Thursday, January 31, 2013

Indian, Ethiopian activists against land grabbing meet in New Delhi


By AfriqueJet Actualité Afrique31 January 2013

Lagos, Nigeria – The Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF) and the Oakland Institute in the US will convene a day-long summit on 6 February at the India International Centre, New Delhi, bringing together activists resisting land grabs across India and Ethiopia.
In a press statement, received  here Thursday by PANA, organizers said the meeting will be a ground-breaking opportunity for dialogue between Ethiopian small farmers and land rights activists and their Indian counterparts, providing space for those directly affected by land grabs to share their experiences, suffering, and collectively strategize to challenge institutional and corporate land grabbers.
In recent years, India has seen a massive transfer of land and natural resources from the rural poor to wealthy investors, the statement said, adding ‘And the country has become a leader in external land-grabbing as well.
‘Indian companies are the second largest investors in the Ethiopian economy, with approved investments worth nearly US$ 5 billion and land lease agreements for over 600,000 hectares across Ethiopia.
The deals have been facilitated by the Indian government, which supports merger and acquisition purchases of existing firms, public-private partnerships, and recently granted EXIM Bank’s largest single line of credit (US$ 640 million) to Ethiopia.
Ethiopia has been the focus of aggressive foreign agricultural investment, leasing out nearly 3.6 million hectares of land for commercial farm ventures from 2008-2010.
This investment corresponds with widespread human rights violations. Most egregiously, the Ethiopian government’s villagization programme will displace 1.5 million people by 2013 — with the five administrative regions that have the largest share of foreign investment the hardest hit.
The forced relocation of hundreds of thousands of indigenous people from their lands to make room for foreign investors has destroyed livelihoods and rendered small-scale farmers and pastoralist communities fearful of their own survival, as rapes and killings involving security forces have been reported in Lower Omo and Gambela regions.
Against this backdrop, the civil society summit aims to unify struggles across continents and amplify the voices of those impacted, thus lifting the demand for land rights and dignified livelihoods to a new level.
The Oakland Institute is an independent policy think tank whose mission is to increase public participation and promote fair debate on critical social, economic and environmental issues.

Kissing up to Woyane tyranny is bottom feeding and crime against Ethiopians

By Teshome Debalke

It is strange, relatively small numbers of determined individuals are willing to be bottom feeders for Woyane tyranny. The fact they surrender their God given right to be free by kissing up to Woyane should tell us their urge to get ahead of everybody else piggybacking on the regime. After all, without them the regime has noting show.


It is this love-hate relationship bottom feeders have with tyranny that opened the door for millions to suffer on the hand of Woyane. Among bottom feeders are journalists that glamorize tyranny and cover up its crimes.
Ethiopians never argue, fight over or disagree on the choice between tyranny verses freedom. Only bottom feeders entertain tyranny as a choice over freedom; willing to conspire against the rights and freedoms of Ethiopians, no one else.
To surrender own rights and freedom and go beyond-supporting a small time tyrant against the freedom and rights of millions compatriots speaks volumes about contemptible bottom feeders of our time. Such behavior is not only idiotic in modern times but unforgivable.

The reward alone couldn’t explain the behavior of our contemporary bottom feeders. There must be other incentives to surrender rights in the service of tyranny. It could be political motivation or purely greed to get ahead of everybody else; cutting corners and involving in all kinds of crimes, including corruption. Naturally, morally bankrupt and intellectually dysfunctional individuals; prone to crimes are attracted to these kinds of occupation. Such trait is what tyranny looks for when recruiting them.
A good example of Woyane bottom feeders would be those individuals in the Diasporas that willingly volunteer to serve and preserve tyranny. Unlike their counterpart at home with little choice, the Diaspora bottom feeders are the worst kind. Having choices, they choose to serve tyranny against their own freedom and the people by providing cover for tyranny.

Why they do what they do is a subject for historians and psychologist to explore.   But, for average Ethiopian, bottom feeders remain the instrument of tyranny in countless crimes and suffering of the people we know and see and the many crimes we don’t know and see.
Surprisingly, bottom feeders seems to enjoy the suffering of people as an opportunity to cash in. instead of restraining themselves when presented with overwhelming evidence of crimes against humanity they cover it up. Blinded by corruption and cronyism they keep on kissing up to tyranny and look for every excuse imaginable to justify their behavior.

Short of inflecting phsical harm to their compatriots as hit men of tyranny, bottom feeders are in the business of covering-up, snitching and spreading propaganda to extend the life of tyranny.  Blaming others is the easiest and the most frequently used excuse. Therefore, searching for dirt on anyone that threatened their tyrant is a fulltime work.
The more educated bottom feeders are the worst they get and, the lamest excuse they come up. For example, bottom feeder economist, educators… are very good reducing science into fiction without blinking an eye to fit the desire of the ruling tyrant.  Likewise, bottom feeder journalists, are good in reducing the truth into echo of the tyrant as loud as they can make it. They have no qualm lying on the record and lying again to cover the previous. They all are in perpetual suspense from the reality around them.

Tyranny attracts a variety of bottom feeders and congregates them for explicit reason of covering up crimes against the rights and interest of millions of people. Since their job doesn’t require knowledge to do right, bottom feeders are all the same regardless of their qualification. The only thing they use their knowledge is how well they can cover up the crime of the regime to the world to sustain tyranny.
Therefore, a tyrant can’t survive without bottom feeder as they don’t have any use but bottom feeding in exchange for bribe of the public resources under the regime. The marriage between the two is what keeps tyranny going.  Bottom feeders are easy to please; simply feeding their empty ego is sufficient to make them surrender their freedom in the service of tyranny. They have no value for their own freedom to sell it for as little perk and recogntion from a tyrant.

Bottom feeders of tyranny must be reminded the occupation they choose has no value in society. There is no glory in bottom feeding and the reward isn’t real but, blood and sweat of the people. The damage they cause isn’t minor misdemeanor but a serious offence against humanity.
For instant, the late Woyane leader, Melse Zenawi in one of his public rant claimed his regime doesn’t need intelligent people but those that serve Woyane’s agenda.  In his famous quota ‘a guard is good enough as long as he serve his regime’ is a good example of the caliber of the collection of bottom feeders he assembled in Ethiopia.

Therefore, it is not a mystery why bottom feeders overwhelmed the regime’s officials and Media, business, education…; recruited as unintelligent defenders of tyranny.  The bottom feeders in Diaspora are worst than their counterparts at home, because they do it voluntarily; choosing to abandon their freedom to serve tyranny. The only excuse they have is to claim they are helping their people when in reality they feed off poverty on behalf of the regime. Time and time again they show up looking where they can sell poverty for the highest bidder and cash in handsomely for themselves. The agents of poverty lords biggest accomplishment is coming together to praise tyrant for empowering them to rip-off their people.
Bottom feeding is the worst behavior of human beings and the cost to the people is enormous.  Tyranny needs them than they need it; therefore, it offer them bribes and power to make them feel comfortable to serve. Once they accept, they are part of the Woyane family; defending tyranny tooth and nail to protect their interest.  They become anti freedom, anti democracy and anti human; willing to do anything to sustain tyranny.

