#OromoProtests

Tedros Adhanom, a politburo member of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) that has been ruling Ethiopia for the last 25 years is in the inner circle of the regime well known for its systematic patterns of political repression and egregious human rights violations against Ethiopian citizens. The abysmal human rights record of the Ethiopian regime is very well documented by all the major international rights groups (Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Freedom House) as well as by the U.S. State Department in its annual human rights report.

In 2008, under his watch at the Federal Ministry of Health (2005-2012) there was a major cholera outbreak in Ethiopia’s Oromia Region. As a result of the deliberate inaction of Dr. Adhanom, the preventable and treatable outbreak tragically claimed many lives. Dr. Adhanom’s tenure as head of the Federal Ministry of Health was fraught with mismanagement and gross incompetence particularly as it relates to the monies (USD 1,306,035,989) granted from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM).

The audit by the Office of the Inspector General into the USD 1,306,035,989 allocated to Ethiopia found: 1) misappropriation of funds and use of donor funds for unsound and politically motivated programs, 2) substandard quality of constructed health facilities and 3) ineligible expenditures. It was the recommendation of the OIG that the Ethiopian government should refund USD 7,026,929 to the Global Fund.  To this day, no action  has been taken  by the Ethiopian government to refund the money.

The candidate for Director General of a prestigious organization such as the WHO should not only be a person of high personal achievement but should also embody the highest adherence to internationally recognized human rights standards. Dr. Adhanom’s record as one of the leaders of the ruling party in Ethiopia and specifically his record as Minister of Health does not meet the exceedingly high standards required for a Director General of the WHO.

This petition will be delivered to:

• General Assembly of the World Health Organization

#OromoProtests

ለክቡር አቶ ሽፈራው ሽጉጤ፣ የትምህርት ሚኒስቴር ሚኒስትር

ጉዳዩ: የከፍተኛ ትምህርት ተቋማት መግቢያ ፈተና (EUEE) በተመለከተ ፍትሃዊ የሆነ የመርሃግብር ምክረ ሃሳብ (program proposal) ስለማቅረብ ይመለከታል።

የተሰረዘውን ፈተና በተመለከተ መስሪያ ቤትዎ ያወጣውን መርሀ ግብር ተመልክተነዋል። ሆኖም ግን መርሃግብሩ ከታች በተገለጹት ምክኒያቶች ሊሻሻል ይገባዋል ብለን ስለምናምን የሚከትለውን ምክረ-ሀሳብ ልናቀርብ እንወዳለን። በደንብ ሊጤን የሚገባው ነጥብ ይህንን ምክረ-ሀሳብ በማጥናቀር ሂደት ውስጥ ከ5000 በላይ ተማሪዎች በግልጽ በሶሻል ሚዲያ ሀሰባቸውን ሰጥውበታል። 123 መምህራንን ከሁሉም የኦሮሚያ ዞኖች በቀጥታ አማክረናል። ተማሪዎቹም ሆኑ መምህራን በዋናው ጉዳይ ተመሳሳይ አቋም አንጸባርቀዋል። የተማሪዎቹም ሆነ የመምህራኑ ሀሳብ የሚያመለክተው በመስሪያ ቤትዎ ለድጋሚ ፈተናው የተሰጠው የአንድ ወር ጊዜ በቂ አለመሆኑንና ጊዜውን ማራዘሙ ግዴታ ነው የሚል ነው። አብዛኛዎቹ የኦሮሚያ ተማሪዎች (80%) ያመለጥንን የ6 ወራት ትምህርት ለማካካስ እና ለፈተናው ለመዘጋጀት ቢያንስ 12 ሳምንታት ወይም 3 ወራት ያስፈልግናል ብለዋል።

እንደአዲስ የወጣው የፈተና መርሀ ግብር ከጊዜ ማጠር በተጨማሪም ሌላ ግድፈት እንደለው ከተማሪዎች እና መምህራኖች ጋር ባደርግነው ምክክር ተገንዝበናል። ይሄውም መርሃግብሩ በረሞዳን ጾም ወር መጨረሻ ላይ መሆኑ በሁለት ዋና ዋና ምክንያቶች ትክክል አንዳልሆነ ተረድተና።

1) ሳይንሱም እንደሚያረጋግጠው የሰው ጭንቅላት (brain) በፈተና ጊዜ በደንብ ለማሰብ ከፍተኛ የምግብ ሃይል አቅርቦት (high energy supply) ይጠቀማል። የጾም ወቅት ደግሞ የጿሚዎቹ ጭንቅላት ባንጻራዊ መልኩ ሃይል-አጠር (hypo) ስለሚሆን ጿሚ ተማሪዎችን በእንደዚህ ዓይነት ወቅቶች ለዛውም ሙሉ ቀን ረጃጅም ፈተናዎች ላይ እንዲቀመጡ ማድረግ አይመከርም። በተለይ ደግሞ ጉዳዩ ሃይማኖታዊ ሆኖ የሚጾሙና የማይጾሙ ተማሪዎች የሚወስዷቸውን ፈተናዎች በእንደዚህ ዓይነት ወቅቶች መስጠት ትክክል አይደለም ። ግልጽ የሆነ መድሎ (clear discrimination) የማድረግ ያህልም ሊቆጠር የሚችል፤ ማህበራዊ መተሳሰብን ብሎም ህገ-መንግስቱን የሚጥስ ነው።

