The Humanitarian Aid-Corruption Nexus in Ethiopia

Seid Hassan- Murray State UniversityA. Introduction

The Amharic version of the Voice of America (journalist Solomon Abate serving as moderator) entertained a discussion on corruption which was broadcast on May 17 and 18, 2013. Participants included Messrs. Mulugeta Aragawi of Addis Ababa University, Abebe Gutta (attorney at law in Addis Ababa), Berhanu Assefa (Ethical Education and Communication Affairs Director of the Federal Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission-FEACC) and I. The first two gentlemen who really knew the sources, extent and potential solution to the rampant Ethiopian corruption politely provided their views, including the approaches that the government has to take to fight the corruption that the government has admitted to be rampant. As expected and is customary of the members of the EPRDF, Mr. Berhanu Assefa of the FEACC was on the defensive and mostly on the attack mode, instead of listening to the complaints and suggestions of the two citizens.  As those who listened to the debate can easily attest, Mr. Assefa spent most of his time talking about unrelated to the topic of discussion –yes, you guessed it right: the same old and tired double digit growth rates that all EPRDFites like to parrot each other ad nauseam.  He also suggested that the current decision to fight against corruption is for real and the arrest of Minister Melaku Fenta, director general of the revenue and customs authority and his deputy Gebrewahed Woldegiorgis along with several officials and businessmen merchants should serve as proof and we ought not to discourage it.  I partially agreed with Mr. Assefa’s suggestion in that all of us have to encourage the fight against corruption, if indeed it is for real while at the same time expressing my serious doubts.

I will perhaps address this issue (whether Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s government is both serious and capable of fighting the rampant corruption in the country) with a separate short write-up. Delay such a commentary also allow us to give the current authorities a little more time and the benefits of doubt to show it to the world, as promised, that they have ended embarked on fighting against the debilitating corruption in the country. This and the next two (probably more) series of short commentaries instead focus on my soon to be published research findings related to the foreign-aid–corruption-nexus as applied to Ethiopia. These two forthcoming articles are included in the upcoming Ethiopian e-Journal for Research and Innovation Foresight-Vol.5, no.1-Special issue on the Ethiopian Economy which incorporates seven professionally written manuscripts. The contributors include Professors Abu Girma Moges (two articles: one on federalism and the second one on the extent of and the sham nature of calculating and indexing of poverty in the country), Minga Negash (on the peculiar nature of corporate governance in Ethiopia and the way forward), Getachew Begashaw (on the effects of landlockedness), Zeleke Worku (on Traditional Financial Structures such as Iqub, etc.) and I (two articles on the foreign aid-corruption nexus).  Both of my research articles are related but the first one tries to exclusively focus on the humanitarian aid-corruption nexus (that is, corruption when the TPLF was a rebel front) while the second one focuses on the development aid-corruption nexus (that is, corruption after the TPLF seized political power). They both are byproducts of many years of my extensive research and fact documentations regarding the nature and causes of corruption in Ethiopia. I expect readers of these articles to find the extensive literature, testimonials and interviews that I consulted to be highly beneficial to them.

B. The State Capture Onset in Ethiopia: Humanitarian Aid and Corruption. Forthcoming:   Ethiopian e-Journal for Research and Innovation Foresight-Vol.5, no.1-Special issue on the Ethiopian Economy.

1. Abstract: The first part of this paper shows that a substantial part of the money that aid agencies gave to feed the 1984-5 Ethiopian famine victims, including those raised by Band Aid and Live Aid were siphoned off by the Tigrayan Peoples’ Liberation Front (TPLF) to buy military weapons. I also use newly found evidences, interviews and testimonials accumulated over many years to show that famine aid scamming by the TPLF had gone beyond using humanitarian aid to purchase military weapons and feed the rebel Front’s red army. I show how humanitarian aid, as a resource in the midst of extreme scarcity, has enriched some quarters, fuelled corruption and intensified and prolonged conflicts among the warring factions of Ethiopia and legitimized the rebel fronts’ operations. Humanitarian aid lured the Fronts, particularly the TPLF, to parade hundreds of thousands of peasants to Sudan, which led to the deaths of tens of thousands of them (due to overcrowding, disease epidemics, lack of regular food supplies, poor water and sanitation problems, and from being exposed to targets for bombing). The documents I examined, the interviews that I conducted and the testimonials I have gathered over many years indicate that the refugees were abused by the TPLF both during their trek to the Ethio-Sudanese border which took 4-6 weeks and within the refugee camps. According to some ex-TPLF veterans, (and their claims to be indirectly proved by the written work of foreign nationals), a good portion of the humanitarian food aid was not made available to the starving peasants of Tigray. Their statements regarding this issue are indirectly corroborated by the field and research work of foreign nationals. By all these three counts, according to them, the TPLF has committed crimes against humanity (and, the International Committee of the Red Cross –ICRC agrees with them on this front). The documents I examined and the interviews and testimonials I gathered indicate that donors and aid agencies knew that the Relief Society of Tigray (REST) was the flip-side of the same coin- the TPLF and aid agency personnel knew a portion of the humanitarian aid that they were providing was being diverted for military purposes by the Fronts, indicating a violation of the principle of neutrality and impartiality on the part of aid agencies. There are also indications suggesting that the cross-border interventions by donors and aid agencies were against the multilateral agreements such as the Lomé conventions (Duffield and Prendergast, 1994).  This shows that the provisions and delivery of humanitarian aid have been used to violate and perhaps diminish the sovereignty of Ethiopia. Looked in a different way, a good portion of the humanitarian aid provided by donor countries to the TPLF and other fronts fighting the Derg regime was in part for the advancement of the diplomatic and foreign policy goals as well as political and military tools of donor nations and aid agencies.  It may be for this reason why they cared less about how humanitarian aid was spent or abused.  The literature that I examined also provides reasons why the abuse of humanitarian aid would be inevitable in conflict ridden countries such as Ethiopia. The evidence gathered have allowed me to inductively test one of my fundamental hypotheses: that humanitarian aid resources were and still are the sources of predation and capture in Ethiopia and that the culture of corruption and political malaise that we observe in today’s Ethiopia is a byproduct of what the TPLF/EPRDF learned and adopted when it was a rebel front and such a culture of corruption was aided and abetted by humanitarian aid.

