DW Special Ethiopia News February 14, 2018 | Interview with Andualem Arage and Eskinder Nega
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ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia freed a journalist on Wednesday who had been jailed since 2011 on terrorism charges, the latest in a raft of releases of prisoners aimed at calming unrest that has plagued the country since 2015.
Eskinder Nega was sentenced to 18 years in 2012 for conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, having been accused of inciting violence with a series of online articles.
He was released a week after Ethiopia’s attorney general announced his pardoning alongside 745 other prisoners, including a senior opposition official. State-run outlets had earlier said that all were expected to be released on Wednesday.
The move is one of a series of reforms that the government has undertaken after violence broke out three years ago, sparked by an urban development plan for the capital, Addis Ababa, that critics said would trigger land grabs in the Oromiya region.
Unrest subsequently spread throughout that province, with demonstrations taking place over political marginalisation and human rights abuses.
Thousands of prisoners have been freed since January, having been accused of involvement in the mass protests. On Tuesday, authorities released Bekele Gerba, secretary general of the opposition group Oromo Federalist Congress, who was arrested in December 2015.
“It is clear that there need to be plenty of changes. Atrocities were committed and those have to be addressed,” Bekele told Reuters. “People have to gain confidence in the government.”
Rights groups say hundreds died in the violence of 2015 and 2016, casting a shadow over a country with one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies.
The government in Addis Ababa is often accused of using security concerns as an excuse to stifle dissent, as well as suppressing non-governmental organisations and the media, which the government denies.
“The authorities must also take steps to reform the legal system under which arbitrary detentions and torture of dissidents have been allowed to flourish,” said Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the region.
(Reporting by Aaron Maasho, editing by Larry King)
Source: Reuters
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AFP
Addis Ababa – Ethiopia released a jailed opposition leader and journalist on Wednesday and dropped charges against a group of bloggers in a wave of prisoner releases and pardons.
An AFP videographer said politician Andualem Arage and journalist Eskinder Nega left a prison in the capital Addis Ababa before a crowd of about 100 supporters.
“The struggle must continue. Better things should come for all of us, and a bright sunshine of democracy must shine in Ethiopia,” said Andualem, who was serving a life sentence on accusations of links to the banned Ginbot 7 group.
The case of Andualem and Eskinder, who was given an 18-year sentence on the same allegation, has attracted condemnation from rights groups and Ethiopia’s ally the United States.
Their release comes amid a string of pardons and prisoner releases that began last month, after Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said the government would release jailed “politicians” in order “to improve the national consensus and widen the democratic platform”.
Shameful miscarriage of justice
“We are pleased that Eskinder Nega is finally free since his arrest and conviction was a shameful miscarriage of justice,” the Committee to Protect Journalists Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal said.
“We now urge the Ethiopian government to drop charges against other journalists and to implement the reforms needed for a free press to flourish.”
Separately, prosecutors dropped charges against two bloggers from the Zone 9 website and said they would withdraw the case against a third, bringing to an end a prosecution that has been denounced as an attack on press freedom.
“The judge says they have dropped charges,” blogger Atnafu Berhane told AFP.
Prosecutors withdrew allegations of inciting violence against bloggers Befekadu Haile and Natnael Feleke, Atnafu said.
He added that his own charge, also of inciting violence, wasn’t dropped because of a courtroom error, but that he expects it to be withdrawn on Friday.
Zone 9 took their name from the term reportedly used by prisoners of an Addis Ababa jail, which has eight zones.
The ninth refers to the rest of the country – where civic liberties are also in short supply, according to government critics.
Six Zone 9 bloggers were arrested in April 2014 as part of a wider crackdown in the East African country.
Two were released in July of the following year, while the remaining four were charged with terrorism alongside another blogger, Soleyana Gebremichael, who was tried in absentia as she was living in exile in the United States.
While the five were eventually acquitted, prosecutors last year won permission from Ethiopia’s Supreme Court to retry Natnael and Atnafu on new charges, while Befekadu was also tried separately.
While welcoming the end of the prosecution, Atnafu said reforms were needed to protect bloggers like himself.
“It’s not a real change, it’s not a real reform. The political space has to be open for all decent voices,” he said.
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Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Haileamriam Dessalegn has submitted Resignation letter today, state media outlets have reported.
Haileamariam became an accidental Prime Minister in September 2012 when the later Prime Minister Meles Zenawi died.
Correction: Ethiopian pm has finally been set free. Hope he won’t go to hawasa expecting a hero’s welcome https://t.co/g3T3o0gqGY
— Abraham Gudissa (@abrahamictweets) February 15, 2018
Hailemariam never welded real power since he was only serving within a deeply and ethnically entrenched government run by the Tigre Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF)/EPRDF.
According to De Birhan‘s sources, Hailemairam lost the Chairmanship of his regional party, Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM), last week, when the Movement voted Siraj Fergesa, the current Minister of Defence to be the Chairman of SEPDM. SEPDM’s meeting was suspended on Monday.
He has been criticized for incompetency since he came to power by opponents as well as his own Front.
The News of his possible abdication was being circulated since the end of last year.
On a Live TV address on the State Television, Hailemariam addressed the nation the power transfer will be conducted in the national parliament soon.
Hailemariam said “Our country is in a very difficult situation now.” During the Live presser, the PM’s voice broke a few times.
During his six year tenure and especially since 2015, Ethiopia has been hit with consistent anti-government protests. Thousands of peaceful protesters, were killed, wounded and arrested. According to Diaspora based Ethiopian human rights activists, Hailemariam will face justice for ordering and supervising the killings and crises.
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Ethiopia has been rocked by months of protests demanding wider freedoms that have left hundreds dead and tens of thousands detained. The government in recent weeks released more than 6,500 detained opposition figures, journalists and others after the prime minister in a surprise announcement in January said he wanted to “widen the democratic space for all.”
The protests have disrupted life and business in one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies.
The 53-year-old prime minister will continue in his role until the “power transition is completed,” the Fana Broadcasting Corporate report said. He also seeks to unseat himself from the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, the report said.
Ethiopia’s demonstrations demanding wider freedoms began in late 2015 and engulfed much of the restive Oromia and Amhara regions before spreading into other parts of the country, leading to a months-long state of emergency that has since been lifted.
Ethiopia’s government has long been accused of arresting critical journalists and opposition leaders. Rights organizations and opposition groups have called for their release, saying they were arrested on trumped-up charges and punished for their points of view
The academician-turned-politician has led Ethiopia since 2012 after the death of former strongman Meles Zenawi. He also served as deputy prime minister and foreign minister under the former leader before assuming power. He also was elected chairman of the African Union in 2013.
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( BBC) The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, has resigned amid deadly anti-government protests, state TV reports.
In a televised address, he said his resignation was “vital in the bid to carry out reforms that would lead to sustainable peace and democracy”.
Mr Hailemariam, who has led the country since 2012, also stepped down as chairman of the ruling coalition.
His departure follows a national state of emergency that ended last year.
Ethiopia’s largest regions, Oromia and Amhara, have seen waves of demonstrations in recent months.
In the latest violence, 10 people were killed and dozens more injured following an opposition protest.
The BBC’s Emmanuel Igunza, in the capital Addis Ababa, says the government has released thousands of opposition supporters from jail, but the protests have continued.
The country has witnessed repeated violent clashes since 2015, with protesters calling for political and economic reform, and an end to state corruption.
The ongoing disturbances have led to deep divisions in the governing coalition, says Mary Harper, Africa Editor for the BBC World Service.
Some of Ethiopia’s powerful elites have come to see the prime minister as weak and lacking in direction, she says.
A weak and turbulent Ethiopia is risky for the entire Horn of Africa, our correspondent adds, as this normally stable state is seen as key to holding the region together.
Mr Hailemariam said he will stay on as a caretaker prime minister until Ethiopia’s parliament and ruling coalition accept his resignation and choose a replacement.
BBC News
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BY A CONCERNED. ETHIOPIAN ….
Introduction
It’s a cliché, but I will repeat it. Despotic leaders are incapable of sensing their own demise until the last moment. Some African leadersi, failing to listen to the figurative heartbeat of their people, have died, at the hands of their own people, all the while, shouting “my people love me!” Current Ethiopian leadership, and particularly the TPLF elites, are no exception to this cliché. However, I believe there is something peculiar about TPLF’s leadership. Even by known despotic leaders’ standards, who believe leadership is a lifetime entitlement, TPLF’s leadership seems to stand alone. TPLF does not only display all the characteristics we commonly attribute to autocratic leadership, but it embodies, perhaps, one of the few leadership styles in the world that blends supra-narcissism and dictatorship without a leader — leadership by the collective.
The feats this leadership was able to stage for the last twenty some years as “world class economic performer” or “champion of homegrown democratic system” or even “the vanguard of oppressed and marginalized people,” all the while, silencing democratic, dissenting, and critical voices by human rights groups, political activists, journalists, religious leaders and intellectuals is astounding. In addition to squandering the nation’s wealth, the methodical eliminations, incarcerations, and indiscriminate killings of those opposing its tyrannical administration are deeds that can be matched by exceptionally few regimes in the world.
The magnitude of unrest that is currently plugging the country (it has been going on for a few years now) would normally require any leadership to at least acknowledge, display an effort to address the causes and institute some changes. TPLF seems to choose playing a game of musical chairs. To project similitude of change and hoodwink, as usual, the Ethiopian people and the international community, it has become TPLF’s customary drama to replace leader X by Y or shuffling tyrant A’s, B’s and C’s portfolio from one position to another1. Al Mariam’sii style of addressing the leadership as T-TPLF Thugtatorship, perhaps, has a more profound meaning than we recognize because it may point to this peculiar anomaly inherent to this organization. TPLF is inept to change or respond to demands of the people. This inability to change is the quintessence of TPLF. It is impossible for TPLF to institute any change, within its own organization or in the country, even if awareness of the need becomes apparent to its own individual members.
Genesis of TPLF
TPLF’s imperviousness to any form of change is connected to its extraordinary leadership. This peculiar nature of TPLF’s leadership explains why TPLF is successful in meticulously balancing the greedy and egoistic needs of its leaders/cronies without endangering the stability of its collective leadership so far. The recent game of musical chairs, the changes in administrative figures and party leaders in Mekele or the unceremonious dismissal of the former first lady from the central committee, and eventually from EFFORT, are all superficial internal adjustments that will not have any effect on TPLF’s core existence.
