Ethiopia: EPRDF, no identity and no vision

FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE
March 28 2013

For the past twenty one years, the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) that has no mandate to rule Ethiopia has actually ruled Ethiopia with iron fist dashing on the  Trojan horse,  the  EPRDF ( Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front).  The EPRDF, a political front; composed of a hodgepodge of ethnically assembled organizations, is a hollow group of ethnic demagogues created by its late leader to materialize his lifelong dream of dividing Ethiopia along ethnic lines. Ironically, the EPRDF that blatantly boasts to have averted the disintegration of Ethiopia, firmly stood up to the dreams of its creator and augmented the fragmentation of Ethiopia, the very country it calls home.

On Saturday March 23, 2013, the EPRDF started its 9^th and possibly what could be its last congress with an embarrassing; and to the vast majority of Ethiopians with a pointless theme of – “The Thoughts of Meles”.  In fact, if there is one good cause served by the 9^th EPRDF congress, it should be that, the Trojan horse EPRDF proved to the Ethiopian people that it is a party in existence with a borrowed identity that rules over a nation of ninety million people with a dead vision of a deceased man. The EPRDF is a party that lives in the past, failed to cease the moment and has no vision for the future.

The four-day congress that ended on Tuesday came to an end with exactly the same hollowness that it started. To the surprise of its own members and diehard supporters, the four -day congress looked like much of a eulogy of a man (dead for seven months) than an occasion to map a vision for Ethiopia’s future.  Despite all indications of the nation’s chronic problems of ethnic conflict, poverty, human rights abuse, deteriorating living conditions, and alarming outflow of skilled manpower, the EPRDF vowed to extend its grip on power and carry on the same old failed policies of the past. All in all, the handmade toy, the EPRDF, shamelessly told the Ethiopian people that it has no vision of its own and nothing new on its plate.

Ginbot 7, Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy not only invalidates the resolution of the 9^th congress of the EPRDF, but it also extends its call to the Ethiopian people inside and outside Ethiopia to come together and fight in unison to stop the implementation of a policy that has a hard to reverse the detrimental effect on our nation. Ginbot 7 reiterates its perennial message to the Ethiopian people and to the international community at large that there are much better alternatives to the tested and failed policies of the EPRDF that benefit the interest of the Ethiopian people, the Horn of Africa and all other parties’ involved. The international community, donor nations and most importantly, the EU, United Kingdom and the United States must come to their senses and acknowledge that freedom; justice and democracy are God given human values that the people of Ethiopia thirst for just like the British and the American people.

Ginbot7, Movement for Justice Freedom and Democracy

Public Relation

ግፍ መሸከም በቃኝ!

March 27.2013
 By:Mekonnen Workineh ,Noway,Oslo

ግራ ጎኔ ቆስሎ ቂም አርግዞ ሲመግል፤

መዳኒት አዋቂ ስር ማሽ ቅጠል በጣሽ ጠፍቶ ደረስኩ የሚል።

አማራ ጠላት ነው ብሎ ሰይሞልኝ ነጻ አውጭው የትግሬ፤

መቀመጫ አጣሁ አሜከላ ሆኖ ሳር ምድሯ አገሬ።

አንገቴን ደፍቼ ኑሮ ልግፋ ባልኩኝ፤

ወለጋ ሲዳሞ ለቀን ስራ ሄጄ ቡና በለቀምኩኝ፤

ጎጆዬን ቀልሼ ኑሮዬን መስርቼ ማስኜ በኖርኩኝ።

ደንብሮ እንደወጣ እንደ ጫካ አውሬ፤

ለምንስ ልደብደብ ለምንስ ልሳደድ ከገዛ ሐገሬ።

የትግሬ ነጻ አውጭ ተከዜን ተሻግሮ ጎንደሬውን ፈጅቶ መሬቱን ሲወረው፤

ወደ ደቡብ ሰፍቶ ወሉን ሲያስብረው፤

አፋር ኦጋዴኑን ኦሮም ደቡቡን፤ አኛክ ዳሰነቹን ደርሶ ሲያሸብረው፡

መታደን ያለበት ወንጀለኛው ማን ነው?

