Ethiopia: Drought, Good Governance and EPRDF

eprdf-logoPM-Hailemariam
As you all know Ethiopia is facing a tough battle against nature. The El Nino disruptive weather has hit the country hard. Millions of Ethiopians will need extra support this year if they are to survive. Drought is not new to Ethiopia. What will be new is how the EPRDF government will react to such huge disaster. Many say famine is a man made phenomenon. It is true that Haile selassie’s and the Derge regimes were accused for the cause of the last two horrendous famines that killed millions of Ethiopians. Will the EPRDF government be the first government that will overcome the effects of drought causing a famine? We know Ethiopia has had drought in the past during the EPRDF era and by all account the government was able to wither away the effect but this time the challenge is huge and no one knows for sure if El Nino will persist until next year. What is your take on how the EPRDF government is responding to the drought? Did EPRDF fail to prepare enough for drought years thus why it has to ask donors to help or has it prepared enough thus why people are not dying and help is arriving at the doorsteps of the farmers?

The PM Minister is on record that the issue with good governance is acute enough his government is dead serious to tackle it head-on! Do you think this time the government is serious enough that it will make an effort to address some of the prevailing good governance issues? Do you think Ethiopia is ready or capable to address good governance issues or you are of the opinion good governance issues will linger on since the root cause is economic issues? Some say without high paid government officials there will always be someone in the office with power that will succumb to bribe and exacerbate bad governance. What are the issues the government can solve easily to make a head way to resolve good governance issues?

Have Your Say and share your thoughts. Avoid hearsay and make sure your voice is heard!

60 thoughts on “Ethiopia: Drought, Good Governance and EPRDF

  1. EPRDF has done good job in the past to stop drought turning in to famine and i am sure they will do better these time also. However I am mad at EPRDF from not doing enough in developing irrigation in the farming community. In drought years farmers could have augment their income by using ground water and surface water during the dry season.

    I also am not sure the fertilizer farmers are forced to use is well research its use and effect during drought years. I heard with out rain and enough water the fertilizer acts as poison and worsens drought effect on the grain. So at the very least the government must do more research what to do in case of el nino years and fertilizer use.

    As far as good governance, my hunch is it is business as usual after few months of campaign. If the government is serious to improve on good governance it needs to improve economic status of the people and workers. It is not far from the truth these days every government worker or even private worker wants some kind of “gursha” to do the job they are hired for. Also the gap between have’s and have not’s is wide enough that there will always be a space for envy and “minqengnent” which in turn feeds in to worsening the issue of good governance. The best thing the government needs to do is develop a clear policy with out a loop hole. Minimize ambiguity in requirements, leave no sapce for interpretation by workers and officials. Public.consumer should know exact steps and forms to fill. Avoid temporary laws and…..

    if the government is serious, establish a well paid and separate institution that monitors and reports public issues ongoing to the PM Minister and no one else! This group can be assigned to each ministries/ offices that are pron to corruption.
    Some may say what about the corruption commission and if that commission can be transformed fine by me but what I have in my mind is for a dedicated group that will help the PM gather current public concerns in time so the PM can take the issues directly to the governing Party high leadership. That way the party leaders are also held accountable if and when they ignore issues. Right now the party apparatus that is suppose to have helped is not working since EPRDF is still complaining about good governance.

    Last EPRDF should try to incorporate in this special group from the opposition group.

    Thank you Aigaofrum

  2. Aigaforum,

    It is clear EPRDF has failed in preventing drought affecting our people. Yes EPRDF has avoided famine in the past and will do so the same now but as EPRDF supporter I expect EPRDF to do more than avoiding famine. After 25 years at the helm EPRDf should have convince the people to do more to help themselves in drought years. Right now Tigrai may be better prepared to face drought but that is even a stretch since Raya Valley is not irrigated yet!

    It is understandable the government is facing all kind of issues while developing the country but all EPRDF member parties running regional governments should be ashamed they have not done much. The Federal government should take extra steps to evaluate how regional governments are performing. If the constitution needs to be amended for this so be it. It will save us next time from shaming ourselves in front of the world.
    Thanks,

  3. My reaction to your comments

    First of all, I found at Habtemu’s comment absolutely timely and impressive in pinpointing some of the weaknesses that might haunt us in the near future unless we articulate the problems and begin a healthy discusison. The attention the world has given to Ethiopia and the reality on the ground are uncorrelated. I fully agree with the analysis of Mr. Habtamu. The government should not heavily depend on the regions’ administrative state apparatus for good governance. I think, the Ethiopian economic and social dynamics have reached a critical stage that, it will need a new generation which understands the concept of free market, supply chain and management of the nations’ wealth. The government should create a central independent body, which controls and verifies mismanagement and inefficiencies at regional and central levels. We have created regional autonomies but fail to correct failures of regions and it appears we have become intoxicated by over sung success stories. The reality is that El Nino, disclosed our fundamental weaknesses. All of a sudden, all types of weaknesses became visible and more problems will follow unless, we engage the many educated and energetic young generation.
    Having stated the above, I am a firm believer of prime minster Hailemariam”s dedication and strength in listening to people’s uproars and execution of decisions that have an impact on the food industry which is one of the commanding hight economic sectors. Foreign and local investors tend to avoid nations which which suffer from chronic hunger and unless we fix this problem as early as possible, we will see funds drying out and consequently, our adversaries will have very soon arguments to “educate IMF, World Bank, EU, United States”, that “Ethiopia’s priority should be to fight hunger and not dream big”. Thus, the hydro projects and the great leap forward in industrialization programs could be grounded. So my humble advice for the authorities is act now in engaging the country’s physical and human capitals to undo the damage El Nino caused and show the world that Ethiopian industrialization can’t be halted by nature and the country is in position to shine again and will continue to demonstrate to the world that we are not the Ethiopians of the 1974 and 1984, who were portrayed as destitute and hopeless.
    hgw

  4. Habtamu has raised good points. I whole heartily agree but he forgot to mention the reason many are not and will not die is because EPRDF has done so much to prepare for any drought year causing famine. We should not fail to appreciate since EPRDF came to power there were at least three major drought years. So while it is good to critic the government to do more we can not demonize it for the current unfolding problem. Yes El Nino should not cause famine and no one is saying it will BTW.

    I agree begging for wheat is crushing the spirit. Let us try if Building the Dam at Abay and the many achievements of the government can heal the wounded spirit! Let us try it nothing to loose really pretend we are not begging for wheat since we are building the new nation.. the train analogy of Habtamu is really hurting me too!

  5. Can some one tell me the relationship between the claim that Ethiopia becoming a middle income country by 2025, which is ten years away, and after 25 years of EPRDF rule 10 million Ethiopians having nothing to eat now? Thank you.

    • Yes, hadush, I know the answer: This is Ethiopia. Every minor thing that people in other parts of the world take for granted is a marvel. For example, no self-respecting government still makes news of “defeating the enemy” twenty years after an ugly civil war that everyone of use should be ashamed of. Look at the trajectory, EPRDF was more open and democratic twenty years ago than today …. seems we are walking one step forward and two back. Last, see aigaforum, never care to mention that the Oromo youth clamoring for constitutional rights

  6. I think Drought could be natural; its management is people’s problem. No body may be expected to heal drought at this time but some body must be expected to anticipate and prepare for the drought as early as possible. What happened was we only new in the news people in Ethiopia are suffering from drought! It is unfair, in 25 years time, for some one not to have studied drought very well, not to have detailed explanations of those areas repeatedly affected, not to prepare people in those areas how they should resist drought without the government buying or begging for them, not to build drought related infrastructures that could help during drought emergencies, etc. At the same time, I don’t think the government has never been worried about this but governance and management problems might have crippled its efforts. So, it is true the drought must be given priority right now but without solving management and governance problems, no body should think famine will be tackled in the future. The reason why government is not giving prior attention to the threats it should have avoided easily might be the fact that there are malpractices and unresponsive officials. Huge Budget will be announced in September or October on EBC/ETV, but you will here news of finance or funding problems starting from May to August the same year; you will see government hungry of qualified man power, but you will here rumors around government offices that family, clan, relatives, ethnic affiliated guys, friends , etc have become the criteria for employment; etc. It’s pretty obvious, some one may look at the rare and daring malpractice news broadcast by EBC – some simple projects last nearly for a decade but they were initially planned to be accomplished in one or two years and the reasons for that are said to be finance problem, decisions by some officials, some magical legal prohibitions which no body considered in the initial plan, some times the reason is simply unknown. i.e., Mass government activities or plans which could have helped to lift millions of Ethiopians from poverty might have been killed with the practices cited above. As to me, the depth and impact of the governance problem is not just limited to poverty but to the security of the nation itself. If it is not tackled as early as possible, the impact will be disastrous. so, the government should give priority to saving lives first but we should also know that bad governance, as it knows no shame, exists even when people’s life is endangered. giving priority to saving lives should not mean decreasing attention to fighting governance problems.

  7. The job the Ethiopian government does to minimize the damage El nino has caused has forced the international community to recognize that it’s a responsible government. Watch BBC’s Focus on Africa of December 8 2015.

