Transonic Supports Surgeon’s Dream for Children’s Heart Center and Training Facility

 

 

Dr. Kifle Tondo, a German-trained Ethopian surgeon, hopes to build a pediatric cardiac clinic and training center in Ethiopia. To ensure successful surgical outcomes, Transonic has donated flow measurement equipment to the centers.
Press Release
Transonic Systems (Ithaca, NY) is pleased to be able to help a German-trained Ethiopian surgeon realize his dream. Dr. Kifle Tondo, currently working in Braunschweig, Germany hopes to build a long-term clinic for children with heart disease in Ethiopia. He is also working to establish a training center, Hospital Germano, for cardiac surgery. To ensure quality assurance during cardiac surgical procedures, Transonic has donated equipment including a flowmeter and flowprobes to the center.
“It is wonderful to have the opportunity to assist in such a worthwhile cause”, said Miriam Tenorio, Marketing Manager at Transonic Systems. “It is always heartwarming to hear about people like Dr. Tondo and his team, who go above and beyond the call of duty, and we’re glad to be able to be a small part of such a big endeavor.”
The connection between Braunschweig City Hospital and Ethiopia stems from Dr. Tondo’s longstanding vision to help his countrymen. After receiving his MD and PhD degrees from the University of Cologne and while working in the cardiac surgery intensive care unit in 2001, Dr. Tondo organized the first transport of Ethopian children to Germany for heart valve operations in 2000, in the University Hospital of Goettingen where he served for 8 years.
However, he envisioned more than helping individual children. He also began laying the groundwork for caring for such cases in Ethiopia. Cornelia Schollbach, a Braunschweig cardiac surgery intensive care nurse, was listening. She asked if it was possible to send a complete team of doctors, cardiac perfusionists, and nursing professionals as well as all of the necessary medical equipment to Addis Ababa for short periods of time in order to perform heart valve replacement operations.
Thus, the Heart for Ethiopia Project was born!
At the time, there was not a single hospital in Ethiopia with the capability of performing cardiac surgery. First preparations took place in 2002. The challenges were many. First, a willing partner hospital in Addis Ababa was needed to partner with Dr. Tondo. The Black Lion Hospital, a University Hospital agreed to partner and promote the project. Secondly, a search had to be conducted for medical professionals to provide operative therapy and long-term follow-up care. Then, equipment, supplies and manpower had to be determined. All consumable materials from soap and disinfectants to suction catheters, bandages and dressing materials for the intensive care unit had to be ordered, acquired, packed, and shipped. Last, but not least, donations to fund the undertaking had to be solicited. Fortunately, support came from many organizations, government offices, and companies whose contributions allowed this project to become a reality.
Presently, a surgical team from Braunschweig City Hospital travels routinely to Addis Ababa to perform open-heart surgery on children and young adults. During the first 2-week visit to Ethiopia in 2004, 19 cardiac operations were performed, including valve replacements, a reduction plasty of the left atrium, a pacemaker implantation and a left ventricular myomectomy. The team met regularly after Project 2004 to discuss future plans. In 2007, the team returned to Ethiopia and performed valve replacement or reconstructive operations on 19 patients. The third project, hosted by the Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa in 2009 saw successful valve replacement surgery performed on another 18 patients. The most recent project in 2011 was equally successful.
For more information or to find out how you can help, please visit:
http://www.heart-for-ethiopia.org/en/index.html
http://germano-hospital.com/?page_id=8
http://www.enat-afer.org
Proudly supported by Transonic: http://www.transonic.com

Tags: Addis Ababa, Black Lion Hospital, Braunschweig City Hospital, Dr. Kifle Tondo, Ethiopia, Heart for Ethiopia Project, Hospital Germano, Pediatric Cardiac Clinic, Transonic Systems, University Hospital of Goettingen, University of Cologne

