ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT MAKES PLEAS FOR EMERGENCY FOOD AID

Excerpts from : Civil Military Fusion Senter Report

NORTH EAST AFRICA REVIEW
ISSUE 17, 08 OCTOBER—22 OCTOBER, 2009

Overview
North East Africa Knowledge Manager, Stuart Kefford, stuart.kefford@cimicweb.org
The US administration clarified its approach to Sudan when it finalized its review of its policy towards the country. The administration’s position on Sudan allows all parties to understand what is required, and provides the confidence that the goalposts will not be changed, which can help the implementation of the peace agreements and progress of peace talks in the country.
Somalia continues in a state of flux with factions turning on each other, and defections of key individuals changing the political dynamics of the country (southern Somalia).
Ethiopia has requested international assistance to help provide food aid for up to 13 million people that are in need.
ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT MAKES PLEAS FOR EMERGENCY FOOD AID
Ethiopia Knowledge Manager, Matthew Hall, matthew.hall@cimicweb.org

“There is a real danger of a humanitarian disaster in the coming months if the international community stands by and does nothing.” Douglas Alexander, International Development Secretary, UK Government
On 22 October at a meeting with inter-national donors, the Ethiopian government made a plea for emergency food aid from the international community.
This represents a change from Ethiopia’s previous stance that the government had the situation under control and the international community was exaggerating the extent of the food crisis. The figure used by the international community included critical and non-critical beneficiaries of food aid, which the government felt was misleading due to coverage received by the latter group under the government’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP). This appeal by the Ethiopian government is consistent with recent requests by numerous aid agencies for assistance to overcome a growing food crisis in Ethiopia and East Africa as a whole.
According to Oxfam, “more than 23 million people......are being pushed towards severe hunger and destitution across East Africa. In Ethiopia 13.7 million people are at risk of severe hunger and need assistance.” This figure combines both those targeted by emergency food assistance (roughly 6.2 million) and those covered by the PSNP.
The international community has already begun to respond to these warnings. Oxfam had made an emergency appeal for GBP 9.5 million (about USD 15 million) from the UK public to provide food aid to drought-stricken East Africa, particularly Ethiopia. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) announced on 06 October that an emergency donation of GBP 30 million will be used to address the Ethiopian food crisis. Another GBP 9 million will be donated to Kenya and Somalia, which face a varying degree of food shortages.
In positive health-related news, cases of Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) continue to decline throughout the country. Just one month ago AWD and cholera were rapidly spreading and many feared a national crisis; while the danger is not yet over, a concerted effort by the Ethiopian government and humanitarian agencies has significantly improved the situation.

POTENTIAL POLITICAL PROGRESS IN ETHIOPIA
The Ethiopian government requires all parties to agree to the election Code of Conduct, drafted by the National Electoral Board (NEB), as a precursor to any negotiations on the electoral process. Opponents see this as locking themselves into a rigged system that is controlled by the EPRDF.
On 12 October, the Forum for Democratic Dialogue (FDD) announced that it would likely not boycott the June 2010 election. The FDD (Medrek in Amharic), a coalition of opposition parties and notable former politicians, is considered by some political commentators as the group with the best chance to rival Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his ruling party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Front (EPRDF).
The FDD has previously refused to take part in the government's Code of Conduct talks; however after meetings with British and American diplomats there are signs that talks between the two groups may soon be underway. These mediation efforts and the FDD’s announcement offer an opportunity to overcome the impasse between the EPRDF and its opposition parties, born out of mistrust between the two groups.
The government needs opposition parties to participate in the election to legitimize the process, and the election provides the only possibility for opposition parties to provide a challenge to the ruling party. However, suspicion among the parties still runs high and engagement by the international community must continue.
It should be cautioned that while op-position participation in the election is encouraging for promoting democratic practice in Ethiopia, it does not necessarily address another serious concern: the potential for violence leading up to and during the election period. To read the entire report, please click here

