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The paradox of charity in Ethiopia 

No, I am not referring to the charity that we Ethiopians have notoriously been receiving from foreigners for decades. I am talking about charity by Ethiopians to fellow Ethiopians. Yes, we do have few rich people that have become household names not so much for their accomplishment in making the money (which I think is a big deal) but for the way they give it away by way of charity and to whom they do so. You guessed it right; the one that comes to mind first is Sheikh Al Amoudi. He is considered to be the 77th richest person and the richest black person in the world and/or one of the richest Arabs. That is a paradox in itself – a country synonymous with poverty has a son in the global league table of the wealthy. But that isn’t the sort of irony that would strike me – Ethiopia happens to have plenty of that (example: they say Ethiopia is one of the places where food crops were originally domesticated, but now in Ethiopia food seems to be as scarce as weapons of mass destruction). 
  

What strikes me as rather weird is the business of charity in Ethiopia. First the usual disclaimer: I wouldn’t argue that people like Al Amoudi haven’t done enough or even have any kind of obligation to be charitable. I think he has done a lot; and fellow Ethiopians should be proud that because of him, for a change, the name Ethiopia crops up in matters of individual wealth instead of infant mortality or famine. Here is where I get slightly mystified about the attitude towards charity à la Ethiopia: it tends to confuse kind deeds to-causes proper and anyone can become a charity case next to someone who has more. You watch a woman praising the Sheikh for his eminent charity of sending her only [Read More]

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Ethiopia: Lessons on organisation from Woyane

When it comes to organisational strength and efficiency, Woyane may not be on a par with world-class examples such as Microsoft, the CIA, the Mafia and the Vatican. But it must arguably have enough lessons on matters of organisation for fledgling Ethiopian opposition parties to draw from. After all, isn’t the proof of the pudding in the eating? Woyane seems to have survived crisis after crisis and recently, when everyone thought it was end game for Woyane, it appears that Woyane doesn’t even need to be in the game anymore: the opposition crowd is fighting it out among themselves leaving Woyane to be a cheerful spectator. People might say, well that is just for the moment. But, as Keynes remarked, in the long-run we are all dead.

It was with such a view on my side that I read the recent web-posting of Ato Andargachew Tsige on the challenge of transforming CUD to a resilient democratic party. A pundit on Ethiopian politics, Ato Andargachew writes with style, high Amharic, and perhaps sophistication as well but I don’t claim to comprehend all of what he has to say. Nonetheless, I intend to rant today that I find he has not done enough justice to what his party/ CUD could learn from Woyane.    

He correctly predicts that most of us (who are addicted to reading a page or two ‘emotional’ pieces on the web) wouldn’t have the stomach to read his lengthy and elaborate treatise on the challenge of building an effective political organisation. I congratulated myself (or him?) for getting through the 15 page piece that includes a prelude discussing recent events and a sort of synopsis of the main piece. (I promise to read the full 60 page document sometime). But I suspect that most of my fellow cyber readers wouldn’t even go as far... [Read More]

Blogger/UKHabesha

I thought I had gotten my irritation with the misguided opponents of HR 2003 off my chest. No such luck. The arguments being advanced by the antagonists are getting clumsier and more and more annoying; and I am also getting e-mails that suggest to me that I haven’t hammered my message home. Hence this further attempt to make my point to my dear opponents of HR 2003 who consider themselves the patriotic and pitiful silent majority. This group of opponents is unlikely to represent the voice of the majority, but it is indeed pathetic in its arguments.

  

I quite agree that there could, in principle, be a debate on whether or not HR 2003 would surely bring about a significant change in democratising Ethiopia. My own view is that yes it would, or at least I see no reason how it would undermine democracy or harm anyone in any way in Ethiopia, other than its unbridled rulers. My problem is with the terms of the debate as portrayed by the anti-HR 2003 enthusiasts: a debate between patriots and traitors (of Ethiopian sovereignty). This is ludicrous.

