Author: saay
-
Slouching Towards Asmara
Yes, Isaias is to blame. Probably. Once upon a time–actually, April 1, 2018–a bold man arrived in the horizons of the Horn of Africa. And almost immediately–actually immediately–he began clearing the debris of a century–actually, longer–of misrule in his country. Jails were opened and prisoners were freed. Enemies were forgiven and exiles returned. The disenfranchised…
-
Dr Newitol’s Readers Are Tired of Ethiopia
91. Awadallah from Gedaref, Sudan writes: I am told you don’t always talk about Ethiopia and sometimes you mention other countries. My question: Now that it is a given we have defeated Omar Albashir, where will he go? Qatar? Turkey? Malaysia? Dr. Newitol: My bet is on Ethiopia. Sure Qatar and Turkey make ideological sense,…
-
Eritrea’s Gov-People Dialogue
Nobody will ever accuse the PFDJ of being an overachiever, but few will describe it as a learning organization. The brief feud with Yemen (Dec 1995 – Feb 1996) bled to a one month feud with Djibouti (April 1996), which led to two year plus epic battle with Ethiopia (May 1998 – Dec 2000), which…
-
The Slick & The Shell-shocked
Psychologists say that human emotions can be reduced to only four: sorrow, happiness, fear and anger. And of the four, the only one that is socially acceptable for men (in most societies) is anger. A man will brag about his capacity for anger (“dont make me angry; you wouldn’t like me when I am angry”,…
-
Eritrea’s Conscripted Musicians in Ethiopia
What is art and what’s its role? For the government of Eritrea, art is a means of propagating is message: obedience to whatever happens to be its policy. This is so central to the ruling party (when we had one), “culture and art” was on equal footing with politics, organization and finance. As a matter…
-
“What Is Free Press?” Ask Those You Disappeared
Eritrea is now a member of Human Rights Council (HRC) and submitted its report as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) cycle. It was challenged on its human rights record by many countries: freedom of expression, worship, assembly, lack of constitution, lack of independent jurors, indefinite national service, etc. This video (Chapter 1) focuses…
-
The Torment of Our Liberators
In this edition, Yemane Gebreab is suckered by a German reporter to give a long propaganda piece and, near the end of the interview, asks him about the G-15 and the independent journalists who have been languishing in the remote prison of Eira Eiro, where an escaped prison guard already told us of their harrowing…
-
Betrayal And Loyalty
One man, who happens to be head of state, told another man, who happens to be head of a foreign government, that effective immediately he has given him full authority to represent his country on all matters. There is a videotape of him saying that. And lest you think he was just being polite or…
-
Ethiopian Narrative on Eritrea Is Back With Vengeance
The Ethiopian NarrativeIt goes something like this. Since time immemorial, Eritrea has always been part of Ethiopia. The names (“Eritrea”, “Ethiopia”) may be different but the people of Eritrea and Ethiopia have always been intertwined. Eritrea, the Land of the Sea (Midri Bahri) may have had a viceroy, but the king was always in Ethiopia…
-
Sudan: Another Strike for Self-Inflicted Deafness
…when self-reliance is no more than a call for no witnesses When Sudan’s Islamist party assumed power, it had a message of “self reliance” and a catchy slogan: na’kul min ma nazra’e: nalbas min ma nasnaE. We shall eat what we sow; we shall wear what we manufacture. That was in 1989, thirty years ago.…
-
Part 2 of 2: 2018: A Year of Dazzling Reforms & Stifling Standstill
For Part 1, items 1-65 of this 2018 retrospective, please refer here: 66. Gender Equality, Ethiopian Edition, BAA (Before Abiy Ahmed): Before PM Abiy rammed-through his gender-equality reform in Ethiopia over the heads of the stodgy EPRDF, Ethiopian economists (all 5 men) met with Chinese economists (4 women, 1 man.) 67: Eritrea’s Endorsement of Russian…
-
2018: A Year of Dazzling Reforms & Stifling Standstill
In other words, this is a retrospective of the Horn of Africa. Mostly. Very subjective of course: 130 things. Warning: it is so long (you are welcome), it had to be divided into two halves: 1-65 and 66-130. By the time you are done reading both halves, we will need a new one for 2019. When we started the…