions on print media.”
Today, with seven journalists behind bars, Ethiopia trails only Eritrea as Africa’s worst jailers of the press. Among the imprisoned journalists are award-winning columnists Eskinder Nega and Reeyot Alemu, both of whom were targeted under the country’s sweeping anti-terrorism law.
Mr. Secretary, in its Africa strategy the Obama administration has noted that the interests of the United States are best served with allies and partners whose stability is based on democratic rule. Your clear voice on these issues would particularly resonate in Ethiopia, where a systematic crackdown on independent journalists, dissidents, human rights groups, and political freedoms has continued unabated.
We urge you to state unambiguously to the Ethiopian government and all other governments gathered under the AU umbrella that a vibrant independent press is a necessary pillar of healthy economies, sustainable development, and long-term stability. We ask that you ensure the issue of press freedom remains in the discussion of Africa’s future so that the independent press in all AU countries are able to work freely and openly without fear of reprisal.
Yours sincerely,
Joel Simon
CPJ Executive Director
Cc List:
Donald Yamamoto, Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of African Affairs
Donald Boothe, U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia

“ሌባ… ሌባ… ሌባ…!” What did the Ethiopian regime do to deserve such humiliation?

by Teshome Debalke

Clash of civilization between TPLF/Woyane and the people of Ethiopia is reaching the tipping point. It seems Ethiopians in large number figured out the ruling Ethiopian regime and its partners in crime are common ሌቦች (thieves) disguised as a government. Surprisingly, the regime or its corrupt cadres never denied stealing with impunity. They only try to justify it as a good thing for ‘growth and transformation’. Therefore, their determination to funnel public money through TPLF clandestine businesses earned them the label they rightly deserve. And, their audacity to skirt it as something else isn’t helping to prove otherwise.

Take for instance the sorry Woyane Foreign Minster, Dr. Tedros Adhanom that came up with absurd excuse; portraying the opposition as anti development. Speaking softly to sound an innocent bystander in a staged interview, the poor Woyane said ‘we may have political disagreement but why someone would oppose development of their country?’ Like a broken record; repeating what TPLF cadres’ spew over-and-over again for decades. Fortunately, this is the best the Minster can come up with to convince Ethiopians Woyane’s highway robbery is a good thing. Whoever trained him in public relation to make fool of himself should refund his money.  But, how is it a trained PhD comes out in public to tell us, not to give money for TPLF’s thieves is anti development and still qualifies as a Foreign Minster of Ethiopia is a million dollar question he must answer, not on ETV but ESAT? Quite frankly, I don’t understand why Woyane stooges are scared to their pants to come on ESAT and answer the hard questions.

Incidentally, the indictment of Woyane and its partners in crime didn’t come out of the blues.  It is based on 22 years overwhelming evidence that showed Woyane and associates’ rampant and organized theft that would make a typical extortion of an organize mob ‘a child play’.

The fact the ruling regime acts as a government; making and enforcing the rules and a merchant; selling, buying and financing as owner of businesses and civic organization; funneling humanitarian assistance through its businesses and non-for-profit tarnish its image beyond repair and earn it a label of ሌባ (thief).  This behavior didn’t come just because Woyane wanted to steal for the sake of stealing to enrich itself like many depots do but, to finance its bigger mission of the establishment of the Apartheid system with stolen money and cash-in for itself and cronies at the same time.

In the real world, an average tyrant doesn’t own a business or involve in trade and financing its own business with the people’s money. The most he does is bring a partner to steal and stash his share in offshore account. In many cases, wise relatives setup a business and advance kickbacks to the tyrant and his family.  Individual government official also accept bribes or extortion money from one or another businesses to fatten their pocket. But, Woyane put itself in position for grand theft of historical proportion. When a ruling regime owns every conceivable business and eliminate others based on ethnicity and village politics it surly declared war on the people of Ethiopia. When it collects foreign aid and distributes it for its cronies and uses it as a tool of ethnic cleansing it commit the heinous crime against humanity on the people of Ethiopia.

Woyane goes further; claiming it is stealing for the benefit of the people of Tgray, and called its grand theft ‘Endowment Fund for Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT). According to the grand thief and the former Chairman of EFFORT, the wealth TPLF stole from the people of Ethiopia is the largest in the whole country but refuse to revile the figure for the obvious reason.  To make matter worst, Azeb Mesfin, the present Chairwomen/owner and the wife of the late Prime Minster and TPLF’s ringleader, known as a Queen of Corruption declared her husband is so poor he lives on few hundred dollar salary with no bank account in his name. She has gone where no Woyane thief has ever gone before; covering up the crime of the century.  She may be right about him not having bank account; why need it when you own the bank?