2) በድጋሚ ባወጠችሁት መግለጫም ፈተናው የኢድ አልፈጥርን ቀን እንደሚዘል ገልጻችኋል። ይህ ማለት በኢድ ዋዜማ እና በማግስቱ ፈተና ይኖራል ማለት ነው። በማህበረሰባችን የበዓላት ሰሞን በግርግርና ለፈተና ትኩረት ፍጹም በማይመቹ (exam mood eroding) ማህበራዊና ቤተሰባዊ መስተጋብሮችና ፌሽታዎች የተሞላ መሆኑን ሁላችንም የምናውቀው ሃቅ ነው። ይህ ደግሞ ተረጋግቶ ለማጥናት የሚያስቸግር ከባባዊ ሁኔታ (distractive environment) በመፍጠር ተማሪዎች ለፈተናው ሙሉ ትኩረት እንዳይሰጡ ያደርጋቸዋል። እናም ፈተናን በእንደዚህ ዓይነት ትልቅ ዓመት በዓል ወቅት ማድረግ ለሃይማኖቱ ተከታይ ተማሪዎች ከፍተኛ ጉዳት እንደሚኖረው ግልጽ ግልፅ ነው።

የምናቀርበው ምክረ-ሃሳብ በተማሪዎቹ ምቾትና አስተያየት ላይ ብቻ በመመርኮዝ እንዳይሆን ሌሎች ባለ ድርሻዎችንም አማክረናል። አዲሱ ፈተና ተዘጋጅቶ፣ ታርሞ ውጤቱ እስኪታወቅ ድረስ ያለውን ሂደት ከግንዛቤ በማስገባት፣ ከዚህ በፊትና አሁንም በትምህርት ሚኒስቴር ውስጥ በፈተና ጉዳዮች ላይ የሰሩ ባለሟያዎችን አማክረናል። እንዲሁም ፈተናው የዩኒቨርሲቲዎችን የሚቀጥለውን አመት መርሀግብር ሊያውክ ስለሚችል ፕረዚደንቶችን ጨምሮ የተለያዩ የዩኒቨርሲቲ መምህራንና የአስተዳደር ዘርፍ ሰራተኞችን አማክረናል።

ስለሆነም ከዚህ በላይ ከገለጽናቸው ምክኒያቶችና ባሰባሰብናችው ሙያዊ አስተያየቶች ላይ ተመርኩዘን ከዚህ ቀጥሎ የተዘረዘሩትን የመረሃግብር ምክረ ሃሳቦችን እናቀርባለን። ለተፈጻሚነታቸውም ከእርሶ መስሪያ ቤት በኩል በጎ ምላሽ እንደሚኖር ተስፋ እናደርጋለን:

1) ለተማሪዎቹ ሁለት ወር ቢሰጣቸው እና ፈተናው ከሃምሌ 25 እስከ 28 ወይም ከዚህ ጊዜ በኋላ በሚመቻቹ ወቅት ቢሆን ፍትሃዊ ይሆናል።

2) ባሉት ሁለት ወራት ውስጥ ተማሪዎች በቂ ዝግጅት እንዲያደርጉ ከዚህ ቀደም ያስረከቧቸው መጽሃፍትና ሌሎች የጥናት መርጃ መሳሪያዎች ቢመለስላቸው ጥሩ ይሆናል።

3) በተለይም በኦሮሚያ ተማሪዎች ላልተማሯቸው ክፍለጊዜዎች መምህራኑ ማካካሻ (make up classes) እንዲሰጧቸው ማድረግ ያስፈልጋል። ክረምቱ የእረፍት ጊዜያቸው መሆኑን ከግንዛቤ በማስገባት ለመምህራኑ ማበረታቻ (incentives) የሚደረግበት መንገድ ቢዘጋጅ።

4) ጊዜው የዩኒቨርሲቲ ተማሪዎች ለእረፍት ወደ ቤታቸው የሚመለሱበት በመሆኑ እነዚ ተማሪዎችም የየኣካባቢዎቻቸውን ተፈታኝ ተማሪዎች በቱቶር ማስጠናት ወይም በሌሎች መንገዶች ለፈተናው ዝግጅት ይረዷቸው ዘንድ የማበረታቻ መንገዶች ቢመቻቹ።

5) ለክረምቱ ወደየትውልድ ቦታቸው የሚመልሱ የዩኒቨርሲቲ ተማሪዎች ለተፈታኞቹ የማስጠናት (tutorial) ድጋፍ እንዲሰጡ ትምህርት ቤቶች እና የአስተዳደር ክፍሎች ሁኔታዎችን እንዲያመቻቹ ማድረግ።

6 ) በተለይም በኦሮሚያ አካባቢ በፖሊስና በመከላከያ ሃይሎች በተማሪዎች ላይ የሚደረገው ወከባና ተጽዕኖ እንዲቆም፣ እነዚ የታጠቁ አካላት ከትምህርት ቤቶች አካባቢ እንዲርቁ፣ የታሰሩ ተማሪዎችም ተለቀው ከላይ በተጠለተው መልኩ ለፈተናው ዝግጅት እንዲጀምሩ ቢደረግ።

