STANDING UP FOR ETHIOPIAN FARMERS

By Geletaw Bekele

                                                                         Part I

In my last article “The Shocking Truth of ‘Double Digit Growth’ ” I spoke of the worsening economic conditions of Ethiopian civil servants over the last 20 years.  This decline has resulted in the weakening of Ethiopian civil servants’ economic empowerment (ትዳር የማሸነፍ ጉልበት) by seven times in the face of government claims of “rapid growth”.

 In this article I will discuss the deteriorating quality of life of Ethiopian farmers during the same twenty years. In order to understanding the predicament of Ethiopian farmers of today two significant misconceptions need to be addressed first.  The first problem is that some people seem to think that Ethiopian farmers are benefiting from the recent, high rise in food prices.  The truth is however that the majority of Ethiopian farmers, or more than 80% of farmers who plough farms of less than one hectare of land, do not benefit from increased food prices.  The second problem is that the Ethiopian government who proclaims a progressive development policy through its Agriculture Development Lead Industry (ADLI) is not giving adequate support to rural development. In order to elaborate these points let’s take a look at the actual economic life of typical farmers first.

 1)  Farmers’ economic status 

In the sea of Ethiopia’s economic decline the condition of Ethiopian farmers might be examined by observing their relative income.  However, since farmers do not have fixed incomes as their civil servant counters parts do, the harshness of their severe economic conditions cannot easily be measured.  In fact the severity of the Ethiopian farmers’ economic alienation is best observed by following the hand to mouth existence of farmers struggling to meet their barest expense while their normal sources of income are quickly disappearing.
Since 80% of Ethiopian farmers live in highland areas let’s focus on the average expenses and sources of income of these farmers in particular.   For example, a representative farmer living in a given area of the Ethiopian highland, having the average household size of six family members normally needs the following items to subsist. One liter of kerosene currently costing 18 birr as well as one single portion of soap costing 12 birr is sufficient for one month’s use for six family members.  As is an estimated 1 kilogram of coffee at 120 birr, 1kg of sugar at 15 birr, 1kg of pepper at 80 birr and 1kg of salt at 4 birr.  When we add these average monthly expenses the total expense is 249 birr per month.  When farmers cannot grow onions, bean and other necessary food stuffs the expense climbs up to between 350 and 500 birr per month.  This minimum expense is merely for bare survival and does not include other basic necessities such as clothing, incidental medicine or the cost of grinding cereals for food preparation.

 In addition to this minimum expense now imagine this farmer has to pay 1,200 birr for Urea fertilizer and more than 1,000 birr for DAP.  For improved seed function he will have to spend 2,500 birr per quintal.  As well he would expect to pay a land tax of up to 200 birr.  This means that the typical farmer needs around 10,900 birr ready cash for expenses apart from producible food stuffs.  Now, the question is, Is this sum affordable for this farmer?

To tackle this question we must next survey the scant to diminishing sources of income for today’s highland farmers.  Ethiopian farmers commonly share the following resources for income generation: selling accumulated wood or charcoal, raising livestock for foods production and growing grains for cereal production.

When we take a close look at the reasons for the disappearance of these income sources we understand just how deeply Ethiopia’s farmers have sunk into economic ruin.  Wood from the now wiped out Ethiopian forest of long ago used to cover more than 35% of Ethiopia, but today has becoming harder and harder to find.   This problem shows that it is not now easy for highland farmers dependent on wood as fuel and sources of income to gather this valuable resource.  A closer look at this deforestation reveals a peripheral and dramatic problem that of unbalanced rainfall patterns. 

During the regular rainy season there are shortages of rain offset by unusually heavy rains.   Shortages of rain expose rain dependent farmers to the loss of livestock and the under production of food goods.  Heavy rains expose sloping highland farms to erosion which results in soil continuously losing fertility.  These alarming conditions combined with disregard and inaction by the Ethiopian government signal a persistent worsening of life experience for Ethiopian farmers. 

Another problem is population growth has increased alarmingly compared to that of 20 years ago.  This reality has created a land shortage in highland area farm distribution.  As a result farmers are not able to produce sufficient yields to cover their monthly expenses.  Likewise the strain on livestock is not sustainable and because of this livestock is not a viable source of income for farmers either.  The reality for farmers is that all of their sources of income generation are collapsing.  Due to this the economic situation of Ethiopian farmers will continue to decline.

