” ኢትዮጵያዊነት ኣደጋ ላይ የወደቀበት ሰኣት ላይ ነን እንዳለመታደል ሆኖ የዚህ ችግር ደግሞ እኛ ወጣቶች ላይ  የተጋፈጧል ብሎል።”

The post በሮናልድ ሬገን ውስጥ ቴዲ ኣፍሮ – ንጉሤ አዳሙ appeared first on ሳተናው: Ethiopian Amharic News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Professor Fikre Tolosas’s intellectual mission for ethiopian unity

The post Professor Fikre Tolosas’s intellectual mission for ethiopian unity – by Alemneh Wassie appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.

“The symbols of modernity, in the form of steel mills, chemical plants, automobile factories or squadrons military aircraft can be purchased on the international market but development is a complex social process which rests in large part upon internal innovative capacities of a society. Imports of foreign ideas, values and technologies have a major part to play but few societies in history have developed exclusively on the basis of such imports. One of the major tasks of the developing nations is to create, nurture and more often than not to rehabilitate their internal capacity to invent and innovate” Nicolas Jequier                                 

Overview

A country’s development is the business of every citizen. True development is a bottom up process that starts from individuals at local level and spreads to reach everyone. Development is not something to be handed down from officials at the top. The role of a patriotic government is to facilitate the citizens’ creative and innovative activities. Development requires free-will and empowered individuals, therefore, democracy has a significant role.  Development requires a holistic and balanced approach, in which education, economy, health, technology and good governance that must complement each other and develop together.  EPRDF wants us to believe, that development is erecting tall buildings or building an isolated “the millennium dam” in the middle of a society with subsistence economy where millions are dying of starvation. Development progresses in stages and the first step to win over abject poverty i.e. preventing starvation and diseases and having decent shelter.  Unleashing the creative power of citizens through democracy should be the immediate task of “Ye Limat Mengist”.

In this write up, I start by describing what development is. I then attempt to discuss the holistic nature of development as well as the importance of democracy for development. I also try show that development is multi-faceted and balanced process. I also point that. development is science and fact based process but not ideological. Let me start by describing what development is.

What is Development?    

A first impression of development is that it is a progression of something from a small to a big, from a simple to a complex, from weak to strong, from dependence to independence etc. I think it is safe to say that, the development of a nation also follows similar transition.

A widely-accepted description of society’s development is given by Gene Shackman and et al, They said that:  “Development is a function of society’s capacity to organize human energies and productive resources to respond to opportunities and challenges. It is emergence of higher, more complex, more productive levels of social organizationthrough the stages of nomadic hunting, rural agrarian, urban, commercial, industrial and post-industrial societies. It examines the process by which new activities are introduced by pioneers, imitated, resisted, accepted, organized, institutionalized and assimilated into the culture.”¹

At the expense of being repetitive, I would echo that development is successive emergences of higher, more complex levels of productive forces and the respective social organizations starting from the hunter-gatherer communities and progressing to agricultural, industrial, and post-industrial way of life respectively. Development is building society’s capacity to coordinate the participation of most of its members and their know-how with available natural sources to responsibly improve their lives.

Another description of development that caught my attention is that of Nicolas Jequier (quoted above) who puts it as:“Development is a complex social process which rests in large part upon internal innovative capacities of a society.”

This description also makes the point that development rests on the innovative capacity of the citizens of a society. Development is the continuous activity of citizens to invent, create or build, and innovate with the resources they have, to address their immediate and long term needs. Societies undergoing through true development must keep on moving from lower level to the higher level social systems.

At the minimum, development requires:

• to educate and empower citizens so that they become the creative, innovative and entrepreneurial powers to develop the tools and mechanism they need to harmonize the relations among themselves and to overcome the challenges of nature including the dangers of   hanger, disease and ignorance and pave the way for higher living standards.

• to be respectful to each other and to the environment through system of laws and regulation that they craft to balance freedom with responsibility and to resolve differences in nonviolent and non-repressive manner.

• to create an atmosphere where people are free to be creative and to have practical mechanisms to exercise political power and to monitor and influence the behaviors of their officials.

It is important to note here that the stages of development go hand in hand with the way how the majority in a society produce to meet their needs and wants.  How societies produce have everything to do with the tools or forces of production they use, which in turn has to do with the level of technological developments. As such, hunter-gatherer communities use sticks and stones that they collected from nature. The agricultural communities produce with oxen driven plough and which is more advanced than the sticks and the stones. Then, the industrial, and post-industrial societies produce with power driven machineries and advanced communication methods. Those societies whose dominant production force did not advance beyond oxen driven plough are known to be underdeveloped. Those societies who are transitioning to industrial mode production are known developing nation while those who have completed the transition to industrial mode of production are called advanced nations.

Development is Holistic

Development of a society is a holistic and integrated functioning of the main organs of a society, namely, economy, education, health, democracy (good governance) and technology. I consider these as the vitals of society. Of these vital organs, Technology and Democracy have the central role in development. Technology is the main engine of development while democracy is the fuel that drives the development.

To envision the holistic nature of a nation’s development, we can compare it with development of a child.  In the development of a normal child, her or his physical as well as mental growth must go hand in hand. All the organs, the legs, arms, face, ears, eyes etc. grow proportionally.  The intellectual maturity also should grow proportional with physical development as well as, the age. In the development of a normal child, it is uncommon to see enlarged legs while the arms or other organs are still small or the vice versa. They all grow proportionally. This is so because, the various organs in the human body function in such a way that the nutrients that the child’s body needs are processed and distributed evenly by our blood to all the organs, all the way down to each cell that the organs are made of. The cells get proportional amount of nutrients.  So, they grow proportionally.

In the same token, the development of a nation depends on what it produces and whether it distributes what is produced to all members proportionally. In other words, to develop to the next level, a nation, not only must produce more, it also must make sure that it has a mechanism by which what is produced can reach every citizen in a fair manner. It is important that every citizen has access to at least, the basic needs. True development of a society is not taking place if one group of the population has too much (excess) of anything, while the other group is unable to get the basic needs just as a normally developed child cannot have un-proportionally large legs and small arms.

Cells of a normal body must get what they need to grow on so that they enable organs to grow/develop which in turn will enable the whole body to develop. A country’s development follows the same pattern. The development of each individual citizen is the foundation for the development of a family which in turn becomes the foundation for the development of the community which in turn is the foundation for the development of a nation.

There is another important point that needs mentioning at this point. It is about the interaction and interdependence between parts at various levels and the whole. In the case of a child, we are talking about the interaction and interdependence between each cell, the organs they form, and the whole body. In the case of a nation’s development, it is about the interaction and interdependence between individual citizen, the communities they form and the whole nation.

The first obvious thing to note is that, the parts and the whole are inseparably connected. The second point is, the interactions between each cell or organ should complement each other and consequently the whole body. They are all interconnected, interacting and interdependent for the whole body of a child to grow. In the case of a nation’s development the actions that individual citizens, and different communities take should complement each other to move the whole nation forward. That is, for development to take place, there must be positive (constructive) feedbacks at every level of the interlink. In other words, the technological, the good governance activities (democratic activities), the economic, educational and health related activities of individuals, families, communities and the whole nation must complement each other at every level.  If one destroys what the other does, then there is no development or progress. Again, development happens when the individual citizens, the communities that and the nation that emerges from them act together as interconnected, interacting and interdependent.

Democracy is Necessary for Development

To say development is bottom up process is to say that it is the people themselves who are the primary owners of their own development. This requires that they are empowered and are free to do what is right and good for them. In other words, there should be a democratic atmosphere that would allow citizens’ participation in their own development. The following quote clearly shows why democracy is necessary to empower development.

“Democracy raises human aspirations. It encourages individuals to take active initiative for their own advancement. It facilitates freer and wider social interactions. It releases greater social energy. It vastly increases the dissemination of information and the multiplication of new organizations. As the transition from monarchy to democracy was a catalyst for rapid economic advancement of Western countries over the past three centuries, the spread of democratic institutions today opens up greater possibilities for global development. “²

The process of development starts when individuals and communities willingly collaborate to address local development issues. In an attempt to illustrate that development is people’s business, with an example, let’s say, a local issue could be building water reservoir to be used for irrigation. In addition to coming together to collaborate, the process of constructing the reservoir involves, exchanging of ideas and the selection of the best way to do the job, gathering labor and material resources and then doing the actual work of constructing it. These are big tasks which need series of decisions. The decision making and doing the works can proceed in one of two ways. One way is, an individual or an authority of some sort, tells everybody, what and how to do the tasks at each step.  Another way of doing it is to make collective decision by letting everyone involved have a say at each step.

The first way, which is doing things under an authoritative leadership is, the way most things are done in undemocratic societies. This way of operating any work, let alone development, does not give the best result.  The reasons are, it does notraise the aspirations of the participants. It does not encourage individuals to take active initiative. It does not facilitate freer and wider social interactions. It suppresses greater social energy. It does not increase the dissemination of information and the flourishing of new productive organizations.

The alternative way, a democratic way, which is to make collective decision on what and how to do the tasks by letting everyone involved have a say at each step is known to bring the best results. The reasons are, that the freedom to participate raises human aspirations. It releases greater social energy.  It encourages individuals to take active initiative for their own advancement by doing their best for the collective good. It facilitates freer and wider social interactions. It vastly increases the dissemination of information and encourages doing things in a different and better way.

A democratic way to do work (development in our case) allows people to self-organize and establish stable patterns. In doing so, the patterns of creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, integrity, thrust, respect, equality and other relevant attributes emerge.  People establish these stable patterns on their own by learning from each other, without the interference by outside forces. That is, no one tells them to establish these patterns other than their own free will and experiences which were fueled by democracy. These patterns emerge spontaneously when the individuals in the community interact with each other for the common good based on the conditions that exist locally and with the simple rules of engagement that they formulate on their own.

Attributes like the patterns of creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, integrity, thrust, respect, and equality are very relevant, even crucial for development. Because, they help stablish stability, thrust, confidence and continuity all of which are required for progress to take place. So, in a way, development is an activity from within, which, communities organize on their own around the development activities that they deem important.

This does not mean that those engaged in development should opposes external assistance. Be it financial, material or intellectual, external assistances are important. However, they are important only if the people who receive them are the decision makers on how to implement them towards their own development. People need to be trusted to do their own development. This should be the case even when they make mistakes, as they are the ones who can learn the quickest and who can fix them better. If there is no democracy and the assistance receivers are not empowered to decide on the assistance given to them, the alternative is the status quo which is a top-down development programs of the last fifty years which involved hundreds of billion dollars but failed to bring any development worthy of a name to the people of the developing nations.

Development as Multi-Faceted Endeavor

Development involves, at the minimum, education, economy, technology, democracy (good governance) and health care. These vital social activities should be dealt with in parallel as interconnected and interdependent development activities.  0f these, technology and democracy play the central roll. Technology is the engine while democracy is the fuel with which the development engine runs on. Below is a statement or two why development needs all five mentioned above.

