‘Elias Yalew Weyim Mot!’: Reviewing the Ethiopian Review

A lot of positive and negative things have been said about Elias Kifle, the publisher of the Ethiopian Review. There were times that he appeared like any citizen who is genuinely angry about the gross human rights violations that are taking place in Ethiopia and is doing his part to expose them. As such, many of his commentators on his web site refer to him as “the true son of Ethiopia”. On the other hand, there were more instances where he stooped to the lowest of lows to attack people with whose politics he doesn’t agree. In that respect, many accusations have been thrown his way. Some say that despite screaming out for what he says is democracy, he is hardly a democrat; that he would do the same thing this government is doing if he is to hold any power; that his disrespect for people he disagrees with does not promote democratic behavior and is sickening; that his frequent willingness to stoop to the lowest of places to attack people is disgusting; that he promotes “extremism” and so on. Of course, I have heard people praising him or crucifying him depending on who is being attacked. Personally, I have found it equally sickening when he said Tefera Walwa is “[the dumbest person in the EPRDF cabinet]”, that Hailu Shawel and company are all sorts of names, and Dr. Berhanu Nega was a Kehadi of some sort (that was before he became his new found “hero” now). Whether the victims are deserving of it or not, the ease with which he bad mouths people has always made me uncomfortable. As for the “extremist” views he promotes, I had given him the benefit of the doubt or even defended him, not just because he has the right to self expression, but also because I do not like to delude myself into thinking that those are opinions held by him alone. If the rating of his web site is any indication (despite all those annoying pop-up ads), it seems that he has a significant following and whether we like it or not, he brings that fact to light for us. What to do with that information is another question. All in all, as much as I have been sickened by some of his activities, I have also given him the benefit of the doubt in the face of many accusations thrown against him. But I have never brought myself to write a serious commentary about it.

However, one of the latest rumors circulating about him – that he is sponsored by the Eritrean regime – coupled with his recent activities, has caught my attention and is not a matter that I felt should be passed without some examination because his activities are negatively affecting people and causes many of us care about. Let’s get some things clear before we move on: first of all, no one has come forward with any hard evidence showing that Elias Kifle is paid by the Eritrean government for what he does. So far it’s all rumors. Second, we have to ask ourselves a question: does anybody really have to be paid by Eritrea to raise the prospect of cooperating with it? I do not think so. In fact, at one point, it appeared to me as if he was being used by some politicians who want to test the water before considering the dangerous option of cooperating with Eritrea. But that is only my suspicion, and those are only politicians. What do average Ethiopian say about this? During the last Great Ethiopian Run, it was reported that some youngsters were chanting “Gifa belew Shabian, gifa belew!” Furthermore, I have talked on the phone to random Ethiopians back home and have heard positive reviews of Isayas Afewerqi. My point is this: the fact that Elias Kifle promotes these opinions should not be the sole reason to suspect that he is getting paid for it. The truth is that, fortunately or unfortunately, however way you look at it, this opinion belongs to a significant portion of our populace. Although many Ethiopians understand the harm Isayas’ government has caused and the threat he continues to pose on our country, they are genuinely worried that Meles’ power in the region will be even more strengthened if the former is removed from power. There is also the short sighted perspective: though they understand the brutal hand he has been exercising on his own people, given the stubbornness of our people, they would rather embrace Isayas and the double standard that comes with it and score any point they could against Meles’ and company. I do not believe these people are treasonous or want bad things to happen to our country. Some have viable arguments, and others just feel suffocated and helpless in the current political situation. How to deal with these people and their opinions, and channel their energy into more productive and long sighted ways of freeing our country is a topic for another essay.

