The Case for Democracy: Where does Ethiopia Stands?

The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror

Natan Sharansky and Ron Dermer

Source

In this work Natan Sharansky and Ron Dermer present a series of arguments as to how and why democracy makes the world safer. Sharansky sets out by dividing the world between "free" and "fear" societies. Then he employs a simple test to discern a free society from a society based on fear: Can one enter a public square and express any opinion without fear of being arrested? If not, one is in a society that runs on fear. Then, he describes the mechanics of fear societies, focusing on three basic groups: true believers, double thinkers, and dissidents.

Sharansky uses personal anecdotes to demonstrate what these categories mean, and to describe, for readers who have lived only in free societies, the experience of living in a fear society. He admits that he was, like most of the Soviet population, a double thinker, constantly performing a balancing act between his true feelings and his public feelings. As a child, he privately celebrated Stalin's death, and then joined the public expressions of mourning and praise.

Only those adept at reading these mechanics, Sharansky warns, can tell the true believers from the double thinkers. Most outsiders mistakenly accept the popularity of despotic states because these regimes spend great effort trying to conceal the difference between their true believers and double thinkers. The failure to see the difference between the two, however, is not just a question of political acumen; it is a question of moral clarity.
Sharansky then analyzes the inherent instability of fear societies. Their leaders lack popular support, and, over time, they lose true believers. So the regime must work harder to hold onto power. To prop itself up, the regime needs an external enemy, who serves a dual, if not contradictory, purpose. Because the fear society stifles creative thought, it lacks scientific and technological progress, and so must mimic those of its rival. It also uses the rival as the scapegoat for its own political malaise. By contrast, governments of free societies are accountable to the will of the people and the laws of their country. A democratic leader who pursues a reckless agenda cannot do so indefinitely.

Sharansky explains how freedom can guide free societies in their dealings with fear societies. He does so by raising three questions: Is freedom from tyranny universally desired? Is pursuing that goal universally desirable? And can it be done, even if imposing it on a nation is required? Discussing the United State’s role in the world, he responds to criticisms of so-called realists from both the left and right who believe that America's foreign policy should be guided only by interests--and not by ideals. He rejects the notion that certain cultures are incompatible with democracy. Exporting freedom to these societies, he argues, is moral since it helps oppressed people obtain basic liberties. But it is also pragmatic, because democratic societies tend to resolve their differences peacefully.
Sharansky advocates the use of well-calculated international pressure against tyrannies. In the Middle East, the dictatorships may be vehemently anti-American, but the people tend to favor the West. The West can influence undemocratic and anti-American regimes such as Iran's, Saudi Arabia's, and Syria's by insisting that their people enjoy some basic freedoms.

According to Sharansky:-

"We must understand the difference between fear societies and free societies, between dictators and democrats. We must understand the link between democracy and peace and between human rights and security. Above all, we must bring back moral clarity so that we may draw on the power of free individuals, free nations, and the free world for the enormous challenges ahead. "

Born in the USSR in 1948 Sharansky spent many years in opposition to the Soviet system which brought him to be imprisoned in a Gulag and, as he puts it himself, it was only after he was finally released by his Soviet jailers and was allowed to emigrate to Israel, he came to:-

"Understand a critical difference between the world of fear and the world of freedom. In the former, the primary challenge is finding the inner strength to confront evil. In the latter, the primary challenge is finding the moral clarity to see evil. "

Foreign Exchange: The Ethiopian regime on the Pursue of Dollar?

Governments in peruse to earn Foreign exchange subsidize the cost of production and services to the benefit of the urban élites, set the stage for official corruption at any cost. We believe that, it is one of the major reasons African countries became a primary commodity exporters on the expenses of the producers and service providers resulting in the long overdue lack of the indigenous economic reform. The following paragraphs argue the problem of government’s subsidizing one area of services at the cost of national long term interest.

As coffee commodity, the celebrated Ethiopian Airline (EAL) is another cash cow for the Ethiopian regime. Since its birth, the EAL like many of the public institutions that generate lots of hard cash has been serving the authoritarian regimes we are fated to be ruled under. If one observes carefully everything the current regime does, be it operating EAL, entreating the donors, export of cash crops, luring the Diaspora for investment or receiving remittance...etc. has been in search of hard currency, but nothing to do with the wellbeing of Ethiopians.

Not long ago, the CEO of the Airline was on the media telling us how he is running the Airlines to profitability…. won award and all. Off-course, he cannot talk about the highly subsidized operational cost of the Airline such as the free rent and airport services. Given Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin of TPLF is his boss as the chairman of the Board of Director of the Airline; the CEO’s comment is not surprising. It would be politically incorrect even may be deadly for the CEO to mention any truth to the operation of the Airline and the subsidy it receive from the government.

What is relevant and out of the ordinary about the Airline is that, even though it provides services to the public; it is owned and highly subsidized by the government without much competition just because it earns hard currency. Furthermore, no one actually knows where the generated revenue goes and who is accountable to the tax payers due to lack of independent oversight.

In terms of revenue, we have been hearing recently the Airline has made record profits. Such report was uttered by the CEO through the government media and by other Medias parroting the same source. Since the CEO is working for the regime and the source of the news is also the regime itself without independent media to verify, it could be a cheery-pick report. Strangely, the supposedly independent press in the country is mimicking the same source without being aware what the source meant by profit.

