በጄነራል ሳሞራ ዩኑስ የሚመሩ የህወሀት አባላት ጀነራሎች የመለስ ቦታ የሚገባው ለኛ ነው የሚል ጥያቄ ማንሳታቸው ተሰማ

ጳጉሜን ፫ (ሦስት) ቀን ፳፻፬ ዓ/ም

ኢሳት ዜና:-ከኢህአዴግ  ሥራ አስፈፃሚ ሾልከው  የወጡ መረጃዎች እንደሚያመለክቱት፤ ጀነራል ሳሞራ ዩኑስ እና በሥራቸው ያሉ የህወሀት ጀነራሎች ለጠቅላይ ሚኒስትርነት ብቁ የሆነ ሰው ከነሱ መካከል ስላለ በመለስ ቦታ ምንም ዓይነት ሹመት እንዳይሰጥ  መልዕክት አስተላልፈዋል።

ጀነራሎቹ፦“መለስን መተካት የሚችል ብቁ ሰው አለን። ከኛ ፈቃድና ዕውቅና ውጪ ማንም ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ሊሾም አይችልም!”ነው ያሉት።

የጀነራሎቹ መልዕክትና አቋም መሰማቱን ተከትሎ በኢህአዴግ አመራሮችና አባላት መካከል ጭንቀት መፈጠሩም ታውቋል።

ይህ በ እንዲህ እንዳለ ኢህአዴግ ሊቀ-መንበሩን እና ምክትል ሊቀመንበሩን  እንደፈረንጆቹ አቆጣጠር የፊታችን ሴፕቴምበር 16 እንደሚመርጥ የኮሙኒኬሽን  ጽህፈት ቤት ሚኒስትር ዴኤታ አቶ ሽመልስ ከማል ለብሉምበርግ ነግረውታል።

የግንባሩ ሊቀመንበር የአገሪቱ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ሊሆን እንደሚችል ቃል አቀባዩን አቶ ሽመልስ ከማልን በመጥቀስ ብሉምበርግ ዘግቧል።

የ አቶ መለስ ማረፍ በመንግስት ብዙሀን መገናኛ በተገለጸበት ወቅት ፤ምክትል  ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩና የውጪ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትሩ አቶ ሀይለማርያም ደሳለኝ፦”ተጠባባቂ ጠ/ሚ/ር” እንደሆኑ የመንግስት ቃል አቀባይ አቶ በረከት ቢያስታውቁም፤ በ አሜሪካ የተመድ አምባሳደር ሱዛን ራይስን ጨምሮ በአቶ መለስ ቀብር ዕለት የተገኙ የውጪ አገር መሪዎች፦አቶ ሀይለማርያምን ፦”ተጠባባቂ ጠ/ሚ/ር እያሉ ቢጠሩም፤ እስካሁን ድረስ ሹመታቸው ሊጸድቅ አልቻለም።

የ አቶ ሀይለማርያም ሹመት የፊታችን መስከረም 16 ይጸድቃል ተብሎ በስፋት እየተጠበቀ ባለበት ጊዜ የህወሀት ጄነራሎቹ ያልተጠበቀ ጥያቄ ማንሳታቸው፤ የመለስን መሞት ተከትሎ በኢህአዴግ ውስጥ  እየተባባሰ የተፈጠረውን ሽኩቻ ይበልጥ ያወሳስበዋል ተብሎ ተፈርቶአል።

በ ኢትዮጵያ ከሚገኙ ወደ 60 የሚጠጉ ጀነራሎች 58 ቱ የህወሀት አባላት እንደሆኑ፤ የግንቦት ሰባት ራዲዮ ከነ ስም ዝርዝራቸው እና ከያዙት ሀላፊነት ጋር በዝርዝር ማቅረቡ አይዘነጋም።

ስለ ጉዳዩ አስተያየታቸውን ይሰጡ ዘንድ ኢሳት ያነጋገራቸው አንድ ስማቸው እንዲጠቀስ ያልፈለጉ አገር ቤት ያሉ የተቃዋሚ ፓርቲ መሪ፤ ጀነራሎቹ አነሱት የተባለውን ጥያቄ እርሳቸውም እንደሰሙት በመጥቀስ፤ይሁንና  ካለውና ከሆነው ተጨባጭ ሁኔታ በመነሳት ኢህአዴግ አቶ ሀይለማርያምን ከመሾም ውጪ ሌላ አማራጭ እንደሌለው አስረድተዋል።

“ከ እንግዲህ ከዚያ ውስጥ ሹመት እንስጥ ቢሉ፤ ከራሳቸው ጋር ብቻ ሳይሆን ከብዙሀኑ ህዝብና ከለጋሽ መንግስታት ጋር ጭምር ነው የሚጣሉት”ብለዋል-የተቃዋሚ ፓርቲ አመራሩ።

የአቶ ሀይለማርያም ደሳለኝ ተጠባባቂ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትርነት የማይጸድቅ ከሆነ፤ ኢህአዴግ መራሹ መንግስት  ዩናይትድስቴትስን ጨምሮ በለጋ ሽ አገሮች ዘንድ ከፍተኛ አጣብቂኝ እንደሚገባ ሌሎች የፖለቲካ ተንታኞችም  ሲናገሩ ይደመጣሉ።

በሌላ በኩል ደግሞ ህወሀት ከትናንት በስቲያ ባወጣው መግለጫ ” ታጋይ መለስ የትግራይን ህዝብ በብቃት በመምራት ከመሰል ጓዶቹ ጋር በመሆን ግንባር ቀደም ሚናውን የተጫወተ የህዝብ ልጅ ነበር ካለ በሁዋላ፣ ህወሐት ከውልደቱ ጀምሮ በድል እሰኪጠናቀቅ ድረስ ያጋጠሙ ውስብስብ ችግሮችን በመተንተንና መሠረታዊ መፍትሄዎቻቸውን በማስቀመጥ የመሪነት ሚና መጫወቱን ገልጧል።

