Author Archive
18 Mar 2013
Obama “Moonwalking” Human Rights in Africa?
The great American poet Walt Whitman said, “Either define the moment or the moment will define you.” Will the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as president of Kenya define President Barack Obama in Africa or will President Barack Obama use the election of President Kenyatta to define his human rights policy in Africa? Following the presidential
11 Mar 2013
Ethiopia: Rumors of Water War on the Nile?
Late last month, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid Bin Sultan fired a shot across the bow from the Arab Water Council in Cairo to let the regime in Ethiopia know that his country takes a dim view of the “Grand Renaissance Dam” under “construction” on the Blue Nile (Abbay) a few miles from
03 Mar 2013
The Moral Equivalent of an Anti-Apartheid Movement in Ethiopia?
Ethiopian Muslims engaged in the moral equivalent of an anti-Apartheid movement? In her recent commentary in the New York Review of Books, “Obama: Failing the African Spring?”, Dr. Helen Epstein questioned the Obama Administration for turning a blind eye to human rights violations in Africa, and particularly the persecution of Muslims in Ethiopia. She argued
27 Feb 2013
የፍርሃትና ስም ማጥፋት ፖለቲካ በኢትዮጵያ
ባልፈው ኣመት: አሁንም በስላጣን ላይ ያለው ገዢ ኣስተዳደር ኢትዮጵያን በሽብርተኞች ማነቆ ውስጥ ተወጥራ እንዳለች ሃገር አድርጎ ለማቅረብ ባወጣው የልመናና የገንዘብ መቧገቻ እቅዱ ባለሶስት ክፍል የፕሮፓጋንዳ የቅጥፈት ታሪክ ‹‹አኬልዳማ›› በማለት (ወይም የደም መሬት በማለት ከአክትስ 1፡19 በመዋስ፤ የአስቆሮቱ ይሁዳ ክርስቶስን ክዶ በመሸጥ ባገኘው ገንዘብ የተገዛ መሬት) ከልብ ወለድ የማይሪቅ ትርኢት ለሕዝብ ኣቅርቦ ነበር፡፡ ይህም ትርኢት በአትዮጵያና
26 Feb 2013
የፍርሃትና ስም ማጥፋት ፖለቲካ በኢትዮጵያ
ፕሮፌሰር ዓለማየሁ ገብረማርያም ትርጉም ከነጻነት ለሃገሬ 2011፡ የሙስና አገዛዝ፤ ፍርሃትና ሰም ማጥፋት በዲሴምበር 2011 ‹‹ኢትዮጵያ የደም ሃገር ወይም የንቅዘት (ሙስና) ሃገር›› በሚል ርእስ የኢትዮጵያን ሁለት ገጽታ በማመዛዘን አንድ ጦማር አስነብቤ ነበር፡፡ በዚያን ወቅት ትራንስፓረንሲ ኢንተርናሽናል በተባለው ተቋም ተቀምጦ የነበረው ገጽታ ያሳየው ኢትዮጵያ ለም መሬቶች በተንኮል በተጠቀለለ ስውር ደባ እየተቸበቸቡ እንደነበር ነው፡፡በዘገባው ላይ ተቋሙ ለኢትዮጵያ ያሰፈረው
25 Feb 2013
Ethiopia: The Prototype African Police State
The sights and sounds of an African police state When Erin Burnett of CNN visited Ethiopia in July 2012, she came face-to-face with the ugly face of an African police state: We saw what an African police state looked like when I was in Ethiopia last month… At the airport, it took an hour to clear
17 Feb 2013
Ethiopia: The Politics of Fear and Smear
2011: Dictatorship, corruption and the politics of fear and smear In December 2011, I wrote a commentary entitled, “Ethiopia: Land of Blood or Land of Corruption?” contrasting two portraits of Ethiopia. At the time, the portrait painted by Transparency International (TI) (Corruption Index) and Global Financial Integrity (GFI) showed Ethiopia as a land blighted by systemic corruption. GFI
15 Feb 2013
ኢትዮጵያ፡ ከዚህ በኋላ ቀጣዩ ጉዟችን (ወይም መቆሚያችን) ወዴት ነው?
በጁን 2012 ‹‹ኢትዮጵያ፡ በሕገመንግስታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ጎዳና ላይ›› የሚል ጦማር አቅርቤ ነበር፡፡ ‹‹በርካታማ ሕበረሰቦች ከጭቆና ወደ ዴሞክራሲ ሽግግርን ሲያስቡና ሲንቀሳቀሱ፤ እንቅስቃሴያቸውን የሚገቱ በርካታ ፈተናዎች›› እንደገጠሟቸው በማስረጃ የተደገፉ ታሪካዊ እውነታዎችን ጠቅሼ ነበር:-
15 Feb 2013
ኢትዮጵያ፡ ከዚህ በኋላ ቀጣዩ ጉዟችን (ወይም መቆሚያችን) ወዴት ነው?
ፕሮፌሰር ዓለማየሁ ገብረማርያም ትርጉም ከነጻነት ለሃገሬ በዴሞክራሲ የአንድነት ጎዳና ላይ? በጁን 2012 ‹‹ኢትዮጵያ፡ በሕገ መንግስታዊ ዴሞክራሲ ጎዳና ላይ›› የሚል ጦማር አቅርቤ ነበር፡፡ ‹‹በርካታማ ሕበረሰቦች ከጭቆና ወደ ዴሞክራሲ ሽግግርን ሲያስቡና ሲንቀሳቀሱ፤ እንቅስቃሴያቸውን የሚገቱ በርካታ ፈተናዎች›› እንደገጠሟቸው በማስረጃ የተደገፉ ታሪካዊ እውነታዎችን ጠቅሼ ነበር:- ከአረብ ‹‹መነሳሳት››ከታየው ልምድ በመነሳት ሕገ መንግስታዊ ቅድመ ውይይት እንደሚያስፈልግ ጠቁሜ አንዳንድ ሃሳቦችም ሰንዝሬ ነበር፡፡
10 Feb 2013
Ethiopia: Where Do We Go (or not go) From Here?
On the road to democracy and unity? For some time now, I have been heralding Ethiopia’s irreversible march from dictatorship to democracy. In April 2011, I wrote a commentary entitled, “The Bridge on the Road(map) to Democracy”. I suggested, We can conceive of the transition from dictatorship to democracy as a metaphorical journey on the