Under normal circumstances, I would not think it is productive to speculate about a person’s motive and would just stick to discussing the merit in the idea being promoted. And as I said above, the issue of cooperation with Eritrea is an opinion held by so many well meaning Ethiopians, so it is not something we can get past by denouncing the opinion holders and the opinion. Thus, the merit of the idea must be debated in a respectful environment. I am sure that if these people are presented with logical and convincing arguments as to how dangerous it is for our country in the long term to team up with Eritrea, they would be willing to abandon any thing, let alone an opinion, for the sake of our country. I am also sure that many of these people, despite entertaining such ideas of cooperation with a living enemy of our nation, do understand the importance of our different pro democracy organizations and are providing them with all the support they need.

However, when it comes to Elias Kifle, there is something that makes him different from all these people who just happened to hold those opinions; and that is what calls for the examination of what could be his real motive or any other underlying reason for his actions. As I have said, motive may not matter as long as we can debate the merit of an idea with reason. But in such cases when there is no merit to an idea and when, giving no room to discussions and debates, the man jumps to campaigns of destruction, it is important for us to learn if there is a hidden motive.

What makes Elias Kifle different from the average Tafese promoting any idea? It is not just the fact that he is the publisher of one of the highest rated Ethiopian web sites. First of all, the arguments he so fervently puts out in support of the ideals he promotes are mostly short sighted, and devoid of logic and detail. He makes his foreign policy advices in the kitchen and he doesn’t even seem to cook them. Secondly, despite the weaknesses of those ideas, he does not seem to leave any room for disagreement. After he comes up with those ideas, (heaven spare those on his way!) it is his way or death. He will then invest so much time and energy, and sell his own name and integrity (I do not know the man personally, but I am just giving him the benefit of the doubt and assuming he had one) to unleash some of the most disgusting and vicious personal attacks on people who are respected and revered by many. Never and nowhere have I seen the kinds of attacks Elias Kifle has at different times unleashed against different personalities in the Ethiopian political arena. Not even on those sickening government sponsored web sites! This man does not know the difference between young and old! He attacks opposition politicians, who have done nothing but risk their lives to face our gun-totting-mistake-for-a-government on a daily basis, the same way he attacks the child killers (in fact worse on countless occasions!)!

So please tell me: if a person is all about democracy and what is best for the country, doesn’t it make sense to you that he would present his disagreements with logical arguments and invite discussions open mindedly? And even in the case of loss of hope for such discussions, how about going off and supporting those political organizations he likes? Why so much drive to destroy others? And why the need for so much vicious attacks on the personalities behind organizations he doesn’t agree with? Let’s examine some of his recent activities and see if we can find answers.

The past couple of weeks, he has been trying to do two things: one is to pressure the newly formed Ginbot 7 into cooperating with Eritrea and embrace armed struggle fully among other things; and the other is trying to destroy the UDJ. There are two possible reasons that I can think of: one is that, as some say, he is actually receiving an incentive to promote the idea of armed struggle and the necessity it entails – Eritrea - at the cost of what is best for our country; the other is that he is genuinely concerned about our country, but is politically ignorant and lacks in strategic thinking.

Let’s explore the first possibility by asking an important question: who and what does Elias Kifle support? I will try to answer this question by pointing out two things. First, in his attempt to see the end of the UDJ before it even begins, he tries to portray himself as the supporter of Ginbot 7 and demands the leaders of the former that they free their support organizations across the world from their obligations so that they could support the latter. He also calls on them to close down all operations and join Ginbot 7. But he really isn’t a supporter of the latter either. Because, just the week before, he was giving them an ultimatum to “prove themselves in six months” and among the list of demands he was making was embracing armed struggle and cooperating with the Eritrean government. Looking at all the “recommendations” and demands he makes of Ethiopian political groups, the issue of armed struggle, and thus, cooperation with Eritrea seems to stand out. It seems to be the standard with which he judges all groups. What this means is that if Ginbot 7 does not “prove themselves in six months” by doing those two things (they are really one because seeking Eritrean support is almost a must if you are pursuing armed struggle), we should expect Elias to attack the organization, degrade its leaders, call them names, etc…Therefore, we can establish here that he is no genuine supporter of Ginbot 7. He is a supporter of what they can be if they follow his advices, with no room for disagreement, of course. (Never forget the rule: Elias yalew weyim mot!)

