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PIA Compliments Ethiopia’s Growth & Transformation

PIA's latest lecture is yet another confirmation that Eritrea is further backsliding into economic obscurity – and the worst is yet to come.  It is baffling how self-respecting intellectuals and even those with basic school

PIA’s latest lecture is yet another confirmation that Eritrea is further backsliding into economic obscurity – and the worst is yet to come.  It is baffling how self-respecting intellectuals and even those with basic school of life can support and regurgitate PIA’s circular reasoning.  Many cyber articles have already been written analyzing or satirizing PIA’s lecture.  This article analyzes PIA’s lecture from slightly different perspective.

First, PIA has one valuable asset – faking sincerity.  He tells us about our limited capacity, the need for accountability, transparency, wider consultations with senior government officials and with the public, socio-economic experiences of other countries, his concerns for human life, and his aversion towards giving false hopes (‘mitibar’) through unworkable socio-economic policies.  He tells us that we should work towards attaining sustainable development.  To add insult to injury, he tells us while addressing health issues that no medical expense should be spared to send patients, i.e. his top ‘yes men’, abroad for medical treatment because – hear this – ‘human life is precious’.  After telling us every Eritrean life is weighed in the hard/foreign currency it generates and knowing fully that he has imprisoned thousands of mothers, elders, and prisoners-of-conscious for no political motive other than out of vindictiveness and to instil utter fear into the population, it is mind boggling the audacity of making such blatant lies.   For a regime totally averse to transparency, PIA keeps telling us how important transparency is for economic growth.  Lies told often enough don’t become the truth!

But reality is totally different.  PIA tells us that there is no need to provide socio-economic data, except the regime is spending $320 Million USD on energy imports.  Indeed it is not important when ordinary Eritreans need no official data as they are experiencing it bitterly every day.  Prohibited from earning honest day’s wages, skyrocketing prices, no electricity or water, forced to attend Sawa Rape Factory, and imprisoned incommunicado, people are fleeing the country en mass – these are the only data they need.  On per capita basis, and even on absolute basis, Eritrea is the single biggest producer of refugees and human misery in the world.   If it is about sacrificing oneself for the future, then it is about equal sacrifice – not few living in luxury while most live in misery. It is about those in Diaspora who speak and campaign for Eritrean sacrifice – except sacrifice is meant for those in Eritrea, not themselves.  It is also about justice – not few above the law, while vast majority are being abused by the few who are above the law.  Today’s Eritrea is suffering a disconnect among idealism, hodgepodge politics and reality – just as PIA’s latest lecture clearly shows.

So what is PIA’s sustainable economic growth?  Mr. Kubrom Dafla’s interviews with demo.archive.assenna.com give us valuable insight into the state of economic affairs in Eritrea.   If we are to reduce PIA’s economic rationale, it would that if an economic activity doesn’t generate hard/foreign currency (such as US dollars) then the activity should not be undertaken. Yet again, PIA’s economic philosophy is deeply intertwined with his sadistic political philosophy.  After all, after telling us that economic growth must precede democracy, the sure way to extinguish any hope of democracy in Eritrea is to strangle its economy.  Moreover, PIA’s, as is true for other dictators, false campaign for self-sufficiency is designed more to avoid interaction through insular policies with the rest of world which may demand accountability, transparency, and the rule of law.

What are Eritrea’s Development Projects?  What does PIA mean by sustainable economic development?

In the nutshell, PIA’s circular reasoning goes like this – lack of electric power (energy) impedes us from realizing economic growth – then goes the circular reasoning – and we can not invest in electric power expansion because our economic growth doesn’t justify it.    It is like the chicken and egg question – which one comes first?

As stated above, PIA’s sole economic formula is that every activity must generate DIRECT hard currency.  Examining PIA’s logic, for instance, increasing fish export to generate hard currency and then using that to buy fuel for tractors to farm land for farmers is a waste of resources.  According to PIA, every non-hard currency generating activity in Eritrea – be it food, electricity, water, education, health, justice, etc… – is a waste if it doesn’t eventually lead to exports that generate hard currency.  Wow!  Eritreans in Eritrea who worth only in Nakfas are doomed!

Examining PIA’s underlying logic, his feigning of concerns for human trafficking beguiles a deliberate and cruel policy – which is to forcefully exile Eritreans to generate foreign currency.  For instance, Eritrean exiles in Israel have been remitting significant amounts to Eritrea which, according to PIA’s economic philosophy, makes them more valuable because they are worth in USD, not Nacka.

According to PIA, every penny of hard currency should be used to undertake sustainable economic development.  As such, electricity, water and other infrastructures that are currently available in the urban centres simply consume hard currency without generating any long-term economic benefits while exhausting dwindling hard currency.  As such tells us PIA, the urban population should not get any more benefits than the rural population.  In other words, Eritrea must regress first economically, socially, and politically before proceeding forward.  Equality in poverty first before prosperity!  It is a military equivalent of withdrawing or retreating into your base, or reverting from a conventional army to guerrilla warfare.  At least during the war of independence, everybody pretended that there was equality in sacrifice – but not in today’s Eritrea.

