Interview with Mr. Alamin Mohammed-Seid

Ethiopia and the realignment and buildup of forces in the Horn of Africa

by Dawit Giorgis

The most militarized zone in the world is Kashmir, Northern India. India and Pakistan claim the land. That is one of the time bombs Britain left when it was forced to leave its colonies. It has been one of the most volatile regions on earth for over 50 years. After being partitioned between the two countries in 1947, a boundary and a ceasefire was agreed and a border dividing the two parts established what is known as The Line of Control.   China also administers part of the state.  The place is known as a major flash point and dangerous, particularly because it involves three nuclear powers  (China, Pakistan and India) and all the others who have a stake in the region. (Ethiopian Forces have been in Kashmir in 1950 as UN Military Observers.)   The Guinness world record also calls Kashmir region as “ the largest militarized territorial dispute on the planet, worlds highest battlefield, highest military base.”

Ethiopian protesters killed for singing anti-government songs: U.N.

GENEVA (Reuters) – Ethiopian security forces opened fire on protesters who were singing anti-government songs, U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said on Tuesday.

Authorities said on Monday that at least seven people died in clashes between security forces and worshippers taking part in a religious ceremony marking Epiphany in Amhara region in northern Ethiopia at the weekend, but they had yet to determine the cause of the violence.

Shamdasani told a U.N. briefing in Geneva that the U.N. human rights office was extremely concerned by the deaths.

No more Heineken for me until the company stop doing business with the Apartheid regime in Ethiopia.

  (Image taken from Artery)   Heineken apologizes...  full story link below 

http://www.wbur.org/artery/2017/08/16/heineken-apologizes-mural-ad

By Yilma Bekele  (an older article, but timely)

The selling of Ethiopia to the highest bidder

Actually that statement might not be true. We do know our country is being sold but we have no idea if the bidding has been open or closed. We have sold almost all of Gambella, we have leased half of Afar and Oromia has been parceled out bit by bit. Our Beer factories are under new owners, our gold mines belong to the fake Ethiopian sheik, Telephone is under the Chinese and our Airlines is looking for a suitor. Have we always looked for outsiders to own us?

Ethnic Apartheid in Ethiopia

A Quiet Case of Ethnic Apartheid in Ethiopia: Internal Colonialism and Uneven Effects of Political, Social, and Economic Development on a Regional Basis





By: Girma Berhanu


(1) Introduction

It is not an exaggeration to state that Ethiopia is in a dangerous crossroad.  The overall situation is critical. The country has been engulfed by protests and clashes on a continuous basis since about 2 years ago. The general unrest and dismay by the general public is an accumulation of years of frustration from other ethnic groups who claim they have been marginalized by the brutal Ethiopia's governing coalition apparatus, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)1, which is dominated by the party from the small Tigray region, the Tigrean People's Liberation Front (TPLF). The general public, and in particular the two major ethnic groups — the Amharas and the Oromos — have been almost effectively excluded from the country's political process and the economic development. The current clashes and widespread demonstrations, which have cost thousands of lives and hindered the flow of goods and services across the nation, expose the underlying issues that are structural, political, and economic inequalities between the regions in Ethiopia. ‘Since seizing the government by force of arms in 1991, the TPLF-controlled Ethiopian regime has maintained monopolies over economic and political power ever since, and has therefore dominated all other nationalities and ethnic groups. It is this refusal to share political power and wealth on the part of the TPLF that is causing the violent demonstrations of dissent within the Oromo and Amhara states’ (Ethiopia at an Ominous Crossroads, Jan. 02, 2018 ).

Romancing the “Wounded Beast” in Ethiopia (Part I)

Is Reconciliation Without Truth Possible?

by: Alemayehu G. Mariam

Author’s Note: This is the first installment in a three-part series on prospects “mediation”, “reconciliation” and “negotiation” with the ruling Thugtatorship of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (T-TPLF). In part I, I discuss why the current discussion on “mediation”, “reconciliation” and “negotiation” with the T-TPLF is of the utmost important to me personally, why it makes me jittery and extremely concerned and at the same time amuses me. In Part II, I aim to examine why it is impossible to engage in “mediation”, “reconciliation” and “negotiation” with the T-TPLF. In Part III, I aim to sketch out my views on a path that could make possible “mediation”, “reconciliation” and “negotiation” with the T-TPLF and avert the creeping civil war from engulfing the country.

Sisi expresses ‘grave concern’ at close of Ethiopian-Egyptian summit

Sisi expresses ‘grave concern’ at close of Ethiopian-Egyptian summit

By

Asmahan Soliman

Translated by

Salma Khalifa

January 18, 2018

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi expressed Egypt’s “grave concern” over the stagnation of tripartite Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam negotiations at Thursday’s press conference, marking the conclusion of a two-day Egypt-Ethiopian summit that saw Sisi hold direct talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

Sudan: An ailing dictatorship, looming public protest, and desperate evasive tricks

Sudan: An ailing dictatorship, looming public protest, and desperate evasive tricks

By TRAYO A. Ali

Sudan Tribune

In Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan (the city that knows no secrets, as is always described) the talk there is not about the uncomfortable Weather, which in this Season is dry, cold, dusty and windy, nor is it about the city’s broken sewage system, and the polluted water or about the notorious militia known as Rapid Support Force (RSF), which frequently harass the citizens, or about the horrible stories of War in Darfur and/or in Nuba Mountains and B. Nile. It is even not about the long-standing but censored issue of the already devastating Cholera epidemic ravaging throughout the country. The talk, this time, is about only one thing; UPRISING.

Martin Plaut and Ethiopia’s Politics of Famine

By  (Dehai News)Thoughts and rants of an Eritrean-American.

