ESAT DC Daily News August 31 2012

ህዝቡ በአቶ መለስ ዜናዊ የተንዛዛ የለቅሶ ስርአት ተቃውሞውን እየገለጠ ነው::

ነሀሴ ፳፬ (ሀያ አራት) ቀን ፳፻፬ ዓ/ም

ኢሳት ዜና:- የኢሳት ዘጋቢዎች ያነጋገሩዋቸው የህብረተስብ ክፍሎች እንደገለጡት የአቶ መለስ ዜናዊ የተንዛዛ የለቅሶ ስርአት በህይወታቸው ላይ ከፍተኛ ተጽእኖ እያመጣ ነው።

አዲሱን አመት ምክንያት በማድረግ በኢግዚቢሽን ማእከል ውስጥ በሚካሄደው ባዛር  ባለፈው ሳምንት በ20 ሺ ብር የንግድ ቦታ የገዛ ሰው ለኢሳት እንደተናገረው ፣ የአቶ መለስ ዜናዊን እረፍት ተከትሎ የኢትዮጵያ ቴሌቪዥንም ሆነ የራዲዮ ጣቢያዎች ማስታወቂያዎችን ማስተላለፍ በማቆማቸው፣ የእርሳቸውና በውስጡ ከፍተኛ ገንዘብ በማፍሰስ ቦታ የገዙ በብዙ መቶዎች የሚቆጠሩ ነጋዴዎች ለከፍተኛ ኪሳራ ተዳርገዋል።

የህዝቡን ሀዘን የሚያደናቅፍ ምንም አይነት ስራ መስራት አይቻልም የሚለው የመንግስት መመሪያ ፣ ከውጭ አገር አላቂ እና ፍጆታ እቃዎችን ያመጡ አስመጪዎችንም ክፉኛ መጉዳቱን ነው ነጋዴዎች የሚናገሩት። በፍጥነት ተሽጠው ከባንክ የተበደሩትን ገንዘብ መመለስ የነበረባቸው ነጋዴዎች ማስታዎቂያዎችን ለማስተላለፍ ባለመቻላቸው እቃዎቻቸውን ለመሸጥ አለመቻላቸውን በምሬት ገልጠዋል።

የኢትዮጵያ ቴሌቪዥንና ራዲዮ ከሀዘን ውጭ የሆኑ ማስታወቂያዎችን ለማቅረብ ባለመቻሉም ድርጅቱ ለኪሳራ መዳረጉን በድርጅቱ ውስጥ የሚሰሩ ጋዜጠኞች ለኢሳት ተናግረዋል። ጋዜጠኞቹ እንዳሉት ነጋዴዎችና አገልግሎት ሰጪ ድርጅቶች ቁጣቸውን እየገለጡ ነው።

በሌላ በኩል ደግሞ በአማራ ክልል አስለቃሾች እና ፉከራና ሽለላ የሚያሰሙ ሰዎች በቀን 500 ብር እየተከፈላቸው የለቅሶ ስርአት እያደረጉ ነው። የኢህአዴግ ካድሬዎችም ህዝቡን ያለቀሰና ያላላቀሰ በማለት እየለዩ እንደሚገኙ ኢሳት ያነጋገርናቸው ሰዎች ገልጠዋል።

ዩኒቨርስቲዎችም በአቶ መለስ ዜናዊ ምክንያት የምረቃ ስነስርአታቸውን አራዝመዋል፡፡ የመቀሌ እና ዩኒቲ ዩኒቨርስቲዎች የምረቃ ስነ ስርዓታቸውን የጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ ቀብር እስኪፈፀም ላልተወሰነ ጊዜ አራዝመውታል::

Why are they making us cry? By Yilma Bekele

The Ethiopian people have been told to show grief regarding the death of Meles Zenawi. This is sadness by government decree and it is not unique to us. We just witnessed it happen in North Korea but it always is a little strange when what you feared happen to you. There is no question the regime under the control of the TPLF party is orchestrating this drama. They are not even trying to hide it. The truth of the matter is they are going the extra mile to make sure the citizen understands it is official government policy.
It took the regime over four weeks to announce the death of the dictator. It looks like they took their time time to plan what to do and how to do it. They are perfectly aware that the individual is not liked let alone loved by the Ethiopian people. Since his illness was hidden from the public his sudden death would have unjarred the population. They know the situation has to be dealt delicately. Their main goal was how to use the unfortunate situation to garner sympathy and good will while at the same time show who the boss is. The fact the citizen loathed the little tyrant was a big hurdle to overcome.

