Mystery of the Nile: from source to sea

For those of you who may not have seen it, Mystery of the Nile is a must see IMAX film. It is a real life adventure from the source of the Blue Nile to the Mediterranean Sea. It is nicely made and the IMAX theater enhances the experience of watching the film by making you feel like you are the one traveling on the river. My family enjoyed every minute of this great adventure.

You can find out if it is showing in your state by selecting the name of the film and your state on the left hand side drop-down menu here . Enjoy!

Respecting the people's right

It has been a while since my last post but we have not seen much change in the political situation. The government continues its prosecution and persecution of opposition party leaders and citizens alike. Injustice is called justice. Those who unfairly have put people behind bars promise to the world that the trial will be 'fair'. What a disgrace? There should be no trial in the first place as it is not a crime to oppose the EPRDF government peacefully. The only fair thing to do is to release all political prisoners without condition and work toward national reconciliation based on respect to the people's choice and voice.

The Ethiopian constitution delcares various rights of citizens. As I have said in the past, the constitution has its share of good articles. But what good is a constitution if the government routinely disregards its provisions to achieve its political objectives. I even wonder if the people whose constitution it is understand and know that they do have inviolable rights under the constitution.

Inviolable is defined as secure from violation or assault. So, the Ethiopian people have rights that no government can take away. But of course, what are they going to do about it even if they do know their rights with a government that shows no respect for its people and its constitution.
Our history has shown us that constitutions come and go with every government and you can not count on your rights staying the same from one regime to the next. Even if your rights seem to stay the same on paper, you can not be confident that the government honors its own constitution. People may not even believe what is in the constitution applies to them anymore. This is understandable but should not be acceptable.

Most of the time, those in power ride the blood of others to the palace and prepare a constitution that serves them instead of the people. Since they did not get to power with the support of the people, they would not hesitate to spill more blood to continue in power as they have done in the beginning. So, how do we remove this pattern of coming to power or maintaining power once and for all?

I believe that Ethiopia's longterm survival depends on peaceful transition of power through elections. Moreover, there needs to be a clear definition of the role of the military and the police in a democratic society. The military should only be used to safeguard the sovereignity of the nation not to club citizens that oppose the policy of whoever happened to be in power. The sovereignty of a nation is not threatened when citizens exercise their democratic and constitutional rights. Should there be a disturbance; the police need to be ready to diffuse the situation while allowing the citizens to exercise their rights. The military and the police as institutions need to stay out of politics. They are to serve the constitution and not the interests of one person or one party.

This can only happen when those in power understand that they are in that position to serve the interests of the people that they represent and to uphold the constitution. If the people decide to choose someone else or another party, they should gracefully relinquish power wishing the newcomers well (without sabotaging the incoming administration's effectiveness via new policies and rules). We also need to learn to disagree on issues respectfully without making the disagreement personal. No one person or party has a right to stay in power perpetually without the consent of the governed. We need to continue the peaceful struggle until the political culture is changed and the people's voice and rights respected by those who wish to govern them.

Congratulations! Olympian Robel Teklemariam

Even though, the broadcasters did not show Robel Teklemariam finish the 15K Classical race, it is wonderful to know that he finished the race even beating out a few others. I congratulate him on representing Ethiopia with dignity. I hope in the next winter olympics we will have more athletes inspired by Robel Teklemariam's effort.

A great weekend for Ethiopian athlets

P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon & 1/2 Marathon

Ethiopian athletes dominated both the marathon and half-marathon races in men as well as women and for good measure Haile added a new world record in half-marathon (58 minutes and 55 seconds) to his accomplishments reducing the previous mark by 21 seconds.

Marathon
Men:
1, Shimelis Mola, Ethiopia, 2:13:08.
2, Terefae Yee, Ethiopia, 2:13:13
3, Asnake Fekadu, Ethiopia, 2:15:13
4, Belay Welasha, Ethiopia, 2:17:53
5, Yuriy Hychun, Ukraine, 2:20:57.

Women:
1, Shitaye Gemechu, Ethiopia, 2:31:44
2, Askale Tafa, Ethiopia, 2:31:46
3, Hiromi Ominami, Japan, 2:36:08
4, Salomie Getnet, Ethiopia, 2:36:55
5, Abeba Tola, Ethiopia, 2:38:19.

Half Marathon
1, Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopia, 58:55
2, Tessena Abshiro, Ethiopia, 1:02:57
3, Habte Jifar, Ethiopia, 1:04:40
4, Abiyota Guta, Ethiopia, 1:05:58
5, Fidele Barangsabe, Ethiopia, 1:08:44.

Source: www.iaaf.org.