Here is where it gets humorous; the ‘profitable’ airline practically does not pay rent for the 100s of offices it ‘rents’ in the country. It merely pays a ‘symbolic’ rent for the government run Housing Authority that holds on to thousands of properties confiscated from private citizens during the brutal Derg regime on the bases of Marxist revolution…the exploiters…, Ethiopia Tekdim and all.

We know for fact, there are half a dozen offices in the center of town the Airline rents for less than 1000 birr per month from the Housing Authorities. It is unthinkable in the world of business that, a commercial Airline paying an equivalent of less than 100 us dollar to rent an office space in a commercial district of an urban center anywhere but only in Ethiopia whose slogan is drummed “Abiyotawi democracy…progress…free market and record profits”…,etc. If profit making was so much easy as it is claimed (one can pay practically no rent to run an Airline and claim to make a record profit) then, everyone would have started an airline business. Actually, according to the regime’s law no one can operate an Airline business in Ethiopia but the regime let alone not pay rent.

What is oxymoronic is that, the property the regime holds to subsidize the Airline – not to pay the appropriate rent belongs to someone who probably spent all his/her lifesaving to build it. But the regime feels it can rent it low to an Airline who made millions of dollar (not birr) ‘record’ profits. What is new in “Abiyotawi democracy” and its version of free market is that, it is free market only to the regime and its affiliate.

In terms of others, how many subsidized rent the regime offers to keep its extortion going? We do not know. But we have discovered an owner of a busy café who pays a mere 500 birr rent per month and turn around to built a six story building and rent it for thousands of dollars per month to a foreign entity. That is what the regime calls free market…progresses…growth, etc.

There are also commercial and residential properties the regime rents to ‘selected’ few that pays so little rent. They spent more for electricity than they do for rent. Some people we encounter even fly first class on EAL paying birr to an overseas 'business' conference to lecture about investment opportunities in Ethiopia, and spent more money on a dinner than they do for a government subsidized rent they pay on their residence back home. Such practice is a slap on the face of the original owners, who have been told not to apply to recover their properties by some cooked-up technicalities of the regime’s making.

In such system political cronyism and corruption is a standard procedure to acquire a confiscated commercial and residential properties for dirt cheap rent and lease land for foreign investors for dollar. Even the gullible Diasporas are lured to invest in building their dream homes; justifying their ill deeds as it is good for progress…the ‘economy is growing rapidly…, etc.

For political consumptions, the above situations are hipped up as progressive events by the regime. The fact is, progress itself is a questionable proportion, and the question is who is progressing and at what cost? For example, we know some of the regime’s right hand-men live in the government confiscated villas practically for noting and build a villa of their own and rent it for thousands of dollars for foreigners (not birr). How about the regime affiliated businesses? Do they pay rent? Do they pay taxes? Do they even allow any one to compete with them? Is this Abiyotawi democracy at work? Going back to the EAL profit making, one cannot help but raise the question, why does the Airline get subsidy? This question itself can get one in trouble, but we can assume it is a cash-cow that generates hard currency for the regime.

There is much more about the dollar curse than any one can imagine. For instance, coffee export is one of the main one. Facilitated by the new established Commodity Exchange - the exchange, we were told was “to transform the agriculture market of the country for the benefit of the poor farmers”.

Coffee has always been the #1 foreign exchange earner for the country. The country exports the raw coffee through the many traditional private exporters outside the control of the ruling regimes. In the past the Coffee Board facilitated coffee export and coordinated its effort with the coffee exporter until the new commodity exchange came disguised as an agriculture commodity market reformer; shortly after it went out looking to control coffee and recently sesame seed (more to come) armed by the regime’s proclamation.

Another cash cow for the regime unknown to the average person is Sugar export. The few sugar producing companies still owned by the government has high ranking TPLF’s leader as the Board of Directors of the factories. For example, like the Ethiopian Airline Wonji is under Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin. What is even bizarre is Ethiopians pay an equivalent of five to ten times more for sugar produced in the country than the exported sugar that is sold in the international market for dollar. Accordingly, the regime made it illegal to sell “export designated sugar” in the local market as it is illegal to sell export designated coffee. What it means is dollar is what the regime seeks not birr. Incidentally, many merchants were jailed and lost their commodities for selling ‘export designated sugar’ in the local market in the past, just like coffee traders were not long ago. Thus, smuggling exported sugar back to the country became a profitable venture itself for many merchants because it is illegal to import sugar in the country.

Other areas the regime targets for foreign currency earning are selling Bonds to the Diaspora to ‘provide electricity in the rural Ethiopia’

http://www.ethioconsulatela.org/eepbond.html, shutting down independent money transfer services to control Diaspora remittance money transfer, luring Ethiopians in Diaspora to invest in their birth country and offering ‘free land’ to build their dream home, etc. Our ancestor Lucy was not spared too, thanks to the Ethiopian Trade and Investment Council- a peculiar outfit whose primary activity seems touring Lucy, unlike trade promotion as its name and mission implies http://www.eatic.org/home.html,

In Ethiopia, everything leads to the appetite of the regime for hard currency regardless of the cost to the Ethiopian people. Even building dams is intended to do with dollar earning like ‘exporting electricity’ to Sudan and Kenya while the population is living in darkness. There is unprecedented compulsion to earn hard currency on the expenses of the indigenous economy.