The only way the party can get benefit out of this disastrous situation was to go back into their bag of tricks and revert back to the proven method of bullying by using force and coercion. It has worked since their inception forty years ago and they have become really good at it. The system of bending people’s wills to to fit the tyrants way is the hallmark of all totalitarian societies. The TPLF did not invent it but they are very good students of everything that is bad and toxic to society.

The question in front of us is how and why they do that? I believe this has eloquently been answered by Mr. Anthony Daniels in his book ‘The wilder further shores of Marx’.

‘…..with an established totalitarian regime the purpose of propaganda is not to persuade, much less to inform, but to humiliate. From this point of view propaganda should not approximate to the truth as closely as possible: on the contrary it should do as much violence to it as possible. For by endlessly asserting what is patently untrue, by making such untruth ubiquitous and unavoidable, and finally by insisting by everyone publicly acquiesce in it, the regime displays its power and reduces individuals to nullities. Who can retain his self respect when, far from defending what he knows to be true, he has to applaud what he knows to be false- not occasionally, as we all do, but for the whole of his adult life.’

This is a nut shell describes Woyane kind of mind set. You would think Mr. Daniels has been to Ethiopia. Mr. Daniels’s book is based on his experience of such failed states as East Germany, the former Soviet Union, North Vietnam and North Korea among others. The TPLF controlled Ethiopian government is copying the loathsome practices of the Stasi in East Germany and the KGB of the Soviet Union. Folks like Berket Semeon, Workrneh Gebeyehu, Getachew Assefa are excellent students of such inhuman system that has managed to hurt so many but was at last discredited by the citizen. Our country is back ward, our people are kept illiterate by design our culture still is based on fear of authority, fear of elder and our Woyane warriors found a fertile ground to practice this craft of crime against a nation.

I would like to take one statement from the quotation above and look at it in the context of Ethiopia.
‘…..with an established totalitarian regime the purpose of propaganda is not to persuade, much less to inform, but to humiliate. From this point of view propaganda should not approximate to the truth as closely as possible: on the contrary it should do as much violence to it as possible.’
In life Meles Zenawi was a recluse that disparaged even the word Ethiopia. He lived in a palace surrounded by robust security and never left his compound to mix or associate with ordinary people. The only contact the citizen has with the PM was thru the window of Ethiopian TV. We all know he never allowed open discussion and surrounded himself with people that worshiped him, agreed with him and swore allegiance to him. He is known to be very vindictive, ill tempered and unforgiving. The Ethiopian people, his close associates and his Party feared him. There was no respect or love for the individual. This is the man we all know.

Today Berket Semeon and company are telling us a different story. Mind you not a little different, not an innocent white lie but as outrageous as possible and beyond the truth as much as possible. They just do not want the citizen to cry a little, grief some but they expect some genuine wailing to be recorded and beamed all over the world. Why do you think they do that? It is all about show of power. By forcing us to do what we all know to be false they make us loose self respect and individual will. When you see your family, your neighbor, your coworker being forced to act in such manner when you find yourself doing something you know deep inside to be untrue you die some. The person is reduced to nothingness with no self respect, no spine and no free will. Haile Gebreselassie comes to mind.

It has the same effect on those that watch such spectacle from afar. I have noticed my friends to be confused, unable to understand and finally choosing silence to hide the shame. We all try to explain the phenomena by mentioning culture, being human or religion. It is an attempt to make sense. We are trying to make the irrational situation palatable by injecting some logic into it. It is perfectly understandable. Our brain rejects such dissonance. We get angry, feel confused, embarrassed and helpless.