  8. Dear aiga !!! This is a very trying time for the country , algthough I expected you would post it earlier , it is better late than never.
    This drought is the worst one in more tha 50 years ( THE EL-N’I’NO FACTOR IS THE CUlPRIT , IT is HERE TO STAY LOOK AT CALIFORNIA MORE THAN FOUR YEARS》.
    The only proven panacea for fighing famine , hunger & starvation is
    Manufacturing &Industrialisation That includes Agricultural industry we question ourselves where we are in terms of this critical juncture. We should give priority of priority to this goals.
    On good governance &corruption It is Absolutely critical to build the institution of justice & freedom professionally .Build in check & Balance Accountability & Transparency it is along range continues fight is not An ad-hoc fight that youwin like A s.occer Game.our System of government is Developmental Democracy Where the Big chunk of the recoures are at the hand of the beFightaurocra ts .If is not carefully handed is a recepie for disaster , waste Fruad & Abuse .Untill the free Enterprise plays its roll IT is is Absolutely necessary to be extra vigilante on the buearocracy.
    I wish the time will come when we can fight any kind of droughts By ourselves
    God Help US .

  9. ይሄ መልእክት ወይም የክርክር ዓምድ ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ነው ወይስ ለውጭ ዓለም ለነጮቹ? ለምንድነው ዓምዱ በእንግሊዝ ቋንቋ የሆነው? መልሶች፡ አስተያየቶች፡ ክርክሮቹ፡ ደግሞ በእንግሊዝ ቋንቋ፡ ለምን???? ለምን በአማርኛ ቋንቋ አይሆንም????

  10. People with money never starve. All the good restaurants in Addis, Awasa, etc. are serving good food for a price. It is always the poor and the neglected ones who suffer from drought and famine.
    All studies including a study by a UN commission have concluded that lack of food or famine is man-made problem. That it is a political problem. It is a sign of failure.

  11. The overall work of EPRDF on Development, on Peace and on Democracy is something that is beyond my imagination. I would like to say to EPRDF great job and thank you. However, it is hard for me to criticize the government on the drought there may be mistakes done; I have to investigate a lot more to give my true opinion. But, the way the government is handling it now is commendable. I believe our leaders and the people of Ethiopia are doing their best to tackle this drought. Our foreign supporters rallied by our government and by their own accord are contributing greatly against the drought.
    The merchant of death, who are trying to blossom from the suffering of Ethiopian people because of the draught will not be successful. The wound of the suffering of every people globally is compost of all degenerates and dehumanized groups and individuals. It there where they blossom to achieve their perverted need.

  12. It is clear EPRDF has failed the people miserable after being in power for close to 25 years. Ethiopia has a long history of drought and blaming it all on El Ninio is irresponsible. Actually, it seems to be the trademark of EPRDF to blame things on everything else but itself when it faces serious issues.

    The EPRDF leaders should be ashamed that a country with more than 10 times Ethiopia’s population, India, has never been on the news because of drought or famine. The drought issue in Ethiopia is a dismal failure of government policy. Poor planning and government incompetency is what lead to this. All the think about growth and development rings shallow when the EPRDF leaders are once again begging the West to feed its people. It seems Ethiopian government never learn, every government makes the same mistake and please don’t even start the argument that the population growth in combination with El Ninio is what led to this. It’s a very weak argument in this day and age.

    Good governance and fighting corruption will unfortunately not be tackled by EPRDF because the most corrupt people are senior level government officials and cronies. They are not going to put 90% of their own senior officials I prison , are they ? All the millionaires who are senior level government officials , how do you think they got that fortune? By stealing the states asset in broad daylight.

    It’s very sad to say drought once again in Tigray after the Martyrs paid the ultimate price for a better future….(edited)

  13. Solution:
    Merit based position assignment
    Verify reports
    Identify broker officials and replace them with genuine developmental democrats
    Accommodate different opinions
    Accept the relationship between drought problem and governance problem
    Continue the humiliation of people to side the good initiatives started
    Focus on utilizing the Nine River Basins and expand Irrigation of different capacity
    Using this Drought as an opportunity to start Grand Mobilization for Green Agricultural Revolution and make food cheap ,that people can eat with few cents !!!

  14. Bad governance, corruption, rent seeking are our everyday discourse. We often hear them, not only we hear them, we curse them too. They are often associated with public government.
    How do we measure them? How do we know that they are prevalent in government offices? Are they quantitatively or qualitatively measured or both at least? Every year how much money is corrupted out of the total GDP? Or how do we understand or perceive corruption? For deeper understanding how do we explore both? To date, does this country have any figure or data that show the amount of wealth misappropriated on annual bases which is accessible to public? For example, in misappropriation of land, in government procurement, tax evasion, electricity power losses, in public housing projects, govt. administered apartments and buildings, road, health, education etc infrastructures. Are they clean or do they have deficits? The government should substantiate with data and figures. Otherwise we will remain cursing with unwanted consequences to come.
    The government should be motivated to undertake not politically motivated research but government dilemma-motivated research by home grown independent researchers. Knowing the scope and depth of corruption supported by figures is an achievement by itself. It is up to the interest of the governing party and the public.
    The major source of corruption, I think, is the absence of accountability, excessive use of power, master and slave relations among top managements and subordinates, fatigues, pretentious officials and politicians: there is a Nigerian saying that goes “the insect that eats the leaf is under the leaf.”
    If the government is well aware of corruption and bad governance being guided by sound studies and research findings, it will be a good base to prevent the effects of El Nino yet to come again.

  15. የኢህአደግ ባለስልጣት ሲሰበሰቡ ፡ በአገር እና ህዝብ ጉዳይ ከማቶከር ይልቅ አብዛኛው ጊዜውን የሚያባክኑት: በከፍተኛ “የእንግሊዝ ቃላቶች ውድድር እና የአመራረጥ” ነው:: እንደ አዲስ ተማሪ፡ ስብሰባው “የእንግሊዝ ቃላቶች የውድድር መድረክ” ነው። ምንድነው ጥርት ባለ በቋንቋችን የማይወያዩና የማስረዱን????? 85% ህዝባችን በእርሻ ነው የሚተዳደረው በገጠር ነው የሚኖረው ይላሉ ግን መልእክቱን የሚያስተላሉፉት በእንግሊዝ ቋንቋ የተደባላለቀ!!!!
    እንደሚባለው “ አንተ እገለ ሚኒስተር፡ ይህች ቃል የት ነው ያገኘሃት? ብሎ እንደጠየቀው እና ያኛው ሚኒስተር ደግሞ “ በእንግሊዝ መዝገበ ቃላት አታገኘውም: እኔ ቃላቶቹን የሚለቃቅመው “ከ እንሳክሎበዲይ” ነው ብሎ መለሰት።
    ኢህአደግ ሆን ብሎ: ባህላችን፡ ቋንቋችን፡ እምነታችን፡ እሰቶታችን፡ ታሪካችን: ለመበረዝ: ለማበላሸት፡ ለማኮላሸት: ለማጥፋት ቀን ና ሌሊት እየሰራ ያለው ሴራ ነው::
    የፈረንሳይ: የሩስያ: የቻይና: የጃፓን: የስፔን: የዓረቦች: የጀርመን: የጣልያን: የመክሲኮ: የብራዚል: የአርጀንቲና: ወዘተ፡ ምሁራን: ተመራማሪዎች: ሊቃውንቶች: ፕሮፈሰሮች: የተክኖሎጂ ፈጣሪዎች: ወዘተ፡ እኮ፡ እንግሊዝ ቋንቋ አይናገሩም: በቃንቃቸው ነው የሚማሩት የሚናገሩት:: ስለዚህ እንግሊዝ ቋንቋ ደባልቀው፡ ጨማልቀው: ጨፋልቀው: ስለማይናገሩ: ምሁራን ሊቃውንት አይደሉም ማለት ነው ወይ?????? ምነው በአገራችን: እንግሊዝ ቃላቶች ደባልቆ፡ ጨማልቆ: ጨፋልቆ፡ መናገር የስልጣኔ፡ የትምህርት መለኪያ ተደርጎ የሚወሰደው!!!! ታድያ የት አለ የሚንኮራራበት “የ3000 አመታት ስልጣኔ: ልዩ ቋንቋ: ና ፊደሎች እና ታሪክ ?????????

  16. There is no doubt about the extraordinary improvement of our country in terms of economic development over the past consecutive years under the leadership of EPRDF. I believe it deserves acknowledgement for its role, though there is long distance awaiting our country to achieve a good governance. Just a few minutes back I read the news on fana about the ‘colorful celebration’ of Nations, Nationalities and People’s Day. In contrast to this celebration, I also happened to read the wonderful decision that the president of Tanzania has taken to suspend this year’s independence day celebration in order to make use of the tax payers money to fight cholera related diseases that his country is facing. He even went further to clean up the districts of his country along with his colleagues. As a citizen, I would have expected our leaders to compassionately suspend this year’s celebration of Nation and Nationalities and People Day in order to dedicate the money for our people who are suffering from shortage of food.

  17. I have heard the prime minister talking with all honesty how bad has become the governance system. The same has been said by the late prime minster for many years. it sounds the government is more concerned about how bad the governance has become. But nothing has been done or whatever has been done was so minute that there was no change on the ground. This government is reiterating about the miserable state of governance over and over for the last 15 years. therefore, the question is can this government correct itself and take us to the 21st century where even countries much younger and smaller than us are enjoying democratic system?
    Of cores for any change to come there needs to be the push by the people for good governance, democracy and equal share of wealth among the citizens. The way I see it, the current generation of Ethiopia is rather planning to leave the country through different means and directions rather than fighting at home for good governance and lift the country from abject poverty.
    With regard to the ever increasing cost of living the drives millions into poverty, I would like to say no other country on earth democratic or not have experienced such rapid worsening of quality of life due to inflation. Just to back up my statement I would like to mention the cost of some basic items and the changes over the last few years or decade.

