In the face of ‘free will’, Citizens of Northern Sudan drink the inconvenient truth

Over 5000 Ethiopians emigrating to Sudan every week

By Ankober,DebreBirhan Blogspot’s Staffer 07/1/11

Happy Genna Guys!!!

The Southern Sudan will possibly decide on its own fate just after two days, on 9^th,January 2011.This landmark event in the history of the contemporary world will be highly watched the world over. Issues of secession, separation and independence or such countries have not been a common scene since the second world war except Eritrea and few others.

Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, 2010 revision defines “Free Will” as a philosophical term of art for a particular sort of capacity of rational agents to choose a course of action from among various alternatives. Most philosophers suppose that the concept of free will is very closely connected to the concept of moral responsibility. Acting with free will, on such views, is just to satisfy the metaphysical requirement on being responsible for one's action.

While another definition puts it as “Free will is the putative ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. Historically, the constraint of dominant concern has been the metaphysical constraint of determinism. The opposing positions within that debate are metaphysical libertarianism, the claim that determinism is false and thus that free will exists (or is at least possible); and hard determinism, the claim that determinism is true and thus that free will does not exist.”

Philosopher and esotericist Rudolf Steiner in his historic book, The Philosophy of Freedom, 1893, centring on the concept of free will, divides the problem of free will into freedom of thought and freedom of action. He argues that inner freedom is achieved when we bridge the gap between our perception, which reflect the outer appearance of the world, and our cognition, which give us access to the inner structure of the world; and that outer freedom arises when we bridge the gap between our ideals and the constraints of external reality, letting our deeds be inspired by what he terms moral imagination. Steiner considers inner and outer freedom as integral to one another, and that true freedom is only achieved when they are united.

Steiner concludes by pointing out that to achieve this level of freedom, we must lift ourselves out of our group-existence: out of the prejudices we receive from our family, nation, ethnic group and religion, and all that we inherit from the past that limits our creative and imaginative capacity to meet the world directly. Only when we realize our potential to be a unique individual are we free. Thus, it lies in our freedom to achieve freedom; put another way, only when we actively strive towards freedom do we have some chance of attaining it.

Opposite to the conception of ‘free will’ the theory of “determinism’’ exists. "Determinism" is the name of a broader philosophical view that conjectures that every type of event, including human cognition (behaviour, decision, and action) is causally determined by previous events. In philosophical arguments, the concept of determinism in the domain of human action is often contrasted with free will. The argument called indeterminism (otherwise "nondeterminism") negates causality as a factor and contradicts deterministic argument. Determinists believe the universe is fully governed by causal laws resulting in only one possible state at any point in time. With numerous historical debates, many varieties and philosophical positions on the subject of determinism exist, most prominently the free will debates involving compatibilism and incompatibilism. Predeterminism proposes there is an unbroken chain of prior occurrences back to the origin of the universe. Refer Wikipedia and the web for details.

Today I was chatting here with my Sudanese pal on the Referendum issue. This lad comes from the Northern part of Sudan. He said “i am totally against the idea of separation. South Sudan shouldn’t separate from us. The historical, cultural, economic and blood relationship we formed between us compels us to live together. I heard that this past week Southern and Northern Sudanese singers have been singing about unity in concerts held in the Sudanese Capital.’’

As to him, although there has been an adverse relationship between the two Sudan’s and the South has been marginalised and abused by the North, it was a must that they lived together forever. No Separation. This is the unanimous utterance that you hear from almost all Sudanese in the North and the Capital. The opposite echoes from the South.

"I never expected to see the day when my country would be split in two," Bashir Makkawi, a Sudanese resident in the United Arab Emirates told Gulf News recently. "They feel like second class citizens in Sudan, and believe that they will get their full rights in an independent state… but I don't think the south will be able to cope on its own," he said.

I will, in short try to see the above comments against the two theories. I sect the Southern Sudanese with the ‘free will’ concept and the Northern’s with the ‘determinism’ one.

The Southerners who have been marginalised, abused, let down and enslaved within their own country had to fight for their freedom and self determination. On the 9^th January,2011 among various alternatives , they will choose a course of action rationally: freedom, session and independence. This choice can’t be interceded by any factor.This is what is called 'free will'.