አረ አንቀጠቀጠኝ ብርዱ ሆዴ ገባ፤

ህጻን ልጄ ሲወድቅ እያለኝ አባባ፤

ማንሳት እንኳ አቅቶኝ እጄ ሆኖ ሽባ።

እኔ መስሎኝ ነበር ትግሬ ወገኔ ነው፤

አኔ ብዬ ነበር ትግሬ ወንድሜ ነው፤

ነጻ አውጭው ሲፈጀኝ ተው አላለ ምንነው?

ሰው በማንነቱ ሰው በዘሩ ሲፈጅ ሰምቼ ነበረ ታሪኩን እንደቀልድ፤

አሁን ባይኔ አየሁት የትግሬ ነጻ አውጭ ነፍሰ ጡር ጥሎ ሲያርድ።

ቁልጭ ብሎ ሚታይ ፍንተው ያለው እውነት፤

የትግሬ ነጻ አውጭ ፍጹም አይፈልግም አማራን ለማየት፤

ቀን ከሌት ይሰራል ኢትዮጵያን ለማጥፋት፡

እኔ ወይ ወያኔ ማ መጥፋት አለበት?

ሐገሬ ተራራው ስርጡ ተረተሩ፤

ክትክታ አጋሙ አሸዋ ኮረቱ

ሁሉም መሣሪያ ነው ስትቆርጥ ልቢቱ።

እኔም ሰው ነኝ እኮ ይከፋኝ ያመኛል፤

በደል እስከመቼ ይታዘልልኛል።

በገዛ ሐገሬ አትኖርም ስባል፤

እንደ ልፋጭ ስጋ ተቆርጬ ስጣል።

ትከሻ የለኝም ይህን የሚሸከም፤

ተናንቄ ልሙት ትንፋሼም ትጨልም።

የትግሬ ነጻ አውጭ ጥንስሱ እየፈላ፤

አላስቀምጥ አለኝ ግማቱ እያስጠላ።

በቃኝ በቃኝ በቃኝ ሸክም በዝቶብኛል፤

ይህ አንገቴን መድፋት ለዚህ አብቅቶኛል፡

ልጄንም ሚስቴንም ማዳን አቅቶኛል፤

የትግሬ ነጻ አውጭ በጠራራ ፀሃይ እኔኑ ደፍሮኛል፡

አገር አገር ብዬ ጥቃቴን ባፍነው፤

የትግሬ ነጻ አውጭ ፈነጨብኝ ምነው?

አባባ ዳቦ ሲል የምሰጠው የለኝ፤

ወንድም ጋሼ ስትል እቴን መች አስጣልኩኝ።

ልጄም እንዳሻህ ሁን አህቴም እንደዛው፤

የትግሬ ነጻ አውጭን ሄጄ ልፋለመው።

ጃሎ በል ወገኔ ወርደህ በለው በለኝ፤

የባንዳ ጥራጊ ከትቢያ ሲቆጥረኝ።

አንደበትም የለኝ አልናገር ዳግም፤

ሰው እስክሆን ድረስ አደባባይ አልቆም፤

የባንዳን ጥራጊ በፍልሚያ ገጥሜ፤

ሰው ሆኜ መጣለሁ ሲያገግም ህመሜ።

ከመኖሪያ ቄያቸው በመሳደድ፤ በመታደን፤ በመገደል ላይ ላሉ አማርኛ ተናጋሪ እትዮጵያውያን እና ሲጓጓዙ መኪና ተገልብጦ ላለቁ እና አሰከሬናቸውን አውሬና አሞራ ለተቀራመተው ወገኖቼ መታሰቢያ ትሁንልኝ

The Dragon Eating the Eagle’s Lunch in Africa?

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

Flight of the Eagle and pursuit of the Dragon

In June 2011, during her visit to Zambia U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton pulled the alarm bell on a creeping “new colonialism” in Africa. While dismissing “China’s Model” of authoritarian state capitalism as a governance model for Africa, she took a swipe at China for its unprincipled opportunism in Africa. “In the long-run, medium-run, even short-run, no I don’t [think China is a good model of governance in Africa]…We saw that during colonial times, it is easy to come in, take out natural resources, pay off leaders and leave, …And when you leave, you don’t leave much behind for the people who are there. We don’t want to see a new colonialism in Africa…”

It seems the Eagle has finally taken a good look at the sidewinding Dragon eating its lunch in Africa. The U.S. is in stiff competition not only in Africa but also in the “world’s least explored” country. Clinton minced no words in telling the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “We are in a competition for influence with China; let’s put aside the moral, humanitarian, do-good side of what we believe in, and let’s just talk straight realpolitik… Take Papua New Guinea: huge energy find … ExxonMobil is producing it. China is in there every day in every way, trying to figure out how it’s going to come in behind us, come under us.”

