Amare Aregawi arrested for brewery’s labour report

Press release - 26 August 2008- Reporters Without Borders is dismayed to learn that Amare Aregawi, the editor of the big-circulation weekly Reporter, was arrested on 22 August in Addis Ababa and was then illegally transferred to a prison in Gondar, 750 km north of the capital, in connection with a libel case brought by the Gondar-based Dashen brewery. Reporters Without Borders

“The Ethiopian government reminds the press about the law so often that it is hard to understand how it allows prosecutors to violate it so openly,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Amare’s unjustified arrest exposes the unfairness of legislation that allows journalists to be imprisoned for defamation. His newspaper dared to question a big company’s practices. Now he, like the reporter who wrote the offending article before him, are paying the price for having the courage to do their job properly and serve the public interest. He should be released at once.”

Police from the Amhara region arrested Amare on the afternoon of 22 August at his office in the Addis Ababa headquarters of Media and Communication Centre, a company that owns two well-known weeklies, the Amharic-language Reporter and the English-language The Reporter.

Journalists who were present at his arrest told Reporters Without Borders that the police were also looking for deputy editor Eshete Assefa and Teshome Neku, the young reporter who wrote the article last month quoting two former Dashen brewery employees as saying they were wrongfully dismissed. Neither Eshete nor Teshome were in the office at the time.

Amare, who ran Ethiopia’s public television after the fall of the Derg dictatorship in 1991, was initially taken to the headquarters of the Addis Ababa police. He was later transferred to Gondar where he appeared in court yesterday. A member of the newspaper’s staff told Reporters Without Borders that the prosecutor and judge offered to release Amare on bail in Gondar, but he refused on the grounds that it was illegal for him to have been taken there.

Under a new press law that was adopted last month, defamation cases are supposed to be tried in the place where the alleged offence took place. As Reporter’s registered headquarters is in Addis Ababa, the case should be heard in the capital and there were no grounds for taking Amare to such a remote location.

A few days after the article appeared, Teshome was arrested and taken to Gondar, where he was freed on bail after three days. The judge who ordered his release told the prosecutor that Teshome should be tried before a court in Addis Ababa because the newspaper was duly registered there.

A second story about the unfair dismissals at the brewery, published by Reporter on 20 July, quoted two representatives of the Confederation of Ethiopian Employee Associations (CEEA), who accused the brewery’s management of breaking up its union, firing its leader, setting up a new, company-controlled union and other illegal practices.

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ETHIOPIE

Le célèbre rédacteur en chef de l’hebdomadaire Reporter arrêté pour une enquête mettant en cause les pratiques d’une grande entreprise

Reporters sans frontières a appris avec consternation l’arrestation, le 22 août 2008, d’Amare Aregawi, rédacteur en chef de l’hebdomadaire privé à grand tirage Reporter, et son transfert illégal dans une prison à 750 km de la capitale, pour une affaire de prétendue “diffamation” contre une entreprise de brassage de bière.

“Le gouvernement éthiopien rappelle si souvent la presse à la loi qu’il est incompréhensible qu’il tolère que celle-ci soit ouvertement bafouée par le ministère public. De plus, la détention injustiée d’Amare Aregawi montre toute l’inéquité d’une législation qui permet l’incarcération des journalistes dans les affaires de diffamation. Son journal a osé mettre en cause les pratiques d’une puissante entreprise. Son rédacteur en chef, après le journaliste auteur de l’article, paye aujourd’hui de sa liberté le courage d’avoir bien fait son métier et d’avoir servi l’intérêt public. Il doit être libéré au plus vite”, a déclaré l’organisation.

Amare Aregawi a été arrêté à son bureau du siège de la société Media and Communication Center, propriétaire des célèbres hebdomadaires en amharique Reporter et en anglais The Reporter, à Addis-Abeba, le 22 août en fin de journée, par une unité de la police régionale d’Amhara. Des journalistes présents au moment de l’arrestation ont déclaré à Reporters sans frontières que la police était également à la recherche du journaliste Teshome Neku et du rédacteur en chef adjoint, Eshete Assefa, absents à ce moment-là.

Amare Aregawi, ancien directeur de la télévision publique après la chute de la dictature du “Derg”, a d’abord été conduit au quartier général de la police d’Addis-Abeba, avant d’être transféré à Gondar (Nord), une ville à 750 km de la capitale où se trouve le siège de la brasserie Dashen, qui a récemment porté plainte pour “diffamation” contre le journal.

Après trois jours de détention, le journaliste a comparu devant un tribunal de Gondar. Selon une source au sein du journal interrogée par Reporters sans frontières, il a refusé la libération sous caution proposée par le juge et acceptée par le procureur, estimant que sa détention à Gondar était illégale. La loi sur la presse éthiopienne, adoptée en juillet 2008, prévoit en effet que les affaires de diffamation soient jugées dans la juridiction où le délit a été commis. Reporter étant un journal dûment enregistré à Addis-Abeba, rien ne justifie le transfert du rédacteur en chef dans un endroit si reculé du pays.