Put by Steiner beautifully and adapted by me ''unhindered by determinism, they lifted themselves out of the group-existence: out of the prejudices they receive from our family, nation, ethnic group and religion, and all that they inherited from the past that limited their creative and imaginative capacity to meet the world directly.''

On the other hand, the Northern ‘Determinists’ conceive that the Southerners are bound to live together with the North determined by prior states and history. As to my credible interviewees although Al Bashier and few of his Cabinet members publically appear to support the ‘free will ‘of the Southerners, they rather tacitly are against to it. Some members of the constitutional council, politicians and the majority of the citizens of the North are ‘unhappy’ about Sunday’s referendum. However, in spite of this, Northern Sudan is being compelled to drink the inconvenient truth simply by the power of ‘free will’.

Regional Impact of the Referendum: emigration

Security and peace experts of the Horn of Africa are predicting political and military tensions and ‘ a probable war ’ as a result of the Referendum. Whatever, the outcome may be, the Referendum will have a huge socio-political and economic impact in the Horn and in international relationships.

One of the effects that is more visible prior to the Referendum is emigration. Workers from Ethiopia and Eritrea are emigrating in droves to Khartoum and Juba in anticipation of finding jobs. To Khartoum : to grab the jobs that over 1.5 Southerners are vacating as they return to their new homeland and to Juba hoping to start business utilising the opportunities and resources that would be created as a result of the separation.

According to sources from Addis Abeba, over 5000 Ethiopian workers, mostly females are heading to Sudan to work as house maids and in industries. Approximately 5000 to 8000 Ethiopians block the road to Sar Bet every Monday when they assemble to make visa applications to travel to Sudan.In addition to this, there are an undocumented number of Ethiopians that are going to Sudan via the Metema border.

Once a poor and civil war hit Sudan, is now in need of cheap labour as a result of wealth that has sprung due to oil discovery and budding factories i.e. sugar factories. The price of commodity like in Addis Abeba, has gone over the roof in Khartoum.There is also a political tension as most of the opposition groups,National Consensus Forces (NCF) are coming together to form a coalition and overthrow Al Bashier for once.

I don’t know what our political strategists wish or are currently strategizing to make use of the Referendum to overthrow , the Meles Zenawi Government , I wish that the Referendum may conclude in peace.

Mo Ibrahim vs Al Amoudi

Vs

By Ankober,DebreBirhan Blogspot’s Staffer 31/12/10

In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the brother who always obeys his father is furious at seeing the rebel son received with celebrations and joy. In the same way, many people who are obedient to the Lord’s word, end up becoming the merciless hangmen of all those who one day strayed from the Law.

In a small village in the interior, a well-known sinner was barred from entering the church.

He was angry and prayed:

“Jesus, hear me. They will not let me into your house, for they think I am not worthy.”

“Do not worry, my son,” answered Jesus. “I too am on the outside, together with those I have always stood alongside - sinners like yourself.”

The above excerpt is from the Warrior of the Light - Volume 3 by Paulo Coelho, 2008.

Dear fellas! Readers of this blog!

Hours before writing this opinion piece, I was chillin in one of the social media spots that I spend my recess often at. There, I got some people complementing me and other demoting my opinion and items. Well that is how the ‘world of blogosphere and cyber sphere’ is. 2011 is almost in. Many wish the new-year to be a year of ‘freedom’, ‘prosperity’ and ‘success’ and most importantly, our country becomes the real ‘utopia’. Luckily, we celebrate two new years, ours and theirs. However, a heartbreaking story of our brothers and sisters just produced by beebs (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12089445) filled the eve with grieve .The report complements Paulo’s excerpt above.

I, for one, wish the New Year may bring us all the most and best. Hoping that these wishes could come true through the concerted efforts of Ethiopia’s individual citizens and collective actions of all forms of cooperatives inside and outside of our beloved motherland, I propose that some ‘great’ individuals of the country should make use of their knowledge, potential and wealth more than any other time now. One of these men that I think could do a lot for the betterment of Ethiopia and Africa but have used their potentials little or misused it is the Saudi-Ethiopian tycoon, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi. Here with I make a short comparative analysis of two African tycoons: Dr. Mohamed "Mo" Ibrahim and Al Amoudi.