2. Summary, Implication and Conclusion (abridged)   

The accounts of several donor agency personnel and the testimonials of ex-TPLF combatants indicate that humanitarian aid has showered the TPLF with more hard currency than the $100 million it received from Band Aid and similar activities. They include, for example, the millions of dollars that REST and its “employees” and supporters received for providing their services (transporting the donated food and related aid, as guides, etc.), from selling of “excess” humanitarian aid into the Sudanese and Middle Eastern markets, from scamming and defrauding humanitarian agencies such as  the $500,000 that Mr. Max Peberdy of Christian Aid was seen passing to Mr. Araya and others and the $2 million the Australians gave in cash to purchase food from local merchants, etc.)  However, my investigation is unable to determine the exact amount of money that the TPLF made from selling humanitarian aid. Both the fungibility of funds and the secretive nature of the Front also played and would continue to play as huge obstacles in ascertaining if and how much of those funds which have been allocated as described and as decided by the Front’s leadership were actually implemented I am further convinced that no one, including top leaders of the TPLF would be able to ascertain the exact allocations, expenditures and conversions of humanitarian aid for military purposes.

The second part of this article presented an abridged version of both the theoretical and practical case for aid to be a source for corruption and for prolonging conflicts among warring nations. I examined documents and the information obtained from various credible voices already aired by ex-TPLF veterans. I cross-examined previous testimonies provided by high level donor aid officials and aid agencies’ personnel who were deeply involved in the delivery of humanitarian aid at the time. I also sought out and investigated documents written by journalists who happen to report the extent of donor aid flow and to whom they were given. This led me to uncover one of the hard to find non-classified CIA documents, thanks to Google’s search engine, which in turn reinforced the claims made by donor aid officials and aid agency personnel who attested that humanitarian aid was indeed siphoned off to military uses by the TPLF.  The examination of the facts also indicates that both donor nations and aid agencies took a blind eye to the misuse and diversion of humanitarian aid to military uses. Some attribute this to the fact of channeling of humanitarian assistance along the Ethio-Sudanese border in the 1980s being partly political (see, Evil Days, pp. 356-62, for example).

The cross-examination of the documents that I gathered along with the testimonials of individuals also indicates that the TPLF skillfully captured humanitarian aid resources, with full intent. The desire to capture and use humanitarian aid resources motivated the Front to (in large part forcefully) parade already weakened peasants to trek to Sudan, which led to the death of tens of thousands of them (to the tune of 25,000 by some humanitarian agencies’ estimates and calculations and a lot more by ex-TPLF combatants) and to their increased suffering. This article has also presented the case in which the provision of humanitarian aid could have the opposite and damaging (largely unintended) effects on the recipient country and its people using Ethiopia as an example. To the extent that the desire to access humanitarian aid resources lured organized groups such as the TPLF to commit crimes against humanity, and to the extent that these same resources have benefitted the elites and have enabled the TPLF establish a highly corruptive and oligarchic system that we observe in today’s Ethiopia, we conclude that humanitarian aid resources were the basis for the onset of state capture that reigns supreme currently in Ethiopia.

source: http://ecadforum.com/2013/06/21/the-humanitarian-aid-corruption-nexus-in-ethiopia/

አባይ የፖለቲካ ግለት ማብረጃ ወይስ?

 June 12, 2013 ,   ጥላሁን ዛጋ

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አባይ መነሻ ምንጩን ሰሜናዊ የኢትዮጵያን ክፍል በተለይም ጣና ሃይቅንና በዙሪያው ያሉ አፍላጋት አድርጎ ረጅም ጉዞውን ጣና ሃይቅ ላይ በሚፈጥረው ንብርብሮሽ የአለምን ህዝብ በሙሉ አስደምሞ ይጀምራል፣ እግረ መንገዱን ሌሎች ገባር ወንዞችን በጉያው ሸክፎ እስከሜዲትራኒያን ባህር ያለውን በማይልስ የሚቆጠረውን የርቀት ጉዞ ይቆርሰዋል፣ በ75᎖912 ስኩዌር ኪሎሜትር የተፋሰስ ስፋትና በ23᎐6 ቢሊየን ሜትርኪዩብ አመታዊ አማካይ የፍሰት መጠን ጋምቤላንና ሌሎች የኢትዮጵያን ሰሜናዊ ክፍሎች የሚያዳርሰው ባሮ ወንዝ እንዲሁም በ82᎖350 ስኩዌር ኪሎሜትር የተፋሰስ ስፋትና በ9.6 ቢሊየን  ሜትር ኪዩብ አመታዊ አማካይ የፍሰት መጠን ከላስታ ተራሮች ተነስቶ ወደምዕራብ በመፍሰስ እንደገና አቅጣጫ ቀይሮ ወደ ሰሜን የሚመለሰው የተከዜ ወንዝ በአባይ ጉያ የሚሸከፉ ዋናዎቹ ገባሮች ናቸው።

በመሆኑም አባይ ይህን የታላቅነት ግርማውን እንደያዘ ያለከልካይ ለዘመናት ሲፈስ የኖረና የህብረ-ኢትዮጵያዊነት መገለጫ እንዲሁም የሁሉንም ብሔር-ብሔረሰቦች ስሜት በአንድነት የሚነካ የኢትዮጵያ ወንዝ ነው። እንደየክፍለዘመኑ እንዲሁም  ማህበረሰባዊ የእውቀትና ብስለት ደረጃ ሁሉንም ኢትዮጵያዊ ያወያየ፣ ያነጋገረና ያከራከረ ስሜት ቀስቃሽና የሀገር ወዳድነትም መገለጫ ሆኖ ለዘመናት የዘለቀ ወንዝ ነው፣ በተመሳሳይም በሀገራችን በተለያዩ ጊዜያት የተነሱ መሪዎች ለፖለቲካቸው ውበት ማድመቂያ እንዲሁም ለኢትዮጵያዊነታቸው መሃላ ማህተም ሆኖላቸው ቆይቶአል።

ለምሳሌ ያህልም  ቀዳማዊ  ኃይለ ስላሴ  በግዛት  ዘመናቸው ኢትዮጵያ በአባይ ላይ ያላትን ድርሻ የማስከበር መብቷን መጠቀምን በተመለከተ የራሳቸውን ድርሻ ተጫውተዋል።  በወቅቱ ከተሰሩት ስራዎች በጥቂቱ ለመግለጽ እንደራሴ  ከነበሩበት ግዜ ጀምሮ ነበር ጥረታቸውን ያካሄዱት።  ኒውዮርክ ከሚገኘው   ከ J G white Engineering Company ጋር በጣና ሃይቅ ላይ በ20 ሚሊየ ዶላር ግድብ ለመስራት ጥናት እና እቅድ ተጠናቆ ነበር።  ከዛም በተጨማሪ 1956 – 1964 ስምንት አመት የፈጀ ባለ 17 መድብል ጥናት በ10 ሚሊየን ከአሜሪካ ሪክላማሽን ቢሮ ጋር በተደረገው የትብብር ጥናት ከግምጃ ቤት 10 ሚሊየን መድበው ጥናቱ እንዲከናወን አድርገዋል ።  የጥናቱም ውጤት በ17 መድብሎች የቀረበ ሲሆን በአባይ እና ገባር ወንዞች ላይ አራት ግድቦችን የመስራት እቅድን ያካተተ ነበር።  ይህ እቅድ ተጠናቆ ቢሆን ኖሮ በሱዳን እና በግብፅ ላይ የሚደርሰውን የውሃ ሙላት መጥለቅለቅ የሚያስቀር ከመሆኑም በላይ በግብጽ በመስኖ ከሚለማው ጠቅላላ መሬት 17 በመቶውን ያህል የሚሆን በሃገራችን እንዲለማ የሚያስችል ነበር።