• Education: Development requires educated citizens who are skilled, creative, innovators and entrepreneurs who can collectively overcome the challenges of poverty.
• Economy: Development also needs economic activity such as production, exchange, distribution, trade etc. which is geared to grow, free of corruption, and accommodates the needs of both investors and workers and delivers fair distribution of wealth. But first and foremost, eradicating abject poverty the immediate goal of economy.
• Technology: Technology is another requirement for development. Technology deals with improving materials production transportation, communication, energy generation, modern farming, advanced manufacturing. Technology is widely recognized for increasing productivity and enable better farming and manufacturing, travel and communicating faster.
• Health: Modern education, growing economy and advanced technologies all need healthy citizens who work in them as well as healthy environment. Therefore affordable, health system for all is another requirement. A health system that focuses on clean environment and preventive measures in hygiene would enhance affordability.
• Democracy: Education, health, economy and technology mentioned above can be greatly helped with good governance. Good governance that is the result of free and fair election that respects the rule of one person-one vote. Good governance ensures a social system that is fair, free, just and that discourages tyranny and corruption.

It is worth noting that all aspects of development, that is, education, economy technology; health and good governance are all interconnected and interrelated in that one affects the other. This is to say a nation needs educated and healthy citizens who have the skills and talent to develop economy and technology. who stand for their democratic rights and build a responsible government.  They all must go hand-in hand and development needs to take a holistic approach.

Development is a Balanced Activity

As mentioned above, development consists of integrated interactions of all the vital development activities. Isolating one from the other would not bring a sustainable development. One example (among many) of such isolated, non-developmental project is the construction of the “millennium” or the “Renaissance dam” to generate electricity from the Nile River. At first, the project gives the impression of being developmental. But a scrutiny shows that it is not. It is an ambitious construction endeavor. At its full capacity, which, according to Wikipedia, may take up to 15 years to gain full capacity, is supposed to generate 6, 450 Megawatt of power. Depending on the electric consumption of an average household in the USA, one Megawatt can serve 650 t0 1000 homes. If we exaggerate, and assume that a house hold in Ethiopia consumes the same amount of power as the house hold in USA, 6,450 Megawatt will serve 4.2 to 6.45 million homes. On its face value, making electricity available to these many homes sounds good. In fact it is what most of us dream for.

But, is this project an integral part of development? Let’s give it a litmus test by asking some basic questions from a holistic perspective as it pertains to Technology, Democracy, Education, Economy and Health.

Let’s start from Technology. The dam is supposed to generate massive electrical energy.   Does Ethiopia have the infrastructure for distributing the power to these many households?  Have we developed the prior technologies that can effectively utilize all this energy?  Are Ethiopians empowered to develop such technologies as, farming machinery, manufacturing factories, transportation and communication equipment, household technologies such as refrigeration, cloth washer and dryer, dish washer, grinder just to name a few, which, can use this massive power? In other words, given the low technological advances, it is unlikely that this massive energy (assuming it can be generated) can contribute to the development of Ethiopia.

Democracy: Did the people living in the area (or the whole country) had (or have) a say in its construction? Were all Ethiopians who were forced to make economic contribution given alternative plans or projects to discuss and chose from? All indictors point that it was a top-down decision made by EPRDF and shoved on to the people in the name of development.

Economic: Who will gain economic benefit from this project? Did EPRDF clearly outline the distribution the revenue? Is there a track record of economic fairness by the ruling group?   Is this the best investment decision economically? Is there a better or different way of doing the investment?

Health: Is the impact the project can have on people as well as on the environment (ecosystem) Studied?

Education: Does the project have enough trained people to make the project successful and sustainable?

Note that we can ask many more questions. The answer to each of the above question is no, indicating that the renaissance dam is an isolated one with very minimal holistic purpose or outcome.  As such, its impact on the all-rounded development of the country will be insignificant.

Think about it: Does a child with relatively large heart (the organ) compared to the other organs (lungs, kidney, liver blood vessels etc.) grow healthy and lead balanced life because of his very  large heart?

The renaissance dam is totally unbalanced undertaking, particularly when Ethiopia ranks 157^th out of 169 countries in the Human development index (HDI) of the United nations. The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. It is used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, a developing or an under-developed country.

Development is fact based or Scientific

Development happens only when the laws of nature (discovered by science) are applied to build the appropriate technological and organizational tools to solve relevant social problems. Development is possible through facts gathered from scientific experiments and the learnings built around them are applied to address the problems of underdevelopment. Development is not a guesswork, it is rather guided by science. Development requires thousands of skilled free thinking workers with scientific outlook.

Development does not have ideology. There is no such a thing as neo-liberal, socialist or capitalist development. If development has any ideology, it can only be scientific and technological.  Let me pick “food for everyone” slogan as an example to make my point. We can feed every citizen only, if there is enough food for all. We can get enough food for all only if we harvest enough. We can harvest enough only if we can farm adequately. We can farm adequately if we have the right machinery, fertile soil, good quality seeds, moisture, and skilled farmers. And we can get all these only from science, technology, training-education, the right investment and by doing the actual work but not from this ideology or that doctrine.

Development is a grass-root effort of millions who have decided to engage in it to live a better life. They engage in development guided by their local conditions and by entering harmonious engagement with fellow citizens around them. Experience teaches that with the right initial conditions, self-organized local groups, over time, develop habits and patterns of creativity and innovation, hard work etc. which replicate and increase in scale.  The replication of patterns facilitates the learning process to reach millions of people. In this learning process, good experiences can be amplified and transferred fast while failures will be discarded before being repeated. But all these can happen, only if the responsibility of development is left to free and independent citizens with their free will intact. If such conditions exist, the process of eradicating poverty, ignorance and disease and advancing towards higher living standards should be accomplished in a decade or shorter. It should not take forever.

The first and foremost role of government in development is to recognize the decisive role of citizens for their own development. Then, based on that recognition, to facilitate their local and national interactions. Another role of a government is to recognize and protect citizens’ rights and their wellbeing and empower them to solve their basic needs and beyond. To help the scaling up of their success to regional and national level is another role that the government should play. Development is not a top-down process done either by a genius leader or powerful president or revered spiritual person or outside power.

It is true development does not happen overnight. It is gradual and evolutionary and will take reasonable time, but not forever. Development builds on prior works, as such we need to pay attention to historical precedents and use them as learning grounds. We also must recognize that the development process is not orderly and predictable all the time. There is some uncertainty too.  The uncertainty arises from the fact that nation-wide patterns are the product of numerous local interactions, where, different localities have different realities but can control it through interactions.

But as mentioned earlier, citizens and their local interactions are the basis for development. Interactions provide the necessary energy to overcome the obstacles to development. Facilitating the conditions for free local interactions and self-organization is a key. Such facilitation can occur if there is democracy, thus making democracy a necessity for development. Ultimately, it is not government, but it is the local actions that determine whether a nation develops or stagnates⁴.

If one wonders why Ethiopia’s development has stagnated, it is because the local people are not empowered to organize to solve their own problems. Past Ethiopian governments as well as EPRDF sees development as a top-down dictated process but not as a democratic process. Unless that changes, we Ethiopians remain a starving people. Forget development!!

In summary

The goal of development is to improve the lives of everyone in a country. For this to happen, each and every citizen has to be in charge of his or her development. Of course, by using mutual development as a guide. It is only then, that true development occurs.  For citizens to be in charge, they should be able exercise their free-will they should feel free and independent. From then on, people come together in small and large groups and start interacting and organizing based on the rules they chose to engage in. These processes enable them to form a stable pattern towards reaching their goals. This stable pattern is the one that helps to develop tried and true practices which will speed development.

Development can advance faster if taken holistically by engaging in all its aspects.  Development is not education only, or economy only or technology only or health only or Democracy only. It is all of them advancing side by side. That said, Technology and Democracy have prominent roles in development, the former as an engine and the latter as a fuel for development.  If development is attempted by isolating each component, it will remain unbalanced and incomplete.  But if all aspects of development are taken together and pushed in parallel and citizens are made the primary drivers of their development, the patterns they develop replicate from one corner of the country to the other quickly and the desired development can be reached faster.  Democracy is not luxury but necessity for development.

Reference:

1. Why does a society develop the way it does?  by Gene Shackman, Ya-Lin Liu and George (Xun) Wanghttp://gsociology.icaap.org/report/summary2.htm
2. http://www.workinfo.com/econhist/index.htm
3. 2010 UNDPThe Human Development Index(HDI report
4. Rihani, Samir. Implications of adopting a complexity framework for Development

The post  Development and Democracy (Tadesse Nigatu) appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.

BY JONATHAN EASLEY – 05/12/17 06
The HILL

President Trump is besieged by internal leaks as he tries to weather the fallout from his firing of FBI director James Comey.

Media reports about the run-up to Trump’s decision paint him as isolated and consumed by anger and paranoia, prompting questions from Trump allies about whose interests these government officials had in mind when they spoke to the press.

The behind-the-scenes stories have often undermined the White House’s public reasoning for firing Comey, causing further political trouble for the administration and exacerbating growing divisions between Trump and his law enforcement agencies.

And Trump’s abrupt firing of Comey appears to have stirred opposition from the former FBI director’s loyalists, who are pushing back on the administration’s claims in the press.

The White House felt it was under attack by anonymous leaks coming out of federal agencies in the early days of the administration, leading Trump’s allies to launch public attacks against the “deep state” leakers they described as lifelong bureaucrats and Obama administration holdovers.

The conflict with Comey appears to have launched a new round of leaks from the Justice Department and the FBI. Citing sources close to Comey or lawmakers in touch with the FBI and DOJ, media outlets ran with stories about how Comey was fired because the administration felt the noose tightening on the Russia investigation.

At a moment of crisis, the White House looks surrounded on the outside and divided on the inside.

“It’s total chaos,” said one former transition team official with close ties to the administration.

“It’s image-making on the inside and people trying to protect themselves. There is a deep streak of paranoia among staff. The communications team s— the bed on the Comey firing and now the war with the FBI has them all scared and throwing each other under the bus.

“Thank God I don’t work there. If I did, I’d be dialing up my attorney.”

The behind-the-scenes stories that gripped Washington on Thursday were relayed to the press in the publications and news outlets Trump loves to hate — the New York Times and Washington Post.

In the stories, Trump’s decision to fire Comey was described as the result of “festering anger” at the FBI director for failing to prioritize leaks coming out of the bureau over the investigation into allegations Trump campaign officials colluded with the Russians during the election.

Trump was “stewing” at Comey for weeks, even as some close to him, including chief strategist Stephen Bannon, reportedly advised that the time was not right to fire Comey.

