ፍኖተ ነፃነት – በአክሱም ዩኒቨርስቲ መምህር የሆነው የአንድነት ፓርቲ አባል ዩኒቨርስቲው ውስጥ ባሉ ካድሬዎች በደል እየተፈጸመብኝ ነው አለ

September 30th, 2014  

መምህር ብርሃነመስቀል ንጉሤ ዘውዴ በአክሱም ዩኒቨርስቲ መምህር ሲሆን በአዳማ የአንድነት ፓርቲ አባል ነው የመጀመሪያ ዲግሪውን በ2001 ዓ.ም ከአዳማ ዩኒቨርስቲ በፔዳጎጂካል ሳይንስ ሁለተኛ ዲግሪውን በ2004 ዓ.ም ከአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርስቲ በሂዩማን ሪሶርስ ኤንድ ኦርጋናይዜሽናል ዴቨሎፐመንት ኢን ኢዱኬሽን አግኝቷል፡፡

አስከፊውን የኢህአዴግ ሥርዓት በሰላማዊ መንገድ ለመታገል የተቀላቀልኩት የ11ኛ ክፍል ተማሪ ሳለሁ ነው:: በ1997 ዓ.ም በምስራቅ ሸዋ ናዝሬት የመኢአድ አባል ነበርኩ፣ በ1998 ዓ.ም በሰላማዊ የተቃዋሚ ፓርቲ አባሎች የደረሰው ድብደባና አስራት በእኔም ደርሷል በማለት የገለጸው መምህር ብርሃነመስቀል፣ አሁን በአዳማ የአንድነት ፓርቲ አባል ሆኜ ዓመታትን አስቆጥሬያለሁ፡፡ በ1999 ዓ.ም አዳማ ዩኒቨርስቲ እንደገባሁ ተማሪውን የኢህአዴግ አባል ለማድረግ በየክፍሉ ባላቸው የሴል አመራር አባላት ተስፋ የቆረጡ ተማሪዎችን ወደኔ በመላክ እንዲጣሉኝ፣ በሃሰት እንዲወነጅሉኝ በማድረግ ከዩኒቨርስቲው እንድባረር የተለያዩ ሙከራዎች ቢደረግብኝም ፈጣሪ በሰጠኝ ብርታት በፔዳጎጂካል ሳይንስ ትምህርት ዘርፍ በከፍተኛ ማዕረግ ለመመረቅ በቃሁ፡፡

በአዳማ ዩኒቨርስቲ አብረን ለ3 ዓመታት አንድ ክፍል ስንማር የነበረ የብአዴን የተማሪዎች የሴል አመራር የሆነ በመረጃ (ጆሮ ጠቢነት) ሥራ ተጠምዶ የነበረ ለከፍተኛ ተቋም መምህርነት ስንማር ያልነበረውን ውጤት ይዞ አክሱም ዩኒቨርስቲ ለመቀጠር የበቃው መምህር ስለሺ ጎሹ ገና ግቢውን እንደረገጠ ወደተሰጠው ሚሽን በመግባት እኔን የአካባቢው ተወላጅ ከሆኑት ጋር በማጋጨት እንድባረር ለማድረግ ከፍተኛ ጥረት እያደረገ ይገኛል፡፡ ዛሬ በመምህርነቱ ሳይሆን በመረጃ አቀባይነቱን ተጠቅሞ ከፖለቲካ ጋር በማያያዝና በመክሰስ ህልውናዬ አደጋ ውስጥ ወድቋል፡፡

አንድ መምህር እንደ መምህር ሊገመገም የሚገባው በቂ ዝግጅት አድርጎ መግባት፣ ኮርሱን በተመደበለት (በታለመለት) ጊዜ ገደብ መጀመርና መጨረስ፣ ተማሪውን ሊመዝን የሚችል አግባብነት ያለው ቴስት፣ ፈተና አሳይመንት በማዘጋጀት ተማሪውን መመዘን፣ ከሃይማኖት፣ ከፖለቲካ፣ ከአድልዎ የፀዳ ውጤት መስጠት እና የመሳሰሉት ናቸው፡፡ እስካሁን ድረስ መማርና ማስተማርን አስመልክቶ በመደበኛ፣ኤክስቴንሽንና በክረምት መርሃ ግብር በሰጠኋቸው ኮርሶች ዙሪያ ምንም አይነት የፅሑፍና የቃል ቅሬታ በተማሪ ቀርቦብኝ አያውቅም፡፡

ከአዳማ ዩኒቨርስቲ ጀምሮ አብረን ስንማር የነበረውን አሁንም በማስተማር ላይ ያለውን መምህር ስለሺ ጎሹን በግምገማ ጎድተኸዋል በሚል ቂም በመያዝ የተቃዋሚ ፓርቲ አባል በመሆኔ ብቻ የሳይኮሎጂ ት/ት ስልጠና ሳይኖረኝ (ባልተቀጠርኩበት) ኮርስ በግድ እንዳስተምር መደረጉን በመቃወሜ ለማስተማር ፈቃደኛ አይደለህም በሚል ተወንጅያለሁ፡፡

መቼም ቢሆን እኔ በአቋሜ የፀናሁ ነኝ ኢህአዴግ አይደለሁም ብለሃል እና የመሳሰሉትን ምክንያቶች በመፍጠር እንዲሁም ከታች እስከ ላይ ያሉ የግቢው የአመራር እርከን ላይ ካሉ አካላት ጋር በመተባበር በግቢው ውስጥ እኔን ከፖለቲካ ጉዳይ ጋር አገኛኝቶ ጥላሸት በመቀባት እንድገለል ተደርጌያለሁ፡፡

የህወሓት አባል ከሆነው መምህር ሰለሞን ብርሃነ ጋር በመሆን ከምመራው የፕሮግራም መሪነት ምንም ቅሬታ ሳይኖር በህገወጥ መንገድ እንድነሳ አድርገው ከእኔ ጋር ቅሬታ ውስጥ ያለውን የብአዴን አባል መምህር ስለሺ ጎሹን የፕሮግራሙ መሪ አደረጉ፡፡ እነዚህን በደሎች ጠቅሼ ለሶሻል ሳይንስ ቋንቋዎች ኮሌጅ ክስ ሳስገባ ክሴን ሳያዩት ለተከሳሾች ከለላና ሽፋን በመስጠት ክሴን ውድቅ አድርገው በተገላቢጦሽ ኦፊሺያል የመጨረሻ የፅሑፍ ማስጠንቀቂያ በግቢው በሚገኝ የማስታወቂያ ቦርድ ላይ በመለጠፍ የስም ማጥፋት ዘመቻ አድርገውብኛል፡፡ እነሱ ለሚፈፅሙትና እየፈፀሙ ላሉት Acadamic Crime or acadamic Corruption ክስ አስገብቼ ቢያንስ በ15 ቀን ውስጥ ውሳኔ ይሰጠው ቢልም እኔ ግንቦት 25 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም ያስገባሁት ማመልከቻ እስከ ዛሬ ድረስ ሳይታይ ቆይቷል፡፡

