የሕወሐት ባለስልጣናት የአሜሪካ ቆይታ፤ የከዱ አሉ

በአባይ ወልዱ የሚመራውና ሰባት ከፍተኛ የሕወሐት ባለስልጣናት የተካተቱበት ቡድን በአሜሪካ አራት ከተሞች ባካሄደው ስብሰባ በተለይ በላስቬጋስ ጠንካራ ተቃውሞ እንደገጠመው በስፍራው የተገኙ ምንጮች አስታወቁ። ቡድኑ በዋሽንግተን ኢትዮጲያ ኤምባሲ በጀመረውና በመቀጠል በላስቬጋስ፣ ሲያትልና ካሊፎርኒያ ከተሞች ባካሄደው ስብሰባ “አላማ” አድርጎ የያዛቸው ጉዳዮች እንደነበሩ የጠቆሙት ምንጮች፣ እነሱም፥ “የመለስ ፋውንዴሽን፣ የአባይ ግድብና የ40/60 የቤቶች ግንባታ.” ሲሆኑ፣ ለነዚህ ማስፈፀሚያ “ገንዘብ አዋጡ” የሚለው ዋናው ግብ እንደነበር አስረድተዋል። በተለይ

ደግሞ « በትግራይ ተወላጁ ዘንድ ሕወሐት የለም፣ ተከፋፍሏል፣ ተዳክሟል፣ ፓርቲው ሰው የለውም፤» የሚለውን እራሱ ቡድኑ በማንሳት ለገዛ ጥያቄው መልስ ሲሰጥ « ሕወሐት አሁንም ሃይል አለው፤ አልተዳከመም» በማለት አድራጊ- ፈጣሪ በመሆን ስልጣኑን በበላይነት ተቆጣጥሮ እንደያዘና ቡድኑ የመጣውም “አይዟችሁ” ለማለት እንደሆነ መገለፁን በቅርብ የተከታተሉት ምንጮች አስታውቀዋል። ቡድኑ በተጨማሪም ፥ « ልማት አልምተናል፤ ትግራይ እየለማ ነው፤ ህዝቡን ተጠቃሚ እያደረገነው ነው» ከማለቱ ባሻገር « በትግራይ ተወላጁ ላይ አደጋ ተደቅኗል፤ የሙስሊሙ፣ የትምክህተኞችና የሽብርተኞች አደገኛ እንቅስቃሴ እያንዣበበ መሆኑን፣…የተደቀነብህን አደጋ ከጎናችን ሆነህ ተከላከል፤ ያለበለዚያ ግን ሊያጠፉህ ነው፤» ሲሉ መናገራቸውን የገለፁት ምንጮች አክለውም፣ « አባላት የሆናችሁ ተወደደም ተጠላ መሬትና መኖሪያ ቤት እንሰጣችኋለን፤ ለዚህም ከእኛ ጎን መሰለፍ አለባችሁ» በማለት ሊሸነግሉ መሞከራቸውን ጠቁመዋል።