ደርግ በዲፕሎማሲው መስክ በአባይ ላይ ኢትዮጵያ ያላትን መብት ለማስከበር አሉ የተባሉ ሙሁራንን በማሳተፍ ከፍተኛ ጥረት አድርጓል ከዛም በዘለለ (multi-purpose) ሁለገብ የሆነውን የጣና በለስን ግድብ በመስራት ለመጀመርያ ግዜ የአባይ ገባር ወንዝን ለሃገሪቱ የመስኖ አገልግሎት እንዲውል ከፍተኛውን ስራ ሰርቷል።  ሌላው ከጣልያን መንግስት ቃል በተገባ 300 ሚሊየን ዶላር እርዳታ የደርግ መንግስት የጣና ሃይቅን ወደ በለስ  ወንዝ በመቀልበስ አምስት ግድቦችን ለመገደብ እቅድ አጠናቆ ስራ ጀምሮ ነበር ሆኖም በ1991 ደርግ ሲወድቅ እና ኢህአዴግ ስልጣን ሲይዝ ባልታወቀ ምክንያት እንዲቆም ተደርጓል ሆኖም እንደገና ከ10 ዓመት በሁዋላ  ሽፈራው ጃርሶ የሃይድሮ ኤሌክትሪክን ጨምሮ በአዲስ እንደሚሰራ አሳውቆ እንደነበር ብናውቅም የት እንደደረሰ ግን የሚታወቅ ጉዳይ የለም።  ለመሆኑ የጣና በለስ ፕሮጀክት ለምን ተቋረጠ ?  ይህ እያንዳንዱ ኢትዮጵያዊ ሊጠይቀው የሚገባ መሰረታዊ ጥያቄ ነው።

ይህ በእንዲህ እንዳለ በአሁኑ ጊዜ በሀገራችን ያለው ህወሓት መራሹ ገዢ ቡድን በሚያዚያ ወር 2003 ዓ/ም እንደ ኢትዮጵያ አቆጣጠር የአባይን ግድብ ግንባታ ፕሮጀክት ይፋ ሲያደርግ ታሳቢ ያደረገው ምንድን ነው? ከላይ ለመጥቀስ እንደተሞከረው ለፖለቲካው ውበት ማድመቂያ እንዲሁም በግዛት ዘመኑ ለፈፀማቸው የሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰቶች መደበቂያ ጭንብል እንጂ ሃገራዊ ወይም ምጣኔ-ሃብታዊ ፋይዳው ተገምግሞ እንዳልሆነ ጥቂት ማሳያዎችን እናንሳ፣ እንደሚታወቀው ገዢው ቡድን በተለያዩ ጊዜያት ፖለቲካዊ ውጥረቶች ሲከሰቱ የህዝብን ቀልብ ማስቀየሻ የሚሆኑ ኩነቶችን በመፍጠር የትኩረት አቅጣጫን ለማስቀየር ሲታትር ያለፉት ሁለት አስርት አመታትን መቃኘት የሩቅ ትዝታ አይሆንም፣ የግንቦት 97 ምርጫን በግድያና በማጭበርበር በድል አሸነፍኩ ካለ በሁዋላ በወቅቱ ተፈጥሮ የነበረውን የለውጥ መንፈስ /እንቅስቃሴ/ በሚሊኒየም አከባበር ፌሽታ፣ እንዲሁም በኢትዮጵያ አቆጣጠር በ2003 መጀመሪያ ጀምሮ የተቀጣጠለው የአረቡ ዓለም እንቅስቃሴ ማዕበል ወደዚህች ነፃነት ናፍቆቷ ወደሆነችው ሀገር እንዳይዛመት ደግሞ “የህዳሴው ግድብ” በማለት የተጠቀማቸው የፖለቲካ ግለት ማብረጃዎች እንደሆኑ የአደባባይ ሀቅ ነው። ይህም ሆኖ ግድቡ ሀገራዊና ምጣኔ-ሃብታዊ ፋይዳ /ጠቀሜታ/ ቢኖረው መገደቡን ባልጠላን ነበር።

ብዙሃኑ ሕብረተሰብ በተለይም ዲያስፖራው ግድቡ ላይ ተቃርኖ አለው ለምን? ይህን ፕሮጀክት መቃወም ልማትን መቃወም ነው? እነዚህንና ተያያዥ ጉዳዮችን  ከመዳሰሳችን በፊት የዚህን ፕሮጀክት አዋጭነት፣ ቴክኒካል ይዘት እንዲሁም ሌሎች ተግዳሮቶችን በጥቂቱ ለመዳሰስ እንሞክር።

1/የፕሮጀክቱአዋጭነት/profitability/

አንድ ፕሮጀክት ሲታሰብ አዋጭነቱ ላይ ጥናት ሳይደረግ አይጀመርም፣ የግድቡ ፕሮጀክት አዋጭነቱ ላይ ጥልቅ ጥናት አልተካሄደም፣ ከዚህ አንፃር ብዙ ኢትዮጵያውያን ምሁራን በግድቡ ወጪ ዙሪያ ከጥቅሙ ይልቅ ጉዳቱ ያመዝናል የሚል ጭንቀት አላቸው፣ ለምሳሌ ያህልም 5ቢሊየን ዶላር ያህል ገንዘብ ለአንድ ፕሮጀክት ብቻ ማፍሰስ ሃገራዊ ብክነት እንዲሁም ከፍተኛ ክስረት ያስከትላል ምክንያቱም ግድቡ በቅርቡ ላሉ የሀገሪቱ ክልሎች ሌሎች አገልግሎቶችን ሳይሰጥ ለሱዳን ለኬንያና ሌሎች የምስራቅ አፍሪካ ሃገራት የኤሌክትሪክ ኃይልን በመሸጥ ብቻ የተወሰነ በመሆኑና እንደመስኖ፣ የመጠጥ ውሃ፣ የአሳ እርባታና ሌሎች ፕሮጀክቶችን ያላካተተ ሲሆን በሌላ በኩል ደግሞ ከግድቡ ግንባታ በሁዋላ ለደለል ማስጠረጊያ የሚወጣው ወጪ ሲታሰብ  በጥቂት አመታት ውስጥ ለግድቡ የወጣውን ያህል ወጪ እንደሚወጣ ጥናቶች ያሳያሉ።

