VOA Amharic in crisis over distortion scandal

August 22, 2014

by Dawit Ashenafi

(Addis Voice) – Two staff members of the Voice of America, Horn of Africa section, have recently attracted the attention of Ethiopians

across the world. Henok Semaeger Fente and Peter Heinlein are not strangers to internal and external complaints. But the fresh allegations both are facing over an unverified, distorted and false story full of inaccuracies and dubious quotes aired in Amharic on August 12 have undoubtedly dented the credibility and reliability of VOA as a media institution.

The story appeared to be aimed at discrediting in one shot three Ethiopian voices, activist and journalist Abebe Gellaw, the Ethiopian Satellite TV and Radio and the Global Alliance for the Rights of Ethiopians (GARE). But the VOA journalists never spent a few minutes to investigate the matter before discrediting and killing an important story. As a result of this stranger-than-fiction case, Ethiopian activists around the world are planning to launch a campaign to vent out their outrage. The first protest rally, which will also call out VOA to clean its house and restore its credibility, is planned for August 25th in front of the the State Department in Washington D.C.

Hailemariam Desalegn in Hiding

August 8, 2014

by Fanta Kiros

Washington DC – This week, more than 90 US companies attended the U.S-African Summit in Washington, DC. During the meeting, President Obama announced that American companies — many with trade assistance from the US Export-Import Bank — are declaring new deals across Africa in clean energy, aviation, banking, and construction. These deals are estimated to be worth more than $14 billion. US Companies such as Black Rock, Coca Cola, GE, and Marriott Hotels are a few of the companies that publicized their interest in the African investments. According to Bloomberg News, there is a five-year, $7 billion Power Africa initiative for six countries — pending approval for US congress based on good governance. Ethiopia is supposed to get a piece of this action.

Obama also announced additional commitment by the private sector. Organizations like The World Bank, and countries like Sweden, pitched in to come up with a combined total of $26 billion to the Power Africa initiative.

But Ethiopia’s prime minister was nowhere to be found.

The bad news started for Hailemariam when Azusa Pacific University in California withdrew an even honoring him, after a protest was lodged to the university’s administration by Abebe Gellaw and Global Alliance for the Rights of Ethiopians.

Like most the other 40 African leaders, Prime Minster Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe and the first Lady Roman Tesfaye flew into Andrews Air Force base. However, the big mystery this week among the Ethiopians in the Washington DC area is the location of the prime minster of Ethiopia.

Viva the triumphant demo in Washington DC

August 7, 2014

by Robele Ababya

I watched the amazing demo with one of those rare moments of extraordinary elation that words cannot explain. The demo in tile by heroic Ethiopians enlightened my soul, lifted my moral beyond measure and enhanced my spirit to a new height so that I shall never relent in the fight for the freedom of individuals and the independence of their country, Ethiopia, in a political environment eternally characterized by genuine democracy, unity with equality, prosperity, tolerance, and social justice – all under the supreme rule of law.

The mammoth demo: – proved the old adage that unity is might; proved that peaceful demonstration is a significant input to an all-inclusive struggle for freedom; sent a shock-wave of fear down the spine of the thuggish leaders of the brutal regime engaged in cold-blooded murder of innocent demonstrators denying basic freedom of expression thereby violating its own constitution.

What is the Value of American Values in Africa?

August 3, 2014

by Alemayehu G. Mariam*

“We did a whole lot of things that were right, but we tortured some folks; we did some things that were  contrary to our values. When we engaged in some of these enhanced interrogation techniques, techniques that I believe and I think any fair-minded person would believe were torture, we crossed a line. And that needs to be understood and accepted,” said President Obama at a press conference a couple of days ago.

President Obama offered his comments to blunt Congressional criticism following an inspector general’s report which concluded that the CIA improperly scanned the computers of Senate staffers looking into allegations of enhanced interrogation techniques by that agency. He cautioned Americans “not to feel too sanctimonious in retrospect about the tough job that those folks had.” In the same breath, he instructed, “The character of our country has to be measured in part, not by what we do when things are easy, but what we do when things are hard.”