Bottom feeders in Diaspora are true to their name. They do it by choose and makes them unique in the human experience. Often weak and prone to crime they ask no question but where to cash-in without much effort. Showing up dressed up alone is enough for them to feel worthy of something they are not. It is more the psychological satisfaction that drives them to bottom feed for tyranny.

Like urban gang members, life of criminality is a must to serve. Like gang members, loyalty to the gang leader is unquestionable to survive. Like gang members, praising the leader is a prerequisite to show loyalty and earn favoritism to climb in rank.
Bottom feeders are what keep tyranny alive. The more Ethiopians go after bottom feeders the sooner tyranny ends. It is important to note, most bottom feeders are ignorant and don’t know what they are doing but getting along with the rest of the flocks feed with dosage of propaganda to keep them going. When they find out the reality it is too late to come to their senses to abandon it therefore remain bottom feeders. The fact they hide their identity and activities is a testimony bottom feeding is not a popular occupation but an opportunity to get ahead while no one looking. Thus, recruiting more bottom feeders is one way of feeling good about themselves to protect their interest. Showing up on the bottom feeders’ convention in Diaspora top observe their activity will revile their true character.

There is no glory being bottom feeder for tyranny except committing crimes against the people and run as fugitives from justice.  Ethiopians must show zero tolerance for bottom feeders. Sooner or later every bottom feeder realizes s/he is public enemy #1.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Ethiopia has "High Defense Corruption", TI's Defense Corruption report out


By De Birhan 
29 January 2013
Transparency International U.K.'s Government Defense Anti-corruption Index (GDAI) released today has listed Ethiopia in the "D - Band" Category of High Defense Corruption. The Report stated with regard to political corruption risk, Ethiopia, though there are de jure provisions for a standing committee to scrutinize policy, the ruling party has 99 per cent of seats, making significant objection to policy unlikely. "There is a concern over the role of ethnicity and political loyalty in military selection processes." reads the Report. Similarly in terms of procurement, the Report said “Open competition in procurement is not carried out in practice."
 

 
Each country was assessed using a comprehensive questionnaire of 77 questions, clustered into five risk areas:  political risk, finance risk, personnel risk, operations risk, and procurement risk and scores them in bands A to F, with A being "very low" and F "critical where Eritrea is placed. 

Only Australia and Germany were listed in the A band, which grouped defense establishments that are "accountable to their citizens, ... are transparent about their spending and activities, and have strong controls in place to combat corruption that are actively enforced," stated the Report. 

Fifty seven of the 82 countries assessed, or 70 percent, have high to critical risk of corruption, scoring in bands D, E, or F.

The global cost of corruption in the defense sector is estimated to be a minimum of US$20 billion each year, the organization said, citing data from the World Bank and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

