President Abdi Mohamud of Somali Region: The Capo of Our Time

by Abdel Haq Noor

Martin Luther King once remarked that: “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. The Somali region of Ethiopia is by far the unfortunate land of the 21st century but yet unknown to many due to media blackout that obscures the actual state of things. Being in periphery coupled with ethnic affiliation with Somalia did not help but made matters even worse for Somalis in Ethiopia.

EPRDF’s constitution remains a mirage not only for the Somali region but the rest of the country. Hence, the main reason for the current unrest in the country. It’s plausible to suggest that the change of strategy used by EPRDF to root out the insurgency is partly attributable to the invasion of Somalia from 2006-2009. The main lesson drawn from the invasion was that to eliminate ONLF one should use the Somalis themselves. Hence, the creation of Liyu- Police.

The change of strategy not only helped the incumbent government to eliminate groups like ONLF but also succeeded in taming the people due to outright fear of their own sons and brothers-the Liyu Police. One might ask why the people couldn’t rise against the Liyu Police as they have done with the military in the past. Several reasons abound but two reasons stand out from the rest. These are: (a) the rule of engagement has significantly changed since the advent of the Liyu-Police. The Liyu-Police don’t abide by any rules whatsoever. They kill, rape, imprison, torch and displace entire villages at will and face no consequence for their deeds. This does not mean that the military is immune from doing such heinous crimes. They do. But not in such scary scale; and (b) the military is considered an alien force that came to subjugate the people. Hence, a rallying point for the insurgents to fight them. But the Liyu Police is different. Though the leadership mainly come from one sub clan, they still considered as part of the community. Rising up against them will bring intra and inter community conflict.

Abdi Iley encouraged by the praise of the generals exercised his power in the many incursions he made into the territory of Somalia proper and Somaliland and killing innocent people including elderly and children. Did the EPRDF regime cared and thus put in place mechanisms to regulate his absolute power?  Not at all! The regime thought that as long as he tamed and subdued the people, it does not matter the human cost and suffering involved. As a result, while they opt to condone his actions, they also hid the atrocities he is committing from the rest of the country and the world.

To give you a picture who Abdi Iley is, one should read the below two statements in conjunction. The first one is a saying of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) and the second one is that of Lord Acton. The Prophet (PBUH) said:” Among that which reached the people from the words of the earlier prophethood: if you feel no shame, then do whatever you wish.” (Bukhari). Lord Acton also said “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

The former saying of the prophet is not a license for people to do whatever they want. But rather it constitutes a threat and a warning for the shameless person. Secondly, it will also tell us that whoever feels no shame will do whatever they wish and thus descend to low moral standing. Similarly, Lord Acton has warned us about giving a person absolute power without any check and balance.

Abdi Iley is both shameless and a man bestowed with absolute power. Now have you got a picture? Let me illustrate both in examples. Long before he came to the circles of power, Abdi used to be an electrician with elementary schooling, grade 8 to be specific. One day his wife accused him of sodomizing her to the Sharia court. He acknowledged doing it but said that it was not intentional but a slip of his shaft. He also used to beat his mother in the market place. This is the guy the EPRDF generals brought him to climb the ladders of power and assume the presidency of the regional state.

Abdi Iley neither has the education nor the experience to lead people. So, power enters into his head and corrupted him absolutely. One clear indication of this is the way he portrays himself. He wants to be referred as “Aabbe” meaning “father” and the best leader in the whole of Africa (not sure if he considers Somali region as a country). Some even went to the extent of calling him “Nabi” (i.e. prophet) and “ Tinishu Egziabher (i.e. Junior god in the Amharic language) since he has absolute power in everything except bringing rain and changing the course of the sun. He can kill, imprison, make you extremely rich or poor overnight, displace an entire village and of recent entire Oromo inhabitants of the region, but to mention few of his crimes.

Since some of his supports gave him some deity characteristics and /or prophethood and yet he claimed to be the vanguard of Islam, I want to put him to Islamic litmus test to see if he is what he claimed to be. This test is to see if he fulfills the-main-objective-of-the-Islamic Sharia. The primary objective of the Islamic law is to preserve and maintain the five necessities. These are: protection of religion, protection of human life, protection of the mind, protection of progeny, and protection of property. I will explain each one of them in relations with Abdi Iley’s action.

Protection of Religion: Abdi Iley have taken Ethiopian government blatant intervention against the religion of Islam in contravention with its constitution (Article 11 (3) that reads “The State shall not interfere in religious affairs; neither shall religion interfere in the affairs of the State”, to another new level. He is not only satisfied with the imposition of the new “version of Islam” better known as Al Ahbash but went to imprison all the prominent sheikhs, closed the Quranic schools, and stopped any religious sermon in the mosques including the commentaries of the Quran, Hadith, and Sirah (i.e. the prophet’s autobiography).

Protection of Life: Life is Allah’s gift to human, and no one has the right to trespass it, even the person himself. Human being is dignified and thus has a right to lead a decent life not only having the basic needs but also protected from humiliation, annoyance, and harm. But in Abdi Iley’s world, life loses its meaning. Mass killings and displacement are committed because certain groups belong to a clan that allegedly support ONLF. Prisons are full beyond their capacities. Prisoners die from both their injuries due to the constant beatings and starvation. What’s more, the entire region is food insecure. As a result, IDPs camps are pervasive in the region and 3.3 million (50% of the total population) are in dire need of emergency food!

Protection of the Mind: Descartes said “I think; therefore, I am”. The ability to reason, the ability to understand are properties of humanity. Islam encourages us to use our mind to discover the truth and not to blindly follow. Here in this part of Abdi Iley’s world, everyone is expected to delegate thinking to “Aabe-the father”. Non-conformity causes one to lose not only his life but also to place the life of his family in jeopardy. Let alone to become an active opposition which can cause your life or that of your family members (if you are outside the country), not posting Abdi Iley’s picture will be considered a grave mistake punishable by loss of job, contracts, or imprisonment. Civil servants are compelled to register their close family members living abroad in order for them to attend rallies organized by Abdi Iley.

Protection of Progeny: Sexual reproduction is the means that keeps human species in existence, and for that reason humans are instructed to keep their progeny by forming families through marriage. The marriage institution is considered sacred and thus protected by law. However, as explained above, Abdi Iley is not a person to respect marriage institution even before he seized the power. Coming to power only increased his lust and carnal desires. Wherever he goes, girls of all types are brought to him to satisfy his sexual needs and those of his dignitaries. Credible sources tell us that Abdi Iley has got a department within his palace that are responsible in bringing girls and women of all types to entertain his guests. What’s scary is that those guests of honor will be recorded while having intercourse. Some of the girls brought to the guests were trained in love-making skills and will guide their innocent guests to commit perversion. Abdi Iley will use the recording to blackmail these individuals as they commit obscene things. Is this one of the reasons no one from the federal government and the generals afraid to speak against Abdi Iley and his crimes against the Somalis and Oromos? Furthermore, the main prison of Jijiga better known as Jail Ogaden is a typical example of how base Abdi Iley is. Girls and women ended up in that notorious prison will end up gang-raped and as a result will come out either having babies or pregnant. Men are also said being raped in that prison a copycat crime that resembles Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

Protection of Property: Islam encourages work, production, and earning money and other property by lawful means. In the world of Abdi Iley, only few of his family members are allowed to trade as they controlled most of the trade in monopoly. For instance, bottled water, construction materials, such as cement and gravel, sugar and other food items are all under his brother, sister and brother in law’s control. The unfortunate thing is that your property will not be safe if you happen to be an opposition or have said wrong things about him. For instance, one of a former regional official traded insult with Abdi and Jigjiga city council found a way for paving a new road that passes via the home of this formal official, demolishing it to the ground with no compensation paid.

