የሚዲያ አፈናና ህዝባዊ እምቢተኝነት በኢትዮጵያ

ሁለተኛው ምዕራፍ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ (ከዝዋይ ማጎሪያ)

 እጅግ ኋላቀር ከሆኑ ትናንሽ የገጠር ወረዳዎች አንስቶ እስከ ታላላቅ ከተሞች ድረስ በኦሮሚያ የተቀጣጠለው ሕዝባዊ እምቢተኝነት የመጀመሪያውን ምዕራፍ ከሞላ-ጎደል በአሸናፊነት ተወጥቷል፡፡ በድሉ በመጠኑም የምንኩራራው (አንገታችንን ቀና የምናደርገው) የወደቁ ሠማዕታት የከፈሉትን ዋጋ ሳንዘነጋ ነው፡፡ በዚህ አውድ ፖለቲካዊ ድል ብዬ የምዘክረው የ “ማስተር-ፕላኑ” ዕቅድ መሠረዙን ብቻ አይደለም፡፡ በውሳኔው ስር የሰደደው የወያኔ ግትር ባሕሪም (የአስተዳደር ዘይቤ) ለቡርቦራ መጋለጡን ጭምር በመገምገም ነው፡፡ ክስተቱም የ1966ቱን አብዮት ዋዜማ ያስታውሰኛል፡፡ በወቅቱ የአፄው መንግሥት የተቃውሞ ንቅናቄ በፈጠረበት ጫና አጣብቂኝ ውስጥ በመቀርቀሩ “ሴክተር ሪቪው” የተሰኘ አዲስ የትምህርት ፖሊሲውን ሲሰርዝ፤ በነዳጅ ዋጋ ላይ ሊጨምር ያሰበውንም ታሪፍ ለመተው ተገዷል፡፡ በዚህም የተበረታታው የለውጥ ኃይል ዘውዳዊውን ሥርዓት ለመገርሰስ ከወራት የበለጠ ጊዜ አላስፈለገውም ነበር፡፡ በኦሮሚያ ጎበዛዝት ክፉኛ የተፈተነው ወያኔም የቆመበት ጠርዝ በግርድፉ ሲታይ ከ66ቱ ዋዜማ ጋር ተመሳሳይነት አለው፡፡ ይህ ግን እንደ አዛውንቱ ንጉሥ የመጨረሻ ቀናት ጡንቻው ሙሉ በሙሉ ዝሏል ማለት አይደለም፡፡ ከዚህ በኋላ ማዛሉ፣ አልፎም ተርፎ የመቃብሩን ካንቻ ማጥበቁ የመጀመሪያውን ምዕራፍ ያህል አስቸጋሪ (ከባድ) አለመሆኑን መጠቆም እንጂ፡፡ የሁለተኛው መርሃ-ግብር ሕዝባዊ እምቢተኝነት “ማስተር ፕላኑ” መሠረዙን አመስግኖ ሲያበቃ (በብሉይ አብዮቱ ዋዜማም የንጉሡ አስተዳደር ያፀደቃቸውን ፖሊሲዎች ለመሻር የተገደደበትን ኩነት ተከትሎ “እግዜር ይስጥልኝ” በሚል ርዕስ ከግራ-ዘመም ቡድኖች የአንዱ አመራር አባል መጣጥፍ አዘጋጅቶ እንደነበረ ዛሬ ማስታወስ ባልቻልኩት ድርሳን ላይ ማንበቤን አልዘነጋውም፡፡) በዋናነት መነሳት ያለበት አጀንዳ ምንድን ነው? የሚለውን በአዲስ መስመር ጨርፈን እናያለን፡፡ ቀዳሚው እንዲህ ዓይነቱን የክልሉን ፖለቲካዊ፣ ኢኮኖሚያዊ እና ማሕበራዊ ህልውና ተፈታታኝ ዕቅድ ያለአንዳች ሕዝባዊ ውይይት ማብራሪያና ለመተግበር የሞከሩ፤ ሙከራውንም በዝምታ ያዩ ባለሥልጣናት ከሥልጣናቸው እንዲሻሩ ማድረጉ ላይ ቢያተኩር