 2/ቴክኒካል ጥናት/technicalassessment/                                                                     

እንደሚታወቀው እንደአባይ ያሉ ታላላቅ ወንዞች ከከፍተኛ ቦታዎች ተነስተው ቁልቁል ሲወረወሩ ይዘውት የሚሄዱት ደለል አፈር አመታዊ ልኬቱ በብዙ ሺህ ቶን የሚቆጠር ሲሆን አባይም ከፍተኛ የሆነ አፈር የመሸርሸር ባህሪ ያለው ወንዝ ነው። ይህ በእንዲህ እንዳለ አሁን የሚያርፍበት ቦታም ሸለቆአማ በመሆኑ ከፍተኛ ግፊት ስለሚኖር ደለል ሊሞላው ይችላል።  ይህ ደለል የመሙላቱ ችግር ደግሞ ግድቡን ሊገፋው ይችላል ወይም መጥረግ እንኳን ቢያስፈልግ ግድቡ ከተሰራበት በላይ ወጭ ይጠይቃል ይህ ደግሞ ለገዳዲን የሚያክል ትንሽ ግድብ እንኳ መጥረግ ባለመቻላችን አዲስ አበባ በውሃ እጥረት በተደጋጋሚ ትጠቃለች ታድያ ይህ ግድብ ደግሞ ከሁለት ግዜ የባህር ዳርን ውሃ ያጥፋል ታድያ በምን ወጭ ነው ሚጠረገው? በየስንት ግዜውስ ይጠረጋል ? የተጠረገው የት ይደፋል ? ምን አልባትም ጥራጊውን ለመድፋት 100 ኪሎሜትር መሄድ ሊያስፈልግ ቢችል እንዴት ነው ሚቻለው ? ከወጭ አንጻር ግድቡ ከተሰራበት በላይ ለመጥረግ ያስወጣል።

3/ከውጪው አለም ጋር ስለሚደረጉ ፖለቲካዊና ዲፕሎማሲያዊ ግንኙነቶች

እንደዚህ አይነት ታላላቅ ሃገራዊ ፕሮጀክቶች ለምሳሌ ግድቦች፣ታላላቅ ድልድዮች፣ ፋብሪካዎችና፣ ሌሎችም ሃገራዊ ግንባታዎች ሲካሄዱ የሀገሪቱ እንዲሁም ከውጭ ያሉ ታላላቅ ምሁራን ጥልቅ ጥናት ማድረግ አለባቸው። ዲፕሎማሲያዊ ክፍተቶች መሞላት አለባቸው፣ ፖለቲከኞች፣ ተቃዋሚዎች፣ የሀገሪቱ ህዝቦች፣ የሀገሪቱ ጉዳይ ያገባናል የሚሉ፣ የተፋሰሱ ሃገራት፣ ጎረቤት ሃገራት እነዚህና ሌሎች ያልጠቀስናቸው ባለድርሻ አካላት ሁሉ ሊያውቁት በጥልቀት ሊመክሩበት ሊከራከሩም በተገባ ነበር፣ ነገር ግን እነዚህ በሙሉ ሳይፈፀሙ ይልቁንም የሀገሪቱ ፓርላማ እንኩዋን ሲታወጅ እንደተራው ሕዝብ እንጂ ሲታቀድእንኳን ባልሰማበት ሁኔታ ስለ ግድቡ ማውራት አይታሰብም።

4/የፕሮጀክቱ ግልጽነት /Transparency/

ከላይ ለመግለፅ እንደተሞከረው የፕሮጀክቱ አላማ ከእለታዊ የፖለቲካ ትርፍ ጀርባ ታላቅ ኢኮኖሚያዊ ሴራ ያለበት መሆኑን የሚያውቁት ሕወሃቶችና ተመሳጣሪዎቻቸው ብቻ ናቸው፣ ይኸውም ከታች ግራፉ ላይ እንደምትመለከቱት የአባይ ግድብ የሚያስፈልገው ብር አለ፣ የዋጋ ንረትን ሳያጠቃልል ወደ 80 ቢሊየን ነው ከዚህ ውስጥ አጠቃላይ ባለ በሌለ ሃይል ቃል የተገባው ገንዘብ ወደ 9 ቢሊየን ብር ነው።  ከዚህ ውስጥ በእጅ ላይ የሚገኝ ብር ወደ 5 ቢሊየን ነው። ታድያ ይህን ያህል መጠን ያለው ብር ብቻ በተገኘበት ሂደት ልማታዊው መንግስታችን 20% የግድቡ ስራ ተጠናቋል ይለናል እንግዲህ በ5% ገንዘብ 20% መስራት የመቻሉ ጉዳይ እንዴት ይታያል ።  ከዛሬ 2 ወር በፊት 14 በመቶ ተሰርቷል ተብለን ነበር አሁን ደግሞ 6% በሁለት ወር ተሰርቷል ተባለ ይህ ፍጥነት ከየት መጣ ? ወይንስ ኢትዮጵያውያን ቁጥር አይችሉም አይጠይቁም ተብሎ ነው ? ለምንድን ነው ይህ ሁሉ የሃሰት ዘመቻ ? ይህ አይነት ተራ የማደናገርያ እና የማታለያ ዘመቻዎች ባሉበት ሂደት ተአማኒነት ያለው ስራ መስራት ይቻላል ማለት ዘበት ነው ።

