By Girma Feyissa

Many in Ethiopia, it seems, have rejected the 2015 general election that saw the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and its allies win all the seats in parliament. The unrests in the country, especially the recent ones in some parts of the Oromia Regional State, betray this truth, for a party that has an absolute majority cannot possibly face so much protest on the streets. Despite Merga Bekana's (Prof.), former chairman of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), assertion that the election was free and fair, the lack of international observers from Western countries points that there may have been something fishy about the landslide victory.

By Prof. Al Mariam

EthiopiaWINet is an addiction [deep passion]. It is in the heart of each and every Ethiopian. If there is a way to open and look at what is in the hearts and and minds of Ethiopians, what we see here today [EthiopiaWINet] is what will be found. [EthiopiaWINet] is to be free. Human beings being free to express their feelings … Our people did not heroically sacrifice themselves in yesteryears for our country because they were paid. Our people who gave up their lives for the one-ness (unity) of our country. In yesteryears, our people shed their blood in major battles for [to defend the integrity] Ethiopia. Now it is expected of us to work (sacrifice) for our country. We cannot go forward looking backwards. Let us not dwell on the past. Now we must stand together collectively for our country. Obbo Lemma Megerssa, President of Oromiya State, speaking at the Amhara Oromo Discussion Forum in Bahr Dar, November 4, 2017.

Author’s Note: This commentary aims to provide a sketch of the breadth and scope of my conception of EthiopiaWINet. There are many commentaries to come that will fully develop the themes briefly discussed here.

TBy Prof. Al Mariam

Author’s Note: We are watching another cruel political theater produced and directed by the T-TPLF playing out in Ethiopia.

On October 30, 2017, the T-TPLF’s Federal Supreme Court ordered the release of Professor Bekele Gerba, Deputy Chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) on bail set at 30,000 birr (less than USD$1,000). At the time of his arrest in December 2015, his bail application was denied because of the alleged gravity of the “terrorism” charges levelled against him. The recent order to release him on bail set in motion a controlled make-believe appellate frenzy by T-TPLF prosecutors who sought to overturn the bail order because Bekele could tamper “tamper with evidence or could be a flight risk if released.”

By Prof. Al Mariam

“We must either learn to live together as brothers or we are all going to perish together as fools. As nationals and individuals we are interdependent. It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied together into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. We are made to live together because of the interrelated structure of reality …” Martin Luther King, 1967, “Christmas Sermon.”

Authors Note: In Part I of my commentary (Fighting T-TPLF Internal Colonialism Through EthiopiaWINet (Ethiopian-ness)) last week, I examined the political situation in Ethiopia over the past 26 years as a problem of internal colonialism driven by the voracious and insatiable appetite of the Thugtatorship of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (T-TPLF) for land– urban land, rural land, any kind of land. I also examined the outcome of the T-TPLF’s system of internal colonialism in terms of the oppression, subordination and exploitation of majority ethnic groups in a comparative perspective with South Africa.

By Prof. Al Mariam

Last week, Tedros Adhanom, Director-General of the World Health Organization, nominated Robert Mugabe, the 93 year-old president of Zimbabwe as that organization’s Goodwill Ambassador for Noncommunciable Diseases, a position currently held by former N.Y. City mayor Michael Bloomberg. WHO ambassadorships are often given to “well-known personalities from the worlds of arts, literature, entertainment, sport or other fields of public life who commit to contribute to WHO’s efforts to raise awareness of important health problems and solutions.”

By Addisalem D.

Healing process takes long

Due to the nature things, a term process emerged to show the existence of evolutionary path. Unfortunately, every evolutionary process goes latent, until it reaches its climax and surprises people with unexpected results. People go to bed with the status quo will be in place the next day, in their mind. As essence is in place there is also phenomena and things my not occur in similar pattern as yesterday.

By Prof. Al Mariam

“We only have one Ethiopia …

The issue of land in Ethiopia is very serious. Very serious. The source of wealth in this country is land. The source of wealth in this country is land. (Repeats.) It is land. (Land is the foundation) of Ethiopia, from the beginning (of time), since she was established. If we look at the revolutions of the past, the beginning and end of all things in Ethiopia is land. Everything else is secondary. The issue of land is not something to be taken lightly. It is an issue of identity. Land is the foundation of the economy. We all know how each individual Ethiopian is tied to the land. If we don’t deliberate the issue of land properly, if this country does not help us according to our abilities, if we don’t start doing the right thing now [with land], we could do whatever we want, but in the end [we’ll fail]…

Obbo Lemma Megerssa, Oromiya President, April 2017, addressing among other things, T-TPLF crony capitalism, corruption and abuse of power in Oromiya.

Author’s Note: This is a two-part commentary intended to elaborate and propose fresh ideas to advance the current peaceful democratic struggle in Ethiopia. In Part I here, I examine the political situation in Ethiopia as a problem of internal colonialism driven by the voracious and insatiable appetite of Thugtatorship of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (T-TPLF) for land– urban land, rural land, any kind of land. I examine the T-TPLF’s system of internal colonialism and its outcome of ethnic oppression, subordination and exploitation of majority groups in a comparative perspective with South Africa.

By Prof. Al Mariam

On October 18, 2017, the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia issued the following statement:

United States sees peaceful demonstrations as a legitimate means of expression and political participation. We note with appreciation a number of recent events during which demonstrators expressed themselves peacefully, and during which security forces exercised restraint in allowing them to do so.

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