ለምን ይግባኝና ክስ አስገባህ በሚል ሰበብም በአንድ ወር ከአሥር ቀን እንደገና ሁለተኛ የመጨረሻ የጽሑፍ ማስጠንቀቂያና የአንድ ወር ደሞዝ ተቀጣሁኝ፡፡ ይህ ሳያንስ የመጨረሻ የጽሑፍ ማስጠንቀቂያ ስለጻፍንብህ በዚህ ዓመት ክረምት ላይ ስፔሻላይዝ ያደረኩበትን ሙያዬን ማለትም EpDM ኮርስ እንዳላስተምር አግደንሃል ብለው ስለከለከሉኝ ማግኘት የሚገባኝን 32 ክሬዲት ሃወር በብር ሲሰላ 32,000 (ሰላሳ ሁለት ሺህ) ብር እንዳጣ ተደርጌያለሁ፡፡ የሚደረግብኝን ተጽዕኖና በደል በዩኒቨርስቲ ውስጥ ለሚመለከታቸው የተቋሙ ቢሮዎችና እስከ ትምህርት ሚኒስቴር ድረስ ባመለክትም ምላሽ የሚሰጠኝ አካል አጥቼ የሞራል ውድቀት እንዲደርስብኝ ተደርጌያለሁ፡፡ ከእንግዲህም በኔ ላይ ምን ለማድረግ እንዳሰቡ ለማወቅ ተቸግሬያለሁ፡፡ እኔ ለዚህች አገር ዜጋ ነኝ እንደ መምህርነቴ የት/ት ጥራት ጉዳይ ያሳስበኛል፡፡ ይህ የፖለቲካ ጉዳይ ብቻ ተደርጎ መወሰድ የለበትም፡፡ ሁላችንም እንደ አገር ማሰብ አለብን፣ በማለቴ እንደ ወንጀለኛ አስቆጥሮኛል፡፡ አሁንም ምን እንዳዘጋጁልኝ አላውቅም፡፡ የተቃዋሚ ፓርቲ አባል መሆን አገር እንደመክዳት እየተቆጠረ ሰዎች አቅም እንዳይኖራቸው ከማህበረሰቡ እንዲገለሉ እየተደረገ፣ በካድሬዎች በደል እየደረሰበት፣ ከስራ እንዲሰናበት፣ በረሃብ ልመና ውስጥ እንዲገባ ተደርጎ የማያምንበትና የማይደግፈውን እንዲደግፍ እየተደረገ ነው በማለት መምህር ብርሃነመስቀል ንጉሤ ዘውዴ በምሬት ለፍኖተ ነፃነት ዝግጅት ክፍል ገልጾዋል፡፡

sourse abugida

“ በሽብር” ተጠርጥረው በማዕከላዊ እስር ቤት የሚገኙት የፓርቲ አመራሮች ሐሙስ ጊዮርጊስ በሚገኘው አራዳ ፍርድ ቤት ይቀርባሉ

September 30th, 2014

“ በሽብር” ተጠርጥረው በማዕከላዊ እስር ቤት የሚገኙት የፓርቲ አመራሮች ነሐሴ 27 እና ነሐሴ 29 ቀን አራዳ ምድብ ችሎት ቀርበው ለ3ኛ ጊዜ የ28 ቀን የጊዜ ቀጠሮ የተጠየቀባቸው ሐብታሙ አያሌው የአንድነት ፓርቲ የሕዝብ ግንኙነት ኃላፊ ዳንኤል ሺበሺ የአንድነት ፓርቲ የድርጅት ጉዳይ ም/ኃላፊ የሺዋስ አሰፋ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ብሔራዊ ም/ቤት ም/ሰብሳቢ እና አብርሃ ደስታ የአረና ፓርቲ የስራ አስፈጻሚ ሐሙስ መስከረም 22 ቀን 2007 ዓ.ም ጊዮርጊስ በሚገኘው አራዳ ምድብ ችሎት ከቀኑ በ8፡00 ሰዓት ይቀርባሉ፡፡ በዕለቱ በአራዳ ፍርድ ቤት በመገኘት ለሰላማዊ ታጋዮቹ ያለንን አጋርነትና አክብሮት እንግለጽ፡፡

sourse abugida

Statement from Ginbot 7 Regarding the Horrific Video of Murdered Civilians in the Ogaden Region

September 30, 2014

Ginbot 7, Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy is deeply saddened and outraged by the recent leaked video of barbaric killings of civilians suspected of supporting the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). Anyone with a conscience should be disturbed by the brutal scenes and sounds of hundreds of civilians whom the regime’s security forces have raped, tortured and killed.

Once again this video is a stark reminder to all Ethiopians, irrespective of their ethnic background and religious affiliation, that Ethiopia is ruled by a savage, blood-thirsty regime carrying out a reign of terror in all parts of Ethiopia.

There are no words of condolence that can adequately convey our sorrow, our sympathy for the victims and their families. The unfathomable brutality of the Tigrai People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) security forces dragging the dead corpses of alleged ONLF supporters in an act of coward savagery is an insult to the moral values of the Ethiopian people, and humanity in general

We affirm our just revulsion over these heinous crimes and call on those responsible for such a heinous crime to be held accountable.
There is no question that in the last 23 years the brutal TPLF regime has committed thousands of grave human rights violations against civilians in the Ogaden region and other parts of Ethiopia. Many of its most gruesome acts constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The TPLF brutal and merciless regime has stubbornly continued its unabated threats to annihilate any group that does not embrace its bankrupt ideology of ethnic politics which it zealously promotes to stay in power.

The people of Ethiopia want to live together in peace with their rights, dignity and freedom protected and respected like the rest of humanity. More than ever, it is high time and in their long term interest in the region for Western democratic nations that support the TPLF by financing, arming and training its security forces to take a very hard look at the moral and political hazards of forming an alliance with a barbaric regime that engages in wanton violence (mass executions, torture, war crimes, ethnic cleansing) against its perceived political enemies.

Donor countries need to stop burying their head in the sand and acknowledge the basic fact that the TPLF regime is a threat to the people of Ethiopia and the stability of the Horn of Africa. Where there is no justice, there will never be peace.

Let it be clear to all concerned that the status quo in Ethiopia is not sustainable. The Ethiopian people will prevail over the inhumane and brutal dictatorship of the fascist minority dictatorship of the TPLF.

Freedom and Justice for the People of Ethiopia!

sourse ecdef

Breaking News: Secret Service Detained TPLF Embassy Shooter

September 29, 2014

(Reuters) – The U.S. Secret Service detained a possible shooter after a report that shots were fired on Monday near the Ethiopian embassy in Washington, a spokesman for the agency said.

The possible shots were reported at about 12:15 p.m. EDT and there have been no injuries reported, spokesman Brian Leary said in an emailed statement.

Washington police, State Department officials and Secret Service agents are on the scene, the spokesman said. Repeated phone calls to the embassy went unanswered.

——————-

(NBC) A man brandishing and firing a gun was arrested by Secret Service agents Monday morning outside the Ethiopian Embassy in northwest Washington, D.C.

In video provided to News4 by ESAT TV, the man can be seen holding the gun in the air, as people around him on a plaza outside the Embassy attempt to talk him down.