In the highlands of Ethiopia a farmer with an average family size of 6 ploughs an average of around 0.9 to one hectare of land.  Suppose this farmer produces 800kg of wheat per year per hectare while using fertilizers.  How can this farmer feed his family throughout the year? 

According to relief organization estimates one person needs at least 15kg of wheat per month to survive.  This means that this farmer needs 1,080kg of wheat per year just to feed his family and himself.  This farmer would have to buy or beg another 280kg of wheat per year in addition to what he produces on his own to insure that his family members could enjoy 1/2kg of wheat per day per person throughout the year.  Unfortunately, the biggest problem facing today’s farmers is not only this one.  But instead, the fact that as soon as this farmer harvests his insufficient product the government insists that he sell his crops in order to repay his 4,700 birr of fertilizer and seed cost. 

This farmer would have to sell around 600kg of wheat out of his 800kg produced to repay his debt, having only 200kg of wheat left for personal use.  These circumstances prohibit farmers from using agricultural inputs like fertilizers or improved seed products and as a result their yield is even less than the meager 800kg.

The government, instead of subsidizing agricultural inputs, is encouraging farmers to buy these high priced fertilizers and improved seed products whereby this stimulus forces farmers to sell their knowingly non-surplus product to repay the cost of these inputs.  The government is systematically manipulating poor farmers to compensate for the market being otherwise empty. If the market were to be empty the government knows that city dwellers would revolt against the government and its poor policies. 

As we have seen the life of Ethiopian farmers today is completely different to that of 20 years ago. Not comparing Ethiopian farmers with developed nation farmers or even other African farmers but only comparing them to their own life of 20 years ago, the quality of life is lost.  This is the saddening story for all Ethiopians.

 Ethiopian farmers who customarily enjoy coffee two or three times a day may now only enjoy one cup on occasion or stop drinking coffee at all. Farmers who were using kerosene to light their homes in the evening may stop using it and return to using chopped wood as they did in the 1800s. Highland farmers who use pepper and sugar to flavor their meals will stop enjoying it. Those who cannot now afford soap may stop using it to wash their clothes. In the case of an emergency they will no longer be able to afford to get medical treatment.

N.B

A discussion of social justice, education and human rights will continue in part two of this article Stand up for Ethiopian Farmers.
   
                                                 
                                                                Geletaw Zeleke
                                                          geletawzeleke@gmail.com

THE WOYYANE ACT OF SELLOUT DEAL CHALLENGED BY PROTESTORS

By Wondimu Mekonnen: London 09 June 2011

The Partners in crime made up of Developing Markets Associates (DMA), Africa Matters Ltd (AML) and the Woyyane Ministers, had their first UK-Woyyane Investment Forum on 9 June 2011 in London. Ethiopians in London were also there to mark their disgust with such an outrageous scramble for Ethiopia among neo-colonizers, land grabbers and their agents in power in Ethiopia.

Regardless of every effort made by the Woyyane to conceal the venue where they were going to conduct their mischievously organised first UK-Woyyane Investment Trade and Tourism conference, the protestors still managed to pinpoint when and where this crime against the Ethiopian people was going to take place and turned up on the gate to tell them that there is no return in investment in tyranny. It has got to be “UK-Woyyane” economic forum because Woyyane controls everything in Ethiopia, not just the political platform, but the whole economy as well. This event is held just one week after UNDP revealed that US$8.4 Billion had been stashed away in foreign banks by the Woyyane regime.

Woyyane went to the extreme length to conceal the venue from view. Listening to the media and reading the websites, they realised that Ethiopians would be turning up anyway on the gate of Institute of Technology and Engineering at 2 Savoy Place, at 8:00 am sharp, just 1 hour before the meeting. The Woyyanes beat them to that. To avoid the humiliation of the 16 April type mishap, Woyyane officials turned up before 7:00 o’clock – 2 solid hours before the meeting. When two of our activists arrived at 7:00 o’clock in the morning to prepare the demonstration place with the Police, they were surprised to see 150 Woyyane Ministers and official pushing and pulling each other to enter the building. They must have spent sleepless night to arrive at that time at that spot. The two activists phoned others to let them know what was going on. By the time others arrived, all Woyyane delegates transported from Ethiopia were all in locked up themselves inside for 2 hours. The only people seen at the gate were a dozen of hired bodyguard (security men), the few usual suspect “wedo geba hod-aders” (collaborators, in short) like Yalew Kebede and his likes. The barrage of insults from the protesters drove the wedo-gabs inside too.