In conclusion, there is a lesson to be learned by all; in peruse of dollar there is a lots of ill gained wealth through corruption and cronyism by the regime’s affiliates and others. This ill gained wealth must be tracked, confiscated, and returned for the people of Ethiopia. And those who are involved in corruption must be punished and shamed. To accomplish such accountability for the sake of the Ethiopian people; political parties, civic societies, religious institutions and the independent media must create a coalition and establish an institution that demands the rule of law for good governance.

It must be recognized that, the root causes of poverty, underdevelopment and the associated tyranny and absence of freedom are directly related with corruption of officials and business that are sustained by colliding with the officials. Therefore, we urge Ethiopian intellectuals to come forward to lead and challenge their peers who are involved in corruption, and the so called ‘businesses’ who collide with the regime on the expenses of Ethiopians and make them accountable for conspiring to be part of the elaborate crime of corruptions against the Ethiopian people.

Independent media and civic institutions must investigate individuals and their affiliate’s who facilitate corruption and expose the responsible persons. At the Individual level, Ethiopians must demand transparency and make sure not to get involved in corruption for short term benefits. Transparency at all level of governance is a must to free the Ethiopian people, and for good governance to flourish and move forward.

Transparency: Why is the Ethiopian Government Hiding?

There is hardly any government in the world who does not have a website to inform the world about the structure of its government and the activities governing its nation. Unlike such governments, the Ethiopian government lead by TPLF/EPRDF since it came to power over 18 years ago has no website. One wonders why? Is there a need to hide the activities of governance, if so what is it hiding?

For the curious researcher, Google search finds practically no website where one can find any useful information about the Ethiopian government. We found some in few embassies’ websites and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with noting worthy of information. For instance, the Ethiopian Embassy London, lead by Ambassador Berhanu Kebede (Biography)

has a list of the regime's cabinets with no profiles or credential on it's website.

The Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC, lead by Ambassador Samuel Assefa; a PHD in Political Science has no information on the Embassy’s website about the government he serves.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

lead by Seyoum Mesfin (Biography) who oversees all the embassies around the world has no information on its government beside the name list of officials with no profile and credential.

The Supposedly Information Ministry lead by Berket Simon no longer exists and is replaced by Government Communication Agency with no website.

The Ministries in the country and the Embassies around the world have no worthy information on the government they serve in their official website.

The responsible persons failed to demand the regime they serve to be transparent enough to revile basic information on the identity and qualification of who is running the country, and the service they provide for the citizens. Their complicity to be part of the clandestine activity by rendering their professional responsibility useless is pitiful.

The question remains, why does a government who is supposedly responsible for over 80 million people and supported with multiple donors for the good portion of its budget chooses not to have a web portal to tell the world about itself, its policies, and put-out information vital to the citizens and the international community? How is it the loyal Ambassadors and Ministers of the regime choice to get along with out protest or accountability.

When one examines comparable governments in Africa, not only they have a comprehensive information portal to inform and promote their country, they list who is who in government with their credentials. For instance, the Government of Djibouti with a population of half a million has a comprehensive portal about its government.

The Republic of Kenya has comprehensive government information portal as well as the Kenya Ministry of Information, and various government agencies including Kenyan Investment Authority portal, to mention a few.

It is fair to assume that the ruling regime of Ethiopia monopoly of media infrastructure and suppression of IT technology with the lowest penetration rate in the world are part of a deliberate plan designed to hide its activity and the identity and credential of its cabinet, managers, and operatives. In contrast, the regime has a full service web portal only when it serves its political and economic interest like Ethiopian Commodity Exchange

or Ethiopian Human Right Commission , but block every thing else that expose its dismal record in governance, human right, investment, independent media and civic societies. It is obvious the conspiracy to hide important information to conceal its unqualified officials working for the regime, and to avoid accountability from Ethiopians and the world community.

The question still remains, in a day of information revolution, why is the regime hiding from world and operating in a clandestine fashion by concealing the activity of its governance? And why no one is not making the regime accountable.

Ethiopians and the international community must demand transparency from the regime and its affiliated agencies and require disclosure of the profile and credential of its officials and manager. Furthermore, the willing individuals who serve the regime knowingly conspire to keep the people of Ethiopia in the dark must be identified and be accountable.

Public institutions must be transparent to release all information on their agencies in order to be accountable to the public. Only then, the people of Ethiopia can make the decision of the leadership skills and trustworthiness of leaders to hold public offices.

The culture of authoritarian rule operating in clandestine fashion on the expenses of the people must end. Every Ethiopian must demand open governance and accountability of one and all.

Election: is the National Election Board of Ethiopia impartial and independent?

The regime that claims’ having an ‘independent’ election board is running the nation election to legitimize itself as a winner of the 2005 election and beyond could not be able to have a secure website under their control. The supposedly independent and the decider of the winners and losers of the national election do not run their own website. Instead they passed on this sensitive responsibility to an individual named Atnafseged Mahdere, who run an outfit called Afrolink Studio with an address 4921 Seminary Road Apt1416 City: Alexandria State/Province:VA Postal Code:22311 Country: US Registrant Phone:+1.2404634584 Phone Ext.:Registrant FAX:+1.0 FAX Ext.:Registrant Email:togi@afrolinkstudio.com according the Source network solutions.

