Fake Revolution vs. Real Revolution

By Yelfiwos Wondaya

One wonders why one makes such a public call without something on hand to support his plan of action to implement, and even worse the movement absented itself from the event  it claimed to lead up to the strike for the 28th of May 2011.  Whether or not the movement did it merely to impress its inflated ego or it believed it can persuade freedom hungry Ethiopians and let the demonstration go astray with no sense of direction, time will tell us.  In most cases, however, causing general public outrage such as this very irresponsible public call is seen as disgraceful and immoral in any given society so is the un-known movement who called upon the people to rise up in protest against woyane in Addis and else where in Ethiopia. The call was heard loud and clear but the clique on the other hand was not anywhere nearby to be seen.  What an irony!  Although the time has passed the pamphlets in which the messages and propagandas of the public call, attributed to that of the movement itself are here for us to review and examine their content.  To begin with, in order to take on leadership roles one must be in a close range to fight the fight, to walk the walk and of course, to carry on the mission to the end.  Or else one would conclude that the said movement is nothing but a national disgrace. As that, the said movement cannot become a moving force and a force of change for the fact that it is not destined to find itself in public arenas where the real movements take place.  One also must be an action oriented force daring to perform outside of his comfort zone and beyond.  Or else it is fair to conclude that such movement with such urgency must either have some sort of false impression of the situation in Ethiopia or have other motives to interfere with the revolution yet to come. Whatever the case maybe, time will tell us why and history will judge it in accordance with what has been said and done.  In reality, though the bogus call heard from afar did not hold any water when checked.  “We must not be led astray by the small-time deceivers and false teachers we see today who are the forerunners of the Antichrist and the false prophet”

First and foremost, one won’t win the hearts and minds of the people by insulting their intelligence and yet undermining the injuring capability of our enemy shows how naive and armature the movement is.  How Law and Disgraceful one get than this!  No one in his right mind would promise something out of the blue moon and get away with anything serious like these public calls. However, whoever has done it must be held accountable for his own action. Bogus as it sounds one would also label it nothing but false alarm.  Empty promise of such nonconforming movement aside, however, the real revolutionary movement led by the real revolutionaries in Ethiopia is bound to happen.  Eventually though the civil disobediences that would pave the way for the real revolutionary movement in Ethiopia are forthcoming.

Secondly, unlike the half hearted revolutionaries the real revolutionaries are enthusiastic about the revolution and its real results ahead.  So to reach those results they would rather tend to intensify the conflict amongst enemy camps, and capitalize more on the wisdom of Ethiopian society.  It is true though that the wisdom of Ethiopians is prevailing against the unfounded hatred, fear and mistrust the TPLF has been trying to make us feel.  Thus, continuing to feel and behave in a manner that benefit all in the family, and adjusting actions and deeds in response to the desires and needs of their links is what Ethiopians’ wisdom in action like. Together Ethiopians do praise Ethiopian nationalism by raising their flag higher and higher instead of being divided and weaken by saboteurs’ act of denial and ploy. Ethiopians must continue to carry on the unity slogans as unity, democracy, equality and social justice for all Ethiopians regardless.  Mutually though they give an enthusiastic approval to the motto of one flag, one nation and one people.  So in this case, Ethiopians’ wisdom says it all that Ethiopians embracing Ethiopian nationalism will come victor at the end as had had happened in Adwa, Metema, Mekidela and several other battlegrounds wherein Ethiopians of all walks of life engaged in an armed conflict and defended their common territory against foreign aggressions in the past. Likewise, as ever before, Ethiopian national anthem together with Ethiopian flag will be praised by all Ethiopians regardless.  After all, Ethiopians’ national anthem and flag are symbolically popular, associated with their greater Ethiopian identity, characteristics and causes of all time.  Moreover, Ethiopians’ national anthem will have taken place to celebrate a sense of solidarity Ethiopians enjoyed for centuries as opposed to that of narrow nationalists’ song sung to shed tears for a Killil territory.  Thus, on the part of the people it is time to prove the saboteurs’ claim wrong and move on. Ethiopians must say no more both for the TPLF/EPRDF and for the agents!!  The saboteurs joining us in disguise to divert our focus into something else we believe is not important are our antagonists.

