http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908740-3,00.html
The End of the Lion of Judah Monday, Sep. 23, 1974
(Photo source unknown to me. It did not appear in the Time Magazine article.)
Less than a year ago, he was one of the last absolute monarchs on earth. He appointed governments, made laws, and held life-and-death power over his 26 million subjects.
Since February, the once unchallengeable powers of the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, King of Kings, Elect of God, Emperor of Ethiopia have gradually been taken away by the reformist young military officers who now dominate his country. Last week even the titles were gone; Haile Selassie, 82, was deposed from the imperial throne he had occupied for almost a half-century.
Glittering Splendor. Last Thursday morning, the aging Emperor was abruptly summoned to the library of Jubilee (recently renamed National) Palace in Addis Ababa. There he confronted representatives of the Armed Forces Coordinating Committee, the collective leadership of the young officers.
He stood erect, his eyes glistening, as a proclamation was read denouncing him for having abused the power and dignity of his office and having subverted it for his own gain. The proclamation ended by declaring that Haile Selassie was "deposed from office."
An awkward silence followed. It was broken only when the ex-Emperor protested, "We have served our people in war and peace." Minutes later, he was led out of his marble palace to a tiny blue two-door Volkswagen.
The monarch who for years had been chauffeur-driven in a huge maroon Mercedes-Benz limousine could still not believe what was happening to him. "What? In there?" he asked incredulously. "Yes, in there," replied an officer courteously, as he pulled forward the front seat to enable his passenger to squeeze into the rear.
As the auto pulled away, Haile Selassie turned for one last look at his imperial palace where he had lived so long in glittering splendor and outside of which lions had once roamed. His view was blocked by hundreds of students who jeered at him and screamed, "Hang the Emperor!"
Within an hour, Radio Ethiopia announced that the nation was no longer under Haile Selassie's "oppressive rule." Throughout the day, spokesmen for the coordinating committee explained that the military had been forced to depose the monarch because he was too old and weak, both physically and mentally.
Further, Haile Selassie was charged with committing crimes against the Ethiopian people and with refusing to take measures that might have alleviated the harsh famine in northern Ethiopia, which has so far taken an estimated 100,000 lives.
The proclamation deposing Haile Selassie also suspended the Ethiopian constitution, banned strikes and antimilitary demonstrations and dissolved Parliament. The coordinating committee declared that a provisional military administration would rule until there are free democratic elections (no date was set) and a new constitution is drawn up to provide for—among other things —freedom of speech, land reform and the separation of church and state.
Ethiopia's new leaders said that they planned to summon home from Geneva Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, 57, Haile Selassie's son, and anoint him as Ethiopia's King (significantly, not Emperor).
Wossen, who is partially paralyzed from a stroke that he suffered two years ago, would be nothing more than a figurehead, and the likelihood is that the country will eventually be proclaimed a republic. Meanwhile, Lieut. General Aman Michael Andom, 50, a popular officer who has been chief of staff of the armed forces, has been named temporary head of the government.
No Protest. Immediately after Haile Selassie's arrest, tanks and troops were rushed to key intersections and public buildings in Addis Ababa. Instead of protesting the ouster of their monarch, people adorned the tanks with garlands of flowers and personally thanked the soldiers who had affixed green-and-white Ethiopia Tikdem (Ethiopia First) stickers to their helmets. Business in the capital continued as usual.
The calm was undoubtedly the result of a carefully orchestrated campaign by the military to discredit Haile Selassie.
It reached a crescendo last Wednesday, the Ethiopian New Year and the day before the Emperor's ouster. For the first time, Patriarch Abuna Teweoflos of the Ethiopian Orthodox (Christian) Church did not mention the Emperor—head of the church to which half the Ethiopians belong—in his sermon.
Instead, the patriarch asked God's blessing for the officers' movement. Later in the day the coordinating committee broadcast a scathing attack on Haile Selassie, denouncing him for erecting statues to dead dogs and feeding live ones while thousands died of famine in Wollo province.
That evening Ethiopian television for the first time showed pictures of famine victims; the grim reportage was interspersed with shots of the Emperor drinking champagne and admiring huge cakes he had had flown from Europe for state banquets.
At week's end Haile Selassie remained under house arrest in a military headquarters about 30 miles from Addis Ababa. Unless the deposed Emperor refuses to return the moneys that the military claims he has stashed away in coded Swiss bank accounts, the chances are that he will be spared a humiliating show trial for crimes against the state.
He may be allowed to remain in Ethiopia; more probably, he will be packed off to exile—perhaps to Britain, where he lived almost penuriously from 1936 to 1940 during Italy's occupation of his country.
In any case, last week's events clearly marked the end of the public career of the tiny (5 ft. 4 in.) monarch who won the world's heart 38 years ago when he stood on the podium of the League of Nations in Geneva, begging the world's powers to help him oust Mussolini's troops from Ethiopia. "God and history will remember your judgment!" he warned the delegates.
Love Affair. Ethiopia's rases (feudal lords) in 1916 chose Haile Selassie to be regent and heir to Empress Zauditu.
Fourteen years later, when the Empress died suddenly, he was crowned the 255th Emperor of the Menelik line, which, legend claims, sprang more than 2,500 years ago from the celebrated love affair between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. For the next 44 years he ruled unchallenged, except for the Italian occupation and for a brief and abortive palace coup at the end of 1960.
During his reign, the Emperor demanded all the obsequiousness due absolute power; no one was allowed to approach him without bowing thrice and job seekers were obliged to prostrate themselves before him.
The Emperor was a founding father of the Organization of African Unity in 1963 and established its headquarters in his capital.
At home, though, he seemed concerned mostly with the trappings of progress—inspecting new roads and interviewing youths proposed for scholarships abroad. He did little to initiate changes that might have raised Ethiopia from its position as one of Africa's poorest, least literate and most corrupt nations.
His failure to act on economic and social problems triggered the military protests last February and led inexorably to his ouster.
Haile Selassie, for all his failings, acted as a glue binding together Ethiopia's disparate parts.
Without him, the country may be increasingly difficult to govern, especially if—as some experts fear—there is a struggle between military men who want to wield total power and those officers (backed by a large number of students and academics) who want a leftist government dominated by civilians.
Such a clash would clearly delay the reforms needed to bring Ethiopia belatedly into the 20th century.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Brand Binladen: Al-Noor City _ Wisdom or Al-terror city?
September 2008
Building Brand bin Laden
Will the tiny nation of Djibouti one day be the “Dubai of Africa,” host to the largest suspension bridge in the world? Sheikh Tarek bin Laden, along with an alliance of international investors and some $200 billion in capital, hopes so.
By Jeff Neumann
Inside a half-finished five-star hotel in Djibouti this past July, several hundred foreign dignitaries, investors and journalists gathered for the first look at an ambitious plan to unite two continents.
Dubai-based Al Noor Holding Investment Company hopes to build a bridge between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. But not just any bridge: Spanning 29 kilometers of the Red Sea between Djibouti and Yemen, it will be the world’s largest suspension structure, at points boasting 800-meter pilings and anchored at each side by brand new cities bearing the same name: Al Noor City, or City of Light.
The estimated cost of the whole venture is somewhere around $200 billion (LE 1.06 trillion).
The visionary behind the project, Tarek bin Laden, the Saudi oligarch and half-brother of the notorious Osama, hopes in 15 to 20 years time to see his dream of the bridge and both cities become reality. But just how realistic is it?
Perhaps Djibouti’s only real asset today is its location at the junction of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
It has one of Africa’s smallest populations, estimated at around 500,000, and its land size is comparable to Massachusetts in the United States. It is also bordered by Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia — three nations that are embroiled in multiple conflicts and whose names have long generated images of famine, despotism and anarchy.
Along the road between Djibouti-Ambouli Airport and the hotel hosting the project launch, people wandered between single-story concrete buildings and shacks — some carried jerry cans or bundles of sticks, but most walked empty-handed.
Less than a kilometer away from the five-star hotel, a naked child squatted beside a wall while groups of shirtless men slept in ditches beneath the shade of trees.
The “Bridge of the Horn” is to have a six-lane highway and light rail lines for passenger and commercial traffic, with the goal of one day handling 100,000 cars and 20,000 rail passengers per day.
There are also plans for a natural gas pipeline to run the length of the bridge from Djibouti into Yemen and on to the Gulf.
If completed, the bridge will cross the aptly named Bab El-Mandeb, the Gateway of Tears. It is the shortest point between Yemen and Djibouti and is named after the treacherous waters made famous from centuries of taking ships and lives.
There is also the deadly threat of Somali pirates operating in the area, enough to warrant the permanent basing of an international pirate task force and several thousand French Foreign Legion and US military troops.
Europe’s supply of oil from the Gulf passes through these straits, making security here all the more vital.
And just as the Suez Canal controls sea traffic at the northern end of the Red Sea, the Gateway of Tears owns the shipping lanes of the south.
Not far from the hotel there is a sight common to every port city from Buenos Aires to Shanghai: shipping containers. Stacked like a multi-colored set of Legos, rows of metal boxes waiting to be filled with goods, loaded onto ships and sent out across the globe.
This is the Horn of Africa.
A Bridge to
Guests at the launch were given a video presentation in the main ballroom and later held roundtable discussions with designers, financers and project management teams.
The conference was held to entice those with deep pockets and even deeper ambition to get in on one of the twenty-first century’s boldest schemes to date. Bin Laden’s Al Noor Holding has already pledged to invest an initial $1 billion (LE 53 billion) and more cash will surely follow as other investors fall in line.
Speaking on behalf of Al Noor Holding to open the ceremony was the company’s CEO, Mohammad Ahmed Al-Ahmed. He compared the new city in Djibouti to Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai, adding that “They have done it, so can we.”
Computer-generated images of the city and bridge flashed across the screen as guests flipped through booklets packed with photographs of construction sites, smiling children in classrooms, golf courses and skyscrapers. Providing commentary with the images, Al-Ahmed used words including “courage” and “good intentions.” Referring to the vast revenues that Al Noor City will hopefully one day bring in, he said, “That money will be for everybody.”
The video referred to Djibouti as “the dreamland.” Alternating between French and English, Michel Vachon, senior vice president of L3 Communications, a US-based defense contractor that is running project management for both cities and the bridge, spoke briefly to the crowd after Al-Ahmed.
He promised success and pointed out his hopes of accommodating 100 million passengers at Djibouti Airport over the next 20 years.
The idea is for Al Noor City to cover some 1,000 square kilometers along the northern Djibouti coastline, in what is now no more than hardscrabble desert populated by camels and nomadic herders.
During a lunch break, guests crowded around a light-up model at 1/30,000 scale, which showed that the city will be divided into two parts: one for commerce and business related activities — including a deepwater port and rail links — and the other for residential and leisure facilities. It is here that Al Noor Holding envisions the birth of “a brand name for Africa.”
One section of town, called Wisdom City, will house schools, a world-class shipping port and free-trade zones. Then there will be Leisure City with resorts, boutique hotels, residential blocks and a yacht club, while the bridge will land roughly in the middle of the two areas. The glimpse of Djibouti I had just seen out on the road might as well have been a different planet.
The video showed a high-tech, prosperous society where the destitute Horn of Africa once existed. One aspect of bin Laden’s grandiose vision would have upstart local entrepreneurs building on the periphery of the free zone and contributing to a flourishing Djiboutian economy. As the narrator on the video reminded viewers, “It’s not about what’s here today, but what can be here tomorrow.”
However, the simple question of “Where does the bridge go?” remains.
Dean Kershaw, program manager at L3, acknowledges the dilemma: “You can’t build something that doesn’t go anywhere.” As the plans now show, the foot of the bridge would have passengers dropped off to nearby Ras Doumeira, an area where as recently as June, Djiboutian and Eritrean troops traded shots, claiming at least 12 lives.
Citing historical proof that many of the world’s greatest cities sprouted up around bridges and other crossings, Michael Mann, senior vice president at L3, said, “You’ll find that cities grow on both ends of the bridge.
You change the whole dynamics of the region. Where do those roads come from? They come from some entrepreneur saying, ‘I’m going to build a factory here and I’m going to build this link to get out to this road.’”
But building that link would be virtually impossible today —there are less than 400 kilometers of paved roads in all of Djibouti.
The Alliance Raises Capital
If anyone were equipped to undertake such an endeavor it would be bin Laden and Al Noor Holding. As pioneers of Dubai’s rapid ascension to the world stage, Al Noor Holding’s subsidiary, Middle East Development (MED), has been involved in some of the United Arab Emirates’ most visible and renowned development projects, including the Palm Islands and Dubailand.
Al Noor Holding and MED don’t feel that financing the nearly $200 billion project will be an issue and are adamant that that investors will clamor for a shot at getting in on such a prestigious venture.
The first of three phases, or “tranches” (as Al Noor Holding refers to them), of investments will go to “critical infrastructure” — building roads, upgrading the existing port and laying the foundations for Al Noor City, Djibouti.
The project management office aims to complete its work within two years after framework agreements are in place with the Yemeni and Djiboutian governments. At this point, investors will be on board and significant construction will have already been well underway.
A series of cash infusions and corporate guarantees will come in the second phase. The third and final phase of the fundraising side will be about “utilizing value” and raising capital through private equity firms.
As the worldwide scramble for natural resources gains urgency, Africa has become hotly contested ground between China and the West. The US military has been trying to establish a base on the continent for AFRICOM, the command and control nerve center for its Africa-based operations, since 2007.
American and European companies have been extracting natural gas from Algeria and oil from Nigeria for decades. For its part, China has been striking lucrative oil drilling and mining deals in countries including Sudan, Angola and Zimbabwe in exchange for everything from the construction of schools and wells to the sale of guns and ammunition.
As a US-based defense contractor, L3 Communications is staffed by former military officers and has a board of directors that includes John M. Shalikashvili, the retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces.