1 We have to be careful not to confuse the sporadic internal conflicts we have seen in the entire history of TPLF as a sign of deviation from its collective system. It should be understood simply as internal adjustments.
In fact, during the much-talked about marathon central committee meeting held in Mekele, I would not be surprised if the central agenda was “the re-structuring of EFFORT” rather than addressing the crisis TPLF and the country are facing. The anomaly in TPLF’s leadership is perplexing because there is no pretention to hide, on TPLF’s part, the fact that every political, economic and social program ever enacted under its rule is designed to benefit itself and its cronies. TPLF does not shy from revealing that it is made up of a select group of individuals, joined at the hip, by a collective code of conduct, that have ridiculous sense of entitlements over Ethiopia and Ethiopians. TPLF’s disregard to demands of the people, the nation, and the rule of law, be it in the context of local or international jurisprudence, is the result of its arrogant sense of entitlements.
To explain this disposition of TPLF, one has to trace the inception of the anomaly back to the genesis of TPLF. Berhe’s,iii account on the genesis of TPLF shows a rather complex process with loosely described multiple actors. It requires a closer reading to really understand the nitty gritty relationship of all the actors. However, the gist of the chronicle depicts TPLF was incepted by individuals who do have varied understanding of Ethiopia’s political landscape of the time and diverse visions on how to shape their struggle.
The initial meeting of the TNO (Tigrayan National Organization) that took place in Piazza in 1974, (that included Berhe), does not mention secession. The program, rather, states three goals: “first, to reach a common understanding of the nature and disposition of the Derg’s regime with respect to the self- determination of Tigray and the future of democracy in Ethiopia; second, to reflect upon what form of struggle to pursue and how to tackle the main challenges that would hence forth arise; and third, to outline how to work and co-ordinate activities with the Ethiopian left which hitherto had operated according to much broader revolutionary ideals.”iv Surprisingly, the program does not mention session, although the code-word for secession (self-setermination) is clearly stated in the program.
According to Berhe’s account, TUSA (Tigrayan University Students’ Association) was formed in early1970’s (it is unclear whether it was formed before or after TNO), and it seems that the members of TNO are also members of TUSA. TUSA’s program seems to emerge as strictly regional organization and started operating in all districts of Tigray, sometimes with the blessing of Tigrayan authorities including the then Governor of Tigray, Ras Mengesha Seyoum. Soon, Berhe notes, in 1974, MAGEBT (Mahber Gesgesti Bihere Tigray) was formed basically out of TUSA with yet a new inclination towards Marxist ideology and a clandestine program meant to agitate the people of Tigray at large.
TPLF’s mantra that Tigray and the people of Tigray are victims of targeted repression because of their ethnicity emerged as a doctrine during the formation of TUSA and the emergence of MAGEBT by “politically conscious” group. The support the movement of MAGEBT initially received, by members of parliament and intellectuals, seem to be based on this belief that they “saw themselves as victims of ethnic repression and political persecution.”v
The arrival of TPLF, as we know it today, is described by Berhe as follows:
Within TUSA, a politically conscious group by the name of Mahber Gesgesti Bihere Tigray (MAGEBT), aimed at creating a higher form of organization, evolved at the beginning of 1974. Literally translated, the name means the Association of Progressives from the Tigray Nation, but for convenience it was called the Tigrayan National Organization (TNO). The TNO was later to become the mother organization of the TPLF. While these TNO-led activities were under way, another group called the Political Association of Tigrayans (PAT), led by Yohannes
Teklehaimanot and GebreKidan, was involved underground in a purely political mobilization of Tigrayans against the Ethiopian regime. This association advocated the outright independence of Tigray and later emerged as an armed organization known as the Tigray Liberation Front (TLF). It was the TNO that was to evolve into the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and, after sixteen years of guerrilla war, was to become the government of Ethiopia.vi
Berhe does not comment on TLF’s historical role in the general history of TPLF or in the context of the struggle of the people of Tigray. He does not also address when and how the TLF started and ended, or if it had been assimilated into TPLF (I hope, one day we will be able to read the history of TLF). Yet, an interesting observation Berhe makes is that demand for the total session of Tigray was TLF’s program. It seems Berhe’s purpose of mentioning TLF was to only make this point. In the absence of any account of the relationship TLF had to the people of Tigray and TPLF itself, it is difficult to ascertain if the question of session was limited to TLF. However, to summarize Berhe’s genesis of TPLF, it starts with TUSA that also morphs into TNO. TNO, at some point creates MAGEBT, and MAGBET gives birth to TPLF which eventually ends up as EPDRF, the current governing body in Ethiopia.
As this may be the case for the story of TPLF, what I would like to draw attention to is the complexity and sheer number of fractured and diverse actors that potentially contributed to the creation of TPLF. In the ‘expanded’ version of its history, TPLF’s creation was supported, directly or indirectly, by actors that included students, intellectuals, members of parliament in the Haile Selassie regime, rebels (or shiftas), local administrators, businesspeople, and even the Governor of Tigray, who, by any account, was defender of the Imperial administration of Haile Selassie.2
What united those actors who ended up as TPLF? What unified all these diverse individuals and organizations who eventually established TPLF, were two miss-perceptions: 1) a misconstrued ethno- nationalism that perceived Tigray as being intentionally excluded from participating in Ethiopian political and economic landscape, particularly by Showan-Amhara administration. 3 2) a narcissistic sense of self-grandiose that Tigray is special and superior from the rest of ethnic Ethiopians; and that its greatness was intentionally impeded by every successive regime. This second miss-perception is accompanied by a sense of inferiority complex, which is one of the inevitable features of narcissism.
These two perceptions, boosted by half-baked Marxist ideology that promises self-determination (here we should read secession) were the ingredients that formulated TPLF’s collective narcissistic leadership.
In order to stratify these miss-perceptions as raison d’etre for TPLF’s existence, TPLF had to introduce a process where members had to abandon individuality and individual identity and start to identify themselves through TPLF’s group identity. The Marxist ideology that was employed as the ideological program within TPLF also reinforces surrendering individuality and the assumption of new group identity. It is not coincidence that one of the requirements for all members of TPLF to assume nom de guerre when they join the group. This is a ritual that symbolically represent the process of surrendering individual identity and assuming a collective one; a collective identity that is meaningful only within TPLF’s organizational paradigm. As Meles Zenawi admitted, “Politics here (meaning Ethiopia) is not personality based. It is ideologically driven and organization based. That’s part of its strength. In our case with the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democracy Front (E.P.R.D.F.) it’s a movement with
2 For detailed history of TPLF read Aregawi Berhe’s article from page 575 to 580.
3 The Term Showan-Amhara has been used in so many different contexts by historians. However, TPLF’s usage is derogatory that has two-fold purposes: first, creating division among the Amhara and between those ethnics who live in the region, such as Oromo, Gurage etc. against Amhara; second, justification of its mantra that Tigray’s enemy is Amhara.
very well-articulated positions. And these things do not change because of personalities. I have been in the minority position when issues of war and peace were at stake. And I have found myself implementing a majority position that I completely and utterly disagree with.”vii
The other aspect of relinquishing individuality is ensuring that followers lose their ability to critically think and question TPLF’s leadership. This doctrine of transforming members’ identity from individual to group, if I have to guess a time frame, commenced on February 1975 when TPLF is formally organized as an armed organization. Berhe acknowledges that even the radical elements in Tigray did not resist to undergo this transformation as he writes “the TNO had contacts with many radical Tigrayans, and later it was not difficult to assemble them in the TPLF. The TNO’s immediate goal was achieved when it transformed itself into an armed organization, the TPLF, in February 1975.”viii
It requires a separate, careful, engagement to provide a discussion on the marriage between collective narcissism and TPLF between 1975 and 1991. For the current discussion, I will focus how collective narcissism solidified TPLF’s doctrine for sixteen or so years and how it spread its appendages to the entire nation after it transformed itself as EPDRF. Indeed, Ethiopia’s darkest hour, in its entire history, is the day TPLF succeeded in consolidating the country’s political power. It cannot be emphasized enough the dangers this collective narcissistic group poses to the country. In comparison to the inhuman atrocities TPLF committed against all Ethiopians thus far, I would say, we still have to wait and see what TPLF has in store for us. I would guess it will be far more calamitous unless all Ethiopians work together to overcome TPLF with the utmost shrewdness that matches TPLF’S. Because under TPLF’s collective, all political, economic, social and military power are concentrated with the group. At the same time, the group members are dispersed all over the nation, seemingly operating independent from one another. In reality, all are operating in unison under their group identity, TPLF, without exposing the narcissistic network. This network poses additional challenges for the people of Ethiopia who are struggling to overcome this regime because strategizing their struggle to defeat TPLF’s national/international network requires extraordinary prudence.
TPLF as collective narcissist group
Often, narcissism is usually associated to individual behavioural patterns. However, when one designates TPLF as a collective and try to understand how the collective leadership displays narcissistic patterns with meticulous, but almost invisible synchronicity, one finds that TPLF is a totally bizarre monster. Although there is plenty literature on narcissism; collective narcissism and organizational narcissism are relatively new areas of research. Literature on collective narcissism and organizational narcissism often overlap and the bulk of literature on organization narcissism pertain to corporations and institutions. Some of the literature on collective narcissism slightly differ from organizational narcissism; as there are some works that focus on group behavioural patterns and how group members display similar behavioural patterns based on their in-group affiliation.4
Narcissism is not simply about self-love. It is a complex disorder connected to greed, inferiority complex, shame, self-grandeur, paranoia, and egotism among others. Jerrold Post, in his book Narcissism and politics: dreams of glory, launches his analysis of world-renown narcissistic political and business leaders with Narcissistic Personality Disorder with the following premise:
4 Please read Agnieszka Golec de Zavala et al., “Collective Narcissism and Its Social Consequences,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 97 (December 1, 2009): 1074–96, doi:10.1037/a0016904.
The overall description of NPD in the fourth edition of the DSM (DSM-IV, currently undergoing revision) is of “a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning in early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:
The above description of narcissism relates to individuals. Yet, I have no doubt all nine patterns are fitting to TPLF’s overall behaviour we witnessed in the past twenty-six years. It is important to note here that TPLF is a collective, and as such, each member of TPLF defines the self not as an individual but as a member of the collective. I believe this might be one of the reasons why opposition political groups find it extremely challenging to make a breakthrough in bringing about change to the country by overcoming TPLF. In addition, TPLF’s inculcation campaign waged in the last thirty years; a formula that states, TPLF = the people of Tigray, causes additional challenges to the voices that call for the end of TPLF rule. Because pointing at TPLF’s narcissism becomes ascribing the same label to the people of Tigray. TPLF has been using this formula for quite some time to hide its collective narcissistic nature.