Throughout the lecture PIA keeps reminding us about Eritrean development projects.  Yet, one is forgiven if baffled at what point in his five hours of lecture he spoke in any detail of these projects.  One moment he tells us about agricultural projects, water reservoirs, roads, ports, electricity, etc…, and then the next moment tells us that most of these projects are worthless because they don’t generate hard currency. All these road projects don’t even meet anticipated demands.

The only ‘so called’ development project in Eritrea is PIA’ s pet project – Gerset/Farko, which is about 20,000 hectares.  Twenty two (22) years of independence later, we have one 20,000 hectares of commercial farming which is more used for ‘experimental’ purposes than any serious effort to meet the country’s food need.  In fact, following PIA singular obsession of hard currency, Gerset/Farko would only be considered a success if it can generate cash crops for export (such as cotton).  According to PIA, why should he waste hard currency to produce food for domestic consumption because ordinary Eritreans pay him in Nacka.  The self-sufficiency campaign, which we took to mean self-reliance to produce domestic food needs, is totally misguided.  Rather, self-sufficiency has a new meaning, which is to generate hard currency by producing cash crops for export, and which in turn is deposited in Fubon Bank.

Deciphering PIA’s ominous message:

  1. The worthiness of people or consumers will be determined by their abilities to generate hard currency.  Exporting people, albeit through cruel policy of forcing people to flee the country by demoralizing, is a deliberate policy designed to generate hard currency.  In contrast, and as potential source of hard currency, Diaspora Eritrea should be courted in order to dip into their hard currency laden pockets.
  2. Worse will be education, health, and any institution which will not be allocated hard currency.
  3. Dwindling hard currency means that electric outages, water shortages and other urban services will deteriorate for years to come.  The biggest victim is the City of Asmara.
  4. With cement factory unable to produce cement, and PIA telling us that there is no electricity to power the factory, the recently announced Housing Bank project might not be built or may take much longer to construct.
  5. Without affordable housing, normal life for Eritrea’s youths is a pipe dream for the foreseeable future.

PIA Complimenting Ethiopia

Despite a broad range of issues addressed, albeit superficially, during PIA’s lecture, the underlying message was designed to demoralize the Eritrean population by, in his own words, not give Eritrean any false hopes.  At the same time, PIA made a conscious effort not to be compared to Ethiopia’s booming economy telling us that it is all illusion.

Probably no part of PIA’s lecture fell apart as much as when he talked about Ethiopia’s Millennium Dam (Grand Renaissance Dam /GRD).   When completed in 2017, it will produce up to 6,000 MW of hydro electricity.  PIA attempts to belittle GRD by comparing Ethiopia’s electric production to Israel and then to Europe – and that can only be a compliment when one starts comparing a third world country to First World Countries.  Why not compare Ethiopia’s progress with Eritrea, or other third world countries instead of first world countries?  Kudos to Ethiopia! 

Today’s Ethiopia is a thorn on the side of PIA’s Eritrea not so much militarily but because Ethiopia has managed to formulate short and long term economic policies (e.g. 2010 – 2015 Growth and Transformation Period (GTP) which incorporates the Millennium Development Goals), which enables it to slowly and in controlled manner to build its political and other institutions, and to transition into post-Meles Ethiopia.

During the 2010-2015 Growth and Transformation Period, Ethiopia will have added over 10,000 MW of sustainable hydro and wind power to its power grid.  In 2015, Eritrea will have lost most its 120 MW  of capacity to less than half – i.e. in PIA’s own admission that the existing electric generators are getting old and in much need of repair but that nothing can be done in the near future due to lack of hard currency.  Moreover, it is worth distinguishing between capacity and actual production.  Electric production is measured in MWh or mostly in GWh, i.e. how many hours the electric generators operated in a year.  In Eritrea’s case, due to lack of fuel and maintenance issues, the generators are operating less than 50% of the time (based on estimated electric blackouts in Asmara), thus the 120 MW of capacity at 50% operation is equivalent to 60 MW operating at 100% (theoretically, as no generators ever operate at 100% due to scheduled maintenance, but suffice for illustration purposes).  Instead of belittling Ethiopia over its 10,000 MW, PIA should answer how he can achieve sustainable economic growth with 60 MW.

Every project in Ethiopia’s Growth and Transformation Period is what PIA envies and talks about for Eritrea – infrastructure developments, generating hard currencies, balanced growth all over Ethiopia, etc…

Comparing the sufficiency of Ethiopia’s electric output to Developed Countries is highly deceiving:

  1. Most developed countries are located in colder climates where electricity, along with gas, is used to heat homes in winter and air conditioning in the summer.  Most of Ethiopia is blessed with moderate climate that doesn’t require artificial air control.
  2. Most households in developed countries have many kitchen appliances, washer/dryers, dishwashers, hair dryers, multiple televisions and many other electric goods.  Today’s Ethiopia needs basic electricity for households – mostly for lighting and electric stoves.  In today’s Eritrea, even urban areas aren’t served with basic electricity.
  3. Significant portion of daytime electric consumption in developed countries is made by commercial and industrial establishments.  Ethiopia has not yet reached that level yet.