At one point, the man lowers the gun and a shot is heard. However, police said no one was hurt in the incident.

The report of shots fired came in at 12:15 p.m. Uniformed officers from the Secret Service responded and detained a person they said was “believed to be the shooter.”

D.C.’s Metropolitan Police and the State Department also responded to the scene.                                          sourse ecdef

መንግስት በደቡብ ኦሞ ዞን ለሚታየው ችግር መፍትሄ ለመስጠት አለመቻሉ አደጋውን አባብሶታል ታበለ

መስከረም ፲፮(አሥራ ስድስት) ቀን ፳፻፯ ዓ/ም ኢሳት ዜና :-የኦሞ ህዝቦች ዲሞክራሲያዊ ህብረት መሪ የሆኑት አቶ አለማየሁ መኮንን ለኢሳት እንደገለጹት መንግስት ከጀመረው የሸንኮራ እርሻ ጋር በተያያዘ በተደጋጋሚ እየጠፋ ያለው ሰው ህይወት

መንግስት መፍትሄ ሊሰጠው ካለመቻሉ ጋር ተያይዞ የሚመጣ ነው።

በጅንካ ነዋሪ የሆነው  ኡመር ንጋቱ  በሙርሲ ብሄረሰብ አባላት በጥይት ተደብድቦ እንደሞተ መነገሩን ተከትሎ ሃሙስ እለት ከቀብር መልስ የተቃውሞ ሰልፍ የተካሄደ ሲሆን፣ ከሰአት በሁዋላ የፌደራል ፖሊስ በአካባቢው በብዛት ተሰማርቶ ታይቷል።

ሹፈሮች የእርሻ ስራው ወደሚካሄድበት  አካባቢ ለመጓዝ መፍራታቸውን ለመስተዳድሩ ቢያመለክቱም እስካሁን የተሰጣቸው ማስተማመኛ የለም።

መንግስት ችግሩን እንዲፈታ በተደጋጋሚ በፓርቲያቸው  ቢጠየቅም፣ የችግሩ ፈጠሪዎች እናንተው ናችሁ በሚል እንዳልተቀበሉት አቶ አለማየሁ                      esat radio

በቦስተን የ2007 ዓ. ም. የደመራ በዓል በሺህ የሚቆጠሩ የቦስተን እና አካባቢዋ ነዋሪዎች በተገኙበት በድምቀት ተከበረ- አቡጊዳ

September 27th, 2014  ይመይሉ  ያትሙ

ወደ አስተያዮቶችአስተያየቶን ይተዉልንለ

ቦስተን መስከረም 17/2007 (ሴፕቴምበር 27፣ 2014 ዓ.ም) የደመራ በዓል በካምብሪድጅ ከተማ 808 Memorial Dr. አጠገብ በሚገኘው ፓርክ በቦስተን እና አካባቢዋ ነዋሪ በሆኑ የመካነ ሕይወት ቅዱስ ሚካዔል ቤተ ክርስቲያን እና የመካነ ሰላም ቅዱስ ሚካዔል ቤተ ክርስቲያን እና የኦርቶዶክስ ተዋህዶ ምዕምናን ዘንድ በደማቅ ሥነ-ሥርዓት ዛሬ ተከበረ።

በበዓሉ የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስትያን የመካነ ሕይወት ቅዱስ ሚካዔል ቤተ ክርስቲያን እና የመካነ ሰላም ቅዱስ ሚካዔል ቤተ ክርስቲያን ቤተ ክርስቲያን አባቶች፤ ዲያቆናት እና መዘምራን በቦታው በመገኘት በዓሉን በታላቅ መንፈሳዊ ስነ ስርዓት አክብረዋል።

በየዓመቱ በታላቅ ድምቀት የሚከበረው የመስቀል በዓል ላይ የቤተ ክርስቲያኖቹ አባቶች ስለ በዓሉ ታላቅነት እና የበዓሉን ታሪካዊ እና ሐይማኖታዊ አመጣጥ በተመለከተ ሰፋ ያለ ትምህርት የተሰጠ ሲሆን፤ መዘምራኖችም በዓሉን የተመለከቱ መንፈሳዊ መዝሙሮችን በመዘመር ለበዓሉ ትልቅ ድምቀት ሰጥተውታል።

የቦስተን እና አካባቢዋ ምዕመናን በዓሉን አስመልክቶ የጧፍ ማብራት ስነ ስርዓት በማድረግ እና መንፈሳዊ ዜማዎችን ከመዘምራን ጋር በማዜም ተጠናቋል። (ፎቶግራፎችን ይዘናል ይመልከቱ)

በዚሁ አጋጣሚ የአቡጊዳ ዝግጅት ከፍልም ለመላው የቦስተን እና አካባቢዋ ኢትዮጵያውያን ነዋሪዎ፤ እንዲሁም ለመላው የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ እምነት ተከታዮች “እንኳን ለብርሃነ መስቀሉ በሰላም አደርሳችሁ” እያለ መልካም ምኞቱን እየገለጸ፤ ባለፈው ዓመት የመስቀል በዓል በተባበሩት መንግስታት የሳይንስ፣ ባህልና ትምህርት ድርጅት /ዩኔስኮ/ መመዝገቡንም በዚሁ አጋጣሚ ለማስታወስ እንወዳለን።

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የጅንካ ነዋሪዎች የተቃውሞ ሰልፍ አደረጉ

መስከረም ፲፭(አሥራ አምስት) ቀን ፳፻፯ ዓ/ም ኢሳት ዜና :-በደቡብ ኦሞ ዞን በጅንካ ከተማ በአይነቱ ልዩ ነው ተባለ የተቃውሞ ሰልፍ መደረጉን የአካባቢው ምንቾች ገልጸዋል።

የተቃውሞ ሰልፉ የተደረገው ከጅንካ ከተማ  ወደ ሃና በመጓዝ ላይ የነበረ አንድ ሰራተኛ መገደሉን ተከትሎ ነው። ሃና አዲሱ የስኳር ፋብሪካ ግንባታ የሚካሄድበት ቦታ ሲሆን፣ ግድያውን የፈጸሙትም የስኳር ልማቱ ከቀያቸው ያፈናቀላቸው

የሙርሲ ብሄረሰብ አባላት ሳይሆኑ እንደማይቀር ይገመታል። የጅንካ ተወላጁ ኡመር ንጋቱ  አይሱዚ መኪና ይዞ ለስራ ከሄደ በሁዋላ ሲመለስ በጥይት ተደብድቦ እንደተገደለ ታውቋል። ድርጊቱን ተከትሎ የከተማው ነዋሪዎች ” ቀጣዩ ሟች

ማን ይሆን፣ የጅንካ ህዝብ መብት የለውም ወይ? ለህይወታችን እንሰጋለን፣ ዝም አንልም” የሚሉ መፈክሮችን ይዘው ተቃውሞቸውን አሰምተዋል። የከተማው ነዋሪዎች ከዚህ ቀደም ተደጋጋሚ ግድያዎች ቢፈጸሙም በመንግስት በኩል

