tecolahagos.com - ethiopian related issues and commentary

Note from the Editor
Mitiku's Article here posted represent the best in writing with insight and universal appeal. I recommend that readers, especially Ethiopian readers, take time to ponder what Mitiku is telling us in his beautifully written article. I am not exaggerating at all when I write that Mitiku's article is philosophical mega statement about the fragility of the human condition but also its triumph. TH

To Win Gold And Not Lose Silver Sat, 23 Aug 2008

By Mitiku Adisu

Here are Tirunesh and Elvan (a.k.a. Abeylegesse). Truneshand Elvan are not chasing each other. They are chasing a dream. Tirunesh is trailing. What goes through their minds at this point in the race is not difficult to guess. Both know one of them will shortly be declared the winner. Both are determined to beat the other to the finish line. (No one competes for the fun of losing.) Both run fully aware of their humanity, national origin, youth and what is at stake. Both gracefully bear the pounding. Both realize the hurdles involved to make it this far; that it takes leaving behind fellow athletes vying for the same prize.

Are Democracy and the Rule of Law Necessary for Ethiopia?

By: Dr. Seid Hassan, Murray State University

August 15, 2008

The purpose of this short article is to show that there are indeed quite a few economic policy lessons to be learned from the experiences of Southeast Asian countries. Second, if the last 18 years that Ethiopia has been under the EPDRF are any witness, this country is neither in a position to mimic these countries and bring about measurable economic change, nor is the political and economic phenomena of Ethiopia comparable to those countries. In the process, I refute the argument that is being presented by the EPDRF representatives on both factual and empirical basis. I do so by briefly presenting the economic, social, and political experiences of the Southeast Asian countries and by comparing and contrasting them with that of the Ethiopian economic situation and political realities. I then present a series of conjunctures on why the regime wants us to believe that democracy is unnecessary for Ethiopia.

Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia:

The Greatest Athletes in the World

Congratulations, Kenenisa and Tirunesh! You are the greatest distant runners the World had ever seen. Once again you set new Olympic World records in both men and women ten thousand meters. Kenenisa successfully defended his Olympic 10,000m title winning the Gold, with his countryman Sileshi Sihine winning the Silver. The other great Haile Gebre Selassie was fifth, despite his advanced age, the asthma, and the Beijing stifling humidity and smog. The previous day Tirunesh Dibaba, the Golden Girl, won the Gold setting a new Olympic record, followed by her countrywoman, Elvan Abeylegesse running for Turkey. These men and women are real �Champions� in a real sport that requires great endurance, courage, and strength. The ten-thousand-meter-run competition is neither a child�s play nor it is splashing around in bath tub as some countries make such a big deal of. Kenenisa Bekele�s new World Record is 27 minutes, 1.17 seconds, breaking his own World record he set four years ago. Tirunesh Dibaba, still a young woman of 22, set a new Olympic Record. Editor

EDITORIAL: August 10, 2008

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin: The Great Nationalist

By Tecola W. Hagos

Go for it, Putin. You are doing the right thing in protecting the vital interest of the People of Russia. You have done the right thing by standing up for the economic interest of the People of Russia. You have done the right thing by blocking the carpetbaggers from looting the wealth of the People of Russia. Now, move in and take back all the old territories of the Soviet Union, now states, ceded by traitors. That scheme of ceding territories and creating puppet states did not help alleviate any of the political or the economic problems facing the ordinary citizens of such regions

Putin defends Russia's Ossetia incursion, slams Georgia over 'genocide' By News Agencies

2008 Olympic Games Preview
10,000 METERS
Two world record holders seek to lift Ethiopia's hopes on and off the track. Tirunesh Dibaba and Kenenisa Bekele have courage, endurance, and blazing kicks. What else do you need?
By Adam Buckley Cohen

How to describe Ethiopia? A country roughly twice the size of Texas with three times as many people. A complex blend of massive highlands and dissected plateaus divided by the Great Rift Valley. One of the oldest inhabited areas in the world, perhaps the seat of all human migration. Or, if you're a track fan, the alpha and omega of distance running. At the Athens Olympics, in the 5000 and 10,000 meters, Ethiopian men and women took home seven of 12 medals, improving on the six golds they won four years earlier in Sydney. So how does a country that constantly battles droughts and famines of biblical proportions beat out the combined total of every other country in the world?