ከመለስ በኋላስ?
(ተመስገን ደሳለኝ - የ ‘ፍትህ’ ጋዜጣ ዋና አዘጋጅ)
ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር መለስ ዜናዊ ዕሁድ ዕለት ስርዓተ ቀብራቸው ተፈፅሟል፡፡ ለሁለት ሳምንት ያህልም
ለእልፍ አእላፍት አንገብጋቢ ጉዳዮቻችን ግርዶሽ ሆኖብን የነበረው ብሔራዊ ሀዘንም አብሮ አብቅቷል፡፡
ለቤተሰቦቻቸው እና ለዘመዶቻቸው መፅናናትን ከልብ እመኛለሁ፡፡ ስለዚህም ከቀብር መልስ ባሉ ሀገራዊ
ጉዳዮች ላይ መነጋገር መጀመር አለብን ብዬ አስባለሁ፡፡
(የአቶ መለስ ሞት በመንግስት በይፋ ከተነገረ በኋላ ጥቂት ባለስልጣናት እና አንድ ቱጃር ነጋዴም
ህይወታቸው እንዳለፈ በማህበራዊ ድረ-ገፆች በስፋት ሲዘገብ ቢቆይም ‹‹ሟቾቹ›› በኢቲቪ እየቀረቡ በአቶ
መለስ መሞት የተሰማቸውን ሀዘን ገልፀው አለመሞታቸውንም በገደምዳሜ አሳይተውናል፡፡ ይህ አንድ
እውነት ነው፡፡ አልፎ ተርፎም ሞቱ የተባሉት ቱጃር ነጋዴ ከጥቂት ቀናት በፊት ሰራተኞቻቸውን ሰብስበው
‹‹መለስን ከአንድ ወር ከአስራአምስት ቀን በፊት ብራስልስ ሄጄ ጠይቄዋለሁ፡፡ አልጋው ላይ ተኝቶ
በላፕቶፑ ስራውን እየሰራ ነበር፡፡ ረመዳን ነው አልዋሽም፣ ሞተ በተባለበት ጊዜ የውሸት ነው አልሞተም
ነበር›› ብለዋል፡፡ እንግዲህ ነጋዴው አቶ መለስን በጠየቁበት እና ሞታቸው በተነገረበት ጊዜ መካከል የ45 ቀን ክፍተት መኖሩን ልብ በሉ)
አስቀድሜ እንዳልኩት የአቶ መለስ መሞት ከተነገረ በኋላ ሞቱ የተባሉትን ጨምሮ በርከት ያሉ ባለስልጣናትን በኢቲቪ ያየናቸው ለስራ
ብቁ በሆነ አካላዊ ጤንነት ሳይሆን ገና በእግሩ መቆም ያልጀመረ ህፃንን ‹‹ወፌ ቆመች፣ አልወደቀች…›› እያልን ራሱን ችሎ እንዲቆም
ስናበረታታው እየተንገዳገደ ለመቆም በሚሞክርበት አይነት አቋቋም መሆኑም ሌላ እውነት ነው፡፡ መቼስ ምን ይባላል ‹‹እግዜር
ይማራችሁ›› ከማለት ውጭ፡፡
የሆነ ሆኖ የአቶ መለስ መሞትን ተከትሎ አንዳንድ ያልጠበቅናቸው ነገሮችን ለመታዘብ ችለናል፡፡ ‹‹መለስ አልሞተም››፣ ‹‹ጀግና
አይሞትም›› ከሚሉት ጀምሮ
‹‹አለ ገና አለገና አለገና
‹የእከሌም› አለገና››
(የሁለት ባለስልጣናትን ስም እየጠሩ) እያሉ እስከሚጨፍሩ ሰልፈኞች ድረስ በአዲስ አበባ ጎዳናዎች ስንሰማቸው የነበሩ ድምፆች ናቸው፡፡
የሀገሬ ህዝብ ስነ-ልቦናን መረዳት እንኳን ለእኔ ለጉምቱ የማህበራዊ ስነ-ልቦና ተመራማሪዎችም ቢሆን የዳገት ያህል አድካሚ ነው፡፡ መቼም
ከሰልፍ ጋር እንደሀበሻ በፍቅር የወደቀ ህዝብ ያለ አይመስለኝም፡፡ በጃንሆይ ላይ የተቃጣው የ1953 ዓ.ም መፈንቅለ መንግሥት ሲከሽፍ
መሰለፍ፤ ራሳቸው ጃንሆይ በ1966ቱ አብዮት ከቤተ መንግሥቱ ሲባረሩ ‹‹ሌባ፣ ሌባ፣ ሌባ…›› እያለ ለመስደብ መሰለፍ፡፡ …ለአብዮት
በዓል በአዲስ አመት የመጀመሪያው ቀን ማግስት መሰለፍ፤ መንግሥቱ ኃይለማርያም በ1969 ህዳር 13 ቀን በኢህአፓ የተደረገባቸው
የመግደል ሙከራ ከከሸፈ በኋላ ቆራጡ መንጌ በኢቲቪ ቀርበው ሁለት እጃቸውን ወደላይ ቀስረው ‹‹የበረደች ጥይት ሞኋይቴን
ከመምታቷ ውጭ ሙሉ ጤነኛ ነኝ›› እያሉ መንፏለላቸውን ተከትሎ በማግስቱ በአብዮት አደባባይ ለድጋፍ ሰልፍ ስንወጣ ወፍ
አልቀደመንም፡፡ በእንዲህ አይነት ሁኔታ ከተደረጉ ከየትኞቹም ሰልፎች እጅግ ምፀታዊ በሆነ መንገድ የሚታወሰኝ በወራት ልዩነት
የተደረገው የአስራ ዘጠኝ ስልሳ ዘጠኙ ሆሆታ ነው፡፡ ነገሩ እንዲህ ነው፡- በ1969 ሚያዚያ 23 የሰራተኞች ቀንን በደመቀ ሁኔታ ለማክበር
በ‹‹ኢማሌድህ›› ስም መኢሶን ባስተባበረው ሰልፍ (እነመንግስቱ ኃ/ማሪያምም ባሉበት) ላይ ድፍን የአዲስ አበባ ህዝብ ‹‹መኢሶን
ፓርቲያችን›› ሲል አብዮት አደባባይን በሰልፍ አጥለቀለቀ፡፡ ይህ በሆነ በ3ኛው ወር መኢሶን ከደርግ ጋር በፈጠረው ፀብ የአመራር አባሉ
ተደናግጦ ዋነኛ ምሽጉ የነበረውን የህዝብ ድርጅት ጽ/ቤትን ለቆ ከሀገር ለመውጣት ሲሞክር ሱሉልታ አካባቢ ተያዘ፤ ይህን ጊዜም
በአብዮት አደባባይ ‹‹መኢሶን ፓርቲያችን›› እያለ ‹‹ለውዳሴ›› የተሰለፈው ህዝብ
ተይዞ መጣ፤
ጠላ ሲጠጣ፡፡
በማለት እያላገጠ ጨፈረበት፡፡ በ1981 ዓ.ም ግንቦት 8 ቀን በመንግሥቱ ኃይለማርያም ወታደራዊ ጁንታ አገዛዝ ላይ የተሞከረው
መፈንቅለ መንግሥት በመክሸፉም ቅዳሜ ግንቦት 12 ቀን 1981 ዓ.ም. በአብዮት አደባባይ የተጥለቀለቀ የድጋፍ ሰልፍ ያደረገው ህዝብ፣
ግንቦት 13 ቀን 1983 ዓ.ም. መንግሥቱ ኃይለማርያም ከሀገር መፈርጠጡ በሬዲዮ ሲነገር ‹‹ሌባ፣ ሌባ…›› እያለ አደባባይ ከመውጣትም
አልፎ ግዙፉን የሌኒን ሀውልትን እስከማፍረስ ደርሷል፡፡ …ባለፉት ሃያ አንድ የአቶ መለስ እና የኢህአዴግ የጉልበተኝነት ዘመናትም እንዲሁ
በርካታ ‹‹ጉራማይሌ ሰልፎች››ን ታዝበናል፡፡ በ1997 ዓ.ም እና በ2002 ዓ.ም. የተደረጉትን ሁለት ሰልፎች ብናነፃፅር በኢህአዴግ ዘመን
    ተመስገን ደሳለኝበተደረጉት መሀከል እጅግ ጉራማይሌ የሆነውን ሰልፍ እናገኛለን፡፡ በ97 ቅንጅትን ደግፎ የወጣው ህዝብ ከአምስት ዓመት በኋላ
የኢህአዴግን ጠቅላይ አሸናፊነት ለማብሰርም የወጣው ህዝብ ነው (ከትንሽ ማስተካከያ ጋር ማለትም፡- በመሀከል ባሉት ዓመታት ለአቅመ-
ፖለቲካ ወይም ምርጫ የደረሰውን የማህበረሰብ ክፍል ሳናካት ማለቴ ነው) ብለን ብንከራከር ቢያንስ የስነ-ህዝብ ፖለቲካ (Political
Demography) ያጠናን ዘዬ ይደግፈናል ብዬ አስባለሁ፡፡
ስለዚህም ሰሞኑን ለ‹‹ኑሮአችን›› እና ለበርካታ ወሳኝ የፖለቲካ ጥያቄዎቻችን ግርዶሽ ሆኖ የነበረውን የሀዘን ሰልፍንም እንዲሁ ከእነዚህ
እንደ አንዱ ቆጥረን ህይወትንም ፖለቲካውንም ማስቀጠል መቻል አለብን፡፡ (ሆኖም ከሰልፉ እና ከሀዘኑ ከመውጣቴ በፊት አንድ ጥያቄ
ላንሳ፡፡ ይኸውም የሀገር መሪ ሀዘኑን እንዴት ነው የሚገልፀው? መቼም በአደባባይ እንደጠቅላይ ሚንስትር ሀይለማርያም ደሳለኝ
‹‹ኡኡኡ…›› እያለ ግን አይመስለኝም፡፡ ይህ አይነቱ ተለምዶአዊ አለቃቀስ የሚፈቀደው እናቱ ጥላው ለጠፋችበት ህፃን ብቻ ነው፡፡ አቶ
መለስ ቢሆኑ ማንም ቢሞት እንዲህ አይነት ለቅሶ በቴሌቪዥን ካሜራ ፊት አያለቅሱም፡፡ ለማስረጃ ያህልም ከዚህ ቀደም የደህንነት
ሚንስትሩ ክንፈ ገ/መድህን በሞቱበት ወቅት ሀዘናቸውን የገለፁት ለአንድ ሀገር መሪ ፕሮቶኮሉ በሚፈቅደው መልኩ ተቆጥበው ነበር፡፡
ይህ ማለት ግን መለስ በክንፈ ሞት በሚገባ አላዘኑም ማለት አይደለም፡፡ በሚገባ አዝነዋልና፡፡ በሚገባ አላለቀሱምም ማለት አይደለም፤
በሚገባ አልቅሰዋልና፡፡ ነገር ግን በአደባባይ አይደለም፡፡ የሀገር መሪ ሀዘኑ ምንም ያህል የበረታ ቢሆን ወደአደባባይ አያወጣውም፡፡
ምክንያቱም የሚመራው ህዝብ ሙሉ እምነቱን በቁርጠኛ አመራሩ ላይ ከመጣሉ አኳያ በአደባባይ ለአንድ የስራ ባልደረባው እንዲህ
እየጮኸ አያለቅስምና ነው)
አሁን ወደዋናው ጉዳያችን እንመለስ፡፡ ደህና! የመጀመሪያ አጀንዳችን የሚሆነውም ከፊት ለፊታችን ለተደቀኑብን በርካታ ጥያቄዎች አዲሱ
ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ኃይለማርያም ደሳለኝ መልስ ሊሰጡን እንደሚገባ በአንክሮ ማስታወሱ ላይ ነው፡፡ ቀጣዩ ደግሞ የኢህአዴግ አጥር
የማያካልለን ኢትዮጵያውያን ግዴታዎቻችንን ለይተን ማወቅ እንደሚኖርብን መነጋገሩ ይሆናል፡፡ ይህ አይነቱ መነጋገር አስፈላጊ የሆነው
ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ ልክ ኢትዮጵያዊ እንዳልሆንን እና የሀገራችን ፖለቲካ እንደማይመለከተን ሁሉ ከዳር ቆመን ‹‹ስብሃት ነጋ እና በረከት
ስምኦን ግብግብ ገጥመዋል››፣ ‹‹ህወሓት በብአዴን እየተሸነፈ ነው››፣ ‹‹ሰራዊቱ እና ደህንነቱ ከህወሓት ጎን መሰለፉ አይቀርም››፣
‹‹ጄነራል ሳሞራ የኑስ እያንገራገረ ነው››… ጂኒ ቁልቋል በሚሉ የፖለቲካ ዜናዎች ‹‹ቢዚ›› መሆንን የመጨረሻ ግዴታችን እያደረግነው
ስለሆነ ነው፡፡ ይህ ግን አትራፊ አይደለም፡፡ ምክንያቱም የእነዚህ ፓርቲዎችም ሆነ የጉምቱ ባለስልጣናቱ ፉክክር በየትኛውም ውጤት
ቢጠናቀቅ ከኢህአዴግ ውጭ ላለነው የሚፈይደው ነገር የለምና፡፡ ለእኛ የሚጠቅመን የፉክክሩ ቀጥተኛ ‹‹ተዋናይ›› መሆን ብቻ ነው፡፡
አንድ ፓርቲ ብቻ በሀገር ጉዳይ እና በመንግሥት ፖለቲካ ላይ የሚወስንበት ዘመን ከአቶ መለስ መጨረሻም ጋር አብሮ መቆምም
ይኖርበታል፡፡ እናም ከኢህአዴግ እኩል በቀጣዩ የኢትዮጵያ ፖለቲካ ላይ የመወሰን መብታችንን የማስከበር ትግል መጀመር ያለብን
ይመስለኛል፡፡
በእርግጥ ይህንን እድል እነበረከት ስምኦንም ሆኑ እነ ስብሃት ነጋ ከአውሮፓ እና አሜሪካ ጠርተው፣ ወይም ከተጣድንበት የማህበራዊ ድረ-
ገፆች አውርደው አሊያም ከየመኝታችን ቀስቅሰው ይሰጡናል ብለን ካሰብን አንድም ኢህአዴግን በሚገባ አላወቅነውም፤ ሁለትም ፖለቲካ
እና ተቃውሞን ነጣጥለን አልተረዳነውም ማለት ነው፡፡
ስለዚህም የፖለቲካ ተሳትፎ የምናገኝበትን ዕድል በየትኛውም መንግድ ተጠቅመን ማደላደል አለብን፡፡ እንዲሁም ከዚህ ቀደም ከሄድንበት
መንገድ በተለየና በአዲስ መንገድ መጓዝ ይኖርብናል፡፡ ከአዲሱ መንገዳችን ምን አልባትም አንዱ ባልተለመደ መልኩ ለኃይለማርያም
ደሳለኝ እና ለኢህአዴግ ትንፋሽ መሰብሰቢያ ወይም ‹‹የማሪያም መንገድ›› መስጠቱ የመጀመሪያው እርምጃችን ሊሆን ይችላል፡፡ ይህንን
አባባል ትንሽ ፈታ ስናደርገው ‹‹ለኢህአዴግ ጊዜያዊ ድጋፍ መስጠት›› የሚል ሆኖ ልናገኘው ብንችል መደንገጥ አይኖርብንም፡፡
እንዲያውም በግልባጩ ይህንን እርምጃ እንደብስለት እንጂ ክብረ-ነክ አድርገን መውሰድ የለብንም፡፡ ለምን? የሚል ጥያቄ የሚያነሳ ካለ
መልሱ ለኢህአዴግ የምንሰጠው ጊዜያዊ ድጋፍ ‹‹ከታላቁ መሪ ወረስኩት›› ለሚለው ‹‹ራዕዩ›› ሳይሆን ‹‹በሀገር ጉዳይ የመወሰን
እድልን›› ከአጥሩ ውጭም አውጥቶ ማካፈሉ ለሀገሪቱ መፀኢ እድል አስፈላጊ መሆኑን ቀልቡን ሰብስቦ እስኪያምን ብቻ ያለውን ጊዜ
የሚመለከት ነው የሚል ይሆናል፡፡ ልክ የጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩን የቀብር ስነ-ስርዓት የተሳካ ለማድረግ ህዝቡ ለኢህአዴግ እንደሰጠው አይነት
ድንገቴ ዕድል ማለቴ ነው-እኛም ከፓርቲው የምንፈልገው፡፡
ሆኖም ‹‹ይህንን አይነቱን ዕድል ኢህአዴግ እስኪሰጠን ምን ያህል ጊዜ መጠበቅ ይኖርብናል?››፣ ‹‹እንዴትስ ሆኖ ነው በመንግስታዊ
ስልጣን ላይ የመወሰን ዕድል የሚሰጠን?›› የሚሉ ጥያቄዎች መነሳታቸው አይቀሬ ናቸውና እንደመነሻ ሃሳብ ሊሆኑ የሚችሉ የራሴን ሁለት
ጥቁምታዎችን ላቅርብ፡-
1ኛ. ሀይለማሪያም ደሳለኝ እና አጋሮቻቸው፣ ካድሬዎቻቸውን እና ደጋፊዎቻቸውን ‹‹ብሄራዊ ዕርቅ›› ከመፍጠር አኳያ በጥቂት ወራት
ውስጥ ሁሉን አቀፍ የሽግግር መንግስት የመመስረቱን አስፈላጊነት ማሳመንን የመጀመሪያው የቤት ስራቸው ሊያደርጉት ይገባል፡፡ እነሱንም
ካሳመኑ በኋላም ሽብርተኛ ለተባሉ ድርጅቶችም ሆነ ለፖለቲካ እስረኞች ያለምንም ቅድመ ሁኔታ ምህረት አድርገው በጥሪው እንዲካተቱ
መፍቀድ ይኖርባቸዋል፡፡2ኛ. አንደኛውን አማራጭ አዲሱ መንግስት የመሸከም ትከሻ ከሌለው ቀሪው አማራጭ በ2005 ዓ.ም የሚደረገው የአዲስ አበባ ምርጫ
ነው፡፡ እናም ይህ ምርጫ ከመደረጉ በፊት አሁን ያለውን የምርጫ ቦርድ ማፍረስና ተአማኒነት ባላቸው ገለልተኛ ባለሙያዎች መልሶ
ማዋቀር፣ የመንግስት ሚዲያዎች ለተቃዋሚዎችም ለገዥው ፓርቲም እኩል የሚያገለግሉበትን መመሪያ አዘጋጅቶ መተግበር፣ የሰራዊቱን
እና የደህንነት ሀይሉን በተግባር ታዛዠነታቸውን ለህገ-መንግስቱ ብቻ እንዲሆን ማድረግ፣ የህግ የበላይነትን ማረጋገጥ… ከአዲስ አበባ
ምርጫ በፊት ማመቻቸት የግዴታ ውዴታ ነው፡፡ (…ለአዲሱ መንግስት ጊዜና ድጋፍ እንስጠው ያልኩት እነዚህ ሁኔታዎች እንዲሟሉ ብቻ
ነው፡፡ ይህንን ድጋፍ ስናደርግ ግን የመኢሶንን ስህተት ላለመድገማችን እርግጠኛ መሆን ይኖርብናል) መኢሶን የ66ቱ አብዮት የፈጠረው
ትልቅ ፓርቲ ነው፡፡ ምሁራዊ ሰውነታቸው የጎላ ልሂቃኖችም የተሰባሰቡበት ነበር፡፡ ሆኖም ይህ ፓርቲ ሊታረም የማይችል ከባድ ስህተት
ሰርቷል፡፡ ይኽውም ለወታደራዊ ጁንታ ድጋፍ መስጠት አለብን በሚል የተሳሳተ ስሌት ከደርግ ካምፕ ውስጥ በመግባት ‹‹የህዝብ ድርጅት
ጽ/ቤት››ን በመመስረት በርካታ ካድሬዎችን ከመመልመሉም በላይ የመኢሶንን ውሳኔ ‹‹የተሳሳተ›› በሚል ግጭት ፈጥሮ ቀይና ነጭ ሽብር
ለመጀመር ምክንያት ሆኖአል፡፡ እናም ይህ ስህተት እንዳይደገም መጠንቀቅ ያሻል፡፡ ማን ነበር ‹‹ሰው የሚማረው አንድም ከፊደል፣
አንድም ከመከራ ነው›› ያለው?
መቼም ይህ ሁሉ ህዝብ ያዘነው አቶ መለስ በስልጣን ላይ በነበሩበት ጊዜ ‹‹ሀገሬን አሳድገውልኛል››፣ ‹‹ህይወቴን ቀይረውልኛል››፣
‹‹መብቴን አክብረውልኛል…›› ብሎ እንዳልሆነ የህወሓት እና የብአዴን ሰዎችም በልባቸው ያምናሉ ብዬ አስባለሁ፡፡ በነገራችን ላይ
ህወሓት በሊቀመንበሩ በአቶ መለስ ቦታ ‹‹ሌላኛው መለስ›› ሊባሉ የሚችሉትን አባይ ፀሐዬን ለመምረጥ እንዳቀደ፤ ኦህዴድ ደግሞ
አስቴር ማሞን ‹‹ሊቀመንበር›› በሚለው አጀንዳው ላይ እንዳሰፈረ የመረጃ ምንጮቼ ነግረውኛል፡፡ ምንአልባት ህወሓት አባይ ፀሀዬን
መምረጡ እውነት ከሆነ ግን ራሱን የቻለ አንድምታ ይኖረዋል ብዬ አስባለሁ፡፡ ምክንያቱም አባይ መለስ ያደርጉት የነበረውን የሴራ
ፖለቲካ በሙሉ ለማድረግ የሚችል አቅሙም ልምዱም እንዳላቸው የህወሓት አመራሮች ጠንቅቀው ያውቃሉ፡፡ ስለዚህም ህወሓት አባይን
በማምጣት በመለስ ሞት የጎደለበትን ‹‹የበላይነት›› የመመለስ ዕቅድ ሊኖረው ይችላል፡፡ ይህ ከሆነ ደግሞ መጭው ጊዜ አደገኛ የመሆን
ዕድሉ ሰፊ ነው፡፡ ይህንን ሁኔታ አዲስ አበባ የሚገኙ የምዕራብ ሀገራት ዲፕሎማቶችም ‹‹ስጋታቸው እንደሆነ ገልፀውልኛል፡፡ በእርግጥ
የዲፕሎማቶቹ ስጋት በአክራሪው የህወሓት አመራር ላይ ብቻ ሳይሆን በረከት ስምኦንን እና አዲሱ ለገሰንም ይጨምራል፡፡ እነዚህ ሰዎች
‹‹ነባራ ታጋይ›› (Old Comrade) ከመሆናቸው አኳያ በኃይለማርያም ደሳለኝ ላይ የበላይነታቸውን ከማሳየታቸውም በተጨማሪ፣
‹‹መጠቀሚያ›› የማድረግ እቅድ ሊኖራቸው ይችላል፡፡ ይህ ከሆነ ደግሞ ከአዲሱ መንግስት ‹‹መሰረታዊ የፖለቲካ ማሻሻያዎች››ን
መጠበቅ ላም አለኝ በሰማይ….አይነት እንደሚሆን ዲፕሎማቶቹም ያምናሉ፡፡ በአሁኑ ወቅት በዲፕሎማቶቹ አይን ሞገስ ያገኙት ወይም
ተመራጭ ሆነው የወጡት ኃይለማርያም ደሳለኝ፣ ብርሃነ ገ/ክርስቶስ እና ቴዎድሮስ አደህኖም ብቻ ናቸው፡፡ ሆኖም ከብርሃነ ክርስቶስ
በስተቀር ሁለቱ ሰዎች በኢህአዴግ ውስጥ ተሰሚነታቸው አናሳ ስለሆነ የነባር ታጋዮቹ መጠቀሚያ የመሆን ዕድላቸው ሰፊ ነው፡፡ (ይህ
የዲፕሎማቶቹ ምልከታ ምንአልባትም አቶ መለስ ኢህአዴግን ወደቻይና መሳባቸው አሳስቧቸው፤ እነርሱ የተሻሉ ናቸው ያሏቸው እነ
ኋ/ማሪያም ደግሞ በግልባጩ ስርአቱን ወደምዕራቡ ጎራ ሊመልሱት ይችላሉ ብለው ማመናቸው ይሆናል)
በአናቱም ከመከላከያ ሰራዊቱ ጋር ምንም አይነት ግንኙነት የሌላቸው ኃይለማርያም ደሳለኝ ለሰራዊቱ ‹‹Commander in chief››
(ጠቅላይ ወታደራዊ አዛዥ) ለመሆን ያላቸው ብቃት እና ተቀባይነትም አሳሳቢ ሲሆን ሌላው አደገኛ እንቅፋት የሚሆንባቸው በብሔርና
በጥቅመኝነት የተወሳሰበውን የገዢው ልሂቅ ስብስብን ‹‹የፖለቲካ ማሻሻያ መደረግ አለበት›› ብሎ ማሳመኑ ላይ ነው፡፡ ኦህዴድ ውስጥም
አባዱላ ገመዳ ወርደው አለማየሁ አቱምሳ በተተኩበት ወቅት በአባዱላ ጊዜ የነበሩትን በርካታ ካድሬዎች ‹‹ሙስና›› በሚባል የመገምገሚያ
አጀንዳ ብዙዎችን ከፓርቲው ውጭ ሲያደርጉ፣ ጥቂት የማይባሉትን ደግሞ ለእስር ዳርገው እንደነበረ ይታወሳል፡፡እናም አሁን ከአዜብ
መስፍን ጋር የጠበቀ ጓደኝነት ያላቸውን አስቴር ማሞን ሊቀመንበር ለማድረግ የታሰበው በአባዱላ መነሳት ያኮረፉትን ካድሬዎች ለማለዘብ
ሊሆን ይችላል የሚል መላምት አለ፡፡ ይህ ከሆነ ደግሞ የተባረሩና የታሰሩ ካድሬዎች ወደቦታቸው የመመለስ እድል ማግኘታቸውን አይቀሬ
ስለሚያደርገው አደገኛ ‹‹አቧራ›› ማስነሳቱ አይቀርም፡፡
በመጨረሻም- አጭር መልዕክት-ለኢህአዴግ
የሀገሪቱን ስልጣን በተለይ ህወሓት እና ብአዴን እንደአያት ቅድመ አያት ርስት ‹‹ወራሽ ነኝ›› በሚል በቤተመንግስት እና በኢህአዴግ
ጽ/ቤት እያደረጋችሁት ያለውን ትግል ብትረሱት የተሻለ ነው፡፡ እናውቃለን ታግላችኋል፤ ነገር ግን በስልጣን የቆያችሁባቸው ሃያ አንድ
ዓመታት ከበቂ በላይ ክሷችኋል፡፡ እናውቃለን አምባገነኖች ናችሁ፣ ነገር ግን ትውልዱ አምባገነንነትን ሊሸከም እንደማይችል ሊገባችሁ
ይገባል፡፡ …በጣም የሚገርመው ደግሞ በዚህ ሳምንት የስራ አስፈፃሚ ኮሚቴያችሁ ከመለስ ሞት በኋላ የመጀመሪያውን ስብሰባ አድርጎ
ያወጣው መግለጫ ይዘት ነው፡፡ አዎን! ይህ ስብስብ ከተጠናቀቀ በኋላ ፓርቲው በመግለጫው ላይ ‹‹የሕዝብን ቁጭትና አደራ በህዝቡ
በራሱ በተደራጀና ቀጣይነት ባለው ተሳትፎ ወደውጤት በመቀየር….›› የሚል ሀረግ ሰንቅሮበታል፡፡ ምንአልባት አባባሉን ልብ ካላልነው
ብዙም አሳሳቢ ላይመስለን ይችላል፡፡ ሆኖም ይህን ሀረግ ፈታ አድርገን ካየነው መጭው ጊዜ ብሩህ እንደማይሆ በእርግጠኝነት
እንደሚጠቁመን እንረዳለን፡፡ ምክንያቱም ይህ አይነቱ ሁኔታ የሚያመላክተው አንድም ፓርቲው ‹‹የመለስን አደራ ለማስፈፀም›› በሚል
ያለአንዳች ማሻሻያ ለመቀጠል የወሰነ መሆኑን ሲሆን፤ ሁለተኛው አደገኛ ነገር ደግሞ ስርዓቱ ወደ “Stationary bandits” (መንግስታዊ
ሽፍትነት) የመቀየር አዝማሚያ እንዳለው አመላካች ነው፡፡ ይኸውም ‹‹የህዝብን ቁጭትና አደራ በህዝቡ በራሱ…›› ለመወጣት በሚልፕሮፓጋንዳ በከፍተኛ ደረጃ ግብር መጣልን፣ ለአባይ ግድብ ሁለተኛ ዙር ቦንድ ግዙ ተብሎ እንደተደረገው አይነት ማስገደደድና
የመሳሰሉት እርምጃዎችን ሊወስድ መቻሉ አይቀሬ ነው፡፡ ይህ ደግሞ በኑሮ ውድነቱ ላይ ተጨማሪ ጫና መፈጠሩ አያጠያይቅም፡፡ እናም
ከዚህ ይልቅ ህዝቡ ለአቶ መለስ ያወረደውን እንባ ‹‹ኢቲቪን ገለል›› አድርጋችሁ እውነተኛ ምክንያቱን ለማወቅ ብትጥሩ ‹‹አዋጭ›› ንግድ
ሆኖ ታገኙታላችሁ፡፡ ልክ እንደ ዝነኛው ኤፈርት፡፡ ስለዚህም ያ እንባ ለውጥ ፈላጊ መሆኑን ልትረዱት ይገባል፡፡
አጭር መልዕክት-ከኢህአዴግ ውጭ አማራጭ ለምትሹ
እነሆም ከዚሁ ጎን ለጎን /የኢህአዴግ ውሳኔ ምንም ሆነ ምን/ በሀገራችን ጉዳይ የመወሰን መብታችንን ለማስከበር ለሀዘን የወጣነውን ያህል
‹‹ነቅለን መውጣት›› ብቸኛ አማራጫችን ነው፡፡ ኢትዮጵያውያን የዲያስፖራና ልሂቃን በዚህ ወቅት ከመቼውም ጊዜ በተለየ መልኩ
አዎንታዊ ድጋፋቸው ያስፈልጋል፡፡ ከጥላቻ የራቀ የፖለቲካ ስልት በመከተል በዕውቀትም ሆነ በገንዘብ ለውጥ ፈላጊውን ኢትዮጵያዊ ማገዝ
ለነገ የሚተው ስራ አይደለም፡፡ እንዲሁም ከጥቂት ወራት በኋላ በሚደረገው የአሜሪካ ፕሬዝዳንት ምርጫ ላይ ድጋፍ የመስጠትንና
የመንሳትን ችሎታ በኢትዮጵያ ላይ በሚኖራቸው የውጭ ፖሊሲ ቅድመ ሁኔታ ላይ የተመሰረተ እንዲሆን የቅስቀሳ ስራ መስራቱም አንድ
ስልት ይመስለኛል፡፡
ከዚህ ባሻገር ግን በታቃዋሞ ጎራ (በሀገር ውስጥም በውጭም) የተሰባሰበው ሀይል ልዩነቱን አጥብቦ ወደአንድ መሳበሰብ ይኖርበታል፡፡
በአናቱም ምናአልባት ምንአልባት ነገሩ ሁሉ ካሰብነው በተቃራኒ ሄዶ ‹‹አዲስ የወይን ጠጅ በአሮጌ አቁማዳ›› የመሆን አዝማሚያ ቢኖረው
እንኳ ‹‹ለሰላማዊ እምቢታ›› ራስን ማዘጋጀቱ ከመቼውም ጊዜ ይልቅ ወሳኝ ነው፡፡ በእርግጥ ዝግጅቱ ይህን ‹‹እምቢታ›› ተከትሎ
የሚመጣውን ማንኛውንም መስዋዕትነት የመክፈል ቁርጠኝነትን ማጠቃለል ይኖርበታል፡፡ ያኔ ነው መለስን የመተካት ጉዳይ የኢህአዴግ
የግል ጉዳይ የማይሆነው፡፡ ያኔ ነው በኢትዮጵያ ጉዳይ ጥቂት ግለሰቦች የሚወስኑበት ጊዜ የሚያከትመው፡፡ ያኔ ነው በሀገራችን ጉዳይ
ጉልበተኞች ብቻ ያሻቸውን የሚያደርጉበት ጀንበር የምትጠልቀው፡፡ ያኔ ነው አንተም እኔም ኢትዮጵያዊነታችን በተግባር የሚረጋገጠው፡፡
ያኔ ነው…