Teddy Afro: The invincible messenger

By Abebe Gellaw ǀ October 14, 2009
There are some people blessed with an unbreakable spirit. They can turn adversities into triumph and setbacks into progress. These kinds of people have a deeper understanding of life as a rollercoaster with ups and downs, turns and twists, gains and lose, defeats and victories…. They take times of sadness, grief, illnesses, falls, trials or tribulations with grace and resurrect themselves against all odds. After all, true heroes and heroines are not those that kill enemies with the arrows of vengeance and hatred, but those who defy the darkest hours of life and come out shining.
Tewodros Kassahun, widely known with his stage name Teddy Afro, was supposed to come out of jail a broken man, dejected and depressed cursing his fate and Almighty God. During his trials and tribulations in those filthy dark jails infested with scary rats and bugs, he was supposed to forget his songs, rhythms, lyrics and his messages of love, unity and change. He was supposed to turn into a zombie unable to do anything worthy of recognition. Indeed, he was supposed to take the back seat of history and disappear into oblivion.
But true starts never die. From the farthest and darkest corners of the universe, they continue to shine defying the dominions of darkness. Teddy Afro has just proven this fact just a few days after he came out of those cruel jails that have broken the spirits and faith of so many courageous men and women.
“Heroes take a journey,” says the poet and writer Carol Lynn Pearson, “confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves.” Teddy also confronted the unjust dragons of Kangaroo courts that turned what should have been an ordinary trial into a widely ridiculed farcical circus passing harsh verdict and punishment even before the evidence was gathered and the charges were filed. And yet, not only did he come out unscathed and unbroken, but also found more of the treasure of his true self that has remained to be the foundation of his success as an artiste that pumps powerful messages into our inner souls of conscience.
Teddy’s latest single, which was released just a few weeks after he walked out of jail, is another testimony to the fact that he is an artiste with a cause to resonate the heart beats and pulses of millions of voiceless Ethiopians. The charity single, Sew, touches a raw nerve in our psyche and disturbs our emotion as he smoothly sings about the plight of the majority of Ethiopians who are suffering from abject poverty. He brings closer to our hearts a hard to ignore message about the forgotten millions who have no shelters, food, and clothes to cover their naked indignity.
In the 21st century where much of the world has been making great strides, divided and fractured Ethiopia is still a country caught in an endless cycle of unimaginable agony as year after year it stretches its hand to beg food and alms from afar. Beggary and famine have become trademarks to a once proud nation dubbed the “bread basket” and “water tower” of Africa. TPLF’s so-called double digit economic growth has even failed to translate into food for the hungry, but it is visibly fattening the new ethnocentric elite. Even in Tigray, where the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray [EFFORT] brags about accumulating wealth beyond our imagination in the name of the people, millions are on food safety net walking on a tightrope that stretches between survival and death.
Mortality is an early calling for the majority Ethiopians whose life expectancy is below 40 years. Maternal mortality rate is one of the highest in the world. Children born in Ethiopia have a greater chance of dying before the age of five as a result of malnutrition, hunger and diseases than anywhere in the world. Despite the fact that the TPLF has been claiming to be too busy fighting poverty, famine and pestilence, it has invested nothing in democracy, equality, justice and real growth and change, the people’s clarion call that Teddy beautifully echoes putting himself in harms way and in a collision course with a vengeful elite out to punish and silence every little critic.
TPLF has done too little to extricate the nation from rain-fed agriculture. It is rather selling up virgin and irrigable lands to rich oil barons, including Saudi investors led by Sheik Mohammed Al Amoudi, who has been engaged of late in gigantic mechanized farming to produce food for the Middle Eastern rich in a country eternally facing the fangs of hunger year after year. When Ethiopia will soon turn into the bread basket of Arabs exporting Ethiopia-grown food to feed Saudi and Gulf States, it will continue to beg food as millions have no prospect of escaping from the cycle of hunger. That will definitely be another perplexing paradox!
In the nation of endless paradox, Teddy’s latest song reminds us of the suffering of tens of millions of fellow Ethiopians who are dispossessed, hungry and diseased. Unfortunately, there is no clear strategy to end the burden of being Ethiopians for these unfortunate people in a land of plenty whose eternally flowing rivers have been feeding neighbouring countries.
A few weeks before Teddy was released, NPR journalist Gwen Thompkins filed a story from Addis Ababa, a city gripped with fear and suspicion because of the level of repressions of a paranoid regime. “Whether Afro can or will continue his career in Ethiopia remains a question. Recent laws in the country have further restricted free speech. And human rights groups contend that the government could easily use the nation’s new anti-terrorism law to move against its critics. A top government leader has strongly denied that claim. But nearly everyone here is uneasy about Teddy, about the future, about the price of saying too much,” she reported.
Teddy Afro should continue to echo the heartbeats of his people. If I have a wish list of new songs for Teddy, on top of the list will be a melodic tribute to prisoners of conscience like Birtukan Mideksa whose only crime is wishing freedom and the best for their people suffering under a tyrannical regime. Those who are on the wrong side of history never stop worrying as they know full well that tyranny has never been a permanent fixture in history.
In Movement of Jah’s people, an article the Economist published right after Teddy’s release from his 16-month long incarceration, it noted: “The worry for the government is that the release of Mr Afro will now throw the spotlight back on its jailing of Birtukan Mideksa, a charismatic young opposition leader, judge and single mother. Ms Mideksa had already spent 18 months behind bars before she was jailed again earlier this year for denying that she had asked for a pardon. Her supporters say she has had to spend much of the year in solitary confinement.” In fact, it is incumbent upon us to sing and pray about those who have lost their freedom for the sake of their people.
Under the brutal dictatorship of Meles Zenawi, there is indeed a huge price to pay for telling the truth. And yet, trying to kill the messenger makes the message more popular. The reason why Teddy’s trial and tribulation created so much uproar and outrage was not because he was tried in a law of court, it was rather due to the fact that there was and still is an obvious intent to break the spirit of inspirational Ethiopians like Teddy. Fortunately, Teddy has emerged a much more powerful voice who will take his transformative and inspirational messages far and wide… There is no message as subversive as the truth and there is no messenger as credible as a true believer with a passion for freedom. Teddy Afro is undoubtedly a powerful voice that has proven to be irrepressible and invincible.
In the end, there will inevitably come a day where everyone will fearlessly sing… “Free at last, free at last…Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.” Those songs of slaves will eventually be sung in Ethiopia, a country that has been proud not to have been colonized and occupied by external powers and yet has never enjoyed the true meaning of independence and liberty.
Teddy’s new song,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqLw9xVi2xE