Dr. Fekadu Bekele August 7, 2008

Dr. Fekadu Bekele August 4, 2008

Sudan sentences 22 more 'Darfur rebels' to death

by Abdelmoniem Abu Edries Ali
Thu Jul 31, 10:26 AM ET

KHARTOUM (AFP) - Sudanese courts on Thursday sentenced another 22 alleged Darfur rebels to death over an unprecedented attack on the capital last May in which more than 222 people were killed.The sentences from two special courts, set up to try those arrested in a crackdown following the May 10 assault, bring to 30 the number of alleged members of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) condemned to death

House apologizes for slavery and Jim Crow
The House on Tuesday issued an unprecedented apology to black Americans for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow segregation laws.It says that Africans forced into slavery "were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized and subjected to the indignity of being stripped of their names and heritage" and that black Americans today continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow laws that fostered discrimination and segregation.

A Few Reasons Why some of the Ethiopian Diaspora Community Members are not Interested and/or against �Investing� in Ethiopia: A Summary of selected conversations over coffee and by telephone.
By Dr. Seid Hassan Murray State University- July 28, 2008

Despite the importance of Diaspora FDI, however, remittances are much larger (for example, remittances from Africans working abroad between 2000 and 2003 averaged roughly 17 billion dollars per annum, according to a 2005 report by the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa. Ethiopian Diaspora remittances exceed $1.1 billion per annum in the last few years.

[The article/interview on the voidability of the Algiers Agreement of 2000 and the future of Assab that was posted in The Reporter was brought to our attention by Paulos Fasil of Canada. Tecolahagos/Ethiopia Website greatly appreciate Paulos Fasil and all concerned Ethiopians who forward articles/essays/interviews to our Website www.tecolahagos.com that concern Ethiopia's territorial integrity and Sovereignty. Editor]

FROM THE DESK OF DR. FIKRE TOLOSSA
Dr.Fikre Tolossa's feature film, "Multicolored Flowers", a coming of age drama with comical and satirical overtones and undertones, will be featured in Los Angeles, California on Sunday July 27, starting 3:00 PM at the Jewish Community Center. If blacks "acted white" in the past to fit in, now whites "act black" to fit in, in this movie, which witnesses that times are changing.
In the spirit of artistic cooperation, in addition to Dr. Fikre Tolossa, the young film-maker Mekdelawit Tadesse, will present a one hour documentary on the lives of a few movers and shakers Ethiopians residing in the United States, entitled, "Immigrants". Moreover, a budding poet, Asfawossen Alemseged, will premier his latest book entitled, "Tsehay Tiwotalech" , reciting a few verses out of it. Ethiopians living in Los Angeles and its surroundings are welcome to feast on this unusual combination of artistic extravaganza.

Some Doubts on the Veracity of the Torah or the Old Testament Stories

July. 12, 2008 The idea of Moses receiving the commandments from God on a mountain was taken from the Persian legend related to Zoroaster - One day, as he prayed on a high mountain, in the midst of thunders and lightning�s (�fire from heaven�), the Lord himself appeared before him, and delivered unto him the 'Book of Law'. While the King of Persia and the people were assembled together, Zoroaster came down from the mountain unharmed, bringing with him the 'Book of the Law', which had been revealed to him by Ormuzd. They call this book the Zend-Avesta, which signified the Living Word.

Sudan�s president to be charged with genocide
First attempt by international tribunal against sitting head of state

By Colum Lynch and Nora Boustany

updated 9:32 p.m. PT, Thurs., July. 10, 2008

UNITED NATIONS - The chief prosecutor of the Internationals Criminal Court will seek an arrest warrant Monday for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, charging him with genocide and crimes against humanity in the orchestration of a campaign of violence that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians in the nation's Darfur region during the past five years, according to U.N. officials and diplomats.