To read the full report click Here

Beyond Ideology: The Betrayed Task of Ethiopian Intellectuals


By Messay Kebede

This article is not a rejoinder to Prof. Alemayehu G Mariam’s recently posted article titled “Ethiopia: The Irresponsibility of the Privileged.” Alemayehu’s article is well-thought-out and accurate in its analysis of the shortcomings of Ethiopian intellectuals. The apparent indifference of many Ethiopian intellectuals to the plight of the Ethiopian people and to the lack of democratic governance or their veiled support to a tyrannical government, mostly because of ethnic affiliations, is indeed appalling. Rather than a retort, this article is a complementary contribution with an eye to discerning the root of the derailment of Ethiopian intellectuals.
Besides indifferent or sold intellectuals, Ethiopia has produced a virulent type of radical intellectuals who are directly or indirectly responsible for the prevalence of tyranny in Ethiopia since the fall of the monarchical system. I am not saying that tyranny started with the collapse of the imperial rule, but that the imperial autocracy was replaced by a more vicious and destructive type of tyranny, characteristically defined by the commitment to a clean slate or tabula rasa ideology. The typical ethos of the ideology is to indiscriminately denigrate whatever has been bequeathed by the past so that the country must be rebuilt anew. Whether we take Leninist type of socialisms or the various versions of ethnonationalism, they share the belief that the first condition of real change is the merciless destruction of inherited features.
Those who are familiar with my book, Radicalism and Cultural Dislocation in Ethiopia, know that I trace this clean slate ideology to the colonialist overtones of modern education in Ethiopia. What else is the indiscriminate assault on tradition but the product of the internalization of the colonial discourse by uprooted native intellectuals? Colonial discourse and policy called for the eradication of native traditions, judged primitive, and pushed for the subservient copying of the Western model of modernity. A cursory examination is enough to see how closely the modern system of education in Ethiopia was and still is framed to inculcate uprootedness and colonial mimicry. As a result, a significant number of Ethiopian intellectuals (this writer included) became in the 60s and 70s, not the defenders, but the gravediggers of Ethiopia’s history and legacy by creating radical movements championing the clean slate ideology, be it through Leninist versions of socialism or outright ethnonationalism. Unfortunately, their undoings still define today’s Ethiopia and constitute a major obstacle for democratic government and modernization.
This is not to say that social radicalism should be banned in favor of one category of intellectual. As in any other social question, prudence should avoid one-sidedness and promote diversity. It is much healthier for Ethiopia to produce various types of intellectuals, ranging from conservatives and reformists to radicals. The democratic process itself, to the extent that it is genuine, requires and produces various types of intellectuals. Even so, the type practicing indifference or insincerity should be denounced. For, the role of intellectuals is to tell and argue in favor of what they believe to be true, that is, what they have established as “true” through an intellectual procedure of research and validation. What is sane for democracy and progress is not the triumph of one view, but the open and dynamic debate between competing perspectives.
In my view, the type of intellectuals that is most needed in today’s Ethiopia is the type that transcends classes and ethnic groups and defines a national mission for the country that is both comprehensive and galvanizing. Traditionally (what follows is taken from my published paper titled “Return to the Source: Asres Yenesew and the West”), Orthodox Church intellectuals, often known as debteras, played this role. Indeed, according to Asres Yenesew––a leading scholar of the Ethiopian Church during the imperial rule––traditional intellectuals were the scouts or the outposts of Ethiopian society; as such, their role was to scrutinize the surrounding world so as to safeguard its national mission and identity. What defines them is thus their national function, which compels them to rise above factions and special interests. While kings rule, warriors fight, peasants produce, priests pray, intellectuals reflect on what is good and bad. They represent the small but advanced garrison protecting the society from malefic and dissolving internal and external forces.
After highlighting the traditional role of intellectuals, Asres deals with what he considers as the greatest betrayal in Ethiopia’s long history, to wit, the transformation of the Westernized Ethiopian intellectual into an ally of the colonization of Ethiopia. In a highly provocative statement, he declares: “although Italy’s army was driven out, its politics was not.” In other words, the military defeat of the colonizer has not ended the colonial project; it has simply compelled Westerners to use subtler means. Chief among such means is modern schooling. That is why they were so eager to open schools and send teachers in Ethiopia. What better means was there for realizing their colonial project than the propagation of their books and the creation of a Westernized Ethiopian elite?
For Asres, Ethiopia faces the gravest danger of its long history since modern native intellectuals, whose task is to provide protection, now side with the enemy by becoming the instrument of colonization, When the patrols of the society turn into deserters, its defensive capacity is utterly shattered. This ominous transformation fully materialized when the guardians of tradition turned into its critics under the instigation of Western teachers and books. Asres unravels the insidious method used to effect the transformation. To change intellectuals into turncoats, Western education had first to denationalize their mind by encouraging “individualism and social ambition.” In thus isolating them from the rest of the community and inducing frustration over their place in the social hierarchy, Western teachers changed them into rebels and revolutionaries.
In light of the deep predicament in which Ethiopia is immersed, mere political activism and elections are not enough to salvage the country. Hence my belief that the kind of intellectual change that Ethiopia needs is the kind that assumes the role of the traditional intellectual but by modernizing it. Freed from the clean slate ideology which, to paraphrase Asres, is just the continuation by natives of the colonial ideology, the modernization of the traditional intellectual redefines the national mission of Ethiopia in accordance with the requirements of modernity and the religious and ethnic characteristics of today’s Ethiopia.
Rather than partisanship, reborn intellectuals draw a comprehensive vision that is renovating and galvanizing because, going beyond group and individual interests, the vision provides a supreme national goal, thereby mobilizing the sense of duty and the power of emotion. Such a vision preserves and changes at the same time; it alone is capable of inspiring social and political reforms that are born of the Ethiopian soil and that elevate Ethiopians from copyists to designers and agents of their own modernity. In short, what is needed is a modernized and integrative new Kibre Negest, the very one that creates a nation, that is, an object of love, and not merely of interest.
Let us rethnink Ernest Renan’s famous definition: “A nation is a soul, a spiritual principle. Two things, which in truth are but one, constitute this soul or spiritual principle. One lies in the past, one in the present. One is the possession in common of a rich legacy of memories; the other is present-day consent, the desire to live together, the will to perpetuate the value of the heritage that one has received in an undivided form. . . .The nation, like the individual, is the culmination of a long past of endeavors, sacrifice, and devotion. . . . To have common glories in the past and to have a common will in the present; to have performed great deeds together, to wish to perform still more–these are the essential conditions for being a people. . . One loves in proportion to the sacrifices to which one has consented, and in proportion to the ills that one has suffered. One loves the house that one has built and that one has handed down. . . . Man is a slave neither of his race nor his language, nor of his religion, nor of the course of rivers nor of the direction taken by mountain chains. A large aggregate of men, healthy in mind and warm of heart, creates the kind of moral conscience which we call a nation.”
Nation is love, history, forgiveness; it transcends race and language and is commitment to unity in greatness. Is not the above definition absolutely contrary to the path taken by Ethiopian intellectuals since the 60s? Instead of love, history, forgiveness, and unity, we have division, tabula rasa ideology, resentment; instead of transcending race and language and working for greatness, we are mutilated by ethnnationalism and sectarian meanness.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Federalism or Internal Colonialism: The Ethiopian situation

By Yilma Bekele, 29/01/2013

“The tragic reality of today is reflected in the true plight of our spiritual existence. We are spineless and cannot stand straight. Ai Weiwei – Chinese dissident.

As a concept there is nothing wrong with Federalism as a system of government. There are plenty of examples of such arrangement like as in the USA, Canada, Germany, Mexico and India among others where it has shown to work. That is the system TPLF under Meles and company told the Ethiopian people that they are attempting to construct. It has been over twenty years now since the work has started and the question in front of us is, how is it going?

How is Federalism working in our country? I will tell you about a specific powerful institution in Ethiopian and you the reader, be the judge. The governmental body I have in mind is one of the most important and key sector of our economy and it is currently named Ethio Telecom. Here is a brief description of the history of the telephone in Ethiopia.

The first telegraph line was between Harar and Addis Abeba in 1889. Emperor Haile Sellasie established the Imperial Board of Telecommunications of Ethiopia in 1952. Derge reorganized it as Ethiopian Telecommunication Service and later on as Ethiopian Telecommunications Authority (ETA) in 1976 and 1981. In 1996 TPLF replaced that with Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation. It was born again as Ethio Telecom in 1910. The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation is the oldest Public Telecommunications Operator (PTO) in Africa.

In our country Ethiopia the Federal Government owns the country including resources, land and most of the vital economy. Communication tools such as television, radio, telephone and Internet are fully owned and operated by the Federal Government. The Ethiopian government is the number one employee in the country. Controlling all this assets give the Federal Government total power on every aspect of the people and country. For the Woyane regime Ethio Telecom is a weapon to amass large amount of money, spy, control, create anxiety and bully the citizen. How TPLF was able to control ETC is the story of what happened to our country. The group known to us as TPLF organized as an ethnic based party took over the political, economic, security sectors of the country called Ethiopia in a very systematic and deliberate way. This assertion can be proved in more ways than one cares to count. Please read Ginbot7 publication on the domination of the military by Tigrean ethnic group.

Ethio Telecom is another key sector of the economy and a very powerful weapon that was targeted by TPLF for complete take over. How they were able to do that is the history of what happened to the rest of the country. Ethio Telecom encompasses the trial and tribulations of our country and people. In my opinion Ethio Telecom is where Weyane’s star shined.

It took TPLF for years (1991 -1995) to figure out the inner workings of such a large and old organization. In 1996 they restructured it as a Corporation and were able to get rid of ‘trouble makers’ and install their own people in key positions. Its importance did not manifest until around 2000 with the advent of the World Wide Web. Before that TPLF was content collecting spare change. The Internet changed the whole ball game. Communication became the driving force of change. As a totalitarian regime highly motivated to control the flow of information the TPLF saw the dangers of unrestricted access to information and knowledge.

In 2010 Ethio Telecom emerged. The birth of Ethio Telecom was a painful moment in the history of our country. People were played upon, dangled around, set against each other and humiliated. Such a powerful and modern organization in the life of our country was made to look like a failed and useless outfit. The twelve thousand strong body was completely dismantled by the TPLF. Guess who was in charge of this tragedy. None other than current Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Debretsion. He was the architect and enforcer of this desecration of an Ethiopian home grown building block.