The 10,000 MW of electricity enables Ethiopia to:

  1. Provide basic electricity to households which PIA can’t do for its own population other than to tell people to go and live in rural areas (sadistic),
  2. Provide sufficient electricity to its growing commercial and industrial establishments.  As an Eritrean, it is embarrassing when Ethiopia is able to run 3 or 4 massive cement factories while PIA is complaining that he can’t even run one small sized cement factory – and we are endowed with so many raw materials for cement production.
  3. Provide Ethiopia with a clear and well defined economic path that it can build on.  As they say, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ and that incremental growth is what gets us to our destination. What isn’t here today surely won’t be there in 5 or 10 years.  PIA’s Eritrea has no plan to expand electricity in the near future, which means that Eritrea will remain in the dark for the next 10 years.
  4. Provide Ethiopia with hard/foreign currency.  Although Ethiopia needs every MWh of electricity it produces for its domestic consumption, it must sell electricity to Djibouti, Kenya, and Sudan for the same logic that PIA took 5 hours to lecture us – i.e. every venture must generate hard currency just like his yet to produce development projects.  Ethiopia may buy crude oil from Sudan in exchange for electricity.  Ethiopia may pay Djibouti for its port facilities with electricity, and the same for Kenya.  What Ethiopia is doing is every bit consistent with PIA’s lecture – yet PIA has no qualms belittling Ethiopia.
  5. Power Ethiopia’s rail system, thus alleviating its transportation system from relying on imported fuel, which in turn saves foreign currency (consistent with PIA’s philosophy).  The Addis Ababa-Djibouti, Mekele-Djibouti, and Addis Ababa LRT will all be electrified.

PIA’s Kamikaze Policies

First it should be noted whenever PIA says, “… Our policy/policies …”, or “…This government’s policy/policies…”, it should be taken to mean his policies.  There are no parliament, PFDJ Central Committee, or cabinet ministers to consult.

During his lecture, PIA keeps returning to a couple of deficiencies that are holding Eritrea’s economic growth.

1.     Agro-industry: when asked about agro-industry, PIA lectures us that selling raw agricultural products will not yield sufficient foreign revenues and that these products must be processed further to fully realize our potential.  The drawback: no electricity to run our factories.

2.     Mining:  after telling us mining isn’t producing sufficient income but then tells us that mining products can’t be further processed locally because of lack of electricity.

3. Alternative energy:  PIA tells us Eritrea must obtain alternative local energy resources to power its electrical outputs.  At the same time, PIA alludes to the fact alternative energy sources too expensive and can’t be justified under current circumstances.  Not satisfied with hydro and wind energy (Ashegoda Wind Generator alone in Tigray produced over 120 MW), Ethiopia is undertaking feasibility studies with Icelandic consulting company to explore geothermal power in Ethiopia which potentially produce over 5,000 MW.  Eritrea should have similar potential.

At the end of PIA’s lecture one is left with the impression that electricity is some supernatural phenomenon that is beyond the capacity of Eritreans to produce and that we, including PIA, must pray to Apollo or Ra (Sun gods) for our energy needs.  It appears that PIA’s pinning his hope, in his own words during the latest lecture, in eventually normalizing relationship with Ethiopia and buying electricity from them.  ‘Kab Seb Zitesebey bdewu beleye!

4. Port and Free Port:  For 22 years, PIA has been talking about expanding Eritrea’s two ports and developing free port.  Instead of reporting on his progress, PIA tells us that the world has been conspiring to render Eritrean ports useless.  It is a well known fact that a Norwegian company (negotiated by high ranking PFDJ official) had presented in 2007 a negotiated final proposal to develop the Port of Asseb but PIA dismissed the proposal without even looking at it saying that he is in talks with Chinese companies to develop it.  Six years later – nothing.

5. Road and transportation sectors:  After telling for so many that he has achieved so much in building road infrastructures in Eritrea, now PIA tells us that most of the existing road infrastructures are inadequate.  Moreover he tells us that train network must be established and that we should endeavour to connect Port of Massawa to Sudan through alternative routes in Eritrea.  But these are pipe dreams for a regime operating on few dimes of foreign currency. While PIA is dreaming for all us, Djibouti and Ethiopia just agreed to commence connecting the Djibouti-Ethiopia train line to Sudan at the cost of $ 600M USD.  PIA dreams, others do.

6. Housing Projects:  In 22 years of power, PIA has not built a single affordable housing for Eritreans.  As such, Eritreans haven’t been able to lead normal family life, which is the most basic building block of every society, and by extension a country.  In contrast, the Addis Ababa Administration alone has built and delivered to local residents over 80,000 apartments and houses in the last 10 years, and is currently undertaking another 130,000 houses within the Growth and Transformation Period – all again, for ordinary folks in Addis Ababa, not Diaspora Ethiopians with USD$.  Even the Dergue regime, with its limited resources, allowed local Asmara residents to build houses in Mai Chehot and many other areas.

7. Economy in General:  PIA’s argument is that natural resources are a curse (Resource Curse) unless some factors, only known to him – let us call them enabling factors, are put in place to fully exploit these resources.  Obviously, one can only deduce that these are enabling factors are non-economic factors, as PIA has done everything to destroy them, and must be some socio-political factors.  We can also deduce it is not about building social, economic, legal or political institutions.   After eliminating many factors, one is left with two factors:  maintaining power as he may think that his power survival is Eritrea’s survival (delusions of all dictators) and/or social re-engineering (yet another delusion of all dictators).  Throughout history people have tried to destroy religions, ethnicity and other sources of human divisions for greater good by attempting to homogenize their subjects.  All have failed without exception!  PIA is taking a path proven throughout history as failures.

