Members and leaders of opposition parties as well as protesters were extrajudicially executed. General elections took place in May against a backdrop of restrictions on civil society, the media and the political opposition, including excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrators, the disruption of opposition campaigns, and the harassment of election observers from the opposition. The police and the military conducted mass arrests of protesters, journalists and opposition party members as part of a crackdown on protests in the Oromia region.

BACKGROUND

The ruling political party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, won all the seats in the Federal and Regional Parliaments in the general election.

The opposition Semayawi Party reported that the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) refused to register over half of its proposed candidates for the House of Peoples’ Representatives: of 400 candidates, only 139 were able to stand for election. The opposition Medrek coalition reported that the NEBE only approved 270 of the 303 candidates it had proposed to register.

Famine due to rainfall shortages during the main harvesting season (June to September) affected more than 8 million people in the north and east.

ARBITRARY ARRESTS AND DETENTIONS

Police and security officers arrested Omot Agwa Okwoy, Ashinie Astin Titoyk and Jemal Oumar Hojele at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport on 15 March, on their way to a workshop in Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop was organized by the NGO Bread for All with the support of the NGOs Anywaa Survival Organisation and GRAIN. The police held the three men for 161 days without bail at the Maekelawi detention centre, beyond the four months allowed by the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (ATP), under which they were charged on 7 September.

On 12 May, security officers arrested two campaigners and three supporters of the Semayawi Party who were putting up campaign posters in the capital, Addis Ababa. They were released on bail after four days in detention.

On 19 May, Bekele Gerba and other members of the Oromo Federalist Congress were campaigning in Oromia when police and local security officers beat, arrested and detained them for a couple of hours.

Over 500 members of Medrek were arrested at various polling stations in Oromia region on 24 and 25 May. Security officers beat and injured 46 people during the elections; six people sustained gunshot injuries and two were killed.

EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS

Four members and leaders of opposition parties were killed after the election.
Samuel Aweke, founder of the Semayawi Party, was found dead on 15 June in the city of Debre Markos. A few days before his death he had published an article in his party’s newspaper, Negere Ethiopia, criticizing the behaviour of local authorities, police and other security officials. The Semayawi Party claimed that Samuel Aweke had received threats from security officials after the article was published.

On 16 June, Medrek member Taddesse Abreha was accosted on his way home in the Western Tigrai zone by three unknown people who attempted to strangle him. He died shortly after reaching his home.

Medrek member Berhanu Erbu was found dead on 19 June near a river in the Hadiya zone, 24 hours after he was taken from his home by two police officers.

Asrat Haile, election observer on behalf of Medrek in the Adio Kaka unit, Ginbo Woreda district and Kefa zone, died after being repeatedly beaten by police officials on 5 July.

None of these deaths except Samuel Aweke’s was investigated. The Semayawi Party said the trial, conviction and sentencing of Samuel Aweke’s killer were a “sham”, intended to protect the real culprit.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

In the run-up to the general elections, the government continued to use the ATP to suppress freedom of expression through the continued detention of journalists and protracted trials: it arrested and charged at least 17 journalists under the ATP. Many also fled the country due to intimidation, harassment and politically motivated criminal charges.

Police arrested Habtamu Minale, editor-in-chief of Kedami newspaper and reporter for YeMiliyonoch Dimts newspaper, on 9 July at his house. He was released on 26 July without charge.

The Public Prosecutor dropped the charges against two members of the Zone 9 bloggers’ group. On 16 October, the High Court acquitted five of the Zone 9 bloggers of terrorism charges, after they had spent over 500 days in pre-trial detention.

On 22 October, the High Court convicted and sentenced in his absence Gizaw Taye, Manager of Dadimos Entertainment and Press, to 18 years’ imprisonment for terrorism.

FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY

On 27 January, police used excessive force to disperse a peaceful demonstration in Addis Ababa that was organized by the Unity for Democracy and Justice opposition party. Police beat demonstrators with batons, sticks and iron rods on the head, face, hands and legs, injuring more than 20 of them.

On 22 April, the government called a rally on Meskel Square to condemn the killing in Libya of Ethiopian migrants by affiliates of the armed group Islamic State (IS). When some demonstrators shouted slogans during the rally, police used excessive force, including tear gas and beatings, to disperse the crowd, which escalated the situation to clashes between protesters and police. A journalist reported that 48 people had been injured and admitted to hospital, and that many others sustained minor injuries. Hundreds were reported to have been arrested. Woyneshet Molla, Daniel Tesfaye, Ermias Tsegaye and Betelehem Akalework were arrested on 22 April and charged with inciting violence during the rally. They were convicted and sentenced to two months in prison, and were kept in custody for more than 10 days after the completion of their prison term, although courts had ordered their release. The police released them on bail on 2 July.

 


Mogachoch TV Series on EBS
Genre: Drama
Starring: Genet Nigatu, Yigerem Dejene (Aster), Mekdes Tsegaye, Tigist Girma, Daniel Tegegn, Fikirte Getahun, Abebe Temtim, Yayehyirad Mamo, Tsion Habtamu, Kidest G/Selassie, Selam Ashagrie, Engidasew Habte (Teddy)
Theme music composer: Tadele Feleke
Country: Ethiopia
Language: Amharic
Writer: Wudneh Kifle
Executive producer: Mekdi Production PLC
Producer: Behailu Mamo
Original story: Sister Meseret Degfie
Line Producer: Mekdes Tsegaye
Costume & continuity: Tirsit Nega
Makeup & special effect: Saba Ferdawek
Assistant sound effect: Birhanu Geremew
Assistant camera: Tariku Tilahun
Sound: Amanuel Kindeya
Editor: Meswaet Girma
Assistant editor: Leul Dereje
Director of photography: Abraham Mekonnen
Director: Kibralem Fanta
Production manager: Yonatan Tesfaye
Assistant production manager: Yohannes Tsegaye
Running time: ~28 minutes
Production company: Mekdi Production
Original channel: Ethiopian Broadcasting Service (EBS)

By Reuters

SERIEL, Ethiopia, March 2 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The worst part of Mulugeta Kassaw’s job is not when dangerously thin children arrive at his health centre in drought-stricken northern Ethiopia, often at death’s door.

It is when they recover and must be sent home.

“The mothers are not willing to go because they don’t have anything at home to feed their children,” said the public health officer whose clinic is in the Amhara region.

“It’s heartbreaking … We try to convince them by telling them there are other children who need treatment here.”

Following two failed rains, the number of children Kassaw admitted for severe acute malnutrition with complications — such as being unable to eat or suffering dehydration — more than quadrupled to 25 in January compared with December.

Africa’s second most populous nation of 95 million people is in the grip of its worst drought in 50 years.

The government and the United Nations have asked for $1.4 billion to feed 10.2 million Ethiopians — the third largest appeal globally after Syria and Yemen.

Yet funding shortages mean food aid is in short supply and malnutrition will increase dramatically if donor money runs out in May, the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) said.

At Kassaw’s health centre, mothers sit quietly on blanket-covered mattresses on floor, some cradling their babies, with a few plastic mugs and bowls arranged neatly by each bed.

Signs on the wall indicate if the babies are in phase one — requiring antibiotics and milk formula fortified with protein, vitamins and minerals — or had progressed to phase two, well enough to eat Plumpy’nut, a high-energy peanut-based paste.

Debre Mekuria came to the centre five days ago, troubled by the weakened condition of her eight-month-old baby Tamin.

Despite the emergency food rations her family receives, and a loan taken out to buy maize, it was not enough. “I don’t have enough to feed them well,” the 30-year-old mother of four said.

MALNUTRITION FEARS

Funding and logistical problems present some of the biggest obstacles to dealing with Ethiopia’s emergency.

The bulk of grain and cooking oil rations are provided by the Ethiopian government, which is also transporting water by truck and donkey to those in need.

WFP says unless there is additional funding, 7.6 million people will be deprived of food aid from May and moderately malnourished children will go without the supplements they need.

“We know it’s a very precipitous decline into severe acute malnutrition in these areas once the food runs out and that’s why we are so concerned,” John Aylieff, WFP’s Ethiopia country director, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview.

“If the food runs out in May and June … it (malnutrition) is going to be off the scale.”

Aylieff speaks from experience. A record 43,000 children were admitted with severe acute malnutrition in August because supplies of food aid failed to keep pace with escalating needs.
The government and agencies predicted in December that 2.2 million under-fives and pregnant and nursing mothers would become moderately acutely malnourished in 2016.

They also predicted that 435,000 children would become severely malnourished this year.
But these numbers could now rise dramatically because of funding shortages. And there are questions over how much capacity there is to respond in such a large country with poor infrastructure.

Food is imported through neighbouring Djibouti, where ships usually wait several days for a berth. It is then driven thousands of kilometres (miles), often through winding mountain roads, to reach the people who need it.

