ግንቦት 20 ቀን 1983 ዓ.ም. እና ኢትዮጵያ (ገብረመድህን አርአያ)

June 22, 2013

አቶ ገብረመድህን አርአያ*
ከአውስትራሊያ

ወደ ግንቦት 20ቀን, 1983 ዓ.ም. ከመግባታችን በፊት ትንሽ ወደ ኋላ መለስ በማለት የደርግ ስርዓትን በትንሹ እንቃኘው::

ደርግ

የካቲት ወር 1966 ዓ.ም. የዘውድ አገዛዙን ስርዓት በመቃወም በአርሶ አደሩ ፣ በተማሪው ፣ በአስተማሪው ፣ በመንግስት ሰራተኛው ፣ በወዛደሩ ፣ በነጋዴው እና በመለዮ ለባሹ ወዘተ ፣ ወዘተ የተቀጣጠለው ህዝባዊ አመጽ ጊዜ ሳይወስድበት በ6 ወራት ውስጥ የተነሳው ህዝባዊ አመጽ ግቡን መታ::

ህዝባዊ አመጹን የሚመራው የተደረጀ ፓርቲ ባለመኖሩ በር የተከፈተለት መለዮ ለባሽ አመቺ ሁኔታ በማግኘቱ በፍጥነት ተደራጅቶ ከተራ ወታደር ጀምሮ የተለያዩ ማእረግ ያላቸው አባላቱን አስመርጦ ወደ 120 የሚጠጉ ተወካዮቹን አዲስ አበባ በሚገኘው አራተኛ ክፍለጦር አሰባሰበ::

ከጦር ሃይሎች ፣ ከክቡር ዘበኛ እና ከፖሊስ የተውጣጡት እንኚሁ መለዮ ለባሾች በሰኔ ወር 1966 ዓ.ም. ተሰብስበው ብሄራዊ አስተባባሪ ኮሚቴ መስርተው “ኢትዮጵያ ትቅደም ፣ አቆርቋዥ ይውደም” በሚል መርህ ስር ሰፊ ሊባል የሚችል የህዝብ ድጋፍም አግኝተው ነበር::

አቶ ገብረመድህን እርአያ

መስከረም 2 ቀን 1967 ዓ.ም. የተመሰረተው አስተባባሪ ኮሚቴ ንጉሱን ከስልጣን አውርዶ “ጊዜያዊ ወታደራዊ አስተዳደር ደርግ” የሚል ስም በመያዝ ኢትዮጵያን ማስተዳደር ጀመረ:: ቀስ በቀስም ደርግ የስልጣን ወንበሩን በማመቻቸት የሃገሪቷ መንግስት ለመሆን ቻለ::

በወቅቱ በኢትዮጵያም ሆነ በሌሎች ሃገራት ሶሻሊዝም ወይም ህብረተሰባዊነት በሚባል ርዕዮተ አለም እድገት እና ብልጽግና የማይገኝበት “ላም አለኝ በሰማይ ወተቷን የማላይ” ስርዓት በቀድሞዋ ሶቭየት ህብረት እና ቻይና ፕሮፖጋንዳ አለምን እንደማዕበል ሲወዘውዛት የነበረበው ሁኔታ ሆኖ በደርግ የተመሰረተው መንግስት ግራና ቀኙን ሳይመለከት ሶሻሊዝም በኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ የሚፈጥረውን ቀውስ እና ችግር ሳያጤን እና ኢትዮጵያውያን ሊቃውንትን ሳያማክር በ1972 ዓ.ም. ኢሰፓአኮን(የኢትዮጵያ ሰራተኞች ፓርቲ አደራጅ ኮሚሽን) መሰረተ:: ይህንን ምስረታ ተከትሎም ደርግ አንድ እግሩን ገደል ከተተው::