1) Similarities

Similarities	Mohamed Ibrahim	Mohammed Al Amoudi
Date of Birth	1946	1946
Religion	Muslim	Muslim
Dual Nationality	Sudanese-British	Ethiopian/Saudi Arabian
Education	Ph.D from the University of Birmingham in mobile communications	holds an Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy from the Addis Ababa University
Investment focus	East Africa, Worldwide	East Africa, Worldwide

2) Differences

2.1 Business specialisations

One of the major of differences between Dr. Mohamed "Mo" Ibrahim and Mohamed Al Amoudi is their business specialisation. Mo. Ibrahim an entrepreneurial communications professional has generated his wealth from this knowledge oriented business sector becoming one of the few billionaires in the world. In 1989 he founded MSI, a consultancy and software company, which was bought by Marconi in 2000. In 1998, MSI spun off MSI-Cellular Investments, later renamed Celtel, as a mobile phone operator in Africa. According to the Forbes 2008 Rich List, Mo Ibrahim is worth $2.5 billion. Mo Ibrahim was selected for the TIME 100 list in 2008. He was also recognised by EETIMES as one of 35 people, places and things to watch out for in 2008.He was also recognised for doing ethical business and executing proper Corporate Social Responsibility.

While Al Amoudi’s wealth emanates majorly from oil trade and has now encompassed a conglomerate model. He owns a broad portfolio of businesses not only in oil but also in mining, agriculture, hotels, hospitals, finance, operations and maintenance. Al Amoudi made his fortune in construction and real estate before branching out to buy oil refineries in Sweden and Morocco. He is said to be the largest foreign investor in both Sweden and Ethiopia. In 2008, Forbes ranked Mohammed Al Amoudi as the 97th richest person in the world with a net worth of $9 billion. In 2009, Forbes ranked Mohammed Al Amoudi as the 43rd richest person in the world at a net worth of $9 billion. Al Amoudi has been criticised various times for dong an unethical business. He has been criticised by local press in Ethiopia for being a ‘rent seeker’ and land and property ‘grabber’. At times, residents in his business areas have protested his ‘illegal and irresponsible’ business eg. The protests of the residents of Legedembi Gold Mine are some.

2.3 Political Difference

In terms of political stand, Mo. Ibrahim remains to be fully independent and neutral of any political affiliation. Albeit, he is highly involved in political events and program that concern the continent of Africa via his Foundation, The Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Ibrahim never has affiliated himself with any political party or ideology in his native Sudan or in the international politics. He has always called and publicly prayed for peace and understanding in Sudan between all sides and forces.

Al Amoudi on the other hand, has been an ardent financer and supporter of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the head ruling wing of EPRDF party and was donating money to Clinton Foundation. He was seen wearing a t-shirt bearing the election logo of the ruling party, bee. Al Amoudi was named as one of the Clinton Foundation Donors, according to information released as part of an obligation placed on former President Clinton when he supported Hillary Clinton's nomination as Secretary of State. Al Amoudi is reported to have donated between $1,000,001 to $5,000,000.The photos above portray Al Amudi’s political inclination and outright support of the current ruling party in Ethiopia and Foundation’s and parties the world over. As the pictures tell for themselves, there is no need for caption or explanation.

2.4 Vision, Dream and Goal

I was prompted to write this article when I accidentally came across this video (http://www.moibrahimfoundation.org/en) found in the middle of the page as you enter the Mo Ibrahim Foundation's official website. The video was screened on the weekend of 20 and 21 November, 2010 when the Mo Ibrahim Foundation hosted a cultural celebration and discussion forum on regional economic integration of Africa in Mauritius. The speakers ranging from Mo Ibrahim himself to, Dr Navinchandra Ramgoolam, Prime Minister of the Republic of Mauritius ,country rated as the most democratic in the past year by the Foundation, Donald Kiberuka of the African Development Bank (ADB),and many other African academics, civil society leaders, investors and politicians from all over Africa attended the forum. The program was stunning. So blessed with positive visions, dreams and goal and visionary Africans and concluding with an action plan. The man behind all this was Mo Ibrahim doing it through his Foundation, the Mo. Ibrahim Foundation. Established in 2006, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation aims to support good governance and great leadership in Africa. The Foundation works to: Stimulate debate on good governance, provide criteria by which citizens and governments can measure progress, recognise achievement in African leadership and provide a practical way in which leaders can build positive legacies on the continent when they have left office and support aspiring leaders for the African continent.

