The Meles dictatorship in Ethiopia continues to displace people from their land and destroy ancient forests to grow crops and flower for export, as the video below shows:
The Meles dictatorship in Ethiopia continues to displace people from their land and destroy ancient forests to grow crops and flower for export, as the video below shows:
21 thoughts on “Clearing people and forests for agribusiness”
Just INCREDIBLE! Shows the hatred the TPLF have for Ethiopia and the Ethiopian people! Throwing them out of their homes and leaving them out to perish! It would also be difficult for foreign food aid to reach them. I have no word for such cruelty.
May God protect Ethiopia and her good people.
Too sad!!
Thank you for the vedio. This a form of genocide. Melese and his cadres will pay for this.
It is irritating truth! A detrimental and myopic decision!
It is not pity that I felt watching this video,It is a life time sorrow rooted in my heart.Thank you Meles,the prime evil of the Adwan mountains.You betrayed us for coins like that of Juda.
Let’s face it
By Mintesnot
I was born very poor; yes into a very poor family, in fact into one of the poorest countries in the world. I was raised in a very conservative family and old fashioned community. I am proud of that and who I am. I am a true Ethiopian; not an Oromo Ethiopian, an Amhara Ethiopian, nor a Tigray Ethiopian. As time goes by, my childhood time keeps clicking and takes me to adulthood. I am a very energetic man and wore my hope like an invisible coat for my country. I am not here to tell you about my personal history about who I am. Who cares about me? It is out of the question that even if I was interested to in telling you my story, we Ethiopians are not inclined to listen. It is in our blood; we like to talk together without listening to each other because we think we know everything. We are so busy talking and laughing about others while hiding our own tribulations. I hope one day we can bring our stories to the table to share our weakness and build love and freedom for us and for our country. I was raised hearing the story from my elementary, high school teachers, and sometimes other people that once upon a time Ethiopia was a wealthy country. Likewise she was the first country who brought civilization into this world. For example Lucy who was the first hominid, was found in the Afar region in Ethiopia. Other historical places such as Aksum, Lalibela, and Gondar Fasiledes make this case stronger to show how civilizations first started. I do not know if this is true or not. To tell the truth I don’t want to know. Because I am tired of being someone that I have never been, I am tired of living in the past, during which I did not even exist. I am tired of listening all the time about Ethiopia’s twelve percent economic growth every year, but also how Ethiopian people are facing economic crises more than any other time. What I want to know is this, how long are we Ethiopians going to keep playing as minor characters within our own story?? When are we going to stop being determined to use one in order to crush the other?? When are we going to stop running off from our mother land and changing our mother’s reputation for the last time? Who is the man who stands for the truth and trys to fight to death, darkness, drought, and imprisonment? You tell me Ethiopian people, who hurt you too much, tell me my poor Ethiopia who saddens you too much? Are those who hurt you self-centered educated people or are they an unsatisfied, selfish government? Have you been a landlocked country after losing your own ports or are those foreign investors and neighboring countries taking away your resources, using your fertile land and letting your people starve? Do your people keep fighting with useless reason based on their skin color, language, and race; thus the sun is setting. You tell me my poor Ethiopia, which one is true?? I wonder what we learned when we were in school. Are we Ethiopians learning how we are going to be failures and become a big obstacle for our country? It makes me especially sick how those people, who consider themselves to be educated, think they know better than anybody, and they think just a piece of paper makes a man. They are using their educational power to dominate their people, sell their country, manipulate their people, corrupt their government system, disrespect the people, seek a better life in foreign countries, and not care about the future of their country. I take a deep breath and I will stop here for now, but I will continue with my voice raised until someone starts to awaken. I do not blame anyone, and I am sorry that all of this fault was mine, yes it is my fault. I must start walking straight, hold up my head, feel confident, breathe the future air and tell the truth to my people to stop underestimating ourselves and to allow ourselves to build the future of Ethiopia.
This is the legasy of TPLF shefetas. Soon or later we will bring back our land for the so called forign investors (Indian or Saudi, china) who ever they are !!!!!!
Ethiopia shall prevail !!
#3 Said “Melese and his cadres will pay for this”. That was a very attractive talk. But, How exactly that would become a reality? The Ethiopian people are way too serene in sleeping with the Devil. The west and other so called “pro freedom” nations are too busy to take their eyes off from middle east’s oil. The oppositions are too disintegrated, self centered, gut less and too hesitant to leave their [our] comfort zone. I am a little pessimistic observing the circumstances surrounding Ethiopia’s politics.