የአውራዎች አንድነት

ጃርት የሚባል አውሬ-ግፍ ቢያበዛበቸው
ንቦቹ ወጡና- ከየመኖሪያቸው
ጥያቄ አቀረቡ- ለየአውራዎቻቸው።
ስብሰባ- ቁጭ አሉ፣
በስፋት-መከሩ።

አውራዎቻቸውን- ፊት ለፊት ቁጭ አርገው
እንዲህ ነገሩዋቸው
እንዲተባበሩ
መሪወቹ ሁሉ
አውራወች በሙሉ- በአንድነት ከሰሩ
ክፉ ጃርት አይመጣም- በዚህ በሰፈሩ።

ቃልም ተገባቡ-ከዚህ ቃል ላይወጡ፣
ለአናቢው ገበሬ-ትዕዛዝንም ሰጡ
አንተ ንብ አናቢ-ከዛሬ ጀምረህ
አሳየን ብለናል- በአንድ ቀፎ አድርገህ።

አናቢው ገበሬ- ልቡ እያመነታ
ትናንት በሚያውቀው- በለመደው ፋንታ
አንድ ቀፎ መርጦ- በጭስ አጠነና
ንቦችን በመሉ- ከአውራወቹ ጋራ
በአንድ አስቀመጣቸው
እንደጥያቄያቸው።
…
ያለ አፈጣጠሩ
ሆኖ ትብብሩ
እያንዳንዱ መሪ-ሰራዊቱን ይዞ
ቀፎው ባዶ ቀረ- ንብ ሁሉ ተጉዞ።