በዚህ ጽሁፍ ሁለት ነገሮችን ለያይቼ በማሳየት ለማለፍ እሞክራለሁኝ፤

1) ደርግ እንደ ፖለቲካ ተቋም እና ስርዓት

2) መለዮ ለባሹ እንደ አገር መከላከያ ሰራዊት

ሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊ እንደሚያውቀው የኢትዮጵያ መከላከያ ሰራዊት ኢትዮጵያዊ የሆነ እና በዘመናዊነቱ በአፍሪካ ጭምር ተወዳዳሪ ያልነበረው እንደነበር ነው:: የደርግ ስርዓት ከወታደሩ በወጡ ሰዎች ቢመሰረትም ሰራዊቱ ግን በየትኛውም መለኪያ የኢትዮጵያ ሰራዊት ለመሆኑ ከጥያቄ ውስጥ ሊያስግባው የሚችል አንዳችም መከራከሪያ ሊቀርብ አይችልም:: አገራችን ዘመናዊ ጦር ማደረጀት ከጀመረችበት ከሃያኛው ክፍለዘመን መባቻ ጀምሮ በስንት ወጪ እና ጥረት የገነባችውን ጦር የ “ደርግ ጦር” የሚል ቅጽል በመስጠት ከፍተኛ የሆነ የስም እና የሞራል ማጥፋት ዘመቻ የፈጸሙበት ጸረ ኢትዮጵያ የሆኑት ወያኔ እና ሻዕቢያ ናቸው::

ይህ ጦር ደሙን አፍስሶ ፣ አጥንቱን ከስክሶ ፤ ራበኝ ፣ ደክመኝ ሳይል ወያኔ እና ሻዕቢያን እግር እግራቸውን እየተከታተለ ሲደመሥሳቸው እና ሲያጠፋቸው የነበረ የኢትዮጵያ ብርቅ ልጅ ነው:: የዛሬው የወያኔ ዘረኛ ሰራዊት ግን እንኳን ስለኢትዮጵያ ሉዓላዊነት ሊከላከል ይቅርና ራሱ የወያኔ ሰራዊት ጸረ ኢትዮጵያና ጸረ ህዝብ የአንድ ጎጠኛና ዘረኛ ታጣቂ ቡድን ነው:: አሁን ያለው በዘር የተደራጀው ቅጥረኛ እና ባንዳ ሰራዊት በየትኛውም መለኪያ የኢትዮጵያ መከላከያ ሰራዊት ተብሎ ሊወሰድ የሚችልበት ሁኔታ የለም::

የደርግ መንግስት በስልጣን በቆየበት 17 አመት ውስጥ የኢትዮጵያን ዳር ድንበር ቀይ ባህርን የጠበቀ ፤ ከገንጣይ እና አስገንጣዮች አገሪቷን እየተከላከለ ሉዓላዊነትን የጠበቀ የኢትዮጵያ ስርዓት ነበር::

በሚከተለው ርዕዮተ አለም ቀስ በቀስ እየተዳከመ በመሄድ እንደነበረው አገርና ህዝብ ለማዳን አልቻለም:: ደርግ በተዳከመ ጊዜም ሰራዊቱ ይዳከማል:: አንድ የሃገር መከላከያ ሰራዊት ከመንግስት የሚቀርብለት ነገሮች ብዙ ናቸው:: ይህ አልሆነም:: ሰራዊቱም መንግስት በመዳከሙ ምክንያት የነበረው አልበገር ባይነት ስሜቱ እና ጀግንነቱ የውጊያ ብቃቱ ተስፋ በመቁረጡ ችግር እየፈጠረለት ሄደ ቢሆንም ግን ወያኔም ሆነ ሻዕቢያ አሁንም ፈቀቅ ሊሉ አልቻሉም:: የማይበገር የኢትዮጵያ ሰራዊት መሆኑን ያውቁታል እና::

ይህ በዚሁ እንዳለ የሃገሪቱ ፕሬዚደንት መንግስቱ ሃይለማሪያም ግንቦት 13 ቀን 1983 ዓ.ም. ኢትዮጵያን ለቀው ዚምባብዌ ሃራሬ ገቡ:: እዛም ጥገኝነት ጠየቁ:: መሆን የማይገባውን ስራ ሰሩ:: በኢትዮጵያ ሃገራቸው ሰርተው ሂወታቸው ቢያልፍ ታላቅ ስምና ክብር ያገኙ ነበር:: ግን አላደረጉትም:: ይህን ተከትሎም የኢትዮጵያ ሰራዊት ተበተነ::