PIA leaves us with the impression that Eritrea’s resources are insufficient to propel its economic growth.  When asked about mining, he tells us that it doesn’t generate sufficient foreign currency.  When asked about marine resources, agriculture, tourism and other endowments, PIA keeps reminding us that he doesn’t want to give us ‘false hopes’ by telling us that we can achieve economic growth by exploiting these resources.  Of course, we get no data.  In reality, a nation’s wealth is the aggregate of all the various activities, and no one sector is examined in isolation.  For instance, the Ethiopian government tells us that it earned $670M USD from tourism alone, and whatever amounts from coffee, hides and other merchandise exports (all data are available on its websites) all add up to significant hard currency earnings.  It is the aggregate of all exports that makes a country economically viable.  Eritrea, with its small population, should be rich with relative small efforts by exporting minerals (gold, silver, copper – not just from Bisha but other parts of Eritrea, marble, granite, etc…), fish, salt, agricultural products, port and bunkering services, tourism and many other activities.  Eritreans are resourceful enough to built Eritrea’s industrial sector and undertake business ventures in other countries, as they are doing now, and bring back the profits back home.

6. Non-economic Policies:  PIA can lecture all he wants about world politics but it is suffice examining PIA’s total failure pertaining to Somalia Policy.  Seven years after turning Somalia his proxy war, PIA & Eritrea are under world political and economic sanctions, and PIA is now forced to accept the current Somali government as legitimate.  PIA has allowed Ethiopia and the West to find an excuse to impose sanctions on him for gross violations of human rights in Eritrea.  Lifting the UN sanction will require more than just refraining from interfering in Somali affairs but will require PIA to accept full restorations of human rights in Eritrea.  It is difficult to pass UN sanctions because all five veto holders must agree, while withdrawing a UN sanction can be held up by one veto holder.  Even if Russia and China want to lift the sanctions, US, UK and France will ensure that PIA capitulates on many political reforms before they let him off the hook.  In other words, PIA can’t agree to political reforms because he has burned so many bridges behind him that it would be political kamikaze to agree to the West’s demand.  As such, Eritrea is headed for political, social, legal and economic abyss.  It is also mentioning that Eritrea and China’s diplomatic relationship isn’t as strong as Eritrea’s State media suggest.  China has allowed the UN to impose sanctions on Eritrea.  While Ethiopia has forged strong relationship with China by borrowing significant funds and granting most of the infrastructure projects to Chinese firms, Eritrea has slowly kicked out Chinese firms which were more involved in the first 15 years of independence.  Chinese firms built some of the road projects, Keren Pharmaceutical factory and the cement factory.  PIA needs China to stash away Eritrea’s hard currency reserves under his and his son’s name.

PIA belittling Private Sector

It is pure politics!  In reality, for those who heard Mr. Kubrom Dafla’s, PIA’s ventures have been utter failures.  Before blaming the private sector for PIA induced failures, it is worth reiterating Mr. Kubrom’s observations.  A regime unable to uphold the rule-of-law, to provide the most basic services, failed in diplomacy, and failed in business ventures can’t be credible enough to belittle the private sector as failure.

Some of PIA’s ventures have failed (besides failing to provide the rule of law, which is an utter breakdown of a civil society),

1.     Ghindae Marble Factory:  established with modern equipment and with millions of dollars, it has barely produced marble and granite although Eritrea is endowed with these resources.

2.     Nuovo Sasbre:  a brake lining factory is defunct.

3.     Gas Cylinder Factory:  is functioning at a loss and minimum production as there isn’t enough fuel gas to supply.

4.     Sawa Agro-industry: which had started to export to Italy was later scuttled.  Gerset/Farko is also a failure as a venture, except it is relabelled as an agricultural experiment to avoid the stigma.

5.     Eritrean Airlines:  its operations have scuttled due to PIA’s continued interference

6.     Keren Pharmaceutical Factory:  it is operating well below its capacity.  Compared to EPLF Pharmaceutical Factory in Sahel, Keren Pharmaceutical Factory is back-pedalling to insignificance.

7. Massawa Cement Factory & Hirgigo Cement Factory: are both failures.

But these are not the only failures:

  1. Elaberid Agro-industry: which had been producing so many agricultural products is in ruins
  2. Asmara Glass Factory: which was closed down to make way for new factory in Ghindae remains just a pipe dream
  3. Coca Cola, Beer factory: are largely failures despite solid demands for their products.

PIA has failed not only operating industries that should be left to private sector must in every other endeavour:

1.     Education system is in ruins.  Despite new colleges, instructors are not fully qualified, no libraries, no modern electronic systems, and demoralized student population.

2. Health system is in ruins.  Despite Orotta Medical School (possibly the only success story), the new graduates are demoralized and prone to flee the country.  Inadequate mediation, lab and medical equipment, and absence of private clinics (which PIA berated), has meant poor health service in Eritrea.  PIA’s logic is that as the vast majority of rural Eritreans do not have access to health services, the urban population shouldn’t be ‘privileged’ with better health systems.  An excuse for failure!