“LAST RESORT”

Mothers and health workers in dusty villages nestled among the highlands of Amhara’s Wag Himra zone told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that many families do not receive enough food aid to last until the next distribution.

“I have a family of four but I only get a ration for two,” said Hana Mekonnen, 30, whose one-year-old son was diagnosed with moderate acute malnutrition in October.

She gives her baby fortified porridge, provided by aid agencies, three times a day. The rest of the family always eat injera, a sourdough flatbread that is Ethiopia’s staple food, with red pepper instead of stew.

Health worker Firehiwot Zeru, who lives in the neighbouring house, separated by a dry stone wall, said there is no milk because emaciated cows and goats have stopped producing, while villagers trade eggs for wheat because it fills more stomachs.

Increasing number of children are falling sick with malnutrition, diarrhoea and eye infections, Firehiwot said.

Scabies, a contagious rash caused by mites that burrow into the skin, is also becoming common as people are unable to wash their bodies or clothes.

The Ethiopian government says it will find the money to feed its people if donors do not respond in time.

“It is the last resort if the situation becomes worse,” said Mikitu Kassa, head of Ethiopia’s National Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Committee.

It has already spent $380 million on the emergency response since July and has set aside another 6 billion birr ($283 million) for 2016, he said.

“We all hope like crazy that the Ethiopian government can fill the gap but that’s a big worry,” said John Graham, Save the Children’s country director.

By Mike A.

Ethiopia today is at the apex of dangerous political activities. This translates as; Ethiopia is a fragile state on the brink of perpetual violence and ultimate disintegration. The role of Egypt and Sudan in supporting secessionist movements especially those of Islamic origin is not new and should not be discounted now or in the future. Therefore, the extent of Egypt and Sudan’s involvement in the current #Oromoprotests is unknown but one that needs scrutiny. Egypt and Sudan have always been adamant on destabilizing Ethiopia for many obvious reasons, and there is no sign that such a stance will cease to exist in principle or practical terms anytime soon.Oromoprotests: Its Exclusive Nature

 As A Push Factor

I acknowledge the fact that Oromos and other groups in Ethiopia have a history of oppression. But, the ideologies of OLF and other radical groups are an active and present threat to Ethiopia and her unity. As much as I want to be an avid supporter of #oromoprotests, I remain very skeptical of its nature and goal. This, however, does not mean I do not condemn the brutal killings of innocent school children and peaceful protesters. This in no interpretation should mean that I am siding with the ethno fascists leading Ethiopia today.

The framework of the current #oromoprotests is conducive for radical secessionist activists like Jawar Mohammad, who, if capable would like to create an Oromo, Islamic-dominated state. Though I do not see Jawar as a competent political leader, he still possesses a significant power through his media network (OMN) that cannot be disregarded in this era.

I think we should not lie to ourselves. There is something in #Oromoprotests that bothers us all. That is precisely why many Ethiopian scholars are urging the Amhara to join. This pressure on the Amhara, though it unquestionably is intended to broaden the scope of the resistance, it is also a desperate reach to give it an “Ethiopian” form inclusive of all groups in Ethiopia. There should be no blame put on the Amhara for not joining #Oromoprotests because the uprising carries an “Oromo only” image with no mention of Ethiopia at any point in the protests.

If the aforementioned scenario was the case of other minorities in Ethiopia, I will guarantee you that political elites will condemn it as an uprising with no Ethiopian spirit. However, as it pertains to the Oromos, we are scared. The tendency to babysit radical Oromos who wish to secede should cease. I can confidently say, as an Oromo that majority of Oromos are not in par with OLF ideology.

For the sake of overthrowing a brutal regime such as TPLF, I would not believe that any Ethiopian would risk Ethiopia’s unity, especially because the main argument against TPLF is its compromise on that precise sacred principle. The subconscious contradicting views of those who oppose TPLF, support #Oromoprotests, and shed blood for Ethiopia’s unity is shared overwhelmingly amongst ordinary Ethiopians and elites.

Does #oromoprotests reflect the foundation of future Ethiopia? According to jawar, the self-proclaimed owner of #Oromoprotests, the current Oromo uprising is one that carries the motto “Oromos for Oromia” and “Oromia for Oromos.” Are we willing to shed blood to overthrow TPLF only to replace it with such a narrow identity politics? If not, why would anyone opposed to such narrow identity politics work with radicals such are Jawar and his fame-seeking clan?

I strongly advocate for the consolidation of opposition parties. I believe that it is the only way that TPLF will weaken and the Ethiopia populist can be mobilized. However, I am also opposed to quantity over quality. It is imperative that the Ethiopian populist and majority-supported elites delegitimize regressive political forces and replace them with progressive forces willing to reconcile historical grievances in the framework of a united Ethiopia with an impartial democratic framework. Consolidating with radical forces with semi-hidden agendas in building a transparent Ethiopia will leave a red stain on a white cloth. That is why I believe that it is important, to vet out such forces early on before they become that stain on a democratic Ethiopia.

If the atmosphere of #oromoprotests continues to be exclusively conducive for an Oromo uprising only with no CLEAR IDEOLOGY, how do Ethiopian political leaders expect the Amhara to join? My analysis on #Oromoprotests suggests that it is an ambiguous uprising, which on the surface has a hint of secessionist spirit fueled by a seemingly mono-ethnic question. I want to pose several question to all those who do not negotiate on Ethiopia’s unity.

1. Why is it odd for Oromos to pay blood for the sake of the rest of Ethiopia?
2. What ideologies does #Oromoprotests advocate for that will entice other Ethiopians?
3. Are there elements within #oromoprotests willing to compromise Ethiopia’s integrity?
4. Who are the “leaders” of #Oromoprotests and what are their views and backgrounds?

These are all questions that need to be clearly defined. The rest of the Ethiopian population, mainly the majority ethnic-Ethiopians will not join #Oromoprotests unless the uprising itself makes it conducive for other groups to join in solidarity with a common aim. The deterrent factor in #Oromoprotests is not that it is fed up with TPLF/EPRDF rule but its embedded ideology of  “Oromos for Oromia” and “Oromia for Oromos.” So long as #Oromoprotests does not formally make it an uprising of interest for all of Ethiopia (within a united Ethiopia), It would be wishful thinking to expect this uprising to take a national form.

By ESAT

Amid a growing protest against the iron fist government in Ethiopia, daily commutes in the city of Addis Ababa came to a screeching halt on Monday, on the first day of a strike called by drivers and owners of taxis serving the city of 4 million and its environs.Taxi strike in Ethiopia’s capital
A committee representing tens of thousands of taxis that serve the city called the strike in protest against a new punitive regulation that would suspend drivers for a long period of time for minor traffic offences; and against the skyrocketing gas prices in the country that do not reflect the falling prices in the world market.

The government announced that the new regulation has been suspended for three months but the drivers wouldn’t buy that. The statement by the drivers demand the government to scrap the regulation altogether and make adjustments on gas prices. The drivers say their strike would continue till their demands are met. They have also warned that they would block roads with their vehicles if the regime’s forces do not stop harassing drivers taking part in the strike.

The latest strikes by taxi drivers is one among a growing opposition by Ethiopians against an oppressive minority government that’s facing resistance from all corners of the country.

Regime’s forces on Monday reportedly detained several students who were showing their solidarity with the taxi drivers. The students were staging a protest in the sub divisions of the city called Ayer Tena and Awtobis Tera. Their whereabouts is not yet known.

The hashtag ‪#‎AddisTaxiStrike‬ was trending on Monday in the Ethiopian twitter world with some calling for a nationwide strike by teachers and government employees.

Taxi strike has historical significance in Ethiopia. A strike by taxi drivers in 1974 helped fuel the revolution that toppled the monarchy.

 

As a result of the popular unrest engulfed the Oromia kilil, it appears an interesting debate resurfaced among Ethiopian intellectuals of late. The long held consensus among the mainstream intellectuals that TPLF instituted ethnic based politics disintegrates the country, deprives the citizens to exercise individual freedom, restricts citizens movements to enclosed ethnic enclave, and encourages ethnic discrimination is challenged.  