Next, the genuine patriots must use the crisis within the TPLF/EPRDF and move on.  As started, they ought to call upon the different factions allied with the current regime:  the military, the civic and political organizations to stand in solidarity with the people against Mele’s regime, and as well ought to continue agitating the public to be watchful and ready to deal with whatever comes next.  For sure, the on going internal conflict would undermine the TPLF/EPRDF’S organizational strengths and technical support it happens to preserve from within.  And in due time the civil disobedience popular with both the young and old, audiences shall reinforce the internal conflict and finally put an end to the ethnocentric dictatorial regime in Ethiopia and to that of the fake revolutionaries that declared the war publicly and of course in an emphatic way but at the end there were not anywhere nearby.  And yet both the current Ethiopia’s socioeconomic crisis and the internal conflict from within the TPLF/EPRDF and the church led by Aba Paulos are the real threats revolutionaries must capitalize on to force Meles out of power too.  Unlike the atypical movement mentioned above and its bogus call, the upcoming revolution in Ethiopia is bound to be the only way to do away with Meles’ tyrannical regime. Historically though what the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, the American Revolution, the Ethiopian Revolution, the Agrarian Revolution, the Tunisian and Egyptian Revolution had in common was nothing but change.   Radical Change now!  Therefore, revolution is a must now both to reflect on the current understanding of our situation in Ethiopia and the complex phenomenon the tyrant regime brought us to rule our country with an iron fist.

Last but not least, what the false prophets know best and carry on is confusion, mistaking one for another and gone astray and ended up lost. So here is when we ought to say enough is enough for them.  We must tell them loud and clear that they are false prophets for they are deceiving the public and as well circulating reports, pamphlets and statements without facts to confirm their truth. Time and time again they tried everything they could to lead the public into an error of action such as the call they made for the 28th of May 2011.  “In religion, a false prophet is one who falsely claims the gift of prophecy, or who uses that gift for evil ends. Often, someone who is considered a “true prophecy” by some people is simultaneously considered a “false prophet” by others”  Be that as it may, it is not up to the fake ones but up to the genuine revolutionaries and the public at large to exploit the situation at hand and move on. As it happens, a ground breaking revolution is necessary, and then, unity, organization and strong leadership are the most important continuities the public need to recognize in order to remove the TPLF/EPRDF out of power.

Lastly, we must reject the false prophets under way and act in unison to defy and defy now their act of denial and ploy.  The false prophets aside, we are expecting a unified force led by Long Standing Political organizations to take the leadership position ahead; a unified force that is prepared to resist, to control, and to vanquish that of Mele’s apartheid policy and the system altogether.  Ethiopians have dethroned the king and unseated the military junta in the past.  Today what they need is not a bogus call from afar but real freedom fighters from nearby that would lead the people to victory.

Down with Narrow Nationalism!!

SHOULD PERENNIAL FOOLS BE HANGED

HAMA TUMA

A controversial man himself, Kenyan Mutula Kilonzo, has blasted at corruption the hangman’s way.  The corrupt should be hanged, he has recently suggested.

This was the only way the vice could be fought successfully, Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Mutula Kilonzo said.

“Let us have a law that will deal effectively with the question of bribery and kickbacks. In countries like China, they punish (offenders) with death. I am not afraid to propose this too, if at all we want to rid ourselves of the vice,” he said.

