They Shall Inherit the Wind

By Alemayehu G. Mariam

The Sandcastles and Dams of African Dictators

All dictators on the African continent have sought immortality by leaving a legacy that will outlive them and endure for the ages. But all have inherited the wind.

Kwame Nkrumah led the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence from colonialism in 1957. Nkrumaism sought  to transform Ghana into a modern socialist state through state-driven industrialization. He built the Akosombo Dam on the Volta River, at the time considered the “largest single investment in the economic development plans of Ghana”. He promoted the cult of personality and was hailed as the “Messiah”, “Father of Ghana and Pan Africanism” and “Father of African nationalism”. He crushed the unions and the opposition, jailed the judges, created a one-man, one-party state and tried to make himself “President for life”. He got the military boot in 1966. He left a bitter legacy of one-man, one-party rule which to this day serves as a model of dictatorship for all of Africa. Nkrumah died in exile and inherited the wind.

Gamal Abdel Nasser sought to create his own brand of Arab socialism and nationalism and propagated it as a secular Pan-Arab ideology. Using an extensive intelligence apparatus and an elaborate propaganda machine, he promoted a cult of personality projecting himself as the “Man of the People.” He built the Aswan High Dam with Soviet aid. He ruled Egypt in a one-man, one-party dictatorship and crushed all dissent, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood. Today the Muslim Brotherhood is in power and Nasserism is in the dustbin of history. Nasser left a legacy of military dictatorship in Egypt and inherited the wind.

Mobutu Sese Seko proclaimed himself “Father of the Nation” of Zaire (The Democratic Republic of the Congo), and became dictator for life. He declared, “In our African tradition there are never two chiefs….That is why we Congolese, in the desire to conform to the traditions of our continent, have resolved to group all the energies of the citizens of our country under the banner of a single national party.” Mobutuism consisted of the delusional thoughts of Mobutu and his program of “Zairianization”. He promoted a cult of personality describing himself as the “the all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, will go from conquest to conquest leaving fire in his wake”. Mobutu built the Inga Dams over the Congo River hoping to create the largest hydroelectric facility in the world. He left a legacy of kleptocracy and inherited the wind.

Moamar Gadhafi proclaimed the “Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya” and ushered the era of the state of the masses (Jamahiriya). He sought to elevate Libyan society by reducing it to a massive collection of “people’s committees”. He brutally suppressed dissent and squandered the national resources of that country. He launched the Great Man-Made River, the world’s largest irrigation project and proclaimed it the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” After four decades in power, the “Brother Leader” and author of the Green Book literally suffered the death of a sewer rat. He left a legacy of division and destruction in Libya and inherited the wind.

Idi Amin Dada, the “Butcher of Uganda” and the most notorious of all African dictators, imposed a reign of terror on the Ugandan people and sadistically displayed his tyrannical power to the international press. He pompously described himself as “His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.” He built no dams by damned the Ugandan people for 8 years until he was forced into exile. He left a legacy of death, destruction and ethnic division in Uganda and inherited the wind.

The “Great Leader”? 

The late Meles Zenawi, like all African dictators, sought to make himself larger than life. He was not only Ethiopia’s savior but Africa’s as well. He sought to project himself as a “visionary leader”, “inspirational spokesman for Africa” and supreme practitioner of “revolutionary democracy.” Following his death sometime in late Summer 2012, the propaganda to deify, mythologize, exalt, immortalize and idolize him became a theatre of the absurd. Hailemariam Desalegn, Meles’ handpicked titular prime minster, in his speech to the party faithful in parliament virtually made Meles a lesser god offering blessings of “Eternal Glory to Our Great Leader.” Even the original “Great Leader” Kim Il-sung of North Korea achieved no more glory than being “The Sun of the Nation”. Desalegn promised to consummate his own divinely delegated mission with missionary zeal: “My responsibility now… is to successfully carry out the aims and ambitions of a great and notable leader… Following in the footsteps of our great leader, we will strive to maintain and develop the influential voice in regional, continental and international forums” and “successfully implement the aims and vision of our great leader. He was not just a brilliant generator of ideas: he was, par excellence, the embodiment of selflessness and self-sacrifice…”

Was Desalegn talking about Meles or the Man of Galilee?

The Vision and Legacy of the “Visionary Great Leader”

Like all African dictators before him, Meles had illusions, delusions and obsessions. He did not have a grand vision; he had illusions of grandeur. Like Mobutu before him, Meles had the illusion of building Africa’s largest dam, the so-called Grand Renaissance Dam, on the Blue Nile at a cost preliminarily estimated (unadjusted for cost overruns) at nearly USD$5 billion. Experts believe such a dam if built will “flood 1,680 square kilometers of forest in northwest Ethiopia, near the Sudan border, and create a reservoir that is nearly twice as large as Lake Tana, Ethiopia’s largest natural lake…. The current cost estimate [for the dam] equals the country’s entire annual budget…” Moreover, the dam “could cut the Nile flow into Egypt by 25% during the reservoir filling period” and substantially reduce the reservoir capacity of the Aswan High Dam. According to a document obtained by Wikileaks from the private intelligence group Stratfor, “Sudan’s president Omer Al-Bashir had agreed to build an Egyptian airbase in his country’s western region of Darfur to be used for assaults on The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) should diplomatic efforts fail to resolve the dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over Nile water-sharing.” A legacy of regional war and strife?

Meles did not have a growth and transformation plan; he had delusional plans of economic growth and transformation. As I have demonstrated in “The Voodoo Economics of Meles Zenawi”, Meles “has been making hyperbolic claims of economic growth in Ethiopia based on fabricated and massaged GDP (gross domestic product) numbers, implying that the country is in a state of runaway economic development and the people’s standard of living is fast outstripping those living in the middle income countries.” When the U.S. State Department reported an average inflation rate (FY 2008-2009) of 36 percent, Meles predicted a decline in inflation to 3.9 percent in 2009/10. His Growth and Transformation Plan (or what I called “Zenawinomics”) which I reviewed in my June 2011 commentary “The Fakeonomics of Meles Zenawi”, “is a make-a-wish list of stuff. It purports to be based on a ‘long-term vision’ of making Ethiopia ‘a country where democratic rule, good-governance and social justice reigns.’ It aims to ‘build an economy which has a modern and productive agricultural sector with enhanced technology and an industrial sector’ and ‘increase per capita income of citizens so that it reaches at the level of those in middle-income countries.’ It boasts of ‘pillar strategies’ to ‘sustain faster and equitable economic growth’, ‘maintain agriculture as a major source of economic growth,’ ‘create favorable conditions for the industry to play key role in the economy,’ ‘expand infrastructure and social development,’ ‘build capacity and deepen good governance’ and ‘promote women and youth empowerment and equitable benefit.’ Stripped of its collection of hollow economic slogans, clichés, buzzwords and catchphrases, Meles’ growth and growth and transformation plan is plain sham-o-nomics. A legacy of inflation, economic mismanagement, crushing foreign debt and environmental destruction?

