Author Thomas Keneally won the Booker Prize in 1982 for Schindler's Ark, later made into the film Schindler's List. His latest book Three Famines examines three historical famines and their causes.
(CNN) -- Imagine if long-term drought were to strike a part of the rural United States, Wyoming say, or Montana.There would be bank foreclosures as the price of cattle would fall because there was too many of them on the market, families would tragically lose their farms, and grocery lists would be trimmed. But would people starve, actually waste away until their bodies began to devour themselves? In Southern Somalia, Djibouti, parts of Ethiopia and in refugee camps in Kenya at the moment, up to 12 million people, basically half a Canada, are facing death. In Somalia, the people already in crisis number about four million. Mothers, for example, are again making the Sophie's choice of how to share the small resources of remaining food amongst their children. And the tired old terms to explain it all are again repeated. The cause, we are told, is drought. The "caused by drought" formula is not only lazy journalism. We've heard that song sung so often in the past that it may now make us immune to the famine's claim on us. Certainly, drought is a trigger of famine. And global warming might be extending the length of droughts. But Amartya Sen, the Nobel Prize-winning economist famously said that no substantial famine has ever occurred in a liberal democracy. I believe Sen is right.Famines occur in places where people are tyrannized over either by governments or, in the case of Southern Somalia, by private armies and militias. They occur in places where even in the lead-up years to famine, farmers are not always able to plant crops with security, without the likelihood that they might be confiscated, or that the village granary will be burned by armies, private and government.Famines, above all, occur in places where people get by on a few food items. Though in the cities, including Mogadishu, Somalia, people might eat canned food and a range of other food, for farmers in East Africa, the normal foods are lentils and the bread made out of dhurra, millet or a grain named teff.
If the grain crop is destroyed by drought or locusts or undue human intervention, there goes the chief nourishment.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta visits refugee camp
The coastal fishermen of Somalia are themselves reduced in what they can eat because the price of grain is escalating out of their reach. The semi-nomadic people who own cattle have a diet of milk and meat. The livestock die for lack of pasture, are stolen or have to be sold or eaten, and there goes life.
In liberal democracies, as much under pressure as they might be at the moment, if one food source is removed from us, we have the ability to turn to another. Not so for the 12 million the U.N. has declared in immediate peril of starving.So the question arises: Why are people on Earth now, in the 21st century, still surviving on one staple -- just as the Irish did with the potato in the 1840s? Governments maintain unjust systems of land tenure, that is one reason. Governments put money into arms instead of into infrastructure -- into roads, for example, by which aid can easily transported, or into storage facilities. One is entitled to ask why, after all the development and emergency aid spent on Ethiopia, there is a food crisis there every time there is a drought? Is this a failure of rain or a failure of government? We see the above-mentioned "undue human intervention" in East African people's welfare in the fact that in the case of Southern Somalia, the Obama administration has had to give aid agencies a guarantee of freedom from prosecution even if some of the aid has to be given, virtually as a protection bribe, to the fundamentalist military group called Al Shabaab. Al Shabaab has preyed on the Southern Somalis year after year. Charities must pledge their best efforts to prevent Al Shabaab from hoarding food and charging tax on it.
These realities of famine are as much, if not more, the cause of famine than natural disaster. In some cases it is misgovernment, and in the case of Somalia it is warlord-ism. The question arises, should this reality stop us from coming to the aid of our fellow world citizens in East Africa? In my opinion it makes it more urgent. As the old aid song from the 1980s goes, "We are the world." In the meantime we'll only learn to understand and address this deadly phenomenon if we stop citing "caused by drought" every time something like this calamity comes to our notice.
Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) is on the verge of laying off thousands of workers. Following its months long evaluation process,EEPCo is about to dismiss thousands of workers who have scored below the evaluation points .
"We have been asked to give our photographs to the Corporation. I think they are going to use it on the letters that they are going to give us when we are made redundant." Our source stated.The Source also explained that the redundancy was based on a political evaluation that was made on the political inclination of each worker.