This disturbing situation in our society is not a natural occurrence or an accident. It is engineered by the TPLF party. In their futile attempt to stay in power they have declared psychological form of warfare on their own people. It is relentless, unmerciful and very lethal. It does not kill you but it reduces you into a state of sub human, void of free will and easy to control. That is what the criminals are doing to us. That is what they have been doing to us with Meles Zenawi as the ring leader. Today he has left his underlings to continue from where he left off. They show no shame, no what is called ‘yelunta’ when they declare black is white, wrong is right and force us to repeat it after them.

How do you fight such form of warfare? There is no need to panic. No shame to being forced to go against our will. A government is a very powerful organization. When a state puts all its efforts to do evil no one is immune. The Russians, the East Europeans went thru over fifty years of hell. The North Koreans are in worse of shape than us. Our tormentors are amateurs compared to the Stasi. The fact that our country is backward and our people kept ignorant is what is giving them the power. On the other hand the world is a different place now. The advent of the Internet, the ubiquitous nature of Social media has given us a slight advantage. The founding of ESAT as I said before is a game changer. The Woyane goons monopoly on the media is no more.

We stop the complaining and work harder to expose, undermine and attack our tormentors aggressively. We encourage those that are trying to organize and work for us instead of second guessing, undermining their effort and splitting hair. We hope those that have been organizing for some time show us sign that they are here and active. There is no need to wait for the most opportune moment rather the job of the activist is to seize the time and make history. My friend Abebe Gelaw did not wait for the stars to line up but rather he forced the issue and made history. The time is now and the place is Ethiopia. We shall win, history is on our side. Stay strong don’t let them break you.

atse minilik: Ethiopia After Meles Zenawi – (analysis)The death...

atse minilik: Ethiopia After Meles Zenawi – (analysis)
The death...: Ethiopia After Meles Zenawi – (analysis) The death of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on 20 August has triggered a constitutional success...

Ethiopia After Meles Zenawi – (analysis)

The death of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on 20 August has triggered a constitutional succession mechanism which he personally designed, having led the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front for 21 years. His chosen successor, Hailemariam Desalegn, takes over in the first non-violent transition in Ethiopia’s modern history.

Hailemariam was Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Deputy Chairman of the EPRDF.

An EPRDF Executive Committee meeting on 21 August endorsed his leadership and agreed to set aside any differences for now. He had been expected to take over only in 2015, when Meles was due to retire. The next stage is the recall of parliament to confirm Hailemariam’s position as Prime Minister. Set for 23 August, this was postponed due to the funeral of the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Abune Paulos on the same day. Now the parliamentary vote to endorse Hailemariam will take place after the state funeral of Meles on 2 September. Following that, Hailemariam will prepare to stand for the leadership at the EPRDF congress due next February and take the party into elections in 2015.

Hailemariam breaks with tradition by being a Protestant from the Southern Region, not a northern highlander or an Orthodox Christian. He is widely approved of in the party but milder than Meles and no political heavyweight. Senior officers, most of them former guerrilla fighters of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, will be the main power-brokers. The Chief of Defence Staff is General Samora Yunus, who fought alongside Meles in the 1970s and 1980s.

Many believe that the Tigrayan securocrats have yet to decide on their longer-term view of the succession and their vision for the future. Ethiopia’s commitment to the African Union Mission in Somalia and the campaign against Al Haraka al Shabaab al Mujahideen is very unlikely to change. Meles had last appeared in public on 26 June, at a meeting with President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed of Somalia. After that, he was mostly in hospital in Brussels but doing government and diplomatic business on the telephone almost to the end. His aides and ministers created a fog of disinformation about his whereabouts, to protect his personal security, and about his actual state of health. So dense was the fog that even well informed insiders in Addis Ababa were shocked by the news of his death. Sources there say that he was recovering from an operation when he succumbed to an infection.

No succession battle was in progress as Meles died and no serious power struggles are expected in the immediate transition. The EPRDF had already launched a process of ‘generational change’. Meles had spoken of retiring earlier but was persuaded to stay on until 2015. The leadership is still nominally collective, with the party’s 36-member Executive Committee theoretically able to overrule the prime minister.

The EPRDF consists of four regional parties: the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the Oromo People’s Democratic Organisation (OPDO), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) and the Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM). The TPLF helped to form the other three parties but its dominance has weakened somewhat.