ቅቡል ነው ብዬ አምናለሁ፡፡ ለዚህም ርዕሰ-መስተዳድሩ ሙክታር ከድር፣ ረዳቶቹና አማካሪዎቹ በቸልተኝነት የሚከሰሱ ሲሆን፤ ተከታዩ የፕላኑ ነዳፊዎችን ይመለከታል፡፡ በጋራ ደግሞ ሹማምንቱ ለጠፋው ሕይወት፣ ለደረሰው አካል ጉዳት፣ ለወደመው ንብረት…… ኃላፊነቱን ወስደው በወንጀል እንዲጠየቁ መቀስቀሱ እና ማሳመፁ የሁለተኛው ምዕራፍ ትግል ባንዲራ መሆን ይችላል፡፡ ይህንን ለማደላደልም ልሂቃን እና አክቲቪስቶች ከወዲሁ የመጀመሪያውን ተሞክሮ ገምግመው ጠንካራ ጎኑን በማዳበር፣ ድክመቱን አርመው መዘጋጀት ይጠበቅባቸዋል፡፡ አጀንዳው የታሰሩ የንቅናቄው ተሳታፊዎች ያለምንም ቅድመ-ሁኔታ እንዲፈቱ፣ ጭካኔ የተጠናወተውን ጅምላ ጭፍጨፋ ያዘዙ ባለሥልጣናትም ሆኑ የተገበሩት በሙሉ ለፍርድ እንዲቀርቡ፤ እንዲሁም መንግሥት ለሟች ቤተሰቦች ካሳ እንዲከፍል ማስገደድን ጭምር ማካተቱን ሁሉም በግልፅ በሚገባው መንገድ ማብራራቱና ማስረፁ አስፈላጊ ነው፡፡ በጥቅሉ ሊመለሱ የማይችሉ ጉዳዮችን እያነሱ የመታገያ ጥያቄዎች ማድረጉ ከሰላማዊ ትግል ስልቶች መካከል የሚመደብ መሆኑም መዘንጋት የለበትም፡፡ ከዚሁ ጎን ለጎንም የተገኘውን ፖለቲካዊ ድል በተለይ ለተርታው አማፅያን አጉልቶና አፍታቶ ማስረዳቱ የመሪዎቹ ግዴታ ነው፡፡ ብዙሃኑ የዕቅዱ መሠረዝ የአገዛዙ ችሮታ ወይም በራሱ አገላለፅ ‹‹የሕዝብን ፍላጎት ማክበር›› ሊመስለው ይችላልና (ወሳኔውንም በዚህ መልኩ ወደ መሬት ለማውረድ የሥርዓቱ የፕሮፓጋንዳ ማሽኖች ምን ያህል እንደለፉ ልብ ይሏል፡፡) ሌላው የሁለተኛ ደረጃ ተማሪዎች አስተዋፅኦ ወሳኝነትን ማስታወስ እወዳለሁ፡፡ የዚህ ትኩስ ኃይል አበርክቶ ከዩኒቨርሲቲ ተማሪዎችም የላቀ ነው፡፡ ምክንያቱም የዩኒቨርሲቲ ተማሪዎች በቋንቋ ተናጋሪነታቸው በብሔር የተከፋፈሉ ከመሆናቸውም በዘለለ፣ አብዛኞቹ በዕጣ-ምደባ መሠረት ከትውልድና ከመኖሪያ መንደራቸው ርቀው በመምጣታቸው ምክንያት በሚማሩበት ከተማ ካለው ሕብረተሰብ ጋር ግንኙነታቸው የጠበቀ አይደለም፡፡ ስለዚህም ተቃውሞውን ከትምህርት ቤታቸው ቅፅር ግቢ ውጪ የማሻገር ዕድላቸው የመነመነ ነው፡፡ በግልባጩ የሁለተኛ ደረጃ ተማሪዎች እዛው በቀዬአቸውና በማሕበረሰባቸው ውስጥ ሆነው ስለሚማሩ ቤተሰቦቻቸውን፣ ዘመድ ጓደኞቻቸውን….. በአጠቃላይ አካባቢያቸውን በቀላሉ ከጎናቸው ማሠለፍ አያዳግታቸውም፡፡ ይህ ደግሞ የአመፁን አድማስ በሚፈለገው መጠን ያስፋፋዋል፡፡ እናም መላው