By Associated Press, MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — A Washington couple accused of starving, beating and forcing their adopted daughter outside as punishment were sentenced Tuesday to decades in prison for her death.
Larry and Carri Williams were convicted Sept. 9 of manslaughter in the death of a teenage girl they adopted from Ethiopia. Carri Williams was also found guilty of homicide by abuse.
Hana Williams was found dead May 12, 2011, in the backyard of the family home in Sedro-Woolley, about 60 miles north of Seattle. The autopsy said she died of hypothermia, with malnutrition and a stomach condition as contributing factors.
Carri Williams was sentenced Tuesday to just under 37 years, the top of the standard sentencing range, by a judge who said she probably deserved more time in prison, the Skagit Valley Herald reported. Her husband received a sentence of nearly 28 years.
Both also were found guilty of assault of a child for punishing a boy they adopted in 2008 from Ethiopia at the same time as Hana.
Larry and Carri Williams were convicted after a seven-week trial in Skagit County Superior Court. Defense lawyers told jurors that questionable parenting practices didn’t necessarily amount to a crime.
On the rainy night Hana died, Carri Williams called 911 and reported Hana was not breathing, saying the girl had refused to come into the house. Hana was found face-down in the backyard with mud in her mouth.
Hana is believed to have been 13, but no documentation of her birth in Ethiopia was available.
The trial was postponed several times, and her body was exhumed in January. Tests on her teeth and bones gave varying estimates, and experts were unable to agree on her age. Her age was significant because the homicide by abuse charge applies only if the victim was younger than 16.
The boy from Ethiopia testified that the parents used sticks or belts to beat him all over his body as punishment. He also described being sprayed with a water hose if he wet his pants.
After the arrests, the boy and six biological children were placed in foster care or with relatives.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Residents in Gambella set Indian-owned farm on fire
The Reporter
Residents of the Gambella Regional State, Godera woreda, attacked and set the property of the Indian farm, Verdanta Harvest Plc., on fire on account of destroying the rich forest resources in the woreda where Verdanta has some 5,000 hectares for tea plantation.
According to sources in the area, the vigilantes attacked the plantation compound on Tuesday late night and set ablaze stores, fuel tankers, machineries like tractors and excavators and logs of timber, allegedly harvested from the land the company took for tea plantation. Gatlowak Tute, president of the region, confirmed the occurrence and said that a 9-man team has been sent to the area to investigate the event. “So far, security forces have taken into custody few locals suspected of involvement in the incident,” Gatlowak told The Reporter.
Verdanta took over the plantation five years ago from the Ministry of Agriculture on a 50-year lease contract with fairly cheap terms. According to the contract signed at the time, the company agreed to pay 111 birr annual lease price for the plantation extending 3012 hectares wide in Godera woreda and Gumare kebele. The total lease quotation of 16.7 million birr was agreed to be payed over the course of the 50 years at 334,332 birr per annum.
However, Verdanta requested the land for tea plantation before the ministry took over the land provision from the region and hence was able to receive 5,000 hectares although the contract with ministry say 3012. According to sources, the company have kept control of the 5,000 hectares until present, which residents of the area consider to be a forest resource and national forest region. The two kebeles of Godera woreda, Gomare and Kubu, are among the 58 primary national forest regions in the country. According to residents in the locality, the area is also rich in forest agricultural productions like honey, spice and coffee.
The vigilant residents say that the plantation company was offered is indeed a forest area that deserves to be preserved. Whereas both the regional government and the ministry say that the plot of land is no more than scattered bushes and that it does not qualify to be called a forest. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) standards, a forest area can be referred to as such as long as it is at least half a hectare wide and have trees more than five meters tall. Residents say that even the plot that is held by the Verdanta is 5,000 hectares and that it has tree which are 10 meters tall in length. At one time former president of the republic, Girma Woldegiorgis appealed to both the ministry and the region not give the land which should be preserved as national forest area. Tea plantation require the entire vegetation to be cleared out from the area, hence the president appealed to reconsider the decision. However, both the ministry and regional administration did not want to accept the request and hence the company stayed in possession of the property until the incident.
On the other had, the widespread rumors accusing the Verdanta of harvesting timber from the forest while it was supposed to be planting tea was also not accepted by the authorities. Sources say that on quite various occasions authorities have discovered logs of timber products leaving the property of Verdanta. However, the regional president did not deny this but said that the company have has assured his administration that the timber is not for sale. Although not verified by the findings of the investigating committee yet, sources indicate that it was the vigilantes of Godera who have taken matters into their own hands.
Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) have provided 89.5 million birr in loans to Verdanta. Hence, some are asking if DBE collateral has been damaged in the process. Efforts to get response from the Bank was not fruitful, and other are also asking if the investigative committee could come up with an amicable solution for the residents and the company in question.