    A100 kg of teff in 2005 ( 1997 e.c.) was sold 200 birr where the same amount now is sold between 1600 and 2000 birr depending on where you live. This price increment has no justification what so ever.
    A kilogram of lentils used to be sold 10 birr now it is sold for 50 birr.
    A kilogram of paper (berebere) was sold for 15 birr. Now, it is sold for 250 birr. This kind of inflationary rate was never seen in a country where there is decent marketing and a style of governance that protects it’s constituents from volchers
    In today’s Ethiopia, no amount of salary is enough to eat three times a day. Just because of that, we witness unprecedented amount of bribery that is done openly without shame and fear of retribution. Anyone who is paid less than 10000 birr living in Addis without owning residence is leading a miserable life since at least half of that goes for rent and the rest is too small amount to live without seeking additional income legally or otherwise. Therefore, before anything else, the government has to spend many sleepless nights in order to reverse the inflation rate since that is the root cause of all evils in the country.
    one can’t and should not expect the working poor to be ethical and give proper service.
    With regard to the drought, while I acknowledge that there is no country (even the mighty America) that can prevent drought, I blame our government for not be able to prepare itself to mitigate the effect of the drought without needing the help from the international community. This government was on power for 25 years and yet it didn’t solve the miserable state of agricultural production. I would like to remind EPRDF led government to either change the policy on agriculture or to find a way for surplus production that enables us to be self-sufficient. One way to do this is to use every inch of arable land the country has and use all available work force to work on agriculture. Everyone knows the country has excessive work force wandering in small and big cities that requires little or no training to engage in farming business.

  18. The prime Minister’s courage is one big step forward, I would say. His comments seem beyond political rhetoric.I can feel his genuine desires and I can feel his honest pains. I think he had shown his willingness to tackle the epidemics. However,the pledge should be followed by concrete actions. May be the challenges awaiting ahead of him would be the cooperation of his officials.

    I wold also like to use this opportunity to raise on important issues that would threaten the very existence of our nation. EPRDF should come out bold to correct its past mistakes. At this historically critical juncture where Ethiopia is trying to strive economically,militarily,in regional influence and in fact at international stages, dangerous events are unfolding around Asab port.
    Our historical enemies like Saudi Arabia and UAE are amassing their ships at our door steps. We have no idea what consequences will entail these activities. We don’t know at this time what Egypt is doing using this opportunity. We can not predict what damages and harms would follow in any uncertainty. So, leaders of EPRDF should say enough is enough before it is too late . Reject the dead Algiers agreement in its entirety and look variety of options that will safeguard our national security and interests. The kind of Prime Minister Hailemariam’s recent statement about this issue will not avoid any future eminent dangers. You can not tell your enemy if you do this,if you do that…. Well, enemies would not tell you what they are planning to do. Believe me it will be too late if we are not acting sooner.
    Thank you,
    Hailay . .

  19. What has the government done to encourage entrepreneurs in large scale agriculture ? I only see encouragement for investors in road buildings etc. And when it encourages large scale farming its for foreigners who produce food to be exported back to their country. There is no effort to encourage local or diaspora investors in the agriculture sector. All I hear are horror stories about investors buying land for farming in regions like Oromia and the local shiftas harass them so much that they close their farm. If it is not the shiftas it’s the local regional and kebele administrators harassing them to a point they cannot be operational. Why isn’t the government protecting these investors. Their agriculture would help in having surplus production so we don’t have to extend our begging bowl to the world. The government should be aggressive in encouraging local and diaspora investors in agriculture sector and protect them as national assets. I think that will help a great deal in tackling this cyclical issue.

  20. It is critical and timely for Ethiopians more than any time in our history to discuss and build a national consensus on these issues presented. I think there was no much argument that the EPRDF led government brought about impressive economic development for more than a decade now. But after a quarter of a century focused implementation of agriculture led economic policy. Our country is still vulnerable to look for food aid from the International community. This definitely calls for in depth review of our policies even those untouchable land constitutional land ownership policies with genuine and extensive consultation of the general public.
    For those of us who are supporting the existing system should really be frustrated with the total failure of good governance and rampant corruption after unsuccessful attempts to fix them., don’t you think it’s time for our government to take the issue the number one priority before it soon reach the point of no return . I propose the next points which I think is crucial
    _ the government should convince it self that with the speed the governance is drawing down , it is becoming the issue of national security than the EPRDF nightmares like GIM7 or terrorism.
    _ It is almost impossible to think about good governance without a free media and a free and properly governed judicial system.
    _ community involvement and ownership is important as the leaders of EPRDF and the government are always reminding us. How can a public involve in a country where the judicial system is owned by the corrupt powerful I’m formal leaders of the country. Are we still talking the obvious ” democracy is a process “. Whose fault is that if we don’t develop a vibrant free press after a quarter of a century. When?
    _ Are we expecting to let those powerful corrupt official to lead the anti corruption campaign and systemic and structural change or the campaign should start by getting rid of them.
    _ Amnesty for those who publicly apologize the public and willingly resign. Mercilessly fight those who want to continue to be reasons for the public misery.
    _ deliberately reduce the unmanageable size of the government .
    _recognize those who are clean and strong

    People are disgusted and tired of your talks do something and fast or RESIGN !!

  21. For a government which put its emphasis and focus on increasing agricultural productivity this drought has exposed the weakness of the whole government . this is a failure of high magnitude . EPRDF has failed . In my honest opinion EPRDF has lost legitimacy to govern . when there is drought and famine after 25 years of one party rule you cannot point fingers on anyone but the ruling party is responsible .
    I have been the hard core supporter of EPRDF . i have been putting my hope on fast growth and development which has been espoused by EPRDF . When I hears the news of drought and famine in the last few months my spirit has been crushed and it lays the EPRDF policy naked .
    It has been known for a long time that this weather phenomenon is going to take place . At least it is known since February or march of last year . the government should have prepared and bought food from abroad to mitigate the effect of the drought but the government lack of attention is so alarming .even after so many NGO said there is a massive drought all government and pro gov media’s has been silent on the issues .
    even if it means stopping all the big projects of the country to focus on this drought it has been done . it took more than 20 years of peace and growth to change the way the rest of the world sees the world . now here we go we have drought and possibly famine in our door step and the government is caught napping . once our name is on the news being hungry and flies buzzing on the face of children it will take another 20 years to take it off from the media .
    In summary EPRDF has done good things for a while but now it failing miserably in terms of food security , corruption . the country is on the verge of big explosions . bing protests , drought and famine , corruption and so much stuff . EPRDF has burned out . we need a new blood on the helm . EPRDF has to resign . there is no way EPRDF is going to edify itself . it is full of problem with so many corrupt individuals . it also made us a laughing stock by 100% election .
    Any ways I am very angry , sad , confused and crushed with all the bad news that coming out on a daily basis . if one google ethiopia news it all about drought and famine . it is very depressing times

  22. From the beginning I was strong supporter of E RDF ,but when the days go by , I noticed deep rooted racist policy kneel down the party, high government officials & party members organized based on their ethnic lines to amass wealth illegally, everything is for propaganda consumption in current ethiopia. Who cares about people ?go ethiopia & try to do business right now, you may require to deposit million of dollars in their foreign account for at least 10 government & military officials before you allowed to invest in any sector, you may be sick to death when you learn that this kind of crime is mainly facilitated by unsatisfied reptiles diaspora who works close with this party’s net work. You think the PM tackle this complicated criminal net work ? Don’t fool your self, they already make him feel how to have a foreign account, sending kids to expensive western universitys , shopping & vacationing in western citis,etc , I don’t know the solution but I feel liable & ashamed when I think about those brave martyrs including my own cousin, I am proud ethiopian from ti gray .

  23. Once I asked high profile person of EPRDF what’s your plan if a severe consecutive drought emerges. His answer was nothing. This was eight years ago. I will give F for good governance Ethiopia is heading like Kenya and Nigeria corruption is every where. The root cause is the party in power failed to manage. Because of weak opposition the party in power stays in power despite its mistakes. For sure the ruling party is better than the so called opposition. But better is not good enough. We hope for better rainy season to come.

  24. A couple of issues;

    – EPRDF should have had reasonably large amount of food storage at a zonal or even Woreda level in areas very susceptible to drought and famine. That’s what they do in the USA. That would, among other things, ease transportation and other logistical stretch and help to act in time.

    – Farmer’s preparation for such events should be with a sense of getting ready for the worst, not for two -or three-months-long absence of rain.

    – Some ‘stick’ in the form of taxes should be given with the ‘carrot’ to lazier farmers who are reluctant to participate in integrated development endeavors in using new and proven household farm techniques and agricultural outputs.