Les poursuites ont été engagées après la publication, en juillet 2008, d’un article signé par Teshome Neku, un jeune journaliste de Reporter, donnant la parole à deux employés de la brasserie Dashen estimant qu’ils avaient été licenciés abusivement. Quelques jours après la publication de l’article, le journaliste avait été arrêté et conduit à Gondar, puis libéré sous caution après trois jours de détention. Le juge devant lequel il avait comparu avait expliqué au procureur que le journaliste devait être poursuivi devant un tribunal d’Addis-Abeba, où l’hebdomadaire est légalement enregistré.

Le 20 juillet, Reporter avait publié un nouvel article sur les licenciements abusifs de salariés de la brasserie, donnant notamment la parole à deux responsables de la Confédération des associations d’employés éthiopiens (CEEA). Ils dénonçaient la dissolution du syndicat de la brasserie par la direction et le licenciement de son responsable. Dans cet article, les deux syndicalistes condamnaient également la formation d’un nouveau syndicat contrôlé par la direction et certaines pratiques illégales des patrons de la brasserie.

__________________________________________

Leonard VINCENT
Bureau Afrique / Africa desk
Reporters sans frontières / Reporters Without Borders
47, rue Vivienne
75002 Paris, France
Tel : (33) 1 44 83 84 76
Fax : (33) 1 45 23 11 51
Email : afrique@rsf.org / africa@rsf.org
Web : www.rsf.org

TIME Interview with Meles Zenawi

TIME: There has been some dispute over how big this emergency is. What is your assessment?
Meles: We have pockets of severe malnutrition in some districts in the south and an emergency situation in the Somali region. It's not small to those who are suffering, but it is a manageable problem.

Why the dispute with Unicef [which announced 6 million people at risk and 125,000 children with severe acute malnutrition, a figure it revised to 4.6 million and 75,000 after the government protested] over the scale of the problem?
Because their assessment was patently false. I do not think there was ill intention on their part. But every country is competing for emergency resources, and the more gruesome the picture [you present], the better chance you have of receiving a large share of those resources.

What's your view of emergency aid?
It's a mixed bag. When you have an emergency, there is the urge to do whatever it takes to see people get assistance. [But that can mean]the name of the game is [to] include a bit of hyperbole, and that can convey the message that the situation is hopeless when in fact it is not, and that might do some lasting damage, given the fact that all investors take their information and make their assessments on the basis of the 24-hour news cycle. Famine has wreaked havoc in Ethiopia for so long , it would be stupid not to be sensitive to the risk of such things occurring. But there has not been a famine on our watch - emergencies, but no famines.

SF Switzerland just pulled out of the Somali region, saying the [Ethiopian] security services there [who are fighting an ethnic Somali insurgency] were placing too many restrictions on it. Are you placing security and politics above humanitarian concerns in that area?
That's not true. Most of the humanitarian agencies are operating there. Only those who find it difficult to distinguish between political interference and humanitarian assistance are restricted. I can give my assurance that the Ogaden is receiving the same level of care as other affected parts of the country.

Do you think donors and receiving governments strike the right balance between food aid and development aid?
Some humanitarian assistance is clearly required and we very much welcome it. But clearly a large percentage of this goes through all sorts of NGOs, and I am not sure whether the money is being spent in a manner that adequately promotes development. There are excellent NGOs, good ones, mediocre ones and good for nothing ones. [Then again], development is not going to happen on the basis of external assistance. [A lack of foreign assistance] does not mean that development has to be abandoned.

What about the idea that assistance undermines enterprise and self-reliance?
An expression of human solidarity between the rich and the poor should not automatically be demeaning to the beneficiaries. There has been a transformation of Western thinking [on that score]. [Most Western countries] no longer believe that aid implies the unfortunate are in that position because they are inadequate, that Africans have brought this on themselves - although that has not been completely eliminated. Some people think African states cannot be trusted with the cookie jar. But there are absolutely good NGOs who have this feeling of human solidarity and who also recognize that their work can only be supplementary to the government.

What efforts are you making to reform agriculture?
It's primarily focused on the commercialization of small scale farms so that they supply the market rather than just the farmers' own consumption: improving seed varieties, irrigation, the whole gamut of agrarian reform and transformation, and increasing private investment in more large scale operations. We promote agriculturally-led industrialization. Farmers grow crops like coffee and sesame, and that strategy is reflected in our exports, which have gone up 25% for each of the last five years. Incomes in rural areas have improved very dramatically; we have double digit agricultural growth. That's still not enough to get us out of the hole, however. So we have a safety net program, which is very similar to the social welfare programs in the US. We cannot afford it ourselves as yet, and it is not funded by our own resources, but I am not particularly ashamed or worried about that. I suspect we will always have pockets of hunger. The big question is whether we have enough in our own economy to be able to finance the safety net program. We have not reached that stage yet.

