The 3 Gangsters of the EPRDF controlled Millennium Organising Committee in Addis Ababa

No WAY BUT ONE

“Privatizing cell phone service is equal to issuing license to print money”

Hiwot Robert, London/UK/ 

“Privatizing cell phone service is equal to issuing license to print money” 
Meles Zenawi, Addis Zemen Amharic daily Government Newspaper- 66^th year number 150, Wednesday, February 7, 2007 /Wednesday  Tir 30, 1999 Ethiopian Calandar/ 

In this age of technological revolution and rapidly evolving world, to hear from a leader of 77 million people such a comment is not just surprising, it rather is sickening. What is more surprising, or bluntly spoken very sickening, is the fact entrepreneurs or the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce didn’t react so far to this comment made boldly and shamelessly. Most importantly, it’s not clear to me that the telecom belongs to the government. The government should regulate it rather than owning it. Perhaps it is possible to monopolize everything, including the coffee shops and the night clubs; but the long term expense is much, much higher than the immediate gain. We have seen this during the Derg regime. Telecom simply is infrastructure just like road. It plays a key and decisive role to the other economic sectors. Telecom should not at all be regarded as a source of revenue. The government can obtain more revenue by privatizing it. The Ethiopian Telecom Corporation’s annual profit after tax on the average is 450-500 Million Ethiopian Birr. The government can easily obtain three or four times higher than this amount from license fee, profit tax and other charges if telecom is privatized.  

The absurd TPLF regime, so called EPRDF, that I imagine here is only slightly more absurd than the Derg regime, which had exercised even greater control over the telecom. The Derg regime came up with a quasi socialistic and quasi “religious” justification for its absurd policy on telecom i.e. “economic humanitarianism”. The TPLF regime is demonstrating greater absurdity when its leader openly and shamelessly said, “privatizing the cell phone service is as good as licensing private investors to print money”. I understand many find themselves in a difficult position to decide on what they can attribute this to. The only reason unwary person may speculate could be typical feudalistic covetousness. But the reason goes far beyond that. The TPLF regime considers privatizing the telecom as an act tantamount to abdicating from political power. I am sure many still remember that TPLF banned SMS /text message/ service during the 2005 post election political crisis. The TPLF regime could do this for it had absolute control on the telecom service. If there were second and third mobile service providers, I don’t think it would be that easy to block such services the private company provides on the basis of a binding and lawfully made contractual arrangement. If this example sounds too weird for words, think of it this way as well: The TPLF regime has infested the ETC technical personnel with spies assigned to tap telephones and record conversations, including tête-à-tête /petty chit-chat/, of individuals who are under hot pursuit by the TPLF regime. The TPLF regime cannot enjoy such free access if the cell phone is privatized. The TPLF regime, therefore, is more to perpetuating its oppressive parochial regime than bringing in economic development. Spurred by changes in technology, the abysmal performance of the incumbent telecom service provider /ETC/, and prodding by The World Bank and other international organizations, the TPLF regime was forced to set up the now sham regulatory institution /ETA/ in the mid 1990s. As demonstrated everywhere competition appreciably decreases the price of a local call. Privatization combined with the existence of a separate regulator is associated with increases in connection capacity and labor efficiency, and substantially mitigates the negative correlation with mainlines. These are broadly consistent with conventional wisdom: competition is the most effective agent of change, privatization without regulation may not improve service, and regulation is especially important when privatizing a monopoly incumbent. Here the question is why did the TPLF regime established a separate regulatory body if it has no intention of privatizing the telecom and adamantly believes telecommunications are a natural monopoly? The answer is very simple. It was just to please the World Bank and other financial agencies that are still pumping money into the pockets of TPLF leaders. PERIOD. The other question is why the TPLF regime is hanging on to its archaic policy on telecommunications since the monopoly telecommunications firm could not effectively provide telecom services? Why the TPLF regime still insists on the state telecommunications monopoly since ETC fell short of meeting needs, as evidenced by persistent large unmet demand for telephone connections, call traffic congestion, poor service quality and reliability, limited territorial coverage, and above all demonstrated willingness of business men to pay far higher prices to obtain service? Why TPLF still insists on telecommunications monopoly despite the users pressures to bypass the system by building their own facilities. I hope many Ethiopians know very well about what happened three years ago. Some three years ago, about a dozen or so business men joined hands with TPLF cadres and built their own facilities using VSAT /Very Small Apperture Terminal/. These business men and the TPLF cadres contacted telecom companies abroad and let their facility be used as a call termination point for incoming international calls. TPLF claimed to have tracked them down. The then CEO of ETC unfairly dismissed and criminal charges were pressed. It was lately discovered the architects of this plan were hard core TPLF cadres and the wife of Meles Zenawi. The whole case died there and then. The then CEO of ETC fled the country and he is now in the USA . Such illegal activities actually had to be controlled by the regulatory body. How was ETA established? 