De Birhan Blogspot reported the following news regarding the Corporation on Mar 27, 2011.
Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) staffers are currently under a continuous meeting with Debretsion G/Michael,the Board Chairman of EEPCo and Miheret Debebe, the CEO. EEPCo is set to finalise the ‘reorganisation’ of the Corporation in this budget year.The Corporation’s 25 years master plan under discussion.
The new Board Chairmanship appointment of Debretsion G/Michael was with the aim of applying an EthioTelecom type of ‘reorganization’ in EEPCo.
EEPCo employs over 9,000 permanent and more than 3,000 contractual workers.Half of these staffers will be laid off.
In a similar way to EthioTelecom, Bill collection of EEPCo will be passed on to Ethiopian Postal Service.
There will be a 10 % salary increment to EEPCo staffs as of July 2011 and their two months’ salary will be paid to them as bonus. This is deemed to be an appeasement and preparation strategy for the major lay off.
All Garage and mechanical works of EEPCo will be transferred to Metals and Engineering Corporation of Ethiopia, an offshoot of Ethiopian Defense Ministry and cluster of engineering firms, putting the future and employability of EEPCo’s staffs from garage and mechanical branches in the redundant circle.
Badiaa Bouhrizi is an underground, popular , young Tunisian revolutionary singer. “Live free because you are born free, slavery is only in the mind.” is her motto.
She has been gathering popularity since her days in exile in the times of Ben Ali and is now one of the most aspiring young voices of revolution and freedom in Tunisia, the region and Africa. Many Ethiopian young singers both in the Diaspora and at home should learn from her. They should know that real music is one that is free, eternal and with an ideal. A non commercial singer, with a cause in life is the one we Ethiopians or a sane mind loves to hear or buy. You have , just for a second, come to terms with your mind and sing music that strikes the chord . Sing about freedom, equality, justice, human rights and democracy. Then we will listen to you. My Ethiopian singers for whom are you leaving this topics for? We Ethiopians want a liberated art.
The following is Bouhrizi's interview with Al Jazeera. She tells about herself, music and freedom.
Bouhrizi did an interview with the Daily News Egypt last week.A friend in Addis promised to translate this piece and put it up in an Amharic Newspaper in there.Hope it might ignite some of our 'artists'. The excerpts follow,
By Maha ElNabawi/ Special to Daily News Egypt
August 21, 2011, 3:43 pm
Subtle seeds of change have started to blossom through the liberation of artistic expression, since former Tunisian president Zine Al-Abdine Bin Ali’s ousting in January.
Cue Badiaa Bouhrizi — the underground Tunisian singer/songwriter whose Ethno-musical positions reflect passionate socio-political convictions and the dilemma of personal freedom.
Bouhrizi, who performed this past Thursday in El Genaina Theater as part of Al Mawred Al Thaqafy’s annual Hayy festival, sat down with Daily News Egypt to discuss her music, politics, and the absolute importance of the free spirit.
“I believe every free spirit is a revolutionary at heart and I want to express this feeling through my music and keep my spirit alive,” said Bouhrizi. “You see, the free spirit refuses oppression — only fear can kill the spirit.
“To have a free spirit, one must go beyond fear. No one person can take away your eternal freedom; they can only convince you to take your own.”
There is a passionate conviction that fuels Bouhrizi’s message. Her younger brother Khaled, also a musician, was imprisoned three years ago under alleged drug charges. Khaled had been gaining increased scrutiny from Ministry of Interior for his politically charged rap lyrics that directly addressed the corruption of Bin Ali’s regime, leading him to seven-year in detainment.
“Prior to the revolution, musicians couldn’t really mock the system publically. But rappers like my brother always pushed the limit. In general, rap tends to translate the truths of reality. My brother made me understand the importance of being true in my music.
“I feel my role as an artist is to address the things that people are too fearful to say, expressing our solidarity. While my music seeks to find the beauty in everything, I’ve learned that too much beauty kills beauty. You have to address the realness in the world.”
Bouhrizi’s lyrics, however, are not always politically oriented. Many of her songs are centered on love and epic tales of human sentiment.