ምዕራቡ ዓለምና የዴሞክራሲ ሬቶሪክ

ጌታቸው ረዳ

ከጥቂት ወራት በፊት በዚምባብዌ የተደረገውን ምርጫ ተከትሎ የምእራባውያን የዜና ማዕከላት ትኩረት በሮበርት ሙጋቤ እጣና በአፍሪካ አህጉር የዴሞክራሲ ሂደት ላይ አድርገዋል።የአፍሪካ ህብረት በሻረም አል ሼክ ተሰብስቦ በመከረበት ወቅት የዚምባቡዌና የሙጋቤ ጉዳይ ትልቅ አጀንዳ ነበረ።በጃፓን በተካሄደው የቡድን ስምንት ሀገራት ስብሰባ ላይም እንዲሁ ተመሳሳይ ጩኸት ተስተጋብቷል።በእኔ ዕምነት በጉዳዩ ላይ የምዕራቡ ዓለም መንግስታትም ሆኑ የመገናኛ ብዙሃን እያደረጉት ያሉት የተጠናከረ ዘመቻ የዚምባቡዌና የሙጋቤን ብቻ ሳይሆን አህጉሪቱ ለወደፊት የሚገጥሟትን ፈተናዎች ጭምር አመላካች ነው።ከላይ በጠቀስኳቸው ሁለት መድረኮች ላይ የአፍሪካ መሪዎች በሙጋቤ ላይ አሳዩት የተባለው ለስለስ ያለ አቋምም ይኸንን ፈተና በትክክል ከመገንዘብ የሚመነጭ ይመስለኛል።

ምዕራቡ ዓለምና የዴሞክራሲ ሬቶሪክ

እንግሊዛዊው ገጣሚ ራድያርድ ኪፕሊንግ በህይወት ዘመኑ ከሠራቸው የጥበብ ሥራዎች መካከል፡ ‘ዘ ዋይት ማንስ በርደን’ የሚል ርዕስ የሰጠው አሪፍ ግጥም ይገኝበታል።

Take up the White Man's burden--
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild--
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.
…
By open speech and simple,
An hundred times made plain
To seek another's profit,
And work another's gain.

በየደረስክበት ሁሉ፣

እንጭጭ አንጎል ያላቸው ከጋኔን አብራክ ‘ሚከፈሉ፣

ከሰውነት ተራ የወጡ ወደ ዱር አውሬነት ያደሉ

በፍርሃት መረብ ተሸብበው ሰርክ በሽብር የሚኖሩ፣

አህዛብ ገብተዋል በእጅህ ያንተን ደግነት የሚሹ።

ዓለም በግልፅ ይወቀው

ራስህን ሳታስቀድም የአውሬዎቹን ጥቅም ብቻ አስበህ፣

በፅኑ ሰንሰለት ጠፍረህ ፣

ወደ መልካም መስክ ማሰማራት ያንተ እዳ መሆኑን አውቀህ፣

የስደትን አበሳ አስተምርና ምርጥ ልጆችህን አሰማራ፣

እንዲሸከሙ የነጮቹን ፈተና።

ኪፕሊንግ በዚህ ግጥም ምዕራቡ ዓለም ‘ያልሰለጠነውን’ ዓለም ከጨለማ የማውጣትን መለኮታዊ አደራ ጫንቃው ላይ እንደተሸከመ ዓለምን ሊያሳምን ሞክሯል።የታላቋ ብሪታንያ ቅኝ ግዛት የማስፋፋት ዘመቻ አካል እንደነበር ይነግረናል ባለቅኔው።

ዛሬ ከመቶ ዓመታት በሗላ ደግሞ፡ ናታን ሻራንስኪና ፍራንሲስ ፉኩያማን የመሳሰሉ የምዕራቡ ዓለም ሊቀ መኳሶች፡ ምዕራባውያን ‘ያልሰለጠነውን’ ዓለም በዴሞክራሲያዊነት ፀበል የማጥመቅ ታሪካዊ/‘መለኮታዊ’ ሃላፊነት እንዳለባቸው፤እንዲሁም መላው ዓለም ከዚህ ጥምቀት በተዓምር እንደማያመልጥ ቢገነዘበው እንደሚበጀው እየነገሩን ይገኛሉ።

