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Saturday 27 June 2009

Part one, TPLF's Election Debate Drama !!!

Tedla Asfaw

Space available for rent, so much sq feet for so much dollar, and you can contact us at this number. In fact similar advertisement was posted on TPLF Ethio tube to attract new buyers of "Democracy Space" and we all know when it comes to business space it is one hundred percent controlled by Endowment Fund for Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT).

Some of the bidders/opponents  were encouraged by the 2005 openness of this "democratic space bid" and since then, however, this  space is only "allowed" on few sq meters area of the the TPLF parliament building in Addis Ababa. Out of the parliament building, the Ethiopian people are not allowed to gather or speak on any matters that concern them, Zero Space.

Ethiopian politics like the economy is now hundred percent owned and run by TPLF and this staged debate of politics on Ethiopian TV is a reality show. The staged drama is made for for USA, UK and other Western  observers who will be allowed to monitor the "election 2010" in Ethiopia. Hey !!! Look debate is going on for all who believed in "peaceful struggle" and come on join this drama before time is running out.

The vote, however, has already been casted in rural Ethiopia way before anyone embarks on a mission to "monitor election 2010". EFFORT has already paid the rural poor masses to be  member of TPLF/EPRDF and forced the poor opposition party out of business. In the city, government employees as well EFFORT controlled businesses have already bought the vote to be displayed publicly at the presence of the International monitors who come to witness the coronation of Mels Zenawi's TPLF  for the next five years  in power.

The TPLF security will be armed with Iranian type security motor bicycles to chase all trouble makers in the coming June 2010 landslide victory. Shooting on head will be discouraged  while high speed chase of young people on the streets of Addis might bring larger causality for lack of proper training on riding the bikes. How about getting help from Iran ?.

We should also expect the "Shabia supported" oppositions like that of Ginbot7 trying to make another coup similar like that of Ginbot 8 this year to sabotage the coronation of TPLF. How about organizing our people not to be part of this coming circus ? A common front against TPLF made election drama should start early on all fronts.

The real opponents of the TPLF should make a call for Ethiopians to stay away from the election drama and  punish those who are forcing our people  to vote for TPLF. The TPLF cadres wherever they are should not be allowed to imprison, beat or kill anyone who is boycotting this fake election.

Citizens have to say no to all kind of intimidation by TPLF in schools, churches and mosques whenever they gather. Ethiopians have to boycott EFFORT the company that is bribing our people to keep TPLF forever on power. The staged one hour TV "debate" drama series be also boycotted..

The UDJP and AEUP parties should come out early on this game and make it clear that they will not be part of any TV made propaganda by TPLF. A call for unconditional release of Judge Birukan should be the number one priority of UDJP. MEDREk platform led by Gebru and Seye is also part of secret TPLF orchestrated drama to be boycotted.

The Ethiopian people  problem is not  lack of paid space to talk politics, it is a lack of real space for discussion and tackle all our problems including the right to be governed by our choice. Without free media, assembly all the rest is a circus TV reality show and we will boycott all these for what it is, to keep TPLF and EFFORT for years on power.


Friday 19 June 2009

Create, win and write about war !!!

Tedla Asfaw



I read a story from "Ethiopia Zare" about the recent book "The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa" by Gebru Tareke posted on ethiomedia. This morning I also read the book review by TPLF General Tsadkan posted on Aiga.

Tsadekan's view is the Tigray nationalist view which many of us do not agree. Professor Gebru, a Tigrayan EPRP fighter himself was ridiculed by Tsadekan. If Tsadekan has anything to say why not he writes his version of the armed struggle to topple Derg and beat back Shabia ?

However,  Tsadekan do not consider the Badme war of the late 1980s to be briefly covered by Gebru on his recent book. Why ? The war that took hundreds of thousands of lives both in Ethiopia and Eritrea is not a TPLF led war and should be ignored.Period !!! A war that brought all Ethiopians including the hated Derg officers to beat back Shabia needs to be written by someone. For Tsadekan only exclusive "Tigrayan" victory without anyone help  is the war to be told . "Bravery and war engineering is only the domain of TPLF" and books has to be written to confirm to this Tsadekan's/TPLFdoctrine. No wonder TPLF banned armed struggle in Ethiopia after it controlled power because there are no "brave people" to conduct such war on the land of Ethiopia.

What does Tsadekan says about the defeat of TPLF in Somalia ? What is going on in Ogaden desert ? What is going on in Welkait ?