አብዮታውያን፣ ተማሪዎቹ ከወዲሁ አስተባባሪዎቻቸውን መርጠው በሕቡዕ እንዲደራጁ ማብቃቱ ለነገ የሚሉት የቤት ሥራ አይደለም፡፡ (በያ ትውልድ ትግልም ከ1964ዓ/ም ጀምሮ ሕዝባዊ ቁጣ የተጋጋመውም ሆነ በከፊል የተመራው በየትምህርት ቤቱ በተመሠረቱ “የሁለተኛ ደረጃ ተማሪዎች ሸንጎ” (High school councils) እንደነበር ዘመኑን የሚያወሱ በርካታ ትርክቶች አትተዋል፡፡) በመጨረሻም ኦሮሚኛ ተናጋሪ ያልሆነው ኢትዮጵያዊ ሚናስ ምንድን ነው? የሚለው ጥያቄ ሊተኮርበት ይገባል ብዬ አምናለሁ፡፡ ምክንያቱም ይህን መሠሉን ተቃውሞ ተቆጣጥረው ከመሩት ታሪካዊ ተልዕኮውን ሲጨርስ ወደ አብዮታዊ ትግል ማደጉ ተፈጥሮአዊ (አይቀሬ) በመሆኑ ከፖሊሲ ማሻሻያ ያለፈ ውጤት ሊያስገኝ የሚችልበት አጋጣሚ የበዛ ነው (የኢኮኖሚው ድል በተስፋና በአመፅ ትዕምርትነትም (symbolic) ጭምር ማገልገሉ ሳይረሳ ማለት ነው፡፡) በአናቱም ንቅናቄው በኢትዮጵያችን ሰማይ ሥር (ያውም ሁሉን ረግጦ በሚገዛ ቡድን ላይ) እስከሆነ ድረስ በየትኛውም ቋንቋ ተናጋሪ ቢገደብ እንኳ መንፈሱና ውጤቱ በቀጥታና በተዘዋዋሪ የማይዳስሰው የሕብረተሰብ ክፍል የለም፡፡ ስለዚህም የየብሔሩ ቅቡል ልሂቃን ባሻቸው ሥፍራ (“ሰባተኛው ሠማይ” ላይም ቢሆን) ተሰባስበው ቢያንስ በስልት ደረጃ የሚደጋገፍ የጋራ ግንባር (ኮሚቴ) በመፍጠር ተቃውሞውን በየክልላቸው ማዛመቱ ታሪክ የጣለባቸው ኃላፊነት ይመስለኛል፡፡ የሰሜን ጎንደሩን ስምየለሽ ክስተት እና የድንበር ጉዳይ አማርኛ ተናጋሪውን የማስተባበሪያ አጀንዳ በማድረግ መጠቀምንም እመክራለሁ (በእንዲህ ዓይነቱ በግላጭ በሚሰራጭ መጣጥፍ ዝርዝር ነገሮችን ማንሳት አገዛዙን ማንቃት ነውና ሃሳቤን እዚሁ ጋር እገታለሁ፡፡) ከዚህ ባለፈ ሁለተኛው ምዕራፍ እንዲያጠነጥንባቸው ከላይ የተጠቀሱትን ጥያቄዎች ይዘት ብቻ በመመዘን ጉዳዩ የኦሮሞ የግሉ ነው ብዬ ራስን በዝምታ መግራት (በተመልካችነት ማስቀመጥ) የማይታረም ስህተት ከማስከተሉም ሌላ ወርቃማውን ዕድል ሊያመክነው ይችላል፡፡ ይህ ደግሞ በጠቅላይነት ሳር-ቅጠሉን በመጠርነፍ የተካነው ኢህአዴግ ተጠናክሮ የሚወጣበትን ጉልበት በቀላሉ እንዲጎናፀፍ ያደርገዋል፡፡ ድል ለሠፊው ሕዝብ! ኢትዮሚድያ -                                                        Source     Ethiomedia.com February 9, 2016