The way things usually happen in Kenya the proposal will be bribed away unto the archives and Bwana corruption will continue with vigor. That aside, what about the suggestion that obdurate fools should be punished with vigor and determination to rid our continent of fools that sell their sovereignty for thirty pieces of second hand silver? As we all know, foolishness or stupidity is not painful and half of the time the victim does not even know it. Hence, a reminder should be supplied. This whole thing was made pertinent recently when we were forced to listen to Hilary Clinton (the same woman who years ago went to Asmara, Eritrea and hailed the ruler there as a democrat) warning Africans to be wary of neocolonialism (no, not the American one but that of the Chinese) and preaching the need for democracy in the capital city of one of the most vicious tyrants bankrolled and fully supported by Hilary’s America. Clinton’s holier than thou hypocritical preaching was (you guessed it!) hailed by many Africans from various quarters including Ethiopia where American backing for a dictatorship has wrecked the country for more than twenty years now.

In the beginning there was the Word but overtime the cost of living has risen beyond tolerance while words have become cheap. Meles Zenawi vowed to assure Ethiopians three decent meals per day but deprived them of even one and ended up preaching dieting to a people that has been starving for centuries.  Clinton’s speech in Addis Abeba weaved cheap words and sanctimonious preaching often associated with a sinful and decadent priest. If dictatorship is evil and Africans should rise against their oppressors how come America allies itself with the enemies of the people and smashes the revolt of downtrodden people? How come America backs the killer Meles, the savage Nguema, the Bahrain Butchers, the Saudi retrogrades?  These are not new queries and wonder but age old ones and African has for long been on the receiving side of the hypocrisy. The savage and fury against Gaddafi (who was good friend with Berlusconi, Blair and Sarkozy) does not accord, as the French would say talking of grammar, with the kid glove treatment of Assad, Bahrain and even Yemen for that matter. Clinton talking about the dangers of neocolonialism in Africa is like a rapist condemning the pedophile. The new kid on the block is China and America is only wailing against the competition. Here also some Africans miss the point and like old times they take the Bible from the Clinton woman and bow to pray while she takes away the proverbial land, Africa’s wealth. Did anyone hear her or her big eared Boss crying against the Western sponsored mayhem, rape and murder in Eastern Congo?  The Mr. Ocampo of the International Criminal Court is a sad caricature of a man seeking justice, inclined to attack Africans and Third world targets, oblivious of the real war criminals  from the Balkans to Chechnya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Syria. If Kaddafi is a war criminal what about Saleh and Assad, the massacre man in Ethiopia, America and other pro American butchers all over the world?

Trees in a big forest held an assembly, says an Ethiopian fable, and wanted to identify their main enemy. The axe said many; others declared it is the man wielding the axe. A wise old tree counseled all of them in the following words: brothers and sisters, will the axe cut us if it had no handle? Will man wield the axe if it had no handle? That is why you must know that we are our own enemy; we are the handles of the axe, enabling the axe and man to chop us down. “Yerasachin temama” said the old tree in Amharic. Our own crooked piece of wood! Clinton is Clinton, she represents an America we know so well as victimized Africans. Our problem is with our own crooked brothers and sisters, the perennial victims of stupidity, the gullible and foolish ones who believe time and again the same old lie in new garbs. Time and again, the West supplies us with devils and the Satan we are supposed to condemn and hate and time and again we cry curse on the donkey along with them. We say thank you Hilary Clinton the same time she and her government embrace the dictators who are destroying our peoples and continent. Check any African predator and monster and you will find the West standing behind him. Beshir is no saint by any standard but the hue and cry against the Sudan smells partial and foul. Mugabe is not worse than Meles but who is reviled and who is praised?  France continues to play pathetically as an imperial power but it is responsible for the malaise in many so called Francophone African countries and just as it continued to rile against Kaddafi and bomb Tripoli it donated US $600 million dollar of aid to Meles Zenawi. If corruption be the issue (and if we say as the Kenyan minister “hang them all!”) then we have to denounce that America’s friend Meles Zenawi, who has whisked off no less than 8 billion dollars from the country, has substantial stolen money in American banks just as the stolen billions of Sani Abacha are also in British banks.

