Tedla Asfaw
My country Ethiopia is preparing for a make-believe election on this coming summer. Drought as always is threatening our people and any layman can ask how comes a Western supported regime of Meles Zenawi could not feed its people ? We were told by the regime and its supporters that the Ethiopia economy has been growing double digit for the last ten years. Today's BBC headline news (Oct.22) was not different than the one we heard twenty five years ago for which the former dictator Mengsitu Halilemariam was accused by the West. Why we have not hold the current dictator, Meles Zenawi to the same standard ?
What is "economic growth" that could not feed its people ? Why do we waste resources in the fake election ? Our luck of feeding ourselves is partly because of failed land policy, accountability and the brain drain of the educated masses for the luck of freedom in their own country.
If Ethiopians failed to feed their own and every other five or ten years are debating with donor nations for the accuracy of the number of the starving, six million or ten million then we should be categorized as failed state and be done accordingly.
However, the starving and the million other proud Ethiopians whose life has gone worst for the last eighteen years under Meles Zenawi's unaccountable, apartheid rule have no choice except call for "our regime" to be our best spokes person to beg for food aid without any shame.
If there was decency a regime that can not feed its people should go and let an accountable administration took over to solve the equation of famine and accountability once an for all. Otherwise the next cycle of famine, call for food aid and the debate on the number of the starving will be who we are as a people and a country. That is shame !!!
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