Shadowboxing Smoke and Mirrors

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

Meles Zenawi when he was alive and his apostles today (“Melesistas”) keep playing us in the Diaspora like a cheap fiddle. They make us screech, shriek, scream and shout by simply showing their mugs in our cities. How do they do it? Every now and then, the Melesistas suit up a few of their bumbling and bungling zombies from central casting and unleash them into the Ethiopian Diaspora to “sell bonds” for the “Grand Meles Dam” to be built over the Blue Nile. Anytime these zombies show up to panhandle chump change from their supporters, a welcoming committee of defiant and patriotic Ethiopian activists show up to chase them out of town like campers at a national park chasing coyotes scrounging at the trash bin. For the past several weeks, Diaspora activists have been routing these imposters across European and American cities; but incredibly, these brazen con artists show up in the next city like snake oil salesmen at a carnival. That really piqued my curiosity. Why do these scammers show up in city after city knowing that they will be confronted and chased out by young patriotic Ethiopians? Are they really fundraising by “selling bonds” in the Diaspora or are they using “fundraising” as a cover for something altogether different? Ummm!!!

First, the irrefutable facts about the Meles Dam hogwash.  As I demonstrated in my March 11 commentary, “Rumors of Water War on the Nile?”, the Meles Dam on the Blue Nile (Abay River) was  the exquisite figment of Meles’ imagination, and now the phantasmic idol of worship for his discombobulated apostles. Anyone who bothers to study the facts of this so-called dam project will readily conclude that it is pie in the sky. It is “self-funded” because the multilateral lending institutions and private investors who normally bankroll such major infrastructure projects wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole standing a mile away. They have determined it is a white elephant. Egypt has also used its leverage to block funding sources.  Egypt has contingency military plans to undam the dam if it ever comes on line.

Watching American Diplocrisy in Ethiopia

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

America is Watching!?

Diplomacy by hypocrisy is “diplocrisy”.

Edmund Burke, the British statesman and philosopher, said “Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises, for never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing.” We’ve heard many promises on human rights in Africa from President Obama and his Administration over the past four years.  “We will work diligently with Ethiopia to ensure that strengthened democratic institutions and open political dialogue become a reality for the Ethiopian people… We will work for the release of jailed scholars, activists, and opposition party leaders… We align ourselves with men and women around the world who struggle for the right to speak their minds, to choose their leaders, and to be treated with dignity and respect…. Africa’s future belongs to its young people… We’re going to keep helping empower African youth… Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions. We support strong and sustainable democratic governments…. America will be more responsible in extending our hand. Aid is not an end in itself… [Dictatorship] is not democracy, [it] is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end… America is watching…” All empty promises and cheap talk.

Last week, the U.S. State Department released its annual Human Rights Report for 2013. In his remarks launching that report, Secretary of State John Kerry announced

…[These] reports show  brave citizens around the world and those who would abuse them that America is watching…

So anywhere that human rights are under threat, the United States will proudly stand up, unabashedly, and continue to promote greater freedom, greater openness, and greater opportunity for all people. And that means speaking up when those rights are imperiled. It means providing support and training to those who are risking their lives every day so that their children can enjoy more freedom. It meansengaging governments at the highest levels and pushing them to live up to their obligations to do right by their people…

Is America really “watching” and “standing up”?

I am always curious when someone is watching. Big Brother is watching! Aargh!!

When Kerry tells “brave citizens” in Ethiopia like Eskinder Nega, Reeyot Alemu, Wobshet Taye, Sertkalem Fasil, Bekele Gerba, Olbana Lelisa, Abubekar Ahmed, Ahmedin Jebel, Ahmed Mustafa and so many others   “America is watching”, what does he  mean? Does he mean America is watching them rot in Meles Zenawi Prison #1 in Kality and/or #2 in Zewai? Does he mean America is watching Ethiopia like birdwatchers watch birds? Or like amateur astronomers watching the starry night sky? Perhaps like daydreaming tourists at the beach watching the waves crash and the summer clouds slowly drifting inland?