የአቶ መለስ ዜናዊ “ያልተገለጡ ገፆች”
ከበትረ ያዕቆብ
ዉድ የሀገሬ ልጆች ከሁሉም በማስቀደም እንደምን ናችሁ ? ደህና ናችሁ ? 2006 እንዴት ይዟችኋል ? ስል የጠበቀ የወዳጅነት ሰላምታየን ማቅረብ እወዳለሁ፡፡ እዚህ ላይ ይህ ሰዉ ምን ነካዉ!? ባልተለመደ መክኩ ሰላምታ አበዛሳ !? ልትሉ ትችላላችሁ፡፡ ሆኖም አትፍረዱብኝ፡፡ “አሸባሪ ፣ አክራሪ ፣ ጅሀዳዊ ፣ ተለጣፊ ፣ ነጭ ለባሽ”… ወዘተ የሚል ቅፅል ስም ለሀገር ወዳድና ለመብታቸዉ መከበር ድምፃቸዉን ለሚያሰሙ ሁሉ በጅምላ እየተሰጠ ዜጎች በሀሰት በሚወነጀሉበት ሀገር ፤ በእያንዳንዷ ቀን እንደ መልካም ተግባር መሰል ዜጎችን ጠልፎ ለመጣል የተንኮል ወጥመድ ሲጠመድ በሚዋልበት ጊዜ ፣ ንፁህ ዜጎች በግዳጅ ያልፈፀሙትን ኃጢያት እንዲናዘዙ በሚገደዱበት ዘመን ፤ በልቶ ማደር ፍፁም በከበደበት በዚህ የጭንቅ ወቅት አጥብቆ ደህንነትን መጠየቁ ተገቢ ሆኖ ስለታየኝ ነዉ፡፡ እንደዉም ከዚያም በላይ ብዙ ብል እንኳ የሚበዛ አይመስለኝም፡፡ የሆነ ሆኖ ለሰላምታ ያህል ይህን ካልኩ ወደ ዋናዉ ርዕሰ ጉዳየ በቀጥታ ልለፍ፡፡
እንደሚታወቀዉ ምንም እንኳን የቀድሞዉ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ከሰራቸዉ በጎ ስራዎች ይልቅ ያጠፋዉ ለሚዛን የከበደ ቢሆንም ህልፈቱን ተከትሎ በፓርቲዉና በዙሪያዉ በተሰባሰቡ ጥቂትጥቅመኛ የህብረተሰብ ክፍሎች እስከዛሬ ያለ እረፍት እየተወደሰ ይገኛል፡፡ ጀግና ፣ የልማት አርበኛ ፣ የዲሞክራሲ ዘብ ፣ የአፍሪካና የዓለም ምርጥና ድንቅ ባለራዕይ ፣ አስታራቂ አባት ፣ የሰላም ሰባኪ ፣ ብልህ ሽማግሌ ፣ ጥበበኛ ፣ መለኛ ፣ የደሀ ተቆርቋሪ ፣ የፍትህ ሰዉ ፣ ፈላስፋ ….ብዙ ብዙ እየተባለና በርካታ ከንቱ ዉዳሴ እየተዥጎደጎደለት ነዉ፡፡ ሀሰተኛ ታሪክ እንደ ልብ ወለድ እየተፃፈለትና እየተተረከለትም ይገኛል፡፡
ለምሳሌ በቅርቡ አንድ በየኢትዮጵያ ቴሌቭዥን “ያልተገለጡ ገፆች” በሚል በቀረበ ዘጋቢ ፊልም የሰዉየዉ ታሪክ እኛ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ከምንኮራባቸዉ የዘመነ አድዋ ጀግኖች ታሪክ ጋር ተነፃፅሮ የቀረበ ሲሆን ፤ “ኢትዮጵያን በብቃትና በታማኝነት ያገለገለ ተወዳዳሪ የማይገኝለት መሪ” ተብሏል፡፡ ከዚህ ጋር በተያያዘ ሰሞኑን አንድ ጉዳዮን የሚያዉቅ ወዳጄ ፊልሙ በተለያዩ የሀገር ዉስጥ ቋንቋዎች ሰፋ ባለ መልኩ ዳግም እየተዘጋጀ እንደሆነ ሹክ ብሎኛል፡፡ እንዳጫወተኝ እነዚህ ፊልሞች ለህዝብ እይታ በቅርቡ ይቀርባሉ፡፡
ኢህአዴግ/ህወሓት የጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር መለስ ዜናዊን እዉነተኛ ታሪክ በማድበስበስ ህዝብን ለማሳሳት እያደረገ ያለዉ ሙከራ መጠነ ሰፊ ነዉ፡፡ ከቴሌቭዥንና ራዲዮ ባሻገር ከእዉነት የራቁ አሳሳች ታሪኮች በተለያዩ ድህረ ገፆች አማካኝነትም ለህዝብ እየቀረቡ ይገኛል፡፡ ከአማርኛ ቋንቋ በተጨማሪም በተለያዩ የዉጭ ቋንቋዎች መሰል ታሪኮች እንዲሰራጩ በመደረግ ላይ ነዉ፡፡ ከዚህ ጋር በተያያየ አንድ የዉጭ ዜጋ የሆነ ወዳጄ በፕሮፖጋንዳዉ አለቅጥ መለጠጥና እየተሰራጩ ባሉት ታሪኮች ተደንቆ “መንግስታችሁ ስራ አጣ እንዴ!?..” ሲል በቅርቡ ተርቦኛል፡፡ አያይዞም “እንዴት ነዉ እኛ የማናዉቀዉ መለስ ዜናዊ የተባለ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ነበራችሁ?” ሲል ፈገግ አድርጎኛል፡፡ እንደማስበዉ ኢህአዴግ/ህወሓት ለምን የመለስን ታሪክ ማሰማመር እንደፈለገ ለብዙዎች ሚስጥር አይመስለኝም፡፡ እንደሚታወቀዉ ሰዉየዉ የዚህችን አገር የፖለቲካ መዘወሪያ ለ21 አመታት ያለተቀናቃኝ በጫንቃው የተሸከመና በሁሉም ነገር ላይ አራጊ ፈጣሪ የነበረ እንደመሆኑ የእርሱ ታሪክ የገዥዉ ፓርቲ እንዲሁም የሌሎች አመራሮች ታሪክ ተደርጎ ሊወሰድ የሚችል ነዉ፡፡ ስለሆነም ስልጣኑን ተቆጣጥሮ የቀጠለዉ ፓርቲና አመራር ለራሱ የተሻለ ገፅታ ለመስጠት የግድ የሰዉየዉን መልካም ያልሆነ ታሪክ ማስተካከል አለበት ማለት ነዉ፡፡ እንግዲህ አሁን እየተደረገ ያለዉም ይህ ይመስለኛል፡፡
