Author Archive

For the past one-half decade, Ethiopia has been awash with talk of renaissance. There has been a lot of windbagging about a “Renaissance Dam” over the Blue Nile. Our ears nearly fell off listening to the endless gab about an “economic renaissance” with “11 percent” plus annual growth. There has also been much talk of

For the past several months, I have been commenting on the findings of the World Bank’s “Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia”, a 448-page report covering eight sectors (health, education, rural water supply, justice, construction, land, telecommunications and mining). In this my sixth commentary, I focus on “corruption in the justice sector”. The other five commentaries are available

   Unfree and Unfair Elections in Zimbabwe Zimbabwe had its presidential elections last week. Elections as in rigged. Robert Mugabe, the senile octogenarian and the only president since Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980,  “won” for the seventh time by 61 percent of the vote. His Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) clinched a

Power, power, power… When President Obama recently visited Africa, he announced a “Power Africa” initiative.  In his Cape Town University speech, he proclaimed, “I am proud to announce a new initiative. We’ve been dealing with agriculture.  We’ve been dealing with health. Now we’re going to talk about power: Power Africa, a new initiative that will double

By Alemayehu Gebremariam Still drumming for democracy Eskinder Nega is still drumming for democracy in Ethiopia. From inside the belly of the infamous Meles Zenawi Prison in Kality, just outside the capital Addis Ababa. Until recently, Eskinder was in solitary confinement. He was allowed to see only his wife and son and a couple of