|
|
|
I tend to think that, in Sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopian fascination with the Tunisian and Egyptian popular revolutions exceeds any other. This admiration emanates from wishes and aspirations among Ethiopia’s youth and small Ethiopia middle class to see similar changes in their homeland. Read more…
After touring different places and evaluating Ethiopia’s economic condition, In 2006 reporting from Mekele, BBC’s correspondent Peter Greste said “Like a patient addicted to pain killers, Ethiopia seems hooked on aid”. Today, Greste’s description is not only a reality witnessed during his visit but a prophetic fulfillment and a reflection of the regime’s mentality to continuously depend on food aid. Read more…
German Parliamentarian Thilo Hoppe issued the following press release today on the attempt by Ethiopia’s khat-addicted dictator to ban independent media and silence critics. Read more…
NAIROBI (IDN) – While millions in East Africa are caught in the cobweb of a devastating drought that has spread its tentacles across Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, the government in Addis Ababa is snatching some of Ethiopia’s most productive farmland from local tribes and leasing it to foreign companies to grow and export food. Read more…
Book publishing had its golden age in the 60s and 70s. So did theater. The singular genius of Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin, whose magnificent adaptations of Shakespearean plays are arguably the best of their kind anywhere in the world, Read more…
Ethiopian journalist and broadcaster Mesay Mekonnen has alleged that Deutsche Welle Amharic is poorly managed and accused the head of irresponsibly putting him and his family in great hardship. “The section’s head and editor-in-chief, Ludger Schadomsky, Read more…
The ruling party in Ethiopia has strong historical connection with famine: TPLF was born out of the wombs of the 1974 famine. The military wing of this Front thrived on the back of the 1984 famine when its operatives hijacked some 95 percent of the relief money to buy bombs and ammunitions. Read more…
I watched a video of an interview Ato Meles gave to a woman journalist. The edited version on You Tube and our Independent Diaspora sites starts without introduction and ends abruptly. We have no idea who the questioner is and why she is granted a one to one interview. Read more…
A. The political milieu: Politics, finance & budget democracy In a decision that was only one vote short of unanimity, the Ethiopian parliament in early July swiftly approved the country’s largest ever budget of ETB (Ethiopian Birr) 117.8 billion (about $7 billion) for fiscal year 2011/12. Read more…
To intellectually debate Ethiopia’s history, one must first accept the contributions of all Ethiopians. To dispute past achievements or legacy of events or particular individuals, one must not begin with “state of mind” of the personalities or group involved in that particular time. Read more…
Washington DC–Hours after hundreds of protesters demanded Monday top executives of Voice of America (VOA) and Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to stop censoring and putting undue pressures on the Horn of Africa section, Read more…
According to the Voice of America (VOA) website, VOA Amharic Service attracts about one-fifth of the adult population. This is one of the largest audiences proportionally of any service at VOA. Read more…
“ተጣጥሮ መንገሥ::” Ethiopian Proverb
I. Religion: Christianity, Islam, et Cetera
The most essential question for every Ethiopian deals with the type of stake he or she has in the nation. It is not enough to cite thousands of years of history if its net result now is starvation, dictatorial governance, oppression, and cultural deformities. Read more…
Ethiopia’s foreseeable future is slowly, but surely, getting into a dangerous and volatile state. The economic situation has gotten worst and it has made the daily life of Ethiopians unbearable. It is this unbearable factor that may push the submissive and tolerant Ethiopians, collectively, into an angry and aggressive state of mind. Read more…
Promptly Charge or Release Detained Journalists
(New York, July 25, 2011) – The Ethiopian government should stop using a restrictive and vague counterterrorism law to repress free speech and due process rights, Human Rights Watch said today. An Ethiopian court ruled the week of July 17, 2011, Read more…
Ethiopia, Famine and the Oxford Dictionary
Oxymorons (figures of speech that combine contradictory terms) can sometimes provide unique insights into the cognitive process. Consider, for instance, the phrase “honest politician”. Is there such a thing? It sounds so comical to talk about “efficient government”? Read more…
Ron Singer interviews Abiye Teklemariam, founding editor of ‘Addis Neger’ (‘New Addis’), which until 2009 was Ethiopia’s leading dissident newspaper. Read more…
The record will show that I have been an unapologetic defender of the Voice of America. Read more…
Almost all critical Ethiopian websites are crammed up with articles about the VOA saga. Reading some of the articles and reports on these websites, one can sense that the writers are filled with deep anger and frustration. I personally don’t understand the source of this deep anger and frustration. Read more…