Bereket Simon’s naked lies and propaganda By Abebe Gellaw | September 7, 2012
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi died on July 14, 2012 at St. Luke University Hospital, in Brussels, Belgium. This fact is no more news. But even after the death of the former dictator, Bereket Simon, the chief TPLF/EPRDF’s lie factory and propagandist, had insisted that the former tyrant was on holiday abroad and would be back before the Ethiopian New Year. But Behind closed doors, Bereket and the other politically orphaned cronies were at each other’s throats fighting in a vicious power struggle, which is still going on.
During the five-week long preparations to announce the death of Meles Zenawi, Bereket Simon and his closest associates must have studied TV footage of North Korea’s globally ridiculed mass hysteria following the death of Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il. The replication of this mass hysteria, wailing, crying and at times fainting in front of cameras has only proven to be live coverage of the maximum crisis that the infighting TPLF-led junta is facing. When they continuously praise the former tyrant as an irreplaceable demigod, they are, in a way, saying that none of them are competent and worthy enough to fill his shoes.
After the preparations were completed, Bereket appeared from nowhere and told the nation that the great leader’s holiday was over. He died on August 20 from an “infection” at an undisclosed location, he informed the nation. But EU officials and foreign media outlets only confirmed that Zenawi died at St. Luke University Hospital, in Brussels, Belgium, which was accurately reported by 