The woyanes are rushing to give off all the resources of the country. That is why Meles desperately wants to be in power for the next five years. He will make sure that all the manufactury and agricultural sector will be controlled by TPLF, Alamoudin and his foreign accomplices. Then, anyone who succeed him will have no chance but to bow for the interest of these economic powers. To dismantle all this structures which has been formed by sabotage and intrigue will risk serious conflicts which may also lead to the disintegration of the country. That is what he wants. Ethiopians should dare to take all the risks and wipe out the memories of all these corrupt practices from the face of the country.
It is suprising that Meles deliberately uses people with Amara name for this evil scheme.
I don’t know what to say. My heart is sickened. I have tears in my eyes. Oh God pls pay this evil people their price.
The journalist summed it up correctly. It is a complete madness. The ongoing land deal is the worst deal Ethiopia has ever made with foreigners in its long history. The explanation of the Minister of Agriculture is simply idiotic. Idiots can become ministers in Ethiopia of today. Deforestation of the region will intensify desertification of Ethiopia. The deal-makers do not seem to care about the long term repercussions of the bad deal on Gambella in particular and Ethiopia in general. To sum up, there is no good side to the land deal. It’s all BAD!
The cruelty of the fascist and racist, Meles Zenawi are very difficult to describe and explain. He began his politics of displacement and ethnic cleansing with the poor Amharas living in the east and south.
Aite Meles has singled out the Amharas as the most notorius enemies of his Tigrayan ethnic group and subjected them to all his brutal actions.
There were many Ethiopians who kept silence or even tacitly supported Meles` crusade against the Amharas. The Oromos whom Meles Has used in his savage campaigns and attacks directed at the Amharas have also received their share of killings and imprisonments at his hands. Meles Zenawi is not the friend of the Oromos but their abuser and oppressor.
Now the mini-fascist and racist is displacing thousands of people in Gambella by selling their lands and homes. All Ethiopians must unite against the injustices and oppressions committed against them and remove the fascist and racist clique of Meles Zenawi.
This is not a surprise to me. What do you expect from Weyane government who’s SELLING BABIES to pedeophiles, and our Women to Arab World???
For Weyane, all lands in the South, especially in Gambela and vicinity is Terra Nullius (No man’s land). So, it can be sold or rented anytime at will. The Indian guy said that he didn’t see the land before accepting the offer. It tells you so much that it was almost offered very cheap. Weyane was accusing Derg for its villagization program, and strangely enough it is repeating what Derg did, but this time for its own purpose not for the people of the region.
The proud of people of Gambela and Beni-Shangul with the rest of Ethiopians will not rest until their ancestral land is respected. We have to fight the Weyane regime by all means necessary.
No one in this world can hate his own country and the people in it to the scale of Meles does. Ethiopians are letting the monster destroying their country one inch at a time. Meles has done and committed crimes on Ethiopia and Ethiopians than foreign enemies. Meles has locked up thousands in jail, tortured, killed, looted, given Ethiopian land etc. What are Ethiopians waiting for? Are Ethiopians waiting till Meles finds an atomic bomb to kill every Ethiopian? Are pamphlets being spread in Ethiopia to inform every Ethiopian about all the evil deeds of Meles and how much he hates them and their country? What are the oppositions doing to inform every Ethiopian man and woman in Ethiopia? Very sad indeed and frustrating! Meles is selling Ethiopia for a penny to billionaires in the hopes to help him to stay in power till he accomplished what he came out to do… to destroy Ethiopia and build Greater Tigrea. Mark my words!
When the country has no owners and some of the owners are deep sleep that is what happens? Wake up people before it is too late.
Elias: Please make a word limit in terms of how much people should write. I do not want to see ER turned into a perosnal blog site. Look at Mintesnot’s story. Please, two hundred words should be enough.
Number 6 # comment Mintesnot touch my inner organ , dont’t ask which one i will say from my hair to my toe every time when read about ethiopia i am sad for how long i don’t know, i promise to my self after i read about our woman in middle east to stop reading any article about ET, because i was eating up by guilt why them why most of as in US live good life, good eduacation,wonderfull family become so DAM we are not doing some thing about it selfish right & i will say what happen to as why all this silence.In US more than half a million selfish ethiopian live inculding me all we are doing so far is talk & talk that is all, please let’s is do some thing before it is to late our mom & dad,our kids, our brother & sisters need as the time is NOW not tommrow . The kids are sold our woman was sold ,our port is gone, now our land. Ethiopians what are we waiting for we are not going to live aborad for ever so which land , people,country we are going to most of all how we are going to expline to our kids that the land their grand father, great grand father , grand mother great grand mother kept with pride is gone “WOW” my hand is shaking when i rich this part guilt.For last time let’s is stop pounding the forigen goverment who is ruling ET for the past 20 years & do some thing about it. Ethiopians womans let is do some thing may be our men will think better if we don’t give them any ” SEX ” for three, six or more months to make them care or play manly roll to our ET the resion i sad that is they are sleeping we the woman of ET need to weak them up PERIOD!!