ድሮም ሆኖ አያውቅም፣
ትናንት ሆነ ዛሬም
አንድ የንብ አውራ ነው- ከሺህ ሰራዊት ጋር
ውጤትን የሚያሳይ- የሚጋግረው ማር፡፡

ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
ጥቅምት 2002
Ethio_dagmawi@yahoo.com

Ethiopia earns $540.5 mln from gold in last decade

Posted on Ethiomedia
Reuters
October 12, 2009
________________________________________
Editor's note - The following report was made possible thanks to the Reporter newspaper that has been asking - despite harassment and threats from hirelings - fair questions like: "Where is the country's gold?"
________________________________________
The Truth
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) -- Ethiopia earned $540.5 million from nearly 48 tonnes of gold exports in the last 10 years, the National Bank of Ethiopia said on Monday. Some 47.9 tonnes, worth $520.5 million, was produced by the Lege Dembi mine, run by the private Midroc Gold Mine, the bank said. Lege Dembi is in the Adola gold belt 300 km southeast of the capital.
The balance of 693.3 kg worth $20 million was produced by artisanal miners, the bank said.
Midroc Gold Mine, which is owned by Saudi Arabian financier Sheik Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi, paid $175 million in 1998 to win an international bid to run the mine for 20 years.
Midroc holds rights to produce gold in an area of 85 square km as part of a plan to boost Ethiopia's gold output.
Officials say Ethiopia loses up to 1,000 kg of gold worth $10 million every year in contraband trade between artisanal miners in the south of the country and smugglers from neighbouring countries.
Ethiopia has identified "possible and probable" untapped gold reserve of up to 500 tonnes in different parts of the country, the ministry of mines said.
It issued a mining proclamation and regulations that gave foreign investors incentives such as duty free imports of equipment and repatriation of profits in 1993.
Since then 12 foreign companies have signed agreements to explore for gold, base metals, gemstones and petroleum across the country, the ministry said.


THE LIE by Ethiopia First
Making Sheik Mohamed Al Moudi the central plank of an
election campaign must be unmitigated gobbledygook.
By: Dilwenberu Nega
27th September 2009
Let me from the very outset unequivocally state that it is not my
intention to take sides in the ongoing war of attrition between The
Reporter and Sheik Mohamed Al Moudi on an issue which given the
chance would go down in The Guinness Book of World Records as
“The longest running lead story on a newspaper.” But the fact that
The Reporter now seems to have succeeded in getting leading
members of Ethiopia’s opposition parties on its anti‐Al Moudi
bandwagon, has now turned ‘the issue’ to deteriorate from toxic to
radioactive.
In democratic elections, the role of contending parties is to offer the
electorate viable choices on frontline issues. Similarly, in today’s
Ethiopia frontline issues are health, education, unemployment, cost
of living and the defence of the nation. The electorate expect – and
rightly so – opposition parties to articulate their alternative policies
on these bread‐and‐butter‐issues, so that they are able to make
informed choices. What the electorate has been getting from the
opposition parties, instead, has been a catalogue of disappointments
ranging from in‐fighting to an open declaration of intent of sweeping
away ethnic federalism to pettifogging Al Moudi. All these may
make sensational headlines, but by Jove, they certainly are not vote
winners simply because they don’t strike at the heart of the concerns
of the man in the street in Ethiopia.
Sheik Al Moudi’s multi billion investment in Ethiopia is there for
everyone to see. He has provided job opportunities to thousands of
unemployed. He has done more than his fair share in giving a facelift
to Ethiopia’s national image. In short, he has proven his love of
Ethiopia in a manner and style that no investor has so far portrayed.
Then, why all this animosity against him from some ‘influential’
individuals and politicians, is something that demands a clear‐cut
answer. The answer lies in the personal and the political.
Personally, Sheik Mohamoud Al Moudi is known – in addition to
being a man with the Midas touch – for his largesse and anybody
who had been denied of what has become known as “the nourishing
hand of Gashay Al Moudi” instinctively turns ballistic and engages in
a merciless character assassination campaign against Al Moudi. The
series of unsubstantiated, yet sensational stories, of tax evasion by Al
Moudi which had wall‐papered The Reporter week in and week out
for more than a year portray an unsavoury over‐reaction of an Editor
who might have fallen out with the Sheik.
Politically, however, it is a different kettle of fish. Sheik Mohamed Al
Moudi in his renowned razzmatazz manner had openly declared his
unwavering support to the ruling EPDRF. And this has sent shock
and awe to all political parties who had been salivating for Al Moudi’s
backing. By the way, it is interesting to note here that though the
Sheik had declared his support to EPDRF, MIDROC Ethiopia is
redolent of former Derg officials recruited at the behest of the Sheik
– proof of the Sheik’s inclusive nature. The opposition parties,
however, believe its pay‐back time and are seen rushing in to rally
behind The Reporter. Those Ethiopian opposition parties who had
so far declared their intention to make the role of Al Moudi the
central plank of their election campaign are the very ones who are
seen limping in the political arena as their attempt to forge a
coalition to run against EPDRF keeps being confronted by merciless
in‐fighting and by a dearth of wherewithal to oil the election
campaign machinery.
Bashing Al Moudi is one thing, but making Al Moudi the central plank
of an election campaign must surely be a sign of political bank.