By Dubale Tariku

What makes the current debate interesting is that it didn’t come from the usual quarter of ill wishers of Ethiopia.  It came from good wishing intellectuals, notably Dr. Messay Kebede and Dr. Minga Negash (Unity Overrides Everything! – Messay Kebede, Understanding the current protests in Ethiopia: A rejoinder – Minga Negash).  In their articles the two advocated to consider ethnic based resistance as means of democratizing Ethiopia.  We now found ourselves back to square one, the ways and means to create a just and fair society in Ethiopia have not drawn consensus among intellectuals.OLF (Oromo Liberation Front) PRESS RELEASE

Dr. Messay argued that ethnicity is already institutionalized in the last twenty-five years and will be difficult to go back to the ‘liberal’ type democratic systems. While, Dr. Minga argued that ethnic parties can serve as one of the civic-like institutions for safe guarding democracy as in liberal democracy civic institutions. Neither of them explained in any detail what mechanism will be implemented to shape the state of Ethiopia, if the country decided to institutionalize ethnic based administration. Without a suggested mechanism to democratically implement the recommendation, peaceful coexistence can only be assumed not assured.  Drs Messay and Minga grossly underestimated the transformative power of democratic process.  Both have ignored the fact that the current structural systems is a consequence of dictatorship not a process of democratization.  They also ignored the fact that the Ethiopians struggle is not limited to removing TPLF but also includes removing the destructive institutions TPLF created to subvert democracy.

Ethiopia is a country with over 80 ethnic groups in varying population sizes and geographic settlements. To create the current ethnic administrative kilil, it has taken the brutal dictatorship of TPLF that would not have been created in democratic process. Without their consents, some ethnic groups have been lumped together and others have been split. To make the matter worst, resources have been unfairly divided among the killils.  When ethnic killil have been created, a time bomb has been planted.  By embracing the process that planted the time bomb and keeping the ethnic administrative structure that keeps the time bomb ticking will even more threatens the existence of Ethiopia.

Modern democracy has been around for long time. We should not be confused what democracy is and what it is not. Similarly, we know what democratic countries have accomplished and could accomplish. For properly functioning democracy, free civil institutions, the rule of law and democratic government are essential ingredients.  All these institutions are grounded on individual rights.  A step out of these principles, a democratic system simply ceases to exist and function. What Drs Messay and Minga offered Ethiopians for choices are false choices among dictatorships of one ethnic group over the other, not a true choice between democracy and dictatorship.  Choosing among various dictatorships is far from reaching peaceful coexistence among ethnic groups.

For the very few who have access to the Internet, it is easy to notice that the Ethiopian social media has been manipulated by the few who mastered to exaggerate and deceive segment of population with less information supply.  The few fanatics who dominated the social media solicited public support with multi-tiered of falsehood and coordinated deceit.  Even the learned citizens are victims of misinformation.  To counter this misinformation, the public has to liberate itself from manipulation and perversion.  The capacity of various independent media outlets for collecting information from the ground is yet to be developed. The mobilization of ethnicity for taking social and political action has been effective among few ethnic groups.  By any imagination, these few incidences should not have president to turn the struggle to democratize Ethiopia to different direction.

From the experience of other countries who established long term peace, the lessons to learn is that the long process of educating and rousing the public to the truth will provide the people knowledge of the true liberty and expose the myths and illusions spread by ethnic demagogues. Ethiopians should not forget, for a moment, the timelessness of liberal democracy and espouse to create institutions that protect the rights of all citizens and make them available for future generations of Ethiopia.  At this critical period, what Ethiopians need is far-sighted leaders who will deliver the country from TPLF evil hands.

e-mail: ethio_nation@yahoo.com

By Melaku G Woldeselassie CPA

I heard Professor Mesfin Woldemariam once say, “We hate oppressors but not oppression”. It was not a questionable generalization like that of our athlete, Haile Gebreselassie who surprised the whole world with his 2/11/16 comment on BBC, “As an African citizen Democracy is a Luxury thing…for us the most important thing is a good governor”. While I am unware of any confluence between athletics and politics or how Haile envisioned good governance without democracy/accountability, Professor Mesfin’s expression, though, was a satire on hypocrisy of our politicians who promise anything when they are ‘the oppressed’, but turn their back on the people once they have political power.

Although we may be hopeful that today’s opposition would not turn in to tomorrow’s oppressor, we need to reckon that no matter what, our hope will be wishful thinking if we don’t realize that ethnic political parties are an exception. The reckoning is, we don’t need time to speak with confidence that no opposition, that is an ethnic party, is capable of delivering democracy and equal opportunity to all Ethiopians. Ethnic political parties stand for the interest of one ethnic group at the expense of other ethnicities. Ethnic parties are reincarnations of those who hate other oppressors but love oppression of their own making. This is to argue that, if our dream is for a stable democratic political climate that is free from oppression and ethnic polarization of Ethiopians, it is high time that there is a consensus to do away with ethnic parties, phasing out their existence in favor of non ethnic parties that recognize our unity in diversity.

Ethnic parties are those which stand for one or more ethnic group at the exclusion of other(s), based on differences that emanate from the act of God. There are no universal criteria in defining what makes an ethnic group. In India for example, ethnic identity and ethnic politics is primarily about Sub cast, Cast and Religion in the order of their importance in Indian politics. The Casts from top to bottom are Priests, Warriors, Farmers & Traders, and laborers. India has 29 states and 7 union territories. A sub cast, Cast or Religion one finds in a state is also found in all other states in India. There is a sense of brotherhood among the three ethnic elements that exist all over India. Hence ethnic politics is not as divisive or as polarizing on State boundary lines as it is in Ethiopia, where ethnicity is only dependent on languages that have a demarcated administrative boundaries called Regional States.

In India Cast and Sub cast may indirectly reflect the economic or social status of an ethnic group, and as a result, Indian ethnic parties may be seen to some degree as class based. When one says my father is a Goldsmith, it is sufficient clue for a fellow Indian to determine the respective cast of that individual, and so is, if one says he/she is a Blacksmith, a Goldsmith, a Carpenter, a Trader, a Farmer, a Landowner, a Laborer, and a Priest etc. The other facet we see in India, countering polarization on state boundary lines, is the existence of interstate multi ethnic parties which I believe are, in a relative sense, better than the most divisive single ethnic parties. It is a no brainer to imagine what it would be like if we had Oromo-Amhara Party, Tigray-Amhara Party, and Somali-Afar Party etc. Above all, the 42nd amendment of Indian Constitution equates cessation with anti-national activity, making it illegal.

According to the web listing of National Election Board of Ethiopia, there are 77 political parties that are actively participating in election. Per my own analysis, there are 23 National parties, 3 Regional parties (multi ethnic but all in SNNPR) and 51 single ethnic parties. Political theory dictates that some of the 23 National parties could in fact be ethnic parties. Because, although a party has a name that has no reference to any ethnic group, it may still in essence be an ethnic party if, either its message is directed towards favoring a particular ethnicity or its political platform targets a particular ethnic group as its support base.  Also, considering the level of determination of the 51 ethnic parties in defending ethno politics in Ethiopia, it may be logical to classify them in to four categories. Category A are the Pioneers of the present ethnic system and Category B are the Followers, which followed only after the politico ethnic course was set by the Pioneers. This is remindful of the Ethiopian saying on a Dog’s behavior to copycat a Hyena. In category C are Opportunists, which are least concerned about ethnic issues, but pretend with the hope of scavenging whatever comes their way. Category D are the Pragmatic ethnic parties of quick or realist Ethiopians like Professor Asrat Woldeyes (who opposed the Charter), Professor Merara Gudina (ex AESM) and Ato Asegede Gebreselassie (ex TPLF). I know that we can debate about the three personalities until the cows come home, but it is my opinion.

In an environment where there is no democratic space for voicing concerns including rights of ethnic in nature, it may be natural for members of a particular ethnic group to join hands and fight for their common cause, to ensure that their question is addressed properly. Hence, we should not ridicule ethnic political organizations, asserting why they come in to existence in the first place. In a political climate where people cannot express their desire by show of hands or through a secret ballot, forming ethnic parties and resorting even to an armed struggle, is a reality no one can avoid. The question is, should ethnic parties have permanent existence? And here comes the need for categorical analysis of the parties which helps to determine the root cause of their genesis as well as the specific ethnic parties that would present the most challenge or resistance to the de-ethinization of Ethiopian political frame. The category will help in engaging ethnic parties commensurate with their classification.

What is the ethnic question in Ethiopia? The present constitution places greater significance to ethnic questions. The preamble of the constitution reads “respect of individual and people’s of fundamental freedoms and rights, to live together on the basis of equality and without any sexual, religious or cultural discrimination”. What are then people’s rights?  The best thing I have come about, as answers to the question are the various references to certain terms in the constitution that indirectly hint how the ethnic question is understood by the ethnic parties that played a pioneering role, in the design, as a solution to the ethnic question. The articles are: Art 5 Languages; Art 25 Discrimination on basis of Nation, nationality; Art 31 Freedom of Association ;Art 32 Sec 1-5 Freedom of Movement ;Art 39 Right of Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples; Art 41 Sec 9 Economic ,Social and Cultural Rights; Art  46 State of the Federation ;Art 47 Member States of the Federal Democratic Republic; Art 48 State Boarder Changes ;Art 49 Capital City ;Art 50 Structure of the Organs of State; Art 51 Powers and Functions of the Federal Government ;Art 52 Powers and Functions of States ;Art 61 Members of the House of the Federation; Art 62 Powers and Functions of the House of the Federation ;Art 87 Principles of National Defense ;Art 88 Political Objectives, and Art 91 Cultural Objectives.