Trump only informed his communications team about the firing an hour beforehand, according to reports, but still raged at his staff for not being more prepared to defend his actions as blowback.

The accounts were almost uniformly unflattering for the president. The stories also elevated some wings of the White House at the expense of others, underscoring the persistent divisions among Trump’s team of rivals and their propensity to air grievances in the press.

The rush of leaks comes as the White House deals with normal course palace intrigue stories.

Trump had just successfully brokered a temporary reprieve from the infighting that played out in the media following an explosive battle between Bannon and senior adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Even before the Comey firing, though, the White House was once again stung by public infighting, as national security adviser H.R. McMaster became the target of embarrassing stories about how Trump had berated him in front of staff.

Late Wednesday, CNN reported that White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s job was once again on the chopping block.

Trump did nothing to quell those rumors in an interview with Time magazine that ran Thursday.

“The real story is the surveillance but my comms people can’t get it out,” Trump said.

Still, the unusually detailed accounts of inner turmoil frustrated Trump’s allies in the media, like Matt Drudge, who runs the enormously influential conservative aggregation website Drudge Report.

“We never got 1 damaging leak out of Obama White House staff in 8 yrs. Under Trump, they appear hourly. BIG DANGER: Small leaks sink ships!!,” Drudge said in a flurry of tweets.

“Trump advisers leaking to media are now deliberately sabotaging presidency. Major house cleaning needed for survival. Leaks on hour, every hour, will destroy Trump presidency. There’s a Trojan horse plotting within the inner circle!”

As that drama played out, Trump also faced negative stories that appeared to originate with law enforcement officials angered by his handling of the Comey affair.

Those stories directly contradicted the White House’s accounts of events.

The DOJ worked furiously to beat back against a story that Comey had asked for more resources and money for the Russia investigation just before he was fired. Acting FBI director Andrew McCabe dismissed that story Thursday at a public hearing.

But stories about FBI anger over Comey’s firing gained traction, with CNN’s Jake Tapper citing sources close to Comey saying the FBI director was fired because the investigation into potential ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia was “accelerating.”

Comey’s allies also went to the press to shoot down Trump’s claim that Comey had told him three times he was not at the center of the Russia investigation, an argument Trump first made in the letter he used to fire Comey.

The Washington Post later reported that deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein considered resigning because the administration had hung Comey’s firing on a memo he put together at the president’s request.

Those leaks and others ignited chatter among Trump’s allies that FBI officials would retaliate against the president by planting negative stories about him in the press.

“Do we now have to worry about deep state officials that gather intelligence are going to go after Americans and the president politically, or the FBI, some that don’t like him might be leaking to hurt this president?,” Sean Hannity, one of Trump’s top boosters in conservative media, asked on his Wednesday night show.

Dov Zakheim, a former Defense official in George W. Bush’s administration, told The Hill those fears might not be far off.

“Should the administration be perceived as trying to influence, stall or undermine the investigation, there will be Justice lawyers and/or FBI agents or both who will see it as their patriotic duty and ethical imperative to leak to the press,” Zakheim said.

The post Trump’s Comey firing sets off new round of leaks appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Original Title in Amharic: [ፈርዖን፡ የአምባገነኖች ተምሳሌት]

Author: Ahmedin Jebel

Published: Aug. 2015

Reviewed by Abadir M. Ibrahim, for Addis Standard

Addis Abeba, May 12, 2017 – The author wrote the book during his time in prison, where he remains for over four and a half years at the time this review is published. While it is interesting to read about how he had to write the book despite his imprisonment, despite his torturous experience in prison, and despite prison guards trying to prevent him from writing and searching him regularly to confiscate his work, what is even more interesting is that the book actually owes its existence to the author’s imprisonment and torture.

The epiphany, the initial spark, which eventually led to the writing of an entire book, arose during the initial phase of his detention when he was being tortured. He writes that he was taken to solitary confinement between torture sessions where he would read the Quran to comfort his soul. In this process, and to his surprise, he found the story of Pharaoh and Moses to be freshly insightful and relevant to his condition. At times, his insights were so novel that he felt he had never read the relevant verses before. Thus, as much as the book is a commentary on the story of Pharaoh and Moses, and its theological, ethical, and political implications, it is also a compelling story of a religious intellectual who is forced by a set of shocking experiences to re-read familiar religious texts in a wholly new way. With this book, the author redeploys the story of Pharaoh and Moses and meticulously sets out his views on the contemporary applicability of its lessons.

He begins his discussion with a detailed account of Pharaoh’s government which he concludes is an archetypal dictatorial regime. One of the interesting facets of how he does this is that, while being extremely critical of what he describes as pharaonic political systems, the author is also ever cognizant of the fact that the book itself is being written in a pharaonic state. The author chooses to write in a style typical of Ethiopian political conversation – one that is full of innuendo and allusion, leaving just enough room for deniability while at the same time allowing the reader to grasp the intended meaning. Without directly mentioning Ethiopia, and even specifically stating that his work is not meant to refer to any specific country or regime, the author alludes to clear imageries of his own country as a pharaonic state. He alludes to the length of time Pharaoh has been in power, how he changed with the times, and how he used developmentalist discourse to justify power in ways that are reminiscent of Ethiopia. In addition to discussing how Pharaoh transgressed the boundaries of ethics, morality and natural law through his rampant violations of human rights, he describes how Pharaoh’s larger than life images and statues were put up all over the country while the images and statues of previous rulers were removed and their images denigrated; how Pharaoh relied on a propaganda empire to keep power and to defame his detractors; and how an entire generation grew up knowing only one ruler in a way that any Ethiopian of the author’s generation would recognize. Throughout the book, the author uses “Pharaoh” to describe the historical Pharaoh as well as skilfully allowing the word to stand for dictatorship in general and to the Ethiopian regime in particular.

After describing what pharaonic regimes are, and closely following the story of Moses and Pharaoh, the author then describes how and why pharaonic regimes persist and how they can be successfully resisted. The author describes in great detail how Pharaohs use intricate means of co-option, propaganda and coercion to stay in power and, and in an interesting move, lays most of the responsibility for the existence of pharaonic dictatorships at the feet of their subjects. Pharaohs become what they are primarily because their subjects let them. Every time the people let a dictatorial move go unpunished, the dictator’s behavior is reinforced and the dictatorship only gets stronger and harsher. He thus concludes that dictatorships are joint ventures between Pharaohs and their subjects, and it is the responsibility of the people to stop rewarding bad behavior if they want to take back the power that is originally theirs.

In this narrative, Moses becomes a figure who realizes this problem and takes the first steps to start a struggle to take back the people’s power. After going through the familiar motions of how Moses called for monotheism, he reintroduces Moses as a human rights activist and a leader of a liberation movement. Moses, the protagonist, is portrayed an activist who fought for human rights and especially the freedom of religion, a right which is so fundamental that even God does not violate it. Similar to many human rights and liberation activists, Moses was accused of being an enemy of peace and order and had to overcome the propaganda and coercive machineries of Pharaoh’s Egypt. Moses also embodies the characteristics of what a great liberation leader should be like – he was patient and persistent, he was polite and honest, and while he was brave in the face of threats he was also a humble man who understood his weaknesses. Jumping in and out of scripture the author draws a picture, which at points looks like a blueprint, of how dictatorship is to be resisted, how dictators will react to such resistance, and what needs to be done to ensure success for the eventual realization of freedom, justice, and rights.

A conclusion that underpins the entire book is its unflinching dislike for dictatorship and its support for liberty and rights. One liberty that gets specific treatment is religious liberty which the author concludes requires a separation of religion and state for its proper protection. He emphasizes that the separation of religion and state is critical for a multi-religious society such as Ethiopia and that no one group should use state power to oppress or discriminate against others. As the Pharaoh-Moses story shows, it is better to keep state power away from religion as it is in the nature of the powerful to hijack religion and use it to achieve their own political ends. Yet, he does not want to banish religion from the hearts and minds of political actors. In fact, he encourages political actors to learn from the moral teachings of the Bible and the Quran which, among other things, teach the perils of mixing religion and state power. As far as the author is concerned, emulating Moses’ example as an advocate of freedom and justice is itself a religious undertaking that may be rewarded by God both in this life and in the hereafter.

The book is a pioneering work of Ethiopian literature for two reasons. It is one of the first original book-sized works of Islamic literature authored in Amharic. The book crystallizes a moment in Ethiopian Islamic discourse by making sense of the country’s contemporary political context from the point of view of the author and his coreligionists. The second ground-breaking aspect of the book is that it may also be the first attempt at cross-religious discourse in Ethiopia. The author uses the Old Testament, which is also recognized as a religious text in Islam, in a bid to build a communal spiritual terrain on which Muslims and Christians can have a joint ethical conversation. He regularly alludes not just to the need for Christians and Muslims to focus on commonalities but calls for unity in many specific respects. He sees such communality as his personal ethical obligation ordained by the Quran in addition to being a necessary step which, if not taken, may lead to the disintegration of Ethiopian civil society and state. Although one cannot say with confidence that the author has succeeded in building a common discursive terrain on which both Christians and Muslims would be equally comfortable, he has no doubt started laying strong foundations. Ethiopians, both Christians and Muslims, should consider this book as a call for action and take steps to collaborate with him, and amongst each other, in order to complete building this common ground (or common grounds) by picking up where he left off.

The post Book Review: ‘Pharaoh: The Symbol of Dictators’ – By Ahmedin Jebel appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.

ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ በአማራ ቴሌቪዥን የሚተላለፉ ፕሮግራሞችን እከታተላለሁ። እውነት ለመናገር ሃገር ውሥጥ ካሉት ሚዲያዎች ለህዝብ የቀረበ ነገር በማቅረብ አማራ ቴሌቪዥንን የሚደርሥበት የለም። ጋዜጠኞቹ እሾህ ላይ ቁመውም ቢሆን ማሥተላለፍ የሚፈልጉት ነገር እንዳለ መረዳት ይቻላል። በጣቢያው ከሚተላለፉ ፕሮግራሞች መካከል “አንድ ለአንድ (የክልሉን ባለሥልጣናት በጥያቄ የሚያፋጥጥ ፕሮግራም ነው)፣ ምክር ከአበው፣ የከተሞች መድረክ እና የወጣቶች ፕሮግራም ትንሽ መሻሻል ቢደረግባቸው ለክልሉ ብሎም ለሃገሪቱ እንደ አማራጭ ሚዲያ ማገልገል፣ ለጣቢያውም የመታየት እድሉን ያሠፋለታል ብየ አሥባለው። በተለይ እንደ አድዋ ድል፣ የአርበኞች የድል ቀን የመሣሠሉትን ሃገራዊ ክብረ በዓላት የሚዘክሩበት ርቀት ይበል የሚያሠኝ ነው። ከዚህ የተነሣም ነው የትግራይ ብሄርተኞች የአማራ ቴሌቪዥንን ሃገር ውሥጥ ያለ ኢሣት ሲሉት የሚደመጠው። ያው ሃገር ውሥጥ ያሉ ጣቢያዎች ህዝባዊ ወገንተኝነታቸውን ትተው መንግሥታዊ የፕሮፖጋንዳ ማሽን እንዲሆኑ የመፈለግ ጠቅላይነት ክፉ ልክፍት።
.
ህጻናት እያለን በክረምት ከብት ሥናግድ በሠፈር እረኛ የሌላቸውን ሠወች ከብቶች ጨምረን እናግድ ነበር። ታዲያ በነጻ አይደለም። በቀን 10 ወይም 15 ሣንቲም እየተከፈለን እንጅ። ሌላው ደግሞ ከብት በምናግድበት አካባቢ ያለን ማሣ በክፍያ አረም በመንቀል፣ በመኮትኮት፣ እህሉን በማጨድ ትንንሽ ክፍያ እናገኛለን። እንዲሁም ዘመድ አዝማድ ቤተሠብ ሊጠይቅ ሲመጣ ስሙኒም ሃምሣ ሣንቲምም ይቸረናል። ሌላው ደግሞ ከበግ ጸጉር ኮፍያ ሠርተን በመሸጥ፣ ከሠኔል ወይም ግራምጣ ገሣ በመሥራት ሣንቲም እናገኛለን። ይህን ሣንቲም ታዲያ አጠራቅመን ከረሜላ አንበላበትም ወይም ለእሥክብሪቶ ወይ ለእርሣሥ አናወጣውም። ይልቁንም ሥናጠራቅም ከርመን መሥከረም ሲጠባ ጥይት እንገዛበታለን እንጅ። ጥይቱ ከአባታችን ወይም ከወንድማችን ሊሆን ይችላል የምንገዛው። ያኔ እኔ የምገዛው ከአባቴ ሲሆን አንድ የአብራረው ጠብመንጃ ጥይት 1 ብር አካባቢ ነበር። ታዲያ ባጠራቀምነው ሣንቲም ሁለት ሶሥት ጥይት እንገዛለን። የመሥቀል እለትም የገዛነውን ጥይት በቤተሠቦቻችን ጠብመንጃ እንደ ፈንድጃ እናጣጣዋለን። የመሠቀል እለት መንደሩ ከታች በደመራ ከላይ በጥይት እሣት ይንቦለቦላል። የአካባቢያችን ጋራዎች ድምጹን ተቀባብለው ለማዶው ሠው ያሠሙታል። የእዛኛው ማዶ ጋራም ለእኛ ያሠማል። ከዚያ በኋላ የአተኳኮሥ ጀብዱአችን እሥከ ቀጣይ መሥቀል ድረሥ ሥንተርክ እንከርማለን። በሠርግና በሃዘን ጊዜም ጠብመንጃ ማድመቂያው ነው። የእያንዳንዱ አማራ ከጠብመንጃ ጋር ያለው ቁርኝት እንደዚህ ነው የሚጀምረው። ይሄ የሁላችንም የአማራ ልጆች ታሪክ ነው ብየ አሥባለሁ። በአጭሩ ነው ለመተረክ የሞከርኩት። ሌላ ጊዜ በሠፊው እመለሥበታለሁ!! በአዲሥ መሥመር ወደ ዋናው ጉዳየ ልግባ።

የአማራ ቴሌቪዥን ትናንት ማታ ያሥተላለፈውን “ፍለጋ” የተሠኘ ድራማ ተመለከትኩት። ድራማው አንድ ወጣት ልጅ የሆነች ልጅ ወዶ እንዴት የራሡ ማድረግ እንዳለበት፣ አንድ ሌላ ሠው ደግሞ ሠው በድሎት ምን ማድረግ እንዳለበት ዘዴ ሲያፈላልጉ የሚያትት ነው። ታዲያ በመካከል አንደኛው ልጅ ጠብመንጃ መግዛት እንዳለበት ለሌላኛው ይነግረዋል። ሌላኛው ግን ጠብመንጃ ለወጣት ብሎም በዚህ ዘመን የማያሥፈልግ ዕቃ እንደሆነ ሊያሥረዳው ይታትራል። በመካከል ሁለቱም ወደ ሌላ ጓደኛቸው ዘንድ ይሄዳሉ። ቤቱ ሲደርሡ ጓደኛቸው ጠብመንጀ ፈትቶ እየወለወለ ይደርሣሉ። ከዚህ በኋላ ያለው የድራማው ክፍል ነው የሚያናድደው!! ወጣቱ ልጅ ጓደኛው ጠብመንጃውን በእጁ እንዲያሥነካው ሲለምነው ያሣያል። ተመልከቱ! ለአንድ የአማራ ወጣት ጠብመንጃ በእጅ መንካት ብርቅ ሲሆን። ባለጠብመንጃውም ጠብመንጃ ከሚገዛ በሬ እና ላም ቢገዛ የተሻለ እንደሚሆን ሊያሥረዳው ይሞክራል። በመካከል ጠብመንጃውን ወልውሎ ከገጠመ በኋላ ሲሞክረው(ሙከራው ያለ ጥይት ነው) ያ ጠብመንጃውን እንዲያሥነካው ሲለምነው የነበረው ልጅ በጣም ይደነግጣል። ድንጋጤው ከአንድ አማራ ወጣት የሚጠበቅ አይደለም። የምር ያናድዳል። ማንኛውም አማራ ለጠብመንጃ አዲሥ አይደለም። ከላይ የጠቀሥኩት አሥተዳደጋችን ለጠብማንጃ አዲሥ እንዳልሆንን የሚያሥረዳ ይመሥለኛል። ታዲያ የዚያ አማራ ወጣት ያን ያክል ለጠብመንጃ መደንገጥ ምን አመጣው? ያልን እንደሆነ ነው ቁምነገሩን የምናገኘው። መንግሥት አማራን ከምድረ ገጽ አጥፍቸ አማራ አልቦ የሆነች ሃገር እመሠርታለሁ ብሎ በያዘው ሥትራቴጅይ መሠረት አማራን ለማንበርከክ ልጆቹን ጠብመንጃ ጠል ማድረግ የመጀመሪያ ሥራው ነው። የዚህ ድራማ ዋና አጀንዳም ይሄው ነው። አማራን ከጠብመንጃው ጋር ማራራቅ፣ ጠብመንጃ የፋራ ነው የሚል መልዕክት መሥጠት፣ ያኔ አማራን እንደፈለጉ አርቆ (ር ጠብቆ ይነበብ) መግዛት ይቻላል ብሎ ከማሠብ የተሠራ አጉል ሥሌት። ልብ አድርጉ አማራ ራሡንና ሃገሩን አሥከብሮ የኖረው በነፍጠኛነቱ ነው። የታጠቀን ህዝብ ማንም እንደፈለገ ሊሸልልበት አይችልም። ህዝብ ራሡን እንዲያሥታጥቅ የሚፈለገውም ለዚህ ነው። አማራ ክተት ሠራዊት ምታ ነጋሪት ሲባል ከሚወዳት ጠብመንጃው ጋር ወደ ጦር ሜዳ ይዘምታል። በዚህ አዋጅ ጊዜ ማንም ወሥልቶ አይቀርም። ጠብመንጃ ለአማራ ህልውናው ነው፣ ማንነቱ ነው፣ የአማራነቱ ምልክት ነው። ለአማራ ጠብመንጃ በብቸኝነቱ ጊዜ የሚያነጋግረው ጓደኛው ነው። በክፉውም በደጉም ጊዜ የማይለየው የእሡነት የአጽም ፍላጭ ነው። አማራ ያለ ጠብመንጃ ምንም ነው..! አማራ ጠብመንጃን ፈርቷር አያውቅም!! ይልቁንሥ እንዴት እንደሚያናግራት ያውቃል እንጅ!! እንዲህ እንዝጋው..!
አማራ እና ጠብመንጃ ምንና ምን ናቸው፣
የጆሮ ጉትቻ የአንገት ማተብ ናቸው።
.
በመጨረሻም እደግ ተመንደግ፣ ክፉ አይንካህ ብለን እንትፍ እንትፍ ያልንበት የአማራ ቴሌቪዥን ምራቃችን ሣይደርቅ እንዲህ አይነት ዋልጌ ፕሮግራሞችን ከማሥተላለፍ ቢቆጠብ ለነገው እድገቱ ይጠቅመዋል ሥንል እንመክራለን። ከዚህ በኋላም እንዳይደገም ይሁን!! አማራነትን ዝቅ የሚያደርግ የአማራ ቴሌቪዥን ማየት አንሻም!!

The post ጠብመንጃና አማራ ምንና ምን ናቸው? – ጋሻው መርሻ appeared first on ሳተናው: Ethiopian Amharic News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.

በትግራይ በተለይም በምእራቡ ክንፍ አካባቢ ተሰማርተዉ የነበሩ የመከላከያ ሰራዊት በድንገተኛ ጥሪ እና ትእዛዝ ወደ ጀርባ እንዲያፈገፍጉ መመሪያ ተሰጥቶአቸዋል በ ዌልቂ፣ ሻምቡካ፣ ባድሜ እና ኢሮብ፣ ኣህፈሮም ድንበሮች ላይ በከፍተኛ ሁኔታ ሲንቀሳቀስ የነበረዉ የድንበር መከላከልና አሰሳ ምድብ የጥበቃ መረባቸዉን አላልተዉ ወደ ጀርባ ተወርዉረዋል፤
በተያያዘ መረጃ 15 የሚጠጉ የመከላከያ አባልት
1. ወ/ር ዘመድኩን ሳሙኤል
2. ወ/ር ቢሆነኝ አጥናፉ
3. ወ/ር ዘገየ ሳሳሁልህ
4. ም/መቶ አለቃ ዘረብሩክ ሰንበቴ
5. ወ/ር ጌጡ አበራ
6. ወ/ር ግርማይ በረካ
ከምእራቡ የመከላከያ ኮማንድ ክንፍ በማፈንገጥ የት እንደገቡ ያልታወቀ ሲሆን የተቀሩት ኍአሃት እራሱ እንደጠለፋቸዉ የሚጠረጠሩ የመከላከያ አባላት የደረሱበት አለመታወቁን ታማኝ ምንጭ ጠቅሰዋል።
በቅርቡ የምእራቡ ትግራይ ድንበር ላይ ጥቃት ከተፈጸመ ወዲህ ከፍተኛ ትርምስምስ ዉስጥ የገባዉ የትግራዩ አንጋች ሰራዊቱን በግምገማና በመልሶ መቁዋቁዋም እያንገበገበዉ ይገኛል፤
ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ !

ልኡል አለሜ

The post ሰበር ዜና! … በምእራብ ትግራይ ዉጥረት ነግሶአል! – ልኡል አለሜ appeared first on ሳተናው: Ethiopian Amharic News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.