የተወሰደ እርምጃ አለመኖሩን የከተማው ነዋሪዎች ይናገራሉ።

በጉዳዩ ዙሪያ ያነጋገርናቸው የአንድነት ፓርቲ አካባቢው ተወካይ አቶ ስለሺ ጌታቸው መንግስት የአካባቢውን አርብቶአደሮች  ሳያማክር በማናለብኝነት የጀመረው የስኳር ፕሮጀክት ለዜጎች ህይወት መጥፋት ምክንያት እየሆነ መምጣቱን ይናገራሉ።

የአሜሪካ ኮንግረስ በዞኑ የሚካሄደው ስራ በአርብቶአደሮችን ህይወት  ላይ ችግር የሚፈጥር መሆኑ ከተረጋጋጠ ለኢትዮጵያ የሚሰጠው እርዳታ እንዲቋረጥ ወስኖ ነበር። የተለያዩ አለማቀፍ ድርጅቶችም የኢትዮጵያ የመከላከያ ሰራዊት አባላት በአርብቶ

አደሩ ህዝብ ላይ ጭካኔ የተሞላበት እርምጃ መውሰዳቸውን የሚያሳይ ሪፖርት ማውጣታቸው ይታወቃል።                     esat radio

«ምርጫው» ምርጫ ካልሆነ መድከም ለምን አስፈለገ ? ግርማ ካሳ

September 25th, 2014  ይመይሉ  ያትሙ

ወደ አስተያዮቶችአስተያየቶን ይተዉልንለ

የፊታችን ግንቦት 2007 ዓ.ም ምርጫ ይኖራል ተብሎ ይጠበቃል። ነገሮች ሳይበላሹና ሳይቆላለፉ ከወዲሁ እንዲታሰብበት ይችን አጭር ጽሁፍ ላቅርብ::

ምርጫ ማለት ከቀረቡ በርካታ አማራጮች መካከል አንዱን መምረጥ ማለት ነው። ሬስቶራንት ስንሄድ አስተናጋጆች ይመጣሉ። ሜኒዩ ይሰጡናል። የምግብ አይነቶች ተዘርዝረው እናነባለን።። ክትፎ፣ ጥብስ፣ ምጥን ሽሮ ..እያለ ብዙ አማራጮች ተደርድረዋል። አንዱን እንመርጣለን። ምርጫ ማለት ይሄ ነው። አማራጮች ካልቀረቡ፣ የተሰጠንን ተመገብን እንጂ መረጥን ማለት አንችልም።

በተመራጮች በኩል ሆነን ምርጫን ስንመለከት ደግሞ፣ ምርጫ ፉክክር/ዉድድር እንደ ማለት ነው። ዉድድር በሚደረግበት ጊዜ ተወዳዳሪዎቹ ተመጣጣኝ መሆን አለባቸው። የዉድድሩም የጨዋት ሕግ ሁሉም የተስማሙበትና የሚቀበሉት መሆኑ ግድ ነው። የማራቶን ሩጫ ተብሎ አንዱ በእግሩ እየሮጠ ፣ ሌላው በቢስክሌት የሚሄድ ከሆነ ፣ ይህ ዉድድር አይደለም፣ ቀልድ እንጂ። አሥራ አንድ ትጨዋሽ መሰለፍ ሲገባው አኑ ቡድን 6 ተጨዋች ብቻ ብቻ አሰልፎ የእግር ኳስ ግጥሚያ ማድረግ አይቻልም። አርባ ኪሎግራም የሚመዝን ቦክሰኛ፣ ሰማኒያ ከሚመዝን ቦክሰኛ ጋር የቦክስ ዉድድር ሲገጥም ታይቶ አይታወቅም።
ኢትዮጵያ ዉስጥ በርካታ የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶች አሉ። በምርጫ ቦርድ የተመዘገቡ ወደ ዘጠና ይደርሳሉ። ያ ችግር የለዉም። በሕዝብ ብዛት በጣም ትንሽ የሆነችዋ እስራኤል እንኳን 38 ፓርቲዎች አሏት። እንግሊዝ አገር 16 ፓርቲዎች አሉ። አሜሪካ 36 ይደርሳሉ። ነገር ግን ሶስቱንም አገሮች ካየን ዋና የሚባሉ ፓርቲዎች 2፣ 3፣ ወይንም አራት ቢሆኑ ነው።

ዋና ፓርቲዎች የሚባሉ፣ ባላቸው አደረጃጀት ጠንክረው ከሰሩና የዉድድሩ ሜዳ ነጻ ከሆነ፣ በፓርላማ መቀመጫ አግኘተው መንግስት መሆን የሚችሉ ሶስት ፓርቲዎች ብቻ ናቸው ብዬ ነው የማስበው። እነርሱም በዋናነት አንድነት ከዚያም መድረክ እና መኢአድ ናቸው።

ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ፣ ኢዴፓስ የሚል ጥያቄ ሊነሳ ይችላል። ኢዴፓ ካለፈው የ2002 ምርጫ በኋላ ድራሹ ጠፍቷል። አቶ ሙሼ ሰሙ በተለያዩ ጊዜ ኢዴፓን ወክለው በተሳተፉበት ዉይይቶች ምክንያት ፣ እንዲሁም አቶ ልደቱ አያሌው ለአዲስ አድማስና ለአዉራምባ ታይምስ አንድ ወቅት ቀርበው አስተያየት በሰጡበት ጊዜ ፣ ስለኤደፓ ከሰማነው ዉጭ ፣ ምንም አይነት እንቅስቃሴ ሲደረግ የሰማንበት ሁኔት የለም። ይህም በራሱ የድርጅቱን መክሰም የሚያመላክት ነው። እንደዉም ለበርካታ አመታት ድርጅቱን ሲመሩ የነበሩት አቶ ሙሼ ሰሙም ፣ በፍቃዳቸው ኢዴፓን እንደለቀቁም አንብበናል።

ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ጥሩና አስደሳች ጅማሬ ነበረው። ከአንድ አመት በፊት በጠራው ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ በአንድ ቀን ብቻ ወደ ሰባ ሺህ የሚሆን ሕዝብ ለመሰብሰብ ችሎ ነበር። በዉጭ አገር እንደ ዶር አለማየሁ ገብረማርያም፣ በአገር ዉስጥ ደግሞ እንደ ፕሮፌሰር መስፍን ወልደማርያም ያሉ ምሁራንን ድጋፍ እስከማግኘት የደረሰ ድርጅት ነው። በአለም አቀፍ ማህበረሰቡም ዘንድ በአጭር ጊዜ ዉስጥ ስሙ ሊገን ከመቻሉ የተነሳ በዉጭ ዲፕሎማቶች ተጋብዘው የድርጅቱ ሊቀመንበር ንግግር ያደረጉበት ሁኔታ ተፈጥሮም ነበር። ሰማያዊ በርግጥ ትልቅ ፖቴንሻል የነበረው ድርጅት ነበር።