“Singing about love is not cheap when it comes from the heart; nothing is cheap when it is rooted in truth.”
Bouhrizi’s motivational messages permeated through the audience during her performance in Azhar Park’s Geneina Theater last Thursday. With a shortage of seating, the arena was overflowing with audience members who had no problem sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the stage, only an arm’s length away from the radiant Bouhrizi.
Armed with a Spanish acoustic guitar and a dynamic vocal prowess, Bouhrizi and talented German percussionist, David Kuckhermann, placed the audience in a trance with soulful sonnets sung in Fusha (classical or literary Arabic).
Influenced by jazz, rock, reggae and traditional Malouf (classical Tunisian music) Bouhrizi’s current solo project, “Nessatou,” aims to portray the essence of the North African spirit.
Bouhrizi’s commitment to the free spirit allows her to instill loaded content into her music, keeping her from directly addressing politics on a constant basis. In the song dedicated to her brother, “Manifesto,” she sings: “I long for the dawn breeze that wakes up the fields/That talks of the truth, and trusts in the unknown.”
Despite her petite frame, an overwhelming intrinsic spirituality pours out of her, heard in her lyrics and felt through her folk oral traditions and powerful vocal range.
Her songs channel the spirits of old female desert dwellers and Africa, juxtaposed with Kuckhermann’s range of oriental and occidental percussions creating a soulful, rich dialogue separate from her lyrics.
Using unique instruments such as the hang, a Swiss made steel drum in the shape of a flying saucer that creates its sound through vibrations, Kuckhermann thrilled the audience with a riveting solo performance towards the end.
“David is brilliant on percussions,” Bouhrizi said, “He has this spiritual dimension and a theatrical sense when he plays. I really love it.”
If music is the language of the soul, then Bouhrizi is certainly a worthy messenger. Whether she is seeking inspiration from singers like Om Kalthoum and Fairouz, or reciting performance poetry by Fawda Touqan, Bouhrizi is rapidly catching the attention of Tunisians and Arabs alike.
Local percussionist and audience member, Mohamed Riyad, said, “I have never in my life heard anything like that, between her powerful voice and his [Kuckhermann] style of playing; it was an incredible performance. And she was always smiling. ”
For the attendants, the concert was a reminder of just how much music plays a role in communicating the human spirit, a vision, a movement.
It seems that increasingly more musicians in the Arab World are concocting projects that harness their political and creative sensibilities — and their international profiles — to both raise awareness and improve upon basic human rights.
A lesson can be learned from Bouhrizi and her free spirit. Art, in its various forms can be an alternative means of socio-political activism to affect change and pave the future.
“We’re in the era of words. Words instead of weapons,” she said.
You can listen to Badiaa Bouhrizi’s music at http://www.myspace.com/neyssatoumusic
Thou still unravished bride of quietness,
Thou foster child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loath?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endeared,
Pipe to the spirit dities of no tone.
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal---yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss
Forever wilt thou love, and she be fair!
Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu;
And, happy melodist, unweari-ed,
Forever piping songs forever new;
More happy love! more happy, happy love!
Forever warm and still to be enjoyed,
Forever panting, and forever young;
All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloyed,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.
Who are these coming to the sacrifice?
To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,
And all her silken flanks with garlands dressed?
What little town by river or sea shore,
Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,
Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?
And, little town, thy streets for evermore
Will silent be; and not a soul to tell
Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.
O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity. Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty"---that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
The Embassy of Libya in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia has removed its National green flag and hoistedthe flag of the opposition National Transitional Council today (22-8-2011), sources in Addis Abeba informed this Blogger. The Emabssy officals, amabsaodors and diplomats also confirmed that they recognise the National Transitional Council as Libya’s Official Administartion.
Two little known parties : All Ethiopian Democratic Party (AEDP) and Ethiopian Unity Democratic Organisation (EUDO) have finalised their preparation to call for a large scale peaceful demonstration in Addis Abeba in September 2011.