Woyyane are like leeches. Unless one is careful, coming in contact with such blood sucking beings may cost respect. These leeches are everywhere in now days. There are freshwater, terrestrial, and marine leeches. They all have one in common. They suck blood. Woyyanes are like that. They are in restaurants pretending to enjoy food, in Ethiopian nightclubs pretending to enjoy the music, in youth sport arenas pretending to be sport-lovers but with entirely devilish motives – to stick themselves to healthy body to suck out blood. They even attempt to infiltrate into our churches, mosques and communities so that they lure and attach themselves to worshippers and community members. This has been evidenced when some well respected members of our community turned up at 2 Savoy Place to the meeting only to be heckled by the protestors. ESAT television reporters were chasing after them to ask questions, but they had no convincing answers. Now, these people are going to be outcastes by the community as collaborators. Their images are ruined. They have no way out now, but sing along Solomon Tekalign about the beauty of Meles’s eyebrows. Woyyane will suck out their blood like leeches and spit them out like chewing gum when their times are up. It will then be too late to recover. The stigma stays.

Some independent journalists and researchers who went in were very much disgusted with what they saw. All scramblers for Ethiopia were praising Woyyane for opening up Ethiopia for sale. Land grabbers were over the moon to lay their hands on some plots of fertile land. A British friend, who had the chance to witness this shameful act texted from the inside: “It is sickening”. Baroness Lynda Chalker, the former Minister of State for Overseas Development was heard praising the dictators.  A day will come when the people of Ethiopia would rise and get rid of the tyrants and ask her about her association with these child killers. Norman Ling, British Ambassador to Ethiopia, Laurence Robertson MP, Atam Sandhu, Managing Director, and Developing Markets Associates were among the facilitators. Ethiopians should know who are dancing with murderers.

At the presence of a BBC radio reporter, the protestors were heard shouting: “The Brtitish Government - Where are your morals? Where are your principles! Where are your norms! Where is your democracy! Where is your respect for human right? How come you do business with tyrants?” The protestors further shouted: “Yesterday Ben Ali, Yesterday Mubarak, today Gadafi, today Ali Abdullah Saleh, today Assad, tomorrow Meles!” The protestors underscored the fact that it was time for tyranny to disappear from Ethiopia. They confirmed this by shouting their current popular slogan: Enough! Beqa! Gaye! Aluni! Yeakil! Khalas! To tyranny, dictatorship, ethnic apartheid and injustice!


Thanks to the modern technology, we have captured and retained some of the moments on the videos for those who were not there and for history.

http://www.youtube.com/user/wmym?feature=mhee#p/a/u/3/UOPgx51azng

http://www.youtube.com/user/wmym?feature=mhee#p/a/u/5/VTJaqOsSrCA

http://www.youtube.com/user/wmym?feature=mhee

http://www.youtube.com/user/wmym?feature=mhee#p/a/u/4/gYSAzRjTYDk


http://www.youtube.com/user/wmym?feature=mhee#p/a/u/2/vNJyYmXamTI


http://www.youtube.com/user/wmym?feature=mhee#p/a/u/1/Wwbi1cWFvWg


The meeting was a whole day business. In the evening, when the delegates came out, some of our activists remained behind to see what was going on. The newly trapped collaborators came out with bunches of flowers each. That must be a token of gift of “welcome to my web”, from Woyyane!