ሌላው የግድቡ ስራ የሚሰራው ድርጅት የአባይ ግንባታ ለሳሊኒ ኮንስትራክሽን ያለምንም የዓለም አቀፍ የጫረታ ደንብን ሳይከተል በቀጥታ ስራው ተሰጥቷል።  በመንግስት በኩል በዚህ ጉዳይ ላይ ሲጠየቁ የተለመደ ማታለያ መልስ አላቸው ይኸውም የአባይን ጫረታ አደባባይ ካወጣን ግብጽ አደጋ ትፈጥራለች የሚሉት ያልተጨበጠ ወሬ ነው።  ለዚህ ምክንያታቸው ሃሰት ለመሆኑ ማረጋገጫ ሳሊን የተባለው የጣልያኑ ድርጅት የግቤ ቁጥር ሁለት እና ሶስትን ግንባታ ያለምንም ጫረታ ነው የወሰደው ታድያ ግብፅ ግቤ ላይም ችግር ትፈጥራለች ማለት ነው? ታድያ ግቤ ላይ ለምን ጫረታ ሳይወጣ ስራው ተሰጠው ? የሚገርመው እኮ ይህ ሳሊኒ በግቤ የተቋራጭ ስራ ላይ የሰራው ተንዶበት ከፍተኛ ወጪ ያስወጣን እና እጅግ ብቃት የጎደለው ድርጅት መሆኑ እየታወቀ ለምን አባይን የሚያክል ትልቅ ስራ ተሰጠው ? እንግዲህ ብዙዎች እንደሚሉት ጫረታ ሳይወጣ በሚደረግ ሂደት ዙርያ ከጀርባ ድርድሮች ይኖራሉ ግለሰቦችን ወይም ድርጅቶችን የሚጠቅሙ ስራዎች ቀደም ተብለው ይሰራሉ ለዛ ሲባል ግልፅነት ሳይኖረው በድብቅ ይሰራል።  ለምን ተደበቀ ስራው ግልፅ አልሆነም ሲባሉ ደግሞ የተለያዩ ምክንያቶችን በመደርደር መሸፋፈን ይሞከራል። ለምሳሌ ዋናውን ስራ የወሰደው ድርጅት እሱ ደግሞ sub-contruct ወይም የእቃ አቅርቦት የመሳሰሉ ስራዎችን ለሚፈለገው አካል ይሰጣል።  ለአብነት ያህል በአባይ ግድብ ላይ ስሚንቶ በማቅረብ ላይ ያለው የሞሶቦ ድርጅት ነው ፣ ብረታ ብረት እና ሌሎች ስራዎችን በማቅረብ የኤፈርት ድርጅቶች ተሳታፊ ናቸው ሌሎችንም የተቋራጭ ስራዎችን የወሰዱት እነዚህ ከአንድ አካባቢ የመጡ ግለሰቦች እና ድርጅቶች ናቸው።  በዚህ ደግሞ ኪሳቸውን ያደልባሉ።  ስለሆነም ገንዘቡ እስኪያልቅ ድረስ እነ ሞሶቦ እና እነ ኤፈርትን የመሳሰሉ ድርጅቶች ከኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ የተገኘውን ገንዘብ ያሟጣሉ ማለት ነው።   ይህ ባለበት ሁኔታ እና በዚህ የመንግስት ባህርይ ለምን ህዝብ ከዚህ ስርአት ጋር ይተባበራል? ለምንስ ይህን ስርአት ያምነዋል?

5/የፕሮጀክቱ ጠቃሚነት ለማን?

በእርግጥ ግድቡ በመገደቡ ለጥቂት ጊዜያት ግፋ ቢል ለአንድ ዓመት የውሃ እጥረት የግርጌ ተፋሰስ ሃገራት በተለይም ግብፅ ሊያጋጥማት ይችላል፣ ከዚያ በሁዋላ ግን ከኢትዮጵያ በተሻለ 80 ወይም 85 በመቶ ተጠቃሚዎች እንደሚሆኑ ያውቁታል፣ ምክንያቱም ከዚያ በሁዋላ ላሉት ምናልባትም ብዙ መቶ አመታት ደለል ያልተሸከመ ንፁህ ውሃ ያገኛሉ፣ ስለዚህም ግድቡ ለኢትዮጵያ/single purpose/ለሌሎቹ ደግሞ /multiple purpose/ፕሮጀክት እንደሆነ ሊታወቅ ይገባል።

ስለዚህ ለዚህ ፕሮጀክት በቀጥታም ይሁን በተዘዋዋሪ ድጋፍ ያለማድረግ እንዲሁም ይህን ፕሮጀክት መቃወም ሃገርን ከክስረትና ከጉዳት ይልቁንም ከከፋ የረዥም ጊዜ ድህነት እንዲሁም የእዳ ሰቀቀን ማውጣት እንደሆነ አብዛኛው የህብረተሰብ ክፍል ቢረዳውም ሌሎችም ወገኖች ከዚህ ሃገርንና ወገንን ከሚጎዳ ተግባር እንዲታቀቡ ጥሪያችንን እናስተላልፋለን።

ትንሳኤ ለኢትዮጵያ፣ ድል ለተጨቆኑት!

አንለያይም! I am Proud of my people, the Ethiopians!

June 11, 2013

by Teshome Debalke

I always wonder how people with such political turmoil and economic hardship ruled under a hollow ethnic tyranny as Woyane behave in exceptionally high standard of civility, discipline and impeccable class and unity never seen in the human experience.

How is it when people around the world continue to find petty excuses to divide and wage war and conflicts against each other Ethiopians remain calm and collected with such diverse ethnicities, languages and religions unlike any other nation on earth and under a ruling regime that instituted an Apartheid system to provoke and divide us? How it is the people of Ethiopia maintain their dignity and kept the brazen ethnic regime and its stooges hiding in shame?

Frankly, it defies any human experience to believe such civilized people exist in our world.  For that reason, a while back I wrote ‘Civilized people uncivilized regime: how did it happen?’. With my limited knowledge about my own people like most of my compatriots I was trying to explore how uncivilized regime like Woyane and its sorry stooges ended up ruling the sea of civilized people as Ethiopians?

At the meantime, how it is the stooges, supporters and apologists of the ethnic regime behave in such uncivilized manner; defending not only a regime known for its atrocities, human right violation, corruption, treason and up to committing genocide and ethnic cleansing to stay alive but lie like a darken sailor on behalf of ethnic tyranny . Could only their greed and corruption explain their behavior of going out of their way to sustain the brazen ethnic tyranny?  Could it be possible they are mercenaries doing the bidding of foreign enemy? Can racism; as the dead tyrant claimed play a role in their behavior?

Whatever it may be, twenty two years passed since the self-declared ethnic minority regime came to power and began instituting ethnic Apartheid and instigate ethnic and sectarian conflicts with declared mission of ransacking the fabric of Ethiopia. Yet, it failed to convince anyone its uncultured and corrupt rule worth a penny on the dollar. In fact, the stooges slowly and surly are learning from the people how to behave civilized. But, it is not fast enough to abandon the uncivilized regime they serve and join the people to help dismantle the ethnic regime they help sustain fast enough to institute democratic rule.  Some are in an illusion bordering mental disorder. Others are trapped in a system they help create with no way out. The vast majority are embarrassed to show their face and doing everything to disassociate with a dying ethnic regime. Of course, the few die hard will stick around until the last second doing everything they can to disfranchise Ethiopians in a hope of sustaining the regime.