Per my understanding of the constitution, it could have placed Ethiopians in a much better position had Section 1 of Article 39 not included the phrase, ‘including the right to secession’. See, semantics aside, if the section was, Every Nation, Nationality and People in Ethiopia has an unconditional right to self-administration, it would be reconciliatory to most political groups. The problem comes with the ‘including the right to secession’ phrase that is seen at the end of the sentence, and which is unfathomable to most Ethiopians. It is this critical phrase which polarized the whole political climate of Ethiopia throwing us back for at least two thousand years into the past. This is the phrase in the constitution that has caused lots of mistrust, division and polarization amongst Ethiopians, and a further strategic problem in the design and practice of democracy in Ethiopia. Most Ethiopians even consider referring to ‘the Ethiopian constitution’ as a taboo, let alone demanding its full implementation since it could also mean the disintegration of the country in to Ethnic Nations.

The phrase “…including the right to secession” is the nexus between the constitution and the ethnic political parties in Ethiopia. Secession demands prevalence of a vanguard ethnic party(s) that take(s) ownership and leadership of the constitutional process, when the ethnic party(s) decide(s) to secede the region from Ethiopia. Hence it would be senseless to talk about abolition of ethnic political parties without the simultaneous amendment of the constitution removing the phrase, ‘including the right to secession’. Sec I Art 39 and Ethnic Political parties are two sides of the same coin. We cannot deal with one without dealing with the other. Without the secession clause in the Article, ethnic political parties become superfluous and of little relevance or significance.

Art 25 of Ethiopian constitution prohibits Discrimination on basis of Nation and nationality. However paradoxically, there are ethnic political parties which by definition favor one ethnic group from another(s). Speaking of discrimination, there can be no group or organization that could institutionalize or implement discrimination of the highest magnitude, with perfection, than ethnic political parties. This reminds me of an Iranian proverb “a camel does not drink with a spoon”. In terms of scale and magnitude, the only thing that comes close to discrimination by ethnic parties would be if there were religious political parties. For an ethnic party to be free from discrimination on the basis of ethnic identity, is like a camel walking through an eye of a needle.

In a country like Ethiopia, discrimination is manifested through appointments in public offices, government positions, land resource allocation, access to banking and finance, tax and tariff, government contracts, general business opportunity, due process of law, hires, promotions, access to public officials etc. It occurs both at the Federal and Regional levels. The discrimination and favoritism in opportunities creates hostility, mistrust, and division among Ethiopians. In addition to the day to day reality of inequality in opportunity, the ethnic parties and the various institutions including schools continually and actively disseminate divisive propaganda/education/practice undermining Ethiopian Nationalism or at times, openly declaring one or more ethnic groups as enemy(s). The people of Ethiopia are divided amongst fifty one ethnic political parties not to mention the sixteen national parties, weakening the voice of the people, and thereby creating a fertile ground for manipulation and dictatorship. The mistrust, division and hostility that we see in our day to day lives amongst Ethiopians is not spontaneous and it is by design, the engines being the ethnic parties.

When it is an established fact that ethnic parties are discriminatory, what is the meaning of one ethnic party opposing another ethnic party just because the ‘another’ is a ruling ethnic party? Unless the opposition ethnic party accepts only to be a temporary vehicle in creating a democratic climate where open debate & secret ballot would be the norm, unless the opposition ethnic party is committed to phase itself away upon fulfillment of conditions leaving the day to day politics to non-ethnic parties, if the goal of the ethnic party is a mere change of one ethnic party by another, it is equivalent to crying ‘my discrimination and oppression would be better than yours’. The most logical end game of any struggle by ethnic parties should be to bring about a constitutional solution to the problem, permanently settling ethnic questions legally, so that ethnic issues do not become a day to day contention or play toy of ethnic parties that thrive by indefinitely lingering division, sectarianism, exclusion, discrimination, favoritism, animosity and instability.

There needs to be a considerable effort to create awareness and consensus among ethnic parties on the danger they pose on the peaceful coexistence of ethnicities in Ethiopia. The dire socio economic realities of Ethiopia and the need for political stability in fighting poverty, inequality and continuing ethnic conflicts demand a sacrifice by ethnic parties, paving way for non-ethnic parties that uphold democracy based on respect for individual rights. It is of paramount importance that ethnic parties come to their senses, and put a limit/deadline on their time table with a clear commitment to phase out their existence, on the fulfillment of a clearly defined and measurable criteria. Preference for one ethnic party over another will only mean substituting one oppressor by another, and that way we are doomed to division, hostility, disintegration, civil war, ethnic cleansing and everlasting poverty.

At this point, I am urged to share the following Statement of Objects and Reasons in the 42nd amendment of the Indian Constitution that sent a clear and resonating message about why outlaw cessation in India declaring it to be anti-national and hence illegal.

“A Constitution to be living must be growing. If the Impediments to the growth of the Constitution are not removed, the Constitution will suffer a virtual atrophy. The question of amending the Constitution for removing the difficulties which have arisen in achieving the objective of socio-economic revolution, which would end poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity, has been engaging the active attention of Government and Public for some Years Now…”

In conclusion, the common DNA of ethnic parties in Ethiopia is a strong belief for their constituency’s right to self-administration with local languages as medium of communication. Ethiopianism that is based on unity in diversity is able to accommodate that. Enforcement of the right to self administration, once instituted democratically, is not any different from enforcement of other bills of legislatures, and hence it does not require an ethnic political party as its baby sitter. The most delicate matter is striking a correct balance between Ethiopian Nationalism and ethnic identity.  Ethiopian Nationalism should be at the core of our institutions since our history, interethnic relationships developed over thousands of years, the geopolitics, economics and common sense demand just that. Past this point, the day to day political affair at Federal, Regional or Local level should be left to non-ethnic parties which at least, would be free from ethnic prejudice, bigotry, discrimination and oppression, based on differences that emanate from the act of God i.e. ethnicity.  Ethnic parties need to perform a kind of soul searching and reconcile with the fact that hate for oppressors is not good enough. By definition, ethnic parties are meant to exclude others, and switching between ethnic parties would only put us in a vicious cycle of Exclusions & Oppressions.  This leads us to the only conclusion that upon satisfaction of specific conditions, we need to dissolve ethnic parties. In a true democracy ethnicity will be impertinent since people gather around ideologies and public policies that maximize their needs for Democracy, Justice, Security, Education, Food, Clean drinking water, Irrigation, Health services, Jobs, Electricity, Transportation, etc. These are universal to all ethnicities in Ethiopia. This is what political parties in Ethiopia should be about, and then we will be in communion with the 21st century.

Melaku G Woldeselassie CPA

Atlanta, Georgia, email Melakug1@hotmail.com

The public meeting held in Gondar, Landmark Hotel discussed the case of Welkaite Tegede and Telemt people identity. “Amharic language is not allowed in Welkaite Tegede” resident from Welkaite.

By Newsweek

Two journalists and a translator were arbitrarily detained for 24 hours on Thursday when reporting on the protests in Oromia, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of East Africa (FCAEA) on Monday. Bloomberg correspondent William Davison and freelance journalist Jacey Fortin, along with their translator, were not given any reason for their detention. Their phones and identification cards were taken during the arrest.

Protests among the Oromos, who constitute Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, have been ongoing since November 2015 and were originally directed against plans by the federal government to expand the capital Addis Ababa. At least 140 protesters were killed between November 2015 and January, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). The Addis expansion plans were dropped in January but the protests—which have morphed into a general expression of dissatisfaction with the government among Oromos—have continued and demonstrators are still being subjected to “lethal force,” HRW said on February 22. The Ethiopian government has said that “destructive forces” —including some from neighboring Eritrea—have hijacked the protests and would be dealt with decisively.

Try Newsweek for only $1.25 per week

Davison told Newsweek that the risks of reporting on certain topics in Ethiopia is too high because of the threat of detainment. “It was a shock to be held overnight in a prison cell and not be given any explanation of what we were being held for,” says Davison. The “very heavy and militarized response” to the Oromo protests “raises the chance that reporters are going to be obstructed from doing their work,” he says.

The FCAEA said that the detentions marked “a worrying escalation” in Ethiopia, which already has a poor record for allowing journalists to operate freely. Ethiopia was ranked 142nd out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom in 2015 by non-profit organization Reporters Without Borders, which recorded six newspapers closing and more than 30 cases of journalists fleeing abroad in 2014. “Ethiopia is well-known for its tough stance on journalists but this is a worrying spike of arbitrary detention of media workers at a time of increased interest in Ethiopia,” says Ilya Gridneff, chairman of FCAEA. “Journalism is not a crime and those in Ethiopia should not be treated as criminals.”