To avoid doing the dirty job TPLF gave management services to a subsidiary of French Telecom – Orange (telecommunications). Orange is a third rate multi- national corporation and an easy prey for TPLF to push around. Without input from the workers, without consulting those affected Orange and the TPLF Politburo said ‘we got a deal you cannot refuse.’ They created five categories named N1-N5. N1 included the French team and Ethiopian management personnel. Over half of the twelve thousand employees were dumped on the road side. There was no explanation, no discussion and no review. One of those that was found to be superfluous was the head of the Union Ato Adisse Bore. You see the beauty of Woyane justice? There was no one left to speak for the workers! You can tell the whole idea was nothing but a naked assault on our people when you see that among the personnel the new organization is purported to keep the list included some dead and some on exile. This is how Ethio Telecom was born.

Why do you think Ethio Telecom is a prized asset of the minority TPLF regime? It is because communications is the key to the future. The media opens our eyes to situations and places we will not even dream of. The media is the first causality of a repressive regime. Do you notice the first target of any coup d’état is the control of the radio and television transmission sites? Ethio Telecom is the gate keeper. Ethio Telecom sustains the dictatorship.

Thus they got rid of half of the employees of ETC and made it in their own image. They trained a few, they imported a few of their own from the Diaspora and they either blackmailed or bought the rest. Today Ethio Telecom is a cash cow to the dictatorship and a very powerful security apparatus to safeguard a few while abusing the many. Here is the composition of the N 1 Group managing the enterprise they established.

TPLF Group managing the enterprise they established

Please let us keep it real here. This is not some one’s imagination gone haywire, nor a just made up figure. It is real and we treat it as such until proven otherwise. Is this what federalism is all about? Ethnicity is the corner stone of Woyane rule. The above chart is based on Woyanes’ own classification of our people.

 This investigative study at its best came out two weeks ago. Fellow Ethiopians took time and effort to find and compile such information so we can have a clear view of the actual situation in our homeland. As they say talk is cheap but facts speak for themselves. After all is said and done the above picture does not lie. It is based on the TPLF’s definition of who is who in today’s Ethiopia.
Why do you think the TPLF regime under Debretsion finds communications important enough to control as a monopoly? It is because communications is the key. Leaders like Meles and now Debretsion are aware of the value of information. They are spin doctors. When it comes to a closed society like ours they make sure they are the only source of information. Our country Ethiopia is the last in any measure of technological advancement, why do you think that is so? They don’t allow it, they don’t foster it, and they don’t encourage it because the more we know the less we think of them.
The Federalism TPLF is building in our country is Apartheid. In the former South Africa the 9.6% white ruled over the 79% black population. In Ethiopia, today the 6.1% from Tigrai region are dominating the economic political and military life of the country. This is a very difficult statement to make and it is a very ugly thought to cross one’s mind. But it is also unfair and being a coward not to face reality. The situation in the military, the situation in Ethio Telecom is not something to ignore. It did not happen by accident. The TPLF party in a deliberate and callous manner created this Apartheid system in our country. The above pie chart showed the so called N 1 group in higher management what do you think N 2 looks like?

The Federalism TPLF is building

Knowledge is power. Knowing what the TPLF party is doing to our country and people helps us realize the problem, discuss the ramifications if left to continue and find a lasting solution so we can all move forward as one people. Uncovering such crime is not ethnic bating. Discussing such unfair and ugly reality is not hating on individuals or groups. It is real and it has to be dealt with. Dr. Debretsion and his friends have to answer why there is such naked discrepancy in the organization they are entrusted to administer in the name of the people. They have to explain to us the people why there are more from their own ethnic group in position of real power and influence than the rest. Is it because they couldn’t find a Gambelan, a Sidama, a Kenbatan, an Oromo or an Amhara to fill such slots? If there is a reasonable explanation we are all ears but changing the subject or accusing one of ethnic bating is not the way to go.

Now they have inserted their own people in key positions what do you think they are doing with the new and improved Ethio Telecom? Are they using it to connect the country, use the new found digital technology to jump start our economy and education system and usher an era of peace and prosperity? I am afraid a mind that relies on ethnicity and village mentality to get ahead cannot be expected to soar like an eagle but slither like a snake biting all that crosses its path. That is exactly what Ethio Telecom is, a venomous snake attacking our people and country every chance it gets.

Check out our double digit growing economy.

Ethio Telecom is, a venomous snake attacking

It is clear the regime is not interested in using the new technology to help our country join the community of nations. No question ethnic mentality and government monopoly stifles innovation, kills individual initiative and keeps our people in darkness. Here is a finding by Reporters Without Borders (RWB).

“Ethiopia’s only ISP, State owned Ethio Telecom has just installed a system for blocking access to the Tor network, which lets users browse anonymously and access blocked websites. In order to achieve such selective blocking Ethio Telecom must be using Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) an advanced network filtering system.”

Think about it, the ruling junta is willing to invest such huge amounts of money to spy on its citizens instead of using the money to wire schools and libraries. They use Chines technology to block any and all Internet, radio and our ESAT news broadcast. The few decide what is good for the many. It is not healthy. It does not end well. We have seen what a single ethnic domination does to people and country. Rwanda was just yesterday and South Africa will suffer the legacy of Apartheid for decades to come. The current arrangement in our country will not ensure a strong and vibrant Ethiopia where her children will prosper under one roof but rather a weak and divided Ethiopia that one day will fall prey to outsiders that will exploit the division.

At the beginning of this article I quoted the Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei speaking about the character of his people suffering under the totalitarian system. We in Ethiopia should know exactly what he is talking about. Under the weight of TPLF abuse we harbor deep seated animosity towards each other, instead of fighting the common enemy we point fingers at each other. There is no association, organization club where we Ethiopians relate to each other with respect and dignity. Our political organizations have become places of division. Even our church is not immune from this sickness. We see our Muslim brother resisting and we learn the power of steadfastness and unity of purpose. That is one group of citizen with anti Woyane virus shot.

One fact that should be made clear is that the TPLF party is not practicing this criminal behavior all by itself. We have to look at the enablers that grease the wheels to hurt our own people and destroy our country. Those Amharas’, Oromos’, Wolaitas’, Tigreans’, Hararis’ and others in position marginal power and the willing Diaspora that invests on stolen land and fake buildings are part of this national degraedation. What are going to tell your children when Ethiopia becomes another Somalia, the future Iraq or a dying Syria? When they ask you why didn’t you do something daddy or mommy how are you going to answer? You cannot say I did not know because that would be a lie. You cannot claim I tried because that would not be true. No one would say I did not stand up straight because I am spineless. When you go to sleep tonight think about it, please?

