On Ethiopian Embassies

by Teklu Abate

The website of the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains that Ethiopia has 39 missions (embassies and consular offices) in Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa. These missions officially represent Ethiopia and poise to serve the Ethiopian Diaspora and Ethiopian-origin nationals. They also intend to encourage and facilitate the transfer of capital, technology, and science to Ethiopia. Since recent times, missions seem to aggressively work on 1) winning the hearts and minds of foreign investors particularly from the Arab world, India, and China, and 2) collecting funds for the construction of the “Grand Renaissance Dam”.

Ethiopian Embassy Washington DC

To what extent Ethiopian missions accomplish their missions? This is not for sure easy to answer mainly because information about the operations of the missions is not made readily available. But from media reports and mission-organized events, one could identify several areas where missions seem to perform inadequately.
In this paper, I highlight some of the weaknesses and limitations of Ethiopian missions, with a goal of inviting further discussions and then possible improvements in the way they do their jobs. Although missions might be somehow different in terms of their organizational capacity and readiness to change, it is argued that they do have several common traits as outlined below.

On Modern Slavery

Due to a whole set of socio-economic and political complications at home, Ethiopians are leaving their country in droves and for slavery. Thousands cross the Red Sea and the Sahara illegally and under life-threatening conditions. Several failed to make it to their destinies- they perished along the way. Several are stolen of their internal organs; several are raped, tortured, and indefinitely detained. Those who luckily reached their destinations are equally vulnerable to mistreatments of all sorts. They are forced to work under inhuman and hard-to-believe conditions. In a way, one could argue that Ethiopia is a witness to the revival of medieval period slave trade.
Several Ethiopian activists and some international organizations have started exposing such

The Grandiose Foundation for the Grandiose Legacy

  T.Goshu

April 2013

The mystification on “the great minded-ness and leadership” of the late Ato Meles Zenawi had been a campaign of indoctrinationthroughout his presidency, and later on his premiership. This had been ridiculously taken out of proportion right after the official pronouncement of his death that was followed by the declaration of mourning his death and paying “unprecedented” tribute. Now, the final and the highest stage of making him “an angel –like leader” of Ethiopia, “the leading politician for Pan- Africanism” and an “international political figure” are being launched. We have learnt this from the news and reports on the inaugural meeting held April 6, 2013. The people of Ethiopia have been showered with congratulatory news and messages about the coming into being of a historic foundation in honor of “a grandiose legacy of a great leader.”
Ato Amare Aregawi, the old guard of TPLF and who hopelessly continues struggling for the survival of the system of which he is extremely worried about after the death of his “great leader”, Ato Meles Zenawi has come up with a very ridiculous report titled, “the inaugural meeting of Ato Meles Zenawi’s Foundation has been Held with Mixed Feelings” (Amharic Version of April 10, 2013)
Amare Aregawi’s “smart” attempt of selecting very “impressive” topic for his report is the continuation of the mystification of the political personality of the late Ato Meles Zenawi in a very absurd and cynical manner. He has tried hard to imprint the very hypocritical legacy of the late Ato Meles Zenawi in the minds of the people of Ethiopia, and to deceive the international community. He has tried to convince (better to say to fool in vain ) the innocent people of Ethiopia and the people of the world (if the world gives any attention) that “the great and the most be-loved leader” once again made not only the people of Ethiopia but also “ the great leaders of Africa” shed their tears. It is not difficult to understand the very message of Amare Aregawi if we try to look at how he tried hard to paint his report with highly mystified and deceiving way of presentation. What he wanted once again to tell us is how the people of Ethiopia who lost “their great leader” and “the great leaders of Africa” and other “foreign dignitaries” who lost their “great friend” are still grief-stricken on the one hand, and filled with a lot of joy witnessing the establishment of the “historic foundation for his great legacy” on the other hand. That is what exactly the message Amare Aregawi has tried to send when he says “…mixed feelings.” Well, those who attended the meeting including the commissioner of of the AU, and leaders of African countries might have been inundated both with “grief and joy.” Their excitement about the political personality of the late Ato Meles Zenawi and being joyful about the establishment of the foundation on the one hand , and being gripped with life-time grief on the other hand is only and only up to them . But, one thing should surely and loudly be clear. And that is they have neither political nor moral capabilities to tell the innocent people of Ethiopia who have been incredibly dehumanized both politically as well as socio –economically that they should be grateful and proud of the legacy of the late Ato Mels Zenawi. That is an insult to the very intelligence of the Ethiopian people. It goes without saying that the innocent people of Ethiopia deserve to make unequivocally clear to those “great witnesses of their late great friend” who most of them are waiting for the days of judgments for what they have done to their own people and for their dirty political game they continue to play in the region need to stop muddling in the internal political affairs of Ethiopia.