Do you have the picture of Abdi Iley now? Is he a guardian of Islam and humanity as he and his supporters portray him or a shameless man corrupted by absolute power? Or even more apt description is to call him a “Capo”. Victor E. Frankle in his famous book titled “Man’s Search for Meaning” aptly described Capos and how they are selected.  Capos were selected based on their level of inhumanity in treatment of other prisoners, the lower they are willing to go, the better their chance of being elected as capos. Inhumanity is the quality needed in the selection process and in case they still have shred of humanity, they are demoted quickly. Well, I think TPLF tried different “Capos” for leading Somali regional state and demoted them quickly, in maximum of two years, when they couldn’t find in these candidates what it takes to be a “capo” in Somali regional state. They found their candidate in Abdi Iley, and stuck with him for last 8 years now, and counting.

Capos and their sponsors in Hitler’s Germany were finally put to rest with the help of allied forces that recognized the risk of having such a menace in the world to their security and the all-time-truism that “injustice somewhere is injustice everywhere”. The tormentor-in-chief of Somali regional state has confined his tormenting business to Somali region or other Somali speaking areas of the horn. Naturally, finding no meaningful resistance in these parts, he needed to extend his reach, the closest target he found was Oromia regional state and Oromo nationals. If he succeeds here, others will follow. Hence, it is high time for Ethiopians to recognize tyranny anywhere in the republic is tyranny everywhere and will come back to haunt us all and jointly establish a kind of “allied forces” to resist and subdue Abdi Iley’s hand and his sponsors.

Abdel Haq Noor  is a political commentator from the Somali region of Ethiopia and he can be reached at abdelhaq.noor@gmail.com 

#PG7 በኮማንደር ደሳለኝ ላይ ለተፈጸመው ግድያ አርበኞች ግንቦት7 ሃላፊነቱን ወሰደ (ኢሳት ዜና፣ ህዳር 14 ቀን 2010 ዓም )

#PG7 በኮማንደር ደሳለኝ ላይ ለተፈጸመው ግድያ አርበኞች ግንቦት7 ሃላፊነቱን ወሰደ
(ኢሳት ዜና፣ ህዳር 14 ቀን 2010 ዓም )

በባህርዳር ከተማ የፌደራል ፖሊስ አዛዥ በሆነው ኮማንደር ደሳለኝ ልጃለም ላይ ህዳር 12 ቀን 2010 ዓ/ም ከምሽቱ 4:45 በመኖሪያ ቤቱ ግቢ ውስጥ ለተፈጸመው ግድያ  ንቅናቄው ሃላፊነቱን ወስዷል። ግንባሩ ባወጣው መግለጫ የፖሊስ አዛዡ በከተማው ተካሂዶ በነበረው  ህዝባዊ ተቃውሞ  ላይ ከህወሀት የተሰጠውን መመሪያ በማስፈጸም ለበርካቶች ግድያና ስቃይ ተጠያቂ ነበር።

የኮማንደሩ አስከሬን ከፈለገ ህይወት ሆስፒታል ምርመራ ቢደረግለትም እጅግ ጥበብ በተሞላበት ድምፅ በሌለው መሳሪያ ጭንቅላቱ ላይ ሁለት ቦታ ተወግቶ ሊሞት ችሏል ። ኮማንደሩ በ ብአዴን 37ኛ ዓመት የምስረታ በዓል ላይ ከልዩ እንግዶች ጋር የራት ግብዣ ላይ ተገኝቶ ካመሸ በሁዋላ የስንብት እርምጃ እንደተወሰደበት ግንባሩ ገልጿል።

ግንባሩ አክሎም፣  የመከላከያ የደህንነት የከተማ ምድብ ኃላፊ ሆኖ ሲሰራ የነበረ፣ የህወሓት የደህንነት አባል  ህዳር 12 ቀን 2010 ዓ/ም ከምሽቱ 4:15 ሲሆን በባህርዳር ከተማ ቀበሌ 04 ከአንድ ጭፈራ ቤት ሲዝናና በነበረበት ሰዓት በአርበኞች አባላት ታፍኖ ከተወሰደ በኃላ በባህርዳርና በመሸንቲ ከተማ መሃል የግድያ እርምጃ  እንደተወሰደበት አስታውቋል።

  ይህ የህወሓት ወታደራዊ መረጃ መኖሪያውን ባህርዳር አየር ኃይል ምድብተኛ ግቢ በማደረግ ለአለፉት 3 ዓመታት በባህርዳር ከተማ የመረጃ ኃላፊ ሁኖ በርካቶችን ያስገደለ እና በተለይ በአስቸኳይ ጊዜ አዋጅ የጄኔራል ፍሳሀ እና የጄኔራል ተስፋዬ ዋና አማካሪ በመሆን በርካታ ግፎችን መፈጸሙንም ጠቅሷል። ግንባሩ ተመሳሳይ እርምጃዎችን መውሰድ እንደሚቀጥልም አስታውቋል።
ግንባሩ ባወጣው መግለጫ ዙሪያ የክልሉን ፖሊስ ለማናገር ያደረግነው ጥረት አልተሳካም።

አስቻለው የተባለ ተከሳሽ ሱሪውን አውልቆ በምርመራ ወቅት የተኮላሸውን ብልቱን በችሎት አሳይቷል

አስቻለው የተባለ ተከሳሽ ሱሪውን አውልቆ   በምርመራ ወቅት የተኮላሸውን ብልቱን በችሎት አሳይቷል። Getachew Shiferaw

#Ethiopia : በእነ ተሻገር ወልደሚካኤል ክስ መዝገብ እስረኞች አቤቱታ ሲያቀርቡ ፍርድ ቤቱ ሲያቋርጥ የሚናገረው ተከሳሽ ሀሳቡን እንዲጨርስ የተናገረ ሌላ ተከሳሽ በፍርድ ቤቱ ትዕዛዝ ከተቀመጠበት ወጥቶ ወደ ችሎቱ እንዲቀርብ ተደርጓል።

 ተከሳሹ እንዲወጣ ሲጠየቅ  ሌሎች ተከሳሾች "እኛም እንወጣለን" ብለው ተቃውሞ አሰምተዋል። መሃል ዳኘው መጀመርያ " እንደሱ ከሆነ በሁላችሁም ላይ ቅጣት እንሰነዝራለን" ብለው የነበር ቢሆንም ተከሳሾቹን ለማረጋጋት ሞክረዋል።

 ሆኖም  የግራ ዳኛው "አሁንም ይውጣ" ብለው ተከሳሹ ከወጣ በኋላ ተከሳሹን "ምንድን ነው የሚያወራጭህ?" በማለታቸው ተከሳሾቹ ተቃውሟቸውን በጩኸት ገልፀዋል። የግራ ዳኛውን " ስነ ስርዓት ያዝ! "ሲሉም ተደምጠዋል። ዳኛ ዘርዓይ ከሰባራ ባቡር ወደዚህ የመጣው እኛን ሊመቀል ነው ብለዋል።

" እኛ የተከሰስነው አማራ በመሆናችን ነው። ልንሞት ነው የመጣነው። እንሞታለን" ብለዋል። በተቃውሞው ምክንያት ዳኞች ችሎት ጥለው ወጥተዋል።

አንድ ተከሳሽ "የሀይማኖት አባቶችም እየተሰቃዩ ነው። ትናንት ከእኛ ነጥለዋቸው ነበር። ዛሬ ጠዋትም ነጥለዋቸዋል። ልብሳችሁን እናቃጥለዋለን እያሏቸው ነው" ብሏል።

የመቀሌው_የወያኔ_ንትርክ_ተጋለጠ! #አዜብ_መስፍን_ለምን_መድረክ_ረግጠው_ወጡ?