Tamagne Beyene “We have to show our solidarity to the Oromo people”

Ethiopia: Fugera News | Episode 19

Ethiopia: 120 Years After The Battle Of Adwa A Documentary Remembers The History Of Italy In Ethiopia

This month will mark the 120th anniversary of The Battle of Adwa.

Ethiopia is widely known as the only country in Africa, besides maybe Liberia, not to be colonized by a European power. During the twentieth century, many African nations adopted Ethiopia’s flag colors of green, yellow, and red to proclaim to the world, we too are free as our Ethiopian brethren.

Ethiopia did not escape European colonization for a lack of attempts. To the contrary, Italy attempted an invasion twice. The Italians brought with them mustard gas, roads, guns, infrastructure, and atrocities. Under the leadership of Pope Pius XI, Vatican officials and clergy blessed the bombs that massacred scores of Ethiopian civilians. Here’s a clip of a priest doing just that. “Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus” (holy, holy, holy) he says as he holds the bomb.

The first Italo-Ethiopian War began during the Scramble for Africa with Italian forces encroaching into sovereign Ethiopian territory leading to skirmishes and battles that culminated in late February 1896 at The Battle of Adwa. The poorly equipped Ethiopians, led by Emperor Menelik II, decisively beat back the military might of Italy.

This legacy of defeat haunted Italy’s fascist leader Benito Mussolini’s sense of nationalistic jingoism and in 1935 he began an offensive to seize Italy’s “rightful place under the sun.” What he didn’t consider was Ethiopia’s long rainy season.

What is not widely known is the history of struggle that engulfed Ethiopia, the short but lasting impact of the Italian occupation from 1935-1941 and Ethiopia’s triumphant return to independence.

If Only I Were That Warrior, winner of the Premio ‘Imperdibili’ at the 2015 Festival dei Popoli, is a thoughtful documentary that grapples with these highly contested subjects, including Rodolfo Graziani, the fascist Italian general behind the death of tens of thousands of Ethiopians in the 1930s.

Known as “The Butcher” for his sustained brutality, Graziani famously spoke the words, “The Duce (Mussolini) will have Ethiopia, with or without the Ethiopians.” And he delivered on that proclamation by indiscriminately killing civilians, deploying chemical agents and leading a campaign of mass death in Ethiopia. Graziani never faced international law tribunals for his role in the occupation.

In 2012, the small conservative town of Affile, Italy, where Graziani was from, erected a monument to the fascist war criminal, sparking international protests. The documentary follows this long and complicated history, detailing the protests around the monument with interviews with Ethiopians and Italians in their home countries and in the diaspora. With rare archival footage from the Graziani Archive, the documentary offers a fascinating glimpse into the conflict.

If Only I Were That Warrior marks the feature-length documentary debut of Brooklyn-based filmmaker Valerio Ciriaci. Filmed in Ethiopia, Italy, and the United States, the project follows the stories of three people as they discuss the vestiges of the Italian occupation, a story that traverses generations and cultures.

Check out the trailer below and catch the documentary screening this month in the following locations across the U.S. and Italy.

If Only I Were That Warrior February 2016 Screenings

Feb. 5 2016 / Tivoli, Italy
Scuderie Estensi – 5pm
Sponsored by Comitato Affile Antifascista, Associazioni Etiopi in Italia, ANPI.

Feb. 11 2016 / New York
Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, New York University – 6pm
Sponsored by Centro Primo Levi NY and Department of Italian Studies NYU. Q+A with director Valerio Ciriaci and producer Isaak Liptzin.

Feb. 20 2016 / Minneapolis / Italian Film Festival
St. Anthony Main Theater – 5pm
Sponsored by The Italian Cultural Center of Minneapolis and St. Paul

Feb. 20 2016 / Philadelphia / Africa World Documentary Film Festival
Molefi Kete Asante Institute – 5pm
Q+A with director Valerio Ciriaci and producer Isaak Liptzin.