በመጨረሻም፣ ከዚህ በፊት የወሰድናቸው እርምጃዎችም ሆኑ አሁን ያቀረብነው ምክረሃሳብ መነሻነቱ ፍትሃዊነት፣ የእኩል እድል ተጠቃሚነት እንዲሁም የተወዳዳሪነት መርህን የተከተለ የፈተና ስርዓት በሃገሪቱ እንዲረጋገጥ ማድረግ እንደሆነም ደግመን መግለጽ እንወዳለን። ለዚህም ከኛ በኩል ያለውን መልካም ፈቃድ (good faith) ይበልጥ ለማረጋገጥ በእጃችን ያሉትን ሌሎቹን የፈተና ቡክሌቶች ሚስጥራዊነት እንደምንጥብቅና አዲስ ለምታዘጋጁት ፈተናዎች ሚስጥራዊነት መጠበቅም የበኩላችንን አስተዋጽዕ እንደምናደርግ ቃል እንገባለን። ያቀረብነውን ምክረሀሰብ በሚገባ አጢናችሁ በበኩላችሁም ጉዳዩ የሚመለከታቸውን ባለጉዳዮች አማክራችሁ ፍትሃዊ ውሳኔ ላይ እንደምትደርሱ ተስፋ እናደርጋለን። ነገር ግን አሁን ያቀረብነው ምክረሀሳብ ወደጎን ተትቶ፣ እንደክዚህ በፊቱ የኦሮሚያ ተማሪዎች እሮሮ ጆሮ ዳባ ልበስ ተብሎ ፍርደገምድል በሆነ መልኩ አሁን የተቀመጠውን የፈተና መርሃ ግብር ወደ ማስፈጸም የምትሄዱ ከሆነ በእርግጥኝነት ለሚደርሰው ዳግም ሀገርዊ ኪሳራ ተጠያቂነቱ የትምህርት ሚኒስቴር መሆኑን ከወዲሁ ልናስጠነቅቅ እንወዳለን።
ከሰላምታ ጋር!
‪#‎OromoProtests‬

ግልባጭ፡
-ለኢፌድሪ ፕረዚደንት ጽ/ቤት
- ለኢፌድሪ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ ጽ/ቤት
- ለኢፌድሪ ህዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት አፈጉባኤ ጽ/ቤት
- ለኦሮሚያ ብሄራዊ ክልላዊ መንግስት ፕረዚደንት ጽ/ቤት
- ለጨፌ ኦሮሚያ አፈ ጉባኤ ጽ/ቤት
- ለሁሉም ክልሎች ትምህርት ቢሮዎች
- ለመላው የኢትዮጲያ ህዝብ
-ለሁሉም የ 12ኛ ክፍል ተፈጣኝ ተማሪዎች
- ለሁሉም ኢትዮጵያ ተኮር ሚዲያዎች

#OromoProtests

Freed From Prison, Ethiopian Bloggers Still Can't Leave The Country

At a 2015 press conference with President Obama in Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn asked the foreign press corps to "help our journalists to increase their capacity."

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Zelalem Kibret remembers the day: July 8, 2015. He was in a prison library reading a biography of Malcolm X, his own copy, when some guards called his name and handed him a piece of paper. The message: All charges against him were withdrawn. He was being released.

"I was asking why," says Zelalem, a 29-year-old lawyer and blogger. "And nobody was giving us a reason."

Zelalem, who'd been in jail for more than a year on terrorism charges related to his blog posts, suspected the reason. His release, he believes, was a "personal gift" to President Obama, then three weeks away from an official visit to Ethiopia, the first ever by a U.S. president.

The U.S. had been pushing quietly the release of Zelalem and five other members of Zone 9, his blogging crew. Zone 9 takes its name from the eight zones of the infamous Kality Prison outside Addis Ababa, where political prisoners and journalists are held. Activists joke that the 9th Zone is everything outside the prison walls — the rest of Ethiopia.

"Zone 9 is Ethiopia with relative freedom, but still you felt that you are in detention," Zelalem explains.

Zelalem and the other Zone 9 bloggers had been critical of corruption and repression by the Ethiopian government, but their blogs and Facebook posts were seen as a relatively safe space for criticism in a country with about 3 percent Internet penetration.

But the arrest of six bloggers, including Zelalem, and three other journalists in 2014sent a signal that as Facebook was becoming more popular in Ethiopia, digital reportage might now become just as censored as print journalism. Journalists are regularly imprisoned under Ethiopia's wide-ranging anti-terrorism law, which makes it a crime to have contact with any group that the Ethiopian government deems is trying to overthrow it.

At a press conference during Obama's visit, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn conceded, "We need many young journalists to come up." But, he said, "We need ethical journalism. There is also capacity limitations in journalism."

The phrase "capacity limitations" — and its cousin, "capacity building" — came out ofdevelopment lingo of the 1990s. Ethiopian officials often use "capacity" explanations to assert that journalists are jailed not because they are critical of the government — but because they are less professional, more unethical and more incendiary than Ethiopia's fledgling democracy can tolerate.

In keeping with this theme, Hailemariam nodded to Obama's traveling press corps and asked them to "help our journalists to increase their capacity."

Obama had offered an opportunity for just that, promoting his Young African Leaders Initiative, which gives scholarships for 1,000 African leaders to study in the U.S. each summer.

