Wednesday 4 February 2015

የደደቢት ጉዞ መዘዝ፤ ከሰራዊት ፍቅሬ እስከ ታገል ሰይፉ

የደደቢት ጉዞ መዘዝ፤ ከሰራዊት ፍቅሬ እስከ ታገል ሰይፉ
ክንፉ አሰፋ
በመጀመርያ ዶክተር ደብረ ጽዮን ገብረ ሚካኤል የህዝባዊ ወያኔ ሃርነት ትግራይ (ህወሃት) ደጋፊና ተደጋፊ የኪነጥበብ ባለሙያዎችን በሙሉ ጠሯቸው። ሰበሰቧቸው። እንዲህም አሏቸው። "ወደ ደደቢት አብራችሁን ትሄዳላችሁ፤ እዛ እንደደረሳችሁም አመጣጣችንንና አካሄዳችንን በደንብ አድርጋችሁ ታጤናላችሁ። ከዚያ ስትመለሱ ሁሉንም ነገር ለህዝቡ ትናገራላችሁ።..."
በምክትል ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ማዕረግ የሃገር መሪ ሆነው የሚሰሩት እኝህ ሰው መልዕክታቸውን በዚህ አላበቁም። አይናቸውን ፈጠጥ፤ ጉሮሯቸውንም ጠረግ-ጠረግ አደረጉና ንግግራቸውን ቀጠሉ "ስለረጅሙና መራራው ትግላችን፤ ከጅምራችን እስከ አያያዛችን የታዘባችሁትን ሁሉ ንገሩን። ጥሩውንም ይሁን መጥፎውን ነገር ሳትደብቁ ተናገሩ።..."
ድምጻዊው በዝማሬ፣ ጸሃፊው በድርሰት፣ ተዋንያኑ በተውኔት ስለ ህወሃት የአርባ አመት ጉዞ እንዲመሰክሩ የተሰጠች ትእዛዝ መሆንዋ ነው። አጭር፣ ግልጽ እና ቀጭን መልዕክት ነበረች።
የስርዓቱ ደጋፊ ሳይሆን ይልቁንም ተደጋፊ የሆኑት ሁሉ የዘመቻውን ጥሪ በደስታ ተቀበሉ። ወደ ደደቢትም አመሩ። የታዘቡትንም ነገር ሲናገሩ ሰማን።
ልብ እንበል! እነዚህ የጥበብ ሰዎች ናቸው። ጥበብ ደግሞ የሕዝብ አገልጋይ ናት። ጥበብ ለእውነት የምትቆም ዘብ ናት። ጥበብ አንድን ህብረተሰብ የመቅረጽ እና የመለወጥ ሃይል አላት።
በአለማችን የጥበብ ሰዎች ሚና ጎልቶ የሚታየው ተፈጥሮ ባደላቸው የጥበብ ስራ ብቻ ሳይሆን፤ እነዚህ ሰዎች በጥበ ብ ስራቸው ውስጥ ለህዝብ በሚያስተላልፉት እውነተኛ መልእክትም ጭምር ነው።
አርቲስቶች አክቲቪስቶች መሆን አለባቸው ብሎ መከራከር አይቻልም። ይህ የራሳቸው ምርጫ ነው። መሆን ካለባቸው ግን የህዝብን እንባ ማበስ ነው የሚገባቸው። ወቅቱን ጠብቆ እንደሚቀየር ድሪቶ መንግስት ሳይሆን ከህዝብ ጎን መቆም ያስከብራቸዋል።
ጥበብ ቆራጥነትን ትጠይቃለች። መስዋዕትነትን ልታስከፍልም ትችላለች። ፍሬዋ ግን ሁል ጊዜ ጣፋጭ ነው። እውቁ ቻይናዊ አርቲስት አይ ዌዊ እዚህ ላይ ይጠቀሳል። አሜሪካዊቷ ጁዲ ችካጎም እንዲሁ። ጃማይካዊው ቦብ ማርሌይ እና የናይጄርው ፌላ ኩቲ በአለማችን ላይ ለውጥ ያመጡ የጥበብ ጀግኖች ናቸው። የኛዋ አርቲስት አስቴር በዳኔም ለዚህ ዋቢ ነች። ማህበራዊ ድረ-ገጾች ይህንን አስረግጠውልናል።