Feb. 21 2016 / Washington DC
TBD – 2pm
Sponsored by The Global Alliance for Justice – The Ethiopian Cause. Q+A with director Valerio Ciriaci and producer Isaak Liptzin.

Feb. 24 2016 / Cuneo, Italy
Cinema Monviso – 9pm
Sponsored by Pro Natura Cuneo.

Feb. 27 2016 / Missoula / Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
Crystal Theater – 10pm
Q+A with director Valerio Ciriaci and producer Isaak Liptzi                                                      source   http://ecadforum.com/

ሁላችንም ነጻ ካልወጣን ማንም ነጳ ሊሆን አይችልም አንድነት ሀይል ነው።

        ህብረት አንድነት የሰውልጆች  የሚያስቡትንና   የሚያልሙት ሊተግብሩት ያቀዱትን ራዕይ ወደተግባር የሚለውጡበት
እና የሚያሳኩበት ትልቅ ሀይለ ቃል ነው በቡዙ ፖለቲከኞች ፀሀፍቶች ሀያሲዎች የፖለቲካ ተንታኞች ሰፋባለ መልኩ ሙሁራዊ
አገላለፅ ሲፅፉ እናነባለን ሲናገሩ እንሰማለን በተለይም ደግሞ በአገራችን የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶች በአንድ ላይ ሊሰሩ ተስማሙ
ወይም ደግሞ በአንድ ላይ ሊሰሩ የጋራ ዕቅድ አወጡ የሚሉ ቃላትን በተለያዩ አጋጣሚዎች እንሰማለን ለምንድነው በቃላት ደርጃ
የሚነገርውን አንድነት ለምን ወደተግባር ተለውጦ ትርጉም ያለው ለህዝብ የሚጠቅም የተግባር ስራ ተሰርቶ የሚታሰበው
የስርዓት ለውጥ ተለውጦ ማየት ያቃተን፧ ምናልባት በኔ እይታ አንድነት ከአንደበታችን የሚወጣ የቃል አጠራር ትርጉም
እንጂ ከውስጥ ከልባችን የሚወጣ የ አንድነት የፍቅር፣የመተሳሰብ ፣የመደማመጥ የተግባር ሂደት አይደለም ።  
 የተለያዩ ጥያቄዎችን በመደማመጥና በመነጋገር ግልፅ በሆነ መልኩ ባለመነጋገር የሀሳብና ያመለካከት ልዩነቶችን
አለማቻቻል ነው ወይም መልካም የሆነውን የበለጠውን ሀሳብ ተቀብሎ ወደጥፋት የሚወስደውን የጋራ የሆነውን ጎጂውን
ሀሳብ ትቶ መልካም የሆነውን የጋራ እሴት ላይ ትኩረት አለመስጠት ነው።                                                                                                                                     
ለዚህ  ጽሁፍ  መንደርደሪያ  ሀሳብ  የሆነኝ  በአብዛኛው  ኢትዮጵያዊ  እንደሚረዳውና  እንደሚገነዘበው  በተለያዩ  የኦሮሞ  ክልል የህዝባዊ  የተቃውሞ  በተለይም  የአዲስ  አበባን  የማስፋፋት  የማስተር  ፕላን  በሚል  ደሀውን  አርሶ  አደሩን  ነዋሪውን  ከመኖሪያው  ቀዬው  የማፈናቀል  የተንኮል  እስትራተጂ   ነው በዚህም  የተነሳ  መብታቸውን  ለማስከበር  በሰላማዊ  መንገድ ትቀዋሟቸውን  ለማሰማት  የወጡትን  ሴት፣  ህፃን፣  አዛውንት ፣ወጣት  ሰይመርጥ  የህወሓት  ወያኔ  አጋዚን  ወታደር  የበርካታ  ህዝብ  ህይወት  በማጥፋት  በምግደል   በማሰር  በመግረፍ  በማሰቃየት  በገዛ  ህዝብ  ላይ  ሊወሰድ  ቀርቶ  ሊታሰብ  የማይገባውን ጨካኝ  እርምጃ  ወስደዋል  የነፃነት  ቀን  ሲመጣ  እያንዳንዱ  ከተጠያቂነት  እንደማያመልጥ  እሙን ነው።

