The accidental journalist, refugee, tourist, or the all-in-one spy?

The accidental journalist, refugee, tourist, or the all-in-one spy?

December 31, 2013
The Free Press in Ethiopia can’t be free until the drifters, apologists and want-to-be journalists and Medias are put out of commission. It’s about time Ethiopians draw the line between the real things and those masquerading as journalist and free press to deceive the public.

by Teshome Debalke

The once celebrated ‘journalist’ and editor of Awramba Times, Dawit Kebede  sought political asylum in the USA a few years back an d abandon his protection and return home to the same regime a few month ago he gave refugee status a whole different meaning.
When the accidental journalist, refugee, tourist and alleged spy took a daylight flight out of Addis Ababa Airport a few years ago to seek protection from a regime known for its atrocious treatment of journalists something wasn’t kosher. But, when he return back; after enjoying the privilege and throwing jabs on his compatriots he broke his sworn journalistic duty and became a gossip peddler with an extended tourist visa.
No one knows how he managed to secure a passport, exist visa and a ticket from the same regime he flee claiming to fear for his life. But, to retune to the same regime that allowed him to resume his work and interview a high ranking government official within weeks of his return not only insult journalism profession but the people that paid the price for it. It was like watching ‘Alice in the wonderland’ episode that can qualify for Grammy nomination for the best acting and directing.
Absurd as it may sound; his official excuse to return home was to be closer on the ground where the struggle for freedom from the same tyranny he fled. When that wasn’t enough, the ‘prize wining journalist’ that fled his country not only welcomed with open arms but granted him permission to interview with Shemle Kemal, the Deputy Communication Affair Minster known for his duplicity telling him the none existence of journalists in Woyane prison.
No one knows how he managed to dupe the sponsoring organization – the Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) or whether he falsified his fear of persecution to the US Immigration Naturalization Service (INS) to be granted asylum. Nor, what he told INS the reasons he surrendering his asylum status or what passport he used to travel home. Whatever the case may be and however he managed to elude the CPJ or INS to come and go, the case is ‘under review’, according spokesperson for INS.
Call him the accidental refugee, tourist, spy, or all-in-one journalist the action of Dawit Kebde of Awramba Times illustrate what is wrong with ‘journalists’ and the free press in the lawless Woyane ruled Ethiopia as well as exported in the Diaspora by cadres and apologist of the ruling regime.
To his credit, Dawit Kebede was one of the celebrated Ethiopian journalists that defy Woyane tyranny and the hope of reforming the sorry state of the free press.
Something must have gone wrong since his colleague and fellow journalist arrest on off-the-wall terrorism charge.
Whatever it may be, his round trip escape from a political refugee-tourist journalist back to where he started– with bizarre behavior in between including, playing the ethnic card along the way seems to turn the once promising champion of the free press to join the club of gossip peddlers and apologist of the regime that have been contaminating the cyberspace for far too long.
It was indeed another sad day for the free press when one more promising Ethiopian falls in the Hall-of-Shame as many did before him. Add his strange behavior and staged interview with the shameless Deputy Minster of Government Communication Affair the prize winning journalist showed borderline insanity.
The important issue isn’t what one renegade ‘journalist’ or Media did or didn’t do but the state of the free press in general and the behavior of want-to-be journalist. The time has come for independent Media monitoring group to evaluate the behavior of journalist and the activities of Medias as many self respecting countries do.
Ethiopia ranks at the bottom of every measure on Free Press. Freedom House categorizes it as ‘difficult situation’, according its 2013 Press Freedom Index. For sure, the whole truth is more than what a foreign organizations’ index can tell. The fact the entire ‘free press’ in Ethiopia fallen victim of cadres of Woyane’s run lookalikes — masquerading as free presses isn’t secret.
Before every lone ranger propagandist or want-to-be journalist and Media that put up a website and name it some fancy name or another raise hell, it is important to explore the State of the Free Press and what is expected of journalists or Medias.
Free Press is a serious business. It is not to entertain a second rated ethnic tyranny or some interest group or another but, to get to the truth in public interest.  If anyone is allergic to the truth it is wise to look for other occupation than recycling propaganda posed journalist or Free Press. Another thing many want-to-be journalists miss in their cut-and –paste exercise of recycling propaganda or gossip is they forget pampering tyranny is unforgivable crime against the people.
The primary job of journalist and Free Press is to go after the ruling regime, particularly unelected tyranny like Woyane of Ethiopia.  Beyond that, corporations and civic institutions or powerful individuals that have direct or indirect impact against the wellbeing and interest of the public are targets of any self-respecting journalist and free press.  In that regard, there are plenty of those roaming the streets of the country.
In today’s Ethiopia, pick any Media or journalist that operates within the country randomly noting resubliming Free Press or no one that does journalism work exists. The little opportunity that opened up for independent journalist to operate free press in the past was replaced by counterfeits — recycling the ruling regime’s propaganda in the name of the Free Press.   Another habit these handicapped want-to-be journalists developed in a make-believe world they created is interviewing the regime’s officials and apologist with predetermined questions to desensitize the public makes them journalists or free press.
Furthermore, when we look dipper in the propaganda businesses, we find the Government Communication Affair Minster (the former Ministry of Information). The Ministry that was under the leadership of Birket Simon single handedly the sole decider of the fate of journalists and the free press for 22 long years of Woyane’s rule and counting.  In that capacity, the government runs Medias, including the Ethiopian  News Agency, the Ethiopian Television and Radio stations distribute propaganda from top down.
When it comes to spreading propaganda for international wire service Walta Information Center owned by ruling party Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) masquerading as private news agency does superb job.
Further down the chain of distribution are TPLF owned shortwave Radio Fana, masquerading as ‘private’ broadcasts the same propaganda 24/7 in local languages throughout the nation.
In addition, a few FM radio stations in selected cities and a dozen or so print Medias controlled by TPLF’s cadres and apologist blanket the country — saturating the Media market by TPLF’s propoganda.
Therefore, At present, there is no a single independent news agency and mass Media in the entire country of Ethiopia.  As depressing as it may sound in the 21century, the fact there are ‘journalists’ or Medias willing to cover up the reality — disguised as journalist and free press is where the problem of the free press begin and must end.
Why the living- dead ‘journalists’ or Media do it?
It is not a mystery the nature of tyranny is incompatible with the free press. If there is any self-respecting journalist that doesn’t understand that reality and participate in recycles propaganda, he or she might as well declare they are the living-dead and get it over with.
There is nothing wrong recycling propaganda and fiction per say. But pretending to be independent journalist and free press isn’t only an insult to the profession but a crime against the public. The question is why would they want to fake what they are not?  In another words, why would ‘journalists’ sugarcoat propaganda or fiction and want to pass it as truth?
The answer for above question would sort out the bottom feeders from the real thing in the journey to freedom and democracy from tyranny.
Therefore, unlike many believe the enemy of freedom and democracy isn’t tyranny alone but the appologist of tyranny, particularly the living dead journalist running Medias masquerading as free press.
What can be done about journalists and Medias that recycle propaganda?
First, it isn’t an easy work to recycle propaganda as truth. It requires reducing oneself to the bottom of the pits to sort out rubbish and present it as kosher. It also takes a psychological make up to believe such corruption is a worthwhile venture. Therefore, people that do it often feel ashamed of themselves to conceal their identity. If they come out in public they always have to put on an act at all times.
Continuous public exposure for their misbehaviors is a known remedy to put them out of their miserable existnace.
The ESAT Factor
The ‘clash of civilization’ between tyranny and democracy begins and ends with the Free Press like ESAT. Those that don’t understand ESAT aren’t prepared for the democratic struggle or are part of tyranny’s network against the people’s interest. Therefore, undermining the Free Press like ESAT is misplaced and comes from the usual suspects.
The establishment of ESAT, the first independent public Mass-Media in the history of Ethiopia changed the landscape of Free Press and the behavior of journalist as we know it.  ESAT not only blew wide-open the hiding places of tyranny and Medias; masquerading as the free press but set the standard of how the Ethiopian Free Press should function and how independent journalists should behave — underlining public interest comes first than anything else.
Unlike some wanted us to believe, ESAT is an institution not an individual journalist, editor or manager.  Like everything first expectation is high and criticism is plenty. But, institution building takes time, resources and trial-and-error to get it right in changing old mindsets and beliefs of expectations of the importance of public interest over individuals and groups interest.
What is the public interest?
Often we miss the forest for the tree when we argue the public interest verses individuals or groups interest. Unfortunately, the survival of tyranny depends on it.
Institution like ESAT is a public institution. Therefore, whether we like it or not we have to respect and support the public’s right to know about everything. Public interest can’t and should not be secondary to individual and groups’ interest period.
The role of ESAT is to fulfill the public right to know what the ruling tyranny or anyone else that compromise or conspire against the public. Therefore, anyone that split hair to undermine ESAT is either ignorant of what a free press is all about or no less tyrannical than the ruling Woyane regime itself.
Thus, instead of making too much noise over minor errors ESAT may or mayn’t make, we should argue over what else the public need to know about the ruling regime and other interest groups that are working against the public interest behind the people’s back.
What we need is not arguing over ESAT but more public institutions like ESAT that defend the right of the public in many social, political and economic rights from all forms of abuse of the public interests.
The rest of the side shows aren’t in the public interest and don’t help to bring about the people’s government sooner than later.  As the struggle to rid of the ethnic tyranny goes on, it is important to be reminded the public interest is the driving force of the struggle noting more or less.
As I said before, ESAT is the best thing that happened to Ethiopians since the Adwa victory. Anyone or group that can’t see that reality must have other agenda or don’t understand the public interest from self-interest.
That said, there are many things I can suggest to improve ESAT. But, talk is cheap, and when I am ready to back up my talk with the resources needed to do it I will say so. I suggest every Ethiopian should do the same. For those that hate ESAT, including the Woyane regime and its apologists, I can only say whatever your alternative may be it wouldn’t worth a penny on a dollar. Recycling rubbish may buy you time but it will stink you out of existence, save yourself.