According to our sources within the parties, the public demonstration will be held in the largest square in Ethiopia, Meskel(Cross) Square. Although the specific date has not yet been disclosed , the demonstration will be held after the Ethiopian year (September 11, 2011).
This period was selected convenient, as most religious denominations finish fasting and students and civil servants will start class and work respectively, the sources detailed.
"The peaceful public demonstration would surely be held next month. Our prior plan was to hold it this month, however, reaching these potential participants was impossible due to the above reasons, so we opted to postpone it." said the source.
In Ethiopia public demonstrations have been banned or were systematically denied by the City Government that enjoy the ''rights'' of denying or allowing demonstrations. Since the 2005 election, there was no public demonstration called by opposition parties, most were refused by the Government. According to these two parties, the Government's Constitution doesn't require that demonstrators have to receive a permission from it rather it seeks them to 'inform' it that they will be demonstrating.
"And that is what we will be doing, we will just let them know that we will demonstrate. We don't ask them for permission as their own law doesn't say so. And we are sure that we will make it." the source added.
The main points that the parties will be demonstrating are : lack of justice, high cost of living ,heavy taxation, the implementation of the anti-terrorism and Press Law that is "used to stifle dissent", the sale of Ethiopia's fertile land via land grab,expelling of employees in the name of structural restructuring, lack of education quality are some of them.
Forum for Democratic Dialogue in Ethiopia or Medrek Party, a consortium of four parties and two dignitaries, refused the call of the two parties to join them in the demonstration fearing infiltration by the Regime.
Addis Ababa, August 18, 2011 (Ezega.com) - After reading about “Sugar Daddies Phenomena in Ethiopia” By Ezega.com Reporter Meron Teklebirhan, I encountered the incident I am about to write in this article. Sugar Daddies are always famous among young women, but, it seems, the concept of Sugar Mommies is also gaining considerable popularity among today’s young men. I learned this occurrence in a gym I visit here and then. The gym mostly is full of young men and older women who seem to be struggling with weight and age at the same time. I have never considered this as something to be concerned about since young men are the ones usually who love to exercise in our culture and older women in most cases are recommended by a doctor or a friend to lose weight for several health and beauty related reasons.
Last week, in the gym I got into talking with one of the trainers. We were discussing about Meron’s article on sugar daddies. The trainer told me that the article impressed him since the issue needs a serious attention from the public in order to protect our young women from destruction at a very early age.
Then one thing led to another and our discussion became about rich and successful women who usually visit the gym. It was at this point that he told me, although the issue might not be as much as sugar daddies, there is also concern about sugar mommies that he witnessed around him. According to him, educated and rich women usually come to the gym not only to exercise but also to pick up younger men. This actually surprised me because I thought our culture is too tight for women to do something like this, especially in public.
However, he explained. “Some of them are educated and they spent most of their youth in schools. Some got married sugar daddies and the husbands got old while these women are still young. So, they will look to other places to fulfill their needs. There are also women who married rich men they do not really like. Therefore, they start looking for some young good-looking men just for the sex. They have the money for that," he said.
Then I asked him if he could introduce me to someone who dates a sugar mommy. He called one of the people who was exercising in the gym and explained the issue to him. The person agreed to talk to me as long as I do not mention his name in my articles. I agreed. He told me to call him Teddy for this purpose.
He is a 25-year young man. Tall and athletic, he is probably the most attractive man in that gym. He told me that he is currently studying to become an accountant. His sugar mommy claims to be 45, but he thinks she is a lot older than that. “I first met her in a wedding. I have never thought things will turn out like this. She was very nice to me and she offered me a job. I was happy because I was unemployed at the time. After I worked for her for a while, she said it is better if I go to college so that she would give me a better job. We didn't have any sexual relationship at this time. I joined collage and it was after that I understood she was looking more than just a friend. I did not hesitate to fulfill her needs since I owe her a lot. She wants me to be the best I can and I really admire her for that. She even forced me to join this gym and to work out. She tells me to take my education seriously, she takes care of me and what more do I want,” he smiled.
