The lame excuse of our contemporary intellectual elites to legitimize the Gangs-of-Adwa led regime in Ethiopia

sourse ecdef

June 5, 2014

It is obviously clear for all by now the Gangs of Adwa led regime was planted as government with the help of foreign power. The complete silence of the international community on the unprecedented atrocities and corruptions of the self-declared ethnic minority regime speaks for itself. Therefore, we can’t blame the gangs with a mission that never promise love of people and country or the enabling foreign powers that care less for the people or the nation as we witnessed by their actions and inactions.

Thus, the root cause of the problem rests in the willing participants that serve the regime and the loudmouth apologists that cover up for the regime. Their futile attempt to legitimize the atrocious and corrupt regime by all-means-necessary is where the buck stops. The sooner they are identified and challenged to take responsibility the sooner the illegitimate regime surrenders.

by Teshome Debalke

There is a saying, ‘crime doesn’t pay’; not so. For the last 23 years it has been paying the Gangs of Adwa led regime handsomely.

Some of the crimes of the Gangs of Adwa are described better by the former Deputy Communication Minister Eremis Legse. His confession on the crimes of the regime he served over a decade alone is more than enough to make anyone even the stanch apologists of the regime puke on their lap. But, noting seems to slow them down looking for more diversion tactics to sustain the Gangs’ rule.

In the aftermath of the 2005 election and prior the death of the kingpin of the Adwa Gangs, the regime run out of political capital of division and decided its-very existence depended on playing the economy card to divert the public attention from its atrocities and corruption while attempting to marginalize the oppositions at the same time. Ever since, Growth and Transformation Plan and Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) became the song of the regime. From thereon, dozens of pseudo-intellectual apologists disguised as experts have been throwing jab at us we couldn’t figure out whether they are attempting to buy legitimacy for the regime or truly believe development under the corrupt Gangs of Adwa led regime is possible.

Failing to have traction in dividing Ethiopians along ethnic and religion line, the old good Egypt the Gangs of Adwa owed their very existence and the old good Abay in the Region the Gangs designated for Ethiopians they despise most came in handy. Ever since, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has been the crying rally of the regime and its intellectual apologists to cover up the crimes.

It all started few years back with a demonstration from nowhere organized by TPLF operatives in the Diaspora held in Washington DC. Clueless participants were bused from multiple cities in North America dressed up as clowns–shouting the slogan “Ethiopian’s rights to use the Nile water” in front of US Capital. Unfortunately, they weren’t interested to demonstrate on other rights of Ethiopians including the rights for sea outlets the Adwa Gangs surrendered, not to mention on rights and freedoms of Ethiopians from the atrocious and corrupt ethnic regime led by the Gang of Adwa.

Later, the regime’s officials started showing up in major cities around the world in secret venue organized by clandestine TPLF’s cadres to sell GERD’s Bond for unsuspecting Ethiopians. In almost every city around the world they were chased out of town in humiliation not to return back again. When that didn’t work, a surreptitious ‘panel of professional experts ’in support of GERD came out of nowhere –spewing off-the-wall stories mixed with facts and fictions from both side of their mouth. Again, like the foot soldiers, the so called professional panel of expert didn’t see the necessity of access to sea as important rights as they shout for an imaginary dam of the future. Nor, other rights of Ethiopians were important enough to worry them simply because all implicates the very Gang of Adwa they want to protect. The Panel of Experts must have goten their priority upside down to end up professional experts of cover ups and diversion; so much for professionalism.
Attacks on Ethiopians and on anyone that question the Dam building as unpatriotic (aiding foreign enemy) were thrown around — targeting the oppositions of the ruling Gangs. Barrage of public relation articles written by PhDs pretending to be neutral parties and presenting half-fiction half-facts continue to this day.

Whether flaunting PhD was meant to make fiction believable or the Gangs of Adwa’s rule legitimate no one knows. But, it doesn’t require PhD to figure out the apologists have other agenda than dam building or development. What is clear is any Ethiopian that opposes the Dam building under the Gangs of Adwa led regime labeled anti-Ethiopian — aiding the ‘enemies of Ethiopia became another ammunition, like terrorism concocted by the Adwa Gangs to slow down the democratic movement ’. Coming from ‘professional’ apologist of the anti-Ethiopian regime led by the Adwa Gangs was music to the ears’ of Ethiopians.

Some recent examples illustrate the futile attempts to use GRED to legitimize the Gang of Adwa led regime of worthy of national development.