This past year has not been so kind to Ethiopia’s beleaguered, ruling regime, the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). After rigging the 2015 parliamentary elections, the regime has faced incessant protest by Oromo and Amhara activists, which has led to thousands of deaths, mass incarceration, an internet ban, killing of foreigners and destruction of foreign firms, triggering the government to declare a state of emergency and drawing international condemnation.

In November 2016, Oromo activist and former Al Jazeera journalist Mohammed Ademo wrote, “Barely a year after ‘winning’ 100 percent of parliamentary seats both at the federal and regional legislatures, [TPLF] now faces an absolute and total legitimacy crisis.” As legitimacy evaporated over this past year, it seems the misfortunes of the regime will continue through 2017 with the latest reports indicating that Ethiopia is on the brink of famine.

Blood Lobbying: Ethiopians Babies Starve, T-TPLF Feeds Lobby Firm $150,000 Per Month

by: Alemayehu G. Mariam

Millions of Ethiopians starve to death as the T-TPLF spends millions to keep itself alive

The latest USAID’s Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS) reported: “The 2017 Humanitarian Resources Document released by the Government of Ethiopia estimates 5.6 million people will require emergency food assistance through June 2017, with funding requirements of approximately $948 million USD.”
On January 18, 2017, the Thugtatorship of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (T-TPLF) in a  “Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU) agreed to pay SGR Government Relations, Lobbying (Washington, D.C) $150,000 per month

to develop and execute a public affairs plan to enhance the dialogue and relationships with policymakers, media, opinion leaders, and business leaders. The campaign will promote a better understanding of Ethiopia’s political, social, and economic environment. SGR will work to strengthen U.S-Ethiopia business outreach and grow foreign direct investment in Ethiopia.

‘A blurred message that blends humanitarianism with politics’

By Amanuel Zekarias

Concerning the world governments and humanitarian agencies response to drought in Ethiopia; UN secretary general Antenio Guterres and UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien in January 29 of 2017 whispered that the international community must ensure ‘total solidarity’ with Ethiopia government as not only a matter of generosity but also of justice and self interest. This was stated at 28th summit of AU in Addis Abeba. The UN secretary general also describes Ethiopia as country of the largest refugee hosting country in Africa, with its open border for any cross boundary transactions. Besides, the head officer also commends Ethiopia as the source of stability in the Horn of Africa and the world community must collaborate in maintaining Ethiopian security for not to be challenged by the surrounding multifaceted chaos sourced from Eritrea, Somalia and South Sudan.

Ethiopia’s Electioneering in Somalia

  #DontVote4Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s naked attempt to exploit the deeply clannish mentality of the Somali people by pitting major clans against each other to produce the same desired result: a perpetually weak and fragmented Somalia at war with each other.

 By Abukar Mohamed-Wardi


Let’s start with the basic facts: Ethiopia is desperately trying to get Hassan Sheikh Mohamud re-elected as a president of Somalia. The evidence of this effort was encapsulated in a recent report by a think-tank affiliated with Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry and external intelligence.

Ethiopia’s renewed agenda goes against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of the Somalis and their members of the Federal Parliament, as we witnessed in the recent parliamentary leadership election, where President Mohamud’s choice for first and second deputies of the House of the People were soundly defeated.

There’s a simple logic to Ethiopia’s calculus: always work against the wishes of the Somali people by trying to impose your leadership choice upon them, because, as a deeply clannish, polarized and savage people, Somalis must be under the arm pit of the enlightened Tigray junta in Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia’s electioneering in Somalia is nothing new. What’s new, however, is their tactic. When, in 2004, Ethiopia successfully strong-armed the warlord-infested parliament it concocted in Kenya to elect Col. Abdullahi Yusuf as the President of Somalia, its narrative was that the “Hawiye clan is reviled by Somalis and thus unfit to lead Somalia.” Hence the installation of a Daarood President who, at the time, couldn’t even set a foot in Mogadishu until after two years while riding an Ethiopian tank.

Welcome Mrs. Natalie Brown to Eritrea

By Haile Bokure

Welcome Mrs. Natalie Brown to Eritrea 
Names from many lands intrigue me! Often times, at first encounter, I ask 
the name of the person. It happened one day, at Wells Fargo, I met a 
certain African-American bank teller by the name “Allora.” I asked her why she 
is called by that name. She said, “ My Mom gave me that name?” In this 
response, I asked her if she knew the origin of her name, and the meaning 

Does the LF in TPLF stand for Lie Factory?

By almariam

The T-TPLF  (Thugtatorship of the Tigrean Peoples Liberation Front) has now launched a slick disinformation campaign to discredit and diminish the historic popular uprisings against it in Ethiopia.

The ruling T-TPLF party in Ethiopia is a criminal terrorist organization listed in the Global Terrorism Data Base.

Disinformation is “intentionally false or inaccurate information that is spread deliberately.”  The underlying aim in disinformation is to generate deceptive and false statements to convince others lies are truths.

The ‘Ethiopian Spring’: “Killing is not an answer to our grievances”

There is every sign that Ethiopia is plunging into a crisis whose scale, intensity, and multiple and interdependent drivers are unprecedented since the founding of the regime in 1991.

Ethiopian PM, Hailemariam Desalegn attends African Summit in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa January 2016. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene). All rights reserved.The Ethiopian leadership remains in denial. The long meetings of its ruling bodies have culminated in a report on 15 years of national “rebirth”, in which it awards itself good marks, while acknowledging the existence of a few problems here and there.

Nonetheless, the odd warning signal may be heard – though very seldom – in counterpoint to the general complacency. Hailemariam Desalegn, prime minister and chairman of what is essentially the single party, has gone so far as to warn that the issues facing the regime are a matter of “life or death”,[1] and thatEthiopia is “sliding towards ethnic conflict similar to that in neighbouring countries”.[2]