Of all the incredibly sad events that are taking place, one peculiarly interesting observation emerge, and that is Meles Zenawi keeps screwing up the same people who helped him ascend the throne. From Somalia to Eritrea, from fanatic sect of Oromo and certain narrow-minded members of southern tribes he cajoled at AA University forty years ago to the Arabs, he could not help but turn his back on or outrightly devaste them. Give thanks to the God of Ethiopia for His mysterious doings. Meles’ latest wag the dog, an American idiom-expression of purposely diverting attention from what would otherwise be of greater importance (Land Grab), to something else of lesser significance (Eritrea), is just another layer of poision that he has waxed Ethiopia. Herman Cohen, the Jewish-American figure who helped Meles acquire Ethiopia, should have titled his Ethiopia: layer of history, to a more precise Ethiopia: layer of pain instead.
It’s the deal of the century: £150 a week to lease more than 2,500 sq km (1,000 sq miles) of virgin, fertile land – an area the size of Dorset – for 50 years. Bangalore-based food company Karuturi Global says it had not even seen the land when it was offered by the Ethiopian government with tax breaks thrown in.
What a big losing bargain to the Ethiopian government,It is almost giving the land for free.It would have been a better move reserving the land for the coming generation than deforesting it for no avail.
Come on my people, Enough is Enough!!! What are we waiting for???? Our people are starving and dying while we have the best farm land. Meles is making millions of dollars selling our rich farm land for pennies…………This is crzay and yes very sad………….we need to take action Now!!! Enough of excuses ok………….Shame Shame on us. This dictator have to go down now!!!!
In 1985 millions of people died of hunger in Wallo and Tigray. The TPLF moved the people of Tigray to a better place where they would be protected. It was Sudan that gave them such great services to people of Tigray then, but when I heard about the problems and saw pictures of the villages of Tigray were wholly abandoned; I was petrified. I vividly remember pictures that were printed on front pages of international daily papers. One of them showed people filing one after another and leaving and abandoning their villages. I cried; I became sleepless for weeks; every time I heard the song entitled , “We are the people “, I was absolutely shocked and disturbed. Sometimes the song came while I was on the free ways and it frozen me and disturbed me; I had to take an exit until I came back to my normal state. That was not a long time ago. It is just a mere 25 years. I hope Melese Zenawi and his current members of his organization do not forget those conditions and history of the suffering of people of Tigray.
One of the reasons that had taken place was because of environmental destructions. I hoped that a leader of a country that had such an experience will protect every tree that had been growing in the country by any means. But Melese Zenawi and his comrades forgot all that and they are allowing the destructions of the land of the Gambella people. It means they might be stopping rain to come and inviting the same conditions that took place in Tigray to the Gambella region. It is abhorrently, horrifyingly and absolutely double standard.
In Tigray the government is investing millions of dollars to plant trees and protect the environment and forests . The government leaders clearly know that to recreate what had been destroyed is very difficult and requires a lot of efforts and resources
but they are signing contracts with foreign companies to destroy the land of the southern people without any concerns. This is a clear double standard. Melese is discriminating against the people of Gambella. For example he had scarified the lives of over one hundred thousand young men and women to defend Bademe but he is destroying the nation of Gambella and her people by selling it to foreign companies. He is rengading the cause that he fought for all his life. The slogan that has been said for many years while he was student. Land to The Tiller. Melese is a betrayer; he betrayed his own convictions and dedications. He betrayed history. He betrayed our environment and people of Tigray and Gambella by becoming a power saw that cuts down trees; ” Any fine morning , a power saw can fell a tree that took a thousand years to grow.”, said , a famous environmentalist and naturalist Edwin Way Teale. Your Excellency, I respect your abilities and leadership but you failed the people of Ethiopia and all of us and you forget what had happened just 25 years ago in villages of Tigray. Where shall the poor Gambella people run to as the Tigray people ran to Sudan? I am getting the flash back of 1985 and crying for people of Gambella as we all did for people of Tigray and Wallo. What a disappointment and blind environmental destruction and devastations of the lives of our people!!