#የመቀሌው_የወያኔ_ንትርክ_ተጋለጠ!
#አዜብ_መስፍን_ለምን_መድረክ_ረግጠው_ወጡ?
#
#‘’ሳራ ከምዘይብላ አድጊ...’’ አቶ ስብሃት ነጋ
አፈትልከው ከወጡ መረጃዎች ጥቂቶቹ ለማስታወስ ያክል… ወ/ሮ አዜብና ከአቶ ስብሐት ነጋ በነበራቸው አለመግባባት በካቢኔው ትልቅ ውጥረት ተከሰተ፡፡
ለሁለት እንዲከፈልም ምክንያት ሆነ… በዛች ቅፅበት ነገርየው ወደ መሰዳደብ አመራ፡፡ አቶ በየነ መክሩ ከዶ/ር ደብረፅዮን ሃይለቃል የተቀላቀለበት ንግግር አደረጉ፤ አቶ አለም ገብረዋህድ ከአቶ ሚኪኤለ አብርሃ ከቆየው ጥላቻ በመነሳት ወደ ከፋ የብልግና ንግግሮች ተቀየረ፡፡
ይህ መሰዳደብ ለ4 ሰዓታት ቀጠለ፡፡ አቶ ስብሃት ነጋ ሲጋራቸው ለኮሱ፡፡ አቶ አባይ ወልዱ አንድ ነገር ተናገሩ… ህወሓት በኛ ላይ ያላት አመኔታ እያጣች መሆንዋን ይሰማኛል… እማንችለው ከሆነ መንገዱን ለቀቅ እናድርግላቸው … እንደሚታየኝ ከሆነም እንደዛ ብናደርግ ይሻላል… ወጣቱ ሃይል ልንጠራጠረው አይገባም አሉ…መሰዳደቡ ግን ግዜ ከመግደሉ በስተቀር መሰረታዊ የድርጅታችን መብራት አያጠፋም… ካለፍቸው የትግል ግዝያት አሁንም ድረስ ትምህርት ያልቀሰማችሁ አመራሮች እንዳላችሁ ግን ይታየኛል… በናንተ ላይ ውሳኔ መስጠትም የትግራይ ህልውና ወሳኙ ገድል ይሆናል ብለዋል፡፡
ወ/ሮ አዜብ መስፍን … እንዲክ አሉ ‘’አልገባኝም ውሳኔ ስትል ምን ማለትህ ነው አባይ? ካሉ ቦሃላ አቶ በየነ መክሩና አቶ ብርሃነ እጃቸው አወጡ… አቶ ብርሃነም እንዲክ አሉ ‘’ የአቶ አባይ ሃሳብ ትክክል ነው እስካሁን ካሳለፍናቸው መራራ ግዝያት ትምህርት አልቀሰምንም…ከጀግናው ህዝብ ወጥተን ህዝባችን ረስተናል እናም አሁን ይብቃን በተለይም እኔ እረፍት ያስፈልገኛል እያመምኩኝ ነው መታከም ይሻለኛል በማለት ሃሳባቸው ሰጡ፡፡
# አቶ_ስብሃት_ነጋ አንድ ነገር አሉ…’’ ታመምኩኝ ደከምኩኝ ማለቱ ትክክል አይደለም በቃኝ ከሆነ በቃኝ ነው… መሰረታዊ ችግራችን እናውጣ ብለን ስንል ግምገማችን እስከ ውስጣዊ አጥንታችን ዘልቆ መግባት አለበት… አቅጣጫ ማስቀየሱ ትክክል አይመስለኝም አሉ፡፡ ወ/ሮ አዜብ ‘’ ከተቀመጡበት ብድግ ብለው ተነሱና የኔ ሃሳብ ትክክል ነው ያንተ ስህተት ነው ብሎ ማለት ትክክል አይመስለኝም… አሁንም ቢሆን በስተ-እርጅና የድርጅታችን መሰረታዊ ችግሮች በመደበቅ የግል ጥላቻን መርጨት ትክክል አይደለም፡፡
ብፃይ ስብሃት አሁንም ችግር መቀስቀስህን አቁም… በኔ የሚመራ ኔትዎርክ አለ ያልከው ትክክል አይደለም፡፡ ለኔ የስራ ውጤቴ ምስክር ናቸው፡፡ ኔትዎር ባንተ ላይ ነው ያለው…መጣሁኝ፡፡ በማለት በሩን ገፍትረው ወጡ፡፡ ካቢኔው ፀጥ-ረጭ አለ፡፡
ብዙ ሳይቆዩ ዕረፍት ወጡ… ወ/ሮ አዜብ ለአቶ አባይ ወልዱን ጠጋ ብለው ሹክ አሉ፡፡ ወ/ሮ አዜብ መስፍን አዲስ አበባ ሄዱ፡፡ ካቢኔው ቀጠለ… አቦይ ስብሃት አንዴ ወደ ቀኝ አንዴ ወደ ግራ አንገታቸው አዞሩ…፡፡
ወ/ሮ አዜብ መስፍን በመሃከላቸው የሉም፡፡ ግምገማው ቀጠለ…መሸ ወደ ማረፍያቸው ሄዱ… አቦይ ስብሃት ነጋ ወ/ሮ አዜብ መስፍን መድረክ ረግጠው እንደወጡ ሞባይል መልእክት ላኩ…ወዴት? ወደ 3 ሰዎች አንድ ሚኒስትር እና ሁለት የማህበራዊ-ሚድያ አክቲቪስቶች ፡፡ ይቀጥላል…

What is Egypt’s future strategy, diplomacy or military strikes? Egypt Independent

November 21, 2017 (Taha Sakr)

News of the failure to reach an agreement in the tripartite negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan regarding the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has stirred massive controversy in the Egyptian press and in government circles.

As has been pointed out by Egyptian officials, including the President himself, as well as a host of local newspaper, building the dam without granting Egypt its rightful share of Nile water poses a direct threat to the country’s water security.

The question that needs to be answered at this moment is what the appropriate response by the Egyptian government should be to the negotiation deadlock.

Discussions among Egyptian officials, media outlets, and specialists as to how to respond have centered around three axes: continuing direct negotiations with Ethiopia, turning over the case to international arbitration, or hindering the construction of the dam through the use of direct military force.

In the past few days, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made it clear that Egypt would not accept the reduction of its share of Nile water through the construction of the dam when he said, “no one can touch Egypt’s water”.

Showing its readiness to move forward in negotiations, Egypt has accepted a recently-released French ‘technical report’ on the effects of the dam on each of the three countries’ Nile water share. However, both Sudan and Ethiopia expressed reservations.

Following the news of the failure to reach a settlement, the Egyptian Cabinet released a statement in which it reiterated Egypt’s acceptance of the French report while also stressing the importance for Egypt to secure its water share. “Egypt’s water security is considered a crucial part of Egypt’s national security,” the statement read.

A few Egyptian media outlets have in the recent period also hinted that the failure of the talks between the three countries may push Egypt towards direct military action against Ethiopia.