  

We shouldn’t be debating if the passage of the bill jeopardises Ethiopia’s sovereignty – whatever that means. Once someone sits to judge on your fate, irrespective of the verdict, they have power over you. In this sense, the sovereignty question is fait accompli. HR 2003 has come to the fore in the United States; the Lower House has passed it; and it is on to the Senate who may or may not endorse it. However, the fact remains that there is a judge or a jury to which the sovereignty-cherishing patriotic Ethiopians and the traitors alike are appealing in order to sway its verdict in their respective favour. ‘Beggin... [Read More]

Blogger/UKhabesha   
Thanks (or probably no thanks) to the ease afforded by cyber technology you now get to read all sorts of uncensored, undigested and unbridled ideas and arguments on any topic. Sometimes you wish you didn’t. But once you did, you cannot help thinking about them and you feel the urge to put forward your own unbridled arguments or counter claims. So here are mine for today on HR 2003 – the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and is on to the next stage.

 

I should probably start with a brief description of the bill, but, how exactly? If I say HR2003 is about “human rights and democracy”, then I would already be concluding my piece before I start. So the best way to try to describe it is in a pub language along the lines of: “Yankees are saying that you ruling elites in East Africa behave yourselves to your own fellows or there ain’t no money and there would be all sorts of restrictions”.

 

“Fair enough”, would say my pub mate. “You want the money, behave yourselves. You feel you are being bossed around by these soulless Yankees, then you tell them to get lost with their money, end of story. It is as simple as that; I don’t understand that you guys had to spend so much time arguing and crying over somebody else’ money.”

 

Well, we Habeshas are slightly more sophisticated than that, and there is no way we can look at an issue without invoking conspiracy, colonization, sovereignty, etc. One typical undigested view goes as follows: “I do not want to see any imported an... [Read More]

Blogger/UKhabesha 

 

If everyone is Woyane, then no one is really Woyane
 
Alas, ordinary Ethiopians have given up on appealing to Ethiopian political opposition groups to unite against public enemy number one: Woyane. It is a waste of breath, they would tell you. Over the years, the opposition groups have been relentlessly engaged in political bickering and name calling against each other. Hence the chief enemy, Woyane, has been spared from any formidable grand political opposition that would have secured a better Ethiopia from Woyane’s ruthless jaw.         

 
 
The squabble within the opposition crowd has recently taken a slightly different and more destructive tone. The Woyane label is being thrown around at almost anyone.  Individuals and groups that are known to be ardent opponents of the Woyane regime have been branded as Woyane. For example, who would take the claim that CUD leaders like W/t Birtukan and Dr. Berhanu Nega are sold-out Woyane? That is utterly farfetched. These are brave individuals who stood up against the Woyane regime and paid a two-year jail term. I don’t mean to suggest that such individuals should be beyond reproach, but bundling together everyone we disagree with under the Woyane title is seriously devaluing the label of Woyane.  



Such a tendency to sling the Woyane mud at everybody and devalue the Woyane title would seriously damage the opposition politics and the hope of a better Ethiopia for obvious reasons. First, it underrates Woyane’s nearly two-decades of blunder and thereby undermines the much needed resolve by Eth... [Read More]

Blogger/UKhabesha 


 

Is KINJIT becoming a mere Holy Ghost?

 

Many have wondered what exactly is meant by the popular slogan “Kinjit MenFeS NeW” (Spirit/Ghost is probably the closest English translation of MenFes). Unfortunately, recent events seem to suggest that there is a danger that Kinjit is probably becoming the elusive and debatable Holy Ghost, rather than the Second Coming of Jesus that would rally doubters and sceptics to strive for a democratic paradise in Ethiopia.


 

 

What has been happening within Kinjit and its support groups in the last two three weeks is disheartening. The fact that there is a crack within the party is no longer news. The Chairman, Eng Hailu Shawel has been open about his displeasure and confusion over the conduct of the party’s delegation which is holding meetings in various parts of North America. He arrived in the United States after the rest of the delegation had arrived, and the latter didn’t even welcome him on his arrival, having themselves received a hero’s welcome at Dulles Airport. For all practical purposes, the delegation seems to have disowned him. Another senior member of the party, Ato Bedru Adem aired a stronger disappointment with the delegation and concluded that “Kinjit as we know it does no longer exist”.

 

The party’s deputy chair-person and a member of the delegation, W/t Birtukan Mideksa attempted rather clumsily to defuse the fiasco, but all she did was reaffirm the big gossip in town that Kinjit is cracking and they are not even ready to say anything sensible about it.

 

What is one to make of such a mess? It sounds a little bit childish. Yes, division and coup d'état are commonplace in politica... [Read More]