GIRD UP YOUR LOINS, WOYYANE IS BACK AT YOUR BACKYARD AGAIN

By Wondimu Mekonnen, London

It appears that no minister is left in Addis Ababa these days except one or two. We know for sure that the Minister of Health has remained behind to look after the shaky health of Prime Misery Meles Zenawi and the other is the Minister of Defence to protect Meles from his own shadow. The rest are here in London with us with their begging bags. Hailemariam Desalegn (looks must have been the criterion to be appointed to the highest post of Woyyane regime), Deputy Prime Misery and Minister of Foreign Affairs; Sufian Ahmed, Minister of Finance and Economic Development; Mekonnen Manyazewal, Minister of Industry; Sinkinesh Ejigu, Minister of Mines; Tefera Derbew, Minister of Agriculture (may be to sell agricultural land to the highest bidder); Mekuria Haile Hailemariam, Minister of Urban Development and Construction; Teklewold Atnafu, Governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia (where gold bars turn into bricks) and Abi Woldemeskel, Head, Ethiopian Investment Agency and finally Ato Teshome Beyene, Secretary General, Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce are back in London, just over a month since we chased their colleagues out of the Imperial College on 16th April 2011. This time they are back with vengeance. Gird up your loins again, Ethiopians in Britain! They are on your doorstep again!

Woyyanes are here because the UK Government organised for them the first “UK-Ethiopia Investment Trade and Tourism Forum”. Shame on the current Government of the UK for yet again aligning itself with ruthless dictators! How come the very government that talks so much about democracy and human rights abuse in Zimbabwe on television, radio and newspapers discuss about economic cooperation with the current most tyrant regime of Ethiopia? The difference between Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Meles of Ethiopia is that Mugabe takes land from the rich whites and gave it to poor blacks. Meles grabs land from the poor and sells it to foreigners. Both rich whites in Zimbabwe and the poor Ethiopians in Ethiopia are human beings. UK’s cooperation with the tyrants is an approval of tyranny, in the eyes of the down trodden mass of Ethiopia!

Once the information about this shameful event leaked out, the Woyyane Embassy in London made every effort to cover it up. First, they removed the information about the venue. Then they totally removed the whole post from their website. They convinced their sponsors to remove the venue too. We have now obtained the original information intact and can be seen at:

http://addisvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Weyane-meeting.pdf.

The edited information can still be found at

http://www.trade.uktradeinvest.gov.uk/pt_pt/investintheuk/event/134700.html?null.

The British and the USA government deploy their modern weaponry arsenals in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya to “defend democracy”. The exiled Ethiopian community has been telling them, democracy has no colour. The democracy they preach for Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Zimbabwe etc. is the same in Ethiopia too. The right hand of Meles Zenawi is tainted with blood. It was Tony Blair and Gordon Brown that was shaking hands with him before and now David Cameron. Labour or Conservative in power, it is business as usual. What a double standard! Woyyanehas been killing, maiming, jailing and vanishing citizens into exile ever since it came to power. The UK Government has been complaining about refugees overwhelming their country, but they are babysitting the regime that has been pushing us all out of our country. We are disappointed with the UK government that is ready to do business with the murderers and showering them with billions of taxpayers’ money (see http://addisvoice.com/2011/03/the-beggar-and-hislavish-banguets/).

The Ethiopian regime is one of the most ruthless and corrupt regimes on

(picture curtsey of TG)Planet Earth. What kind of business can one does with a regime that attempts to sell bricks as a gold bar (1) (2)? There will be nothing that the Ethiopian mass would be benefiting from this so called “UK-Ethiopia Investment Trade and Tourism Forum”. The benefit of this exercise is for the Endowment Fund for Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT), the TPLF economic machine that owns runs 90% Ethiopian trade and industries in Ethiopia. The Public property that was “privatised” upon the coming to power of TPLF went straight to the EFFOT. No private owner would start any business without members of the TPLF becoming joint owners. After that, this Mafia clan rides on the back of the investor like a horse. Read the following shameful report:

http://redsea1.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=2860947

The Woyyanes tell us that there is economic growth. Of course, there is, let us admit it, to be fair. Whose economy is growing, though? The answer lies in the fact that the owners of the entire economy are TPLF officials. The EFFOT’s business empire is booming and the very double digit growth that is frequently blurted out every year belongs to the TPLF owned businesses. The rest of our nation swims below poverty line. Every penny generated goes to the wallets of Woyyane officials and then out to the foreign banks. No dime tickles down to the ordinary 75 million or so Ethiopians. Ethiopians are still a staving. The Woyyane has taken for granted that it is the responsibility of the United Nations or other donor nations to feed its own people and not the regime’s responsibility. Woyyane has just celebrated its 20th year in power. The number of people starving has tripled since then. Under the tribalist repressive regime, Ethiopians are humiliated. Our history is desecrated. Our unity is ruined. Our national wealth has been robbed. Our rights have been violated. We cannot put up with this!

