Monday morning I went to the University lounge for my breakfast and I read a short notice which says “ በዘይት እጥርት ምክንያት ቁርስ አለመሩን እናሳውቃለን”. I did not have my dinner either for the same reason – scarcity of oil. “Had we punished the hoarders of basic food items since the eve of the Ethiopian millennium we wouldn’t have to face the current crisis.” Says one of my friend then derisive laughs follows from people who were jostling to get in to the queue to acquire a loaf of bread with a tea.
I should remind you that this drama is an epic narrative which begun with green pepper (remember አልጫው ሚሊኒየም), table salt, sugar and you name it, and then now is the turn is for oil. Let alone economists a layman like myself now can understand that this is a clear mismanagement of the policy makers who are operating the public policy with their own interest. I do not believe that the recent price hike of petrol did affect this jump in prices; neither the global food price inflation as reported by government media and its sympathizers contribute a lot for the hike of the price of oil.
Instead of searching for genuine and sound economic solutions, to our misery the blame game continues. Government officials are never tired of admitting that this crisis is illegal and artificial, and they are trying to be too clever by putting the blame on the ‘middlemen’ or hoarders,(ስግብግብ ነጋዴዎች) while asking the public to find them and take action against them. This shows to what extent our government can go to just to play politics. Because no matter what, the parliament will keep on deciding on fixing prices on commodities the government will present their unavoidable reasoning, cadres may keep on putting on an alert the hoarders’ act if the stocks are not released. The reality remains that except the hoarders, millers and related officials responsible for this extortion; we are the ones suffering due to the shortage of a basic daily usage commodity in an agricultural country.
It becomes evident that this government does not realize that because of its unprofessional skills and lack of control, the gap between the few middle class and the majority lower class is widening, as the lower class heads towards the poverty line. The inflation in Ethiopia is grave and the situation is getting worse each day. But without any remorse, the government approves the Great Millennium Dam making it an Easter gift to the impoverished people. Another price hike is already on its way very soon.

Very soon the price hikes, shortages and inflation will start to show repairable damage. I am tired, maybe some of aren’t, but the question is: Are you prepared to face more? If no, then what are the options available for a solution to stop this once and for all?

The ambitious Ethiopian government’s “The Great Renaissance Dam Project” on Nile River has ignited new fear and uncertainty among the general workers across all governmental departments. For Ethiopians, who are suffering from an ever increasing inflation of basic necessities, much is at stake.
That fear factor is for the following two reasons. Although mainstream Ethiopians embrace this splendid project with eagerness as an age old “dream” of our forefathers, it come along with the appalling politics of cadre finance raisers, which the government has brought together and infiltrated to every sectors of the civil service; from universities to factories with the intention of executing its programs and strategies, and this naturally lends itself for the usual connection of manipulation of the money and bogus public relation works of the project. Honestly speaking currently in Ethiopia organized hypocrisy is at its height through the promise of buying millennium bonds and reciting our age old “dream” of Abay mantra. This puts a significant number of the public in a limbo .Moreover; the rush and the secrecy that attends “The Great Renaissance Dam Project” have left the majority citizens not knowing enough to feel confident.
The fear inspired by the unrealized promises of electric power surplus due to the failure of Gilegle Gibe II and Tikaze hydro powers is being reflected amongst the majority of the civil servants’ reluctance to cooperate with government cadres to raise funds. Here I do not deny the fact I myself have willy-nilly given 30% of my monthly salary to the cause, which was decided on a meeting that I and many of my friends were not participant largely owing to the techniques which systemically alienates us from the meeting. Had we been on such meetings we would have demanded for an explanation and interweaved cadre strategies to stain critical citizens by labeling them as mercenaries of Egyptians or couriers of the enemy. Indeed, such kinds of meetings in Ethiopia are prone to induce fear and generally participants will not defy most of the ideas forwarded from the leaders of such an assembly. Moreover on these kinds of meetings “governing” ideas of the leaders of such a gathering are being roared heavily by undercover cadres who want to don the patriotic dress by passionate support they show for the dam. Other moderate participants are too afraid to speak for fear of being labeled. Some might think this way:-“If I ask some critical questions I might be considered as Egyptian”. “Should I contest the feasibility of this project; my citizenship will be instantly questioned”
The other factor that exacerbates the public fear is not to classify who supports the project or not. The real fear emerges from the abolition of the grey area. Government people and cadres are obsessed with thinking in black and white, leaving no space for development of logic, arguments and inquiry regarding the feasibility of this grand project —–“The Great Renaissance Dam Project”—–. Let me exemplify this with an aphorism of a certain priest that I heard on Ethiopian Television during Easter celebration. I am quoting the priest directly “Every Ethiopian except an unborn offspring or dead in a graveyard should support this project”. When a nation is talking matters of a vital significance like this, people are allowed to inquire seriously. Otherwise this is an open hypocrisy. And it clearly sends out the message that the only intention of this government is to complete its term and nothing more.
I think our plight is therefore is this: Ethiopia has more than 15 hydro electric power plants in operation, with an additional 6 on order. With the country dreadfully short of power, and requiring energy to grow, concerned citizens are asking if “The Great Renaissance Dam Project” is still the answer for Ethiopia.

