To my surprise and dismay, you really support their action! Do you think it makes you a true Ethiopian by supporting an anti-Ethiopian propaganda? First and foremost I would like to make it clear that my concern and comment on that article came from a truly Ethiopian feeling, not as a supporter to the current regime. For your information, I utterly oppose the current regime’s policy of divide and rule, human rights abuses, handing our sea port to Eritrea, and so on. But my hatred to the regime does not make me join the wrong side (as you have done) and support parties and mercenaries that would like to see Ethiopia’s demise. Thanks to God there are true Ethiopians that critically analyse the situation and have shared and will share my opinion. I am comforted by the articles by Member and Mezgebe posted on Sept. 11. I hope you do not classify us as supporters of EPRDF for writing such articles. For that matter, I do not think it is a crime if someone supports the current regime, as far as we unite and stand together when it comes to protecting Ethiopian national interest.
Let me try to answer the questions you posed to me in your previous article: You raised the question “Do you truly believe that all the dams that are being built are for the benefit of the Ethiopian people?” If not for Ethiopians, for whom do you think they are (for Sudan, Egypt or Eritrea)? First and foremost the construction of the Dam itself creates job opportunities for Ethiopians (at least manual/ labour jobs for the impoverished Ethiopians, since we the educated ones are living abroad and publishing propaganda articles against Ethiopian interest). Once the dam is finalized at least few percent of the Ethiopian population will get electrical power, don’t you agree with this. Let’s assume that Meles will benefit by collecting the money, but who are the end users of the electrical power?
You raised the question “How come Gibe II collapsed two weeks after “inauguration”? Do you really have tangible evidence that the dam collapsed or you just grabbed one of the anti-Ethiopian propaganda [pieces] written by some foreigner and published it? For that matter even if there is a minor problem, those anti-Ethiopian campaign groups would try to blast it out of proportion so that IMF, World Bank and other lending agencies do not lend money for dam projects in Ethiopia. So, if I were you, I would refrain from publishing unsubstantiated news about Ethiopian dam projects written by foreigners, it is highly immoral and not worse than what Meles has done to Ethiopia.
Just a last question for you: have you been to Ethiopian in the last five years? What have you seen? Let us be frank to each other, don’t you see any sign of development? I will leave the rest to readers, God bless Ethiopia.
Dr. Assegid Garedew (London)
Editor’s Note – Thank you for the note. And this is a brief response.
Your initial message was published because we thought the subject had some substantial public interest. We also were not warned that the info was for our personal use, and not for public consumption. It was done with good intent, as there was nothing that would have gone against your good reputation.
Second, when we publish materials like those against the construction of Gibe III, we are sharing the info with our audience, even if that info doesn’t suit the interest of the government or our people. This would help initiate the kind of feedback that you yourself sent us. From communication, we draw very many lessons. On top of this, dam construction under this most corrupt and anti-Ethiopian regime doesn’t mean it is for the benefit of the people.
While keeping the Ethiopian farmer a landless tenant in his or her own country,
you know Meles Zenawi is selling (he deceptively calls it ‘leasing’) the most fertile parts of the country to foreigners at an unspecified amount of money and for as long as 100 years. Who would hate if foreigners develop our farms for the benefit of the Ethiopian people? But the foreign companies that are devouring Ethiopia with the knife Meles hands them don’t even leave the fodder (ye kebt meno) behind. They pack everything back to their home, leaving our indigenous people uprooted, impoverished, and landless in their own country.
By the same token, the dams that Meles Zenawi and Co. rush to build while violating international laws and standards are first and foremost designed to engage TPLF-owned companies in lucrative businesses. Imagine how much tons of cement bought from TPLF-owned companies go into building the dams that would anyway collapse because of the dubious practices involved. You also asked ‘do you really have tangible evidence that Gibe II collapsed?” This question would make you out of place, and let’s leave it there.
And finally, you said: “Let us be frank to each other, don’t you see any sign of development?”
Yes, if you gaze at the tall buildings in Addis, and that’s how you measure ‘development,’ I don’t blame you. If you look at the Chinese workers building roads, and that’s how you measure ‘development,’ then I don’t blame you. In that case, North Korea would have been the most affluent country because its capital, Pyongyang, has the world’s sparklingly clean, tree-lined avenues. But we know the streets have few cars (no business), and North Koreans are among Asia’s impoverished who go to bed hungry like us.
Coming to Ethiopia, I’m afraid to say you’ve missed the larger picture; Millions of Ethiopians remain impoverished and hungry, while the national currency, Birr, is being devalued at an alarming rate. It’s no brainer to understand how a double-digit economic growth over the span of seven years – if we were to believe Meles Zenawi – would have transformed the lives of our people (who are staggering to eat once a day). But it is not.