To understand TPLF as collective narcissistic group, the following description might help.
It is expected that intergroup hostility and aggression are a means of protecting the group’s image. Thus, collective narcissists are expected to be particularly prone to interpret the actions of others as signs of disrespect, criticism or disapproval of an in-group and react aggressively. They are also expected to react aggressively to actual criticism and other situations that threaten a positive image of an in-group. They are expected to often feel unfairly and unjustly treated in an intergroup context since no treatment or recognition is seen as good enough for the deserving in-group. Moreover, it is expected that collective narcissists are not willing to forgive and forget previous insults or unfairness to an in-group experienced from other groups. Thus, they are likely to hold prejudice towards out-groups with whom they share a history of mutual grievances and wrongdoings. Collective narcissism is also expected to predict a preference for violent and coercive actions towards out-groups in intergroup conflicts and a likelihood of perceiving intergroup situations as conflictual even before they turn into open conflicts.x 5
One should simply read TPLF’s propaganda outlets to correlate these patterns.6 Within collective narcissism, paranoia is a prominent feature, and it is also a trait that is readily identifiable in TPLF’s
5 Emphasis in the above quotation does not belong to the original authors.
6 For unreasonable sense of entitlement and unrealistic sense of persecution read Betray Not Tigrai Again!6. To see how TPLF is prone to dismissing every voice of opposition and act aggressively against out-groups, read After twenty-six years what did the anti EPRDF forces accomplish6. To understand how TPLF is perpetually immersed in self-admiration and constantly demands from others to worship it, read Tigrai’s donation has no parallel in our history.6 To correlate the madness of narcissism sprinkled with paranoia, read What happened to the Tegaru in 2016 should be used as a wakeup call6 I believe these are enough samples to corroborate that TPLF is indeed an entity that suffers from narcissism. If the few
pattern of behaviours because “paranoid feelings of narcissistic grandiosity and persecution are intended to overcome an inner sense of inferiority, unworthiness, and unlovability.”xi It is no secret, for those who closely follow TPLF and its activities, that self-aggrandizing and constant inferiority complex are the two primary characteristics that defines it. For Example, the recent paranoid speech by the TPLF old guard, Seyoum Mesfin, where he claims that people of Tigray are in dire danger is sufficient to confirm TPLF’S perpetual paranoia.
Al Mariam, in his recent article, in response to Seyoum’s speech, asks the following questions.
“But what exactly is the “glaring danger of extreme concern” the people of Tigray are “facing” today? Why must the people of Tigray “run very fast before sundown and prepare a defense”? From whom are they running away? Who is chasing them and against whom are they supposed to be defending? Is Mesfin suggesting that Tigreans will be “run out” of the rest of Ethiopia into the sunset simply because they are Tigreans? I am totally mystified and puzzled by his cryptic message of “glaring danger and extreme, extreme concern.”xii
To repeat Al Mariam’s inquiries, we may ask again, do the people of Tigray have to run? No. Does TPLF need to run, and run fast to the oblivion? Yes. Do the people of Tigray face “a glaring danger of extreme concern? No. Does TPLF face a danger that threatens the core of its existence? Yes, it is the demand of the people, and I mean, the demand of all Ethiopians. Is Mesfin and his group paranoid? Yes. Is Mesfin and his group sense hatred instead of love from the people of Tigray and beyond? Yes! Does this jolt TPLF? Yes, because TPLF cannot stop from demanding love and admiration from the people of Tigray and beyond; a demand central to TPLF’s collective narcissistic constitution. In the end, Mesfin’s call for arms, can only be understood as nothing more than a delusional, narcissistic despot, that can only see the world through the lens of his in-group identity, and who still believes “his people love him.”
TPLF’s political program also registers all the signs of paranoia and inferiority complex. It is important to remember that TPLF’s early attempt to organize and mobilize the people of Tigray, is also based on this half-baked program — promises of ending Amhara rule and independence/secession of Tigray from the rest of Ethiopia.
As I have mentioned earlier, one of the things TPLF had to execute painstakingly, in order to mobilize the people of Tigray, was to invent a “history” of Tigray and its relationship to Ethiopia; thereby forging a lasting impression on its followers that Tigray was the sole recipient of persecution, atrocities and neglect by previous regimes. For example, in 1983, Ethiopia was under the rule of a brutal military junta. By some estimates, the Derg was responsible for killing between five-hundred-thousand and seven-hundred-fifty-thousand Ethiopians. Ethiopians, from coast to coast, paid a hefty price under the Derg. Yet, TPLF’s doctrine amount to declaring that all atrocities committed by Derg was mainly directed towards Tigrayans and it single-handedly defeated Derg, and therefore, entitled to the lion’s share of the political domination, national wealth, and most importantly national and international praises. In order to sustain the mobilization of the people of Tigray, TPLF had to rely on this “new history” of Tigray. In Ethiopia’s entire history, there were no significant political, civic, or economic and business leaders who dominated the people of Tigray. There were no Amhara or Oromo landlords who subjected the people of Tigray into serfdom. The narcissistic delusion of TPLF is readily available in its 1983 thirteen-page TPLF program where it mentions the word “Amhara” eleven times and Derg
examples I cited here are not enough, I invite all Ethiopians to browse the archives of Walta, Tigray Online, or Weyin for more examples.
only three times. Readers can guess who the defective program considers a threat to TPLF and the people of Tigray. This is what Zavala et al. note that collective narcissists often feel unfairly and unjustly treated in an intergroup context since no treatment or recognition is seen as good enough for the deserving in-group.
The tendency of portraying Tigray as an exceptional region within Ethiopia is also present in the historical and political analysis Berhe offers in his 2004 article. xiii Some of the half-truths contained in his article has several eerie similarities with the document TPLF produced after the Second Organizational Congress of the TPLF in May 1983; especially, the historical analysis presented in the 1983 document and Berhe’s historical analysis of Ethiopia in his article are almost identical. Berhe presents a historical account that Tigray had been deliberately denied access to education and was purposely neglected by both Haile Selassie’s and Mengistu’s regime. He writes, “Tigray had no university or college until the mid-1990s. Indeed, as recently as the1950s, it had only four high schools, without adequate teachers or facilities, for a population of about 3.5 million people.”xiv
Let us slowly go over this claim. In the 1950’s, Tigray had 4 high schools (I am not sure if this is an accurate data on Berhe’s side) and this is supposed to be a sign of deliberate neglect of Tigray by the successive regimes. When we read another account on the history of education in the entire country, it offers a different sketch.
Following the Italian defeat, the country started to build up the sector, but the system faced shortages of teachers, textbooks, and facilities. The government recruited foreign teachers for primary and secondary schools to offset the teacher shortage. By 1952 a total of 60,000 students were enrolled in 400 primary schools, eleven secondary schools, and three institutions offering college-level courses. In the 1960s, 310 mission and privately operated schools with an enrollment of 52,000 supplemented the country’s public school system. While reforms have been made in the aims of education, the actual structure of the Ethiopian school system has remained unchanged from that established in the 1950s.7xv
The Ethiopian population in 1950 was about 16 million and it did not pass 20 million until 1960. The number of students nationwide in 1952 was about 60,000, a meagre 0.375% of the population. That also included all college, high school and primary school students in 400 primary and 11 high schools and 3 colleges. Now, in the 1950’s, as Berhe asserts, if four of the high schools are in Tigray, it means the rest of Ethiopians shared 7 high schools. This translates to Tigray enjoying a whooping 36.36% of all the high schools the country had. Could this be an illustration of deliberate neglect of Tigray by any regime? This ‘victim’ narrative can be explained only by what I outlined as a pattern of TPLF. If there was neglect, it was shared by all Ethiopians; claiming ‘special” persecution where there is none, and justifying the claim for special entitlement, as TPLF elites often do till the present time, is characteristic of collective narcissism. It is apparent to Ethiopians that TPLF, for the last 30 or so years, has repeatedly registered a all of the following patterns:
7 The excerpt is from Damtew Teferra and Philip G. Altbach, eds., African Higher Education: An International Reference Handbook (Indiana University Press, 2003), pp. 316-325
It is too arduous to exhaustively list all the CN behavioural patterns TPLF registers. Even after being under pressure by the international community and its donor countries to release political prisoners, TPLF is always displaying its nature by requiring its prisoners to sign false confessions as a condition for their release; why? because its sense of inferiority kicks in and perceive releasing prisoners as defeat or insult to its status. Thus, I believe, the answers for Al Mariam’s questions can partially be found somewhere between TPLF’s empty sense of grandiose, its constant sense of inferiority, and TPLF’s never-quenching-thirst for being adored and loved, because TPLF defines its existence through perpetual narcissism.
What all these mean to current political conditions in Ethiopia
Collective narcissism has no cure! Why, because for collective narcissists, the securest place, and perhaps the most suitable place that guarantees their existence, is to remain narcissist. TPLF, as I have mentioned earlier, is an entity incapable of conceptualizing the meaning of “change,” let alone give in to demands of change; being susceptible to change contradicts its quintessential nature. At the same time, as all narcissists, TPLF is highly skilled in, and superbly capable of, using everyone and everything in the country to ensure its survival. Recent rants we see form TPLF; threatening the very existence of the Ethiopian Federation established by itself, predicting doomsday in post-TPLF Ethiopia, instigating ethnic hostilities, encouraging and prompting ethnocentrism and secessionism, and finally warning Ethiopians that Tigray may leave the federation are all driven by its irredeemable narcissism.
The little hope Ethiopians and Ethiopian opposition bodies currently see, in finding a platform to negotiate for political change, is in the political leaders of the so called “sister parties” within EPDRF. An extreme caution needs to be applied in considering those leaders as capable of listening to the demands of the people. Recent news of fissures within TPLF/EPDRF, and the glimmers of hope that some Ethiopians think they see in these cracks has to be tamed with our understanding of TPLF’s nature. Although there are possibilities that the political leaders from TPLF’s “sister parties” may stand with the people, as much as we would like to believe that such scenarios are genuine possible, there is an equally possible, and perhaps more plausible explanation, for crafting such hope among Ethiopians who would like to see change. The perceived distance from TPLF (by the “sister parties,” mainly the Oromo and Amhara parties that make up the pseudo front of TPLF/EPDRF) could also be TPLF’s latest concoction designed to achieve far more sinister goals.