Zelalem, out of prison but unable to get back his university teaching job, followed Obama's advice. He applied and was accepted to the Young African Leaders Initiative. This summer, he was supposed to study civic leadership at the University of Virginia.

He won't be going. Ethiopian immigration officials confiscated his passport at Bole International Airport in November. They also took away the passports of four of his five colleagues who were released in advance of Obama's visit.

That's when Zone 9 became more than a metaphor. They were literally imprisoned in their own country.

Zelalem sees this as evidence of a new strategy. In past years, Ethiopia has been willing to let its critical citizens flee the country. (For several years, Ethiopia has ranked on or near the top of the list of countries with the most exiled journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.) Now, Zelalem says, the government may be deciding that it's better to keep critics close by.

"Especially for people like us working on social media," Zelalem says. "Whether we are here or in America or somewhere else, we may write and we can reach our audiences. Therefore, it's better to keep [us] here and silence [us]."

When I brought up Zelalem's case with Ethiopia's Minister of Communication, Getachew Redda, he said he wasn't familiar with it. But he offered a different explanation for the blogger's rough treatment at the hands of Ethiopian Immigration: Ethiopia's young institutions, he said — including its judges and immigration officials — could zealously overstep their bounds. They could even make mistakes that would take months or years to correct.

The minister's solution? "More capacity building."

#OromoProtests

(BBC) Oromo protesters ‘force suspension of Ethiopia university exams’

Ethiopia’s university entrance exams, due to start today, have been cancelled because one of the papers has been leaked online, reports the government-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate.

Pictures of the English exam have been widely shared on social media.

Minister of Education Shiferaw Shigute is quoted as saying: “After a cross check, we decided to terminate the whole exam since we had no evidence that the other exams were safe.”

People supporting the protests for greater rights for Ethiopia’s Oromo people are saying that they are responsible for the leak.

Photographs of some of the exam papers have been posted on one activist’s Facebook page:

The activists said they wanted Oromo students to have more time to study for the entrance exams after their high schools had been closed for several months during a wave of protests at the end of last year and the beginning of this year.

Ethiopia’s education ministry has said that a plan for new exams will be announced soon.

Video Player

The Morality of Leaking Exams
=======================

Forcing “a government of the 1%, for the 1% and by the 6%” into canceling a national exam is a heroic act of political dissent and probably the greatest political surprises of 2016. There is absolutely no moral case against the leaks but to try and concoct one is to ridicule the sorrow and anguish of Oromo students and the sacred dead of the ‪#‎Oromoprotests‬. Those who are not visited by the loss and violence that rained down on Oromo students and their families have the moral obligation to stand with the Oromo students. If our ‘shared humanity’ and the ‘ethical universalism’ that you often invoke to dismiss the politics of the particular is nowhere to inform this claim, at least there is something to be said about the bonds of solidarity. If you can’t take the longer view of history, at least this is not too much of an inconvenience to take for a fellow student.

This government of the 6% knows well how to divide and conquer, from winning 100% of seats in parliament to manufacturing crisis in the Horn from which it reaps fruits, from manipulating food aid for political reasons to crippling and demobilizing opposition politics; from using its courts to eliminate political adversaries to conning the West into paying for its surveillance infrastructure. By producing policy driven evidence, it has managed to camouflage and obscure all of these things, with the cooperation of the West, of course. It was clear to this government what to do to convert absolute falsehoods into believable narrative facts. What to do or how to deal with the Oromo protests, however, is not. Awol Kassim Allo

#OromoProtests

Ethiopia: British government ‘deeply concerned’ by treatment of Oromo

Martin Plaut / 3 days ago

This is the answer to a Parliamentary Question about the Ethiopian government’s response to the Oromo protests and the credibility of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission into the way in which these were handled.

Martin

Baroness Anelay of St Johns, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (HL29):

Question:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission is a credible body to investigate human rights violations committed by the Ethiopian security forces in their response to the Oromo protests. (HL29)

Tabled on: 18 May 2016

Answer:
Baroness Anelay of St Johns:

The British Government remains deeply concerned about the handling of demonstrations in Oromia and the reported deaths of a number of protestors, and has repeatedly made representations to the Ethiopian Government over the ongoing situation in Oromia. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and raise our concerns with the Ethiopian Government, including on the use of force.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has been appointed to look into the handling of the protests in Oromia. We will not pre-judge the outcome of their investigation and we await the publication of their report. We will continue to urge the EHRC and the Government of Ethiopia to ensure that their report is credible, transparent and leads to concrete action. We will take a view on what further lobbying, if any might be appropriate following the publication of the EHRC report.

Date and time of answer: 26 May 2016 at 15:27.

#OromoProtests

Dr. Tedros Adhanom is a person who represent a regime that treat indigenous community in the country as you can see from the photo herein below. This picture is not from 17 century at peak of heyday of slavery. This is happening in 2016. Allowing WHO to be led by this man whose government treat local communities with utmost disrespect after it has evicted them from their ancestral land is the highest kind of moral crisis.
‪#‎NoTedros4WHO‬ ‪#‎Ethiopia‬ ‪#‎Oromo‬ ‪#‎Africa‬ ‪#‎WHO‬

#OromoProtests

Urgent call to all Oromo people and international community:

Urgent call to all Oromo people and international community: Health care is the fundamental human rights and not a tool of war

By Baaroo Keno Deressa, Dr.