  25. Truth be told that the EPRD government has the Ethiopian people support to conduct all the development in the past 25 years. So, I have a big respect and appreciation to all the Ethiopian people and to their government for their countless development achievement that they made within the last 25 years.
    However, taking our history into considerations that the Ethiopian people have had suffered from drought or natural disasters, I believe the government failed for not concentrating to use the Ethiopian rivers for iirigation. Also, I believe the government could had done more to prevent coraption. It is not acceptable for individls to become milioner overnight while the majority of the poor Ethiopian people are straggling to put food on the table for the family…

    Therefore, as EPRDF supporter, I would like to see the government work more to prevent such kind of natural disasters…

  26. Drought happens in many countries and Ethiopia is not the only country that needs International help. The drought in the past and at this time needs to be tackled by internal and international efforts. Requesting and coordinating help is the obligation of the government and there should not be any criticism. Most developed countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East had drought and huger in their past, have sought and utilized the help of the international community. Ethiopia is not the only country who sought help.
    Concerning good governance and corruption problems and its solution, is a much wider problem for the country and EPRDF. First, it should be acknowledged that EPRDF and its leadership are the source, as well as the propagators, of this monstrous problem. Groups and individuals, although not aligned with the governing structure, are also involved in exacerbating corruption. These non-EPRDF groups and individuals including foreign entities, as long as they are not a treat to EPRDF, are overlooked, given a green light, by local and federal government officials. The problem is entrenched deep in the structures of the party structure and is a treat to the existence of the party, leading the country to fragmentation. If EPRDF is really interested to solve the problem, long term structural changes has to be devised. Presently EPRDF is doing only very limited steps halfheartedly. Very little progress is achieved by discussions, training, or “slap on the wrist” punishments.
    Industrialized countries, with competitive political parties in power, including check and balance system in place, could not even completely irradiate the problem, only control it to the minimum. EPRDF on the contrary has curtailed the tools of fighting the problem and made it worse day by day.
    As things stand now, most of the tools of fighting corruption are curtailed by EPRDF. If EPRDFites could listen, I would like to mention some of these tools such as, real free and fair election, transparency in governance, application of rule of low, unrestricted free press, vibrant peaceful opposition parties and division of power in government. Ignoring and curtailing these magical tools, encourages the corrupt officials in local and regional levels, to continue to advance their selfish individual interests. In the absence of these tools corrupt officials do not have anything to fear and never stop their destructive habits.
    Finally I would like to mention that bad governance and corruption doesn’t go away overnight, just because EPRDF leadership started talking about it. A long term structural change and commitment to use of appropriate tools is required to fight this monster which curtails development. There has to be a real mechanism that creates fear in these corrupt officials.

  27. Thank you aigaforum.
    There is no doubt that the EPRDF has failed. A quarter of a century in power and here we go again with drought, famine and migration. The country is hungry and tensions are everywhere:- from Tigrai to Amara to Oromia. Just look at the protests. Many of the protests are not just issues of food. They are political and the EPRDF of course cannot cleanse itself of corruption. Despite Haile Mariam’s plea his own party bosses are not listening to him for he is a light weight. If I were Haile Mariam I would dissolve the parliament and the cabinet. I would establish a transitional government of national unity and remove the top brass of the army. Only that way he might be able to control the flames.

  28. The government should have expanded irrigation agriculture longtime a go. We have a lot of rivers. How long should we depend on rain-fed agriculture? It is now close to a quarter of a century (25 years) since EPRDF came to power, but the country can not feed itself. What a shame! The empty rhetoric of “11% growth” is nothing as long as people have no enough food to eat. .

  29. I read some suggestions here asking the government to relinquish power now. the reasons given are many including the party that stayed on power for 25 years and didn’t bring a meaningful change in the governance system, the economy is not doing well, democratic system is still a distant dream, the country is in the hands of corrupted officials like never before. However, It is unfortunate that there is no party ready to take over power and correct the current situation. I take this government partially responsible for the absence of strong opposition party since it was the government which was jailing almost every opposition party leaders on fabricated charges when it sees them become too strong and threaten its power. As a result, the young and vibrant leaders who could have been an alternative to EPRDF rule were pushed aside or forced to abandon politics. Therefore, perhaps over 25 years what EPRDF done well was destroying opposition parties with a great potential to succeed it. Now, the people have no alternative but just ride the dying horse until it is completely dead. My fear is when EPRDF implodes from within, the country may not have an opposition party strong enough to fill the vacuum soon enough before the country goes into somalization.

  30. Politics 101
    if there are true opposition parties in Ethiopia, instead of using every problem as an opportunity to grasp power and blame the government every time they should present alternative solutions both to the people and to the government in a civilized manner. If I was true opposition I would do the following to show my genuine concern to the people:
    1) If possible, I would convince my party members and other Ethiopians to solve our problems ourselves without the help of foreign aid. If we all contribute at least from 1 to 100 Birr. I may collect more than a billion birr to the drought affected areas.
    2) I will discuss ways of mitigating the problem with the concerned bodies and as an opposition party member I will ask the people and the ruling party what my share of duty will be in this critical time. I will prove to the people that I am not just working to get power by any means but I am part of the solution for my country. I will show the people that I am their servant not their lord.
    3) If there are things that the government did not do, then I will not hesitate to criticize but at the same time I will present alternative solutions.
    4) If I showed my concern to the people in action without discriminating people on the bases of their religion, race and geographical area then I am the party of the future for Ethiopia.
    5) I cannot deceive Ethiopian’s in the 21st century that I am their safe-guarder while I am opposing westerns when they try to send wheat to the starving people for humanitarian reasons or when I instigate immature people to create temporary disturbances irresponsibly.

  31. I thank Our PM, Our President and you too.
    The government is doing all its best to uplift millions from poverty. But, not much has been done on transforming and modernizing agriculture. Ethiopia has ample untouched land, many rivers, hardworking peasants and agricultural scientists. Why the government does organize all agricultural scientists, hydro dam-engineer, investors within and outside of the country to find ways and means to tackle the food crises that we always face. One of the best ways is to study and implement the experiences of other counties that have no rain all year round but they can feed their people using modern technologies. It is shame in the 21st century just to wait for Mother Nature to fix problems for us, to wait until rain rains.
    Long live Ethiopia

  32. I have read many comments and can categorize in few groups.

    There are those who still believe in EPRDF lead government and they give their unconditional benediction.
    There are those reasonably support-oppose the EPRDF lead government.
    There are those who don’t have any hope in EPRDF lead government.

    So lets ask the questions that matter?
    Who is right form the above?
    First EPRDF has told us that the people voted for them 100% unanimously, what a great news! When I see this, 100% voted for, I can only say that there is a good governance, no corruption or little, no famine, nothing…..
    Life is like in heaven the reason why the people accord their vote 100%.
    I know this 100% creates discussion, as it is a majority win. Every seat is won by 51%.
    Even if it is a majority win system and in this case millions do not voted for EPRDF, at least the 51% vote shows good governance.
    And today why we talk about bad governance, corruption, and so on?
    This is a heavenly given government, they light the whole country. They feed the people 3 times a day so why all these questions?

    I think as many of the supporter says keep up the good work and they said it as well 8 million hungry is okkkkkkk… I can say all is ok.
    But the day is counted.
    There is no need to preach and to indicate some issues here for somehting already that is too late.

  33. We can blame El Nino, but how is that going to help us.
    What the government should have done was plan ahead. We know that drought hits Ethiopia every so often. As long as we know that, we should have been well prepared, alert and put preventive plan in place. Storing food is good, but it is not preventive measure. Preventive measure is a plan that is put together to avoid the consequence of the drought. A plan to prevent people and their animals from being hit by the drought.
    The buck stops at the Prime Ministry’s Office..He should fire some one for not being attentive and do the job. We have to learn to take responsibility, accountability and when we are not, face the consequences. We are talking about people’s life here. This could have been prevented from happening with proper planning. Ten million people being affected is not a joke. Now days we do not even have to reinvent the wheel, we just have to copy and learn from China and India on how they are feeding their people.
    Drought have brought down so many leaders , and I hope to God this does not happen now in Ethiopia. Ethiopian people deserve peace and tranquility for ever so they can enjoy the life that they are running around to build.
    When do you think Ethiopian people are going to have a government who would do right by them? Ethiopian men and women sacrificed their life for this? They died so the rest would have three meals a day, enjoy the freedom of their own ethnicity and to be proud of their own language and state. and the whole Ethiopia.
    In order to enjoy all that, they have to eat. Eating is one of the basic needs of human beings.
    Where is the beef our Ethiopian Prim Minister?
    From very disappointed supporter of the Ethiopian Government.
    Nurit

  34. I am a strong believer in peace and developmental state. I admire all the leaders in Ethiopia now but I am worried about the coming leadership. My concern is not only the current draught but also the rampant corruption everywhere. Draught is not all man made but also natures way of getting angry for deforestation. The efforts being made now and in the last 25 years are slowly paying off but we have a long way to go.

    The other concern is corruption. I was in Addis during the new year and I accompanied my mothers friend to collect her pension which she had not received for over three months. She was told to go to the main office and get a letter. We took a taxi to collect the letter and we were lucky enough to get it in a day. When we went back to place near the old post office where they pay the pension, she was told to come back in 15 days. imagined, what she gets is $215 birr and that is the only income she has and she has not received for three months. Now she is told to comeback in 15 days. I was so mad and wanted to see the person in charge. I was told he is not in the office but at the same time the lady at the front told me to give a bribe of $20 and she will have her pick her pension the next day. PENSIONERS HAVE TO PAY BRIBLE OUT OF THAT SMALL AMOUNT. THE GOVERNMENT HAS TO FIRE ALL THE PEOPLE IN THAT MINISTRY OR SUB OFFICE if change is to take place. How sad and inhumane.