Meles had no national vision; he only had a vision of ethnic division. His warped idea of “ethnic federalism” is merely a kinder and gentler reincarnation of Apartheid in Ethiopia. For nearly two decades, Meles toiled ceaselessly to shred the very fabric of Ethiopian society, and sculpt a landscape balkanized into tribal, ethnic, linguistic and regional enclaves. He crafted a constitution based entirely on ethnicity and tribal affiliation as the basis for political organization. He wrote in Article 46 (2) of the constitution: “States shall be structured on the basis of settlement patterns, language, identity and consent of the people.” In other words, “states”, (and the people who live in them) shall be corralled like cattle in tribal homelands in much the same way as the 10 Bantustans (black homelands) of Apartheid South Africa. These tribal homelands are officially called “kilils” (enclaves or distinct enclosed and effectively isolated geographic areas within a seemingly integrated national territory). Like the Bantustans, the Killilistans ultimately aim to create homogeneous and autonomous ethnic states in Ethiopia, effectively scrubbing out any meaningful notion of Ethiopian national citizenship. Meles’ completely fictitious theory of “ethnic (tribal) federalism)”, unknown in the annals of political science or political theory, has been used to justify and glorify these Kililistans and impose an atrocious policy of divide and rule against 90 million people. A legacy of ethnic balkanization, political polarization, brutalization, and sectarian strife?

Under Meles, Ethiopia became the poster country for international alms and charity and crushing international debt. During his two decades plus tenure, Ethiopia has been among the largest recipients of “economic aid”, “development aid”, “military aid”, “technical aid”, “emergency aid”, “relief aid”, “humanitarian aid” and aid against AIDS in the world. As I argued in my commentary “Ethiopia in BondAid?”, Meles has successfully subverted international aid and loans, particularly U.S. aid, to strengthen his tyrannical rule. A legacy of international aid addiction and beggary?

Corruption under Meles Zenawi has put Ethiopia on life-support. The World Bank recently issued a 448-page report entitled, “Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia” . The cancer of corruption has metastasized in the Ethiopian body politics. The Telecommunications Sector of Ethiopia is in terminal stage:

Despite the country’s exceptionally heavy recent investment in its telecoms infrastructure, it has the second lowest telephone penetration rate in Africa. It once led the regional field in the laying of fiber-optic cable, yet suffers from severe bandwidth and reliability problems. Amid its low service delivery, an apparent lack of accountability, and multiple court cases, some aspects of the sector are perceived by both domestic and international observers to be deeply affected by corruption.

In the Construction Sector, “Ethiopia exhibits most of the classic warning signs of corruption risk, including instances of poor-quality construction, inflated unit output costs, and delays in implementation.” Corruption in the Justice Sector “takes one of two forms: (a) political interference with the independent actions of courts or other sector agencies, or (b) payment or solicitation of bribes or other considerations to alter a decision or action.” Corruption in the Land Sector is inherent in the law. “The level of corruption is influenced strongly by the way policy and legislation are formulated and enforced. For example, the capture of state assets by the elite can occur through the formulation of policy that favors the elite.” In other words, the laws are written to rig the bidding process to give Meles’ cronies, buddies and supporters a significant advantage so that they can pick up state assets at fire sale prices. A legacy of endemic corruption?

Meles’ “revolutionary democracy” as an ideology or policy guide never quite transcended the sloganeering and phrase-mongering stage, but he indulged in its rhetoric whenever he was overcome by revolutionary fervor. In a seminal analysis of “revolutionary democracy” and arguably the “first paper to seriously examine the political programme and political philosophy of EPRDF based on a review of its major policy”, Jean-Nicolas Bach of the Institute of Political Studies (Bordeaux, France) in 2011 described “Abyotawi democracy (revolutionary democracy) [as] neither revolutionary nor democratic.” Bach argued that revolutionary democracy is a ‘‘bricolage’’ (hodgepodge) of “Leninism, Marxism, Maoism, and also liberalism” concocted by a “small group of party ideologists around Meles, and a few agencies.” As an ideology, “revolutionary democracy” “provides justification for fusing political and economic power in the party-state run by EPRDF.” A critical “review of party pamphlets and official party/state discourses reveals the degree to which revolutionary democracy has become an ambiguous doctrine vis-a`-vis ‘liberalism’” and “remains a powerful fighting tool to exclude internal and external ‘enemies’.” One commentator recently likened revolutionary democracy to communism and fascism. Revolutionary democracy is responsible for delivering a 99.6 percent parliamentary victory to Meles’ party in 2010. A legacy of rigged and stolen elections and bad governance? 

Melesismo: Meles’ Greatest Legacy

Meles’ singular legacy is Melesismo, a political legacy I foretold in my December 2009 commentary entitled “The Raw Machismo of Power”. Meles perfected Melesismo– the political art of “My way, the highway, no way… or jail!” Melesismo reaffirms the ignoble principle that might makes right.

Meles’ worshippers proclaim they are marching in his footsteps with the same reverence of those who claim to walk in the footsteps of the Man of Galilee. They ostentatiously display raw machismo invoking the divine power Meles. How little things have changed? From a legacy of the divine right of kings to a legacy of the divine rule of a lesser god!

Meles’ worshippers seek to mythologize, canonize and idolize him. But they cannot reincarnate Meles as the “Messiah”. Even the great Nelson Mandela is undeserving of “eternal glory”. He said so himself, “I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.” Neither saints nor demons deserve “eternal glory”. Meles will eventually be consigned to the dustbin of history as nothing more than another petty African tyrant.

Meles’ greatest legacy would have been what he said his legacy would be. In 2007, Meles said his “hope is that [his] legacy” would be not only “sustained and accelerated development that would pull Ethiopia out of the massive deep poverty” but also “radical improvements in terms of good governance and democracy.” Without radical democratic improvements by Meles’ worshippers, Meles will be remembered in history as a reactionary petty African tyrant.

Is it possible for Meleismo to hold the center after Meles? Will Melesismo survive Meles?

My friend Eskinder Nega, the personification of press freedom in Ethiopia today, who was jailed by Meles, was likely right in foretelling the inevitable implosion of the “EPDRF”. Eskinder wrote, “Scratch beyond the surface and the EPRDF is really not the monolithic dinosaur as it is most commonly stereotyped. [It has become] a coalition of four distinct phenomenon: the increasing confusion of the dominant TPLF [Tigrayan People's Liberation Front], the acute cynicism of the ANDM [Amhara National Democratic Movement], the desperate nihilism of the OPDO [Oromo People's Democratic Organization] and the inevitable irrelevance of the incongruent SEPM [South Ethiopian People's Movement] (a grab bag of some 40 ethnic groups from the southern part of the country).”

Meles was a man with a mission who confused mission with vision. He has completed his mission. History will record his legacy to be human rights violation, press suppression, ethnic division, endemic corruption, obsessive secrecy and a political culture whose lifeblood is impunity, lack of accountability and transparency. Shakespeare wrote, “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones…” Scripture teaches that “He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.” Meles and his worshippers have profoundly troubled the Ethiopian house and they shall inherit the wind!