በአፍሪካና በሌሎችም በልማት ወደ ሗላ የቀሩ ሀገራት ላይ የነበራቸው ተፅእኖ ለዘመናት ለማዝለቅ የቻሉት እንደየዓለማዊ ሁኔታው/እንደየአስፈላጊነቱ አካሄዳቸውንና ፍልስፍናዎቻቸውን በመቀያየር ነው። በቅኝ አገዛዝ ዘመናት ያለሃፍረት ዓይን ያወጣ ዘረፋ ላይ ተሰማርተው መዛቅ የቻሉትን ሁሉ ሲዝቁ ኖረዋል። ከነበራቸው የጠመንጃ የበላይነት በተጨማሪ የነራድያርድ ኪፕሊንግ ርዕየተ ዓለማዊ ድጋፍና የነአባ ማስያስ ወንጌላዊ መልዕክት ከፍተኛ ሚና ነበራቸው። ከ1960ዎቹ ወዲህ እስከ ቀዝቃዛው ጦርነት ማብቂያ ድረስ በእጅ አዙርና በአሻንጉሊት አስተዳዳሪዎች እየታገዙ መቀጠል ችለው አይተናል።ፒኖሼ፣ሱሃርቶ፣ሞቡቱ ናትሩሂዮን የመሣሠሉት ‘የብረት መዝጊያ’ የሆኑ ደንበኞች ስለነበሯቸው የሚፈልጉትን ሁሉ ከማግኘት የሚከለክላቸው አልነበረም። ከነዚህ መሪዎች ጋር ያደርጉት የነበረውን ‘ትብብር’ የሚያቀጣጥለው ሞተር ደግሞ ‘የኮሚኒዝምን መስፋፋትና የዶሚኖዎቹን ተከታትሎ መውደቅ’ ለማስቀረት ይደረግ የነበረው ዘመቻ ነበር።

የኮሚዩኒዝም ሥርዓት በዓለም አቀፍ ደረጃ ካከተመባቸው ከአስራ ዘጠኝ ሰማንያዎቹ የመጨረሻ ዓመታት ወዲህ ደግሞ፡ የመዋቅር ማስተካከያ ፕሮግራም(ሳፕ)፤ እንዲሁም የመልካም አስተዳደር ግንባታ አጀንዳን (ጉድ ጋቨርናንስ ዲስኮርስ) ለዘመናት የዘለቀውን የኒዮ ሊበራሊዝም ተፅእኖ ለእስከወዲያኛው ለማስቀጠል ሲባል ጥቅም ላይ የዋሉና በመዋል ላይ የሚገኙ ሥልቶች ናቸው። ከሁሉም ምዕራባውያን አንደበት የማይጠፋው መሪ ሃረግ(ካች ፍሬዝ) ግን “ዴሞክራሲን የማስፋፋት” ተልዕኮ ነው።

ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሥርዓት ገንብቷል ለመባል መድበለ ፓርቲ ሥርዓት፣‘ነፃ ምርጫ’፣ ፕራይቬታይዜሽን፣የንግድ ሊበራላይዜሽን፣ ‘ነፃ’ ፕሬስ፣የሲቪክ ማህበራት(መያዶች) ወዘተርፈ በአንድ ሀገር መሟላት ካለባቸው ግዴታዎች የተወሰነቱ ናቸው።ይኸ መሆኑ በርግጥ ባልከፋ።እንዳጋጣሚ ሆኖ የምንናገረው እጅግ በርካታ የተፈጥሮ ሃብት(ነዳጅ፣ወርቅ፣መዳብ) ስላለው ሀገር ከሆነ እላይ የጠቀስናቸው ተቋማት እምብዛም ላያስፈልጉ ይችላሉ።ጥያቄዎቹ እንዲሁ ለግብር ይውጣ ሊጠየቁ የሚችልበት እድል ግን ይኖራል።በኒዮ ሊበራል አጀንዳ አራማጅ ምዕራባውያን ዘንድ በአፍሪካ ሀገራት ውስጥ በሥልጣን ላይ ያሉ መንግስታት ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሽግግር አድርገዋል ሊባሉ የሚችሉት የተደረገው ምርጫ እነርሱ ትክክለኛ ነው ብለው ያቀረቡትን አካሄድ ብቻ ተከትሎ የተደረገ እንደሆነ ነው። ምርጫ የሚደረገው የነሱን ውቃቤ ለማስደሰት ሲባል ብቻ እንደሆነ ስለሚያምኑ አንድ ሺ አንድ ጊዜ አገሬው በነቂስ ወጥቶ ቢመርጥም ደስ ካላላቸው ዴሞክራሲያዊነቱን ባንድ መግለጫ ብቻ ሊሽሩት ይችላሉ።ለምሳሌ ኡጎ ቻቬዝ ወርዶ እስኪያዩት ድረስ ቬኔዝዋላ ውስጥ መቼም ዴሞክራሲ ተረጋግጧል የሚባል ጨዋታ ሊዋጥላቸው አይችልም።

