By Prof. Al Mariam

On October 9, 2016, the puppet prime minister (PPM) of the Thugtatorship of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (T-TPLF) Hailemariam announced a “state of emergency” (SoE) in a 20-minute televised statement. The PPM argued “anti-peace elements”, allied with foreign forces, had incited strife and undermined the peace and stability in the country. He claimed “anti-peace elements” had destroyed private and government property and waged economic boycotts. He asserted extreme measures were necessary to deal with an extreme emergency. Curiously, he emphatically assured that the SoE will not violate fundamental human rights. The PPM further promised deep and extensive governance reforms and pledged to re-engage opposition parties and civic society organizations in a broader dialogue “to expand and deepen our democracy.”

By Prof. Al Mariam

Author’s Note: Following is my translation of the Amharic interview given by Habtamu Ayalew to the Voice of America (VOA), Amharic Program on March 15, 2017 and broadcast on the same day and on March 18 on “Democracy in Action” program. Translation of speech or text often presents some technical problems. Some of them are lexical-semantic; others are grammatical and syntactic. Even more difficult to translate are rhetorical ones involving metaphors and figures of speech. I have aimed for accuracy and meaning in this translation of Habtamu’s words. I have also confirmed with Habtamu and made necessary clarifications to certain statements he made in the interview to ensure the translation accurately represents his intended sense and meaning. Any errors and inaccuracies in translation are exclusively mine. (Full audio of Amharic interview is available HERE.)

Author’s Note: In this commentary, I take a careful look at the “very sophisticated report from the Embassy [of Ethiopia]” submitted for the record at the “Democracy Under Threat in Ethiopia” hearing of the Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives on March 9, 2017. The “embassy” report (“Explanatory Note “) designated by the unassuming title, “Explanatory Note”, is a piece of propaganda that simply boggles the mind for its outrageous lies, depraved indifference to the truth, brazen falsehoods, egregious distortions of facts, shameless attempts at manipulation, ludicrous claims and nonsensical arguments.

By Prof. Al Mariam

Author’s Note: In my March 19, 2017 commentary, I indicated that I will be contacting the President and Board Chairman of the Tampere University of Technology to withdraw or rescind the offer of an honorary doctoral degree to Hailemariam Desalegn, the putative leader of the T-TPLF regime in Ethiopia. Below is a copy of the letter sent to the aforementioned individuals.

By Prof. Al Mariam

Author’s Note: The purported prime minster of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, is a sanitary engineer with a master’s degree from Tampere University of Technology (TUT) in Finland. The sanitary engineering profession is concerned with the removal and disposal of human waste and finding ways of supplying safe potable water.

“Having been on this Committee now 36 of my 37 years, I have to tell you that I remember when Nicolae Ceaușescu of Romania, one of the most brutal dictatorships, with the Securitate, the KGB equivalent, every year his lobby form would come around with bullet points. They made them look like they were Mother Theresa. It’s just incredible.

Mick Mulvaney, the Director of the White House Office of Management Budget confirmed that the Trump administration is set to make “fairly dramatic reductions” in the U.S. foreign aid budget. This announcement will likely disappoint and alarm many in the foreign aid industry. There is already talk that proposals for significant cuts will face a “wall of resistance” in Congress. But serious discussion of U.S aid, particularly in Africa, is long overdue.

By Prof. Al Mariam

Author’s Note: This commentary is the third installment in an ongoing series opposing the lobbying efforts of the Praetorian regime in Ethiopia which rules by a declaration of emergency. For years and particularly over the past month, I have strongly argued to the Trump administration to review U.S. foreign aid programs in Ethiopia and Africa. I am heartened by the announcement of the Trump Administration yesterday that there will be “fairly dramatic cuts” in U.S. foreign aid beginning in 2018.