For the past decade, the U.S. has been nonchalant and complacent about China’s “invasion” and lightning-fast penetration of Africa. It was a complacency born of a combination of underestimation, miscalculation, hubris and dismissive thinking that often comes with being a superpower. But the U.S. is finally reading the memo.

Meanwhile, China is zooming along the African highway of “opportunism” with steely resolve and an iron fist sheathed in velvet gloves lined with loans, aid and expensive gifts.  In July 2012, Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Opening Ceremony of the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation proudly proclaimed his country’s economic prowess in Africa. “China’s trade with and investment in Africa have been expanding. In 2011, our two-way trade reached 166.3 billion U.S. dollars, three times the figure in 2006. Cumulative Chinese direct investment in Africa has exceeded 15 billion U.S. dollars, with investment projects covering 50 countries.” He added, “China and Africa have set up 29 Confucius Institutes or Classrooms in 22 African countries. Twenty pairs of leading Chinese and African universities have entered into cooperation under the 20+20 Cooperation Plan for Chinese and African Institutions of Higher Education.”

In 1980, China’s total economic investment in Africa hovered around $USD1 billion; and 20 years later rose only to $USD10 billion. In 2010, China and Ghana signed infrastructure-related loans, credits and made other arrangements valued at about $15 billion. In 2009, China signed a $6 billion loan agreement with the Democratic Republic of the Congo for infrastructure projects. In 2010, Chinese banks extended nearly $9 billion in loans and other types of financing to Angola for various projects. The Angolan government in turn used its oil credit line to commission the State-owned China International Trust and Investment Corporation to build a ghost town outside of the capital at a cost of $USD3.5 billion.  (To see the video of the Angolan ghost town click here.)  In 2011, Chinese firms accounted for 40% of the corporate contracts in Africa compared to only 2 percent for U.S. firms.  According to a report issued by the South African Institute of International Affairs, between 2003-2009, there were between 583,050–820,050 Chinese living, working and doing business in 43 African countries. Today China is Africa’s largest trading partner as the U.S. recedes fast in the rear view mirror.

The Pain of the Ogaden Somali People

by GRAHAM PEEBLES

“Every night, they took all of us girls to [interrogations]. They would separate us and beat us. The second time they took me, they raped me… All three of the men raped me, consecutively”.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) report in Collective Punishment, along with 15 other female students, this innocent 17 year-old Ogaden girl, was held captive for three months in a “dark hole in the ground” and raped 13 times. This is just one of countless accounts of abuse, from within the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, where it is widely reported criminal acts like these are perpetrated by the Ethiopian military and paramilitary forces on a daily basis. Untold atrocities like this; past and present are awaiting investigation, amid what is a much-ignored, little known conflict in the Horn of Africa.

In an attempt to hide the facts from the rest of the world, in 2007 the Ethiopian government banned all international media, and expelled many humanitarian aid groups from the area. It is reputed that any Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) allowed to stay do so on the condition that they sign a waiver document, agreeing not to report human rights violations by the government. Ethiopia, Leslie Lefkow of HRW states, “is one of the most difficult places to work for human rights groups or humanitarian agencies on the African continent”, and the Ogaden (a barren land, littered with military remnants from past conflicts), “is one of the most difficult places to work in Ethiopia.” There are “huge challenges to doing investigations on the ground because the security apparatus of the government is extremely extensive and permeates even the lowest levels, the grass roots, the village levels”, where regime spies and informers operate, reporting anything and anyone suspicious.