Second, he tries to portray himself as someone who wants a viable struggle waged against the status quo in Ethiopia and is accepted by many of his supporters as such. That doesn’t seem to be the case either; at least not to me. Because if it was, this man would keep an open mind like Ginbot 7 does and tolerate and be inclusive of all those who are in the struggle in their different ways as long as they are not harming the cause or our country. Even if there was to be a disagreement, a pro democracy Ethiopian would disagree with the ideas and support those groups he/she agrees with. But we all know that is not what Elias does. What he does is: the minute he has figured that his “armed struggle and Eritrea” policy is not being embraced by a certain organization; he would unleash a barrage of personal attacks on its leaders and start a campaign to destroy the organization in question. His behavior, let alone being of a democracy promoter, is an epitome of the very thing that has been destroying our countless organizations, associations, parties, etc…As such, by all measuring standards, it is very hard to say this man’s goal among other goals, let alone the only goal, is democracy in Ethiopia.

Therefore, what we infer from the two points raised above is that Elias Kifle is a supporter of armed struggle and cooperation with Eritrea above anything else. But to what end? We do not know and that is something only he can answer, but we have established that it sure doesn’t seem like it is for democracy. And this leaves the option of a hidden motive wide open.

If that is not the case and the man genuinely wants democracy for Ethiopia, then the only other possible reason left for his actions is sheer political ignorance and lack of strategic thinking among other things.

First of all, his attempt to portray Ginbot 7 and the UDJ as organizations that are opposites, as opposed to ones that can compliment each other, is lack of understanding of the very philosophy on which the former is formed. Ginbot 7 has made it clear that its goal is to bring together all democracy loving Ethiopian parties, movements, civic organizations, etc…for the purpose of joining efforts in the struggle against the dictatorship and shorten its time in power. They did not say they want to destroy any body. Even more importantly, the last thing the leaders of Ginbot 7 would like to see happen is their former Kinijit colleagues - whom they know to have integrity and dedication - denigrated, disrespected, and called names. I am sure that Elias’ former enemy but new found hero, Dr. Berhanu Nega himself, strongly disapproves the former’s attacks on UDJ’s leaders. As such, Elias is not only distorting or misinterpreting the stated goals of Ginbot 7, but also stepping all over the personal values of its leaders and portraying them in a bad light.

Secondly, he makes an attempt to portray leaders of the UDJ as complacent with the sufferings that are happening in Ethiopia at the moment, as fearful of prison, as people who want full time jobs with travel options, and as fake opposition who are only there to give the government legitimacy. He gives no substantive evidence to prove his points, and past and current records of the individuals point to the opposite. The only thing left for me to say is that he completely misses the point of why the UDJ exists under the current circumstances in Ethiopia. Before I go on to explain this, let’s quickly go over each accusation. 1. The leaders do criticize the government on various issues although it may not be to the satisfaction of Mr. Elias and his likes. All one needs to do is read the various interviews they have been giving. 2. They obviously are not fearful of prison because, if they were, they would have remained in the U.S. or Europe or simply stayed out of politics. 3. Most of these people are well educated individuals with better than average jobs or personal businesses before joining politics and they still have those options open. Or as I have said before, they could have decided to seek asylum elsewhere, create a web site, unleash all sorts of angry rants, score high ratings and live off ads. So, obviously, they are not in need of jobs. (Isn’t he mocking his readers when he suggests that people like Dr. Yaeqob Hailemariam are in need of full time jobs that let them travel around the world?) 4. Lastly, their past and present records of integrity and continued willingness to put their lives at risk to carry out the promises they have made to stand for democracy proves beyond doubt that they are not a fake party created to give the ruling party legitimacy.