Ethiopians need another Badme to unite our people and defeat TPLF  once and for all. Tsadekan can join his buddies for this coming battle.

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Thursday 18 June 2009

President Obama can empower Africans

Tedla Asfaw



Professor George Ayittey of American University, President of Free African Foundation on his recent research on African leaders on Straight Talk Africa on June 17, 2009 he told us that  since independence out of  208 African leaders only twenty nine can be considered as "good leaders".

Ethiopia's king Haile Selasse, Jomo Kenyata, Anwar Sadat are among the twenty nine good leaders Professor Ayittey found out on his research. I haven't read his book but from his brief remark he came to his conclusion based on what these leaders did to their people while they were on power.

The likes of Museveni of Uganda, Isaias of Eritrea and Meles of Ethiopia did not make the cut while Nelson Mandela of South Africa is one of such leaders according to Professor Ayittey a Ghanaian by birth. He also hoped other African leaders to learn from recent Ghanaian  election and called  Obama to make a significant difference on democratization of Africa when he visited his birth country Ghana next month by endorsing free press and media as a foundation for democratization of Africa.

Professor Ayittey said that Ghanaians success is a result of vibrant media. "The independent media is a vanguard for democratization and if Obama follows on that and help independent media to flourish in Africa that is much worth than the billions of dollars USA spent to establish a rule of law and accountable government in Africa".

The mercenary media which is now promoted in the name of  free media in Ethiopia by TPLF is a non starter. The free press and the few hours of television debate before  May 2005 election helped our people vote overwhelmingly for Kinijit. TPLF has learned from opening the media for its opponents and we are now ruled not only by "dark media" but also by dark nights even in the capital.

The rulers in Ethiopia by denying their people the right to listen to different views are spending much of their time in talking  to foreign medias. Meles Zenawi may be the first one among  current African rulers for giving many interviews. He even lobby African leaders to speak on their behalf on the recent G20 meeting in London.

A man who would like to speak for himself and other Africans is scared of giving its opponents free air time since he was defeated badly four years ago. In fact Ethiopia's Melese  is one of the worst jailers of journalists and if anyone would like to do research I will assume Meles Zenawi will also be on top for making himself available for foreign medias who have bought to the "development miracle" in Ethiopia since Meles came to power in 1991.

We saw the power of free media recently when TPLF warlord Sebhat Nega appeared on VOA Amharic which is dubbed as "TimKehetenoche Berete" by TPLF. VOA Amharic and Afan Oromo was jammed many times for doing its job, informing the public.For many of us Ato Sebehat Nega's interview with Addissu Abebe  did more in exposing the regime in thirty minutes than what has been written about TPLF for the last eighteen years.

The masses in Ethiopia who have no information to who Sebehat Nega is except the propaganda by TPLF media learned that this person and other TPLF clique are here to stay until they are forced out of office by popular uprising, "Yehezebe Kuta". Ethiopians who are not allowed to gather to express their views has been seen by Sebhat Nega as people who endorse the regime, "Yaltekota Hizeb".

We know all along that in a free media, press and  assembly  TPLF will not stay one night let alone rule for eighteen years. Whatever help we get from Obama to empower our people is welcome . A call for independent media and press in Africa is a gift to Africa from Ghanaians and Obama.

Tuesday 16 June 2009

Unforgettable Agazzi Crimes !!!

Tedla Asfaw

It came to attention of the Diaspora Ethiopians that at Howard University Blackburn Auditorium at 3pm on June 20, 2009  there will be a film show by the ethno fascist regime of Ethiopia likely with the presence of one of the warlords, Sebhat Nega.  The military operation of Agazzi that broke the jail in Mekele, Tigray during the Derg controlled Ethiopia more than two decades ago  freed many rebels has now become  a recruiting film for the regime that has been in power by killing thousands of Ethiopians for more than eighteen years with the help of Agazzi killing squads.

Similar operation on a wider scale was conducted to wipe the Ogaden Somalis, the Anewake in Gambella among others which is the basis for the Genocide Watch to hold Meles Zenawi accountable for its crime recently. Surprisingly the regime that did not allow any free media back home is exploiting the Howard Campus to show its celebrated and  famous Operation.

However, we would like the Howard Community to know that that members of Agazzi shot and killed more than two hundred  Addis Ababeans for protesting the stolen election of 2005 four years ago. While we are remembering the fallen victims in our community it is shame that celebration is going on in the Blackburn Auditorium this coming Saturday afternoon.