Mass grave uncovered in Janmeda military barrack, Addis Ababa

Mass grave uncovered in Janmeda military barrack, Addis Ababa

(Borkena) Mass grave is uncovered over the weekend in Janmeda neighbourhood of Addis Ababa indicates a report shared on golgul newspaper facebook page. Estimated six human remains were uncovered in a Military barrack in Janmeda and were all wrapped in locally produced blankets.

Apparently, the remains were uncovered accidentally during excavation for road construction. Construction workers initially discovered two human remains and further excavation in the same area uncovered for more human remains. Military officers are reported to have arrived at the scene and give orders to suspect the construction work. Whether more remains would have been uncovered or not is a question if the work was indeed temporarily suspended.
Sources close to Semayawi party who were at the scene to document the unexpected finding of human remains are reported to have been threatened by military officers in the scene.

The blankets used to wrap the corpse seem to foster speculations that the killings are likely to have been committed under the ruing TPLF/EPRDF government.

 

 HORN OF AFRICA: Humanitarian Situation Deteriorates as New Year comes and goes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 28, 2013

HRLHA’s 2014 New Year Message

Dear friends,

Time does seem to pass ever more quickly. Has it really been a year since the HRLHA office last shared its thoughts on the occasion of the 2013 New Year? The fact is our attention is totally consumed by the job we are doing. For those who are languishing in prisons simply because they hold different political views from those of the ruling party of Ethiopia, for those Ethiopians and others who escaped from fear of persecution and are in refugee camps or live on the streets of the countries they took asylum in looking for their daily slice of bread, even a minute is too long. Soon we all will be joining together to welcome a new year with another new hope to do better. We must recognize the fact that doing better doesn’t happen simply because we wish it to be true. Rather, first we need to take our time and assess this year’s achievements or losses and compare them against the promises we made as this year began. In short, it is a time for “self-analysis”.

We can safely say the outgoing year has been the most turbulent year for defenders of human rights in the Horn of Africa and elsewhere. The struggles of the people which have been inflamed for over two years in North Africa didn’t come to an end and continued to reverberate in the Middle East and in North Africa. The people were attempting to rid themselves of dictatorial regimes and create a better democracy. Fearing that unrest would spread into the sub-Saharan countries, the governments of this region have been very busy in the past two or more years to silence any type of civilian movements in their respective countries. For example, in Ethiopia any individual or group who didn’t support the policy of the governing party was/were automatically labeled as terrorists. Muslim community members who opposed the involvement of the government in their religious affairs, farmers who resisted eviction from their ancestral lands, university students who demanded the improvement of university teaching and learning environments on their campuses were labeled as terrorists and imprisoned, tortured and sometimes killed- thousands escaped to neighboring countries. In general, the prolonged political unrests in, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, S. Sudan and others made these regions unsafe places for citizens to live; they have produced the largest numbers of refugees ever seen in the past decades. Thousands have fled their homelands to seek safety in neighboring countries, including in Yemen, and Middle East Arab Countries out of a fear of persecution and imprisonment.

The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa and other human rights organizations have repeatedly reported on the humanitarian crises in the Horn of Africa in the outgoing year.

Even though we faced human and financial challenges in the outgoing year and much work remains to be done, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize some significant human rights achievements recorded in 2013 by the HRLHA. Many violations of human rights were compiled and disseminated- written and oral presentations on human rights violations in Ethiopia included – were made at United Nations Human Rights Council session of 2013. Another major accomplishment which I would like to mention is we managed to open HRLHA’s Regional branch office in Uganda/Kampala in October 2013, an event that we strongly believe will help to strengthen the involvement of HRLHA in communities of the region and enhance the efforts of the agency in getting effective results.

Finally, I wish a stable, peaceful, joyful and healthy New Year for all of HRLHA’s members, supporters, staff, volunteers, and friends in the Horn of Africa Countries and elsewhere. I hope the coming New Year will bring democracy, and respect for all forms of freedoms and human rights. Let all people be free from tyranny and suffering at the hands of their dictator governments.

Ethiopia’s New Plan to Hunt, Kill or Maim Ogaden citizenry in the Diaspora

Ethiopia’s New Plan to Hunt, Kill or Maim Ogaden citizenry in the Diaspora

                   

(Ogaden Online News)The Ogaden Online News Network’s investigators have received confidential  information about a new clandestine plan to hunt, kill, maim, or intimidate, at the very least, the Ogaden citizenry in the Diaspora  especially in the Kenyan refugee camps and those present in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

 

This plan is spearheaded by the Ethiopian Intelligence using the Ethiopian military personnel at the Moyale, Kenya border, the Ethiopian embassy in Nairobi and members of its Kilil personnel both in Kenya and in JigJiga.

 

What the Ethiopian intelligence has done over the past one year is to collect the names, family history and even the pictures of the Ogaden leaders at the Kenyan refugee camps. They have also obtained, from those who have defected in the past six months, the same information concerning the leaders of the Ogaden citizenry living in the Kenyan capital.

 

What they have done with the information is to dispatch Somali members of the Kilil personnel to the Kenyan refugee camps and to Nairobi so they can have presence in the camps and in the capital city, Nairobi. These members were instructed to telephone the identified leaders in the refugee camps  with threats of them being killed if they do not help the Ethiopian regime. The refugee camp leaders were then called from many numbers as to multiply the threats of death or maiming of the leaders being called.

 

At times, the Ethiopian intelligence and its Kilil personnel have used, contrary to all international norms, the parents, siblings, or even spouses of these individuals who might still live in the Ogaden to relay their threats. The Ethiopian intelligence used the same tactics against the members of the Ogaden citizenry in Nairobi, Kenya. 

The Ogaden Online News Network’s investigators were able confirm more than a dozen such threats being relayed to leaders both in the Kenyan refugee camps and those present in Nairobi, Kenya. The team also witnessed a botched one such operation where the Somali operators and their Ethiopian handlers could not pinpoint their target and they resorted to asking their target whether he was such and such individual not once but on two separate days and times. 

Luckily the individual pretended to know nothing about what he was being asked and before he realized what was happening on the second day, the Ethiopians and their Somali collaborators hastily left the area. Before the Ethiopians fled, the Ogaden News Network Investigators were able to snap pictures of the six individuals that were involved in the botched operation.

 

The team was also able to trace some of the telephone numbers where the threats originated from. Most of the numbers were sourced from the Ethiopian embassy in Nairobi. There were two specific numbers that also were traced to the Ethiopian military at the Moyale border.

 

One specific number was directly traced to an International calling card that is known to be used by the Kilil head in JigJiga. Using a number of techniques including cell tower information, the team was able to identify four cellphones that were ONLY used during set hours and ONLY used from identified hotels frequented by the Ethiopian intelligence members in the Kenyan capital.