In Ethiopia everything is up for sale. Recently, the regime in power is busy selling fertile lands to agro-industrial multinationals while millions don’t have a land to grow their own crops to feed themselves. As Ethio-channel, one of the pro-regime newspapers reported, Meles Zenawi said regarding peoples’ complaints on this issue, the following:

“ማልቀስ ካለብን ለህንዶች ለሰጠነው 100 ሺህ ሄክታር መሬት ሳይሆን ገና ላልሰጠነው 3 ሚሊየን ሄክታር ነው”

Loosely translated: “If we have to cry, we should not be crying for the 100 000 hectares of farmland we have already given away to the Indians, but for the 3 million hectares farmland we are about to give away.” This is outrageous! This is yet another proof that Meles Zenawi has been looking down upon our people and exhibiting his utmost disrespect! He is saying: “There is nothing you can do about that!” Let us see what we can do about!

The 193 people that had been murdered in 2005(3) in cold blood are still fresh in mind. Woyyane robbed the election ballots and threw the entire leadership of the opposition into prison and charged them with treason and insurrection. Woyyane officals even charged foreign citizens with the same laughable charge. After strengthening the grip to power, they had released the leadership of the opposition since then, but they weakened them to the extent that the opposition wouldn’t be able to challenge them any more. They succeeded in silencing the free press 100%. They jammed even the VOA and DW Amharic services. Billions of dollars now spent on employing Chinese technology of jamming radios and satellites. The majority of the surviving Ethiopian journalists have flocked into exile. The few remaining are prevented from writing anything inside that country against the suppressive and corrupt regime. The outcome of that suppression is evidenced when Woyyane declared in 2010 that it won 99.6% of the votes(4). How can anyone put up with such gross violation of human rights? Ethiopians in Britain are currently preparing a welcome party for Woyyane delegates that are coming to London. Every Ethiopian who cares for his/her country should take a day off to confront the delegates of the tyrants. We shall repeat the humiliation we brought upon the Meles’s messengers at Imperial College on 16th April, again on 9th June. We live in a free world. Let us be the voice for the voiceless mass left back home. Many of us are here not because we chose the exiled life but we could not live in our country. Therefore, it is our duty to expose the tyrants.

You all are invited to this amazing welcome party. Let us give them another chase.

ETHIOPIA STRETCHERS HER HANDS UNTO GOD!


End Notes:
1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7294665.stm
1. http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-03/how-make-convincing-fake-gold-bars
3. http://eeas.europa.eu/human_rights/election_observation/ethiopia/final_report_en.pdf
4. http://www.eueom.eu/ethiopia2010/reports

ግንቦት ሀያና ሀያ የሰቆቃ ዓመታት በኢትዮጵያ

ዘረኛውና ጨቋኙ የወያኔ አምባገነን ገዥ በታሪክ አጋጣሚ በለስ ቀንቶት አዲስ አባባን ከተቆጣጠረ፣ እንሆ ሀያ ዓይመታት ደፈነ። በነዚህ ሀያ

ዓመታት፣ ይኸ የማፊያ መሰል ቡድን፣ ኢትዮጵያን ሲገነጣጥላትና ሕዝቧን በዘር ከፋፍሎ ሲያምሳት፣ በሽህ የሚቆጠሩትን ዜጎቻችንን ያለርሕራሔ ሲጨፈጨፍና፣ ሲያስጨፌጨፍ፣ በመቶ ሺ የሞቆጠሩትን እስር ቤት አጎራቸው፣ በሚሊዮን የምንቆጠረውን ዘመድ አዝማድ፣ ቤት ንብረታችንን፣ ተወልደን ያደግንባትን ቄዬዎቻችን ትተን፣ አገር ጥለን እንድንሰደድ አደረገን። ያቺን አዲስ አበባን የተቆጣጠሩባትን ከይሲ ዕለት ወያኔና ግብረ አብሮቹ በከበሮ፣ በእምቢልታና በጭፈራ ለማክበር ሲዘጋጁ፣ ዘጠና ከመቶው ኢትዮጵያውያን ግን ዘረኝነትና ፈላጭ ቆራጭ የነገሠበትን ዕለት በሀዘን፣ በለቅሶ በዋይታና በቁጭት አስታውሰናት እንውላለን