  35. ይህ አሁን አገራችን አጋጥሟት ያለው የድርቅ ችግር በሁሉም ክልሎች ነካክቷል መንግስትም እየተከታተሎው እንዳለ በተለያዩ መዲያዎች እየሰማን ነው ። ስራው የሚያስመሰግን ቢሆንም ያለፉት አመታት ምን ሰራን ምን ቀረ ብሎ መንግስት ራሱ ብራሱ መገምገም ይጠበቅበታል ይህን መሰል ድርቅ መግታት እንኳን ባይቻል መቀነስ ይቻል ነበር በኔ እምነት ። ይህን ስል እስከአሁን አልተሰራም ለማለት ፈልጌ አይደለም ግን እኛ እትዮጵያውያን ያለፉት አመታት ከነበረው ችግር አንጻር የመለወጥ ፍላጎታችን ትልቅ ነው በተለይ አሁን በለውጥ ጎደና እያለን ይህ በምን ይምጣ በምን ድርቅ ሲባል በጣም ያሳዝናል። ሆኖም 50 ፐርሰንቱም የኛ ጥፋት ሞሆኑን አምነን በተለይ መንግስት እድገቱ ብቻ አጉልቶ ከማየት ወጥቶ ወደኋላ አዙሮ ማየት ይጠበቅበታል ። በተለያዩ ቦታዎች እየሰማነው ያለው ህዝባችን በውሃ ጥማት እየተቸገረ ነው በትግራይ ክልል እንኳን እኔ በማውቀው የውሃ ተጠቃሚ 85 ፐርሰንት ነበር የአመቱ ሪፖርት በለሎችም እንደዚህ ያው ነው በተጨማሪ በየአመቱ በ ሞቶዎች የሚቆጠሩ በፓምፕ ለእሪገሽን የሚሆኑ
    ይቆፈራሉ የተቆፈሩም ስራ ላይ ሳይገቡ በተለያዩ ምክንያቶች ከዚሁ አንዱ ትራንስፎርመር እስከሚመጣ እየተባለ ሲጠባበቅ ድርቁ ገባ አሁን እንደምንሰማው ወደ ቁፋሮ እየተራራጡ ነው በጣም የሚሳዝነው ከሁሉም በላይ አስፈላጊው ውሃ ቅድሚያ አለመስጠት ለሁኑ ሰአት ምን ያህል ጥቅም ይሰጡ ነበር ? ለዚህም ዋናው መልካም አስተዳደር ችግር ነው ከላይ እስከ ታች ያሉትን ሃላፊዎች ልጠየቁ ይገባል ። ለምን ስህተት ለሚያውቀው ትምህርት ይሆናል ።መንግስት የተከሰተው ድርቅ ከአቅሙ በላይ እንደማይሆን ምንም ጥርጥር የለኝም ይህም ልንክደው የማንችል የአገሪቱ እድገት ነው።

  36. Ethiopia (water tower of Africa) should have irrigated even the dryest places such as Afar and Somali regions. it’s a shame to regularly see hands sticking out for alms from a water/land endowed country such as Ethiopia!! Blaming El Niño ain’t going to help. Get to work and irrigate the land!!!!!

  37. I think it is a serious case if the government can not stabilize the country. Drought is not a new phenomena and the government should have prepared for this kind of catastrophe before happening . When it was heard about it , the government must stopped all events like TPLF , ANDM, or flag day celebration and every effort had to be directed for this humanitarian activity at the earliest stage. It does not need sophisticated technology, the rainy season rain fall amounts predicts everything what is going to be happening on the agriculture . Corruption and mal – governance are the bottleneck for development and genuine humanitarian action. Deep clean corruption from the grass root otherwise there is no remedy for famine and drought.
    God bless Ethiopia

  38. Thank you Aigaforum for your unreserved effort to give the public current and relevant information about our country. What makes you special is you post both pro and against the government. You let us to judge what is correct and not correct. The first web site I visit early in the morning is Aigafroum. God bless you please keep it on.
    I would like to give credit to EPRDF for the big work so far done. For the martyrs who died for their countries and those who are alive. However, at is moment it looks the country is at cross-road. For Ethiopia it is tough and risky time. I am afraid they gave their life to see new Ethiopia, but it looks their purpose is being hijacked.
    Although EPRDF was strong and visionary party, now it looks it is dominated with incapable, selfish, merciless hypocrites. What surprise me is in its 10th party congress it believed corruption and rent-seeking are major problems of the party. They told us the leadership is responsible for all the problems. On the other no change is made on the top leadership. Still this incapable people are leading the country.
    We are told the problems in all regions ofthe country are similar. This shows the party is sick. I have respect and appreciation for PM Hailemariam, he openly told the public all the problems. But we do not see any action being taken (both at federal and region level). Corruption is everywhere (from federal –to Kebel level). The corrupt officials are not afraid of any body.
    When we come to the El-Nino case, it has affected so many countries but we don’t see them to have similar problem as ours. We have been told we are food sufficient at national level at least. The drought exposed the figures, especially about agricultural productivity were cooked. What we actually see with our necked eyes in most regions of the country is, the agricultural technology is the same whet our grand-grand- fathers have been using. Even fertile lands that have sufficient ground water were not irrigated (good examples are, Raya in Tigray and Afar). We hear hundreds of water wells that were dug have been idle for years in many parts of the country. Mostly of the problem of the drought is failure of the government, ministry of Agriculture in particular
    This week I watched on EBC TV, in Amhara Region one dam was planned to be complete in three year time at a cost of less than one billion Birr ( I don’t remember the actual figure). It is 8 years since it was started, it is not yet completed and the cost has reached over three Billon Birr. Who is accountable for the damage (in terms of time, money lost)? How many farmers could have benefited from this? Similarly, about three months ago, EBC TV broadcasted one dam (if I am not mistaken it is Kesem) is under construction in the Awash River. It was planned to be completed in three years at a cost of 800 million Birr. After 10 years it is in progress. The cost has gone above three million Birr. Both dams are constructed by Ethiopian Water Works Authority/Enterprise. Where is the accountability? What was the Ministry of Water and Irrigation doing? This is an indication that public money is being wasted. If we are not saving money and time, why don’t we abolish useless enterprise and give contract to private contours?
    It was planned in 2007 (ETH Cal.) Ethiopia will start exporting Sugar. But in 2008 we are importing sugar. What happened to the 10 sugar factories? What happened to the fertilizer factories? This clearly shows the government has serious implementation problems. This shows most of the guy have no capacity or commitment, or they are corrupt. Or they are making sabotage. To correct this needs courage. So far we have not heard any high official to be demoted or dismissed. They are named as advisors to the PM Office or they are made Ambassadors. What advice does PM expect from these crippled guys? How can these weak guys represent the country as ambassadors?
    The main problem of our country is evaded by corrupt officials with sophisticated network. It should also made clear, I am not saying, all EPRDF officials are corrupt and rent-seekers. We have dynamic, creative and forward looking leaders who made their organization successful and our country proud. To mention few: Ethiopian Airlines, METEC, Defense forces, Deeds and Documentation Office, etc.
    If the PM is going to solve the problem, merciless, fast action should be taken over those dishonest and incompetent officials. The media should also play its role by exposing those rent-seekers and praising those who are doing excellent job.

    God bless Ethiopia.

  39. El Nino can cause the drought, but was the govt prepared for it…… hell no! 1. The govt could have dug thousands of wells in regions affected . But they didn’t even drill water in the dug up wells, because of lack of petroleum as electricity is not available or channeled to other priroities according to Reporter. 2. The land lease policy is failure and should be phased out , thus allowing farmers property right. That will mean consolidation and expansion of farm lands, allowing us to feed ourselves. 3. Insurance companies should be writing policy to the farmers for such occasion. There is no risk which is uninsurable. For that to happen the farmers need property rights so that to take equity. 4. We need to use all arable lands in the country. So far we only till a fraction. If need be, we should hire foreigners to train our farmers. Share cropping is another option. 5.. we need to quantify our legitimate share of the Nile waters, so that to sell a portion, not in use, to be it Egypt or Saudi Arabia to buy cereal to save our people. It beats ‘ begging ……….. Mind you over a hundred million mostly Arabs depend on our waters while a tenth of our population is on a brink of starvation. They wont even give us a liter of petrol free to pump water despite being awashed with it………

  40. Dear All,
    I need help from anyone of you. Here is a question which has been in my mind for a long time now. Why do we have to lease agricultural land to foreigners today? If we can build a huge dam why can’t we develop modern mechanized farms by supporting home made investers?
    We can educate augromechanis at home and send some for more specialized education abroad. Institutes like the old Polytechnic could even graduate good agromechanics many decades back. These kind of manpower supported by Ethiopian agricultural economists, supported by the govt and populace in financing could establish the needed modern farms.
    Remember, no country in the entire world can prevent natural calamities and disasters. But it is possible anticipate such situations and be prepared to mitigate the impact that they cause.
    So the bottom line; let’s develop our own modern farms entailing anything (including irrigation). Iam sure we will produce more food even for export and avoid leasing.