Abiy Berhane, spokesperson for the Ethiopian Embassy in London, told Newsweek that the Ethiopian constitution guarantees freedom of the press but that journalists are expected to comply with the terms of their accreditation. Berhane says that Davison and Fortin were "engaging in activities which violated the terms of their [press] accreditation" in the town of Awash in central Ethiopia and were subsequently asked to return to the capital. Berhane also says that the translator was in fact "someone affiliated to opposition groups that are working tirelessy to foment trouble and incite violence."

Coupled with the Oromo protests, Ethiopia is currently experiencing its worst drought in around 50 years, partly due to the El Nino weather pattern. Up to 15 million people in the country require emergency humanitarian food assistance. The United Nations and Ethiopia are appealing for $1.4 billion to feed more than 10 million Ethiopians, making the crisis the third-largest global humanitarian appeal after Syria and Yemen.

By Al Mariam

In America, they call it “Three-Strikes Law”. Criminals who commit three violent or serious crimes are given 25 years to life.
The T-TPLF has declared war on Ethiopian taxi drivers!

In Ethiopia, the T-TPLF (Thugtatorship of the Tigrean Peoples Liberation Front) is implementing (allegedly suspended for 3 months) what is the economic equivalent of three-strikes-and-you-are-out-of-the-taxi-business law on the country’s struggling and hand-to-mouth-surviving taxi drivers. Taxi drivers who accumulate 20 or more points for traffic infractions are permanently banned from ever driving taxis.

According to the online Addis Standard, the T-TPLF’s “new Traffic Control Regulation has six categories that begin from deducting two points for light traffic law offenses such as improper parking and commuting extra passengers beyond the carrying capacity of the taxis. The Regulation stipulates a six month suspension of driving licenses and additional driving lessons for drivers who lost 14 -16 points due to previous offenses. A driver who has 17 -19 points deducted from his/her records will get his/her driving license suspended for a year; and any driver who gets 20 and above points deducted will have his/her driving license permanently revoked and can only re-apply for a fresh driving lessons after a gap of two years.”

The T-TPLF announced implementation of its “new traffic control regulation” by telling some 500 plus taxi drivers that they will follow the “new law” or else!

The “or else” was made clear by a T-TPLF lackey named Asefa Mezgebu who told a gathering of taxi drivers that the T-TPLF is going to shove the “new law” down their throats whether they like it or not. Straight up! He made no apologies about it.

Mezgebu’s declaration of war on the taxi drivers became an instant flashpoint. The taxi drivers were enraged. They went on strike on February 22. The city’s transportation was completely paralyzed. Addis Ababans were hoofing it everywhere. The T-TPLF announced the “new law” is suspended for 90 days. The following day the taxi drivers returned to work.

According to one report, Addis Ababa has “7,500 blue and white painted minibus taxis, 800 operational buses managed by the T-TPLF-owned Anbessa City Bus Service Enterprise, 500 Higer midi buses, 25 privately owned Alliance Transport S.C. buses, supported by 4,000 white minibuses and 400 cross-country buses.”

An outraged taxi driver in an interview explained:

The reason for the strike is number one, even though the immediate reason is the new traffic law, on repeated occasions taxi drivers have been victims of legally erroneous official actions [abuse of power]. That’s why the society came out to support our strike. The society knows there is a serious problem in the country. There is a justice deficit. There is a problem of good governance. Today any TPLF member can do as he wishes; he can arrest and jail a taxi driver. He can order him [taxi driver] any way he wants. This is [strike] a movement in which taxi drivers are trying to assert their rights. The TPLF and EPRDF (the front organization used by the TPLF to hide its true identity) have tried to foil the strike by threatening taxi drivers. [In the new law] one offense could fetch 7 points and if a driver has 20 points, he is completely out of a livelihood. They [T-TPLF] have tried to intimidate them by threatening to take away their driver’s licenses, unscrew and remove their license plates and even impound their vehicles. But 99.9 percent of the taxi drivers joined the strike without fear…

This is not the first time the T-TPLF has been squeezing the private transport sector.

In August 2014, the T-TPLF slapped a heavy tax on car importers and dealers (T-TPLF cronies exempted, of course).

A car dealer who was paying 134,000Br in sundry taxes for the preceding five years was required to pay 380,000Br in 2014 for the same transaction as a result of “a suddenly implemented Customs law”, just like the suddenly implemented traffic regulation. The dealer complained about paying multiple taxes to the T-TPLF including “35% customs tax, 10% surtax, 100% excise tax, 15% VAT (value added tax) and 3% withholding tax.”

The T-TPLF has gone hog-wild in an extortion scheme which it calls a “tax”.

What exactly is the T-TPLF’s three-strikes-and-you-are-out-of-the-taxi-business law all about?

The T-TPLF’s three-strikes-and-kiss-your-taxi-business-good-bye law is one of the “finest” scams I have seen the T-TPLF do in quite some time.

A couple of weeks ago, the T-TPLF tried to palm off its plan for sex tourism as “medical tourism”.

Yes, the T-TPLF actually tried to sneak right under our noses a deal with a Qatari developer for a huge sex tourism resort in Ethiopia for Middle Eastern sex fiends and degenerates as “medical tourism”.

The TPLF thugs believed they could pull the wool over our eyes; but they failed. We figured it out.

I have always said that at the core group of thugs running the T-TPLF machine are of a small group of the most cunning, conniving, wily, scheming, evil, vicious, diabolical, wicked, shadowy and Machiavellian political operators to be found anywhere on the planet. They are the crookedest hombres in all of Africa.

I believe the T-TPLF crooks have once again tried to outwit, outfox, outsmart, outmaneuver, out-tricked and out-finesse their adversaries. This time struggling taxi drivers!

I hate to say it but it seems to me many of the striking taxi drivers are not seeing the forest for the individual trees.

They are just not seeing the big picture.

They are being distracted by the T-TPLF’s dog and pony show called the “new traffic regulation”.

The taxi drivers are falling for the T-TPLF’s old smoke and mirrors games.

The taxi drivers are being scammed and conned and they don’t even see it. What a pity!!!

Just a few weeks ago, the T-TPLF tried to scam farmers in the areas surrounding Addis Ababa by imposing something they called the “Addis Ababa Master Plan”.

As I have demonstrated in my recent commentary, that was the “T-TPLF’s Master Plan”.

The T-TPLF disguised their voracious and insatiable appetite for land grabbing by calling it “Addis Ababa Master Plan.” The T-TPLF, after grabbing every inch of the capital, tried to do the same on the outskirts.

But they were stopped by courageous Ethiopians who told the T-TPLF con artists to get the hell out and stay out. The T-TPLF cowered and said there was no such plan; it was just an idea they were thinking about. Yeah, right!

Now the T-TPLF is pulling a similar rip-off scam to victimize taxi drivers. But they were stopped by courageous Ethiopian taxi drivers who told the T-TPLF con artists to get the hell. The T-TPLF backed down for 90 days. But don’t be fooled. The T-TPLF will be back like the plague after going silent for a while.

My information suggests that the T-TPLF’s so-called new traffic law is not about improving traffic conditions.

It is not about reducing congestion.

It is not about transportation improvements.

My analysis based on evidence and information I have is that the new law is a Trojan Horse. In ancient times, the Greeks built a huge wooden horse and hid soldiers inside and pretended to sail away. The unsuspecting Trojans brought the horse into their city only to find out at night they had been fooled. The Greek soldiers came out of the belly of the horse and attacked and let in waiting soldiers from the outside. Troy fell. Hence the expression, “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts”.

The T-TPLF is presenting the “new traffic regulation” as “gift” to the people of the City of Addis Ababa and other urban areas. Inside the “new law” are elite “soldiers” ready, willing and able to destroy the economic viability and political solidarity of taxi drivers and completely control the mobility of urban dwellers.

I believe the T-TPLF’s “new law” has four purposes:

First, the “new traffic law” is a powerful political weapon in the hands of the T-TPLF.

The central aim of the “law” is to neutralize Ethiopian taxi drivers as potential political and economic threats to the T-TPLF. This may not be self-evident to the taxi drivers.

The T-TPLF knows taxi drivers as a cohesive economic group could wield considerable political power. They have their fingers on the pulse of the millions of people they transport every day. They have substantial potential political power. This fact may not be self-evident to many taxi drivers. By “potential political power” I mean the same kind of potential energy (power) that is stored in a bow which is activated only when pulled to release an arrow hundreds of feet away to a target.

The T-TPLF knows the potential political power of taxi drivers theoretically, practically and historically.