The first innocent looking Amharic article titled ዐባይን ያላቅም በዶ/ር ከፍያለው አባተ posted on EthioMedia. Surprisingly, Doctor Kefyalew Abate’s identity and credential couldn’t be found online nor Ethiomedia provided it. Regardless, the good Doctor’s justification is wrapped around Ethiopian historical enemies that don’t want her to develop. His argument is all true except he conveniently ignore the rest of the facts, including the Gang of Adwa were on the Egyptian payroll when they compromise the nation’s sovereignty including depriving Ethiopians sea access. His lame excuse for Dam building under this regime was summed up by his admission of complete ignorance of the Gang of Adwa activates regarding Dam building. He said;

“7. ወሳኝ አቋም በሕዳሴ ግድብ ላይ

ስለሕዳሴ ግድብ ዝርዝር መረጃ የለኝም። ሂጀም አልጐበኘሁትም። ትልቅ ግድብ መሆኑን እሰማለሁ። ለሌሎች ሀገሮች የሚሸጥ የውሀ ኃይል (hydro-electric power) እንዲያመነጭ መታቀዱን ሰምቻለሁ። ከሱዳን ድምበር 20 ኪሎ ሜትር ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ገባ ብሎ በኢትዮጵያ መሬት (በቤኒሻንጉል-ጉሙዝ ክልል) ውስጥ፣ በዐባይ ወንዝ ላይ መጀመሩን አውቃለሁ።

ምንጊዜም አቅመ ደካሞች ነንና (ለአቅመ ደካማነታችንም ዋናዎቹ ተጠያቂዎች፣ ካለፈው ትውልድ ጭምር፣ ራሳችን ነን) በገንዘብ አቅም የተነሳም ሆነ በሌላ ምክንያት የግድቡ ስራ ሊጠናቀቅም ላይጠናቀቅም ይችላል። ፍጻሜውንና ወደፊት የሚሆነውን ማናችንም በእርግጠኝነት መናገር አንችልም። ሀሳቡና ጅምሩ ግን ለተራው ጦም-አዳሪ ኢትዮጵያዊ ለእለት ችግሩ አይደርስም እንጂ፣ በሀገር ደረጃ ረዘምና ሰፋ አድርጐ ለሚያስብ ሰው፣ ስለወደፊቷ ኢትዮጵያ ያቅም ግምባታ ጉዳይ ለሚያስብ ሰው፣ የግድቡ በጐ ጐን ጐልቶ እንደሚታየው እገምታለሁ።

በመግቢያዬ ላይ እንደገለጽኩት ዐባይን ጥቅም ላይ ማዋል የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ሲናፍቅ ኖሯልና፣ ለሕዳሴ ግድብ ሙሉ ድጋፍ እንደሚሰጥ አምናለሁ። ይህ እምነቴ እውነት ወይም ትክክል ከሆነ፣ የሕዳሴን ግድብ የምንቃወም ሁሉ ከኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ የተለየንና የተገነጠልን እንሆናለን ማለት ነው። አንዳንድ የኢሕአዴግ ተቃዋሚ ፓለቲከኞች ሲናገሩ እንደምሰማው “ግድቡን ኢሕአዴግ የጀመረው በሕዝብ ዘንድ ተወዳጅነትን/ድጋፍን ለማትረፍ ነው” ይላሉ። ይህንን ጅምር ሕዝብ እንደሚወደው ተረድተዋል ማለት ነው።

የሕዳሴን ግድብ አንደግፍም ወይም እንቃወማለን ከሚሉ (በጽሑፍም ሆነ በገጽ ካጋጠሙኝ) ፖለቲከኞች መካከል፣ እስካሁን ድረስ አንድም አጥጋቢ የሆነ ፍሬ ነገር አላገኘሁም። ካጋጠሙኝ ጥቂቶቹ የሚከተሉት ናቸው።” …

The good Doctor could have been forgiven if he was an average Joe like most of us. But, for a man that claim the highest academic credential; admitting ignorance of the whole facts while accusing innocent Ethiopians aiding the enemy of their own people for opposing the dam building under this regime equates as worst kind of intellectual prostitution. Simply, arguing the need for building grand dam and demanding the Gang of Adwa disclose the whole facts before drumming up war with our real and imagine enemy before making any decision would have earned him respect. But, he chooses to follow many of half-cooked intellectual apologists of the regime of our time.