However, neither a military strike nor international arbitration seems to be considered feasible strategies by the Egyptian government.

“Both military action against GERD and turning the issue to international arbitration are totally unacceptable strategies, as the International community would not allow Egypt to exert military force against Ethiopia. Furthermore, turning the issue to international arbitration would create hostilities and division in the African continent,” former assistant to Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Minister for African affairs Mona Omar told Egypt Independent on Monday.

She added that the best solution to the crisis is the continuation of negotiations with Ethiopia. However, the level of the representatives in the negotiations may have to be raised to include the highest leaders of the two countries, according to the former official.

In fact, Egypt’s official spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Abu Zeid recently declared that a meeting will be held in December between Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and President Sisi to discuss the issue.

Former undersecretary of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service Hatem Bashat also maintains that continuing talks between high-level negotiators is the only effective solution to solve the GERD crisis.

“The military option is totally refused by Egypt’s current political leadership. Egypt can use more effective and beneficial ways than military action,” he told Egypt Independent Monday.

Ethiopia is working to finalize the construction of the dam by 2018, and will thereafter use it to produce hydroelectric power.

Egypt fears that the dam will negatively affect Egypt’s agricultural production and further reduce its already scarce freshwater. Making things worse, Egypt’s population is rapidly growing, with the recent census by the country’s official statistics agency CAPMAS estimating it to be more than 100 million.

Meanwhile, both Ethiopia and Sudan are denying that the dam will have negative effects on Egypt.

“Egyptians should not wait until the real negative effects of the construction of GERD surface. There is a deliberate hostile trend from Ethiopia and Sudan towards Egypt and this is clear in their insistence to hinder the GERD negotiations with Egypt,” former chief of staff of the Egyptian army’s special unit 777 Hatem Saber told Egypt Independent Monday.

He added that “in the case of all alternatives failing, we have the right to destroy the GERD”.

Ethiopia’s and Sudan’s insistence on hindering negotiations from moving forward indicate that any future negotiations may face a similar fate, Saber went on to note. Meanwhile, Ethiopia is rushing to finish the construction of the dam while talks are still ongoing. This technique is similar to peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel whereby the latter creates irrevocable ‘facts on the ground’ to avoid making any concessions.

The Nile provides Egypt with more than 90 percent of its water needs, totaling 55 billion cubic meters per year out of a total of 88 billion cubic meters flowing through the river annually.

Despite the staunch warnings from Egyptian officials to continue the construction of GERD, no clear strategy has yet been presented regarding how Egypt will ensure that its share of the Nile water will be secured, following the meeting scheduled in December between President Sisi and the Ethiopian Prime Minister.

In the next phase of the GERD drama, it should be expected that Egypt signals how it will respond to the continued construction of the dam in the case of negotiations once again facing the wall of failure.

European Parliament Calls for Release of Dr Merera Gudina

Dr Merera Gudina (PHOTO: Addis Fortune)
European Parliament Calls for Release of Dr Merera Gudina

Dr Merera Gudina was arrested upon his return from a visit to the European Parliament on 9 November 2016, where he joined a panel with other opposition leaders.

BRUSSELS―The European Parliament expresses concern about arrests of opposition leaders in Zambia and Ethiopia and calls for an end to the war in South Sudan, in three resolutions voted on Thursday (May 18).

Members of  the European Parliament (MEPs) call for the immediate release on bail and dropping of all charges against Dr Merera Gudina, the Chairman of the Ethiopian Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) opposition party. He was arrested upon his return from a visit to the European Parliament on 9 November 2016, where he joined a panel with other opposition leaders and was thereafter accused of, inter alia, ‘creating pressure against the government’ and ‘threatening society through the means of violence’.

Parliament further reiterates its call for a credible, transparent and independent investigation into the killings of hundreds of protesters in 2015 and into human rights abuses against members of the Oromo community and other ethnic groups perceived to be in opposition to the government.

MEPs urge the Ethiopian government to refrain from “using anti-terrorism legislation to suppress legitimate peaceful protest” and to lift restrictions on free expression and association.

Source: European Parliament

ኅዳር 12 የሊቀ መላእክት ቅዱስ ሚካኤል ታላቅ በዓል

ሚካኤል ማለት በዕብራይስጥ ቋንቋ ሚ-መኑ' ካ-ከመ' ኤል- አምላክ ማለት ሲሆን በአንድነት ሲነበብ መኑ ከመ አምላክ (እንደ እግዚአብሔር ያለ ማን ነው) ማለት ነው፡፡ ይህ ታላቅ መልአክ ዮሐንስ ወንጌላዊ በራዕዩ ‹‹በእግዚአብሔር ፊት የሚቆሙትን ሰባቱን መላእክት አየሁ›› ብሎ ከተናገረላቸው መላእክት ውስጥ የሚመደብ ሲሆን የሰባቱም ሊቃነ መላእክት አለቃ እንዲሆን እግዚአብሔር መርጦ ሹሞታል፡፡ ይህ ታላቅ መልአክ ያደረጋቸው የሠራቸው እጅግ ብዙ የሆኑ ተአምራት አሉት፡፡

ስለዚህ ስለ ታላቁ መልአክ ቅዱስ ሚካኤል ክብር፤ ጠባቂነትና አማላጅነት ከአባቶቻቸው የተማሩትን በኑሮአቸው ያዩትን አባቶቻችን ጽፈዋል፡፡ ስለ ቅዱስ ሚካኤል ከጻፉት አባቶች መካከል የተወሰኑትን ለመጥቀስ ያክል፡-

 + ዮሐንስ አፈወርቅ
+ ኤዎስጣቴዎስ ዘአንፆኪያ
+ ቅዱስ መቃርዮስ
+ ቅዱስ ያሬድ
+ አባ ጊዮርጊስ ዘጋስጫ
+ የእስክንድርያው ሊቀ ጳጳስ አባዲማቴዎስ ናቸው፡፡

 እኛም የአባቶቻችንን አንደበት አንደበታችን አድርገን በኅዳር 12 ክቡር ገናና የሆነ ቅዱስ ሚካኤል ካደረጋቸውና ከሠራቸው ብዙ ተአምራት ውስጥ የተወሰኑትን በመልአኩ ተረዳኢነት እንዲህ ብለን እንናገራለን አንጽፋለን፡፡

      ንግስት ክሌዎፓትራ ‹‹ሳተርን›› ለሚባለው ጣዖት የሠራችው ቤተ ጣዖት በእስክንድርያ ነበር፡፡ ይህ ቤተ ጣዖት እስከ እስክንድርያው ፓትርያርክ እለ እስክንድሮስ /312 - 326/ ዘመን ድረስ ነበር፡፡ እለ እስክንድሮስ ሊያጠፋው ሲነሣ ሕዝቡ ከልቡ ገና የአምልኮ ጣዖት ስላልጣፋ 18 ፓትርያርኮች ያልነኩትን አንተ ለምን ታፈርስብናለህ ብለው ተቃወሙት፡፡ እለ እስክንድሮስም ሕዝቡን መክሮና አስተምሮ የሳተርን በዓል ይውልበት በነበረው ዕለት የቅዱስ ሚካኤልን በዓል እንዲያከብሩ አውጆ ቤተ ጣዖቱንም በቅዱስ ሚካኤል ስም ሰይሞ ቤተክርስቲያን አደረገው፡፡ ከዚህ በኋላ በቅዱስ ሚካኤልም ስም አብያተ ክርስቲያናት መታነጽ ጀመሩ  በዓሉ በዚህ ቀን እንዲከበር ተወስኗል፡፡   