Concerning this issue my letter to United nations and European commission will be published soon.

Ayder Referral University Hospital in Mekelle has become the only Government Hospital in Ethiopia to perform the first PCI (Percutaneous coronary Intervention). The colonialist with gun: enjoying with highest standard of health care

http://www.bilisummaa.com haasaya-fiqaaduu-tasammaa-walgahii-kaabinee-oromiyaa-irratti-godhe. May 20, 2016 http://www.ayyaantuu.net/ The Mother of all cash flow and life-oxygen Oromia: Crying for basic health care (maali yaa Oromo salphane!!!)

After twenty-seven years in power, the TPLF-elite dare to tell us that Rome was not built in a day. Are they ignorant or arrogant??? Twenty-seven years is quite a long time to bring changes in the lives of all people. When the TPLF moved to Dadabit telling the world that Mengistu did not bring any change. But Mengistu remain in power 17 years and TPLF is now 27 years in power, number of days in one year then and now are still 365 and I don’t understand why  twenty-seven years of their palace life should not be considered a long time? Yes they bring many changes in Tigray region (in military technology, medical science, economic empowerment….etc). But the mother of all cash flow and life-oxygen my beloved Oromia and generous people of Oromo are:

• Bleeding day and night in the hands of TPLF special commandos and security forces,
• Suffering from torture and ill-treatment of TPLF government
• killing future generations of our nations (university students).
• Detaining millions of innocent Oromo peoples and Oromo intellectuals
• Limiting free movement of our people in their home town
• Promoting brain drain of mother land Oromia.
• Harassment and hunting down capable Oromo individuals to inhibit the development of mother land Oromia.
• Countless atrocities are committed against Oromo people

Mostly government statements are based on “kitchen cabinet” (TPLF junta) and Oromo people no matter what the truth is, they must accept it. The TPLF commandos are always right because they have the gun and the system supporting them. The stronger can always tell the wrong and force the weaker to accept it as the right. Trying to prove that the “stronger” is wrong is tantamount.

Whatever their power we Oromo people have to stand firmly with full commitment and confront it this barbaric act.

Let me put some facts with evidence based manner:

Internationally, it was first articulated in the 1946 Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO), whose preamble defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. The preamble further states that “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.”

The Ethiopian government wrote in his final draft to improve health status of his people under Program IV, as follows:

The major health problems of the country remain largely preventable communicable diseases and nutritional disorders. Despite major progresses have been made to improve the health status of the population, Ethiopia’s population still face a high rate of morbidity and mortality and the health status remains relatively poor.

The Federal Ministry of Health has formulated and implemented a number of policies and strategies that afforded an effective framework for improving health in the country.

I rightly asked myself, how many times and how often did the government officials  visit rural areas since they come to  power? did they speak to the people and listening to their problems? Did they face the Oromo people on Q&A session and hear from them exactly what they think about the  TPLF’s socio-economic, health care and political agenda? It is one thing to be in the capital city and tell the world how our nation is showing amazing socio-economic improvement, wonderful health care programme but it would have been totally different to meet the Oromo people and talk to them face-to-face instead of killing, torturing, harassing and imprisoning them.

I wish I was a naïve foreigner and did not know the status of the prevailing socio-economic and political situation in Oromia. But the problem is I am an Oromo and judging from what the government trying to say, and for right or wrong, I consider myself more knowledgeable than government itself when it comes to the prevailing situation in my country Oromia.

We often hear from the TPLF government that the Tigray region as such did not benefit from a preferential treatment by government. Oromo people know very well how you were trying to trick them, but in vain. According to information available how you were diverting the national budget to Tigray, here is the trick. Every region/zone in Ethiopia receives a certain amount from the central budget approved by the parliament, which from the outset looks fair. However, in almost all the other regions, especially the Oromia, the local authorities (members of EPRDF but traitors and collaborators) deliberately delay the implementation of regional projects.

This is not a problem in the Tigray region of course – TPLF implements the projects “way ahead of time” and asks the central government for additional budget allocations. At the same time, the central government summons regional authorities for gimgema, during which the decision is taken to punish the Oromia regions for the lower implementation rate. As a result their unused budget is re-allocated to Tigray region as a reward for “good implementation of regional projects”. Do you think this is a good form of governance?

Recently peaceful Oromo protests with legitimate question under Article 39 of Ethiopia’s 1994 constitution affords “every nation, nationality or people in Ethiopia” the “unrestricted right to self-determination up to secession was brutally and mercilessly crackdown.

Improving health care system program is not implemented specially in Oromia and neighboring nations and used as a tool of war against Oromo people.

However, Ethiopian government always failed to comply with its constitution and covenants which it decorated on paper for the purpose of foreign aid. The Ethiopian government is using sweeping anti-terror laws to crack down peaceful protesters brutally, introduced a Charities and Societies Proclamation (draft law) to regulate all domestic and international civil society organizations (CSOs) which create a complex web of arbitrary restrictions on the work civil society groups can engage in, onerous bureaucratic hurdles, draconian criminal penalties, and intrusive powers of surveillance.

