URGENT: መልእኽቲ ንተሳተፍቲ ፌስቲቫል ዲያስፖራ ተጋሩ ኣብ መቐለ A message toTegaru Diaspora participating in the upcoming Festival: 6 fundamental questions of existence you must address: Dear participants: please do address the following issues of paramount importance for the people of Tigray in your discussions with the officials. You know they have never listened and will not listen to us in here, but they may give ears to you. Please also share this message to all those whom it may concern (esp participants) before the event. The people of Tigray want these 6 fundamental questions of existence addressed and solved sooner: 1. Development issues: a. A significant part of the population of Tigray still lie under the mercy of food aid. Close to one million people are getting their daily bread by the mercy safety net. When will we be food self-sufficient? You claim the region producing 75 million quintals (30 % of the national crop production of 250 million) while the truth in the ground says otherwise. Why all these lies? Why cooking data miles apart from the truth? b. The SAERT irrigation project was massively moving until it was stopped unilaterally by Ato Meles and Tekleweyni. According to the master plan of the SAERT, Tigray was to be food self-sufficient by 2008 with installation of 500 micro and medium sized dams for irrigation. Was there a discussion to stop it? What has replaced this very crucial program (other than the failed shame of the world thing called ‘ሆረየ’ and ባንኪ ማይ)? c. What happened to project Golgol Raya, Abergele Animal husbandary and similar projects? d. Educated and experienced Tigrians prefer to work outside of Tigray. Why is it so and when this out-migration will end? e. A Silk Warm disease introduced to Tigray by an Italian investor is now devastating the huge cactus (በለስ) plantation in tigray. People and animals eating it are being harmed. The Italian investor has left the country now. Why did things turn out this way? Why do you simply neglect the role of the educated? Shouldn’t you have consulted professionals before giving licenses for projects of environmental impact? f. There are exaggerated cooked data of growth and prosperity in Tigray. The fact in the ground is our people are still the poorest, marginalized people. Year after year you tell us billions of forest plantation, thousands of irrigation installations, millionaire farmers… where is all this? A research, which was funded by the regional government, conducted by DR. Z of mekele university(full name hidden for security reasons) three years back revealed very shocking result showing the massive poverty in Tigray. It was denied publication as it was very contrary to what you people say? Why do you hide the truth? g. After 23 years in power power shortage in almost all towns in Tigray remain unsolved. Mekelle and Shire are hit the hardest and the problem is getting even worse. Why the problem remains unsolved? Year after year, we were hearing hundreds of millions are allocated, and yet, we didn’t see anything being done. Nothing! Why? There are evidences of massive corruption (in billions) in the Tigray water Enterprise. The previous manager, Eng. Getachew, Haleka’s nephew, embezzled 120 million birr; and he was sneaked out through Bole and then tried in absentee, sentenced for 12 years of imprisonment; and yet, he is walking free in the streets of Japan. Why no effort was made to bring him home? Similarly, the succeeding manager, a close person to the palace by blood, said to have embezzled millions, is recently promoted to lead EPRDF bureau let alone to be brought to justice. Why? The health service delivery, electricity, and other services too are very poor. Why? h. The bureaucracy in Tigray remains the most ineffective, incapable and deterring. Tigray is becoming the symbol of failure. They may start a thing and it never gets to completion; 8 years on, the stadium remains with only 25 % completion while Bahirdar finalizes it in just three years, and Hawassa’s is nearing completion; so does Adama and others. Welkayt sugar factory is at only 12%, e.t.c. practically, there was no, and there still is no project in Tigray in the past 10 years with fair accomplishment. This is all because the well educated and capable have no place! Till when are we going to be symbol for failure and incapability? i. What foot prints did the GTP leave in Tigray? Why did you make Tigray outside of the industry zone while TPLF was talking for years now “industry is the future of Tigray”? What happened to the 18 factories you were telling us for years to open (the biggest being a PVC company in Maymekden) in coopration with EFFORT and partners? How come you fail to open just one? Just one! Why 100 % failure? 