 

Currently the Ogaden News Network’s investigators have completed the collection and corroboration of the information of all those involved in the planning and the implementation of this heinous crime against the Ogaden citizenry. We are in the final stages of ascertaining the role of each individual be they Ethiopian military personnel, intelligence or their Somali collaborators in the Kilil or outside of it.

 

Once we complete this final step, we will be publishing the entire plan with the locations, times and dates of the planners’ meetings; and the dossier of the individuals involved in this plan to hunt, kill, maim or intimidate the Ogaden citizenry. We will publish the names of the individuals, pictures – where possible, their role in the plan, the cellphone numbers they frequently use, and the list of individuals each was assigned to either eliminate or at the very least force them into hiding. Stay tuned for our next dispatch.

Hundreds Left Homeless After Authorities Demolish Slum in Ethiopia’s capital

Hundreds Left Homeless After Authorities Demolish Slum in Ethiopia’s capital

Sitting amongst the rubble that used to be his home. His old, small eyes are locked in the distance, but as soon as anyone comes near him, he looks up with a stare on his weathered face that belies his hope of solving his eminent problem, homelessness.

Ato Ayalew Mitiku*, who is in the twilight of his 60′s, used to have a home–however shabby and small it was. He and his family used to live in the area behind Bole MedhaneAlem Church in Addis Ababa town, a place called Yechereqaw Kuasmeda.

There, around 2,000 people were estimated to have lived in one of the worst slum areas in Addis Ababa in small, shanty, illegally constructed houses. All the residents of that place form part of the lowest income earning section of Addis Ababa’s society.

Four days ago, according to Sisay Kassie*, one of the two young men who showed reporters around, lots of police men surrounded the area, telling them to evacuate their homes immediately.

“They did not even [allow] us enough time for [the] evacuation” Sisay told me, with sorrow in his eyes and extreme fatigue on his face. “They immediately started to plow down all the houses with bulldozers for no consideration. All the houses turned into dust and rubble right there in front of our eyes. The place we used to call home was no more, a barren land in its place.”

I enquired if they were given prior notice of the demolition. Their heartfelt and emotional answer was “They had told us that this place was going to be removed and plowed down three or four months ago. But there was no legal notice. It was just word of the mouth. And we were always asking for places to be given to us. And the people at the concerned offices always said that at one time one of the officials wasn’t around to decide or at another time the map for the place was not prepared. And now they are telling us to wait for our answers living outside. What kind of justice is that? There is no where we can apply to to get justice. The Sub city administration will not do anything for us and we have been trying to ask the Red Cross for help but its all bureaucratic.”

Many people are scared that  kids may be buried under the rubble, since the demolition exercise was forcefully and hurriedly done. I met some who claimed to have been bruised and hurt in the debacle–although the injuries are minor.

In front of the demolished houses are villas and apartments that are so beautifully made with nicely kept gardens watered constantly by the gardeners hired for that sole purpose.

Ato Ayalew and Sisay told me that the place in front of where they used to live was given to the Ethiopian Sports Commission who are building an international-standard stadium. But it wasn’t even near them, they claim, ”they could have given us more time, they say. The place we were occupying would have been a road, so they could have given us time until the stadium was finished. Now we have nowhere to go…with our economical status, where would we go? what are we going to do?”

As I left the place, that was my question as well.
Attempts to contact the relevant governmental bodies has been to no avail. 

Kenya assists Ethiopia fight Oromia rebels

Kenya assists Ethiopia fight Oromia rebels

A rebel OLF unit retreating into Kenya after fighting Ethiopian government troops in 2006

© Jonathan Alpeyrie/Creative Commons

afrol News, 9 December - The Ethiopian government is hailing Kenya for its registration of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) as "an organised criminal body." Several OLF rebels have already been killed and arrested in Kenya.

According to the Addis Ababa Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kenyan Minister of Internal Security, George Saitoti, already in the beginning of November added the OLF to the Ministry's list of organised criminal groups. After a passed 21-day deadline to challenge the listing in the Kenyan High Court, the OLF listing is now definite.

As no person or group applied for the OLF's removal from the list within the required three weeks, the Oromia rebel group has now joined the thirty three other groups which the government of Kenya has identified as criminal bodies. These include foreign groups such as Somalia's Al Shabaab and the Taliban and local gangs such as the Baghdad Boys and the Mungiki Movement.

The OLF listing had come after long pressure from Ethiopian authorities, which accuse the rebels, fighting for the independence of Ethiopia's populous south-central Oromia region, of "planting of bombs and the murder of civilians."

Addis Ababa therefore hailed the Kenyan government. "It is a clear demonstration of Kenya's commitment to security issues and underlines the close diplomatic and security relationship that exists between Kenya and Ethiopia," a Foreign Ministry press release said. Ethiopia itself has outlawed the OLF and lists it as a "terrorist group."

The new Kenyan listing of the OLF is already leading to new tension. Kenyan armed forces last week attacked several OLF rebels having entered Kenyan territory on a raid against Oromians opposing the rebels. Kenyan troops confirmed that five OLF rebels were killed in the confrontation.

This week, Kenyan police stormed a wedding ceremony in Huruma and arrested three alleged top commanders of the OLF. The assumed OLF leaders posed "a security threat" to Kenya, it was said, and were wanted for organised crime in Ethiopia. An extradition to Ethiopia was being considered.

A larger raid in Nairobi, targeting illegal immigrants from Somalia and Ethiopia, has also been seen in connection with the fight against groups now listed as "organised criminal bodies" in Kenya. More than 300 foreigners were arrested in Nairobi this week.

Especially since the escalation of the Oromia conflict following Ethiopia's 2005 elections, the OLF has increasingly operated on both sides of the Kenyan border. While there have been several deadly confrontations between the OLF and Kenyan troops, Kenya has not yet made any serious effort to root the Ethiopian rebels out from its territory.

According to Kenyan media reports, insecurity in northern Kenya due to occasional OLF raids has left several hundred civilians fleeing their homes and several schools to be closed.

By staff writer

South Africa holds Seminar on Preventing Human Rights Abuses held in Ethiopia

Somalilandsun – A Three-day seminar titled “How to prevent Ethiopian Human Rights Abuses” was held by the Ogaden Youth and Student Union in Johannesburg. The aim of the seminar was how to educate the youths, how to be united, work together and launch campaigns against those committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ethiopian Occupied-Ogaden Region.

The Youth vowed to bring to justice those who that believe that they will never be made accountable and brought in front of Justices.

The South Africa-based Ogaden Youth and Students Union in collaboration with Ogaden Community in South Africa has launched the three-days awareness Seminar on preventing Ethiopian human rights abuses.

Representatives and officials from Ogaden Community in South Africa, College Students, educators, Intellectuals, politicians and Eastern Africa Regional commentators participated in the seminar.

Speaking at the inaugural session, the chief speaker,OYSU-Secretary Mohammed Qani said: “Thank you every one for your participation, I strongly urge you to play a major role for preventing the human rights abuses being committed in the Ogaden territory by the Ethiopian Army and its militia of Liyu Police.”



Axbab Abdi, OYSU Coordinator said, “The Ogaden civilians are in dire circumstances, and this can only be changed if we all unite and take action”

The participants watched a shocking footage that showed the Ethiopian Army and its trained militia, the notorious Liyu Police, targeting unarmed civilians arbitrarily -raping, beating and detaining and abusing the detainees.

Some of the participants including a poet, known as Khader Olad who expressed his feelings by reciting a poem he composed a poem for the Somali Ogaden struggle against the Ethiopia occupation.

Another important Guest speaker was the chairman of Somali Ogaden Community in South Africa, Mr. Abdurrahman Sa’id,who spoke at length about the history of the Ogaden struggle and encouraged the participants to stand together and confront anything that stands against the noble cause of the Somali people in Ogaden.

Ogaden Youth & Student Union is a youth-led international organization based in 24 countries around the world which was established to educate, advocate and raise awareness in order to bring an end to the ignored and often hidden genocide taking place in the Ogaden.

The dark side of Teddy Afro's fame and fortune

The dark side of Teddy Afro's fame and fortune

inShare

by Tigist Geme

(OPride) – Ethiopia’s pop star Tewodros Kassahun, better known as Teddy Afro, is once again back in the limelight. Teddy made headlines last week with a comment published in the local Amharic magazine, Enqu, in which he condoned Menelik's greater Abyssinian campaign in southern Ethiopia as a holy war. Despite this disturbing statement and Teddy’s controversial past, local subsidaries for two multinational corporations – Heineken NV and Coca Cola Company – have recently signed Teddy to promote their products.