"ህዝቡ አጎብዳጆች ይለናል።" አለች አርቲስት አስቴር በዳኔ ከዚያ ሁሉ መንጋ ተነጥላ። 'እውነት ነጻ ያወጣችኋል!' የሚለው ክርስቶሳዊ አባባል የተዋሃዳት ወጣት። እውነትን ተናግራ ራስዋን ነጻ አወጣች። እርግጥም የህሊና ነጻነትዋን ለማወጅ መድፈር ነበረባት። ማማጥም ነበረባት። አርቲስትዋ እንደጦር የፈራችው ከፊትዋ ተደርድረው የነበሩ ጉምቱ ባለግዜዎች አልነበሩም። ምክንያቱም ጉዳዩን ለነሱ አስቀድማ ተናግራ ነበርና። ይልቁንም ከአጠገብዋ የነበሩ የስራ ባልደረቦችዋ እና የሙያ አጋሮችዋ እንደጦር ያስፈራሉ። እንደ ይሁዳ አሳልፈው ሊሰጧትም ይችላሉ። ደደቢት ላይ ሲደርሱ ሁሉም በአንድ ማሰብ ጀመሩ። ደደቡ... አንድ ግዜ ተኑሮ ለሚሞትበት አለም ሁሉም ከራሱ ተጣላ። ሁሉም ከህሊናው ሸሸ። ሁሉም ለማደር አጎብዳጅ ሆነ። በመጨረሻም ሁሉም አስቴርን በአርባ ክንድ ራቁዋት። ግና እስዋ ጣርያ ስትነካ እነሱ ደግሞ ሲዘቅጡ አየን።
የኪነ-ትበብ ሰዎቻችንን መፈተኛ ግዜ ብቅ አለ። ግን ይህ ሁሉ ወጪ እና ሽርጉድ ለምን አስፈለገ?
ጉዞውን ከመጪው ምርጫ ጋር የሚያያይዙ ወገኖች አሉ። ጉዞውን እንደምርጫ ዘመቻነት ለመጠቀም...። ይህ የዋህነት ይመስላል። ምክንያቱም ህወሃት አንድም ግዜ በምርጫ ዘመቻና ግልጽ በሆነ ውድድር ምርጫ አሸንፎ አያውቅም። ነብሳቸውን ይማርና አቶ መለስ ከነ ስዬ ቡድን ጋር በተለያዩ ግዜ ተናግረውታል። "ህወሃት በስብሷል!" ነበር ያሉት። ላለፉት
1 | ገጽ
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􏰀􏰁 አመታት ይህ የበሰበሰ ስርዓት ነው ሃገሪቱን እየገዛ ያለው። ይህ የበሰበሰ ስርዓት በምርጫ ሳይሆን የህዝብን ድምጽ በመስረቅ ነው እስካሁን ያለው።
ከምናከብራቸውና ከየምናደንቃቸው የኪነጥበብ ስዎች ውዳሴዎች ሰማን። ነዋይ ደበበም እጅግ አድርጎ ሲረግመው በነበረው ደደቢት ላይ ዘፈነ። እንዲያውም በስሜት ዘፈነ። "የሃገር ነቀርሳዎች" ሲላቸው የነበሩትን እነ ሳሞራን፣ እነ አባዱላን፣ ... እያቀፈ ... አልረሳም እያለ አቀነቀነ።
በዚያ የቀውጢ ወቅት ከሰለሞን ተካልኝ ከተቃዋሚ ወገን ወጥቶ ህወሃትን ሲቀላቀል ድምጻዊው ነዋይ ደበበ እንደ እብድ ነበር ያደረገው። ያዙኝ፤ ልቀቁኝ አለ። የንዴት ቃላትን ሁሉ በዘፋኙ ላይ አዥጎደጎደው። "ማሰብ የማይችል ደደብ ሰው!" አለ ነዋይ። ቀጠለናም "ሰለሞን ተካልኝ ስጋ የሚበላ በሬ ነው።" ሲል ድምጻዊውን ከሰብአዊ ፍጡርነት ወደ እንስሣነት ጎራ መድቦት ነበር።
ዛሬ በዚያው መድረክ ላይ አዲስ ትእይንት እያየን ነው። የግዜ ሃዲድ ላይ ሆኖ የሚመለከተው ሁሉ በትዝብት የሚያስቆዝም አሳዛኝ ድራማ፤ አርቲስት ብለን የምንጠራቸው ወገኖቻችን የሚፈጽሙት የፖለቲካ ዝሙት። ነዋይ ደበበ በግዙፉ የሰለሞን ተካልኝን ትከሻው ላይ ለመጠምጠም እጆቹ በጣም ሲረዝሙ በመገናኛ ብዙሃን ተመለከትን። ... አጃኢብ አለ ያገሬ ሰው!