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

ከአቶ መለስ አብዮታዊ ዲሞክራሲ ፍልስፍና ጋር አልስማማም፤ እናም አላስቀጥልም

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear” - George Orwell

 (ከግርማ ሰይፉ) girmaseifu32@yahoo.com

ጥር ዘጠኝ ቀን የነበረው የፓርላማ ውሎ ሁለት መልክ የነበረው ነው፡፡ አንደኛው ያለወትሮ ፓርላማው ከመንግስት የቀረበለትን ሞሽን በጥቂት ድምፆችም ቢሆን የተቃውሞ ድምፅ እና ድምፀ-ተአቅቦ ያስመዘገበበት ነበር፡፡ ጥሩ ፍንጭ ነው፡፡ ሌላኛው ደግሞ በተከበሩ አቶ አስመላሽ ወልደስላሴ በኩል የተለየ ሃሳብ ለምን ሰማው በሚል በእኔ እና በወከልኩት ድርጅት ላይ ፀረ-ህዝብ የሚል ፍረጃ ለማድረግ በፍፁም ያልሳሱበት ነበር፡፡ በምክር ቤት ውስጥ ያቀረብኩትን ሃሳብ እንደወረደ ለአንባቢ አቀርበዋለሁ፡፡

“በቅድሚያ የአንድ አገር መሪ ለነበረ ሰው በህይወት እያለ በመንግስት ሀላፊነቱ ወቅት የሚመለከታቸውን የተለያዩ ክፍተቶች ወይም ሊያስቀጥላቸው የሚፈልጋቸው የተለያዩ አስተሳሰቦች ካሉት እነዚህን ውጤታማ ለማድረግ የተለያዩ ፋውንዴሽኖችን ማቋቋም የተለመደ በመሆኑ በመሰረተ ሃሳቡ ችግር የለበትም የሚል እምነት አለኝ። በዓለም የሚታወቁ በርካታ የአገራት መሪዎችም የዚህን አይነት ተቋም መስርተው ይንቀሳቀሳሉ። አብዛኞቹም ከአገራቸው አልፈው በውጭ ለሚኖሩ ዜጎች ጠቃሚ የሆኑ አገልግሎቶችን የሚሰጡበት ሁኔታ ይታያል። ስለዚህ በመርህ ደረጃ በፋውንዴሽኑ መቋቋም ላይ በግሌ ምንም ተቃውሞ የለኝም። ቢሆንም መቋቋም ያለበት ግን መንግስት እንደነዚህ አይነት ተቋማትን ወይም ፋውንዴሽኖችን በአዋጅ በመመስረት መሆን የለበትም፤ ምክንያቱም እንዲህ አይነት ፋውንዴሽኖች የሚቋቋሙበት የራሱ ስርዓት አለው። ለምሳሌ አዋጅ ቁጥር 621/2001 እንዲህ አይነት ፋውንዴሽን ማቋቋሚያን የሚመለከቱ ድንጋጌዎች አሉት። ስለዚህ ይህ ፋውንዴሽን መቋቋም ያለበት በዚህ አዋጅ ስር መሆን አለበት። ይህ ብቻ ሳይሆን ፋውንዴሽኑ መቋቋም ያለበት በመንግስት ሳይሆን በአቶ መለስ ዜናዊ ቤተሰቦችና በአድናቂዎቻቸው ነው” የሚል አቋም አለኝ ነው ያልኩት፡፡

ይህ ሃሳብ እንዴት አድርጎ አንድን የምክር ቤት አባልና የወከለውን ድርጅት ፀረ-ህዝብ ሊያሰኝ እንደሚችል አይገባኝም፡፡

በማስከተልም ረቂቅ አዋጁ በማብራሪያው

•  “አቶ መለስ ያወጧቸውን ስራዎች እና ራዕያቸውን ከህልፈታቸው በኋላም ቢሆን በፅናት ልናስቀጥላቸው እንደሚገባ በተመሳሳይ ሁኔታ ህዝብ በአንድ ቃል ገልፆታል” የሚለው ትክክል እንዳልሆነ፤ ህዝብ የሚባለው የኢህአዴግ አባልና የእርሳቸው ደጋፊ ብቻ ነው ካልተባለ በስተቀር ለዚህ ሀሳብ እውቅና እንደማልሰጥ፤ እኔም ለምሳሌ በእርሳቸው ፍልስፍና ብስማማ ኖሮ የኢህአዴግ አባል እሆን እንደነበር፤ የልማታዊና ዲሞክራሲያዊ መንግስት የሚባል ፍልስፍናን ማስፋፋት ሳይሆን መለወጥ እንደምፈልግ በምክር ቤት የምገኘውም ይህንን ተግባር ለመወጣት እንደሆነ ለምክር ቤቱ አስመዝግቤያለሁ፡፡
• ይህንን መነሻ አድርገን ስንወስድ መንግስት ማለት የአቶ መለስ ደጋፊዎችም ተቃዋሚዎችም አስተዳዳሪ በመሆኑ ይህ አስተሳሰብ እንዲቀጥል የማይፈልጉ ሰዎች የሚከፍሉትን ታክስ ለዚህ ተግባር ማዋል ተገቢ አለመሆኑን፤ በዚህ ከቀጠልን ሌሎች የተቋቋሙና የሚቋቋሙ ፋውንዴሽኖች ለምሳሌ የቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ስላሴ፤ የፕሮፌሰር አክሊሉ ፤ ወዘተ እያለን በጀት ልንበጅት ስለሚሆን እራሳቸውም አቶ መለስም በህይወት ቢኖሩ ይህን እንደማይደግፉት፤

•  ለፋውንዴሽን የጠቅላላ ጉባዔ አባልነት የተመረጡ የመንግሰት መስሪያ ቤቶች ዝርዝር በፍፁም ተገቢ እንዳልሆነ እና የጠቅላላ ጉባኤ አባላት መሆን ያለባቸው ለፋውንዴሽኑ በገንዘብ በዕውቀትም ከፍተኛ አሰተዋፆኦ የሚያደርጉና ወደፊትም ማድረግ የሚፈልጉ እንዲሁም ለፋውንዴሽኑ ማደግ ተግተው የሚሰሩ መሆን እንዳለባቸው፤

•  ለዚህ ፋውንዴሽን የተለየ ተብሎ የተሰጠው የቀረጥ ነፃ መብት “ፋውንዴሽኑ ለስራ ማስፈጸሚያ ወደ አገር የሚያስገባቸው እቃዎች፣ መሳሪያዎችና ተሽከርካሪዎች ከቀረጥና ታክስ ነጻ ይሆናሉ፤” ይላል። ይህም ከውጭ የሚመጣው ነገር ሁሉ ካለምንም ቀረጥና ታክስ እንዲገባ መደረጉ ይህንን ፋውንዴሽን ለሚመሩት ሰዎች ቀዳዳ እንደሚከፍት ግልፅ ነው ታዲያ ለዚህ ፋውንዴሽን የተለየ መብት የሚሰጠው ለምንድ ነው? በማህበራት ማቋቋሚያ አዋጅ ላይ እንዲህ አይነት ነገሮች ሲፈጠሩ እየታየ ይፈቀዳል ይላል። የአቶ መለስም ፋውንዴሽንም በዚያ መሰረት መስተናገድ ሲገባው እዚህ ላይ ግን ሁሉንም ነገር ማስገባት እንደሚችል መቀመጡ አግባብነት የለውም። ይህ ደግሞ ትክክል እንዳልሆነ እና ልክ እንደሌሎቹ በአዋጅ 621/2001 እየተያ መሆን እንዳለበት፤ ለማነኛውም ግን ይህ ረቂቅ አዋጅ ለህዝብ ይፋ ውይይት እንዲቀርብ ወደቋሚ ኮሚቴ ቢመራ ይሻላል የሚሉት፤ ዋና ዋናዎቹ ናቸው፡፡