According to Ibrahim, "Good governance is crucial." With a $5 million initial payment, plus $200,000 a year for life, the prize is believed to be the world's largest, exceeding the $1.3m Nobel Peace Prize. Former South African President Nelson Mandela, former United States President Bill Clinton, and former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan are among those who have welcomed the initiative. The inaugural Prize was awarded to former president Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique, for "his role in leading Mozambique from conflict to peace and democracy." Festus Mogae won the 2008 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, and will receive US$ 5 million over 10 years and US$ 200,000 annually for life thereafter.

The information available on the Foundation’s site states “the Foundation publishes the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, ranking the performance of all 53 African countries. Until 2009, the Index took into account only the 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Countries are graded on factors which fall into four main categories: Safety and rule of law, sustainable economic opportunity, human development, and participation and human rights.’’

The Foundation is committed to supporting great an African leadership that will improve the economic and social prospects of the people of Africa.

He says development cannot be achieved without good governance. Good governance ensures that all of a country's resources are harnessed effectively and fairly to translate into improved quality of life for its people. Every arena, from healthcare to environmental stewardship, from education to human and political rights, is affected by the quality and nature of governance. While there have been improvements in many African countries recently, weaknesses in governance and leadership capacity are central to the issues currently facing the continent.

Well I think this is what Africa needs at this moment. Precious child of Africa, Ibrahim works for the safety, development and prosperity of Africans. He has no political party that he supports but enterprisingly sweats for the freedom, equality and justice of Africans including his native Sudan. He encourages all parties and politicians to step up together with the common denominator of good governance than the prosperity of few political parties, junta or clique.

To the contrary, our Al Amoudi doesn’t do any of the above. He is the opposite of all the above , except his few donations to hospitals, NGOs and individuals and few other causes in Ethiopia and else, he is not recorded doing anything meaningful in terms of good governance ,democracy ,equality or peace and tranquillity in Africa or his native Ethiopia.

Still compared with Ibrahim, Al Amoudi’s philanthropic activities such as the building of a 140-bed health care facility that supports visual impairment, disabled, children's health, works in poverty alleviation programmes, overseas scholarships and sponsoring of the CECAFA Cup, Africa's oldest cup competition for the last three years, can’t even reach one third of Ibrahim’s philanthropic works. I have heard of him saying that he is so committed for the progress and development of Ethiopia but I doubt if he meant it really or has really found out how he can realise the vision. Maybe he needs better advisors. Making huge investments and employing thousands of jobless Ethiopians can in no way be viewed as a success or improving Ethiopia. Ethiopia could be developed when the society cross sectionally gets fair access to resources, is empowered, is free, is equal and good governance is achieved.

Being an ardent supporter of the ruling party would only alienate and diminish the tycoon that could be looked up as model and icon of success by the Ethiopian (African) youth. Al Amoudi has lost huge credibility from the opposition parties in Ethiopia, their supporters, media and independent analysts due to his open support of the ruling party in Ethiopia .He has compromised his independence, neutrality and moral integrity. His financial, moral and investment role and support with the current regime in Ethiopia makes him an indirect perpetrator and elongator of the human rights abuse and the regime’s life span, as to many.

Unlike Ibrahim, he followed the Chinese model of non interference and neglected the abuse of human rights in the country. He never spoke of inhuman treatment of citizens in Ethiopia or Africa.

If Ibrahim progresses with his current pace and scope, his Foundation would be able to succeed in creating an Africa that is well governed, free, democratic and developed in less than a decade. If his vision, dreams and goals were followed or were at least assisted by tycoons like Al Amoudi, the achievement could be in the offing.

To support this write up with a strong literature on the role of investors and tycoons in good governance or the prevalence of democratic system, I have spent a day with no avail of finding one paper. This tells that the topic area is recommendable for researchers to further investigate.

Paulo Coelho’s piece is an amazing example of the exodus, exile and exclusion of the true children of Ethiopia from the holy land. The ‘false children’ of Ethiopia are now the ones who are inside, some looting, others cooperating in the looting process and many being looted. True children of Ethiopia on the outside, need to be considered worthy and let in and work for the betterment of their motherland.