In 1973 when oil prices increased fourfold and Ethiopia was in the grips of a “biblical famine”, taxi drivers went on strike to protest high gasoline prices and became decisive catalysts in the revolution against the imperial government. They set the example for teachers, rail workers and dockworkers who also went on strike demanding higher wages. Students mobilized against the famine and the military hijacked the popular movement and established a military dictatorship.

Nonetheless, there is no question that the taxi drivers strike was catalyst in the 1973 popular uprising.

On February 22, 2016, the taxi drivers showed the T-TPLF the kind of devastating organizational power they have and can exercise effectively to the T-TPLF when they went on strike.

The T-TPLF “strategists” have long known the political potential of taxi drivers and the potential role they could play in the event of any popular uprising against them. Thus, the systematic weakening and disassembly of taxi drivers as a cohesive political and economic force is the guiding principle in the T-TPLF’s “new traffic law”.

The T-TPLF knows that taxi drivers are the hemoglobin of the Ethiopian urban economy and transportation system. They have the power to use their cohesive economic power to bring both the economy and the transportation system to its knees, which is exactly what they did on February 22.

The T-TPLF has destroyed all of its political opposition and political parties. There are officially 79 political parties and only one (the T-TPLF wolf in EPRDF sheep clothing) won 100 percent of the seats in a monkey (kangaroo) parliament.

There is little doubt in my mind that the T-TPLF’s “new traffic law” is aimed at the dissolution of the economic and political power of taxi drivers perceived by the T-TPLF to be an existential threat.

Second, I believe the T-TPLF to achieve its political objective of dismantling taxi drivers as a threat is using the “new traffic law” to systematically depopulate (cleanse) the ranks of taxi drivers and repopulate them with taxi drivers who are T-TPLF cronies, supporters, friends, lackeys and others loyalists who could monopolize the taxi business.

One can see this strategy by analyzing the penalty structure of the “new law”. The 20 point system to strike out a taxi driver for the taxi business is manifestly designed to eliminate as many current taxi drivers as possible in the shortest possible time. For instance, a taxi driver could accumulate traffic offenses amounting to 7 points in a single day, e.g. negligent driving, equipment failure, violations due to inadequate traffic control devices, accidents, peak hour offenses, etc. Within days or weeks, a taxi driver could accumulate 20 plus points and be banned from the taxi business permanently.

As existing taxi drivers are forced to leave the profession by the point system, the T-TPLF will gladly hand out some of the licenses of the disqualified taxi drivers to its cronies, supporters, friends and lackeys as patronage (free gift to its hard core supporters). The T-TPLF will no doubt sell the taxi licenses to others at exorbitant prices. Gradually, T-TPLF supporters, cronies and bootlickers will dominate the taxi business and serve the interests of the T-TPLF. They may even serve as “party spies” for the T-TPLF reporting on the public mood and sentiment.

I will predict with a high degree of certainty that if the T-TPLF’s “new law” goes into effect, within two years on the outside, 80-85 percent of taxi drivers will be out of the taxi driving business and they will have been replaced by T-TPLF supporters and cronies. If they are lucky, a few may get their licenses back by becoming “EPRDF” members. Other than that, they will have to find a different profession or hit the streets with a bowl in hand. (I believe I have a very good record of making predictions that have come true.) This is a bitter fact the Ethiopian taxi drivers must face.

The T-TPLF’s corruption in licensing, “government” contracts, reduction of owed taxes and changing legal outcomes have been documented extensively in the massive 2012 World Bank Corruption Study in Ethiopia.

The fact that the T-TPLF will use the “new traffic law” to control and make subservient an entire segment of the urban economy can be answered by answering the following questions:

Can anyone in Ethiopia today reasonably expect to get employment in the public sector without being a member of the “EPRDF”?

Can anyone remain in public employment without showing loyalty and subservience to the EPRDF?

Can anyone in Ethiopia today reasonably expect to attend the better higher educational institutions without being an EPRDF member?

Or even receive international food aid? One need only review the evidence in Human Rights Watch’s 105-page report, “Development without Freedom: How Aid Underwrites Repression in Ethiopia,” to understand how the T-TPLF has used donor-supported resources and aid as a tool to consolidate its power.

If the T-TPLF can squeeze starving peasants to their knees, is it any wonder that it can bleed taxi drivers dry?

The fact of the matter is that the T-TPLF control freaks must control everything to feel secure.

Taxi drivers make them insecure as hell. The T-TPLF must control the taxi drivers by any means necessary.

Third, the T-TPLF “new traffic law” imposes a hidden taxi tax wrapped in an extortion scam: FOLLOW THE MONEY

It is an open secret that the T-TPLF is desperate for cash. The T-TPLF is desperate for cash as a vampire is desperate for blood to suck.

The T-TPLF has tried everything to generate cash flow: grab and sell land, historic books from the country’s oldest library, archaeological relics and anything else in sight.

The T-TPLF has even resorted to sell women’s bodies for cash by calling its sex tourism business “medical tourism”.

Ethiopia’s “foreign currency exchange services is grossly mismanaged” leading to a mushrooming of a foreign currency black market.

The T-TPLF is scrounging for greenbacks and Euros to move offshore into their private accounts.

Just last month, “A high level panel delegated by the African Union (AU) and chaired by Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, has found Ethiopia to be among the top African nations in terms of being a source of illicit financial flows (IFFs), most of which makes ways to the developed world.”

Global Financial Integrity in 2011 reported, “The people of Ethiopia are being bled dry. No matter how hard they try to fight their way out of absolute destitution and poverty, they will be swimming upstream against the current of illicit capital leakage.” (Emphasis added.)

The T-TPLF “new traffic law” is calculated to bleed dry Ethiopian taxi drivers!!!

The taxi driving business is the only business that can even be called marginally independent, not under the total monopoly of the T-TPLF.

There is no income generating business in Ethiopia that is not owned, controlled, managed or that somehow has escaped T-TPLF’s clutches. NONE!

Can anyone deny the fact that the T-TPLF will snap any business that seems profitable and growing? Any business! If they are unable to take it over, does it not disappear overnight?

Doesn’t the T-TPLF completely control the economy, the military, the politics, civil institutions, etc.? By what percentage did the T-TPLF win the last election? Anyone have any idea?

The T-TPLF “new traffic law” imposes a huge hidden tax dressed as a traffic fine on taxi drivers managed through a high tech scam scheme.

On February 22, 2016, a business entity which calls itself “Lehulu” announced:

As of today (Monday February 22, 2015) all drivers who violate traffic rules in Addis Ababa will be paying their penalties at “Lehulu”. Lehulu will be the sole place for traffic penalty payment processing in Addis Ababa.

The whole idea of paying traffic penalties through a “private company” stinks of corruption to the high heavens, as far as I am concerned.

The bagman in the T-TPLF taxi driver extortion scam is a shadowy entity called “Kifiya Financial Technology” which operates a payment system called “Lehulu”.

Sniff, sniff…

I smell a big, fat, bulging-eyes rat in the “Lehulu” deal with the T-TPLF.

I could smell that rat from 10 thousand miles away. (Sniff, sniff… PEE-YEW…)

But what is “Kifiya Financial Technology”? What is “Lehulu”?

****After we started investigating “Kifiya Financial Technology”, its website was taken down.**** When the relevant link is clicked on, the message states, “This Account Is Unavailable.”

Thanks to Google archives, the evidence is still available. See link (1) HERE, (2) HERE (3) HERE.

According to newbusinessethiopia.com, “‘LEHULU’ [is] a Private Public Partnership (PPP) between the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology & Kifiya Financial Technology PLC in collaboration with the Federal Transport Authority and Addis Ababa Roads Transport Authority.”

Kifiya Financial Technology claims its “VISION is to make a contribution to improving the lives of people by making transactions simple, affordable, and within reach.” Its “MISSION is to create an integrated, scalable service that enables access to financial and non-financial services by building sustainable technology and distribution infrastructure.”

Kifiya Financial Technology’s public partners include the “Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Ethio telecom, Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation and Addis Ababa Water and Sewage Authority.”

But who are the partners (with real names, that is) with the T-TPLF at Kifiya Financial Technology?

Who owns Kifiya Financial Technology?

Who is behind Kifiya Financial Technology?

On its “About” webpage, Kifiya Financial Technology states the company was “established in February 2010 by the founders of a company with more than two decades of experience in Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Ethiopia.” (Emphasis added.)

Nowhere on Kifiya Financial Technology’s website or other public domain sources is any information available on the identities of the owners, co-owners, partners or other stakeholders in the company.

The identity of the Kifiya Financial Technology owners is intentionally and completely shrouded in layers of mystery.

Why?

Inquiry with certain individuals in the private and public sectors who are very familiar with the Ethiopian “IT sector” (such as is is) drew only blank stares.

It is not clear even to those in the Ethiopian “IT sector” who the owners, stakeholders, partners, etc., of Kifiya Financial Technology are!