Great Edinburgh Cross Country

Kenenisa Bekele came from behind to beat Saif Saeeed Shaheen in a dramatic fashion at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country 9km race. Geleta Burka won the women's 6km with a dominant performance relegating the defending champion and favourite Tirunesh Dibaba to third place.

RESULTS

Men's 9.2km
1 K Bekele (Eth) 26:08,
2 S Shaheen (Qat) 26:12,
3 Z Tadesse (Eri) 26:18,
4 D Ritzenhein (USA) 27:03,
5 S Lebid (Ukr) 27:22,
6 T Bacha (Eth) 27:51,
7 T Shifer (Eth) 27:51,


Women 6km:
1 G Burika (Eth) 19:01,
2 I Ochichi (Ken) 19:12,
3 T Dibaba (Eth) 19:21,
4 H Kibet (Ken) 19:47,
5 G Getenah (Eth) 19:48,
6 E Dibaba (Eth) 19:49,

Source: www.iaaf.org.

24rd Cross Internacional de Itálica’

In another cross-country event in Seville, Spain, Abebe Dinkessa and Sileshi Sihine were 1 and 2 in the Men's race while Bizunesh Bekele led an Ethiopian sweep of the first three positions in the Women's race.

Results

Men (10.8km course)
1. Abebe Dinkesa (Eth) 31:03
2. Sileshi Sihine (Eth) 31:10
3. Charles Kamathi (Ken) 31:11

Women (6.6km course)
1. Bizunesh Bekele (Eth) 21:32
2. Meselech Melkamu (Eth) 21:36
3. Derbe Alemu (Eth) 21:40

Source: www.iaaf.org.

Random thoughts on current affairs ...

I am jotting down here my thoughts on some of the issues that occupied my mind in the last three weeks.

On the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has tied the hands of the Ethiopian government by signing the Algiers agreement and by agreeing to abide by the result of the court of arbitration. Eritrea knows Ethiopia has a losing hand in this game and it will push hard. Meles had a chance to argue for the long-term interests of Ethiopia during the arbitration. Unfortunately, he neither took the opportunity to advocate for the return of the port of Assab nor did he argue that Eritrea does not have the facts to her claim to Badme (see Dagmawi's website for detailed facts and arguments ). Now, the UN and the US are pushing hard to end the standoff between Ethiopia and Eritrea. My gut feeling tells me that the demarcation will go forward as Ethiopia has lost its bargaining position in Algiers and the court of arbitration. I don't believe Eritrea will be inclined to make any adjustments as requested by Meles Zenawi. Meles Zenawi knows he has lost it for Ethiopia and now wants a face saving gesture from Eritrea which will not happen. Regardless, we will not see another round of sensless war but I have learned not to count the leaders of the two respective countries out when it comes to fighting. I will close this topic with a quote from Enset blog article No Senseless war which makes a very good point regarding the future of this conflict.

... there cannot be any real peace between the states of Ethiopia and Eritrea until both countries have representative governments that can negotiate a real peace agreement on behalf of their respective people. Furthermore, even if the belligerent parties somehow manage to avoid going to war this time around and settle their differences by ratifying the Algiers agreement and demarcating the border, any peace agreement that is reached by the current holders of state power in Addis Ababa and Asmara will not be considered complete by the Ethiopian people if the agreement fails to address Ethiopia’s unencumbered access to the sea through the port of Assab.

On the travesty of justice

It is a sad spectacle to see those who advocate for peaceful struggle against the tyranny of EPRDF continue thier fruitless trek from prison to the court. They are accused of very serious crimes such as treason and genocide. The strange part is that those who ordered and committed the killing of innocent citizens are not in prison. Those who ordered the mass arrest and terror of citizens are not in prison. The argument of the government is that these people who are in prison made us do it. They say that, if it were not for the opposition party leaders calling for peaceful civil disobedience, all the killing and arrest would have been avoided. But the EPRDF led government ordered the killing, arrest and terrorizing of innocent citizens and it continues to do so. They should be facing prosecution instead of the opposition leaders. No one should be above the law.

On the future of politics based on ethnicity

Politics based on ethnic affiliation (if you can clearly fall into one of many groups and of course, you have no choice in the matter: you belong to one, the other or to none) has been in place for the past fourteen years. Moreover, Ethiopia is now a federation of ethnic based regions. Ethnic based politics assumes that everyone in the ethnic group views the world (should view) the same way. There is little room for movement for those who may not view the issues in ethnically-correct way. So, if you don't agree with what representatives of your ethnic group are advancing, how do you 'unbelong'?. You can't.