Enqu editors circulated the magazine’s December issue (pictured above) via email featuring Teddy and his beloved emperor side to side on its cover with a comment that reads, “For me, Menelik’s unification campaign was a Holy War.” A few days later, amid protests on social media, the publishers shelved the comment and sought to dismiss the controversy by saying it was a technical glitch in their system.

As Hallelujah Lulie points out in a blog post at Horn Affairs, on a closer reading, the Enqu publishers retraction doesn’t hold much water. First, a direct quote from a source cannot in any way be a "technical glitch." Second, as Lulie rightly notes, every news organization has established workflows and mechanisms for editorial oversight. It is therefore preposterous and unethical for Enqu editors to downplay and fix quotes by caving to pressures from Teddy and his handlers. Third, by lionizing one of Ethiopia's most ruthless tyrants – one whose historical atrocities amount to genocide against several nations and nationalists in southern Ethiopia including the Oromo, Kafficho, Wolayita, Sidamo and many others – Teddy has already condoned these atrocities. He has never been shy about his saintlike admiration for the loathed emperor.

For example, in an interview with EBS’s Kassa Show, dressed in a royal knight-like wear, Teddy flamboyantly showed off portraits of kings Menelik and Haileselassie in his living room while boasting about the need to understand history and the past to create a better future.

Even if one accepts Enqu’s botched retraction as plausible, Teddy has already done enough damage to his reputation. To be sure, as a private citizen, Teddy has every right to admire or immortalize whomever he so chooses. But he is a public figure. His music and words have significant influence. His willful ignorance and simplistic interpretation of historical events and figures have generational consequences. For the Oromo and other nations in the south, Teddy's actions amount to exculpating Hitler of the Holocaust.

It is time that Teddy is stopped. Such revisionist historiography and hagiography has no place in our time. It took decades of sustained struggle to correct the falsified Ethiopian history written by court historians, not least those who worked for Menelik. It is unthinkable to assume a return to an era where history is written to fulfill the interests of those who seek to maintain the status quo.

A tour for love and beer

It is against the backdrop of this shocking comment that Teddy announced a national tour ostensibly dubbed, "The Journey of Love", sponsored by Bedele Brewery SC, the maker of one of Ethiopia's premium beers, Bedele Special.

The state-owned Bedele Brewery was acquired along with Harar Brewery by the Dutch-based beer giant Heineken NV in 2011 for $160 million. Encouraged by population growth, urbanization, and rising incomes, Heineken is building a third brewery closer to Addis Ababa which the company says will be operational in 2014.

Established in 1993, Bedele Brewery is located in Oromia region, Illubabor Zone about 483 km west of Finfinne. Bedele Special is the single most common of Ethiopia’s premium beers among Oromo consumers. Heineken’s other key brands include Bedele Regular, Harar Beer, Hakim Stout, and Sofi malta. All of Heineken’s breweries and the Assela malt factory, which supplies most of the malted barley for the company, are located in Oromia. The Oromo people make up 40 percent of Ethiopia's total population. In an effort to boost its sales, it is possible that the beer maker was purposely misled by Teddy and his managers. But with its exclusive sponsorship of Teddy's 2014 tour, the Bedele-Heineken conglomerate now faces two stark choices: to lose whatever consumer base it has in Oromia or withdraw the offer to Teddy immediately. It is also worth considering the potential for violence as one of the unintended consequences of such insensitive tour.

For Heineken, this could mean a short term loss for long term gains or a long term loss for a potential short term gains. By choosing the former, the beer maker can prove that it stands for good business practices. But going forward with the current sponsorship amid a looming protest holds an ominous prospect for the company. As such protests go, there is a precedent in Oromia that the Bedele Brewery SC should consider while mulling over what actions to take next. In late 1990s, Saudi billionaire Mohammed al-Amoudi’s MOHA Soft Drinks Industry SC, which owns Pepsi Cola, refused to write billboard advertisements in the Oromo language. The backlash was so bad that in some parts of Oromia bars stopped carrying Pepsi products. It is a known fact that to this date, there are thousands of Oromos who do not consume Pepsi products.

Teddy’s darker sides

Teddy, 37, first gained notoriety with his second album, Abugida, which helped him become a successful star with growing fan base at a very young age. He is also known for a 2008 manslaughter charge for which he served 16 months of a six-year sentence. His most recent album, Tikur Sew – which lionizes Ethiopian emperor Menelik II as a unifier – has further polarized even his one-time ardent fans. Teddy is loved and respected for his talent but equally hated for his saint-like admiration of Ethiopia’s past rulers. Therefore, it seems appropriate to layout the darker shades of an artist now engaged in dangerous history-rewriting.

Plagiarism

Teddy has been arrogating and passing on melodies from Middle Eastern, Chinese, Sudanese, and Indian music as his own. Teddy’s plagiarism first became public when entertainer Seifu Fantahun questioned the authenticity of the rising star’s music on his now defunct FM 97.1 radio show ‘Lemin Yiwashal’ – literally, why do people lie?

The aim of the show was exposing artists who appropriate other people’s work either by imitating or sampling without the owner’s consent. Fantahun revealed that Teddy copied melodies from international songs crediting himself as the composer on some of his songs. As he did with other artists, Fantahun invited Teddy to come on the show and defend his record. Unlike other artists who came on the show and gave explanation or apologized for what some said was an oversight, Teddy refused to answer Fantahun's questions brushing it off as a “village gossip” and threatened to sue him for defamation. His actions pushed the producers to uncover more of Teddy’s illegal and unethical practices. The show hosts played the songs Teddy copied from others to support their allegations. Fantahun’s producers returned with many other bold allegations including one where Teddy paid close to nothing for a blind young boy who acts in his famed music clip for Lambadina.

A lot of writers soon came forward claiming that some of Teddy’s songs were actually their work for which he never compensated them and saying that Teddy even modified the songs without their consent. Others said Teddy bought them coffee in exchange for the lyrics but never credited them for writing it on his album covers. According to reports in the local media, growing up in Addis Ababa, Teddy liked collecting poems from street boys alike without ever telling them why. The writers claimed approaching Teddy after he became rich and famous to ask for compensation but said he declined their plea. These and a plethora of other allegations were later substantiated by newspapers like Addis Neger and Addis Admas. In one embarrassing instance, the state-owned Ethiopian TV run an old video clip of Menyahel Tilahun Gessesse’s song ‘Yemayawkut Hager’ which Teddy had previously passed on as his own work.

Manslaughter and bribery

In April 2008, Teddy was arrested accused of killing a 40-year-old homeless man in a 2006 hit-and-run incident in Addis Ababa. On  Dec. 5, 2008, a federal judge sentenced Teddy to six years imprisonment and a fine of 18,000 Birr. On Feb. 19, 2009, in what was widely rumored as a bribery case, Teddy’s prison sentence was reduced to two years. Six months later, Teddy walked free from prison eight months early on account of good behavior. One would believe this narrative if the hundreds of thousands of good-mannered innocent prisoners could also be allowed to see the light of day in the same manner.

It was obvious that Teddy committed the crime as he himself acknowledged driving home while intoxicated – around the same time and on that very route where the incident occurred – from a late night party. Teddy did not come forward with the truth until the police investigation caught up to him almost two years after the incident. At first, Teddy denied killing the man but acknowledged he was driving the same car the investigators and eyewitnesses said was involved in the accident. His arrest and sentence divided Teddy’s fans between those who disliked his immoral acts and those who blamed the government for framing the singer.

The facts remain, however. Teddy killed an innocent homeless man and walked free by bribing corrupt prison officials.

A sycophant revisionist

Teddy first hit the political firestorm with a song for Haileselassie in which he lauds Ethiopia’s last monarch as God’s elect and “father of Africa.” Teddy’s most recent album Tikur Sew, in which he venerates emperor Menelik as black king, revealed the depth of his ignorance or in Lulie’s words, “his unexamined and narrow knowledge of history.”

Like-minded Ethiopianists who worship these despotic emperors see Teddy as a hero and unifier, while the majority of nations and nationalities in Ethiopia are disgusted by his attempts to glorify criminals. It goes without saying that Teddy is not a historian. Many Ethiopian artists have sung about politics and continue to produce powerful political lyrics. What makes Teddy different is his deliberate efforts to revive an old political system whose leaders were responsible for man-made vicious cycles of poverty, brutal wars, and psychological abuse of citizens that continues to haunt the country’s history. Millions have given their precious lives in a taxing struggle to change this system. Teddy’s ongoing efforts to rewrite history must be understood in this context, challenged with facts, and stopped.