I asked him if she is married. “She was,” he said. ”She got divorced about two years ago. Her husband is old and I do not think she likes him at all. They have three children, but fortunately they all live abroad.” I also asked him if the age difference bothers him at all. “At first it did bother me a lot. I thought I was the only one who dates a woman older than his own mom. However, especially after I joined this gym, I learned there are many who do the same. I met many people who are my age and have sugar mommies. Now I am used to it and it does not bother me much. Only some times, when we go in public and people stare that I feel uncomfortable,” he said.
I also asked if he has plans for the future with her. “I am not going to marry her if that is what you are asking,” he smiled. “Nevertheless, I do not really worry much about the future. Right now I am focused on my school and my workouts,”
Teddy was kind enough to introduce me to another man who also has a sugar mommy. He also instructed me not to use his real name and told me to use Abush as his name. Abush is a 28-year man who likes to call himself a musician. He plays drum and he says he has a plan to go a long way and be successful as a drummer. His sugar mommy is in her late 50s and he is certain she is not lying about her age. “I met her about a year a go in this very gym. She used to ask me to show her this and that and we started talking, and we became friends.”
Abush thinks dating Sugar’s is different for men than women. “For women it’s more tricky and complicated. Usually women who date sugar daddies are teenagers who are not in a position to make wise decisions or to be careful in many aspects. Sugar daddies take this advantage and ruin the lives of many young women. In our cases, we are mostly old enough to make wise decisions and to understand the consequence of our actions.”
The thing with Abush is so complicated that he claims he has a girl friend that he loves very much. “I have been together with my girl friend for the last three years. She is the one I want to marry and spend the rest of my life with.” I asked him if she knew that he has a sugar mommy. “No, she does not know. I do not want her to know. I feel like I am doing this for both of us. I am saving money now so that we will have a better life in the future,” he said.
I asked Abush how often he met people like him who dates older rich women. “It’s common these days,” he said. “I have friends who do the same thing I do. Gym is a nice place to meet these women and so many young men are coming knowing this opportunity. There is even a competition to get the richest women in the house,” he laughed.
I wondered if Sugar Mommies hang out around schools like the daddies do. However, Teddy told me that it is highly unlikely. “I don’t think any adult woman wants to have a sexual relationship with a teenager. Older women wouldn’t do that,” he said. Abush and the trainer agreed with him. However, my curiosity forced me to talk to my cousin, who is a freshman at Addis Ababa University. “I hear this happens,” he said. “I’ve never experienced it first hand but there are students who I hear date older rich women.”
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Seble Teweldebirhan is Addis Ababa based Reporter for Ezega.com. She can be reached by sending email through this form.
'TURKANA KILLINGS HAVE BEEN ATTRIBUTED TO INTER-COMMUNAL
STRUGGLE FOR THE SCARCE RESOURCES AROUND LAKE TURKANA, ESPECIALLY FISHING AND GRAZING RIGHTS' .
NAIROBI (Xinhua) --Kenya has deployed 200 security officers to the volatile region of Turkana to guard the area against regular attacks by the Merille tribesmen from Ethiopia, who have killed dozens in recent incursions, Kenya’s Internal Security Minister George Saitoti said Friday.
Saitoti, who insisted recently that the Ethiopian government was not to blame for the regular attacks in Turkana by the Merille tribesmen against the local Turkana of Kenya, said the security forces have recently been deployed to the region to beef up security.
Speaking during a security briefing with top security officials in western Kenya, Saitoti said he recently led a high-level security delegation to Ethiopia to discuss the Kenya-Ethiopia border security.
Kenya and Ethiopia recently agreed on the restoration of the border markings to ensure the beacons marking the boundaries are clearly visible to avert constant security breaches on the territorial integrity of either state.
The border beacons restoration has been under discussions by the directors of departments of survey on both sides.
The Turkana killings have been attributed to the inter-communal struggle for the scarce resources around Lake Turkana, especially fishing and grazing rights.
Kenyan officials ordered the resettlement of the Merille tribe residing inside the Kenyan territory in the aftermath of fierce attacks which killed 20 Turkana traders returning from the Ethiopian side of the border.