Information about life within the region comes from whispering sources on the ground, and from those who have fled the violence, and are now living outside Ethiopia. Many are in refugee camps in Kenya and Yemen, from where they recount stories of horrific abuse. Mohammed, from the Dhadhaab (or Dadaab) camp in Kenya, described to Ogaden Online (OO) 1/12/2012 how he was captured by the Ethiopian military, accused of being a supporter of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and mercilessly tortured. “They hogtied me”, he said, “and then flogged me while pinned down.” Mohamed’s face “was disfigured to the point where he can’t be recognized”. Refugees support Amnesty International’s (AI) findings of “torture and extrajudicial executions of detainees in the region” – women tell of multiple gang rapes, their arms, feet and necks tied with wire, for which they bear the scars, men speak of barbaric torture techniques at the hands of the Ethiopian military and paramilitary – the notorious, semi legal, completely barbaric Liyu Police, who, Laetitia Bader of HRW says, “fit into this context of impunity where security forces can do more or less what they want”.

ውያኔ በተዋሕዶ ሃይማኖታችን ላይ ያለማቋረጥ ያካሄደውን ጦርነት በተመለከተ በኮለምበስ ኦሃዮና አጎራባች ከተሞች ከምንገኝ የተዋሕዶ ልጆች የተሰጠ የአቋም መግለጫ

መጋቢት 13 ቀን 2005 ዓ.ም. ( March 22, 2013 )

በስመ አብ፣ ወወልድ፣ ወመንፈስ ቅዱስ አሀዱ አምላክ፤ አሜን።

“እውነትን በግልጥ የማይናገር ሰው ሁከትን ይፈጥራል…”
መጽሐፈ ምሳሌ 10፥10

“የሐሰት ዕድሜ አጭር ነው፤ እውነት ግን ለዘላለም ትኖራለች። ”
መጽሐፈ ምሳሌ 12፥19

ሀገራችን ኢትዮጵያና ጥንታዊው ሃይማኖታችን ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ክርስትና ለረጅም ዘመናት ሳይነጣጠሉ ተቆራኝተው በአንድነት የኖሩ መሆናቸውን የታሪክ ማኅደር በሰፊው ይመሰክራል፡፡
በሀገራችን አንድነት፤ በሕዝባችንም ነፃነት እንዲሁም በቅድስት ቤተክርስቲያናችንና በተዋሕዶ ሃይማኖታችን ጽናትና ጥንካሬ ላይ በተለያዩ ጊዜያት ልዩ ልዩ ፈተናዎች ቢገጥሙም፤ በቆራጥ የሃይማኖት አባቶቻችን ጽኑ አመራር፣ ተጋድሎና መስዋዕትነት የተጋረጡባቸውን መከራ እያለፉ ሃይማኖታችንን ጠብቀው፤ የሀገራችንና የሕዝባችንም አንድነትና ነፃነት ሳያስደፍሩ አቆይተውልናል፡፡

ፀረ-ኢትዮጵያዊና ፋሽስቱ ወያኔ ከሽፍትነት ወደ ገዥ ቡድንነት ተሸጋግሮ ሥልጣን ላይ ከወጣበት 21 ዓመታት ጀመሮ የጥፋት እጁን ዘርግቶ የሀገራችንን ሕልውና አደጋ ላይ ለመጣል እየተፍጨረጨረ ከሚገኝባቸው በርካታ አጀንዳዎች መካከል ከፍተኛውን እጅ የያዘው የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያንን ለማጥፋት እንደሆነ ይታወቃል። ይህንን ተግባር እውን ለማድረግ ከጅምሩ ሕገ-ቤተክርስቲያን አፍርሶ፣ ሕጋዊ ፓትርያርኩን ከመንበራቸው አውርዶ ለስደት ከመዳረጉ በላይ የዘር መድልኦ ተልዕኮውን በመዘርጋት ቤተክርስቲያኒቱን በቁጥጥሩ ሥር አውሎ የታሪክ ቅርሶቿን በማጥፋት ላይ ይገኛል፡፡