Few years ago, a top North Korean official boasted that his country achieved equality – albeit through poverty.  Equality in poverty!  Instead of trying to pull people gradually into better living, easier to destroy the little one has.

  1. Law and Order: before PIA belittles private sector which he deliberately destroyed, a government should do its primary job, which is dispense the rule-of-law, which the most basic building block of any civil society.  PIA has utterly failed!
  2. Agriculture:  Despite 22 years of ‘government efforts’ to build the agricultural sector, we are no closer, in his own words, to becoming self-sufficient.  So what are we doing?  In fact, PIA tells us that food production for domestic production isn’t justified (cost of operating farming tractors in USD if a form of subsidy the regime can’t afford) because consumers pay in Nacka for their foods.   Moreover, as PIA pointed out, agriculture isn’t just about barley and wheat, but about growing fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products.  Most of these are grown or produced in negligible amounts, and their prospects are even dimmer.

In the NUTSHELL, PIA is in a dire predicament that he can’t escape.  He needs investments and cash infusions from abroad (UN institutions, Western public and private investors, the Chinese, Indians, and Mining Companies) and others but doesn’t want to give any foreigners a political leverage to demand political reforms.  The UN sanctions WON’T be lifted unless PIA agrees to political reforms, address the exodus of Eritrean youths, and free all prisoners-of conscious.  But PIA can’t undertake political reforms without major political consequences for him as he had chosen to burn all his political bridges behind him.  It is catch 22!  It is a hole, or a nightmare, he can’t escape.  It is an irreligious person waiting for a miracle, waiting for a world political tsunami that will bail him out.

The latest news of PFDJ reorganization, shifting power to the youths (who are as much damaged from PIA’s cruel policies, Investment Conference, playing with names (from Eritrean Defence Forces, to Warsai Yikealo, to People’s Army), or any other shreds and dramas won’t change the PIA’s ominous predicament.  “Wecho Entegemtelkayo Wecho!”  PIA is still running a defunct liberation movement, NOT a nation!

A Nation, a people are born out of hope!  Hundreds of thousands of Eritrean’s sacrificed their lives for the hope of peaceful and prosperous Eritrea.  We don’t need anyone telling us about false hopes (or ‘mitibar’).  Eritrea was born against all odds.  We overcame everything because of our hopes – and we don’t let anyone take it away from us – be it colonizers or temberkektis.  We shall overcome!

September 18th, 2001 – lest we forget!!!

Berhan Hagos

September 22, 2013

aseye.asena@gmail.com

Review overview
35 COMMENTS
  • samuel September 25, 2013

    Er hat durch und durch versagt. Eine Person mit seinen lauter Ja sagern vergewaltigen ein ganzes Land und Volk. Vergleichbares gibt es niergenwo. Wahrscheinlich nur in Nord Korea oder auch nicht. Ich sage es nochmals. Eritrea ist unter diese Mensch irreal geworden. Fast ein Phantom.
    ንሱ ከም ዘይትንስእ ፈሺሉ እዩ። ሓደ ንሱ፡ ምስ ተለኣኣኽቱ፡ ንዝቐምሰለትን ዝደኸመትን ሃገርን ህዝብን ኣብ ምግሳስ እዮም ዘሎዉ። ምስ’ዚ ዝማሳሰል ታሪኽ? ምናልባት ሰሜናዊት ኮሪያ። ደጊመ ደጋጊመ ዝብሎ፡ ኣብ ትሕቲ’ዚ ሰብኣይ፡ ኤርትራ፡ ካብ ርኡይ ዓለም፡ ካብ ወድዓዊ ዓለም ተነጺላ እያ። ዳርጋ ከም ፋንቶም።
    ግሩም ትንታኔ፡ ኣይትሰኣኑ!
    ሰናይ ምሸት

  • Genet September 25, 2013

    Dear Berhan Hagos,
    Thank You so much, for your time and hard work to put together the dictator’s admission of failure. My family and I watched and listened to the dictator’s historical interview with a total disbelief. We are shocked and sadden with the news of our country’s total failure. The past 22 years, the dictator has been braking the spinal cord of our country. Without shame, he came out to tell us that our country is totally paralyzed economically in all sectors. Now our country is total dependent on others for every things. The dictator looked straight in to the camera and said most of the projects are worthless and don’t meet anticipated demands. This means, our brothers and sisters have been moving rocks from point A to point B for nothing. Except of-course keeping the dictator in total control of our people and country. Now, he is telling us, he needs more time to do it all over again. Now, what do we do?

    To me, the dictator’s message is I DON’T KNOW AND I DON’T CARE. It is too late for him to change to any useful thing for our country. Probably for the first time in his life, he is telling the truth. It seems, he is saying what is the worst thing can happen if he tells the Eritrean people this horrific news. What happen next?, he can’t be held accountable. From now on, the Eritrean military generals, PFDJ’s officials and most importantly his supporters in diaspora are going to be held 100% responsible. I think we need all to wake up and disown any PFDJ supporters; we need to start form within our family, unless they come to their senses and stop being the enemy of their own people and country. The dictator’s confusion of failure should be a wake up call for all of us.
    Genet

    • ababua October 1, 2013

      Indeed, I do not care he said and blamed the poor Eritreans for the misery!