The vision ,dream and goal of Ibrahim is to root out the central problem of Africa's underdevelopment and backwardness i.e. maladministration or bad governance and instill good governance instead.Al Amoudi's vision, dreams and goals, where as, so far only seem to be making money,money and money.

Gashe Al Amoudi ! It is time to invest on Good Governance!

Slavery openly practiced in Ethiopia: a case from Meki town

Thousands of farm labourers being whipped at work

By Ankober,DebreBirhan Blogspot’s Staffer 24/12/10

Genet Ayele’s book on Ethiopia’s former president Mengestu Hailemarim quotes Mengestu. Mengestu as he spoke of his conversation with HIM Hailesellasie just after the 1974 Ethiopian revolution. Mengestu and HIM Hailesellasie converse about the student’s movement, peasants, serfdom, feudalism and the revolution. Mengistu might consider himself as the liberator of the peasants and tillers and workers, anyways in the middle of this conversation HIM says “that system had gone long ago. We have dismantled it. It is dead and will not come back’’. The Emperor was referring to feudalism, peasantry and enslaving mode of governance and system. However both the Emperor and Mengestu were wrong. Albeit both considered they uprooted feudalism, serfdom and peasantry; none did.

According to Colin Darch (1976), in 1963 the University (Addis Ababa University) was closed down for two weeks by student disturbances and in 1964 further student demonstrations were held under the slogan ‘Land to the Tiller!’ A Presidential Commission was appointed and reported on student unrest. In 1965, the Ethiopian Student Union in Europe held its fifth annual conference in Vienna, and condemned feudalism, the Orthodox Church, the Imperial family, the nobility and the landed gentry, while advocating land reform and the establishment of an independent trade union movement. In a parallel development, the Ethiopian Students’ Association in North America, at its thirteenth annual congress in Cambridge, Massachusetts, condemned the IEG as a "festerng dictatorship". These two groups were the major overseas opposition groups at the time, although splinter groups also existed.’’

The then student movements, some of them bad and the rest; blessings were the trailblazers’ of Ethiopians socio-political consciousness. Not only consciousness, they were the real beginners of the unending fight for the freedom of the Ethiopian peasants, serfs and workers. Today, that struggle and those strugglers seem to be out of the course. Now, all University students unions are fully controlled by students loyal to the ruling party. The sufferings, troubles and enslavements of Ethiopian farmers and their children are forgotten. Nobody gives them ear or hand. Elite politicians are engaged in intra and inter party competitions and fight while slave serfdom and feudalism are intensifying in full swing all over the country.

This sort of serfdom is now ordinary in today’s Ethiopia. Ethiopia of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front‘s (EPRDF). Although for some time, the Derg announced its land reform program and nationalized rural land without compensation, abolished tenancy, forbade the hiring of wage labour on private farms, ordered all commercial farms to remain under state control, and granted each peasant family so-called "possessing rights" to a plot of land not to exceed ten hectares, it didn’t enable the farmer to be a real landholder.

In today’s Ethiopia, ruled by EPRDF that believes to be the “product and outcome” of Ethiopian peasants and framers, slave serfs are sold and traded like nothing; land is government’s possession thus the farmer still remains in a peasant hood. Today farmers are dislocated and their land is given to foreign investors and returning Ethiopian Diaspora.

Slave Serfs in today’s Ethiopia: the Case of Meki Town

The story begins from today’s geographic location of Semien Omo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) specifically from Wolayeta, Kembata and Hadya Zones. This region and the zone particularly, is the most densely populated area in Ethiopia. Family planning is almost unknown or ineffective in these areas. Nuclear families are almost unimaginable. Its worth consulting Peter Gill’s criticisms of Meles Zenawi’s failed population policy, in Famine and Foreigners: Ethiopia Since Live Aid, 2010. In this region of multiple births and unplanned families with dozens of children as a normalcy, feeding and nurturing all the children have become hard nuts to crack in recent years. Especially, following the recent manmade and natural hungers that occurred in the region, families have resorted to a new mechanism family reduction of selling their children to Oromo and other farmers and nomads. In fairer terms the natives call this process “adoption”, “transfer” or “promotion to a better life”. However, in its true sense the act, it is ‘sell or slavery.’