  41. ቋንቋ ተበላሸ!!
    አማርኛም እንግሊዝኛም አትለው?? ድብልቅልቅ! ጭምልቅልቅ፤ ዝብርቅርቅ፤ የስልጤኔ የዕ.ለ.ው (G.T.P) ዕድገት መሆኑ ነው???
    ቋንቋችን ለማጥፋት ከባድ ዘመቻ እየተካሔደ ነው ያልው
    ለምንድነው በቋንቋችን (በአማርኛ፣በትግርኛ ወይም በኦሮምኛ) የማንጽፈው፤ የማንናገረው?? ነጮች እንዲያወድስሉን እንድያመጉስልን ነው??? ወይስ ሁሉ ነጮች የበላያችን እኛ ደግሞ ተገዢዎች ባርያዎች መሆኑን ማሳየት ነው?? መልእክቱ ለኛ ነው ወይስ ለነጮች???? በጣም የምታሳፍሩ ህዝቦች። ጥቁር ሁሌም ጥቁር ተንበርካኪ!!!! ቋንቋችን፤ ባህላችን፤ እምነታችን፤ ማንነታችንን ፤ እሰቶቻችን፤ እየጠፉ ናቸው። የሚቀጥሉት 20 ዓመታት ፡ እንደ ብዙ የአፍሪቃ አገሮች፤ (ከንያ፣ታንዛኒያ፡ ናይጀርያ፡ ወዘተ) ብሔራዊ ቋንቋችን እንግሊዝ ይሆናል። ሰዋህሊኛ፤ ሃውሳ፡ እየጠፉ ናቸው። የነዚህ አፍርቃ አገሮች ብሔራዊ ቋንቋቸው እንግሊዝ ነው። በጣም ያሳዝናል።
    ፋዘር: ማዘር: ብራዘር: ሲስተር፡ ፍረንድ፡ ሃይ፡ ዋው፡ ገርል ፍረንድ፡ … ወዘተ ካላልን ፋራ፡ ገጠሬ፡ ታጋይ፡ ወዘተ ያስብላል። ወይ ጉድ ወይ ስልጣኔ????????
    ኋላቀር የመንግስት ባለስልጣናት እና ከያንያን እና የዩኒቨርሲቲ ምምህራን ፡ በቲቪ መስኮት ሲቀርቡ፡ እንግሊዝኛ ደባልቀው፤ ጨማልቀው፤ ጨፋልቀው፤ ጨማምረው፤ ዘባርቀው፤ ካልተናገሩ ፡ ያልሰለጠኑ: ኋላቀር የሆኑ ነው የሚመስላቸው:: የሚያሳዝኑ!!!
    ከትግርኛ፡ ከኦሮምኛ: ከጉራጉኛ: ከሃዲያ: ወዘተ ከ80 በላይ ቋንቋችን ምርጥ ምርጥ ቃላቶች መምረጥ አይሻልም! ቋንቋችን እንዲሰፋ: በተለይ ብሔራዊ ቋንቋችን::

  42. የመንግስት (ኢህአደግ) መርህ የሚሎው ከ ”እርሻ መር ምጣኔ ሃብት _ ቁጠባ” ወደ
    ማምረቻ (ኢንዱስቱሪ) መር ልማት” እየተሸጋገርን ነው የሚሎው። መቸ እርሻ አደገ ለማና ወደ ኢንዱስቱሪ የምንሸጋገረው ??????? መልስ ከኢህአደጎች!!!!
    በእርሻ ለምተን ቢሆን ነሮ አሁን ስንዴ ባልለመን ነበር፤ ህዝባችን መመገብ በቻልን ነበር????? የት አለ ባለሁት አሃዝ እድገት ላለፉት 10 ዓመታት???? በከተሞች ፎቆች እና የአልኮሆል (መጠቾች-ቢራ) ፋብሪካዎች መገንባት ዕድገት ነው ወይ???
    ምን አለበት ልማት ባንክ ለወጣቶች የሚያጠፉ “የስስ አልኮሆል” ፋብሪካዎች ለመገንባት ብድር ከምስጠት ይልቅ፤ ገንዘቡ ህዝባችን ለሚመግቡ የምግብ ማምረቻዎች እና መስኖ ልማት ቢይውለው?????

  43. I think this government is doing the best it can to help feed those in need. We sometimes have to accept facts regardless of its sources.The idea that every thing the government does and do is a little silly.
    In my life time, I have seen the government run shelter where the hungry and the dying were camped to get some food and medical care, where, what most would have assumed it to be their last meal, provided with contempt- a very cold place. (Korem, Ethiopia, 1972). Compare to that, we ought to give this government respectable ranking. Hard to imagine for some to expect the government to change weather pattern. If less take and more work, we will overcome this temporary disaster.
    Peace..

    • Birhanu,

      You should never copmare governments on the basis of which one is less evil, less democratic and which one killed or imprisoned more. This is a different generation which should live exactly the way it’s peers live in big countries or civilized society.
      you have to compare the performance of this government with that of Kenya, England, USA so on and so forth. You mentioned the performance of the government of Ethiopia from 1974 and dared to compare with the government of Ethiopia of 2008. Please don’t do this self defeatist comparison instead of holding our current officials accountable for something they failed to do or anticipate the problem and fully prepared for it. You should hold the government the way the Kenyans, British and other civilized society hold their respective officials accountable for not doing enough. In short, don’t be apologist for the government. As a citizen, we have to give all we can for the betterment of our lives and help the government to achieve that. If and when the government fails we have to held them accountable and criticize them constructively.

  44. 1. The government failed to prepare for the effects of El Niño which was widely anticipated. They had no time to notice as they were busy patting their backs for “impressive economic growth ” and running their individual “networks”. And not to mention getting busy preparing various celebrations.
    2. Once, the ugly effects of the drought started manifesting themselves, EPRDF started to down play the overall impacts . The number of affected people was grossly understated until The BBC made it public.
    3. Still the government is blaming El Niño and did not take any responsibility for the lack of preparation.
    4.In an attempt to sway public opinion, the party came up with a hot topic; Good Governance! The issue was not created overnight. The PM, stated about the ” networks ” run by the officials. The networks were not created in one day. The PM & his associates, if they were genuine in fighting corruption,could have curtailed the development of these networks long time ago.They are just trying to use the issue of good governance just to divert the attention of the public.
    5. Is EPRDF leadership serious in its claims to fight corruption? The answer is a big NO. Historically, the party has used the issue of corruption only to imprison or dibilitate political opponents; Tamrat, Seye & family etc. They also jailed a minister, a few officials and some business men after the death of the former PM on account of corruption. Everybody knows that it was done to cut the arms and tentacles of political opponents whom I wouldn’t want to name. So, the party, at least for the past 25 years, had no history of fighting corruption for the sake of good governance. Why would I then believe them now? They could have started ” gimgema” within the top leadership focused on corruption within themselves.Then the public could trust them.
    6. Bad governance is a symptom and not the real malignancy: lack of democracy. If you try to cure bad governance with out treating the root cause, democracy, you are treating the symptoms only and bound to fail. Why is the party leadership shy to admit the absence of democracy and instead chose to hide behind the abstract of Good Governance? Because they don’t want real change but want to divert public attention from the drought , its effects and their failure to handle it. Let the rains pour and everything( corruption, good governance, democracy , accountability )will be forgotten.
    The solution for all these is for the EPRDF to bend on its knees, beg for forgiveness and embrace democracy wholeheartedly. Good governance, curtailing corruption, accountability, precluding famine, development justice etc are the sons and daughter of democracy and hardwork.
    I am not an opposer nor a supporter of EPRDF. I do not support or or oppose a group blindly. I support or oppose ideals, principles, deeds, outcomes…etc solely on their merit. I am a witness to several good things the EPRDF has accomplished and thank them for that. I also know of other issues in which I believe that the EPRDF was dead wrong. But for today, the title is about good governance and the drought. So I cast my opinion in that regard. Others may have diagonally opposed opinions to mine. I am fine with that as this is the way we can learn and develop ourselves.
    More importantly, such discussions benefit our country. And in this line , I would like to thank Aigaforum for opening such a platform. It to be recalled that Aigaforum created widespread and beneficial discussions when the claims of Dawit Gebregziabher and counter claims by other contributors were presented. Indeed, I believe those discussions had huge impacts on the parties’ conferences last Kremt. Aigaforum should be proud !

    • Aigaforum is the most corrupt, rotten website. Only posts good news about corruption. I would not admire this despotic website.

      Nana, If you read our introduction we did remind contributors to shy away from hearsays and unfounded allegations and person attacks so their voices are heard. When Aigaforum avails this forum from time to time it is encouraging readers to share their opinions and views with civility and also hoping authorities will read them and take some of the suggestions in to consideration when they deliberate on policy issues and on their day to day dealings in the office. Otherwise, dear Nana, we have no time and energy to be like the other forums where people discuss “bere welede” all the time.[Admin]

      • I know your think you are better than other websites. But the truth is you are the one who post Bere welede story. If is you who promoted corruption in Ethiopia by posting only one sided story. you only post false propaganda to cover up, protect your interest which means to milk the poor Ethiopians together the corrupt TPLF leaders. you post useless like Light train garage in addis as if Ethiopians can not have garage without TPLF. Your website, and Ethiopian review is the worst website. You only love to hear your own voices and to read your own mind. You delete opinion, views, … that opposed your grouping or corrupt TPLF party. This is bad. You are denying your TPLF leaders different opinions and even constructive views of others. Everyone must know what you wanted or like before writing. you choose what your readers to read? You must post all views and your readers must pick what they need and discard what they do not like. If we go to a restaurant to eat lunch, you can not choose for me what to eat, I must choose what I like to eat. But in your world, you have to choose for me what to eat as your reader. your website the lowest website, much lower than Ethiopian review. Actually Ethiopians review writes or post many good things than you. Your website is only for TPLF members, not for Ethiopians.