In the latest attacks which occurred in early August, eight Turkana women were killed by attackers from the Merile clan militia, forcing the Kenyan government to issue a protest note to Ethiopia.
A series of ministerial meetings have been held since May 2011 to try to resolve the communal stand-off in Turkana, especially in the volatile region of Todonyang, where most of the recent killings have taken place.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki initiated the talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, during which an agreement was reached to restore the border markings and restore peace in the region.
Saitoti, who is also Kenya’s acting foreign minister, said there was no need for a security alarm in Turkana following the deployment of the Kenyan security forces.
His Majesty , Emperor MenelikII is 167 years old today. This King is the favourite King of all Ethiopian Kings and Emperors for many while an 'oppressor enemy ' for others. God Bless his soul.
Last week I was privileged to be a guest at one of my friend’s naturalisation/citizenship ceremony. It was a hilarious event. Liked the whole event, there were many Africans, Asians, Americans and so on who were naturalised on the day. My compatriot friend, being one of them got his EU citizenship via his wife.
What was special about it ? Oh ya what was so special was that one of the words in the wordings of the declaration of fidelity was very extraordinarily attractive. I was saying to my friend that this phrase alone can make you write a thesis. After a short declaration of fidelity, there comes this bombastic phrase. My friend repeats after the judge … says that he will be a good citizen and so on…finally he makes this concluding statement “I undertake to… respect the democratic values”. Wow I loved it. Many European countries have a similar wording of fidelity and declaration for their new citizens. I really loved that statement…EU believes that it has democratic values. I don’t know how many of the newly ordained citizens know the meaning. It is also very democratic and civilised to make one swear in the names of democratic values.
What does Ethiopia’s citizenship fidelity declaration say? Haaaa
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Today’s article spins around the similarities of two grand plans of two states but that are filled with ambition and are similar in their nature of crumbling and adversarial impacts. The two plans are Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward and Meles Zenawi’s Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP).
Meles Zenawi, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia has been since he left University at a youth age of early 20s’s been a Maoist. He was a big time fan of Mao Zedong. His thoughts, ideologies and actions smell Mao, Mao, Mao…. Meles’ party took power in 1991, when Socialism/communism died out in the world and a unilateral international power started to develop. They had to totally shift and act as liberal democrats that believe in the Western principles of democracy and freedom. They became freedom and democracy redeemers, who knew not what it really meant. The Maoists became the new day democrats. It didn’t actually materialise up until today. They are on shaky ground not knowing who to side with (China or America). Fully dilemmatic double standard. I still find Meles’ Developmental plans and ideologies such the Revolutionary Democracy, Developmental State and the GTP of a Maoist origin and inheritance. He is still intrinsically and overtly a Maoist. Especially, I am finding a greater amount of similarity between the Mao’s Great Leap Forward and Meles’ GTP. Particularly that a large scale of starvation has emerged a just a year after the GTP was released. Let me first summarise what the Great Leap Forward meant from Wikipedia and other sources.