ESAT on 30th July.
Berket had also told us that EPRDF appointed Hailemariam Desalegn as acting prime minister. Within 24 hours, this also turned out to be a lie confirming once more that Bereket, who is now gravely depressed, is a master of miscommunication. There are still unfinished palace conspiracies and intrigues to be the next Meles or to control the group that will be in charge of the fate of the nation. TPLF bigwigs believe that it is their birthright to dominate the nation. That is quite obviously one of the reasons why the decapitated regime declared such an unprecedented and extended period of “national mourning” in order to buy more time to solve the complex political calculus that only Meles could solve.
There was a five-week long preparation for the mass hysteria. Psychologists that have studied mass hysteria usually describe it as an epidemic psychogenic behaviour where people collectively act irrationally. In North Korea, propaganda plays a key role in generating mass hysteria.
When Kim Jong Il died last year, the state media and the communist party were fully utilized to mobilize people across the country to publicly weep and wail, and most importantly praise the Great Leader effusively. The mass hysteria was broadcast repeatedly with propaganda extolling the “Great Leader” generating an out-of-control show of grief. Sung-Yoon Lee, a research fellow at the National Asia Research Program told CNN that state control and coercion played a key factor in creating the hysteria. “There are always people watching you. If you are not devastated by the news, you may get in trouble," he said.
Ethiopia’s 21-year long dictator has been described as the “Great Leader”, angel of love, father of Ethiopia, the light of Africa, pioneer of democracy and freedom…, just to mention a few among the long list of flourishing lies. The cadres worked round the clock to tell everyone that they should come out and grieve the death of “Comrade” Meles Zenawi. The lies and half-truths on state media are still countless and his image has been excessively distorted in order to create a new personality for the ruthless tyrant. But it all turned out to be the futility and vanity of tyranny.
Bereket’s strategy has been simple. He followed the rules of Hitler’s propaganda chief Joseph Gobbles, who once said: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” In a country like Ethiopia where the literacy rate still stands at 30%, according to UNICEF, the intense propaganda campaign has certainly confused some people and created an illusory atmosphere of national mourning.
People who have been caught listening to music or smiling during those times of collective sadness, have been physically attacked. It is a bad beginning for a post-Meles Ethiopia that craves for change. Some people were even punished for not grieving. Journalist Reeyot Alemu serving jail terms for committing acts of “terrorism” has reportedly been threatened and her well being was compromised for not showing grief and shedding tears for the man who tortured and locked her up for doing her job. Another political prisoner Zerihun Gebre-Egziabher, chairman of Ethiopian National Democratic Party (ENDP) and who was also jailed for “terrorism”, was physically attacked for smiling.
The eulogy for Zenawi by local and foreign agents was largely fabricated. The worst tribute to Meles Zenawi was written by none other than the disgraced plagiariser Tesfaye Habisso, former Ethiopian ambassador to South Africa. On Tigraionline, he wrote: “Meles Zenawi was undoubtedly like the Sun among the numberless equally big/large and shining stars in the galaxy. He was so bright and so shining compared to the timid other stars sparsely spread far and wide across the fathomless sky. The Sun Meles has set now, it’s all darkness; for the whole country, for the people, for the ruling party and government. It will surely take some time before daylight overcomes again.” His unabashed statement, is quite telling why Tesfaye remains to be a classless sycophant.
Another crazed scribbler of tyranny, a certain Adal Isaw, declared that he started a religion called Meles Zenawi, which may be a deserving tribute to a dictator who surrounded himself with opportunists and worshipers. “After many years of abandoning my religious belief,” he declared on tyranny’s mouthpiece Aiaforum, “I am a born-again believer and my religion is Meles Zenawi. I believe in Meles Zenawi and he is my religion from now on till the end of my time. This I believe is not the result of stretching my emotion.” In fact, it is nothing but idiocy at its best.

In a shamefully orchestrated campaign of lies, deception and opportunism, artistes, athletes, celebrities and gospel singers were also recruited to extol the former dictator. In the process, many have already lost their own self-respect and dignity. Neway Debebe, Fikre-Addis Nekatibeb, Madingo Afework, Mezmur Yohannes and the lyricist Yilma Gebreab collaborated to produce a song full of lies. The “song” shamelessly refers to the dictator as the eternal Moses of Ethiopia, unifier and “elect of God”. The famous athletes Haile Gebreselassie, Derartu Tulu and Meseret Defar also joined the public tear shedding drama and the comedy of extolling the man that brutally and relentlessly abused Ethiopians for the last 21 years.