አዕምሮ ማሰብ ሲያቆም፣ አንገታቸው አዙሮ ማየት ሲሳነው፣ ልቦናችን የቅርቡን ክስተት ሲዘነጋ፣ የስነ-ልቦና ችግር ነው ከማለት ውጭ ምን ይባላል?
የሰራዊት ፍቅሬ ማጎብደድ ደግሞ ተወዳዳሪ አልተገኘለትም። ይህ ሰው በ 􏰂􏰃􏰄ዎቹ በነበረው የርስ በርስ ውግያ ወታደር ሆኖ ከደርግ ወገን ነበር የተሰለፈው። ዛሬ በሽሬ ሽንፈቱ ላይ ጥሎት የሸሸው የጦር ታንክ ላይ ቆሞ በኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ላይ እጆቹን እያወጣ ደግም ቀለደ። ለካስ ደርግ እንደዚህም አይነት ወታደር ይዞ ነበር ህወሃትን ይፋለም የነበረ? ሰራዊት ፍቅሬ ዛሬ ዝናው ሳይሆን ሃብቱ ጣርያ ነክቷል። አሰልቺ ድምጹና ምስሉ እጅ-እጅ እስኪል በቴለቭዥን እንዲቀርብ በገዢው ፓርቲ ተፈቅዶለታል። ለፕሮፓጋንዳ ፍጆታ የሚውሉ የስርዓቱ በዓላት ቁጥር እጅግ በዝተዋል። የብሄር ብሄረሰቦች ቀን፣ የከተሞች ቀን፣ የአርሶ አደሮች ቀን፣ የአርብቶ አደሮች ቀን፣... ባዛር ለልማት ወዘተ። የማስታወቂያ ወጪው ከዝግጅቱ ወጪ አይተናነስም። ሁሉንም የማስታወቂያ ስራ ለሰራዊት ፍቅሬ ሰጥተውታል። ታዲያ እሱም ገሚሱን ለባለስልጣናቱ ማካፈሉ የግድ ነው። የዚህ ሰው መንቀልቀል ምስጢር ይህ ብቻ ነው። ሰራዊት ፍቅሬ በዚህ ሁኔታ የማስታወቂያ ስራውን በሙስና መስመር ውስጥ አዝልቆታል።
አንደኛው ተደጋፊም ተነስቶ "ይህ ነገር በአፍሪካ አንድነት ድርጅት ፊት ለፊት ሃውልት ሊሰራለት ይገባል።" ሲል ተደመጠ። ሰውዬው ይህንን አምኖበት እንዳልተናገረ ሰዎቹም ይገምታሉ። መቼም ለእለት ጉርስ ሲባል እንደዚህ አይነት ለህሊና የሚጎረብጥ ነገር እያደረጉ ከመኖር፤ በልመና መተዳደር ክብር ነው።
ከጅምሩ የስርዓቱን አዎንታዊም ሆነ አሉታዊ ሂደት ለመገምገም ወደ ደደቢት በረሃ መሄድም አያስፈልግም። ኢትዮጵያ ዛሬ ከገባችበት መከራ ለማውጣት የህወሃት አነሳስን ማጥናት ምንም ፋይዳ የለውም። መነሻው ጥሩም ይሁን መጥፎ፣ መድረሻው ግን አላማረም። ይህ ስርዓት ሃገሪቱን ባህር አልባ አገር አድርጓታል። የባህር በር የአንድ ሃገር ምስጢርም ነው። ኢትዮጵያ እንደ ማንኛውም ሉአላዊ ሃገር ምስጢር እንኳን የላትም።