Until the mid-1990s, the sole government owned telecom service provider /ETC/ had simply to obey the so called “fairness doctrine” in its relation with its customers for it was both regulator and service provider. After the establishment of the regulatory body, better known as ETA, many expected a real change and progress. Unfortunately, ETC, the sole government owned service provider, became the de facto regulatory body by default even after the establishment of ETA. Aside from bottling up debate on its incompetence in discharging its regulatory function, what the sham regulatory body /ETA/ really excelled at was blocking the expansion of new technologies. It stalled the emergence of such feasible technologies like paging, tele medicine, tele conference, GPRS,  what not. Ethiopian Telecom Agency/ETA/ could play such destructive and anti technology and development role because of basically two reasons: 1. ETA is being headed by a political cadre, not a professional. 2. Lack of competence, professionalism and integrity among the policy makers i.e. Ministry of Transport and Communication and its staff members, in particular those who assume key positions. It is now universally accepted truth that technology alone can’t bring a reliable telecom service to entrepreneurs and consumers. More competition–not less–charts the path to abundance and better service.

The writer can be reached for comment at:  hrobert2005@yahoo.com 

Statement from the Ethiopian orthodox Church in Germany

In support of the legal Synods in exile

A “common goal” should be central agenda for all opposition groups

By A.Geremew 

Since the early 20^th century, we had the information all about the knowledge, technology and resources could bring the feature of bad governance and poverty to an end. What we don’t have even in this modern age in Ethiopia is the moral and political will to do so. And it is becoming clear that it will take a new moral energy to create that political will. Our bitter political struggle to remove the existing tyrant regime is significantly crucial and timely our society desperately needs for better future.   

Alongside technological triumphs and unprecedented scientific advances, we are still in all type disasters; including poverty, bad governance, backwardness and social conflict, which are all the outcome of supreme evil regime. Life has no meaning at all for majority Ethiopians in these days. For how long Ethiopians remain parallel to the global development, peace and democracy? For how long our people weep, grieve and slaughtered and pushed to the marginalised bottom line of the livelihood by the murderous regime? 

The quasi – scientific way politics has been dressed up in Western tradition might be justifiable, what would be the core problem in Ethiopia it may not be achieved since a long time ago? I personally call all the opposition parties for urgent action to acquire faith and hope to work together and build movements of political change against the repressive TPLF regime. These ambitions can be amply achieved sooner when the LFs become additional forces to the multi national parties of CUD and UEDF. These parties have great energy and welcoming the LFs to work together for all nations and one sovereign country. 

 

WHAT IS WRONG THEN WITH THE LFs TO RESPECT AND ACCEPT THIS VERY HONOURABLE AGENDA?

Everyone can reconfigure the current political landscape how TPLF has driven the fate of Ethiopians to the crisis point. On the other hand, political reasoning has to come on board to criticise OLF in particular and all other oppositions in general to work as one to come out of the Zenawi’s led crisis and fulfil the dream of freedom, democracy, civil liberty, equality and development for all Ethiopians. Nonetheless, the OLF leaders have dismissed the merit idea of pluralism due to their narrow and wrong vision. 