ስልጣን በፉክክር ለመያዝ አስበው የሚንቀሳቀሱ ተቀናቃኝ ድርጅቶች ለዴሞክራሲ ግንባታ የማይተካ ሚና እንዳላቸው ብዙም ሙግት የሚያስፈልገው አይመስለኝም። የምዕራባውያኑ የዲሞክራሲ ተዋስኦ የሚያቀነቅነው የተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎች ሚና ለራስ ሀገርና ህዝብ ሊኖር ከሚገባው ታላቅ ሃላፊነት የግድ መቆራኘት አይጠበቅበትም።ታዋቂ ሰው የሚመራውና ለትልቅ ለትንሹ አጋጣሚ ሁሉ ወደየ ሃብታም አገራት ኤምባሲ መሮጥ የሚቀናው ስብስብ ሁሉ አባላት መለመለም አልመለመለም የዲሞክራሲያዊ ሂደቱ አንደኛ ዘዋሪ ተደርጎ በየዕለቱ መሞካሸት ይጀምራል።አንዱን ጎሳ በሌላው ላይ አነሳስቶ ግርግር መፍጠር ከቻለ ‘የስልጣን መጋራት’ ካልተደረገ ምፅዓት ይመጣል ብሎ የሚያስቸግር ዓይና አውጣ ሆኖ ያርፈዋል።ራሽያ ውስጥ ጋሪ ካስፓሮቭ የሚባል ዝነኛ ቼስ ተጫዋች ‘የራሽያን ህዝብ ከመከራና ከነፑቲን አምባገነን አገዛዝ’ የማውጣት ተልዕኮ የያዘ ፓርቲ በማቋቋሙ ብቻ በምዕራባውያን ዘንድ እንደ ራሽያ የወደፊት ተስፋ ሊቆጠር በቅቷል።ለተራ አጀብ እንኳ የሚሆን የረባ ተከታይ አለማግኘቱ ለምዕራባውያኑ ምንም ማለት ላይሆን ይችላል። ደጋፊዎች አፈራም አላፈራም ካስፓሮቭ የራሽያ ዲሞክራሲ ተቀልብሷል ማለት መቻሉ ብቻ ይበቃል።ለነገሩ ምዕራባውያኑ ዓመል ሆኖባቸው ራሽያ ላይ ያፈጣሉ’ንጂ አፍሪካ ውስጥ ያላቸውን ተፅዕኖ አንድ ሚልየንኛም ብትሆን ሊኖራቸው አይችልም።

የምዕራባውያኑ የዴሞከራሲ ሬቶሪክ ከተቃዋሚዎች ተሳትፎ አስፈላጊነት ጋር በተያያዘ ከቅርብ ዓመታት ወዲህ መግፋት የጀመሩት ‘መፍትሄም’ አለ። የስልጣን መጋራት(ፓወር ሼሪንግ ዲል) ይባላል።የዚህ ሃሳብ ትክክለኘነት የሚመነጨው ምዕራባውያኑ ላላቸው ጥቅም ተገቢ ሆኖ ያገኙትን ሃሳብ ሁሉ ‘ዲሞክራሲያዊነት’ ለማላበስ ካላቸው መብት ብቻ ነው። “ደጋፊዎቼ ተቆጥተዋልና ስልጣን ካልተጋራሁ ሞቼ እገኛለሁ!” የሚል አምታች ሁሉ የዴሞክራሲያ ሂደቱ መጠናከር ወሳኝ ሃይል ሆኖ ይወደሳል። እነሆ በዴሞክራሲያዊ መንገድ የፀደቀ ህገ መንግስት በዝርፊያ በተጣሉ ሁለት ወመኔ ፖለቲከኞች ፊርማ የሚሰረዝበት ‘ዲሞክራሲ’ የምናይበት አስገራሚ ሰዓት ላይ ደርሰናል።

ኬንያን ለአብነት እንጥቀስ። ራይላ ኦዲንጋ በርካታ ደጋፊዎች መርጠውት ሊሆን ይችላል።ምርጫው ሊጭበረበርም ላይጭበረበርም ይችላል።ምዕራባውያኑ (ኮፊ አናን የድራማው መሪ መሆናቸው ለውጥ የለውም!) ‘የኬንያውያንን የእርስ በርስ መተላለቅ ለማስቀረት’ በማሰብ የስልጣን መጋራት ሃሳብ መግፋት እስኪጀምሩ ድረስ የኦዲንጋ አቋም ምርጫው ስለተጭበረበረ መደገም አለበት የሚል ነበረ። በፀጥታ ሃይሎች የተገደሉ በሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ሲቪሎች ጉዳይ ይጣራ እያለ ሲጮኽ ሰምተናል።ይሁንና በምዕራባውያኑ ‘ምክር’ መሠረት ድሆች ወገኖቹ ዝር በማይሉበት የጎልፍ ሜዳ ውስጥ ተቀምጦ ከ ‘ደመኛ ጠላቱ’ ከኪባኪ ጋር ስልጣን ለመጋራት ከመስማማት አላገደውም።የሞቱት ካንድ ሺህ የሚበልጡ ሲቪሎች ጉዳይ ከዚያ በሗላ ማንሳት ለጠቅላይ ሚኒስትርነት ያበቃውን ‘ዲሞክራሲ’ አደጋ ላይ ስለሚጥልበት የሚሞክረው አይሆንም። ይባስ ብሎ በዚምባብዌ ስለተካሄደው ምርጫ ከተሰጡት አስተያየቶች ሁሉ አስገራሚውን ውግዘት ያቀረበው ‘ጠ/ሚኒስትር’ ኦዲንጋ ነበር። ሰውየው ለሲኤንኤን የሰጠው አስተያየት “ሙጋቤ ኢዝ ኤ ዲስግሬስ ፎር አፍሪካ!” የሚል ነበር።ኦዲንጋ የምሩን ይሁን የቀልዱን ለማወቅ ባይቻልም፡ አፍሪካ ህብረት በዚምባቡዌ ላይ ወታደራዊ ጣልቃ ገብነት መፈፀም እንደሚገባው ለማሳሰብ ጭምር ሞክሯል።