This article is based on the following works:

http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/5671

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-11/zte-huawei-to-be-awarded-ethiopian-telecommunications-contracts.html

http://www.redress.cc/global/gpeebles20120619

http://apperi.org/2013/01/14/world-bank-advised-ethiopia-to-audit-large-telecom-agreements/

http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/38649

http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm

http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/News/ethio-telecom-layoff-union-president-employees.html

የወያኔን ሰላዮችን ከውጭ አለም ማጽዳት

ከእስከ ነጻነት

Original flag of Ethiopiaኢትዮጵያ የነጻነት ቀንዲል ነች፡እንደ ስበሃት ነጋ ላሉ ባንዳ ወያኔዎች ግን ጣሊያንን አሸንፈን ለመላው የጥቁር ህዝብ የነጻነት ጎህ ቀዳጅ መሆናችን ኩራት ሳይሆን እፍረት ስለሚመስላቸው አገሪቷ ከነሰንደቅ አላማዋ ጥፍታ ማየት የዘወትር ጥረታቸው ነው፡ ሌት ተቅን የሚተጉትም ለዚህ ስለሆነ የኢትዮጵያዊነት ሰሜት ያላቸውን ሁሉ ማሰር፤ መግደል፤ ማጥፋት ዋና ትግባራቸው ነው፡ ይህም ተግባራቸው ከበረሃ እስከ አዲስ አበባ ከዛም ጎረቢት አገሮች ድረስ ዘልቆ አሁን ደግሞ ወደ ምእራብ ሐገራትም መጣሁ እያለ ነው።
ግን አገሪቷም ሆነ ባንዲራዋ ልትጠፋ አትችልም፡ ለጥቁር ህዝብ የነጻነት ጎህ የቀደደች መሆኗን ለማረጋገጥ በርካታ ሃገራት ከቅኝ ግዛት ነጻ ሲወጡ ባንዲራቸውን መሰረት ያደረጉት በኢትዮጵያ አረንጓዴ ቢጫ ቀይ ባንዲራ ላይ ስለሆነ ባለም ዙሪያ ሲውለበለብ ይኖራል እንጂ ባንዳዎች እንደተመኙት ልትጠፋ አትችልም።

ባለፈው አበበ ገላው ላይ የተቃጣው የግድያ ሴራ ከወያኔ አድሎአዊ አገዛዝ፤ ሸሽተን በመጣነው ሁሉ ላይ የተቃጣ ዛቻ ነው በሚል አጠር ያለች ጽሑፍ በእንግሊዘኛ ቋንቋ አቅርቤ ነበር። በዛሬው ጽሁፌ ማተኮር የምፈልገው ወያኔ (ለኔ ወያኔ ማለት ለአላማም ይሁን ለጥቅም የዚህን አገዛዝ እድሜ የሚያራዝም ሁሉ ነው) እንዴት ተሰደን ባለንበት አገር ለማስፈራራት ብርታቱን አገኘ? እንዴትስ የወያኔ አባላት ሰላዮች እና እበላ ባዮች በውጭው አለም በዙ? እንዴትስ መመንጠር እንችላለን የሚሉትን ዝርዝር ጉዳዮች በተመለከተ ይሆናል።

ወደ ውጭ አገር መሰደጃ መንገዶች የታወቁ ናቸው፡ ከደርግ ጅምላ ፍጅት ሽሽት አገራቸውን ጥለው የተሰደዱ ብዙ ናቸው፡ በዘር የተደራጀው እና ዘር በማጥላላትና በማጥፋተ ላይ የተመሰረተው የወያኔ ቡድን ስርዓቱን በኢትዮጵያ ላይ ከጫነ ጀምሮ፡ ወያኔ በህዝቡ ላይ በሚያደርገው ጫና፤ ጭቆናና ግፍ አገራችንን ለቀን ተሰደናል፡ የተሳካልን ነጻው አለም ደርስናል ያልተሳካላቸው በበረሃ አሸዋ ተውጠው ቀርተዋል፡ ባህር ውጧቸዋል፡ ከቀይ ባህር እስከ ቬንዙዌላ የውሃ ጎርፍ ወስዷቸዋል፡ ከባህር እና ካሸዋ የተረፉት በየሀገራቱ እስር ቤቶች ተሰቃይተው ሞተዋል፡የውስጥ አካላቸው ተበልቶ ተወሰዷል፤ በእህቶቻችን ላይ የደረሰውንና እየደረሰ ያለውን ግፍ እና ስቃይ መናገር አይቻልም፡ የሰው ህሊና ሊያስበውና ሊሸከመው ከሚችለው በላይ ነው።

እኛስ በዚህ መልኩ ተሰደድን የወያኔ ደጋፊዎች፤ እና ሰላዮችስ እንዴት መጡ?

በስራ፤ በንግድ፤ ወይም በተለያየ መንገድ ከመጡት በተጨማሪ፡ እንደኛው ወያኔ ሊያኖረኝ አልቻለም፡ አሰረኝ፤ ገረፈኝ ብለው የፖለቲካ ጥገኝነት ጠይቀው ውጭ የሚኖሩ በጣም ብዙ ናቸው፡ በሌላም በኩል ኤርተራዊ ነኝ፡ ብለው በኤርትራውያን ስም፤ ሱማሌያዊ ነኝ ብለው በሱማሌ ስም ጥገኝነት ጠይቀው የተፈቀደላቸው እንዳሉም ይታወቃል፡ እንዳውም የኤርትራውያንን ስደተኞች ተቀብያለሁ እና ሶስተኛ አለም ተረከቡኝ ብሎ ሶስተኛ አገሮች ከተረከቧቸው አብዛኛዎቹ የወያኔ ደጋፊዎች እና የወያኔ ሰላይ ኢትዮጵያውያን መሆናቸውን ስደተኞችን ተቀባይ አገሮች አይወቁት እንጂ የህን ጽሁፍ በማንበብ ላይ ያለኸው፤ ያለሽው፡ ጠንቅቀው ያውቁታል።

ለምን የወያኔ ደጋፊዎች፤ ወደ ነጻው አገር መጡ አደለም ጥያቄው፡ ይኸ መንግስት በድሎናል፤ ጨቁኖናል መኖር አልቻንም ብለው የጥገኝነት ጥያቄ አቅርበው፤ ጥያቄያቸው ተቀባይነት ካገኘ በሗላ ከዚሁ ጨቆነን ካሉት መንግስት ጋር አብሮ መስራት፤ የወያኔ ደጋፊዎች፤ ኢምባሲ ጭምር በሚያዘጋጁት ስብሰባ ላይ፤ የድጋፍ ሰልፍ ላይ እንዴት ሊገኙ ቻሉ?