Keep your eyes on the prize

 

by Yilma Bekele
We are witnessing a flurry of news from the TPLF party that calls itself the Ethiopian government. Why is the Woyane party so busy and why is the party pushing its cadres to be super active is a good question. That is what piqued my interest and I was forced to look around to figure out what exactly is happening both in Ethiopia and the Diaspora community to make the illegal regime work overtime.
I did not have to look far to see why the government is acting very nervous. It looks like for a change the progressive forces are on the attack and the reactionary regime is on the defense. Believe me this is a rare occurrence and shows the realignment of forces in our country. I will try to explain why later on but let us look at what is causing this shift. A few weeks back the regime carried out its ‘ethnic cleansing’ activity in the Beneshangul Gumuz Kilil. It was not the first time the TPLF led regime has done this criminal act but what was different this time around was our collective indignation. We were able to carry out a sustained and well organized push back from around the world. The opposition in Ethiopia cooperated by boldly demanding action and tried to collect evidence from the affected areas.
First the hapless regime paraded its toy PM and made him give some half ass explanation and dumped the crimes on their Kilil dog. The fact that the previous ‘ethnic cleansing’ activity was carried out in the South Kilil where the PM originated from was not lost on us. This rehearsed mea culpa did not impress anyone. It was back to the drawing board for the regime. Next In the clueless regime tried to divert our attention by planting rumors about the death of that other tyrant in Zimbabwe. We did not bite. After the failure of that story they again tried to engage us by removing the monument dedicated to our Holy Father Abune Petros. Again we showed our unhappiness but did not take our eyes of the ‘ethnic cleansing’ crime. We were focused and relentless. We were just simply not crying but talking about taking the matter to the International Court of Justice and the UN.
After lots and lots of postponements and dragging the regime brought our political prisoners and decided to hand down their useless justice. We were supposed to drop all other activity and concentrate on Eskinder Nega and Andulalem’s miscarriage of justice. Something odd happened here. We did not follow the script. For the first time we were able to connect the dots and see the whole picture. The progressive forces decided to link ethnic cleansing, Abune Petros and our Political prisoners’ situation as one.
I was waiting for the next drama with heightened anticipation. What would they try now was a common question asked by students of Woyane theatre. Invading Somalia was out of the question since they have already learned their lesson. The demonization of Eritrea was becoming stale. Playing the ethnic card is what brought about the problem in the first place so that was a no go zone. What would the ‘great visionary’ leader do under the circumstances was in the mind of all TPLF cadres in leadership position. They dug deep, traveled back in their criminally ladened history and came up with ‘cannibalism’ as the way out.
So with great fanfare they went about arresting anything anybody they could find. The injustice Minister was hauled away. The guy with dark glasses that sat behind the tyrant in Parliament was arrested. The Revenue and Customs guys were escorted to their won prison with a few selected business people to add flavor to the drama.
I guess all this activity is supposed to impress us. A criminal arresting another criminal is meant to fill our soul with hope for the future. They are so clueless they don’t even know that the news is taken with such amusement that a soccer game between Buna and Giorgis garners more anticipation than their cheap drama. Why would anyone think that Melaku Fenta that spineless individual sitting under Gebrewhaid Giorgis is capable of making any decision let alone steal big? Like most sycophants that are serving as the face of their departments Melaku was just another mannequin for show while the TPLF boss under him runs the outfit. That game is played all over Ethiopia and in the Embassy’s outside. I bet you cannot find any worthwhile governmental body without a TPLF deputy in charge.
This new drama is meant to keep us guessing what in the world is going on inside the TPLF party. We are supposed to guess which faction is up and who is down. The disinformation campaign by Debretsion keeps manufacturing different versions of their supposedly internal turmoil and some of us love nothing more than being instant experts in the inner workings of the mafia group. To hear some of our people go on the minute details of the party is mind boggling and a testimonial to the hopelessness of a few of our family and friends. They might have their own differences but do you really think that will stop them from their common goal of staying in power no matter what? Do you for second think they will not close ranks when threatened? Then why in the world are you wasting time and energy whether Azeb is fighting with Berket and if Sebhat is is not in good terms with Seyoum? Now if they really want our attention the best way to do it will be arrest Azeb or Abay Woldu not Sebhat or Seyoum since they already are near death.