2. Democratization and people’s participation in civil life: a. When is TPLF leadership going to tolerate dissent, any critical but constructive opposition in Tigray? Why is it anybody with better alternative ideas seen as a threat? Why the opposition in Tigray is subject to imprisonment, torture, loss of livelihood and all forms of suppression? Why do you name any body with different idea all the bad names in the world? Why do you need to kill minds? Isn’t it killing a nation? b. Tegaru are currently living in an atmosphere of fear and suspicion? No one trusts anyone in tigray. The social cohesion of our people is disrupted with mistrust. Literally talking, Tigray is a police state. When will the regime stop this widespread phobia? c. Why are you always fearful of the media, civic societies, and professional organizations? d. In a research conducted by a professor from mekele university found out that Tigray has the lowest transparency in governance. There are many talks of how some of the previous TPLF CC members were pushed/pressurized to voluntarily resign, and it was presented as if everything went smooth. What is this all secrecy? e. More than 6 thousand houses in Mekele, many more thousands in Alamata, Korem, Mekoni, Maichew, Shire, Wukro are demolished overnight. Why do you have to make such crimes while you could have prevented their construction (if they are illegal)? The officials who gave the permit for their construction are equally responsible. None of them are questioned yet. Most sad is, a green area kept for years around GEREB BUBU was illegally seized by around 40 members of the central committee and famous merchants, they distributed the whole land amongst themselves at a lease rate of 1 birr 32 cents, which is a rate 100 times smaller than the current lease rate, and the construction is still under way. 3. Education and investment: **A. In the same research and similar research by another professor of Mekele university showed: •Tigray has the highest drop-out rate from all levels of education (elementary, high school, university) in Ethiopia. Even Afar and Somalia are better than us. How do you intend to improve the situation? • Tigray is the least in terms of quality of education and every year, more Tigrians fail in the national exams than anywhere in the country. In 2003 e.c, Tigray was the least in terms of the percentage of tenth grade students passing the national exam. It continues unimproved since then. In 2005 E.C tenth grade national exams, only 28 % made it while the country average was 35 %. Why all this disparity? Where are we heading to? • Tigray attracts the lowest level investment, and the lowest investment per capita in Ethiopia. The lowest! The regime in Tigray chooses the specific areas investors could involve. They are usually Hotels, other service givers, and they don’t want investors to get involved in manufacturing and other heavy industries. This is exclusively kept for the shadowy conglomerate EFFORT. Why? • Tigray produces the highest number of street children in Ethiopia, and Tigray has the highest infant mortality rate. Why? Where is the 20 years of lie and empty propaganda? B. Crucial institutions of education like MIT and Kelamino are currently being shut down. Why? Why is MIT being shut down? The MIT which was established by the hard work of Araya Zerihun and many other dedicated Tegarus to train the best engineers, technologist for the nation, was initially tried to change it to cadre and spy school, and when the students resist, you are shutting it down! Why? Don’t you have any plans for the future of the people? 4. Corruption • Where is all the EFFORT money going to? What are our people getting from EFFORT? Why it is not audited? Why the people are kept blind about it? Whom is it enriching, who is making use of the money, the profit? There are numerous rumors of corruption in EFFORT where even a guard owns G+6 and they remain unquestioned let alone to return the money they rob. Why? • Corruption has become the normal working system of the region, and officials, when they are caught; they are never questioned, never made to return the money let alone to pass through any legal process. They say they are made to change working place and assigned with a bigger promotion, bigger power, as long as they are “loyal” to the party. Why? • Ethiopia ranks as one of the most corrupt countries in the world now. There are reports of billions of dollars of capital flights. The situation is even worse in Tigray. The system is corrupt head to toe and there is no political will to fight corruption in Tigray. A politician can loot as much as he intends, and he goes away unquestioned as long as he is “politically loyal”. 5. Why alienation? It’s painful to say it, but true, the internal unity of the people of Tigray has been hurt due to the wrongful acts and noninclusive system of T.P.L.F where almost the whole system seems controlled by people from one locality, and many others felt alienated. The unwise and ill wording of some officials is never to be mentioned here. Why is this all? This shall stop! 6. Resistance and unwillingness to create new capable leaders: The current regime in Tigray has no any intention of creating new capable, visionary leaders, and is apparently academia phobic. A people who failed to produce good leaders are doomed to fail. This is a very critical issue. Why can’t you think beyond your big bellies for the generations to come? Is that you don’t want or simply you can’t? Does TPLF really have any vision for the people and the region 20, 50 years from now? Do you really care for the generations to come, for the future of the people and the land?
Posted on: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 05:29:30 +0000
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