In the middle class that has emerged under Meles, Tigrayans (with 6% of the population) have less weight than the Oromo (36%), Amhara (25%) and several other nationalities. Devolution to regional and local government structures has increased the shift of power away from Tigrayans, whose control of the police and military has been reduced in recent years. They now make up just over 18% of the army, down from well over half in the mid-1990s, and many senior Tigrayan officers have recently retired. Amhara soldiers have risen to 30% from 25% and Oromo to 25% from 21%. The Amhara opposition insists that Tigrayans run the federal government but this is no longer the case, say analysts in Addis.

A Tigrayan successor to Meles would be unacceptable, which was why Hailemariam was picked to manage the succession. He replaced the ANDM’s Addisu Legesse, who retired under the policy of ‘generational change’, as Deputy Chairman and Deputy Prime Minister. The choice of his replacement was between Hailemariam and Demeke Mekonnen, the new ANDM leader, who was supported by his own party, while Hailemariam got the votes of the SEPDM, TPLF and much of the OPDO. The TPLF seems to have calculated that a southern candidate would provide a balance between the Amhara and Oromo peoples and thus preserve Tigrayan influence; the ANDM wanted Demeke to come out on top, restoring the Amharas’ ‘rightful’ place as traditional rulers of the country.

Many in the OPDO wanted an Oromo Prime Minister, because they inhabit the largest regional state, are the largest ethnic group and contribute the largest mineral and agricultural resources. However, the OPDO had no acceptable candidate and stood by Hailemariam largely because he is not Amhara. Some analysts, though, say the TPLF could yet decide to assert itself in the EPRDF, through its still substantial dominance of the security establishment. Tigrayan politicians may allow further democratisation in society and within the EPRDF but are likely to use their dominance of the security establishment to ensure that the reduction of their political and financial influence is mitigated, one source told Africa Confidential.

The big problem is inflation, which persists – as does economic growth – for the past eight years at 10%-plus, according to the government, or 8.9%, according to the International Monetary Fund. Growth is unlikely to hit the planned 14% target.

Twenty years of EPRDF rule have not abolished ethnic feelings and factions. A big TPLF split in 2001 involved dissenters from Tembien and Enderta against the areas of Adua, Axum and Shire, from which Meles came. Some analysts think that the dissenters will return to prominence now that Meles is gone and may move against his widow, Azeb Mesfin, a former fighter and powerful businesswoman controlling several large companies.

Regional differences linger in the ANDM. Politics in the south reflect rivalries among its 56 ethnic groups; the Sidama people want their own state; the Wolaita are their traditional competitors; the Gurage and the Silte were recently recognised as a separate nationality. Hailemariam, a Wolaita, remains Chairman of the SEPDM, while the State President and Deputy Chairman of the party is Shiferawu Shigute, a Sidama. Another significant southern figure on the federal stage is Redwan Hussein, who is Silte. There is little agreement on how to include people from other nationalities, such as the Afar or the Somalis.

Meles had hoped to turn the EPRDF into a nationwide party but the idea appears to have been shelved. ‘Generational change’ will be discussed at a forthcoming congress, postponed until early next year. In the ANDM, some suspect that the newer recruits are not properly committed to the party’s ideology. With Bereket Simon, Minister for the Government Communications Affairs Agency, about to retire, and Kassa Tekleberhan, Speaker of the House of Federation, likely to go in 2014-15, some Amhara believe the party will be under-represented at senior federal level.

The OPDO has both religious and regional problems, with tussles in the Supreme Islamic Council, whose elections start on 26 August. The Oromo Regional State spans evangelical Christian and Islamic areas, and the divide is reflected in politics. The rivals for the OPDO chair in 2010 were Alemayehu Atomsa, from largely Christian Wollega, and Mukhtar Kedir, an advisor to the Prime Minister, from largely Muslim Jimma (AC Vol 51 No 18). Despite Meles’s support, Mukhtar ended up as Deputy Chairman and Alemayehu took the chair of the party and the presidency of the region.

Source: The Norwegian Council for Africa