  • COW FACE September 25, 2013

    MY Fellow Eritreans & Friends of Eritreans,

    On the advice of professional therapist I was instructed to use fairly positive language & some humor. I do not mean to upset anybody when I used language like bandits ..etc..while I still stand by my expression of the “Tegadelti”..I will use the word Bush people or in Tigrinya በረኸኛታት..,to define EPLF fighters ,If I used the word Tegadelti ,I would be lying to myself ,but there is no point of upsetting other people. I also lost many family & relatives in the bushes ,as a matter of Fact ALAZAR MESFIN of Geshnashim is my second cousin ,his brother & I share the name Mehretu.
    Please do not think I am heartless citzen who has not lost a single soul .But ,because of EPLF Bush fighters ,I am loosing (we all are)loosing .It is sad you accept all the crimes commited by these bush people as acceptable.I do not ,But, I will not call them Bandits anymore ,not because I do not believe they are not ,I TRULY BELIEVE THEY ARE & I TRULY BELIEVE THEY FOUGHT FOR NOTHING TO BRING SORROW ,however I do not want my message to be rejected at face value in my struggle to save my young people that are being raped at Sinai .
    I believe the Bush fighters caused it ,you do not .Time will teach you to see the obvious.
    I BELIEVE ERITREA IS A COUNTRY,THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN (most part of that thought in hindsight off course).
    BUT WE HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON ,WE WANT TO SAVE OUR PEOPLE & I WILL TYPE MY OPINION IN AGREABLE MANNER.

    your brother Cow Face

    • Kalighe September 25, 2013

      Dear Cow Face (aka NewHopeLess)

      You have started to reform yourself, that is not bad !!

      But please, tell me a bit about your new name (i.e. Cow Face), is it because you are suffering from Mad Cow disease ?. In the past, you had told me you were suffering from “Megalomanicum Deformantis Ethiopicum”, an endemic disease in Shoa.

      • Cali September 26, 2013

        Is Kalighe suffering of identity crisis to be “Megalomanicum Deformantis Arabicum“ Which Eritrean language are you preparing to burn next to Tigre Will that make you look a good Arab slave

      • COW FACE September 26, 2013

        Kalighe ,

        May God bless you & thank you for your concern ,Indeed I had mental disorder ..Deep depression & anxiety..including was diagonized with bipolar disorder..I also have adult ADDH ,on top of all this :

        1)I am Diabetic
        2)High blood pressure,
        3)Hypothyroidism
        4)Anemia
        However with positive attitude & clear identity..Natural fats & herbs (not marijuana) and kind ppl like yourself ,I bit almost all the illnesses.

        You asked if I have Mad Cow disease or “Megalomanicum Deformantis Ethiopicum”..I was not diagonized with those ,but ,I suffer when Eritrean young men are being sodomized by Bedouin & Eritrean women infront of their kids & husband are being gang raped.
        I know you do too.

        Thank you for your concern & I hope you direct your energy towards healing our people.

        God Bless You Kalighe

    • ababua October 1, 2013

      you have got a point brother

  • aus 17 September 25, 2013

    I wonder why you analyse a talk of no-vaue, a talk where he babbles to mock off time, a talk that even a child despises, a hollow, vacuum talk.
    You seem to give him what he keen to have- president’s talk title. A legitimacy he long time ago lost.
    Can you analyse a crazy man’s monotonous monolog? A contextless, aimless, roaming freely to fill his idle status.
    Shameless leader he talks about economy and nation to reach his goal without knoledge and competence through SAWA education where military is the only knowledge and competence he has given the youth and the nation.How then prosperity comes and from where does peace emerge!!!Yes, the result in 22 years shows where his eduction of SAWA lead and where now the country harboured and where our people ended.
    Please stop mocking us all.