The Great Leap Forward
The GLF of thePeople's Republic of China(PRC) was an economic and social campaign of theCommunist Party of China(CPC), reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from anagrarianeconomy into a moderncommunistsociety through the process of rapidindustrialization, andcollectivization.Mao Zedongled the campaign based on theTheory of Productive Forces, and intensified it after being informed of the impendingdisaster from grain shortages. Private farming was prohibited, and those engaged in it were labeled ascounter revolutionariesand persecuted. Rural industrialization, officially a priority of the campaign, saw "its development … aborted by the mistakes of the Great Leap Forward." The Great Leap ended in catastrophe, resulting in tens of millions of excess deaths.Estimates of the death toll range from 16.5 to 46 million,with estimates by demographic specialists ranging from 18 to 32.5 million.[6]HistorianFrank Dikötterasserts that "coercion, terror, and systematic violence were the very foundation of the Great Leap Forward" and it "motivated one of the most deadly mass killings of human history.” In subsequent conferences in 1960 and 1962, the negative effects of the Great Leap Forward were studied by the CPC, and Mao was criticized in the party conferences. Party members less economicallyleft-winglikeLiu ShaoqiandDeng Xiaopingrose to power, and Mao was marginalized within the party, leading him to initiate theCultural Revolutionin 1966. The government also plunged the country into a deep debt by increasing spending on the development of heavy industry. Government spending on heavy industry grew in 1958 to represent 56 percent of state capital investment, an increase from 38 percent in 1956. People were mobilized to accomplish the goals of industrialization. They built backyard furnaces for iron and steel and worked together on massive building projects, including one undertaken during the winter of 1957-58 in which more than 100 million peasants were mobilized to build large-scale water-conservation works. Although in theory the country was awash in grain, in reality it was not. Rural communal mess halls were encouraged to supply food for free, but by the spring of 1959, the grain reserves were exhausted and the famine had begun."Historical developments during more than four decades of Communist rule in China have again and again shown us how the unanticipated consequences of elite policies subverted their attempts at fundamental social engineering," Dali Yang, Assistant Professor in Political Science in the US, writes in Calamity and Reform in China.
Frank Dikotter’s book Maos Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958—1962, is a good reference to read in this regard. Below in the video hedicuses his book.
How about Meles’GTP,
In its first year of catastrphy now , Meles Zenawi’s GTP is very similar in many aspects with the GLF of Mao.Tamirat Yacob on copmfdrafrica.ning.com writes, ‘Achieving broad-based, accelerating and sustained economic growth and hence alleviating poverty has been and is the objective of the Government of Ethiopia’is the first line that you may read in the introductory part of the GTP. It is the root for the new highly promoted, popular GTP plan and had also been the overarching agenda in the predecessor plan called Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) (2005/06-2009/10). The next five year’s plan GTP (2010/11-2014/15),carries forward important strategic directions pursued under the PASDEP and expected that beyond maintaining the fast growing economy more achievements in all development sectors are anticipated to be registered, the GTP reiterates.
Its vision in the economic sector is:“to build an economy which has a modern and productive agricultural sector with enhanced technology and an industrial sector that plays a leading role in the economy; to sustain economic development and secure social justice; and, increase per capita income of citizens so that it reaches at the level of those in middle-income countries.” Tamirat reports.
And also the major objectives of the plan, as describe in the document, include
· maintain at least an average real GDP growth rate of 11% and meet the Millennium Development goals,
· Expand and ensure the qualities of education and health services thereby achieving the MDGs in the social sectors,
· Establish favorable conditions for sustainable state building through the creation of stable democratic and developmental state
· Ensure growth sustainability by realizing all the above objectives within stable macroeconomic framework.
Critiques
There have been many critiques of the GTP .
“To double agriculture for the following 5 years, the sector has to grow by 14 %(=70/5). This figure is close to the “high-case” scenario of 14.9 percent overall economic growth target of the country. Given the historical 10% or less growth of the agricultural sector and the focus on economic transformation in the current strategic plan (i.e decreasing share of agriculture in the economy and increasing share of the industrial and the service sectors), Doubling agriculture is less likely ” says a commenter on a Reuters Blog.
The commenter also says “The final big challenge which makes the strategy overambitious is the challenge to increase share of the industrial sector. Ethiopia has no industrial sector to speak of (it stands at 13% of total GDP as of now which is far below the African average). Due to extremely low per capita income and very low saving rate, local investment is not big enough to transform such a large country.”
What is boo now?
What is booed about the GTP is many fold. Last time I reported that with the ambition of successfully undertaking the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) the Ethiopian government outlined that it needs over a trillion birr to fully realize it within five years from now. Main sources identified are:
1.Foreign development partners/donors
2.Local sources-taxation
3.Diaspora
Will write next time about the strategies used by the regime to pull money from foreign development partners, for now let me say some on the rest two.