 Hilary Clinton said: “In several nations, the institutions of democracy are becoming stronger. There are freer medias, justice systems that administer justice equally, and impartially, honest legislatures, and vibrant civil societies. Earlier I mentioned the Arab Spring, a name that suggests the blossoming of something new. And what is now blooming across the Arab states has already taken root in many African nations, commitment to democracy, recognition of human rights, investment in economic health and education programs, and an emphasis on meeting the needs of our young people” .

Was she talking of Africa? Of the Africa we know? And to add insult to injury (or goiter over an ears ailment as we say in Ethiopia) saying all this in Addis Abeba where a brutal regime holds more than 35,000 political prisoners, has banned the free media, controls the judicial system and mocks at justice and the rule of law? Years ago, I went to a book signing event in Paris and heard the late Paul Henze praise the Meles regime to the skies as he presented the French translation of his book called Layers of Time. As questions were not allowed I went to him in the end and asked him if his presentation was about an East European country. This, of course, did not amuse the man who did so much damage to Ethiopia and her sovereignty and history. It was a tumultuous evening he passed in a heated argument with me and most of the Ethiopians present. Reading Clinton’s speech, this was what or who I was reminded of. Reread what she said and wonder of wonders try to find an African country that fulfills her irresponsible and demagogic utterance. Her very host Meles is anathema to what she said or proposed. Those Africans who said thank you Hilary are dangerous fools (is there another kind actually?), candidates for vicious neocolonial plunder from various quarters. The woods that help the axe chop of the trees, as it were.

As Hilary Clinton danced with the Eritrean strongman Isaias and his wife and hailed him as a democrat (her husband added Meles, Kagame and Museveini to the list), a few kilometers away in Sembel prison dozens of political prisoners were suffering. In Addis Abeba, the AU headquarter is not far from the old notorious Kerchiele prison. Meles Zenawi’s secret or ghost prisons are not also far from where Hilary spoke and uttered empty praises. The infamous Kaliti prison is not also in another region. She was out there in her own surrealist world and she was not attempting some absurd humor, no. And that is what makes the whole proceeding a tragedy. The foolish Africans heaping praise on Hilary for her absurd speech push one to demand a punishment for stupidity. Have your say Mr. Mutula Kilonzo!

LET US TALK OF DAMS

 by  Amanuel Dagim

Part II

The issue of Gilgel Gibe III dam has generated much heated debate within the Ethiopian Diaspora more than within Ethiopians inside the country. “Go, Go, Ethiopia!” wrote some while other cautioned and solemnly pointed out the “disaster” associated with building big dams considered to be antic and outdated ventures in the presumed ecology conscious world. The debate is still raging and the jury is still out.

From India to Ghana, from China to the DRC the question of to build or not to build big dams divides. The argument is muddled by political bias and prejudices and again by the dearth of serious research and consideration. China has 25,000 dams all over the country but have all these dams brought ecological disaster. Could any of the negative effects been countered from the outset? Are the suggested alternative sources of energy (thermal, wind, solar) really feasible? Are cost competitive small dams on rivers worth the effort? Should we go for Qanats, Iran’s famed underground water tunnels? And shouldn’t we pose all this in light of the fact that more than 550 million Africans have no access to electricity?

And so, are big damns ecologically destructive? Many experts say yes and quite a few others say no.  Writing on the issue, on October 1/1996, Lori Pettinger stated that: “When the ties between the land and the river are broken by a large dam, the consequences are felt throughout the watershed, as well as by the web of life it supports. Of all the ways to tamper with or harm a river, a large dam usually has the most immediate and far–reaching effects because of the huge changes it causes to river hydrology––its very circulation system.