ነገር ግን በአንድ አመት ጊዜ ዉስጥ በሊቀመንበሩ ኢንጂነር ይልቃል ጌትነት በርካታ ስህተቶችና የአመራር ድክመት፣ የድርጅቱ ተቀባይነት ወደ ታች በጣም አሽቆልቁሏል። ሰባ ሺህ ሕዝብ ያስወጣ ድርጅት፣ ከጥቂት ወራት በፊት በአዲስ አበባ ባደረገው ሰልፍ ሶስት መቶ ሰው ብቻ ነበር የወጣለት። ( በወቅቱ መድረክ ከሃያ ሺህ አንድነት ደግሞ ከመቶ ሺህ በላይ ሕዝብ በጠሯቸው ሰልፎ ተገኝተዉላቸው ነበር)
ይሄ ብቻ አይደለም፣ ሰማያዊ ከአዲስ አበባ ዉጭ ይሄ ነው የሚባል ድርጅታዊ መዋቅር የለዉም። በአርባ ምንጭ እና በድረደዋ አንዳንድ ስራዎች ተሰርተዋል። ከዚህ ዉጭ ብዙ ገፍቶ መሄድ አልቻለም። በድርጅቱ ዉስጥም በሊቀመንበሩ አመራር ዙሪያ በርካታ ልዩነቶች እየታዩ ነው። በድርጅቱ ዉስጥ ትልቅ አለመስማማት አለ። እንደዉም ብዙዎች የሰማያዊ ፓርቲን ጥለው ሌሎች ድርጅቶችን (በዋናነት አንድነትን) ሊቀላቀሉ ይችላሉ የሚል ወሬም አለ። ስለዚህ ሰማያዊ ምናልባት ያሉትን ችግሮች አስተካክሎ፣ አዲስ አመራር አፍልቆ ፣ ብስለት በተሞለ መልኩ የፖለቲክ ስራዉን በቶሎ ካልጀመረ በቀር የትም ይደርሳል ብዬ አላስብም። (ያው በፌስ ቡክ ከመለቅለቅ ዉጭ) ባለኝ ግምት ሰማያዊ አሁን ባለበት ሁኔታ፣ ልወዳደር ቢል ሊያሰልፍ የሚልችለው ከ547 የፓርላማ ወንበሮች ፣ ከ50 ተወዳዳሪዎች የሚበልጥ አይሆኑም።

የአንድነት ፓርቲ እና መኢአድ (እንደ ትብብር ያሉ ሌሎች ድርጅቶችን በማቀፍ) ለምሳሌ በደቡብ ፣ በአዲስ አበባ፣ በአማራው ክልል ባሉ ሁሉም ወረዳዎች ( 284 ) ፣ በኦሮሚያ ባሉ ስድሳ በመቶ የሚሆኑ ወረዳዎች (110) ፣ በትግራይ ክልል አምሳ በመቶ በሚሆኑ ወረዳዎች ( 19) እንዲሁም በሌሎች ክልል ባሉ የተወሰኑ ወረዳዎች፣ በአጠቃላይ ከ450 ወረዳዎች በላይ ተወዳዳሪዎችን የማሰለፍ አቅም አላቸው። መድረክ በአዲስ አበባ፣ ኦሮሚያና በትግራይ ባሉ ወረዳዎች በሙሉ፣ በደቡብ ግማሹን በአጠቃላይ ወደ 300 ወረዳዎች ተወዳዳሪዎች ማሰለፍ የሚችል ይመስለኛል።

ለዚህም ነው፣ የዉድድሩ ሜዳ ፍትሃዊና ነጻ ከሆነ፣ አንድነት/መኢአድ፣ መድረክ በመጪው የ2007 ጠንካራ ተወዳዳሪ ሆነው ሊቀርቡ የሚችሉበት ሁኔታ በጣም ሰፊ ሊሆን ይችላል የምለው። የፊታችንም ምርጫ፣ በርግጥ ለአገር የሚጠቅም፣ ሕዝቡ ፍላጎቱን በሚገባ የሚያንጸባርቅበት፣ ታላቅና ታሪካዊ ምርጫ የሚሆንበት ሁኔታ ይፈጠር ነበር።

ነገር ግን ሕወሃት/ኢሕአዴግ ከወዲሁ ምርጫዉን፣ ዋጋ ቢስ እያደረገው ነው። ችግሮቻችን በምርጫው፣ በሰላም ፈተን፣ እንደ አገር ተያይዘን ወደፊት የምንሄድበትን መልካም አጋጣሚ እያጨለመብን ነው። ጠንካራ ተወዳዳሪ መሆን የሚችሉ ድርጅቶች ላይ ከፍተኛ ወከባ እየተፈጠረ ነው። የአመራር አባላቶቻቸው ወደ ወህኒ ተወስደዋል። ጋዜጦቻቸው እንዲዘጉ ተደርጓል። ጠዋትና ማታ በኢቲቪ በባለስልጣናቱ ማስፈራሪያ ይደርስባቸዋል። ሊዋሃዱ፣ የበለጠ አብረው ሊሰሩ ሲሞክሩ፣ ምርጫ ቦርድን በመጠቀም የዉህደት እንቅስቃሴያቸውን ያስቆማል። ሰላማዊ ሰልፎችን ፣ ሕዝባዊ ሰብሰባዎች ለማድረግ ሲሞክሩ፣ ፍቃድ ይከለክላል፣ ፍቃድ ተሰጥቶም ቅስቀሳ ሲደረግ ቀስቅቃሾቹን ያስራል። በዚህ ሁኔታ የሚደረግ ምርጫ ምርጫ አይደለም።

ሕወሃት/ኢሕአዴግ በአስቸኳይ ምርጫዉ ዴሞክራሲያዊ፣ ፍትሐዊና ነጻ እንዲሆን ለማድረግ በተግባር ቁርጠኝነቱን ሊያሳይ ይገባል። የታሰሩ ጋዜጠኞች፣ ብሎገሮች ፣ የፖለቲክ መሪዎች በሙሉ መፈታት አለባቸው። ግንቦት ሰባት፣ ኦነግ ተብለው ነው የተከሰሱት። ሰሞኑን በስፋት በአንዳንድ ሜዲያዎች እንደሚዘገበውም ኦነግም ሆነ ግንቦት ሰባት ከኤርትራ ጋር ሆነው እናደርገዋለን የሚሉት ሽምቅ ዉጊያ እንደሌለ ነው የተረዳነው። ኦነግም ሆነ ግንቦት ሰባት ምንም አይነት አደጋ ሊፈጥሩ እንደማይችሉ፣ ከአቶ አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ ዉጭ የታሰሩ እስረኞችም ምንም አይነት ግንኙነት ከነዚህ ድርጅቶች ጋር እንደሌላቸው ያውቃሉ።