While supporters of the apartheid regime celebrate their Agazzi heroes we would like to inform the Howard Community that the peace loving Ethiopians would expose the crime perpetuated by Agazzi and hold them accountable and bring all members of Agazzi who killed the innocents on broad day light by the order of the warlord Meles Zenawi  to face justice.

Thursday 11 June 2009

Sebhat Nega's Capitalism and power

Tedla Asfaw


Ato Sebhat Nega's thirty minutes interview (June 9 and 10) with Adissu Abebe of VOA Amharic was much informative than the recent one we heard on Hagerfiker radio and the paltalk room. The questions were short followed by short answers on many categories  and the follow up questions also helped us to learn from the interview.  Sebhat Nega and his multimillionaire Woyane clique  were trying their best to build "capitalism" on backward Ethiopia.

When capitalism fully developed under the leadership of TPLF/EPRDF Sebhat said, movements of capital and people will unite the Ethiopian people who have not known each other for more than hundred years. "We never knew each other before and we were just ruled by guns and tanks" in backward Ethiopia.

Thanks to the TPLF he said, we do not have angry people but only angry individuals. To support his thesis of angry people he never believed that TPLF was formed by few "angry" individuals. Sebhat said, TPLF/Woyane was a result of angry people and  people rebellion but the truth of the matter is Tigray was relatively peaceful province under Emperor Haile Selasse and even under Mengistu's Derg except its last year.

During the "Edeget Behibret" campaign by high school students and universities at the early years of Derg thousands of students went to Tigray and all provinces of Ethiopia to educate and learn from the masses. By the way some learned the language of the people too and the talk of we do not know each other is just nonsense. Except few places like Badme which was my campaign post later on closed because of security reason there are many who participated on that program and  got a life time experience.

Under feudal Ethiopia many nationalities immigrated to cities like Addis Ababa, Asmara, Harar etc looking for better life and that is why we have large Tigray and other nationalities lived mixed up with others far from their birth places. According to Sebhat Nega these people did not know each other, what a joke !!!

Sure Capitalism bring investment on regions expecting  good return on the way bringing mobility of people.  Had it not Italy's invasion of Ethiopia was not beaten by our gallant fighters more than seven decades ago we might end up being a "developed country" like  Eritrea, a former colony of Italy. Many Eritreans believed that federation with backward Ethiopia in the 1960s was not to their advantage.

Most Eritreans are still proud of their "developed"  Eritrea and after their Independence in the 1991,however, the Eriteran elites flocked to backward Ethiopia for a joint "development"  with TPLF. The main cause for the split of Shabia and TPLF in the late 1980s was pure greed fighting for the loot.

Sebhat Nega on the paltalk was accusing  Isaias' Shabia for starting the Badme war after TPLF refused to "develop" Ethiopia jointly with Shabia. The same TPLF who said no to Isaias is now giving our fertile land and water to foreign investors. In case of our Western boundary outright sell of huge land and water more  than 30,000 sq km to Sudan has generated huge cash flows to TPLF's Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT) which is under control of few TPLF leaders including Sebhat Nega.

Sebhat Nega who failed to tell us   EFFORT's present capital on the VOA Amharic interview confirmed to the wider audience back home that it is the number one investor in Ethiopia, hardly a secret. EFFORT is "legally" a "Tigrean Region Investment"  that operates in other regions of Ethiopia also to bring accelerated capitalism to allow the middle and the bourgeois class to emerge eventually to take power from TPLF/EPRDF.

The TPLF elites rush to educate their region at full speed is most likely to bring those who will take power after EPRDF is "gone", "Setefa"  according to Sebhat Nega. Sebhat Nega knows very well that power in capitalism comes through education and money. The TPLF aged warlords believe that Ethiopia's future is depending on this new to come middle and bourgeois class.

The road to "capitalism" is now clear and many Tigrean elites are fully controlling the  source of the capital. The TPLF 's military job is to make sure that we have only angry individuals but not angry people. The TPLF generals are now the richest people who are paid to defend  TPLF from any challenge.  "Holy Capitalism ", uncontested under the leadership of TPLF's EFFORT for extraordinary  growth that will make Ethiopia an Africa China.

The problem here is China do not have many angry people like Ethiopia who are battling the regime daily. The Oromos, Somalis and the Ethiopian nationalists have been battling this regime for the last decade. This is not news for the Chinese because they have been a victim of such war in Ethiopia's Ogaden few years ago working to develop the gas and oil potential  of the region jointly with TPLF.