Afrollink studio is also listed as a web design service http://afrolinkstudio.com/ located at Comet Building, 4th Floor, 401 (next to Axum Hotel) in Addis Ababa with US representative Atnafseged (Togi) Mahdere Tel. 001-240-463-4584. e-mail: togi@afrolinkstudio.com according its website.

No one knows why the most sensitive government run Election Board ‘appointed’ by the Prime Minster with the approval of the ‘parliament’ is runnng its website by an outfit that uses a server outside the country.

“Government should be transparent. Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing.” BARACK OBAMA

The concept of Democracy became a mockery of tyrannical rulers and their apologists. The Ethiopian regime and its intellectuals, who serve in such responsibility, took corruption to a different level. Their concept of Democracy became putting up show by an Election Board for the unsuspecting and gullible international community’s low expectation of African democracy. Noting can exhibit the crudeness of those who are willing to be actors and actresses of the ruling regime charade of election than the election board members.

In unprecedented submission to tyranny, the so called members of the Ethiopian Election Board were willing to participate in fraud election in 2005 and are preparing for another show 2010 election at the expenses of the rights, freedom and dignity of the Ethiopia people.

They are knowingly and willingly choosing to participate in the day-drama to legitimize a non -existence election to give a stamp of approval for the predetermined winner. In doing so, they are willing to put their moral, credentials and professional ethics on line and sacrifice, the people of Ethiopia, for what ever it worth.

Equally responsible in the history of authoritarian regimes are intellectuals who give cover in the service for a dictatorial governments. Their violation of transparency, accountability, and willingness to compromise their professional ethics continues to be the cause of poor governance in general and human right violations, poverty, corruption…,etc..

In the case of Ethiopia, it is saddening to see a nation with a population of 80 plus million people became a play ground of morally and ethically impaired intellectuals in the service of the ruling regime conducting business as usual without accountability for the people of Ethiopia or anyone else. It also says a lot about the callousness of the international community to look the other way when they help sustain unaccountable regime with a decimal record of election fraud, human right violations, the cause of massive poverty, and corruption.

We cannot help but ask who should be held accountable? According to the National Election Board website run by an outside outfit the following are members of the board listed.

www.electionsethiopia.org/Index.html

Mr. Kemal Bedri Kelo; Chairman of the board (photo)
Abdella Adem; Member (Photo)

Girma Jarso; Member (Photo)

Kebedech Erdachew Mamuye; Member (Photo)

Dr Tadios Munie; Member (photo)

Tesfaye Mengesha Abegaz; Member (Photo)

In a true democratic process – government by the people for the people, having an independent and transparent election board is critical. Therefore, we urge all Ethiopians to hold the election board members and the rubber stamp parliament members who ‘approve them as legitimate and impartial’ accountable for their inactions. Both the election board members and parliament members are conspiring to deprive the people of Ethiopia their right to elect their leaders and live in a democratic country to peruse their lives and liberties under the peoples’ government.

We advise all Ethiopians, to follow-up on individuals who serve and cover for the regime by documenting their misdeeds and corruption, so that they can be accountable in the near future.

Transparent Governance must prevail, and the intellectuals who prevent it must be held accountable in every venue.

Investment in Ethiopia: Is US economic interest undermined by poor policy choice towards Ethiopia?

US Policy towards Ethiopia neglects the most important human resources (the Ethiopian Diasporas) who are willing and able to promote US citizens economic interest and goodwill in Ethiopia. Instead, the policy directs US foreign assistants worth billions of dollars (the largest in Sub Sahara Africa) to the ruling regime, which ends neither up without much returns for the US citizens economic interest nor alleviates the poverty for the intended recipients.

It is not surprising that a policy that does not require accountability of the regime to be transparent abridged US investment, but also indirectly failed to demonstrate a good stewardship to the US citizens. Furthermore, it caused the US to loss the opportunity, to utilize the vast human and financial resources of the Diaspora, who would have been active in investing in the region, and protect the US interest which includes promoting the goodwill of the American people. For instance, there is no a single institution in the US that promote US investment in Ethiopia, nor the government of Ethiopia attempts to encourage the US citizen to invest in Ethiopia by providing transparent investment information and incentive, thus preventing millions of US citizens from participating.

The US embassy in Addis Ababa is not doing its job either; it seems the Embassy is dolling money as if it is a charity than a promoter of US interest in the country. With close to a million Ethiopian Americans in Diaspora, the only US businesses listed in the US embassy website are only two dozen businesses.

Also, there is not much effort by the US commercial officers in opening up the country to US investment or a follow-up to identify causes that prevents US investment in Ethiopia. In general, the regime in Ethiopia is not providing equal opportunity for US citizens for the massive Economic assistance it receives from US tax payers. Instead, it only promotes Diaspora remittance and more foreign Aid from the US and many other sources than investment. Thus, US citizens are left with forums and unreadable information from the government and different sources that have no transparency. For instance, some are organized by the ruling regime cadres out of Ethiopian embassies and consulate to lure unsuspecting Ethiopian Americans; others are simply taking advantage of inside information to make quick buck without putting much effort.

Another example is the Ethiopian Diaspora Business Forum which is a hollow salesmanship in investment promotion in Ethiopia. The forum is organized by The Ethiopian American online Magazine, and Precision Consult International to lure Ethiopian-Americans to invest in their birth country without providing any independent information or explaining the political and market risk caused by the absence of transparent policy of the regime and investment information.