ከዚህ በፊት በክርስትና ሃይማኖታችን ላይ ከደረሱት ጥፋቶች፤ ከዮዲት ጉዲት ሆነ ከግራኝ መሐመድ የመከራ ዘመን ይህ አሁን ያለንበት ወቅት አጅግ ላቅ ያለ መከራ የተጋረጠበት፤አጅግ በረቀቀ የጥፋት መረብ ውስጥ ሕዝበ ክርስቲያኑን ለማጥመድ የተንኮል ሴራ የተሸረበበት፤ ቤተክርስቲያንን ለማጥፋት በታሪካዊ ጠላቶቻችን ለዘመናት ሲጠኑ የኖሩ እቅዶችን ተግባራዊ በማድረግ ፋሽስቱ ወያኔ ፀረ-ኢትዮጵያና ፀረ-ተዋሕዶ ድርጊቱን በግልጽ እየፈጸመ ይገኛል።ለአስረጅነት ለመጥቀስ ያህል መናኞችና ባሕታውያን በጾም በፀሎት የሚኖሩባቸው ታሪካዊ ገዳሞቻችንን እንደ ዝቋላ፣ አሰቦት ወዘተ. . . የመሳሰሉት ለማጥፋት ሆን ተብሎ በእሳት ማጋየት፤ ታላቁን ዋልድባ ገዳምን በልማት ስም ይዞታውን በመቆጣጠር የቅዱሳን አባቶቻችን መካነ-መቃብር ማረስ፤ መናንያን መነኮሳት አባቶችን እያንገላቱ ማሰር፤ እንዲሁም በርከት ያሉትን ከገዳማቸው በማፈናቀል ማባረርን የመሳሰሉት ይገኙበታል።

በኮለምበስ ኦሃዮና አጎራባች ከተሞች ከምንገኝ የተዋሕዶ ልጆች የተሰጠ የአቋም መግለጫ ገጽ 2 ፀረ-ኢትዮጵያዊና ፋሽስቱ ወያኔ ኢትዮጵያን በ1983 እ.ኢትዮ.አ. ከተቆጣጠረ በኋላ የችግሩ መንስዔና የሁኔታዎች ሂደት እንዴት እንደነበሩ በአጭሩ እንመልከት፥

1. የችግሩ መንስዔ፥

ወልደ ኀጉሉ ( ለአጥፊነት የተፈጠረ ) የኢትዮጵያ ጠላት ፋሽስቱ ወያኔ ኢትዮጵያን በገዥነት በተቆጣጠረበት ጊዜ ተግባሩ አድርጎ የወሰደው 17 ዓመት በርሃ በነበረበት ወቅት ሲያውጠነጥን የቆየውን ኢትዮጵያንና የኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ሃይማኖታችንን ለማጥፋት፤ እንዲሁም ከሃይማኖታችን ጋር ለሺህ ዓመታት ታሪካዊ ቁርኝት ያላቸው ሕዝባዊ ቅርሶቻችንን የማውደም ተልዕኮውን መወጣት ነበር። ይህንን እቅድ ለመፈጸም ይቻል ዘንድ በርሃ ሳለ ጣምራ ገጸ-ባሕሪ የተላበሱ፤ በጎሰኝነታቸው የሚታወቁ፤ ለሚያራምደው የጎሳ ፖለቲካ ምቹ የሆኑና የተዋህዶ ሃይማኖት ትምህርት የቀሰሙ ግለሰቦችን መልምሎ
አሰለጠነ።

ፋሽስቱ ወያኔ ኢትዮጵያን በአገዛዙ ሥር ሲያስገባ እነዚህን ሃሳዊ-መሢህና የበግ ለምድ የለበሱ ተኩላዎች የሃይማኖቱ መሪዎች አድርጎ ሾመ። በዚሁ መሠረት የጥፋት እጁን በኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ሃይማኖታችን ላይ ዘረጋ። በቁጥጥር ሥር ያደረጋቸውን የብዙሃን መገናኛ አውታሮች በመጠቀም የሕገ-ቤተክርስቲያን ደንብ ተሟልቶና ተጠብቆ በሥርዓት የተመረጡትን ሕጋዊ ፓትርያርክ ብፁዕ ወቅዱስ አቡነ መርቆሬዎስ ርዕሰ ሊቃነ ጳጳሳት ፓትርያርክ ዘኢትዮጵያ ላይ የሀሰት ፕሮፓጋንዳ መንዛቱን ተያያዘው። የስውር ታጣቂ ኃይሉንም በመጠቀም አስገድዶ ከመንበራቸው አወረዳቸው። በምትካቸው የአድዋ ተወላጅና የወያኔ አባል የነበሩትን አባ ገብረመድህንን (ጳውሎስ) ሾመ።