By THE TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD

Los Angeles Times

It was no secret during the campaign that Donald Trump was a narcissist and a demagogue who used fear and dishonesty to appeal to the worst in American voters. The Times called him unprepared and unsuited for the job he was seeking, and said his election would be a “catastrophe.”

Still, nothing prepared us for the magnitude of this train wreck. Like millions of other Americans, we clung to a slim hope that the new president would turn out to be all noise and bluster, or that the people around him in the White House would act as a check on his worst instincts, or that he would be sobered and transformed by the awesome responsibilities of office.

Instead, seventy-some days in — and with about 1,400 to go before his term is completed — it is increasingly clear that those hopes were misplaced.

In a matter of weeks, President Trump has taken dozens of real-life steps that, if they are not reversed, will rip families apart, foul rivers and pollute the air, intensify the calamitous effects of climate change and profoundly weaken the system of American public education for all.

His attempt to de-insure millions of people who had finally received healthcare coverage and, along the way, enact a massive transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich has been put on hold for the moment. But he is proceeding with his efforts to defang the government’s regulatory agencies and bloat the Pentagon’s budget even as he supposedly retreats from the global stage.

These are immensely dangerous developments which threaten to weaken this country’s moral standing in the world, imperil the planet and reverse years of slow but steady gains by marginalized or impoverished Americans. But, chilling as they are, these radically wrongheaded policy choices are not, in fact, the most frightening aspect of the Trump presidency.

What is most worrisome about Trump is Trump himself. He is a man so unpredictable, so reckless, so petulant, so full of blind self-regard, so untethered to reality that it is impossible to know where his presidency will lead or how much damage he will do to our nation. His obsession with his own fame, wealth and success, his determination to vanquish enemies real and imagined, his craving for adulation — these traits were, of course, at the very heart of his scorched-earth outsider campaign; indeed, some of them helped get him elected. But in a real presidency in which he wields unimaginable power, they are nothing short of disastrous.

Although his policies are, for the most part, variations on classic Republican positions (many of which would have been undertaken by a President Ted Cruz or a President Marco Rubio), they become far more dangerous in the hands of this imprudent and erratic man. Many Republicans, for instance, support tighter border security and a tougher response to illegal immigration, but Trump’s cockamamie border wall, his impracticable campaign promise to deport all 11 million people living in the country illegally and his blithe disregard for the effect of such proposals on the U.S. relationship with Mexico turn a very bad policy into an appalling one.

In the days ahead, The Times editorial board will look more closely at the new president, with a special attention to three troubling traits:

1Trump’s shocking lack of respect for those fundamental rules and institutions on which our government is based. Since Jan. 20, he has repeatedly disparaged and challenged those entities that have threatened his agenda, stoking public distrust of essential institutions in a way that undermines faith in American democracy. He has questioned the qualifications of judges and the integrity of their decisions, rather than acknowledging that even the president must submit to the rule of law. He has clashed with his own intelligence agencies, demeaned government workers and questioned the credibility of the electoral system and the Federal Reserve. He has lashed out at journalists, declaring them “enemies of the people,” rather than defending the importance of a critical, independent free press. His contempt for the rule of law and the norms of government are palpable.

2His utter lack of regard for truth. Whether it is the easily disprovable boasts about the size of his inauguration crowd or his unsubstantiated assertion that Barack Obama bugged Trump Tower, the new president regularly muddies the waters of fact and fiction. It’s difficult to know whether he actually can’t distinguish the real from the unreal — or whether he intentionally conflates the two to befuddle voters, deflect criticism and undermine the very idea of objective truth. Whatever the explanation, he is encouraging Americans to reject facts, to disrespect science, documents, nonpartisanship and the mainstream media — and instead to simply take positions on the basis of ideology and preconceived notions. This is a recipe for a divided country in which differences grow deeper and rational compromise becomes impossible.

3His scary willingness to repeat alt-right conspiracy theories, racist memes and crackpot, out-of-the-mainstream ideas. Again, it is not clear whether he believes them or merely uses them. But to cling to disproven “alternative” facts; to retweet racists; to make unverifiable or false statements about rigged elections and fraudulent voters; to buy into discredited conspiracy theories first floated on fringe websites and in supermarket tabloids — these are all of a piece with the Barack Obama birther claptrap that Trump was peddling years ago and which brought him to political prominence. It is deeply alarming that a president would lend the credibility of his office to ideas that have been rightly rejected by politicians from both major political parties.

Where will this end? Will Trump moderate his crazier campaign positions as time passes? Or will he provoke confrontation with Iran, North Korea or China, or disobey a judge’s order or order a soldier to violate the Constitution? Or, alternately, will the system itself — the Constitution, the courts, the permanent bureaucracy, the Congress, the Democrats, the marchers in the streets — protect us from him as he alienates more and more allies at home and abroad, steps on his own message and creates chaos at the expense of his ability to accomplish his goals? Already, Trump’s job approval rating has been hovering in the mid-30s, according to Gallup, a shockingly low level of support for a new president. And that was before his former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, offered to cooperate last week with congressional investigators looking into the connection between the Russian government and the Trump campaign.

On Inauguration Day, we wrote on this page that it was not yet time to declare a state of “wholesale panic” or to call for blanket “non-cooperation” with the Trump administration. Despite plenty of dispiriting signals, that is still our view. The role of the rational opposition is to stand up for the rule of law, the electoral process, the peaceful transfer of power and the role of institutions; we should not underestimate the resiliency of a system in which laws are greater than individuals and voters are as powerful as presidents. This nation survived Andrew Jackson and Richard Nixon. It survived slavery. It survived devastating wars. Most likely, it will survive again.

But if it is to do so, those who oppose the new president’s reckless and heartless agenda must make their voices heard. Protesters must raise their banners. Voters must turn out for elections. Members of Congress — including and especially Republicans — must find the political courage to stand up to Trump. Courts must safeguard the Constitution. State legislators must pass laws to protect their citizens and their policies from federal meddling. All of us who are in the business of holding leaders accountable must redouble our efforts to defend the truth from his cynical assaults.

The United States is not a perfect country, and it has a great distance to go before it fully achieves its goals of liberty and equality. But preserving what works and defending the rules and values on which democracy depends are a shared responsibility. Everybody has a role to play in this drama.

This is the first in a series.

The post Our Dishonest President appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Finland School Withdraws Planned Honorary Award From Ethiopian Prime Minister

The post Finland School Withdraws Planned Honorary Award From Ethiopian Prime Minister appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.

The Life and Times of Assefa Chabo SBS Amharic

The post The Life and Times of Assefa Chabo SBS Amharic appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Book review of The Making of the Africa-Nation: Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance. Edited by Prof Mammo Muchie. Published by Adonis & Abbey, London.

President Thabo Mbeki and the Ethiopian professor, Mammo Muchie, are conjoined by similar concerns. They are aligned by their strong preoccupations with notions of the African, the African-Nation, pan-Africanism, African renaissance and African transformation. Perhaps not since Kwame Nkrumah have we had a systematic focus on pan-Africanism and its possibilities for articulating a broad range of African identities, including Diasporan ones under a unified force. And both Mbeki and Muchie are very serious about their common project.

Henry Sylvester Williams was a Trinidadian lawyer, councillor and writer, most noted for his involvement in the Pan-African Movement.

Africanism as an ideology of transcontinental liberation was formally established in 1900 when Henry Sylvester Williams, a Trinidadian law student, hosted the Pan African Congress. In those days of triumphant colonialism, it certainly was a very revolutionary gesture as it projected an anti-colonialist stance as well as ideology and also because it undermined established colonialist stereotypes of the African as being incapable of meaningful though and action.

Pan-Africanism was an important ideological response to centuries of racism and cultural and sociopolitical disempowerment. Muchie’s project is one that attempts a resurrection of pan-Africanism as an ideology of liberation and agency in the era of contemporary globalisation. His work in this regard connects with Mbeki’s political role as one of the most important supporters of pan-Africanism today.

Muchie’s introductory chapter is entitled “Has the Pan-African Hour Come?” From the look of things, pan-Africanism is definitely high on the African political agenda. For instance, in October 2014, the first meeting of intellectuals of Africa and the Diaspora took place in Dakar, Senegal, Present at the event were the heads of state of countries such as Nigeria, Cape Verde, Mali, Uganda, South Africa and the host nation, Senegal.

The conference discussed, among other things, pan-Africanism in the 21st century; the contribution of intellectuals of Africa and the diaspora to the deepening and strengthening of African integration in the context of the 21st century; African identity in a multicultural context; Africa’s place in the world; Africa’s relations with its diaspora; and science and technology.

These are all themes that are given prominent attention in the Muchie edited volume. He agrees that the question of a single African idea or identity for the entire African continent is usually problematic.

The author, V. Y. Mudimbe’s major work, The Invention of Africa (1988), is one of the most famous interrogations of the problematic status of Africanity. Paulin J. Hountondji, the Beninoise philosopher, has also debunked what he termed “the myth of unanimism” in relation to the question of African identities. By extension, there are indeed very significant moments in contemporary African philosophy that attest to the continent’s heterogeneity.

Muchie concurs that there are many African identities but he argues that this should not prevent Africans from forging a collective vision for the continent just as the Indians have been able to do. Contemporary pan-Africanism, in other words, should not be a platform for ethnocentricism.

Instead, Muchie argues that it can be reconfigured as an ideology of agency in the face of the multiple disjunctures of the global moment as they affect the generality of Africans. Interestingly, Thabo Mbeki often stresses the point that he works for a nonracialised South Africa which in a significant way undermines charges that pan-Africanism and African Renaissance are masks for identity inflexibility.

Muchie asserts that “the right to the universal or the African does not have to challenge the right to remain different, speak different languages and worship different deities. It can complement it and in fact it can enrich it, provided that the dialectic between specificity and universality is resolved in favour of producing the national nucleus for creating a sustainable unification of Africa”.

I have concentrated on Muchie rather extensively because he alone has five chapters in the volume. Apart from theoretical reflections on pan-Africanism, there are also chapters that depart from this trajectory. In her chapter, Silvia Bercu argues that pan-Africanism requires a new humanism while Chen Chimutengwende calls for a redress of economic inequality and another struggle for liberation in order to make contemporary pan-Africanism more meaningful.

Not all the contributors are favourably disposed to pan-Africanist ideology. Messay Kebede, an Ethiopian philosopher based in the United States, argues that pan-Africanism has complicities with colonialist discourse and is often transformed into a political tool for narrow interests by African elites. New African editor Baffour Ankomah says there is no such thing as a free press, free from national interest. Li Xing explains how pan-Africanist ideology can profit from the Chinese revolution. Steven Friedman, on his part, argues that processes of democratisation in Africa have failed because they are disconnected from many significant contexts. First, there is a disconnection between the rulers and the ruled in Africa and also he suggests there is a contextual disconnection within African experiments with democracy.

