Observation by Keffyalew Gebremedhin

It would be recalled that, based on reporting by the Amharic language The Ethiopian Reporter of 9 October 2011, I presented an observation/article on forest destruction in Ethiopia. It is entitled "Protected natural forestlands  quietly turned into booties for political cadres”….Along with that article, this website also reproduced the original Amharic language reporting by The Reporter, as is.

The article mentions the number of complainants was 548 households out of 967 residing around the forest area that was allotted for national park. These 548 heads of households officially complained to the prime minister, beseeching his intervention to stop corruption by his officials. They informed him in their complaints that this situation was getting worse, although two years ago he had pledged to them his government would root out corruption. Recall that legitimacy of their complaints was corroborated by investigations undertaken by the ministry of agriculture, according to The Reporter.

SURPRISES NEVER END IN OUR ETHIOPIA! On 15 October, The reporter came back with a shocking story. It reported the jailing of 60 of the 548 complainants and two experts "drawn from regional and woreda administrations who determined that the complains have merit.”

The paper indicated, "They were arrested on the orders of the Gamo Gofa zone and woreda administrations after the residents’ complaint to the Prime Minister was published on the by the paper last Sunday.

The Ethiopian Reporter also claimed, its sources had informed it that land grab is mostly "perpetrated by officials from kebele up to regional council levels, adding the officials have resorted to arresting people because they dislike the fact that they are questioned. The residents complained to the Prime Minister because the Zone and the Region failed to solve their problem.”

In brief, it is complaint against official corruption. The complainants believe that the authorities from the local district level to higher-ups are linked in this corrupt scheme. Sources to The Reporter revealed, the officials are "illegally giving away land allocated for the Millennium Park to [political] officials and to those affiliated to the authorities.”

The paper also claims its sources informed it underlying their complaints is the lack of good governance. This is further evidenced by the fact that not only the local and district officials turned deaf ears to their complaints. But also, on the contrary they turned against the complainants by engaging in deliberate destruction of their farms and crops.

WHAT HAS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SAID OR DONE? The answer seems to be clear from the complainants’ jailing. Consistent with the unmistakable TPLF/EPRDF initial reactions in such circumstances, would they be tempted to accuse these people of being terrorists or under the influence of terrorists?

These days, in Ethiopia this has become the easiest way to cower the rising frustration in the country. It would help the TPLF/EPRDF to silence genuine and legitimate dissent in the country, especially at a time when the economic conditions have become extremely bad for ordinary citizens across the board.

Dr. Shawel Betru explained, after his visit to the four corners of Ethiopia http://addisvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Shawel.pdf vividly described the situation, as follows:

"In my recent visit in the four corners of Ethiopia, I was completely devastated by what I saw. The households once never thought of what to eat for dinner are worried about whether they can eat or not. The human spirit is broken by the idea of inability of mere subsistence. I am not talking about the urban poor. I am not talking about the rural people. I am talking about people who are employed, people who get salary. People whom the media tell us bought bond for the grand millennium dam. Some of the people I know are literally physically draining. People whom I know were economically well established have joined the lower ladder of poverty. I am not telling you I was not in Addis to see the grandiose of Sheraton’s banquet. I saw the disparity of livelihood for the few super rich and the unfortunate and voiceless poor. It is frightening. More frightening is no one dares to speak the reality. Everyone appears to speak the language of the Russians: they pretend to pay and we pretend to work. It is all pretension. Enawkalen bininager enalkalen (we know but if we speak we will vanish!) is the overriding philosophy. The Ethiopian people live prosperous life on the national media and die in the villages of reality. The unfortunate truth is: nobody sees the tree falling because nobody publishes it.”