The big issue about the LFs politics is that they have no courage to confront the truth about our history so, they come round with the divisive tribal agenda in which they have deceived us all, and the depths of our soul are still black due to their evil demons. That was the very reason the separatists agenda had never sound and no longer be additional opposition force to speed up the removal of the nearly died TPLF REGIME. The language and thought of the LFs leaders are fatally contaminated by false consciousness or are subject to endless and inconclusive interpretation never reach the truth. The diet of paradoxes and obscurities produced by the LFs reasoning was unclear and super lie. Their destructive mission statements are all fabricated; neither fact based nor linked to the Ethiopian history to be credible. Further, anyone even with the smallest knowledge of history, when raise basic questions, they do not explain things in terms of the ultimate reasons for things being as they were. And the more we know the OLF mission statement, the more doubtful it is as there is any form of truth. The themes and reasons all about Ethiopian history are dressed up in modified way to disguise our unity and totem. Their incapability to work together is purely connected to praxis of unswerving rigidity and aggression like in an Eolithic Stone Age time. 

The LFs philosophical spectrum remains myth as long as they have falsified the sole source of certainty and the long time history. We thus avoid the impasse of scepticism by defending our bright history that symbolizes the rooted ness and the brotherhood ties of all Ethiopians. Any intentional pretensions of Oromo, Amhara, Afar, Kembata, Sidama, Gurage, etc, as independent country are absolute madness or a baseless dream. Artefacts of highly questionable and disreputable approaches, which we unthinkingly imagine leads to a critical political crisis like the OLF had experienced in the past. Secessionists need to have assertive talent to move their plan to larger premises at the heart of the common interest of all Ethiopians. Great leaders have passion to make corrective measure that will minimize the risk of making further mistakes. 

 

DOES NATIONALISM ADVOCATE FOR DEMOCRACY AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS? 

In many cases, as seen in world history, the national parties leaders had enormous power because of the totalitarian political system that was structured under the far right fascist or the far left anarchist ideologies. Such state structure, in due course was a mentality that could be both inward looking and servile towards the rulers. Oppression, arrogant and corruption were the well-known characteristics of the ruling elites, secular and religious.  

Totalitarianism is a form of government established by many national parties in which the state claims control all the activities of the people. Unlike the ancient Roman dictators, they gained power within the framework of democratic politics, and then, after they come in power ultimately eroded the constitutional rule of law through a continuous state of exception. The nationalists mostly form a one – party state without democratic institutions. For that reason they are against democracy and fundamental freedoms. Personal freedom is sacrificed to the common interests, which are defined by state.   Moreover, the narrow nationalist movement is very old fashion and has no place in the face of rapidly advancing world civilisation where there is freedom, democracy, civil liberty and equality. The nationalist movement has adverse effect as a product of intolerance motivated by inability to accept the unity and national values deeply held the concerns at the heart of contemporary political issues. Too narrow vision in political life and the emptying out of values visionless leaders creates leads to crisis to crumble social values. 

Basically, oppression didn’t apply to certain kinds of Ethiopians. It is a burdensome yoke imposed by Woyanes indiscriminately within the nations. In that sense liberation cannot be a choice for one or two particular nations however, protesting against the tyrants in common should be the united role of the whole nations to get our natural freedom, equalities civil liberties and all egalitarian – based development. Contrary to this notion, the undercover mask of freedom for separation is not justifiable and a baseless reason as long as toleration of plurality is our power if established with the sense of diversified unity in one sovereign country.   

Apparently, there are more doubtful issues to be discussed in the premise. Separatists’ ideology hasn’t been endorsed then or now and uncertain whether that could strike responsive chords among many people hungry for liberal democratic system. Ideology is a guidance force in politics, which is a unifying power between the party and the supporter. Without the democratic vision and endorsed ideology neither civil rights achieved nor freedom established. Furthermore, the secessionists’ aspirations only satisfy their egos and not their souls and that is the reason they cannot find meaning. The satisfaction doesn’t go deep enough. It is like desert sand with nothing to root it down and hold it in place and easily blown away. 

Eventually, the key challenge at this point to the opposition parties in general is to get a new energy to carry on action focused united struggle until the repressive regime is removed. In addition, the Trade Unions in Ethiopia should directly enter to the political arena so long as their strike over economic and industrial disputes has a lot more contribution as part of the overall struggle. Besides this, the LFs leaders would have to have a charisma to acquire inspirational and visionary talent to reform and reappraise their policy to advocate for all Ethiopians. 