ይህ ብቻ አደለም ከድጋፍ አልፈው የወያኔ አገዛዝ አስመርሯቸው የተሰደዱትን በኬንያ፤ በዩጋንዳ በሱዳን፤ በሶማሊያ፤ በጅቡቲ ሲገሉ እና ሲያሰገድሉ ኖረዋል፡ ያንን ተግበር አሜሪካ፤ ካናዳ እና አውሰትራሊያም ሊሞከሩ እንደሚችሉ፤ መገመት በቻ ሳይሆን አበበ ገላው ላይ የተጠነሰሰው ሴራና የአሜሪካው የፌዴራል ምርምራ ቢሮ (FBI) ማክሸፉ ያላቸውን ዕብሪት በግልጽ ያሳያል።
ይህ ደግሞ በአበበ ገላው ብቻ የሚቆም አደለም ለሌሎቻችንም የሚተርፍ የወያኔ ድግስ ነው ስለዚህ እንዴት ማስቆም አለብን የሚለው ነው ቁም ነገሩ።

ይህንን ለማሰቆም ወይም የወያኔ ሰላዮችን አጋልጦ ለፍርድ ለማቅረብ የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶች ወይም የሲቪክ ድርጅቶች አያስፈልጉም፡ እነሱ ወያኔን ከስሩ ለመንቀል ይንቀሳቀሱ፤ ለዚህ ተግባር ግን የሚያሰፈልገው፡ በወያኔ የዘረኛ አገዛዝ ተማረህ የተሰደድክ፡ ግፋዊ አሰተዳደሩን መቋቋም አቅቶሽ አገርሽን ጥለሽ የወጣሽ፡ በወያኔ የግፍ ቀንበር እህትህን ያጣህ፤ ወንድምሽ እህትሽ በስደት ላይ እያሉ ባህር የዋጠብሽ፡ አንተ ነህ፤ አንቺ ነሽ የምታስፈልጊው፤ የምታስፈልገው። በአንድ ከተማ ውስጥ አንድ ወይም ሁለት ቁርጠኛ ኢትዮጵያዊ ካለ በቂ ነው፡ በኢትዮጵያ የህግ የበላይነት መከበር ጽኑ አላማ ያለውና በጥቅም ያማይገዛ ህሊና ያላቸው አንድ ወይም ሁለት ባንድ ከተማ ካሉ በጣምበቂ ነው፡ የሚጠበቀው መደባደብ ወይም መሰዳደብ አደለም የሚያሰፈልገው ወያኔ በድሎኛል ብሎ የፖለቲካ ጥገኝነት የጠየቀ ሰው ከወያኔ ቡድን ጋር እየሰራ እና ኢትዮጵያውያንን እንዲሁም ጥገኝነት የሰጠውን አገር አየስለለ መሆኑን ሪፖረት ማረግ ብቻ ነው።

ማንኛውም ሰው አንድ አገር የፖለቲካ ጥገኝነት ሲጠይቅ በስልጣን ላይ ያለው መንግስት በደለኝ ብሎ መኖር አልቻልኩም ካለና ጥያቄው ተቀባይነት ካገኘ በሗላ ያ መንግስት እስካልተቀየረ ድረስ ከዛ መንግሰት ጋር ምንም አይነት ግንኙነት ሊኖረው አይችልም፡ በምንም መልኩ ከዛ መንግስት ጋር ግንኙነቱን ከቀጠለ ከመንግስቱ ጋር ችግር የለበትም ማለት ነው ስለዚህ ወዳገሩ መመለስ አለበት፡ የኽ የኔ አስተያየት ሳይሆን የየሃገራቱ የስደተኛ ህጎች ናቸው።

ስለሆነም ኢትዮጵያዊ ነኝ ብሎ የፖለቲካ ጥገኝነት ጠይቆ የተፈቀደለት፡ ወይም ኤርትራዊ፤ ሶማሊያዊ ነኝ ብሎ ጥገኝነት የተፈቅደለት (ወንድ ይሆን ሴት፤ አማራ ይሁን ኦሮሞ፤ ትገሬ ይሆን አደሬ፤ ማንም ይሁን ማ) የወያኔው ኢምባሲ በሚያዘጋጀው ፕሮገራም ላይ የሚሳተፍ፤ የወያኔ ባለስልጣናት በሚጠሩት ስብሰባ ላይ የሚገኝ፤ የወያኔ ደጋፊዎች ወይም ካደሬዎች በሚያዘጋጁት የወያኔ የድጋፍ ሰልፍ ላይ የሚገኘን፡ ከወያኔ ጋር የንግድ ስራ ጀምሮ ኢትዮጵያ የሚመላለስን ሁሉ ለሚመለከተው ክፍል ሪፖርት ማደረግ ያስፈልጋል።

ባለፈው 21 አመት ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ መንግስት አልተቀየረም ስለሆነም በነዚህ ጊዜያት የወያኔ መንግስት በድሎኛል፤ ሊያኖረኝ አለቻለም ብሎ የፖለቲካ ጥገኝነት የጠየቀ ሰው ሁሉ በምንም መልኩ ከወያኔ ጋር የሚሰራ፡ ወያኔ በሚያዘጋጀው ዝግጅት ላይ የሚገኝ ሁሉ ሪፖርት መደረግ አለበት።

እዚህ ላይ አደራ የምለው እና ትልቅ ጥንቃቄ ማድረግ የሚገባው ሪፖርት የሚደረገው ነገር እውነት ብቻ እንዲሆን፤ በግል ቂም በቀል፤ ወይም በተወሰነ ዘር ላይ ያነጣጠረ እንዳይሆን አደራ እላለሁ፡፡ ወያኔን ያጠናከረው፡ የተወሰነ ዘር ወይም የወያኔው አባላት ብቻ ሳይሆን እበላ ባይ አጃቢ ጭምር መሆኑን መገንዘብ ያስፈልጋል፡ ስለዚህ ሁሉም የወያኔን እድሜ እየለመነ የወያኔን ፍርፋሪ የሚለቃቅም ሁሉ ሪፖርት መደረግ አለበት።

ወያኔን ለመቃወም ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ሲወጣ ከወያኔ ጋር መደባደብ መነታረክ ሳይሆን ሰማቸውን ቢቻል አድራሻና ፎቶገራፋቸውን መዝግቦ መያዝ ነው ከዛ ለሚመለከተው ረፖርት ማድረግ።

ሪፖርት ለማድረግ የግድ የግል ሰማችሁን መጠቀም አይኖርባችሁም፤ ሰሜ አይገለጽ ማለትም ትችላላችሁ፡ ከቤታችሁ ሪፖረት መላክ ካላመቻችሁ ወይም ካልፈለጋችሁ ከህዝብ መጻሕፍት ቤት ኮምፑተር ተጠቅማችሁ ሪፖርት ማድርግ ትችላላቸሁ፡ የህዝብ ቤተ መጻህፍት አባል ለመሆን ክፍያ አይጠይቅም ነጻ ነው፤ የሚጠይቀው መታወቂያ ወይም ባደራሻችሁ በስማችሁ የተላከ ደብዳቤ ብቻ በቂ ነው፡፡