Getachew Melkie (PhD) on May 30, 2014 commentary titled Abayn Yalakim: A Brief Commentary also posted on Ethiomedia — reinforced Dr Kefyalew’s sovereignty argument but also came short of asking the other half of the facts hidden in the vault of Gang of Adwa led regime. He appeared more honest than Kefyalew in that, Ethiopians shouldn’t be concern of the Gang of Adwa’s corruption and misrule but focus on the bigger enemy Egypt, thus, the fight for sovereignty between Ethiopia and Egypt take priority than the Gang of Adwa led regime. His only advice to the regime is to use ‘its short term economic policy instruments to alleviate the economic pains of the vast majority of the citizens’. Mysteriously plugged in his sorry conclusion is the big power interference ‘disguised as human right, freedom, democracy, etc’; suggesting the regime’s oppositions are proxy to the big powers? He concluded;

“Concluding Remarks

The facts presented by Dr. Kefialew have been useful in terms of understanding the issues that underlie the controversies surrounding the construction of GERD. Facts demand that we examine our thoughts and feelings to free ourselves from unnecessary biases. Regarding the GERD project, the big picture that we need to focus on is Ethiopia’s sovereignty and long term economic development. As things stand currently, Egypt has less leverage today than in the past to alter or derail Ethiopia’s resolve to assert its sovereignty by building GERD on Abay river. Ethiopia’s determination to use its own resources to finance the dam standout among the reasons that deprived Egypt of its ability to influence international lending institutions.

Ethiopia is not seeking loans for the dam project, and there is no reason for the big powers represented in the lending institutions to get involved in the dispute between the two sovereign states to the extent that both countries subscribe to the same ideology as the big power players that frequently interfere in the affairs of other countries on ideological ground, which is normally disguised as human rights, freedom, democracy, etc. The responsibility of Ethiopians is to rally behind the lofty goal of protecting and defending the sovereignty of the country. To encapsulate the gist of my argument in a few words, unconditional support for the GERD project is indispensable. Ethiopians must also be cognizant of the fact that the right of the Egyptian people to use the Abay River in an equitable manner must be protected and defended vigorously.

However, for the successful completion of the construction of GERD and its implementation afterward, the necessary conditions must be created for the voluntary participation of Ethiopians. Furthermore, to defend the country against military or other forms of attack by Ethiopia’s adversaries and to thwart or at least mitigate the internationalization of the problem, effective leadership is of paramount importance; in this regard, EPRDF should undertake constructive steps in many areas to win the unwavering commitment and support of all Ethiopians at home and abroad. At a minimum, the government should use its short term economic policy instruments to alleviate the economic pains of the vast majority of the citizens. I understand that Ethiopians want to see major reforms in all areas affecting their lives to begin to trust the government. However, for now, we should decide and act within the confines of what is possible not what ought to be.
My moto is: Let Us Work Together, Prosper Together, and Defend National Sovereignty Together.”

Dr. Getachew Melkie, a Management instructor at Old Dominican University of California understands what it takes to manage a small business let alone a project the magnitude of GERD. Yet he failed to ask the basics of management of a project. Instead, he came up with a lame excuse to put our differences aside (ignore the corruption of the Gangs of Adwa) and focus on our sovereignty against our ‘enemies’ with a motto ‘Work Together, Prosper Together and Defend National Sovereignty Together”.

Quite frankly, it sounded like ‘ኣህያውን ፈርቶ ዳውላውን’ but, in reality he is diverting our attention from the Gang of Adwa to foreign enemies. How on earth an intellectual in the field of Management throw his profession out the window and reduce himself with such lame slogan; ignoring important issues of lack of good governance and the rampant corruption and atrocities of the Gang of Adwa led regime and get away with it says more about the impunity of our contemporary intellectual elites and the absence of institutions to make them accountable.

Finally, the colorful Prof. Tecola W. Hagos’s April 29 2014 article NO “White Elephant in Ethiopia: ALEMAYEHU’S FOLLY posted on the infamous Awramba Times targeting the Ethiopian oppositions to the Woyane regime via the famous advocate Prof. Al Mariam sums up the barrage of articles coming out of the usual suspects.

The good Professor argument centered on attacking Ethiopians that oppose the GERD building (diversion) under the Gang of Adwa led regime via Prof Al Mariam article titled “Dam! White Elephant in Ethiopia?”. The article earned the famous Prof Al a charge of treason… “Ultimately, Alemayehu did the unthinkable: he committed treason against Ethiopia by siding with Egypt”; declared ‘Judge’ Hagos. We are still waiting for his sentencing.