ከዋሽንግተን ስብሰባ (ለሁለት ተከፍሎ ነው የተካሄደው) በኋላ ወደ ሶስቱ ከተሞች ተከፋፍለው እንደሄዱ ሲታወቅ፥ ሲያትል አቶ ብርሃነ ማረት፣ እንዲሁም ላስቬስጋስ አባይ ወልዱና ተክለወይኒ አሰፋ መሄዳቸው ታውቋል። በተለይ በላስቬጋስ ጠንካራ ተቃውሞ የገጠማቸው እነአባይ ስብሰባው ከቀኑ 2፡00 ሰዓት ይጀመራል ተብሎ ከአራት ሰዓት በኋላ ዘግይቶ አመሻሽ ላይ መጀመሩን ምንጮች ገልፀዋል። ስብሰባው ሲጀመር ከላይ የተገለፁትን ጉዳዮች ያደመጠው ተሰብሳቢ ተከታዮቹን ጥያቄ አቀረበ፤ « ዴሞክራሲ አለ ትላላችሁ፣ ነገር ግን ዴሞክራሲ የለም፤ በሃሳብ የሚቃወማችሁን ታስራላችሁ፣ ታንገላታላችሁ፣ የሰብአዊ መብት ረገጣ ታካሂዳላችሁ፤ ከእናንተ የተለየ ሃሳብ ያለውን ትፈራላችሁ፤ ለምንድነው ይህን ሁሉ የምታደርጉት?….በማ.ረ.ት.(ማህበር ረድኤት ትግራይ) በትግራይ ሕዝብ ስም የምትሰበስቡትን ገንዘብ ለአራጣ ብድር እና ለፖለቲካ መጠቀሚያ በመሳሪያነት እያዋላችሁት ነው። ለምን?….ትእምት (ኤፈርት) ማነው ባለቤቱ?..በማን ነው የሚመራው?..ማነው የሚቆጣጠረው?..ለመሆኑ ኦዲት ተደርጎ ያውቃል ወይ?..እነማናቸው እየተጠቀሙበት ያለው?» የሚሉት ዋና ዋናዎቹ ጥያቄዎች እንደነበሩ ምንጮቹ የጠቆሙ ሲሆን፣ አባይ ወልዱ « እኔ አልመልስም፣ ተ/ወይኒ መልስ ይስጥበት» ቢሉም ነገር ግን ግልፅና አግባብ ያለው ምላሽ ከመስጠት ይልቅ ወደ ማመናጨቅና ቁጣ ያመሩት ተ/ወይኒ በዚህ ድርጊታቸው በርካታ ተሰብሳቢዎችን እንዳሳዘኑ አስረድተዋል። በዚህ የተበሳጨው ተሰብሳቢ « ጥያቄያችን አልተመለሰም» በማለቱና ሁከትና ያለመደማመጥ በማየሉ ስብሰባው እንዲቋረጥ መደረጉን የጠቆሙት ምንጮች፣ የጥያቄና ተቃውሞው መብዛት ያስደነገጣቸው ባለስልጣናቱ የመረጡት ማምለጫ በላስቬጋስ ተወካያቸው በሆነውና መድረክ ሲመራ በነበረው አቶ ተወልደ በኩል፥ « አዳራሹን የተከራየንበት ሰአት አብቅቷል፤ ስለዚህም ስብሰባው አብቅቷል » በማለት በአስቂኝ ሰበብ መቋረጡን አያይዘው ገልፀዋል። እነአባይ ከአዳራሹ ሲወጡ ቀድሞ ውጭ ሆኖ ይጠብቃቸው በነበረው ተሰብሳቢ ውግዘትና ስድብ እንደደረሰባቸው ያስታወቁት ምንጮች « ሌባ..ሌባ…ሙሰኞች..» የሚሉ ተቃውሞዎች ጎላ ብለው እንደተሰሙ አመልክተዋል።

ስብሰባዎቹን የታዘቡ ወገኖች በሰጡት አስተያየት እንዲህ ብለዋል፤ « በአንድ በኩል ልማት እያካሄድን ነው፤ እያሉና ገንዘብ እየጠየቁ በሌላ በኩል “ትግራዋይ አደጋ ተደቅኖብሃል፣ ከጎናችን ሆነህ ተከላከል፤” ማለት እርስ በርሱ የሚጋጭና ድጋፍ የማግኛ የፖለቲካ የፖለቲካ ቁማር ነው። ያልተጠየቁትን የፓርቲውን ህልውና (ስለ ሕወሐት) አንስቶ መነገሩም አስገራሚና አጠያያቂ ነው።» ሲሉ ትዝብታቸውን የጀመሩት እነዚህ ወገኖች በማያያዝም፥ « እነዚህ ሰባት ባለስልጣናት ወደ አሜሪካ የመጡት ከነዘመዶቻቸው፣ ጋሻ ጃግሬዎቻቸው ሲሆን፣ ባለስልጣናቱ የመንግስት ወኪሎች እንደመሆናቸው – በማን ገንዝብ ነው የሚንቀሳቀሱት?..የሚለው መጠየቅ አለበት። በሕዝብ ገንዝብ እየተንፈላሰሱ እንደሆነ ግልፅ ነው። የትግራይ ተወላጁን ብቻ ለይተው ስብሰባ የሚጠሩት ለምንድነው?…በእርግጥ ስላሰቡለት ነው?…የሚሉት ሲፈተሹ .መልሱ በጭራሽ አይደለም ነው። አላማቸውና ትኩረት የሰጡት የትግራይ ተወላጁን እየተንከባከቡት እንደሆነና ተጠቃሚ መሆኑን ለማሳየት በመፈለግ፣ እግረ-መንገዳቸውን ከቀሪው ኢትዮጲያዊ ወገኑ ጋር በመነጠል..ድጋፍ ለማግኘትና በውስጣቸው የተፈጠረውን ቀውስ በዚህ በኩል ቀዳዳውን ለመድፈን የሚደረግ የስልጣን እድሜ ማራዘሚያ ስልት ነው። ..ደግሞስ ሕወሐት “አጋር” ከሚላቸው ብ.አ.ዴ.ን፣ ኦ.ህ.ዴ.ድ.፣ ደቡብ ሕዝቦች ተለይቶ፣ በሕዝብ ገንዘብ ስብሰባ የሚጠራበትና ያሻውን የሚያደርግበት አግባብ ምንድነው?..የሚለው ከዚህ ጋር መታየት ያለብት ነው። ፖለቲካዊ ፍጆታና ማንአለብኝነት በፓርቲው በመነገሱ እንደሆነ ደግሞ ግልፅ ነው።» ብለዋል።

