Year After Leader Dies, Ethiopia Is Little Changed

By Kirubeal Tadesse, AP     

The late dictator

Residents in Ethiopia's capital awoke to the sound of a 21-gun salute Tuesday to mark the first year anniversary of the death of long-time ruler Meles Zenawi.

The ritual underscores the approach Meles' successors have employed during the last year: a continued lionization of the late prime minister, whose portrait still appears in every public office across the country.
Candlelit vigils and the launch of over two dozen parks were organized across the country for the late leader. In the capital a cornerstone for the Meles Zenawi Memorial Museum was laid in a televised ceremony.
 During the ceremony, attended by regional leaders such as the presidents of Somalia and Sudan, Meles was praised as "Africa's voice." His successor Prime Minister Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn praised Meles as a "champion of the poor."
"Meles did a remarkable endeavor in the green economic development. He also led a successful party and government to establish a widely defined democratic system that has recognized and observed rights of individuals and groups at the same time," Hailemariam said in a speech.
Meles became president in 1991 after helping to oust Mengistu Haile Mariam's Communist military junta, which was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians. Meles became prime minister in 1995, a position he held until his sudden death last year.
The United States long viewed Meles as a strong security partner and gave Ethiopia hundreds of millions of dollars in aid over the years. U.S. military drones that patrol East Africa — especially over Somalia — are stationed in Ethiopia.
David Shinn, the U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia from 1996 to 1999, says he hasn't detected any changes in the U.S.-Ethiopian relationship since Meles' death.
"From the U.S. side, the policy seems to be one of maintaining cordial but not excessively warm relations. This situation varies somewhat from topic to topic. There continues to be especially close collaboration on issues such as counterterrorism and regional conflicts in Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia. At the same time, there are significant concerns about the future of democratization and human rights practices," said Shinn, now a professor at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs.
Ethiopia is increasingly looking to China as a model. Chinese companies are behind the country's drive to expand infrastructures such as road and telecom networks. In recent months Chinese companies have signed two billion-dollar deals with state companies to expand the country's telecom and power lines.
Thought credited for advancing Ethiopia's economy, Meles was accused of killing and jailing opposition members and rigging elections. Rights groups say the oppression carried out under Meles has continued in the East African nation. Meles was responsible for the closure of 72 independent newspapers, according to the press freedom watchdog the Committee to Protect Journalists.
"At the time of Meles' death, there were eight journalists in prison in Ethiopia. Today, there are nine," said Mohamed Keita, advocacy coordinator for CPJ's Africa Program.

Some marched for freedom but some gathered for condominium

by Sadik Ahmed

Ethiopians and Ethiopian Americans held a joint rally in front of US state department today. Amid government’s massive propaganda to divide the nation, the participants were adamant to uphold their mutual values not as people who share a land but as a people who have shared blood.
The demonstrators have uncovered what they call it a plot to occupy the diaspora airwaves through corruption and cadres; however, they have stated clearly, those who collaborate with this dictatorial regime will be isolated and held accountable before each and every community.
Sheik Khalid Omer is an Imam for an Ethiopian Muslims prominent organization called First Hijrah; on his motivational speech during the demonstration “we chose peaceful struggle not because of our fear for Ethiopian government, but due to its effectiveness on this generation, we will protest peacefully till the dictatorial regime replied for our demands” the Imam declared adamantly.
“The Ethiopian regime has lost everything, all attempts to divide the nation have failed miserably, the regime has remaining only one item, only ETV , they want to dispatch the same ETV propaganda through their puppets in DC airwaves by wasting tax payers money, dollar is good for those who work on it, but dollar is very bad for those who happen to be enslaved by it, some of the DC radios possibly sold their integrity for fear mongering but the wisdom of Ethiopians will diminish their evil plot through love and unity” said Yohannes Takele, a distinguished activist in Washington DC metropolitan area.
Officials and state department representatives from African desk have received a letter from the demonstrators. The enthusiastic slogans in English and Amharic were unwavering, poems narrated, words of commitment and unity declared till noon.
“All prisoners of conscience in Ethiopia could have different cases but they have one destiny, surely their destiny is ours, their pain inside notorious Ethiopian prisons is ours, we don’t have boundary due to our religion or ethnic background, we will struggle for freedom and justice for our beloved motherland, until the malicious minority authoritarian regime surrender the power for the people or deposed” the demonstrators declared in unified consensus at the end of the rally.
Amid this demonstration in front of state department, some people were gathered inside Ethiopian embassy, not to demonstrate but to register their names for condominiums in Ethiopia; our sources have confirmed.