The biggest joke of all is the claim that Hailemariam Desalgne was cleaning house. Let us see the PM that was handpicked by the dead tyrant and schooled in the art of servitude to TPLF, the PM that does not have a power base, the same PM that cannot even pick the guards outside his office is exercising authority on TPLF officials? Who would swallow such Mamo Kilo bed time story is a good question. Yes there are a few especially here in the Diaspora that are trying to put some lipstick on this pig of a story.
Some opined ‘EPDRF supporters speaking out’ while others declared ‘EPDRF undergoing profound changes.’ Well, well let see us what is giving these Woyane coddlers new life? What is different today that was not there yesterday is a good question. I read their writings very closely and tried to see what they were basing their new found euphoria on. I wanted to know what arguments they were bringing to the table to see if there was any validity to their conclusions. I couldn’t find any. It is all wishful thinking, self fulfilling prophesy and confused theories that is trying hard to fit a square peg in a round hole. The ones that are trying to see light at the end of the tunnel are the same people that advised wait and see attitude when Woyane conquered our capital and were willing and ready to serve the criminal organization. Their last miscalculation caused twenty years of misery to our people and country and here they are again advising us the presence of a non entity called EPDRF that is supposed to usher a new era of peace and prosperity. Give it a rest gentlemen and do not waste our time with your unfounded optimism. Why peddle a worn out theory this late in the game?
I am emboldened by three factors that have been added to the equation of fighting injustice in our dear country. The first and very significant addition to our arsenal of fighting for freedom and democracy is no other than our beloved ESAT. It has given voice to the voice less and opened our eyes to the reality that is what is ailing us. ESAT is the main reason Woyane misinformation campaign is falling on deaf ears. ESAT is the main reason the cry of our people in Ethiopia is getting a hearing. No matter what no sane Ethiopian can ignore the voice of our people coming thru the airwaves loud and clear. The tenacity and diligent reporting by ESAT that refused to fall for Woyane diversion kept the ‘ethnic cleansing’ criminal act in focus and thwarted their attempt to derail us.
The second factor is the gallantry of our Moslem citizens that have against all odds persevered for over a year their quest for freedom and independence. The many attempts to divide and splinter them by the illegal Woyane regime has been repulsed and the Moslem community is still standing together with one voice and one aim of protecting their right to run their religion free of government interference. It is a lesson to the rest of us to keep our eyes on the prize and not to let our organizations be the play ground of Woyane operatives.
The third factor that is emerging from Ethiopia is the beautiful new voice of Semayawi Party that is clear, clean and void of any clutter of the past that has been hindering our forward movement. From what I can observe from afar Semayawi is not encumbered by our past failures, weighed down by unnecessary dogma and geared to act and try newer stuff. That is what the doctor ordered. Why use beige and gray to paint when you can use bright blue and bring warmth to the canvas. The call by Semayawi Party to dress in black and show the discontent of our people during African Unions 50^th anniversary is a bold and timely call. That is all peaceful resistance is about. It is our duty to follow the advice of the Party and tell our family and friends to cooperate in showing their grief by dressing in black. Those of us that believe in peaceful resistance this is our chance to practice what we preach.
As times go by it is becoming clear that the regime is feeling the loss of the evil person in charge. For over thirty years the prince of darkness Meles Ashebari Zenawi has been the brain and body of the mafia outfit that has been masquerading as a political party. I am willing to give him the credit as the personification of Satan on earth. He has earned the title. His death has left the TPLF party void of someone to fill his shoes no matter how small it is. It is not the absence of idiots or sycophants that is lacking in their midst but they just seem to suffer from the mistrust the evil one has left them with. That deficiency coupled with the emergence of new and daring Ethiopians schooled in the art of confronting the regime head on is what is causing headaches to the downgraded TPLF.
Life is beautiful. Our new found unity and purposeful march to the future is a hard won victory. The fact that it is Woyane in disarray and we are becoming hip to their many attempts to distract us is testimonial to our ability to learn and apply the lesson. There are still many voices that are constantly trying to derail our movement but the fact that we have matured and are able to separate the chaff from the wheat is our new found strength. We are not there yet but with all those strong and tested groups and individuals joining our movement there is no reason to doubt we are bringing the dark days to an end and new bright sun will rise up over our mountains and valleys. A luta continua-the struggle continues.