ህዝቧም ከአፈናው ሰንሰለት ገና አልወጣም።
በአመለካከት ልዩነታቸው ብቻ ወገኖቻችን እንደ ጥጃ ሲታሰሩ የደደቢት ተጓዦቹ ይመለከታሉ። ሃሳባቸውን በነጻ የገለጹ ዜጎች የሽብርተኛነት ታርጋ ተለጥፎላቸው በግፍ ሲፈረድባቸው ይሰማሉ። ኢትዮጵያውያን እንደ ምጽዓት ሲሰደዱ በአይናቸው ይመለከታሉ። ለነጻነትና ለእኩልነት ታግለን መጣን የሚሉን ደግሞ በአንዲት ጀንበር ሚሊየነር ሲሆኑ ይታዘባሉ። ይህ ሁሉ ሲሆን ታዲያ እንደሙያቸው አንዲት ቃል እንኳን ተንፍሰው አያውቁም። ወደ በረሃው መጓዙ እንደ ሲሲሊው የማፍያ ቡድን ከደደቢት ምሽግ ውስጥ ቃል-ኪዳን ለመግባባት ካልሆነ በቀር ፋይዳው አይታይም።
"ህዝቧ አጎብዳጆች ይለናል።" አለች አስቴር በዳኔ። ህዝብ ምን እንደሚላቸው የምትሰማው እስዋ ብቻ አይደለችም። ጆሮ ያለው ሁሉ ይሰማዋል። ይህን እያወቁ ግን አጎብዳጅ ምሆናቸውን ጭራሽ በብሄራዊ ቴሌቭዥን ወጥተው አሳዩን።
2 | ገጽ
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ህዝቡ ብቻ አይደለም። በእርግጠኝነት ለመናገር እነዚያ ባለ-ስልጣናትም አድርባዮቹን ይንቋቸዋል። በባህር ዳሩ የኢህአዴግ ጉባኤ “የኢህአዴግ አባል ለመሆን አንዱና ዋናው መስፈርት አድርባይነት ነው” በማለት አድርባይነትን የፈጠረውና ያስፋፋው ራሱ ህወሃት እንደሆነ ተናግረው ነበር። “አድርባይነት” ስርዓቱን በሚፈታተን ደረጃ መስፋፋቱን ከመግለጻቸውም በላይ አድርባዮቹን እንዴት እንደሚበቀሏቸውም ባህርዳር ላይ መክረዋል።
ደብረጽዮን ትእዛዙን ሲሰጡ ትንሽም ቢሆን ዲፕሎማት ነበሩ። ከትእዛዞቻቸው መሃል እንዲት እንዲህ የምትል መልእክት ነበረች። "...ችግሮቻችንንም ንገሩን።"
ይህች ሃረግ የኪነ-ጥበብ ሰዎቹ የህዝብን ብሶት በአደባባይ እንዲናገሩ በር ከፋች ነበረች። እነ አበበ ባልቻ ይህችን እድል ተጠቅመው ስለ-ኪነጥበብ መውደቅ እንኳን ትንሽ መልእክት ከማስተላለፍ ይልቅ ልወደድ ባይነትን መረጡ። ይህን ጥሬ ሃቅ የመናገር ድፍረት ያለው አንድ ሰው ጠፋ። ሁሉም ምስጋናና ውዳሴውን አበዛ። ለማደር የሚደረግ ካንገት በላይ ውዳሴ... መቼም ያሳዝናል።