So, what exactly is Elias missing? Many important points. First, if Ginbot 7 ever succeeds in pressuring this government to dialogue or even remove it, we need a viable party that will sit at the other end of the table or be ready to compete for power. Ginbot 7 is not a political party; it is a movement. Its stated goal of bringing other parties and groups together, and the way it is structured at the moment prevent it from quickly transforming itself into a political party and joining the competition in case this government is removed or pressured to open the political space. Therefore, for that day, we need a political party that was established and maintained openly and democratically, not clandestinely like Ginbot 7. We need a party that has gone to every end of the country to organize members, promote democratic ideals, and amass members and their support. Furthermore, the culture of peaceful struggle is badly needed in our country and people deserve a chance to experience it, practice it, live it and see its result at the end. They deserve a chance to establish from scratch a democratic party that does business in a transparent way, carry it to victory and call themselves the primary stake holders. UDJ is our best shot to achieve these purposes.

Secondly, in order to achieve the above stated goals of establishing a party based on grassroots support, UDJ leaders must do all it takes – including walking on tip-toes around those criminals occupying our palaces – without going against the democratic stances of the party. They must do all their best to escape prison for one more day, and save their party from being denied existence for as long as possible. The more days they could spend outside prison, the more chance they have to take the party to all corners of the country and sew the seeds of democracy. Establishing the party and strengthening its roots is more important for the long term benefit of our cause than going to war over the denial of their meeting rights. It is more important than issuing daily statements criticizing the government over its non-endless flaws, mistakes and blunders. First, who can keep up with these things? Second, there is no point to them banging their heads on a wall over issues the entire world already knows. The question is what to do about it! Elias screams his lungs out at the government every day; what has happened? Under normal circumstances, if there was freedom, opposing political parties would criticize the incumbent party over all sorts of things to make clear to the public where they stand. In our case, it could take them to prison any day. I am not saying anything will save them from prison, but the longer they stay outside, the better it is for our cause in the long run. UDJ is saying we must refuse to quit in the face of injustice. That we must not allow these criminals to run us out of our country! We must refuse to admit that we are not smart enough to defeat them even with their guns held against our heads! And by God, we have got to be the luckiest people in the world that we have people like Bertukan Mideksa, Yaekob Hailemariam, Gizachew Shiferaw, Hailu Araya, etc…who are more than willing to put themselves at the fore front in this dangerous ride!

All those who want democracy, are objective, open minded and understand the complexity of politics cannot look at the issue of the two organizations as one or the other. I understand if people who are adamant about supporting the peaceful and peaceful alone path the UDJ follows disagree with Ginbot 7. However, those who support the latter cannot argue, based on any stated stance of the organization, that they disagree with or denounce the UDJ. In fact, their cause is best served by supporting it in all that is possible. If not for the methods they have chosen, the leaders of UDJ need to be supported and blessed for their personal commitment to the cause of democracy and their willingness to be on the ground serving it.

Elias has a lot of explaining to do as to the real motives of his actions. I think we have the right to know who is behind these endless attacks against people and organizations many Ethiopians hold so dear and find them to be important to the future of our nation. I personally am sick and tired of the Eliases, the Hailus, and the Tayes of the world working day and night to steal from my future and the future of my children, as if the evil doings of , the Meleses, the Berekets, and the Sebhats of the world isn’t enough! It is time that supporters of democracy stand up to these people, and stand up strong as much as they do against the latter! In fact, it is well over due!

As for the ease with which Elias disrespects, bad mouths and attacks the characters of people he has once praised or professed to respect, my mother would have called such a person “sid adeg, balege!” Wouldn’t yours?

How OLF could be winning in Oromia

I was and still am one of the proponents of the right for the different ethnicities in Ethiopia to study and work in the languages of their choice, while still acknowledging the importance of one unifying language, and to develop their respective cultures. I feel that that is the only way to make the millions of Ethiopians feel at home in their own country, not to mention respecting their basic rights. There of course are many more reasons that can be cited in support of this. (Note: I am not claiming most Ethiopians study in the language of their choice at the moment. In many cases, it is simply imposed by the politicians.) However, never did I think the use of a unifying language would be eroded like it is at the moment.