OCCUPY WASHINGTON DC!

 

Click here for PDF flyer (English)

Click here for PDF flyer (Amharic)

RALLY TO SUPPORT US’s STANCE ON LACK OF JUSTICE IN ETHIOPIA AND DEMAND THE US GOVERNMENT TO TAKE PRACTICAL ACTIONS BEYOND PRESS RELEASES

Stop Ethnic Cleansing!!!

Free All Journalists, Muslim Religious Leaders, and Prisoners of Conscience!!!

Join us in a March for Justice and Human Rights in Ethiopia

WHERE: Department of State
2201 C St NW, Washington, DC. 20037

WHEN: Monday May 20, 2013

TIME: 9.00 AM –1.00 PM

RALLY: From Department of state to White House

For more information Email: dcjointtaskforce@gmail.com or call (202) 556-3078

Marching demonstration from State Department to the White House – Monday May 20th 9AM – Ahead of Sec. Kerry’s planned visit to Ethiopia for 50th celebration of AU

አሸባሪው ማን ነው?

 

ከተስፋዬ ዘነበ (ኖርዌይ በርገን)

ከሳምንታት በፊት በልእለሀያሏ አሜሪካ በቦስተን ከተማ የደረሰውን በአሸባሪዎች ጥቃት ህይወታቸውን ላጡና ከባድና ቀላል የአካል ጉዳት ለደረሰባቸው የሃገሪቱ ዜጎች በህዝብ ይሁንታ ስልጣን ላይ ያሉት ፕሬዘዳንት ባራክ ኦባማ በሰላማዊ ህዝብ ላይ ለደረሰው አደጋ ሀዘናቸውን ለመግለፅና የወንጀሉን ፈፃሚዎች በቁጥጥር ስር ለማዋል መመሪያ ሲሰጡ ሰዓታት እንዳልወሰደባቸው ስንመለከት ወራት አልተቆጠረም፡፡በመሰረቱ ይህንን ዘግናኝ ጥቃት የፈፀሙት ፅንፈኛ አክራሪዎች ብዙም ሳይቆዩ በሃገሪቱ የፀጥታ ሃይሎች ታድነው በአጭር ጊዜ ውስጥ መያዛቸው ለሕዝቡ ታማኝ የሆነ መንግስት ዜጎቹን ከጥቃት ለመታደግ ምን ያህል እረፍት እንደሌለው የሚያመላክት ነው፡፡
ከላይ እንደመነሻ ያነሳሁት ሃሳብ ለዛሬው ፅሁፌ እንደ መንደርደሪያ እንዲረዳኝ እንጂ እውነተኛው የዲሞክራሲያዊ ስርዓት አራማጆች ለዜጎቻችቸው የሚሰጡት ክብር የሚሳት ሆኖ አይደለው፡፡