The Oromo people are not in agreement with your policies be they socio-economic or political. Your generals, cadres, political elites and security forces may not have the luxury to see it but my people live in misery. Oromo people constitutional right is not respected, your declaration are simply empty statements. The Oromo intellectuals were given no secure places in the society, hunted down like fox by your special commandos and they are prohibited from nation-building process, while Tigray intellectuals are enjoying limitless freedom in order to build a well civilized and militarized nation of Tigray.  Above all, the Oromo people have no faith whatsoever in TPLF government. To the contrary, they profoundly believe that the TPLF government has contributed to the exacerbated misery and designing a well calculated silent genocide in the form of depriving their health status.

Fifty Million of Oromo’s are crying for the absence of basic health care system while 5 million of Tigray people are enjoying the highest standard of health. Here under multiple important evidence to support the fact.

• Recently May 19, 2016 on Tigrai online they publish as follows:  Mekelle has become the only Government Hospital in Ethiopia to perform the first PCI (Percutaneous coronary Intervention).
• Also recently May 20, 2016 on Ayyaantuu and Bilisummaa they publish as follows: Oromo people are in danger (no medication, no medical equipment, no healthy professional and empty building) Oromo http://www.bilisummaa.com haasaya-fiqaaduu-tasammaa-walgahii-kaabinee-oromiyaa-irratti-godhe. May 20, 2016
• August/2014 MEKELLE: The government of the national state of Tigrai Report on the health status of Tigrai region.
• Oromia regional state: No health program, no long and short term plan, no health policy empty box without essential content and representatives.

To be honest as a medical profession I am very happy that the Tigray people are enjoying with their full freedom and highest standard of health through high standard health care system. The reason that I am happy is Ethiopian peasants, regardless of their ethnicity, do not have a clue about what we are talking about. They would die happy if only they got enough injerra on their “gabattee” every evening and see their children well fed before they went to bed and acquire adequate treatment when they are getting sick.

My questions is here how comes that the mother of all cash flow and life-oxygen beloved Oromia and generous people of Oromo become beggars on their own money????? Where is justice????where is humanity???? Where is the plan and programme of Oromia health care system??? Where is the fruit of so called sky rocket development???? Where are they the so called regional state leaders???? It is clear enough that this subject prepared for silent genocide. Oromo people it is time to get up together and demand urgent answer for our justice, freedom and stop the ongoing silent genocide.

Oromo people are suffering from multiple kinds of diseases:

• Communicable diseases (HIV, TBC, hepatitis, malaria, typhoid fever….etc)
• Non- Communicable diseases (Diabetes mellitus, cardiac disease, gastro-pancreatic-hepato-biliary diseases….etc )
• Different types of cancers (lung cancer, stomach cancers, colon cancers, blood cancers,….etc)
• Obstetric and gynaecologic diseases (the most debilitating disease of our mothers and sisters).
• Malnutrition… etc

Without decent health policy, absence of structural approach, corrupt governance, inadequate professional experts, totally outdated medical equipment and absence of professional freedom in health sector it is impossible to build a competent, capable, creative healthy nations. Our nation is facing a critical time in the history of his struggle against colonialism. The previous policy of colonial power (menilik, hailesilasse and derg) was failed after a bitter struggle. The new colonialism by TPLF-elite is very dangerous and well designed and planned eradication of Oromo people (openly by military force and hiddenly by depriving a qualitative health care).

I and my fellow Oromo health professionals are capable of building a modern, proper and qualitative health care system beyond our mother land Oromia to safe our people from silent genocide and to serve all human being regardless of their ethnicity. But to do these golden tasks, first the colonialism must end.

So I am calling all Oromo people around the globe and propose as follows. Our leaders has pursued various strategies to solve all kinds of injustice peacefully with our enemies. But their reaction was/is humiliation, destruction and hopelessness. So i am proposing one day, one victory with enormous sacrifice. My proposition as follows, instead of dying a shameful death in the hands of TPLF militia’s, instead of end up in the torture chamber of TPLF, instead of living unhuman and humiliating life in our birth place, instead of watching powerlessly gang rapes of our mothers, wives, and sister it is time to empower ourselves in order to enhance our freedom and regain our God-given right and true peace.  So my proposition is we are around 50 million peoples, if we are determine to sacrifice ourselves with a big number in one day like 5 million life’s inclusive me the remain 45 million of Oromo’s are living free and safe. The freedom of my people is more grateful and worth full than my luxury life in western country. So I would like to ask my people to discuss these issue on the social media, at the working places, during family and friend meetings, between political parties, between all peace and justice promoting organizations. After the discussion the next step will be how, where and when will be coordinated through committed and dedicated coordination staff.

(M.L.King: True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice).

#OromoProtests

‪#‎OromoProtests‬ We should express our strong appreciation for students of all nations attending Haramaya University for their unflinching solidarity with Oromo students over this past week. They marched with Oromo students, beatn along with them and continue to boycott class. They told the administration and the soldiers that they will continue with their solidarity until the demands of their Oromo brethren are met. The regime agents tried to isolate the Oromo students but they failed miserably. Please join me in saying THANK YOU!!

Jawhar Mommmed

#OromoProtests

OPINION –OPINION – WHO IS IN CONTROL IN ETHIOPIA?