Expectations of politicians should be often found in the possible way. If they are exaggerated or full of uncertainty, they remain as baseless ideas or myth. Genuine democrat leaders never use their political power to abuse, exploit and humiliate others. Constructive criticism and innovatory ideas mean a lot for them to assess their weaknesses and shortcomings. The best thing in politics is to look too far ahead. 

I hope there is no ontological reason generated on intense loathing for anti Ethiopian feeling in the secessionists group. It is vital to give value for our historical bond and unity to work with the grain in this respect rather than against it. Our diversified unity is always important in which ethnic, linguistic and religious identities are recognised and affirmed than neglected and denied. There are too many vested interests at sake when people stand united to work for common goal. Big is beautiful and unity is power. 

A.Geremew

You may reach the author in his email a1_geremew@yahoo.com    

CALL ME BY NAME: A small talk with Debteraw, VI

Wolde Tewolde alias Obo Arada Shawl

March 23, 2007

So far, we have formed a glimpse of who Debteraw is, what he stands for and where he is currently roaming. I hope we have all agreed that Debteraw professional acronym is READ. That is he is a Revolutionary, an Educator, an Artist and a Democrat. I have attempted to describe him vis-à-vis with known personalities such as Mesfin W. Mariam (Geographer) and Makonnen Bishaw (Social scientist) with his Mokshe the “laureate” Tsegaye GM. and also with the Journalist, Mulugheta Lule who adopted his name.

Now it is time, Why and How he and his political Party, EPRP still persists despite all odds. It is time to debate with him about the future of
Ethiopia and Ethiopians? However, before we do that, we have to grasp why Debteraw was involved in the Eway Revolution – a Revolution that took place both in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Debteraw used to tease me that Eritreans lack the poverty of philosophy while Ethiopians love the philosophy of poverty. Now the reverse seems to happen.

On the one hand, actually the Eritrean/Ethiopian individual does not differ in rank in this extreme manner. It is quite impossible to grade them in a mental hierarchy, which will be demonstrably and objectively correct. Consequently, for political and social purposes (even though they vary in social usefulness), Eritreans/Ethiopians should be treated as though all were equally capable of mental fulfillment, as having equal claims to the consideration of society and equal rights to express their will about the conduct of society, and in the end to determine their own policies and governments.

On the other hand, we must not fall into the mistakes of individualism and crude sort of democracy. Debteraw used to argue that the mass of individuals in a society, nurtured in unfavorable conditions, doomed to crippling activities and educated not for responsibility and integrity but for mechanical service and docility, may be quite unable to recognize what is readily best for them as individuals capable of mental development and quite incapable of judging public policy. Further Debteraw argued that we must recognize, that a policy based on the expressed demands of the majority of individuals may fail to satisfy the deeper needs of those individuals themselves.

This fact must not be made an excuse for authoritarianism on the part of the enlightened minority. We have today plenty of evidence of tyranny (Ethiopia and  Eritrea) to which this inevitably led us to. Instead, the enlightened minority must have worked by reasonable persuasion and the example of its own personal integrity and responsibility, till the masses recognize them as appropriate democratic leaders. Unfortunately it is always easier to gain recognition and power by deceitful and emotional propaganda, and to secure it by coercion. This style has to change Debteraw used to argue. Probably this line of discussion is the first main reason why I developed an appreciation for Debteraw’s work.

A second reason for our common cause, bond and experience (CCBE) lie in the other most golden question of How?

History has taught us that there were three methods of changing governments, of course, excluding the recent yellow or velvet revolution. They were, Coup D’etat, Insurrection and Guerrilla Encirclement. Debteraw and his party EPRP did not endorse the first two means of struggle. Instead they have chosen the Guerrilla encirclement type of change. It was anticipated to be a long and arduous struggle to get hold of a genuine revolution that would benefit all Ethiopians including Eritreans. A Guerrilla type of warfare similar to that of China but with a local  Ethiopiann” culture/nature which takes into account the following five tasks.  

• To support a peasant who identify with the people of Ethiopia and Eritrea in spite of  (Race-Class-Religion)
• To organize workers and peasants on Class basis (have and have not)
• To teach young adult to be Readers, disciplined and responsible citizens
• To arm those who know their class enemies and use their ammunition for defensive purposes only and
• To educate Party members that the Party i.e. EPRP will always lead EPRA and not the other way round.