ዉድ አንባብያን እንግዲህ እኔም ይህችን ፅሑፍ ለመፃፍ ምክንያት የሆነኝ ይህ ኢህአዴግ/ህወሓት የጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር መለስ ዜናዊን እዉነተኛ ታሪክ በማድበስበስ ህዝብን ለማሳሳት እያደረገ ያለዉ ሰፊ ሙከራ ሲሆን ፤ እዉነቱ ይፋ ወጦ የህዝብ መወያያ ሊሆን ይገባል የሚል ፅኑ እምነት አለኝ፡፡ ምክንያቱም የሰዉን እዉነተኛ ታሪክ (ያዉም ሀገርን ያህል ትልቅ ነገር ለረጅም ጊዜ የመራን ሰዉ) ሰርዞና ደልዞ ለህዝብ ማቅረብ በጣም አደገኛ ዉጤት የሚያስከትል ተግባር ነዉና፡፡ እንዲህ አይነት ተግባር ሰዎች በሰሯቸዉ ስህተቶች ተወቃሽ እንዳይሆኑና ትዉልድም ከታሪክ እንዳይማር የሚያደርግ ፣ ተተኪ ወጣቶች ትናንት አባቶቻቸዉ ባለፉበት የስህተት ጎዳና ደጋግመዉ እንዲያልፍ በር የሚከፍት ነዉ፡፡ ስለሆነም ሊደበቅ እየተሞከረ ያለዉን የአቶ መለስን ማንነት በዚች አጭር ፅሑፌ በትንሹም ቢሆን ለማሳየት እሞክራለሁ፡፡ ሰዉየዉ በስልጣን ዘመኑ በማናለብኝነት በሀገርና በህዝብ ላይ የፈፀማቸዉን ወንጀሎች በመዘርዘር ለሕዝብ ዳኝነት እተወዋለሁ፡፡ ከዚህ ሁሉ በፊት ግን ለግንዛቤ ያህል የሰዉየዉን የህይወት ታሪክ ጠቅለል ባለ መልኩ አስቀምጨ ልለፍ፡፡
እንደሚታወቀዉ የትናንቱ ለገሰ ዜናዊ የዛሬዉ አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ በወርሃ ግንቦት 1947 ዓ.ም ነበር በአድዋ ከተማ የተወለደዉ፡፡ የመጀመሪያ ደረጃ ትምህርቱን በአድዋ ንግስተ ሳባ ትምህርት ቤት የተከታተለ ሲሆን ፤ የሁለተኛ ደረጃ ትምህርቱን በጀኔራል ዉንጌት አጠናቋል፡፡ ከዚያም ከፍተኛ ዉጤት በማስመዝገብ አዲስ በበባ ዩኒቨርስቲ ህክምና ለማጥናት መግባት የቻለ ቢሆንም ብዙም ሳይገፉበት ነበር ወታደራዊዉን አምባገነን የደርግ ስርዓት ለመታገል ወደ በረሀ የወረደዉ፡፡ በወቅቱ በኢትዮጵያ ያለዉ ጭቆና የብሔር ጭቆና ነዉ የሚል እምነት የነበረዉ ወጣቱ ታጋይ ፤ መፍትሄዉ ትግራይን ከቀረዉ የኢትዮጵያ ክፍል በመገንጠል የትግራይን ሪፐብሊክን መመስረት ነዉ የሚል ፅኑ እምነት ነበረዉ፡፡
በትግሉ ወቅት አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ በተለያዩ ከፍተኛ የሀላፊነት ደረጃዎች ህወሀትን በሙሉ አቅሙ ያገለገለ ሲሆን ፤ በድርጅቱ ዉስጥ ከነበረዉ ቁልፍ ሚና አኳያ የትግሉ አርክቴክት ነበር ማለት ይቻላል፡፡ አቶ መለስ በ1983 ትግሉ በድል ሲጠናቀቅ የሀገሪቱ ፕሬዝዳንት መሆን የቻለ ሲሆን ፤ ቆይቶም ወደ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትርነት በመሸጋገር እስከ እልፈተ ሞቱ ሀገሪቱን ያለአንዳች ተቀናቃኝ በማንአለብኝነት መምራት ችሏል፡፡
1. የኤርትራ መገንጠል
አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ 21 ዓመት መዝለቅ በቻለዉ ያስተዳደር ዘመኑ በሀገርና ህዝብ ላይ ከባድ ወንጀሎች ፈፅሟል ፤ እነርሱም በተለያዩ የታሪክ መፅሐፍት ላይ በዝርዝር ተጠቅሰዉ ይገኛል፡፡ ሰዉየዉ ከፈፀማቸዉ እነዚህ ወንጀሎች መካከል በዋነኝነት ተጠቃሹና በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ዉስጥም ሁሌም የሚታወስበት በግብፅና በአንዳንድ የአረብ ሀገራት አጋዥነት ኤርትራን እንድትገነጠል ማድረጉ ነዉ፡፡ እዚህ ላይ ምንም እንኳን የበርካታ የህወሀት አመራሮች እጅ በዚህ ወንጀል ዉስጥ ቢኖርበትም የአንበሳዉን ሚና የተጫወተዉ እሱ ነበር ለማለት የሚያስደፍሩ በርካታ መረጃዎች አሉ፡፡