The idea of building capitalism in war torn Ethiopia is impossible. Capitalism and democracy are inseparable too and country like China  mostly homogeneous  can develop but ethnically diverse Ethiopia's road to capitalism under few Tigrayan elites will fail because it is  unaccountable Mafia Economy.

Wednesday 3 June 2009

Sibhat Nega from defender to Doctor of Eritrea

Tedla Asfaw


The month of Ginbot in Ethiopia that brought us a "coup" by Ginbot7 brought us too the celebration of "Democracy" and "Development" in Ginbot 20 by TPLF leaders and supporters. Sebhat Nega, on his appearance with Hagerfiker radio's host Negussie Woldemariam who is accused of receiving $10,000 from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Treasury illegally, seemed subdued and confused.

The talk of the "Gold" Tigreans who died for the  independence of Eritrea will defend it forever against the rest of us, the Ethiopians, the "Dust", is now turned to the DR. of TPLF who wanted to treat the hypnotized Eritreans who are suffering under "sick" Isaias. Isaias on his five part interview with Ethiopian Review (ER) and the Patriotic Front (PF) promised to fight the Woyane Clique/TPLF. He declared that there will never be peace with the Woyane.

Sibhat on the development goal of TPLF he said that Tigray alone beat Eritrea on all measures.New colleges,schools and other infrastructure built in the last eighteen years under TPLF/Woyane  in south of the border while north of he border Isaias' Eritrea is still stuck with old infrastructures. The Eritreans were told to believe that they are better than anyone while the reality is different said Sibhat Nega .

However, this time Sibhat did not accuse the Ethiopian nationalists trying to "invade" independent Eritrea and rather accused the Eritrean people for being hypnotized by isaias ferry tale for the last eighteen years. On his five part interview with ER and PF Isaias presented himself as a savior of Ethiopia from the Woyane Clique whom he accused them of institutionalizing ethnicity by incorporating article 39 on the TPLF Constitution.

Isaias said that Woayne/TPLF will not share any power with other nationalities in Ethiopia. If it can not control power then he said that is the end of of Ethiopia as we all know it. Everyone can make its own state and TPLF is the first one to declare independent Tigray. A new war to put in practice the right of nations and nationalities up to cession will be set in motion according to Isaias Afeworki, the "father" of Eritrea.

The Tigray Democracy and Development Party (TDDP) will turn to the Defense of Tigray's "sovereignty". Here is a problem Sibhat Nega. The land TPLF took from Gonder, Wello and Afar is not going to be a Development zone rather a War zone and accordingly your northern "neighbor" Eritrea with or without Isaias  will follow your "independent Tigray " dream  and many states will go to war to carve their own independent states in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The Afars in both Ethiopia and Eritrea who never wanted to be living in two separate countries have revolted since TPLF  and Shabia came to power eighteen years ago. The joint  military attack by  TPLF and Shabia is not forgotten by the Afar people. Both Shabia and TPLF's crime on Afar people and the thousands of displaced Ethiopians from Asab is well documented.

On his Ginbot interview with ER and PF isaias also made it clear that Asab  is a sovereign region of Eritrea not for any negotiation. Meles Zenawi had declared for the second time after the conclusion of the Badme war two decades ago that Asab is not Ethiopian. TPLF while incorporating  afar land from Wello to Tigray never attempted to take Asab believing that as long as it is on the hands of Shabia's Eritrea it is safe.

Giving away Ethiopian land to neighbors for immediate benefit by ignoring long consequence that started with Asab is now underway on the western boundary with Sudan from Humera to Gambella that covers large areas of Ethiopian land. Sibhat while educating us about Isaias and Eritrea "sickness" never mentioned a word about the indicted war criminal Beshir of Sudan who is on good term with both Isaias and Meles.

I was also surprised on the recent five part interview Isaias made with ER and PF never asked about the giving away of Ethiopian land by the "Woyane Clique" to Sudan. Isaias is supporting a united Sudan and if this united Sudan incorporates huge Ethiopian land  for both north and south Sudan it will not be acceptable and the war with Sudan is inevitable.

The TPLF 's disastrous  Somalia invasion which Sebhat Nega categorized as an opportunity for Ethiopians to know better Somalia and for which he claims  got "affection and love"  from Somalis is the biggest joke of Ginbot. Sibahat Nega is getting older and sicker. The  medicine he would like to prescribe to Isaias and Eritrea  is better be tested on TPLF/Woyane clique controlled Ethiopia.