Teddy as “unifier”

The Oromo and other nations in Ethiopia know too well what unity means in the Amhara-centric Ethiopian context. It is the Amharas and those who subscribe to the elusive Ethiopian unity paradigm who never understood what they mean by unity. They misconstrue this ostentatious unity to promote their assimilationist Amharanization agenda. Proponents of this dogmatic unity dream of an Ethiopia where everyone speaks Amharic, dance to eskista beat, and dignifies despots like Haile Selassie and Menelik – leaving no room for diversity and appreciation of other cultures. It is this simplistic notion of unity that Teddy often preaches. For this, Amhara ideologues and his unquestioning fans who as Lulie says, “swallow whatever comes out of him without chewing,” praise him.  

It would be a grave mistake to assume that this type of unexamined regard for Teddy is limited to uninformed young fans. Take for example, programs on Amhara-centric media organizations like the Virginia-based TV network ESAT. On Oct. 30, 2012, in a segment on ESAT’s Kignit show about Teddy, journalist Dereje Habtewold declared, “love wins, Teddy is one of the few Ethiopian musicians who sing about social issues not just romantic love.” “Teddy is author of all his songs – both lyrics and melodies – and that one hardly finds songs about hate or bitterness in Teddy’s albums.”

Habtewold lauded Teddy as a symbolize of hope, love and unity, and for honoring Ethiopian heroes – past and present – in a way unheard of in that country. Thoughtless comments like Habtewold’s are insulting even to Amharic singers such as Tilahun Gessesse and Mahmoud Ahmed who have sung about every social issue imaginable during their long careers. Contrary to Habtewold’s assertions, no person with even a rudimentary knowledge of history would ever glorify genociders as “heroes.”

There is no doubt that Habtewold knew about Teddy’s track record as serial plagiarist, but throughout the entire segment he repeated egregious claims rife with factual errors ad nauseum, primarily because it fit the network’s unity mantra. Few years ago, these same crowd chastised Teddy for marrying an ethnic Tigre woman. But, characteristically, they made a u-turn and praised him when he sang about Menelik.

To the effect that Amharas seasonal praise and character-assassination know no bounds, Habtewold even pounced at other artists like Neway Debebe – a one-time favorite of diaspora activists who moved back to Ethiopia and fell out of favor – using these same tired old tactics.  

Since they deviate from the Amharazation project, it is also obvious that Habtewold’s Ethiopia does not recognize hundreds of artists who sing in any of more than 80 languages found in that country. Forget renowned Oromo artists like Ali Birra, Elfinesh Qano, and countless others who have dedicated their entire lives to singing about social justice, freedom, family values, love, nature and the preservation of Oromo cultural heritage. It was the selfless sacrifice of these artists that saved Oromo language, art and culture from extinction when successive rulers – not least Habtewold and Teddy’s heroes – banned the Oromo language and rewrote our history. I do not expect Habtewold and his likes to praise our artists for they sing about Oromo heroes who perished during the war of conquest at the battles of Gulale, Aanole, Calanqo, and innumerable other places. However, it is important to note that the forces of unity who lionize self-hating emperors like Menelik day in and day out are Amharas with an Ethiopian mask.

“Menelik’s holy war”

Even if one forgets about Teddy’s reckless crusade comment to Enqu magazine, praising Menelik as an African hero is a gross distortion of facts. First, Menelik acquired armaments and advice from western powers in order to fulfill his greater Abyssinia project. At its height, Menelik's holy war to "unify Ethiopia" reduced the Oromo population from 10 million to 5 million.

Second, as American diplomat Robert Skinner captured in A Century of American-Ethiopian Relations, Menelik told a Haitian Benito Sylvain, who traveled to Ethiopia to solicit the help of Africa’s then “only independent country” for his pan-African movement, he's not "black." Contrary to Teddy’s make-believe hagiography, Menelik proudly told the Haitian emissary, “I wish you the greatest possible success...but in coming to me to take the leadership [on black empowerment], you are knocking at the wrong door.”

“You know, I am not Negro at all: I am a Caucasian.”

These are but glimpses into Teddy’s darker shades. If we are to judge people based on the conduct of their character, it is in this context that Teddy should be understood. Those whose primary preoccupation is pushing their hidden agendas under the banner of fake unity disregard this side of Teddy. His naive fans scream at the sight of Teddy holding up an imperial flag with a lion of Judah emblem at the center as a symbol of Ethiopia’s “glorious past.” That maybe their individual rights, but lionizing a person for what he is not is foolish and inexcusable ignorance.

Coca Cola and 2014 World Cup

Finally, news broke last month that Teddy was chosen by Coca Cola Company to make a theme song during next year’s World Cup in Brazil. Coca Cola is looking to bolster its sales in Ethiopia’s soft drinks market by choosing Teddy as its ambassador. However, like Bedele-Heineken, if Coca Cola goes through with the contract, it stands to face a major backlash from millions of customers like Pepsi did in late 1990s.

At this juncture, our collective voice and response to these events becomes crucial. It is our responsibility to challenge Teddy’s distorted knowledge of history. It is also our obligation to inform these companies what Teddy’s already tainted image among their customers could mean for their businesses. We can start by sharing bits and pieces stories about Teddy’s unethical ways.

But beyond that, we must bring our voices together and let these companies know not only who Teddy really is but also who their customers are. One of the cardinal rules for any business is good partnership. A lasting and successful business partnership should be with a community of people, not polarizing celebrities like Teddy. Both Heineken and Coca Cola have a choice. We can help them make an informed decision.

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*The writer, Tigist Geme, is a Washington, D.C.-based activist and citizen journalist. This article has been updated.