The worst gospel song ever heard in Ethiopia is probably the recently released single by a certain Habtamu Shibiru. According to this “man of God”, darkness fell over Ethiopia just because Meles and his hand-picked patriarch died. Though songs of praise are supposed to be reserved for Almighty God, Shiberu feels the terror of losing the former tyrant and his patriarch. While many see dawn of a new era, Shiberu tearfully tells us doom and gloom. What is certain is that those who overacted in Bereke’s Simon drama and spin will only regret it when reality hits back and the hangover is completely over.
Berket is currently one of the most dangerous loose cannons that need to be handled with utmost care. He is behaving like his former boss and wants to impose himself as a kingmaker. According to reliable sources, TPLF bigwigs are bitterly against his manipulation and misuse of the media that he controls to create an imaginary power for himself.
Now that the tents are dismantled, the ruling elite will face more maddening crises that will continue to unravel the dictatorial regime. The only way to move forward is to realistically address the grave ethnic, political, economic, security and religious challenges that have fragmented and divided our country. The hardliners like Bereket and security chief Getachew Assefa, who are reportedly plotting political assassinations at home and abroad, need to give way to reformists who are more capable and bold enough to address the grave problems facing Ethiopia. Bereket’s empty propaganda and naked lies have already backfired. As a postscript, let me conclude with the following. After my vocal protest against Zenawi and call for freedom on May 18th, 2012 here in Washington DC, I have been receiving vicious death threats. Some fanatic supporters of TPLF’s dictatorship have also been spreading all sorts of venomous innuendos and threats, which are being dealt with by the FBI. It should be known that I am fully protected by the Constitution and Government of the United States. The effort of some people to import tyranny to this land of freedom is futile and does not scare anyone. I cannot afford to be silenced…
Ethiopia is at the threshold of dramatic, drastic and radical changes. We need to be prepared for change and seize on the opportunities as well as challenges fearlessly. Resistance to change must be resisted and defeated. We need to claim the future….

Ethiopia: Ginbot7 Gearing Up for Change in Government

7 September 2012 [ESAT]

Senior leaders of Ginbot7, Abebe Bogale and Dr. Tadesse Biru, disclosed to ESAT that their movement is working expeditiously to bring EPRDF to the negotiation table or remove it from power altogether. According to them all efforts exerted so far have produced appreciable results and a slew of coercive measures are underway to hasten the process of political change in Ethiopia.

The two leaders have emphasised the role EPRDF could play in averting a serious and highly consequential political crises. The only viable way forward is to embrace the inescapable political change and work towards a transitional arrangement where all political actors will have a role in governing the country until a duly constituted and democratically elected government takes over.  The two leaders warned if EPRDF is not willing to negotiate, then change will come through other mechanisms including violent revolution.

The two leaders say over the previous four years their organization has been operating modelled as a transitional government and were confident in their movements’ capacity to fill any void  should the EPRDF government is to collapse.

According to the leaders, the movement has worked tirelessly to bring all political forces towards cooperation.  Other efforts to break the pervasive media monopoly EPRDF has been enjoying for a long time has been successful.  Ginbot7 of today is a movement with a strong and efficient organizational structure said the confident duo.

ESAT will broadcast the full interview in the coming days.

Susan Rice, a US diplomat who loves dictators

by Ephrem Madebo

Fifteen days ago when the death of PM Meles Zenawi became official, US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, twitted the following: “Prime Minister Meles leaves behind an indelible legacy of major contributions to Ethiopia, Africa, and the world”.  When I read her tweets, for a brief moment I thought I and Susan Rice were living in a different planet. I am a United States citizen, and I don’t appreciate when my tax money pays the salary of my ambassador to the UN who accolades a vicious dictator whose name is closely linked to genocide, torture, and corruption.  I know our speeches are protected by the first Amendment and we have the right to speak our mind.  But, madam Ambassador, how do you feel  if I make a public statement saying that the authors of  “Jim Crow”  leave behind an indelible legacy of major contributions to America’s south, especially, to American blacks?  We know southern elites benefited from Jim Crow laws in the same fashion Meles Zenawi’s ethnic comrades benefited from his exclusive political and exploitative economic policies. And this is what you called “Major contribution” to Ethiopia.  Madam Ambassador, all I can say is SHAME ON YOU!

Madam Ambassador, when the following words came out of your mouth this week in Addis Ababa, I believe it was one of your lowest moments in Ethiopia, may be in your life. Here is what you said:  “He [Meles] was tough, unsentimental and sometimes unyielding. And, of course, he had little patience for fools, or “idiots,” as he liked to call them”

Madam Ambassador, please allow me to ask you one simple question . . .  does PM Zenawi’s set of fools and idiots include you?  I’m asking you this because here is what PM Zenawi said about the Voice of America: “We have been convinced for many years that in many respects, the VOA Amharic Service has copied the worst practices of radio stations such as Radio Mille Collines of Rwanda in its wanton disregard of minimum ethics of journalism and engaging in destabilizing propaganda”   Look, Madam Ambassador, as long as the late Zenawi is concerned, everyone that opposes him is an idiot to him. The only reason he compared the VOA to Radio Mille Collines of Rwanda is that the VOA was exposing his dictatorial regime. The above quote was crafted and written by you, so who were you referring to when you said he had little patience for fools, or “idiots”?  As long as I am concerned, you were referring to yourself because to Meles Zenawi, the VOA and the US Department of State [at least every year when it reports on the Human Rights issue of Ethiopia] are fools or idiots. Unless you tell me otherwise and apologize to the great people of Ethiopia for your uncivilized comments, I stand by what I said.

We know America and you are in love with the dictator in Ethiopia. In 2005, when over 200 Ethiopians were killed on the streets of Addis (some killed not far from the US embassy); President Bush congratulated Meles Zenawi’s re-election. In 2010, when Meles was re-elected for the fourth time with 99.6% of the vote in a marred election, President Obama, who once said: “Africa needs strong institutions, not strong men”, congratulated the re-election of Africa’s strongest man.  To be honest, as long as Zenawi was willing to trade the life of young Ethiopians for a huge sum of American money, America was happy and it was willing to be a shelter for Zenawi’s torture, abuse, and extrajudicial killings. All in all, the human right conditions of Ethiopia went from bad to worse at the time of President Clinton and George W. Bush, and got worst at the watch of president Obama.  You [Susan Rice] were a top US official at two of those administrations.

Dear Madam Ambassador, did you know that when PM Meles killed over 200 innocent civilians in 2005, some of his victims were as young as 12 years old?  I want you to know that 12 years old Nebiyou was gunned down as he was begging for mercy on his knee, and most of the 200 victims were shot and killed by heavy machineguns mounted on Humvees supplied by your government.  Instead of worshiping a child killer and presenting him as a hope for children, please double check the facts.  Madam Ambassador, thanks to theWikiLeaks, we know these are facts that you and your government know very well. But, knowing Meles and his atrocities did not stop you from saying the following garbage:  “In his children and all children, Meles saw the promise of renewal and the power of hope” Aren’t you a mother Madam Ambassador? Do you think the mother of 12 years old Nebiyou and the mothers of the other young boys who lost their children would say the same thing? To these mothers their hope is killed, but to you, the man who killed their hope is “the power of hope”. Madam, if you are a Catholic, you need a long one-to-one session with your padre.

Madam Ambassador, let me tell you what hope is because I don’t think you know the real meaning of hope.  Hope is when MLK said “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” Madam Ambassador, without this hope and the fight for this hope, forget going to Addis and applauding a vicious dictator, you wouldn’t have moved an inch from the Washington, DC ghettos, a city you were born and raised.  MLK lived and died for the hope that you, me and millions of blacks are enjoining today. Whereas, your prodigy, Meles fought for 17 years and ruled for 21 to create Bantustan like ethnic divisions, making his ethnic base at the top of the division. Madam Ambassador, do you think segregated America was a hope to American blacks? Are you the product of that kind of hope? The answer is clear, so why do you think a man that built an ethnic empire in Ethiopia would be a hope for Ethiopians?  Who knows what or who the hope for Ethiopia is, you or Ethiopians? Sorry, this is a bad question, I already said that you don’t know what hope is.

If you still didn’t give up reading, please go and read Graham Peebles’ article. Here is his comment on Zenawi’s death: “Let a new day dawn for the people, one filled with hope and fundamental change, where human rights and justice are respected, where freedom is encouraged and cultivated in all areas and where fear is banished to the past” It is sad that America’s top diplomat sees hope in Zenawi, and America’s journalist sees hope and fundamental change for Ethiopia after Zenawi. What a startling difference? Who has a better view of the world, a journalist or a diplomat?  Well, I don’t know, but even if it is a diplomat, it shouldn’t be you.

You are an African American woman whose roots go back to Africa, but your attitude towards Africa is awfully distasteful.  Madam Ambassador, sadly, you are not alone. There is another high profile African American female [Jendayi Frazer] who equally has bad taste for Africa and Africans. What in the hell is this Madam Ambassador? Group think, despise, arrogance, or all of the above? Let me take you back to 1994 and remind you the Rwandan genocide. Here is what you said:  ”If we use the word ‘genocide’ and are seen as doing nothing, what will be the effect on the November [congressional] election?”

Oh! My God, did you say “November Election” Madam Ambassador?  It is not surprising that we are on the eve of another election and here you are praising an African dictator who committed a genocide killing more than 400 ethnic Aguaks in a single day.  If this was in Iran, I know you would have been all over the media and on shuttle diplomacy between Moscow and Beijing to sanction Iran. I am not a fun of Iran, please don’t take me wrong. But, what about Ethiopia and the Ethiopian people?  Are you telling me that the life of 400 ethic Aguaks is worth noting as long as Zenawi is serving American interest?  Madam Ambassador, you are the only person in 1994 that had trouble calling the genocide in Rwanda genocide. This is exactly why I still believe that you are from a different planet. It seems to me that, as long as you are on election year, you refuse to be guided by principle, the truth, ethics or morality. You tend to say anything; I mean anything that you think influences the outcome of the election in favor you.

Madam Ambassador, do you remember the “Kent State Massacre”?  I know you do though you were five years old at the time.  More than 42 years after the massacre, the US media is still a critique of the Kent State shooting, and the families of the victims are still mourning. The Kent State shooting took the life of 4 people and wounded 9 others.  Madam Ambassador, your Mr. “world-class mind” killed 200 and wounded more than thousands just seven years ago. How can we Ethiopians forget a national tragedy that shocked the nation just seven years ago when Americans remember the Boston Massacre [1770] Baylor Massacre [1778] and the Kent State Massacre [1970]? In the November Massacre [2005 in Ethiopia] or in all of the massacres here in the US, the perpetrators are not great minds because great minds don’t kill people who seek freedom.  It’s the little mind that kills people and it’s also the little mind that praises killers. Madam Ambassador, your recent speech in the same city that I went to college reminds me the following quote by Nicholas Boileau:  However big the fool, there is always a bigger fool to admire him.

Madam Ambassador, great minds like MLK died [assassinated by little minds] so that you can be judged by the content of your character and sit where you are sitting now.  The Ethiopian people whom you called great people [Yes, they are] deserve nothing less than their greatness. The only time you said the right thing on that pathetic speech is when you said the ‘great people’ of Ethiopia. Remember, this did not move me at all because even a dead clock is correct twice a day. Madam Ambassador, you said: “I suspect we all feel it deeply unfair to lose such a talented and vital leader so soon, when he still had so much more to give” You are absolutely right. So much more to give to America, but so much more to imprison and so much more to torture and  kill in Ethiopia. You don’t know how much antacid medication I took after I heard your unabashed speech.