        

     እንዲህም ሆነ የእግዚአብሔር ወዳጅ የሆነ ስሙ ዱራታዎስ የሚባል አንድ ሰው ነበረ፡፡ የሚስቱም ስም ቴዋብለት ነው፡፡ እነርሱም ሁልጊዜ ያለ ማቋረጥ የዚህን የከበረ መልአክ የሚካኤልን የበዓሉን መታሰቢያ ያረጉ ነበር፡፡ ከዚህም በኋላ በሀገር ውስጥ ችግር በሆነ ጊዜ ገንዘባቸው አለቀ፡፡ በዚህም የተነሳ ለመላእክት አለቃ ለቅዱስ ሚካኤል ለበዓሉ መታሰቢያ የሚያደርጉትን አጡ፡፡ ዱራታዎስም ሽጦ ለበዓሉ መታሰቢያ ያደርገው ዘንድ የእርሱን ልብስና የሚስቱን ልብስ ይዞ ወጥቶ ሄደ፡፡ የመላእክት አለቃ ቅዱስ ሚካኤል በታላቅ መኮንን አምሳል ለዱራታዎስ ተገለጠለት፤ ቅዱስ ሚካኤልም ዱራታዎስን ወደ በጎች እንዲሔድና በእርሱ ዋስትና በአንድ ዲናር አንድ በግ እንዲወስድ አዘዘው፤ ሁለተኛም ወደ ዓሣ አጥማጅ ሔዶ አንድ ዓሣ እንዲወስድ አዘዘው፡፡ መልአኩም ወደ ቤት ሳይደርስ የዓሣውን ሆድ እንዳይቀድ አስጠነቀቀው፡፡ ወደ ባለ ስንዴም እንዲሔድና የሚሻውን እንዲሁ በእርሱ ዋስትና እንዲወስድ አዘዘው ዱራታዎስም ቅዱስ ሚካኤል እንዳዘዘው አደረገ፡፡

      ወደ ቤቱም በተመለሰ ጊዜ በረከትን ሁሉ ቤቱ ተመልቶ አገኘው፤ እጅግም አደነቀ፤ የዚህንም የከበረ መልአክ የበዓሉን መታሰቢያ እንዳስለመደው አደረገ፡፡ የተራቡ ድሆችን ሁሉንም ጠርቶ መገባቸውና ወደ ቤታቸው አሰናበታቸው፡፡

      ከዚህም በኋላ ለዱራታዎስና ለሚስቱ ቅዱስ ሚካኤል ለሁለተኛ ጊዜ ተገለጠላቸው ዱራታዎስንም የዓሳውን ሆድ እንዲሰነጥቅ አዘዘው፤ በሰነጠቀውም ጊዜ ሦስት መቶ የወርቅ ዲናር በዓሳው ሆድ ተገኘ፡፡ ቅዱስ ሚካኤልም ዱራታዎስንና ቴዋብስታን እንዲህ አላቸው፡፡ ‹‹ከዚህ ዲናር ወስዳችሁ ለባለ በጉ ለባለ ዓሳውና ለባለ ስንዴው ዕዳችሁን ክፈሉ የቀረውም ለፍላጎታችሁ ይሁናችሁ፤ እግዚአብሔር አስባችኋልና በጎ ሥራችሁን መስዋዕታችሁን ምጽዋዕታችሁን በዚህ ዓለም አሳመረላችሁ፡፡ በኋላኛውም መንግስት ሰማያትን አዘጋጅቶላችኋል፡፡››

በአንድ ዘመን ብዙ ሰዎች ከግብፅ አውራጃ መጥተው ወደ ባሕር ማዶ ሄዱ፡፡ ከባሕሩም በደረሱ ጊዜ በመርከብ ላይ ተሳፍረው ከየብሱ ጥቂት በራቁና ወደ ባሕሩ መካከል በደረሱ ጊዜ ጽኑ ነፋስ ተነሳባቸው ለመስጠም እስኪ ደርሱ ድረስ፡፡

የማዕበሉ ሞገድ እየጨመረ እየጸና ከፍ አለ፡፡ ታላቅም ማዕበል መጥቶ ሊገለብጣቸው ደረሰ፡፡ ፍጹም ጥፋትና ክፉ ሞት እንደ መጣባቸው ባዩ ጊዜ ጽኑ ሐዘን ያዛቸው፡፡ የሚያድናቸው የሚያጽናናቸው አጥተው ተስፋ ቆረጡ፡፡ ያን ጊዜ እንዲህ ብለው ጮኹ፡፡

‹‹የመላእክት አለቃቸው ግሩም ገናና የምትሆን ሚካኤል ሆይ የተአምራትና የይቅርታ መልአክ ነህና፡፡ ልዑል ቸርነቱን የሚገልጥብህ መልአክ ሆይ! እግዚአብሔር ፍቅሩን የሚያስታውቅብህ መልአክ ሆይ ወደኛ ተመልከት እርዳን፡፡ የተጨነቅን እኛን አድነን፡፡ ከመጣብን ሞትና ጥፋት እንድን ዘንድ ስለኛ ወደ ፈጣሪህ ወደ ፈጣሪያችን ወደ እግዚአብሔር ለምንልን፡፡ አሁን የሞት መጋረጃ ዓይናችንን ሸፍኖታልና፡፡ ፍጹም የጥፋት ጥላንም አይተናታልና›› ብለው በፍጹም ልቦናቸው ወደ እግዚአብሔር ጮኹ፡፡ በመርከብ ውስጥ ያሉት ሁሉ ጽኑ ለቅሶ እያለቀሱ መራራ እንባ እያፈሰሱ ጮኹ፡፡

ከባሕር ጽኑ ማዕበል ከሞት ያድናቸው ዘንድ ያን ጊዜ በዚያች ሰዓት እግዚአብሔር የልቦናቸውን ሐዘንና ልመናቸውን ሰማቸው፡፡ ያን ጊዜም ይገዳቸው ዘንድ ቸር መልአኩን ሚካኤልን ላከላቸው የመላእክት አለቃ ቅዱስ ሚካኤልም ከሰማይ ወረደ መርከቡን በእጁ ይዞ ሳበው፡፡ በመርከቡ ውስጥ ያሉትንም ወደ የብስ አወጣቸው፡፡ በደኅናቸው ተሻገሩ፤ ክፉ ነገር ጥቂትስ ስንኳ ፈጽሞ አላገኛቸውም፡፡

ለእግዚአብሔር ምስጋና ይሁን እኛንም ገናና የሆነ የመላእክት አለቃ ቅዱስ ሚካኤል ልመናውና አማላጅነቱ ፈጽሞ ይጠብቀን፡፡ ከጽኑ ጠላት እጅ በክንፎቹ ጋርዶ ይሰውረን፡፡ ለዘለዓለሙ አሜን፡፡

                        ድርሳነ ሚካኤል ዘኅዳር

      ምንጮች           መጽሐፈ ስንክሳር ዘኅዳር

                        የሐመር መጽሔት 1993 ዓም መጋቢትና 

Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt diverge over GERD’s impact

November 19, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – Khartoum disclosed on Sunday that new differences have emerged with Egypt over the findings of a consultative report related to the impact of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The Sudanese Minister of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity Mutaz Musa made his remarks after the failure of a meeting with his Egyptian and Ethiopian counterparts to discuss the conclusions of a report on the GERD’s impacts prepared by French firms BRL and Artelia.