በዚህ የተነሳ ሕገ ቀኖና ፈረሰ።ሥርዓተ ቤተክርስቲያንም ተጣሰ። ለመጀመርያ ጊዜ በሃይማኖታችን ታሪክ ውስጥ ሁለት ሲኖዶሶችና ገለልተኛ ቤተክርስቲያን ተከሰቱ። ይኸም በስደት የሚገኘው ሕጋዊው ቅዱስ ሲኖደስ፤ የወያኔ ተቀጥላ የሆነው የአዲስ አበባው ሲኖዶስ እና ከሁለቱም ሲኖዶሶች ውጭ ነን የሚል ገለልተኛ ቤተክርስቲያን።

2. የእርቀ ሰላሙ ሂደትና ፍጻሜ፥

የሕገ-ቤተክርስቲያን (ቀኖና) መጣስ የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተክርስቲያንን ከሦስት(3) ከፍሎ፤ ታይቶና ተሰምቶ በማይታወቅ ሁኔታ በዘር ዙርያ ባጠነጠነ ባሕሪው ቤተክርስቲያናችንን ችግር ላይ ጣላት፤ አንድነቷም ተናጋ፤ምዕመናን ተስፋ ቆረጡ።

ይህ ጉዳይ በከፍተኛ ደረጃ ያሳሰባቸው የተዋሕዶ ልጆች ሁለቱን ሲኖዶሶች ለማስታረቅ ሁለት የሰላም ስብሰባዎች ጠርተውና አካሂደው ጉዳዩ በእንጥልጥል ላይ እንዳለ፤ እግዚአብሔር ሁኔታውን ለማመቻቸት ሲል አባ ገብረመድህንን (ጳውሎስ) ሳይታሰብ ወደ ማይቀረው ዓለም ወሰዳቸው። ይህ ሁኔታ ለሰላሙ በር ከፍቶ ታላቅ እድል ሰጠ። በሀገር ቤትና በውጭ ሀገራት ያሉት ምዕመናን የቤተክርስቲያን አንድነት ይመጣል ብለው ታላቅ ተስፋ አደረጉ። የሰላም ኮሚቴውም እርቀ-ሰላም ለማምጣት ከማንኛውም ጊዜ በላይ ተንቀሳቀሰ። ሆኖም ግን፣ ፀረ-ኢትዮጵያዊነትና ፀረ-ተዋሕዶ ሃይማኖት ግንባር-ቀደም አራማጁ ወያኔ የቆመለትን ኢትዮጵያን የማፍረስና ተዋሕዶ ሃይማኖታችንን የማጥፋት ዓላማውን ለማሳካት ሲል የሰላሙን በር ለአንዴና ለመጨራሻ ጊዜ ዘጋው።

Ethiopia: The vulture regime’s deception and our ignorance of the truth took a toll on our people

The truth is Woyane is illegitimate regime of Ethiopia, illegal representative of the people of Tigray and chronically corrupt entity. Let the truth set it free than the constant deception it perpetuate to stay alive. Those that choose to take the deception as truth are digging their own grave. If anyone has any doubts to that reality they must be part of the hoax, delusional or victims of the elaborate deception. That is the honest truth.

by Teshome Debalke

Every living and breathing Ethiopian or in new politically correct language of Woyane, Nation and Nationalities of Ethiopia should be ashamed of ourselves for not seeking the truth but noting but the truth about our people and country to stop vultures’ instigated conflicts and corruption. Our ignorance about ourselves, each other and what is happening around us open the door for vultures like Woyane, the one time self declared non Ethiopian insurgency to tell us who we are in the 21^st century. To make matter worst, Berket Simon, an Eritrean national that was planted to represent the Amhara region is in charge of telling us about ourselves. Sadly, lots of us are going along with it; thanks for the vulture’s propaganda and our inability to get to the truth. The co-opted ‘journalists’ that make a living spinning the lies are not helping us to get to the truth either.

Before some out of control messengers of the vulture regime jump all over me and label me terrorist to throw me in jail or order for my stoning or hanging for telling the truth as they did to many brave Ethiopian truth seekers, let me explain what I mean. After all, am I not free to speak the truth and innocent until proven guilty? I wish.