Don’t worry Madam Ambassador; I have power just like you do, tough my power comes once every four year. I live in Northern Virginia where every single vote matters this November for your struggling boss.  I will make sure that I cast my first republican vote in my life so that you and your boss go back to colleges and universities [like Jendayi Frazer] and talk whatever you want to talk. Here, at least, I have the option to ignore you.

Though I didn’t live much in Addis, I love Addis. I really do. Addis is the pride of Africa where the OAU was formed. It is the first black city where the UN Security Council convened. Addis is the first, may be the only capital city in the world founded by blacks.  Well, as it is a city of hope and expectations, Addis is also a city of sorrow and grief.  It’s a city where dictators of all kinds and their supporters mislead the people with their venomous misguided speeches.  Here is an excerpt from one of the misguided speeches: “True, he [Meles] never belied any lack of confidence in his judgments. He was tough, unsentimental and sometimes unyielding. And, of course, he had little patience for fools, or “idiots,” as he liked to call them” (Susan Rice).

Madam Ambassador, if you think your speech was aimed at telling the Ethiopian people about the ‘judgment’ of Meles , I think you wasted  time and resources talking a little too much and a little too long. The Ethiopian people know Meles.  In fact, now they also know you and your poor judgment.

Madam Ambassador, you said: He [Meles] was uncommonly wise – able to see the big picture and the long game. Which big picture and which long game Madam?  In his 21 years in power, he built an army where more than 90% of the commanders are form his ethnic group. He built a huge security apparatus where the key personnel at every level of the apparatus come from his ethnic base in Tigray. He built an economic empire that controls the commanding heights of the Ethiopian economy. In this economic empire, the emperor, the princes & princess, the lords and the vassals all cone from a region Meles calls “My home”. Politically, Meles’ party [TPLF] controls power at every level. For your information, Ethiopia has a population of close to 90 million people out of which only 6% are Tigreans who are the power base of Meles Zenawi.  Madam Ambassador, this is your man with big picture and long game. What is big in Meles Zenawi, or you just don’t know what the word big means living in Big Apple. Look, Madam, Meles created a political system where his 6% minority group dominates 94% of the Ethiopian population. If this is what you call big, your vocabulary lacks the antonym of big.

Madam Ambassador, you can say anything you want about Meles Zenawi when you are tasked with writing his biography, but when you address the Ethiopian people, please watch your mouth and speak the truth. You told us how close you two were, if this is true, I’m afraid he may have infected you. Dear Madam Ambassador, you must visit an Ethiopian priest to get sanitized. The Ethiopian people know freedom no less than you know, the only problem is that their freedom is taken away and their human right is violated by a man whom you called a man of judgment. Madam Ambassador, not only Meles, but you too have a serious lapse of judgment.  Dear Madam, I strongly believe you and the administration you serve are responsible for every abuse, torture, and murder that Meles inflicted on the Ethiopian people. We shall overcome!

ebini23@yahoo.com

Ethiopia’s Opportunity: A New Day Beckons – OpEd

by Graham Peebles
September 5, 2012

The death of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, announced on 22nd August after his mysterious two-month disappearance, presents a tremendous opportunity to Ethiopia. Let a new day dawn for the people, one filled with hope and fundamental change, where human rights and justice are respected, where freedom is encouraged and cultivated in all areas and where fear is banished to the past.

Control and repression

Meles rose to power as a revolutionary to overthrow a dictatorship. Ironically he too fell under the spell of power, and the freedom fighter became the dictator, the greatest obstacle to freedom and liberty. He had been in power since 1991, when the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) lead a coalition of armed opposition groups in overturning the rule of Mengistu Haile Mariam.

No matter the repeated accolades and platitudes expressed by heads of State upon his passing, let us be clear, PM Meles Zenawi presided over an undemocratic regime that repressed the people, tolerating no political dissent, and as Human Rights Watch state in One Hundred Ways of Putting on Pressure, “since the controversial 2005 elections – Ethiopia has seen a sharp deterioration in civil and political rights, with mounting restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and assembly.”

In fact under his leadership the EPRDF government have tramped on the human rights of the Ethiopian people, centralized power, falsely imprisoned in large numbers, members of opposition parties and journalists and responded with brutal force to demonstrations after the 2005 unfair elections, when the security forces murdered over 200 innocent people on the streets of Addis Ababa. Not too mention the killings of hundreds of people in Gambella, the persecution of the people of Oromia, along with human rights violations in Afar and the Ogaden.

The media is party/state controlled, so too the sole telecommunications company, as well as the judiciary, all of which is contrary to federal law enshrined in the constitution. PM Meles, whose record, the BBC (22/08/12) rather generously state “has, at best, been patchy and rather uninspiring” go on to say “He orchestrated a discreet purge of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and the administration, demoting, sidelining or reassigning key potential rivals and opponents.” And as the Inter Press Service (IPS) 22/08/12 succinctly put it, he “ruled with an increasingly authoritarian fist for more than two decades” Let us hope such times will now be consigned to the murky past.

Unity – The way forward

If responded to with intelligence and love, patience and tolerance, the political space created by Meles departure could be a beginning in which firm and lasting steps towards an open, just, free civil society may be taken, broad ethnic participation encouraged and divisions set aside. A peaceful social revolution, long overdue, in which the perennial values of democracy are fostered, enabling the people to step out from the repressive shadow of the late prime minister and his EPRDF dictatorship and unite as one people, diverse yet unified, synthesizing the many and enriching the country. Such is the opportunity.

The keynote for the time ahead in Ethiopia should be unity, unity in diversity.

There are a great many ethnic and tribal groups in Ethiopia, some 77 according to the US State departmenti, “with their own distinct language. Some of these have as few as 10,000 members.” The people of Oromo (Galla) make up the single largest group and along with Amhara and Tigreans account for around 70% of the 85 million population. A further division exists along religious lines, with roughly 50% Orthodox Christian – living mainly in the highlands and 50% Muslim, inhabiting the lowland regions. Historically these two groups and government have co-existed peacefully, however as the International Crisis Group (ICG) report ‘Ethiopia after Meles’, states “tensions are mounting between the government and the large Muslim community. Muslim committees have protested perceived interference in religious affairs. The authorities sought to link their demonstrations to Islamic extremism and terrorism, and Meles exacerbated matters by accusing the protestors of “peddling ideologies of intolerance” This from a man who effectively outlawed all political dissent and banned freedom of expression. Christian Orthodox priests have also protested political interference and expressed their support for their Muslim brothers.

Such religious discord needs a sensitive response, not cliché name calling, predictably the T word has been wheeled out by a government that has sought to impose ideological control in every area of Ethiopian society, including the church. Let such repressive practices be buried along with Prime Minister Meles and let the current EPRDF government learn what is perhaps the greatest lesson of responsible government: to listen to the people who they are in office to serve.

Designed to divide

Amharic is the official language and until recently was used in primary school instruction, it has been replaced in many areas by local languages such as Oromifa and Tigrinya, reinforcing ethnic divisions, that contrary to the policy of ‘Ethnic Federalism’ designed by the TPLF, have been strengthened under the Meles premiership. The highly centralized EPRDF has employed divide and rule tactics to weaken political opposition, fuel separation along ethnic lines, disempowering the community, engendering competition for land, and natural resources as well as government funds. Fragmented ethnic groups competing for resources and bickering amongst themselves have little time or energy to protest government policy and make easy prey for a regime seeking total control.

Division spawns conflict and as the ICG found “Exclusion and disfranchisement have provided fertile ground for ethnic and religious radicalization, already evident in some lowland regions, where the ruling party exploits resources without local consent.” The massive land sales is one issue alluded to here; displacing thousand of indigenous people, forcing subsistence farmers and pastoralists off the land, destroying large areas of forest and wildlife habitat, that for a few dollars are turned over to international corporations who cultivate crops for their home market. Without let us add any form of consultation with local groups.

Democracy is participation, the opportunity before Ethiopia is to create an environment in which participation is encouraged and the people have a voice, unity seen as the means and the goal. Where the Oromo people, those in the Ogaden, Amhara and Tigrae and the other ethnic groups are fully included and the development of community groups is facilitated.

The opposition and diaspora

Under the Meles regime not only have the main Ethnic groups been divided and disempowered, but so too the diaspora opposition, that has been weak and ineffective. Fractured and despondent activists and opposition members of the various bodies need to unite at this time of uncertainty and opportunity and work collectively to establish a dialogue with the EPRDF government. A national dialogue is needed in which opposition groups inside and outside the country and the people, for too long silenced, are allowed to participate and indeed be listened too. Such a move would set a new and inclusive tone and would engender hope that the ruling EPRDF recognizes the mood of the country.

The diaspora’s role is crucial in any movement towards democracy in Ethiopia. Consensus amongst the various factions is essential and ideas of opposition, the pre-occupation of the past, that serve only to strengthen division and thus play into the hands of the EPRDF, forgotten. Constructive creative contributions should be encouraged, holding in mind the underlying principle of unity to soften government resistance to change and cultivate trust. As the ICG expresses it “Opposition forces may now be able to agree on a basic platform calling for an all-inclusive transitional process leading to free and fair elections in a couple of years. Such an arrangement should include all political forces armed and unarmed, that endorse a non-violent process to achieve an inclusive, democratically-elected regime.”

The Federal Constitution, written by the TPLF, full as it is of articles of decency and acceptability, disregarded by the government, is vague and ambiguous regarding the process of transition and succession in the event of the Prime Ministers death. Al Jazeera 23/08/12 reports “The Ethiopian parliament has been recalled from recess to swear-in Zenawi’s successor, Hailemariam Desalegn, the deputy prime minister, who will most likely lead Ethiopia until 2015, when the current term of the ruling party comes to an end.” This is by no means certain, Desagelen is reportedly unsure about accepting the mantle of PM.

A provisional cross party government is called for. One with broad support that would initiate reforms, repeal the unjust Anti Terrorist Proclamation and other repressive legislation, free the media, most importantly television and radio and begin to build a vibrant active civil society. Such progressive steps would establish the foundations of a strong democratic platform that could be developed up to and after the 2015 elections.

Responsible support and development

The development much championed in Ethiopia, where the partisan distribution of aid, including emergency food relief is an open secret, does not correspond to a definition that those who believe in equality, justice, human rights, and freedom of expression would recognize. Al Jazeera 23/08/12 “Zenawi has been praised for bringing development and economic growth to one of Africa’s poorest nations but his critics say that came at the cost of respect for democracy and human rights.”

To put Ethiopia’s much trumpeted economic growth in perspective, let us note that the average annual income in Ethiopia equates to just $3 a day, food staples have quadrupled in price in the last four years, largely as a consequence of the extensive land sales, and according to Bloomberg Business, Ethiopia’s “annual inflation rate climbed to 34.7 percent in May as food prices surged, Inflation accelerated from 25.6 percent in the previous month, food prices jumped 41 percent in the year.“ In addition the gap is increasing between the majority who are poor and the small number of wealthy Ethiopians, who are primarily members of the ruling party, as IPS (22/08/12) reports “development has yet to reach the vast majority of the country’s population. Instead, much of this wealth – and political power – has been retained by the ruling party and, particularly, by the tiny Tigrayan minority community to which Meles belonged.” These party members have followed the trend of other dictatorships and invested their accrued wealth overseas.