በጭምጭምታም እንደሰማነው፤ በደደቢት አንዳች የተለወጠ ነገር የለም። ደደቢት ድሮም በረሃ - አሁንም በረሃ ነው። የአካባቢው ህዝብ ላይም ምንም የሚታይ ለውጥ የለም። ይህ ህዝብ ከሃያ አመታት በፊት የመናገር በብት አልነበረውም። ይህ መብት አሁን ብሶበት ሕዝቡ የመናገር ብቻ ሳይሆን የውጭ ራዲዮ እንኳን የመስማት መብቱን ተነፍጓል።
ይህችን ሃቅ የጎበኘ አንድ የኪነ-ጥበብ ባለሞያ እንዴት አስችሎት ዝም ይላል? ይህ የብዙዎች ጥያቄ ነበር። "ስለ እውነት የቆመ አንድ ሰው ይጥፋ?" የሚለው ጥያቄ በህዝብ ዘንድ እየተብላላ እያለ ነበር አስቴር በዳኔ ብቅ ያለችው። ይህች አርቲስት የህዝቡን ጥያቄ ይዛ በድፍረት ወረወረችው። መገናኛ ብዙሃንና ማህበራዊ ገጾችም በዚሁ ጉዳይ ተጨናንቀው ከረሙ።
ለድቅድቅ ጨለማ ትንሽ የብርሃን ፍንጣቂ ትበቃለች እንዲሉ የዚያን ሁሉ የውሸት ክምር አንድ እውነት አፈራረሰው። ህዝብ ያከብራቸው የነበሩ የኪነጥበብ ባለሞያዎች ሁሉ ወረዱ። የማያልፈውን የህዝብ ፍቅር በሚያልፍ ነገር ቀየሩት።
ጥሪ የተደረገላቸው አርቲስቶች ሁለት አማረጮች ነበራቸው። ጥሪውን ተቀብሎ ሄዶ እውነትን መመስከር አሊያም እንደ ገጠሚ ታገል ሰይፉ ጥሪውን አለመቀበል። ገጣሚ ታገል ሰይፉ በኤፍ ኤም 􏰅􏰆 ራዲዮ ሲናገር እንዲህ ነበር ያለው።
ታገል ሰይፉ ቀደም ሲልም በመንግስት መገናኛ ብዙሃን ሃሳቡን ተቆርጦ እንዳስቀረበት ተናግሯል። ደደቢት ድረስ ሄዶ ሃሳቡን የማያስተላልፉለት ከሆነ መቅረቱ አይነተኛ አማራጭ ነው። አበበ ባልቻን፤ ሙሉ አለምን፣ ነዋይ ደበበን፣ ... አርቲስቶች እና የኪነጥበብ ሰዎች ብለን ጠርተን፤ አስቴርንና ታገል ሰይፉን ምን ልንላቸው ይሆን?... ማህበራዊ ፍርዱን ከህዝቡ ያገኙታል።
እኔም በዚህች ቀልድ ጽሁፌን ልቋጭ። አንድ የህንድ ኢንቨስተር አዲስ አበባ ዬሴፍ ቤተ ክርስቲያንን የቀብር ስፍራ አይቶ በሊዝ ሊገዛ ፈለገ። የአዲስ አበባ ባለስልጣናትን ጠርቶ እንዲሸጡለት ጠየቀ። ባለስልጣናቱም መልሰው ሌሎች ቦታዎች ሳያልቁ የቀብር ስፍራ ለግዜው እንደማይሸጡለት ነገሩት። ህንዱ መለሰና መከራቸው። "እኛ አገር ሰው ሲሞት እናቃጥላለን እንጂ አንቀብርም። ለምን ይህን ለም ቦታ ታባክናላችሁ?”