        You are right in one thing..yes we do choose for you what is good, that is why we died so you live in peace! Do like wise for us and we will gladly allow you to choose for us what is good. “tefaiya” This forum allows only sane people to discuss ideas, tell us the ideas you want to share just makes sure your idea is worthy of our readers time and ours!.[Admin]

        • You admitted you choose for your readers what to read? Well, that is bad. That is why I said your website not good. The censorship you do is the worst. That is why there are no many comments. You can not accommodate 100 million people. It is a sad story for me. You always have less than 100 comments? But Ethiopia has 100 million people.
          You did not die for me. You died for yourself. No Ethiopians asked you to die for.

          The problem is you live in a box that you have created. You can not see out of the dedebit box. This is not hurting anyone but you and your party. You are denying vital information to your party members. Only comments that support TPLF are posted here? Even if they are wrong, as long as they praise TPLF or woyane, they will be posted. This is self-defeat. By suppressing other people National feelings and depriving other people from having a say on their country you creating a Tsunami for one day. I know you are perfect in your own world. But it can only help you if you listen to others who have different outlook from you. Otherwise, you can not keep on forcing yourself forever and ever. There will be an end. You died to oppress, divide Ethiopians and to landlock Ethiopia? And to drag Ethiopia to Europe to sign useless agreements? You died to divide Ethiopia by ethnic or race and create more countries from within Ethiopia? You died to landlock Ethiopia? You died to promote corruption in Ethiopia? Ethiopia did not have the corruption you have today during derg. I know you think you know better than other Ethiopians? But the truth is you know less than other Ethiopians even about Ethiopia itself. You do not even know Ethiopian history. You only love to make your own new brand history by disregarding all the history of the country. This will never end well. The country belongs to all Ethiopians, not to few people from Tigrai region. You have been preparing the country for Tsunami. You will drink the wine you have brewed. They say you will be measured by the measure you measure. You will harvest what you have sown knowingly and unknowigly. You have betrayed the country, the people many times. You are in your own world and completely separated from the Ethiopian National feelings. You only love your own ideas , be it wrong or right. You can not evaluate yourself and think you are good. I have to evaluate myself always by asking others about myself. Sometimes I can not see the wrong things I do, but people from outside see them clearly. The worst thing is to think you are always right? That is why TPLF is destroying itself because not wiling to learn or reform or change, but only stick to 44 years old dedebit ideology that is destroying the country. Your leaders can not even speak properly local language. They never stand for the country and for the people. Anyway, Mekerew Mekerew embi kale Mekera ymkerew is the good amharic saying. You will get it one day but it will be too late then. Now you are dragging the country to Egypt in the name of GERD as if Ethiopia needs permission from a country that is 2213 km away from Ethiopia. It is shame and I do not even understand why spend 17 years in caves to do all these dirty games about the country. You love dragging the country and the people. Nothing ashames or stops from doing everything wrong against the country and the people. Anyway, it is hard to educate people once they are set up. It does not even matter where they live. They can not even learn from where they live. You live in the west but you learn nothing ? Alas, time will judge you and your TPLF. What you have been doing to the country is beyond my imagination.

          I am sure you are talking about people living in Utopia not Ethiopia! Time has told you many times but you have no capacity to understand! Ethiopia is New today! And it did not become new because of hot air talking but by sweat and blood. In case you are hallucinating about the current public disturbance in Ormoia and Gondar is something for your to claim I told you so!Think Again! Ethiopia will go through many more such process to cement its new foundation. Ethiopia is live today with all kind of challenges. Only a promising land and people with hope will demand things and want change every time. It is not the old 3000 years old Ethiopia where the more things change the more things stay the same. Thanks to the selfless heroes and heroines Ethiopians are moving in all fronts and corners, and it is normal. That is how you build a democratic nation. Those who want to play with fire will taste fire so they do not want to repeat the same thing again – making space for real civil discourse and democratic institution to flourish. Listen to me look back to year 1997! and learn the lessons learned by Kinjitoch! Ethiopia is much better since then I say!. The new Ethiopia is not being built in cyber world, to be hoest even the old Ethiopia was not thus why Derge used to say “…be chahcat ena wuha qetene yetegenebach ager Eyariko nat…something to that effect”

          ( person opinion)

        • Typical TPLF never ending yewushet propaganda. Ethiopia is not better than derg time. Ethiopia today is worse than derg time. I know what you are talking about. You are talking about the few TPLF multibillioners? That is an unethiopian way. I know for few TPLF and their supporters this time is the honeymoon or the best time, but not for Ethiopians from Tigrai to Uganden. The people are living in a never seen poverty, diseases, corruption. Life in Ethiopia is unbearable. I am aware today’s Ethiopia is heaven for extremely few TPLF millioners and thier sponsors from Saudi, Turkey, China. But Ethiopians are watching from the side when TPLF are sharing the country with foreigners and feasting on it as if there is no tomorrow. There is I know China sweatshop factories where Ethiopians paid 20 dollars per month and forced on top of that to sing Chinese Mandarin language in their own country? Hmm, that must be a profitable for TPLF millioners? why not? In short, you do not see it because you are not willing to see it. But the truth is there is deep and big public discontent across Ethiopia. The public discontent is more deeper in Tigrai in your own turf than anywhere. I assure you that you will never understand and work with others. You have done that for that for the past 24 years and you will do it until the times to end. You will never hear, listen, … to the others. This Modulus Operandus of TPLF. Always right? The public is always in TPLF mind and it is only TPLF who knows everything. This has been the bona fide and Prima facie Modulus Oparandus of TPLF. You will keep on talking to yourself until that Gadaffi day comes. People will at the end decide to drag you from Arat kilo.

          Democracy, haha, woyane and democracy are like oil and water and do not go together. It is better you keep quiet than even talking the word democracy. You are only cheating yourself. There is no democratic country like this anywhere a country of 100 million people are forced to live in an ethnic aparthied system. You are saying people will taste fire when they ask questions? You will kill them? but the question is for how long are you going to keep on killing people to maintain the status quo? Force can only suppress people for limited period. There will be time where people will not defeat their fear of being killed and turn against you and do the same to you. Even the derg with the mighty army in Africa could not last long. Your attitude is very dangerous to be very frank. You believe in gun, and your story of struggle? I do not believe in gun and violence. I believe in real freedom and not in bloody so called struggle that consumed about 1 million people.

          About the Oromia and Gonder, well, I believe there is more than that in Ethiopia. These are just the symptoms of an upcoming scenario. Note, the Oromia and Gonder ,… is not just the beginning , but not the end. Believe it or not, there is much deep discontent than that. It is just a matter of time. When? God knows, but when that times, it will be over. The people in Tigrai are crying in their hearts and it will explode one day. It will be like burst of suppressed pressure. I am Ethiopian and I communicate with many Ethiopians, your government is loved by Ethiopians. Your government is considered a traitor government and a government committed to destroy Ethiopia and its people by all kind of injustice such human trafficking, sex tourism, corruption, ethnic aparthied, landlocking, …. but you will never see it because you are TPLF. TPLFites never ever listen to others except forcing themselves by brute force.

          Yea, keep dreaming there is a heavenly day for you! You Keep thinking Ethiopia is still a place for the few chosen! I am wondering what kind of brain cells God gave you to think 65 thousand souls gave their life in order for the few to enjoy life and not their own brothers and sisters? Can you sacrifice yourself today so the Yankes not your offsprings live comfortably? What makes you think Tigreans or Other Ethiopians are fools like yourself to allow people to take advantage of them? What makes you think the new Ethiopia is not giving hope to millions becoming the true promise land? What tell me? Of all people you from your western comfort zone claiming better than the Woyane from Maqinetal is really upsetting me!! If you were you would have cried then when it matter most! Then, when people were being burned alive and when they were left to die like flies because of hunger! Man you do not understand how mad you are making me when you blacken today’s Ethiopia! When people demand and ask for better service it is because they know there is a listening government. It is because they know for sure Ethiopia can better tomorrow for today’s Ethiopia is better than Yesterday’s!

          I know you are trying to exploit the growing pains of Ethiopia but rest assured it is in vain since all if not most developed countries passed through similar path to be where they are today! Tilq Nebern Tilq Enhonalen!

          Bye.

          • My dear, we wanted a better Ethiopia for all. No Ethiopian wanted racial or ethnic aparthied. No Ethiopian wanted corruption? no Ethiopians wanted to be landlocked? TPLF wanted racial apartheid, corruption, landlocking, … all forced on the people. The problem is you talk for the people and you think they are your goats? Ethiopian people are now like goats because TPLF can sell them if it wants to do so.