Both Al-Ahmed and Vachon have in the past worked for DynCorp, one of the world’s largest defense contractors whose missions have included everything from training national police in Liberia to running security operations at Baghdad International Airport and guarding Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
It has also been subject to several US Congressional investigations and audits alleging fraud over government contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Among the nearly 60 companies already in the so-called “Al Noor Alliance” are defense contractors such as Allied Defense Group, IAP and Lockheed Martin. Other partners like KBR (formerly Kellogg, Brown and Root) and Bechtel have been involved in nation building experiments from Bosnia to Iraq and Afghanistan. The alliance also includes several design firms, investment houses, public relations firms and multinational real estate developers.
As one journalist from Hong Kong pointed out during the press conference, there are no Chinese companies included in Al Noor Alliance. But Al Noor Holding says it is actively looking for investment partners with no discrimination against nationality, and it is hard to imagine that anyone with the right amount of money would be turned away.
Whether or not bin Laden will meet with the same success on the Horn of Africa as he has in the Gulf remains to be seen. Whereas the UAE and Saudi Arabia have vast amounts of oil reserves and established economies to support large-scale development projects, Djibouti has virtually no natural resources or other means to sustain itself.
Bin Laden is hedging his bets that Djibouti can thrive on serving as an international shipping hub, with other world-class moneymaking industries following suit.
There Goes the Neighborhood
Our scripted tour was originally to include a stop in Yemen, the other side of the bridge and proposed site of Al Noor City, Yemen, but the government denied visa requests for unspecified reasons at the last minute. A few days prior to our scheduled arrival, a bomb attack struck Yemeni security forces in the eastern part of the country.
Yemen is notoriously secretive and is fighting an insurgency of Shi’ite Houthi rebels in the northern part of the country. The rebels are allegedly backed by Iran and are attempting to overthrow the authoritarian government. Travel outside of the capital Sana’a or the main port city of Aden is hampered by security checkpoints and foreigners are generally required to have a police escort away from the two cities.
Plans for Al Noor City, Yemen, state that the city will be even bigger than its sister in Djibouti, at 1,500 square kilometers. It is to have similar facilities but on an even bigger scale. Just off the coast of Yemen lies Perim, a 13 kilometer-long island that will serve as a land base for the bridge before continuing on the remaining stretch to Djibouti.
Back on the African continent, land-locked Ethiopia is wholly dependent on Djibouti for access to the Red Sea and its sea-borne trade due to the country’s hostile relationship with its other neighbor, Eritrea — and the fact that Somalia’s ports are in shambles and controlled by warlords.
As a result, Ethiopian trucks and lorries must make a journey of around 800 kilometers from Djibouti’s port to Addis Ababa using decrepit roads through dangerous territory. Otherwise, the dilapidated Djibouti-Ethiopia Railway is used for commerce between Ethiopia’s capital and the Red Sea. Recently, DP World, a subsidiary of Dubai World, has been looking into resuscitating the ageing railway, as well as installing a new oil pipeline.
Djibouti’s prickly northern neighbor, Eritrea, has been unpredictable in recent years and has lashed out violently against both Ethiopia and Djibouti over various territorial claims. After a 30-year war, Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993. The two countries again fought a series of running battles over a strip of sparsely populated desert that claimed some 70,000 lives between 1998 and 2000.
Somalia, the world’s premier failed state, has been partially occupied by Ethiopian troops since ousting Islamist insurgents from power in January 2007. It has also been without a functioning government since 1991 and the current transitional government holds little sway outside of a handful of towns along the Ethiopian border.
In other words, Djibouti is wedged between some of the world’s longest running, bloodiest conflicts and dangerously unpredictable neighbors — a region that at any given moment can explode.
If You Build It, They Will Come
While the plan for Al Noor City focuses on mundane details — like speed limits on certain highways, layouts for residential subdivisions and organic waste management — it lacks specifics on major issues, like sovereignty. With the city operating as a free-trade zone, Al Noor Holding will run civil governance, as opposed to the Djiboutian government.
Mann says that the city will be governed under the rule of law with “a focus on investors.” Here is Al Noor Holding’s least-thought-out — and perhaps most important — aspect regarding the city it is hoping to create. With a target population of 2.7 million by the time the city is complete, having concrete plans for governance is essential.
Construction will begin in “base cities” — camps for workers living in modular units that will, in theory, serve as the basis for civil society in Al Noor City. A project of this size requires an incredibly large workforce, well over one million workers of various skill levels. Asked where that workforce will come from, Kershaw said, “Well, certainly we’re looking at the local economy as much as possible. But it’s going to come from the world. Face it: We’re building a city in Djibouti, [a country] that has an entire population of what? 700,000?”
According to Kershaw, these “base cities” will serve a dual purpose as a center for construction operations and a place where the Al Noor cities can “grow [their] own bureaucrats that work within the city structure.”
“Is it actionable, can it be done? The answer is ‘yes,’” says Kershaw. Bin Laden has said one major reason for building the bridge is so African Muslims can more easily make the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Today, if they can afford it, travelers must make the arduous journey across the Gateway of Tears or through Egypt and by ferry across the Red Sea to Jeddah.
An acute shortage of arable land on the Arabian Peninsula may also be one reason for constructing the Bridge of the Horn. Africa has large swaths of uncultivated land that are suitable for growing agricultural products. But the ability to quickly transport produce from the hinterlands of Africa to Al Noor City and the Gulf is decades away, as reliable rail and road infrastructure is all but non-existent for thousands of miles in each direction.
There is no doubt Djibouti is seen as a foothold on a continent rich in oil, natural gas, diamonds, coal and timber. Africa’s history is marred by hundreds of years of foreign powers claiming territory to extract these precious commodities and the twenty-first century has so far been no different. Recent wars have been fought over control of diamond mines and oil pipelines.
With Gulf countries rapidly moving away from oil-based economies, companies like Al Noor Holding and MED are stepping in with large-scale development projects promising cities of the future. The race is on in Africa.
The Prophecy
“This is a noble experiment,” said Kershaw, adding, “Sheikh Tarek has a vision. It creates a whole legacy for him.” Bin Laden did not speak during the launch or to journalists, but he watched the presentation at the side of Djiboutian Prime Minister Mohamed Dileita Dileita. So far, the Bridge of the Horn and Al Noor Cities projects have the full blessing of the Djiboutian government, but whether or not the Yemenis are fully compliant remains unclear.
There are significant hurdles to overcome before bin Laden’s dream can come to life. Details like sovereignty, regional and local security, funding and infrastructure all must be handled before major steps on the construction side can take place. Attracting new investors and keeping the governments of Djibouti and Yemen satisfied throughout the process will ultimately hinge on all of these elements coming together.
Djibouti today is little more than an African port town surrounded by barren land, hunger and war. On a street corner near the airport is Fun City, an abandoned amusement park.
At a small beach near the port, dozens of children swim, splashing each other and waving excitedly as our motorcade passes, while a man sitting on a milk crate gives us the finger. As we waited for our flight to take off, the only other aircraft on the tarmac were US military cargo planes and helicopters, some fighter jets tucked under hangars and an Air Finland passenger jet.
It takes a wild imagination to see this place one day handling as many travelers as Dubai International Airport, or for the streets to have an electric-powered commuter rail and high-end shopping malls.
Executives from Al Noor and L3 are brimming with confidence as the project enters its first phase of garnering funds and support. And they should be, because realizing bin Laden’s bold dream depends on it.
Vachon closed his opening remarks of the conference by saying, “I may not be a prophet, but I can make a prophecy: Al Noor City will exist.” bt
Thursday, September 11, 2008
A Catholic University in Ethiopia- a new Millennial Adventure as the US Catholic Priest is caught selliing drugs
Dear Patiroitc Global Citizens and friends of Ethiopia/Africa:
What is wrong with Catholicism that it continuously churns out crook priests be it selling drugs in this story, or abusing children in the US Catholic Charities and now they want to start a University in Addis, as though Ethiopia does not have a Christian institution.
The challenge for Ethiopians is to ensure that we are not importing imposter Catholics criminals posing as priests, charity speculators and now university higher education propellers, yet they might be all first class criminals
Does Ethiopia need a Catholic University?
Priest charged with selling coke from campus rectory
Buzz up!Like this story? Share it with Yahoo! Buzz
A Catholic priest was charged this week with selling cocaine from his office and residence at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, local news organizations report.
The Rev. Christopher Layden, 33, was arrested Wednesday after police found "about 3 grams of powder cocaine and items of drug paraphernalia" while executing a search warrant on the campus, according to The Pantagraph.
Layden pleaded not guilty to three charges, the paper says.
The News-Gazette reports an informant told police that he has used cocaine with the priest "40 to 50 times" since 2007. "First Assistant State's Attorney Steve Ziegler said in court Thursday that the UI police monitored a cocaine purchase by the informant from Layden on Sept. 4," the paper says.
Here's the campus police department's blotter entry about this case.
The Peoria Diocese says in a statement to the local ABC affiliate that it was "shocked and saddened" to learn of the priest's arrest. He has been suspended pending the outcome of the case, the statement says.
Posted by Mike Carney at 12:08 PM/ET, September 12, 2008 in Crime | Permalink
News
A Filipino to open first Catholic university in Ethiopia
GMANews.TV | September 10, 2008
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MANILA, Philippines — A Filipino priest will open the first Catholic university in Ethiopia in Eastern African, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said Tuesday.
The CBCP website (www.cbcpnews.com) said Dominican priest Virgilio Ojoy will head the Ethiopia Catholic University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Ecusta) in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.
"There was this world-wide search among Dominicans but the qualifications were quite stringent," said Ojoy, who will be the founding rector of Ecusta.
Ojoy, who will formally assume the new post in January 2009, plans to focus on three areas — a strong skeletal force, a fundraising office, and adequate facilities.
Ethiopia is a progressive African country with a population of 83.1 million, 61 percent of whom are Christians.
"I will have a careful recruitment of qualified, competent and committed skeletal force, both from the Philippines and in Ethiopia," Ojoy said, referring to professors, administrators, and a support staff.
CBCP said the initiative of establishing an educational institution in Africa came from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Ethiopia (CBCE).
In turn, CBCE which sought help from the Dominican Order of Preachers.
The CBCP cited an article in The Varsitarian, the student paper of the Dominican-run University of Santo Tomas, that the Dominican Master agreed to send friars to put up the university in Ethiopia.
Under a memorandum of agreement between the Dominicans and CBCE, the Catholic university in Ethiopia will be owned by the Catholic Bishops of Ethiopia, but administered by the Dominicans.
Among the key requirements to qualify for the position were the attainment of a doctorate degree in any field and an administrative experience of at least 15 years, which became Ojoy's edge over other candidates.
"There are quite a number of Dominican priests with doctorate degrees in the Order. But only few have 15 years experience in administration. For those who were qualified, their provinces were not willing to give them up," Ojoy said.
Azpiroz then asked the Philippine Dominican Province to provide personnel for the school, which will open this year in Addis Ababa.
The foundation of Ecusta was highlighted in the Acts of the General Chapter of the Order in Bogota, Colombia last year.
It had noted that Filipino Dominicans have put up a community in Addis Ababa, the House of St. Augustine of Hippo, and that the opening of the new university, with five faculties temporarily at Nazareth High School, was "imminent."
Also, the chapter cited that the university would be an undertaking of the entire Dominican family, noting that the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, which runs Siena College in Manila, has been invited to join.
Meanwhile, the CBCE appointed last December priests Abba Tsegaye Keneni as project director and Abba Ketema Asfaw Weldeyes as vice-president of Ecusta.
The university is expected to open this September.
"Ecusta could operate starting September if the government would grant the permit to begin the school operations," said Ojoy, formerly the vice-rector of UST.
The new university has been assured of a one-million euro subsidy from Italy, Ethiopia's former colonizer, for the first five years of operation.
Still, Ojoy still wants to have an office for fundraising, whose proceeds will go to equipment needed inside classrooms.
The university will initially operate with five courses, including Education Management, Literature, Philosophy, Arts, and Sciences.
Also, Ojoy said the new staff and faculty of Ecusta would be trained in UST and seek experts from UST to help in Ethiopia in the operations of the university.
Ojoy graduated cum laude in 1978 from the Dominican House of Studies.
He then received a meritissimus in UST after finishing his Masters in Higher Religious Theology.
He finished his licentiate in Higher Religious Studies in UST and later earned his doctorate in Higher Religious Studies and another doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.
Among the academic positions which he had held in UST were acting dean and regent of the Faculty of Arts and Letters (1990-1991), secretary general (1991-1992), and vice rector (1992-1995).
At the Angelicum School of Iloilo, he was high school moderator (1983-1984). Ojoy also became a rector and president of Aquinas University in Legazpi City, Albay (1995 -1999). - GMANews.TV
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BACK TO ETHIOMEDIA FRONT PAGE
What is wrong with Catholicism that it continuously churns out crook priests be it selling drugs in this story, or abusing children in the US Catholic Charities and now they want to start a University in Addis, as though Ethiopia does not have a Christian institution.
The challenge for Ethiopians is to ensure that we are not importing imposter Catholics criminals posing as priests, charity speculators and now university higher education propellers, yet they might be all first class criminals
Does Ethiopia need a Catholic University?
Priest charged with selling coke from campus rectory
Buzz up!Like this story? Share it with Yahoo! Buzz
A Catholic priest was charged this week with selling cocaine from his office and residence at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, local news organizations report.
The Rev. Christopher Layden, 33, was arrested Wednesday after police found "about 3 grams of powder cocaine and items of drug paraphernalia" while executing a search warrant on the campus, according to The Pantagraph.
Layden pleaded not guilty to three charges, the paper says.
The News-Gazette reports an informant told police that he has used cocaine with the priest "40 to 50 times" since 2007. "First Assistant State's Attorney Steve Ziegler said in court Thursday that the UI police monitored a cocaine purchase by the informant from Layden on Sept. 4," the paper says.
Here's the campus police department's blotter entry about this case.