ግንቦት 15 ቀን 1983 ዓ.ም. በፕሬዚደንት መንግስቱ እግር የተተኩት ጀነራል ተስፋዬ ገብረኪዳን በዜና እወጃ የኢትዮጵያ ሰራዊት የነበርከው በያለህበት ቦታ መሳሪያህን ለህወሃት(ኢህአዴግ) እና ለሻዕቢያ እያስረከብክ ወደ ምትፈልግበት ሂድ፤ ሻዕቢያም ኤርትራን ህወሃትም ኢትዮጵያን እንዲቆጣጠሩ ፈቅደናል በማለት ፍጹም ክህደት በሆነ መንገድ ኢትዮጵያ እና ህዝብዋን ለደመኛ ጠላቶች አሳልፈው ሰጡ::

The Humanitarian Aid-Corruption Nexus in Ethiopia

June 21, 2013

Seid Hassan- Murray State University

A. Introduction

The Amharic version of the Voice of America (journalist Solomon Abate serving as moderator) entertained a discussion on corruption which was broadcast on May 17 and 18, 2013. Participants included Messrs. Mulugeta Aragawi of Addis Ababa University, Abebe Gutta (attorney at law in Addis Ababa), Berhanu Assefa (Ethical Education and Communication Affairs Director of the Federal Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission-FEACC) and I. The first two gentlemen who really knew the sources, extent and potential solution to the rampant Ethiopian corruption politely provided their views, including the approaches that the government has to take to fight the corruption that the government has admitted to be rampant. As expected and is customary of the members of the EPRDF, Mr. Berhanu Assefa of the FEACC was on the defensive and mostly on the attack mode, instead of listening to the complaints and suggestions of the two citizens.  As those who listened to the debate can easily attest, Mr. Assefa spent most of his time talking about unrelated to the topic of discussion –yes, you guessed it right: the same old and tired double digit growth rates that all EPRDFites like to parrot each other ad nauseam.  He also suggested that the current decision to fight against corruption is for real and the arrest of Minister Melaku Fenta, director general of the revenue and customs authority and his deputy Gebrewahed Woldegiorgis along with several officials and businessmen merchants should serve as proof and we ought not to discourage it.  I partially agreed with Mr. Assefa’s suggestion in that all of us have to encourage the fight against corruption, if indeed it is for real while at the same time expressing my serious doubts.

The Woyane Fan Club in Diaspora: Fools, ignorant and the corrupt

by Teshome Debalke

In the wake of the news this week EPRDF/TPLF stooges in Diaspora are on the way to Addis Ababa to rescue the brazen Ethiopian ethnic tyranny from taking beatings from Ethiopians in Diaspora I can’t help but want to tell them how stupid can they be to even entertain the idea of meeting the regime let alone waste time and money to travel to help preserve a pathetic ethnic Apartheid tyranny.

It struck me; what happened to some of us Ethiopians we are willing voluntarily sell our soul for brazen ethnic tyranny for cheap? What happen to our dignity, pride and all to stoop below a regime that can’t tell; Ethiopians aren’t a collection of ethnicities and religions for the benefit of ethnic warlords’ corruption. But again, since they are stupid enough not to understand it for 22 long years I figured I will share it with the rest of my fellow Ethiopians how being stupid, ignorant and corrupt can delay our people’s freedom and democracy and costs lives and resources.

First of all, there is no whatsoever excuse for anyone that tasted freedom and democracy to voluntarily go back into servitude of tyranny. Therefore, Woyane stooges in Diaspora broke the record of stupidity, ignorance and corruption of the millennium. That isn’t all; they willingly insult the people of free world that gave them the privilege to be free they don’t deserve. I can only say stupidity, ignorance and corruption isn’t a virtue; as the Woyane stooges think.

My fear is, they are stupid, ignorant and corrupt enough to comeback and demand to dissolve the US voting right, reinstate slavery, strip freedom of speech as luxury they can’t stand and insist one government run Media is sufficient to tell us growth and development. Also, don’t be surprise if they demand the US Election Commission select the US President and the Representatives by 99.9% to bring about Revolutionary Democracy in the free world. Oh yes, I forgot the main reason they traveled; the US government to label the ‘extremist Diaspora’ terrorists and lock them up.