“Sudan and Ethiopia have reservations on some main points in the preliminary consultative report over the economic, social and environmental impact of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam,” Musa told reporters in Khartoum.

“At the top of these points there is the baseline data from which any study of the dam’s operationalization starts,” he further said pointing that Egypt disagreed with them and made expressed its reservation.

Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia signed a declaration of principles on the dam project that approves the dam’s construction but calls for technical studies to safeguarding the water quotas of the three riparian states.

On 22 September 2014, experts from the three countries agreed to carry out two studies on the dam project: the first one on the effect of the dam on the water quota of Sudan and Egypt and the second one to examine the dam’s ecological, economic and social impacts of the dam on Sudan and Egypt.

Musa said Sudan and Ethiopia have submitted “constructive and objective proposals”, based on the existing agreements, and proposed to demand the consultants to provide further clarifications in order to push forward the negotiations, but Egypt also rejected.

After Ethiopian reassurances that Egypt’s share of the Blue Nile water will not be affected during and after the filling period, Egypt continues to express fears that the power production of the High Aswan Dam would be affected by the reduction of water volume in Lake Nasser when begins the filling of the GERD.

The Italian Salini Construction Private has actually completed 70% of the Ethiopia am which is located at 30 km from the border with Sudan. The GERD is expected to hold 74 billion cubic metres of water.

The minister reiterated Sudan’s its commitment to the scientific means to resolve all the pending issues. Also, he renewed his country’s adherence to the Khartoum Agreement on the principles of bridging the Ethiopian Renaissance and the summit of the heads of the three countries in March 2015.

(ST)

Unlocking an Energy Revolution in Ethiopia With Lessons From the Black Market

Selling solar products through the informal sector is not just financially attractive in places like Ethiopia—it’s also the key to reaching the largest number of customers.

MOHIT ANAND NOVEMBER 16, 2017

Energy access experts can learn from vendors at Ethiopia’s Merkato in Addis Ababa.

“Ninety thousand solar lanterns sold last quarter,” said Mr. Li. He was sharing sales numbers for his solar appliance business in Ethiopia, and I couldn’t believe it.

To put that number in perspective, the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association pegs the average number of all solar lighting products sold in Ethiopia in a single quarter at around 250,000 units. Close to 80 percent of Ethiopians live in rural areas with little to no access to electricity. Assuming two lanterns for every household with an average five people in each, Mr. Li might have provided energy access to close to a quarter million people within months.

As far-fetched as that sounds, it is actually quite possible. The catch, however, is that Mr. Li’s sales are illegal. He sells his products on the informal market, outside of the government net, avoiding taxes and the country’s formal quality regime. As a result, his sales, though meaningful, are at risk of coming to a halt.

A rapidly growing market for solar lanterns and home kits is driving an energy revolution in Ethiopia. Like many low-income countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, Ethiopia is a point of focus for international development and finance institutions as well as donors. Such organizations are channelizing tens of millions of dollars into Ethiopia for energy access. In order to maximize the impact of their investments, they need to have an understanding of local requirements in order to provide tailored financial flows.

To that end, I visited Ethiopia earlier this year as part of a study for the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) program. In collaboration with partners, we at TFE Consulting helped SE4All understand the quantity and type of financing needed for energy access in five developing countries across Africa and Asia. Ethiopia was a focus country, along with Nigeria, Kenya, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

What I learned in Ethiopia was encouraging. On the face of it, the market has a high focus on quality: the World Bank’s “Lighting Africa” quality certification is mandatory for products, and most key suppliers have this. Additionally, distribution networks are well established and run deep. Financing support is also available through micro-finance institutions offering consumer financing and banks that provide corporate credit to suppliers. Overall, the growth rate of energy access businesses is between 10 to 20 percent, and there is tremendous optimism about the size and future of the market

Despite these promising facts, sales volumes across the formal sector are actually quite low. One reason is that foreign exchange is scarce, which makes imports difficult. Also, debt comes with crippling conditions like interest rates of 12 to 15 percent and high collateral requirements. As a result of these barriers, most businesses operating in the formal sector sell between 2,000-5,000 lanterns a year. The volume of solar kits is a third of that. Even the largest formal supplier we met sold fewer than 20,000 lanterns a year. These numbers are an order of magnitude lower than those in the informal sector, where some suppliers, like Mr. Li, sell more than 100,000 lanterns a year.

Mr. Li is a true entrepreneur. He runs a cottage-industry-style assembly line for solar lanterns on the outskirts of Addis Ababa. To avoid customs that confiscate products lacking certification, he imports individual components and assembles them locally. Once assembled, he sells wholesale to agents. His price is 20 percent below any formal market product. He is greatly optimistic about his business and plans to convert his makeshift assembly line into a proper factory by the end of the year.

Mr. Li is not alone. From our interviews and data, we estimate that as much as 65 percent of Ethiopia’s solar lantern market transacts in the informal sector. In the vast, highly congested bazaar at the edge of Addis known as Merkato, thousands of vendors sell a wide range of consumer products at cutthroat prices entirely outside the tax and regulatory net. Deals here are large, conducted on trust, not paper, and executed quickly. This is where business gets done.

The Merkato, and other markets like it, are the beating heart of the energy access market in Ethiopia. They are deeply connected to informal networks that have low transaction costs, high flexibility, wide geographic reach and access to the most remote areas of the country. These features make such networks the backbone of many developing markets like Ethiopia and the channel of choice for energy access suppliers looking for large transaction volumes, low costs and speed-to-market.

A focus on volume is understandable in a market that offers razor-thin margins. Customers have very low purchasing power and are therefore highly price sensitive. A slight increase in prices can put products out of reach for a large segment of customers. Selling through the informal sector then is not only financially attractive for enterprises due to scale and lower transaction costs, but also a key lever in reaching the largest number of consumers.

The Merkato is notorious. It is a black market, and the authorities continuously try to crack down on it. Formal businesses complain about unfair price competition due to avoided taxes. Many buyers with access to formal markets often avoid it for fear of being cheated. Moreover, access to financing of the kind our project was trying to solve altogether overlooks this market segment.

If international financiers, government, donors and consultants like us are serious about improving energy access for the poor, there is a tradeoff to address. We have to recognize the advantages of the informal sector and develop an approach that incorporates and leverages its many strengths. For a start, we need to recognize the scale and reach of informal markets and find ways to include them when planning financing for energy access. By failing to do so, we are failing to turn lights on.

Mohit is an expert on energy in emerging markets. At TFE Consulting, he leads projects to help international companies navigate the energy transformation underway globally.

The views in this article are his own and do not reflect the views or findings of any studies or organizations mentioned

Analysis: Inside the controversial EFFORT

Every authoritarian regime has its own symbol of economic exploitations and monopoly either in an individual face or in an organizational mask.

Ethiopia, despite its success in persuading its western allies that it is combating poverty using its fast economic growth and democratization, remained to be one of the poorest and most closed countries where a group of few individuals control vast economic shares and absolute political power. Unlike many other authoritarian regimes, the most dominant ruling elite group in Ethiopia has a complex behavior in that it claims to represent a minority ethnic group from the northern part of the country, Tigray. In response it has gotten a relatively overwhelming legitimacy among the people of Tigray as compared to other regions; or at least many people, including myself, believe it receives better legitimacy only in that specific region.

Moreover, this elite group has established a chain of several multi-billion dollar worth business firms under a home-grown umbrella called EFFORT, ‘Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray’, which was originally established to serve a harmless looking purpose of  ‘rehabilitating’ Tigray, a war-torn region deprived of a fair chance to prosper during decades of successive regimes. In the past 25 years of TPLF’s dominated political rule in Ethiopia, therefore, EFFORT has emerged as one of the leading economic powerhouses in the name of ‘rehabilitating’ the region.