A BRIEF NOTE ON THE ORIGIN OF THE AMARA AND OROMO‏
By Fikre Tolossa
Pertaining to the Amara language, it had already begun to evolve as far back as 3000 years ago.In fact, it had existed long before Geez. Menelik the I declared Geez as the official language of Ethiopia about 2950 years ago to honor and empower the Agazi, a tribe he brought from Gaaza which fought for him when Ethiopian tribes warred against him treating him as a Jewish "keles" who had ambition over the Ethiopian throne. Indeed, it had developed and evolved more than 3000 years; i.e, a while before Geez was decreed by Menelik I as the official language of Ethiopia by imposition

Ethiopia: Government Prepares Assault on Civil Society
Repressive New Legislation Should Be Amended or Scrapped.
Ethiopia�s government has already made meaningful public engagement in governance impossible in many areas by persecuting its critics and cracking down on freedom of expression and assembly. The clear intention of this legislation is to consolidate that trend by taking the �non� out of �nongovernmental� and putting civil society under government control.
Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch

Her life begun when she chose at a very young age to be a liberation fighter, when she left her beloved home to fight the Ethiopian Derg�s oppression by joining the Ethiopian liberation force, and moved to Sudan. Her handsome brother, Yohannes Mekonnen of Cambridge city, who himself was a liberation fighter, remembers saying farwell to his sister, when he himself was fourteen years old. Yohannes, her heart broken brother remembers her as gallant, kind, and unafraid to speak truth to power.

These shortcomings and many more are justification for many to refer to the country as a �failed state�. But again, I register my dissent with this view. When New York and many other cities in the US were riddled with crime, was America declared a �failed state�? That country�s health system is in crisis. Millions cannot access free medical attention, have no access to health care the way we do. And in spite of the crime levels, thousands flock restaurants, bars and clubs nightly. Night concerts are sold out: witness the recent Plymouth Jazz Festival.

By Obang Metho-The failures of the Meles regime are rapidly accumulating and not only Ethiopians know about it now. The news and incriminating evidence is reaching out into the international community and it will soon become increasingly difficult to suppress and excuse the behavior of this oppressive dictatorship.

Human rights violations incorporated in this 30th Regular Report are based on complaints received from victims, evidence gathered through onsite investigations and testimonies of witnesses. As could be gathered from the report, there still remains much to be done to improve the human rights situation in the country. The fact that many of the violations are being perpetrated by government security forces and other agents of the state with impunity makes the situation even more worrying. Thus, EHRCO urges the government to respect and protect the fundamental human rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution of the country.

The United Nations so far has been unable to bring peace to Sudan or to prosecute its alleged war criminals. Williamson pointed to 2 million people dead and more than 6 million displaced in Sudan's north-south civil war.

On the other hand, Ethiopians, including those of the members of the Diaspora experience increased squalor, disease, unemployment (known to be way over 50% in urban areas), hopelessness, unnecessary deaths, chronic poverty, these same filth and misery and chronic poverty increasing over time. Every time the members of the Diaspora visit their country of origin, they observe that the people they used to know and their own families are growing into abject poverty. Most importantly, they read Ethiopia being listed at the bottom of the world country rankings.

The relationship between the dynamics within states in the Horn of Africa (Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia) and the distribution of power among them is constantly changing. The Global, Regional and Sub-Regional situations and dynamics temporarily strengthen one or two states in the Horn, while it exposes and exacerbates their failing on many occasions. The states in the Horn are getting too weak and poorly governed to address challenges within their borders and cannot prevent then from spilling out and destabilizing all surrounding states

Border Demarcation with Sudan Causes Anger in Ethiopia
By Alisha Ryu Nairobi 05 June 2008
Residents and community leaders in western Ethiopia say thousands of people in several border regions have been displaced by Sudanese troops in recent weeks, following what they describe as a secret, illegal deal between the governments in Addis Ababa and Khartoum. Critics say the secret deal to demarcate the border gives Sudan the right to occupy areas Ethiopians historically consider sacrosanct. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has details from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.

We, the representatives of Ethiopian political, professional, civic, social and cultural organizations, would like to bring to Your Excellency�s attention worrisome developments concerning the demarcation of the common boundary between Ethiopia and the Sudan . We are gravely concerned that this important subject which affects the lives and welfare of millions of Ethiopians has been approached, at least on the part of the purported representatives of Ethiopia , in total secrecy and in complete disregard of relevant treaties and the historical rights of Ethiopia .