The Peoria Diocese says in a statement to the local ABC affiliate that it was "shocked and saddened" to learn of the priest's arrest. He has been suspended pending the outcome of the case, the statement says.
Posted by Mike Carney at 12:08 PM/ET, September 12, 2008 in Crime | Permalink
News
A Filipino to open first Catholic university in Ethiopia
GMANews.TV | September 10, 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MANILA, Philippines — A Filipino priest will open the first Catholic university in Ethiopia in Eastern African, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said Tuesday.
The CBCP website (www.cbcpnews.com) said Dominican priest Virgilio Ojoy will head the Ethiopia Catholic University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Ecusta) in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.
"There was this world-wide search among Dominicans but the qualifications were quite stringent," said Ojoy, who will be the founding rector of Ecusta.
Ojoy, who will formally assume the new post in January 2009, plans to focus on three areas — a strong skeletal force, a fundraising office, and adequate facilities.
Ethiopia is a progressive African country with a population of 83.1 million, 61 percent of whom are Christians.
"I will have a careful recruitment of qualified, competent and committed skeletal force, both from the Philippines and in Ethiopia," Ojoy said, referring to professors, administrators, and a support staff.
CBCP said the initiative of establishing an educational institution in Africa came from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Ethiopia (CBCE).
In turn, CBCE which sought help from the Dominican Order of Preachers.
The CBCP cited an article in The Varsitarian, the student paper of the Dominican-run University of Santo Tomas, that the Dominican Master agreed to send friars to put up the university in Ethiopia.
Under a memorandum of agreement between the Dominicans and CBCE, the Catholic university in Ethiopia will be owned by the Catholic Bishops of Ethiopia, but administered by the Dominicans.
Among the key requirements to qualify for the position were the attainment of a doctorate degree in any field and an administrative experience of at least 15 years, which became Ojoy's edge over other candidates.
"There are quite a number of Dominican priests with doctorate degrees in the Order. But only few have 15 years experience in administration. For those who were qualified, their provinces were not willing to give them up," Ojoy said.
Azpiroz then asked the Philippine Dominican Province to provide personnel for the school, which will open this year in Addis Ababa.
The foundation of Ecusta was highlighted in the Acts of the General Chapter of the Order in Bogota, Colombia last year.
It had noted that Filipino Dominicans have put up a community in Addis Ababa, the House of St. Augustine of Hippo, and that the opening of the new university, with five faculties temporarily at Nazareth High School, was "imminent."
Also, the chapter cited that the university would be an undertaking of the entire Dominican family, noting that the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, which runs Siena College in Manila, has been invited to join.
Meanwhile, the CBCE appointed last December priests Abba Tsegaye Keneni as project director and Abba Ketema Asfaw Weldeyes as vice-president of Ecusta.
The university is expected to open this September.
"Ecusta could operate starting September if the government would grant the permit to begin the school operations," said Ojoy, formerly the vice-rector of UST.
The new university has been assured of a one-million euro subsidy from Italy, Ethiopia's former colonizer, for the first five years of operation.
Still, Ojoy still wants to have an office for fundraising, whose proceeds will go to equipment needed inside classrooms.
The university will initially operate with five courses, including Education Management, Literature, Philosophy, Arts, and Sciences.
Also, Ojoy said the new staff and faculty of Ecusta would be trained in UST and seek experts from UST to help in Ethiopia in the operations of the university.
Ojoy graduated cum laude in 1978 from the Dominican House of Studies.
He then received a meritissimus in UST after finishing his Masters in Higher Religious Theology.
He finished his licentiate in Higher Religious Studies in UST and later earned his doctorate in Higher Religious Studies and another doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.
Among the academic positions which he had held in UST were acting dean and regent of the Faculty of Arts and Letters (1990-1991), secretary general (1991-1992), and vice rector (1992-1995).
At the Angelicum School of Iloilo, he was high school moderator (1983-1984). Ojoy also became a rector and president of Aquinas University in Legazpi City, Albay (1995 -1999). - GMANews.TV
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Can Democracy be Revolutionary? without breaking the Constitution/Rule of Law?
Revolutionary Democrats: The Bumpy Road Ahead
It is not only in the United States where major political parties conduct their conventions; here too, the parties under the ruling party’s embrace began their respective congressional meetings last week. These would pave the way for a convention by the EPRDF, in Awassa, scheduled for the second week of September, 2008.
Admittedly, what will and, perhaps, will not happen during this convention could be considered as one of the two major political developments to watch out for in Ethiopia in the next two years. It would be an occasion for the Revolutionary Democrats to position themselves for the national elections come 2010. Not surprisingly, there is an overwhelming anticipation of change, although hardly anyone seems to quantify what sort of change is needed, or expected.
But the feeling for some kind of change is up in the air. How prepared and willing EPRDF leaders are to respond to this desire - observed within and outside - is anyone’s guess. Nonetheless, the decision they are bound to make will undoubtedly have a major impact within and outside their sphere of influence.
In many ways - and only seen free from partisan emotions - the Revolutionary Democrats are more than a political grouping. They are a force of transformation in politics as they are in society, whether or not one likes their philosophies. For one, they have transformed the Ethiopian political landscape over the past 17 years, bringing it to a point of no return today.
It might have taken over a century for Ethiopia’s political gravity to anchor on unionist agenda, from Emperor Tewodros, whose ambition was to recreate a powerful central government, to Col. Mengistu Hailemariam, whose reign took Emperor Hailesellasie’s centralist bureaucracy to its extreme form. The Revolutionary Democrats have redrawn the country’s map on a federal arrangement, with regional states created along the lines of linguistic based cultural identities.
Subsequently, they have managed to engineer a startling devolution of, firstly, political power and in recent years, budgetary allocations.
What was once unthinkable in seemingly mainstream Ethiopian politics - what is often described as “ethnic politics” - is an issue no longer in the periphery. Even their political foes - such as in the unionist camp that appear to have finally crystallised as Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), only to mention one - have come to concede that Ethiopia has indeed had a troubling past when it comes to relationships between various groups, now known as “nations and nationalities.”
Revolutionary Democrats have a history of being bold and courageous, just as they have been seen as stubborn and patronizing. They have proven to be politically daring in raising extremely unpopular issues in the eyes of the larger public, but have sold them, effectively, to their rank and file. For instance, they have gotten away with allowing Eritrea to break away, together with its ports, leaving the country landlocked. This is not only an issue that caused them to be at loggerheads with the political elite at the beginning of their assuming power, but also a decision deeply regretted by people who once were in their midst.
They have architected a constitution, which incorporates an article - Article 39 - that is deeply resented by many outside of their world. At the same time, they have so far fended off strong demands from political interests, such as the OLF and the ONLF, which would like to see this part of the constitution apply to regions they have claims for.
Through all this, and in their long journey from the remote fields of Ethiopia to the Menelik Palace in Addis, the Revolutionary Democrats have shown their ability to change, adapt to new realities, and “renew” when they find themselves at their darkest and lowest; on a number of occasions they have remarkably resurged whenever their adversaries underestimate them.
And history and the Ethiopian people have always been generous to them. They might have squandered several opportunities in the past, as was the case during the first decade of their rule, when they seemed to have problems of clarity of direction. It appears that they were always given another chance, and lease of political life. The kind of public dissatisfaction that had been gathering momentum had faded away when the nation rallied behind them against Eritrea’s aggression.
An internal crisis and squabbling might have given them little time, and perhaps energy, to focus on the nation’s business outside of their circle. They seemed to be oblivious to the emergence of a population that grew restless, for a lack of a sense of justice and equity, real or otherwise. They believed they were right in their policies, and tried to shove them down the nation’s throat, as they admitted later on. They indulged in sweet talk, and listened to their own tune. Their over-confidence and complacence cost them a lot, when they were up for what was the most contested national elections in the country’s history.
They were lucky; the public has given them yet another chance, it seems. Three years down the line, they can hardly find a political climate more conducive for their rule.
If there is any formidable opposition out there today, it is deeply divided, largely due to its own making; and severely weakened, if one is wise enough to take notice of EUDP-Medhin’s candid recent admission.
Members of the public are as much frustrated with the oppositions’ rhetoric, if not unprecedented fragmentation, as they are with the Revolutionary Democrats’ much feared authoritarianism posed in the form of a developmental state. Despite an outcry from opposition leaders and personalities that the political space is increasingly shrinking, it would not be an undemanding task either to galvanize the public to their causes, for they are now paying for their mistakes made in the past. The perception that the opposition camp would deliver this country from the grips of the Revolutionary Democrats is far from as irresistible as appeared the case a few years ago.
Again, the Revolutionary Democrats find themselves at the threshold of another chance, after surviving the results of the painful national elections of 2005, which was more of a referendum on their rule than a popular mandate granted to their political rivals, as it might have looked like.
By the same token, though admittedly disputable, the turnout during the latest local elections in April 2008 could be taken as a protest vote on the oppositions’ failure to demonstrate coherence and some degree of unity, more than it might have given the appearance that the public is very happy with all that is the EPRDF.
Nevertheless, there is an interesting development in the making; while the opposition camp strives to overcome damaging disintegration, the Revolutionary Democrats are stretching their tentacles. There is perhaps no better indication than the enlargement of their membership base across the nation; the EPRDF claims to have 4.5 million members on its list.
There are now 700,000 card-carrying members of the ruling party in Addis Abeba alone; a number that has not only swelled by 100,000 from the total membership it had all over the country prior to 2005, but that also represents three quarters of the eligible voters registered in the capital during the last national elections. In the absence of reports of coercion and forced recruitment, these numbers should reveal something more than the oppositions’ rhetoric that the Revolutionary Democrats are unpopular beyond redemption and their days in power are justly numbered.
The Revolutionary Democrats, on the other hand, appear to have not much aspiration to increase their membership base; they are, however, determined to devote their energy towards consolidating and enhancing the quality of these members in a bid to face the bumpy road ahead. Their upcoming convention will have to result in an overwhelming consensus of what their rank and file want to see.
Those who are advocating and expecting change in terms of policies, or a symbolic gesture in reshuffling personalities at the leadership level, may be in for disappointment. There is little indication of anything of that sort happening.
The Awassa Convention is expected to evaluate the party’s performance over the past two years - particularly on issues of development and governance. The Revolutionary Democrats believe that they have done considerably well in promoting “democratic and development reforms” in Ethiopia, but more impressively in rural areas where they claim they have dealt “rent seeking” a decisive blow. They attribute their victory to the policy of the state’s hold on land, and provisions of micro financing to the rural community.
They seem to be convinced that they have performed remarkably well in terms of growth in agricultural productivity; expansion of urban and rural infrastructure in areas of roads, dams, electricity, and telecom; enhanced provision of social services in health and education; as well as housing development in urban Ethiopia that has created hundreds of thousands of jobs and generated business for small companies. The theme of their convention is thus centred on “scaling up” these achievements on the economic front and emulating best practices in the governance area.
But they also admit having shortcomings.
They believe they have brought five per cent of the rural population under their wing, leaving 95pc outside of their sphere of influence, as they might accept that they have yet to gain a sufficient hold in urban Ethiopia. They may probably address the issue of communication breakdown in channelling policies the party draws from the leadership to and through the rank and file, as they will probably talk about the need to strike a balance between implementing the reform agenda and ensuring good governance.
For voices that have begun to be heard within and outside the party, these are issues too insular and not strong enough to take the party forward. For those who want to see the ruling party change, these are only issues that represent inertia, and perhaps complacence. They would rather see the kind of change where the EPRDF re-brands this time around, transforming itself into a unified national party.
It is not only in the United States where major political parties conduct their conventions; here too, the parties under the ruling party’s embrace began their respective congressional meetings last week. These would pave the way for a convention by the EPRDF, in Awassa, scheduled for the second week of September, 2008.
Admittedly, what will and, perhaps, will not happen during this convention could be considered as one of the two major political developments to watch out for in Ethiopia in the next two years. It would be an occasion for the Revolutionary Democrats to position themselves for the national elections come 2010. Not surprisingly, there is an overwhelming anticipation of change, although hardly anyone seems to quantify what sort of change is needed, or expected.
But the feeling for some kind of change is up in the air. How prepared and willing EPRDF leaders are to respond to this desire - observed within and outside - is anyone’s guess. Nonetheless, the decision they are bound to make will undoubtedly have a major impact within and outside their sphere of influence.
In many ways - and only seen free from partisan emotions - the Revolutionary Democrats are more than a political grouping. They are a force of transformation in politics as they are in society, whether or not one likes their philosophies. For one, they have transformed the Ethiopian political landscape over the past 17 years, bringing it to a point of no return today.
It might have taken over a century for Ethiopia’s political gravity to anchor on unionist agenda, from Emperor Tewodros, whose ambition was to recreate a powerful central government, to Col. Mengistu Hailemariam, whose reign took Emperor Hailesellasie’s centralist bureaucracy to its extreme form. The Revolutionary Democrats have redrawn the country’s map on a federal arrangement, with regional states created along the lines of linguistic based cultural identities.
Subsequently, they have managed to engineer a startling devolution of, firstly, political power and in recent years, budgetary allocations.
What was once unthinkable in seemingly mainstream Ethiopian politics - what is often described as “ethnic politics” - is an issue no longer in the periphery. Even their political foes - such as in the unionist camp that appear to have finally crystallised as Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), only to mention one - have come to concede that Ethiopia has indeed had a troubling past when it comes to relationships between various groups, now known as “nations and nationalities.”
Revolutionary Democrats have a history of being bold and courageous, just as they have been seen as stubborn and patronizing. They have proven to be politically daring in raising extremely unpopular issues in the eyes of the larger public, but have sold them, effectively, to their rank and file. For instance, they have gotten away with allowing Eritrea to break away, together with its ports, leaving the country landlocked. This is not only an issue that caused them to be at loggerheads with the political elite at the beginning of their assuming power, but also a decision deeply regretted by people who once were in their midst.
They have architected a constitution, which incorporates an article - Article 39 - that is deeply resented by many outside of their world. At the same time, they have so far fended off strong demands from political interests, such as the OLF and the ONLF, which would like to see this part of the constitution apply to regions they have claims for.
Through all this, and in their long journey from the remote fields of Ethiopia to the Menelik Palace in Addis, the Revolutionary Democrats have shown their ability to change, adapt to new realities, and “renew” when they find themselves at their darkest and lowest; on a number of occasions they have remarkably resurged whenever their adversaries underestimate them.
And history and the Ethiopian people have always been generous to them. They might have squandered several opportunities in the past, as was the case during the first decade of their rule, when they seemed to have problems of clarity of direction. It appears that they were always given another chance, and lease of political life. The kind of public dissatisfaction that had been gathering momentum had faded away when the nation rallied behind them against Eritrea’s aggression.
An internal crisis and squabbling might have given them little time, and perhaps energy, to focus on the nation’s business outside of their circle. They seemed to be oblivious to the emergence of a population that grew restless, for a lack of a sense of justice and equity, real or otherwise. They believed they were right in their policies, and tried to shove them down the nation’s throat, as they admitted later on. They indulged in sweet talk, and listened to their own tune. Their over-confidence and complacence cost them a lot, when they were up for what was the most contested national elections in the country’s history.
They were lucky; the public has given them yet another chance, it seems. Three years down the line, they can hardly find a political climate more conducive for their rule.
If there is any formidable opposition out there today, it is deeply divided, largely due to its own making; and severely weakened, if one is wise enough to take notice of EUDP-Medhin’s candid recent admission.
Members of the public are as much frustrated with the oppositions’ rhetoric, if not unprecedented fragmentation, as they are with the Revolutionary Democrats’ much feared authoritarianism posed in the form of a developmental state. Despite an outcry from opposition leaders and personalities that the political space is increasingly shrinking, it would not be an undemanding task either to galvanize the public to their causes, for they are now paying for their mistakes made in the past. The perception that the opposition camp would deliver this country from the grips of the Revolutionary Democrats is far from as irresistible as appeared the case a few years ago.
Again, the Revolutionary Democrats find themselves at the threshold of another chance, after surviving the results of the painful national elections of 2005, which was more of a referendum on their rule than a popular mandate granted to their political rivals, as it might have looked like.
By the same token, though admittedly disputable, the turnout during the latest local elections in April 2008 could be taken as a protest vote on the oppositions’ failure to demonstrate coherence and some degree of unity, more than it might have given the appearance that the public is very happy with all that is the EPRDF.
Nevertheless, there is an interesting development in the making; while the opposition camp strives to overcome damaging disintegration, the Revolutionary Democrats are stretching their tentacles. There is perhaps no better indication than the enlargement of their membership base across the nation; the EPRDF claims to have 4.5 million members on its list.
There are now 700,000 card-carrying members of the ruling party in Addis Abeba alone; a number that has not only swelled by 100,000 from the total membership it had all over the country prior to 2005, but that also represents three quarters of the eligible voters registered in the capital during the last national elections. In the absence of reports of coercion and forced recruitment, these numbers should reveal something more than the oppositions’ rhetoric that the Revolutionary Democrats are unpopular beyond redemption and their days in power are justly numbered.
The Revolutionary Democrats, on the other hand, appear to have not much aspiration to increase their membership base; they are, however, determined to devote their energy towards consolidating and enhancing the quality of these members in a bid to face the bumpy road ahead. Their upcoming convention will have to result in an overwhelming consensus of what their rank and file want to see.
Those who are advocating and expecting change in terms of policies, or a symbolic gesture in reshuffling personalities at the leadership level, may be in for disappointment. There is little indication of anything of that sort happening.
The Awassa Convention is expected to evaluate the party’s performance over the past two years - particularly on issues of development and governance. The Revolutionary Democrats believe that they have done considerably well in promoting “democratic and development reforms” in Ethiopia, but more impressively in rural areas where they claim they have dealt “rent seeking” a decisive blow. They attribute their victory to the policy of the state’s hold on land, and provisions of micro financing to the rural community.
They seem to be convinced that they have performed remarkably well in terms of growth in agricultural productivity; expansion of urban and rural infrastructure in areas of roads, dams, electricity, and telecom; enhanced provision of social services in health and education; as well as housing development in urban Ethiopia that has created hundreds of thousands of jobs and generated business for small companies. The theme of their convention is thus centred on “scaling up” these achievements on the economic front and emulating best practices in the governance area.
But they also admit having shortcomings.
They believe they have brought five per cent of the rural population under their wing, leaving 95pc outside of their sphere of influence, as they might accept that they have yet to gain a sufficient hold in urban Ethiopia. They may probably address the issue of communication breakdown in channelling policies the party draws from the leadership to and through the rank and file, as they will probably talk about the need to strike a balance between implementing the reform agenda and ensuring good governance.
For voices that have begun to be heard within and outside the party, these are issues too insular and not strong enough to take the party forward. For those who want to see the ruling party change, these are only issues that represent inertia, and perhaps complacence. They would rather see the kind of change where the EPRDF re-brands this time around, transforming itself into a unified national party.
US Senate on Democratic and humanitarian principles in Ethiopia
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself and Mr. LEAHY):
S. 3457. A bill to reaffirm United States objectives in Ethiopia and encourage critical democratic and humanitarian principles and practices, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce the Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia Act of 2008. Senator LEAHY joins me as an original cosponsor. The purpose of this bill is to reaffirm policy objectives towards Ethiopia and encourage greater commitment to the underpinnings of a true democracy—an independent judiciary and the rule of law, respect for human and political rights, and an end to restrictions on the media and non-governmental organizations.
As many in this body know, I have spoken numerous times in recent months about the situation in Ethiopia and I continue to believe that the U.S.-Ethiopian partnership is very important—one of the more critical ones given not only our historic relationship but also Ethiopia's location in an increasingly strategic region.
Ethiopia sits on the Horn of Africa—perhaps one of the roughest neighborhoods in the world, with Somalia a failed state and safe haven for terrorists, Eritrea an inaccessible authoritarian government that meddles across national borders, Sudan a genocidal regime, and Kenya still emerging from a profound electoral crisis.
One look at the deteriorating situation across the Horn and the importance of a robust relationship with Ethiopia is obvious. And, by contrast with some of its neighbors, Ethiopia appears relatively stable with a growing economy. But I am concerned about a number of anti-democratic actions in that country, particularly since this administration has largely overlooked them.
The security threats in Ethiopia are real but, unfortunately, the Bush administration's approach to addressing these threats and strengthening this alliance remains short-sighted and narrow—focusing predominately on short-term ways to address insecurity while overlooking the need for long-term measures that are needed to achieve the same goal, such as desperately needed goverance reform, the rule of law, and increased accountability.
Genuine democratic progress in Ethiopia is essential if we are to have a healthy and positive bilateral relationship. It is also essential if we are going to successfully combat extremism, thereby bolstering our own national security here at home.
That is why today I am introducing the Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia Act of 2008—because as our administration fails to balance our priorities in Ethiopia, or to adopt comprehensive strategies to achieve those priorities, we are watching significant backsliding in previously hard-won democratic gains.
As we turn a blind eye to the escalating political tensions, people are being thrown in jail without justification and non-government organizations are being restricted, while civilians are dying unnecessarily in the Ogaden region—just like so many before them in Oromiya, Amhara, and Gambella.
Furthermore, the Ethiopian military has come under increasing scrutiny for its conduct in the Ogaden as well as Somalia, with credible reports from non-governmental organizations of torture, rape and indiscriminate attacks. By providing unconditioned security assistance we are also sowing the seeds of insecurity and creating new grievances both in Ethiopia and in its neighboring countries.
I want to see greater progress—not less—in Ethiopia which is why this bill authorizes an additional $20 million for democracy and governance projects in Ethiopia. The addition of these funds would make it one of the top five countries on the continent receiving this kind of assistance from this U.S. Government.
This bill calls on the President to take additional steps to implement these programs but also requires that funds made available to the Ethiopian government be subject to regular congressional notification. This ensures U.S. taxpayer dollars are being used appropriately—and used to support a government taking steps to become more democratic, not less.
I make it a practice to pay for all bills I introduce, and the authorization in this bill is offset by a transfer of funds from NASA. Some may disagree with me on the need for an offset, but recent Office of Management and Budget projections confirm that we now have the biggest budget deficit in the history of our country.
We cannot afford to be fiscally irresponsible so we must make choices to ensure that our children and grandchildren do not bear the burden of our reckless spending. Instead of cutting specific programs, which are likely to have begun and thus would cost more to close, transferring $20 million from the general budget would allow appropriators to evaluate, at their discretion, how best to make this transfer.
I ask my colleagues to consider what our own State Department has said about the political situation in Ethiopia and then consider how best to rectify the situation.
The 2007 State Department Report on Human Rights notes that in Ethiopia the following occurred:
"limitation[s] on citizens' right to change their government during the most recent elections; unlawful killings, and beating, abuse, and mistreatment of detainees and opposition supporters by security forces; poor prison conditions;
arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly of those suspected of sympathizing with or being members of the opposition or insurgent groups; detention of thousands without charge and lengthy pretrial detention; infringement on citizens' privacy rights and frequent refusal to follow the law regarding search warrants;
use of excessive force by security services in an internal conflict and counter-insurgency operations; restrictions on freedom of the press; arrest, detention, and harassment of journalists for publishing articles critical of the government;
restrictions on freedom of assembly; limitations on freedom of association; violence and societal discrimination against women and abuse of children; female genital mutilation, FGM; exploitation of children for economic and sexual purposes;
trafficking in persons; societal discrimination against persons with disabilities and religious and ethnic minorities; and government interference in union activities, including killing and harassment of union leaders."
The continued failure of the administration to acknowledge this reality is emblematic of its insular thinking and unwillingness to see the big picture. Without a balanced policy that addresses both short and long-term concerns in Ethiopia we are putting ourselves at greater risk and making ourselves more vulnerable, not less.
By Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself and Mr. LEAHY):
S. 3457. A bill to reaffirm United States objectives in Ethiopia and encourage critical democratic and humanitarian principles and practices, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce the Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia Act of 2008. Senator LEAHY joins me as an original cosponsor. The purpose of this bill is to reaffirm policy objectives towards Ethiopia and encourage greater commitment to the underpinnings of a true democracy—an independent judiciary and the rule of law, respect for human and political rights, and an end to restrictions on the media and non-governmental organizations.
As many in this body know, I have spoken numerous times in recent months about the situation in Ethiopia and I continue to believe that the U.S.-Ethiopian partnership is very important—one of the more critical ones given not only our historic relationship but also Ethiopia's location in an increasingly strategic region.
Ethiopia sits on the Horn of Africa—perhaps one of the roughest neighborhoods in the world, with Somalia a failed state and safe haven for terrorists, Eritrea an inaccessible authoritarian government that meddles across national borders, Sudan a genocidal regime, and Kenya still emerging from a profound electoral crisis.
One look at the deteriorating situation across the Horn and the importance of a robust relationship with Ethiopia is obvious. And, by contrast with some of its neighbors, Ethiopia appears relatively stable with a growing economy. But I am concerned about a number of anti-democratic actions in that country, particularly since this administration has largely overlooked them.
The security threats in Ethiopia are real but, unfortunately, the Bush administration's approach to addressing these threats and strengthening this alliance remains short-sighted and narrow—focusing predominately on short-term ways to address insecurity while overlooking the need for long-term measures that are needed to achieve the same goal, such as desperately needed goverance reform, the rule of law, and increased accountability.
Genuine democratic progress in Ethiopia is essential if we are to have a healthy and positive bilateral relationship. It is also essential if we are going to successfully combat extremism, thereby bolstering our own national security here at home.
That is why today I am introducing the Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia Act of 2008—because as our administration fails to balance our priorities in Ethiopia, or to adopt comprehensive strategies to achieve those priorities, we are watching significant backsliding in previously hard-won democratic gains.
As we turn a blind eye to the escalating political tensions, people are being thrown in jail without justification and non-government organizations are being restricted, while civilians are dying unnecessarily in the Ogaden region—just like so many before them in Oromiya, Amhara, and Gambella.
Furthermore, the Ethiopian military has come under increasing scrutiny for its conduct in the Ogaden as well as Somalia, with credible reports from non-governmental organizations of torture, rape and indiscriminate attacks. By providing unconditioned security assistance we are also sowing the seeds of insecurity and creating new grievances both in Ethiopia and in its neighboring countries.
I want to see greater progress—not less—in Ethiopia which is why this bill authorizes an additional $20 million for democracy and governance projects in Ethiopia. The addition of these funds would make it one of the top five countries on the continent receiving this kind of assistance from this U.S. Government.
This bill calls on the President to take additional steps to implement these programs but also requires that funds made available to the Ethiopian government be subject to regular congressional notification. This ensures U.S. taxpayer dollars are being used appropriately—and used to support a government taking steps to become more democratic, not less.
I make it a practice to pay for all bills I introduce, and the authorization in this bill is offset by a transfer of funds from NASA. Some may disagree with me on the need for an offset, but recent Office of Management and Budget projections confirm that we now have the biggest budget deficit in the history of our country.
We cannot afford to be fiscally irresponsible so we must make choices to ensure that our children and grandchildren do not bear the burden of our reckless spending. Instead of cutting specific programs, which are likely to have begun and thus would cost more to close, transferring $20 million from the general budget would allow appropriators to evaluate, at their discretion, how best to make this transfer.
I ask my colleagues to consider what our own State Department has said about the political situation in Ethiopia and then consider how best to rectify the situation.
The 2007 State Department Report on Human Rights notes that in Ethiopia the following occurred:
"limitation[s] on citizens' right to change their government during the most recent elections; unlawful killings, and beating, abuse, and mistreatment of detainees and opposition supporters by security forces; poor prison conditions;
arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly of those suspected of sympathizing with or being members of the opposition or insurgent groups; detention of thousands without charge and lengthy pretrial detention; infringement on citizens' privacy rights and frequent refusal to follow the law regarding search warrants;
use of excessive force by security services in an internal conflict and counter-insurgency operations; restrictions on freedom of the press; arrest, detention, and harassment of journalists for publishing articles critical of the government;
restrictions on freedom of assembly; limitations on freedom of association; violence and societal discrimination against women and abuse of children; female genital mutilation, FGM; exploitation of children for economic and sexual purposes;
trafficking in persons; societal discrimination against persons with disabilities and religious and ethnic minorities; and government interference in union activities, including killing and harassment of union leaders."
The continued failure of the administration to acknowledge this reality is emblematic of its insular thinking and unwillingness to see the big picture. Without a balanced policy that addresses both short and long-term concerns in Ethiopia we are putting ourselves at greater risk and making ourselves more vulnerable, not less.
Canada says: You cannot change a terrorist even if he says he is a Minister?
www.eastafricaforum.net http://www.shabait.com/staging/publish/article_008783.html
Official Eritrean government website September 10,2008 Press Statement:
Eritrea condemns Canada's desecration of the Liberation Struggle
Sep 10, 2008
The immigration authorities of Canada refused to grant an entry visa to Eritrea's Foreign Minister a few weeks ago. The Foreign Minister was scheduled to address the sizeable Eritrean community in that country.
Such unheard-of act from a country that enjoys full diplomatic ties with Eritrea would, in itself, construe an embarrassing aberration in diplomatic conduct. What is more horrendous is however the reasons that the country's immigration authorities have given to explain their provocative act.
In a letter delivered to Eritrea's Ambassador in Nairobi, the Canadian Counsellor states: "Specifically, you were a member of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front between 1979 and 1991. The EPLF was a group that engaged in the subversion(?) of a government by force. Canadian Federal Court jurisprudence confirms that membership in a group that attempts to subvert even a despotic government is sufficient to render inadmissibility. As such, you are inadmissible to Canada pursuant to section A34(1)(f) of the Act. I am therefore refusing, your application".
How can one explain this gross and provocative folly? Is it sheer ignorance by a junior Government official or a deliberate desire by the Government of Canada to desecrate Eritrea's legitimate struggle against colonial occupation that exacted the lives of more than 60,000 of our best sons and daughters?
If Canada's " Federal Court jurisprudence" is rooted on tho dofonco and apology of colonialism, which would violate the UN Covenant on Political and Social Rights, why did Canada establish, in the first place, diplomatic ties with Eritrea after its independence in 1993 and why has it maintained it until today? Why did it receive the accreditation of Eritrea's resident Ambassadors in the past years? (Eritrea's current Ambassador to Canada and the former Counsellor are invariably members of the EPLF).
This muddled decision is difficult to decipher and understand by any standards. The Government of Eritrea strongly condemns this hostile act and expressly requests the Canadian authorities to rectify this outrageous conduct.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Asmara
10 September 2008
The letter of the Canadian Counsellor
Government of Canada
High Commission of Canada
Immigration Section
P. O. Box 1013
Limuru Road, Gigiri
00621 Nairobi, Kenya
Telephone: (254 20) 366 3000
Facsimile: (254 20) 366 3914
Internet: www.nairobi.gc.ca
The Honourable Osman Saleh Mohammed
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Eritrea
Asmara
Eritrea
Dear Minister,
After careful and thorough consideration of all aspects of your application and the supporting information provided, I have determined that you do not meet the requirements for a temporary resident visa for Canada.
Specifically, there are reasonable grounds to believe that you are a member of the inadmissible class of persons described in subsection 34(1)(f) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) which states that "a permanent resident or foreign national is inadmissible on security grounds for
(a) engaging in an act of espionage or an act of subversion against a democratic government, institution or process as they are understood in Canada
(b) engaging in or instigating the subversion by force of any government
(c) engaging in terrorism
(d) being a danger to the security of Canada
(e) engaging in acts of violence that would or might endanger the lives or safety of persons in Canada
(f) being a member of an organization that there are reasonable grounds to believe engages, has engaged or will engage in acts referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c)."
Specifically, you were a member of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front between 1979 and 1991. The EPLF was a group that engaged in the subversion of a government by force. Canadian Federal Court jurisprudence confirms that membership in a group that attempts to subvert even a despotic government is sufficient to render inadmissibility. As such, you are inadmissible to Canada pursuant to section A34(1)(f) of the Act. I am therefore refusing your application.
I sincerely regret that this decision will be a disappointment to you.
Yours sincerely,
Tracey Vansickle
Counsellor (Immigration)
_____________________________
http://www.addisfortune.com/Wheat%20a%20Tempting%20Offer.htm Fortune, Ethiopia September 7, 2008 Wheat a Tempting Offer
YOHANNES ANBERBIR
A number of people in a queue for the grain admitted to Fortune that they were planning to sell it for a 100Br profit
A government scheme to distribute wheat to impoverished urban dwellers is being undermined by opportunistic traders.
Last week, kebeles started to sell the subsidized grain, but middlemen have been making tempting offers to the needy, sending them back to make a second purchase.
A quintal of wheat normally costs 650 Br locally, but the imported wheat is being sold for 350 Br per quintal in an attempt to offset the soaring price of food items. However, residents in some districts were instantly selling it off for 100 Br more.
“Not all the residents buy for consumption, many of them are here only to make the 100 Br profit from a quintal,” Melaku Tarekegn, head of Youth and Sport Affairs and sales point coordinator in Kebele 08/15 of the Yeka District, told Fortune. “We couldn’t sufficiently distribute the amount we get from the enterprise to the almost 3,000 people a day.”
Late last week, Addis Abeba Police began arresting the illegal traders. Commander Ayana Terfessa, head of the Kebele 08/15 Police District, told Fortune that within a day, police arrested five people they caught red handed offering 100 Br more than the wheat was bought for.
The government has imported 1.5 million quintals for 439 Br per quintal, out of which it has earmarked 951,000 quintals to be distributed to residents of Addis Abeba at below market prices.
It devised a distribution scheme under which flour factories in Addis get 10,000qtl each, while consumer and miller associations get 1,000qtl each. But the absence of consumer associations in the city forced the Grain Trading Enterprise, the importer of the wheat, to establish sub-distribution centres in kebeles, according to a source at the enterprise.
As the flour factories, which buy the wheat for 350 Br, sell the wheat flour for 800 Br a quintal, illegal traders have been attracted and have started purchasing wheat from individuals who bought directly from the government.
Fortune spoke to a number of people in a queue to buy the wheat who were not buying it for their own consumption, but intended to resell it at a 100 Br profit per quintal. There were even beggars in the queue waiting to spend 350 Br on a quintal of wheat.
“It is not their own money. They are given the money by illegal traders who are waiting in some corners to collect the wheat the beggars buy,” Melaku said.
Howver, the kebeles cannot prohibit residents from buying more than once because the government has announced that: “Every citizen has the right to buy as much as they can and wish.”
Triggered by high profit margins at the flour factories, last week the government decided to lower the price. Subsequently, through an announcement by the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Friday, August 29, it ordered that a quintal of flour should be sold for 550 Br.
Despite Fortune’s efforts, municipality officials were not available for comment.
Last week, the Grain Trade Enterprise ordered an additional 1.5 million quintals of wheat from foreign markets.
________________________________
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80290
IRIN
September 11, 2008
ETHIOPIA: More parents saying no to FGM
Photo: IRIN
Girls dance at a past FGM initiation ceremony in Ethiopia: Female circumcision is one of the 140 harmful traditions still commonly practised
ADDIS ABABA - Fewer Ethiopian parents are subjecting their daughters to female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM), according to an NGO campaigning to eradicate the practice.
"The knowledge [that FGM is harmful] is increasing," said Abate Gudunfa, head of the Ethiopian National Committee on Traditional Practices (commonly referred to as EGLDAM - its name in Amharic]. "Children born more recently are safer."
A network of 40 NGOs, including EGLDAM, the government and international organisations, are involved in anti-FGM campaigns in Ethiopia. Policies have also been reviewed to ensure participants are punished.
"Prevalence, especially among newly born children is decreasing - meaning that more families have sufficient awareness and do not support this practice anymore," Abate added.
A 2007 survey conducted by EGLDAM found that prevalence across the country had dropped from 61 percent in 1997 to 46 percent.
Nine regions including Tigray, the Southern and Oromiya as well as two city administrations namely the capital Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa, showed the highest improvement.
Other regions recorded minimal change. "There is almost no decrease in Afar and Somali [regions] - the strongholds of infibulation," the survey noted.
Assessing prevalence among various ethnic groups, EGLDAM found a decrease in almost all. Some 29 groups reflected a 20 percent decline, of which 18 were located in the Southern Region.
"Those ethnic groups ...should be considered real success areas and given due attention as possible learning sites," EGLDAM said. "Six ethnic groups show about or less than 10 percent decrease and should be considered as groups of probable major resistance to change."
These included the Harari, Shinasha, Alaba and Hadia ethnic groups.
Old tradition
Female circumcision is one of the 140 harmful traditions still commonly practised in Ethiopia. Often female circumcision involves the removal of part of the clitoris or the clitoris and all or some of the labia.
In some cases, genitalia are sewn up, leaving a small hole for urine and blood to pass. When combined with excision, this is the most severe form of FGM, according to experts.
In some communities, the girls are secluded for a month with their legs bound together to immobilise them, as they wait for the bleeding to stop and scar tissue to form.
FGM is carried out on girls as young as 80 days old, particularly in the predominately Christian highlands, and up to 14 years of age in the lowland Muslim regions. Some excisors use the same knife or razor blade on all their victims, regardless of the danger of spreading infections.
Globally, an estimated two million girls are still at risk of undergoing FGM each year. Activists say FGM is deeply entrenched in society despite various efforts to stop it.
According to the Inter-African Committee, the practice is a serious health issue affecting women, helping to spread HIV/AIDS and responsible for high female mortality rates in Africa.
Official Eritrean government website September 10,2008 Press Statement:
Eritrea condemns Canada's desecration of the Liberation Struggle
Sep 10, 2008
The immigration authorities of Canada refused to grant an entry visa to Eritrea's Foreign Minister a few weeks ago. The Foreign Minister was scheduled to address the sizeable Eritrean community in that country.
Such unheard-of act from a country that enjoys full diplomatic ties with Eritrea would, in itself, construe an embarrassing aberration in diplomatic conduct. What is more horrendous is however the reasons that the country's immigration authorities have given to explain their provocative act.
In a letter delivered to Eritrea's Ambassador in Nairobi, the Canadian Counsellor states: "Specifically, you were a member of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front between 1979 and 1991. The EPLF was a group that engaged in the subversion(?) of a government by force. Canadian Federal Court jurisprudence confirms that membership in a group that attempts to subvert even a despotic government is sufficient to render inadmissibility. As such, you are inadmissible to Canada pursuant to section A34(1)(f) of the Act. I am therefore refusing, your application".
How can one explain this gross and provocative folly? Is it sheer ignorance by a junior Government official or a deliberate desire by the Government of Canada to desecrate Eritrea's legitimate struggle against colonial occupation that exacted the lives of more than 60,000 of our best sons and daughters?
If Canada's " Federal Court jurisprudence" is rooted on tho dofonco and apology of colonialism, which would violate the UN Covenant on Political and Social Rights, why did Canada establish, in the first place, diplomatic ties with Eritrea after its independence in 1993 and why has it maintained it until today? Why did it receive the accreditation of Eritrea's resident Ambassadors in the past years? (Eritrea's current Ambassador to Canada and the former Counsellor are invariably members of the EPLF).
This muddled decision is difficult to decipher and understand by any standards. The Government of Eritrea strongly condemns this hostile act and expressly requests the Canadian authorities to rectify this outrageous conduct.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Asmara
10 September 2008
The letter of the Canadian Counsellor
Government of Canada
High Commission of Canada
Immigration Section
P. O. Box 1013
Limuru Road, Gigiri
00621 Nairobi, Kenya
Telephone: (254 20) 366 3000
Facsimile: (254 20) 366 3914
Internet: www.nairobi.gc.ca
The Honourable Osman Saleh Mohammed
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Eritrea
Asmara
Eritrea
Dear Minister,
After careful and thorough consideration of all aspects of your application and the supporting information provided, I have determined that you do not meet the requirements for a temporary resident visa for Canada.
Specifically, there are reasonable grounds to believe that you are a member of the inadmissible class of persons described in subsection 34(1)(f) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) which states that "a permanent resident or foreign national is inadmissible on security grounds for
(a) engaging in an act of espionage or an act of subversion against a democratic government, institution or process as they are understood in Canada
(b) engaging in or instigating the subversion by force of any government
(c) engaging in terrorism
(d) being a danger to the security of Canada
(e) engaging in acts of violence that would or might endanger the lives or safety of persons in Canada
(f) being a member of an organization that there are reasonable grounds to believe engages, has engaged or will engage in acts referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c)."
Specifically, you were a member of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front between 1979 and 1991. The EPLF was a group that engaged in the subversion of a government by force. Canadian Federal Court jurisprudence confirms that membership in a group that attempts to subvert even a despotic government is sufficient to render inadmissibility. As such, you are inadmissible to Canada pursuant to section A34(1)(f) of the Act. I am therefore refusing your application.
I sincerely regret that this decision will be a disappointment to you.
Yours sincerely,
Tracey Vansickle
Counsellor (Immigration)
_____________________________
http://www.addisfortune.com/Wheat%20a%20Tempting%20Offer.htm Fortune, Ethiopia September 7, 2008 Wheat a Tempting Offer
YOHANNES ANBERBIR
A number of people in a queue for the grain admitted to Fortune that they were planning to sell it for a 100Br profit
A government scheme to distribute wheat to impoverished urban dwellers is being undermined by opportunistic traders.
Last week, kebeles started to sell the subsidized grain, but middlemen have been making tempting offers to the needy, sending them back to make a second purchase.
A quintal of wheat normally costs 650 Br locally, but the imported wheat is being sold for 350 Br per quintal in an attempt to offset the soaring price of food items. However, residents in some districts were instantly selling it off for 100 Br more.
“Not all the residents buy for consumption, many of them are here only to make the 100 Br profit from a quintal,” Melaku Tarekegn, head of Youth and Sport Affairs and sales point coordinator in Kebele 08/15 of the Yeka District, told Fortune. “We couldn’t sufficiently distribute the amount we get from the enterprise to the almost 3,000 people a day.”
Late last week, Addis Abeba Police began arresting the illegal traders. Commander Ayana Terfessa, head of the Kebele 08/15 Police District, told Fortune that within a day, police arrested five people they caught red handed offering 100 Br more than the wheat was bought for.
The government has imported 1.5 million quintals for 439 Br per quintal, out of which it has earmarked 951,000 quintals to be distributed to residents of Addis Abeba at below market prices.
It devised a distribution scheme under which flour factories in Addis get 10,000qtl each, while consumer and miller associations get 1,000qtl each. But the absence of consumer associations in the city forced the Grain Trading Enterprise, the importer of the wheat, to establish sub-distribution centres in kebeles, according to a source at the enterprise.
As the flour factories, which buy the wheat for 350 Br, sell the wheat flour for 800 Br a quintal, illegal traders have been attracted and have started purchasing wheat from individuals who bought directly from the government.
Fortune spoke to a number of people in a queue to buy the wheat who were not buying it for their own consumption, but intended to resell it at a 100 Br profit per quintal. There were even beggars in the queue waiting to spend 350 Br on a quintal of wheat.
“It is not their own money. They are given the money by illegal traders who are waiting in some corners to collect the wheat the beggars buy,” Melaku said.
Howver, the kebeles cannot prohibit residents from buying more than once because the government has announced that: “Every citizen has the right to buy as much as they can and wish.”
Triggered by high profit margins at the flour factories, last week the government decided to lower the price. Subsequently, through an announcement by the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Friday, August 29, it ordered that a quintal of flour should be sold for 550 Br.
Despite Fortune’s efforts, municipality officials were not available for comment.
Last week, the Grain Trade Enterprise ordered an additional 1.5 million quintals of wheat from foreign markets.
________________________________
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80290
IRIN
September 11, 2008
ETHIOPIA: More parents saying no to FGM
Photo: IRIN
Girls dance at a past FGM initiation ceremony in Ethiopia: Female circumcision is one of the 140 harmful traditions still commonly practised
ADDIS ABABA - Fewer Ethiopian parents are subjecting their daughters to female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM), according to an NGO campaigning to eradicate the practice.
"The knowledge [that FGM is harmful] is increasing," said Abate Gudunfa, head of the Ethiopian National Committee on Traditional Practices (commonly referred to as EGLDAM - its name in Amharic]. "Children born more recently are safer."
A network of 40 NGOs, including EGLDAM, the government and international organisations, are involved in anti-FGM campaigns in Ethiopia. Policies have also been reviewed to ensure participants are punished.
"Prevalence, especially among newly born children is decreasing - meaning that more families have sufficient awareness and do not support this practice anymore," Abate added.
A 2007 survey conducted by EGLDAM found that prevalence across the country had dropped from 61 percent in 1997 to 46 percent.
Nine regions including Tigray, the Southern and Oromiya as well as two city administrations namely the capital Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa, showed the highest improvement.
Other regions recorded minimal change. "There is almost no decrease in Afar and Somali [regions] - the strongholds of infibulation," the survey noted.
Assessing prevalence among various ethnic groups, EGLDAM found a decrease in almost all. Some 29 groups reflected a 20 percent decline, of which 18 were located in the Southern Region.
"Those ethnic groups ...should be considered real success areas and given due attention as possible learning sites," EGLDAM said. "Six ethnic groups show about or less than 10 percent decrease and should be considered as groups of probable major resistance to change."
These included the Harari, Shinasha, Alaba and Hadia ethnic groups.
Old tradition
Female circumcision is one of the 140 harmful traditions still commonly practised in Ethiopia. Often female circumcision involves the removal of part of the clitoris or the clitoris and all or some of the labia.
In some cases, genitalia are sewn up, leaving a small hole for urine and blood to pass. When combined with excision, this is the most severe form of FGM, according to experts.
In some communities, the girls are secluded for a month with their legs bound together to immobilise them, as they wait for the bleeding to stop and scar tissue to form.
FGM is carried out on girls as young as 80 days old, particularly in the predominately Christian highlands, and up to 14 years of age in the lowland Muslim regions. Some excisors use the same knife or razor blade on all their victims, regardless of the danger of spreading infections.
Globally, an estimated two million girls are still at risk of undergoing FGM each year. Activists say FGM is deeply entrenched in society despite various efforts to stop it.
According to the Inter-African Committee, the practice is a serious health issue affecting women, helping to spread HIV/AIDS and responsible for high female mortality rates in Africa.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Rent Seeking or Productivity Seeking Behavior? What is the Difference and who is the judge? The Ethiopian experience
Saturday Sep 06thHome Sections ‘የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት’ ፖለቲካ በኢህአዴግ ቅኝት
‘የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት’ ፖለቲካ በኢህአዴግ ቅኝት
Friday, 29 August 2008
በየማነ ናግሽ
የመድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት መኖር የዴሞክራሲያዊ ስርዓት ህልውና ከሚያረጋግጡ ዋነኛ ምሰሶች በግንባር ቀደምትነት ይጠቀሳል፡፡ የመድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት ማለት በአንድ አገር የተለያዩ አቋም፣ ፕሮግራምና ርዕዮተ ዓለም ያላቸው የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች መኖራቸው ብቻ ሳይሆን ፕሮግራማቸውና አመለካከታቸው በህብረተሰቡ ለማስረፅ በነፃነትና በእኩልነት የሚንቀሳቀስበት መድረክ መኖርም ያስፈልጋል፡፡
በኢትዮጵያ ተጨባጭ ሁኔታ የመድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት እየጎለበተ ወይስ እየጠፋ ነው? አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ስርዓትና የመድብለ ፓርቲን ስርዓት ይጣጣማሉ ወይስ እርስ በርሳቸው ይቃረናሉ? የሚለውን በዚህ ፅሑፉ ከተለያዩ አቅጣጫዎች ይዳሰሳሉ፡፡
ኢትዮጵያን ላለፉት አስራ ሰባት ዓመታት ሲገዛ የቆየው ገዢው ፓርቲ ኢህአዴግ የሚከተለው “የአብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ” ርዕዮተ ዓለም ከፓርቲው አባላትና መሪዎች አልፎ በሕዝቡና በምሁራን የዘለቀ እንዳልሆነ ብዙዎች ይናገራሉ፡፡ አንዳንዶቹም፤ የርዕዮተዓለሙ መሠረታዊ ፍልስፍና “ሶሻሊዝም” እንደሆነ ሲተቹ ሌሎችም፣ በኢትዮጵያ ምድር ብቻ የተፈጠረ አዲስና ያልተሞከረ ፅንሰ ሃሳብ እንደሆነ ይናገራሉ፡፡ ገዥው ፓርቲ ግን ርዕዮተ ዓለሙ በኢትዮጵያ አማራጭ የሌለውና የራሱ ፍልስፍናዊ መሠረት ያለው እንደሆነ ይናገራል፡፡
በአብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ርእየተ ዓለም አመጣጥና መሠረት ራሱን የቻለ ጉዳይ ሆኖ ራሱ ገዢው ፓርቲ ከሚሰጠው ትርጓሜና መርህ አንፃር ዓለም አቀፍ ተቀባይነት ካለውና ራሱ ገዢው ፓርቲም የሚያምንበት “መድብለ ስርዓት” ጋር ያለውን ግንኙነት ምን ይመስላል? በሚል መጠየቁ ተገቢ ይሆናል፡፡
ኢህአዴግ በቅርቡ አባላቱን ርዕዮተ ዓለሙን በማስረፅ ላይ የሚገኝ ሲሆን፣ በሚሰጣቸው ስልጠናዎች በኢህአዴግ ማዕከላዊ ኮሚቴ ከፀደቁት ሰነዶች መካከል “የዴሞክራሲ ስርዓት ግንባታ ትግልና አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ” ውስጥ ስለ አገሪቱ ፖለቲካዊና ኢኮኖሚያዊ ሁኔታ ትንታኔ ሰጥቷል፡፡ በተለይ በሰነዱ ውስጥ ገዢው ፅንሰ ሃሳብ ሆኖ የሚጠቀሰውና የአገሪቱ የፖለቲካ ትንታኔ ማዕከል ሆኖ ያገለገለው “የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት” ፖለቲካ ነው፡፡
ልማታዊ መንግሥት መፍጠር ብቻ ሳይሆን ፍትሃዊ የገቢ ክፍፍል ማምጣት የአብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ግብ እንደሆነ የሚያትተው ይህ ፅሑፍ፣ ኪራይ ሰብሳቢነትን መታገልና አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲን ሊሸከም የሚችል ቅድመ ሁኔታ ማመቻቸት እንደሚያስፈልግ ይጠቁማል፡፡
“ቅድመ ሁኔታ ባልተሟላበት አገር ዴሞክራሲን ለመገንባት መሞከር በምድረ በዳ ዘር ከመዝራት የተለየ ውጤት አይኖረውም” በማለት ስርዓቱን ለመገንባት ሞክረው ተንኮታኩተው የወደቁ አገሮችን ምሳሌ ይጠቅሳል፡፡
ለዚህም የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት ፖለቲካዊና ኢኮኖሚያዊ እሴቶችና አስተሳሳቦች የበላይነት ለማጥፋት በልማታዊ የፖለቲካ ኢኮኖሚያዊ መተካት አስፈላጊ ቅድመ ሁኔታ እንደሆነና ፀረ-ኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት ትግል እንደሚያስፈልግ ያትታል፡፡
“የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት ለማክሰም የሚደረገው ትግል የሚሳካው በቂ የዴሞክራሲ መድረክ ሲኖር ነው” የሚለው ይህ ሰነድ፣ ሁለቱ ተፃራሪ አመለካከቶች በግልፅ ወደ መድረክ ቀርበው መሻኮት ሲችሉ፣ ልማታዊ አስተሳሰብ ነጥሮ በመውጣት የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት አስተሳሰብን ያሸንፋል የሚል አቋም ታክሎበታል፡፡ የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት አመለካከቶች መታፈን እንደሌለባቸው የሚተነትነው ይህው የገዢው ፓርቲ አቋም፣ በሕዝቡ ጭንቅላት ውስጥ የሰፈሩ በመሆናቸው ዴሞክራሲ ኪራይ ሰብሳቢነትን ረለመናድሪ ዓይነተኛ መሳሪያ መሆኑን አበክሮ ይገልፃል፡፡
ዴሞክራሲን ለመዝራት፣ በቅድመ ሁኔታዎች ከተጠቀሱ መካከል የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት ስርዓት መናድ፣ ሕዝቡ የልማቱ ተጠቃሚ መሆኑን ማረጋገጥ፣ ትምህርትና ስልጠና ማስፋፋት፣ አርሶ አደሩ የስርዓቱ ዋነኛ ተዋናይ ማድረግ ወዘተ ይገኙባቸዋል፡፡ የእነዚህ ሰፋፊ ተግባራት ግቦች ከኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት የፀዳ ማህበራዊና ኢኮኖሚያዊ ሁኔታ፣ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ባህልና ዜጋ እንዲሁም ዴሞክራሲያዊ ተቋማት መፍጠር ነው፡፡
በዚሁ ጉዳይ ትልቅ ትንተና ከተሰጣቸው መካከል “የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎችና ዴሞክራሲ” ሲሆን፣ “የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች በዴሞክራሲያዊ ስርዓት ግንባታ ሂደት በፍፁም የማይተካ ሚና አላቸው” ይላል፡፡ በመሆኑም “ፓርቲዎች በህግ መሠረት እንዲደራጁ፣ ህግና ስርዓት አክብረው ስራቸውን በነፃነት እንዲያካሂዱና ረየሕዝብ ድጋፍ እንዲያገኙሪ” ቢፈቀድም ፣እንደየባህሪያቸው የሚጫወቱትን ሚና፣ የመቆጣጠርን አስፈላጊነት ተሰምሮበታል፡፡
“አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ልማታዊና ዴሞክራሲያዊ ድርጅት ነው” በማለት፣ ኪራይ ስብሰባነት ተንዶ፣ ክብደት በማይሰጥበት ወቅት ልማታዊና ዴሞክራሲያዊ ባህሪ ያላቸው ከአንድ በላይ ፓርቲዎች ሊፈጥሩ እንደሚችሉ ይጠቁማል፡፡ “". ከኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት ጋር የትጥቅ ትግልንም በሚጨምር አኳኋን ከባድ ፍልሚያ እየተካሄደ ባለበት ወቅት ድርጅቶች አንድም ወደ አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ካምፕ እየተጠቃለሉ፣ አልያም ጠቅልለው ኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት እየገቡ መሄዳቸው አይቀርም” በማለት ከፍልሚያው ከባድነት ‘ሃይሎች መሸጋሸጋቸው አይቀሬ ነው’፣ “ከአጭር ጊዜ አኳያ ያለው ልማታዊና ዴሞክራሲያዊ ድርጅት ኢህአዴግ ብቻ” እንደሆነ ይተነትናል፡፡
ኢህአዴግን በዚሁ አቋሙን ያንፀባረቀበት ሰነድ፣ ከራሱና፣ ከአጋር ድርጅቶቹ “ውጪ ያሉ ድርጅቶች በመሰረቱ በኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት ካምፕ ያሉ ናቸው” በማለት ይፈረጃቸዋል፡፡ ኪራይ ሰብሳቢዎች አሁንም እንደ ምርጫ 97 ፍልሚያ ተሸጋሽገው ወደ አንድ የመምጣት ሁኔታ ሊኖር እንደሚችል በመገመት፣ “".የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት የዜሮ ድምር ፖለቲካ በውስጣቸው የማይጠገን ልዩነት” መፈጠሩን ያትታል፡፡
የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት የዜሮ ድምር ፖለቲካ በውስጡ ለግጭት መነሻ የሚሆን መሰረታዊ ባህሪ እንዳለውና፣ “በኢትዮጵያ ኪራይ ሰብሳቢዎች በሰላማዊ ትግል ዙሪያ የተለያየ አቋም” እያራመዱ እንደሆነ ይገልፃል፡፡
ኢህአዴግ፣ የኢትዮጵያ ተቃዋሚ ሃይሎች በሶስት ደረጃዎች ይከፋፍላቸዋል፡፡ ዋናዎቹ የጥገኝነት ሃይሎች “የትም ፍጪው፤ ዱቄቱን አምጪው” መርህ የሚከተሉ፣ ከማንኛውም የጥፋት ሃይሎች ጋር የሚሰሩና በአሁኑ ወቅት ለኤርትራ መንግሥት በጀሌነት የሚያገለግሉ፣ ፣ፀረ ሰላም ሃይሎች፣ ናቸው፡፡ ሌሎችም፣ ጠቅልለው ወደ ፀረ ሰላም ሃይሎች ካምፕ ያልገቡ፣ ነገር ግን ህገመንግሥቱን በመፃረር ለፀረ ሰላም ሃይሎች መከታና ከለላ የሚሆኑና ፣ወላዋይ አቋም፣ ያላቸው ናቸው፡፡ በሶስተኛ ደረጃ፣ ኪራይ ሰብሳቢ አቋማቸው እንደተጠበቀ ሆኖ በሰላማዊና ዴሞክራሲያዊ ትግሉ ላይ ከሞላ ጎደል እምነት ያላቸው ሊባሉ የሚችሉ በማለት ይፈርጃቸዋል፡፡
ኢህአዴግ ፣ኪራይ ሰብሳቢ፣ ተቃዋሚዎች አበክሮ እንደሚታገላቸው የገለፀ ሲሆን፣ የህገ መንግሥቱ ልዕልና ተቀብለው የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት አላማቸውን በተመቻቸ ሁኔታ የሚያራምዱበት የተመቻቸ ሁኔታን መፍጠር ለአብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲም ጠቀሜታ እንዳለው ይገልፃል፡፡ አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ የሚያራምደው ኢህአዴግ፣ ፣ኪራይ ሰብሳቢዎቹ፣ የተለያዩ ህጋዊ እርምጃ በመውሰድ ሊያከስማቸው እንደሚፈልግ የተገለፀ ሲሆን፣ “የትግሉ ዋነኛ ግብ ፀረ-ሰላም ድርጅቶች ማክሰም ወይም ተገደው የሰላሙን መንገድ እንዲቀበሉ ማስገደድ” እንደሆነ ነው፡፡ “በሰላም ጉዳይ ላይ ወላዋይ አቋም ያላቸው ሃይሎች አንድም መወላወሉን ትተው ወደ ሰላም ካምፕ እንዲጠቃለሉ፣ አልያም ለይቶላቸው ፀረ-ሰላም እንዲሆኑ ማስገደድ አለብን” በማለት ገዢው ፓርቲ በተቃዋሚዎች ያለውን ፍረጃና የያዘውን የማጥፋት ዕቅድ ግልፅ አድርገዋል፡፡
ይህንን የኢህአዴግ ፍርጃ በተቃዋሚዎቹ በኩል ከፍተኛ ስጋት የፈጠረ ሲሆን በመድለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት ላይ “ያንዣበበ አደጋ” አድርገው አይተውታል፡፡
የኢዴአፓ-መድኅን ሊቀመንበር አቶ ልደቱ አያሌው ኢህአዴግ ፓርቲዎች በህጋዊ መንገድ እንዲንቀሳቀሱ ህግ መውጣቱ አንድ ነገር ሆኖ፣ በተግባር እየታየ ያለው ተቃዋሚዎች ዓይነተኛ ፣የማክሰም፣ ሂደት ግን አስግቷቸዋል፡፡
“ይሄም የመነጨው ከዚሁ ከአብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ አስተሳሰብ ነው” ብለዋል፡፡ የመድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት መሰረቱ ዴሞክራሲ እንደሆነ የሚናገሩት አቶ ልደቱ፣ “አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ከዴሞክራሲያዊ ስርዓት አብሮ የሚሄድ አይደለም፡፡ የሌሎች አስተሳሰቦች መቀበል የሚችል ርእዮትም አይደለም” ብለዋል፡፡
ሲጀመር “አብዮታዊ ብሎ ዴሞክራሲ የለም፡፡ ሁለቱም ተቃራኒ ናቸው” በማለት አብዮት ስር ነቀል ለውጥ፣ ዴሞክራሲ ግን በሂደትና ቀስ በቀስ የሚመጣ ስርዓት በመሆኑ ተቃራኒ አስተሳሰቦች “fallacy” እንደሆነ ይናገራሉ፡፡ “ከዚህ የፀዳ አስተሳሰብ ቢኖረው ተቃዋሚዎች እንደ ጠላትና አገር አፍራሽ አድርጎ ማየቱን አቁሞ ገንቢ በሆነ መልኩ ቢያያቸው ነበር” ብለዋል፡፡
“ኢህአዴግ የሚከተለው ርዕዮተ ዓለም አሁን ካለው የዓለም ፖለቲካ አሰላለፍ፣ ከዕርዳታና ማግኘትና ከውጭ ግንኙነት የማያስኬድ ሆኖ ነው እንጂ፣ አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ለአንድ መደብና ርዕዮተ ዓለም የሚታገል ስርዓት ነው” በማለት ርዕዮተ ዓለሙ የመድብለ ስርዓት ተቃራኒ እንደሆነ ያስረዳሉ፡፡ ለካድሬዎች እየተሰጠ ያለው ይሄ ስልጠናም ከዚህ አንፃር አይተውታል፡፡
የህብረት ሊቀመንበር ፕ/ር በየነ ጴጥሮስ በበኩላቸው፣ የአቶ ልደቱ ሃሳብ ይጋራሉ፡፡ “ኢህአዴግ መድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት የሚደግፍ ፀባይም የለውም”፡፡ ፕ/ር በየነ “አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲና መድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት ‘እሳትና ጭድ’ ናቸው አብረው የሚሄዱ አይደሉም” በማለት ኢህአዴግ እየሰጠው ያለው ከላይ የተገለፀው ስልጠና መስጠቱ “የሚገርመኝ አይደለም” ብለዋል፡፡
በኢትዮጵያ መድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት ለማስፈን ተስፋ ሳይቆርጡ በሰላማዊ መንገድ እየተንቀሳቀሱ እንደሆነ የሚናገሩት ፕ/ር በየነ፣ በተለይ በቅርቡ ከሌሎች አገሮች በጋራ በፈጠሩት “የምክክር መድረክ” አማካኝነት የተሻለ ሚና ሊጫወቱ እንደሚችሉ ተናግረዋል፡፡
በኢህአዴግ ውስጥ ብቃት ያላቸው አመራሮች መኖራቸው የሚቀበሉ ፕ/ር በየነ፣ እነዚህ አመራሮች ጊዜያቸውን “ጨለምተኝነት አካሄድን ይዞ ብርሃን የማይታይበት ራእይ ይዞ ያ ሁሉ ሃብት ማባከን፣ የሰውን አእምሮ በእንደዚህ ዓይነት ከመበከል እንዲቆጠቡ” መክረዋል፡፡
የአገሪቱ ፖለቲካ እያጦዘው ያለው ህወሓት እንደሆነ የተናገሩት ፕ/ር በየነ፣ አንዳንድ የህወሓት ሰዎች “ከዚሁ ጨለምተኝነት” ወጥተው እነሱ ጋር እየሰሩ እንደሆነና የተቀሩት ከዚሁ የተሳሳተ መንገድ የሚወጡበትን ጊዜ በመመኘት፣ “መቼ እንደሚነቁ አላቅም” ብለዋል፡፡
የዓረና ትግራይ ለዴሞክራሲ ለልዓላዊነት ሊቀመንበር አቶ ገብሩ አስራት በበኩላቸው፣ “ኢህአዴግ አጠቃላይ ህብረተሰቡን ለመቆጣጠር እየንቀሳቀሰ ነው” ብለዋል፡፡ የስልጠናዎቹን መንፈስ አስመልክተው “አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ የአገሪቱ የፖለቲካ መልከዓ ምድር ለማድረግ ነው” በማለት፣ ከዚህ የተለዩ አመለካከቶች ማጥፋት እንደሚፈልግ ተናግረዋል፡፡
ኪራይ ሰብሳቢ፣ ጠባቦች፣ ፀረ-ሰላም ሃይሎች ወዘተ የሚሉ የኢህአዴግ ፍረጃዎች ፓርቲዎቹን ለማጥፋት እንደ “ቅድመ ማስጠንቀቂያ” አይተውታል፡፡
“በ97 ምርጫ የተደናገጠው ኢህአዴግ፣ መድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት የሚፈልግ አይደለም” በማለት የአንድ ፓርቲ ስርዓት ለመፍጠር እየተንቀሳቀሰ መሆኑን አቶ ገብሩ ተናግረዋል፡፡
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‘የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት’ ፖለቲካ በኢህአዴግ ቅኝት
Friday, 29 August 2008
በየማነ ናግሽ
የመድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት መኖር የዴሞክራሲያዊ ስርዓት ህልውና ከሚያረጋግጡ ዋነኛ ምሰሶች በግንባር ቀደምትነት ይጠቀሳል፡፡ የመድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት ማለት በአንድ አገር የተለያዩ አቋም፣ ፕሮግራምና ርዕዮተ ዓለም ያላቸው የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች መኖራቸው ብቻ ሳይሆን ፕሮግራማቸውና አመለካከታቸው በህብረተሰቡ ለማስረፅ በነፃነትና በእኩልነት የሚንቀሳቀስበት መድረክ መኖርም ያስፈልጋል፡፡
በኢትዮጵያ ተጨባጭ ሁኔታ የመድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት እየጎለበተ ወይስ እየጠፋ ነው? አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ስርዓትና የመድብለ ፓርቲን ስርዓት ይጣጣማሉ ወይስ እርስ በርሳቸው ይቃረናሉ? የሚለውን በዚህ ፅሑፉ ከተለያዩ አቅጣጫዎች ይዳሰሳሉ፡፡
ኢትዮጵያን ላለፉት አስራ ሰባት ዓመታት ሲገዛ የቆየው ገዢው ፓርቲ ኢህአዴግ የሚከተለው “የአብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ” ርዕዮተ ዓለም ከፓርቲው አባላትና መሪዎች አልፎ በሕዝቡና በምሁራን የዘለቀ እንዳልሆነ ብዙዎች ይናገራሉ፡፡ አንዳንዶቹም፤ የርዕዮተዓለሙ መሠረታዊ ፍልስፍና “ሶሻሊዝም” እንደሆነ ሲተቹ ሌሎችም፣ በኢትዮጵያ ምድር ብቻ የተፈጠረ አዲስና ያልተሞከረ ፅንሰ ሃሳብ እንደሆነ ይናገራሉ፡፡ ገዥው ፓርቲ ግን ርዕዮተ ዓለሙ በኢትዮጵያ አማራጭ የሌለውና የራሱ ፍልስፍናዊ መሠረት ያለው እንደሆነ ይናገራል፡፡
በአብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ርእየተ ዓለም አመጣጥና መሠረት ራሱን የቻለ ጉዳይ ሆኖ ራሱ ገዢው ፓርቲ ከሚሰጠው ትርጓሜና መርህ አንፃር ዓለም አቀፍ ተቀባይነት ካለውና ራሱ ገዢው ፓርቲም የሚያምንበት “መድብለ ስርዓት” ጋር ያለውን ግንኙነት ምን ይመስላል? በሚል መጠየቁ ተገቢ ይሆናል፡፡
ኢህአዴግ በቅርቡ አባላቱን ርዕዮተ ዓለሙን በማስረፅ ላይ የሚገኝ ሲሆን፣ በሚሰጣቸው ስልጠናዎች በኢህአዴግ ማዕከላዊ ኮሚቴ ከፀደቁት ሰነዶች መካከል “የዴሞክራሲ ስርዓት ግንባታ ትግልና አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ” ውስጥ ስለ አገሪቱ ፖለቲካዊና ኢኮኖሚያዊ ሁኔታ ትንታኔ ሰጥቷል፡፡ በተለይ በሰነዱ ውስጥ ገዢው ፅንሰ ሃሳብ ሆኖ የሚጠቀሰውና የአገሪቱ የፖለቲካ ትንታኔ ማዕከል ሆኖ ያገለገለው “የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት” ፖለቲካ ነው፡፡
ልማታዊ መንግሥት መፍጠር ብቻ ሳይሆን ፍትሃዊ የገቢ ክፍፍል ማምጣት የአብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ግብ እንደሆነ የሚያትተው ይህ ፅሑፍ፣ ኪራይ ሰብሳቢነትን መታገልና አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲን ሊሸከም የሚችል ቅድመ ሁኔታ ማመቻቸት እንደሚያስፈልግ ይጠቁማል፡፡
“ቅድመ ሁኔታ ባልተሟላበት አገር ዴሞክራሲን ለመገንባት መሞከር በምድረ በዳ ዘር ከመዝራት የተለየ ውጤት አይኖረውም” በማለት ስርዓቱን ለመገንባት ሞክረው ተንኮታኩተው የወደቁ አገሮችን ምሳሌ ይጠቅሳል፡፡
ለዚህም የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት ፖለቲካዊና ኢኮኖሚያዊ እሴቶችና አስተሳሳቦች የበላይነት ለማጥፋት በልማታዊ የፖለቲካ ኢኮኖሚያዊ መተካት አስፈላጊ ቅድመ ሁኔታ እንደሆነና ፀረ-ኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት ትግል እንደሚያስፈልግ ያትታል፡፡
“የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት ለማክሰም የሚደረገው ትግል የሚሳካው በቂ የዴሞክራሲ መድረክ ሲኖር ነው” የሚለው ይህ ሰነድ፣ ሁለቱ ተፃራሪ አመለካከቶች በግልፅ ወደ መድረክ ቀርበው መሻኮት ሲችሉ፣ ልማታዊ አስተሳሰብ ነጥሮ በመውጣት የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት አስተሳሰብን ያሸንፋል የሚል አቋም ታክሎበታል፡፡ የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት አመለካከቶች መታፈን እንደሌለባቸው የሚተነትነው ይህው የገዢው ፓርቲ አቋም፣ በሕዝቡ ጭንቅላት ውስጥ የሰፈሩ በመሆናቸው ዴሞክራሲ ኪራይ ሰብሳቢነትን ረለመናድሪ ዓይነተኛ መሳሪያ መሆኑን አበክሮ ይገልፃል፡፡
ዴሞክራሲን ለመዝራት፣ በቅድመ ሁኔታዎች ከተጠቀሱ መካከል የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት ስርዓት መናድ፣ ሕዝቡ የልማቱ ተጠቃሚ መሆኑን ማረጋገጥ፣ ትምህርትና ስልጠና ማስፋፋት፣ አርሶ አደሩ የስርዓቱ ዋነኛ ተዋናይ ማድረግ ወዘተ ይገኙባቸዋል፡፡ የእነዚህ ሰፋፊ ተግባራት ግቦች ከኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት የፀዳ ማህበራዊና ኢኮኖሚያዊ ሁኔታ፣ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ባህልና ዜጋ እንዲሁም ዴሞክራሲያዊ ተቋማት መፍጠር ነው፡፡
በዚሁ ጉዳይ ትልቅ ትንተና ከተሰጣቸው መካከል “የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎችና ዴሞክራሲ” ሲሆን፣ “የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች በዴሞክራሲያዊ ስርዓት ግንባታ ሂደት በፍፁም የማይተካ ሚና አላቸው” ይላል፡፡ በመሆኑም “ፓርቲዎች በህግ መሠረት እንዲደራጁ፣ ህግና ስርዓት አክብረው ስራቸውን በነፃነት እንዲያካሂዱና ረየሕዝብ ድጋፍ እንዲያገኙሪ” ቢፈቀድም ፣እንደየባህሪያቸው የሚጫወቱትን ሚና፣ የመቆጣጠርን አስፈላጊነት ተሰምሮበታል፡፡
“አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ልማታዊና ዴሞክራሲያዊ ድርጅት ነው” በማለት፣ ኪራይ ስብሰባነት ተንዶ፣ ክብደት በማይሰጥበት ወቅት ልማታዊና ዴሞክራሲያዊ ባህሪ ያላቸው ከአንድ በላይ ፓርቲዎች ሊፈጥሩ እንደሚችሉ ይጠቁማል፡፡ “". ከኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት ጋር የትጥቅ ትግልንም በሚጨምር አኳኋን ከባድ ፍልሚያ እየተካሄደ ባለበት ወቅት ድርጅቶች አንድም ወደ አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ካምፕ እየተጠቃለሉ፣ አልያም ጠቅልለው ኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት እየገቡ መሄዳቸው አይቀርም” በማለት ከፍልሚያው ከባድነት ‘ሃይሎች መሸጋሸጋቸው አይቀሬ ነው’፣ “ከአጭር ጊዜ አኳያ ያለው ልማታዊና ዴሞክራሲያዊ ድርጅት ኢህአዴግ ብቻ” እንደሆነ ይተነትናል፡፡
ኢህአዴግን በዚሁ አቋሙን ያንፀባረቀበት ሰነድ፣ ከራሱና፣ ከአጋር ድርጅቶቹ “ውጪ ያሉ ድርጅቶች በመሰረቱ በኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት ካምፕ ያሉ ናቸው” በማለት ይፈረጃቸዋል፡፡ ኪራይ ሰብሳቢዎች አሁንም እንደ ምርጫ 97 ፍልሚያ ተሸጋሽገው ወደ አንድ የመምጣት ሁኔታ ሊኖር እንደሚችል በመገመት፣ “".የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት የዜሮ ድምር ፖለቲካ በውስጣቸው የማይጠገን ልዩነት” መፈጠሩን ያትታል፡፡
የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት የዜሮ ድምር ፖለቲካ በውስጡ ለግጭት መነሻ የሚሆን መሰረታዊ ባህሪ እንዳለውና፣ “በኢትዮጵያ ኪራይ ሰብሳቢዎች በሰላማዊ ትግል ዙሪያ የተለያየ አቋም” እያራመዱ እንደሆነ ይገልፃል፡፡
ኢህአዴግ፣ የኢትዮጵያ ተቃዋሚ ሃይሎች በሶስት ደረጃዎች ይከፋፍላቸዋል፡፡ ዋናዎቹ የጥገኝነት ሃይሎች “የትም ፍጪው፤ ዱቄቱን አምጪው” መርህ የሚከተሉ፣ ከማንኛውም የጥፋት ሃይሎች ጋር የሚሰሩና በአሁኑ ወቅት ለኤርትራ መንግሥት በጀሌነት የሚያገለግሉ፣ ፣ፀረ ሰላም ሃይሎች፣ ናቸው፡፡ ሌሎችም፣ ጠቅልለው ወደ ፀረ ሰላም ሃይሎች ካምፕ ያልገቡ፣ ነገር ግን ህገመንግሥቱን በመፃረር ለፀረ ሰላም ሃይሎች መከታና ከለላ የሚሆኑና ፣ወላዋይ አቋም፣ ያላቸው ናቸው፡፡ በሶስተኛ ደረጃ፣ ኪራይ ሰብሳቢ አቋማቸው እንደተጠበቀ ሆኖ በሰላማዊና ዴሞክራሲያዊ ትግሉ ላይ ከሞላ ጎደል እምነት ያላቸው ሊባሉ የሚችሉ በማለት ይፈርጃቸዋል፡፡
ኢህአዴግ ፣ኪራይ ሰብሳቢ፣ ተቃዋሚዎች አበክሮ እንደሚታገላቸው የገለፀ ሲሆን፣ የህገ መንግሥቱ ልዕልና ተቀብለው የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት አላማቸውን በተመቻቸ ሁኔታ የሚያራምዱበት የተመቻቸ ሁኔታን መፍጠር ለአብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲም ጠቀሜታ እንዳለው ይገልፃል፡፡ አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ የሚያራምደው ኢህአዴግ፣ ፣ኪራይ ሰብሳቢዎቹ፣ የተለያዩ ህጋዊ እርምጃ በመውሰድ ሊያከስማቸው እንደሚፈልግ የተገለፀ ሲሆን፣ “የትግሉ ዋነኛ ግብ ፀረ-ሰላም ድርጅቶች ማክሰም ወይም ተገደው የሰላሙን መንገድ እንዲቀበሉ ማስገደድ” እንደሆነ ነው፡፡ “በሰላም ጉዳይ ላይ ወላዋይ አቋም ያላቸው ሃይሎች አንድም መወላወሉን ትተው ወደ ሰላም ካምፕ እንዲጠቃለሉ፣ አልያም ለይቶላቸው ፀረ-ሰላም እንዲሆኑ ማስገደድ አለብን” በማለት ገዢው ፓርቲ በተቃዋሚዎች ያለውን ፍረጃና የያዘውን የማጥፋት ዕቅድ ግልፅ አድርገዋል፡፡
ይህንን የኢህአዴግ ፍርጃ በተቃዋሚዎቹ በኩል ከፍተኛ ስጋት የፈጠረ ሲሆን በመድለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት ላይ “ያንዣበበ አደጋ” አድርገው አይተውታል፡፡
የኢዴአፓ-መድኅን ሊቀመንበር አቶ ልደቱ አያሌው ኢህአዴግ ፓርቲዎች በህጋዊ መንገድ እንዲንቀሳቀሱ ህግ መውጣቱ አንድ ነገር ሆኖ፣ በተግባር እየታየ ያለው ተቃዋሚዎች ዓይነተኛ ፣የማክሰም፣ ሂደት ግን አስግቷቸዋል፡፡
“ይሄም የመነጨው ከዚሁ ከአብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ አስተሳሰብ ነው” ብለዋል፡፡ የመድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት መሰረቱ ዴሞክራሲ እንደሆነ የሚናገሩት አቶ ልደቱ፣ “አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ከዴሞክራሲያዊ ስርዓት አብሮ የሚሄድ አይደለም፡፡ የሌሎች አስተሳሰቦች መቀበል የሚችል ርእዮትም አይደለም” ብለዋል፡፡
ሲጀመር “አብዮታዊ ብሎ ዴሞክራሲ የለም፡፡ ሁለቱም ተቃራኒ ናቸው” በማለት አብዮት ስር ነቀል ለውጥ፣ ዴሞክራሲ ግን በሂደትና ቀስ በቀስ የሚመጣ ስርዓት በመሆኑ ተቃራኒ አስተሳሰቦች “fallacy” እንደሆነ ይናገራሉ፡፡ “ከዚህ የፀዳ አስተሳሰብ ቢኖረው ተቃዋሚዎች እንደ ጠላትና አገር አፍራሽ አድርጎ ማየቱን አቁሞ ገንቢ በሆነ መልኩ ቢያያቸው ነበር” ብለዋል፡፡
“ኢህአዴግ የሚከተለው ርዕዮተ ዓለም አሁን ካለው የዓለም ፖለቲካ አሰላለፍ፣ ከዕርዳታና ማግኘትና ከውጭ ግንኙነት የማያስኬድ ሆኖ ነው እንጂ፣ አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ለአንድ መደብና ርዕዮተ ዓለም የሚታገል ስርዓት ነው” በማለት ርዕዮተ ዓለሙ የመድብለ ስርዓት ተቃራኒ እንደሆነ ያስረዳሉ፡፡ ለካድሬዎች እየተሰጠ ያለው ይሄ ስልጠናም ከዚህ አንፃር አይተውታል፡፡
የህብረት ሊቀመንበር ፕ/ር በየነ ጴጥሮስ በበኩላቸው፣ የአቶ ልደቱ ሃሳብ ይጋራሉ፡፡ “ኢህአዴግ መድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት የሚደግፍ ፀባይም የለውም”፡፡ ፕ/ር በየነ “አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲና መድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት ‘እሳትና ጭድ’ ናቸው አብረው የሚሄዱ አይደሉም” በማለት ኢህአዴግ እየሰጠው ያለው ከላይ የተገለፀው ስልጠና መስጠቱ “የሚገርመኝ አይደለም” ብለዋል፡፡
በኢትዮጵያ መድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት ለማስፈን ተስፋ ሳይቆርጡ በሰላማዊ መንገድ እየተንቀሳቀሱ እንደሆነ የሚናገሩት ፕ/ር በየነ፣ በተለይ በቅርቡ ከሌሎች አገሮች በጋራ በፈጠሩት “የምክክር መድረክ” አማካኝነት የተሻለ ሚና ሊጫወቱ እንደሚችሉ ተናግረዋል፡፡
በኢህአዴግ ውስጥ ብቃት ያላቸው አመራሮች መኖራቸው የሚቀበሉ ፕ/ር በየነ፣ እነዚህ አመራሮች ጊዜያቸውን “ጨለምተኝነት አካሄድን ይዞ ብርሃን የማይታይበት ራእይ ይዞ ያ ሁሉ ሃብት ማባከን፣ የሰውን አእምሮ በእንደዚህ ዓይነት ከመበከል እንዲቆጠቡ” መክረዋል፡፡
የአገሪቱ ፖለቲካ እያጦዘው ያለው ህወሓት እንደሆነ የተናገሩት ፕ/ር በየነ፣ አንዳንድ የህወሓት ሰዎች “ከዚሁ ጨለምተኝነት” ወጥተው እነሱ ጋር እየሰሩ እንደሆነና የተቀሩት ከዚሁ የተሳሳተ መንገድ የሚወጡበትን ጊዜ በመመኘት፣ “መቼ እንደሚነቁ አላቅም” ብለዋል፡፡
የዓረና ትግራይ ለዴሞክራሲ ለልዓላዊነት ሊቀመንበር አቶ ገብሩ አስራት በበኩላቸው፣ “ኢህአዴግ አጠቃላይ ህብረተሰቡን ለመቆጣጠር እየንቀሳቀሰ ነው” ብለዋል፡፡ የስልጠናዎቹን መንፈስ አስመልክተው “አብዮታዊ ዴሞክራሲ የአገሪቱ የፖለቲካ መልከዓ ምድር ለማድረግ ነው” በማለት፣ ከዚህ የተለዩ አመለካከቶች ማጥፋት እንደሚፈልግ ተናግረዋል፡፡
ኪራይ ሰብሳቢ፣ ጠባቦች፣ ፀረ-ሰላም ሃይሎች ወዘተ የሚሉ የኢህአዴግ ፍረጃዎች ፓርቲዎቹን ለማጥፋት እንደ “ቅድመ ማስጠንቀቂያ” አይተውታል፡፡
“በ97 ምርጫ የተደናገጠው ኢህአዴግ፣ መድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓት የሚፈልግ አይደለም” በማለት የአንድ ፓርቲ ስርዓት ለመፍጠር እየተንቀሳቀሰ መሆኑን አቶ ገብሩ ተናግረዋል፡፡
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