  • COW FACE September 25, 2013

    ኣሕዋተይ ኤርትራውያን ፣

    ብጽቡቕ ትቐንኡዶ ፧ ኣነ ይቐንእ ፣ኣነ ንሰብ ብተግባሩ እየ ዝፈርዶ። ብዝሓለፈ ኣረዳድኣይ ወያነን ደቂ ትግራይን ከም ሓዊ የቃጽሉኒ ኔሮም።ካብ ዓደይ ክ ወጽእ ከለኹ መጨረሻ ሰማንያን ሓደን___ኣንታ ካብዚኦምሲ ኣምሓሩ ይሕሸና ኢለ እናተራገምኩ ወጺኤ።ነቲ እቶም መንነት ዘይነበሮም ደቂ ትግራይ (ኩሎም ዘይኮኑ በጻብዕ ዝቑጸሩ)ዘርእይዎ ዝነበሩ ዘሕርር ተግባራት ንሙሉእ ዘርኤይ (ምንም እኳ ንሕና ህዝበ ትግርኛ ኢና እንተበልና)ከም ዝረግሞ ጌሩኒ።ድሓር እቲ ወያነ ንጀብሃ ንምድምሳስ ዝተሓባበርዎ ውግእ፣ኣብ ሞንጎ ኣሕዋት እንታይ ኣዲ ኦም ኣእተዎም እዞም **መ ኢለ ወያነን ሻዕብያን ንኽጣፍኡ ምዓልታዊ ትምኒተይ ነበረ ።በረኻ ኣይነበርኩን ፣ወይ ንጀብሃ ትሓሊቐ ኣይኮንኩን። ካብ 1985 ጀሚረ ብዛዕባ ናይ ወያነ, ንህዝቢ ትግራይ ዝህብዎ ዝነበሩ ኣስተምህሮ ብጽሑፍን ቪድዮን ክማራመር ምስ ጀመርኩ ብመጠኑ ተመሲጠ፣ጊዜ ሸፈፍ ኣቢልና ናብ 1991, ግን ዋላ ድሕሪ ሬፈረንደም ውን ይኹን_እቲ ትግራይ ትሽዓተ እዩ ልቦም እናሰማዕኩ ዝዓበኹዎ ምጥርጣረይ ኣይተረፈን፣ዋላ እቲ ናይ ክልል ፖለቲካ እውን ንኢትዮጵያ ክዝርጉ ዶ ኾን ይኾኑ ዝብል ሓሳብ ኣብ ሓንጎለይ ሰፈረ።ጉዳይ ከሕጽሮ፣ብድሕሪ እዚ ኮነ ኢልና ቆለውዕ መቐለ ደብዲብና ምስ ኣነሃሃርናዮም ንሶም ግን ንህዝብና ብመትከል ክሕግዝዎን ከቕርብዎን ምስ ተዓዘብኩ ሓፊረ ቐጠንኩ።ነቲ ዘፍቅሮ ህዝበይ ዝሓሊ ላቺ እግሩ ኣሲረ ኢዱ ምተሳለምኩ።እናጸንሔ ውን ሓደ ሕዝቢ ምዃንና, ብደም, ምስ በርሃለይ ብዝበለጸ ኮራዕኩ።
    እዚ ካብ ዝተፋላለያ ማዕከናት ዓለም ብዛዕባ ምዕባለታት ኢትዮጵያ፣ብመጠኑ እውን ምዕባለ ዲሞክራስያዊ ሰውራ የቕንኣኒ።ከምቲ ሓደ ክልተ ኣሕዋት ዝሓስቡዎ ሙታንታ ወያነ፣ወይ ካልሲ ኢትዮጵያ ኮይነ ኣይኮነን።ብፓስፖርተይ ኢትዮጵያ ከይደ, ኣብ መቐለ ይኹን ኣዲስ ኣበባ ካብ ኢትዮጵያውያን ኣሕዋትና ዝረኽቦ ክብረትን ኣቃባብላን ወደር ከም ዘይህልዎ ኣይጣራጠርን፣ግን ኣነ ቀዳሞት ህዝበይ ኤርትራውያን ብምዃኖም,ህዝበይ ከይደቀሰ ልዋም ድቃስ ክህልወኒ ኣይክእልን እዩ።እዚ ቀልዓለም ዘረባ ኣይኮነን።፣ ግን ክንዲ ሓሲቦም ዝገብሩ ብስምዒት ምምራሖም፣ነቲ ቀንዲ ምኽንያት ሽግርና ዘየድሊ በረኸኛነት ምዃኑ ክንዲ ዝርእይዎ፣ሓንሳእ ንኢሳያስ ሓንሳእ ንወያነ ምጥቃኖም የሕርረኒ።
    ግን ናይ ሓሳብ ኣፋላላይ ይሃልወና እምበር ምእንቲ እቶም ንበደዊን ተጎምቢሖም ዝግበሩ ዘለዉ ሰብኡት ኤርትራን, ጡበን ብርሱን ማሕረሻ ዝትኮስ ዘሎን,ብዓሰርተ ኣዕራብ ዝዕመጻ ዘለዋ ኤርትራውያን ደቀይን ኣሓተይን ሓልዮት __ኢሞሽነይ ቀቢረ፣ ብህድኣት ሓሳበይ ክገልጽ እንደገና ፍቐዱለይ ህዝበይ።
    ኣነ ገለ ቋንቋታት ዝዛረብን ዝተፋላለያ ሃገራት ዝርኣኹን ምስ ሰብ ምርኻብ ጸገም ዘይብለይ ሰብ እየ።እዚ ንኣይ መሕለፍ ጊዜ ኣይኮነን ።ሰብኡት ተጎምቢሖም እናተገብሩ ግን ስመር ..ኣከለጉዛይ ቦሎኛ..ሓማሴን ዶ ይኾኑ፣ኪዳን ዶ መሊሳ ኣብ ሃዋሳ ትእከብ ትኸውን ክካታዕ ሕልናይ ኣየፍቅዶን።ኤይድስ ሒዝዎ ጸጉሩ ብምብርሑ ዝቑርቈር ሰብ ዕቡድ ዝስዓሞ ጥራይ እዩ።ህዝበይ እንደገና ፍለጡኒ።

    ሓውኩምን ኣያኹምን ገጽ ላም aka Fake Country Collapsing ,Singapo Eritrean ,Yugoslavo Eritrean , Mehretu Habte