ከታሪካዊ አስክፊ ተግባሮቹ መሀል፣ ከሽዕቢያ ጋር አብሮ፣ ተባብሮ ኢትዮጵያውን ወግቶ፣ አድምቶ ገንጥሎ ማስገንጠሉ፣ ምንጊዜም ቢሆን ከታሪክ ተወቃሽነት አያድነውም። ለዚህ እኵይ ዓላማ ተዋግቶ ሕይወት ከማጥፋቱ፣ ደም ከማፍሰሱ ባሻገር፣ በተባበሩት መንግሥታትና በአፍሪካ አንድነት ድርጅቶች ኮሪዶሮች ኮሮጆ ተሸከሞ ተገንጣይዋን የኢትዮጵያ አካል፣ ኤርትራን እንደ ነጻ አገር ዕወቁልኝ ብሎ የተሯሯጠው የክሕደት ወንጀል ምንጊዜም የማይፋቅለት በደም የተጻፈ በደል ነው። ወያኔ ምንጊዜም ባለሁለት ወደብ ባለቤት የነበረችውን ኢትዮጵያን ወደብ አልባ ያደረጋት ከሀዲ ገዢ መሆኑ ምንጊዜም ተመዝግቦ ለታሪክ ይተላለፍላታል። ይኸ ሁሉ አሳፋሪና አሳዛኝ ድርጊት በወያኔ መፈጸሙን ቢረዱ፣ ሕሊና ቢኖራቸው አሻቃባጮቹ አገልድመው የሚያዝኑበትና የሚያለቅሱበት፣ አንገት የሚደፉበት እንጂ ሊያከብሩት፣ ሊጨፍሩብት፣ ባልተነሱም ነበር። ወያኔ ያ ሁሉ ወንጀል ሳያንሰው፣ ከላይ ከትግራይ እስከታች ጋሞ ጎፋ ድርስ የወረደውን 1600 ኪሎ ሜትር ርዝመት እስከ 30 እና 50 ወደውስጥ የገባ ጥልቀት ያለውን፣ መሬት ለሱዳን በነጻ ማስረከቡ፣ በታሪክ ፊት የሚያስጠይቀው ወንጀል ነው። አሁን አሁን እንኳ፣ ኗሪውን ከቀዬው እየፈነቀለ ለውጭ ቱጃሮች የሚቸረችራቸው የእርሻ ለም መሬቶች ከዚህ በፊት በታሪካችን በማንም ርዕሰ ብሐሮች የልተፈጸመ አሳፋሪና አሳዛኝ ወንጀል ነው።
ወያኔ ሥልጣን ሲይዝ፣ ከፎከረባቸው አንዱ፣ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ በቀን ሶስቴ የሚበላበትን ሁኔት ፈጥሮ ከረሀብ በአጭር ጊዜ ውስጥ የሚገላገልበትን ባዶ ቃል ኪዳን ገብቶ ነበር። የሚናገረው አንድ ነገር፣ የሚሠራው ሌላ! መለስ ያኔ የሚያወራው ስለምግብ መስሎን ነበር። ዛሬ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ በቀን ሶስቴ አበሳውን ይበላል። ምግብማ ከየት ተገኝቶ! ረሀቡ፣ ጠኔው ከዛሬ ሀያ ዓመት ሁኔታ በሶስት ዕጥፍ ጨምሮ፣ ዛሬ እስከ 15 ሚሊዮን ሕዝብ ጦሙን የሚያድርባት አገር ስለሆነች በየጊዜው የተባበሩት መንግስታትና የበጎ አድራጎት ድርጅቶች ከሚያወጡት መግለጫ መረዳት ይቻላል። ዛሬማ፣ ነጻ ገበያ ብሎ የፎከረብን ነጻነት ተረስቶ የዘይትና የስኳር ዋጋ እስከመቆጣጠር ገብቷል። የሚላስ የሚቀመስ የጠፋበት አገር አስታቅፎናል።