TPLF, as a collective narcissist organization, is incapable of thinking beyond its own existence. Time and time again, it has shown us that TPLF believes there will be no Ethiopia unless TPLF is sitting at the throne. Therefore, opposition groups should exercise shrewd cautiousness before jumping on the negotiation bandwagon. There is a legitimate concern that all these commotions of negotiations are designed, at worst, to facilitate the disintegration of Ethiopia (which TPLF has been touting us with for
the last 26 years), or at best, part of TPLF’s effort to extend its own lifeline, a line that is shrinking fast by the minute.
The current maneuvers of TPLF in the country can be interpreted through these sinister motives. Consider the movement in Oromia, the bravery of Oromo youth in exposing the extra-judicial killings and incarcerations of their political leaders and their sustained, bold, demands for change has trembled TPLF to its core. We shall not forget, however, that the incarceration of Oromo political leaders, the killings of innocent Ethiopians celebrating Errecha, or the staged intra-ethnic conflict by TPLF and its mercenaries between Oromo and Somali Ethiopians were all part of TPLF’s design to either help itself stay in power or instigate responses that contribute to TPLF’s wish of dismantling Ethiopia, that is, in the event that the demise of TPLF becomes apparent. The most recent move of TPLF softening its grip towards the incarcerated Oromo political leaders, and the gesture of dropping charges or releasing prisoners, no doubt, is the result of internal and external pressure on the regime. However, TPLF, even as its days are nearing the end, does not stop working hard to supplant the essence of Ethiopian-ness. Having secret meetings with various opposition groupsxvi; holding secret meetings with Tigrayans in the diaspora, creating alarm among its donor partners, and the list goes on, are all part of TPLF’s narcissistic nature of saying “my demise shall be the demise of Ethiopia and all Ethiopians. All Ethiopians shall remember, Collective Narcissism is incurable! TPLF is irredeemable!
May God bless Ethiopia and all Ethiopians! May God help Ethiopians, caged in TPLF prisons camouflaged as Amhara – Afar – Benishangul-Gumuz – Gambela – Harari – Oromo – Somali – Southern Nations and Nationalities – Tigray kililoch, break free!
A concerned Ethiopian
.
References
i “Gaddafi: ‘My People Love Me,’” BBC News, accessed February 9, 2018, http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world- africa-12603086/libya-s-gaddafi-my-people-love-me.
ii “Al Mariam’s Commentaries,” Al Mariam’s Commentaries, accessed February 9, 2018, http://almariam.com/.
iii Aregawi Berhe, “The Origins of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front,” African Affairs 103, no. 413 (October 1, 2004): 569–92, doi:10.1093/afraf/adh024.
iv Ibid. p. 579.
v Ibid. p. 577
vi Ibid. p. 578.
vii ALEX PERRY, “Interview: Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi,” Time, September 6, 2007, http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1659420-3,00.html.
viii Berhe, 2004. “The origins of the Tigray people’s liberation front.” p. 580.
ix J.M. Post, Narcissism and Politics: Dreams of Glory (Cambridge University Press, 2014). P.12.
x Agnieszka Golec de Zavala et al., “Collective Narcissism and Its Social Consequences,” (p. 6-7). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 97, no. 6 (December 2009): 1074–96, doi:10.1037/a0016904.
xi Post, Narcissism and Politics: Dreams of Glory. p. 10.
xii “A Rejoinder to Seyoum Mesfin’s Call to Arms to the People of Tigray,” Al Mariam’s Commentaries, February 5, 2018, http://almariam.com/2018/02/04/a-rejoinder-to-seyoum-mesfins-call-to-arms-to-the-people-of-tigray/.
xiii Aregawi Berhe, “The origins of the Tigray people’s liberation front,” Royal African Society 103, no. 413 (2004): 569–92, doi:10.1093/afraf/adh024.
xiv Ibid. p. 576.
xv “Education in Ethiopia,” Wikipedia, February 5, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Education_in_Ethiopia&oldid=824208671.
xvi “አሸባሪ ተብሎ የተፈረጀው ኦብነግ ከኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት ጋር እየተደራደረ ነው,” BBC News አማርኛ, February 12, 2018, sec. ዜና, https://www.bbc.com/amharic/43031271.
The post The incurable malaise of TPLF’s collective narcissism: Ethiopians shall remain prudent to avoid the ploys of TPLF/EPDRF appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News|Breaking News: Your right to know!.
His resignation wasn’t totally unexpected. Still, it led to some wild and impromptu jubilations on the streets and a collective sigh of relief. His end is partly his own making, the new circumstances, and the oldest rule of politics—that a leader without a solid base of support from which to govern is no leader at all.
Prime Minister Hailemariam had literally no political base—hailing from a small ethnic group in the south—in a country where political loyalty is defined along ethnic lines. When he assumed the reigns in 2012, many presumed that he would gradually grow out of the shadow of his predecessor, the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, and become his own man. He stayed in Meles’s cocoon till the bitter end. To make matters worse, while holding onto the formal trappings of the office, he relinquished actual power to the head of the country’s powerful security chief, Getachew Asseffa, and the equally powerful Chief of Staff, General Samora Yunus. And he watched helplessly, at times as a clueless clown, as the two deployed the full might of the state and all instruments of oppression to suppress unprecedented protests by the Oromo and the Amhara, the country’s largest and second largest ethnic groups, as well as different groups from his own home turf, the southern region. However, no amount of repression would restore control of the streets to the ruling party.
Hailemariam offered a slew of apologies and promises of reform but his generals and security operatives, no longer accountable to him or to anyone else for that matter, continued to kill, detain, and displace—nullifying his apologies and promises. The country suffered its biggest crisis in its history when over a million Oromo were displaced from their homes by the Ethiopian Somali state militia, the notorious Liyu Police, with the tacit acquiesce and support of the federal army and security establishment. That is when he formally broke with the new leaders of OPDO, who until then deferred to him out of respect for the oppressed peoples of the Southern regional state, who, like the Oromo, faced decade after decade of marginalization and exploitation by the domineering center.
Hailemariam’s fate was sealed in the recent meeting of the powerful Executive Committee (EC) of the ruling party, the real power in Ethiopia since 1991. EPRDF is a coalition of four member organizations— the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), the Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM), and the Tigrean Liberation Front (TPLF). Hailemariam has been chairman of SEPDM since 2001—making him the longest-serving head of the constituent members of the ruling party, after his mentor and benefactor, the late Meles Zenawi. As a response to the popular rejection, the ruling party promised a “deep renewal” but this remained a lip service until the relentless protests led to the abrupt and unceremonious downfall of Muktar Kedir, Chairman, and Aster Mamo, Deputy Chairman on the OPDO in October 2016—a month before the country imposed a nine-month long state of emergency. However, the effects of Oromo protests didn’t end in Oromia and with the state of emergency. In December, TPLF, the dominant group in the four-party coalition, dumped its long-time chairman, Abay Waldu, and elevated technocrat Debretsion Gebremichael. That left SEPDM and ANDM with the same leaders who oversaw the disaster that was Ethiopia since 2014. Hailemariam’s resignation signals that change has finally arrived in the South and it is expected that ANDM would do likewise.
Contrary to suggestions, the resignation doesn’t leave a power vacuum nor cause a constitutional crisis because Hailemariam has always been a nominal figure. The constitution stipulates that the Prime Minister would be elected from among members of the federal parliament. Since the latter is made up exclusively of members of the ruling party, it is the ruling party – hence the EPRDF Council of Ministers – that would render the final decision on the matter and parliament would simply rubber-stamp it. Accordingly, it is presumed that the 180-member EPRDF Council would hold an emergency meeting within days and perhaps weeks to choose Hailemariam’s successor.
Whoever the council elects will be leading a country in the grip of revolutionary fervor, which is a herculean task for anyone, let alone a ruling party in power single-handedly for over a quarter century. Few doubt that the incoming chairman of the ruling party and consequently the Prime Minister would be Oromo—and thus from OPDO. Since the election of Lemma Megersa as President of the Oromia National Regional State and Chairman of OPDO, not only has he built quite a reputation for himself as a credible and capable reformist leader that can transcend the country’s ethnic and religious divides, he has also surrounded himself with many other capable individuals including Dr. Abiy Ahmed, head of OPDO’s secretariat. To complicate matters, Lemma is currently not a member of the federal parliament and his party has to either hold a snap election to fulfill constitutional muster, name a temporary figure, or split the position of party chairman and Prime Minister. Neither option is desirable given the extraordinary situation. A country in such crisis needs a strong leader and a unified leadership with a cross-section of support from the populace as well as the opposition. Few fit that bill better than Lemma Megersa.
However, even for Lemma implementing the reforms promised and steering the country towards a soft landing – ending years of dictatorship and ushering in democracy – requires a rare caliber short of miraculous. The country urgently needs a whole host of reforms—from security sector reform to the subordination of the military under a neutral civilian leadership and making it representative of the country’s diverse population; from judicial reform and clamping down on corruption and abuse of power to rescinding of the draconian laws that made high crime and treason out of a routine exercise of constitutionally guaranteed rights; and from equitable distribution of economic opportunities to opening up the political space for the opposition, the press, and civil society. These, while the requirement of stabilizing the country. Given the heady circumstances, the future Prime Minister cannot rely on the support of the ruling party alone. He needs to reach out to the opposition – say by going as far as including prominent leaders of the opposition in his cabinet – and calming frayed nerves in all quarters, from the public to the aging aristocracy that dominated the country’s political and economic life since 1991.