ትዝብት

አረንጓዴ ሰው

“ሕዝባችን ተስብሰብ-ለሰበሩ ዜና
ባለጸጋው ጻድቅ- መሆኑ ይሰማ
ይኸ ባለጸጋ- ይኸ ያገሬ ሰው
ይኸ ባለሆቴል- ይኸ ወርቅ አንጣሪው
የሥራ ዕድል ፈጥሮ- ልቤን አስደሰተው”

ብሎ ጋዜጠኛው -ፅፎ አነበብኩና
ስለዚህ ባለሃብት- ሃሴት አረግሁና
እኔም የበኩሌን-ለገስኩት ምስጋና
“አንደበት ይከፈት-ጆሮወች ያዳምጡ
ለዚህ ባላፀጋ- ሽልማቶች ይምጡ
በል እግዜሩም ስማ- ፅድቅ ተለውጧል
ከዛሬ መነኩሴ- ባላፀጋ በልጧል
“ፀሃይ ትቁምለት- ትዘግይ ጨረቃ
ይኸ ባለፀጋ- እስኪል ድረስ በቃ
እስከሚበዛለት -ሃብቱ እስከሚስፋፋ
ሌሊቱም ቀን ይሁን -ብርሃን አይጥፋ።”

ብዬ ምስጋናየን- ሳዥጎደጉደው
ይኸ የአጎቴ ልጅ-የተበሳጨው
ከእኔ የተለየ-ሚስጥር ያውቅ ኖሮ
እንዲህ ሲል ነገረኝ-ሃሳቡን ቀምሮ።

“ለተራበ ማብላት-ለታረዘ ማልበስ
ታማሚ ማጽናናት-ለችግርም መድረስ
መጾም መፀለዩ-ቅንነት ማሰቡ
መች ሆኖ ተገኘ- የዛሬ ሰው ግቡ!

“ከደሃ ቀምቶ- ከደካማ ዘርፎ
ቢኖርም ቢሞላም- ተርፎ ተትረፍርፎ
ወርቅና አልማዝ ይዞ- ነዳጅ አስቆፍሮ
ሆኖ መገኘት ነው-ካለመጠን ከብሮ
ሰውን ሰው ያሰኘው- የለየው ዘንድሮ።