ባለስልጣናቱ መለሱ፣ “እኛ አገር ደግሞ ሰውን በቁሙ ነው እንጂ ሲሞት አናቃጥልም!“
3 | ገጽ
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"ባለፈው የመቀሌ ጉዞ ላይ እኔ አልሄድኩም። አርቲስቶች ሲሄዱ ጥሪ ተደርጎልኛል። ነገር ግን የደደቢቱን ጉዞ
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ስላላመንኩበት ቀርቻለሁ። ስለማልፈልገው ማለት ነው። ...ለነሱም የምለው ነው። በተለይ ባለፉት 15 አመታት
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ብዙ ነገር አልተሰራም። ለስነ ጽሁፍ የሚመች ግዜ አይደለም። ስነጽሁፍን ትኩረት አልሰጡትም። እያየን ነው።"
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ህወሃት ግን አንድ መልዕክት ለማስተላለፍ ነበር አርቲስቶቹን ወደ ደደቢት የወሰዳቸው። አዚህ ተነስተን፣ አፈር
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ለብሰን፣ አፈር በልተን፣ የፈረስ ሽንት ጠጥተን የያዝናት ስልጣን ናት። ይህችን ስልጣን በምርጫ እንደማናስረክብ እናንተም
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An Appeal to the AID and Diplomatic Community in Ethiopia - See more at: http://www.zehabesha.com/appeal-aid-diplomatic-community-ethiopia/#sthash.f1H9LPcg.dpuf

Subject: Support Human Rights & Free and Fair Elections; Speak out Against the Decimation of Independent Opposition Parties by Ethiopia’s Election Board
February 2, 2015
shengoShengo believes Ethiopia’s 100 million people demand, and more importantly, deserve a free and fair election. However, the machinations by the ruling party of dismantling competitive opposition parties and replacing them with politically manufactured pseudo-opposition groups that are completely loyal to
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) that dominates the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) is reprehensible and totally unacceptable. This machination will lead to civil unrest and instability immediately after the ruling party declares victory. Over the past several months, the TPLF/EPRDF has used the country’s Election Board as a political tool to penetrate, harass, subvert and dismantle multiethnic opposition parties with country-wide appeal. The All Ethiopia Unity Party (AEUP), the Unity, Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ) and the new youth-led Green or Semayawi Party are victims of this deliberate and well calculated dismemberment and disenfranchisement campaign. The TPLF/EPRDF has used Election Board that it dominates and runs to establish pseudo replacements that are subservient and adjunct to the ruling party. It is largely these parties and the TPLF/EPRDF that will participate in the election. The outcome is therefore predictable. This is a sham.

As part of the power consolidation process before the election next May, peaceful protests allowed under the Constitution and initiated by the UDJ and Semayawi have been suppressed and disbanded. Peaceful protestors including the elderly, girls and boys, party leaders and members have been whipped and beaten in broad day light in front diplomats. Many are in jail. A 70 year old mother attending church service were among those maimed by Federal and municipal police.

Shengo expresses its outrage concerning this recurrent abrogation of human rights, the rule of law and justice at a time when the country should be preparing to listen to alternative political voices. The ongoing onslaught is intended to pave the way for total electoral win by the TPLF/EPRDF. Sadly for the Ethiopian people, the competition will be confined to the ruling party and its pre-screened, vetted and anointed parties. In effect, the TPLF/EPRDF will compete against itself. The goal is 100 percent victory.

Shengo urges the donor and diplomatic community to reject the ruling party’s pretentious position that there will be a free and fair election in Ethiopia and that there are independent parties willing to compete. This is entirely untrue. A free and fair election is untenable because genuine opposition parties have been decimated. There is no single independent press; and independent journalists are either in jail or have fled in droves. Civil society has been crushed. The media is dominated by the party and state. As Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Oakland Institute, the Committee to Protect Journalists and others have shown, the level of repression is unprecedented. The hope that there will be greater political space after the passing of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, the strongman who led Ethiopia for more than 20 years has been shattered. Ethiopia is more polarized today than it was during the 2005 elections. Public confidence in the electoral and institutional processes has reached an all time low.

In Shengo’s estimation, this recurring repression and suffocation of basic human rights inflicted on all segments of Ethiopian society will not stop the popular momentum for justice, genuine equality under the law and representative governance in Ethiopia. On the contrary, Ethiopia’s youth is more determined and committed to democratic change today than it was 5 years ago. Harassments, jailings, killing, persecutions, forced migration out of the country etc. are unlikely to stop the momentum. Equally, opposition parties that have been disbanded will use the current opportunity as a game changer and will emerge stronger. In short, the TPLF/EPRDF is most likely to contribute to the formation of a more cohesive, durable, purposeful, wise, strategic and collaborative and nationally oriented opposition. We therefore urge opposition groups within and outside Ethiopia to set aside minor differences, reach out to and support one another and focus on the future of the country and the prosperity of all Ethiopians.