EPRDF made its most lethal error in 2012 by failing to elect a credible figure as Prime Minister. It could still commit the same error. Luckily however, it would be the last error it would make as a ruling party as it would be swept away by people power in a matter of months if not sooner. Should it learn from its errors and desire to make history, its best bet lies with OPDO’s Lemma Megersa. If Lemma does indeed ascend to assume the reins, I would wish him well. May the force be with him! He needs it. AS
Ed’s Note: Hassen Hussein is Assistant Professor at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota’s Undergraduate College in Winona, Minnesota, a writer, and Ethiopia and Horn of Africa Analyst. He can be reached at hxhuss10@smumn.edu
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Nazreth (Adama )
Alemu’s grandfather was born in Nazreth. Alemu’s close friend—Tenkir—and over 60% of the natives, and current residents of the city of Nazreth aren’t ethnic Oromo, according to Census 2007 by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA). Ever since the government of the Oromia regional state passed a draconian law in 1991, Oromiffa has been subjected as the only official language of the administration of the city of Nazreth where Amharic is spoken as a first language by 59.25%, 26.25% speak Oromiffa and 6.28% speak Guragiegna; the remaining 8.22% speak all other primary languages reported, according to Census 2007. Furthermore, the majority of the inhabitants said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 63.62% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 24.7% of the population were Muslim, and 10.57% were Protestant , according to Census 2007. Following the introduction of the draconian law in 1991, most public sector workers who demographically co-relataed with the normal population of the city were removed from their job immediately. The entire public services of Nazreth — health, education, judiciary and etc — was enforced to be in Oromiffa while the sweeping majority —over 90% of the population— had Amharic as the most common means of communication.
Figure 1. Languages of Nazreth(Adama), according to census 2007
“It’s very cruel and unfair that Amharic was written off from being an official and working language in Nazreth when it’s reported as the most spoken— and written — language by far at 59.25%, twice more than Oromiffa which is at 26.25%, ” said Ahmed, a Gurage business man in the city of Nazreth.
“My sons and daughters can’t work in the city administration. Nor can run for the city council. We are considered inexistent. Our basic human rights in the city we built was stripped overnight since 1991. The name of our city —Nazreth—was changed in to Adama without our majority consent,” continued Ahmed.
Kiros, a business owner who was born in the city of Nazreth says: “The rights of the non-Oromo ethnicity is suppressed by the Oromo who constitute only 26.25% of the languages spoken — and who have a statically insignificant language representation as compared to the Amharic speaking, which is 59,25%.
“Having taken the city council draconically, the Oromo regional government has prevented more Churches from being built while a number of Mosques were erected in the last two decades,” continued Kiros
According to subsequent censuses carried out befor 2007, the percentage of residents in Nazareth speaking Amharic as their first language was even more higher. As a result, systematic displacement tactics and autocratic laws implemented by the Oromo regional government (OPDO), is to blame for the slight decrement since 1991.
Kidest , a young engineer who doesn’t know any other world than Nazreth, said : “we are still the majority despite living through a draconian enforcement of laws aimed at chasing us away. And, the Federal government must look in to the case of Nazareth where the majority is suffering from a crazy suppression of linguistic rights”
Amhara and Debub actvists accuse Oromia broadcasting Network(OBN) of being reticent about the demands of protestors— Linguistic rights of the non-Oromo majorities —in the restive cities across the Oromia regional state of Ethiopia.
Ayenachew , a resident in the town of Nazreth, said : “OPDO isn’t counting us at all. It is masking our issues by hyping irrelevant issues that are of a subject of interest and right only to the residents of the chartered city of Addis.”
According to the constitution of Ethiopia, regional states are only legally administrative frameworks, and that the entire country of Ethiopia belongs to Ethiopians equally regardless of race, religion, language, sex, disability and etc.
One of the reason as to why relentless protests engulfed cities across the Oromia regional states, according to the majority of protestors who are non-oromos as far as demographics is concerend, is : “Severe violation of rights of administering our city ”
The same story of severe human rights violations are pertinent in different cities across the Oromia regional states where the Amharic speaking people and non-Oromos are predominant.
Debreziet ( Bishoftu) Demographics
Amharic is spoken as a first language by 71.95%, and 20.12% spoke Oromiffa; the remaining 7.93% spoke all other primary languages reported. Concerning religious beliefs, 87.87% of the population said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, 6.93% were Protestants, and 4.02% observed Roman Catholicism, according to census 1994. The name of the city — “Debreziet”— was changed to “Bishoftu” without a full consent of the residents of the city.
Figure 2. Languages of Debreziet, according to census 2007
Jimma Demographics
Figure 3. Languages of Jima, according to census 2007
Amharic is spoken as a first language by 41.58% and 39.96% speak Afan Oromo; the remaining 18.46% speak all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 46.84% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 39.03% of the population were Muslim, and 13.06% were Protestant, according to Census 2007
Legal synthesis :
Linguistic rights are the human and civil rights concerning the individual and collective right to choose the language or languages for communication in a private or public atmosphere. Other parameters for analyzing linguistic rights include the degree of territoriality, amount of positivity, orientation in terms of assimilation or maintenance, and overtness, according to wikipedia 2017.
The majority of the residents in cities across the Oromia regional states —who are non- ethnic Oromo and have Amharic as their first , or the most convenient language, are deprived of their linguistic rights which includes, among others, the right to one’s own language in legal, administrative , judicial acts, language education, and media in a language understood and freely chosen by those concerned.
Linguistic rights in international law are usually dealt in the broader framework of cultural and educational rights.
Important documents for linguistic rights include the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights(1996), the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (1992), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities(1988), as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966).
UN, EU, US and ICC don’t need to send investigators to check if there’s any sever violation of human rights— ‘Linguistic rights’ —in the Oromia regional state of Ethiopia as they have enough data which can serve as an evidence to prosecute or sanction the government.
One thing is clear that the current leadership of the Oromia regional state —OPDO— has failed in its ongoing period of prohibition. Despite branding itself as ‘quite independent and pro-democratic’ , OPDO failed to deliver not only on issues that matter most to the majority of the residents/protestors in Debereziet, Nazreth, Jimma and etc , but also proved that it can systematically suppress , abstract, divert and use the voices of the majority who are relentlessly demonstrating in cities where ‘ reclamation of Linguistic rights’ are being echoed discriminately.
By አዎ ድል አለ በስሜ (Mikael Arage Yimer)
16/02/2018 3:35:09 AM EET
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by Heba Kanso | @hebakanso | Thomson Reuters Foundation
“I live in fear at any minute I can get arrested and go to jail”
By Heba Kanso
BEIRUT, Feb 15 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – It was Betty’s 22nd birthday when she landed in Beirut from Ethiopia with the promise of a well-paid job, but her dream of a better life ended when she found herself at the mercy of her employers.
Betty – whose name was changed for security reasons – is one of more than 100,000 Ethiopian migrants in Lebanon working under the kafala sponsorship system, which binds them to one employer.
Ethiopians are the biggest group of migrant workers in Lebanon where there are also more than 47,000 Bangladeshis and nearly 19,000 Filipinos, according to 2016 government data.
For two years Betty said she worked like a slave, facing sexual, verbal and physical abuse, until she managed to escape.
But her new-found freedom was not all she had hoped and for the past five years she has found she is still trapped, working without legal work and residency permits.
“I live in fear at any minute I can get arrested and go to jail,” Betty, now 29, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview in Beirut.
The kafala system applies across the Arab world and is highly criticised by human rights group for exploiting workers and denying them the ability to travel or change jobs.
This criticism has led to some nations reforming the system, with countries like Bahrain and Jordan introducing flexible visas that stop workers being under one sponsor, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).
In 2017 Qatar, host of the 2022 soccer World Cup, pledged a series of reforms including introducing a minimum wage and removed restrictions preventing migrant workers leaving the country without their employers’ permission.
But Lebanon is one of a list of Arab countries yet to introduce changes to the kafala system.
Georges Ayda, general director of the Ministry of Labor, said the kafala system was necessary to protect both the employer and the employee.
“When they work in houses there has to be somebody that is responsible for them. You are putting a stranger within a family,” said Ayda.
Despite the kafala system and Ethiopia banning its citizens from working in Lebanon since 2008, nearly 48,000 Ethiopians entered Lebanon between 2013 to 2016, government data shows.
But there are no official numbers of workers like Betty – so-called “irregular” workers – who do not have the legal paperwork to let them stay and work in the country.
Groups working with migrants see this as a widespread problem as it leaves people with no legal right to escape abusive bosses or poor working conditions.
“The sponsorship system allows this to be a systematic problem … you don’t have the right to be in the country, workers become trapped and they can’t leave without their passport,” said Zeina Mezher, migrant specialist for the ILO.
Betty (the name was changed for security reasons), an Ethiopian domestic migrant worker, poses for a photo in Beirut, Lebanon, February 8,2017. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Heba Kanso
“SYSTEM OF SLAVERY”
Under the kafala system an employer sometimes holds the worker’s passport, residency and work permits even though the Ministry of Labor states migrants have the right to keep their passport and all legal papers.
“The employer holds everything relating to their freedom,” said Farah Salka, executive director of local non-government group Anti-Racism Movement.
“There is no way to negotiate under this system of slavery … You can’t upset the person who is your sponsor because they are the only the legal tie for you in Lebanon.”
Betty said she managed to get to Lebanon after a smuggler gave her a visa to get into the country via Yemen with a promise she would be paid $250 per month and have regular working hours with a family.
But her first job was working unpaid for an illegal recruiter for three months because of the “debt” she owed him.
Betty said she was sponsored twice by two different families but faced physical, sexual and verbal abuse, limited meals, no days off, and was often forced to work for other relatives too.
“I went through a lot,” said Betty in a soft voice, adding that she felt she had no choice but to flee, leaving behind her passport and legal papers with her last sponsor.
“That time it was about surviving,” she said, adding that she dreams of working legally and maybe getting a law degree in Lebanon with the hope of one day returning to Ethiopia.
LIFE WITHOUT LEGAL PAPERS
Betty is now living with relatives picking up jobs in various houses around Lebanon, but without legal papers.
“Without my papers I can’t do anything. (The sponsor) didn’t sign a release paper. It’s like you own a slave. No matter where you go, you are somebody’s property unless that person sets them free,” she said.
Sponsors can sign release papers, but rights groups say migrant workers would still have be under another sponsor to allow them to legally work.
“The system doesn’t allow a person to escape an abusive situation without falling into irregularity,” said Ghada Jabbour, head of the anti-trafficking unit at Kafa, a local NGO working with migrants and against gender-based violence.
“The sponsorship system traps the worker since there is no legal protection … the worker has no way to untie this knot.”
Rights groups have called for the sponsorship system to be abolished but the government has ruled that out.
“The situation is not perfect. We strive for improvement – but we will not be going down the road of abolishing kafala. If you take away kafala there will be no guarantee that the employee will respect the contract,” said Ayda.
Ayda told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the Ministry of Labor is looking into the possibility of domestic migrant workers being sponsored by cleaning companies, allowing them not to live-in with a sponsor and to have flexible hours.
“If we go into something like this, in my opinion we fix many of the problems and we guarantee better rights for the domestic migrant worker,” he said.