በሌላ  መልኩ  ደግሞ  በተለይም  በኦሮሞ  ቋንቋ  ተናጋሪዎች  ወይም  ተወላጆች  የሚነሳ  ጥያቄ  አለ  እሱም ትግሉን  ሊሎች  አካሎች ወይም  ማህበረሰቦች  አልተቀላቀሉትም  ወይም  አልተባበሩንም  የሚል  ነገር  በተላያይ  ሆኔታዎች  ሲገለፁ  እናስትውላለን

ጥያቄው  እውነታ  ቢኖረውም  የመፍተሄው  ቁልፍ  በኛው  እጅ  ነው  እሱም  ጥያቄውን  ብሔር  ተኮር  ሳይሆን  ትልቋን  ሀገር ኢትዮጵያን  ለብዝዎች  የጥቁር  ህዝቦች  የነፃነት  ቀንዲል  ምሳሌ  የነፃነት  ዓርማ  ምልክት  የሆነቸውን  ሙስሊም  ክርስታያን  ሁሉም በፍቅር  የሚኖርባት  በመፀህፍ  ቅዱስም  በቅዱስ  ቁራአን  ትልቅ  ሰፍራ  የሚሰጣ ት እረፍትና  ሰላም  የሚገኝባትን  የሰላም  እና እንግዳተቀባይ  የሆነችውን  ሀገር  ስም  ኢትዮጵያን  ሰሟን  እየጠራን  ሁሉንም  ማሳተፍና  ማንቀሳቀስ  ስንጀምር  ነው  በተለይም ከቀድሞ  አመለካከታችን  ሙሉ  በሙሉ  ተቀይረን  ወያኔ  ፪፭ አመት  ሲደክምበት  ሲሰራበት  የነበረውን  ብቱቶ  የሆነውን  የዘር ፖለቲካ  ከውስጣችን  ማስወገድ  አለብን  ያኔ  ለሁላችንም  የምትሆን  ምቹ  ሀገር  ዲሞክራሲያዊ  ስርዓት  መገንባት  እንችላለን  ያኔ ትግሉ  የሁሉም  ኢትዮጵያዊ  ይሆናል  ስለዚህም  ነው  አንድነት  ሀይል  ነው  የምንለው  ከቃል  የዘለለ  የተግባር  የሚሆነው።                                                                                                                                                                  ሌላው  በተለይም  ለአንባገነኖች  መንግስታት  ትልቅ  ትምህርት  ሰጥቶ   ያለፈው  በቱኒዚያ  በአንድ  ሰው   መሰዋትነት    የተቀጣጠለው።  የአርብ  እስፕሪግ  አድማሱን  አስፍቶ  የስሜን  አፍሪካ  ሀገሮችን  ግብፅን  ሙባርክን  ሊቢያ  ጋዳፊን  ለውርደት  ሲዳረጉ በአይናችን አይተናል  ወያኔና  ለህዝብ  ሳይሆን  ለሆዳቹ  ያደራቹ  ማናቹሁም  የስርዓቱ  ዳጋፊዎች  አስተሳሰብ  ቢኖራቹህ   ከነሱ  ብዙ  መማር ትችሉ  ነበር  ግን  የምታስቡት  ለሀገር  ለወገን  ሳይሆን  ለሆዳቹሁ  ነው   ወደ  ግብፅ  ስንመጣ  ህዝቡ  ለለውጥ  ሲነሳ  ምናልባት ምናስታውስ  ከሆን  የወታደራዊ  ሀይሉ  ከህዝቡ  ጋር  ወግኖ  የግዛ  ህዝቤን  አልገልም  ብሎ  ከህዝቡ  ጋር  ነው  የወገነው  ይህነው ለህዝብ  የቆመ  መለዮ  ለባሽ  የሚያስበለው  በተጨማሪም  በተለይ  በተሀሪር  እስኬር  በተደጋጋሚ  በማደር  ነፃነታችንን  ካለገኘን በማለት  በአንድነት  ለአንድ  ዓላማ  በመቆም  የአንባገነን  ስርዓት  ገርስሰው  ያሶገዱት  የወያኔ  መከላከያም ሆነ  የፖሊስ  ሀይል በማንኛዉም  ዘርፍ ያለው  የወታደር  ሀይል።

የህዝብ  ደህንነትም  ነገ የታሪክ  ተወቃሽ  ሰትሆኑ  የህዝብ  አጋርነታችሁን  የምታሳዩበት  ወቅት  አሁን  ነው ።

                                         

ድል ለሰፊው የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ።                    

Corporate Council on Africa or Corruption Council for African authoritarian regimes?