The forum presented a personal opinion of the organizers and most of the panelists claim to plenty of investment opportunity with out illuminating sources. Sponsored by George Washington University, USAID and VEGA (Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance), and by the invitation only forum without publicly reviling invitation requirements. However, the organizers claim there are “lots of investment opportunity in Ethiopia” see the video of the 2008 forum made public.

It seems the organizers and the sponsors must have privileged investment information that is not available for the public on the government’s own official investment portal-Ethiopian Investment Commission www.ethiomarket.com/eic/. What makes it rather unusual with the forum is that, the panelists who are invited to promote investment opportunity in Ethiopia are not investors or have any official capacity in government. Some are professors in unrelated fields and others are non governmental organization reps.

The US was represented by Ato Addisu Alemayhu of US Aid representative to promote African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), that promotes Ethiopian products in US free of duty, but yet, there is no US agency that promote US products to Ethiopia.it was announced the forum held it’s forth gathering of 2009 on July 12 in Washington DC, (No information is public yet)

For an average observer, it is hard to ascertain whether it is out of fear or they are simply government agents’ who are attempting to lure unsuspecting Ethiopian Diasporas to invest their resources in the name of investment. The official government investment promoters (The Ethiopian Investment Agency and The Export and Import Promotion Agency), the known Chambers of Commerce (Ethiopian and Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce) are nowhere to be found in all the three forums held in the past, but the same unknown individuals.

The Managing Director of Precision Consult International Mr. Henock Assefa, one of the ‘organizers’ and the panelist spoke about many investment opportunity with out sighting sources. It is clear the forum organizers and their regularly invited guests must have no idea of what a simple investment requires or took it up on themselves to say what they are told by the government without fact checking. Such action negatively impacts the Ethiopian Americans who can potentially change the course of the Ethiopian economy if there was transparent information and a coherent investment policy in the country than to rely on unknown individuals and firms about investment opportunities information.

In our previous expose we explored how the nation’s investment portal was run by rogue individuals out of the US by channeling foreign investment inquiry through www.ethiomarket.com. Our search for investment information on official government websites noting worth to consider investment is found. Once again, we are finding investment promotion by unknown consulting firm and individuals who are not officials or investors themselves, thus begging the following questions. Who are they? Where do they get the information to lure investors? How come they never raise many issues, like political risk, corruption, lack of transparency and the lack of coherent investment policy?

It is troubling to see an investment consultant who dose not raise key investment risks that would make and break an investment.

Henock Assefa, the point man of the forum and the Managing Director of Precision Consult international claimed Ethiopian economic growth of "5-12%" in the last five years with out mentioning any source, not even the government’s source. He even talk a lots about foreign investors who came to his office willing to invest and the potential of the opportunity “to make a good living” investing in Ethiopia. Looking at the official website of the firm, where all the investment opportunities may be and all the foreign investors he talked about being helped by his consulting firm Precison Consult International, we found not even one investor consulted by the firm. What we found are few non-governmental organizations, UNDP and two Chambers of commerce the firm claim consultant.

The only focuses of the firm seems raising capital from the Diaspora for real-estate development. In another website associated with the firm Diaspora Invest solicits Ethiopian Americans to invest by offering 100,000 share of real-estate. And once again the same firm is also affiliated with Ethiopian investor with noting worth investment information. Domain Name: ETHIOPIAINVESTOR.COM Registrar: TUCOWS INC. .tucows.com Updated Date: 05-mar-2009 Creation Date: 27-Jan-2008 Source: Godaddy.com

In contrast to what Mr. Assefa claims on the video presentation the firm does not have any thing that can be ascertained as a successful investment in Ethiopia on its official website nor investment opportunity information that would help the Diaspora to make a decision to invest.

The other organizer of the forum- Ethiopian America online Magazine as media serving the Diaspora also failed to ask the basic requirement of promoting investment in a given country or a company in regard to the government policy of suppressing investment information, rampant corruption, the ruling party affiliate business dominating the private sector and many other transparency issue important for any investor and the local business at home to help investors assess risk and reward.

As an “independent” media, the Magazine and its publisher Ato Yohannes Assefa who claim to be ‘a business and intellectual property attorney’ in New York, according the official website should have known better and have the responsibility to seek the facts so that investors get the whole story before they commit their resources in a country where independent information is hard to come-by and where transparency is a foreign language.

What we still could not understand is why unknown consultant with not much track record speaks on investment opportunities that are neither on its official website nor the official government’s investment agency? The record shows the domain name was registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. Domain Name: PRECISECONSULTINTERNATIONAL.COM Created on: 09-Mar-07 Expires on: 09-Mar-10 Registrant: Henock Assefa, 40 waterside plaza Apt. #14A New York, NY 10010 (Source) godaddy.com

How a company domain name registered two years ago with not much track record can speak with authority about investment opportunity in Ethiopia is a question that needs an immediate inquiry by the media and concerned institutions.

Therefore, based on the above observations, we warn Ethiopians who entertain investment in Ethiopia to be extra careful and ask the hard questions before they commit their resources. In a country where the investment agency has nothing resembling like an investment opportunity, being lured by individuals’ talk can have far reaching consequences for investors. We also urge the media, civic organizations, and the international community to make a concerted effort in investigating transparency of commerce in order to make those responsible agencies or managers accountable.