ገደብ ያጣው ግፍና የጭቆና መረብ በኦሮሞ ትውልድ ላይ

ገደብ ያጣው ግፍና የጭቆና መረብ በኦሮሞ ትውልድ ላይ

By Getinet Dinkayehu
የወያኔ እነቅስቃሴ በኦሮሞ ህዝብና በኦሮሞ ድርጅታዊ እነቅስቃሴ ላይ ያላቛረጠ ጭቆናና የመብት ረገጣ በማድረግ የተለያዩ ኢ-ዲሞክራሳዊ የመብት ጥሰቶችን እየፈፀመ ይገኛል:: ለዚህም ስትራተጂዎችን በመንደፍና የነደፈውን በመተግበር ዛሬ አለም የሰዉ ልጆችን መብት ከመጠበቅ አልፎ የእንስሳትን መብት እየጠበቀ ባላበት ዘመን ላይ የኦሮሞ ልጆችን መብት በማሳጣት ከአለም ሚዲያዎች በመሰወር እንዲሁም በግልጽ እየረገጠ ይሄው ድፍን 22 አመት አለፈው። የአለም መንግስታት ወያኔ በላዩ በሽፋን የያዘውን ዲሞክራሲ የሚል የውሰጥ መርዝና ገዳይ ስራውን በተለያየ መንገድ ቢገንዘቡትም የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ችግር ግን ሰሚ ያጣ ይመሰላል። የአንድ ብሄር ዝርያዎች ብቻ በስልጣን ላይ መቀመጥና መግዛት የለሎች ብሄሮች በህይወትና በሞት መሃል ተገዝቶ መኖር የኦሮሞ ህዝቦች ደግሞ እያጣጣሩ እንኴን እንዳይኖሩ በሚደረግበትና የወያኔ የእስር ቤት ቋንቌ ኦሮምኛ በሆነበት በዚህ ወቅት ዲሞክራሳዊ አስትዳድር አለን ብለው በዉሸት ህዝብንና አለምን ለማታለል መሞከር ገዢው ወያኔ በፍፁም ዲሞክራሲን በስም እንጂ በተግባር የማያውቅ መሆኑን ለተመለከተው ሰው ሁሉ ግልፅ ነው።
በየትኛው ዲሞክራሲ ያለበት ሀገር ላይ አንድ መንግስት ለ22 ተከታታይ ዓመታት በግፍ እንደሚገዛም እኔ አላውቅም ።
ባለፉት ረጅም ዘመናት ከእግዚአብሔር የተሰጠን ስልጣን ነው እያሉ የኦሮሞ ልጆችን በግፍ እንደ በግ ስያርዱ፣ስያስሩ፣ሲገርፉና በቆሻሻ እንደተነካ እንጨት ከእግዚአብሔር የተሰጠውን ማንነቱን ስያንቌሽሹ በነበሩት አፄዎች ስንገዛ ነበር ። ያ ሁሉ በሚሊዮኖች የሚቆጠሩ የኦሮሞ ልጆች ላይ የደረሰው የዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀል ጭራሽ እንደ ፅድቅና ቅድስና ተቆጥሮላቸው ሰሞኑን በቤተ ክርስታናቸው ውስጥ ዛሬም የዱሮውን ለመመለስ ደፋ ቀና እያሉ ባሉት ክፋትን በተሞሉ ልጆቻቸው 100ኛ አመታቸው ሲዘከርላቸው ስመለከትና የብዙ ሺ የኦሮሞ ልጆችን ደም ስያፈስ የነበረው የወያኔ ክፉ መሪ ዛሬም እንደ ትልቅ ጀብዱና ታላቅ መሪ ታይቶ በዚች ውሽት በሞላባት አለም ላይ ሲወደስ ሳይ የአለም ክፉነት ገደብ እንደለለው ያሳየኛል።ይሄንን ሁሉ ግፍ ከኦሮሞ ህዝብ የዋህነት ጋር ሳነፃፅረው በጣም ያሳዝናል። የዋህነታችን አልጠቀመንም ጐድቶናል፣ በድሎናል ።
የአሁኑ የወያኔ የዉስጥ ገዳይ የአገዛዝ ስልት ደግሞ የሰሚ ያለህ ብሎ የሚያስጮህ፣የሚያስመርር ጉዳይ ነው። በአሁኑ ወቅትም በሃገር ዉስጥ በኦሮሞ ወጣቶች የሚደረግ የነፃነት ትግል እየጠነከረ በሚሄድበት ግዜ ሁሉ ወያኔ መነሻው የኦሮሞ ነፃ አውጪ ግንባር ነው በሚል በተለመደው የሂሳብ ስሌቱ የኦሮሞ ልጆችን እየገደለና እያፈሰ እስር ቤት ከማጎር አልፎ የኦሮሞን ህዝብ የነፃነት ጉዞ ለማዳከም  የተለያዩ መርዛማ ዘዴዎችን በመጠቀም የኦሮሞ ህዝብንና የነፃነት ትግልን ለመለያየት ብሎ ለሰው ልጆች የማየገባን የጭካኔ ግፍ እየተገበረ ነው ።
የዛሬውን አያድርገዉና የኦነግ ድርጅት ወያኔን የትግል ስልትና አካሄድ በማስተማር እንዲሁም ደርግን በመጣል ረገድ ከፍተኛውን ሚና የተጫወተ ቢሆንም ከትግል ይዞት የገባውን አጀንዳ እንዳይፈጽም መጠነ ሰፊ ተግዳሮቶች በወያኔ መንግስት የገጠመው ከመሆኑም ባሻገር የኦሮሞን ህዝብ ለማታለል በወያኔ ሳምባ በሚተነፍስና የወያኔን ጭምብል ባጠለቀው የኦህዴድ ድርጅት የኦሮሞን ትውልድ በእጅ አዙር ለመግዛት ስልታዊ የሆነ የአገዛዝ መረቡን በኦሮሞ ህዝብ ላይ ዘርግቶ በደሎቹን ለመሸፈን  የኦሮሞን ህዝብ የሚያስተዳድረው ኦሮሞ ነው በማለት ይስበክ እንጂ ኦሮሞን እያስተዳደረ ያለው ኦሮሞ እንዳይደለ እንዃን ህዝቡ የአለም ህዝብ ያውቀዋል :: በቅርቡ ደግሞ ድምበር በመሻገር ከጎሮበት ሃገራት ጋር ጠላቴ ነው ሲል ከነበረው ከኤርትራ መንግስት ጭምር ድርድር ለማረግ ፕሮፖጋንዳ መንዛት መጀመሩ ጉዞው ወደት እንደ ሆነ ለመረዳት አያስቸግረንም።
ኤረ ለመሆኑ የኦሮሞ እስትዳደር ለኦሮሞ ያሰፈልጋል ብሎ ወያኔ ካመነበት ለምንድን ነው ኦነግን በጥይት የሚያሳድደው ?
በርግጥ ኦነግ በኦሮሞ ህዝብ ዘንድ ድርጅት ብቻ ሳይሆን የኦሮሞ ህዝብ የማንነት መገለጫ መሆኑን ወያኔ ጠንቅቆ ያውቀዋል። ለዝህም ነው በጥይት ኦነግን ማሳደድ የኦሮሞ ህዝብን ማንነት አጥፍቶ ያለገደብ በጨለማ ለመምራት ብቸኛው ምቹ መንገድ እንደ ሆነ በማሰብ ያለ እረፍት እየሰራበት ያለው።
ለዚህም የሃገሩን ሰርዶ በሃገሩ በሬ እንደሚባለዉ ተረት ወያኔ በስሩ ባቋቋመዉ በራሱ ሳምባ በሚተነፍስ የኦህዴድ ድርጅትን በመጠቀም የኦሮሞ ህዝብን የማንነት ስሜት ለማጥፋትና ሀገሩን ለመበዝበዝ ህዝቡን በመከፋፈል፣በማጨፋጨፍ፣የኦሮሞን የነጻነት ትግል እንቅስቃሴዎች ለማፈንና ወደ ኋላ ለማስቀረት ከሊስትሮ ጀምሮ እስከ ላይ ድረስ በጥቅም ፈረስ ላይ ሆነው በሚጋልቡት ደህንነቶችንና አጨብጫቢዎችን በማሰማራት ከፍተኛ ጭቆናና በደል እያደረሰ እንዲቀጥል ምቹ ከለላ የሆነለት ይመስላል:: ዛሬ የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ጥያቄ እንደ ኦህዴድ ባለው የውሸትና ሆድ አደር ስብስብ ተመልሿል ብሎ ወያኔ በመስበክ የኦሮሞን ህዝብ በሙሉ ያታለለ መስሎታል። እዚህ ጋ ሳልናገር የማላልፈው ነገር ቢኖር ግን የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ጥያቀ በቋንቋው መናገር ብቻ አይደለም ። በዚህ ብቻ 40 ሚሊዮን ህዝን ለማታለል መሞከር ሞኝነት ነው። ስለዚህ የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ጥያቄ እስኪመለስና ኦሮሞ በራሱ ሀገር ላይ የባለበትነት መበቱን እስኪጎናፀፍ ድረስ ወያኔ ለግዜው እንዲሁ ይለፋል እንጂ የኦሮሞን የነፃነት ትግል ለማዳከምም ሆነ ለማጥፋት መላውን የኦሮሞን ህዝብ ካልጨረሰ በቀር መቼም እንደማይሳካለት ነው። አንድ ቀን እሮሞ ነፃ መውጣቱ ስለማይቀር ነፃነቱን ያገኜ ቀን ግን ላደረሱት በደለ ወንጀለኞቹን ከጥቅም አጨብጫቢዎቻቸው ጭምር በፍርድ እንደሚፋረዳቸው አንዳች ጥርጥር የለዉም::