Shengo believes that the TPLF/EPRDF is not capable of resolving Ethiopia’s myriad of problems—the high cost of living, unemployment and underemployment, income and social inequality, the misuse of the country’s natural resources including farmlands and waters, mineral resources, the plight of women, bribery, nepotism, corruption and illicit outflow of capital—etc. These national problems can be solved only through a just, fair, rule of law based and democratic government in which all stakeholders will have a say. It will take all Ethiopians to solve these intractable problems and propel the country to peace and prosperity.

Given Ethiopia’s high dependency on foreign development and humanitarian aid, the donor and diplomatic community has a special moral responsibility to advance a democratic alternative rather than to continue shoring up a government that has lost legitimacy among the vast majority of Ethiopians.  Shengo believes genuinely that Ethiopia’s interests and the interests of the global community are compatible. A just, democratic, unified and prosperous Ethiopia is in the interest of Western and African democracies. It will serve as a beacon of hope not only for the Horn but also for the rest of Africa. But, this won’t happen unless there is a concerted and genuine effort on the part of the global community.

In light of the dire situation facing Ethiopia and its 100 million people, we urge the donor and diplomatic community to give teeth by speaking out publicly and privately now on the following concrete and urgent issues:
  1. Speak out both in private and in public against Election Board interferences in the electoral process and the legitimate functioning of multiethnic opposition parties
  1. Establish an independent commission consisting of notable Ethiopians and foreign expert advisors to investigate government crackdowns, recent killings, unwarranted arrests and persecutions of peaceful dissenters throughout the country and bring those responsible for “crimes against humanity” and other killings to justice
  1. Open political space for all opposition groups and allow opposition parties to move freely, raise funds, establish offices, campaign and present their programs to constituents without harassment and intimidation
  1. Free all political prisoners including journalists, bloggers and democratic, social and political activists and leaders and members of the opposition without preconditions and without delay. This will restore public confidence in the electoral process and mitigate risks. It will also avert civil conflict
  1. Reconstitute the Election Board and ensure that it is free, impartial and independent of governing party control
  1. Free the judiciary system from party control and empower it to perform its functions impartially and independently
  1. Provide opposition parties free and equal accesses to government controlled media
  1. Disallow federal police, security and defense forces from interfering in the electoral process
  1. Urge the Ethiopian government to allow foreign and Ethiopian human rights groups to operate in Ethiopia freely
  1. Ask the Ethiopian government to accept and engage international and domestic election observers to monitor the electoral process and resolve electoral disputes consistent with international standards, and
  1. Urge the Ethiopian government to extend the election by several months to give opposition groups to reconstitute themselves, establish offices and campaign vigorously.
Sincerely,
Source- Zhabsha

Ethiopia: The Economics of Corruption

Corruption is both a moral problem, in cultural and individual sense, and an important problem in economic and political life. In this sense, corruption is a sociological fact. It is also an economic fact due to its effects on social welfare and development.
Corruption can take place in any transaction that involves a public official. I can be seen as a special case of the principal-agent equation, with the general public as the principal and the public officials as agents.
The World Bank notes that the poor suffer the most from the petty corruption for the provision of public service. A study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also shows that an increase of just 0.78pc in corruption reduces the income growth of the poorest 20pc of the people in a country by 7.8pc a year.
In the 2013 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Ethiopia ranks 111th out of 177 countries. Additionally, in 2011/12, the late Prime Minister Melese Zenawi’s reference about “government thieves” not only shows how corruption roots in the government system, but how the nation is suffering from it.
Economists generally see corruption as part of the problem of rent-seeking approach. It slows economic growth because it distorts incentives and market signals, leading to misallocation of resources, especially human talent, into rent-seeking activities.
Corruption is also seen as an inefficient tax on those who are forced to pay it hence it raises the cost of production. Because corrupt practices are conducted in secrecy and contracts emanating from them are not legally enforceable, corruption increases transactions cost. It may also lead bureaucrats to channel government expenditures into unproductive sectors.
Corruption also reduces the productivity of resources because it degrades the quality of such resources. For example, it can lead to reductions in the quality of education and health care and hence decreases human capital. Corruption increases not only the cost of production but also uncertainty, decreasing investment in both physical and human capital.