  • Fithawi September 25, 2013

    Dear Berhane Hagos,
    Thank you so much for the information and I absolutely agree with all the info you pointed out.What I don’t agree though,with all due respect is the comparison you are making between the two nations.Eritrea is too weak and too insignificant to stand on its own feet as a nation leave alone to be compared with its neighbor that is 20 times of its size as well as rich in all kinds of resources.It would have been fare and made a lot of sense to compare our poor little Eritrea with nations like Djibouti and Somali-land in regards with size,population and natural resources.The economic growth of these tiny nations is unbelievably amazing to be compared with little Eritrea.After all these sufferings,agony and miseries of isolation,its mind boggling to still witness people suffering from the poisonous “gedlli” virus known as jingoism.You know the “we are better than them in every thing”kind of hallucination when the fact of the matter is the complete opposite.What we had been told and portrayed with all those years does not match with who actually we are.Unless we try to reset and reshape our way of thinking and learn to live with our neighbors with peace recognizing their status,we will NEVER get out the mess we are in today.Ethiopia is too huge,powerful and resourceful to fight against but instead work and cooperate with and that will greatly benefit us.

    • Genet September 26, 2013

      Fithawi and all others
      I don’t know who raised you? Where are you getting this assertion that All Eritreans think we are better than other people? I think Eritrea can be compared with Ethiopia. Just looke at the amounts of resources you need to feed 80 millions people VS 5 millions. Have you seen the small rich European countries being compared to USA. Not literally, but the way they use their resources efficently. In reality, I think if we had normal functioning people running our country, we would have been in much better position right now. We have Ethiopians running our country to the ground. We are not going to apologize to any one for our independent country Eritrea. I rather be in an independent temporarily poor Eritrea than rich and occupied. If any one needs to get over his/her inferiority complex is the people who are saying, Eritreans think they are better than others. We don’t have any type of complex.
      Genet

      • Hailom N. September 26, 2013

        HAFTENA Genet no one say or ask you to be OCCUPIED if we have jest have CONSTITUTION IS YOU ANDERSTAND ME THAT IS ENFE TO AS. And DID YOU NOW WHO PUT ALL FAWNDATION TO ALL ETHIOPIA FOR YOU INFORMATION THEY WEHER ERITREAN BEAFOR CHAINES SHOW UP SO. RIGHT NOW THEY ARE IN JUB,A UGANDA, CONGO, SENTRAL, AFRICA, AND ASK TO WE DI BERAD WHY HE KIK THEM OBUT.

      • Fithawi September 26, 2013

        Dear Genet,
        Lets please learn to disagree respectfully because everyone is entitled to his/her opinion.Name calling.slurs and defamation which are the trademark of shaebia and its shefatu supporters are not going to do any good.So as to answer your question of who might brought me up,are parents who know their roots.My grandpa used to say ‘anyone who doesn’t know where he came from doesn’t know where he is heading”and I think that is our problem.We have been doing everything humanly possible over the 50 years of madness to detach and disown anything “Ethiopian” to our detriment,have we not?Were we not brought up being infected by the gedlli virus that encourages to hate and disown anything habesha?In my opinion,we were/are cursed to have done that for not realizing that the “stupid ports”we grow up bragging about were useless without the cooperation of Ethiopia.Anyways,the end of our “50 years madness” justified the means and total blame should ONLY be placed upon us for the predicament our country is in today but not because its run by “Ethiopians” as your lame excuse suggests.
        True,the poor nation is run by a handful but powerful of wicked monsters who happen to face NO THREATS and OPPOSITIONS no matter how they mistreat and brutalize the poor coward people.

        • Genet September 26, 2013

          Dear Fithawi,
          What name calling? what slurs are you talking about?
          Do you know who calls Eritreans SHAEBIA,SHAEBIA? You just uncovered your identity. Please, leave us alone, we, Eritreans don’t have problem with Ethiopian who are in Ethiopia. Our problems are the infiltrators. Keep out!
          Genet

  • Next call September 26, 2013

    i feel sorry for Eritreans whom i have ‘ utmost’ respect for their hard working ethics and capacity they acquired during forty years of migration.many have become successful where ever they set their foot. had they been allowed to bring some of their expertise, the Country would have been transformed in less than a decade. just the tourism sector along the Red Sea, if it was to be organised like its counter part in Sham El Sheik, Egypt, millions of Europeans could have been soaking the sun and enriching the Country. PIA and his cohorts are a ‘ thorn’ on the eritrean people . While Assab and Massawa could served Ethiopia and South Sudan, they are idling. Even major imports to Eritrea are done through Port Sudan .

  • Yemane Johar September 27, 2013

    Dear: Berhan Hagos
    Fast before I go, I would like to thank you for this thought provoking and well researched analysis on the LECTURE of DIA. In the not distant past, DIA unashamedly stated “We are # one in Africa” and here he is 22 years later he has nothing worth of a success story to tell and show the world. If there is one thing that the pfdj hate to be compared is the” Weyane squad”, the underdog whom they see dawn and denigrate as “Temaharona” and guess what we have lived to witnessed how the “Temaharona” defeated and supersede DIA in 3d and final offence of the battle of Badme and now obviously in a knock out in every sector. Thanks to DIA, Our citadel, Eritrea is knocked dawn but not knocked out and its rightful time is coming and like the Phoenix it will rise up….We the democratic forces are marching on the light of HOPE! Notwithstanding the gloomy atmosphere in Eritrea, I am rest assured within the next 5 years change is coming from within. I always enjoy your intellect narration! Once more thank you!

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