On its website, Kifiya Financial Technology brags about its dozens of “Lehulu centers”; but its lists no headquarters.

On the Kifiya Financial Technology PLC website “Contact” page, Kifiya lists no address for its headquarters, which is extraordinary for an organization that claims to have so many clients and brags about its partnership with the “government”. It lists a postal address and an info@email address as a contact point. (Sniff… sniff…)

It is mind-boggling that a company that supposedly generates billion 1.92Br can be contacted only through info@email address.

Kifiya Financial Technology claims to handle “2.1 million transactions each month” with “1.1 million bill paying customers.” It claims to “employ 450+ people” and operates “31 Lehulu centers with 26 more centers coming soon.” The company expects to generate over 1.92 billion birr revenue by “the end of the project”.

Kifiya Financial Technology PLC brags on its website that its owners are IT experts with decades-long experience?

Who are the alleged experts who own Kifiya Financial Technology PLC? Do they have names? Perhaps nicknames? How about pseudonyms? Anything? Do they really exist?

There is nothing known about the alleged IT experts owners with alleged decades-long experience! If they hide their identities on their fine website, is it because they have something to hide?

Obviously, despite intensive investigation to discover the identities of the owners of Kifiya Financial Technology over the past days, it has not been possible to ascertain or establish the owners or individual(s) behind that company. Even those who are in a position to know, know nothing about the owners, partners and stakeholder of Kifiya Financial Technology.

Hold on a moment! I know what you are thinking!

You are probably saying that because of the thick fog of secrecy and total mystery over the identities of the owners, partners and stakeholders Kifiya Financial Technology that I am suggesting there is monkey business going on.

Please don’t put words in my keyboard!

Let me make it crystal clear!

I am not saying that Kifiya Financial Technology is owned, operated and managed in whole or in part by members, supporters and cronies of the T-TPLF.

I am not saying T-TPLF bosses actually own Kifiya Financial Technology and are using the company as a front just like they are using the EPRDF party as a front for the T-TPLF.

I am not saying T-TPLF bosses are the silent partners in Kifiya Financial Technology.

I am not saying the owners of Kifiya Financial Technology (whoever they are) paid a kickback to the T-TPLF to snag the lucrative deal or made under the table deals with the T-TPLF to snag such a cash cow or a mint to print money off the backs of taxi drivers and others.

I am not saying that the secrecy and mystery surrounding the owners, partners and stakeholders of Kifiya Financial Technology necessarily means anyone with eyes can see the fingerprints and footprints of the T-TPLF are all over Kifiya Financial Technology.

I am not saying that the T-TPLF has previously used dozens of front organizations such as EFFORT to run all sorts of businesses and scams and now it is using Kifiya Financial Technology in the usual fashion.

I am not saying any of the above. So don’t put words in my mouth, or more accurately into my keyboard.

I am not as cynical as y’all are!

All I am saying is something very simple: It is incredible and unimaginable to me that a mega financial institution with the capacity to generate 1.2 billion birr in revenue has made a deliberate decision to completely conceal and hide the identities of its owners, partners and stakeholders who are riding the gravy train.

The only thing I can tell the Ethiopian taxi drivers is: FOLLOW THE MONEY!

When you find out who own Kifiya Financial Technology PLC, you will find out how you have been made a bottomless cash pit, cash cows, better yet, the geese that lay the golden eggs for the T-TPLF.

Fight back in T-TPLF monkey (kangaroo) court to find out secret T-TPLF holdings in Kifiya Financial Technology PLC.

Sweat the monkeys in monkey court even if you are sure to lose.

Fourth, the T-TPLF’s “new traffic law” is a windfall to T-TPLF traffic police, manna from heaven.

The new law is nothing short of a shakedown license for the T-TPLF’s corrupt traffic police. T-TPLF police are licking their chops and rubbing their paws like laughing hyenas. They just can’t wait to pounce of the taxi drivers. The “new law” marks the opening of traffic police hunting season on taxi drivers.

Consider the evidence from the World Bank on T-TPLF police corruption in Ethiopia.

The 2012 World Bank corruption study on Ethiopia (“Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia”, see pp. 214-215) lists the corrupt practices of the T-TPLF police.

The report lists a whole set of corrupt practices T-TPLF police are involved in.

Among the dozens of corrupt practices documented in the World Bank report include:

• Bribe taking by traffic police
• Abuse of power or excessive use of force—not always corruption, although in some cases it may involve threats of false arrest or falsification of evidence
• Taking of bribes to alter evidence
• Taking of bribes to harass witnesses, or in the case of legal actions against police, doing it to help out a colleague
• Theft of evidence when it has some value
• Taking of bribes to not make or to delay an arrest—it was mentioned that some suspects ask to delay the arrest until a Monday, thus avoiding a weekend in jail and avoiding jail entirely by paying bail
• Taking of bribes to (a) not find the defendant so that he or she does not appear for the charging hearing, or (b) not bring witnesses for the prosecution.

T-TPLF police might as well be renamed as extortion rackets mafia style. They are the equivalent of “soldiers” in a mafia family (the enforcers, the muscle, the grunts who do the T-TPLF’s dirty jobs).

I have personally seen personal phone videos of Ethiopian motorists paying bribes to T-TPLF traffic after being openly solicited. I have dozens of anecdotal stories of T-TPLF police soliciting bribes in all sorts of circumstances. In one somewhat humorous circumstance, a motorist visiting Addis Ababa paid 500Br to a traffic policewoman just to avoid missing a flight. That motorist later became a laughing stock among friends because the motorist was taken for a ride and then to the cleaners. It was said that he could have slipped 50Br and taken care of the problem. The motorist vowed never to return to Ethiopia because of the humiliation in the blatant police shakedown. I am sure the traffic policewoman must have done the watusi after snagging the 500 Br. From the unsuspecting motorist. (Go girl, it’s your birthday…?)

According to Global Integrity, “The Ethiopian Roads Authority (Ye-Ethiopia Menged Transport Balesiltan) is ranked one of the most corrupt public institutions in the country, due to impropriety in the issuance of driver’s licenses and annual vehicle inspections, according to FEACC reports. The Federal Transport Authority (FTA) also has been exposed for employing extensive corrupt operating procedures.”

A January 2014 study on foreign companies that invest in Ethiopia revealed T-TPLF traffic police as “requesting the most bribe than any of the employees in the other institutions.”

The “new traffic law” is an out-and-out extortion scheme to rip off taxi drivers. It is tax on taxi drivers dressed up as a traffic regulation.

It is a pay to play scam.

If taxi drivers in Ethiopia want to play the T-TPLF taxi driving game, they have to pay extortion money to the T-TPLF by way of traffic police in the streets who pass on the proceeds to their bosses.

If the taxi drives don’t want to pay to play, they are toast.

Taxi drivers gotta pay the T-TPLF to play the taxi driving game.

What does all this mean to taxi drivers?

The T-TPLF traffic police literally hold life and death powers over Ethiopia taxi drivers.

If a corrupt T-TPLF policeman wants to incapacitate any taxi driver, he, coordinating with his corrupt confederates and bosses, could issue citations over a matter of days and permanently put the taxi driver out of the taxi driving business. The is what the “new law” will do when (not if) it is implemented.

The T-TPLF’s “new traffic law” makes traffic police “gods” over struggling taxi drivers.

That is an undeniable fact!

The “federal transport bureau” announced on the day of the strike that the implementation date for the new regulation has been postponed by three months. Yeah, right!

The “federal” whatever-it-is-called also said the “Addis Ababa Master Plan” is dead. Actually, it never existed. But even if it never existed, it is dead.

That is the problem with the T-TPLF. Those thugs think they are so smart and everybody so dumb that they think they can pull their dumb crap and expect everyone will believe it.

The T-TPLF will be back with the “new old taxi law” after 90 days, 180 days or 2 years (if they last that long).

The T-TPLF will be back with the “new old Addis Ababa Master Plan” after 90 days, 180 days or 2 years (if they last that long).

What must the taxi driver do?

The T-TPLF is a juggernaut that must destroy everything in its path to survive.

Taxi driving is the only “independent” economically organized small business in Ethiopia.

The T-TPLF will do everything to destroy the taxi driving business as we know it today.

I am sure the T-TPLF right now is reviewing its list of leaders and activists in the taxi drivers strike to neutralize.

The T-TPLF will try to divide and rule the taxi drivers. They will try to buy off the strike leaders. They will intimidate the strike leaders and individual taxi drivers. They will try to create dissension and division among taxi drivers. They will try to divide them by ethnicity and religion. They will jail them as terror suspects. They will threaten to prosecute them as terrorists. They will try to recruit them to work as spies and informant on their colleagues. They will do whatever it takes to destroy the will, determination and fighting spirit of the taxi drivers.