በርካታ የታሪክ ድርሳናት እንደሚያስረዱት የኤርትራ መገንጠል ህግን እና ህጋዊ አካሄድን ያልተከተለ ከመሆኑም ባሻገር የኢትዮጵያን ጥቅም ከግምት ዉስጥ ያላስገባ ፤ የአረቦችን ፍላጎትና የኢሳያስን ገደብ የለሽ የስልጣን ጥም ለማሟላት ሲባል ብቻ ሆን ተብሎ የተደረገ ነበር፡፡ በወቅቱ በርካታ ሀገር ወዳድ ኢትዮጵያዉያን (ለቁጥር የሚታክቱ ኤርትራዉያንም ጭምር) ድርጊቱን በመቃወም ድምፃቸዉን ሲያሰሙ የነበረ ሲሆን ፤ ለነርሱ የአቶ መለስ ምላሽ ስድብ ነበር፡፡
በትግል ወቅት አቶ መለስ የኤርትራ ባለቤት ነን ከሚሉት የሻብያ መሪዎች በላይ ስለኤርትራ መገንጠል ያቀነቅን ነበር፡፡ ተስፋ ወደ መቁረጡ በተቃረቡበት ወቅትም “አይዟችሁ ኤርትራን በቅርቡ ከኢትዮጵያ ትገነጥላላችሁ ፣ በርቱ” እያለ ከመደገፉ ባሻገር ትግላቸዉን የሚያግዝ አስትራቴጅክ መፅሐፍም ፅፎ አበርክቶላቸዋል፡፡ ኤርትራ ከእናት ሀገሯ ከተገነጠለች በኋላም አለም እንደ ሀገር ይቀበላት ዘንድ እንደ መለስ ወዲያ ወዲህ ያለ የለም ማለት ይቻላል–ኢሳያስ አፈወርቂም ቢሆን እንኳ፡፡ በዚህም ምክንያት የወቅቱ የአፍሪካ አንድነት ድርጅት በነገሩ ግራ እስከመጋባት ደርሶ እንደነበር መረጃዎች ይጠቁማሉ፡፡ አንዳንዶችም የሰዉየዉን ኢትዮጵያዊነት እስከመጠራጠር ደርሰዉ ነበር፡፡
2. የኢትዮጵያ የባሕር በር (አሰብ)
አሰብ በታሪክና በህግ የኢትዮጵያ ተፈጥሯዊ የበሀር በር የመሆኗ ጉዳይ አሌ የማይባል እዉነት ነዉ፡፡ ይህንንም በርካታ ምሁራን ሰነድ እያጣቀሱ ደግመዉ ደጋግመዉ በግልፅ አስረድተዋል፡፡ ሆኖም ግን አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ እዉነቱን እያወቀ (ለእርሱ ብቻ ግልፅ በሆነ ምክንያት) ይህንን ትልቅ ሀገራዊ ሀብታችንን ከእጃችን አይናችን እያየ እንዲያመልጥ አድርጓል፡፡ ይህም የብዙ ኢትዮጵያዉያንን ልብ የሰበረና እስካሁን እንቆቅልሹ ያልተፈታ ጉዳይ ነዉ፡፡
አቶ መለስ አሰብን በተመለከተ ጥፋት ያጠፋዉ ከአንድም ሁለት ሶስቴ ነዉ፡፡ የመጀመሪያዉ ጥፋት ኤርትራ ከኢትዮጵያ ስትገነጠል ወደቡ ወደ ኢትዮጵያ እንዲጠቃለል ማድረግ እየተቻለ (ህጉም እየፈቀደልን) ለኤርትራ መሰጠቱ ነዉ፡፡ በወቅቱ ለምን የሚል ተቃዉሞ ሲነሳ አቶ መለስ ይግረማችሁ ብሎ ለኤርትራ ሽንጡን ገትሮ በመከራከር ኢትዮጵያ ጥንታዊ የባህር በሯን በተመለከተ አንድም ጥያቄ እንዳታነሳ አድርጓል፡፡
ይህ በእንዲህ እንዳለ በ1989ዓ.ም የኤርትራን ዉረራ ተከትሎ ኢትዮጵያ አሰብን በእጇ የምታስገባበት ሌላ እድል ተፈጠሮ ነበር፡፡ ሆኖም ግን ያላደላት ሀገራችን የዚያን ሁሉ ልጆቿን ህይወት ገብራ ጦርነቱን በድል አድራጊነት ብትወጣም በአቶ መለስ ትዕዛዝ ወደ አሰብ ድርሽ እንዳትል ተደርጓል፡፡ ከዚህም በኋላ የአልጀርስን ድርድር ተከትሎ ብዙ ኢትዮጵያዊ ምሁራን ተስፋ ሳይቆርጡ መንግስት ወደቡን በተመለከተ ለአደራዳሪዉ አካል ጥያቄ እንዲያነሳ ከመማፀን ባሻገር ለድርድሩ የሚረዱ ጠቃሚ የታሪክ ፣ የህግና የፖለቲካ መረጃዎችን በዝርዝር ማቅረብ ችለዉ ነበር፡፡ ነገር ግን ይህ ሁሉ የፈየደዉ አልነበረም፡፡ የሆነዉ የብዙዎችን አንገት ያስደፋ ነበር፡፡ አቶ መለስና ግብር አበሮቻቸዉ ከኤርትራ ጎን ቆመዉ ለኤርትራ ጥቅም በመከራከር በገንዘብ የማይተመነዉን እጅግ ጠቃሚ የሀገር ሀብት ለኤርትራ አስረክበዉ ተመለሱ፡፡ እነዚህን በሀገርና ወገን ላይ የተፈፀሙ ክህደቶችና ወንጀሎችን በተመለከተ ዶክተር ያዕቆብ አሰብ የማናት በተሰኘዉ መፅሐፋቸዉ ላይ በደንብ አንድ ባንድ ያብራሩዋቸዉ በመሆኑ ዝርዝር መረጃ ማግኘት የሚፈልግ ሰዉ መፅሐፉን ማንበብ ይቻላል፡፡