ይህ በእንዲህ እንዳለ፥ አሜሪካ ከመጡት ሰባት የሕወሐት ባለስልጣናት መካከል- ማለትም አባይ ወልዱ፣ ብርሃነ ኪ/ማሪያም፣ ተ/ወይኒ አሰፋና ዳንኤል አሰፋ በዋነኛነት ሲጠቀሱ፣ ከሰባቱ ሶስቱ ስብሰባውን ሳያካሂዱ ከቡድኑ ተገንጥለው በአሜሪካ መቅረታቸውን ምንጮች አረጋግጠዋል። ቤተሰቦቻቸውን ይዘው (ልጆቻቸውን ጭምር) በመምጣት አሜሪካ ጥገኝነት ጠይቀው መቅረትን የመረጡት ባለስልጣናት ውስጥ የሕወሐት ማ/ኮሚቴ አባላት እንዳሉ ያረጋገጡት ምንጮች በቅርቡ ዝርዝሩን ይፋ እንደሚያደርጉ አስታውቀዋል።

ከኢየሩሳሌም አርአያ 

ጽናት

Telecoms in Ethiopia: Out of Reach

The Economist

ETHIOPIA has Africa’s last big telecoms monopoly. The absence of competition has seen a country of more than 80m lag badly behind the rest of the continent in an industry that has generally burgeoned alongside economic growth. Mobile-phone penetration, which averages 70% of the population elsewhere in Africa, is closer to 25% in Ethiopia. A paltry 2.5% of Ethiopians have access to the internet, compared with 40% in neighbouring Kenya.

Ethiopia’s authoritarian leaders are as keen as any on the economic benefits of modern telecoms but fear the political ramifications; pesky dissidents become even more irritating when wired. That explains a $1.6 billion agreement with China’s two leading telecoms-equipment companies to upgrade its network. The deal with Huawei and ZTE will preserve Ethiopia’s state dominance and further put off the opening up of one of Africa’s largest economies.

A deal in 2010 between France Telecom and Ethio Telecom was seen in some quarters as a step towards privatisation and competition. It drove down calling costs but appears to have faltered with the recent departure of Bruno Duthoit, the French chief executive. Little further improvement is likely now, says Markos Lemma, a local entrepreneur.

What the government wants from China are cheap loans and more control over its citizens. The new deal will provide soft loans to buy a Chinese-built 4G broadband network for the capital, Addis Ababa, and an expanded 3G network for the rest of the country. A similar deal with the same companies in 2007 expanded Ethiopia’s mobile-phone subscriber base but did little to shorten its digital lag.

Hopes that other companies might get a look in were always optimistic. The Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, has dubbed the telecoms industry a “cash cow” needed to pay for a rail link to neighbouring Djibouti. Ethio Telecom delivers more than $300m a year to the state coffers. Customers grumble that its slogan should be “Disconnecting Ethiopia from the future”.