ዲሞክራሲያዊ ስርዓትን ከቃል በዘለለ በተግባር የማያውቁት የወያኔ ቡድን፣ ፍትህና እርህትህ፣ ነፃነት ላጣው ሕዝብ ለውጥ ለማምጣት አጥንታችንን ከሰከስን ደማችንን አፈሰስን የሚሉት የዛሬዎቹ አምባገነን መሪዎች፣ የብሄር ብሄረሰቦችን መብት በኢትዮጲያ፣ ለማስፈን ደከመን ሰለቸን ሳንል ታተርን የሚሉን ጥቂት ዘረኛ ቡድኖች፣ ሃገሪቷንም ሕዝቧንም በሁለት አሃዝ በልማት አሳደግን ብለው ቀን ከሌት የሚደሰኩሩልን ጥቂት የዘረኛ ቡድን ሞኖፖሊስቶች፣ ከወረቀት ያልዘለለ የመናገርና አሳብን በነፃነት የመግለፅ መብት አጎናፀፍን የሚሉን የዛሬዎቹ ተሸባሪ ሽብርተኞች በጀሌዎቻቸው የንፁሃን ደም ማስፈሰስ የሰነበቱበት የሃያ ሁለት አመት ተግባራቸው ቢሆንም በዚህ ሰሞን በባህር ዳር የተፈጸመውን ጅምላ ፍጅት በሙት መንፈስ አራማጁ በአቶ ሃይለማርያም ደሳለኝም ሆነ እሱን በሚመሩት የህውሃት ቡድኖች ምንም አለመባሉ ይህ እኩይ ሰርዓት ምን ያህል የሕዝብ ንቀት እንዳለበት ፍንትው አድርጎ የሚያሳይ እውነት ነው፡፡
ስለዚህ ዘረኛ ስርዓት ብዙ ቢባልም በየጊዜው በህዝብ ላይ በሚያደርሳቸው ግድያዎችና የሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰቶች እንዲሁም በሃገር ላይ የሚያደርሳቸውን መጠነ ሰፊ ችግሮች በተመለከተ ከሃገርና ከሕዝብ ወገኖች ተቃውሞ ሲደርስበት ወይንም ሰራሗቸው እያለ ከሚመፃደቅባቸው ልማት ተብዬዎችን አስመልክቶ ከሚሰግድላቸው ምህራባዊያን ሃገሮችም ሆነ ከአበዳሪ አለም አቀፍ ተቋማት ጋር የሚወዛገበው በቁጥር ጨዋታ መሆኑ ስርዓቱ ምን ያህል ግትርና ሞራለ ቢስ መሆኑን አመላካች ነው፡፡
የወያኔ ዘረኛ ቡድን ከእድሜው መጀመሪያ ጀምሮ በዚች ሃገር ንፁሃን ዜጎች ላይ ለፈፀመው ፍጅት (ግድያዎች) አንድም ጊዜ በህግ የተጠየቀ አካል ካለመኖሩም ባሻገር የሟቾቹን ቁጥር በማሳነስ በዚህ አሸባሪ ስርዓት የተሰዉ ሰማህታት ቤተሰቦችንና ሕዝብን በመናቅ ሲሳለቁ መመልከት አዲስ ክስተት አይደለም፡፡ ሰሞኑን በባህር ዳር ከተማ የሆነውም ካለፈው ያልተማረው የወያኔ አምባገነን ቡድን የሆደበት የማደናገሪያ ተልካሻ ስልት መሆኑ ይህ ስርዓት በማን አለብኝነት የንፁሃንን ደም መጠጣቱ እንደቀጠለበት የሚያሳይ እውነት ነው፡፡