Seriously, the stooges in Diaspora honestly believe Woyane brought good governance and democracy. Haven’t you noticed some of the stooges in the Diaspora comparing Woyane rule with the US?  I vividly remember a few years back a stooge that came on Voice of America claiming the 99.64% selection of Woyane in the 2010 election as ‘the people has spoken’. I was stunned with the statement of the individual the reporter referred as Doctor… mad at the reporter not to follow up-asking him what kind of Doctor he was to accept such statistic.

Voices in Danger: Jailed for 18 years for criticizing Ethiopia’s government, journalist Eskinder Nega vows to keep fighting

The Independent has seen a defiant letter smuggled out of jail by a man who pines for democracy

Source: The Independent

An Ethiopian journalist who was jailed after publishing a series of articles calling for democratic reforms has penned a letter from prison, seen exclusively by The Independent, in which he decries the “human rights crisis” unfolding in Ethiopia and describes the personal toll of facing 18 years behind bars.

The call to action: You can help Eskinder’s case. Please share these stories, his journalism, and his prison letter, as widely as you can through social media. Wherever you are in the world, please raise his case with your elected officials and governmental foreign ministers.

Eskinder Nega, 45, was sentenced last year under a broad 2009 anti-terrorism law which freedom of speech activists, the United Nations and various members of the US congress and European Parliament say effectively ban independent journalism in Ethiopia. At trial, Mr Nega admitted he had criticised the government, but said he had only ever called for peaceful steps towards democratic reforms.

A copy of Mr Nega’s letter, smuggled out of his cell in Addis Ababa’s notorious Kality Prison, was passed to The Independent for publication as part of its Voices in Danger campaign, which is aimed at publicising the plight of jailed, attacked or harassed reporters around the world.

Under the headline “I shall persevere!”, Mr Nega’s letter is a reaction to a ruling handed down by the Ethiopian Supreme Court on 3 May, which rejected his appeal and upheld his 18-year jail sentence. In it, Mr Nega vows to continue his fight for freedom of speech in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia Has Arisen!

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

On Ginbot 20,  1983 (Ethiopian calendar; [5/28/1991]), Meles Zenawi and thousands of his guerilla fighters marched into Addis Ababa toting AK-47s, RPGs and hand grenades. They marched into the capital promising democracy, freedom and liberation from a brutal military dictatorship. The people of the capital welcomed them with some anxiety; but they were greatly relieved to see a regime that had brutalized them for 17 years finally consigned to the dustbin of history.

On Ginbot 25, 2005 (Ethiopian calendar; [6/1/2013]), over one hundred thousand young men and women marched in the streets of Addis Ababa demanding the release of political prisoners, religious freedom, respect for human rights and the Constitution and public accountability.  They demanded action on youth unemployment, inflation and corruption. They marched armed with cell phones, placards and banners. They cried out for justice.  They sang songs of unity: “Ethiopia! Our Country!” They marched for their rights and the rights of their brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers. What a sight to behold! Tens of thousands of young people demanding their rights in a peaceful demonstration.

The long youth march to freedom and dignity has begun in Ethiopia. It is beautiful. It is beautiful because it is peaceful. It is beautiful because it is motivated by love of country and love of each other as children of one Mother Ethiopia. It is beautiful because Ethiopia’s youth in unison are shouting out loud, “We can’t take anymore! We need change!” History shall record that on Ginbot 25, 2005 Ethiopia rose from the pit she has fallen into on the wings of her youth.

Meles Zenawi and our money

by Yilma Bekele

The last seven years or so I have been writing opinion pieces on the political situation in our homeland. Naturally I have discussed the late Prime Minter Meles Zenawi and his central role in charting the direction our country should follow on the road he envisioned to improve the life of our people. Prime Minter Zenawi ruled over our country for twenty one years. One can say from 1991 when the TPLF took over to 2001 when the split within the party took place in the aftermath of the Eritrean Conflict the TPLF operated in a primitive semi democratic group type of leadership which they brought over from their days fighting the Derg.