ዛሬ ሀገራችን ኢትዮጵያ በአለም ወደብ ከሌላቸዉ ጥቂት ሀገራት ዉስጥ ትልቋና ብዙ ህዝብ ያላት ስትሆን ፤ በየቀኑ ከ4 ሚሊዩን ዶላር በላይ ለጅቡቲ የወደብ ክራይ እንድትከፍል ተገዳለች፡፡ ይህም የሁላችንን ኪስ የሚፈታተን ከፍተኛ የዋጋ ንረት እየፈጠረ ይገኛል፡፡ ከዚህም በተጨማሪ ወደብ አልባ መሆናችን ሙሉ በሙሉ በሌላ አገር ላይ ጥገኛ እንድንሆን ምክንያት የሆነ ሲሆን ፤ የደህንነት አደጋም ጋርጦብናል፡፡ የአለማችን ዋና እስትራቴጅክ አካባቢ ከሆነዉ የቀይ ባህር አካባቢ መራቃችንን ተከትሎም በዲፕሎማሲዉ መስክ የነበረን ተፅዕኖ ፈጣሪነት እጅግ ተዳክሟል፡፡
3. የባድመ ጦርነት
ሻቢያ በ1989 ዓ.ም በድፍረት ድንበር ተሻግሮ ኢትዮጵያን መዉረሩ በተሰማ በአጭር ጊዜ ዉስጥ ነበር በመቶ ሽዎች የሚቆጠሩ ኢትዮጵዉያን ለነፍሳቸዉ ሳይሳሱ የአገራቸዉን ዳር ድንበር ለማስከበር ወደ ጦር ግንባር የተመሙት፡፡ ይህንን ተከትሎ ኢትዮጵያ ጦርነቱን ማሸነፍ ብቻ ሳይሆን እግረ መንገዷንም ሌሎች ጥቅሞቿን ታስጠብቃለች የሚል ግምት በብዙዎች ዘንድ ነበር፡፡ በተለይም አሰብ እንደገና በኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ እጅ የመግባቱ ጉዳይ ላይ ማንም አልተጠራጠረም፡፡ ሆኖም ግን በጣም ዘግናኝ ከሆነ ጦርነት በኋላ የመከላከያ ሰራዊታችን ወደ መሀል ኤርትራ መገስገስ ሲጀምር አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ በአስቸኳይ እንዲመለስ ትዕዛዝ በመስጠት ለወገኖቻችን ህይዎት መጥፋት ምክንያት የሆነዉን የሻብያ መንግስት ታደገ ፤ የዚያን ሁሉ ወጣት ኢትዮጵያዊ ህይወት ትርጉም አሳጣ ፣ ተሳለቀበት፡፡
በዚህም ያልተገታዉ አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ በአልጀርሱ ድርድር ላይ ሌላ አሳፋሪ ተግባር ፈፀመ፡፡ ተገቢነት የሌላቸዉና ፍርስ የሆኑ የ1900 እና የ1902 የቅኝ ግዛት ዉሎችን ለድርድር በመምረጥ የሻቢያን ህልም እዉን አደረገ፡፡ የዚያ ሁሉ ወጣት ደም የፈሰሰለትን ባድሜን ፣ ኢሮብን እና ፆረናን ለሻቢያ አስረክቦ በዶ እጁን ተመለሰ፡፡
4. የመተማ መሬት
አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ በስልጣን ዘመኑ በሀገር ላይ ከፈፀማቸዉ ወንጀሎች መካከል አንዱና የቅርብ ጊዜዉ የመተማ ጉዳይ ነዉ፡፡ ሰዉየዉ የተጠናወተዉ ሀገርን እየቆረሱ ለባዕዳን የመስጠት አባዜዉ አለቀዉ ብሎ ሰፊ የመተማን ለም መሬት ከኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ እዉቅና ዉጭ ሸንሽኖ ለሱዳን ያስረከበ ሲሆን ፤ ይህንን ተግባሩን በተቃዎሙት የአካባቢዉ አርሶ አደሮች ላይም ብዙ በደል ፈፅሟል፡፡ በቅርብ የወጡ አንዳንድ መረጃዎች እንደሚጠቁሙት በአሁኑ ሰዓት መንግስት ለህዝብ በግልፅ ባላሳወቀበት ሁኔታ ኮሚቴ በማቋቋም አዲሱን ድንበር የማካለል ስራ እየሰራ ይገኛል፡፡
5. ታሪክ ማጠልሸት
አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ ከሚታወስባቸዉ ተግባራቶቹ መካከል ከታሪክ ጋር የነበረዉ መረን አልባ ቅራኔ ነዉ፡፡ ይህ ሰዉ የ5 ሽህ ዓመት ታሪክ ባለቤት የሆነችዉን ሀገራችንን የመቶ ዓመት ዕድሜ ባለቤት ናት ከማለት ጀምሮ በርካታ የታሪክ ክህደት ፈፅሟል፡፡ ለእርሱ ሰንካላ የፖለቲካ ፍልስፍናና እረጅም የስልጣን እድሜ ያመቸዉ ዘንድ የፈለገዉን ታሪክ ሰርዟል ፣ ደልዟል፡፡ ያሻዉን ታሪካችን ነዉ ሲል ተከራክሯል፡፡ የአክሱም ታሪክ ለወላይታዉ ምኑ ነዉ …ወዘተ ሲል በሀገርና በህዝብ ላይ ቀልዷል፡፡
ሀገራችን ኢትዮጵያ በአለማችን ከሚገኙ ጥቂት ቀደምት ታሪክ ካላቸዉ ሀገራት መካከል በግንባር ቀደምነት የምትጠቀስ ናት፡፡ ከዚህም ባለፈ የሰዉ ልጅ መገኛ መሆኗ ልዩ ያደርጋታል፡፡ የሚገርመዉ ይህን ታሪካችንን በርካታ ምሁራን የመሰከሩለትና በምርምር የተረጋገጠ በመሆኑ ጠላቶቻችን እንኳን የሚቀበሉት ነዉ፡፡ ሆኖም ይህ ሁሉ እዉነት ለአቶ መለስ አልሰራም፡፡
6. ኢትዮጵያዊ አንድነትን ማዳከም