Manahelot (not a real name), has been to the area various times .He calls this process “a hunger induced internal enslavement or refugehood ”.According to him “when a Wolayeta or Kembata area born boy reaches the age of five or six, his parents make a deal with better off farmers from neighbouring regions such as Oromia to ‘ buy’ the boy. The farmer ‘buys’ the young boy, making sure that the only payment or salary the boy will be given is his daily food and that the boy works for him’’

These boys start a new life in a newfound land. They will be hired and adopted to their new families working as herders and maids. Most of these young boys abscond as they reach their adolescence and return to their families while others get assimilated into the new families and will be disconnected from their biological parents. Most of these boys that escaped the life of herding have revealed that they have worked their heads off and were treated slavishly.”

Mahider Bitew, Children's Rights and Protection expert at the Ministry of Women's Affairs of Ethiopia once said that some remote studies conducted in Dire Dawa, Shashemene, Awassa and three other towns of the country indicated that the problem of child trafficking was very serious. According to a 2003 study about one thousand children were trafficked via Dire Dawa to countries of the Middle East. The majority of those children were girls, most of whom were forced to be sex workers after leaving the country. The International Labor Organization also had identified prostitution as the Worst Form of Child Labor.In Ethiopia, children trafficked into prostitution, to provide cheap or unpaid labor and to work as domestic servants or beggars. The ages of these children are usually between 10 and 18 and their trafficking is from the country to urban centers and from cities to the country. Boys are often expected to work in activities such as herding cattle in rural areas and in the weaving industry in Addis Ababa, and other major towns. Girls are expected to take responsibilities for domestic chores, childcare and looking after the sick and to work as prostitutes.

The "sell’’ of children from the SNNPR for cattle herding to neighbouring regions is not trafficking, but enslavement and is still practiced in this hour and date.

Move to Meki: life of ‘salve serf’

Meki is a town located in the East Shewa Zone of the Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Meki has an estimated total population of 36,597 of whom 18,422 are men and 18,175 are women. News sources reported in March 1974 that, as part of the Ethiopian Revolution, peasants near Meki rose up against local landlords, settling old grievances. At least 15 persons were reported killed: about ten victims had been hacked to death with knives and spears, and the bodies of three people were found in wells. The police regained control after killing a dozen peasants and arresting hundreds.

Large scale farming and irrigation have been practiced in the area since times of the Derg regime. EPRDF’s land reform allows land leasing to a third party and transfer rights within families, specifically towards off-spring, are also allowed. Using this policy as convenience farmers have been renting out their lands to individuals investors and companies to till the land and sell their produce .Thousands of individual investors and companies now farm and sell their produce such as onion, tomato, pepper, mango, cabbage and other vegetables in Meki. Most of the produce is locally consumed while the rest is exported. Many of the irrigated agricultures in the Meki area are based on shallow (up to 10 m deep) groundwater accounting for 25% of the total irrigated area.

Adolescent kids of SNNPR that escape from their ‘masters’ and return to their families will be received with a cold smile in their native home and by their families .He will be awaited with more young babies, no bed or place to sleep and food to eat or a land to farm. Hence, he will be advised to move to the nearest commercial farming area, Meki and work as a “labourer”. The young teens of Wolayeta that deserted their ‘masters’ finally end up in Meki irrigation farms to work as daily labourers, or technically as ‘slave serfs.’

“I was exploited and mistreated by my adoptive families. They fed me only twice a day. Ultimately, I have decided to escape from them and join my families in Hadeya. But my families were not ready to welcome me. One of our villagers advised me that we better go to Zeway town and look for work’’ says Bocha (not a real name) who works as a daily laborer in one of the individually owned Meki commercial farms. Scarcity of job in Zeway town led Bocha to the next town of Meki. He has been working as a daily labourer (slave serf) for various individual investors for the past three years now in this town.