Some 40,000 large dams, most of which were built in the past 50 years, now obstruct the world’s rivers. More than 400,000 square kilometers––an area larger than Zimbabwe, and 13 times the size of Lesotho––have been inundated by reservoirs worldwide. The world’s largest impoundment, the 8,500 sq.km. Volta Reservoir behind Ghana’s Akasombo Dam, flooded 4% of that nation’s land area. In the United States, whose 5,500 large dams make it the second most dammed country in the world, we have stopped building large dams, and are now spending great amounts of money trying to fix the problems created by existing dams.” In relation to our subsequent discussion of the Gilgel Gibe III dam  construction it is interesting to note that aside from having hydrological effects and affecting the river system, big dams also impact on the flooding cycle. To quote Pottinger again:  “The storage of water in dams delays and reduces floods downstream. River and floodplain ecosystems are closely adapted to a river’s flooding cycle. The native plants and animals depend on its variations for reproduction, hatching, migration and other important lifecycle stages. Annual floods deposit nutrients on the land, flush out backwater channels, and replenish wetlands. It is generally recognized by biologists that dams are the most destructive of the many abuses causing the rapid disappearance of riverine species. About 20% of the world’s recognized 8,000 freshwater species are threatened with extinction.

The floodplain itself is also affected by dams. Studies on the floodplain of the Pongolo River in South Africa has shown a reduction in diversity of forest species after it was dammed. And forests along Kenya’s Tana River appear to be slowly dying out because of the reduction in high floods due to a series of dams” And Pottinger concluded with this advice to South Africa: “The new South Africa has the opportunity to devise a water policy that builds on what the world has learned in the past fifty years of unchecked river development, and that involves civil society in the decision–making process. In the longterm, such an approach is the only one that doesn’t diminish one of Africa’s most treasured resources––its rivers”.

The nay sayers counter back with arguments that are anything but superficial. Reference is made to the fact that the preaching against big dams is made by those countries that had already built many huge dams and generated power for their country. Moreover, alternative sources of power and energy are not feasible in many developing countries, the cost is high and thus these countries have no choice but to rely on their rivers. The big dams advocates argue actually that  “dams and reservoirs world over have been playing dual role of harnessing the river waters for accelerating socio-economic growth and mitigating the miseries of a large population of the world suffering from the vagaries of floods and droughts. Dams and reservoirs contribute significantly in fulfilling basic human needs for drinking water, irrigation, flood control, hydropower generation, and inland navigation” and even for beneficial economic activity and resettlement. Salini Costruttori, the company that has been for years building dams all over Ethiopia, fervently argues that negative statements made as “facts’ regarding big dams in Ethiopia are often mistaken as the dams would not only generate much needed hydropower but will control the vagaries of flooding and drought in real terms. Moreover, as is shown in West Africa, the benefit of big dams can be shared regionally with countries with few or no rivers buying electricity from neighbors. The company also argues that large dams in western Africa may have led to big displacement of people but such is not/will not be the case in the Ethiopian context and thus the benefit of big dams should not be minimized by an exaggerated presentation of the impact of a non existent massive dis[placement of people. Is this true or false? We shall analyze this specifically for Gilgel Gibe III and the so called Renaissance Dam in the next installments.

To be continued

ዓሳን ወደ ተራራ፣ ዝንጀሮን ወደ ባህር (ከአያልነሽ)

Asan Wede Terara Zinjeron wede Bahr

ሩቅ ሀገር ያስዋሻል፤ መጥፎ ሰው ያንቋሽሻል (ርሑቅ ዓዲ መሐሰዊ፤ ሕማቅ ሰብ መናሸዊ)

minewa

LET US TALK OF DAMS

Amanuel Dagim (Water Technologist, Durban, SA)

Part I

A lot of ink has been wasted on numerous criticisms of the dams being built in Ethiopia, particularly the Gilgel Gibe III on the Omo River and the so called Renaissance Dam on the Nile. Supporters of the project have also written one piece after another exuding their enthusiasm—often unsupported by hard facts on the ground or adequate information and research.