Funding for this story was supported by a fellowship run by the International Labour Organization and the Ethical Journalism Network.
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Some describe it as a “transformational moment”; others the result of an “unprecedented” wave of protests.
But whatever it is labelled, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s surprise resignation is setting the stage for a crucial succession race, that is likely to shape the future course of a country rocked by violent unrest and political instability.
Hailemariam, who has sat at the helm of the Ethiopian government since 2012, announced on Thursday he would be stepping down as prime minister and head of the ruling coalition.
He cited ongoing “unrest and a political crisis” in the country as major factors in his resignation, which he described as “vital in the bid to carry out reforms that would lead to sustainable peace and democracy”.
Awol Allo, a lecturer at Keele University’s School of Law and an expert on Ethiopia, said the announcement was not entirely unexpected, as rumours that Hailemariam would step down after the ruling party congress next month were widespread.
“But [the resignation] came sooner than most had expected,” Allo told Al Jazeera.
Figures within the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) have been at odds, he explained, and mass protests in the country’s restive Oromia region and elsewhere, calling for greater freedoms, have increased pressure on Hailemariam’s government.
The ruling coalition, which controls all seats in Ethiopia’s 547-strong parliament, is composed of four political parties delineated along ethnic lines: the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), the Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organisation (OPDO), the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM).
The TPLF is perceived to be the most dominant group within the ruling coalition, even though Tigrayans make up only six percent of the country’s population. Members of the group also hold influential positions in the security forces and other sectors.
By contrast, the Oromo and Amhara people, who have long-standing grievances against the government and say they are politically, economically and socially marginalised, make up over 61 percent of the population.
Widespread protests broke out in the populous Oromia region, home to the Oromo, in 2015, after plans for a contentious development project in the capital, Addis Ababa, were unveiled.
But the demonstrations quickly spread to other parts of the country, including, most notably, the Amhara region, with protesters demanding wider political freedom and equality, as well as an end to human rights abuses.
Hundreds of people were killed and thousands were arrested in a government crackdown that prompted condemnation from human rights groups.
Ethiopia also imposed a state of emergency, which was lifted after 10 months.
Still under pressure, the Ethiopian government announced plans last month to shutter an infamous prison in Addis Ababa and release thousands of prisoners, including journalists, political leaders and opposition figures.
The government has released more than 6,000 prisoners so far.
But this week, widespread youth-led protests broke out once more in Oromia and a three-day strike was declared, amid rising tension over what many viewed as the slow release of the prisoners.
The effect of these protests is “unprecedented” in the country’s history, according to Allo.
“This is the same protest movement that forced this government to declare a state of emergency, forced it to release political prisoners, [and now] forced the prime minister to resign,” he said.
“This protest [is what] brought about this radical change.”
Jawar Mohammed, a US-based Oromo activist and executive director of the Oromia Media Network, agreed that Hailemariam’s exit was a product of the demonstrations.
The resignation also reflects the government’s inability “to control or respond appropriately” to the protesters’ demands, which include reforms to the democratic sphere and greater equality, he told Al Jazeera.
Befekadu Hailu, an Ethiopian writer and activist, echoed those sentiments, explaining that the state’s earlier tactics – including the violent crackdown and the promise to release all political prisoners – did not work in stemming the unrest.
“I think the pressure from the popular movements and also the reformist members of the ruling coalition forced the resignation to come early,” Befekadu said.
But, according to Mohammed, whoever is appointed the next prime minister must “be a reformist with strong support to implement reforms.
“The issue right now is timing,” he said. “How fast can they reform? … The options right now are speedy reform, or a revolution where the regime will be completely swept away.”
The EPRDF accepted Hailemariam’s resignation Thursday morning, and the coalition’s council of ministers is expected to convene on Friday to name his successor, according to local media reports.
Asafa Jalata, a professor of African Studies at the University of Tennesse-Knoxville whose research focuses on the Oromo, said many people in Oromia hope Lema Megersa, president of the regional government, may take on the duties of prime minister.
That could help ease ongoing political tensions in the short-term, until Ethiopians cast their votes in general elections, which are scheduled for 2020, he said.
Others have suggested that Ethiopian Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu and Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen could also be considered for the position.
“Ethiopia is at a crossroads,” Jalata told Al Jazeera.
“One would wish that learning from the past crisis, different stakeholders, including the government, would facilitate a transformation to democracy.”
But major questions remain.
“If they choose a candidate from either of the two main groups who have been protesting for most of the past three years, the Oromo and the Amhara, then it will be interesting to see how they are going to appease the other group that they leave out of this coalition,” Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Adow, reporting from Doha, said.
For his part, Befekadu said that, while it is difficult to predict what will come next, he feared the most dominant group within Ethiopia’s ruling coalition, the TPLF, may take drastic measures to maintain its grip on power, including a potential coup.
“That is my worst fear,” Befekadu said, adding that he has not given up hope, however.
“I hope there will come a person who will decide to reconcile the radicalised division in Ethiopia. That’s my hope.”
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ARDUF
Qafar Uguugumoh Demokrasiyyoh Inkiinoh Fooca (Uguugumo)
Friday 16th February 2018 Afar Regional State, Ethiopia
Another defining moment in the history of Ethiopia and its people seems to be unfolding. Those dramatic changes that are taking place in Ethiopia now are heralding both anxiety and opportunity. All Nations, Nationalities and Peoples of Ethiopia have their own anxieties and uncertainties. More than any, the Afar Killil (Rakaakay in Afar-af) must have more anxiety and worry than the rest because of obvious reasons. The TPLF Leadership’s coveting for all strategic roads that lead to ports.
In all the Regions administrated by the so called “sister” (ehet”) organizations in EPRDF or led by the “supporter” (Aggar) in the so called backward Regions, TPLF’s wishes were always law. This is very true in the Afar Region than in any Region. This is not only true because the region is ruled for the last 27 by “Manjus” (former child-soldiers of the TPLF), nor because it is directly controlled from Mekele, or not because of the ambitious designs of the Greater Tigray or Republic of Greater Tigray in accordance to the TPLF Political Manifesto of 1976, but above all it is because TPLF wants to secure the control of all strategic roads that lead to Sea ports. So, for all the above- mentioned reasons, they are coupling the destiny of the Afar Region with that of Tigray Region. All the strategic roads to and from Tigray pass through this Region. Because of the recent uprising in the Mersa and Woldia the Addis-Dessie- Alemata-Mekele road was impassable and blocked, they had to take the new road through Samara and Abaala of the Afar region. If TPLF wants to secure the Sea outlet to Red Sea which they denied 100 million strong Ethiopian nation open to Tigray. So, TPLF leaders not only consider Afar Region as their backyard but their High Priest Sibhat Negga even dared to say, “if Tigray secedes, Afar Region will follow suite in 2009 VOA”. Indeed, Afars can be victims of their Geo-strategic positions but, will never be an accomplice to TPLF leadership’s sinister designs and conspiracies against the unity of Ethiopia.
Ethiopians were used to speak about our country being on the brink of a civil war, on cross roads but this statement seems to be more true than any time in the last 27 years. Ethiopians who used to talk about the upper hand of Tigrian elite represented by TPLF are now talking about National Dialogue, National Consensus and even of All-inclusive Government of National Unity but, the intransigent and uncompromising leaders of TPLF are still thinking of old-fashioned tricks and even sinister designs, such as their talk of “Plan B” to prolong their supremacy. The Ethiopian people would never allow that a minority group commands the destiny of Ethiopian people. That is why they are in the process of changing the balance of force in their favours. That recent developments are leading us to the final decisive point. But, in spite of all those developments, those processes will not be free from fears and anxieties. The divisive politics of the last 27 years has left not only mistrust among Ethiopians but also divided them along ethnic lines. Transfiguring those fears into an opportunity in order to strengthen internal unity is a must. Coordinating the scattered upheavals and upraising under one leadership is the forth coming step that the Ethiopians look forward to. It is not time to be doubtful about the future of Ethiopia but it is also time to be guarded and vigilant. Learning lessons from our failed experiences is a must too.
We in Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front (ARDUF) are more than ready to contribute our share in this demanding, challenging arduous process of coalition buildings and undergoing compromises ahead of the Ethiopian people in general and the Ethiopian oppositions in particular.
Victory to Ethiopian People!
Victory to the freedom fighter of ARDUF
The post The Afar Region and TPLF Leadership’s Attempts to Control the Roads and the Sea Outlet appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News|Breaking News: Your right to know!.
Homeland (Hageregna) Report Where To From Here – SBS Amharic
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Have Your Say፡ PM Hailemariam Desalegn’s Resignation
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Yesterday, T-TPLF prime minster Hailemariam Desalegn “resigned”.
Today, it is rumored the T-TPLF is ready to declare another state of emergency to continue to cling to power. In October 2016, the T-TPLF declared a state of emergency for itself. The T-TPLF is on life support once again. Quick to the state of emergency room!
A state of emergency declaration is not going to save the T-TPLF! It only prolongs its agony and delays the inevitable.
The “geniuses” of the Thugtatorship of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (T-TPLF) still think we are all dumb as a box of rocks. They think they can cling to power for one more day, one more week, one more year by throwing out a media chaff and declaring a state of emergency.
The T-TLF bosses like to play games. Mind games. Zero sum games. State of emergency games. Propaganda games. Negotiation games. They only need to play “game over” games.
Their latest is “resignation games”. They stage a whole smoke and mirrors dog and pony show and announce, “Aaaand! Now, ladies and gentlemen, Prime Minister Hailemariam has resigned!”
“Aabracadabra!”, he is back on the job!
The T-TPLF crooks believe we are all suckers born yesterday and they can fool us at any time. But we were not born last night! We know when we are being scammed and bamboozled.
But the politically tone-deaf T-TPLF bosses sitting in their echo chambers believe they can scam us every time, all the time, until the end of time.
In October 2017, Abadula Gemeda, the Speaker of the T-TPLF parliament made a big scene when he “resigned”. He claimed “disrespect” made him resign. In announcing his resignation, Abadula said he will continue to function as a member of “parliament and will explain the details of his resignation after he confers with his party leaders and other members of parliament in the next week or so.”
Within weeks, in December 2017, Abadula was back at his old job, doing what he does best: Running the rubberstamping machine in the T-TPLF parliament.
Bereket Simon, a major T-TPLF underboss, also submitted his resignation in October 2017, only to un-resign by December 2017 with Abadula.