ኢትዮጵያ የብዙ ብሔር ብሔረሰቦች አገር ናት፡፡ እነዚህ የተለያየ ባህል ፣ ቋንቋና ሐይማኖት ያላቸዉ ህዝቦች ለበርካታ ዘመናት በአብሮነት ተከባብረዉና ተዋደዉ ኖረዋል፡፡ በአንድነት የደስታ ዘመናትን እንዳሳለፉ ሁሉ በርካታ አሳዛኝ ጊዚያትንም ተጋርተዋል፡፡ ተጋብተዉ ወልደዋል ፣ ከብደዋል፡፡ አብረዉ የዉጭ ጠላትን በደምና ባጥንታቸዉ ተከላክለዋል ፤ ደማቅ ታሪኮችን ሰርተዋል፡፡ ሆኖም የአቶ መለስን ወደ ስልጣን መምጣት ተከትሎ ይህ ኢትዮጵያዊ አንድነት ችግር ላይ የወደቀ ሲሆን ፤ ዛሬ እየተባባሰ መጦ በሀገሪቱ ሁለንተናዊ ደህንነት ላይ ጥላ አጥልቶበታል፡፡
አቶ መለስ ሲመቸዉ አንዱን ብሔር ጨቋኝ አንዱን ተጨቋኝ አድርጎ በማቅረብ እንዲሁም አንዳንድ በብሔር ብሔረሰቦች መካከል የተከሰቱ ያለፉ አለመግባባቶችን እየነቃቀሰ ህዝቦች በተለመደዉ አብሮነት እንዳይቀጥሉ በርካታ ጥረት አድርጓል፡፡ አንድ የሚያደርጉንን የጋራ እሴቶቻችንን በማደብዘዝ በመሀከላችን ልዩነት እንዲፈጠር ተግቶ ሰርቷል፡፡ ይህንን ሁሉ ያደርግ የነበረዉ ደግሞ ያን የሚሳሳለትን ስልጣን ለማስጠበቅ ብቻ ነበር፡፡ ከዚህም በተጨማሪ ለሀገሪቱ ፍቱን ነዉ ሲል የፈለሰፈዉ ብሔር ተኮር ፌደራሊዝምም ቢሆን ከመስማማት ይልቅ አለመስማማትን እያጎለበተና ሌላ መዘዝ እያመጣብን ይገኛል፡፡
7. ምርጫ 97
እንደሚታወቀዉ ህወሀት/ኢህአዴግ ወደስልጣን ከመጣበት 1983ዓ.ም ጀምሮ በርካታ ኢትዮጵያዉያን በአቶ መለስ ትእዛዝ በግፍ ተጨፍጭፈዋል ፣ በወጡበት ቀርተዋል፡፡ ለቁጥር የሚታክቱ ተደብድበዋል ፣ ታስረዋል፡፡ ለምሳሌ ያህል በጋምቤላና በሶማሊያ ክልል የተፈፀሙትን መመልከት በቂ ነዉ፡፡
ምርጫ 97ን ተከትሎ ድምፃችን ይከበር በሚል አደባባይ በወጡ ንፁሐን ዜጎች ላይ የተፈፀመዉ ዘግናኝ ወንጀል አንዱ በአቶ መለስ ቀጥተኛ ትዕዛዝ የተፈፀመ የቅርብ ጊዜ ክስተት ነዉ፡፡ በወቅቱ ስልጣኔ ለምን ተነቀነቀ በሚል አዉሬ የሆነዉ አቶ መለስ የሀገሪቱን መከላከያ ሰራዊት በእርሱ እዝ ስር እንዲሆን በማድረግ በሰጠዉ መመሪያ መሰረት በአዲስ አበባ ብቻ በመቶዎች የሚቆጠሩ ወጣቶች ፣ ህፃናትና አዛዉንት የጥይት ሲሳይ ሆነዋል፡፡
እንደ ማጠቃለያ
አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ በሀገርና ህዝብ ላይ የፈፀመዉን ወንጀል ዘርዝሮ ለመጨረስ ይከብዳል፡፡ ሀገርን ከመካድና ከመናድ ባሻገር በርካታ ግፍ ፈፅሟል፡፡ ዜጎችን አስጨፍጭፏል ፤ በግፍ ንፁሀንን በእስር ቤት አሳጉሯል ፤ ምስኪን ደሀ ቤተሰቦችን ከቀያቸዉ አስፈናቅሏል ፤ የሀገርና የህዝብን ሀብት አስመዝብሯል ፣ መዝብሯል፡፡ እንግዲህ ይህ ነዉ የአቶ መለስ ዜናዊ ትክክለኛ ማንነት ፤ ይህ ነዉ ሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊ ለአፍታም ሊዘነጋዉ የማይገባዉ ነጥብ፡፡
Let the People go! Travel ban does not solve the problem
By Temesgen Zewdie
The recent decision by the government of Ethiopia to ban domestic workers from traveling
to the Middle East and Arab countries is myopic at best and stone-age governance at worst. Any sensible government would define the alleged problem and seek solutions without subjecting innocent people to lose their Constitutional and Universal Rights to travel to their places of choice. This type of draconian government decision can only happen in a one-party totalitarian state.