 መልክታችሁ አጭር ነው፡፡

“እገሌ የሚባል ሰው አዚህ አገር ሲገባ መንግስት ጨቆነኝ አላኖር አለኝ፤ ብሎ ነበር አሁን ግን ጨቆነኝ ከሚለው ከመንግስት ጋር በቀጥታ እየሰራ ስለሆነ ሰላይ ሊሆን ይችላል ወይም የጥገኝነት ጥያቄው የውነት አደለም ብዬ እጠራጠራለሁ ማጣራት ቢደረግ”
ማጣራቱ የናንተ ጉዳይ ሳይሆን የደህንነት ሰራተኞች ጉዳይ ይሆናል፡ ከማንም ሳትማከሩ፤ አዩኝ አላዩኝ ብላችሁ ሳትፈሩ፤ ሚስጥሬ ይባክናል የሚል ስጋት ሳይኖራችሁ ትክክለኛውን መረጃ ለሚመለከተው ክፍል መስጠት የህሊና ነጻነት መጎናጸፍ እና የዜግነት ድርሻን መወጣት ነው፡፡

ሪፖርት የምታደርጉባቸውም አድራሻዎች

1. በዩናይትድ ሰቴትስ FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) https://tips.fbi.gov
2. በካናዳ Canadian Security Intelligence Service: http://www.csis-scrs.gc.ca/cmmn/cntcts-eng.asp
3. በአውስትራሊያ Australian security Intelligence Organization: http://www.asio.gov.au/Contact-Us.html

እግዚአብሄር ኢትዮጵያን ይጠብቅ

Monday, January 28, 2013

Rise of the Chee-Hippo Generation


 
The Silent World of Hippos on Planet Cheetah

In my first weekly commentary of the new year, I "proclaimed" 2013 “Year of Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation” (young people). I also promised to reach, teach and preach to Ethiopia’s youth this year and exhorted members of the Ethiopian intellectual class (particularly the privileged “professorati”) to do the same. I have also been pleading with (some say badgering) the wider Ethiopian Hippo Generation (the lost generation) to find itself, get in gear and help the youth. 


The SOS I put out in June 2012 (Where have Ethiopia’s Intellectuals Gone?) and now (The Irresponsibility of the Privileged) has been unwelcomed by tone deaf and deaf mute “Hippogenarians”. My plea for standing up and with the victims of tyranny and human rights abuses has been received with stony and deafening silence. I have gathered anecdotally that some Hippos are offended by what they perceive to be my self-righteous and holier-than-thou finger wagging and audacious, “J’accuse!”. Some have claimed that I am sitting atop my high horse crusading, pontificating, showboating, grandstanding and self-promoting.

There seems to be palpable consternation and anxiety among some (perhaps many) Hippos over the fact that I dared to betray them in a public campaign of name and shame and called unwelcome attention to their self-inflicted paralysis and faintheartedness. Some have even suggested that by using the seductively oversimplified metaphor of cheetahs and hippos, I have invented a new and dangerous division in society between the young and old in a land already fractured and fragmented by ethnic, religious and regional divisions. “Methinks they doth protest too much”, to invoke Shakespeare. 

My concern and mission is to lift the veil that shrouds a pernicious culture and conspiracy of silence in the face of evil. My sole objective is to speak truth not only to power but also to those who have calculatedly chosen to disempower themselves by self-imposed silence. I unapologetically insist that silently tolerating wrong over right is dead wrong. Silently conceding the triumph of evil over good is itself evil. Silently watching atrocity is unmitigated moral depravity. Complicity with the champions of hate is partnership with haters. 

The maxim of the law is “Silence gives consent” (qui tacet consentiret). Silence is complicity. Silence for the sake of insincere and hollow social harmony (yilugnta) is tantamount to dousing water on the quiet riot that rages in the hearts and minds of the oppressed. Leonardo da Vinci said, “Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.” I say nothing strengthens tyranny as much as silence -- the silence of the privileged, the silence of those who could speak up but choose to take a vow of silence. One cannot speak to tyrants in the language of silence; one must speak to tyrants in the language of defiant truth. Silence must never be allowed to become the last refuge of the hypocritical scoundrel. 

There have been encouraging developments over the past week in the crescendo of voices speaking truth to power. Several enlightening contributions that shed light on the life and times of tyranny in Ethiopia have been made in “Ethiopian cyber hager”, to borrow Prof. Donald Levine’s metaphor. A couple of insightful analysis readily come to mind. 

Muktar Omer offered a devastating critique of the bogus theory of “revolutionary democracy.” He argued convincingly “that recent economic development in Ethiopia has more to do with the injection of foreign aid into the economy and less with revolutionary democracy sloganeering.” He demonstrated the core ideological nexus between fascism, communism and revolutionary democracy. Muktar concluded, “Intellectuals who are enamored with the ‘good intellect and intentions’ of Meles Zenawi and rationalize his appalling human rights records are guilty of either willful ignorance or disagree with Professor John Gray’s dauntingly erudite reminder: ‘radical evil can come from the pursuit of progress’”. My view is that revolutionary democracy is to democracy as ethic federalism is to federalism. Both are figments of a warped and twisted imagination. 

An Amharic piece by Kinfu Asefa (managing editor of ethioforum.org)entitled “Development Thieves” made a compelling case demonstrating the futility and duplicity of the so-called “Renaissance Bond” calculated to raise billions of dollars to dam the Blue Nile. Kinfu argued persuasively that there could be no development dam when the people themselves are damned by the damned dam developers. 

I am told by those much wiser than myself that I am pursuing a futile course trying to coax Hippos to renounce their vows of silence and speak up. I am told it would be easier for me to squeeze blood out of turnip than to expect broad-gauged political activism and engaged advocacy from the members of Ethiopia’s inert Hippo Generation. The wise ones tell me I should write off (and not write about) the Hippos living on Planet Cheetah. I should stop pestering them and leave them alone in their blissful world where they see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil! 

Should I? 