In other words, teaching by example similar to that of Paul and Peter was the hallmark of Debteraw and his colleagues. Inasmuch as Paul and Peter have shortcoming not only in their background but also in their way of approach to teaching, Debteraw and his comrades were short of perfection.

Despite Debteraw’s quest for satisfactory answers for the 5W questions, he and his followers were labeled in such a way as: –

·        Troublemaker instead of opinionated

·        Provocateur instead of talented

·        Polemicist instead of impossible

·        Opportunist instead of flawed and

·        Iconoclast instead of idiosyncratic

Although I am not a journalist in the true sense of it, I always follow the principles that apply to all journalists. Most of the time I tamper spinning around the five Ws of what, where, when, who and why. For our inquisitive minds and maybe for many other unknown perceptions, we may be liked and disliked at the same time. Here is how we reason out the Eway Revolution.

The What Question: A Revolution in Ethiopia changing a 16^th  -18^th centuries feudal      system to Democratic Party System.

The When Question: 1960 -? 

The Where Question: From Moyale to Karora and From Kurmuk to Assab

The Who Question: E Party of Vision and Mission

The Why Question: To catch up to the 21^st Century

The How Question: By Combining Visual, Print and Internet.

At this juncture, let us see how Debteraw operated in his acronym of READ (Revolutionary, Educator, Artist and Democrat).

The Word:  Debteraw as an Artist”

To give credit to the devil, I am one of those who pursued education and learning in boarding schools. Haile Sellassie I was a reformer of a modern education. He was recognized as a champion for education for he was acting as a minister of education (1944-1966). Haile Sellassie I was also the chancellor of the University and all graduates used to receive their degrees directly from his hands.

But in reality, the Emperor was illiterate, a very bad role model for higher Education. According to Kapuscinski, in his book entitled the  “Emperor”, His Majesty was acting illiterate or unwilling to write or sign. Kapuscinski reiterates that the Emperor did not like reading and writing. This means that the King had enormous problem in running the modern government let alone the whole country. No wonder Debteraw wrote poems after poems regarding His Majesty’s abdication of power..

A bottleneck against creativity for positive change- a pretender Emperor- can only allow people like him to run the affairs of all Ethiopians.

Then came Essayas (head of EPLF) who is reported to read and listen with no written documentation. He has focused on learning and speaking many languages. It’s not known his love for the written word.

Later came a military man by the name of Menghistu (head of PMAC) who was not trained in anything except in explosives. He lived by his training in exploding the country in the name of Revolution –creating a massive havoc among true Revolutionaries. Menghistu’s skill of communication was through listening and a good part of talking.

Now Mellesse (head of EPRDF) survives with identity crisis on being a revolutionary and/or a democrat, an Eritrean or/and an Ethiopian. It is known that he prefers talking to reading despite his claim of having a lot of books instead of wealth.

Debu abhors illiteracy that is why he became Debteraw par excellence. Call me by my name, a decipherer of letters. But don’t take me wrong he does not demean illiterate only he dislikes illiteracy. 

• Debteraw’s does not demean illiterate people
• He does not praise educated merely for being educated.
• He tells it as is – objectively. That is, he is vocal-speaking out loud what is in his mind regardless of political power, religious, education or any other status.

The Written Word:  “Debteraw As Educator”

Debteraw was a graduate of Education Department and true to his education and experience; he always propagates on Learning and Education. He did not advocate education per se. From the Student Movement days, the learned and the educated communicated via
Reading and Writing, discussed and argued like civilized societies should do. It is to be noted that Ethiopians and Eritreans have Geez alphabets ranking among two dozens countries who have alphabets of their own. As a result they agreed to disagree on the methods of struggle. Every thing they wrote has been documented. That is the advantage of the written word. The saying that Bekal Yale Yiresal Bezhuf Yale Yiweresal is very true to the core.

Each side of the Student Movements has created a coalition and has put its arguments into struggle and now into cyberspace. Let us see what those who were communicating with the written words have written: Kiflu Tadesse in his book, the Generation, writes

“Convinced that the student movement had exhausted it political potential and that the next phase of the struggle required a different organizational basis, hundreds of radicals went abroad.”