- From the Diaspora – The regime plans to use every means to absorb money from the Diaspora including coercive ones that could end up like the Chinese GLF. Last week the regime sent out this news “After listening to all the feed-backs from the Diaspora community, the Ethiopian government has decided to lower the fee paid for the Ethiopian Origin ID Card from $500 to $100 US Dollars. The renewal fee is also set at $40 US dollars!”The card given to Ethiopians who are naturalised citizens of other countries, acts like a passport and gives many privileges and incentives to the holder except voting and running for an election. This Card also called Yellow Card is now being used as a means of aggressive money collection from the Ethiopian Diaspora.”
- Heavy taxation – If one calls to Ethiopia the present cry that he/she hears is the cry of excessive taxation.According to Addis Fortune , the government has envisioned collecting 437 billion Br in tax revenues between 2010 and 2015, states the GTP. Annual tax revenue is projected to reach 127 billion Br by 2014/15, whereas average tax revenue as percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would oscillate around 13.3pc, on average, during the plan period.
Actual tax collection, however, lags behind the plan. The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority (ERCA) managed to collect 50.8 billion Br of tax revenues in 2010/11. The amount comprises 51.5pc in domestic taxes, and 48.3pc of foreign trade tax and tariff. As compared to last year, which has seen revenues of 43.3 billion Br, it has witnessed an increment of 17.3pc, of which direct domestic tax revenue contributed 10.7 billion Br. Businesses complain being forced to pay half (50%) of their profits as tax.
Therefore
As you can comparatively read above there is a huge similarity between the origin, contents and outcomes of the two plans. Although in its nascent stage, Meles’ GTP is going to the direction of the GLF. I envision that the GTP is leading us to that direction. Although I may also ask myself if the timing of the recent report by BBC Newsnight and Bureau for Investigative Journalism on Aid Abuse in Ethiopia was Malthusian strategy of population reduction by forcing donors to shy away from saving the lives of drought affected in the Horn of Africa, I do also agree that the facts on the video are realities and results of the GTP, that mimic the GLF.
Meles is now in China to attend the opening ceremony of the 26th Summer Universiade, World University Games.He was promised of help to the drought by his best friend, Chinese President, Hu Jintao.
This morning as well on ETV, Tadese Mizan of the Print Media Discussion Program criticised David Cameron's call forsocial networkingservices to be shut down temporarily during civil disorder. He and his guest in a tone that sounded as if it was the statement of the Ethiopian regime said that it was a shame for the British to shut down these media of democracy in a country that says ‘is beacon of democracy and protector of freedom of expression ’ the world over. They preferred to applaud China and Aljazeera as good while accusing the UK and BBC of double standards. Saying don’t hound us when we block sites and connections while you were about to do the same against ‘marginalised demonstrators’.
Meles and his ideologues including the likes Tadese Mizan who are the propagandist journalists of the regime are openly siding and supporting China. They are coming out of their closet.
In a similar manner as in China of the GLF, where fake figures of over production were published, the Meles’regime knows too well how to fabricate figures and say we have high GDP. “In a recent paper entitled “In Search of a Strategy: Rethinking Agriculture-led Growth in Ethiopia”, a group of authors found that, according to official figures, Ethiopia had achieved substantial increase in agricultural productivity that even supersedes the achievements of the Asian green revolution. They, however, find in the data no substantial change in input use or technology that seems to explain this. This forces them to request the re-examination of the data by Central Statstics Authority Agency of Ethiopia. Considering the fact that the government appoints strictly party-affiliated people to all offices, and especially to important ones such as CSA’s, it is easy to imagine that cooking numbers would not be that difficult for them.”A commenter opines on Reuters Blog.
This may not save them and be a guarantee though. They need to wake up from their catastrophic GTP that has no political, democratic, social and good governance strategies in it.There has been no media coverage and scrutiny of the Plan so far and this is a sign of the Plan’s foredooming demise.
"Had there been a free press and other institutions of oversight that are commonly found in open political systems, the Great Leap famine would certainly not have attained the magnitude it did," said Yang, who continues to follow events in China through visits there as he develops his academic career in the United States.
Based on the above analysis, I come to induct that the Growth and Transformation Plan is equal to and the same as the Great Leap Forward.
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