በምዕራባውያኑ ተዋስኦ መሠረት የዴሞክራሲያዊ ሥርዓት “የግድ ከሚላቸው” ተቋማት ውስጥ መንግስታዊ ያልሆኑ ድርጅቶች(መያዶች) ያላቸው ሚና ትልቅ መሆኑ በምንም መልኩ ጥያቄ ውስጥ መግባት አይኖርበትም። የአገር በቀል መያዶች የህዝብን ዙርያ መለስ ፖለቲካዊ፣ኢኮኖሚያዊና ማህበራዊ ተሳትፎ በማነሳሳት ረገድ ያላቸው ሚና በፍፁም የሚካድ አይደለም። ነገርግን የድርጅቶቹ ተጠያቂነት ድርጎ ለሚሰፍሩላቸው ምዕራባውያን ‘ቀጭን ጌቶች’ ብቻ በሆነበት እውነታ ውስጥ፡ የራሳቸውን ኢኮኖሚያዊና ፖለቲካዊ ተፅዕኖ በሌሎች ላይ በ‘ጥበብ’ ለመጫን የሚያስቡ ባዕዳን መጠቀሚአ የሚሆኑበት አጋጣሚ ይፈጠራል።በእንደዚህ ዓይነቱ ሁኔታ መያዶች ተጠያቂነታቸው እናገለግለዋለን ለሚሉት ሃገርና ህዝብ መሆኑ የሚቀርበት ሁኔታ(ኤክስተርናላይዜሽን ኦፍ አካውንቴቢሊቲ) ይፈጠራል።ሪታ አብራምሰን “ዲሲፕሊኒንግ ዴሞክራሲ” በሚል ርዕስ በሰጠችው መፅሃፏ ላይ በጉዳዩ ላይ ሰፊ ትንታኔን አቅርባለች። በእርግጥም ሪታ በትክክል እንዳስቀመጠችው፡ይኸው የመያዶች ገፅታ ከምንም ነገር በላይ አፍሪካ ውስጥ በተደጋጋሚ ለሚስተዋሉ የፖለቲካ ብጥብጦች በዋና እርሾነት ያገለገለበት ሁኔታ በተደጋጋሚ ተስተውሏል።

በምዕራባውያኑ የመልካም አስተዳደር ተዋስኦ መሠረት ማንኛውም አፍሪካ ውስጥ በግል ሚድያነትም ሆነ በመያድነት የተቋቋሙ አካላት ሁሉ በተፈጥሮአቸው ዴሞክራቲክ (ኢንኸረንትሊ ዴሞክራቲክ) ተደርገው የሚወሰዱበት ስነ ሞገት በበርካታዎቹ ሀገራት ማህበረ-ፖለቲካዊ መቼት ውስጥ ያለውን እውነታ በፍፁም ያገናዘበ አይደለም። ባንድ ሀገር ውስጥ ያሉ መያዶች አደረጃጀትም ሆነ እንቅስቃሴ የሚገዛበት ስነልቦናና አወቃቀር ዞሮ ዞሮ በሚፈጠሩበት ማህበረሰብም ሆነ ቡድን ውስጥ በስፋት የሚስተዋለውን እውነታ መከተሉ የማይቀር ነው። በመደብ የተከፋፈለ ማህበረሰብ ውስጥ የመደብ ወገንተኝነትን የሚያንፀባርቅ መያድ/ሚድያ’፤ በጎሳ ሽኩቻ ላይ የተመሰረተ የፖለቲካ ላዕላይ መዋቅር በሰፈነበት ህብረተሰብ ውስጥ ያንኑ የሚያንፀባርቅ መያድም ሆነ ሚድያ መኖራቸው ብዙም ጥናት የማይጠይቅ እውነታ ነው። ይሁን እንጂ ምዕራባውያኑ በደፈናው የሚነግሩን ተፈጥሮአዊ’ ዲሞክራሲያዊነት ከመጠርያነት በዘለለ በተግባር ላይ ሲውል አናይም። በስርቆት ላይ ብቻ እንደተሰማሩ የሚታወቁም እንኳ ቢሆን፡መንግስታዊ ያልሆኑ ድርጅቶች ‘የዴሞክራሲያዊ ሥርዓት’ ዓይነተኛ መገለጫ በመሆናቸው ያሉትና ያረጉት ሁሉ በማንም ወገን ጥያቄ ውስጥ አይገባም። በሙስና ከሥልጣን የወረደ ሹመኛ በቀላሉ ሃጥያቱ እንዲሰረይለት ከፈለገ አቋራጩ መንገድ መያድ አቋቊሞ “ስለ መልካም አስተዳደር” ልቡ ውልቅ እስኪል መታገል ብቻ ነው።