The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) “Inaugural Meeting of theEthiopia Working Group presented by  Girma Birru, Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Stephen Hayes President and CEO of The Corporate Council on Africa on Thursday, January 21, 20162:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. at the CCA HQ Washington, DC”, according to CCA.   Unnoticed by the concerned Medias and the public it went on like many others before.

 

The meeting with unidentified members of the Working Group appears a preparation for CAA’s10th biennial U.S.-Africa Business Summit that is being hosted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from February 1-4, 2016.  Apparently, CCA believe it “ will bring together business representatives and government officials, entrepreneurs and investors, decision-makers and managers, from throughout Africa, the United States and beyond, to talk about what you really need to achieve your goals, forge new partnerships, expand your business and, ultimately, make it a success”.

Moreover, CCA claims; “the objectives of this group that aims to foster trade and investment flows between the United States and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia”.

The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA).that represents most of the major US Corporation involved in Africa got it all wrong. By abandoning the basics of transparency rule of investment and trade from the start; the Council threw the baby with the bath water against the interest of its members and the risks to all concerned as well as the credibility of CCA and the Working Group itself.  Canceling the identity and credential all involved in dealing with totalitarian regimes entangled in all kinds of corruptions and racketeering is misnomer.

The Obama Administration’s misguided policy towards Africa and international agencies’ outlay in the name of development and ‘investment (the new phrase for foreign aid expenditure) and the hasty decisions by the Administration to invite African leaders wholesale in 2014 followed by billions of dollars indiscriminate spending on corrupt regimes aren’t helping CCA to do the right things.

The Council claims it is “a nonprofit, membership-based organization established in 1993 to promote business and investment between the United States and the nations of Africa. CCA is the premier American organization devoted to U.S.-Africa business relations and includes as members more than 180 companies, which represent nearly 85 percent of total U.S. private sector investments in Africa”

Since its inception; CAA invited many African Head of States and officials, ‘experts’ and ‘business leaders’. Ironically, in its 23 years existence it did little to help expand US investment and only conducted four trade missions in half a dozen countries of Africa; all in 2015 for a reason.

Most African regimes are totalitarian and are not interested in investment and trade that doesn’t enhance their corrupt business practice and sustain their grips on power. Therefore, as a membership organization with a primary mission of looking after the economic interest of its member, CCA failed the basic transparency rule to distinguish one-from-another regime in governance and transparency to protect the long-term interest of its members, the private sector in general and legitimate businesses that would enhance the private sectors on both sides of the continents.

Africa, a continent with 54 independent nations represents some of the best governed as well as most of the worst dictatorships in the world. Often lumped together as one entity by the international Media and organizations — little attention is given to appreciate nations that transformed their governance to lead trade and investment with the US.

The past decades saw a new way how business is conducted in Africa led by the Communist Republic of China that presently dominates the African contents’ investment expenditure often doing business directly with many illegitimate totalitarian regimes that don’t qualify to represent their respective people. Unfortunately, the decision of ‘don’t ask-don’t tell’ policy of China on governance, corruption and human right violation became the standard operating procedures for many including the US to follow.

CCA is not immune. “The working group divided in several sectors including Agribusiness, infrastructure, energy, Health, security…” neither reviles the members’ identity, background and credential nor made to disclose their relationship with regimes they directly or indirectly benefit in the course of their work.

For instance,  according to CCA “on May 14, CCA’s Security Working Group hosted Ambassador Hiruy Amanuel, former chief of political affairs for the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and current UN advisor to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development Grouping (IGAD). Ambassador Amanuel led mediation efforts on the South Sudan conflict. The briefing focused on the timeline of the crisis in South Sudan, the key players in the conflict and the efforts of regional and international parties to restore peace in the region.”