ይልቅስ አገርን ትልቅ አደጋ ላይ የሚጥለው፣ ሕወሃት/ኢሕአዴግ እራሱ እየወሰደ ያለው አፋኝ ተግባራቶቹ ናቸው። እንደ ዘጠና ሰባት ወይንም እንደ 2002፣ እነርሱ በብስኪሌት እየሄዱ ሌላው በእግሩ እየሮጠ የሚደረግ ዉድድር አሸንፈው፣ ተመረጥን ብለው፣ በኃይል ለመግዛት ያሰቡና እየዶለቱ ያለ ይመስላል። ቆም ብለው እንደገና እንዲያስቡ እመክራቸዋለሁ። በዉስጣቸው ያሉ ከጫካ ፖለቲካ ነጻ ያልወጡ አክራሪዎች ገደል ይዘው እንዳይከቷቸው መጠንቀቅ አለባቸው። ለነርሱም ለአገርም የሚያዋጣው፣ መጪው ምርጫ ሰላማዊ፣ ፍትሃዊ፣ ዴሞክራሲያዊና በሁሉም ወገኖች ተቀባይነት ያለው ምርጫ እንዲሆን ማድረጉ ብቻ ነው።
ከአንድነት/መኢአድ፣ መድረክ ከመሳሰሉት ጋር በቁም ነገር ቁጭ ብሎ መነጋገር ያስፈልጋል። እነ ሃብታሙ አያሌው፣ አብርሃ ደስታ፣ የሽዋስ አሰፋ፣ ዳንኤል ሺበሺ፣ አንዱዋለም አራጌ፣ ናትናኤል መኮንን፣ በቀለ ገርባ ..ያሉ የፖለቲካ መሪዎች፣ እንደ እስክንደር ነጋ፣ ርዮት አለሙ፣ ዉብሸት ታዬ፣ ዞን ዘጠኞች …ያሉ ጋዜጠኖችን እና ብሎገሮችን የግድ መፈታት አለባቸው። የነዚህ ወገኖቻችን መታሰር የአገር ደህንነትን የሚከላከል ሳይሆን የአገር ደህንነትን አደጋ ላይ የሚጠል ነውና ። እንደ ፍኖት ነጻነት፣ ፍትህ የመሳሰሉ ጋዜጦች እንዲታተሙ መፈቀድ አለበት።

ኳሷ በሕወሃት/ኢሕአዴግ ሜዳ ላይ ነው ያለችው ። ጊዜው በጣም ተለዉጧል። ነገሮች በጣም ተወጥረዋል። ባለስልጣናቱ ሃብታሞችና የሥርዓቱ ተጠቃሚዎች በስፋት የሚኖሩባት ምስራቅ አዲስ አበባ እየኖሩ፣ በሕዝቡ ልብ ዉስጥ ከጊዜ ወደ ጊዜ እያመረቀዘ ያለዉን ቁስል ላያስተዉሉ ይችላሉ። ምናልባትም ከታች ያሉት ካድሬዎቻቸው መስማት የሚፈልጉትን ብቻ ስለሚነግሯቸው ፣ «ባለንበት ገፍተን እንቀጥል ። ሁሉ አማን ነው» በማለት በሩን ሊቀረቅሩት ይችላሉ። ነገር ግን ደግሜ እላለሁ ቢያስቡበት ይሻላል።

አገር ቤት ላሉ ተቃዋሚዎች ደግሞ የሚከተለዉን መልእክት አስተላልፋለሁ፡

የምርጫ ፓርቲ ናችሁ። ነገር ግን በባዶ እግራችሁ ብስክሌት ከያዘ ጋር እንወዳደራለን ብሎ መነሳት፣ ራሳችሁን ከማስገመት በተጨማሪም ለገዢው ፓርቲ የፖለቲካ ፍጆታ መጠቀሚያ ብቻ ነው የምትሆኑት። ምርጫ የምትሳተፉ ከሆነ፣ የምርጫ ዘመቻ ማድረግ አለባችሁ። ምርጫው ሰባት ወራት ነው የቀሩት። በሚቀጥለው አንድ ወራት ዉስጥ አገዛዙ ነገሮችን ካላስተካከለ ፣ በምርጫ መወዳደራችሁ ፋይዳ አይኖረውም። እንዴት ብላችሁስ ነው የምርጫ ዘምቻ የምታደርጉት ? መልእክቶቻችሁን እንዴት ነው ለሕዝብ የምታቀርቡት ? ከሕዝብ ጋር በነጻነት ካልተገናኛችሁ፣ ጋዜጣ ካላተማችሁ ፣ ሽብርተኞች እየተባላችሁ ከታሰራችሁ እንዴት ምርጫ ልትሳተፉ ትችላለችሁ ? ምርጫው በአንጻራዊነት ሰላማዊና ተቀባይነት ያለው እንዲሆን ፣ በጋራ፣ ባሉ መስመሮች ሁሉ አገዛዙ ላይ ጫና ማድረግ መጀመር አለባችሁ። ሕወሃት/ኢሕአዴግ ዉስጥ ያሉ ሞደሬቶችን በማሳመን እና በማግባባት፣ ሊፈጠር የሚችለውን አደጋ በማሳየት፣እነርሱ በፊናቸው በፓርቲያቸው ዉስጥ ለዉጥ እንዲመጣ ግፊት እንዲያደርጉ ማበረታታቱ አስፈላጊ ነው። በአንድ ወር ጊዜ ዉስጥ ነገሮች ካልተስተካከሉ፣ የጠራ የአቋም በጋራ በመዉሰድ፣ በምርጫው እንደማትሳተፉም መግለጽ ይኖርባችሁል። ዋጋ ለሌለው ነገር ፣ ምርጫ ፣ ምርጫ እየተባለ ጉልበት፣ ጊዜና ገንዘብ ማጥፋት አያስፈልግም። ሕዝቡ አማራጮች ነጻ በሆነ መንገድ እንዲቀርቡለት ካልተደረገ ፣ ነጻነቱን እና መብቱን የሚያረጋግጥበት የራሱ የሆኑ ሌሎች መንገዶችን ይፈለጋል።                           sourse abugda

The Hazards of Immoral Investments in Africa Belayneh Abate

September 25th, 2014

The African singers’ effort [1-3] to inform the world about Africa’s land robbery should be replicated and rewarded. I wish singers utilize their talents to promote humanitarian deeds like Miriam Makeba instead of using them to glamorize women’s breasts and men’s chests.

Watch out humanitarian singers! Words matter! The land snatching in Africa is NOT land grab: It is LAND ROBBERY. Although the land belongs to the people, the grabbers do not buy it from the people; they snatch it from the robbers-the slave tyrants. The slave tyrants sell the African resources for bribes, and brag about investments.

Although many have discussed the economical impact of these immoral investments, few have addressed their hazards. The hazards include immediate massive death, acute and chronic diseases including cancer, disabilities, birth defects, infertility, and mental retardation. These industry related hazards have been seen in Asia and Latin America.

After World War II, the economical and social structure changes compelled industrialized nations to expand investments in developing countries. Companies from industrialized nations rushed to developing countries in search of cheap labor and operating costs. Similarly, some developing countries competed to attract international companies. [4]

India was one of the developing nations that attracted foreign companies to invest since late 1960’s. A Chicago based corporation, Union Carbide (UCC), built pesticide producing plant in Bhopal, India. UCC’s operations were regulated in USA; but not in India. As a result, the Bhopal plant exploded on December 2, 1984, and clouds of fumes, gases, vapors and other toxins covered the land and the sky. Thousands of people died, and tens of thousands of people sustained serious injuries. The authorities tried to cover up and underestimate the dead since lives in developing countries have never been considered equal to the lives in developed nations. At any rate, the unofficial death estimates range from eight to sixteen thousands. Time Magazine called the explosion night “The Night of death”

The hazards of the Bhopal disaster were not limited to immediate deaths. The stillbirth rate soared to 300%, and neonatal mortality rate increased to 200 %. [5] Thousands of people suffered from eye, lung, brain, skin, and psychological diseases. People still die from those industrial toxins related diseases.