 What is in the name?

On the surface, EFFORT is an umbrella company for a group of businesses which are involved in major industrial activities in Ethiopia, such as banking and insurance, import and export, media and communication, construction, agribusiness, and mining, among others.

Having started with an initial capital of around US$100 million, EFFORT’s worth has now reached more than a staggering US$3 billion in paid capital, creating more than 47,000 employment opportunities.

EFFORT companies were first registered as private share companies owned by some of the top leaders of TPLF. Later on, however, the companies were re-registered as “endowment” companies whose profits will not be divided to individuals, according to the 1960 Ethiopian civil code. However, top officials of the TPLF, the most powerful member of Ethiopia’s ruling party EPRDF, remained as the CEOs and GMs of these companies; and some of whom reportedly own small shares designed to motivate them in helping EFFORT stay competitive.

‘The original sin’: How did TPLF accumulate its wealth?

 EFFORT’s official profile claims it was established by using seed money from the liquidated amount of capital of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), accumulated during Ethiopia’s 17 years civil war of the militarist Derg regime to establish these companies.

In 2008, Aregawi Berhe, a former veteran of TPLF who later on left the party, did his Ph.D. dissertation on ‘The Political History of TPLF’ for Vrije Universteit in Amsterdam, somehow corroborates the story. In his account of the party’s earliest times, Aregawi wrote about one of the first successful operations that the then guerilla fighters ever had: ‘Axum Operation’. It is a military operation that succeeded in raiding a police garrison and a bank in the historic city of Axum in the north during which the TPLF fighters made away with “substantial amounts of arms and ammunition and 175,000 birr (US$ 84,000)”, according to Aregawi.

Having started by raiding public banks, members of the TPLF continued to accumulate wealth and went on to dominate the contested use of ‘aid money’ for political purposes before the party came to control power in 1991. TPLF had also founded the Relief Society of Tigray (REST), a humanitarian wing, during the civil war. “By June 1985,” wrote Aregawi Berhe, “REST had received more than US$100 million from donors in the name of saving famine victims. [… however] the late Meles [Zenawi’s] proposal for the allocation of the relief aid money was as follows: 50% for MLLT [Marxist-Leninist League of Tigray] consolidation, 45% for TPLF activities and 5% for the famine victims.” Predictably, Aregawi’s claim, especially that of aid money allocations, has been vehemently denied by the current TPLF leaders.

Gebru Asrat, another former TPLF veteran who later on established an opposition political party Arena Tigray, has briefly raised this issue in his book, ‘Lualawinet Ena Democracy beEthiopia’, (Sovereignty and Democracy in Ethiopia), and said that the guerilla fighters used to get a lot of money in foreign aid and; ‘it was up to the TPLF [leadership] to allocate which money goes where.” Gebru neither confirmed nor denied Aregawi’s claim that aid money was used for political purposes. If anything, he is of the view that it is impossible to make such allegations.

However, legally questionable ways of accumulating wealth seemed to have continued within the party even after it took control of state power. Ermias Legesse, a former Communication State Minister, who is now in exile, has recently published his second book, ‘Yemeles Leqaqit’, in which he raised multiple controversial points against the establishment and functions of EFFORT.

In Chapter six of this 565 pages book, Ermias tells several stories on how EFFORT used to get its finances unfairly from the Ethiopian state and how it transferred it to its own account. Ermias went an extra mile to display a letter written in 1994 and was signed by the then Prime Minister, Tamrat Layne, demanding the Addis Abeba Health bureau to refund TPLF’s medical expenses of the civil war time. The money requested amounted to more than four million birr (almost 67% of the city’s annual budget at that time), but the total amount paid by the Ministry of Health was actually 17 million birr. Ermias also wrote that the medicines that TPLF had distributed to  the locals during the civil war, for which it had requested a refund, was actually robbed by the guerilla fighters from public pharmacies. The money that was paid back in such a bizarre demand by the then Prime Minister was put in TPLF’s accounts.

Of continued sins & controversies

Companies that are currently under the umbrella of EFFORT were originally established as PLCs having a few members of TPLF leaders as shareholders. Later on, in August 1995, they were re-registered as ‘endowment’ companies and still remained under the umbrella of EFFORT.

The re-registration of these PLCs as ‘endowment’ companies was done to justify that these companies were established using the money donated by the shareholders of the preceding PLCs, which in itself portrays a picture that EFFORT, as a conglomerate of these companies, did not use public money to be established. According to the Ethiopian civil code, endowment companies are legally prohibited from distributing their profits to individuals. This fact effectively obscures the few individuals controlling these companies behind a party cover.

In 2004, the Amharic version of the ‘Ethiopian Reporter’, a bi-weekly newspaper owned by a former member of the TPLF rebel group, published series of stories concerning EFFORT and its debt in public banks, including the controversial cancellation of the debt. (The copies of these publications are annexed in the latest book of Ermias Legesse, referred above.)

According to this series of publication, EFFORT had borrowed 1.7 billion birr from the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) which later on has risen to 1.8 billion birr debt including the interests. First, CBE officials have denied and said that ‘they did not loan money to EFFORT’. But later on CBE had transferred the debts to yet another state-owned bank, Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE), for ‘better management’. Finally, DBE reported that the amount of money loaned to EFFORT was ‘none performing’ loan. Ermias claims that the CBE had loaned EFFORT the money with no collateral in the first place. The following year it was reported that DBE, the bank that took over the loan for “better management” was facing a bankruptcy of some 3.5 billion birr; certainly not exclusively attributable to the loan provided to EFFORT, but due in a significant part to it.

The other controversy surrounding EFFORT lies in the manner in which its businesses affiliates operate. Its leaders claim that their extreme obedience to the rule of law and their refusal to bribe local officials often poses a great challenge to their operations, disadvantaging their businesses. However, EFFORT companies are generally known to enjoy a great deal of support from officials. A good example to prove this is a rare ruling by a federal court on the 19th December 2012. The federal First instance court at Lideta ruled that one of EFFORT’s companies, Mega Entertainment Center, which was led by the widow of the late PM Meles Zenawi, Azeb Mesfin, has been running its business in a fraudulent manner by reporting more expenses than the actual and without paying value-added taxes collected from its customers during the preceding eight years.

But the secrecy of most of these companies is such that details like this come to the public’s knowledge only when there is disagreement between stakeholders; this time, it was between Azeb and another management member of Mega, Eqoubay Berhe.

Still, just what is EFFORT?

According to a letter by former US ambassador to Ethiopia, Donald Yamamoto, which was one of the Wikileaks documents, Ex-TPLF veteran Seyee Abraha (who later on fell from favor and was subsequently jailed for corruption) was quoted as saying the objectives of EFFORT during its foundation were “to study, and then establish profitable companies that use locally-available resources and provide employment [opportunities] for Tigray.” In this sense, EFFORT, even though it also gets raw materials from and markets its end products to other regions in Ethiopia, mostly (though not exclusively) hires Tigrians.

In principle, its profit should be used to rehabilitate the region. However, many Tigrians despair the fact that the “Endowment” is merely used by a few corrupt TPLF elites to enrich themselves. Former veteran and ex-president of the Tigray region for a decade, Gebru Asrat, in his book mentioned above admitted that the “endowment” was being exploited by a few TPLF top leaders; he suggested that there must be ways of diverting EFFORT’s profits/wealth to the people of Tigray as the endowment belongs to the Tigrians. His suggestion indicates a return, once again, of the endowment to a share company in which as many individuals could become shareholders. Many Tigrian pro-democracy activists agree with Gebru Asrat’s suggestions.

