Tedla Asfaw
I read a piece by Dr. Ghelawdeos Araia, "Ethiopia's challenge is our challenge" forwarded by a friend. As we all know Ethiopia is an agricultural country, more than 80 percent of our people are farmers. If you hear our/TPLF experts which Ghelawdeos would like to call EPRDF are telling us that they would like to "industrialize Ethiopia" by selling large tracts of farm land to foreign investors, they claim in few years time " we will be an industrialized nation". They even boast of buying imported foods with plenty of cash in our peoples pockets.
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They claim that by selling huge tracts of land they will bring capital, knowledge and "convert" our people to "middle class". Foreign land grabbers as recently seen on www.farmlandgrab.org documentary both in English and French version one hour and one and half hour respectively are proudly showing their land they acquired. The land is not a barren land as they claimed but it is a known sanctuary for wild life. The farmers that are kicked out of their land are nuisance for buyers and sellers. War on our farmers, on our natural forests and wild life has been declared by the current regime of Ethiopia. We have no choice but to fight as one farmer said on the documentary.
TPLF/EPRDF and foreign partners aim is to produce and make money by selling their products on world market. I wonder why Ghelawdeos avoid discussing this issue and divert the discussion by bringing the new emerging economies in China, India, Brazil etc and try to compare it with TPLF/EPRDF's GTP.
Ethiopia is now led by thieves/Leboche whose aim is to change everything to dollar and run away when their time is up. Sell it cheap for cash that is what they have been doing for the last five years after they were defeated on May 2005 election. The idea of every other ethnic group benefits from TPLF/EPRDF patronage system is partly true.
But the Somalis, Oromos, Amharas, etc who organized themselves under their ethnic umbrellas do not amass wealth like EFFORT whose name Ghelawdeos even failed to mention. EFFORT is the mafia who is behind the Grand Transaction Plan/GTP to extort the diaspora. Did Ghelawedeos forget Sibhat Nega interview on VOA Amharic, "EFFORT is the largest conglomerate in Ethiopia" proudly declared by him. How can we discuss "investment" by ignoring this truth ?
Ghelawdeos is telling us to seat down and challenge TPLF/EPRDF. What challenge ? he better tells the mafia club that stealing as he calls it corruption even if is common in the world you/ TPLF took it to the highest level. TPLF is even blackmailing the Ethiopian workers to give their monthly salary to build millennium dam. No other country does like that, this is beyond robbery. It is similar to "Mengistu's Enate Ager Tire" of workers giving their monthly salary. Inflation running high as much as 30 percent combined with giving away monthly salary, is that not a fertile ground for mass upheaval ?
Ethiopia's challenge is indeed ours but the solution is to remove Meles Zenawi's led TPLF like the Egyptians, Tunisians did. Ghelawedeos is calling indirectly to support King Abdella "Freedom Initiative", that set aside 37 million dollar to shut opposition mouth in Saudi Arabia. In case of Ethiopia his recommendation is to join the GTP and pray for many years for Meles led TPLF to stay on power. If they started the dam they have to finish the job, is that the rallying cry for the 2015 Western sponsored election theater ?
The good thing in 2011 change is coming by popular uprising. Ethiopians will rise up to remove Meles' led TPLF and the other organized ethnic servants/Ashkers will not fight to defend TPLF. I invite you to go to www.tadias.com and hear what one pro TPLF Professor from New York says about his experience on GTP conference in Harlem, under the title, "Diaspora divided at GTP". It is a four minute video clip would not take your time. Were Ghelawedeos was on that conference to challenge just for curiosity ? His challenge, however, could not be as low as the professor on the video clip. How did he get the job ?