Human Right: Is there a Link between Economic Freedom and Human Rights?

The Link between Economic Freedom and Human Rights

by Anthony B. KimWebMemo #1650

Source: Heritage Foundation

In his address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 25, President Bush urged the nations of the world to work together "to free people from tyranny and violence, hunger and disease, illiteracy and ignorance, and poverty and despair." That message echoes the enduring confidence that Americans have in freedom as a moral and liberating force for all peoples. It is the foundation of true democracy and human rights. Freedom is the engine that drives sustainable economic growth and provides increased access to prosperity for all people everywhere.

Economic Freedom Empowers People

Economic freedom is essentially about ensuring human rights. Strengthening and expanding it guarantees an individual's natural right to achieve his or her goals and then own the value of what they create. Amartya Sen, a Nobel laureate economist who has made considerable contributions to development economics, once noted that "Development consists of the removal of various types of unfreedoms that leave people with little choice and little opportunity for exercising their reasoned legacy." People crave liberation from poverty, and they hunger for the dignity of free will. By reducing barriers to these fundamental human rights, forces of economic freedom create a framework in which people fulfill their dreams of success. In other words, the greater the economic freedom in a nation, the easier for its people to work, save, consume, and ultimately live their lives in dignity and peace.

This relationship is well documented in the Index of Economic Freedom, published annually by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, which measures economic freedom around the globe. The Index identifies strong synergies among the 10 key ingredients of economic freedom, which include, among others, openness to the world, limited government intervention, and strong rule of law. The empirical findings of the Index confirm that greater economic freedom empowers people and improves quality of life by spreading opportunities within a country and around the world. As Chart 1 clearly demonstrates, there is a robust relationship between economic freedom and prosperity. People in countries with either "free" or "mostly free" economies enjoy a much higher standard of living than people in countries with "mostly unfree" or "repressed" economies.

Citizens in nations that are built on greater economic freedom enjoy greater access to ideas and resources, which are the forces that let "all of us exchange, interact and participate" in an increasingly interconnected world. Access, another form of freedom that has practical promise, is an important transmitting mechanism that allows improvements in human development and fosters better democratic participation. A new cross-country study, recently commissioned and published by the FedEx Corporation, measures the level of access that a nation's people, organizations, and government enjoy in comparison to the world and to other countries. The study looks into trade, transport, telecommunication, news, media, and information services in 75 countries. read the full article.

In the quest to free the Ethiopians from tyranny and the associated human right violation, lack of economic freedom, and poverty, Ethiopians must make sure the violators are individually accountable in every venue available in the world.

The need to form strong and transparent advocacy groups for Human Right and Economic Freedom is necessary.The role of such group is to identify individuals and groups who violated human rights and economic freedom of Ethiopians and bring them to justice in every jurisdiction possible.

No violators of Human right and Economic freedom of Ethiopians should be let go free.

Media: Are Ethiopians Blindfolded and Gagged into Poverty?

In any country independent media and transparent Information is an artistry of commerce, free expression and a check on corruption and cronyism. But in Ethiopia’s history it has been the means of propaganda and tools of suppression. The TPLF/EPRDF regime is not an exception; however, unlike any other tyrant who prohibits the operation of independent presses, the regime has mastered the art of deception.

For instance, in its quest to hoodwink the international community, and gullible Ethiopians in the make-believe of 'freedom of the press' it came-up with the most elaborate charade ever seen in the history of free press.

To facilitate its deception, the regime oprates mass medias (Two Radio station, one Television and one Internet provider) all under it grips. Instead, it allowed print media to be published with a full control of the printing presses as a sole importer of printing material and as the owner/operator of all the printing presses of newspapers in the country.

The TPLF/EPRDF regime posturing as being the champion of free press is reviled on its own website: (Caution virus infested) Ministry of Information http://www.moinfo.gov.et/ (MOI) - the sole government Minster that decides what media can operate in the county, (license, regulate and enforce the rule). The MOI pride seems only print press circulation section that lists the number of newspapers and their circulation in the country.

Close scrutiny of more than 64 newspapers and 23 magazines listed on it’s website consisting of government, private and religious…etc publications, in three Ethiopian languages (Amharic, Tigrigna, Oromifa) and two foreign language, (English, Arabic) with a total weekly circulation of less than half a million for all newspapers and 200 thousand circulation for the monthly magazines. However, looking at the production closely it becomes evident that, out of 64 newspapers 27 are ‘political and social’ with 350 thousand weekly circulations with the exception of two government owned dailies (Addis Zemen and Ethiopian Herald).

A simple arithmetic reviles the true color of the print media as told by the regime and its enabler’s that 'private media under TPLF/EPRDF is flourishing'. Out of the 350 thousand weekly circulations when we take out government published Addis Zemin (18443) Ethiopian Herald (9,930) and the rueling regime TPLF/EPRDF’s published Abyotawi Democracy (63,230), Woyine (19934) and Oromiya (77709) we end up with 150,758 circulation for the remaining 22 weekly newspapers that are considered “private”, including TPLF’s own ‘private’ newspapers.