Like all things in life these projects are not 100% good or bad. They have some drawbacks and they have good and beneficial sides. To weigh one against the other and to do this taking primarily the interest of Ethiopia into account seems today a difficult undertaking. In the case of Gilgel Gibe III opposition has come from Kenya too where allegations have been made that the completion of the dam will result in the drying up of Lake Turkana. On the dam on the Nile the main opposition stems from two sources: the Ethiopian opposition and Diaspora and the Egyptians. Despite claims that Egypt under a “new“ administration has promised to curb her greed for more and more Nile water it is safe to assume that it will be pleased to see NO dam on the Nile anywhere. The Ethiopian part of the grievance concerns the government claim that the 80 billion Birr needed for the huge dam project will be on the shoulders of the Ethiopian people, the hue and cry about bonds aside.

It is a muddled, emotional and very political field. However, before delving into the concrete issue of the two controversial projects let us sum up the main opposition points below.

1. That Gilgel Gibe II will dry up the Kenyan Lake Turkana;

2. That the minorities on both sides of the border will be displaced and their livelihood seriously affected/disrupted;

3. That big dams are necessarily and inevitably ecological disasters;

4. That the people have not been consulted;

5. That the water flow to Egypt and the Sudan will be reduced,

6. That the Renaissance Dam is security wise too close to the Sudanese border

7. That the burden has been piled on the impoverished people of Ethiopia and the project is doomed from the outset.

Other points can be encapsulated within these main assertions. The issue has been compounded by the bold but uninformed intervention of many forces. Ethiopian intellectuals with no basic foundation and information on the subject in particular and the water problem in general have scribbled with fury while organizations like Survival International (accused by some of fanning tribalism in Africa under the cover of fighting for minority rights) have also thrown in their accusations without backing the same with solid factual arguments. My articles on the subject will be based on the factual technical information, an objective assessment of the benefits and drawbacks of the projects and their respective weight. It is obvious that the accusation launched by the Meles government that those who stand against these projects are the puppets of Egypt and Eritrea has not helped in any way. In fact, political diatribe threatens to stand in the way of a rational discussion of an issue that has grave implications not only for the future of Ethiopia but for that of the whole region.

To be continued…………..

መንግስት፣ ሕዝብና ሙዚቃ በኢትዮጵያ

eth music

ኧረ ስለደንብ ….. በደንብ አምላክ

OF BONDS AND FACTS PLEASE LET US NOT REPEAT HISTORY

Fidel Hawarya (social scientist)

When history of change which takes a whole period occurs, you may wish to observe serious things happening. Sometimes ground breaking, often sad. The logic and principles of stabilized and regular systems may not apply here. All the same, valuable lessons can be drawn, especially those that are structural in character, principally because intelligibility and comprehension may be allowed for the minds that enjoy novelty and do not display any dislike or laziness. But when history repeats itself, not verbatim but analogously or almost, then you may find yourself in a farcical and deceitful situation. I am afraid that this may be what is unfolding before our eyes today, in Ethiopia.

Yesterday there was the Ethiopian “revolution” under the leadership of the Derg. The reforms taken in the first years were, structurally speaking, shaping and had organic links with the needs of the majority of the Ethiopian population, while there were also crucial questions that remained unresolved: the question of democracy, the military and security situation, war, the question of sluggish production, mainly agricultural, which left the question of development unattended, pending and by and large differed. For instance, the famous TEN YEAR PLAN launched in the 1980s was only partially (understatement) implemented in its restructuring forms. All in all and ultimately the interplay of the different lacks of realization brought about the downfall of the regime, with little or no benefit reaped by the coming generations from the initial structural reforms.