Recent happening on the in Addis Ababa have once again elevated the anxiety the of the already weaken minority members of the free press in the country. Members of government media tried to skyjack the occasion of World Press Freedom Day organized by members of the free press, UNESCO and others is a case in point. For me the incident would colorfully illustrate the disturbances that members of the free press have gone through for the last 20 years. Yes it did. And for thriving bloggers like myself is also a cause for concern.
But why the government would like to take such inconsiderate actions against the free media? Is the already depleted media too critical of government? The Amharic version of the Reporter shed light on the issue in a recently published article on the controversial incident of World Press Freedom Day (the article can be viewed here). And with a title like “የፕሬስ ነፃነት የተዳጠበት የፕሬስ ቀን” it’s not hard to see whose side the Reporter is taking.
The article takes a swipe at people who were persona non grata on the occasion, accusing them of using a back stage anti-free media techniques to involve themselves in the event and hijack the occasion on their favor. People from government communication department receive the majority of the blame for their needlessly persistent attempt against free discussion titled: 21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers and the article has also indicated that government people with a select “free” media people were successful in their premeditated shameless attempt to swing the pre-arranged schedule of the event.
I certainly don’t dispute the fact that government might have attempted to swing the event in its own favor and target people from free media. In the last fortnight alone reports from freedom house and committee to protect journalists, whose website are blocked in Ethiopia, have been surfacing indicating the appalling state of the Ethiopian free media. It just seems funny to me that this comes as a shock to the Reporter, who is rumored to be government sympathizer.
But let me not split hairs. Rather than pointing each bits of the incident as it is presented by the Reporter it might be more pertinent to raise the fundamental question: Why does the government desires to hijack the occasion? After all, there must be some reason why the government is so interested in involving itself in the discussion which would have hosted disparage the government’s role in weakening the free press of Ethiopia in the last five years. So why?
One possible reason is that such incidents in the eyes of the government appeals to the anti-government sentiments of the free media, hence starting to involve and controlling such events will help a lot to demoralize members of the free media. For some of you this argument might not hold water, and you may say that it is evident that government is always affectionate of accusations and tarnishing of the free press for being anti-government. But in recent times I have not heard of a single occasion where any government official has shown their eagerness to participate in the affairs of the “private” press as a government. Nor have I heard government interest to cooperate with free media. On the contrary I have seen plenty of legal and political catharsis dished out against the members of free media. Therefore, the government has a grand ambition in participating in events such as World Press Freedom Day.
Could it perhaps be because government wants to have facade of democratic governments? Is it because the government wants the message to get across for institutes like the UNESCO? From the behavior our rulers it is evident that they do not care for face values of democracy even when it matters the most. But this point would have been convincing only if our rulers engaged in actions which have direct effect on our media which would have counted a point in return for the face value of our democracy. In fact, it is the exact opposite. Every action of our leaders has tremendous repercussions on us all, and most of them are far from positive.
The only possible conclusion in my opinion is linked to the genuine purpose of trying to control each and every bit of information in the country. Besides this, there is a sudden explosive reports from various international organizations which frames the Ethiopian government as complete adversary of free press. And this is a point of concern for Ethiopian government.
Anyway this event unavoidably put the members of the free media in the incredibly important position to voice the worry of the member of the free media people, an obvious privilege that will never be granted to Ethiopian Television journalists. Shockingly we are in a period when some of government officials are nicknamed on the basis of corruption and opposition political parties are mockingly referred to as ‘friendly opposition’, the free media online or print should emerged as the single steward spanning across the political landscape, bringing the views of the common man in front of the entire nation.

These days I have heard people claiming that Ethiopians are at their strongest unity because they faced with opportunity, in the form of the Great Ethiopian Millennium Dam whether it is worthy claim or rubbish remains to be seen. The proponents of “The Great Ethiopian Millennium Dam” are claiming that the project is bringing out the best in every Ethiopian, they say that it is a project that makes Ethiopians to fix on to put aside all differences and unite for a common cause:- “The Great Ethiopian Millennium Dam on Nile river”. But I think during such events; the reverse is also true. The broad bunches of the mass might need leadership and unity under one cause; but it also provides an opportunity for the tricky and crooked to maneuver for their own profit.

The Ethiopian popular culture is characterized by songs that we see that come out during such events. The celebrated Teddy Afro’s song after the victory of Kenenisa during the 2004 Athens Olympic is a case in point. However, it is common that other Ethiopian songs depicting social problems which would go unnoticed in Ethiopian media. Scholars suggest that songs are one of art forms and probably the most successful form of expression when it comes to connecting with an audience and getting peoples point across. These songs don’t need glamour and sex to make them popular; they have a mass audience because of their truthfulness.

Although we had remarkable artists like Tilahun Gessese and Ali Bira singing “political” music way back during the imperial regime in the 1950’s and 1960’ the influence of music on the general public came into the forefront during election 2005 during the rise of the growing opposition to the government. The 1990’s was also like a time in history when songs actually started to dictate public politics. This is evident if we take a look at some of Oromo songs. If one listens to Teddy Afro’s “Jah Yastesrial” it doesn’t tell you a story any of us would have trouble relating to. In fact, it pricks your conscience and makes you yearn for change in your social environment. The song doesn’t preach political upheaval or violence, either. It merely raises an issue and lets society think about it.

I feel these days that we are a little bit unfortunate that as the talk of Ethiopian’s mainstream music industry arguably flourishes, artists looking into the roots of conflict and social injustice are a scarcity. We have artists like Teddy Afro, who happily preach love and peace through his music and claim to be bringing the nation towards “unity”. But I find it difficult to take him seriously; I consider him as a representative of a bigger problem. I believe most of our artists today lack the genuineness and zeal to speak their mind. It’s all well and good to sing about development of the country, it is an extraordinary deed to try to project a good image of the country though music, but I believe it isn’t exactly doing us any favors. It amazes me that for a country plagued with lack of good governance, hard-hitting pricing, domestic violence, rape and vagabondism in the towns our music industry remains oblivious to the genre of topical songs. As far as I know, this unconcealed ignorance to our society can only be because of three reasons.

1. Either these artists lack the talent of creative songwriting to make anything of our plight

2. They simply don’t care or

3. They are cowards

What do you think?