By Leenco Lata

Who is presently in control in Ethiopia? This is a strange question coming from a person who never minces his words when criticizing the EPRDF for installing an authoritarian order in Ethiopia, in which the top official is unquestionably in control. It is also strange to pose the question about a country where who is in control has never really been an issue at all. Emperor Haile Selassie, Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam and Meles Zenawi were fully in control in their day and in their distinct ways. Who is in control was never in doubt during the time of these previous rulers.

It is only after Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn became Ethiopia’s highest executive official that such a question started surfacing. In fact, questioning if he is really in control or not was aired from the outset of his tenure and has dogged his administration ever since. And I am one of those who dismissed the notion that PM Hailemariam is not really in control because according to the Constitution he is Ethiopia’s highest executive official who would ultimately be held accountable for any official wrongdoing as long as he remains in that position.

I am now increasingly inclined to question this earlier stand due to particularly a recent development. The Prime Minister appeared before Parliament on 10 March 2016 and apologized for the deaths and destructions that had occurred during the preceding months in Oromia Regional State. He deserves to be commended for having the courage and humility to offer a public apology on behalf of his government. Such an action is truly unprecedented in Ethiopia’s history and should be wholeheartedly welcomed.

Those of us who welcomed this public expression of apology held our breaths and waited for what should automatically follow: the withdrawal of special security forces from the areas where protests were taking place; the release of those illegally detained peaceful protesters; and compensating the relatives of those killed for peacefully demanding their constitutional rights.

When none of these followed the Prime Minister’s public expression of apology, we were left puzzled, disappointed and increasingly forced to question if he is really in control. The pronouncements of particularly the highest government official should carry some weight. Such public proclamations serve as the keynote influencing the behaviors and actions of all subordinate bodies and personnel. Subordinates are duty-bound to fall in line with the signal of their highest official.

Unfortunately, subsequent to Prime Minister Hailemariam’s apology, the direct opposite of what was expected happened. Instead of releasing the peaceful protesters already in detention, even more were arrested. The special security forces remained spread out through towns and villages and continued to intimidate, humiliate and persecute members of society. The words of Ethiopia’s highest executive official and the deeds of his subordinates stood at loggerheads as the result.

There are those who conclude from this that the Prime Minister was merely being glib when he offered his apology. But the apology was aired during a solemn parliamentary session thus militating against this stand. There are others who contend that he was simply hoodwinking society by his apology. This is also implausible because of the widely well-known religious nature of the Prime Minister, which renders it unlikely for him to behave in a duplicitous manner.

No matter what positions observers take, one thing is indisputable. The mismatch between the words of the Prime Minister and the deeds of his subordinates has a potentially devastating implication for the society they are ruling. Members of society are likely to be utterly confused by the contradictory signals reaching them from various levels of the government. They can correctly conclude that they have been exonerated of any wrongdoing by the Prime Minister’s apology. On the other hand, the actions of the security forces are meant to force members of society to draw the direct opposite conclusion. The upshot is the society’s inability to distinguish what is expected of it and what is not.

Furthermore, there are indications that PM Hailemariam Desalegn’s government itself is confused. The meeting he held with his erstwhile colleague academics, on 15 March, is one of them. It appears that encouraging academics to participate in politics was one of the objectives of this encounter. However, there are already University Professors and lecturers, such as Prof. Beyene Petros and Dr. Marara Gudina, leading opposition political party members. And most conscious Ethiopians are aware how the activities of those scholar-politicians are severely hamstrung by the government’s heavy-handedness. What else is needed to encourage more scholars to join the fray than stopping the policy of frustrating those already participating in politics?

The Prime Minister’s next meeting was with elected Gada leaders from the southern tip of the Oromia regional state. Much can be said about the implication of this meeting. Focusing on the contrast between two electoral systems and the kinds of legitimacy resulting from them is very informative. The traditional Oromo leaders were elected through a highly competitive electoral process marked with intensive and protracted societal vetting such that only the best and the brightest get elected. That these traditional leaders lack political power, however, is obvious since they command no police force, nor do they have other trappings of state power at their disposal. Their influence, prestige and legitimacy rest strictly on their moral authority and the confidence of their electors. If granting them audience was meant to recognize and tap into their influence, legitimacy and societal confidence, the Prime Minister deserves our applause for doing so.

Another set of Oromo leaders were elected on the basis of the official electoral system and are currently exercising uncontested political power in Oromia. I am of course referring to OPDO parliamentarians occupying every single seat both at the Regional legislature (the Caffee) and the Federal Parliament. Unlike those elected through the traditional electoral system, however, these ones lack moral authority, legitimacy and societal confidence. The peaceful protests that have been rocking Oromia for five continuous months now is evidence that the Oromo society has no confidence whatsoever in these supposedly elected OPDO officials.

The contrast between the stature of these two sets of elected Oromo leaders leads to a very simple lesson. Only an electoral system that leads to the election of only the best and the brightest can do away with the deficiency of legitimacy presently dogging OPDO officials. And this does not appear promising unless the playing field is leveled thus enabling fair and free electoral competition. This has been the demand of the opposition parties ever since the EPRDF ascended to power.

The Prime Minister made a striking remark during his discussion with the academics. He identified the absence of democracy within the country’s political organizations as the critical obstacle to democratic practices in Ethiopia. That he did not exempt even the EPRDF from this shortcoming is quite refreshing. He deserves to be commended for his frankness and honesty. I hope we, members of the opposition parties, would follow his precedent and critically assess if we are also practicing democracy within our respective organizations or not. I could not agree more with the Prime Minister’s observation. An internally undemocratic political organization cannot practice democracy in the external sphere.