ለነዚህ ሃሳቦች የተሰጠውን መልስ የተሰጠበትን ስሜት መግለፅ ባልችልም (የወረደ፣ የዘቀጠ፣ ወዘተን ጨምሮ) ፀረ ህዝብ የሚል መደምደሚያ የተደረሰባቸው ማብራሪያዎች ግን የሚከተሉት ናቸው (ቅኔው ሲያልቅበት ቀረርቶ ሞላበት ዓይነት ነው)፡፡ በነገራችሁ ላይ ይህ ስብሰባ በዝግ መካሄዱን ያነበብኩት ከሪፖርተር ጋዜጣ ላይ ነው፡፡

• ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ ያለዕረፍት ከወጣትነት እስከ ህልፈተ ህይወት ለህዝብ የሰሩ መሆናቸው፤

• ህዝቡ አልቅሶዋል፤ ህዝቡ ለመንግስት አደራ ሰጥቶዋል፤ ይህንን አይተው አቶ ግርማም የሕዝብ ስሜት የተረዱ መስሎን ነበር፤ ነገር ግን ጉዳዩ ሌላ ነው፤

• እንዴት መለስና ኃይለስላሴ ይወዳደራሉ

•  የቀረጥ ነፃ መብት መንግስታዊ ላልሆኑ ድርጅቶች ለሚሉዋቸውም እንኳን ተሰጥቶዋል፤ ይህን ድርጅት የሚመሩት ደግሞ ሃላፊነት የሚሰማቸው ትልልቅ ሰዎች እንደሚሆኑ፤

• ይህንን ሃሳብ ለመሰንዘር እንድትመረጥ እና እንድትናገር ያደረገህ መለስ ነው፤

እነዚህ ማብራሪያዎች በግልፅ ላስቀመጥኳቸው አሰተያየቶች መልስ አይደሉም፡፡ ፀረ-ህዝብ ያሰኙኝን ሃሳቦችን በአጭሩ ልድገማቸው፡፡

1.      የመለስ ፋውንዴሽን መቋቋም ያለበት በመለስ ደጋፊዎችና አድናቂዎች እንጂ የመለስን ፍልስፍና የማይቀበሉ ሰዎች በሚከፍሉት ግብርና ታክስ መሆን የለበትም፤ የፋውንዴሽኑ ጠቅላላ ጉባዔም መመስረት ያለበት ይህንን መሰረት አድርጎ ነው፤

2.      ፋውንዴሽኑ መቋቋም ያለበት በአዋጅ ቁጥር 621/2001 መሰረት መሆን አለበት፤

3.      የተለየ ከቀረጥ ነፃ መብት መስጠት ለምን አስፈለገ የሚሉት ናቸው፤

ውድ አንባቢያን እስኪ የቱ ገለፃና ማብራሪያ ነው ፀረ ህዝብ የሚያሰኘው፡፡ እንኳን ፀረ-ህዝብ፤ ፀረ-ኢህአዴግና ፤ ፀረ-መለስ ፋውንዴሽን የሚያሰኝ ነገር አላቀረብኩም፡፡ የማምንበትንና ማታ ትራሴ ላይ የማይጎረብጠኝን ሃሳብ በሰነዘርኩ እንደዚህ መባል ያለብኝ አይመስለኝም፡፡ አሁንም ግን ግልፅ መሆን ያለበት በማስፈራሪያ የመለስን ፍልስፍና እንደማልቀበል ነው፡፡ ይህንን ሃሳብ 80 ሚሊዮን የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ደግፎት ቢሆንም እንኳን ብቻዬን እቆማለሁ፡፡ ነገሩ እንደዛ አይደለም እንጂ፡፡ የተከበሩ አቶ አስመላሽም ሆኖ ሌሎች ጓዶቻቸው እንዲያውቁት የሚያስፈልገው ነፃነት ማለት ታዋቂው ፀኃፊ ጆርጅ ሆርዌል እንዳለው ለህዝቡ መስማት የማይፈልገውንም ጭምር መንገር የሚያስችል መብት ነው፡፡ (“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”)

 የይስሙላ ዲሞክራሲ ስርዓት ባለቤትነትን አልቀበልም፡፡ በሀገራችን የ “ፖለቲካ ትግል” የሚለውን ቃል መለወጥ ያላስቻለን ስርዓት እንዳንቆለጳጵስ ጠብቀው ከሆነ ተሳሰተዋል፡፡ ትግል የሌለበት ፖለቲካ እስኪመሰረት ድረስ የማይወዱትንም ቢሆን መስማት ግዴታ ነው፡፡ የኢህአዴግ ታጋዮች አሁን የደረስንበት ደረጃ የመጨረሻ መስሎዋችሁ ከሆነ ትክክል አይደለም፡፡ ብዙ ቀሪ መንገድ አለን፡፡ ምርጫን ከሞትና ነውጥ ጋር ሳይሆን በአምስት ዓመት እንደሚመጣ ካርኒቫል ማየት እስክንጀምር የፖለቲካ ትግሉ ይቀጥላል፡፡

በመጨረሻም አቶ መለስ በአለም ደረጃ ተፅዕኖ ፈጣሪ ናቸው በሚለው አከራካሪ ጉዳይ ለዛሬ ባለመስማማት እንስማማ፡፡ አቶ መለስ ተፅዕኖ ስለፈጠሩ በእርሳቸው ፍልስፍና መገዛት ግዴታ እንዴት እንደሚሆን ማስረዳት የሚችል ካለ ያስረዳኝ፡፡ ማርክስ፤ ሌኒን፤ አሾ፤ ወዘተ በዓለም ላይ ተፅዕኖ የፈጠሩ ሰዎች ናቸው፡፡ በእነርሱ ፍልስፍና መገዛት ግን ግዴታ አይደለም፡፡

 የተከበሩ አቶ አስመላሽ ያልተረዱት እንዲህ ዓይነት ግዴታን የሚጥል ስርዓት የሚዘረጋ ፍልስፍናን ነው ተቀበል እያሉኝ ያሉት፡፡ አልቀበልም ያልኩት ይህንን ነው፡፡ በነገራችን ላይ በዓለማችን ተፅዕኖ የፈጠሩትን የነ አብራሃም ሊንከንና የነማህተመ ጋንዲን ፍልስፍና ኢህአዴጎች አልተቀበሉም፤ ተቀበሉ ብሎ የሚያስገድድም የለም፡፡ ነገር ግን የእነርሱን ፍልስፍና ነው የከሰረ የኒዎ ሊብራል ፍልስፍና እያሉ ያሉት፡፡ ይህ ደግሞ መብት ነው፡፡