When non-Amharic speaking regions started using their respective languages in the early years of the EPRDF, they still kept Amharic at least as one course, because it is the national working language. I was confident that that will be good enough to teach the children the language they need to compete on the national level, so were the many people around me. We thought the balance will always be maintained. But we were wrong. To begin with, for example, in Oromia, Amharic is thought in schools starting at 5th grade for one period only. By 5th grade, most kids are 10 years old; in Ethiopia, the majority are older than that. Secondly, as almost every other subject in schools with poor infrastructure (as almost all public schools in Ethiopia understandably are), the lessons are given carelessly. In fact, the Amharic lessons might be given even more carelessly as part of a greater purpose, so I learn. So, Amharic is learned too late and too little in that part of our country. (I assume it is the same in the other non-Amharic speaking regions. But I will just speak about Oromia since my information is from there.)

Today, the children don’t speak Amharic and even those who do don’t know how to read or write it. I thought that was natural and they will learn as they grow. I am wrong again. Stories of recent high school graduates having to beg older people (graduates of Amharigna days) to fill out job application forms in Amharic for them, of recent university graduates unable to properly fill out Amharic forms by the Statistical Agency during the census, etc…are just too numerous to ignore.

These stories raised my concern and started to make me think about the different implications of what is happening. Why are children being raised to be marginalized? How is a child from Oromia going to compete on the national level when he grows up? How could he get a job in Gonder, Hawassa or even Addis Ababa? If he wants to go into politics, how is he going to be able to communicate with people of other regions to create a winning coalition? And where does this leave Ethiopia? How could a country exist when her citizens of different regions don’t even speak the same language and don’t understand each other?

It appears that people of the ruling party, specifically in the OPDO, know precisely what is happening and want it to happen. A friend’s friend recently had a conversation with a ranking OPDO official on the same topic. She suggested to the official about the need for a common national language and how teaching the children more Amharic won’t be harmful. Apparently, the response was, and I paraphrase, “what makes you think we want a common language let alone teach it? And what Ethiopia are you talking about? The one Minilik cooked? Yes, we want some who are fluent in Amharic, English and other languages for diplomatic purposes, but we don’t want all our children to be fluent Amharic speakers.”

When some people suggest that the EPRDF intends to take apart Ethiopia, it is usually a subject of ridicule for some who insist that the EPRDF is only interested in power and its just that they would do anything to hold onto it. And when some call the EPRDF “anti-Ethiopia”, they are accused of being devoid of reason and labeled as people who just love to call everyone that doesn’t agree with their politics anti-Ethiopian. I am not going to say this or that one is right, but have realized that I must consider those claims. On the issue at hand, it appears the policy of the ruling party is that ‘states teach their children whatever they want, and if that means avoiding a common language, so be it. And if that results in the disintegration of the country in the long run, so what? Even the constitution provides for the right to self-determination until secession, right?’ This is clearly dangerous from my point of view (being someone who wants to see Ethiopia continue to survive as a united country).

So, how did OLF become part of my topic for this post? Well, some people confidently say that the OLF is a useless organization who is doomed to get old and die in exile/jungle. They say considering the number of the Oromo people in Ethiopia, it should have been able to garner enough support to have won its war by now. But in a country where a party supported by less than 10% of the population controls the national government, OLF, claiming to represent 45% of the population, is out there in the jungle accomplishing little to nothing.

If you ask me: one of the accomplishments of the OLF when it came into Ethiopia with the TPLF was to help in the implementation of the current language situation in Oromia. If the current situation in Oromia continues and the future generation speaks and understands nothing other than Afan Oromo, it is parties like OLF that are going to benefit. In the meantime, the OPDO continues to harass and imprison Oromos on suspicions of being OLF members and sympathizers and advertises for OLF even in areas it was not popular. What happens when you, your family member or your neighbor gets attacked for something they are not? You start identifying with it! Call it the preparation for the victorious entry of the OLF, if you will. Sooner or later, that is where things are going.

For those of us who love the country called Ethiopia, we can do a lot in trying to fill the gap left by lack of a common language. I recently heard a child in Oromia uses the words terrorist and Kinijit interchangeably. There is no wonder in that as the government holds the monopoly over most of the media available to people outside the capital. But we must ask ourselves, what are opposition parties like Kinijit doing to challenge that monopoly and feel the gap? I understand that regional party representatives are expected to take care of publicizing the party and its stands in their respective languages. But in resource deprived countries like Ethiopia, specially at a time when opposition party officials are not even allowed to do their jobs, the leadership should not have such expectations. Instead, they should give out interviews on VOA Afan Oromo, VOA Tigrigna, etc…Other radios that broadcast to Ethiopia must consider diversifying their programs to include at least the major languages. The leaderships of such parties must make available their press releases and announcements in all the major languages. Print media should diversify and break the monopoly the EPRDF holds in the different regions.

In general, parties like Kinijit must invest in reaching out to the different regions in their respective languages if they intend on winning their hearts. This has become a matter of practicality. If you don’t speak their language, you simply do not reach them. Kinijit should not take the support it received in 2005 for granted and continue in the same path. It must go more distances in fighting not to concede an inch to the EPRDF and parties like the OLF.

Why Siye's reflection on the days of TPLF before power matters

There is an interesting article on ethiomedia by former TPLF members Kahsay Berhe and Tesfay Atsbeha.

As I was reading the article, I was thinking of Siye Abraha and the excitement surrounding his decision to join the struggle for democracy in Ethiopia. I respect him and, considering his background and experience, think that he would make a great addition to the cause.

I read that he was confronted with questions of whether he is going to apologize for his days in the TPLF and his disagreement with such suggestions. I understand why he may not want to apologize for simply having been in the TPLF, because the Dergue was a brutal regime and armed struggle seemed to be the only way to get rid of it, and the TPLF at the moment may have appeared the most viable option of doing so for young Tigrayans like Siye. I don't think he should be pressed to apologize for simply having been part of the TPLF. We should, as some suggested, focus on what he says he believes in today and what he does to support that claim, and look to the future.

However, although it may not be fair to demand an apology from Siye for having been part of the TPLF, it is very important to press him on his opinions of what the TPLF did. With all due respect to him, if he is the kind of democracy soldier that he says he has become today and is to be accepted as such, it is very important that he reflects on his years in the TPLF and take a stand. Because the things that happened then as described by the two former members, if they did happen, are quite relevant today! A person's opinion of those acts is a reflection of where one stands today vis a vis democracy. It is a test, a result of which can show whether a person has democracy as a principle or just as a convenient means to get back in the game. As a former ranking official of a group accused of having committed such crimes (when he was part of the group) and as someone who has decided to stand for democracy today, Siye needs to come clean about these accusations against TPLF. He needs to either corroborate or dismiss these charges. If they had actually happened, we need to know his stand. And frankly, if they did happen, I think he should be grateful that apology is all that is demanded from him.

The Infamous Questions: “Are Ethiopians ready for democracy?” or “Can Democracy be Ethiopian?”

These are questions that frequently come up in different shapes and forms when discussing Ethiopian politics.

1. Some people do not genuinely think our society has the tools necessary to harness democracy at this point; and others argue democracy is a western value that just doesn’t suit our way of life.

2. Government apologists often use that and other similar arguments as an excuse to slow down steps towards democratization. One of their infamous phrases is “democracy takes time”.


Books and many articles have been written on this issue, specifically concerning Ethiopia. Readers are encouraged to do research on the topic. If you are a person that stands or claims to stand up for democracy in Ethiopia, it is better to know all the arguments that are raised against your stand. That way, you will be able to strengthen your own argument and present it boldly. Many poor Ethiopians, inside and outside Ethiopia, have fallen for these arguments and are in a confused state. So, those of us with resources need to educate ourselves, take a firm stand that’s based on substance and share it with as many people as we can.