The relations between pan-Africanism and pan-Arabism are also explored. Akram Hawas navigates the contours and history of those relations in the light of efforts by Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser and Libya’s Muammar AlGathafi. Part of AlGathafi’s approval of pan-Africanism, Hawas points out, comes from his dissatisfaction with Arab nationalism.

B. F. Bankie’s contribution identifies the Arab complicity in the Atlantic slave trade as a possible obstacle to cooperative Arab-African relations. For those relations to be cordial, he advocates a revisitation of the trauma that the slave trade was for purposes of atonement. Jacques Hersh explores the connections between Afro-pessimism and Afro-optimism and it is interesting to note that these issues have been important preoccupations in Gallic intellectual circles.

Finally, Mammo Muchie looks into the aims of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) and concludes that the project would only be viable if the problems of financial indebtedness to the Bretton Woods institutional order and general dependency are addressed.

By putting together this volume (and by his wide-ranging contributions to it), Muchie has positioned himself as probably the most assiduous theorist of pan-Africanism of the present. The volume obviously has many values; it is first of all a theoretically engaging tome that takes on, with a great deal of confidence, an important ideological configuration in the evolution of modern Africa. It can also serve as the intellectual manifesto of President Mbeki’s engrossing continental project.

If we are truly concerned about African agency and subjectivity in the age of contemporary globalisation, then we ought to take The Making of the Africa-Nation very seriously.

The post Has the pan-African hour come? A review of The Making of the Africa-Nation appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.

ጉልላት ደጀኔ

ስለሆነም ህዝባችን ይህ የወያኔን ፖለቲካዊ “ቁማር ተረድቶ ስብሰባውን ለማክሸፍ አስፈላጊውን ተግዳሮት እንዲተገብር ለማሳወቅእንወዳለን ። በሌላ ዜናም ወያኔ ጠገዴን ከሁለት ጠገዴ ና ፀገዴ ብሎ በመክፈል በድንበር ጉዳይ ህዙቡን ያጋጨው ወያኔ በአሁኑ ሰዓት የሁለቱን አካባቢ እርቅ አውራጅ ሽማግሌዎች ባህርዳር መሰብሰቡ ታውቋል ይሁን እና በእርቅ እና በማይሆን ሽንገላ የሚቀለበስ ጥያቄ እንዳልሆነ ያነሳነው እንድታወቅ በአፅንኦት ማስታወስ እንሻለን ። ወልቃይት ጠገዴ ጠለምት አማራ ነው ያለምንም ቅድመ ሁኔታ!!!!!!
ከዚህም ባሻገር መረሳት የለለበት ነገር ቢኖር ደምን የሚያነፃው ደም እንጅ የወያኔ የይስሙላ የእርቅ ቱሪናፋ እንዳልሆነ እንዲታወቅልን እንወዳለን በተለይም ይህ ጉዳይ በቀጥታ የትግራይ ህዝብ ከወዲሁ ሂሳቡን ለማወራረድ እንዲዘጋጅ የማንቂያ ደውል ነው ።
ወላ በይቅርታ ወላ በማሃላ የሚቀለበስ ጥያቄ አይደለም የጠየቅነው ጥያቄው የህልውና ጉዳይ ነው የሞት ሽረት!!
አማራነት ይለምልም

The post ሰበር ዜና……አሁን በደረሰን መረጃ በሁመራ ከተማ ወያኔ የአማራ እና የትግራይ ሽማግሌዎች እርቅ በማለት በየወረዳው ሰዎችን መርጦ ስብሰባ ሊያደርግ መሆኑ ታውቋል!! appeared first on ሳተናው: Ethiopian Amharic News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Vatican Radio

The Justice and Peace Department of the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat on Thursday 11 May held a validation workshop for Diocesan Coordinators in Addis Ababa, as it wraps-up a five-year strategic plan with financial support from the Church agency Miserior. Speaking at the workshop, Fr. Hagos Hayish, Secretary General of the Catholic Secretariat called on those working to promote peace and reconciliation to put Christ at the centre of their lives and their activities.

Below is a report by Makeda Yohannes

The Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat Justice and Peace Department in its history of 22 years has been an active agent of peace and reconciliation throughout the country working through the Diocesan offices. The department’s active involvement with the Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia in peace building is also one of its commendable achievements.

The department is its efforts for a continued success is finalizing a 5 years strategic plan with the financial support of Miserior and organized a validation work shop in Addis Ababa for Diocesan Justice and Peace Coordinator and other stakeholders on May 11, 2017.

Speaking at the workshop Fr. Hagos Hayish, C.M., ECS Secretary General, called on the coordinators as agents in the Catholic Church’s Ministry of peace and reconciliation to reflect more on the words on our Lord on the Gospel of Mark (4: 30 – 34) what we sow in the hearts of the people will have an effect on the long term outcome of our work. He added that working in peace building strictly requires putting Christ at the center.

“Working as agents of Peace and Reconciliation in the Church we must constantly search for courage and wisdom through the light of Christ, we need to pray and strengthen our own faith. It is only this way we can be strong enough to resist being shattered by the winds of the time in our lives. Through the wisdom God grants us we can recognize the realities of our times and serve the people accordingly. This is what distinguishes us from other social workers,” said Fr. Hagos, C.M.

The Secretary General also stressed on the importance of accountability saying “we need to learn how to become accountable to those at the bottom of the ladder like Our Lord Jesus Christ thought His disciples to be accountable to those least powerful.”

Fr. Hagos, C.M, also noted that people working in Peace building, Reconciliation and Justice must constantly update themselves with Church policies and civil laws in the country so that they can provide learned services to the people. He reminded that the Justice and Peace Coordinators that they are expected to influence and advise Catholic Church decision makers and asked that the Strategic Plan must consider a line of communication and advocacy with Church Hierarchy.

The participants of the workshop stressed on the importance of considering gender sensitivity, the current challenges of the youth such as moral degradation and other needs of the people that can be seen by reading the signs of the time. The validation workshop is followed by a 2 days training on Catholic Social Teachings and Peace Building to the Diocesan Justice and Peace Coordinators and ECS staff.

The post Ethiopia: Diocesan Justice and Peace Coordinators urged to read the signs of the times and strengthen their work appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Dessalegn, has said his country and others in the Horn of Africa region were ready to do all it takes to achieve a secure and stable region.

Dessalegn joined other leaders and the international community at the just ended London Conference on Somalia. During his 6-minute address, he stressed four points that could help realize a stable Somalia and by extension a peaceful region.

‘‘We in the region will continue to shed our blood and do whatever is just and necessary to restore the long sought after peace and stability in Somalia and across the region. There is no greater contribution, no greater solidarity than this,’‘ he said.

We in the region will continue to shed our blood and do whatever is just and necessary to restore the long sought after peace and stability in Somalia and across the region. There is no greater contribution, no greater solidarity than this.

According to him, there was the need to better equip the Somali National Army, the AMISOM mission and other friendly nations engaged in the fight against the Al-Shabaab insurgents. He said the terrorist group’s support was waning, their income dwindling and their ability to command forces downgraded.

Despite indications that they were are retreating, he said they were not eliminated and remained dangerous. He lauded the partial lifting of US arms embargo on Somalia and called for political and financial support to be given to AMISOM to keep up the fight.

He touched on the recent drought afflicting the region – a situation that he said bore security implications with the continued flooding of refugees to stable countries.

He celebrated moves to better coordinate and consolidate governance mechanisms at the federal and regional levels in Somalia. He tasked the government to be at the center of the initiative and to demonstrate to its people that it was up to the task.

‘‘Let us empower the Federal government of Somalia to be at the center of all these endeavours. Let us speak with one voice with new partnership experience. Let us be focused, let us follow one channel of intervention for regional and international collaborative action.

‘‘This I believe is the only viable option, otherwise, we can be sure that the progress will be so sluggish,’‘ he said in his concluding remarks.

The post Ethiopia, others ready to ‘shed our blood’ for a stable region – PM appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.

By Keffyalew Gebremedhin The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)

In the World Health Assembly, unlike the narrow pool of voters in the WHO’s 34-member Executive Board, one vote for 194 nations each is more promising. If my past experience is any guide, there is better chance to prevail over dictators and hope for qualitative democracy in WHA in that regard!

One of the tribulations Africa has been suffering from is the fallout of the African Union (AU) becoming dictators’ club. All their efforts are geared toward serving dictators, not the people, be it as regards their health, education, justice, sense of security, the right to one’s peace even within the family. That is also we have been seeing, without any inhibitions, family members and allies of dictators making it, as does help the AU candidatures committee African states that strictly are dictator-run.

In 2017, Ethiopia is picked to become a member of the United Nations Security Council, after a great deal of horse trading between Ethiopia, Kenya and Seychelles for East Africa’s single seat. Especially Ethiopia and Kenya needed it. They both had a problems to remedy, both of them accused of repression, electoral thievery, and in addition in the case of Ethiopia state violence claiming the lives of tens of of students or citizens in a few hours at a time.

In 2015, while the media was writing about Pierre Nkurunziza’s preparations to tear the Burundian constitution, which prohibits third-term for a president, the African Group in Addis Abeba and Geneva picked Burundi to become member of the Human Rights Council (HRC). At the time, I tweeted my disappointment:

<blockquote class="Tweet h-entry js-tweetIdInfo subject expanded

is-deciderHtmlWhitespace” cite=”https://twitter.com/EthiObservatory/status/660273317027422208″ data-tweet-id=”660273317027422208″ data-scribe=”section:subject”>

Follow

@EthiObservatory @EthiObservatory

Sorry for Africa & the Council itself: Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya & Togo elected to Human Rights Council seats from Africa.

6:53 PM – 30 Oct 2015

• Retweets

• likes

In October the UN General Assembly, on the basis of the AU’s recommendation, Burundi was elected a member of the HRC that has embarrassed Africa.

Uhuru Kenyatta and Tedros Adhanom in bosom brother mood, after the AU’s misadventure of adopting a resolution with Ethiopia’s help to take the Uhuru/Ruto case to UNSC to exonerate them for the 2007-2008 killings during Kenya election (Credit: Africa Review)

In 2013, TPLF-run Ethiopia embarked on the path of becoming the hired hand for Africa’s dictators to get the International Criminal Court (ICC) killed. They wanted to spare their friends – Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy Willian Ruto and Sudan’s Al-Bashir – from international justice.

Surely, by so doing what the TPLF wanted to do is public knowledge. Since the TPLF is a coalition of murderers – as the world knows – they wanted to save themselves from international justice. Dr. Tedros Adhanom tried hard to deliver that. He did not have the skills nor the insight about the full implications of his actions. Therefore, he did not succeed. That is why the ICC, as an international mechanism for international justice, continues to exist, while in Kenya, as Kofi Annan feared, crime was rewarded, while families of the victims were left with nothing!