የወያኔ መንግስት በየወቅቱ እንደ እስስት እራሱን እየቀያየረ የሚኖር ከመሆኑም በተጨማሪ ጠዋት የተናገረዉን ማታ መድገም በማይችሉ የውሸት ቛጥ በሆኑ ካድረዎች የኦሮሞን ህዝብ እየዘረፈ ለመግዛት ፣ በመግደል፣ በማሰርና የኑሮ ዋስትናን በማሳጣት ከአገር እንዲሰደድ ለማረግ ስልቱን በመቀያየር እየሰራ መሆኑን መገንዘብ ያለብን ይመስለኛል።
የወያኔ እስስታዊ ባህሪና የውስጥ ገዳይ ስልቶችን በኦሮሞ ላይ የሚተገብርባቸው መነገዶች
በግልፅ የውሸት ሽፋን ያለውን አፋኝ ህግ በማውጣት
የሃገሪቷን 6% የማይሞላው የህወሓት የማፍያ ቡድን አብዛኛውን ዋና ዋና የአገሪቷን ሥልጣኖች በሙሉ በራሱ ቁጥጥር ውስጥ በማስገባት የፖለቲካ የኢኮኖሚና የማህበራዊ ዘርፎችን ጭምር በሞኖፖሊ በመቆጣጠር መሪውን ይዞ ወደፈለገበት እያሽከረከከረ ከመገኘቱ ባሻገር የራሱን የስልጣን እድሜ ለማራዘም ሲል ሰፊው የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ላይ ባነጣጠረ መልኩ አፉን ለማፈን ህጎችን እንደፈለገ በማውጣትና እንደፈለገ በመተግበር ላይ ነው ።
ከእነዚህም መካከል በትልቁ በአለም ሚዲያዎች የሚታወቀውን ወያኔ በግልፅ በህገመንግስቱ ላይ በቅርብ ያወጣዉ የአሸባሪነት ህግን የሚመለከት ይሆናል። አሁንም ይህን ሃሳብ ሳነሳ የሰሚ ያለህ ብሎ የሚያስጮህ ነዉ።
በአለም ላይ የፀረ አሸባሪነት ህግ የወጣው በዋናነት ንፁሃን (innocent) ህዝቦችን ከሽብር ለመከላከል ሲሆን የፀረ አሸባሪነት ህግ በወያኔ የወጣበት ዋናው ምክንያት ግን ንፁሀን(innocent) የሆኑትን የኦሮሞ ልጆችንና ለሎችንም ለማሸበር ታስቦ የወጣ መሆኑ ግልፅ ነው።በለላ አነጋገር አለም የፀረ አሸባሪነትን ህግ የምትጠቀመው ንፁሃን ህዝቦች እንዳይሸበሩ ለመከላከል ሲሆን ወያኔ ግን ንጹሃን ህዝቦችን እራሱ እያሸበረበት ነው።
የኦሮሞ ህዝብ በየትኛዉ ስራዉ ነው በአለም ህዝብ የሚታወቀዉ ? በአሸባሪነት? ለመብትና ለነፃነት መታገል፤በሀገራችን ላይ የባለበትነት መብት ይሰጠን ማለት፤የኦሮሞ ህዝብ መተዳደር ያለበት በኦሮሞ ነው ማለት፤ሀብትና ንብረታችንን አትስረቁን አትበዝብዙን ማለት አሸባሪነት የሚያስብል ከሆነ እንግያውስ አለም ሁሉ አሸባሪ ናት ማለት ነው:: ለነነገሩ አለም ባታዳላ ኖሮ የኦሮሞ ህዝብ እስከዛሬ ድረስ በባርነት ስር ባልኖረና ነበር:: የወያኔ መንግስት የኦሮሞን ህዝብ ለማሰርና ለመግደል እንዲሁም ከሃገር ለማባረር በቀን እንዲህ አይነት ህግ አዉጥቶ ኢየሰራበት መገኘቱን ስመለከት ለካ አለም አባት የላትም እላለው::በርግጥም አባት የላትም።
ትንሽ አሻሮ ይዞ ወደ ቆሎ ጠጋ የሚባለዉን የተረት አባባል በመያዝ ወያኔ በአለም ላይ የወጣዉን የአሸባሪነት ህግ በተሳሳተ መንገድ በመጠቀም አንድን ብሄር(ኦሮሞን) ለማጥፋት ሲጠቀም የአለም መንግስታትና የሰባዊ መብት ተከራካሪ ድርጅቶች ዝምታን መምረጥ በኦሮሞ ላይ የሚደርሰውን በደልና ጭቆና የከፋ እያደረገ ይገኛል:: የአንድ አምባገነን መንግስት የዘር ማጥፋት ህግ በማዉጣት የሰዉን ልጅ ያለገደብ መጨፍጨፍ መች ነግቶ በማን ይጠየቅ ይሆን?
በሀገር ውስጥ ከምያደርሱት በደል በተጨማሪ የእነሱን የግፍ አገዛዝ በመሸሽ ወደ ጎሮበት ሀገራት ሄደው በፖለቲካ ጥገኝነት በUNHCR ተመዝግበው የሚኖሩትን የኦሮሞ ልጆች እንኳ በሰላም እንዳይኖሩ ባሉበት በማሳደድ የፀረ አሸባሪነት ህግን በሽፋን በመጠቀም ከጎሮበት መንግስታት ጋር ስምምነት ፈጥረው እጅ እግር አስረው በመመለስ የእድሜ ልክና የሞት ቅጣት ቀማሽ እንዲሆኑ እየተደረገ መሆኑ የዚህን ህግ አስከፊነትን ያመለክታል።እንደ ምሳሌነት ብናነሳ በቅርቡ ወጣት እንጅነሮች ተስፋሁን ጨመዳና መስፍን አበበ ከኬኒያ የተያዘበት ዜደና በወያኔ እስር ቤት ውስጥ የደረሰባቸው አሰቃቂ ግድያ መላውን የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ያስለቀሰ ጉዳይ ነው።በአሁኑ ግዜም በዚህ የወያኔ ፀረ ሽብር ህግ ምክንያት በጎሮበት ሀገራት በፖለቲካ ጥገኝነት የሚኖሩ የኦሮሞ ልጆች ተሰሚነት አያጡ በስጋት ውስጥ እየኖሩ መሆኑን በተደጋጋሚ እየሰማን ነው።
የሽፍተኝነት ባህሪን በመላበስና በመግደል
የወያኔ መንግስት ፀረ ህዝብ ፤ፀረ ዲሞክራሲ ፤ፀረ ኦሮሞ ነው ብየ ብገልጽ የአደባባይ ሃቅ ነው። ይህንን ለማለት የቻልኩበት ምከንያት ወያኔ ደርግን ለመጣል የተነሳሳውና ወደ ጫካ ገብቶ በሽፍተኝነት ጀምሮ ለድል የበቃ መንግስት ሲሆን ደርግ በአደባባይ ነጭ ሽብር ቀይ ሽብር እያለ የንፁሀንን ደም ስያፈስ ወያኔ በሚድያዎቹ ሲኮንንና ሲከስ ስለነበረ እራሱን ከደርግ ሥርዓት የተሻለ አድርጎ የሚቀርብ ይመስል ነበር:: ነገር ግን ዛሬ የደርግ ጭፍጨፋ መልኩን ቀየረ እንጅ በሀገሪቱ ላይ በወያኔ እየተደረገ ያለው በደል ከደርግ የባሰ እንጂ የሚያንስ አይደለም ።
በብዙ ሺ የሚቆጠሩ የኦነግ ሰራዊቶችን በሰላማዊ መንገድ በድርድር በነበሩበት ወቅት ትጥቅ አስፈትቶ በካምፕ ዉስጥ በማስገባት ትጥቅ የፈታን ህዝብ በታንክና በከባድ መሳሪያ መጨፍጨፉ አሰቃቂ የአደባባይ ግድያውን የምያመለክት ሲሆን በተጨማሪም በካድረዎቹና በደህንነቶቹ ጥይት በየግዘው በአደባባይ የሚገደሉትን የኦሮሞ ልጆች ደግሞ ቤት ይቁጠራቸ። አሁን አሁን ደግሞ ወያኔ የሰዉን ልጆች ለማጥፋት የሚጠቀመው መጠነ ሰፊ ስልቶች ሲኖሩት እያራመድኩ ያለሁት ዲሞክራሲ ነው ብሎ ለመስበክ እንዲመቸው በተወሰነ መልኩ በአደባባይ የሰዉን ልጆች ከማጥፋት ሲልቱን በመቀየር የሽፍተኝነት ባህሪውን አሁንም በንፁሃን የኦሮሞ ልጀች ላይ እየተገበረ ይገኛል::