የጠለቀ ጥላቻ በዚች ታላቅ ሃገር ላይ ያለው ዘረኛው የህውሃት ቡድን ኢትዮጲያዊ መንፈስን ከሕዝብ ለመንጠቅ አንዱን ከአንዱ ለመለየት፣ በጎጥና በዘር እንዲሁም በእምነት ለመከፋፈል ሌት ከቀን ዘመኑን ሙሉ ለፍቷል፡፡ ሕዝብ አንድነትና ሕብረት እንዳይኖረው ውስጥ ውስጡን ሲያበጣብጥ፣ በዘር በተለከፉ ጀሌዎቹ አንዱን በአንዱ ላይ ለማስነሳት የሽብር ተግባር ሲከውኑ፣ በሌላ በኩል ደግሞ መጠሪያው የኢትዮጲያ ሕዝብ የሆነ ግን ደግሞ በሆድ አደር ካድሬዎች በሚመራው የሕዝብ ሃብት በሆነው ቴሌቪዥንና ሬድዮ ድርጅት በኩል የፈጠራ ፕሮፓጋንዳ በመፈብረክ የብሄር ብሄረሰቦች መብት መከበሩን ለማሳየት የሀሰት አታሞ ሲደልቅ ይታያል፡፡
በመሰረተ ሃሳብ ደረጃ ሸብር ማለት በማንም ይፈፀም በማን ሰላማዊውን ሕዝብ የሚያውክ፣ የተረጋጋ ህይወትን የሚረብሽ፣ የንፁሃንን ህይወት የሚቀጥፍ፣ ሕዝብን ያለፈቃዱ ከቀዬውና ከመንደሩ የሚያፈናቅል፣ የሰው ልጅ በተፈጥሮ የተቸረውን ነፃነት የሚቀማ፣ በሕዝብና በሃገር ላይ ጥፋትና ውድመትን የሚያስከትል . . . . .ወዘተ ከላይ በመጠኑ የተዘረዝሩት ሁሉ የዚህ ዘረኛ ቡድን መገለጫዎች መሆናቸው እንኳን ከሕዝብ ወገን ለተሰለፉ ነፃነት ናፋቂዎች ቀረቶ ስብእናቸውን ሸጠው ለሆዳቸው ላደሩት ለስርዓቱ ጀሌዎችም ቢሆን የሚጠፋቸው አይደለም፡፡ የሚገርመው ግን ይህው እኩይ ስርዓት በሕዝብና በሃገር ላይ የሚፈፅመውን በደልና ግፍ እንዲሁም ዜጎች የሚደርስባቸውን የመልካም አስተዳደር ችግርና የሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰትን በብእራቸው ነቅሰው የሚዘግቡትን ለሞያቸው ስነምግባር እንዲሁም ለሕዝብና ለሃገር ቅድሚያ የሚሰጡትን ጋዜጠኞች፣ በህግ አግባብ የመደራጀት መብታቸውን ተጠቅመው አማራጭ አሳብ በማስቀመጥ በሰላማዊ መንገድ የታገሉ የህዝብ ልጆችን፣ በተጨማሪም በሃገሪቱ ህገ-መንግስት በተደነገገው መሰረት የእምነት ነፃነታቸውን በዚህ ከፋፋይ ስርዓት ለመነጠቅ ፈቃደኛ ያልሆኑ፣ መብታቸውን ፍፁም ሰላማዊ በሆነ መንገድ እየሞቱና እየተገረፉ ትግላቸውን ከአንድ አመት በላይ ያራመዱ የሙስሊሙ ማህበረሰብ የመፍትሄ አፈላላጊ መሪዎች፣ እነዚህ ከላይ ልዘረዝር የሞከርኳቸው ፍፁም ሰላማዊ የህብረተሰብ ክፍሎች በአሸባሪውና ተሸባሪው ዘረኛ ቡድን በተቆጣጠረው ነፃነት አልባው የፍትህ ስርዓት በአሸባሪነት ተፈርጀው በየማጎሪያው ይገኛሉ፡፡ ነገር ግን በሃገሪቱ የተለያዩ ክልሎች የንፁሃንን ህይወት በጠራራ ፀሃይ የሚነጥቀውና የሕዝብን ሰላማዊ ኑሮ ላለፉት ሃያ ሁለት አመታት የሚያውከው የህውሃት ዘረኛ ብድን በምግባር አሸባሪነቱ ከማንም የተሰወረ አይደለም፡፡
መቼም ህውሃት ውጥረት በነገሰበትና በደል ፅዋው ሞልቶ ተቃውሞ ሲበረታበት የሕዝቡን አመለካከት ለማስቀየር በስልጣን ዘመኑ