The blatant Techola Hagos is a living proof of the apologist of the Apartheid system trying to rescue the regime by undermining the oppositions in-and-out of the country. His latest rant like the previous is undermining any treat to the ethnic Apartheid regime he helped institute and want to sustain. This time around his target is the Blue Party and the Diaspora oppositions. In an article titled ‘Running the Political Gauntlet: The Blue Party and the Diaspora’ he kept repeating the same mantra to legitimizing the TPLF regime. He zeroed in on any perceived gathering danger to the Apartheid regime than the regime itself as many apologists do in the pretending to oppose the regime.   This time, the Blue Party and the Diasporas are preempted as a gather danger. He conveniently doesn’t mention TPLF’s goons in Diaspora doing their dirty job on behalf of the regime but only the oppositions. He never talks about bringing TPLF’s officials to justice but recommend the opposition to prepare for the next election under TPLF goons that wouldn’t allow a meeting hall. He never exposes TPLF agents in Diaspora undermining the oppositions but putting the opposition in bad light. He never talk about TPLF regime intrusion in the religious affair but talks about ‘any contact in terms of unity with Jihadist Muslims, or fanatical Christians, or any Diaspora based political organization is a kiss of death for the Blue Party’ condemning Ethiopian Muslims protesting as jihadist and Christians as fanatics just like the kangaroo court of TPLF. He also makes it sound as if the oppositions are pleading instead of demanding TPLF to surrender for democratic rule.

In his pervious article he was recommending the release of journalist like Eskinder and political leaders like Andualem that galvanized Ethiopians and send them in exile while on his latest article he is calling ‘associating with Diaspora based politics as ‘a kiss of death’; reviling his main mission is to deflate the opposition in-and-out of the country in order to protect TPLF regime from any serious challenge anywhere.

Then he pulled his stunt and the main reason he wrote the article; to galvanize Ethiopians behind TPLF regime against Egypt through the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam connecting it with the ruling Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt and our Ethiopian Muslims. He said;

“The Muslim Brotherhood dominated Egyptian politicians are simply using the Ethiopian Dam building as a pretext for their eternal goal to destroy Ethiopia’s Christianity. Look what is happening in Egypt already, Mohammed Morsi’s Government is imprisoning and charging those brave men and women who started the rebellion in Egypt and made it possible through their sacrifices for an unknown academic to get elected as President of Egypt. Mind you the Brotherhood was a bystander of that movement and only joined later when victory was within reach, and proceeded to steal the work-product of the democratic movement and is trying to change Egypt into a Sharia-law State right this moment.”

Last time around Egypt was a ‘historical enemy of Ethiopia’. Never mind TPLF went to bed with Mubarak of Egypt to come to power. This time around TPLF is defender of Ethiopian Christianity and the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt is conspiring with Ethiopian Muslims for ‘their eternal goal to destroy Ethiopian Christianity’? Now, if the man is not a TPLF mole with a mission of sustaining TPLF by all means necessary we don’t know who could be.

Regardless of what the Morsi’s government may be he didn’t steal the show like the Woyane regime did in 2005 but elected by the majority of Egyptians because it was better organized, thanks to Mubarak’s suppression of religion like Woyane does. Second, the ‘pretext to destroy Ethiopia’s Christianity and ‘trying to change Egypt into Sharia-law state’ is a scare tactic straight from the cook book of TPLF. For his information Woyane is destroying Ethiopia’s Christianity unlike any other foreign or domestic entity ever did by filling our religious institutions with Godless cadres.  In fact, Ethiopians of the Muslim faith defended their Christian traditions like no Woyane would ever will.  If truth must be told, Egypt under Mubarak did more damage to Ethiopian Christians through Woyane than Morsi’s government would ever imagine.  Therefore, the desperate Tecola Hagos would be better off to come up with a better excuse than wagging war with our flash and blood of the Muslim faith by associating them with Jihadist. Again, if truth must be told Woyane have more communality with Jihadist than our people of the Muslim faith, period and case closed.

Frankly, Ethiomedia would do Ethiopians a favor if it entertains more of how to get rid of TPLF’s regime by accommodating more of what brings Ethiopians together than apart. Accommodating frustrated TPLF apologist or searching for foreign and domestic enemies to distract us from business of democracy is not good public service and wise.

Ethiopians are extremely modest beyond believe to call the obvious fact that the TPLF regime is uncivilized enough to qualify for prehistoric warlord/raider. Quite frankly, Woyane’s behaviors and actions are as if it came from ancient period to stumble into modern era. But, what isn’t explainable is the behavior of the willing stooges and apologist that choose to go back in time to lend hand for archaic regime. Yet, Ethiopians didn’t deny them their rights to behave like deadly clowns; knowing their behavior and actions are beyond what is expected of any decent human in modern times, not to mention contrary to the Ethiopian experience.

How it is our people master this level of tolerance and civilization never seen in the human experience while the stooges of Woyane behave in the exact opposite? More questions no answer yet.

Unlike what the world want to make us believe; thanks again for ethnic tyranny and its contemporary élites that accompanying it, our religious tradition explain better what Ethiopians are all about.

Our religious tolerance is deeper than what our ethnic political elites would be able to understand ever. Before it was fashionable to say inter-faith dialog in the ‘modern world’ we mastered it at home 1000 years ago. Before it was fashionable to cash-in in the name of international terrorism, our people defended their people from terrorism of fascism and tyranny as they do now. Before it was fashionable to say conflict resolution to bring paid stranger to mediate our conflicts, our people practiced it at village level with our unpaid elders. Before the marriages of convenient between ethnic tyranny and our religions  was  fashionable to populate our religious institutions with their offspring to impose their will, our religious leaders were respected by the people and feared by the ruling regimes to earn their statues by popular choice than forced by political cadres. Before it was fashionable our clueless modern elites venture to undermine our religious tradition we solved most of our disagreement under our religious institutions, on and on.

When the world is going in flame in the name of terrorism, sectarian and ethnic conflicts instigated by regimes and the political elites of our time Ethiopians are saying አንለያይም (we will not be separated)- sending the ethnic tyranny and its stooges in disarray to search for anything to wage more conflicts and division.

When Prophet Mohammed sent his followers  to seek safety from the Godless regime of the time he didn’t expect the children of Ethiopia  would go through the same thing from Godless regime at home in the 21st century. Can anyone explain how, for the first time in the history of Ethiopia our people go to jail for their religious beliefs? More question no answer.

Instead of our people of the Muslim faith being the solution for the global problem of sectarian conflicts and terrorism a small time Godless ethnic tyranny and its hired messengers want us to abandon them;  contrary to the Ethiopian tradition of we are our peoples’ keepers.  What possible reasons we have to side with the Woyane Apartheid regime against our own people?  Count me out.

The recent demonstration organized by Blue Party in Addis Ababa reinforced again what Ethiopians around the world have been saying. Our people were civilized way back before the uncivilized regime pulls its village trickery. If Woyane understood what it means to be Ethiopian it wouldn’t bring foreign ideology, religion and ethnic divide. It wouldn’t attempt to break up 1000s of years of bonding for petty corruption and illegitimate rule. It wouldn’t involve in treachery, ethnic cleansing and shopping for enemies for Ethiopians. As expected the disoriented regime one and only option (short of surrender) turned out to be sending its stooges with Islamic name to separate Ethiopian Muslims from their Christian compatriots like it did by ethnicity.  No way José

That isn’t all, the frightened ethnic tyranny dispatched its goons around the world are trying to lamp our flash and blood of Ethiopian Muslims with international terrorism.  Digging holes, clipping photos, manufacturing dramas and raiding the social media to separate Ethiopians from each other. If that isn’t reaching further to the bottom of the pits we don’t know what could be.