Teodros Kiros (Ph.D)-These subtle words apply to the recurrence of

famine and perpetual hunger in Somalia now and soon in Ethiopia with unprecedented urgency. If you asked any Ethiopian legislator why famines occur with such consistency, he might look at you in surprise, and reply that it is a natural mishap manifest in crop failure, and the sluggishness and cursed existence of the victims. Of course, some of our ardent critical revolutionaries seek to advance what they call structural explanations. The latter explanation is the correct one.

By Tecola W. Hagos-This effort of Meles Zenawi to justify his treasonous ceding of Ethiopian territory by redefining and limiting what constituted Ethiopian territory is the same type of treasonous �judiciousness� he used often defending the interest of Eritrea against that of Ethiopia in endless speeches, interviews, and formal papers to such ridicules extent even the Ethiopia-Eritrea Border Arbitration Commission found it necessary to point out the fact that Meles�s submission has declared a particular Ethiopian territory in dispute to be part of Eritrea and that the Commission had no other choice but �to adjust the Treaty line so as to ensure that it is placed in Eritrean territory.� ----

Teodros Kiros (Ph.D)- Most importantly, legislators must be advised to avoid costly wars that plunder value creating economies. Peace and prosperity for all must be the goal of the hopeful Ethiopia . Famines and hunger can be eliminated by the actions of a morally sensitive market and systematic public action. Diversification and peace must be the engines of change in a new Ethiopia .----

By Tecola W. Hagos- Press Release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has alleged that the Government of Meles Zenawi is simply concluding what was laid out by previous Ethiopian leaders as part of a lengthy negotiation with the Government of the Sudan, especially pointing out the treaty of 1972 entered during the Government of Emperor Haile Selassie. This is an absolute lie, for Emperor Haile Selassie did not enter any such dishonorable and treasonous treaty to cede over ten thousand square kilometers of fertile and productive Ethiopian territory to the Sudan.

By Tecola W. Hagos-It is extremely difficult for me even to imagine

ceding an inch of Ethiopian territory let alone such huge tract of land. The insidious activity of Meles Zenawi is not limited to such treasonous crimes against the territorial integrity of Ethiopia, but was extended to the violations of fundamental rights against the People of Ethiopia who have lived in those areas for generations. They were forced to defend their homes while Meles�s security force members were standing by watching Ethiopian citizens being driven off their homes and land. Shame on you! Shame!.-----

By Tecola Hagos-The fact that there was negotiation and dispute or challenge by Sudan in the past does not completely negate the principle of territorial acquisition as laid out above, which entitles Ethiopia with the rights and privileges of a Sovereign to all the territory that is illegally being annexed by Sudan now. Meles�s Government has repeatedly shown its skewed ideas of what is meant by negotiation in international conflicts in the Sudan as well as the Eritrea border disputes. There is no �absolute� in international claims of limited starting point, except what one claims to be the case. Thus, the Ethiopian government must claim as extensively as it is possible even to the extent of all land all the way to ancient Meroe, rather than assume these stupid pretensions of judiciousness at the expense of our interest. I shall elaborate all the issues raised in this Editorial and elsewhere in other essays I have written dealing with the issue of Ethiopian territory and Sovereignty, in my upcoming article �Ethiopian Territorial Integrity and Ethiopiawinet: Sudan annexing Ethiopian Territory:

Addis Ababa, May 11, 2008 (Addis Ababa) - The ministry of foreign affairs said some mass media and irresponsible bodies have been disseminating groundless information by saying that the government has given a part of Ethiopia�s territory to Sudan. In a statement it sent to ENA on Sunday the ministry said that it refrained to respond to the hearsay as border issues need to be dealt with great care and as it believed that it is unnecessary to respond to such groundless rumor.

Our fundamental policy remains to persistently work towards the birth of a peaceful and democratic

Somalia

. But in light of the continuing instability, the policy we pursue should essentially be a damage-limitation policy to ensure that the instability does not further harm our country, the region and the people of

Somalia

. If the instability is not stopped, the only option left is to limit the damage that may be caused. There are three main options to limit the damage.