Today we have a second “revolution” engineered by the EPRDF, intended to be more people centered and more peaceful. The respect of cultural social and ethnic considerations, the main vectors of this “revolution”, represented the crux of the reforms. Like during the first revolution, mixed (both positive and negative) results were observed. Nations and nationalities were expected to constitute the necessary passageways towards the expression of freedom, with its attendant extended process of decentralization, which in turn, hardly allowed central (federal) forceful actions to be taken in areas that matter both at the national and international levels. For instance economic, social, monetary and sect oral development especially in its “structural transformation” forms may not be facilitated by the process of decentralization; this contradiction, in essence and in operation, should be adequately perceived as being taxing and structural. If not, we will have, characteristically, a case of myopia, at least in terms of policy design and “operationalization”.

To be true then, the Structural Transformation Plan possesses a variety of serious elements, meaning and soundness for the country only if applied within a different setting (i.e. in a different historic period). Let us take the example of the sector of energy. The “Structural Transformation” has a realization target to pass from the actual production of 2000 megawatts of hydroelectric power production to 8000 / 10 000 megawatts in a foreseeable future. The demand for investment may rise up to 4/5 billions in US dollars for the project alone, without including all other attendant costs. Considering energy as a serious input for further industrialization, the project idea and its targets are in essence appealing, but done within “despisable” general policy setting where suspicion, rightly or wrongly, exists among the different players.

For when the plan was launched, three main issues which ought to be simultaneously addressed, apparently were not, in pretty much the same manner as in the first “revolution”.

Firstly, the general context is that of the existence of a deficit in democracy that impedes the Plan to efficiently start implementation, let alone to undergo a willing and healthy sale / mobilization of government bonds. Indeed, the installed self declared democratic system and its unfolding are qualified as atypical and do not command genuine and high respect nor do they generate enough and long-term credibility. In particular, the heart and soul of the Ethiopian people are hardly discernable under this framework. Like during the first “revolution”, increased authoritarianism, gradual though systematic elimination of opposition and dissent, structural corruption, nepotism, spoliation…the ordinary lot of the Ethiopian public life jeopardize the future gains of a good plan and waste the positive popular attitude towards the favorable results of the first years of the “Second Revolution”.  Furthermore, some of the above features are so entrenched in the system that they have probably gone even beyond the control of EPRDF itself, putting dangerous trends within reach. Mother feeder of all this: the ill conceived process of democratization as inspired exclusively by the EPRDF.

Secondly I wonder whether the required amount and variety of knowledge and know-how to administer and to accompany the Plan including the energy project are properly and realistically assessed and mobilized in a cost effective way.

Thirdly, monetary and financial requirement / deficit in implementing the Plan is expected to be in volume and in quality of investment simply overwhelming, way beyond the capacity of the nationals, especially when we take into account the general framework i.e. when associated with the above deficits.

For all these reasons to give a fair chance of success of realization of the Plan of Structural Transformation, it may be humbly suggested here to seriously take into account what is hinted above: i.e. to improve the whole process of policy environment and the situation of macro variables to a decent level (following the famous saying: “you cannot cheat all the people all the time, especially in a growing IT environment!!!”). The Plan should be considered in a non partisan way as the property of the Ethiopian people, in an all-inclusive way no matter who the author of the Plan may be! The collective memory of the Ethiopian people will certainly reward him in due time! Thus the request is made to seize this opportunity by improving the general policy environment for the plan to evolve in the name and love of Ethiopia, our country. Nothing could be more binding than this. To say more would be not to oblige.

After all, “Bonds or Securities” are, simply put, IOUs (I owe you) issued by a renown institution for sale to the larger public with the understanding there will be a re imbursement with interest after a given maturation period. The venture will be all the more successful when the  interest rate proposed is significantly positive in real terms, the issuing institution is credible enough and the utilization of the resources rests on the promotion of the general interest  of the stake holders. The case in point here, i.e. the sale of bond by the EPRDF government for infrastructural development may be found appealing by some though it fails to display the full long term confidence and trust that it should have under regular circumstances. Why? Because the collective memory of the Ethiopian people has some preventive hard facts and processes in store.

“አባባ ታምራት”፣ አርቲስቶቻችንና የሕዳሴ ግድብ

ababa tamirat