This is the coup d’etat of the Ethiopian foreign minister then, now the candidate to the top post at the World Health Organization (WHO), whom dictators still clinging in power love to serenade.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom and Congo President Dennis Sassou Nguesso (Credit: Dr FB)

The Congo leader was President first from 1979-1992, while heading the Congolese Party of Labour (PCT). He returned with vengeance in 1997 to emboss himself as Congo’s president for life.

It shows he gives no hoot for his people and country. How could Dennis Sassou Nguesso care about who heads WHO, or about the state of global health? The answer is NO! Not at all. However, here he is giving assurances to Dr. Tedros Adhanom that he would be elected because he has Congo’s support, Africa’s support!

Congo happens to be member of the 34-strong WHO Executive Board, where states run by dictators prevail over others. This is a function of the growing alliances between African dictators. If anyone doubts this, whose strengths we witness now in the United Nations Human Rights Council, has failed to take note of a lesson or two dictators have taken from the alliances of democracies within the United Nations system.

Without any spicing of his remarks about qualifications or effectiveness of the WHO candidate or importance of the organization itself, the Congolese leader cryptically noted in French:

“Dr TEDROS ADHANOM #Ethiopie sollicité l’appui du #Congo à sa candidature au poste de DG#OMS. @AlainAkouala @Thierry_mounga

TRANSLATION:

Dr TEDROS ADHANOM # Ethiopia sought the support of #Congo to his candidacy for the post of DG #OMS. @AlainAkouala @Thierry_mounga”

On November 15, 2016 Dr. Tedros jovially reacted to the Congolese leader’s support on his Facebook as follows: “With H.E. President Sassou Nguesso. Glad to have his strong support for my campaign.”

The international community must seriously be concerned with the health of children, mothers, all peoples, because of which nations of the world must pay serious attention to who they want to emplace as head of WHO in the election that would take place in about ten days time.

WHO’s Principles 3, 4 and 5 state:

• The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.

• The health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security and is dependent on the fullest co-operation of individuals and States.

• The achievement of any State in the promotion and protection of health is of value to all.

As part of the global community, if nations cannot do what needs to be done at the right time, in moments of Ebola or Zika, or future epidemics, the leadership that has not been placed to serve the best interests of the international community cannot be there for all of us.
★★★★★★
It is not only about and from the Congo’s president for life we take umbrage from. There is also President Joseph Kabila, who rules the Congo with an expired authority. unfortunately, as the TPLF in Ethiopia, his expired mandate has not stopped him from killing citizens that protest his unwelcome overstay in power. No Tedros Adhanom sympathizes with him, and possibly his WHO aspiration is not realized he might opt to work for any one of the dictators from Burundi, the Congos and a few other remaining dictators!

Dr. Tedros Adhanom and President Kabila (Photo credit: Dr. Tedros FB)

On the minister’s FB, there are 195 comments associated with this picture. One of them wrote:

“Birds of the same feathers flock together, Kabila is one African dictators who want to rule DRC for life! Shameless African tyrants”!

<blockquote class="Tweet h-entry js-tweetIdInfo subject expanded

is-deciderHtmlWhitespace” cite=”https://twitter.com/EthiObservatory/status/862088313326493696″ data-tweet-id=”862088313326493696″ data-scribe=”section:subject”>

Follow

@EthiObservatory @EthiObservatory

“WHO needs director-general who can speak #truth2power.” Says #RichardHorton,#TheLancet‘s editor http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/health-who-leader/ … via @SpecialReports

4:34 PM – 9 May 2017

A fighter for global health: Who will be next to lead the WHO?

The World Health Organization is preparing to select a new director general. It needs someone politically astute to drive reforms, say global health experts

reuters.com

• 22 Retweets

• likes

<blockquote class="Tweet h-entry js-tweetIdInfo subject expanded

is-deciderHtmlWhitespace” cite=”https://twitter.com/LiyanaTefferi/status/863059064602980352″ data-tweet-id=”863059064602980352″ data-scribe=”section:subject”>

Follow

Liya’ና Tefferi @LiyanaTefferi

AU Tyrants endorsing their fellow Tyrant for #WHODG … No surprise there #NoTedros4Who

8:51 AM – 12 May 2017

• 88 Retweets

• 11 like

<blockquote class="Tweet h-entry js-tweetIdInfo subject expanded

is-deciderHtmlWhitespace” cite=”https://twitter.com/EthiObservatory/status/862290263884136450″ data-tweet-id=”862290263884136450″ data-scribe=”section:subject”>

Follow

@EthiObservatory @EthiObservatory

Why I am opposed to Dr. Tedros Adhanom becoming the ninth director-general of WHO! https://ethiopiaobservatory.com/2017/05/10/why-i-am-opposed-to-dr-tedros-adhanom-becoming-the-ninth-director-general-of-who/ … via @EthiObservatory

5:56 AM – 10 May 2017

Why I am opposed to Dr. Tedros Adhanom becoming the ninth director-general of WHO

By Keffyalew Gebremedhin The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)   For those who are pressed for time, they have my sympathy. As a retired person, I recall how that frays the nerves. My persuasion in o…

ethiopiaobservatory.com

• Retweets

• likes

I recall in October 2013 at the third annual Desmond Tutu International Peace Lecture at the University of the Western Cape, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan observing:

“On a continent that has experienced deadly conflict, gross violations of human rights, even genocide, I am surprised to hear critics ask whether the pursuit of justice might obstruct the search for peace.” Annan strived to show the interrelationship between justice and peace. He laid the emphasis on one not being achievable without the other.

“We must be ambitious enough to pursue both, and wise enough to recognise, respect and protect the independence of justice,” he said.

“And we must always have the courage to ask ourselves ‘who speaks for the victims’?”

This is the question now awaiting the response of the World Health Assembly (WHA) at its 70th session – the right to health being recognized as a human right, as Principle 2 (cited above) has shown.

The biggest unjust thing the international community can do to itself is to put Tedros Adhanom in charge of our only World Health Organization (WHO) to make money for millionaire-investors and the international pharmaceutical industry!

If any member state of the World Health Assembly (WHA) has doubts about things I scribbled here, read my For Habtamu Ayalew’s sake & the many nameless TPLF-victims, Dr. Tedros Adhanom must finally show decency by withdrawing his name from candidacy for WHO director-general post!

If still there are some WHA member states unable to make up their minds about Dr Tedros Adhanom’s integrity, they may be advised to consult CNN’s Christiane Amanpour what she had learned from her interview with him in July 2015 during President Obama’s visit of Ethiopia. It is a revealing interview that says a lot about the Ethiopian candidate to the WHO director-general’s post!

<blockquote class="Tweet Tweet–compact h-entry reply js-tweetIdInfo

is-deciderHtmlWhitespace” cite=”https://twitter.com/EthiObservatory/status/862095956271140864″ data-tweet-id=”862095956271140864″>

9 May

@EthiObservatory @EthiObservatory

.@specialreports While in dictatorial #TPLFpolitburo for several years,#DrTedrosAdhanom has at no time shown he has what it takes 2b a global health leader!

<blockquote class="Tweet h-entry js-tweetIdInfo subject expanded

is-deciderHtmlWhitespace” cite=”https://twitter.com/EthiObservatory/status/862103578126712832″ data-tweet-id=”862103578126712832″ data-scribe=”section:subject”>

Follow

@EthiObservatory @EthiObservatory

.@specialreports Anyone please ask #CNNsChristianeAmanpour, if Dr. Tedros Adhanom is honest, principled & speaks nothing but z truth! https://www.google.fi/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiDk-6rieTTAhXqIpoKHYcPCasQuAIIKDAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fvideos%2Fworld%2F2015%2F07%2F28%2Fintv-ethiopia-amanpour-tedros-adhanom-economy.cnn&usg=AFQjCNHK5e2g8WoHFLOp2f901GYuyLwgFA&sig2=YIBoLY8INXGcYN_s-Gl4NQ …

5:34 PM – 9 May 2017

• 22 Retweets

• likes

The post Disturbing is Dr.Tedros Adhanom’s horse trading on human rights, ironically to become WHO head appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.

Leaked from Seattle area TPLF support group

A small group of camera men are organized to capture today’s “Balageru Birra (former Dashin Beer) ”/Aster Aweke’s concert event and use as a propaganda tool for in country (Ethiopia) TPLF members’ morale enhancement. Every TPLF support group members from the greater Seattle area are given an assignment to capture a picture of every individual entering the hall and will be used to show how many Diaspora supporters they have.

Meanwhile, there is greater feared among innocent individuals who unknowingly bought a ticket as there might be clash between highly organized massive opposition group members and TPLF support groups.

Be away from silent dog and still water!

Don’t put yourself in danger.

Yonas

The post Urgent message to my friends in Greater Seattle Area!!! appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.

ደጃዝማች በላይ ዘለቀ (1902 ወሎ – 1938 አዲስ ከተማ)

ሰናፍጭ ቁ ፪
(መስቀሉ አየለ)

በላይ ዘለቀ ዘመን ተሻጋሪ ስመ ጥር አርበኛ ሲሆን በምድረ ጎጃም ላይ ለአምስት አመታት ያህል የፋሽት ከጣሊያንጋር በተደረገው ትንቅንቅ እንደ ተራ የጓድ መሪ ተጋድሎውን ጀምሮ በአጭር ግዜ ውስጥ እንደ መብረቅ አስፈሪነጎድጓድ መሆን የቻለ ነገር ግን በድል ማግስት የጠፋ አንጸባራቂ ኮከብ ነው።

በላይ ዘለቀ ትውልዳቸው ብቸና ከሚሆን፣የልጅ እያሱ የግል አጃቢ(ቦዲ ጋርድ ) ከነበሩ ባሻ ዘለቀ ላቀውና ከወሎየዋ ወላጅ እናቱ ወሮ ጣይቲ አሻኔ 1902 በውሎ አማራ ሳይንት ተወለደ።

ልጅ እያሱ ላይ መፈንቅለ መንግስቱ እንደተፈጸመ ብዙም ሳይቆይ ባሻ ዘለቀ ወደ አማራ ሳይንት ተመልሰው ሁለቱን ልጆቻቸውን በላይንና ወንድሙን እጅጉን ይዘው ወደ ጎጃም አቀኑ። ብቸናም እንደደርሱ የአካባቢው ገዥ በታጣቂዎች ቤታቸውን አስከብቦ ባሻ ዘለቀን እጃቸውን እንዲሰጡ ቢጠይቃቸውም ባሻው ግን ፈቃደኛ ባለመሆን እስከ መጨረሻው ተዋግተው ቆሰሉና ተያዙ፤ በመጨረሻም በሁለት ወንድ ልጆቻቸው ፊት ተሰቀሉና ፍጻሜያቸው ሆነ።ይኽ ትራጀዲ የወደፊቱን አባ ኮስትር በላይ እንደገና አቡክቶ ጋገረው ማለት ይቻላል።ከዚህም ቀን ጀምሮ ጥቃትን በበቀል ማወራረድ የበላይ ሁለተኛ ተፈጥሮው ሆኖ በውስጡ ህይወት መዝራቱን ቀጠለ።