Development and democracy are closely related, not some western idea of democracy, but a living social movement of participation and inclusion, evolving out of the actions and creativity of the people themselves. An idea PM Meles did not recognize, the ICG report quotes Meles stating he did not “believe in bedtime stories and contrived arguments linking economic growth with democracy.” In truth he did not believe in democracy at all. The price of his short sighted-ness and ideologically driven policies has been paid by the people, whose human rights were ignored, their freedoms stolen. Suppressed and silenced for too long, now is the time to listen to their cries for justice and freedom, all efforts should be made to encourage and mobilize the people of Ethiopia. It is not simply calm that is needed, as many have reiterated, but action. It is time for the people, so long inhibited to act, to demand their rights and express their vision for the future of their country.

Ethiopia is the recipient of over $3 billion a year in development aid, second only to Indonesia. The USA, Britain and the EU, along with the World Bank are the main donors. In exchange for what amounts to over a third of Ethiopia’s annual budget, the west has a strategically placed ally in the Horn of Africa who will act when asked to and function as a military outpost for America who launch drone attacks from its soil.

Those supporting development within Ethiopia share the opportunity and responsibility for change within the country. Mediation between the various ethnic groups and political parties, encouraging openness and facilitating discussion is an obvious role that could and indeed should be undertaken. International donors have a duty to the Ethiopian people to play a major part in the transition towards democracy and must insist in the observation of human rights, trampled on under Meles rule. As the ICG point out, “Ethiopia’s core allies, the U.S., UK and European Union (EU), should accordingly seek to play a significant role in preparing for and shaping the transition. Not only must development aid ‘lift people out of poverty’ it must release them from repression and fear and not be employed to strengthen such regressive conditions as it has been in Ethiopia.

The Diplomat Emperor: Q & A with Ted Vestal About Haile Selassie’s Legendary U.S. Trips

Haile Selassie was the only African leader to make the gesture of flying to Washington to participate in President Kennedy’s funeral on November 25, 1963. Pictured above at the burial service at Arlington National Cemetery with the emperor are General Charles de Gaulle of France; Ludwig Erhard of Germany; Queen Frederica of Greece; King Baudoin of Belgium; and other mourners. (Photo credit: Cecil Stoughton, White House/John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston)

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Updated: Tuesday, September 4, 2012

New York (TADIAS) – In the end, Emperor Haile Selassie died in prison, killed without trial, apparently suffocated to death and buried under his successor’s toilet for more than seventeen years. Prior to that, however, the late emperor whose remains has since been moved to its current resting place at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, was a long-reigning ruler of Ethiopia for more than four decades. He had been fiercely criticized as oppressive and brutal for his reluctance to share power, and praised as visionary for his single-minded policy of modernization. According to a new book by Theodore M. Vestal, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Oklahoma State University — who has done an extensive research about the emperor’s foreign visits, particularly to the United states — Haile Selassie was a world-class globe trotter as well, traveling the world on behalf of Ethiopia, forging diplomatic, military and commercial relationships from Africa to North America, and along the way subtly promoting the country’s brand as a mysterious and mystical land, as well as an attractive tourism and investment destination.

Haile Selassie was indeed the first Ethiopian leader that ventured out for extended travels throughout Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and to North and South America. In a recent interview with Tadias Magazine, Professor Vestal said, the emperor’s relentless pursuit of international diplomacy had big impact on how the rest of the world viewed Ethiopians.

“The Emperor was a fast learner, and I think his travels abroad in 1922 and 1924 were important milestones in his education,” Professor Vestal said, referring to his trip abroad as a young man before his coronation. “He took in all the tourist sites, met royal and not-so royal leaders, and assuaged his passion to know more about the latest mechanical wonders of Europe.” He added: “Haile Selassie also discerned how Ethiopia and Africa were viewed by foreigners.”

“His trip was a public relations triumph of the first magnitude, and he made a positive impression on many who had little if any contact with Africans, much less a ruler with an extraordinary entourage,” Professor Vestal continued. “His warm reception and demonstrative press coverage provided an appropriate gloss on the image of Ethiopia as a nation of note that had been earned on the field of battle at Adwa.”

Vestal noted that the Emperor’s travels inspired some of his domestic “agenda of modernization” that he pursued “as best he could” in the face of “conservative” critics at home.

“He beheld how other monarchs ruled and tried to follow their best practices in his own reign and for his own purposes,” Vestal noted.

Below is the rest our interview with Professor Ted Vestal about his most recent book: The Lion of Judah in the New World, which explores Emperor Haile Selassie’s travels to the United States and shaping of Americans’ attitude toward Africa.

Dr. Ted Vestal

TADIAS: In the chapter entitled A Lion in the Streets you noted that Emperor Haile Selassie’s first visit to America coincided with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Brown v. Board of Education. Given the Emperor’s travels to racially segregated states at the time please tell us a bit more about this unique moment in history.

Ted Vestal: At the time of the Emperor’s first state visit to the United States in 1954, racial discrimination was still practiced and enforced by law in the southern states of the old Confederacy and in some of the border states. In 1896 (the same year as the Battle of Adwa), a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court had given approval to the “separate but equal” doctrine that became the legal basis of segregation practices and Jim Crow laws under which African-Americans were “second-class citizens” lacking equal opportunities in education and employment. During the post-World War II era, however, the ideas of “humane democracy” of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal were having an important effect in bettering the position of the African-American in American life. Growing numbers of African-Americans began to improve their economic status by entering professions, businesses, and higher paying occupations. During the war, the color line was abolished by many employers and labor unions, while the man-power shortage, the government’s hiring of African-Americans for federal positions and requiring “no discrimination” clauses in federal contracts all contributed to this development.

Except for certain areas in the “deep” South, segregation was being brought to an end in public places such as hotels, theaters, restaurants, and recreational facilities. African-Americans all over the country were voting in larger numbers–sometimes requiring the aid of the Supreme Court to accomplish this. The lot of the African-American in transportation, education, and housing was likewise improved by the Court’s decisions. The ideas of the New Deal became a force creating a deep-seated change in American mores, with many people convinced that the maintenance of a caste system was inconsistent with the twentieth century idea of America as a constitutional democracy. Despite these changes, Swedish sociologist Gunnar Myrdal wrote in 1944 that “the status accorded the Negro in America represents nothing more and nothing less than a century-long lag of public morals.”

This changed on 17 May 1954, when the Supreme Court rendered perhaps the most fateful judicial decision of the twentieth century—Brown v. Board of Education. For the first time, the Court met head-on the moral challenge of the separate but equal doctrine in public schools and in a unanimous decision declared that doctrine unconstitutional. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote the opinion of the Court declaring that separate facilities were inherently unequal and violated the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution. In the years that followed, segregation on the basis of race slowly came to an end, and African-Americans were more fully integrated into American life. At the time of Haile Selassie’s 1954 visits to Oklahoma and Louisiana, however, segregation was still in full sway in those states, and the Emperor’s acclaim broke down the color bar and tossed the moral question of racial biases squarely into the forum of American public opinion. Hence, the Emperor’s state visit played a role in hastening integration in the United States.

TADIAS: You cited Henry Morton Stanley as “probably one of the first Americans to visit Ethiopia” in the 1800s. Please tell us a bit more about him and his work as a correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune.

Ted Vestal: Stanley was an intriguing character who was an adventurer and explorer and who might have been responsible for the spread of sleeping sickness in Central Africa. A Welsh immigrant, he came to the United States at the age of eighteen in 1859. He had the distinction of serving in both the Confederate and Union armies and the Union navy during the Civil War. Stanley subsequently became a journalist and covered international events for U.S. newspapers, going to, among others, such “exotic” locales as the Ottoman Empire in 1860, the American frontier West in 1867 (where he reported on the work of the Indian Peace Commission), Abyssinia and the Napier expedition of 1868, present day Tanzania where in 1871 he searched for and “found” the “lost” Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone, the Congo River whose source he found in 1874, and Equatoria in the southern Sudan where he led the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition in 1886. The New York Herald and Britain’s Daily Telegraph were Stanley’s most important newspaper employers, and Belgium’s King Leopold II was his patron in some of his expeditions of discovery in Africa. Stanley wrote about his adventures and explorations in a series of books, the most popular of which were Through the Dark Continent (1878) and In Darkest Africa (1890). In the 1890s he returned to Britain where he was knighted and served in Parliament from 1895-1900. He died in London in 1904.

TADIAS: Your book states that it was during the era of Emperor Menelik that formal diplomatic ties were forged between Ethiopia and the United States. Robert Skinner was the American diplomat sent to Ethiopia with the task of negotiating the first commercial treaty between the two nations. What were some of the main negotiation points of this first treaty?

Ted Vestal: In 1903, Skinner made it clear that commercial interests were the sole basis for contact between the two nations. Emperor Menelik appreciated the fact that the United States had no colonial or political ambitions in Africa and might serve as buffer against imperialist European powers in the region. The United States sought to expand trade with Ethiopia, the only non-colonized country in the region, in ways that were not available in the colonized nations of Africa. Skinner hoped to promote U.S. exports, which he thought would have “the power to transform Ethiopia.” His attitude has been called “free-trade imperialism” or “informal empire” by historians. Ethiopia, having successfully defended its independence at the Battle of Adwa, was a prime target for the American mission. The country did not need the blessings of European colonialism for it to move into a new stage of social and economic development. The Americans wanted Ethiopians to develop their acquisitive faculties to give them a taste for more wants and hence more consumerism. Peasants would have to be the driving force in such a change because the manufacturing sector was in its infancy. The purchasing power of the Ethiopians was small, but if their desire for foreign manufactured goods could be increased, they might respond by harvesting larger crops and raising more livestock to increase their dollar holdings. The increased trade that Skinner dreamed of would require a social and economic revolution in which largely self-sufficient farmers would be more driven by the profit motive. Although the Skinner treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1910 and was valid for ten years, trade between the two countries was limited until after World War II. Emperor Menelik was still more interested in the purchase of arms during the remaining years of his reign.

For the most recent writing on the subject, see Amanda Kay McVety, “Enlightened Aid: U.S. Development as Foreign Policy in Ethiopia,” Foreign Affairs, Sept/Oct 2012.

TADIAS: Haile Selassie’s visit to America also jump-started President Truman’s famous “Point Four Program,” which you point out “emphasized the distribution of knowledge rather than money.” Can you elaborate on some of the developments that arose from this program?