We know even for a family, not all memebers of a family think the same way in a matter let alone a whole group. I am of the view that for a united Ethiopia to come out of this, political parties should cease to be organized along ethnic or religious lines. Parties should organize themselves on ideas that apply to all citizens. How about Democratic/ Republican/ Independent/ Green etc... party of Oromia/ Tigray/Amhara/ Southern Peoples/ Ogaden/ Somali regions? These associations do not require belonging to one ethnic group or another just agreement on the ideas and principles the parties stand for. If you don't like the idea of one political party, you are free to choose another that fits your principles better.

Some may ask, how do we safeguard the freedom and interest of each ethnic group? I would say by safeguarding the freedom and interest of the individual and by allowing the rule of law to be supreme. As for regional interest, that should be the work of the elected representatives from the region to advance the needs and interests of their constituents. The biggest challenge, I believe, is balancing the need to maintain and develop ethnic and cultural heritage while participating in non-ethnic non-religion based democratic multi-party system. Is this possible? I believe so. Is it easy? Absolutely not.

I may have simplified some things but everybody should share ideas on how the various ethnic groups can prosper together in a united Ethiopia. My view is just that my view. I am open to persuasion on what works and how to go about it.

Happy New Year to All!

Myopic and insecure leadership takes us nowhere

Fourteen years of the government of EPRDF, by EPRDF and for EPRDF has not led to a more democratic, stable and prosperous Ethiopia. There may have been some improvements here and there, may be mostly there, but not nationwide. Certainly, the political structure and culture is dominated by EPRDF with token opposition members in parliament. It boggles the mind why so many EPRDF members of parliament are needed if they vote lock-step with the Prime Minister's view. They take up seats in the halls of parliament but have forgotten to effecitively use their God-given brain to think and arrive at a decision beneficial to their constituents even if it is contrary to their party's position.

EPRDF is a communist party which masquarades as democratic by virtue of the existence of opposition parties and the often harassed not-so-free press as long as its grip on power is not threatened. If you remember, the communist party claimed to know what is best for the people without considering what the people really wanted. This is the story of EPRDF's leadership through the last fourteen years. Narrowly focused and arrogantly confident in its 'all-knowing' power, it has no room for the views of others. Compromise is considered as defeat and surrender in the eyes of the EPRDF leadership regardless of its benefits for citizens.

Even though EPRDF pretends to be confident of the rightness of its ideas and policies, its insecurity is evident by the brutal actions it takes against Ethiopian citizens with every little challenge of its ideas and policies. That is the only way to explain the killing, jailing and harrassment of journalists, opposition party leaders and citizens alike.

Yesterday, I happen to watch BBC World news program and they showed government videotape of the rock throwing incident that supposedly ignited the government crackdown. This government, with all its military machinery, was so threatened by rock throwing youth, it turned the guns meant for securing the borders of the country on its own citizens. This government is so insecure, it drags opposition party leaders to court, claiming that they tried to overthrow the government. One would ask by what means are they trying to overthrow the government, with their bare hands? Now, it has charged them with treason and boasts that it has evidence supporting this outrageous charge. The only thing this show trial proves is that EPRDF can not handle fair competition, so it has to silence the challengers.

On the same program, the Prime Minister was asked if he still believed that Ethiopia's democracy is still a model for Africa. His response was, "We are not trying to be role models but are trying to do what is right for our country." This reminds me of some famous basketball player, who said "I am not a role model", when he failed to live up to the public expectation. The Prime Minister is a leader of a party that has failed to recognize doing the right thing for the country requires listening to the people of the country. What is a country without its people? How can a party, which is impermeable to the idea of others, be expected to do what is right to Ethiopia and the people of Ethiopia? The honest answer is it can not without significant change in its vision for the country.

Ethiopia needs leaders

• who recognize that the government is to serve the people not the other way around.
• who understand that people regardless of their status in life have inherent worth and value just because they are God's creation.
• who have a vision and are able to rally the support of the people rather than ram their vision at gun point.
• who can work with opposition members and citizens so that the best ideas and policies are implemented with the long-term interest of the people and of the country in mind.
• who know how to use the diversity to bring out the best in all its citizens.

The EPRDF government is pressed from within, despite the facade of calm, and from without. It can continue on its current path which leads to further alienation or it can reverse course by releasing all political prisoners without condition and sit down and discuss the future of the country in good faith. We hope for the best with our eyes open.

Champions again

The Ethiopian national football team has successfully defended its title as CECAFA challenge cup champions defeating Rwanda. The final score was Ethiopia 1 Rwanda 0.

Congratulations! to the Ethiopian national football Team on the job well done.