Defining slave serfdom, Wikipedia puts it in the following way “The last type of serf was the slave. Slaves had the fewest rights and benefits from the manor and were also given the least. They owned no land, worked for the lord exclusively and survived on donations from the landlord. It was always in the interest of the lords to prove that a servile arrangement existed, as this provided them with greater rights to fees and taxes. The legal status of a man was a primary issue in many of the manorial court cases of the period. Also, runaway slaves could be beaten if caught. ”

Bocha typically meets the above definition. Bocha has no right, benefit and survived on meagre donation. Every morning approximately 15 to 20 thousand “slave serfs’’ living in Meki town originating from all regions of Ethiopia Amhara, Oromia and mostly Southern region queue in Meki city center looking for employers (feudals) to take them to their farms in the town and the vicinities of Sembo. These labourers work in the nearby villages of the town and in the city. A private investor pays 4000 birr land rental fee per hectare for one year to the native farmers. Compared to the current rate a one hectare farmland is leased to foreign farmers ($1), the rate in Meki to local investors, is a staggering one.

The ‘slave serf’ is contracted officially to work for the day when he receives one Ethiopian birr for ‘breakfast’ in the form of a deposit. Soon after, begins the exhaustive, dehumanizing and exploitive work in the farms. They dig the ground, tile and water the soil, weed, pick and do all sorts of jobs in the farm. Around 20 labourers work in one hectare. The investors hire one Kaboo (flogger), who whips those labourers that are weak, lazy or stopped working for a minute for 20 labourers. These Kaboos are paid 20 birr per day for just standing and whipping the weak and tired labourers. This makes the work an absolute slavery. These ‘superintendents’’ acted the same way as African slaves that worked in American plantations superintended another slave man who carried a whip, and frequently cracked at them, permitting no dawdling or delay at the turning. In the then USA it was emphasized by a tall and powerful Kaboo, who walked to and fro in the rear of the line, frequently cracking his whip, and calling out in the surliest manner, to one and another, 'Shove your hoe, there! Shove your hoe!' and striking them with the whip, as in today’s Meki.

The labourers have no insurance, bonus or protection or right. Their livelihood is insecure. Living conditions are cramped with as many as ten people sharing a hut. There are many cases where some labourers who resist whipping or work less harder and make mistake were corporally punished to go with no payment.

What makes the work worse and racist and feudalistic is the scale used to pay the labourers. In Meki farms, all labourers are not equally paid and treated .The wage is based on their ethnic origins.The justifications for this are weired,so I better not say them here.

An Oromo farm laborer is paid 18 birr per day.

An Amara farm laborer is paid 17 birr per day.

A Wolaeyeta,Kembata,Hadaya farm labourer is paid 16,15 and 14 birr per day respectively. Whereas ,Weretegna’s,(permanent labourers) are given 25 kilo maize and 2 kilo shiro(peas) per month and are paid from 350 to 550 birr as a monthly salary.

“I was beaten like a donkey many times just because I was tired and wanted a break or talked with my workmate.’’ Bocha laments.

A private investor in the Meki farms that this writer talked to said that he is aware that daily labourers in Meki farms are slavishly treated, “I understand that we treat the labourers inhumanly but as the practice is taken normal and best way of getting good output, we apply it”. He says in this same scenario, most of the around 5000 individual investors and companies leasing the land from the farmers are individuals or companies affiliated or supported by the Tigrean Development Association (TDA) and Dedebit Microfinance.

Howard Dodson (2008) said that the slave trade was back in full force, “This modern slave trade, however, is not limited to just young Africans; women and children are also being enslaved in almost every continent. It is estimated that there are over 27 million enslaved persons worldwide, more than double the number of those who were deported in the 400-year history of the transatlantic slave trade to the Americas. What is remarkable is that this unprecedented trafficking largely goes unnoticed. The 27 million victims of the modern slave trade are more invisible to the world’s eye than were the 10 million to 12 million Africans who were forcibly sent to the Americas during the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries.”

The situation and enslavement in Meki is not part of the above categorisation, I believe. The Meki case is a replica of the 19^th century United States of America’s Southern farms. The Ethiopian slave serf or slavery is a result of poverty, ethnic federalism, unfair land tenure system, governance and so on. The peasants, serfs and feudalistic exploitation and manipulation have reappeared in different forms and colours in Ethiopia. Although, Meki is taken as a case in point in this article, there are possibly similar cases in other regions of Ethiopia.

Ethiopian students need to take up this issue on board, learn from their predecessors, political parties should also; above all, if there is openness and readiness from the government side, all these need to be taken into consideration and measured. It should change its policies, approaches and principally ideology.