ከነዚህ የወያኔ የማፍያ ስልቶች መሃከል ጥቂቶቹን ለመጥቀስ ያክል የሰዎችን መውጣትና መግባት በመጠበቅ በመኪና ገጭቶ መግደል እንደዚሁም ሽፍታ የገደለ ለማስመሰል የታጠቁ ሰራዊቶቹን ጫካ ዉስጥ በማስቀመጥ የሚፈልጉትን ሰው በማስገደል እንደዝሁም አንዱን ለማሰር ለላዉን ለመግደል በሚፈልጉበት ጊዜ ደግሞ ስውር ስራቸዉን ለመፈጸም ለአንዱ ጥይት በመስጠት ለላውን አስገድለው ወያኔ ከዜሩ ውጪ ለማንም ዘመድ መሆን ስለማይችል ገዳዩንም ወንጀለኛ ነህ በማለት በአንድ ድንጋይ ሁለት ወፍ የሚለውን አባባል በስዉር ስራቸው ሲተገብሩት እናያለን። የእርሱ የፖለቲካ ተቀናቃኝ ሰዎችን ድርጅት በመፈለግ በካድረዎቹ በተቀናበረ የፈንጂና የቦምብ ፍንዳታዎች ንፁሃን ዘጎች ባሉበት ቦታ እያፈነዳ በአንድ በኩል እርሱን የሚቃወሙ ሰዎችን ንብረት ሲያወድም በለላ በኩል የንፁሃንን ደም ማፍሰሱ ለማንም ግልፅ ነው። እንደማስተባበያ ሲወስድ ግን የኦሮሞን ህዝብ እና የኦነግን ድርጅት አላማ በለሎች ዘንድ ለማጥቆርና ጠላትነትን ለማብዛት እንዲሁም የሚፈልገዉን የኦሮሞ ልጆች ለማሰር ኦነግ ነው ያፈናዳው ብሎ ተሳስቶ እንኴ እውነት ተናግሮ በማያውቀው ሚዲያው(ETV) በኩል ታፔላ ለጥፎ መለፈፉና የዉሸት ፍርድ ሲሰጥ ማየቱ የወኔን አሸባሪኔትና የሽፍተኝነት ባህሪውን ይገልፃል። ያለምንም ወንጀል ታፍነው በመያዝ በተሰቦቻቸው እንኴ የት እንደደረሱ ሳያውቁ ታስረው ለዘመናት የሚሰቃዩትንና በየ እስር ቤቱ በተለያየ አይነት ዘዴ በስውር የሚገደሉትን የኦሮሞ ልጀች ደግሞ እስር ቤቱ ይቁጠራቸው::
የኢኰኖሚ አውታሮችን ጠቅልሎ በመያዝ የኑሮ ዋስትናን ማሳጣት
ከነዚህ ዋና ዋና የግድያ ስልቶች በተጨማሪ ደግሞ በኦሮሞ ህዝብ ላይ ጠላትነት በመፍጠር ህዝቡን ከህዝብ ጋር ማጋጨትና የትግል አቅም ለማሳጣት ህዝቡን መለያየት የኢኮኖሚ እድገትና የእውቀት እድገት እንዳይኖር ማድረግ ሃብትና ስልጣን እዉቀትና እዉቅና በገዢ ፓርቲ ዘሮች ቢቻ እንዲሆን ማድረግ ከዋነኛዎቹ የወያኔ ስራዎች ጥቂቶች ናቸው::
እንደ ምሳሌነትም በሃገር ዉስጥ የሚኖር የትኛውም የኦሮሞ ተወላጅ እና የኦሮሞ ስም ያላቸዉ ሰዎችን ጨምሮ በነ አፄዎቹ ግዘ የኦሮሞ ስም ማዉጣት እንደ ሃጥያት የሚቆጠርና በአከባቢዉ ገዢዎች ተጠርተዉ ወላጆች የልጆቻቸዉን ስም እንዲለውጡ ከመነገር አልፎ የሚያወጣዉ ስም ምን አይነት ስም መሆን እንዳለበት ከማስጠንቀቅያ ጭምር የሚነገረዉ እንደነበረ የቅርብ ግዘ ትዝታ ቢሆንም ዛሬ ደግሞ የወያኔ መንግስት እንደነ አፄዎቹ የወጣዉን ስም እንዲቀይር ባያደርግም እንኳ የኦሮሞን ህዝብ የሚለይበት መለያ አድርጎ ሲጠቀምበትና እንኴን ኦሮሞ ሆኖ የኦሮሞ ስም ያለው ማንኛዉም ግለሰብ በየትኛውም መስራ ቤትና የስራ መስክ ተሰማርቶ እንዳይሰራ የመስራት መብቱን ተነፍጎ በካድረዎቹ እየተሰደበና ሞራል በሚነካ ኪፉ ንግግር ብቃት እያለው ብቃት እንደለለው በመቁጠር የኑሮ ዋስትናን ማሳጣትና ኢኮኖሚውን በስሩ ጠቅልሎ በመያዝ የትኛውም የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ለትግልና ለነጻነት መክፈል የሚገባዉን እንዲከፍል የሚገፋፋውና የምያነሳሳው የወያኔ ክፉ ስራ መሆኑ ሊጠቀስ ይችላል::
የኢኮኖሚው በአንድ ገዢ መንግስት ዘር መጠቅለሉ በሃገር ዉስጥና ከሃገር ውጪ ያሉ ካምፓኒዎች በሙሉ የመላው የትግሬ ህዝብ ባይሆንም በጥቂቶች በስልጣን ላይ በተፈናጠጡ ትግሬዎች የሚንቀሳቀሱ ስለመሆናቸው ግልፅ ነው:: በዝርዝር ማቅረብ ብያስፈልግ ከ500 በላይ ካምፓኒዎች የነሱ እንደሆነ በተለያየ ግዜ በጋዘጣዎች ላይ የወጣዉን መመልክት ይቻላል ። በዱባይና በለሎችም የአረብ ሃገሮች የተለያዩ ትልልቅ ድርጅቶችን ከፍተው እየሰሩና በለላው ህብረተሰብ ላይ ጫና እየፈጠሩ ስለመሆናቸው ደግሞ የአደባባይ እውነት ነው:: የውጪን ንግድንም በሚመለከት ደግሞ የፓርቲው የዘር መንግስት ዝርያ ካልሆነ በስተቀር እቃው ከሚሸጥበት ዋጋ በላይ ቀረጥ በመጫን የገዢው ፓርቲ ዘር ከሆነ ግን ቀረጥ ነፃ እቃዎችን በማስገባት የለሎችን የኑሮ ዋስትና እያሳጣና እያስመረረ እንዲሰደድ እያደረገ ይገኛል::
የእነሱ ሹማምንት በሃብት ላይ ሃብት፤ በድሎት ላይ ድሎት፣ በእውቀት ላይ እውቀትን ሲጨምሩ፣ የአብዛኛው ኦሮሞ ህዝብ እጣ ፈንታ ግን መፈናቀል፣ መሰደድ፣ መንገላታት፣ መታሰር፣ መደብደብና መገደል ነው።የወያኔ ዘሮች የኦሮሞን ሀብትና ንብረት እየዘረፉ ሲጸድቁና የተንደላቀቀ ኑሮ ሲኖሩ ለላውም ህብረተሰብ በተጨማሪ በኦሮሞ መሬት ላይ የትልልቅ ፎቆችና ካምፓኒዎች ባለበት በመሆን ሲበዘብዙና ሲዘርፉ መከላከያ ያጣው የኦሮሞ አርሶ አደርና የኦሮሞ ወጣት ግን በሀገሩና በየ ስደት በረሃው ላይ በረሀብ ጠኔ እየተሰቃየና እየረገፈ ይገኛል።
እንደ ኦሮሞነት ሳስብ ብዙ ግፎችና በደሎች ተፈፅሞብናል እየተፈጸመብን ነው ። ከዚህ በላይ ግን ምን እስከምንሆን እንደምንጠብቅ አላውቅምም ወይም አልገባኝም።
ጭራሽ አሁን ደግሞ ገና የኦሮሞ ስም ሲነሳ ሁሉም በአንድነት እሳት ጎርሰው እሳት ለበሰው ይነሱብን ጀምረዋል ። ይህ ሁሉ የምያመለከተው ከወደ ሰሜን የሚነሳ ሁሉ የጭካኔ፣የገዳይነት፣የዘረፋና የለላውን ማንነት የማንቋሸሽ መንፈስ እንጂ የቅንነትና የርህራሄ መንፈስ የለለው መሆኑን ነው።ከእንግዲህ ግን በበኩሌ እንዲህ አይነት ጭካኔ በሁሉም አቅጣጫ በከበበንና ሊያጠፋን አፉን በከፈተብን ዘመን ውስጥ ሆነን የዋህነታችን ከኛ ጋር መቀጠል የለበትም ባይ ነኝ ።ምክንያቱም እንደዚህ አይነት በክፋትና በጭካኔ ከተሞሉና ትንሽ ይሉኝታ እንኳ ከለላቸው የገዢ መደቦች ጋር ኦሮሞ መኖር የሚችልበት ደረጃ ላይ አይደለም።ይቀጥላል
ድል ለተጨቋኙ የኦሮሞ ህዝብ!