The spring rains failed entirely, and the summer rains were three weeks late. But why is famine is stalking Ethiopia again?

www.nazrett.com Home of Ethiopian News and Blog Breaking News President Obama has clearly stated, particularly in his speech in Ghana, that African rulers cannot fool his government easily and he will not openly support their perpetuation of 'strongmanship'. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's trip to a select few African countries also seemed an endorsement of that message, though it happened in accordance with America's foreign interest in the region. Both Obama's speech and Clinton's trip have made it clear that African rulers must first champion free and fair elections, respect the rule of law and win the trust of their population should they want any kind of open alliance with the Oval Office. With Ethiopia one of the US's foreign aid recipients, the message from the White House must have intimidated Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's administration. During Bush's administration, the 'War on Terror' rhetoric worked really well in favour of Prime Minister Zenawi, who enjoyed unlimited support from the United States. Today however, he is having a hard time securing Washington's undivided attention. The Obama administration has carefully reserved itself from openly engaging Zenawi's government due to the post-2005 election violence and other negative human rights records. There is also a huge presence of Ethiopians in the Washington D.C. area who are preventing Zenawi from having a smooth ride with Obama. Most of the diaspora Ethiopians heavily criticise and oppose Zenawi's rule because of his party's monopoly over the economy and politics. Just recently there was a March 4 Freedom demonstration right in front of Capitol Hill, condemning the government in Addis Ababa and accusing it of 'genocide'. When Zenawi was recently asked about current Ethio-US relations, he defended his government's position by saying, 'I don't agree with everything under the sun, let alone with Obama. Do we express our disagreements openly when we disagree? Yes, we do. Does that create a feeling of tension from time to time? Perhaps it does. Does that mean that the relationship is fundamentally weak? No. And there is nothing new to the strains that you seem to notice; there is nothing specifically related to the Obama administration. If anything, the coming of the Obama administration may have eased some of the strains.'[1] Given the current political insecurity in Ethiopia, having an open alliance with Prime Minister Zenawi will be a disadvantage for President Obama. President Obama, before he took power, promised millions, including the Ethiopian diaspora who voted for him in droves, that he would bring change to Washington's foreign policy, which affects millions of poor people around the world. Breaking that promise means becoming another hypocrite - a typical politician who betrays people's trust. ZENAWI AND HIS HEGEMONIC PARTY Zenawi's loyalists may consider him a 'renaissance man' but for those who oppose his government he is just another 'tyrant'. Those who oppose him are worried that his party, if not he himself, will cling to power for as long as possible through undemocratic means. They accuse his government's senior, junior and low-ranking officials of corruption and exploitation, two unfortunate obstacles of progress that existed in Ethiopia even before Zenawi was born. The fact is that poor Ethiopians are tired of whatever kind of authoritarianism: 40 plus years of Haile Selassie, 17 years of Mengistu and now 18 plus years of Meles Zenawi. The ongoing political chaos has weakened their spirit. It is too much to endure, although the people are partially to blame for the mess. After all, the rulers did not ascend directly from hell. Although the elites are to 99.99 per cent loyal to Western ideologies, they come from within the society and are shaped by its culture. The sad reality is that the burden is always placed on the poor people. The disempowered elites run away to safe havens when the worst comes to worst, leaving the country and the defenceless people to fend for themselves, while the powerful ones who remain behind exploit the people unrepentantly. Today's political fight in Ethiopia is still based around ideology, and remains fundamentally similar to the time when Meles was a militant student. Economically, the country still heavily depends on foreign aid, forcing some to conclude, 'it's addicted to aid.' Although Zenawi argues that he will turn Ethiopia into a 'middle-income economy' soon, a growing number of children are exported to foreign countries as 'orphans'. Most people in today's Ethiopia are as poor as they were yesterday, if not more so. People with a 'middle-class' status barely exist. You are either on top of the pyramid or at the very bottom of it. So many young people die crossing deserts or deadly seas in search of a better life. The number of people who apply for the Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery to fulfil their American dream doubles every year. Many students who graduate from American or European universities rarely go back home. Most of those who graduate inside the country remain unemployed. There are few entrepreneurs; the concept of micro financing, which has changed lives in Asia, scarcely exists. A few, associated with the government, monopolise businesses. Doesn't this disturbing fact eat Zenawi's brain every time he goes to bed? Twenty years from now, long after I am done with school, I wish to see an aid-independent, democratic Ethiopia where fair politics reign, and where people wake up every morning wanting to do something positive in their homeland instead of dreaming about foreign countries. I also wish my future children to grow up in a respected country, enabling them to be proud of their Ethiopian and African identity, not to mention their ethnic heritage and where they are free to express their thoughts and to criticise their leaders fearlessly, using their constitutional rights. Ethiopia still has a huge chance to become a democratic and prosperous nation in the Horn of Africa. A significant number of South Africa's population, for example, is still poor; however, South African politicians and lawmakers have transformed the country from apartheid to a genuine democracy with the result that South Africa's economy is thriving and their democratic tradition is blossoming. There is no reason why Ethiopia cannot follow the South African path should there be dedicated leaders from both the ruling party and the opposition. If Zenawi and his party open up the space for a genuine multi-party system and establish a truth and reconciliation commission, historical antipathy between the various competing ethnic elites will surely be curbed and the poor will finally have their peace. Zenawi, 54 years old, had been giving mixed signals for months that he might retire from office. However, because his party's members 'love him so much' and because they see him as 'irreplaceable', they have 'urged' him to stay in power longer, until his 60th birthday. What a birthday present to a dedicated comrade, one may say! However, behind this love affair, there exists a calculated risk. Zenawi, no doubt, is the political mastermind of the ruling party, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), supposedly a coalition of four regional parties - the Oromo People's Democratic Organisation (OPDO), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), the Southern Ethiopian Peoples' Democratic Movement (SPDM) and the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF). However, the TPLF, as the founder of the other three pseudo-independent parties, monopolises everything. Considering the EPRDF's present obstacles - Obama's administration, human rights organisations, growing public discontent, global economic meltdown, and opposition parties - the presence of Zenawi as prime minister is crucial for the party's survival. Thus it was the right decision for the EPRDF to keep its strongman in power. Zenawi explained the party's decision to journalists, saying, 'In order to ensure policy continuity, and success in the implementation of the party's platform, the party felt that there was need for some additional time.'[2] Relevant Links East Africa Ethiopia U.S., Canada and Africa The EPRDF is determined to win in 2010. Given the difficult situations major opposition parties face, there is no doubt it will win. 2010 ELECTION For EPRDF politicians, the 2010 election is expected to be tougher than the 2005 election, which was disastrous, resulting in the government and the opposition forces blaming each other for the chaos. It was reported that about 200 people were killed and many injured during the crisis. Opposition leaders, their supporters, journalists and some employees of NGOs were thrown into jail and accused of 'treason'. After that election, most opposition parties were crippled because of their internal litigations and government interference. Many political prisoners, including the first Ethiopian female opposition leader, Birtukan Mideksa, still languish in notorious prisons