The T-TPLF shapeshifting bosses have been “resigning”, un-resigning and doing musical chairs power-plays for quite some time.
The T-TPLF shapeshifters are like electrons and Schrödinger’s cat. They can be two places at the same time. They can be two opposite things at the same time. They can resign and un-resign at the same time. Because the T-TPLF is so super-secretive, it is impossible to know if Hailemariam has resigned or un-resigned. Therefore, like Schrödinger’s paradox, he may have both resigned and un-resigned at the same time.
But here is more proof. Consider all of the other T-TPLF Schrödinger’s cats who have resigned and un-resigned at the same time: Seyoum Mesfin, Abay Tsehaye, Debretsion “Sugar Daddy John” Gebremichael, Azeb “The Queen of Mean” Meles-Mesfin, Arkebe Iqubay, Abay Woldu, Birhane Gebrekirstos, Zeray Asgedom, Getachew Reda and many others. These shapeshifters have been resigning and un-resigning from power at the same time for years.
Now, Hailemariam Desalegn suddenly announces he has resigned, kind of, sort of, that is. He has resigned sort of like Abadula and Bereket Simon who resigned and un-resigned at the same time.
Let me try again. Hailemariam has resigned but not until his resignation is approved by the T-TPLF executive committee and parliament. Just like Abadula Gemeda. When that committee and party approval will come is anybody’s guess. Maybe there will be approval, maybe not. Maybe the executive committee will approve and the parliament disapprove or vise versa. The date of approval is the 31st of February. In the meantime, Hailemariam remains a puppet prime minister.
In his resignation statement, Hailemariam shed crocodile tears for the innocent young Ethiopians mowed down by his own security police and military. His T-TPLF bosses ordered him to order the massacres. They made sure Hailemariam’s fingerprints were on the massacre weapons. “I was simply taking orders” is no defense to crimes against humanity.
Hailemariam is the kind of Shakespearean villain who smiles as he murders and murders as he smiles. “Why, I can smile and murder whiles I smile,/ And cry ‘content’ to that which grieves my heart,/ And wet my cheeks with artificial tears,/And frame my face for all occasions”.
Save the artificial tears for that time when you shall stand at the bar of justice, Hailemariam.
But is Hailemariam Schrödinger really out? Or is he “out-in, in-out” T-TPLF style?
Is Hailemariam shapeshifting into now-I-resign, now-I-unresign when he says he will resign when his party allows him to resign but until then he un-resigns?
T-TPLF communications minister Negeri Lencho said Hailmariam has resigned but he has not resigned because the T-TPLF executive committee and the party have not approved his resignation. It is not clear when he will actually resign, according to Negeri.
So, there you have it. Que sera, sera, whatever will be will be, the future’s not ours to say if he has resigned or un-resigned. Maybe he has resigned. Maybe he has not resigned. Maybe he will resign. Maybe not. Que sera, sera…!
The pattern and practice in T-TPLF game of political musical chairs resignations is becoming pretty clear.
The T-TPLF bosses believe they can use high profile resignations as workarounds to defeat the massive nonviolent resistance that is spreading like wildfire throughout Ethiopia today. They believe by grandstanding the make-believe “resignations” of their bosses, they can buy the good will and support of the Ethiopian people.
There is an old Ethiopian saying: “Shuffling the saucepan from one burner to another on the stovetop will not make the sauce tastier.”
I say to make the sauce tasty and palatable, it is necessary to fire the chef (not resign) along with his entire kitchen and serving staff and all the vendors. It is necessary to completely clean out the T-TPLF from the Ethiopia kitchen.
T-TPLF psychological warfare
All of the make-believe bogus resignations are part of a larger psychological warfare operation (PsyOps) that the T-TPLF is conducting.
The T-TPLF is waging psychological war because its war on the people of Ethiopia with AK-47s and machineguns is not working out too well. The more the T-TPLF kills and massacres, the more people come out to protest and resist.
In Ethiopia today, there is a bit of mass euphoria over the release of political prisoners and expectations of more good things to come from the current struggle. Though a few high profile political prisoners have been “released”, they are far from being free. Tens of thousands of their brothers and sisters still remain in T-TPLF prisons. Those who have been released just joined an open air prison called “Ethiopia” holding 00 million people.
The sadistic T-TPLF Schadenfreude (killjoy) who derive enjoyment from the suffering of others want to transform whatever little joy and euphoria that exists into mass hysteria. They talk about “time running out”, “running away before sundown” and “making the last defense before it’s too late”. They spread the gospel of gloom and doom among the people of Tigray.
T-TPLF uber-boss Seyoum Mesfin told the people of Tigray to prepare for the final showdown, the Ethiopian Armageddon. He appealed to the youth of Tigray to join in the last crusade against their Ethiopian brothers and sisters to lay their lives down in defense of the T-TPLF’s ethnic apartheid supremacy system.
Today, the T-TPLF is even putting on military parades on their television programs displaying their military weapons and hardware.
Why?
It is all intended to send a message to the people of Ethiopia: The T-TPLF is ready for the final Ethiopian Armageddon.
But there will be no Armageddon.
The T-TPLF can have its own intra-organizational Armageddon. So far, they are doing a hell of a job creating a total meltdown in the T-TPLF. At least that’s what they want us to believe.
The T-TPLF has been experimenting with all sorts of PsyOps in the recent past. This past September, in the first ten days of Ethiopian New year, the T-TPLF launched a major psychological warfare operation on the Ethiopian people.
T-TPLF communication affairs minister Negeri Lencho announced that the “first day of the New Year will be marked as Day of Love, followed by Mothers’ and Children Day, Day of Elders, Day of Peace, Reading Day, Green Development Day, Day of Respect, Love of Country Day, Day of Unity, and Day of Ethiopia consecutively.” Lencho added, “Citizens have to make peace and stability their culture (sic) as Ethiopia is flourishing economically since it became the island of peace and stability in the Horn of African.”
The T-TPLF PsyOps aim to disrupt, confuse and mislead the nonviolent national resistance movement.
For the first time, the stars are aligned for Ethiopia. The people are on the move, their friends abroad are waiting in the wings. The U.S. Congress has set high noon on February 28, 2018 for the T-TPLF to stop killing Ethiopians and make itself accountable to U.N. human rights investigations. The Trump administration has also declared it will take “aggressive action” on human rights in Africa.
So, exactly what is the T-TPLF doing with the Hailemariam “resignation” game?
1) Divert domestic and international attention. By announcing Hailemariam’s “resignation, the T-TPLF is trying to send targeted messages to the domestic and international communities. First, they are signaling to the Ethiopian population that Hailemariam’s resignation is a big deal. It signals imminent real and positive change, implying he was the problem all along. They did a number on him: Use him and lose him. He did their dirty work, now he gets the boot in the seats. They even made Hailemariam babble in his “resignation speech” about why it is necessary to usher in real democracy. What an Epiphany!
But let’s think about it. Does the resignation of a puppet prime minister mean a damn thing?
Hailemariam never had power or influence. He did what he is told. He has always been an empty suit in the prime minster’s office. Does it matter whether he resigns or stays? Who the hell cares?
Second, the T-TPLF is sending a message to the international community, particularly the U.S. Congress has set a February 28, 2018 deadline for the T-TPLF to clean up their act, shape up or the hammer will drop on their head. They want to convince the U.S. Congress and the Trump administration that they are going to be good boys from now on and pretty please don’t spank us with your Magnitsky Act. We have billions in stolen cash stashed in America.
The fact of the matter is that the T-TPLF cashed out its last check on January 20, 2018 when Barack Obama, their patron saint and savior, walked over to the trash bin of African history. Or was it “right side of history”? Obama, Susan Rice, Gayle Smith and the whole T-TPLF gang can now have a hell of a party in the trash heap of history.
The T-TPLF will not be able to make suckers out of Congressman Chris Smith, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Asst. Sec. Donald Yamamoto or Amb. Michael Raynor.
3) Sap the energy of the youth resistance. The T-TPLF hopes the Hailemariam resignation will at least for a time sap the energy out of the youth movement which has been the motive force in the mass mobilization against T-TPLF ethnic apartheid rule. They hope the youth will somehow be confused by the “big move” and slow down their protests and nonviolent resistance actions. They think they can fool the youth into believing that they will appoint a prime minister who is popular with them and reflects their dreams and aspirations.
The T-TPLF insultingly underestimates Ethiopia’s youth. They are not going to be fooled with paper bags of cotton candy. They want real change. That means an immediate and complete end to ethnic apartheid in Ethiopia.
4) Change and control the narrative– All the talk to day is about the political prisoners that never existed being released. Of course, 99.6 percent of all political prisoners in Ethiopia are still in prison. The high profile prisoners have been released are more defiant after their release than before. They are talking about intensifying the nonviolent struggle and openly demanding democracy come hell or high water. They are getting an enormous amount of national and international attention.
That attention has placed a laser beam on the atrocious human rights record of the T-TPLF. By announcing Hailemariam’s “resignation”, the T-TPLF hopes attention will be focused on all the good things they are doing, how they are making fundamental changes and why they should be given a chance just one more time. They want to buy a little more time with their window dressing changes and gain the support of the loaners and donors while pulling the rug over the eyes of the Ethiopian people for the umpteenth time.
The fact of the matter is that no amount of windrow dressing and game playing is going to change the simple truth. The T-TPLF had 27 years to clean up its act and make things right in Ethiopia. Instead, they used their strategy of divide-by-ethnicity-religion-
In August 2016, I wrote a commentary entitled, “Ethiopia: The Volcano, the Beast and the Tiger”. I developed twin themes from President John F. Kennedy observations about revolution and change. Kennedy said, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” He also said during his inaugural address, “Those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside”.
The T-TPLF has been riding the Ethiopian tiger for well over a quarter of a century. The day they have to dismount the tiger is at hand. They are looking at the sparkling eyes, gleaming teeth and pointy nails of one big hungry and angry tiger!”
The only choice they have now is this: Make peace and reconcile with the tiger or end up being tiger dinner.
2) Create an elaborate cover before the T-TPLF pulls the Armageddon (nuclear) option: Could the Hailemariam’s “resignation” be the last and final offer of the T-TPLF before it pulls the Armageddon option? Is the T-TPLF saying, “We have given you Hailemariam by kicking him out. He was a weak and indecisive leader. Y’all should be happy. If you don’t like it, we’ll show you what our brave military leaders can do. Be forewarned, they take no prisoners!”