The Causes of the Current Ethiopian Soaring Inflation Rate: A Non-Technical Analysis. May 11, 2008
By Dr.Seid Hassan
The most significant and daunting problem facing Ethiopia today is the rampant inflation rate. As reported by bloomberg.com, the Ethiopian Statistical Agency has reported that inflation for March 2008 has risen to 29.6%, food price inflation being even higher (39.4%). Some reports
indicate the inflation rate in January 2008 to be in the range of 36%. According to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, the causes of this rampant inflation rate are a growing economy, greedy merchants, and/or farmers who happen to demand higher prices for their products or an increase
in demand.-----

ETHIOPIA'S DIRE TUNE: THE NEW BOSTON MARATHON 2008

CHAMPION CONGRATULATIONS, DIRE TUNE FOR WINNING THE BOSTON MARATHON 2008. YOUR COURAGE, STAMINA, AND FAITH RENEWED US ALL IN OUR ETHIOPIAWINET. YOU MAKE US ALL FEEL GREAT, WE ARE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL TO YOU AND ALL THE ETHIOPIAN LEGENDARY GREAT DISTANT RUNNERS AND MARATHON RUNNERS, AND WORLD AND OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS. THANK YOU AND THANK YOU SOME MORE, ALL OF YOU OUR GREAT HEROES AND CHAMPIONS.

It is also necessary to continue equipping the political, social, and pressure groups that have a stake in our country to hold rational and reasoned policy and political positions that would challenge the political leaders into realizing the ideals of fairness, justice and equality that would lay the foundations for a sustainable nation. It would be a matter of time before the (outwardly strong but decaying) TPLF to acknowledge that there is more to equitable and democratic governance than political expediency of consolidating political tyranny insulated from the interests, will and participation of its subjects. The growing brainstorming and crystallization of the foundations and mechanisms of the TPLF's driving rolled TPLF to crack because of internal rust, its paralysis to change and absence of rational and reasoned agenda and backing.

Reading William Easterly�s The White Man�s Burden: Why the West�s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good (2006) April 21, 2008
By Getachew Mequanent- To conclude, Easterly isn�t really talking about the �ills� of aid, as the title of his book suggests. He is talking about the problems of aid management. As I read the book, I kept remembering a man who was the president of the Canadian International Development Agency in the 1970s, speaking at a conference, angrily asking, �why did we fail the world�s poor children?� Having spent sixteen years at the World Bank, Easterly�s writing style combines both passion and experiences of frustration, as you can see from this quotation (p. 368) telling donors what to do: Discard your patronizing confidence that you know how to solve other people�s problems better than they do. Don�t try to fix governments or societies. Don�t invade other countries or send armies to one of the brutal armies in a civil war. End conditionality. Stop wasting our time with summits and frameworks. Give up on sweeping and na�ve institutional reform schemes.

Very often and invariably, this is what the regime does to the people when it plays the so- called democracy game: the regime invites the people for an election charade only to disabuse them when they vote for the candidates or parties of their choice by harassing those not toeing the official line backed by the military and police might at its disposal. Why the regime prefers to go through the motion of an election, when it has literally zero interest or commitment to honour the choices and voices of the people particularly when they vote for opposition party candidates, strikes any impartial observer as nothing else but activities that are supremely diversionary, opportunistic, cynical and immoral.

Some thoughts on Understanding What Lies Ahead for Ethiopia
By Wardoffa Benti (from Germany)- April 16, 2008 The title chosen for this short abstract of a bigger idea is daunting and beyond the reach of the intelligence and capacity of this author. The idea is to tip a discussion on the manner of political discourse in the political community for scrutinizing the real issues on political transformation of stakeholders. When people come into some kind of union (unitary, federal, confederate or other forms of governmental structure), the basic notion is that these peoples have agreed to forge a formula where they would strike concessions and compromises that would be fair and workable for the groups and classes of people to be bound by that structure. Thus a Constitution of a country, which in essence means a tool where the various constituencies of people who are living in a relatively coherent and adjacent geographical entity, agree to come under some form of union after by a majority (super-majority) of their people or their elected representatives. -----

COMMENTARY
Paradigm of poverty and humanism: Undoing Ethiopia's modernity
By Prof. Tecola W. Hagos -