Regardless, I will predict the T-TPLF will fail, fail, fail…

But Ethiopian taxi drivers should not be lulled into a false security. They must not give any attention to the so-called 90-day suspension of the law. They must never, never, and never again take the T-TPLF at its word. They must know the LF in TPLF stands for “Lie Factory”.

Above all, Ethiopian taxi drivers must know that the price of their economic survival is eternal vigilance.

The T-TPLF will “make” another “traffic law”, give it a nice sounding title and come back at them once more, and as many times as necessary. That is as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow.

Ethiopian taxi drivers must know and be convinced that the T-TPLF is a vampiric organization.

It needs to suck the economic blood from everything around it to survive. Including the blood of struggling taxi drivers.

EFFORT is the heart and soul of the T-TPLF Empire of Vampires.

Ethiopian taxi drivers should heed the words of one of the Founders of the American Republic just before he signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Benjamin Franklin said, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

A year later in Paris Franklin wrote, “It is a common observation here that our cause is the cause of all mankind, and that we are fighting for their liberty in defending our own.”

Ethiopian taxi drivers should know that they must hang together, form and maintain an unbreakable bond, commit heart, mind and soul to stay together through thick and thin in defending their common interests against a tyrannical thugtatorship or that tyrannical thugtatorship will hang each one of them separately.

Ethiopian taxi drivers should also know that their cause is not only theirs alone; it is the cause of all Ethiopians. In fighting for their liberties, they are fighting for the liberties of all Ethiopians!

If Ethiopian taxi drivers fail to remain strong and united, they should know the BIG BAD T-TPLF WOLF WILL BE WAITING FOR THEM AT EVERY STREET CORNER LICKING HIS CHOPS READY TO PICK THEM OFF ONE A TIME.

Ethiopian taxi drivers: Unity is strength. Where there is unity, there is always victory!

Ethiopian taxi drivers united can never be defeated!

By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA, March 8 (Reuters) - Dozens of university students protested in Ethiopia's capital on Tuesday, demanding an end to police crackdowns that followed months of demonstrations over plans to requisition farmland in the country's Oromiya region late last year.

The government wanted to develop farmland around the capital, Addis Ababa, and its plan triggered some of the worst civil unrest for a decade, with rights groups and U.S.-based dissidents saying as many as 200 people may have been killed.

Officials suggest the figure is far lower but have not given a specific number.

Ethiopia has long been one of the world's poorest nations but has industrialised rapidly in the past decade and now boasts double-digit growth. However, reallocating land is a thorny issue for Ethiopians, many of whom are subsistence farmers.

Authorities scrapped the land scheme in January, but sporadic demonstrations persist and, on Tuesday, students from Addis Ababa University marched in two groups towards the embassy of the United States, a major donor, holding signs that read "We are not terrorists. Stop killing Oromo people."

Such protests are rare in a country where police are feared as heavy-handed and the government is seen as repressive.

A government spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has promised to address grievances in the Oromiya region and says he blames rebel groups for stoking violence.

Opponents blame harsh police tactics.

"The aim was to highlight the abuses carried out in the region," one student told Reuters, saying he did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals.

"We waved white cloth to indicate that we were peaceful protesters. But police started beating us up," he said.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said last month that protesters it spoke to and who had been detained after the outbreak of demonstrations in November had been subjected to severe beatings and never appeared before a judge.

The group said women suffered sexual assaults and mistreatment. It said one 18-year-old student was "given electric shocks to his feet".

Ethiopian Man seeks asylum after surviving flight in plane hold

By Thelocal

Staff at Stockholm's Arlanda airport found the man on board a plane arriving from Ethiopia, with police later confirming that he had asked for asylum in the Nordic country.

Emergency services were called to Sweden's largest airport on Monday morning after the plane touched down in the Swedish capital from Addis Ababa and the stowaway was discovered on board.

"He was exhausted but alive," Albin Näverberg, a press spokesperson for Stockholm police told the TT news agency.

"We know that he has travelled in the container from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa without any stops. It's a pretty long journey," added his colleague Carina Skagerlind.

The flight time for journeys between Addis Ababa and Stockholm is typically around eight hours.

Asked if police were looking into the possibility that the man had been smuggled to Sweden, Skagerlind said: "We have not come so far in the investigation. First we need to find out how this happened".

The spokesperson added that the man had been able to access oxygen during the trip, but she would not comment on the goods or materials that were supposed to have been stored in the container he travelled in.

Arlanda is Sweden's largest and busiest airport, with flights to more than 180 destinations.

By Drs. Tsegezab Gebregergis | MdriBahri

This morning, at exactly 6.30am British time, someone who claimed to be calling from inside Ethiopia rang me, using a fake (unidentifiable) telephone number, to inform me that planning and preparation for the invasion of Eritrea is now complete and the Ethiopian army is poised to attack at various entry points to the country.

In other words, my informant told me in clear language (Tigrinya) that all-out war between Ethiopia and Eritrea could start any day now.

He also emphasized that the Ethiopian military attack against Eritrea would not be defensive in nature. It would be an all-out offensive war with the clear military and political objective of breaking completely the backbone of the Eritrean defense forces and effecting regime change in Eritrea.

My informant appeared very worried by the great danger associated with the Ethiopian government’s military operations to bring regime change in Eritrea.

He said that the idea to attack Eritrea was planned and approved while Meles Zenawi was still the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, but was kept on hold in the hope that Eritrea might be persuaded to come up with some diplomatic moves satisfactory to Ethiopia, forced by the sanctions presently in place. He claimed that the decision to attack Eritrea was approved at a hurriedly called conference last week.

I asked my informant why he was telling me all this unverifiable military information about the allegedly imminent Woyane attack. The answer he gave was that my website clearly states that it stands for peace, democracy and reconciliation within and among nations and he therefore thought it the right venue for exposing and condemning the dangerous military preparations underway so as to mobilize the forces for peace and democracy in both Eritrea and Ethiopia, call for massive protest demonstrations by the citizens of both these poor countries to oppose this imminent war between them and demand that they resolve their problems through dialogue.

I then told him that, if I were to take seriously the information he was giving me and the rather noble ideas for peace he was advocating and publish these in Mdre Bahri, he needed to identify himself and provide me with his name and telephone number.

I told him that, otherwise, it may be the case that he was someone wanting to effectuate a hidden political agenda, using Mdre Bahri as a tool, or to involve Mdre Bahri in becoming the author of manufactured lies. Nevertheless, for his own reasons, he continued to refuse to disclose any information about himself.

Suddenly, there was dead silence on the other end of the line and I assumed that he had hung up. Therefore, I can only say at this stage that time will reveal this caller’s true motives.

As for myself, I was very strict in dealing with the caller because in the past I had received a similar call from someone pretending to be an Eritrean calling from Asmara to inform Mdre Bahri that Issaias Afeworki, the Eritrean head of state, had died, Eritrea was under the management of a military junta and the veteran fighter, Weldenkiel Abraha, had been designated as their official spokesperson.

Having listened to him attentively, I unhesitatingly thanked him very much and quickly began writing an article titled “Issaias  Afeworki is dead at the age of 69”. Fortunately, just before I was about to post the article in Mdre Bahri, I shared the information I have with someone I knew. He advised me that Issaias Afeworki might well be dead but said I should not trust information passed over the phone by an unknown person. He suggested that the caller could well have been genuine but he could also have been someone wanting to discredit my website.

I therefore did not go ahead in posting the article.

Instead, I wrote another article entitled “Is President Issayas Afeworki of Eritrea Dead or Alive?” and posted it in Mdre Bahri. I concluded the article with the observation that the Eritrean people had the right to know whether or not the Eritrean President was dead and, if so, who was running the country.

Regarding the call I received this morning, although I have no way of confirming the news I received from an unknown source claiming to be calling from Ethiopia and speaking the Tigrian version of Tigrinya, as opposed to using the highland Eritrean accent, I have nevertheless this time considered the seriousness of the matter.

I have decided to take a calculated risk in informing the Eritrean people and its armed forces that the Tigrian rulers of Ethiopia are ready to invade Eritrea and create chaos and hardship for Eritrea and its people.

However, should the news I am posting turn out to be misleading or merely a bluff intended to keep Eritrea worried and busy, I will issue a sincere apology to all the visitors to Mdre Bahri and to the Eritrean people.

After all, I have been engaged my whole life in the struggle to contribute towards creating solid, favorable conditions under which Eritrea and Ethiopia could gain mutual trust and confidence and coexist peacefully side by side.

My concluding message to the political and military leaders in both Eritrea and Ethiopia is that, throughout history, war has been a double-edged sword: it hurts you when others wage it against you; it also hurts equally when you start war against others. The best trick for avoiding war is therefore to be willing to abide by existing agreements, by international conventions and laws, and also to be fully and genuinely prepared to resolve problems through the civilized means of negotiation and dialogue.