Quite honestly, our problem isn’t the vulture Woyane or its mindless cadres that took the opportunity of our ignorance to do us harm but, the messengers of vultures and our inability to get to the truth are to blame. Woyane happen to be on the right place at the right time to exploit our differences and live-off on our ignorance about each other to end up where it is now.

As they say, we are what we eat, in this case the information we consume. Therefore, what we know about ourselves and each other matters. But, when we are at the mercy of vultures like Woyane for our daily information we are bound to be ignorant enough to do unforgivable crimes against our own people and country.

Count me out; I don’t have the taste or the propensity to entertain rubbish propaganda from vultures of any kind, especially from Woyane. I wouldn’t be caught dead making a self trashing decisions based on information the vulture regime provide against my own people just because… I leave that to the messengers of vultures and the scavengers that see the lack of knowledge and the misery of our people as an opportunity. In fact, they have no self respect to see themselves any other way beyond serving the vulture regime.

A Critical Appraisal of the Diaspora Organized Groups Opposed to the Regime in Ethiopia

Walle Engedayehu, Ph.D.

An Overview

The collective staying-power of the opposition within the Ethiopian Diaspora community against the regime in Addis Ababa still remains in a state of paralysis after more than two decades of cry-out for a unity of purpose, goals, and objectives. The opposition has not been able, as yet, to help stamp out both authoritarianism and a minority ethnic oligarchy, which are both well-entrenched in Ethiopia. As its primary objective, this commentary strives to address some of the salient issues that affect unity amongst Ethiopians in the Diaspora. More importantly, it deciphers the adverse consequences of such issues on efforts to usher in a positive political transformation of our country, while offering some possible remedies central to forging a united front among the variety of groups that make up the opposition. Nonetheless, the essay does not purport to be a research-based study on the hard-to-pin-down unity of the Diaspora opposition, but is an opinion that is based on both personal reflections and a keen awareness of the issues with which the writer has been familiar over the years, as a long-time observer of Ethiopian Diaspora-based political activities.

The Nature of the Problem and Purpose of the Commentary

The writer posits that the ceaseless divide, which ostensibly characterizes the Ethiopian Diaspora community in general and the opposition particularly, has unquestionably offered a golden opportunity for the regime in Addis Ababa to continue the ethnic-based authoritarian rule that it has imposed on our country— practically unchallenged. Furthermore, in the opinion of this writer, there has not been a serious challenge exerted against the regime at a level necessary to force the rulers— even at a minimum—to come to a bargaining table for a possible compromise

with the opposition on any possible power-sharing modalities. This has stemmed from the undeniable fact that the opposition, both inside and outside of the country, is divided and thus has failed to marshal its collective resources to confront the regime on the many fronts that would be necessary to weaken its grip of power and strangulate its narrow support-base throughout the country. However, the scope of this essay is limited to and exclusively on the Diaspora opposition, although the domestic foes of the regime are also central to any broader examination of the issues.

Indeed, more than two decades have elapsed since the opposition throughout the Diaspora started a campaign of struggle against the Ethiopian regime through peaceful means, mainly aimed at forcing the ethnic minority regime to negotiate with its political opponents on ways to bring about not only a lasting political reconciliation in Ethiopia, but also a national unity government that will lead the country on a genuine path of democracy, transparency and the rule of law. However, all efforts to that end have fallen on deaf ear, as the Tigrean People Liberation Front (TPLF)-dominated government in Ethiopia appears to see the opposition simply as an inconsequential political adversary not worthy of any recognition. Why has the opposition failed regretfully to impel the regime to change its behavior of intransigence for more than 22 years? Retrospectively speaking, why have protests, demonstrations, and condemnations of regime policies throughout the years failed to budge the minority rulers from the North, making them amenable to a negotiated political settlement of power-sharing? Why has our plea for help become so pointless that Western governments have dismissed us as seemingly irrelevant? What have been the glaring consequences of failure of the opposition to wage an effective, united struggle against the regime in power? What lessons have been learned so far from this failure? Are there any changes of tactic that the opposition should explore in order to find a lasting solution to a minority ethnic oligarchy that is well entrenched on the home front? What should we, as concerned and despondent citizens of Ethiopian descent, do to put an end to all the crises beleaguering the Horn of Africa country and shorten the life of a regime hell-bent on pursuing a totalitarian control of all aspects of life in Ethiopia? This essay navigates through these and other related issues here forth.