በምዕራቡ ዓለም ቡራኬ የማይገሠስ የሀቅ ሚዛንነት ሃላፊነትበ የተሰጣቸው ሌሎች ተቋማት ደግሞ የግል የመገናኛ ብዙሃን ናቸው። ጥላቻንና ሁከትን መስበክን ቋሚ አጀንዳቸው አድርገው የያዙትም እንኳ ቢሆኑ በምዕራባውያኑ መመዘኛ መሠረት የእውነት ሚዛኖች ሁነው መታየት አለባቸው። ጦርነት በመቀስቀሱና ከፍተኛ ወንጀል በመፈፀሙ ‘ጋዜጠኛ’ በህግ ቁጥጥር ስር የዋለ እንደሆነ፡ የዴሞክራሲ ሂደቱ እንደተቀለበሰ ሊቆጠር ይችላል። ባጭሩ የማተሚያ ቤት ወጪ ችሎ “ነበልባል፣ማዕበል፣ቀረርቶ፣ሁከት…” የሚል ስም ለ’ጋዜጣው’ ሰጥቶ የጭቃ ጅራፍ ሲያጮህ የሚውል ሁሉ ጋዜጠኛ፤ ያሻውን የመፃፍ ‘መብቱ’ የፕሬስ ነፃነት፤ ህጉን ለማስከበር የተወሰደ ህጋዊ እርምጃ ደግሞ የፕሬስ ነፃነትን መዳፈር እንደሆነ በምዕራባውያኑ አስቀድሞ የተረጋገጠ ነው። ይኸን ዘመነኛ ቀኖና በትንሹም ቢሆን ለመፈተሽ የሞከረ መንግስትም ሆነ ሀገር ‘ከዴሞክራሲያዊ ሂደቱ’ የማፈግፈግ አደገኛ ምልክት ተደርጎ ይወሰዳል።

እንደ ማጠቃለያ

ምዕራባውያኑ የዴሞክራሲ ስርዓት የማስፋፋት ተልዕኮአቸውን ለመወጣት የሚጠቀሙባቸው መንግስታዊ ያልሆኑ ምዕራባውያን ተቋማት አሏቸው። የእነዚህ ተቋማት ዓላማ በአንድ ሀገር ላይ ካለው ነባራዊ እውነታ በእጅጉ የተለየ ራሳቸውን የሚመች እውነታ መፍጠር ነው። ቢቢሲና ሲኤን ኤን፣ሁማን ራይትስ ዋችና ናሽናል ዴሞክራቲክ ኢኒስትትዩት ወዘተርፈ ሁሉ የሂደቱ ዋነኛ መሣርያዎች ናቸው።የኢኮኖሚያዊ ተፅኖ መፍጠር የፈለጉባቸው ሀገራት ውስጥ ደግሞ ከላይ ለመጥቀስ የሞከርካቸው ሃይሎች አማራጭ እውነታ በመፍጠር ይተባበራቸዋል፡፡ እንግዲህ ይህን ለጥቅማቸው መረጋገጥ ሲባል ለሚያደርጉት ጣልቃ ገብነት እንደ ግብዓት የሚያገለግል አማራጭ እውነታ የመፍጠርን ሂደት ነው ዴሞክራሲን የማስፋፋት ታሪካዊ ተልዕኮ በማለት የሚጠሩት፡፡

Samuel Gebru, EAYI's Founding President, shall Confer with High-Ranking Government Officials, Opposition and Youth Organizations Leaders

Samuel Gebru, social entreprenuer and youth activist, is on official visit in Ethiopia. During his visit, he is expected to confer with various high-ranking government officials, opposition parliamentarians, youth leaders, businesspersons and religious leaders.