If these kinds of disasters occur in countries lead by elected governments that fear the voices of people, what types of disasters should we expect in Africa, where countries are ruled by irresponsible slave tyrants. What sorts of environmental pollutions should we anticipate in Africa where corruption is a norm; regulatory agencies are absent; healthcare systems are dysfunctional; and investigative journalists are treated like terrorists?

Foreign companies are salivating to invest in African precisely because they can buy the resources cheap, and they can operate under no regulations. Through these illegal, immoral and unethical operations, companies stockpile their profits; thieves amass bribes; but the African people contract industry related deadly diseases.

Africans are at risk of physical, mental and social disorders from unregulated working conditions and industrial waste disposals. In addition to injuries and displacements, Africans are at risk of developing acute and chronic diseases related to fertilizers, pesticides, solvents and other industrial processing material and waste products. Some fertilizers and pesticides cause skin, eye, brain, lung, heart, and kidney diseases including cancer. Many other farming and manufacturing chemicals are linked to abortions, still births, infertility, birth defects, mental retardation and cancers.

Some industrial chemicals dwell in the soil for decades, if not for centuries. Therefore, this unregulated bribe- based investment would further affect the health of future generations. In other words, the coming African generations will inherit the curse of death from the slave tyrants.

The heartless investors mislead naive people by showing workers wearing bright personal protective equipments (PPE) such as gowns and gloves. PPEs are ineffective for African workers for the following reasons. Firstly, PPEs need intensive training, which is unthinkable in a continent where literacy rate is dismal. Secondly, PPEs are scares in Africa; and thirdly PPEs are the least effective exposure controlling methods.

In summary, the Africans are at risk of industry related deaths, abortions, congenital malformations, infertility, mental retardation, cancer, disability and other chronic diseases. In order to control this insurmountable risk, intellectuals, religious leaders, journalists, writers, poets, singers, runners and others should expose the immoral-investment covenant between slave tyrants and greedy investors. Thank you.

End Notes: (All accessed on September 23, 2014)

1. Major African Music Artists to Perform Pro Bono for PLAD’s STOP Africa Land Grab Concert — Sunday, September 21st at the Warner Theatre in Washington, DC http://www.blacknews.com/news/plad-stop-africa-land-grab-concert-warner-theatre-washington-dc101.html
2. Hanisha Solomon; Africa Unite http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUjsOTsgIp4
3. Hanisha Solomon, http://www.landgrabawarenessconcert.com/speaker/hanisha-solomon/
4. Weir, David. The Bhopal Syndrome: Pesticides, Environment, and Health. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco. 1987.
5. Eckerman, Ingrid (2005). The Bhopal Saga—Causes and Consequences of the World’s Largest Industrial Disaster. India: Universities Press. ISBN 81-7371-515-7. (about neonatal mortality rate

http://addisvoice.com/2013/10/land-grab-or-land-robbery-in-africa/

Similar articles:
1. Land Grab or Land Robbery in Africa? http://indepthafrica.com/land-grab-or-land-robbery-in-africa/
2. The investment covenant between slaves and masters. http://www.abugidainfo.com/index.php/22684/

The writer can be reached at abatebelai@yahoo.com

sourse abugda

Politics imposes on Ethiopia choice of being left behind in a digitally competitive world

September 23, 2014

by Keffyalew Gebremedhin – The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)

A former colleague from my previous life, who still runs strong, recently called me to share nail-biting occurrence that he learned about in his office. It was regarding an invitation extended to a renowned Ethiopian expert in Addis Abeba to participate in an international forum on video/Skype, in tandem with other experts from other regions of the world.

The organization was inviting the Ethiopian because of his expertise so that he could share his insight in the light of Ethiopia’s experiences in poverty reduction and growth and development; it boils down whether, after all, poverty is defeated or still remains daunting and, if so, the problem has its origin in vision, policies, institutions or politics.

The expert’s brief response, I was told, was “heartrending.”

His letter thanked the inviting agency for the honor it has bestowed on him. But he simply said he could not be a part of that important undertaking for three reasons:

a.   Where he lives or works electricity is more down than up and therefore there could be no reliable communication whatever the medium;

b.   Inevitably access to internet is also unavailable on demand; it is more remote, inaccessible and needlessly complicated; and,

c.   Even if these problems do not exist, he hinted that he is not free to articulate what he knows, believes in and understands best.

This telephone conversation took place a few days ago before I began browsing the just released The State of Broadband 2014 of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). When I found the publication, I decided to read it with the eyes and mind of that Ethiopian expert to understand what the real problem is. I also wanted to capture his sense of frustration and share it with the world in an article, which this piece is a humble effort in that direction.

Let me first note that I have found The State of Broadband 2014 informative; it is generous in giving a very clear sense of the global digital advancement and extent of internet connectivity in the very lucky societies. What struck me is also the fast growth of services and businesses around technological advancements, for instance, health services, which a study ITU quotes shows the possibility of saving one million lives by 2017 in disease-infested Africa, while generating $400 billion savings in the developed countries.

The ITU successfully uses good examples to demonstrates that high-speed affordable broadband connectivity to the internet is the unmistakable foundation stone of modern society. It offers widely recognized economic and social benefits in business, education and social life would immensely contribute to the knowledge society. In that regard, the ITU calls on governments to integrate ICT skills into education to ensure that the next generation is able to compete in the digital economy.

Countries with the right vision and the appropriate policies are all the time capturing the gains of ICT development by making it available and accessible for their populations, as a means to stimulate the flow of information and enrich democracy or their systems of governance.

For the vast majority, however, the opposite is true; some nations strive to serve the interests of those in power, instead of the national interests and commitment to public service as part of the everyday readiness and leadership by accountable governance in this competitive world.

Who is where on the broadband & internet connectivity map?

At it stands now, the Republic of Korea continues to have the world’s highest household broadband penetration at over 98 percent; this represents a leap of one more percent since last year. Monaco has also become a new champion, now surpassing Switzerland – last year’s world leader in fixed broadband penetration – at over 44 percent of its population, according to ITU press release.

Consequently, there are now four nations – Monaco, Switzerland, Denmark and Netherlands – where broadband penetration exceeds 40 percent. The change is that the lone champion of 2013 – Switzerland – has now been joined by three other competitors.

One may wonder where the United States is. Globally, it ranks 19th in terms of number of people online, ahead of other OECD countries like Germany (20th) and Australia (21st). What this means is that the US is behind the United Kingdom with its 12th ranking, Japan 15th and Canada 16th. The US is said to have slid from 20th to 24th place for fixed broadband subscriptions per capita, just behind Japan but ahead of Macao (China) and Estonia.