How unidentified members of the Security Working Group host a person with close tie with the ruling party of Ethiopia and with no credibility in security matters presented as a former Ethiopian Ambassador to Berlin and as chief of political affairs for the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the current UN advisor to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development Grouping (IGAD) tells the story of how easily the ruling Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) operatives infiltrated the international community and how CCA failed to independently verify the background of its working groups’ members as and the hosts to protect its members’ interests as well as from violating the US and international laws.

CCA lack of transparency to disclose and its lax requirement to qualify who join its working groups and does business with made it possible for the ruling party’s operatives disguised as government officials, businessmen, civic organization operators and ‘experts’ of one-thing-or-another concealing their true identities and activities to the determinant of members, legitimate entities and the Council’s creditability itself.

In the past, Western governments, multilateral organizations and Foundations played major role in the economic affairs of African nations — supporting and legitimizing authoritarian regimes as long as one can remember and failed miserably to mitigate poor governance, corruption, human right violation  and lack of investment and trade opportunities that sustained  poverty and underdevelopment for far too long.

The new China economic model — the State knows better managing the economy swept the Less-Develop Nation (LDN)  like wildfire because of the philosophy — transparency in governance and corruption matter little to grow the economy and couldn’t come at a better time to legitimize authoritarian regimes’ justification to cling on power for life. Unfortunately, the Western model led by US with little to show for its investment on totalitarian regimes conceded for the new Chinese model that officially legitimized totalitarian rule.

Noting validates that reality than what the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs – Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on BBC Hard Talk a month before President Barack Obama visited Kenya and Ethiopia last year and legitimize the authoritarian Ethiopian regime as democratically elected.

In stunning admission; the Assistant Secretary Thomas-Greenfield reviled; not only has the US had no coherent economic policy to engage African nations to promote sustainable trade and investment but conceded for the Chines model as better alternative. CCA representing US ‘private sector’ is not far behind– Failing to come up with better alternative how to engage African regimes.

There is no wonder why Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) that represents the core engines of the US private sector presences in Africa couldn’t come up with  coherent and transparent policy how and why its members engage with African regimes. Nor it failure to discloses or demand disclosure (to the determent of its members and the nation as well as the private sector as a whole) dealing with questionable entities associated with authoritarian regimes of Africa to build the necessary confidence for US private investments to flourish.

The question is; if the only organization that engages African regimes on behalf of the US private sector can’t do it, who would demand change on the US policy and/or transparency from the respective African regimes?

As the US private sector remain uninformed spectators what goes on in authoritarian ruled African regimes’ investment environment, responsible institutions like CCA, US government bodies, development agencies and Medias’ failure to do due diligence in order to sort out who-is-who in the business of African nations cost the US private sector many opportunities in favor of others.

As the ongoing CAA’s 10th biennial U.S.-Africa Business Summit happens as we speak in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from February 1-4, Georgetown University Africa Rising: Business in Action Conference hosted by Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business and the Walsh School of Foreign Service’s African Studies Program will follow in Washington, D.C. on the 6th of February 2016, according to organizers.

Africa may be rising and business may be in action. But, what in actuality is rising and in action is corrupt regimes’ racketeering by silencing their respective populations at gun point legitimized by the international community.

Unfortunately, the model regime that mastered corruption and racketeering as investment and trade is the same country CAA’s 10th biennial U.S.-Africa Business Summit is being held as we speak.

The Corporate Council on Africa could have been a pioneer organization on how US companies can be the model of investment and trade in Africa if only it follows the very transparency and rule of law that made its member companies pioneers of their trade. Instead, it became a Forum of dictators and their operatives.

Ethiopians and the international community, including the Medias must and should be present in every African investment and trade venue to challenge the participants; transparent governance and the rule of law comes first before investment and trade take place with totalitarian ruled nations.

Failure to make concerned institutions and individuals involved unaccountable amounts to complicity on crimes against humanity and corruption.                                        source http://ecadforum.com/