[Because the crucial issues discussed some five years ago in an article titled �PARADIGM OF POVERTY AND HUMANISM: UNDOING ETHIOPIA�S MODERNITY� (July 25, 2003) posted in this Website are still the most acute issues concerning Ethiopia, we have decided to repost or up-link that article in our archive one more time. Readers are invited to take a fresh look at the article with the current political and economic reality in Ethiopia in mind.]
Instead of revisiting the same old political and economic programs that have been the main stay of every political group and aspiring political leader since the 1960s, I suggest that we start with new approach within a rubric of a Humanistic-Poverty Paradigm. A paradigm is not in itself a political ideology, but a way of looking at distilled consistent and compatible ideas. It has the advantage of satisfying all ideas of truth. This in itself is remarkable. It should not come as a surprise to us, for the humanistic paradigm, after all, reflects the ethos or the zeit-geist of a people (period). Another additional factor to consider is the fact that the Paradigm is not a liberation movement, but rather a creative process; unlike other liberation movements the struggle is not against the State of Ethiopia but against poverty, ignorance, pestilence, greed, exploitation, dehumanization, oppression et cetera.

By Teodros Kiros (Ph.D)-As an African-American of a Kenyan ancestry, I am reminded of my father�s dream, the dream of putting Kenya on the world map, as a player in world politics. I wish every African nation to abide by International law, and treat its citizens with dignity, with inviolable human rights, and call upon Ethiopia�s Meles Zenawi to treat Ethiopians with fairness, respect and dignity. I demand that African leaders either be transparent or move out of the way. No African nation should get our aid if it intimidates, tortures and imprisons its citizens. -----

Congratulations! You all are the pride of Ethiopia. You brought glory and respect to all of us. This is the quintessential fabulous Ethiopian team winning first place in all divisions. One thing for sure, the Edinburgh highland weather, with its rain and mud, should not have been more welcoming to the Ethiopian team. The Ethiopian cross-country runners were defeated by the stifling tropical weather of Mombassa of last year�s contest. This is a comeback performance.....

THE UGLY AMERICAN: HOPE AND REDEMPTION FOR ALL
By Tecola W. Hagos-It seems we are hearing the voice of reason and witnessing in the person of Obama the emergence of new generations of Americans�coming-of-age, of exquisitely beautiful new generations of Americans who seem to go beyond such contentious racist narrow view of the American identity, who seem to take �the color of water,� if I may borrow an apt phrase from a book title. [James McBride, The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, Riverhead Books (1996).] In that book McBride�s White Mother uttered the phrase �the color of water� in reference to God as being not black or white but all, as the color of water that picks up the hue of its container. This philosophy is radically different than the militancy of the civil rights movement; it is not accusatory and vengeful, but refined understanding of the human condition, thus is a precursor of Obama�s generation of African American individuals who see beyond the injustice of white America but the hope of a just and harmonious society due to the healing power of understanding and direct actions.....

A woman was beaten up and shot dead by her father for talking online with a man she met on the website Face book.

The case was reported on a Saudi Arabian news site as an example of the "strife" the social networking site is causing in the Islamic nation. It said the man shot his daughter after discovering she had been chatting online to a young man she had met on Face book.

By Tecola W. Hagos-The secret for our future political success is to be found in our capacity to create bridges of relationships connecting the newly formulated political organizations with all other opposition groups, such as those of Kinijit, Beyene Petros, Merara Gudina, Lidetu Ayalew et cetera. One must find important common interest such as questions of civil rights, territorial integrity and sovereignty, law and order et cetera to champion. Most importantly, the opposition group must identify and focus on one or two personalities in the present Ethiopian government and from those that are collaborators rather than direct its opposition in a generalized form to the entire group. One must be able to create division and dissension within the Government of Meles Zenawi. Meles Zenawi and Mohammad Al-Amoudi must be identified as the two most dangerous individuals who are threats to the very existence of Ethiopia and as enemies of the people of Ethiopia.....

That then is why traditional kings and queens of Ethiopia were highly educated people. Atse Libne Dingel had assumed the throne as a young boy with his mother, Queen Eleni, as Reagent and Caretaker of government. His army, we are told, used to spear Mount Bokan near Dukem, begging and praying for war. He never saw Wohni Amba, and had a poor grasp of his own history or tradition. This, some historians say, was the main reason why he lost his throne to Ahmed Gragn, who defeated him, chased him, and besieged him for several years on Mount Debre Damo, in Tigray, until his death by thirst and hunger.......

Crisis in Ethiopia: Meles Will Ultimately Fall-Are We Ready? June 22, 2008 Source: Abbay Media