ITU reports that there are now 77 countries where over 50 percent of the population is online; this is up from 70 in 2013. The top ten countries for internet use are all located in Europe, with Iceland ranked first in the world with 96.5 percent of its people online.

Still one may wonder where our Ethiopia is. As in most thins that matter, Ethiopia moves in tandem with others at the lowest end of the spectrum. The lowest levels of internet access are mostly found in Sub-Saharan Africa, with internet available to less than 2 percent of the region’s population. This can be seen, for instance, from Ethiopia’s 1.9 percent rate, followed by Niger (1.7 percent), Sierra Leone (1.7 percent), Guinea (1.6 percent), Somalia (1.5 percent), Burundi (1.3 percent) and Eritrea (0.9 percent).

The digital divide is not narrowing, whatever the reason(s)

There is forecast that, at current global broadband growth rates, some 2.9 billion people or 40 percent of the global population will be online by the end of 2014. This means that half of the world’s population would be online by 2017. It is in response to that at the launching of the report, ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun I lamented:

“Broadband uptake is accelerating, but it is unacceptable that 90 percent of people in the world’s 48 Least Developed Countries remain totally unconnected. With broadband Internet now universally recognized as a vital tool for social and economic development, we need to make connectivity a key development priority, particularly in the world’s poorest nations. Connectivity is not a luxury for the rich – rather, it is the most powerful tool mankind has ever had at its disposal to bridge development gaps in areas like health, education, environmental management and gender empowerment.”

As indicated above, basic internet user penetration in Ethiopia in 2013 was/is as low as 1.9 percent. At the household level, this rises to 2.3 percent, whereas the average internet user for developing countries stands at 29.9 percent. For an economy ranked 108th in the world, Ethiopia’s mobile broadband connectivity in 2013 is 4.8 percent. Broadband connectivity (3G and 4G(?)), the ITU says, continues to show the highest growth rate of any ICT around the world, growing 20 percent in 2014 alone.

In fact, it is surprising that Ethiopia being the political and diplomatic capital of Africa, with several organizations headquartered there as are over 100 embassies, Ethiopia’s telecom and ICT remain backward because of the politics of the regime rather than the country’s poverty. Of course, many are compelled to rely on VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminals), or internet satellite, for faster communication with the outside world, including in the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), which made Ethiopia it’s home in 1958.

Turning to another aspect of this issue, while Africa has most of the diseases, it has not shown any meaningful growth in its broadband (0.5 percent only) connectivity. Because of that, according to ITU, especially Sub-Saharan Africa could not become beneficiary of the delivery of healthcare services that are now available to the rural areas in the underdeveloped world. Where it has happened, it says, it has led to improved response times in emergency situations, reduced isolation, and better training and equipment for healthcare workers.

Never mind that the TPLF regime is full of praises for Ethio Telecom, about which one of its officials years ago dubbed it “our cash cow”. Since the idea of service to the people does not figure prominently in the Ethiopian regime, in July 2014 Prime Minister Hailemariam also (see video here) reiterated the same to NBC. His justification was the national telecom company providing the state more than ETB six billion [$300 million] every year, which he said is now paying for the development of the railway sector.

Be that as it may, the extent of this ITU Ethiopia’s diminutive internet penetration is mark of an earnest rejection of that logic. That is why the ITU data on Ethiopia makes more sense, especially compared with the performance of other Least Developed Countries (LDCs), such as Senegal’s penetration rate of 20.9 percent, Uganda 16.2, Zambia 15.4, Gambia 14.0, Mozambique’s 5.4, Malawi’s 5.4, Lesotho’s 5.0, Tanzania’s 4.4, and etc.

In other words, at the lower end of the spectrum and in 2013 Ethiopia is ahead only of Somalia by 0.04 percent and Sierra Leone by 0.02 percent, Niger by 0.02 percent, Burundi 0.06 percent and Eritrea by 1.0 percent.

Why is Ethiopia laggard in ICT development?

In reminding the world that the Ethiopian regime’s efforts at blocking the free flow of information is not limited to imprisonment of journalists year after year; but also on the basis of evidences, Freedom House claims that the TPLF regime has been for a long time engaged in “deep packet inspection to enable [it a] more sophisticated, selective filtering of internet traffic”. The inescapable conclusion is that this retrograde interference in turn has stifled the development of internet and digital communication in our country.

Only this month, at the United Nations Human Rights Council’s 27th session during the review of the human rights behavior of the Ethiopian regime and adoption of the outcome to Universal Periodic Review (UPR), member states several times discussed the removal of impediments restricting the free flow of information. Resulting from it is the handing over to the TPLF regime of 252 recommendations to be implemented to improve the human rights situation in the country.(click on the next page on E to read the report).

The regime wanted cherry picking from the 252 recommendations, informing the Council it would only accept 188 recommendations, rejecting 64 of them. This did not sit well with many member state. Perhaps the UK statement, which was attributed to Minister Joyce Angela spoke for all when it firmly underlined, “We recommend the Government of Ethiopia to implement all URP recommendations.”

In the recommendation, there are 15 references to “freedom of expression.” Moreover, there are several calls on Ethiopia to repeal the anti-terrorism and anti-civil society laws, accusing them of stifling dissent and the activities of independent journalists.

What has been noticed in TPLF’s Ethiopia, which is enwrapped in slick and deceitful propaganda, is that it suffers severe lack of accountability as a state. That many felt could be the reason why it loves to exercise authority without any regard to the rights of the broader society, its needs for decent public service, such as reasonable access to food, water, electricity and telecom services, etc.

In early August 2014, at a press conference, Ethio Telecom announced that it has completed its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in Addis Abeba to service 400,000 customers. In September 2014, there is not the slightest change in the usual status of unavailability of services.

Of course, all along the regime has been making ‘services unavailable’ since it has been deploying it to spy on the Ethiopian opposition parties. None has to this day better exposed the crimes in this regard than senior ruling party cadre Ermias Legesse, who served as state minister. After abandoning the regime, he recently published the የመለስ “ትሩፋቶች”: ባለቤት አልባ ከተማ , which unveiled so many of the regime’s ploys and gimmicks. In his days, he recalled he and his colleagues received information from the national intelligence, which on all occasions eavesdrops on citizens and especially opposition party members to help the ruling party design strategy to counter their politics as its opponents, as if the taxpayers were and obliged to pay for its political competition.

The BBC also recently released information how the Ethiopian regime uses foreign kit to spy on opponents of the regime, each time with more modern equipment, as if opposition parties were foreign enemies of the nation and dissenting opinion a crime.

How could the civilized world tolerate this and give its financial and political support to the repression of Ethiopians, which they cannot support in their own countries and against their peoples?

In its conclusion, The State of Broadband 2014 counsels developing nations:

“Developing countries cannot afford to remain on the sidelines, as the digital revolution puts knowledge economies and societies into a dominant position with global globalization. The real information revolution lies in the growing day-by-day use of internet-enabled devices in all parts of our lives. And it is this era of mass connectivity – delivering small, but incremental changes to the ways in which each individual does things – that promises to transform development and global welfare.”

We now see in Ethiopia that our nation has not been blessed for this. That is why the status quo needs to change!

sourse ecdef