            I do not care about the past, I wanted better today. I am tired of TPLF preaching us about what happened in the past? This is disgusting. Stop wasting time about something that happened 30 or more years ago. We are talking what you are doing today. I am saying you are destroying the country by fostering hatred, corruption, nepotism, … I do not understand why you go 30 and more years to bury your own wrong things. Sir, we are talking about what is happening today. We are not interested about past mistakes of other people. Because there was wrong things in the past? you wanted to keep on recycling them? Oh my God, the past is gone,work, think, for better today and tomorrow. Stop this non-sense going back in time and comparing yourself with dead people. You are living in the 21 century, not in the 20th and 19 century. Stop bringing stories from the past to cover up your weakness by comparing with past leaders. It is disgusting. This attitude is holding from learning to be a better person.

            I am saying there is 0% freedom in Ethiopia today, not in the past. There is less freedom in Tigrai today than during derg time. But we expected things to be better today. Today Tigrai is the hell of Ethiopia next to Eritrea. Tigrai is now region where people get punished because their father worked for Emperor Haileslassie? Imagine, your father worked for Haileslassie and today you are not allowed to live and work and do business in Tigrai? Dawit G is denied his right to work, live, do business in Tigrai? why? Woyanes told us because his father was Mesfant? Your system is rotten but you do not smell it. You have become the worst Mesafnt yourself. Today TPLF cadres are billiones in a poor Ethiopia where hospitals are run without medicine, medical tools, without hygiene, … in a country where 15 million people are on the death throe of starvation?

            I am living my life like heaven. But I feel pity for the people whom you are holding hostage by forcing on them racial apartheid, nepotism, corruption, landlocking, abuse of citizens by investors of all kind with sweatshop factory work where Ethiopians are forced to do military drill in to work for an alien Chinese choose factory where people are forced to do Chinese military drill and sing Chinese language? You get paid $20 dollars per month and on top of that you get abused physically because you have to learn Chinese Mandarin language? and do Chinese military drill of physical abuse? You are cruel, selfish, subjecting your own people to abuse to make money. I would rather die of hunger than than to make money by subjecting my country men and women to physical and pychological abuse. You can not develop a country by abusing its people physical and pychologically. Man can not live by bread alone. Development is not only eating bread and the bread you are giving to Ethopians is a bloody bread. You have lost your 5 senses.

  45. Main problem that causing the country to fall apart is, allowing public grievance to ferment too much instead finding a solution at early stage of the problem flared up. Take a Oromo , drought/famine cases are good examples that showing no attempt made at the infancy stage of the problem . Sometimes correction or change is need when unworkable system identified or redirects the path of implementation. The big challenge of each and every delegate of a parliament from his/her constituency has the capability of stabilizing and communicating with the people they voted them.

  46. Some big power projects are turning their face on Ethiopia.I think the government need to empower those few people who can do some big companies to create jobs in the country. Most of the huge investments are not on the ground because of the banks , Ministry of finance poor negotiation status. the need only the money with out people have the investment. Refusing equity financing, looking for low interest rate. The nation has some grade that the internationl financial firms can give loans. How could any body invest with out equity or some fair interest rates.

  47. Honest Feedback vs. Grievances

    I have been following on the various interesting comments posted under this discussion thread. While the level of engagement of all these creative minds is encouraging, I found some of the discussion to be conveyed based on a “win everything or nothing” type of narration. Furthermore, the discussion goes tangent on issues; sometimes missing the objective of the discussion and sometimes suffering from lack of focus. I think , it will useful if the discussants could be fair and suggestive of relevant proposals so that the concerns could have a “focused and receptive addressees”. If our comments are all front attack, I am afraid we are writing to ourselves. We need to have an audience that can listen and our writing should be persuasive and civil. The purpose of expressing public opinion should be corrective in nature and seeking cooperation and not confrontation.
    We have also need to be sensitive on how and when to be tough on the policy makers. There is no doubt that the government didn’t have plan “B” strategy on its agricultural policy and many of you have kindly and correctly addressed the issue and some good recommendations have been suggested. Hopefully, the respective offices of the governments at both central and regional levels are making notes of our remarks and they should know that we will follow up on the steps that will be taken in the immediate future as the challenge the nation is facing is extensive and deep in its impact.
    On the other hand, we have to be aware of the geopolitical situation and the development that is taking place in the Horn of Africa the whole Middle East. If any right thinking mind misses the negative impact it will have on Ethiopia, he or she should be either naïve or uninformed. Ethiopia has had unprecedented economic performance and the nation is entering a technological break-through and I hope no Ethiopian will wish any disruption of this momentum (which happens rarely in developing countries), by internal and/or external forces. We know that our neighbors have been praying for a disaster to happen in order to halt the momentum of economic growth and international attention the nation has been enjoying for the first time since the time of Menelik II.
    Countries such as Ethiopia, which are in transition, will have tremendous challenges (read the Harvard Business Review, January 2011: New Business Models in Emerging Markets). Those challenges can vary from income inequality to corruption. To be honest, many countries have past through such challenges (transparency index-UN publication). The only difference between today’s countries in econoic transition and the emerging American capitalism in the end of 19th and the beginning of 20 centuries was that, back then, there was no social media, which could upload information instantly. Today, any mishap is stored, shared and uploaded by the minute. That is good for humanity and for our people. The government is under the radar and the government cannot act the way governments acted during the Dark Age .

    In conclusion, let’s keep the discussion alive, not only on this issue, but also on various topics that that matter for the welfare of the nation, but let’s be constructively critical and not disruptive of peace, harmony and the ongoing economic dynamics that undoubtedly is changing the face of Ethiopia. Let’s be engaged, but also vigilant.
    I am extremely thankful to the Aigaforum group for creating this platform for discussion and dialogue and we hope such discussion will continue and the folks at home are paying attention.

  48. ምኞትና አቅም ይለዩ እንጂ የኢትዮጰያ መንግስት ለክልሎች በሚሰጠው ቀመርና በቀጥታ በፌደራል መንግስት በሚሰሩ ፕሮጀክቶች በዚች አገር በርካታ ጥልቅ የመስኖ ልማት ፕሮጀክቶችና አነስተኛ፣ መካከለኛና ትላልቅ ግድቦች ተሰርተዋል እየተሰሩም ነው፡፡ የዚህች አገር ችግር የካፒታል፣ የቴክኖሎጂና የኮንትራክተሮች አቅም በራሱ ውስን መሆን የሚፈለገውን ያህል በግድቦች ግንባታ እንዳትራመድ ያደረገ ቢሆንም ቀላል የማይባሉ ስራዎች ተሰርተዋል፡፡ በዚህም ምክንያት ነው ድርቅ ወደ ርሃብ ያልተቀየረው፡፡ የፈለገው ያህል እህል ቢቀርብ ርሃብን ማስታገስ አይቻልም ነበር፡፡ ውሃ ወሳኝ በመሆኑ ከራያ ሸለቆዎች እስከ ሀረር የተሰሩ ጥልቅ የውሃ ጉድጋዶችና ግድቦች ያለው ውሃ ህዝቡ መንደሩን ለቆ እንዳይወጣ አስችለውታል፡፡ ከእንስሳቶቹ ጋር ሆኖ የድርቁን አደጋ ለመቋቋም በሚያደርገው ጥረት የመንግስት የእህል እገዛ ታክሎበት ነው ርሃብ መግታት የተቻለው፡፡ እንደ ሁላችንም ምኞት ቢሆን ይህች አገር የካቲታል፣ የእውቀትና የኮንትራክተሮች አቅም ችግር ባይኖር ኖሮ ብለን ከተነሳን ጉዳዩ ቢሆን ኖሮ ሳይሆን እያለ ባልተሰራበት ብለን ሁላችንም እንሞግት ነበር፡፡ ስለሆነም በዚህ ተጨባጭ ጉዳይ ላይ ልንሞግት እንችላለን፡፡ ከዚህ ውጪ ግን ምኞት ነው፡፡ ምኞቱ ተንተርሶ ፖለቲካዊ ሰበብ በማድረግ የማጥላላት ሂደት የገቡት ወገኖቻችን ደግሞ እስኪ ቅድሚያ እየተጋመሰ ያለው አባይ ግድብ ላይ አስተዋፅአቹህ ግለፁ በሚል እንማገት? እኔ ለምሳሌ እስከ አሁን የሶት ወር ደመወዜ በሶስትአመታት ቦንድ ገዝቸበታሎህ፡፡ እናንተስ?

  49. nana,
    I failed to understand the purpose of your message. When I posted my view on the current unfortunate drought related situation, my expectation is to bring awareness among readers and I am not here for political dialogue, as I have no knowledge of political science nor desire to have one. However, I found your message divisive and sinister. I can’t believe it that your hatred becomes an agenda at the cost of the endangered 11 million Ethiopians who are praying for rain as their survival will wholly depends on the availability of rain. Let me challenge you my friend, let’s raise money and lease inactive oil rigs and send them home to dig deep holes and extract water, which will save the lives of millions of Ethiopians. Once we save the lives of these millions of human souls, we can come back to the questions of justice and injustice.
    I hope my call resonates and you will stand for this honorable act of duty. for your information, I have already invested in the Nile Dam by buying bonds, when Egypt was petitioning IMF and World Bank not lend a dollar to help the initiation of this project of our time.
    If you want to have a dialogue, I beg you to be less emotional and more rational.
    Best regards,
    hgw

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