Any rational government would ask itself why its citizens choose to travel to another country by hundreds of thousands instead of staying put in their own country. Most people need income to live on, and support their families; and hence they need to work to earn money. The stagnant Ethiopian Economy does not create jobs; and when it does, you have to belong to a corrupt ethnic net-work Ruling party circle to secure employment. For the majority of the population who do not belong to this corrupt circle of thieves, the choice is to travel to an equally unenlightened savage environment to earn a living or starve. There are many Ethiopian domestic workers who have lost their lives and some seriously injured because of abuse by their employers during their stay in the Middle East, and Arab Countries. The fact of the matter is, domestic workers do not have much of a choice; it is either to stay in their homeland Ethiopia and starve, or flee the country to a lawless foreign land and a hostile environment; where human rights of workers are grossly neglected, or most of the time abused.
Any responsible government would investigate the cause of injustice, death, and injuries sustained by its citizens in a foreign land through its diplomatic mission in host countries; and seek diplomatic and legal solutions to mitigate the crisis; or better yet, make an honest and vigorous effort to accelerate the economic development of the Country to create conditions of employment available to all citizens without bias to ethnic favoritism, corruption, and nepotism which is rampant under the current administration. The people at the helm of power in our Country seem to have no clue, nor do they care about the right of the individual to work and support himself/herself and their family in any place of his/her choice as long as they meet the legal requirements of the host country. What is one supposed to do if not work and earn a livening? I have argued both as a member of parliament (2005-2010), and as a member of the Opposition since then, that the double digit GDP economic growth propaganda of the Ruling elite is an illusion sometimes supported by International money lenders to systematically loot the country for their mutual benefit, while allowing the narrow ethnic Ruling cliques continue its misrule and pillage of the resources of the country to satisfy its insatiable desire for money, power, and ethnic chauvinism. In Ethiopia, almost 70 percent of the urban youth is unemployed. To make matters worse, 20 percent of the rural population is flocking to the urban area in search of employment. Those who are capable of escaping the miserable economic deprivation and lack of freedom in their homeland flee the Country by tens of thousands endangering their lives; by any means necessary, legally or illegally. In 2009 alone over a hundred thousand Ethiopians have illegally crossed over to Yemen with the hope of reaching Saudi Arabia. An equal number of Ethiopians have also migrated to Sudan and Kenya in search of a better life. It would be an understatement to say that any responsible government would be alarmed by the mass migration, and the loss of life in the process. The Ruling Party just walk-up to this monumental national problem and the first step it took to mitigate the crisis was a travel ban to the Middle East and Arab Countries, without due consideration to the Natural, Constitutional, and Universal Rights of its subjects. While unemployment is a source of despair for many Ethiopians, an equal number of urban consumers are stretched to the limit to meet their daily expenses because of the high cost of living instigated by the upward spiraling inflation. While the government purports inflation to be in the single digit using its mouth piece propaganda media machine, it is actually in the double digits which is attested by the escalating prices in the local markets for goods and services which have quadrupled in the past few years especially for agricultural commodities such as Teff, Corn, wheat, cooking oil, sugar, coffee etc….commonly consumed by the people of Ethiopia. The purchasing power of the local currency (birr) has depreciated almost 60 percent within the past four years, making life impossible for people with fixed income such as government employees, and retirees. This is a Country where 90 percent of the population earns less than two dollars a day; and where 5 to 8 million people are exposed to food insecurity at any given year. While the cost of living is extremely high because of the ravaging inflation, the Regime is busy flooding the economy with printed money, while at the same time widening the budget deficit, making an already bad situation worst. The Ruling Party refuses to use conventional macroeconomic tools to bring inflation under control for fear of deflating its shattered political image. The external debt of the country has ballooned to 15 billion dollars; without taking into account the 6 billion dollar international debt cancellations the government received in 2006 from Western Countries. In addition, the country suffers from shortages of foreign exchange, which has forced the current account deficit and the balance of payment to widen, which in turn has forced the government to reserve just enough money to cover a one month of imports. The Ruling Party has the distinction of running a continuous trade deficit with all its trading partners; not having a single instance of trade surplus with any international trading partner in the last 23 years of its dictatorial misrule of the Country. Who among us would not wish to flee from a country mired in social, political, and economic problems to last generations to come? Not only the domestic workers flee their country to the Middle East, and Arab Countries; the rest of us, living in various western countries, are proof to the atrocious social, economic, and political conditions in our country. No government has the right to hold its citizens hostage by declaring a travel ban; the decision by the government to ban travel has fortunately pointed to the glaring inadequacy of the government in managing the social, political, and macro-economic governance of the Country. It is illegal to ban travel to any Country short of a military hostility between two countries. In a democratic society the right of a citizen to work and earn a living is legally guaranteed, and cannot be abridged by the whims of dictators. In conclusion, I would like to suggest, what in my opinion, would be a common sense solution to the problem. a) The source of the conflict between employer and employee should be researched, so that the government has facts and figures to base its future decisions.
b) Hostilities between employer and employees could be reduced if entrepreneurs in Ethiopia are encouraged to open training schools for migrant workers to learn the language, culture, tradition of host countries.
c) Trained government diplomats (courses in 101 International Relations would help), sensitive enough to seek legal and diplomatic solution to the conflict.
d) Networking with international Human Rights Organizations to highlight the problems in host counties. Travel ban is not a solution. The underground movement to smuggle people out of the Country would begin in earnest because of your callous decision. The sooner you learn from your monumental mistakes the better for all of us. The writer, Temesgen Zewde, is chairman of Foreign Relations Committee of the UDJP (Andenet). He was also member of parliament.
The Honorable Temesgen Zewde is foreign relations chief of UDJP (Andenet) Party (Photo: Ethiomedia) |
to the Middle East and Arab countries is myopic at best and stone-age governance at worst. Any sensible government would define the alleged problem and seek solutions without subjecting innocent people to lose their Constitutional and Universal Rights to travel to their places of choice. This type of draconian government decision can only happen in a one-party totalitarian state.