ቁጭት ከጥፍሩ ጀምሮ የሚነዝረው ትኩሱ ትንታግ በላይ ጥቂት ዘመዶቹን አስከትሎ ወደ አባይ በረሃ ለመውረድ ግዜ አልወሰደበትም።ይልቁንም በጥቂት ሰዎች የተጀመረው ይኽ የበላይና የባልደረቦቹ ዱር ቤቴ ያሉበት የሽፍትነት ኑሮ የተከታዮቻቸው ቁጥር እየጨመረና የበላይም ስም እየገነነ ሄደ። ይኽ የሆነው እንግዲህ ቅድመ ጣሊያን ወረራ መሆኑ ነው።

ይኽ በዚህ እንዳለ የጣሊያን ኢትዮጵያን መውረር ዱር ቤቴ ብሎ አባይ በረሃ ለከተመው አባ ኮስትር በላይ ወደ ላይኛው ሰገነት የሚያወጣው የክብር መሰላል ሆነለት። ጀግና በክፉ ቀን ይወለዳልና በላይ ዘለቀም ፋሽስቱን ለመዋጋት ከውሳኔ ላይ ይደርሳል። ይኽ በሆነ በጥቂት ቀናት ውስጥ ከማርቆስ ወደ ብቸና የሚጓዝ የጣሊያን ኮምቦይ አገኘና በሙሉ ገድሎ ቁጥሩ ከፍተኛ የሆነ የነፍስ ወከፍ መሳሪያ ወሰደ።ተከታዮቹንም ይበልጥ በመሳሪያና በላቀ ብሄራዊ ወኔ አስታጥቆ የጥቃት ወረዳውን በማስፋት በወሎ፣ በድፍን ጎጃምና በሸዋ ምድር በድል ምንጣፍ ላይ የሚራመድ የማይቆረጠም የብረት አለሎ ሆነ።በህዝቡ ልብ ውስጥ የኩራት ምልክት ፤ ሁሉ በስሙ የሚገጥሙለት ፤ በየምሽቱ የሚወደስ ፤ የተከታዮቹም ብዛት ለቁጥር የሚያታክት ሆነ። በአጭሩ በላይ ማለት በራሱ ግዜ በደቀመዛሙርቱ ላይ እራሱን ለማንገስ የሞራል የበላይነቱን ወሰደ፤ እንደ የድካማቸውም ፍሬ፣ እንደ ብርታታቸው መጠን ቀኝ አዝማች፣ ፊታውራሪ፣ ደጃዝማች እንዲሁም ራስ እያለ በማእረግ ለተጋድሎዋቸው እውቅና ሰጠ።በወቅቱ የደጃዝማችነት ማእረግ የተሰጠው የገዛ ወንድሙ አንድ ጥያቄ ጠይቆት እንደነበር ይነገራል፤ ዕሁሉንም የማእረግ አይነት አድለህ ጨረስክና ላንተ የቀረኽ ምን ይሆን፧ዕ ቢለው አባ ኮስትር የወንድ ቁና ግን ዕአንድ ግዜ እናቴ በላይ ብላኛለችና ምን ያደርግልኛልዕ ማለቱ ይነገራል።

የነጻነት ቀን ስትመለስና የወደቀችው ባንዲራ ስትነሳ ንጉሱ ቀዳማዊ ኃይለሥላሴ ሲመለሱ የበላይ ጦር በሚያስፈራ ግርማ በንጉሱ ፊት ያለ ማቁዋረጥለ ሰዓታት እንደ አባይ ወንዝ ፈሰሰ።በአርበኞቹ ብዛትና ወኔ የተደመሙት ንጉሱ “ምን ላደርግልህ ትወዳለህ?!” ሲሉ ጠየቁት፤ “እኔ ምንም አልፈልግም፤ ነገር ግን ለነዚህ አርበኞች የሰጠኋቸውን ማእረግ ያጽኑልኝ” ነበር ያላቸው።በመጨረሻም ንጉሱ ለበላይ ዘለቀ የደጃዝማች ማእረግ ሰጥተው የብቸና አስተዳዳሪ አድርገው በወላጅ አባቱ የትውልድ መንደር ላይ ሾሙት።

ነገሩ የሚጀምረው ከዚህ ቦሃላ ነው። ብቸና በሹመት ሳለ የቀድሞ የበረሃ አርበኞችን በየቦታው እንዲሾሙለት ይፈልጋል። ነገር ግን የጎጃም ጠቅላይ ግዛት አስተዳዳሪዎች በዚህ ድርጊቱ ላይ ደስተኛ አልነበሩም። በሌላ በኩል እነርሱ በተጋድሎው ዘመን ባንዳ የነበሩትን ሁሉ በመሾም ተጠምደዋል፤ ይኽ ሸፍጥ ደግሞ ለበላይ ሌላው ተጨማሪ ህመም ሆኖበታል፤ አለመግባባቱ ከግዜ ወደ ግዜ እየከፋ ሲመጣ የጠቅላይ ግዛቱ ሹመኞች ወደ ንጉሱ ማሳበቁን ተያያዙት፤ “የግርማዊነትዎን ትዕዛዝ ሳይቀር የማይቀበልና እራሱን ከህግ በላይ አድርጎ የሚያይ በመሆኑ መስራት አልቻልንም” ሲሉ አጥብቀው ቢወተውቱ ንጉሱ በላይን አስሮ የሚያመጣ ጦር ከአዲስ አበባ ወደብቸና አዘመቱ። ይኽን እርምጃ ከክህደት የወሰደውና በቀልና እያመነዥከ ያደገው በላይ እንዲሁ ተይዞ በባንዶች ፊት መዋረድን ምርጫው ሊያደርግ የሚችልበት ሰብዕና የለውምና ወደ ሶማ ተራራ ሸፈተ።

ከአዲስ አበባ ድረስ ተነድቶ የመጣው የንጉሱ ጦር ከአንድ በላይ ጋር ቢገጥምም እጣ ፋንታው እንደ ክረምት አግቢ መርገፍ ሆነ። በላይ የወንዶች ቁና እንደገና በተፈጠረበት፣በኖረበት የሽፍትነት ማህጸን ውስጥ ዳግም መጋሙን ቀጠለ። የላኵትን መናጆ ሁሉ እስኪሰለቸው ገደለላቸው። ።ከዚህ በኋላ እርሱን ለመያዝ የሚደረገው ጥረት ሁሉ ትርጉም አልባ መሆኑን የተረዱት ንጉሱ ምህረት ያደረጉለት መሆኑን በመግለጽ እጁን በሰላም ሰጥቶ እንዲመለስ አማላጅ ልዑካን ላኩበት።

የንጉስ ቃል እንደ እግዚአብሔር ቃል ነው። እንዲህ በመናኛ ነገር ይታጠፋል ብሎ ማሰብ አይቻልም። ወቅቱ “የተናገሩት ከሚጠፋ የወለዱት ይጥፋ” የሚለው ስነ ቃል የህብረተሰቡ የሞራል የውሃ ልክ ሆኖ በሆነበት በዚያ ዘመን አባኮስትር በላይ የንጉሱን ማተባቸውን ተስፋ አድርጎ እጁን ለይቅርታና ለሰላም ቢዘረጋ አይገርምም። ያለመታደል ሆኖ ግን ይህ “የደግ ግዜ ባላገር የክፉ ግዜ ወታደር፤እጁ መንሽና ጠመንጃን እኩል የሚያውቅ ” ተብሎ የተነገረለት አርበኛ ለሴራ ፖለቲካ እንግዳ ነበረና ለሰላም የተዘረጉት እጆቹ እጣ ፋንታቸው በእግረ ሙቅ መጠፍነግ ሆነና በአፋጣኝ በተዋቀረ አስቸኳይ የፍርድ ችሎት እንደ እራፊ በሚንቃቸው ባንዶች ፊት ለፍርድ ቀረበ። ጉዳዩን ያስቻለውም ችሎት ክሱን መርመርኩ ብሎ የሞት ብይን ሰጠበት።ነገር ግን ንጉሱ የአርበኝነት ዘመን ተጋድሎውን ግምት ውስጥ በማስገባት ውሳኔውን ወደ ዕድሜ ይፍታህ ቀየሩለትና ቀሪ ዘመኑን በእስር ሊገፋ ወደ ታላቁ ቤተመንግስት ተወሰደ።

የጣሊያን ባንዳ ሆኖ በአገርና በወገን ላይ ግልጽና ከባድ ክህደት የፈጸመ ነው ተብሎ በዚሁ ቤተመንግስት ልጅ ማሞ ሃይለሚካኤል የሚባል አንድ ነውረኛ ሰው ባጋጣሚ ከበላይ ጋር ይታሰራል። እለት እለት በላይን በሚፈጥርበት ጫና አማረረው።”አንተ አገሬ ብለህ ምን ተጠቀምክ?፤ እኔስ ባንዳ ተብዬ ካንተ በላይ ምን ተጎዳሁ?፤ የኔስ ባንዳነት አንተ ላይ የሞት ፍርድ ከፈረዱት ዳኞች ባንዳነት በምን ይብልጣል?፤ አይንህን አልገልጥ ብለህ አገር፣ ድንበረ፣ ንጉስ ባንዲራ ስትል መጨረሻህ እንደኔ ዘብጥያ ሆነ ” እያለ እለት-እለት የሚወጋው መርፌ ክፉኛ ቢጠዘጠዘው በዚህ ሰውየ ንጝግር የተማረረው በላይ እስር ቤቱን ሰብሮ ለማምለጥ ያልተሳካ ሙከራ አደረገ።

በመጨረሻም በማጎንበስ ሳይሆን እንደ አንበሳ ደረቱን በመንፋት፤ ከፍ ባለ የስነልቦና የበላይነት፤ እንደ ንስር አይን በሚወጉ አይኖቹ ዙሪያ ገባውን እየቃኘ በፉከራና በቀረርቶ ወደ ተዘጋጀለት ገመድ አመራ፤ “አንች አገር ወንድ ልጅ አይብቀልብሽ!!!” ብሎ የወንድ ቁናው በላይ ዘለቀ ከወንድሙ እጅጉና ከሌሎች አርበኞች ጋር በጥር 4 ቀን 1938 ዓም አዲስ ከተማ ላይ ተሰቀለ።

The post አባ ኮስትር ማነው? (መስቀሉ አየለ) appeared first on ሳተናው: Ethiopian Amharic News | Breaking News: Your right to know!.