No one should be surprised if Woyane came up with controlled explosions even if it hires al-Qaida to do its dirt job.  After all, it is not the first time or will be the last time. My people, we are dealing with a terrorist regime, this time, dressed up to look like Development Regime. The regime is always in a shopping spree to make friends and enemies of its kind to deprive us peace and freedom.

For those attentive to follow up Woyane trickery, the recent provocation of Egypt was preplanned way back when it bused its unformed zombies in North America to demonstrate in front of the White House with a slogan Ethiopians right to use the Nile water. Have you heard Woyane demonstrate about our natural rights of using our sea access? Not in a million years.

The planned diversion was in case its domestic diversion didn’t work. As expected it didn’t, therefore it uses one among many on the list of ‘foreign enemies’.  As planned the Abbye Dam and the coordinated bond sell came out of no where.  And Egyptians became our historical enemy after she, under Mubarak spent considerable resources to help bring Woyane to power to comeback bit it. As we observed the poor Egyptians are talking to undo Woyane; exposing the regime further as their old mercenary tuned sour.
For those that didn’t notice the stooges and apologist of Woyane they coming out of the woodwork in coordinated fashion to divert the issue of Woyane surrender into mobilizing our people to defend Woyane from ‘foreign enemy’ the same enemy Woyane went to bed with and sold the country in hand basket. There is no question Woyane have lists of foreign as well as demotic diversion to use to remain in power. Eritrea is one of the ‘enemies’ on the list that the stooges and apologists remind us frequently.

Egypt is no longer tyranny ruled country unlike Ethiopia. The democratically elected regime in Egypt would be wise to release the entire document of what the Mubarak’s regime did in support of Woyane to destabilize and divide Ethiopians. It would show the world what Woyane is all about to help end the ethnic terror regime for good. As Egyptians had the right to know what the Mubarak Tyranny did to their people, Ethiopians have the right to know what the Mubarak regime did to bring Woyane ethnic tyranny to power in Ethiopia.  After all, if democratic government comes to Ethiopia like it did in Egypt the Nile issue is as simply as negotiation between two civilized regimes, noting more to it. But, the Mohamed Mursi’s regime is behaving like Mubarak regime to the benefit of Woyane.

Ethiopian oppositions should not loss focus of Woyane’s surrender for democratic rule. They should insist the Mohamed Mursi’s government to release what the Mubarak regime’s relationship was with TPLF under the Melse Zinawi. After all, contrary to what the Woyane regime tells us the document the late Melse Zenawi signed with Mubarak in 1993; vowing to protect Egypt’s full right of the Nile water is available.  The Egyptian regime must act civilized as an elected regimes do instead of acting like Woyane as some of the leaders behaved on the recent released video.

Petition must be organized for the Egyptian government to release the long relationship between Melse and Mubarak to destabilize Ethiopia. It should also demand Mohamed Mursi’s role to bring about democratic rule in the region, including in Ethiopia. Being elected by the people has responsibility that comes with it unlike tyrants that live on the expenses of the people as Egypt under Mubarak and Ethiopia under TPLF.

Regardless, the people of Ethiopia have spoken; if only ethnic tyranny and its riffraff elites understand what they are missing. Brainwashed to hate themselves and blinded by the money they steal they are holding the bag of their enablers standing bare necked in front of the world.

Ethiopians always make clowns out of our enemies. Not withstanding the damage they cause, we always prevail. We shall prevail from domestic enemy this time around.

This article is dedicated to Ethiopians of the Muslim faith. Your inspiration to bring us back to our historical tradition of brotherhood and sisterhood against tyranny then and now is what Ethiopiawinet is all about. No second rated ethnic tyranny should change our Ethiopian religious traditions. We must protect our Ethiopia as much as our religious traditions that sustained us for 1000 of years.

source ;  http://ecadforum.com/2013/06/11/proud-of-my-people-the-ethiopians/

Meles Zenawi and our money

by Yilma Bekele

The last seven years or so I have been writing opinion pieces on the political situation in our homeland. Naturally I have discussed the late Prime Minter Meles Zenawi and his central role in charting the direction our country should follow on the road he envisioned to improve the life of our people. Prime Minter Zenawi ruled over our country for twenty one years. One can say from 1991 when the TPLF took over to 2001 when the split within the party took place in the aftermath of the Eritrean Conflict the TPLF operated in a primitive semi democratic group type of leadership which they brought over from their days fighting the Derg.

The split that took place in 2001 changed the dynamic of the ethnic based outfit. It did not take long for Meles Zenawi to assert his position as the Capo di tutti capi (boss of all bosses) in the Mafia outfit that was masquerading as a political party until his death in 2013. The 2005 General election was another defining moment in the relationship between the TPLF Party and Meles Zenawi on one hand and the people of Ethiopia on the other.

From 1992 to 2004 Meles Zenawi and his party were busy redrawing the map, rewriting our history, granting independence and redefining our national priorities and felt comfortable in their accomplishments. In fact they were so sure that they have constructed a solid foundation that will withstand any and all challenge by what they thought to be a desperate amalgamation of discredited and demoralized opposition that they allowed an open semi free election. Meles called the move “a calculated risk.”  Obviously it exploded and back fired on his face.

The election changed the whole dynamics of the relationship between Meles Zenawi as a leader and the Ethiopian Nation as his responsibility. His earlier misgivings about Ethiopia as a nation, his deep seated hatred towards the rest of Ethiopia in general and the Amhara in particular, his always nagging feeling that people did not give him credit for being an Ethiopian was validated by the complete rejection of his party in every village, town and city all over the country. The election was a watershed moment in the life of Meles (Legesse) Zenawi Asres.

I brought this all up because in order to understand the latest news regarding the personal wealth of Ato Meles it is important we have a good perspective on what drove the individual to engage in such massive crime of the first kind that the whole idea boggles the ordinary mind. Because of the many atrocities visited on us we have taken the news in many peculiar Ethiopian fashion which I am sure is difficult for others to comprehend. We have become desensitized to the crimes of the Government and we do not react in a rational or normal manner like the rest of humanity. I believe this situation is a glaring example of that strange Ethiopian behavior towards crime, the criminal and the victim. It is not nice to say but I am afraid we have a long way to go before we learn to assert our human right and dignity and demand respect as a citizen endowed with certain unalienable Rights

The richest.org  an internet site that publishes the net worth of rich and famous people in the world in its recent publication included none other than our own Meles Zenawi in the company of other billionaires in its ranking. I am certain we all looked twice to make sure someone is not playing tricks on us. I am afraid it is true. There is no reason to doubt why the folks at richest.org would pick on our guy unless they have verifiable facts in order to splash his name and picture on the front page.  Of course they are aware his wife and family will sue the hell out of them if there was no truth to their assertion and pay dearly for it too. Up until now no one has come forward to set the record straight if mistake was made.