Ted Vestal: The purpose of the Point Four Program was to share American “know-how” with developing nations. In Ethiopia, the greatest legacy of Point Four was the establishment of modern agricultural instruction, research, and extension in the country. The Imperial College of Agriculture at Alemaya and the Jimma Agricultural High School were major U.S.-inspired initiatives in Ethiopian education that have endured and grown into significant centers of learning today. The multi-million dollar Point Four Program went through a series of name changes and morphed into the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) that, under whatever moniker, was responsible for many programs that benefited Ethiopia, including crop and livestock protection, teacher training, vocational trade schools, health programs, nurse education, malaria eradication, the creation of mapping and national archives, a Blue Nile basin survey, regional development, national airlines training, public administration, and the provision of university faculty and administration. The ties established between Ethiopia and Oklahoma State University under the country’s very first Point Four contract have been maintained to the present day as the longest continual relationship between an American university and a Sub-Saharan African nation. The good will initiated by the Point Four Program doubtlessly influenced the choices of many Ethiopians to pursue further education in the United States and even to immigrate to the New World when government oppressions at home forced them to leave.

TADIAS: Haile Selassie’s tour of America also included going to visit the Boeing Aircraft Plant. Ethiopian Airlines remains one of Boeing’s loyal customers to date and recently became the only African country to acquire the Dreamliner. What can you tell us about the development of this historic relationship?

Ted Vestal: Although Ethiopian Airlines had been established in 1946 as a joint venture with the U.S. airline TWA (Trans World Airlines) with the acquisition of five U.S. Government surplus C-47 aircraft and had developed into the backbone of Ethiopia’s infrastructure, it was not until 1960 that Ethiopian was to purchase Boeing planes (720-Bs) to usher in the jet age. I do not know the story behind the Emperor’s tour of the Boeing factory in Seattle during his 1954 state visit. His advisor, John Spencer, who accompanied Haile Selassie on the trip, had been instrumental in setting up the agreement with TWA and served on the corporation’s board. Perhaps Spencer as well as the Ethiopian/TWA executives in Ethiopia had foreseen Boeing’s becoming a leader in commercial jet air craft and had arranged for the factory visit. It was a prophetic event, for Boeing was to enjoy great success in designing and building both military and commercial jet aircraft in the years following. Indeed, Boeing planes have been in service at Ethiopian Airlines continuously since 1962 when the first two Boeing 720-B aircraft landed at the newly constructed Bole Airport. As U.S. Ambassador Ed Korry explained to me, the Emperor was wily in requesting American aid to purchase state of the art jets for Ethiopian so that the airline could maintain its status as Africa’s finest airline. Having purchased the aircraft, Haile Selassie then had to have funds to build airports large enough for them to land and take off—funds that the United States was willing to provide. That was how Ethiopia’s first four modern airports were constructed! In September, the Ethiopian Airlines-Boeing tie will be part of a poignant reunion when one hundred Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who began teaching in Ethiopia fifty years ago will journey back to the land of their service on a new, top-of-the-line Ethiopian Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

TADIAS: Can you summarize how the historical diplomatic ties between America and Ethiopia has shaped each country?

Ted Vestal: The diplomatic ties between the two nations were not very dynamic until the mid-1930s and the Italo-Ethiopian war. Although Ethiopians had encouraged American businesses to consider trade and investment in Ethiopia ever since the Skinner mission in 1903, other than occasional official visitors, Ethiopia did not develop a diplomatic presence in the United States until 1935, and even then there was no embassy in Washington.

During the Italian-Ethiopian crisis of 1934-1935, the United States took a neutral stance on the grounds of “non-interference in European conflicts” and because the matter had been given to the League of Nations. Shortly after Italian forces occupied Addis Ababa in 1936, the United States, which did not recognize Rome’s annexation of Ethiopia, shut down its legation. U.S. diplomacy during the Italian crisis reflected the American policy goal of staying out of international entanglements and avoiding war.

Following the liberation of Ethiopia and America’s declaration of war on the Axis powers in 1941, the two nations became allies. The United States sent military assistance under a Lend Lease agreement, and Emperor Haile Selassie sought additional American aid to replace British influence in his country. Ethiopia and the United States reestablished diplomatic relations in 1943 with the United States opening a new legation along Entoto Road and Ethiopia sending its first resident minister to Washington. The Emperor sought American support for Ethiopian access to the Red Sea and the return of Eritrea—aspirations which eventually were realized with help from the United States. The U.S. Air Force subsequently flew an Ethiopian delegation to San Francisco to attend the founding conference of the United Nations in 1945. Thus U.S. diplomatic ties paid a role in assisting Ethiopia’s becoming a leading advocate of collective security in the fledgling UN. During the Korean conflict in 1950-1953, Ethiopia sent an armed battalion that fought alongside other United Nations forces. Ethiopia’s Kagnew battalion was transported to Korea on American ships and worked closely with U.S. forces in combat. Ethiopian forces later served with UN troops in the Congo in the 1960s. These contributions were greatly admired in the United States.

In the immediate post-World War II era, Ethiopian-American diplomatic relationships were shaped by the developing Cold War. Containment of the Soviet Union and its allies became America’s primary foreign policy after 1947. The United States and Ethiopia signed a treaty of amity and economic relations in 1951 and a Point Four technical assistance agreement the following year. This was the beginning of a U.S. foreign aid program that was to become the largest in Africa. The United States continues to be a strong financial supporter of Ethiopia today.

In the 1950s U.S. diplomacy focused on acquiring military access and communications facilities in Ethiopia, keeping communist influence out of the country, and maintaining a government that reflected pro-Western positions in international and regional arenas. Ethiopia wanted American assistance in expanding and modernizing its military, help with modernization of the economy, and political support for the incorporation of Eritrea, control over the Ogaden, and U.S. aid should there be any threats to its sovereignty. To the present time, Ethiopia and the U.S. military continue to have close connections.

In 1962, the first group of Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs), a majority of whom served as secondary school teachers, came to Ethiopia. In the mid-1960s, about half of the secondary school teachers in the country were PCVs. During the next eleven years, more than 2,500 PCVs were to serve in Ethiopia in diverse capacities with various ministries and agencies (in the 1990s, PCVs again were assigned to Ethiopia and operate there today). With the large increase in military assistance, Point Four aid, and the Peace Corps, many Americans worked in Ethiopia in the 1960s and early 1970s. At the same time, more Ethiopians were sent to the U.S. for higher education or military training.

In 1963 following the creation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia became even more important to U.S. diplomacy. The U.S. hoped Haile Selassie would serve as a moderating influence within the OAU and in contacts with African leaders.

Ethiopian-U.S. diplomatic ties enabled Haile Selassie to modernize and increase the size of his military forces to be one of the largest and best equipped in Africa. From the 1950s until the end of Haile Selassie’s reign, Ethiopia received about 80 percent of all U.S. military aid for Africa and one-fifth of American economic assistance. This financial support probably had extended the longevity of the Emperor’s rule. The Ethiopian-U.S. military agreements, however, resulted in Arab hostility and, as the Cold War escalated, gave the Soviets a base for intervention in Somalia. This eventually led to the Soviets becoming dominant in Ethiopia during the Derg era and to the U.S. switching its support to Somalia in the 1970s and 1980s.

Through diplomacy, the United States maintained a military listening post in an area strategic to protecting shipping lanes from Arab oil-exporting countries. In a way, diplomatic ties with Ethiopia were a learning experience for the United States during the years that led to the end of colonialism throughout the continent and the 1960s, “the decade of Africa.” Over a long period, Ethiopia was a stable, moderate friend of America that by trial and error supported its best ally in Africa. Ethiopia benefitted in many ways from the military and economic development funds that were the equivalent of rent for Kagnew Station. The greatest legacy of the diplomatic ties of the two countries, however, has been the friendship between the people of Ethiopia and the United States which has persisted regardless of what paths were taken by the governments of the two nations.

TADIAS: And last but not least, please tell us about your personal/academic interest in Ethiopia and how it began?

Dr. Ted Vestal (Courtesy photo)

Ted Vestal: Like many Americans who were in colleges and universities during the 1950s, I knew little about Africa, much less about Ethiopia during my student days. There were few opportunities, even in major graduate programs such as Stanford’s, to study “the developing world.” African nations were a part of political science courses on colonial systems or “British Empire studies.” Emperor Haile Selassie was well known to my generation because of his memorable speech before the League of Nations in 1936 that was included in Allied propaganda films and shorts during World War II. His speech, in its entirety, also was published in many international relations or international organization texts. Other than newsreels of the Italo-Ethiopian War and liberation, there was sparse information about Ethiopia. By the time I was in college, I had heard of Oklahoma State University’s work in agriculture in Ethiopia, work that enjoyed an excellent reputation. I also knew of the Emperor’s visit to Oklahoma in 1954. A few years later, in 1960, I had become intrigued with President Kennedy’s idea of a Peace Corps. By that time, I had a wife and two children and didn’t think there was any way I could be a part of the new organization that JFK started shortly after his inauguration. Then I heard of something called the Peace Corps staff that worked with PCVs overseas, and I applied immediately. Through the good offices of my friend and college classmate, Bill Moyers, I was invited to go to Washington and eventually was interviewed by Peace Corps Director Sargent Shriver. He offered me a staff position in Ethiopia, and I began to seriously study that nation while working in Peace Corps/Washington. In DC, My wife and I were most fortunate to study Amharic with one of Ethiopia’s greatest linguists, Tadesse Beyene, who was a graduate student at Georgetown University at the time. He taught us much in a short time—and much more about Ethiopia than just the spoken language. When the Emperor came on his second state visit to the U.S. in 1963, I was on Pennsylvania Avenue cheering as he and Kennedy drove by in an open convertible. A short time later, I observed Haile Selassie marching in the procession of world leaders at Kennedy’s funeral.

When we arrived in Addis Ababa in 1964, my education went into high gear! Living and working in Ethiopia for over two years was the best learning experience one could have about the country and its people. I was privileged to visit all the nation’s provinces and to meet Ethiopians from all walks of life. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know—a situation that has continued throughout my life.

After my Peace Corps service, I maintained an interest in Ethiopia but did not want to return there during the time of the repressive dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam and the Derg. During the horrendous famine in Ethiopia in 1984, I suffered from what Conner Cruise O’Brien called “the shock of non-recognition” when reading about conditions there, and I decided to write my version of what was happening. I wrote an article, “Ethiopia’s Famine: A Crises of Many Dimensions,” that was immediately published by the Royal Institute for International Relations in London in its journal The World Today. Thereafter, I was in demand to write and speak about Ethiopia and its problems. After the Derg fell in 1991, I was a consultant to the Transitional Government of Ethiopia and served as an international election observer in the 1992 national elections. I became involved in the process of writing a new constitution for the country and was asked to testify before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives, on “Ethiopia: The Challenges Ahead.” I was active in International Conferences of Ethiopian Studies, and I was able to get back to Ethiopia every few years to interview a host of Ethiopians. Starting in 1995, I wrote expert witness affidavits or testified in some 120 political asylum cases of Ethiopians and Eritreans seeking to escape tyranny and human rights abuses. This experience was a significant part of my education and informed my writing Ethiopia: A Post-Cold War African State published by Praeger in 1999 and other works. Now as an emeritus professor, I continue to think about and to write about Ethiopia and its fascinating people and to enjoy the friendship of some of their best and brightest folk.
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Click here to learn more and get a copy of Professor Ted Vestal’s book.
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Related:
Rarely Seen White House Photos Featuring Emperor Haile Selassie

Emperor Haile Selassie is greeted by President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy upon his arrival at Union Station in Washington, D.C on October 1st, 1963. (Photo: The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum)

President John F. Kennedy and Emperor Haile Selassie meeting at the White House, October 1963. (Photo: The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum)