In a memorandum sent to Deutsche Welle’s (DW) [Germany's international broadcaster] “correspondents outside Ethiopia” in late 2010,  Ludger Schadomsky, editor-in-chief of DW’s Amharic program, blasted “ethiomedia and similar sites by extension” as a “disgrace” to press freedom.  “The amount of hatred splashed across [ethiomedia] is a disgrace to any politically sober mind,” declared Shadomsky self-righteously.  To [...]

The pursuit of justice and political pluralism in Ethiopia has been severely compromised deliberately and systematically by the architects of an ethnic polity that is doing irreparable damages to all Ethiopians. Some see merit in the current system and suggest that ‘oppressed nationalities’ are better off today than they were under previous regimes.  Let us [...]

Prime Minster Meles Zenawi said on Wednesday Ethiopia could pardon politicians and journalists arrested under a 2009 anti-terrorism law.’ That news was reported widely including inside Ethiopia. Normally what we hear outside and what the people are told is two different things. This time the message was meant for the Ethiopian people. It reinforces the [...]

 
From the Art of Building Trust and Peace in Ethiopia
By Geletaw Zeleke
For multi-ethnic Ethiopia horizontal trust is one of the most important elements which will activate us to be a whole healthy country. Horizontal trust means trust between and amongst ethnic groups and their members. Further, trust between groups starts with a trustworthy diverse political [...]

The Chinese Dragon is dancing the Watusi shuffle with African Hyenas. Things could not be better for the Dragon in Africa. In the middle of what once used to be the African Pride Land now stands a brand-spanking new hyenas’ den called the African Union Hall (AU). Every penny of the USD$200 million stately pleasure [...]

“The promises of ethnic-federalism were short-lived, and soon betrayed TPLF/EPRDF’s “divide and rule” strategy aiming at securing Tigreans’ political supremacy resulting notably in a pro-Tigrean public good allocation due to an excessive financial dependence of the federal regions on the central government”.
See, Y. Ghazi. Autonomy and Ethnicity: negotiating competing claims in a multi-ethnic state and [...]

The new African Union (AU) headquarters was inaugurated last week. It was “China’s gift to Africa.” China picked the entire USD$200 million tab for the building, fixtures and furniture.
The China State Construction Engineering Corporation constructed the building using nearly all Chinese workers. Meles Zenawi, the dictator in Ethiopia, waxed poetic as he blessed the new [...]

The writing is mainly in response to Ethiomedia Editor’s question: “Will Eritrea and Ethiopia go back to war over the ‘volcano attack’? If yes, what do we have to do to stop the return to the 1998-2000 carnage?” posted on 26/01/12.
Internecine war of 1998 -2000
The root cause of the ugly internecine war of 1998 [...]

“…the present regime’s ethnic based federal setup, which is designed along a liberal democracy trajectory, appears to be failing to produce the desired result” of “equitable share of power and resources.” In effect, it is a policy of “decentralization on paper and centralization in practice.”
Professor Merera Gudina
“There is increasing recognition that institutional and political economy [...]

በጣም ከሚገርሙኝ እሰጥ ኣገባ ክርክሮች መካከል ኣንዱ ይሄ ኢኮኖሚ መጀመሪያ ከዚያ ዴሞክራሲ ወይም የለም ዴሞክራሲ መጀመሪያ ከዚያ በሁዋላ ልማት የሚባለው ነገር ነው።  ለዚህ ክርክር መድረክ የሚያዘጋጅ ሰው ምሱ መጀመሪያ ነገር መቼ ዴሞክራሲና ልማት ተጣልተው ኣየህ? መቼ እኔ  እቀድም  እኔ  እቀድም በሚል ተጠላልፈው ሲውድቁ ኣየህ? ብሎ ቀንዱን ነበር ።
ዕንደ ዕውነቱ ልማትና ዴሞክራሲ ወዳጆች ናቸው። ደመኞች ኣይደሉም። [...]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is on the chase; and over the past few months, things have taken a slow turn for the worse for African dictators and human rights violators. They are finding out that they can’t run and they can’t hide.
Laurent “Cling-to-power-at-any-cost” Gbagbo of Cote d’Ivoire was snatched from his palatial hiding place [...]

The Ethiopian government has been claiming double digit growth for the past more than half a decade. According to the government, Ethiopia’s economy is growing at a rate of 11% which puts it at the top of rapidly growing countries around the world. By comparison this rate of growth would put Ethiopia along side of [...]

THE HORN TIMES voice of the voiceless.
On Sunday 29 August 2012, the AU will hold its annual session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Most of the continents’ leaders are already there.
Democratically elected once would rub shoulders with dictators of the first water, naked despots and voracious war lords. It is a strange gathering.Suerly,one or two high [...]

That is not the worst that has happened to my beloved cousin but that is good enough point to start this tragic saga. I know you are the perfect people I can share this sad story with. I can picture you my dear Ethiopian cousins, upon reading the headline you will bow your head a [...]

“The Quest for Dignity, Freedom and Unity”
Symposium on Pan Africanism,  Howard University, January 13, 2012
Appreciation:
 I like to thank the organizers of this important conference in general and Dr. Alem Hailu, a friend for many years, and Ato Tamirat, the chair of this session in particular.  Over the past couple of hours, I have learned a [...]

“Rather than fixing African lack of infrastructure, Chinese entrepreneurs and Africa’s governing elites look as if they are conspiring to use the development model as a pretext for plunder.”
The Economist, August 13, 2011
“Ethiopia’s long-awaited democratization has stalled over the last half decade. Today, there are fewer constraints on the EPRDF’s power than at any other time in [...]