መሰረታዊ በሆኑ ሀገራዊ ጉዳዮች ላይ መስማማት ማለት የኢህአዴግ አብዮታዊ ዲሞክራሲን መቀበል ከሆነ በግልፅ በአዋጅ ይነገረን፤ ከተሰማማን እንተገብራለን ካልተስማማን አማራጭ እንፈልጋለን፡፡

ልዩነት ለዘላለም ይኖር

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አቶ ግርማ ሰይፉ መድረክን ወክለው ፓርላማ ውስጥ የሚገኙ ብቸኛ ተቃዋሚ ናቸው።

ኢትዮሚድያ - Ethiomedia.com

February 2, 2013

Human Rights Watch World Report 2013 – Ethiopia

February 2, 2013 | Human Rights Watch World Report 2013, pp 114-120

Ethiopia

The sudden death in August 2012 of Ethiopia’s long-serving and powerful prime minister, Meles Zenawi, provoked uncertainty over the country’s political transition, both domestically and among Ethiopia’s international partners. Ethiopia’s human rights record has sharply deteriorated, especially over the past few years, and although a new prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, took office in September, it remains to be seen whether the government under his leadership will undertake human rights reforms.

Ethiopian authorities continued to severely restrict basic rights of freedom of expression, association, and assembly in 2012. Thirty journalists and opposition members were convicted under the country’s vague Anti-Terrorism Proclamation of 2009.The security forces responded to protests by the Muslim community in Oromia and Addis Ababa, the capital, with arbitrary arrests, detentions, and beatings.

The Ethiopian government continues to implement its “villagization” program: the resettlement of 1.5 million rural villagers in five regions of Ethiopia ostensibly to increase their access to basic services. Many villagers in Gambella region have been forcibly displaced, causing considerable hardship. The government is also forcibly displacing indigenous pastoral communities in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley to make way for state-run sugar plantations.

Freedom of Expression, Association, and Assembly

Since the promulgation in 2009 of the Charities and Societies Proclamation (CSO Law), which regulates nongovernmental organizations, and the AntiTerrorism Proclamation, freedom of expression, assembly, and association have been increasingly restricted in Ethiopia. The effect of these two laws, coupled with the government’s widespread and persistent harassment, threats, and intimidation of civil society activists, journalists, and others who comment on sensitive issues or express views critical of government policy, has been severe. Ethiopia’s most important human rights groups have been compelled to dramatically scale-down operations or remove human rights activities from their man dates, and an unknown number of organizations have closed entirely. Several of the country’s most experienced and reputable human rights activists have fled the country due to threats. The environment is equally hostile for independent media: more journalists have fled Ethiopia than any other country in the world due to threats and intimidation in the last decade—at least 79, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

The Anti-Terrorism Proclamation is being used to target perceived opponents, stifle dissent, and silence journalists. In 2012, 30 political activists, opposition party members, and journalists were convicted on vaguely defined terrorism offenses. Eleven journalists have been convicted under the law since 2011.

On January 26, a court in Addis Ababa sentenced both deputy editor Woubshet Taye and columnist Reeyot Alemu of the now-defunct weekly Awramaba Times to 14 years in prison. Reeyot’s sentence was later reduced to five years upon appeal and most of the charges were dropped.

On July 13, veteran journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega, who won the prestigious PEN America Freedom to Write Award in April, was sentenced to 18 years in prison along with other journalists, opposition party members, and political activists. Exiled journalists Abiye Teklemariam and Mesfin Negash were sentenced to eight years each in absentia under a provision of the Anti-Terrorism Law that has so far only been used against journalists. Andualem Arage, a member of the registered opposition party Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), was sentenced to life for espionage, “disrupting the constitutional order,” and recruitment and training to commit terrorist acts.

In September, the Ethiopian Federal High Court ordered the property of Eskinder Nega, exiled journalist Abebe Belew, and opposition member Andualem Arage to be confiscated.

On July 20, after the government claimed that reports by the newspaper Feteh on Muslim protests and the prime minister’s health would endanger national security, it seized the entire print run of the paper. On August 24, Feteh’s editor, Temesghen Desalegn was arrested and denied bail. He was released on August 28, and all the charges were withdrawn pending further investigation.

Police on July 20 raided the home of journalist Yesuf Getachew, editor-in-chief of the popular Muslim magazine Yemuslimoche Guday (Muslim Affairs), and arrested him that night. The magazine has not been published since, and at this writing, Yesuf remained in detention.

On December 27, 2011, two Swedish journalists, Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson, were found guilty of supporting a terrorist organization after being arrested while traveling in eastern Ethiopia with the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), an outlawed armed insurgent group. They were also convicted of entering the country illegally. The court sentenced them to 11 years in prison. On September 10, they were pardoned and released along with more than 1,950 other prisoners as part of Ethiopia’s annual tradition of amnesty to celebrate the Ethiopian New Year.

On several occasions in July, federal police used excessive force, including beatings, to disperse largely Muslim protesters opposing the government’s interference with the country’s Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs. On July 13, police forcibly entered the Awalia mosque in Addis Ababa, smashing windows and firing tear gas inside the mosque. On July 21, they forcibly broke up a sit-in at the mosque. From July 19 to 21, dozens of people were rounded up and 17 prominent leaders were held without charge for over a week. Many of the detainees complained of mistreatment in detention.

Forced Displacement

The Ethiopian government plans to relocate up to 1.5 million people under its “villagization” program, purportedly designed to improve access to basic services by moving people to new villages in Ethiopia’s five lowland regions: Gambella, Benishangul-Gumuz, Afar, Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR), and Somali Region.

In Gambella and in the South Omo Valley, forced displacement is taking place without adequate consultation and compensation. In Gambella, Human Rights Watch found that relocations were often forced and that villagers were being moved from fertile to unfertile areas. People sent to the new villages frequently have to clear the land and build their own huts under military supervision, while the promised services (schools, clinics, water pumps) often have not been put in place.

In South Omo, around 200,000 indigenous peoples are being relocated and their land expropriated to make way for state-run sugar plantations. Residents reported being moved by force, seeing their grazing lands flooded or ploughed up, and their access to the Omo River, essential for their survival and way of life, curtailed.

Extrajudicial Executions, Torture and other Abuses in Detention

An Ethiopian government-backed paramilitary force known as the “Liyu Police” executed at least 10 men who were in their custody and killed 9 other villagers in Ethiopia’s Somali Region on March 16 and 17 following a confrontation over an incident in Raqda village, Gashaamo district.

In April, unknown gunmen attacked a commercial farm owned by the Saudi Star company in Gambella that was close to areas that had suffered a high proportion of abuses during the villagization process. In responding to the attack, Ethiopian soldiers went house to house looking for suspected perpetrators and threatening villagers to disclose the whereabouts of the “rebels.” The military arbitrarily arrested many young men and committed torture, rape, and other abuses against scores of villagers while attempting to extract information.