“የስው ልጅ ሲፈጠር- በጌታዬ አምሳያ
ነበረ ለታላቅ- ለክብር ማሳያ
ዛሬ የስው ልጆች- ወረቀትን ፈጥረው
ቁጥር ጽፈውበት- አንድ ሁለት ብለው
አረንጓዴ ቀለም- ቅርጻ ቅርጹን ስለው
ከራሳቸው በላይ- ለብር ክብር ሰጥተው
መኖር ጀምረዋል-ከሱ በታች ሆነው።
…
“መልኩን ሳፈላልግ- ጠይም ወይም ቀዩን
ቀረና የእርሱነት- መምሰል አምሳያውን
ንዋየ ፀሎቱ- ገንዘብ ሆኖ አምላኩ
አረንጓዴ ሆኗል- ባለጸጋው መልኩ።
…
“አንተን መሳይ ሰወች- እናንት ኋላ ቀሮች
ጠይምና ጥቁር-ቀይ አመላካቾች
ልታውቁ ይገባል- የዛሬን እውነታ
በጠይም በጥቁር- በቀይ ሰው ፋንታ
የሰው ልጅ ውበቱ- የሚያምር ቁመናው
አረንጓዴ ሆኗል- የእርሱ ሁለመናው።

“ገንዘቡ ዳኛ ነው- ፖሊስም ጠበቃ
ሃይሉ ልክ የሌለው- ተቆጥሮ አያበቃ
ፍትህና ክብር -ገዥ በገንዘቡ
ይኸ ባለጸጋ- ባለ ወርቅ ቅቡ
ሕጻን ሴት ያገባው- ሕፃን እቁባቱ
የስው ሚስት የቀማው- አድርጎት መብቱ
ሁሉ ሰው ጌታዬ- ብሎ የሚጠራው
እርሱን ነው የሚያደንቅ- ጋሸ ጋዜጠኛው።

ብሎ ተናገረ- ይኸ የአጎቴ ልጅ
ስለ አረንጓዴው ሰው- ለሁሉ እንደማይበጅ።

ትናንት ህጻን ሆኘ-ሳድግ በሰፈሬ
የሰው ልጅ መጠሪያው- ልዩ ነው ከዛሬ
አይደለ በልብሱ- በፀጋ በሃብቱ
አይደል በቁመናው- ተክለ-ሰውነቱ
አይደል በትምህርቱ- በዕውቀት ሊቅነቱ
ሰው በሰውነቱ- ሲለካ የማውቀው
ፍጹም ልዩ ነበር- ዛሬ ከምናየው።

አንገቱን ለፍትህ- አንደበቱ ለእውነት
ውሸትን የጠላ- ግፍን የሚጋፈጥ
ከክፎወች ሸንጎ- ፈጽሞ የራቀ
አንቱ የተባለ-በአገር የታወቀ
ነበር የሰው መልኩ-ለእውነት መቆሙ
ትናንት የምናውቀው- የሰው ልጅ መልካሙ
ዛሬ ተለየና -ውበት ተቀይሮ
ዓይናችን የሚያየው- ብር ሆነ ዘንድሮ።

እስኪመለስ ድረስ -አይንም ወደ ድሮው
ስንናፍቅ ከዋልን- ገንዘብን እንደሰው
እውነትም ይዛባል-ፍትህ ይሰወራል
ገንዘብ የአገር ዳኛ- ጠበቃ ይሆናል
…

አንተ ጋዜጠኛ- አንተ ወሬ አቀባይ
እስኪ እንደ አጎቴ ልጅ-አንተም እውነቱን እይ
ያ ባለጸጋ ሰው- በዓለም የከበረ
እውነቱን አሰማን- ማን እንደነበረ?

ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
ጥቅምት 2002
Ethio_dagmawi@yahoo.com