The split that took place in 2001 changed the dynamic of the ethnic based outfit. It did not take long for Meles Zenawi to assert his position as the Capo di tutti capi (boss of all bosses) in the Mafia outfit that was masquerading as a political party until his death in 2013. The 2005 General election was another defining moment in the relationship between the TPLF Party and Meles Zenawi on one hand and the people of Ethiopia on the other.

From 1992 to 2004 Meles Zenawi and his party were busy redrawing the map, rewriting our history, granting independence and redefining our national priorities and felt comfortable in their accomplishments. In fact they were so sure that they have constructed a solid foundation that will withstand any and all challenge by what they thought to be a desperate amalgamation of discredited and demoralized opposition that they allowed an open semi free election. Meles called the move “a calculated risk.”  Obviously it exploded and back fired on his face.

The election changed the whole dynamics of the relationship between Meles Zenawi as a leader and the Ethiopian Nation as his responsibility. His earlier misgivings about Ethiopia as a nation, his deep seated hatred towards the rest of Ethiopia in general and the Amhara in particular, his always nagging feeling that people did not give him credit for being an Ethiopian was validated by the complete rejection of his party in every village, town and city all over the country. The election was a watershed moment in the life of Meles (Legesse) Zenawi Asres.

I brought this all up because in order to understand the latest news regarding the personal wealth of Ato Meles it is important we have a good perspective on what drove the individual to engage in such massive crime of the first kind that the whole idea boggles the ordinary mind. Because of the many atrocities visited on us we have taken the news in many peculiar Ethiopian fashion which I am sure is difficult for others to comprehend. We have become desensitized to the crimes of the Government and we do not react in a rational or normal manner like the rest of humanity. I believe this situation is a glaring example of that strange Ethiopian behavior towards crime, the criminal and the victim. It is not nice to say but I am afraid we have a long way to go before we learn to assert our human right and dignity and demand respect as a citizen endowed with certain unalienable Rights

የግንቦት ሰባት አራተኛ ጉባኤ አቋም መግለጫ

የግንቦት ሰባት የፍትህ ፤ የነጻነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ አራተኛ ጉባኤ ቅዳሜ ግንቦት 17 ቀን 2005 ዓም ተጀምሮ ለሦስት ተከታታይ ቀናት ከተካሄደ በኋላ ህዝባዊ ትግሉን ወደፊት የሚያራምዱ ዉሳኔዎችን ካሳለፈ በኋለ ባለፈዉ ሰኞ ምሽት እጅግ በጣም በደመቀ ሁኔታ ተጠናቀቀ። ይህ የንቅናቄዉ አራተኛ መደበኛ ጉባኤ ንቅናቄዉ ባለፉት ሁለት አመታት የተጓዘባቸዉን መንገዶች፤ ያቀዳቸዉን ስራዎችና የዕቅዱን አፈጻጸም በጥልቀትና በስፋት በመዳሰስ መጪዉ የትግል ወቅት የሚጠይቀዉን የመስዋዕትነት ደረጃ ከወዲሁ ተመልክቶ ዘረኛዉን የወያኔ አገዘዝ በማስወገድ የኢትዮጵያን ህዝብ የፍትህና የዲሞክራሲ ጥማት ሊያረኩ ይችላሉ ብሎ ያመነባቸዉን አበይት ዉሳኔዎች አሳልፏል።

የግንቦት ሰባት አራተኛ መደበኛ ጉባኤ የንቅናቄዉን የአለፉት አምስት አመታት ጉዞና በዚህ በአራተኛዉ ጉበኤ ላይ የስልጣን ዘመናቸዉን የጨረሱት የንቅናቄዉ ምክር ቤትና የስራ አስፈጻሚ ኮሚቴ የስራ ዕቅድና የስራ አፈጻጸም ሪፖርት አዳምጦ ሰፊና ጥልቅ ዉይይት ካካሄደ በኋላ በጉባኤዉ ላይ አዲስ ለተመረጡ የአመራር አባላት ንቅናቄዉ የታሰበበትን ግብ እንዳይመታ አንቀዉ የያዙትን እንቅፋቶች እንዲያስወግድና እንዲሁም የንቅነቁዉ ጥንካሬ በታየባቸዉ መስኮች አቅሙን አጣናክሮ በይበልጥ በመስራት የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ከንቅናቄዉ የሚጠብቀዉን የታሪክ አደራ እንዲወጣ አሳስቧል። በጉባኤዉ ወቅት አባላት ያደረጉት አመራሩን የመንቀፍ፤አቅጣጫ የማሳየት፤ ሀሳብ የማመንጨትና በአጠቃላይ በእያንዳንዱ የጉባአዉ ስብሰባ ላይ ባሳዩት ንቁ ተሳትፎ ንቅናቄዉ በህዝባዊ አመጽና እምቢተኝነት ዘርፎች ብቻ ሳይሆን በዲሞክራሲ ባህል ግንባታ ዘርፍም እያደገ መምጣቱን አሳይተዋል።