Restoring Faith With the Cheetahs

We have a problem! A big one. “We” are both Cheetahs and Hippos. Truth must be told: Hippos have broken faith with Cheetahs. Cheetahs feel betrayed by Hippos. Cheetahs feel marginalized and sidelined. Cheetahs say their loyalty and dedication has been countered by the treachery and underhandedness of Hippos. The respect and obedience Cheetahs have shown Hippos have been greeted with disdain and effrontery. Cheetahs say Hippos have misconstrued their humility as servility; their flexibility and adaptability have been countered by rigidity and their humanity abused by cruel indignity. Cheetahs feel double-crossed, jilted, tricked, lied to, bamboozled, used and abused by Hippos. Cheetahs say they have been demonized for questioning Hippos and for demanding accountability. For expressing themselves freely, Cheetahs have been sentenced to hard labor in silence. Cheetahs have been silenced by silent Hippos! Cheetahs have lost faith in Hippos. Such is the compendium of complaints I hear from many Ethiopian Cheetahs. Are the Cheetahs right in their perceptions and feelings? Are they justified in their accusations? Are Hippos behaving so badly? 

A word or two about the youths’ loss of faith in their elders before talking about restoring faith with them. Ethiopia’s youth live in a world where they are forced to hear every day the litany that their innate value is determined not by the content of their character, individuality or humanity but the random chance of their ethnicity. They have no personality, nationality or humanity, only ethnicity. They are no more than the expression of their ethnic identity. 

To enforce this wicked ideology, Apartheid-style homelands have been created in the name of “ethnic federalism”. The youth have come to realize that their station in life is determined not by the power of their intellect but by the power of those who lack intellect. They are shown by example that how high they rise in society depends upon how low they can bring themselves on the yardstick of self-dignity and how deeply they can wallow in the sewage of the politics of identity and ethnicity. They live in a world where they are taught the things that make them different from their compatriots are more than the things they have in common with them. Against this inexorable message of dehumanization, they hear only the sound of silence from those quietly professing allegiance to freedom, democracy and human rights. To restore faith with Ethiopia’s youth, we must trade silence with the joyful noise of protest; we must unmute ourselves and stand resolute against tyranny. We must cast off the silence of quiet desperation. 

But before we restore faith with the young people, we must restore faith with ourselves. In other words, we must save ourselves before we save our young people. To restore faith with ourselves, we must learn to forgive ourselves for our sins of commission and omission. We must believe in ourselves and the righteousness of our cause. Before we urge the youth to be courageous, we must first shed our own timidity and fearfulness. Before we teach young people to love each other as children of Mother Ethiopia, we must unlearn to hate each other because we belong to different ethnic groups or worship the same God with different names. To restore faith with ourselves, we must be willing to step out of our comfort zones, comfort groups, comfort communities and comfort ethnicities and muster the courage to say and do things we know are right. We should say and do things because they are right and true, and not because we seek approval or fear disapproval from anyone or group. George Orwell said, “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act.” We live in times of national deceit and must become revolutionaries by speaking truth to abusers of power, to the powerless, to the self-disempowered and to each other. 

To be fair to my fellow Hippos, they defend their silence on the grounds that speaking up will not make a difference to tyrants. They say speaking truth to tyranny is a waste of time, an exercise in futility. Some even say that it is impossible to communicate with the tyrants in power with reasoned words because these tyrants only understand the language of crashing guns, rattling musketry and booming artillery. 

I take exception to this view. I believe at the heart of the struggle for freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia is an unending battle for the hearts and minds of the people. In the battlefield of hearts and minds, guns, tanks and warplanes are useless. History bears witness. The US lost the war in Vietnam not because it lacked firepower, airpower, nuclear power, financial power, scientific or technical power. The U.S. lost the war because it lacked the power to win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese and American peoples.

Words are the most potent weapon in the battle for hearts and minds. Words can enlighten the benighted, open closed eyes, sealed mouths and plugged ears. Words can awaken consciences. Words can inspire, inform, stimulate and animate. Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the greatest military leaders in history, feared words more than arms. That is why he said, “Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.” That why I insist my fellow privileged intellectuals and all who claim or aspire to be supporters of democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law to speak up and speak out and not hide behind a shield of silence. I say speak truth to tyranny. Preach faith in the divinity of humanity and against the bigotry of the politics of identity and ethnicity; champion loudly the causes of unity in diversity and practice the virtues of civility, accountability, amity and cordiality. Never stand silent in the face of atrocity, criminality, contrived ethnic animosity and the immorality of those who abuse of power. 

It is necessary to restore faith with the Cheetahs. The gap between Cheetahs and Hippos is not generational. There is a trust gap, not generational gap. There is a credibility gap. There is an expectation gap, an understanding gap and a compassion gap. Many bridges need to be built to close the gaps that divide the Cheetah and Hippo Generations. 

Rise of the Chee-Hippo Generation

There is a need to “invent” a new generation, the Chee-Hippo Generation. A Chee-Hippo is a hippo who thinks, behaves and acts like a Cheetah. A Chee-Hippo is also a cheetah who understands the limitations of Hippos yet is willing to work with them in common cause for a common purpose. 

Chee-Hippos are bridge builders. They build strong intergenerational bridges that connect the young with the old. They build bridges to connect people seeking democracy, freedom and human rights. They build bridges across ethnic canyons and connect people stranded on islands of homelands. They bridge the gulf of language, religion and region. They build bridges to link up the rich with the poor. They build bridges of national unity to harmonize diversity. They build bridges to connect the youth at home with the youth in the Diaspora. Chee-Hippos build social and political networks to empower youth. 

Are You a Chee-Hippo or a Hippo?
 
You are a Chee-Hippo if you believe

young people are the future of the country and the older people are the country’s past.

the future is infinitely more important than the past.

a person’s value is determined not by the collection of degrees listed after his/her name but by the person’s commitment and stand on the protection of the basic human rights of a fellow human being.

and practice the virtues of tolerance, civility, civic duty, cooperation, empathy, forgiveness, honesty, honor, idealism, inclusivity and openness. 


You are a Chee-Hippo if you are 


open-minded, flexible, and humble.

open to new ideas and ways of communicating with people across age groups, ethnic, religious, gender and linguistic lines. 

unafraid to step out of your comfort zone into the zone of hard moral choices.

courageous enough to mean what you say and say what you mean instead of wasting your time babbling in ambiguity and double-talk. 

prepared to act now instead of tomorrow (eshi nege or yes, tomorrow).

prepared to blame yourself first for your own deficits before blaming the youth or others for theirs.

eager to learn new things today and unlearn the bad lessons of the past.

committed to finding opportunity than complaining about the lack of one.

able to develop attitudes and beliefs that reflect what is possible and not wallow in self-pity about what is impossible. 

fully aware that the world is in constant and rapid change and by not changing you have no one to blame for the consequences except yourself. 


Any Hippo can be reinvented into a Chee-Hippo. Ultimately, being a Chee-Hippo is a state of mind. One need only think, behave and act like Cheetahs. The credo of a true Chee-Hippo living on Planet Cheetah is, “We must not give only what we have; we must give what we are.”

Damn proud to be a Chee-Hippo!

Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.