However, democracy within the EPRDF deserves a special focus because of its dominance and the leading role it has been playing for now close to a quarter of a century. There could be various causes for the lack of democracy within the EPRDF: for example the history of its formation during the insurgency; and its cultural and ideological underpinnings. These are obstacles that cannot be summarily and easily resolved. But there is one step that the EPRDF leaders can plausibly take with immediacy having far-reaching implications for internal democracy. And that concerns representation.

It is well-known that the EPRDF is composed of Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO), and the Southern Ethiopian Peoples’ Democratic Movement (SEPDM). They have all been very busy recruiting members from their respective constituencies for close to 25 years now. As the result, it is plausible to expect the number of their members becoming steadily proportional to the respective populations of these constituencies.

Nevertheless, these four organizations continue to send an equal number of delegates to the Executive Committee of the EPRDF. This has one significance and undeniable implication: According to a very rough calculation, the vote of one TPLF member carries the same weight as that of 3 members of SEPDM, that of 4 members of ANDM and that of 6 members of the OPDO. This form of representation has one indisputable implication. It violates the fundamental democratic principle of “one person, one vote.”

Let me state one fact as clearly as possible: My intension is not to advocate the rights of OPDO members or of the other EPRDF member organizations. I have a couple of aims for bringing up this issue. First, members of any organization who do not recognize and struggle against their own unjust treatment cannot be expected to defend the rights of their constituency. If OPDO members, for reasons I fail to fathom, are satisfied that 6 of them carry the same weight as a single TPLF member that is their business. Second, it is evident that OPDO members have a dilemma. Their organization was originally formed in order to capture Oromo backing for the EPRDF. At the same time, it is also expected to serve as the instrument for limiting Oromo role in Ethiopia’s political and economic life. It is this contradictory mission of the OPDO that is wreaking havoc in Oromia and nothing else.

Let me conclude by paying tribute to two individuals for their courageous and public warning to EPRDF leaders to uphold democracy. The historian, Dr Gebru Tareke, during an interview with an Australian radio station, forthrightly stated that unless the EPRDF leaders change their approach to democracy, they are likely to undo all their positive contributions. The former Commander of the Ethiopian Air force also offered a similar warning to EPRDF leaders in an article published by a local newspaper. I lift my hat to both of them because authoritarianism and federation make a highly combustible mixture.

There are many societies that have successfully practiced democracy without federation. But all those who attempted to institute a federal system without democracy ended in disaster. Mentioning the experiences of the former USSR and Yugoslavia suffices. Unless a democratic reform is implemented, and soon, that the same fate awaits Ethiopia as well appears self-evident to me. If I am being overly alarmist, it is because I am convinced that it is better to sound the clarion call now before the country crosses the point of no return.

 WHO IS IN CONTROL IN ETHIOPIA?

#OromoProtests

News / Africa

Proposed Ethiopia Law Worries Bloggers, Activists

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Marthe van der Wolf

May 20, 2016 2:00 PM

ADDIS ABABA—

For years, the Ethiopian government has been accused of using its anti-terrorism law to crack down on internal political dissent. Now, bloggers and political activists worry freedom of expression could be limited even further by a proposed new law.

Critics of the new legislation, called the Computer Crime Proclamation, say it would widen the door for the Ethiopian government to punish individuals voicing their opinions on the Internet.government to punish individuals voicing their opinions on the Internet.

Daniel Berhane, a prominent blogger who also runs his own website, believes the provisions against cybercrime in the bill could be used against anyone expressing an opinion online.

“This computer crime proclamation denies me the defenses, the safeguards already provided in the criminal code and the mass media law," he said. "So it's simply more prohibitive than the existing laws and it does that with just one sentence.”

The new bill mostly focuses on cybercrime and security; but, the proclamation also allows the imprisonment for those who distribute mass emails and it gives the national intelligence service the power to conduct virtual investigations without approval from a judge.

Belayhun Yirga of Ethiopia’s Ministry of Justice said nothing will change for those who are expressing their views on the Internet.

“If that person is just explaining his opinions or his view, he will not be liable for crime; but, the target of this law is just on the intention of the activity of the people concerning defamation," he said. "If their purpose and general goal is for defaming, they will be liable because defamation, it is a crime."

Ethiopia is often criticized for detaining, arresting and imprisoning individuals who voice their opinions online.

Journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega is currently serving an 18-year sentence.  A group of young bloggers known as Zone 9 was detained for over a year.

And Yonathan Tesfaye, the spokesperson of an opposition group, has been in detention for nearly six months over comments he made on Facebook.

Haben Fecadu of human rights group Amnesty International says the Ethiopian government is currently using the 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation to crack down on criticism.

“The precedent set by Yonathan’s charges are disturbing because it allows for the government to go after someone for expressing their views over social media," he said. "Yonathan was also charged under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, and evidence against him was allowed to be presented and heard by the court without him knowing what that evidence was.”

The new Computer Crime Proclamation likely will be enacted in the next few weeks.

OMN: Hiriira Hawaasa Oromoo Ameerikaa Kaabaa DC Kutaa 2ffaa