What do ‘others’ own?

Without a doubt, other regions of Ethiopia have also suffered significant social and economic devastations during the 17 years civil war before it ended in 1991. Military expenditure was Ethiopia’s biggest expense during the entire rule of the militarist Derg regime. Suffice to say, therefore, other regions also needed ‘endowments’ of their own.

It seemed it was in response to this concern that TPLF ‘provided’ seed money for other rehabilitation funds.  In Oromia regional state is Dinsho endowment, which was established in 1992 and was renamed Tumsa Endowment for Development of Oromia in 2001. It is led by top officials of the OPDO, the party representing the region within the EPRDF coalition. In Amhara regional state is ‘TIRET’, first established in 1995 and went on to incorporate several pre-existing companies. TIRET is led by senior officials of ANDM, the party representing the region within the ruling EPRDF. And in Southern Nations Nationalities and People’s Region (SNNPR) is WENDO trading, which was established in 1994 and is led by senior officials of SEPDM, the party representing the region within the ruling EPRDF.

Seyee Abraha has admitted: “TPLF gave a portion of its capital to each of the three parties within the EPRDF to establish their own endowment funds”. However, the combined numbers of companies run by these three ‘endowments’ are less than twenty; whereas at least 24 companies are listed under EFFORT; (some put these numbers as high as 380). The nature of secrecy surrounding this delicate matter means one may never find out the real figures.

Nonetheless, the three “endowments” run by OPDO, ANDM and SEPDM were supposed to create employment opportunities for more than 80% of Ethiopia’s population as compared to EFFORT’s targeting of 6% of Ethiopians in Tigray regional state.

According to a research titled ‘Rethinking Business and Politics in Ethiopia’, published in 2011 by Sarah Vaughan and Mesfin Gebremichael, “[TIRET] companies employ only 2,800 staff, as compared with the more 14,000 permanent employees or 34,000 contract staff of EFFORT and its companies.” And the poorest regional states of Ethiopia, namely, the Somali, Afar, Benishangul-Gumuz and Gambella regions do not have ‘endowment companies’ of their own to help them rehabilitate their respective regions, although they are politically administered by EPRDF’s sister parties.

What’s not and what’s owned by EFFORT?

There is a big deal of confusion in identifying EFFORT’s business complexities. Selam Bus Share Company is a good example. Established in 1996, 99.6% of this interregional transport service providing company share is held by Tigray Development Association (TDA); the rest is held by individuals. Although Selam Bus board members, as are EFFORT companies’ board members, are members of the TPLF, EFFORT has no registered share in Selam Bus. However, Selam Bus is a company many people name first when asked to list EFFORT’s businesses. This blurry ownership status is perhaps one of the reasons why Selam Buses were targeted by the last year’s widespread public protesters in Oromiaand Amhara regions.

Dejennna Endowment is another example. Established to ‘help promote development in Tigray,’ on the surface Dejenna Endowment is a part of the Relief Society of Tigray (REST). There are 11 companies listed under Dejenna Endowment in its website. In 2009, Dejenna has merged with EFFORT following the appointment of Azeb Mesfin, widow of the late Meles Zenawi, as head of the later. Companies under EFFORT usually hold shares in one another’s companies so that one pulls up when another fails. However, until today little is known about the merger of EFFORT and Dejenna. Besides, the information on the official websites of the two endowments mis-inform readers as if the two are independent of one another. But, some of the companies that are known to be under EFFORT are actually listed as the properties of Dejenna endowment.

The Sheger vs Mekelle narrative

By now, keen observers of the relationship between politics and business in Ethiopia can safely assume that business and politics in Ethiopia are radically divided into two major narratives in defining and perceiving the current TPLF dominated regime. I call these narratives ‘the Sheger narrative’ – a political narrative that is mostly advocated from here in the capital Addis Abeba, and ‘the Mekelle narrative’ – usually advocated by the people in Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray regional state, home to the all too powerful members of TPLF.

However, both narratives go beyond these respective centers depending on whose political view is solicited. The two narratives are only thoughts that do have majority acceptance in their respective centers. ‘The Sheger narrative’ (the most popular one) considers the TPLF dominated administration as a total failure that holds power by force; whereas ‘the Mekelle narrative’ generally sympathizes with the regime and considers it as a legitimate administration, albeit admitting some of its fault lines mostly due to the corrupt practices of some of its leaders.

This definition makes it clear how and why Tigrians (in most cases driven by ‘the Mekelle narrative’) and non-Tigrians (driven by ‘the Sheger narrative’) view the relationship between TPLF and EFFORT differently.

Tigrian pro-democracy activists’ criticism of EFFORT can be clearly seen by how they react to the manner in which former leaders of TPLF, who were expelled during the party’s infamous split in 2001, view EFFORT. Former top leaders of TPLF, Seyee Abraha, as we read him on wikileaks documents, and Gebru Asrat, from his book, both criticize EFFORT’s management. Both regret EFFORT’s failure to rehabilitate Tigray as was stipulated in its foundational principles. However, both believe the people of Tigray are the rightful owners of these ‘endowment’ companies under EFFORT.

On the contrary, most non-Tigrian activists and politicians disown EFFORT and also the rest of ‘endowments’ that are being manipulated by EPRDF leaders. Lidetu Ayalew, former leader of the opposition Ethiopian Democratic Party, and Dr. Berhanu Nega, current leader of the outlawed Ginbot 7, both condemned EFFORT as a party business that monopolized the economy, and both concluded the “endowments” should be dissolved or privatized. Similarly, many other activists want to (and sometimes advocate) boycotting EFFORT services and products to stop TPLF’s hegemonic march.

In the same manner, Tigrian activists claim other home grown charity organizations operating in Tigray, namely REST and TDA, are used to create grassroots networks to dictate the people of Tigray become loyalists of the TPLF, whereas non-Tigrian activists, such as Ermias Legesse, disagree and say these organizations are replicas of EFFORT to simply promote disproportionate social development of Tigrians at the cost of others.

This leads us to conclude that ‘the Mekelle narrative’ generally portrays EFFORT as an organization that rightfully belongs to the ‘Tigrian people’ which is unfortunately being exploited by few members of the top management for personal gains. ‘The Sheger narrative’, on the other hand, defines EFFORT as ‘a tool to exploit the wealth of Ethiopian people and create economic monopoly for the benefit of a [small] group’.

 The red line

What is indisputable is speaking truth in a country governed by the TPLF dominated EPRDF is always a dangerous exercise; speaking the truth about EFFORT is even more dangerous. A tax controller from Adama, 100kms south east of Addis Abeba, who is now in Qilinto prison on the southern outskirt of Addis Abeba suspected of ‘corruption’ has recently told me that ‘EFFORT trucks were known to be untouchables on their way to and from Djibouti port’. Similarly, investigating companies under EFFORT is normally a red line no journalist in Ethiopia would like to cross, contributing to the secrecy of the ins and outs of the giant umbrella.

Concealed in this intimidating rubble are crucial facts about EFFORT such as details on tax returns. That is why this article cannot be taken as an exhaustive look into the functions of EFFORT and its affiliates, but just the tip of the iceberg to demonstrate in part some facts about the economic exploitations of the authoritarian regime currently governing Ethiopia