Human Rights Watch continues to document torture at the federal police investigation center known as Maekelawi in Addis Ababa, as well as at regional detention centers and military barracks in Somali Region, Oromia, and Gambella. There is erratic access to legal counsel and insufficient respect for other due process guarantees during detention, pre-trial detention, and trial phases of politically sensitive cases, placing detainees at risk of abuse.

Treatment of Ethiopian Migrant Domestic Workers

The videotaped beating and subsequent suicide on March 14 of Alem Dechasa Desisa, an Ethiopian domestic worker in Lebanon, brought increased scrutiny to the plight of tens of thousands of Ethiopian women working in the Middle East.

Many migrant domestic workers incur heavy debts and face recruitment-related abuses in Ethiopia prior to employment abroad, where they risk a wide range of abuses from long hours of work to slavery-like conditions (see chapters on the
United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon).

Key International Actors

Under Meles Zenawi’s leadership, Ethiopia played an important role in regional affairs: deploying UN peacekeepers to Sudan’s disputed Abyei area, mediating between Sudan and South Sudan, and sending troops into Somalia as part of the international effort to combat al-Shabaab. Ethiopia’s relations with its neighbor Eritrea remain poor following the costly border war of 1998-2000. Eritrea accepted the ruling of an independent boundary commission that awarded it disputed territory; Ethiopia did not. Ethiopia is an important strategic and security ally for Western governments, and the biggest recipient of development aid in Africa. It now receives approximately US$3.5 billion in long-term development assistance each year. Donor policies do not appear to have been significantly affected by the deteriorating human rights situation in the country.

The World Bank approved a new Country Partnership Strategy in September that takes little account of the human rights or good governance principles that it and other development agencies say are essential for sustainable development. It also approved a third phase of the Protection of Basic Services program (PBS III) without triggering safeguards on involuntary resettlement and indigenous peoples.

'Brexit': a view from Norway

By HEMING OLAUSSEN 1 February 2013
http://www.opendemocracy.net

Norway has often been cited as an example of what Britain's future relationship with the EU might look like. One of the most prominent Norwegian opponents to EU membership shares his thoughts on David Cameron's speech.

Demotix/Pål Bergstad. All rights reserved.

Mr Cameron has delivered a very interesting speech about the United Kingdom's relation with the EU. His emphasis on the democratic problem the EU suffers from goes to the very heart of today's Norwegian debate over the EU, and indeed also back to our first EU referendum in 1972. It is all about national sovereignty versus the expansion of centralized EU power to nearly every corner of Norwegian society - and politics.

The Norwegian people's position is overwhelmingly clear: over 70 percent of the population reject joining EU, whereas the 'Yes' side gets support from less than 20 percent of Norwegians. This has been the picture for the last two years - and the 'No' side has dominated every poll since 2004.

Still, Norway is a member of the common market through the European Economic Area, which results in the Norwegian people also experiencing this democratic deficit – an aspect Mr Cameron also evoked, and I absolutely agree with his point there. This is why I find his speech so refreshing and full of promise - also from a Norwegian perspective! A third way must be found, a way to combine national sovereignty with common interests of commerce and co-operation.
This third way would require Norway and Iceland to withdraw from the EEA, Switzerland staying out of it and the UK not joining the EEA at all, leaving them free to combine their forces in developing this third way - a vision of Europe that puts democracy in the front seat, and not Mrs Merkel's ideas of a German version of the United States of Europe.

These are the most exciting possibilities one can extract from Mr. Cameron's speech, from a EU-skeptic Norwegian point of view. The problem is that the leading politicians in Norway, as in many other countries, are far more pro-EU than the people. This last assertion is also valid for the EEA treaty; in the last few days we have seen the Social Democratic Party crush down on its junior partners in Government – the Rural Party and the Socialist Left Party – both of whom oppose the EEA treaty and want to replace it by a more modest trade treaty. Having already had a strong debate over the EEA for a couple of years, the Social Democrats now try to avoid re-opening the topic, not least because polling numbers don't look very good for the ruling red-green coalition ahead of next September's parliamentary elections. Meanwhile, right wing politicians are also expressing skepticism as a result of all the regulations and laws imposed by Brussel, and growing resistance against the EU's influence on the country's policies.

2013 is set to be an exciting and vital year to determine what future relations between Norway and the EU will look like – and no one can really tell how this will end.

..........................................................................................................................................

 Heming Olaussen is Chairman of the No to the EU, a Norwegian organisation with over 27,000 members. He has been a social worker since 1977, and voted 'No' in both referendums on EU membership (in 1972 and 1994).

PM Haile Mariam Desalegn: Where’s the Political Reform?

By Ewnetu Sime | February 01, 2013

Mr. Haile Mariam Desalegn, the new Ethiopian PM, marks 100 plus days in office and brought frustration to all pro-democracy campaigners starting from his first exclusive interview with Peter Heinlein the Voice of America – VOA news correspondent. Some people predicted he will be a compromise candidate to bring more political freedom. Some say the predatory TPLF ruling party replaces the deceased Meles Zenawi by another stooge figure to continue dictatorial control. But it was not a secret that he is woven into TPLF autocratic regime in the past several years. In as much as he is the closest ally of the aristocracy of TPLF regime, in some of us thinking there is magical expectation he might bring better vision for the country, or at minimum he will make an effort of some kind for political reform including freeing political prisoners or respect – its own existing constitutions such as press freedom, guarantees of the right of public assembly, etc.. In reality what we observed so far is our citizens continue to carry the yoke of oppression.

It is evident that ethno-centric TPLF paternalistic and arrogant views to Ethiopian people continued by forming a corrupt dictatorship political structure that contain three deputies to control the people along the ethnic line effectively. Due to highly personalized and abusive power structure from top to bottom, Hailemariam Desalegn is incapable of providing any adequate political reforms. Mr. Desalegn is retained by TPLF on this position mainly to give legitimacy to ethno-centric TPLF’s reign. He supports the status quo unequivocally. He demonstrated – his determination to carry out past tyrant legacy on interviews, on news press releases, or addressing his rubber stamp parliament.

The past twenty one years is a legacy of ethnics based rule by TPLF. Furthermore, the TPLF leaders built their political group on marriage ties, nepotism, sectarian loyalties and extensive network among them and other political cronies. Hailemariam is a perfect fit as political cronies. PM or TPLF failed to focus on common causes and shared values of all Ethiopians. As we all know, some of the predominant factors for ethno-centric TPLF survival on power is based on divide and rule strategy. Consequently, the ethno-centric TPLF leaders become big fat fish in the country. They have created state apparatus bloated by rampant corruptions, bribe, and accumulation vast illicit fortunes and became a champion in running robust black market. Flourishing Corruptions and human rights abuse are cited with accompanying evidence on several free media (also for TPLF’s individual’s characters just read the recent Amharic series articles posted by (Eyerusalem Araya). It is upsetting and also an embarrassment to all fair minded Ethiopians.

The new PM unwillingness to rise to the responsibility as true leader and not launching better system is missing opportunity for him to be part of Ethiopian history legend. He has not expressed common vision of the people demands for freedom and social justice. Mr. Desalgen paid no attention to learn from past tyrant mistakes at all. As things stand now, the country is divided along ethnic lines, which is a ground work for anarchy. Examples include the recent ethnic-based clashes that erupted among university students on Arat Kilo campus of Addis Ababa University. Universities supposed to be – power house to disseminate knowledge in variety of field and search- out solutions for social ills. As we all know, Addis Ababa University which was once the home of the student activism inspired by Marxist ideas of class struggle, upholder of democratic freedoms and hot bed for dissent transformed by TPLF to recruitment center for single ethnic militants. TPLF leaders are proven to us again and again they are not capable of rising above their ethnic line. TPLF’s ethnic leadership behaviors followed by deception, blatant ethnic–based discrimination and try to alienate the Tigreans from the mainstream is not working. Ordinary Tigrian people understood that the systematic pitting each other on ethnic line will not bring peace, democracy or justice. They knew all along we are multi-ethnic nation and have coexisted side by side peacefully for generations. Unfortunately the TPLF’s leaders failed to recognize that but relentlessly attempt to include them in part of their crimes.

Let me quote from Mr. Obama January 21, 2013 inaugural speech “What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:” As we know it, America is most multi-ethnic nation allegiance to an idea not on ethnic origin. This illustrates that allegiance of an idea for national unity is key to achieve economic and social goals in Ethiopia. Imposing the century old Lenin’s polemics nationality rights (ethnic politic) above liberty of individuals will not bring about true political changes, it will sustain the current corrupt thugocracy.

The new PM has not shown even symbolic gesture to free up political prisoners or other needed political changes. Even simple symbolic gesture can be powerful because it does describe something significant is at stake. Freeing up political prisoners is one of thing that got me to the heart of what has been bothering me since Mr. Desalgen becomes PM. I concluded that he is hopeless and lacks political leadership and must be viewed as a continuation of the previous fails politics. He is strengthened the ethno-centric TPLF power. As witnessed to this date, he neglected the needs of Ethiopian people and become a de facto conduit to impose TPLF’s dictatorial repression.

Ethiopian journalist held for coverage of Muslim protests

By CPJ; February 1, 2013

 

Nairobi, February 1, 2013-Ethiopian security forces have detained for two weeks without charge the editor of a newsmagazine and accused him of incitement to terrorism, according to local journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities to release Solomon Kebede immediately and halt their harassment of journalists affiliated with the weekly Ye Muslimoch Guday.

Police in Addis Ababa, the capital, on January 17 arrested Kebede, managing editor of the now-defunct paper Ye Muslimoch Guday ("Muslim Affairs"), and took him to the Maekelawi federal detention center. Solomon's health is in poor condition and he has been held without access to a lawyer, the journalists said. A court date has been set for February 13.

Local journalists told CPJ they believed the arrest was linked to Solomon's columns that had criticized perceived government intrusion in religious affairs. Solomon had covered demonstrations staged last year by Muslims protesting alleged interference in Islamic Council elections. The protests were a highly sensitive issue for the government, which feared a hardline Islamist influence within the predominantly Christian country, news reports said.

In an effort to suppress coverage of the protests, authorities began to crack down on Muslim-oriented publications. At least three papers, including Ye Muslimoch Guday, were forced to stop publishing, and police detained at least two reporters of the U.S. government-funded Voice of America. Authorities also arrested Yusuf Getachew, editor-in-chief of Ye Muslimoch Guday,in July, news reports said. Yusuf is awaiting trial in Kality Prison on vague anti-state and terrorism charges. In June, police raided the Addis Ababa offices of the private Horizon printing press and ordered the publisher to stop printing Ye Muslimoch Guday. The paper has not published since July 2012.

Local journalists also told CPJ that they suspected police may have arrested Solomon so they could question him on the whereabouts of two of his colleagues from Ye Muslimoch Guday. Senior Editor Akemel Negash and Copy Editor Isaac Eshetu fled into hiding in August after police kept their homes under surveillance for weeks, local journalists said.

"We are troubled by the arrest of Solomon Kebede and the government's ongoing crackdown against the staff of Ye Muslimoch Guday," said CPJ East Africa Consultant, Tom Rhodes. "We are also concerned about Solomon's well-being in the Maekelawi federal detention center, where numerous detainees have reported being tortured. Authorities should release Solomon immediately."

Why Ethiopia fails to meet millennium development goals (MDGs)

By Binyam Shimelis; February 1, 2013

The population of Ethiopia, according to the Central Statistical Authority, is over 80 million, making the country the second most populous country in Africa. Around 80% of the population is living in rural areas depending on small-scale rain-fed agriculture for its livelihood. With an estimated 80% of the population living under a dollar a day, Ethiopia is one of the least developed and poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Adopted by world leaders in the year 2000 and set to be achieved by 2015, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is numerical benchmarks for tackling extreme poverty and common end for human development reaches everyone, everywhere and cut world poverty by half. As an effort to meet the MDG, poverty reduction was the overriding development agenda for Ethiopia for the last one decade. There were Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) I and II covering the period 2000-2011.

 According to Ethiopia government report, encouraging progresses have been registered in most economic and social sectors. In 2010, the government developed a 10 years Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), with a major aim of sustaining faster economic growth obtained from Plan for PASDEP I and II in the period 2000-2011. With the double digit growth of Ethiopian economy, the incidence of poverty fell from 44 percent in 2001 to 29 percent in 2010. However the pace of change is not adequate for Ethiopia to accelerate the progress towards achieving the MDG. Besides there is no clear link between the 10 year poverty reduction plan and the current transformation plan. The current plan gives much emphasis to economic development and doesn’t give a clue how poverty issue would be addressed. Ethiopia has still low levels of income, savings and productivity in the agricultural sector, structural food insecurity, environmental degradation, limited implementation capacity, high unemployment and a narrow modern industrial sector base. The economy is threatened by the twin challenges of inflation and sustaining the macroeconomic stability is still a major challenge as it’s clearly indicated in the MDG Report.

 Ethiopia is still dependent on rain-fed agriculture, small-scale and subsistence farming which is very much vulnerable to climate change. Due to lack of structural transformation in agriculture, droughts still a major threat. Although there is reduction in level of poverty in some rural areas there is increment in urban poverty. The Hunger and malnutrition are still endemic problem in the country. Despite the progress reiterated by the government, it’s clear that halving poverty by 2015 would be unrealistic. The government of Ethiopia believes that the country is heading in the right direction to meeting the MDG targets, however according to UN 2010 report, Ethiopia is one of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa where little has been made in reducing extreme poverty and not expected to achieve the MDG poverty reduction target.

Depending on the priority in the government current development agenda, there is expansion in gross primary school enrolment. Despite the impressive gains in primary school enrolment, the education sector in Ethiopia faces major challenges; low quality of education, limited resources, average pupil-teacher ratio, distance from schools, large class-sizes, shortage of teaching materials and discouraging teaching-learning process. These necessitate a balanced development across all tiers of the education system, curriculum development and expansion in supply of trained teachers. Health sector has made major expansion and has strategy to strengthen the provision of preventative and primary health care services. However, still Ethiopia has the highest maternal and child mortality and morbidity. As Ethiopia’s demographic and health survey showed 25,000 women died every year giving birth and thousands of babies died annually across the country.