Ethiopia's Meles accuses donors of exaggerating food crisis

By Peter Heinlein [VOA], 11 October 2009

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi walks at the AU Summit on the outskirts of Arusha, Tanzania, Thursday, May 22, 2008 has lashed out at humanitarian aid donors, accusing them of exaggerating the magnitude of his country's malnutrition crisis and failing to deliver on pledges of assistance. In a question and answer session broadcast live Saturday on state-run radio and television, the Ethiopian leader had harsh words for what he called the 'food aid industry'. Mr. Meles accused 'industry actors' of deliberately inflating the number of Ethiopians in need of aid, and suggested their motive is more about profit than about saving lives."It is a huge industry, and this industry are actors who have their own views on this condition. They sell food aid because they can sell it above the market price. They get some rent for it," he said. "It is to their benefit and their advantage. They are selling their food where food is scarce. The same with those who are transporting food in their ships. And those truckers who get it from the ports to the consumer areas. People take quite a chunk of the benefits from this."A third year of poor rains has played havoc with Ethiopia's ability to feed itself. The government estimates 6.2-million people will need emergency food aid within the next few months. Another 7.5-million chronically food-insecure Ethiopians receive assistance through a largely U.S.-funded program known as the Productive Safety Net.Some observers have lumped the figures together to say 13.7-million people, or nearly one in six Ethiopians is in need of food aid. But Ethiopia has objected, saying safety net beneficiaries are not emergency cases.Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says aid agencies and donor governments often exaggerate the scope of the shortages for their own purposes, while consistently delivering less than they promise.Again, his remarks were translated from Amharic."Those people have their own ideology, their own goals, their own agenda," said Mr. Zenawi. "Therefore, with the famine and drought conditions there are actors who mushroom within this condition and we should see how they work. The number of beneficiaries at the ground level are evaluated according to the needs of these actors of the food aid industry."The prime minister said during his 18 years in office, the aid community had provided less than two-thirds of what was necessary to meet Ethiopia's nutritional needs. But he pledged that despite the sustained droughts that have become more common in recent years, there would never again be a famine like the one in the mid 1980s, when an estimated one-million people died of starvation. Representatives of aid agencies had no immediate comment on the Ethiopian leader's remarks. Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous nation, remains one of the poorest countries in the world. One in four Ethiopians lives on less than one dollar a day. The United States, by far the largest single donor, gave Ethiopia aid valued at more than one-billion dollars last year, more than half of it food assistance. But critics say much of the price tag on American food aid is eaten up by transportation and other administrative costs.

አረንጓዴ ሰው

በዳግማዊ ዳዊት
ጥቅምት 2002
Ethio_dagmawi@yahoo.com


“ሕዝባችን ተስብሰብ-ለሰበሩ ዜና
ባለጸጋው ጻድቅ- መሆኑ ይሰማ
ይኸ ባለጸጋ- ይኸ ያገሬ ሰው
ይኸ ባለሆቴል- ይኸ ወርቅ አንጣሪው
የሥራ ዕድል ፈጥሮ- ልቤን አስደሰተው”

ብሎ ጋዜጠኛው -ፅፎ አነበብኩና
ስለዚህ ባለሃብት- ሃሴት አረግሁና
እኔም የበኩሌን-ለገስኩት ምስጋና
“አንደበት ይከፈት-ጆሮወች ያዳምጡ
ለዚህ ባላፀጋ- ሽልማቶች ይምጡ
በል እግዜሩም ስማ- ፅድቅ ተለውጧል
ከዛሬ መነኩሴ- ባላፀጋ በልጧል
“ፀሃይ ትቁምለት- ትዘግይ ጨረቃ
ይኸ ባለፀጋ- እስኪል ድረስ በቃ
እስከሚበዛለት -ሃብቱ እስከሚስፋፋ
ሌሊቱም ቀን ይሁን -ብርሃን አይጥፋ።”

ብዬ ምስጋናየን- ሳዥጎደጉደው
ይኸ የአጎቴ ልጅ-የተበሳጨው
ከእኔ የተለየ-ሚስጥር ያውቅ ኖሮ
እንዲህ ሲል ነገረኝ-ሃሳቡን ቀምሮ።

“ለተራበ ማብላት-ለታረዘ ማልበስ
ታማሚ ማጽናናት-ለችግርም መድረስ
መጾም መፀለዩ-ቅንነት ማሰቡ
መች ሆኖ ተገኘ- የዛሬ ሰው ግቡ!