In November 2013, the World Economic Forum released its ‘Outlook on the Global Agenda 2014′, in which it ranked widening income disparities as the second greatest worldwide risk in the coming 12 to 18 months. Based on those surveyed, inequality is impacting social stability in many countries and threatening security on a global scale.
Some economic inequality is essential to drive growth and progress, rewarding those with talent, hard-earned skills, and the ambition to innovate and take entrepreneurial risks. However, the extreme levels of wealth concentration occurring today threaten to exclude hundreds of millions of people from realising the benefits of their talents and hard work.
Regarding the impact of corruption on income inequality, several economists argue that corruption increases income inequality through several channels. To the extent that corruption decreases economic growth, which is more likely to increase the income share of the poor than the rich, it increases income inequality and poverty. It also leads to a bias of the tax system in favor of the rich and powerful, thus making the effective tax system regressive, which implies that the burden of the tax system falls disproportionately on the poor.
In African countries, the notional tax system is not regressive. However, corruption allows the rich and powerful to escape their tax obligations, hence the tax burden falls almost exclusively on the poor.
Corruption leads to the concentration of assets among a few wealthy elite. Because earning power depends, to some extent, on resource endowment, the rich are able to use their wealth to further consolidate their economic and political power.
Education in Least Developing Countries (LDCs) is a way out of poverty and the poor also benefit from government social programs, such as healthcare. Corruption decreases the quantity and effectiveness of social programs that benefit the poor and divert these resources to programs that benefit the rich or provide opportunities for rent extraction, such as defense spending.
Even when social programs are not reduced, corruption changes the composition of social spending in such a way as to benefit the rich at the expense of the poor. For example, healthcare expenditures may be tilted toward building the most “modern” hospital that caters only to the rich at the expense of preventive healthcare that benefit the poor. In the same way, education spending could be skewed towards higher education that benefit the rich rather than towards primary and secondary education that benefit the poor.
Some researchers argue that the choice of development strategy influence income inequality as labour intensive development strategy leads to equitable distribution of income while the opposite is true for a capital intensive development strategy. Large subsidies on capital result in a capital intensive development strategy, which increases income inequality.
In African countries, production decisions are highly influenced by an elaborate system of taxes and subsidies. While capital is heavily subsidised, labour is taxed at a high rate with the result that businesses choose capital intensive technologies over labor intensive ones. This policy of subsidising capital is exacerbated by high level of corruption in most African countries. This strategy leads to low demand for labour and low wages, which eventually redistributes income from the poor to the rich since the subsidies are paid with taxes paid by the poor.
Inflation, which is described as continuous increase in the general level of prices, is an important term which we face in the context of the elements that cause corruption and the effects of corruption.
Because of its characteristics, such as reducing the level of real wages and minimizing the purchasing power of money, inflation might entail the income loss of individuals and groups and distortion of income distribution. These people who experience the income loss can appeal to different methods to generate revenue so as to sustain their economic life conditions. In this direction, inflation might cause an increase in corrupt acts, such as bribery.
Besides, continuous and sudden raises in the general level of prices might also result in the increase in the ambiguity of economic life. The ambiguities in economic process are the most important factors in the appearance and spread of corruption.
Conversely, a reduction in public revenues comes into discussion in economies in which corruption is experienced intensively and this guides the governments to use items of income, such as coining money, often. The negative situation that is caused by coining money becomes the experience of living an inflationary process.
Furthermore, coining money will be resorted again for the necessary public incomes as the public incomes are not used effectively in economies in which corrupt acts, such as lobbying and rent-seeking, are seen commonly. Moreover, bribe payments can cause an increase in the general level of prices as an additional cost factor in economies in which corruption is seen.
The most effective method in struggling with corruption is to remove the recipes for it. An action that does not aim at removing the reasons might result in new problems rather than providing solution methods.
Eidmon Tesfaye Has a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Economics & Rural Development. He Can Be Contacted At Eidmondrdae@gmail.com.
Source- .addisfortune
- See more at: http://www.zehabesha.com/ethiopia-economics-corruption/#sthash.hl8BX8a9.dpuf