Here’s what I have to say about it. Most Ethiopians may not understand democracy the way intellectuals do, or they may not even know the word itself or its meaning. But here is what they know:

• When an Ethiopian farmer says he is sick and tired of the government using land and fertilizers as leverages to get his vote and whatever else the government wants from him, he means that he wants justice.
• When an Ethiopian mother says she doesn’t want a Kebele official to use his position to pressure her on how to vote, she means she wants freedom.
• When Ethiopian government employees say they don’t like being pressured to become members of the ruling party, they mean they want freedom.
• When students say they don’t like the way their imaginations and creativity are being suppressed by the fear of government spies that infest the college and university campuses, they mean they want freedom.
• When jobless young people show their frustration at favoritism towards party members while applying for government jobs, they mean they want fairness and impartiality.
• When business owners express frustration and helplessness over favoritism towards party cronies when applying for government contracts or even licenses, they mean they want justice and fairness.
• When Ethiopians of all ages and gender and ethnic group say they are sick and tired of being imprisoned, beaten, tortured, displaced and their loved ones killed for how they voted, they mean they want freedom!
• When Ethiopian intellectuals say they are burdened and sickened by the atmosphere of fear that is perpetrated on college campuses, they mean they want freedom.
• When Ethiopian opposition Parliamentarians say they are tired of being threatened and their supporters and people around them persecuted, they mean they want freedom.
• When many Ethiopians say they are just sick and tired of living in fear, they mean they want freedom.
• When many Ethiopians say they want to see people they support and helped win elections work freely in parliament and hold government posts, they mean they want their votes to count.
• When Ethiopians say they are tired of public media being used to transmit single sided propaganda only and want to affect how it is used, they mean they want to be part of the decision making.
• When many Ethiopian say they are tired of looking at their police force and military as some strange forces that are there to attack them and not protect them, they mean they want them to be independent.

I can go on listing.

If these aren’t values of democracy they are seeking, I don’t know what is. However, whatever you call the hunger for freedom of thought and freedom of expression, freedom to tend to one’s farm peacefully, freedom to seek happiness and prosperity, right to live, justice, independent judiciary and other government institutions, etc….whatever you call those, Ethiopians want it! In fact, they have been longing for it for long; it is just that nobody listens.

As for those who are concerned that our society may not have all the tools that are necessary to harness democracy: the cure for that problem is NOT avoiding democracy. If, in fact, our society has all those problems, the only way we can address it is by opening up and allowing a free space for differing views so that we can educate each other. When we make openings, it is not only the ills that will be coming forth but the good ideas that will counter them. So, whether in delivering justice to the citizenry or allowing us to educate each other, we can benefit a great deal from democracy. It is a matter of fact that democratization is the most important step we can take towards fighting the ills of our society.

As for government apologists, the only thing the statement “democracy takes time” tells us is that all of us, primarily the government, should be turning over backwards to do all that is necessary to get to it fast. We should be using all the opportunities that continue to present themselves and taking all the steps towards democratization. What it does NOT mean is to sit down and do nothing about it, and it sure does not mean be an obstruction to it or take us backwards, which is what the EPRDF has been doing!

Introduction

My name is Tesfaye. This is my personal blog, 'ye tesfa chilanchil' (glamour of hope (?), in Amharic). It is solely meant to be a space for the expression of my personal views. I will mostly be expressing my views in regards to Ethiopian politics, and whatever else falls in between.

Blogs, among many other mediums of self expression, are some of the things we take for granted in the west. Many in our country can only dream of such an unlimited opportunity to express themselves. In their respect, I will do my best to be as responsible as possible.

Regarding feedback, although I do not believe in censorship, I am not fond of most internet commentators who take shield in their anonymity to fill the space with negativity either. In most cases, those comments, most of which probably come from few individuals, end up overshadowing the important message. So, I have weighed the pros and cons and decided to disable the comment section. However, if people are interested in giving feedback, they can e-mail me at tesfamaru@gmail.com. Once a week or so, I will post few messages that I believe are representative of all the feedback. That way, a reasonable space will be given to all.

Thank you for visiting my blog.