For years, the T-TPLF bosses have been boasting, “No one will take away the power we got shedding our blood in the bush by dropping a ballot in an election box.” They have been preparing for an imaginary Rwanda-style Interahamwe genocide. In the past few days, they have been showing on television how mighty their military and security forces are raising the specter that they will go down fighting.
Does Hailemariam’s resignation signal the moment for the T-TPLF to cry “Havoc!” and unleash its dogs of war on the Ethiopian people?
“Down, down Woyane!”: The nonviolent struggle against T-TPLF ethnic apartheid must continue
The clarion call for the nonviolent struggle against ethnic apartheid came on October 16, 2016, during the Irrecha Massacres. Over a thousand courageous, freedom-loving young Ethiopians chanted “Down, Down Woyane!” as they went down to the ground riddled by T-TPLF machine gun and AK47 bullets.
Those defiant dying words are now coming alive.
“Down, down, Hailemariam!”
“Down, down the entire Corrupt and Criminal Empire of the T-TPLF.”
Up, up with the people of Ethiopia!
Back in my day, we used to sing, “Up, Up with People”.
Today, I am signing that same old song, with a slight change to the lyrics:
“Up! Up with the Ethiopian people!
You meet ‘em wherever you go,
Up! Up with the Ethiopian People!
They’re the best kind of folks we know.
….
Ethiopian people from the south-land and people from the north,
And Ethiopians from the east, and Ethiopians from the west,
Like a mighty army, I saw them coming forth.
‘Twas a great reunion, befitting of a king!
Then I realized Ethiopian people are more important than any thing.
“Up! Up with the Ethiopian people!
You meet ‘em wherever you go,
Up! Up with the Ethiopian People!
They’re the best kind of folks we know.
Sang it!
“Up! Up with the Ethiopian people!”
“Down, Down Woyane!”
Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino. His teaching areas include American constitutional law, civil rights law, judicial process, American and California state governments, and African politics. He has published two volumes on American constitutional law, including American Constitutional Law: Structures and Process (1994) and American Constitutional Law: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights (1998). He is the Senior Editor of the International Journal of Ethiopian Studies, a leading scholarly journal on Ethiopia. For the last several years, Prof. Mariam has written weekly web commentaries on Ethiopian human rights and African issues that are widely read online. He blogged on the Huffington post at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ and later on open.salon until that blogsite shut down in March 2015.
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Ethiopian distance runner Jemal Yimer (AFP / Getty Images)
Ethiopia’s fastest man and woman over 13.1 miles this year have been named on the national team for the IAAF/Trinidad Alfonso World Half Marathon Championships Valencia 2018 on 24 March.
Six months after finishing fifth over 10,000m at the IAAF World Championships London 2017, 21-year-old Jemal Yimer made an impressive half marathon debut in Ras al-Khaimah earlier this month. He finished second in 59:00, the fastest time by an Ethiopian runner since 2012 and putting him third on the Ethiopian all-time list.
He will be joined by the top four finishers from the recent Ethiopian Half Marathon Championships: Getaneh Molla, Betesfa Getahun, Dawit Fikadu and Jiksa Tadesse.
Ruti Aga, winner of the Houston Half Marathon earlier this year, leads the women’s team. The 24-year-old, who finished second at last year’s Berlin Marathon in 2:20:41, won in Houston with a big PB of 1:06:39 to move to fourth on the Ethiopian all-time list.
The top four finishers from the Ethiopian Half Marathon Championships joining Aga on the team are Zeineba Yimer, Meseret Belete, Bekelech Gudeta and Zinash Mekonnen.
Men: Dawit Fikadu, Betesfa Getahun, Getaneh Molla, Jiksa Tadesse, Jemal Yimer
Women: Ruti Aga, Meseret Belete, Bekelech Gudeta, Zinash Mekonnen, Zeineba Yimer
Source: IAAF.org
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Ethiopia declares state of emergency
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ESAT Radio Fri 16 Feb 2018
The post ESAT Radio Fri 16 Feb 2018 appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News|Breaking News: Your right to know!.
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia announced a state of emergency on Friday, the day after the prime minister’s resignation, as pressure mounted on the country’s ruling coalition
The coalition decided emergency rule was “vital to safeguarding the constitutional order”, state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation said. The announcement gave no further details but the defense minister was expected to hold a news conference on Saturday morning.
Ethiopia only fully lifted its last state of emergency in August following months of curfews, restrictions on movement and the detention of 29,000 people.
Those measures followed two years of anti-government protests in which security forces killed hundreds of people in Amhara and Oromiya, the nation’s two most populous provinces.
The imposition of a new state of emergency may indicate that Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s resignation on Thursday was the result of tensions among the four parties in the ruling coalition.
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Addis Standard
Liyat Fekade
Addis Abeba, February 17/2018 – A senior government official told Addis Standard that there will be no need for a transitional government, an idea widely entertained by many to steam growing fears of rupture within the ruling EPRDF. This comes as a trail of chaotic events preceded the announcement last night of the reinstatement of another state of emergency, leaving many Ethiopians suspect a deliberate tactic to pave ways for a military takeover in the wake of the resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. Ethiopians also suspect the move to declare a state of emergency as a deliberate move by the TPLF apparatchik to replace the outgoing PM with another weak “puppet.”
But a senior government official who wants to remain anonymous disputed the claims in an interview with Addis Standard this morning and said that it was nothing more than a “disorganized” trail of events due to the unexpected suggestion by the executive committee of the EPRDF to re-instate the emergency rule. He also ruled out the idea of a transitional government saying the government in power is still a “constitutionally mandated government.”
The re-reinstatement of the state of emergency was first suggested during an emergency meeting by the EPRDF executive committee on Thursday, the same meeting PM Hailemariam used to announce his resignation. The council of ministers was then called to convene on Friday afternoon to discuss and announce the re-reinstatement of the state of emergency, as per article 93 of the constitution, which mandates the council the right to declare a state of emergency in extreme cases such as invasion by a foreign enemy and breakdown of law and order, among others.
However, the eventual announcement was followed by a trail of confusing events, including a statement by Ethiopia’s minister of communication, Dr. Negeri Lencho, on the VOA Afaan Oromo denying reports of another state of emergency; a presser called at the office of the Prime Minister for early afternoon and was called off again late in the evening on Friday (local journalists were told to convene at 9 am on Saturday to attend another presser to be given by Siraj Fegessa, the minister of defense); and an unexpected announcement of the state of emergency by the state broadcaster EBC barely 40 minutes after the presser at the PM office was called off. The announcement on the state TV appeared to be incomplete as it did not specify a crucial detail on the time frame for the state of emergency. Within a span of half an hour, the official Facebook pages of EPRDF, and ANDM, issued a statement saying the state of emergency was declared for six months.
These events have made many Ethiopians take to their social media to express their fears and speculations of a government trick, a deliberate tactic of a possible military takeover or a tactic to intimidate the OPDO leadership, which is vying, and is widely speculated to replace the outgoing PM.
“Govt playing tricks. After waiting for 7 hours at the palace for an announcement, journos were told to leave & not to expect anything tonight. 40 mins later, govt announces emergency rule,” wrote Aaron Masho, Reuter’s correspondent based in Addis Abeba, on his twitter page.
“The state of emergency just declared via the state broadcaster is quite bizarre. The declaration stated that the SOE will take effect as of today, and yet it said nothing about the conditions of the SOE, its restrictions, and how long it will last. The ministers convened today to discuss the SOE reportedly couldn’t agree on a final decision. Although they were expected to make announcements to journalists later today, they failed to do so as they haven’t yet made a decision. Meanwhile, a certain group has decided to declare state of emergency unilaterally and announce it via the state broadcaster,” wrote Dr. Wondwossen Teklu, who is known for providing critical comments reflecting on various political events in Ethiopia. “TPLF is quietly assuming absolute power via its military proxy in ways that excluded ANDM and OPDO.”
Hassen Hussein, Assistant Professor at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota’s Undergraduate College, on his part reflected in his twitter post suggesting the events indicate TPLF’s tactic to “intimidate” the OPDO leadership. “PM resigns & it’s sign of deepening democracy? Declare state of emergency & it’s to aid reform? All these to intimidate OPDO to settle for a puppet PM? The follies of TPLF’s top brass & security apparatus & oligarchy! Fortunately this is 2018; not 2006 nor 1992. God save Ethiopia.”
However, the senior government official who gave the interview to Addis Standard this morning insisted that the statement by Dr. Negeri Lencho denying the re-reinstatement of the state of emergency was a mere coincidence of “information gap” because Dr. Negeri, along with Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, the foreign minister, (both from the OPDO), are currently on a working tour to the US.
Nevertheless, confusion continues. The presser by Siraj Fegess, which was scheduled for today at 9:00 AM local time was postponed to 12:00 PM. According to the official, this is due to delays on the details of the State of emergency to be explained by Siraj Fegessa. He also said that yesterday’s meeting by the minister of council lasted until 7:30 PM and the work to write the details of the decree were ongoing “pretty much the whole night.” But he hinted that the state of emergency would be less imposing than the previous one.
Siraj Fegessa is expected to provide information that a command post, similar to the previous one, is set up to enforce the state of emergency. He is also expected to explain more details including the tabling to the national parliament of the decree within 15 days, corroborating Addis Standard’s breaking newsand to dismiss fears of a military takeover. Addis Standard could not verify if Siraj will be providing the entire details on the scoop of the emergency rule, but the state media will be announcing the details during the evening bulletin.
But some have already expressed skepticism on whether the national parliament would give the decree a blanket pass like the previous one. It is expected that MPs from the OPDO and ANDM will resist endorsing the decree.
The fast unfolding events in the last three days have drawn several international media headlines, as well as comments from diplomats expressing concerns. “Rush of events. Release of many prisoners, resignation of the Prime Minister. Now State of Emergency. We hope the situation remains peaceful,” said Georg Schmidt, Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa & Sahel at the German Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Meanwhile, Ethiopians are nervously waiting for the details of the emergency decree and sections of their constitutional civil liberties that are to be suspended by the emergency decree for at least six months. AS
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By Elias Meseret | AP
Addis Abeba, February 15/2018 – After six years of power struggle within the ruling party since the death of the only leader the party had known; three years of relentless protests by the Oromo, later joined by the Amhara; and mounting turmoil in the country, the Chairman of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and the country’s embattled Prime Minister, Hailemariam Dessalegn, resigned today in a televised speech to the nation.