Any rational government would ask itself why its citizens choose to travel to another country by hundreds of thousands instead of staying put in their own country. Most people need income to live on, and support their families; and hence they need to work to earn money. The stagnant Ethiopian Economy does not create jobs; and when it does, you have to belong to a corrupt ethnic net-work Ruling party circle to secure employment. For the majority of the population who do not belong to this corrupt circle of thieves, the choice is to travel to an equally unenlightened savage environment to earn a living or starve. There are many Ethiopian domestic workers who have lost their lives and some seriously injured because of abuse by their employers during their stay in the Middle East, and Arab Countries. The fact of the matter is, domestic workers do not have much of a choice; it is either to stay in their homeland Ethiopia and starve, or flee the country to a lawless foreign land and a hostile environment; where human rights of workers are grossly neglected, or most of the time abused.
Any responsible government would investigate the cause of injustice, death, and injuries sustained by its citizens in a foreign land through its diplomatic mission in host countries; and seek diplomatic and legal solutions to mitigate the crisis; or better yet, make an honest and vigorous effort to accelerate the economic development of the Country to create conditions of employment available to all citizens without bias to ethnic favoritism, corruption, and nepotism which is rampant under the current administration. The people at the helm of power in our Country seem to have no clue, nor do they care about the right of the individual to work and support himself/herself and their family in any place of his/her choice as long as they meet the legal requirements of the host country. What is one supposed to do if not work and earn a livening? I have argued both as a member of parliament (2005-2010), and as a member of the Opposition since then, that the double digit GDP economic growth propaganda of the Ruling elite is an illusion sometimes supported by International money lenders to systematically loot the country for their mutual benefit, while allowing the narrow ethnic Ruling cliques continue its misrule and pillage of the resources of the country to satisfy its insatiable desire for money, power, and ethnic chauvinism. In Ethiopia, almost 70 percent of the urban youth is unemployed. To make matters worse, 20 percent of the rural population is flocking to the urban area in search of employment. Those who are capable of escaping the miserable economic deprivation and lack of freedom in their homeland flee the Country by tens of thousands endangering their lives; by any means necessary, legally or illegally. In 2009 alone over a hundred thousand Ethiopians have illegally crossed over to Yemen with the hope of reaching Saudi Arabia. An equal number of Ethiopians have also migrated to Sudan and Kenya in search of a better life. It would be an understatement to say that any responsible government would be alarmed by the mass migration, and the loss of life in the process. The Ruling Party just walk-up to this monumental national problem and the first step it took to mitigate the crisis was a travel ban to the Middle East and Arab Countries, without due consideration to the Natural, Constitutional, and Universal Rights of its subjects. While unemployment is a source of despair for many Ethiopians, an equal number of urban consumers are stretched to the limit to meet their daily expenses because of the high cost of living instigated by the upward spiraling inflation. While the government purports inflation to be in the single digit using its mouth piece propaganda media machine, it is actually in the double digits which is attested by the escalating prices in the local markets for goods and services which have quadrupled in the past few years especially for agricultural commodities such as Teff, Corn, wheat, cooking oil, sugar, coffee etc….commonly consumed by the people of Ethiopia. The purchasing power of the local currency (birr) has depreciated almost 60 percent within the past four years, making life impossible for people with fixed income such as government employees, and retirees. This is a Country where 90 percent of the population earns less than two dollars a day; and where 5 to 8 million people are exposed to food insecurity at any given year. While the cost of living is extremely high because of the ravaging inflation, the Regime is busy flooding the economy with printed money, while at the same time widening the budget deficit, making an already bad situation worst. The Ruling Party refuses to use conventional macroeconomic tools to bring inflation under control for fear of deflating its shattered political image. The external debt of the country has ballooned to 15 billion dollars; without taking into account the 6 billion dollar international debt cancellations the government received in 2006 from Western Countries. In addition, the country suffers from shortages of foreign exchange, which has forced the current account deficit and the balance of payment to widen, which in turn has forced the government to reserve just enough money to cover a one month of imports. The Ruling Party has the distinction of running a continuous trade deficit with all its trading partners; not having a single instance of trade surplus with any international trading partner in the last 23 years of its dictatorial misrule of the Country. Who among us would not wish to flee from a country mired in social, political, and economic problems to last generations to come? Not only the domestic workers flee their country to the Middle East, and Arab Countries; the rest of us, living in various western countries, are proof to the atrocious social, economic, and political conditions in our country. No government has the right to hold its citizens hostage by declaring a travel ban; the decision by the government to ban travel has fortunately pointed to the glaring inadequacy of the government in managing the social, political, and macro-economic governance of the Country. It is illegal to ban travel to any Country short of a military hostility between two countries. In a democratic society the right of a citizen to work and earn a living is legally guaranteed, and cannot be abridged by the whims of dictators. In conclusion, I would like to suggest, what in my opinion, would be a common sense solution to the problem. a) The source of the conflict between employer and employee should be researched, so that the government has facts and figures to base its future decisions.
b) Hostilities between employer and employees could be reduced if entrepreneurs in Ethiopia are encouraged to open training schools for migrant workers to learn the language, culture, tradition of host countries.
c) Trained government diplomats (courses in 101 International Relations would help), sensitive enough to seek legal and diplomatic solution to the conflict.
d) Networking with international Human Rights Organizations to highlight the problems in host counties. Travel ban is not a solution. The underground movement to smuggle people out of the Country would begin in earnest because of your callous decision. The sooner you learn from your monumental mistakes the better for all of us. The writer, Temesgen Zewde, is chairman of Foreign Relations Committee of the UDJP (Andenet). He was also member of parliament.
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