 Kiflu continued to write in the same page as “The absence of a tradition of political parties and the prevailing climate of repression, made many feel they had to organize abroad within a relatively peaceful environment.”(The Generation, Kiflu Tadesse: The departure of the Radicals p.71) 

It is a well-established fact that Debteraw and his followers never left Ethiopia. Those who left went back not through Bole but Bale. They have been following the ATM and HLC trails traveling in physical and mental capacities. Assimba-Tselemti-Mercato is the physical trail and Unity-Love-Choice is the mental trail a long march. And as they say, the rest is history.

Of equally important written document from the Haile Fida group asserted that

“There has never been a political party in Ethiopia, no sector of the society or any class or any mass organization was ever coordinated by a political party, never stopped work or forwarded petitions, or made demonstrations. The conclusion we draw from this is that the subjective condition is lagging behind”(Teglatchen, No. 4, 1973 quoted in the Generation p.79) 

The above statement was totally wrong especially when it relates to Eritrea.

The E Word  “Debteraw as a Revolutionary”

Currently, many coalitions have their own arguments and discussion into cyberspace. Is there a common issue for all of them apart from the HE & SHE pattern of debates? I think we can take lessons from the PM of Ethiopia and the President of Eritrea who fights over WE or ME concepts. Carl Von Clausewitz, a military theorist said: “war is a continuation of politics by other means”. In our case, mediation and arbitration do not seem to work but negotiation appears to be a continuation of struggle by other means.

Debteraw having planned and programmed for solving Ethiopia’s problems by a project named AAGMELAGO- a concept deep in languages, theory and applications, is outlined here for discussion purposes only. I shall attempt to explain what he has in mind.

The Project

AAGMELAGO: It is a road map from the  RED SEA (below sea level) to RAS DASHEN  (highest Mountain). Specifically, it is about Economy, History, Social, Cultural and Political Landscape. The nodes along this Road Map incorporate the Philosophy, the Religion and Living style of all Ethiopians.Since Ethiopia’s physical, political and religious Centers are vital concern to many who claim Interfaith or Pluralism, the significance of this AAGMELAGO concept should be carefully understood. Debteraw radical thinking is not radical per se but meant for the happiness of his people what he calls Ethiopians. As long as every individual is happy and healthy the way our forefather designed it to be, Debteraw’s pleasure will be infinitesimal.

Concurrently, Debteraw expressed the following opinion.

America has an interest in the BLUE NILE BASIN for control  Europe has an interest in Gondar Region for purposes of contact or revenge.

Asia (represented by China) has an interest in cheap Market. Arabs have an interest in the RED SEA CORRIDOR. Israel has an interest in the flow of the Abay River, ethnic languages and common history.Last but not least, Debteraw for all practical purposes wished to accommodate all of the above interests. The question is HOW? I will find out when he contacts me next time.

Concluding Remarks

The power of five in terms of pentagonal dimension seems complete. That is the interests of AAAEI should be incorporated and prioritized. Debteraw seems to have the answers to these complicated situational questions.  He can do it by the Power of God and E5.

For comments and criticisms write to  Woldetewolde@yahoo.com

Double Standards and the turmoil in the Horn of Africa

Aklilu Demissie

 

In opening remarks at the release of the 2006 Human Rights report on March 6, 2007, Secretary Rice again phrased beautiful words of commitment and recommitment to protection of human rights in the world. She even said, “And we are recommitting ourselves to call every government to account that still treats the basic rights of its citizens as options rather than, in President Bush’s words, the non-negotiable demand of human dignity”. The non-negotiable human dignity is nowhere appallingly brutalized than in Ethiopia . Compared to the decency of the report, the words and the actions of the Secretary do not, in the least or remotely reconcile each other as to what is happening daily in Ethiopia .

 

No body is certain why regimes that terrorize their own citizens should be carried on the back of the Secretary. She has never come publicly to denounce the abysmal records of human rights abuses in Ethiopia . Although there is no comparison which is the lesser degree to human rights abuses, she is always at full front when the name of Robert Mugabe comes. Poor Mugabe doesn’t have the geographical nor the political craftsmanship of allying to “war on terror”. Other wise he would have been saved like Meles Zenawi from the wrath of Secretary Rice for whatever heinous crimes against humanity he commits like Zenawi.