 Ethiopia is beset with a range of serious development challenges including: rapid population growth, high level of poverty, low capacity including skilled human resources to sustain the economic growth. Periodic droughts are causing a series of humanitarian assistance need that many million people are in need of emergency and recovery assistance. The level of unemployment in Ethiopia is high and poses major challenges in the context of poverty reduction. The rise in urban unemployment reflects the urban economy’s limited capacity to absorb the rapidly expanding urban work force. The unemployment problem is particularly severe amongst the youth as employment opportunities for school leavers are very limited.

 Despite the government plan for the MDG there is the rampant corruption throughout the county, according to transparency international Ethiopia has one of the highest corruption in Africa and ranked113th out of 176 countries. Ethiopia contributes to significant portion of the capital fight in Arica; according to a research conducted by University of Massachusetts in 2012 Ethiopia’s capital flight in the last four decades estimated to be 25 billion USD. Corruption is becoming a way of living; most government officials and institutions are involved in government work and business. The country’s national and commercial banks are used to enrich party-owned and endowed enterprises and individuals. This practice is hampering the country development effort and achieving the MDG targets.

 According to Human Rights Reports: Ethiopia, 2010: developmental aid goes to ruling party members and the disadvantaged and poor people are not befitting form the development effort of the county. Human right indicated that aid have been subject to distortion for political purposes. Lack of good governance and absence of fair play ground for all citizens and development partners are major problems of the country. The ruling party is in power for the last two decades and manipulating things for its own political agenda. Many people believe that the economic growth related number and other indicators are cooked data by the government to maintain its legitimacy. The government insists in its developmental state ideology and hampering inclusive and multi-party political system. The overall absence of democratic system, good governance and lack of equal participation of all citizens are hindering the development of the country and the country progress toward the MDG targets. Therefore considering the current level problem and the country entwined with many sort of issues; Ethiopia will be one of those countries which will not meet the MDG targets by 2015.

Some of the factors that contributes why Ethiopia is not meeting the MDG targets:

 Highly polarized political system: ‘ethnic-state, ethnic-politics and ethnic-federalism’

The current ruling party, from minority population of Ethiopia, has been in power for the last two decades. Many Ethiopian believe that there is no free and fair election which is one of the ingredients of sustainable development. The majority of people are marginalized from the political system and there is no fair play ground for all citizens. Highly educated and competent Ethiopians are living in exile as a political asylum. Due to the current political philosophy of developmental state, democratic system building as a means of achieving sustainable development is neglected by the government. According Dr Birara, an Ethiopian economist who worked at World Bank for more than 30 years, in his new book entitled, Endemic Poverty That Globalization Can’t Tackle But Ethiopians Can, stated that “legalization and institutionalization of an ethnic-state, ethnic-politics and ethnic-federalism tearing the Ethiopian society apart and destroying a sense of ownership’’. He also said that the political system was “designed to serve the ethnically-based ruling class and leftist single party is unlikely to care for the poor”. Thus in order to achieve sustainable development including meeting the MDG targets in Ethiopia there has to be equal participation and inclusive political system.

Lack of good governance and ownership among community

According to Robin Broad and John Cavanagh “Poverty is not simply an absolute condition; it needs to be understood as a dynamic. It is necessary to look at the social, economic, and political interactions of poor people with the elites. It is not a matter of "cleaning up" disease”.

 There are immense efforts in order to alleviate poverty and mitigate its impact. Government and different development actors are playing pivotal role however the government didn’t build a sense of ownership among the community and there is no common understanding. The government does things in a campaign like “cleaning up” disease and there is no long term plan. Most government officers are short sighted and took office by political commitment not by professional competency. Most government offices are poorly equipped with both human and infrastructure. Ethnic representation is the main criterion for managerial position of most government office which is jeopardizing effective system and development in the country.

Ethiopian land policy

In Ethiopia the government owns the land; as most literatures shows absence of land ownership discourage individuals and farmers motivation of productive and remain on subsistence farming. Ethiopia’s economic and social problem resolving and sustainability can be achieved if there is a modification in the ownership and management of land. According to Birara, with the recent land grab close to 600,000 hectares of Gambella’s farmlands have been leased and number of farmers and households have been forced to move and work for the new investors at wages below poverty level (less than a dollar a day). According to OXFAM the new tragic land grab phenomena is described as "This buying up of land is negating all attempts to build sustainable agricultural development, it is an attack on Africa's food, its water sources, the nutrition of its children, its women and on its states." This shows how land ownership issues disempowered local people and made them vulnerable to wrong government policy and adversely affecting sustainable development in Ethiopia.

Ineffective use of aid

According to Word Bank, official Development Assistance (ODA) that Ethiopia received in the last 2 decades is estimated to be around 35 billion USD. World Bank stated that there is development in Ethiopia but not structural change to alleviate poverty and make basic changes. ODA assistance that the current regime has received over the years has not reached the common people, failed to achieve minimal growth and made Ethiopia to be dependent on foreign aid.

 According to human right report the government use development aid as a political instrument. Ethiopia is still unable to achieve food self-sufficiency. All forms of foreign aid that has been flowing to the country directly to the government won’t improve wellbeing and reduce poverty. Foreign aid will not transform Ethiopian society from poverty to a sustainable and equitable prosperity unless the government is committed to the poor and with the right policy measures.

Lack of coordination among development partners

In Ethiopia development partners are contributing their share to the national effort of development and MDG targets. Donors, local and international CSOs/NGOs and other development partners are involved in poverty reduction, health, education, HIV/AIDS, Gender and other development interventions. However their intervention is not clear and visible. Efforts for addressing the problems are not well coordinated to avoid duplication of efforts and contribute towards common goal. Besides they are not put in the way that can galvanize actors engaged in the development of the country to fill missing gaps and enhance better contribution. There are no standard tools to measure, quantify and show their contribution. There are no means to capture data from grass-root level, bring to a national level and advocate for common goal. Even the geographic areas of intervention are not well known and defined, the areas of specialization are not visible to others and concerned stakeholders working in the area.

Overambitious plan

All development plans PASDEP, GTP and sector ministries plan are over ambitious, as the government itself confirmed. The MDG target are not well tailored with the existing situation of the country and were not planned based on realistic data and figures on the ground. Thus meeting the MDG targets would not be realistic.

The attainment of MDG needs change in the country political system and good governance. Other economic targets will largely depend on right policy, coping mechanism with weather conditions and effective utilization external aid. The country’s development needs to be about effective voice and equal participation of all citizens in the development and political process of the country. Based on current trend and in the remaining 2 years, only universal primary education of the MDGs targets is likely to be attained. Thus in order to achieve the development of Ethiopia and poverty reduction even after the MDG target, 2015, Ethiopia needs to do:

• Change political system: inclusive government, equal participation and voice of all citizen, all ethnic group and space for multiparty system,

 • Good governance and effective government system,

• Reform the land policy,

• Develop effective mechanism of using aid and coordination among development partners

 • Further effort in the participation and empowerment of girls and women,

• Addressing the issue of climate change.