What they publically splashed across their front page was Meles Zenawi is worth $3 Billion US dollars. His profession is given as a politician and included details about his length in office and marital status. As an Ethiopian this for me is a very troubling question that I must answer to myself to satisfy the many questions twirling in my head. To be frank with you I have no concept of a billion dollar and I am afraid even a million is beyond my pay scale. How did Meles Zenawi do it?

We know for sure Meles Zenawi never worked for wages until he became the President of Ethiopia in 1991. He came to the job with the clothes on his back; I am sure some books and most probably not even a wallet in his pocket. He had no needs for all that while engaged in fighting the Derg. Ever since that day he has stayed in Arat Kilo and has never engaged in a profitable business, been officially involved in any partnership that we know of or known for his keen sense of entrepreneurship. He has been a political leader. The nagging question again is how does one amass 3 billion dollars while not engaged in a business enterprise? What exactly is this special ability he possessed that turned according to his wife a four thousand bir a month salary into a 3 billion bonanza in less than a decade?

Since he is dead I am afraid we are unable to ask the individual. Whatever form his wealth is in it is safe bet to assume it is not invested or sitting in one of our banks. But one fact we know for sure is that the folks at the richest.org were able to find out and verify their data in order to publish such information. Of course we can summarize how one makes a lot of money being a political leader and we wouldn’t be off the mark. The only way open to such an individual is corruption and using the power of his office for personal gain. I am afraid it does not require a degree in nuclear physics to figure that out.

In hind sight it is possible to pinpoint the period when the Prime Minster decided to engage in such outright petty theft of our National wealth and help himself and his family in this criminal behavior by looking at the political and economic situation in our country. I will bet anything that 2005 was the point in time that the dictator turned rouge and decided to pay us back for the perceived betrayal and ungratefulness for his sacrifice on behalf of our Nation. You see the problem with disturbed and mal adjusted people is that they always believe their selfish deeds is in the interest of others and they do not take rejection kindly. The 2005 election was what drove our tyrant to the abyss and that trend continued to the end. Three billion dollars is not a small matter and it requires some unfulfilled deprivation to satisfy. We are of course finding out today the little tyrant was up to the job.

What we do with this information is what interests me the most. After all we know he did not earn it. The natural assumption is he stole it from us. That I am afraid is not off the mark since he did not take it with our permission. The question to our people and nation is what do you exactly do when someone illegally takes what belongs to you? Really except for an Ethiopian this is such a pedestrian question it is enough to roll one’s eyes and say whatever dude! Naturally if someone robs you and you know who, it is safe to assume you would call the police on the individual or take him/her to court to get redress.

That is what I am hoping we do. Get off our righteous anger, get over our surprise, put that cynical behavior behind us and earnestly look for ways to recover what is legally, morally and justifiably ours. I have a few proposals to make that I think is not beyond our ability to try to do. The people of richest.org have already done the best part of the job for us. They I am sure without much personal motivation have been able to find out the dead guy certainly stashed all that money away. Thus I am assuming we have such an incentive to move heaven and earth to follow the trail and uncover every penny of what is taken from us. This is what I think we should start with:

1. Demand the Ethiopian Government open an investigation regarding the alleged wealth of the PM to clear his good name and the reputation of our country.
2. Demand the Ethiopian Parliament start investigation to see if the information has any validity.
3. Demand the Ethiopian government put a travel ban on his widow and family until the issue is resolved.
4. Encourage, help and advice patriotic Ethiopian banking professionals to secure information regarding money transfer connected with the ruling group.
5. We in the Diaspora organize a team consisting of forensic accountants, banking and finance professionals, finance lawyers, computer scientists and criminal investigators to follow the paper trail where ever it leads to.
6. We encourage and help our professional investigators with leads, inside information etc. to help them.
7. We in the Diaspora study case histories of such wealth recovery done by other victims such as Philippines, Tunisia, Chile, Egypt, Libya etc.
8. Demand Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Clinton Foundation, World Bank, IMF and all other international organization make their books transparent regarding their dealings with the Government of Ethiopia.
9. Respectfully ask my brother Obang to use his vast resources to look into the matter.

10. Respectfully ask ESAT to use its journalistic knowhow to investigate and expose this national shame.

All the above are not beyond our ability to accomplish. It is up to each one of us to take the initiative to help our country and people recover what is stolen from us. Three billion dollars is a lot of money and it could be used to open schools, hospitals, improve water supply, and bring better sanitation service and other needed projects to improve the life of our people. It is not fair or morally right for one family to illegally take what belongs to all of us.

I am afraid this is the tip of the iceberg. If the person in charge was helping himself to the till we should also assume those around him were not sitting idle. Thus the possibilities are more than excellent that top officials of TPLF such as Seyoum Mesfin, Arkebe Uqbai, Berhane Gebre Kristos, Tedros Adhanom, are sitting on a pile of money that cannot be explained easily. It is imperative we demand a through explanation regarding their net worth, how they acquired it and where exactly it is invested at the moment. As government officials they are obliged to answer or face the consequences. They owe our nation an explanation and it is not unfair to ask those who hold political power to explain the source of their wealth. I am not accusing but as a citizen it is our right and obligation to make sure no laws have been broken by those that are supposed to enforce it.

I believe this is a very important matter and cannot be ignored, laughing off or dismissing it off hand is not good enough. When you consider the amount of money the Diaspora remits to help their family and friends it is absolutely not fair that those sitting in charge would just turn around and put it in their pockets for personal and family use. The money the Diaspora makes comes by sacrifice, hard work and plenty of sweat. It looks like our officials starting with the late PM feel entitled and think nothing of putting their dirty fingers in the till. If we let such criminal activity take place under our watch and do nothing about it I am afraid we have no moral ground to call our country home, to carry the flag and celebrate our gallant ancestors that paid a price to preserve what we today call Ethiopia. When we let such criminal act and national abuse go unchallenged I am afraid we we invite more abuse and we have no one to blame but ourselves.  I used to think of the late dictator murderer (Professor Asrat, Asefa Maru), Human Right abuser (Kinijit leaders, Bertukan Mideksa, Eskinder Nega, Bekele Gerba, Abubeker Ahmed) now I can add another designation to his hall of shame – grand larceny.

sours:  http://ecadforum.com/2013/05/30/meles-zenawi-and-our-money/