የግንቦት ሰባት አራተኛ መደበኛ ጉባኤ የምክር ቤትና የስራ አስፈጻሚ ኮሚቴ፤ ኦዲትና ቁጥጥር ኮሚቴ እንዲሁም የስነ ስርአትና የግልግል ኮሚቴ ሪፖርቶችን አዳምጦ ሰፊና ጥልቅ ዉይይት ካካሄደ በኋላ ሪፖርቶቹን አጽድቋል። ከዚህ በተጨማሪ የንቅናቄዉን እስትራቴጂና ይህንኑ እስትራቴጂ ተሸክሞ በተግባር የሚተረጉመዉን መዋቅር በአጽንኦት ከፈተሸ በኋላ በስትራቴጂዉ ላይ መጠነኛ ለዉጥ በማድረግ የእስትራቴጂዉንና የመዋቅር ለዉጡን ተቀብሎ አጽድቋል። ይህ የንቅናቁዉ አራተኛ ጉባዜ ንቅናቄዉን ላለፉት ሁለት አመታት የመሩትንና ያገለገሉትን የምክር ቤት፤ የኦዲትና ቁጥጥር፤ የስነ ስርአትና ግልግልና የስራ አስፈጻሚ ኮሚቴ አባላት ላደረጉት አስተዋጽኦ አመስግኖ በማሰናበት በምትካቸዉ ንቅናቄዉን ለሚቀጥሉት ሁለት አመታት የሚያገለግሉ የምክር ቤት አባላት፤ የኦዲትና ቁጥጥር፤ እንዲሁም የስነ ስርአትና ግልግል ኮሚቴ አባላትን መርጧል።

አራተኛዉ የግንቦት ሰባት መደበኛ ጉባኤ ኢትዮጵያ ዛሬ የምትገኝበትን ሁኔታ በዝርዝር ከቃኘ በኋላ ዘረኛዉ የወያኔ አገዛዝ ከኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ጋር ዉጊያ የተያያዘዉ አገር ዉስጥና በዉጭ አገሮችም ስለሆነ ወያኔን በእነዚህ ሁለት የትግል መስኮች እንደአመጣጡ ከገጠምነዉ የሚሸነፍ ድርጅት መሆኑን ሙሉ በሙሉ በመቀበል አባላቱ ባሉበት ቦታ ሁሉ የሚሰሩት ስራ ወያኔን በማስወገድ ላይ እንዲያተኩር አሳስቧል። ከአለም ዙሪያ ከተለያዩ አገሮች የመጡ የግንቦት ሰባት አባላትን ያሰባሰበዉ አራተኛዉ የግንቦት ሰባት መደበኛ ጉባኤ የትግል ቃል ኪዳን የታደሰበት፤የመስዋዕትነት ዝግጅት የታየበትና አባላት የትግልና የስራ ልምድ የተላዋወጡበት ከምን ግዜዉም ባላይ የተሳካና የተዋጣለት ጉባኤ ነበር። በመጨረሻ ጉባኤዉ የግንቦት ሰባት የፍትህ ፤ የነጻነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ አራተኛ ጉባኤ ለአባላቱና በአጠቃላይ ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ አዲስ የትግል ጥሪ በማስተላለፍ ደማቅ በሆነ ስነሰርአት ተፍጽሟል።

የግንቦት ሰባት የፍትህ ፤ የነጻነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