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ወያኔ ስልጣን እንደጨበጠ፣ ለአንዴና ለመጨረሻ ጊዜ በኢትዮጵያ ሰላምና መረጋጋትን እንደሚያመጣላት ቃል ገብቶ ነበር። እንኳን ሰላምና መረጋጋት በአገሪቱ ሊሰፍንና ሽታውም ዝር አላለባትም። እንዲያውም አገሪቱ ከዚያን ጊዜ ጅምሮ ወይ በእርስ-በርስ ዕልቂት፣ ወይ በጎረቤት አገር ጦርነቶች ውስጥ ጥልቅ ባይነት ትንጣለች። ከዚያች ሥልጣን ከቶቆጣጠረባት ዕለት ጀምሮ እነሆ እስከዛሬ ለአንዲት ቀን እንኳን አገሪቷ ከጦርነት አርፋ አታውቅም። የጎሳ ፖሊቲካው ሆን ተብሎ በሕዝባችን ላይ ተጭኖ፣ በሰላም አብሮ ለብዙ ዓመታት የኖረው ሕዝባችን ኦሮሞውና አማራ እንዲጨራረስ ተገፋፋ። በአርባ ጉጉ፣ በአሰላ፣ በወተር፣ በበደኖ የተከሰተው እልቂት የዚያ ውጤት ነው። በጉጂና በጌደዎ መሀል ሆን ተብሎ የተቀሰቀሰው የእርስ በርስ ዕልቂት የዚያ ውጤት ነው። በሸከቾና በመዠንግር ብሔረሰቦች መሀል ተቀስቅሶ በመቶዎች የሚቆጠሩ መዠንግሮች: ሕጻናትና እርጉዝ ሴቶች ሳይቀሩ የተጨፈጨፉብት ሆኔታ ተመዝግቦ ተቀምጧል። እንዲሁ በወላይታና በሲዳማ መሀል የተፈጠረው አለመግባባት የዚያ ውጤት ነው። ኧረ ስንቱ ተወስቶ ያልቃል! ወያኔ በ1985 ዓመት ምሕረት ያለርህራሔ የጨፈጨፋቸው የአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ተማሪዎች፣ በ1990 በመንገድ ላይ የገደላቸው እነ አቶ አሰፋ ማሩ፣ ጉዲሳ እንሳ፣ ተስፋዬ ኩምሲሳ፣ ተረፈ ቁምቢ፣ በየጊዜው ሕይወታቸውን ያጡ የነጻው ፕሬስ ጋዜጠኞች፣ እነ ግዛቸው መንግሥቱ፣ ተስፋዬ ታደሰ፣ ወርቁ መኰንን፣ አባይ ኃይሉ፣ ኩምሳ ቡራዩ፣ በቀለ መኰንን ለአብነት የሚጠቀሱ ናቸው። ከ1990 ዓመተ ምሕረት እስከ 1993 የዘለቀው በሁለቱ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ጠላቶች በወያኔና በሻዕቢያ መሀል ተቀስቅሶ የ70 ሺህ ኢትዮጵያውያንን ሕይወት የቀጠፈው ጦርነት፣ ወያኔ ጦረኛ እንጂ የሰላም እርግብ አለመሆኑን ነው የሚያስረዳው። በዚያ ጦርነትም፣ ያ

ሁሉ መስዋዕት ተክፍሎ የተገኘውን ድል አልጄርስ ላይ የእጅ መስጠት ያህል ውል ተዋውሎ የዓለም መንግሥታት ያወቁላትን መሬታችንን ኢግላን ሳትቀር “አንጠይቅም” በማለት እንደተወላቸው ሲታውቅ በባድሜ ምክንያት እነሆ እስከዛሬ ሁለቱ ጦሮች እንደተፋጠጡ የጦርነት አታሞ እንደተመታ ነው። ወያኔ ጦሩን አሰልፎ ሶማሊያ ገብቶ በውርደት መውጣቱ የሚያሳፍር እንጂ የሚያስፎክር ባልሆነ። ለመሆኑ ጋምቤላ ውስጥ የተፈጸመው የዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀል፣ በዓለም አቀፍ የዘር ማጥፋት ድርጅት ተመዝግቦ መቀመጡ ምን መሆኑ ይመስላቸው ይሆን? እንግዲህ በቅርቡ በምርጫ 97 በግፍ የተጨፈጨፉት ወገኖቻችን ዕልቂት የሰላምና መረጋጋት ምልክት ነው ወይስ የብጥብጥ? ኧረ ለመሆኑ ኦጋዴን ውስጥ የሚንቀለቀለው የጦርነት እሳት የሰላም ምልክት መሆኑ ነው?