 

The double standard is mind boggling. It leads to disillusionment for what America stands for and stands out.

 

 Doing business with rouge elements, whose human rights record is monstrous, in the Horn of Africa is the order of the day.

 

Take, Abdullhi Yusuf Ahmed, the so called President of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG).He was a colonel in the Somali army who established the self declared State and President of Puntland in 1998.He comes from the Majeerteen (Daarood) clan. When his term in 2001 ended he started a military campaign in Puntland and regained the Presidency of Puntland again until he was elected President of Somalia in October 2004 with Meles’ blessing.

 

Scrutinizing his human rights record, there is no more defying report to his being a President than the US Department of State report of 2002 on human rights practices in Somalia . He was also decorated for valor by Siad Barre for the Ogaden War of 1977.

 

Ali Mohammed Ghedi has had no major power play in his life except being a spy and a child of a Colonel in the Siad Barre National Security Service. In the 1980s, his father provided the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) everything for its survival. Ali Mohammed Ghedi is also implicated in the arrest and torture of hundreds of Somali citizens while working as an informant to the Somali National Security Service.

 

Well, as to expounding the major vicious destabilizing element, Meles Zenawi , America has it all.

 

The spillage of ethnically based domination and leadership has transcended its pervasive strides down to Somalia from Meles Zenawi.

 

If the Hawiyes’ complain that they are being threatened by the Daarood clan under the sugar coating of Somali Federal Transitional Troops, the majority being from Puntland, they may have a justification. What is being done is a mirror image of crafting a regime from one ethnic group-Meles Zenawi’s minority ethnic Tigere regime, to clan wise formulated Daarood clan domination by putting forward a lame Prime Minster Ghedi [from Hawiye clan] for propaganda consumption and completion of the shenanigans.

 

 The solution is an all inclusive government, although masters of the sword in the region do seem to favor the perpetuation of war and division that will bring about money and safe power stay at the blood of peaceful civilians.

 

Abridgement of citizens’ right to change their government, harsh and life threatening prison conditions for dissenters, indiscriminate jailing, extrajudicial killings, you name it, and you have it in Ethiopia . The motto with Meles Zenawi, of course is, “if you got them smoke them”.

 

There had been a well known and established fact. Once the USA awakens and librates itself from the spell of this elusive and capricious thug called Meles Zenawi, her sword is vicious and merciless, even to her devout allies let alone to a miniscule who lives by subterfuge.

 

United States and the people of Ethiopia are committed to bringing about an everlasting stability to the region by waging war against terror.

 But as long as Meles is on the scene, every thing is doomed to fail. Meles knows that maintaining the status quo is the very card he would not give up at all coast.

 

 The disgusting pampering of a despot by Western diplomats and State Department officials despite his convoluted treachery, human rights abuses continues unabated. The assumption of protection of national interests through murderous regimes is an utter fiasco as long as they do not side with the democratic wishes and aspirations of the Ethiopian people.

 

It won’t be long before Ethiopia becomes a single country in the world where two successive despots-Mengistu [wait till Mugabe goes] and Meles- will be facing the international tribunal court for crimes against humanity standing side by side.

 

To all intense and purposes there is no difference between the regimes in Rangoon and Addis with regard to stark ,massive human rights abuses and transgression against humanity. While the regime in Addis is left aside, the US government was feverishly trying to pass a UN resolution against Burma after years and years of complacency. Obviously human rights violation in one form or another is a threat to global peace and security as the US identifies it now.

 

Martin Luther King stated in a speech [“Our God is Marching On!] in March, 1965… “however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because “truth crushed to earth will rise again. How long? Not long, because no lie can live forever. We are on the move now. The wanton release of their murderers would not discourage us .Like an idea whose time has come, not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us. We are moving to the land of freedom.” Amen!

 

As to Meles Zenawi’s gibberish and sordid denials of the facts on the ground, in interviews and private discussions, are non other than classic signs of desperation and invariable demise- a disease that has no remedy. It is a hopelessly vicious affliction resulting in believing once own grotesque lies.

Paltalk Room No.5

Demonistration