CPJ’s Letter to John Kerry

At AU summit, Kerry should speak out for a free press

May 16, 2013
Honorable John Kerry
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Mr. Secretary:
We are writing to bring to your attention the deteriorating state of press freedom in Ethiopia, where you will attend this year’s African Union Summit. A vibrant press and civil society is fundamental to hold governments accountable and to ensure long-term development and stability. As we mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Organization of African Unity, we ask that you include the issue of press freedom in your discussion of the challenges that Africa will face in the next half-century.
Ethiopia, in particular, has been in the spotlight for its crackdown on press freedom in recent years. Your visit to Addis Ababa comes two years after authorities launched a massive crackdown against critics and opponents as popular uprisings spread in North Africa and the Middle East. According to the 2012 U.S. State Department Human Rights Report, “the most significant human rights problems included restrictions on freedom of expression and association through politically motivated trials and convictions of opposition political figures, activists, journalists, and bloggers, as well as increased restrictions on print media.”
Today, with seven journalists behind bars, Ethiopia trails only Eritrea as Africa’s worst jailers of the press. Among the imprisoned journalists are award-winning columnists Eskinder Nega and Reeyot Alemu, both of whom were targeted under the country’s sweeping anti-terrorism law.
Mr. Secretary, in its Africa strategy the Obama administration has noted that the interests of the United States are best served with allies and partners whose stability is based on democratic rule. Your clear voice on these issues would particularly resonate in Ethiopia, where a systematic crackdown on independent journalists, dissidents, human rights groups, and political freedoms has continued unabated.
We urge you to state unambiguously to the Ethiopian government and all other governments gathered under the AU umbrella that a vibrant independent press is a necessary pillar of healthy economies, sustainable development, and long-term stability. We ask that you ensure the issue of press freedom remains in the discussion of Africa’s future so that the independent press in all AU countries are able to work freely and openly without fear of reprisal.
Yours sincerely,
Joel Simon
CPJ Executive Director
Cc List:
Donald Yamamoto, Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of African Affairs
Donald Boothe, U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia

Blue Party of Ethiopia’s Journey to Join the Braves

 

by Tedla Asfaw
The Blue Party of Ethiopia also known as “Semaiawi Party” has called for a public protest rally next week on May 25 in front of African Union in Addis Ababa. The rally has nothing to do with the 50th year anniversary of the foundation of OAU/AU. However, it chose this date to remind foreign guests who are coming to Ethiopia that Ethiopians are living in their own country in fear and poverty behind newly built roads and high rises. Protest of any kind has been illegal since May 2005 in Ethiopia. The only rally that has been allowed for the record is the one organized by Eritrean Refugees to protest against Isaias Afeworki’s dictatorship.
The right to assemble and freedom of speech is non existent in Ethiopia. Many journalists who challenged the TPLF/Woyane regime by exercising these rights ended up in jail accused as terrorists. Many Ethiopians are living in fear and political parties can not assemble even in rented hotels. The Blue Party that called the May 25 rally was denied dinner gathering in a rented hotel by government security forces early this year.
The Blue Party called Ethiopians in March of this year to come out and denounce the erection of Mausoleum for Graziani in Italy. The government beat up and arrested more than 40 people. The members and activists of this party are mainly young and female. They are action oriented and risk takers. Their leaders drove to South Ethiopia to see the evicted or ethnically cleansed Amhara farmers from Beni Shanguel and Gumuz last month. They were briefly jailed.
The Blue Party is protesting injustices when it sees it. The ESAT “Eneweyaye” May 13 program by three hosts seem to disagree with the May 25 Rally because of its timing and the lack of other parties participation. Ato Fasil argued that the rally looks like “begging” foreigners/Ferenji Limina. The majorities on the 50th celebration are Africans. As the hosts agreed many of them have similar problems in their own countries and the Blue Party’s call for Freedom and Justice for Ethiopians is not at all begging. It is exercising citizens right to assemble.
Ato Fasil argument that the regime by allowing such protest for first time might get credential as a “democratic ” is absurd. The nature of the regime is not determined by what it did in one day but its record of more than twenty two years. The whole world including those guests on that day know what Ethiopia has been under TPLF/Woyane. That day rally is to affirm our people right to say No when they see it any place, day and time, nothing wrong with May 24.
The Blue Party called this rally and asked others to join it. Someone has to start and should be commended for that.The young and women are comprising the majority of our people and many of them are not members of the Blue Party or any other parties. By going out on May 25 where foreign journalists are abundant will reaffirm the world the call for Freedom and Justice made by millions in Addis Ababa eight years ago.This time they might be a tiny fraction of that number but the demand remains the same. The braves though few are always in front line for the Freedom Battle.
Eskinder Nega, Reeyot Alemu and Wubishit Desse could have been better journalists and analysts from distance. They chose to speak and write and paid a high price for it. Andualem Arage and Bekele Gerba could have shut their mouth and still be a leader of a party they chose not. Many whose