What it means is that, on the average, out of the remaining 150 thousands weekly circulation 21 thousand copies are circulating daily consisting of all 22 newspapers (less than 1000 copies) for each newspaper in a country of 80 million populations. Moreover the content is water down by constant harassment and jailing of reporters earning the regime one of the most hostile anti free press government in the world. In comparison, the residence of the City of Addis Ababa uses more napkins in one of the city’s cafe a day than access to news papers.

In contrast, one newspaper in Kenya (the Daily Nation) alone have 200 thousands circulation daily, surpassing all private weekly newspapers in the entire Ethiopia, not to mention Kenya is about one-third of the population of Ethiopia and 100s of private newspapers, 35 radio stations and seven television stations are operational.

In addition, the Ethiopian regime makes sure Ethiopians do not enjoy the modern IT technology by denying them full internet services like many other countries with less than 300 thousands subscribers. Once again Kenya, with one third of the population has three million internet subscribers with more than a dozen private internet providers. Even Somalia, with no central government enjoys better internet service than Ethiopians.

With practically no free press, not a single independent media Association in the country and with a complete black out of vital independent information the regime plays the biggest scam since the invention of the printing press in the early 15th century to dupe the world and unsuspecting Ethiopians in the make-believe free press it claim to allow.

It is common most dictators in Africa would not allow a free press and private mass media to operate; it begs the question why the TPLF/EPRDF regime is creating the make believe free press existence? Who are the regime operatives conspiring to leave the people of Ethiopia in the dark?

We urge concerned Ethiopian's institutions, the international community, and governments to demand the regime to be transparent.

Note: The Minster of Information recently deleted the number of newspapers in circulation in the country along others from its website, which does not have much information to begin with. It is also the only source of information in the country where interested partys find out about the policy of the regime and who is who in the media. We, therefore, demand the regime to be transparent and provide all information on the free press and the media to the public.

Economy: Commodity Exchange on the Back of a Donkey?

The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange that was established by Dr. Eleni G. Medhin and on the endorsement of the Ethiopian ruling party on April of 2008 promised to turn the Ethiopian poor farmers in to a commercial farmers.

Though, it is the single most important institution that would impact the lives of the vast majority of the population it raised very little interest among Ethiopians in Diaspora and the urban elites in Ethiopia whose sense of economic development has been far removed from the daily reality of the majority of Ethiopians for lack of independent information.

The founder and CEO of the exchange Dr. Eleni, an economist from two of the prestigious US learning institutions who was championed, mostly by foreign crowd to crack the code of solving the 'edge old problem' of under-development and poverty made speeches, visited the Chicago Commodity Exchange, run-around in the corridor of donors, political power, and made presentation to foreign audience prior to establishing the exchange.

The celebration still continued after a year and half of operation with a recent PBS documentary-Wide Angele aired without much prior challenge from Ethiopians.

What most Ethiopians did not pay attention was the exchange is no longer an exchange of grain commodities as promised, but a government agency to facilitate export commodities to earn foreign exchange.

In a recent article, "The dangerous hype behind the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange" Dr. Seid Hassan eloquently outlined numbers of structural problems and lack of transparency of the exchange. His article outlined the complete lack of any one of the key structures that would make a free market institution functional.

The founder and CEO undoubtedly possess the knowledge as a product of two prestigious learning institutions in the world (Stanford and Cornell University) and considered an expert on how the free market works. What went wrong, she is not able to create the basic transparency necessary to begin the process of developing the market?

There is no doubt a commodity exchange is the sole market institution that would transform an Agriculture based economy into a manufacturing economy provided, it is out of the hands of the government, unscrupulous, and politically motivated players. Currently the ECX not only turned out to be a government institution contrary to the claim of Independence, but it appears to be set-up by unofficial decree of the ruling regime to force its political and economic will on the people of Ethiopia.

In an economy where the ruling party's affiliated enterprises dominate the private sector never seen by any African standard, and when the means and ways of agriculture production including land and market infrastructures are under a strict control of the regime, to call it an exchange is troubling.

Furthermore, there is no a single mass-media under the private sector that could expose corruption or reflect transparency. In addition, the largest grain commodity buyer and seller in the country is a government agency (EGTE) and a member of the Exchange.

How an exchange owned, operated, and regulated by the government on top of market information disseminated by the only government owned mass media is considered to be a free market institution by any standard is the million dollar question that needs an immediate answer.

The donors who financed to establish such an exchange cannot claim ignorance of how a free market institution should operate. It begs the question and calls for extensive inquiry, why they chose double standard of transparency- one for a poor country like Ethiopia and another to the rest of the world.

It is quite troubling to see a country of 80 plus million populations in the verge of a major famine and rampant poverty is left to a regime and its enabler intellectuals without transparency and accountability to anyone under the funding agencies' watch.

Therefore, we urge Ethiopian intellectuals, independent Media, civic institutions, political parties, and the donors’ community to demand transparency and accountability. We believe the exchange should be taken-over by independent committee consisting of private market players and independent third party. In addition, banning the ruling party's affiliated enterprises and disclosure of the financial interest of the officers of the exchange is necessary to build confidence and protect the public from unscrupulous and politically motivated traders.

Note: It is estimated there are five millions donkeys in Ethiopia transporting the vast majority of grain commodity in the country. That would be the largest donkey population in the world, next to China of 11 million.When agriculture commodities transportation are heavily relied on animal packs, and when the vast majority of assembly markets created are consistent with how far a donkey travels in a given day, it is important to note the complexity of market formation and the bottleneck created to reach the consumer.