Prof. Al’s crime was being an effective advocate of Ethiopian’s rights by exposing the Gang of Adwa led regime on every turn. Al’s article exposing The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance scum and the unidentified National Panel of Experts (NPoE) that put out a Press Release titled “A Proxy Campaign against Ethiopia?” was a convenient pretext Tecola used in an attempt to silence Al’s effective campaign to expose the Gangs of Adwa.

It looks like a proxy court is setup in North America by the apologists of Adwa Gangs presided by the Supreme ‘Judge’ Tecola Hagos that render guilty verdict against Ethiopians that demand the regime to surrender for democratic rule.

Professor Hagos would have done us all a big favor if he stops replicating the kangaroo court of Woyane by being an out of control judge, jury and the prosecutor of Ethiopians in Diaspora. He would be more productive if he setup ‘professional panel of expert’ to investigate the robberies and atrocities of the Adwa Gang & Associates or investigate the kangaroo court that rubber stamp the Adwa Gangs’ decision to convict innocent Ethiopians and expose the responsible parties for what they are. Pretending to be ‘holier than the pope’ in prosecuting innocent Ethiopians via Prof. Al is a lame excuse to preempt the democratic movement from bringing down the ethnic regime led by the Adwa Gangs.

Anyways we shake it or bake it; there is no good tyranny but dead one. And, no one is better equipped to figure it out than our contemporary intellectuals elites with PhDs. Failure to do so, as it is evident in contemporary Ethiopia is a historical crime of this generation in sustaining dictatorship–poverty, human right violation, corruption, atrocities…, and yes, underdevelopment.

The lame excuse of passing on the blame on foreign ‘enemy’ like Egypt that can’t yet figure out whether to joins the civilized nations of democracies to remain a Midvale dictatorship run by religious zeolites or military junta is a poor excuse to find a hiding place for the Gangs of Adwa that are as confused to be a government or an out of control village gangs that rob and terrorize the people and the nation.

We Ethiopians understand why our contemporary intellectual elites reduce themselves to serve and excuse for the Gang of Adwa that can’t tell the difference between, a country from a village, public goods from private, national territory from a real-estate, development from pouring stolen concert, freedom from ethnic loyalty…on and on. With that kind of primitive attitude, the rush to acquire knowledge can only be good to reinforce the already twisted mind into Weapons-of-Mass-Distraction.

Quite frankly, any self-respecting intellectual with a legitimate credential wouldn’t be caught dead serving or apologizing for the Adwa Gangs led regime. Unfortunately, watching the number of our contemporary intellectuals riding on the low road speaks volumes to moral bankruptcy of our elites and what we Ethiopians are up against.

Our people say ዕውነቱን ተናግሮ የመሸበት ማደር’ what we see with our contemporary intellectual apologists of tyranny is ውሸቱን ተናግሮ የሞቀበት ማደር. Such moral flaw long understood by ordinary folks is the problem plaguing our society. Until the silent majority intellectual elites have the courage to step out of their hiding to form the institutions and restore the standard of ethics against intellectual prostitutions and challenge their peers that engage in it, our people will remain vulnerable for dictatorship of all kinds and the associated ills that comes with it.

Agreeing with Dr. Getachew Melkie’s motto: “Let Us Work Together, Prosper Together, and Defend National Sovereignty Together.”, I like to remind him and the rest, slogan alone isn’t enough. It requires the moral courage “ዕውነቱን ተናግሮ የመሸበት ማደር’’. The truth remains; no one in the modern history of Ethiopia worked so hard so that Ethiopians don’t ‘work together, prosper together and defend National Sovereignty together’ like the Adwa Gangs led Regime of Woyane. Beyond that, spontaneous article full of empty slogan on selective issue wouldn’t do it. It requires institutionalized truth telling on the democratic rights of the people. Anything less is self-serving at best or prostituting at the worst.

That is preciously what our people meant when they say “ዕውነቱን ተናግሮ የመሸበት ማደር”’. What it means is PhD isn’t a substitute for character nor a free ticket to thwart the rights of the people to self-interest.

The article is dedicated for those that told the truth and paid the ultimate price of tyranny. If we can’t honor them for their courage and follow their leads we might as well declare we are the living dead and get it over with. Flaunting academic credential, throwing empty slogan and opportunistic political jab on those that sacrificed so much for freedom is the worst form of moral flaws if not intellectual prostitutions no excuse will cure.