Samuel shall discuss matters pertaining to the enhanced cooperation and dialogue amongst youth organizations with the various youth leaders; issues relating to education, youth, diaspora, tourism and culture as well as economic and political development with the high-ranking government officials of the Federal and State governments of Ethiopia;

In a meeting with the religious leaders of Ethiopia, he shall focus upon creating and promoting interfaith dialogue, the history of faiths in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Millennium celebrations as well as how they can be of support to the two delegations he will be heading in 2009, the Ethiopian American Millennium Delegation as well as the Ethiopian American Youth Initiative.

Furthermore, Samuel shall visit the following places during his stay in Ethiopia: the Addis Ababa University and the National Museum in ADDIS ABABA, the Mekelle University, Negash (Wukro), Semein National Park and Yeha in TIGRAY, the Bahir Dar University, Lalibela, and Bahar Dar (Lake Tana, Blue Nile Falls, etc.) in AMHARA, Adama and the Bale Goba National Park in Oromia, among others.

Finally, Samuel Gebru managed to blog successfully his first trip journal, covering July 12 - 17, 2008 from Mekele, the Capital City of the National Regional State of Tigray.

His trip journal can be accessed at the link below:
http://www.smgebru.blogspot.com/

Alemayehu Fentaw

Stadtschlaining, Austria

Ethiopians Are Proud To Be Black

As I was surfing on the world wide net, I just came across with an article on Time in its issue of Monday, 9th of January 1928. I was shocked and disgusted by the content of the article I read under the title "To Ethiopia". The gist of the article centers around a controversy as to why a certain Addison E. Southard, a white man from Kentucky, must be appointed to be a diplomat in the rank of a Minister to Ethiopia instead of a black man. I was shocked by the gross misunderstanding of the true identity of Ethiopians not only by the whites, but also by a few black colleagues whose acquaintance I have had in the few years I have spent with them both as a teacher and student. So I have taken it upon myself to tell the truth about our identity: that we Ethiopians are black and proud to be black; that we do not also need any patronization either from the whites nor from the blacks.

In an attempt to justify why a white man should be appointed to Ethiopia, the article says that "Despite their name, the Ethiopians do not consider themselves racially homogeneous with aboriginal Africa." It goes on to assert that "Color varies In Ethiopia, from a pale olive among the northern inhabitants, through deep brown in the central part of the Kingdom to chocolate tints and true black in the farthest south. Ras Taffari, prince regent, is a black southerner but of the special superior blackness of the province of Shoa. Slim, short, wiry, Prince Ras Taffari considers himself super-Negroid." This is totally a racist statement that does not portray the Ethiopian psyche/mentality as we know it.

A further explanation given in the same article is that "Prince Ras Taffari is of a turn of mind no less inquiring than Rasselas. He would...desire as envoy from any other state, a representative of that state's dominant race. Ras Taffari would want to learn about China from a Chinaman, not a white man; about India from a Hindu, not an Anglo-Saxon; about the U. S. from a Caucasian, not a Negro." This, for me, is uncharacteristic of neither the Ethiopian polity nor the crown prince, rather something typical of the American psyche at the time. If the US found it right not to send a black diplomat to Ethiopia, it was precisely because the US was a racist state adhering to racism and racial classification not only in its domestic public life but also in its international affairs.

Alemayehu Fentaw
Stadtschlaining, Austria

To read the Time article follow this link:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,881706,00.html?promoid=googlep

Samuel Gebru, the Founding President of EAYI, Visits Ethiopia

Samuel Gebru, the Founding President of the Ethiopian American Youth Initiative, is on official visit to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian American Youth Initiative is known for its assistance to the Fistula Hospital, Famine Relief, and Abebech Gubena in Ethiopia. Samuel Gebru is an exceptionally talented young Ethiopian American from Boston area. He flew the Ethiopian Airlines, ET501, from Dulles International Airport and arrived in Addis Ababa Bole International Airport on Sunday, 13th of July 2008 at 7 PM.

According to my sources, he will stay in Ethiopia until 24th of August, 2008. During his stay, he will undertake fact-finding and participant-observation regarding social, political, and economic problems facing the Ethiopian polity. Besides, he will forward questions he collected from various Ethiopians through his site to concerned high-ranking government officials.

If you want to know more about the activities of his organization you can visit this site: www. ethusa.org. In addition, he has got his own blogsite: www.smgebru.blogspot.com.

Samuel Gebru will pay visit to Ethiopia

Samuel Gebru, an exceptionally talented young Ethiopian American from Boston area, will be on official visit to Ethiopia. He is the founder and president of EAYI( the Ethiopian American Youth Initiative), which is known for its assistance to the Fistula Hospital, Famine Relief, and Abebech Gubena in Ethiopia. If you want to know more about the activities of his organization you can visit this site: www. ethusa.org. In addition, he has got his own blogsite: www.smgebru.blogspot.com. He will be on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET501 from Dulles International Airport which arrives in Addis Ababa Bole International Airport on Sunday, 13th of July 2008 at 7 PM.