In addition, the lack of independent market institutions, credit, contract enforcement, market information, and storage to farmers and traders must be addressed before an exchange can be considered independent and functional.

An exchange can only be successful when it is transparent and addresses the problem from the bottom up than the top down, as ECX is attempting.

Related Articles

“Let’s be like the free market”: Ethnicity and the market for myopia By Professor Minga Negash

Free market without freedom By Abebe Gellaw

Ethiopia: Response to Eleni Gebre-Medhin of Commodity Exchange by Hankamo Gota

Family: Adaption or Child Trafficking?

The EPRDF lead Government seems promoting the adaption of children in western countries by allowing 22 US adapting agencies to operate in Ethiopia along many local adaption agencies. The Ethiopian Embassy in Washington prides itself listing two dozen US adapting agencies on its website. Likewise, European countries, Canada and Australia are most of Ethiopian children are being adapted.

The surge of adaption and the number of agencies rushing in Ethiopia in the last few years seems there are more to the stories than helping children who needed loving families to adapt them. It is heart breaking when an Embassy of a country that does not have any other listing of important agencies like investment, education, democracy, health, etc. prides itself to promote 22 adaption agencies out of the US alone.

In an alarming report "adaption in Ethiopia" the Schuster Institute for Investigative journalism reviled a stunning story of lack of transparency and corruption in adapting children from Ethiopia.

When human trafficking of young women for domestic help and prostitution to the Middle East by dozen of 'legal' and illegal agencies in the country was not enough according to Human Trafficking Report of 2009, it seems children trafficking is the new addition in the ever ending crime against Ethiopians by unscrupulous individuals with permission and knowledge of the regime in power.

Who are theses individuals and agencies who operate out of the United States? What motivated them to register adaption agencies faster than they can set-up a legitimate business? and which government Ministry or agencies are responsible to allow them to operate?

Our source in the country tell us the foreign exchange earning is what motivated the government to allow all theses agencies to rush in to adaption business ranging from 25-35 thousands US dollars to adapt a child. Why it cost so much to help a child find a loving family, and why foreign parents are sought-after than Ethiopian parents reviles the shadiness of the operation that requires serious public scrutiny.

Ethiopian religious institutions, the independent media and civic organization must get involved to investigate and make the government and the agencies' officials responsible and accountable. There has to be transparency on who is who in the adaption agencies and the criteria to issue them a license to operate in Ethiopia.

Articles

Ethiopian children exploited by US adoption agencies Source: ECADF From AM News Australia

Forighn Aid: Where Does All the Money Goes?

Does Ethiopia have a ‘government’ or is she under the care of the international community?

This is a very appropriate question to ask when one observes the number of countries and international organizations involved to do the basic service of what the government suppose to do from providing clean water to the citizens to infrastructure building the country needs for the survival of the population.

But, looking at the number of countries and institutions involved in many development projects one wonders if there is a government running the country or it is left for the international community?

In our transparent governance watch work and ‘Why fight Corruption?' series, we are compelled to ask what is the ‘government of TPLF/EPRDF of Ethiopia doing while most of its job is funded and done by the donors and non governmental organization? And where does all the funding goes and who is accountable for all the expenditure and the accountability required to prevent corruption?

The questions of foreign Aid and the corruption that follows has been the debate in almost all international development forums by the same people over and over again. Recently, Dr Moyo Dambisa book “Dead Aid” raised a hot debit when she argued the Aid model is broke, it is corrupting the officials and should be abandoned causing havoc in the foreign Aid community and the recipients defending it with out much to show for all the expenditures all these years.

What is striking is with billions of dollar expenditure no one is not sure where most of the money goes, how it was spent and why there is no public disclosure of the recipients and their credential and background of the managers.

Ethiopia, the darling of the international Aid receives the second highest foreign assistance in Africa, next to Egypt, but yet beside the occasional double digit talk the regime speaks, and the housing boom driven by the Diaspora spending and the road construction courtesy of donors the average Ethiopian standard of living remain the same or declined. And the number of people needing foreign food assistance continues to increase substantially with no tangible solution in sight.

According to WB Development Gateway foundation

26 donor countries 13 multilateral organization, and 40 funding agencies mostly western are actively engaging in one thing or another donating and funding millions of dollars worth of 1000s of projects every year. In addition, 100s of private foundations and over 3800 NGOs operating in the country are active on one thing or another.

Looking at the data we can not help but wonder, with only a handful of NGOs 20 years ago to over 3800 now, the growth the regime claim may have been too low in the poverty industry than the private sector.

It is common knowledge unscrupulous business and NGOs are created, particularly by the ruling party's affiliates to facilitate this massive infusion of fund and becoming a major ground for corruption and cronyism as it is common in the private sector. Its is also not unusual to hear the best jobs are found in the Aid sector and the industry is striving alike any other sector.

We believe expecting transparency from the regime and it’s affiliates is fruitless since the rule makers and breakers are the same, but challenging all the donor governments and funding agencies to demand transparency as a condition for funding can be an effective tool.

We also believe the ruling party affiliated businesses and NGOs who accumulated millions of dollars out of foreign Aid and through unethical business practices must be challenged through all means, including through donor governments and funding agencies.

Corruption must be fought in all fronts and each one of us can help