ወያኔ ዴሞክራሲን በአገሪቱ እንዳሰፈነ ይለፈልፋል። ድንቄም ዴሞክራሲ። እኛ አገር ወያኔ ያመጣው “ዴሞክራሲ”፣ ከለሎቹ፣ ጋዳፊ ሊቢያ ውስጥ ያመጣው፣ ሳዳም ሁሴን ኢራቅ ውስጥ ያሰፈነው “ዴሞክራሲ”፣ ሙጋቤ ዚምባብዌ ውስጥ ያመጣው “ዴሞክራሲ” እና የደቡብ አፍሪካ ውስጥ አፓርታይድ ለጥቁሮቹ ያመጣው “ዴሞክራሲ” ምስጋና ይንሳው ያሰኛል። ዛሬ በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ከአፓርታይድ የከፋ የፕሬስ ሕግ ተደንግጎ ከግድያ፣ ከእስራት የተረፉ ጋዜጠኞቿ እንዳሉ ወደ ስደት የተዳረጉባት አገር ውስጥ የምን ዴሞክራሲ ነው ለማውራት የሚቻለው? አሁን አሁንማ፣ መለስ ዜናዊ እርቃኑን መቅረቱን ተረድቶ፣ “ከዴሞክራሲ በፊት ልማት” ማለት ጀምሯል። የዴሞክራሲማ ነገር አይነሳ። ዲሞክራሲ ያበበላቸው፣ ምናልባት እንደፈለጉ እንዲገድሉ፣ እንደፈለጉ እንዲያስስሩ፣ እንደፈለጉ የሚሳደቡ የወያኔ ባለሥልጣናትና አጫፋሪዎቻቸው ብቻ መሆን አለባቸው። አለበለዚያማ በመቶ ሺ የሚቆጠሩ ኦሮሞዎች ወገኖቻችን እስር ቤት በታጎሩባት አገራችን፣ አማሮች በዘር ተለይተው እንዲጠሉ የሚለፈፍባት አገር ምን ዓይነት ዲሞክራሲ አለ ተብሎ ሊወራ ነው?
ለመሆኑ፣ ዓለም ጉድ ያለው የ1997ቱ አሳፋሪ የምርጫ ማጭበረበር እንዳለ ሁኖ፣ በ2002ቱ ምርጫ ተቃዋሚውን ሁሉ አፋቸውን ለጉሞ 99.6% አሸነፍኩ ብሎ አንድ ገዢ ባወጀባት አገር የምን ሀያኛው ዴሞክራሲ የሰፈነበት ዓመት ማክበር ነው የሚወራው? ወያኔዎች ምን ዓይነት ዓይን አውጣ ፍጡሮች ቢሆኑ ነው፣ በብርሀን የሚታየውን ገሀድ ሊሸውዱን የሚሞክሩት?
የዘንድሮውን ግንቦት ሀያ፣ የምናስታውሰው እስከ አሁን ያልተገላገልነውን ሀያውን የስቃይና የሰቆቃ ዓመታትን ከል ለብሰን እያዘን ነው። ወያኔ አገሪቱን ወደ ከፋ ቀውስና የማንወጣው አዘቅት ይዟት እየነጎደ ነው። የዘንድሮውን ግንቦት ሀያ የምናስታውሰው ይኸንን ዘረኛ፣ ጨቋኝና አፋኝ ቡድን ለመገላገል በቁርጠኝነት ታጥቀን ለመታገል በአንድነት ለመነሳት ቃል እየገባን ነው። ግንቦት ሀያ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ከፍተኛ የሀዘን ዕለት ነው።

በተባበሩት ልጆቿ ክንድና በአምላክ ኃይል ኢትዮጵያ ለዘለዓለም ትኑር!