The country is one of the world’s last big untouched telecoms markets. The government could earn as much as $3 billion from auctioning licences. But the powerful security services have routinely objected. The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based free-speech lobby, accuses the government of conducting a “systematic effort to control all forms of communications” after it passed laws imposing prison sentences of up to 15 years on anyone caught bypassing online censors. Yidnek Haile, a student in Addis Ababa, was arrested two years ago for showing customers at an internet café how to make online calls.

The NSA's domestic and world-wide surveillance apparatus

It turns out that the NSA's domestic and world-wide surveillance apparatus is even more extensive than we thought. Bluntly: The government has commandeered the Internet. Most of the largest Internet companies provide information to the NSA, betraying their users. Some, as we've learned, fight and lose. Others cooperate, either out of patriotism or because they believe it's easier that way.

I have one message to the executives of those companies: fight.

Do you remember those old spy movies, when the higher ups in government decide that the mission is more important than the spy's life? It's going to be the same way with you. You might think that your friendly relationship with the government means that they're going to protect you, but they won't. The NSA doesn't care about you or your customers, and will burn you the moment it's convenient to do so.

We're already starting to see that. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and others are pleading with the government to allow them to explain details of what information they provided in response to National Security Letters and other government demands. They've lost the trust of their customers, and explaining what they do -- and don't do -- is how to get it back. The government has refused; they don't care.

It will be the same with you. There are lots more high-tech companies who have cooperated with the government. Most of those company names are somewhere in the thousands of documents that Edward Snowden took with him, and sooner or later they'll be released to the public. The NSA probably told you that your cooperation would forever remain secret, but they're sloppy. They'll put your company name on presentations delivered to thousands of people: government employees, contractors, probably even foreign nationals. If Snowden doesn't have a copy, the next whistleblower will.

This is why you have to fight. When it becomes public that the NSA has been hovering up all of your users' communications and personal files, what's going to save you in the eyes of those users is whether or not you fought. Fighting will cost you money in the short term, but capitulating will cost you more in the long term.

Already companies are taking their data and communications out of the US.

The extreme case of fighting is shutting down entirely. The secure e-mail service Lavabit did that last week, abruptly. Ladar Levison, that site's owner, wrote on his homepage: "I have been forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in crimes against the American people or walk away from nearly ten years of hard work by shutting down Lavabit. After significant soul searching, I have decided to suspend operations. I wish that I could legally share with you the events that led to my decision."

The same day, Silent Circle followed suit, shutting down their e-mail service in advance of any government strong-arm tactics: "We see the writing the wall, and we have decided that it is best for us to shut down Silent Mail now. We have not received subpoenas, warrants, security letters, or anything else by any government, and this is why we are acting now." I realize that this is extreme. Both of those companies can do it because they're small. Google or Facebook couldn't possibly shut themselves off rather than cooperate with the government. They're too large; they're public. They have to do what's economically rational, not what's moral.

But they can fight. You, an executive in one of those companies, can fight. You'll probably lose, but you need to take the stand. And you might win. It's time we called the government's actions what they really are: commandeering. Commandeering is a practice we're used to in wartime, where commercial ships are taken for military use, or production lines are converted to military production. But now it's happening in peacetime. Vast swaths of the Internet are being commandeered to support this surveillance state.

If this is happening to your company, do what you can to isolate the actions. Do you have employees with security clearances who can't tell you what they're doing? Cut off all automatic lines of communication with them, and make sure that only specific, required, authorized acts are being taken on behalf of government. Only then can you look your customers and the public in the face and say that you don't know what is going on -- that your company has been commandeered.

Journalism professor Jeff Jarvis recently wrote in the Guardian: "Technology companies: now is the moment when you must answer for us, your users, whether you are collaborators in the US government's efforts to 'collect it, all -- our every move on the internet -- or whether you, too, are victims of its overreach."

So while I'm sure it's cool to have a secret White House meeting with President Obama -- I'm talking to you, Google, Apple, AT&T, and whoever else was in the room -- resist. Attend the meeting, but fight the secrecy. Whose side are you on?

The NSA isn't going to remain above the law forever. Already public opinion is changing, against the government and their corporate collaborators. If you want to keep your users' trust, demonstrate that you were on their side.

Bruce Schneier