“ከደሃ ቀምቶ- ከደካማ ዘርፎ
ቢኖርም ቢሞላም- ተርፎ ተትረፍርፎ
ወርቅና አልማዝ ይዞ- ነዳጅ አስቆፍሮ
ሆኖ መገኘት ነው-ካለመጠን ከብሮ
ሰውን ሰው ያሰኘው- የለየው ዘንድሮ።

“የስው ልጅ ሲፈጠር- በጌታዬ አምሳያ
ነበረ ለታላቅ- ለክብር ማሳያ
ዛሬ የስው ልጆች- ወረቀትን ፈጥረው
ቁጥር ጽፈውበት- አንድ ሁለት ብለው
አረንጓዴ ቀለም- ቅርጻ ቅርጹን ስለው
ከራሳቸው በላይ- ለብር ክብር ሰጥተው
መኖር ጀምረዋል-ከሱ በታች ሆነው።
…
“መልኩን ሳፈላልግ- ጠይም ወይም ቀዩን
ቀረና የእርሱነት- መምሰል አምሳያውን
ንዋየ ፀሎቱ- ገንዘብ ሆኖ አምላኩ
አረንጓዴ ሆኗል- ባለጸጋው መልኩ።
…
“አንተን መሳይ ሰወች- እናንት ኋላ ቀሮች
ጠይምና ጥቁር-ቀይ አመላካቾች
ልታውቁ ይገባል- የዛሬን እውነታ
በጠይም በጥቁር- በቀይ ሰው ፋንታ
የሰው ልጅ ውበቱ- የሚያምር ቁመናው
አረንጓዴ ሆኗል- የእርሱ ሁለመናው።

“ገንዘቡ ዳኛ ነው- ፖሊስም ጠበቃ
ሃይሉ ልክ የሌለው- ተቆጥሮ አያበቃ
ፍትህና ክብር -ገዥ በገንዘቡ
ይኸ ባለጸጋ- ባለ ወርቅ ቅቡ
ሕጻን ሴት ያገባው- ሕፃን እቁባቱ
የስው ሚስት የቀማው- አድርጎት መብቱ
ሁሉ ሰው ጌታዬ- ብሎ የሚጠራው
እርሱን ነው የሚያደንቅ- ጋሸ ጋዜጠኛው።

ብሎ ተናገረ- ይኸ የአጎቴ ልጅ
ስለ አረንጓዴው ሰው- ለሁሉ እንደማይበጅ።

ትናንት ህጻን ሆኘ-ሳድግ በሰፈሬ
የሰው ልጅ መጠሪያው- ልዩ ነው ከዛሬ
አይደለ በልብሱ- በፀጋ በሃብቱ
አይደል በቁመናው- ተክለ-ሰውነቱ
አይደል በትምህርቱ- በዕውቀት ሊቅነቱ
ሰው በሰውነቱ- ሲለካ የማውቀው
ፍጹም ልዩ ነበር- ዛሬ ከምናየው።

አንገቱን ለፍትህ- አንደበቱ ለእውነት
ውሸትን የጠላ- ግፍን የሚጋፈጥ
ከክፎወች ሸንጎ- ፈጽሞ የራቀ
አንቱ የተባለ-በአገር የታወቀ
ነበር የሰው መልኩ-ለእውነት መቆሙ
ትናንት የምናውቀው- የሰው ልጅ መልካሙ
ዛሬ ተለየና -ውበት ተቀይሮ
ዓይናችን የሚያየው- ብር ሆነ ዘንድሮ።

እስኪመለስ ድረስ -አይንም ወደ ድሮው
ስንናፍቅ ከዋልን- ገንዘብን እንደሰው
እውነትም ይዛባል-ፍትህ ይሰወራል
ገንዘብ የአገር ዳኛ- ጠበቃ ይሆናል
…

አንተ ጋዜጠኛ- አንተ ወሬ አቀባይ
እስኪ እንደ አጎቴ ልጅ-አንተም እውነቱን እይ
ያ ባለጸጋ ሰው- በዓለም የከበረ
እውነቱን አሰማን- ማን እንደነበረ?